The Mastiff. 



the figures were represented, and from which the 

 engravings were taken. " These," the author of the 

 " History of the Mastiff" proceeds to say, " are 

 the best drawn and most reliable evidences I have 

 met with, and it would be ridiculous to class such 

 dogs as bulldogs, with their manner of attack and 

 large size ; yet their broad skulls and short muzzles 

 show their close affinity to the British bulldog." 



There are other illustrations of large dogs extant 

 taken from ancient pottery, and in some of them the 

 ears of the animals are shown as cut, the latter no 

 doubt done to prevent the aural appendages being 

 torn, either when the dogs were fighting with 

 each other, or with some wolf, or fox, or badger. 



However, it would occupy too much space were 

 I to enter fully into the origin of the mastiff and 

 describe him seriatim from the earliest days to 

 the present time. He was early known as the 

 Alaun or Alan, the Molossus, and later, according 

 to some authorities, as the Bulldog, but I should be 

 inclined to believe nay, do in reality believe that 

 our modern mastiff, as he appears on the show 

 bench to-day, is very far removed from what he 

 was when Julius Caesar first landed on our shores, 

 and although Mr. Wynn, Mr. H. D. Kingdon, and 

 others have endeavoured to trace the breeding of 

 these favourite dogs for many years back, their 



