THE MASTIFF TYPE. 27 



Turning from Assyrian to Egyptian sculpture, in the 

 Museum at Boulaq, is a tablet that formerly stood before the 

 tomb of king Antafaa 2nd, in the valley of the El Assisif at 

 Thebes, on this tablet are figured the four favourite dogs of 

 the king, and one represents a very perfect mastiff of vast size, 

 this dog has a smaller ear than the Asiatic or Assyrian 

 mastiffs, the head is short and full, and the muzzle short and 

 truncated, but the latter point not so marked as in the Assyrian. 

 The neck is thick, and breast deep. Dr. S. Birch, L.L.D. of 

 the British Museum, who kindly sent me his pamphlet 

 containing cuts and particulars of these dogs, remarks that 

 the mastiff" is a breed rarely represented in the Egyptian 

 sculptures, and from one of the names of the dog in question, 

 he conjectures it to have been black in colour, and thinks it 

 was probably of the same breed as we see figured on the 

 Assyrian sculptures. But the talented antiquarian is not 

 sufficiently well versed in the minutiae of canine type, to detect 

 the fact that the dog has more of the European character, 

 being higher in forehead, and in fact, to use a comprehensive 

 expression being more bulldog-like in character. The pam- 

 phlet was reprinted from the " Transactions of the Society of 

 Biblical Archaeology vol. iv. 1875," an d besides containing 

 numerous cuts of dogs, throws great light on the early existence 

 of several known types, as well as the great antiquity of the 

 love and value for the dog in Egypt. 



Dr. Birch's remark that the mastiff is but rarely found 

 depicted among the numerous Egyptian sculptures of the dog 

 is very suggestive that the species does not belong to Africa. 

 Col. H. Smith mentions that in the south-east of Arabia he 

 was informed there was a race of dogs allied to the mastiff', 

 by its great size and round truncated muzzle, but that the lips 

 did not overhang the lower jaw, and the ears were semi-erect, 

 the coat fine, 



