DIVISION II. 



THE DOG AND ITS VAEIETIES. 



CHAPTER I. 



OUIGI.V OF THE DOG. 



"With something like a feeling of hesitation we 

 euter on the history of the clog, respecting 

 whose origin there are few naturalists agreeing 

 vrith one another, and most of them suggest- 

 ing different theories, having their rise in the 

 reasoning of conjecture or probability, and 

 little to support them beyond the specula- 

 tions of ingenuity. To no animal is man- 

 kind so largely indebted for affection, attach- 

 ment, and obedience, as to this. Among all the 

 various orders of the brute creation, none has 

 hitherto been found to identify itself so closely 

 with the interests of his master ; none has been 

 found so admirably subdued to his purposes ; 

 and none so well adapted to watch or protect 

 himself or his property in the hour of danger, 

 darkness, or destruction. In both the old and 

 the new worlds, there are many countries in 

 which, if he wore deprived of this faithful com- 

 panion and ally, he would resist his enemies 

 without success. His person would be inse- 

 cure ; his labour would frequently be vain ; and 

 his property would become a prey to the rav- 

 ages of other animals stronger and swifter than 

 himself. Whatever may be the amount of vigi- 

 lance with which the Supreme Being has gifted 

 him, there are many situations in which he 

 could not bo secure from rapacity on the one 

 hand, or speed on the other ; but in the dog he 

 possesses the most faithful of friends ; the most 

 constant, whether in adversity or prosperity, 

 and the only one that voluntarily lays all his 

 Citraordiuary qualities at his feet ; resigns 



himself up to his direction ; obeys his voice 

 under all circumstances; conforms himself to 

 his movements, and identifies his own with the 

 habits of his master. 



" It proclaims 

 Th' audacious felon ; foot by foot he marks 

 His winding way — while all the list'ning crowd 

 Applaud his reasonings — o'er the watery ford, 

 Dry sandy heaths, and stony barren hills ; 

 O'er beaten paths, with men and beasts disdain'd, 

 Unerring he pursues ; till at the cot 

 Arrived, and seizing by his gxiilty throat 

 The caitiff vile, redeems the captive prey ; 

 So exquisitely delicate his sense ! " 



In the battle he is fierce ; in the chase he is 

 persevering; in the house he is watchful ; and 

 his patience is inexhaustible. In disposition 

 he is so friendly that he seems only to remem- 

 ber the benefits he receives. Blows be soon 

 forgets ; and, generally speaking, in place of 

 discovering resentment when he receives them, 

 he licks the hand by which they were adminis- 

 tered. It is no wonder that such an animal 

 has, from remotest antiquity, attracted the no- 

 tice, and received the countenance and favour 

 of man, whether enrobed in the splendour of 

 regal purple, or invested in the meanest and 

 most fragmentary garments imaginable ! 



It was the opinion of Pallas that the dog is 

 a factitious anln\al, not descended from any 

 single original wild stock, but from a mixture of 

 nearly allied primitive species, whose hybrid 

 offsprings have possessed prolific powers ; and 

 he observes, that those domesticated animals, 



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