Historical 25 



moved Socrates to sweare commonly by the dog, as Plato 

 noteth ; who thereby would point out an unmatchable 

 faithfulnesse, such as is seene in those creatures." 



Camerarius also quotes another writer, Pierius, who 

 shows forth the faithful and discerning qualities of guard 

 dogs, by stating that ancient authors had written 

 that: 



" Near to Mount Gibell, in Cicilia, there was a temple 

 builded to Vulcan, the groave whereof was guarded by 

 dogs (as M. Marlianus also reporteth, that in old Rome, 

 before Vulcan's chappell, in the Flaminian Cirque, were 

 certain dogs that would never barke but against church- 

 robbers), which would run with great fawning to meet the 

 good and devout Pilgrims ; but if any that were villanous 

 and dishonest came thither, they were miserably torne in 

 pieces by those dogs." 



There was a breed of dogs much prized in the Middle 

 Ages which went by the name of Allan, Alaunt or Allande. 

 The place of their origin is obscure, but it seems probably 

 to have been in some parts of Southern Europe. They 

 were probably a cross between a wolf hound and a mastiff, 

 as their characteristics were strength, speed, and a very 

 determined disposition. For this reason, they were fre- 

 quently used as war dogs, and were brought up to be of 

 as fierce a nature as possible, as a protection to their own 

 people against foreign enemies. 



Ulysses Aldrovandus wrote, in 1607, a work on natural 

 history, and in this he describes such dogs as " terrible 

 and frightful to behold, and more fierce and fell than any 

 Arcadian curre. ... In build he resembles the hound. 

 He ought to be gentle to his own household, savage to 

 those outside it, and not to be taken in by caresses. He 

 should be robust, with a muscular body, and noisy in his 



