HISTORY.] 



THE DOG, AND ITS VAEIETIES; 



[flISTOET. 



Eore feet, with five toes; hind feet, with 

 four toes, and sometimes a fifth on the tarsus ; 

 daws not retractile. 



The following is the arrangement of the 

 groups into which the breeds of the domestic 

 doo-have been thought to resolve themselves : — 



1. Dingo — semi-domestic.'' 



2. Esquimaux dog? 



3. Hare Indian's dog? 



which is generally desired, how much light 

 would be thrown on our modern varieties ! We 

 know, indeed, that the Greeks and Romans hud 

 valuable dogs for hunting various wild animals ; 

 we also know that they paid great attention to 

 their training ; but, beyond this, we know 

 little. They had watch-dogs, hounds, a grey- 

 hound breed, and probably a breed of spaniels, 

 the Canis Tuscus, also described as Proles de 



To what groups these respectively belong is sanguine Ihero, There is a dog represented 

 not verv clear; probably to the first or second , on a mosaic pavement at Pompeii, fastened by 



Ears sharp, erect, or sub 

 erect; nose pointed 

 hair lonff. 



of the following groups : — 



Shepherd's do 

 Siberian, 

 i Pomeranian. 

 I Icelandish, &c. 

 C Terrier, rough and smooth. 

 Muzzle less acute; ears <^^^^^^:^^^ 



sub-erect; hau- shorty Barbary dog. 

 o^- w"T- I Lurcher, &c. 



r Great Danish dog. 

 Irish wolf-dog. 



Ears moderate, narrow, 

 generally pendulous ; 

 muzzle produced. 



Ears moderately large, 

 t; muzzh 

 derate ; hair Ion 



Scotch greyhound, 



deer-hound. 



English ditto. 



Italian ditto. 



Persian ditto. 



Albanian dog, &c. 



f Spaniel. 



, , Water-spaniel, 



pendent; muzzle mo- < ^ , ' j 



■\ . , . , Kough water-dog. 



L Setter, &c. 



Ears moderately large f Italian wolf-dog. 



and pendent; muzzle J Newfoundland-dog. 



deep and strong ; hair 1 Labrador dog. 



long or wiry. L Alpine dog, &c. 



Pointer. 



Beagle. 



Harrier. 



■{ Fox-hound. 



Old English hound. 



Bloodhound. 



. African hound, &c. 



Cuban mastiff. 



Mastiff. 



Ears large and pendent; 

 muzzle long and deep ; 

 nose large; hair close. 



Ears moderate, pen- 

 dent ; muzzle short ■< 

 and thick ; hair short. 



Ba 



Bulldog. 



Corsican bulldog, &c. 

 L Pug-dog? 



This, and every other attempt to arrange the 

 various breeds of dogs under difierent heads, 

 must necessarily be defective, from that want 

 of information which we are now doomed to 

 deplore regarding the races of antiquitj^. Were 

 we possessed of this knowledge to the extent 

 380 



a chain, with the caution " Cave canem^'' "Be- 

 ware the dog," written at its feet. A represen- 

 tation of this is to be seen in some histories of 

 Eoman antiquities. The small sharp ears and 

 elongated muzzle give it a wild aspect : it 

 appears to be a strongly- made, vigorous animal ; 

 but if it represent the Dogue de forte race of 

 the Romans, it is not to be wondered at 

 their sending to Britain for our old indigenous 

 mastiff". 



In the Scriptures there are abundant allu- 

 sions to the dog. Some of these are to be 

 found in Exodus xxii. 31 ; 1 Kings xxi. 19 and 

 23 ; 2 Kings ix. 35, and elsewhere. The pas- 

 sages of greatest force are : — ■" In the place 

 where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, 

 shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine ;" and, 

 " The dogs shall cat Jezebel by the wall of 

 Jezreel." These recall the picture of a scene 

 painted in modern days by a poet, who had 

 travelled in Greece and Turkey, and whose 

 wonderful pen drew, with magical power, the 

 habits of the niasterless dogs that " wander up 

 and down for meat, and grudge if they be not 

 satisfied." The passage is in Byron's Siege of 

 Corinth : — 



" He saw the lean dogs beneath the wall, 

 Hold o'er the dead their carnival ; 

 Gorging and growling o'er carcass and limb, 

 They were too busy to bark at him. 

 From a Tartar's skull they had stripp'd the flesh, 

 As ye peel the fig when the fruit is fresh ; 

 And their white tusks crunch'd o'er tlie whiter skull, 

 As it slipt through their jaws when their edge grew 



dull, 

 As they lazily mumbled the bones of tlie dead, • 



As they scarce could rise from the spot where they fed ; 

 So well had they broken a lingering fast 

 With those who had fallen for that night's repast." 



In Egypt the dog was a favourite, and care- 

 fully bred, and, as the paintings of that people 

 prove, there were several breeds. It would 



