HISTOEY.] 



FOB MOUNTAIN, FIELD, AND FARM. 



[niBTonr. 



into one of those deep recesses where huinaii 

 foot never treads. Tlio dog was found by the 

 Bide of his master's body, after many weeks' 

 fruitless searcli. The man who told the story 

 concluded wilii the pious exclamation of — 

 " God knows how the poor beast was su[)- 

 ported so loiii^." 



"VV'ordsworlli has also written on this sub- 

 ject; but his poem is too long for quotation 

 liere; the following, however, are four of the 

 Blanzas most appropriate to our subject — • 



** A barking fouml the shepherd hears, 



A cry as of a dog or fox ; 



He halts and siarcbes with liis eyes 



Among the scattered rocks: 

 And now at distance can discern 

 A stirring in a brake of fern ; 

 From which immediately leaps out 

 A dog, and yelping runs about. 



" The dog is not of mountain breed ; 



Its motions, too, are wild and shy ; 

 With something, as the shepherd thinks. 



Unusual in its cry : 

 Nor is there any one in sight, 

 All round, in hollow or in height; 

 Nor shout nor whistle strikes his ear: 

 What is the creature doing here ? 



" It was a cove, a huge recess, 



That keeps till June December's snow» 

 A lofty precipice in front, 

 A siieut tarn below. 



Far in the bonom of Ilclvellyn, 

 RiMiiotc from jmhlic roiid or dwelling 

 Pathway or cultivated laud, 

 From trace of human foot or hand. 



" IJut hear a wonder now, for sake 



Of which this mournful talc I tell I 



A lasting monument of words 

 This wonder merits well. 



The dog, which still was hovering nigh, 



Uepeating the same timid cry, 



This dog iuid been, through three months' space, 



A dwilk T in that savage place." 



As an appropriate close to this chapter, we 

 will give the epitaphs written by two of our 

 most celebrated poets, upon their favourite 

 dogs. " Maida," the first, was the deer-hound of 

 Sir AValter Scott, presented to him by Mac- 

 donald of Glengarry, and was a splendid ani- 

 mal. He lies buried at the gate of Abbota- 

 ford, of which he was long the guardian: — 



" At thy master's gate here, Maida, 

 Lowly dost thou rest; 

 Light the low-relievo marble 

 Lie upon thy breast." 



"Boatswain" was the favourite Newfound- 

 land of Lord Byron : — 



" The poor dog ! in life the firmest friend, 

 The first to welcome, foremost to defend ; 

 Whose honest heart is still his master's own — 

 Who labours, fights, lives, breathes for him alone." 



CHAPTER IL 



HISTORY OF THE DOG. 



The Canulce, or Canine family, includes the 

 Dog, the Wolf, the Jackal, the Fox, and the 

 Lycaon; in other words, all those animals 

 which LinujEua assigns to his genus Canis ; 

 and which, though agreeing in dentition, and 

 in the digitigrade structure of the feet, may, 

 nevertheless, with propriety, bo divided into 

 sub-generic groups. In all, the muzzle is 

 elongated ; the bony palate terminates in a 

 line with the hinder margin of the posterior 

 molars, in this respect differing from that of 

 other carnivora; and there are two true 



molars on each side of the upper and lower 

 jaws. The genua Megnlotis, in the form of the 

 lower jaw, in the dentition, and in the pro- 

 longation of the bony palate, oilers an excep- 

 tion to the general rule. 



6 „ . 1—1. 



Dental formula :— Incisors, -^ ; Canines, j^j' 



1—1 

 1- 



The true molars below are small, the last being 

 even minute, as is the first false molar, and 

 ofteu dropping out early, 



379 



3—3 

 '4—4' 



Molars, false '^—^, carnassidres ^— -^, true .■^— ^ = 42. 



