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ANIMALS OF 



probability ; and until that gives more certain 

 information, we must be excused from enter- 

 ing more minutely into the subject. 



" With regard to the dogs of our country in 

 particular, the varieties are very great, and the 

 number every day increasing. And this must 

 happen in a country so open by commerce to 

 all others, and where wealth is apt to produce 

 capricious predilection. Here the ugliest and 

 the most useless of their kinds will be enter- 

 tained merely for their singularity ; and, being 

 imported only to be looked at, they will lose 

 even that small degree of sagacity which they 

 possessed in their natural climates. From this 

 importation of foreign useless dogs, our own 

 native breed is, I am informed, greatly de- 

 generated, and the varieties now to be found 

 in England much more numerous than they 

 were in the times of Queen Elizabeth, when 

 Doctor Caius attempted their natural history. 

 Some of these he mentions are no longer to be 

 found among us, although many have since 

 been introduced, by no means so serviceable 

 as those which have been suffered to decay. 



" He divides the whole race into three kinds. 

 The first is, the generous kind, which consists 

 of the terrier, the harrier, and the blood-hound ; 

 the gaze-hound, the gray-hound, the leymmer, 

 and the tumbler ; all these are used for hunt- 

 ing. Then the spaniel, the setter, and the 

 water-spaniel, or finder, were used for fowling ; 

 and the spaniel gentle, or lap-dog, for amuse- 

 ment. The second is the farm kind ; consist- 

 ing of the shepherd's dog and the mastiff. And 

 the third is the mongrel kind ; consisting of 

 the wappe, the turnspit, and the dancer. To 

 these varieties we may add at present, the bull- 

 dog, the Dutch mastiff, the harlequin, the poin- 

 ter, and the Dane, with a variety of lap-dogs, 

 which, as they are perfectly useless, may be 

 considered as unworthy of a name. 



" The Terrier is a small kind of hound," 

 with rough hair, made use of to force the fox 

 or the badger out of their holes ; or rather to 

 give notice, by their barking, in what part of 

 their kennel the fox or badger resides, when 

 the sportsmen intend to dig them out. 



" The Harrier, as well as the beagle and the 

 fox-hound, are used for hunting ; of all other 

 animals, they have the quickest and most dis- 

 tinguishing sense of smelling. The properly 



British Zoology. 



breeding, matching, and training these, make 

 up the business of many men's lives. 



" The Blood -hound was a dog of great use, 

 and in high esteem among our ancestors. Its 

 employ was to recover any game that had es- 

 caped from the hunter, or had been killed, and 

 stolen out of the forest. But it was still more 

 employed in hunting thieves and robbers by 

 their footsteps. At that time, when the coun- 

 try was less peopled than at present, and when, 

 consequently, the footsteps of one man were 

 less crossed and obliterated by those of others, 

 this animal was very serviceable in such pur- 

 suits ; but at present, when the country is every 

 where peopled, this variety is quite worn out ; 

 probably because it was found of less service 

 than formerly. 



" The Gaze-hound hunted, like our gray- 

 hounds, by the eye and not by the scent. It 

 chased indifferently the fox, hare, or buck. It 

 would select from the herd the fattest and fair- 

 est deer, pursue it by the eye, and if lost reco- 

 ver it again with amazing sagacity. This spe- 

 cies is now lost or unknown among us. 



" The Gray-hound is very well known at 

 present, and was formerly held in such estima- 

 tion, that it was the peculiar companion of a 

 gentleman ; who, in the times of semi-barba- 

 rism, was known by his horse, his hawk, and 

 his gray-hound. Persons under a certain rank 

 of life are forbidden, by some late game-laws, 

 from keeping this animal ; wherefore, to dis- 

 guise it the better, they cut off its tail. 



" The Leymmer is a species now unknown 

 to us. It hunted both by scent and sight, and 

 was led in a leyme or thong, from whence it 

 received its name. 



"The Tumbler was less than the hound, 

 more scraggy, and had pricked cars ; so that 

 by the description it seems to answer to the 

 modern lurcher. This took its prey by mere 

 cunning, depending neither on the goodness 

 of its nose nor its swiftness. If it caruc into a 

 warren, it neither barked nor ran on the rab- 

 bits ; but seemingly inattentive, approached 

 sufficiently near till it came within reach, and 

 then seized them by a sudden spring. 



" The Land Spaniel, which probably had 

 its name from Spain, where it might have ac- 

 quired the softness of its hair, is well known 

 at present. There are two varieties of this 

 kind ; namely, the Slater, used in hawking to 

 spring the game ; and the Setter, that crouches 



