338 PET ANIMALS. 



Dogs have done things that have shown retentive memory, fore- 

 thought, calculation nay, even reason ; for instinct is a poor word 

 to use to express what some dogs have done. We have known a dog 

 remain in a room for weeks together with a sickly boy, and never 

 quit it beyond a minute or two at a time. 



About the true origin of the dog we know nothing. At what period 

 of time he ran wild, and when he first became domesticated, his- 

 tory tells us not ; but so far as the most ancient records go back, we 

 find him the faithful attendant on man ; in the oldest Eygptian 

 scrolls that have been discovered, he is pictured as standing beside 

 his master. A great man, after much patient investigation, came to 

 the conclusion that the wolf, jackal, and dog are all of one species. 

 When dogs return to a wild state they will, after three or four 

 generations, bear a close resemblance to the wolf, while a wild 

 dog domesticated, however wolf-like he may at first appear, will, 

 after a few generations, assume the distinct marks of some familiar 

 breed, and lose all his wolfish appearance. 



THE BLOODHOUND, used for tracing thieves, murderers, deer- 

 stealers, wherever a foot- print was left or a drop of blood shed, is 

 an old type of dog that no doubt has come down to us through long 

 centuries unaltered. His scent is very acute. His colour is generally 

 black and tan, and he is a large, powerful dog, often standing nearly 

 three feet high, and weighing as much as eighty pounds ; his pace is 

 rather slow. 



THE WOLF-DOG is all but extinct. He stood nearly four feet high, 

 and could master a wolf single-handed, in shape he resembled the 

 greyhound, but was a rougher and a stronger dog. There were one 

 or two remaining in Ireland some years ago. He belonged to the 

 olden time, and was no doubt often used by the ancient Britons 

 when they were compelled to pay the tribute of wolves' heads to 

 their Saxon conquerors. 



THE DEERHOUND is another old dog often mentioned in our 

 ancient chronicles and early ballad lore ; he belongs to the class of 

 greyhounds, and the latter are too well known to require a single 

 word of description. 



THE GENUINE BULL- DOG is a terrible fellow to look at, and has 

 been known to turn on his master when offended. But he does not 

 worry and shake his victim like the terrier or the mastiff, nor when 

 he once gets hold will he leave go unless taken off by his master, or 

 compelled to leave go by main force. 



THE MASTIFF, as his under-jaw tells, has a cross of the bull- 

 dog about him ; he is a powerful dog, and makes a capital guardian. 



THE SHEPHERD'S AND DROVER'S DOGS are wonderfully sagacious, 

 and the marvellous stories told of the wondrous things they have 

 done, are enough to place them in the highest class of intelligent 

 dogs. Many a flock of sheep has been saved by their sagacity and 

 perseverance. 



