DOG KIND. 21 



ever, I was informed otherwise ; the gentleman 

 who bred them assuring me, that a mastiff would 

 be nothing when opposed to one of them, who 

 generally seized their antagonist by the back : he 

 added, that they would worry the strongest bull- 

 dogs, in a few minutes, to death. But this 

 strength did not appear either in their figure or 

 their inclinations ; they seemed rather more timid 

 than the ordinary race of dogs ; and their skin 

 was much thinner, and consequently less fitted for 

 combat. Whether with these disadvantages they 

 were capable, as I was told, of singly coping with 

 bears, others may determine ; however, they have 

 but few opportunities, in their own country, of 

 exerting their strength, as all wild carnivorous 

 animals there are only of the vermin kind. M. 

 Buffon seems to be of opinion that these are the 

 true Molossian dogs of the ancients : he gives no 

 reason for this opinion, and I am apt to think it 

 ill-grounded. Not to trouble the reader with a 

 tedious critical disquisition, which I have all along 

 avoided, it will be sufficient to observe, that 

 Nemesianus, in giving directions for the choice 

 of a bitch, advises to have one of Spartan or 

 Molossian breed ; and among several other per- 

 fections, he says that the ears should be depen- 

 dant, and fluctuate as she runs.* This, however, 

 is by no means the case with the Irish wolf dog, 

 whose ears resemble those of the greyhound, and 



* Elige tune cursu facilem, facilemque recursu, 

 In Lacedaemonio natam scu rure Molosso 

 llcnibus ampla satis validis, diductaque coxas 

 Cuique nimis niollcs fluitent in cursibus aures. 



NnuaiAtr. 



