Popular Btrtumarn of STmmatelr $ature. 187 ! 



rieties in stature, colour, and length of hair. 

 Thus it would appear that the dogs of China 

 are often black, the epitelium of the mouth 

 and tongue having the same colour. Those 

 of the north of Europe are almost invariably 

 wliite or light brown, whilst those of the 

 Esquimaux are often black and white. From 

 China we see specimens both of large and 

 of small size, having the same charac- 

 teristic form. Those of the Esquimaux and 

 Kamskatkadales are of rather a large size, 



K3QDIMADX DOO, 



whilst those of Iceland are small, and pro- 

 bably lower in proportion than any other of 

 the group. The dogs of this group appear to 

 differ as widely in their degree of fidelity and 

 docility. The Pomeranian variety, which is 



rrhaps the most completely domesticated, 

 faithful and sagacious, ar/d makes an ex- 

 cellent guard, and the smaller specimens 

 become the admired pets of the ladies. From 

 an example which came to my knowledge, 

 I am inclined to believe that the Chinese 

 dogs have the same character. Those of 

 the Esquimaux and the Kamskatkadales are 

 chiefly valuable on account of their strength 

 and endurance of fatigue ; but they are often 

 ill-tempered and untractable ; and though 



i decidedly sagacious and capable of being 

 trained as retrievers, they are destructive, 



i and cannot be left with safety in the way of 

 live stock, bearing in this, as well as in some 



1 other particulars, a strong resemblance to 

 the wolf, with which it is known that their 

 blood is occasionally blended. It may, 

 however, be observed, that independently of 

 such known connexion, the whole group of 

 which we are now speaking has something 

 more of the wolfish expression than any other 

 variety of the Canis familiaris. * * * 



' " Another extensive division of the species, 

 and which appears to me to have been spread 

 over a different portion of the globe, and 

 probably to belong to the western part of 

 Asia, the southern parts of Europe, and north 

 of Africa, may perhaps be regarded as com- 

 prising the true hunting dogs. They possess, 

 for the most part, well-developed noses; 

 their ears are large, broad, and pendulous ; 

 their proportions rather thick than other- 

 wise ; their jaws large as compared with 

 other dogs, and their tails thick. The de- 

 scriptions of hounds left by Greek authors, 

 seem to have been applied to dogs of this 

 stock, which will also be recognized in the 

 old English hound, and in all the varieties 

 of the modern hound, down to the beagle. 

 The pointer strikingly exhibits the same 

 characters, and all the varieties of spaniel 

 appear to be essentially branches of the same 



family, though probably modified by a cross, 

 respecting which I shall presently hazard a 

 conjecture. The true smooth terrier appears I 

 to be of the same division, though some pass- 

 ing under this name are probably mixed 

 with another stock. In some of the dogs of 

 this group we find probably the most marked 

 effects of culture. Their large pendulous 

 ears, as in some varieties of rabbits, may be 

 referred to this cause. With a greater de- 

 gree of submission and attention to man, 

 they have also a greater degree of depend- 

 ence upon him, and some almost resemble 

 the sheep and the cow in this respect, whilst 

 their more artificial faculties, which have 

 been cultivated for many generations, have 

 become innate in the offspring. Thus the 

 pointer's puppy, of a few weeks old, begins 

 to point of his own accord, and anticipates | 

 the first lessons of his trainer ; just as young ; 

 horses will frequently adopt the artificial 

 paces which have been taught to their sires, i 

 " A third group is less distinctly marked i 

 as a whole, and I am not prepared to lay 

 any great stress on the reasons which have 

 induced me to bring some of its varieties < 

 together ; but in others we have the strongest 

 evidence of their affinity, both in visible 

 characters and known connection of blood, j 

 notwithstanding great apparent differences i 

 of figure. In this group I would place the j 

 greyhound, and that variety of shepherd's 

 dog which most nearly approaches him in 

 form. It would be quite a mistake to sup- 

 pose that the shepherd's dog is a single va- 

 riety, since different kinds of dogs are em- 

 ployed for this purpose in different districts. 

 The transition of the greyhound to one of 

 the shepherd's dogs takes place by almost 

 insensible degrees, and Cowper's description 

 of half lurcher and half cur must be familiar 

 and graphic to almost every one. In the 

 young animals, when no mutilation of the 

 tail has taken place, the resemblance is most 

 striking. Another variety, perhaps, is more 

 related to the greyhound than even any va- 

 riety of shepherd's dog ; I mean the English 

 bull-dog. It was the perception of the 

 striking resemblance in some points exhi- 

 bited in these animals, notwithstanding their 

 general difference of figure, before I was 

 aware of the actual consanguinity which 

 breeders are careful to maintain, which first 

 led me to notice the indications of a natural 

 grouping which would seem to clash with 

 artificial arrangement. Though the bull- 

 dog is short, compact, and heavy, with a 

 proverbially large blunt head and broad 

 face, and the greyhound is the very emblem 

 of lightness, his elongated nose, head, and 

 neck resembling a snake, his back long, 

 curved, and flexible, his body, which, with 

 sufficient room for the organs of circulation 

 and respiration, affords almost none for those 

 of digestion, and supported on long and | 

 slender limbs, which seem to render him j 

 among quadrupeds what the hirondeUe de ; 

 mer is among birds there are individual 

 points of resemblance between the two dogs i 

 which are perhaps more striking than any i 

 which can be found among other varieties. 

 The feet and toes are remarkably deli- 

 cately formed ; the ears small and pointed, 



