184 



Crotfttrg cf Natural 



to liavc become extinct within the last 200 

 years. Mr. Duncan, of the Ashniolean 

 Museum, has published an excellent history 

 of all that was known of it up to his time. 

 [See G.VATHODON : SOLITAIKE.] 



'DOG. (Canis familiaris.) This most 

 faithful and valuable domestic so remark- 

 able for his incorruptible fidelity, his lasting 

 attachment, his inexhaustible diligence, and 

 his ready obedience deserves all the eu- 

 logies that have been bestowed upon him, 

 and all the kindness that can be shown him, 

 by his master and companion, Man. But in- 

 dependent of his being the most sagacious of 

 all known quadrupeds, and the acknow- 

 ledged friend of mankind, he is possessed of 

 all those native qualities which contribute 

 to the convenience, and generally conciliate 

 the affections, of the human species. A na- 

 tural courage and ferocious disposition 

 render the Dog in his savage state a for- 

 midable enemy to all other animals : but 

 these qualities speedily yield to very different 

 ones in the domestic Dog, whose only am- 

 bition seems to be the desire of pleasing : he 

 approaches with a timid respect, and lays 

 his strength, his courage, and all his useful 



talents at the feet of his master ; he waits his 

 orders, consults his looks, and a single glance 

 is sufficient to put him in motion. Con- 

 stant in his affections, and grateful for the 

 slightest favours, he is humble and suppliant 

 under his owner's displeasure, and eventually 

 disarms resentment byunwearied submission, 

 When the care of the house is submitted to 

 him, he appears proud of the charge, and, 

 like a faithful sentinel, he goes his rounds, 

 and gives manifest indications that he is 

 intent on his duty. Thus useful in himself, 

 and being admitted, as it were, to a par- 

 ticipation of empire, he exerts a degree of 

 superiority over all other animals which 

 stand in need of human protection. The 

 flocks and herds obey his voice more readily 

 even than that of the shepherd or the herds- 

 man ; he conducts them, guards them, con- 

 fines them within the_ir appointed limits, and 

 considers their enemies as his own. Nor are 

 his arts less serviceable in pursuit, or his un- 

 flinching courage less valuable to man, than 

 his personal attachment, his obedient watch- 

 fulness, and his patient submission, are en- 

 dearing. 



Cuvier observes that the Dog exhibits " the 

 most singular, the most complete, and the 

 most useful conquest that man has ever 

 made. Every species has become our pro- 



perty ; each individual is entirely devoted 

 to his master, assumes his manners, distin- 

 guishes and defends his property, and re- 

 mains attached to him even unto death ; and 

 all this proceeds neither from mere necessity 

 nor constraint, but solely from true gratitude 

 and real friendship. The swiftness, the 

 strength, and the scent of the Dog have 

 created for man a powerful ally against 

 other animals, and were perhaps necessary 

 to the establishment of society. It is the 

 only animal that has followed man through 

 every region of the earth." What the great 

 French naturalist has here said is strictly 

 true ; but every person must agree with Mr. 

 M'Culloch, that " it is singular that neither 

 Cuvier, nor any one of those by whom his 

 statements have been copied, should have 

 mentioned that this account is applicable 

 only to Europe. All Mahommedan nations 

 regard the Dog as impure, and will not 

 touch it without an ablution. The same is 

 also the case with the Hindoos. From the 

 Hellespont to the confines of Cochin-China, 

 dogs are unappropriated, and have no 

 master. They prowl about the towns and 

 villages ; and though they are naturally 

 more familiar, they are in no respect more 

 domesticated, than the carrion crows, kites, 

 vultures, &c. which assist them in perform- 

 ing the functions of scavengers." 



If we had sufficient space, and it were ne- 

 cessary to the elucidation of the subject, 

 numerous instances might be cited of the 

 sagacity, affection, courage, generous dispo- 

 sition, and other estimable qualities of this 

 animal, which, if such instances were not 

 well authenticated, would appear incredible; 

 but the universality of such cases renders it 

 almost a matter of certainty that there are 

 few of our readers whose own experience 

 will not furnish them with " anecdotes "of 

 this nature, no less wonderful than true, j 

 We shall therefore proceed, without further I 

 digression, in an attempt to trace, in the i 

 pages of the most eminent naturalists, the j 

 source or origin of the species, as far as the 

 intermixture of races or the influence of j 

 domestication will permit. 



Pennant is of opinion that the original 

 stock of Dogs in the Old World is with great 

 reason supposed to be the jackal ; that from 

 their tamed offspring, casually crossed with 

 the wolf and the fox, have arisen the num- 

 berless forms and sizes of the canine race. 

 Buffon, with much ingenuity, has traced out 

 a gene_alogical table of all the known Dogs, 

 deducing all the other varieties from the 

 Shepherd's Dog, variously affected by cli- 

 mate, and other casual circumstances. In 

 the Alpine regions, for instance, this Dog is 

 much larger and stronger than in England. 

 From the recent observations of travellers 

 in the high northern parts of the world, 

 where, although Dogs have been employed 

 for an incalculable length of time, they still 

 retain much of the external appearance and 

 general carriage of a wild animal, it would 

 seem that Pennant's suggestion is worthy of 

 attention. But at the same time it should be 

 remarked, that the breed of Dogs, produced 

 from the wolf and varieties of the domestic 

 dog, during a long succession of generations, ' , 



