ORIGIN OF THE MASTIFF. 41 



entitled " Icones Animalium," by J. F. Riedel. It cannot be said on behalf of these illustrations 

 that they in some points much resembled a modern Mastiff, nor were they possibly intended to 

 be more than a rough outline of what the Molossus was in days gone by. There are, however, 

 many characteristics of the Mastiff in this Molossus, and dogs of this variety were undoubtedly 

 the progenitors of our modern Mastiff. 



Assuming therefore that there is some foundation for this theory, is it not most probable that 

 persons finding themselves in possession of a huge dog gifted with the savage disposition described 

 by Dr. Caius should be desirous of improving him into an animal a little more deserving of their 

 attention and esteem ? If this were the case, by -selecting suitable specimens to breed 

 from they had it in their power to produce a large-framed loud-voiced dog, specially adapted 

 for the guardianship of dwellings, or a smaller animal suitable in every degree for baiting 

 bulls, a use to which the larger variety could hardly be put on account of his great size. 



FIG. 24. CANIS MOLOSSUS. FIG. 25. CANIS MOLOSSUS 



(Both figures copied from " /cones Animalium.") 



There are not wanting others who, with a show of justice, contend that the now-almost 

 extinct Irish Wolfhound a dog combining something of the appearance of the Mastiff with that 

 of the rough Greyhound was the original dog sought after by the Romans, and whose prowess 

 was sung of by their poets. Leaving this point, however, as one incapable of solution, we shall 

 here assume that the Bulldog and Mastiff had much of common paternity, if they did not diverge 

 from one common ancestor ; the Mastiff being the larger and coarser variety, and the Bulldog the 

 sturdier, lesser, and more active ; but both admirably suited for the work to which they were put. 



According to many eminent breeders of Mastiffs with whom we have had conversation, the 

 Lyme Hall breed is considered the purest and most valuable strain of blood in the kingdom ; but 

 owing to the jealousy with which it has always been guarded by the Legh family, to which it 

 belongs, the general public have been unable to judge of its merits by either personal observation 

 or experience. We ourselves are of the opinion that the value of the strain must be consider- 

 ably less than it is usually estimated at, since the breed must have greatly deteriorated by 

 in-breeding. Nothing, however, could be more remote from our object than any wish to cast a 

 slur on the Lyme Hall breed. Judiciously crossed with dogs of other strains, this blood has 

 very frequently been the means of resuscitating a failing line, and has largely contributed towards 

 the existence of the splendid animal now accepted as the beau ideal of the English Mastiff. 



