12 British War Dogs 



Bronze period, and also of our sheep dogs, and form 

 an interesting link between the dog of prehistoric man and 

 our own, and also show how true to type this particular 

 dog seems to have remained, in essential characteristics. 



The actual origin of the dog — that is to say, whether it 

 has always been a species by itself, or whether it is a 

 descendant of a wild animal, such as the wolf or jackal, 

 has never been satisfactorily decided. Many naturalists and 

 scientific men have leant to the conclusion, that it has 

 always been a distinct species, and certainly, the more one 

 studies the subject, the greater does the likelihood seem 

 that they are right.] Count Buff on, in his book on " Natural 

 History," a.d. 1749, gives an account of an experiment he 

 carried out. He says : " In our climates the wolf and fox 

 make the nearest approach to the dog, particularly the shep- 

 herd's dog, which I consider as the original stock of the 

 species ; and as their internal structure is almost entirely the 

 same and their external differences very slight, I wished to 

 try if they would intermix and produce together. . . . With 

 this in view, I reared a she-wolf, taken in the woods at 

 the age of three months, along with an Irish greyhound 

 of the same age. They were shut up together in a pretty 

 large court, to which no other beast could have access, and 

 they were provided with shelter for their retirement. They 

 were kept in this state three years, without the smallest 

 restraint. During the first year they played perpetually, 

 and seemed extremely fond of each other. The second 

 year they began to quarrel about their food, though they 

 were supplied in a plentiful manner. The wolf always 

 began the dispute. The wolf, instead of seizing the meat, 

 instantly drove off the dog, then laid hold of the edge of 

 the plate so dexterously, as to allow nothing to fall, and 

 carried off the whole. I have seen her run in this manner 



