674 THE DOG. 



ther, we have an increase of power over the services of the 

 ^g> by the races being endowed with the power of breed- 

 ing with one another, so that we can form a breed, or produce 

 individuals, partaking of the attributes of both the parents. 

 Thus, by uniting a mastiff with a greyhound, we can pro- 

 cure individuals combining in a certain degree the speed of 

 the one with a portion of the physical strength of the other, 

 forming a Wolf-Dog, or dog suited to the chase of the wolf ; 

 by uniting a terrier with a hound or barbet, we shall form 

 an Otter-Hound, or dog fitted for the chase of the otter, and 

 so on. In this manner, numerous mixed races have been 

 produced fitted for particular services. 



The Dog appears to have the faculty, beyond any known 

 animal, of becoming adapted, even in the conformation of his 

 body, to the services and actions to which he is inured. A 

 race of dogs employed from generation to generation in the 

 dragging of loads, has the size and muscular strength in- 

 creased; while another, employed in no service which requires 

 enlargement of the muscles, becomes smaller and smaller, 

 until it is suited to its permanent condition. A race of Grey- 

 hounds, employed in the chase of the Stag, acquires the 

 strength and energy suited to this service ; while another, em- 

 ployed in the chase of the Hare, acquires a form by which the 

 individuals can turn more quickly, and reach with their teeth 

 the victim on the ground ; and further, if the same race be 

 withdrawn altogether from the pursuits natural to it, and 

 be reared up as a plaything in our dwellings, it becomes a 

 lap-dog, as in the case of the little Italian Greyhound. The 

 Spaniel is a dog of some size in the countries proper to it : 

 in the houses of the opulent, brought up as a lap-dog, it be- 

 comes a dwarf. The Great Wolf-Dog of Ireland has now 

 nearly disappeared, in a great degree, because the wolves, 

 his appropriate prey, having been extirpated, there is little 

 inducement to cultivate the breed ; but partly, and we may 

 believe mainly, because, being no longer employed in his for- 

 mer pursuits, he ceases to be adapted to them, and his mus- 



