THE MUSCULAR AND NERVOUS SYSTEMS. 339 



THE MUSCULAR SYSTEM. 



The muscles of tlie dog have nothing remarkable about them, 

 excepting that they are renewed and wasted faster than in most 

 animals. This has passed into a proverb, and should be known 

 as influencing the time which dogs take to recruit their strength. 



THE BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM. 



The nervous system is highly developed in those breeds which 

 have been carefully attended to, that is, where individuals of 

 high nervous sensibility have been selected to breed from. 

 This is therefore remarkable in the bulldog, selected for genera- 

 tions for courage ; in the pointer, where steadiness in pointing has 

 been the prominent cause of choice ; and in the greyhound, 

 whose characteristic is speed ; all requiring a high development 

 of the nervous system, and all particularly liable to nervous 

 diseases, such as fits, chorea, &c. On the other hand, the cur, 

 the common sheep-dog, &c., seldom suffer from any disease 

 whatever. 



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