226 APPENDIX. 



mistius, and Phile, among the Greeks; and by Pliny, Solinus, and 



Quintus Curtius, among the Latins. The size, strength, speed, and 



courage of this dog induced Xenophon to recommend him for boar and 



Xenophon. deer hunting — elai yap ((T^upa!, fueynXai, nobtvKeis, ovk iid/v^oi, says this 



experienced sportsman ; and iElian adds to his good qualities 



^lian. de keenness of sight or scent in tracking — ewyevels Kal ix^l f^orayfun'ai 



L. viii. c. 1. * Qripiov ayndal, K. T.X. J. Pollux, on the authority of Nicander, 



derives the Canes Indici from Acteeon's pack ; who, when they 



Ovid. Metam. had recovered from their madness, " satiatse sanguine herili," 



' ' ' passed the Euphrates, and wandered into India. He particularly 



L. V. c. V. 39. distinguishes them from the Hyrcanian, with which they have 



been by some historians confounded. Both the last-mentioned 



iElian. de Nat, authors, and also Plutarch, would have us believe that the lion 



L. IV. c. 19. ^^^ the only antagonist with whom this courageous dog would 



Plutarch. willingly contend : — rwv be aXXwy ^.djoyv vTrepipporovvTa Travrtov, says 



Ed S^te^ii Plutarch ; and ^lian affirms his victory over the lion ; but Themis- 



tius adds the pard to his chosen antagonists, to the exclusion of 



Brodaei Annot. inferior combatants, as wolves and foxes. Fable however and history 

 in Oppian. , i . i i i • i i p ■ i • 



p. 43. are so closely blended m the records ot canine biography, that we 



are compelled occasionally to doubt. And did we not relieve 



ourselves by incredulity, the marvellous tale of patient courage 



narrated by iElian, as manifested by this fierce animal, would make 



us shudder at the bare recital. It is found in detail in the first 



chapter of his eighth book de Natur^ Animalium,^ and succinctly 



copied by Pollux in the fifth chapter of the fifth book of his Onoma- 



sticon. 



The cruel experiment, transmitted to us by Dr. Goldsmith, as 



having been practised on the British Molossus, is quite eclipsed by 



this more barbarous exhibition of the innate fortitude of the dog of 



India. For in the latter case, the commencement of the inhuman 



test of patient courage was the amputation of the tail, and the 



conclusion decollation. The legs of the poor brute were successively 



cut off", one by one, without his quitting his hold of the lion, his 



chosen antagonist : — and when at last the neck was severed from the 



Vulgar Errors !• " Wherein," says Sir Thomas Brown very justly, " are contained many things 



&c. B. I. suspicious, not a few false, some impossible." 



