1308 



VARIETIES OF MANKIND. 



and the nasal cavity, though elongated, is 

 much contracted, especially at its upper part, 

 so that the sense of smell is less acute in 

 this breed than in most others. The shep- 

 herd's dog, which Buffon very erroneously 

 considered as the breed least modified by 

 domestication, is distinguished by its remark- 

 ably capacious cranium ; the temporal bones 

 not beginning to arch over the cavity, until 

 they have risen perpendicularly to half their 

 height. In the spaniel and Newfoundland 

 dog, the capacity of the cranium is yet greater 

 than in the preceding ; and they are also dis- 

 tinguished by the remarkable size of their 

 frontal sinuses, which causes the forehead to 

 rise almost perpendicularly from the nasal 

 bones. The bull-dog, on the other hand, is 

 distinguished by the shortness and extraordi- 

 nary breadth of its muzzle ; while its cranium 

 is less capacious than that of the shepherd's 

 dog. The varieties in general conformation 

 are not less remarkable than those in cranial 

 configuration. Thus, the relative length of 

 the tail is subject to great variation, even the 

 number of its vertebrae differing so widely as 

 from 16 to 21. Some races have an addi- 

 tional claw on the hind foot ; and many have 

 an additional false molar on one or both sides. 

 The nature of the hairy covering, too, varies 

 in regard to its closeness or scantiness, its 

 length, its colour, the fineness or coarseness 

 of its texture, &c. &c. ; so that, as M. Fred. 

 Cuvier remarks, the dog-kind presents all the 

 varieties, in respect to the nature of the hairy 

 covering of the body, that are to be found in 

 the entire class of Mammalia. The form of 

 the ears, too, is another marked feature of 

 distinction ; these organs being short and 

 erect in some, long and pendulous in others. 

 The differences in habit and psychical cha- 

 racter, also, are almost as characteristic as 

 those of form. The greater number of dogs 

 track their prey by scent ; and this quality 

 may be developed by care in breeding*, so 

 that it attains its greatest excellence in the 

 highest-bred fox-hounds, blood-hounds, and 

 pointers. But the greyhound hunts almost 

 solely by sight ; and, in breeding it, every 

 care is taken to obtain swiftness and " wind," 

 and power of enduring sudden and violent 

 bursts of exertion. In the degree and nature 

 of their attachment to man, again, which is 

 the most marked psychical feature common to 

 them all, we observe a very striking diversity. 

 Perhaps the bull-dog is, of all the domestic- 

 ated races, that which is least prone to seek the 

 society of man ; yet, notwithstanding its obsti- 

 nacy and ferocity, it does form attachments to 

 human beings, and especially to those whose 

 savage nature is most akin to its own. On the 

 other hand, the pug, which seems like a dwarf- 

 variety of the bull-dog, is remarkably timid ; 

 and, though possessing but little sagacity, is 

 tolerably good tempered. The mastiff, again, 



* The principal mode in which the influence of man 

 is exerted in modifying the characters of the races 

 under his control, consists in the selection of those 

 individuals only for propagation, which display the 

 desired attributes in the greatest perfection. 



possesses the determined courage of the bull- 

 dog, but is greatly influenced by kindness, 

 and shows a generous and intelligent nature- 

 The setter, with a considerable degree of 

 sagacity and intelligence, is remarkable for its 

 affectionate and grateful nature, for its docility, 

 and for its humble and anxious solicitude to 

 please. Of all the races of dogs, the spaniel 

 is the one most distinguished for attachment 

 to man ; the most timid, fond, and affec- 

 tionate ; the most patient under ill treatment : 

 it is, however, by no means distinguished for 

 courage ; and though very docile, is not re- 

 markable for native sagacity. It is perhaps 

 in the shepherd's dog that the attribute of 

 intelligence is most strikingly displayed, in 

 combination with courage, fidelity, and per- 

 severance : he lives in habits of constant 

 familiarity with his master, learns to interpret 

 his looks and words with an intuitive com- 

 prehension, and allows no difficulty or danger 

 to prevent him from carrying his directions 

 into effect. The Newfoundland dog, perhaps, 

 combines more than any other breed the 

 qualities which render the race most generally 

 serviceable to man ; although this combination 

 is not such as fits him for any of those special 

 uses, to which other breeds are particularly 

 adapted. 



Now these differences are far greater than 

 those which exist among the acknowledged 

 species of the feline race* ; and therefore, at 

 first sight, might be considered as amply jus- 

 tifying the erection of specific distinctions 

 among the several breeds of the canine. But 

 the endeavour to do so would be attended 

 with insuperable difficulties ; for, in the first 

 place, it has been shown by M. Fred. Cuvierf, 

 who has paid particular attention to this 

 question, that if we assume the varieties to 

 be permanent races, or originally distinct 

 species, and predetermine that these races are 

 susceptible of few or no modifications, it will 

 be requisite to institute at least fifty different 

 species of dogs, all distinguished from each 

 other by recognisable characters, a hypo- 

 thesis which cannot for a moment be enter- 

 tained. Moreover, every one who has much 

 intercourse with the canine races becomes im- 

 pressed with the feeling, that, notwithstanding 

 the diversities of the greyhound and the bull- 

 dog, the blood-hound and the spaniel, the 

 Newfoundland and the terrier, they are all 

 dogs ; and there is obviously an instinctive 

 recognition of this fact among the animals 

 themselves, as is seen by the readiness in 

 which the individuals of the most dissimilar 

 breeds will fraternise together. Further, as 

 already remarked, there is a marked ab- 

 sence of tendency to variation in the cha- 

 racters of the feline races, the limits of each 



* The writer has been assured by Mr. S. Stutch- 

 bury, who Avas formerly sub-curator of the museum 

 of the Royal College of Surgeons, that even Cuvier 

 proved himself unable to distinguish the cranium of 

 a lion from that of a tiger. 



f Recherches sur les Caracteres Oste'ologiques, 

 qui distinguent les principales Races du Chien do- 

 mestique. Annales du Museum, torn, xviii. 



