258 APPENDIX. 



Virgil enjoins feeding the Spartan and Molossian on fattening 

 whey, for the safe custody of cattle ; 



Virgil. Georg. Veloces Spartae catulos, acremque Molossum 



L. III. 404. Pasce sero pingui: nunquara custodibus illis 



Nocturnum stabulis furem, incursusque luporum, 

 Aut impacatos a tergo horrebis Iberos . . . 



and briefly runs through the ordinary chases in which the canine 

 tribe generally are used ; 



Ejusdein Sape etiam cursu timidos agitabis onagros ; 



vs. 4uy. £(. canibus leporem, canibus venabere damas. 



Saepe volutabris pulsos sylvestribus apros 

 Latratu turbabis agens : montesque per altos 

 Ingentem clamore premes in retia cervuin. 



The trailing quality of the Spartan, and keenness of scent/ Plato 

 refers to, in his Parmenides — waTrepye al AaKaivai aicvXafces fieraOeis 

 Kal i'^i/eueis to. XexBevra, (Zeno Socrati) — and Sophocles in the 

 prologue of the Ajax Flagellifer, where the wily son of Laertes, 

 tracking the murderous maniac, A'lavTi rw aaKea(l>6p(^, is likened 

 to a sharp-nosed Spartan hound, 



Sophoclis Ajac, e6 Se a eKcpepn 



ilagell. vs. 7. Kvvhs Aokowtjs Scttis evpivos ^dais. 



Homer's kindly and vivid description of the hunting excellencies 

 of the faithful Argus, his keenness of sight and smell, and speed of 

 foot, would lead us to place him amongst the swiftest of the saga- 

 cious class : and where can we assign him a more honourable station 

 than in a Spartan kennel ? — I am aware some ancient Greek writer 

 (to whom I have lost my clue of reference) considers this far-famed 

 hound an isolated variety of no particular family — ofnos >/ (^vais koi 

 €v aWois Kal airaffL Tonots biaaireipei Kvpas ayadovs, biroios ris Kal 6 



1. This quality Aristotle justly attributes to the length of the nostrils of the 

 Spartan hound, affording a more extensive surface for the distribution of the minute 

 branches of the olfactory nerves— tfcwv ot ixvKTrjpis fiaKpoi, oTov twv \aKwviKwv, 

 dacppavTiKO,' 



