614 MANUAL OF MODEKN FARFJERY. 



local circumstances, domestication, and breeding ; conse- 

 quently, it is improper to consider and call pointers, terriers, 

 mastiffs, and greyhounds species, as they are mere varieties. 

 The parent stock from which all our domesticated races have 

 sprung, has long been a dispute among naturalists, and is at 

 this time an unsettled point. Buffon was of opinion that 

 the shepherds' dog was the progenitor of them all. 



Dogs in a domesticated condition are liable to a variety 

 of diseases; but, above all others, what has been termed 

 canine madness, or hydrophobia, is the worst, and most to 

 be dreaded by mankind. They are, besides, subject to 

 many complaints, in some respects similar to those of tlie 

 human body. We believe there is none more common with 

 them than pulmonary consumption and worm complaints, 

 diseases to which mankind in this country are very liable. 

 Our friend, Mr. Mackenzie, keeper of the anatomical mu- 

 seum in the University of Edinburgh, an expert anatomist 

 and physiologist, concurs with me in this opinion, and in- 

 forms me that he has made many dissections of dogs, and 

 found diseased lungs very prevalent in them. This is 

 chiefly to be attributed to sleeping in damp situations, and 

 in the open air, at times, when they are for the most part 

 accustomed to be kept comfortable and dry in a house. 

 Som€ families of dogs are constitutionally liable to this dis- 

 order ; and sportsmen would do well to avoid breeding from 

 a stock predisposed to consumption. 



