THE VERTBAGAL GROUP. 715 



ago, a gentleman in Virginia had occasion to cross a rapid 

 river when in flood in a light boat rowed by a friend. He 

 had with him a dog of this race. The party had left the 

 shore but a little way when the boat was swamped. The 

 friend of the gentleman perished, and he himself, deprived of 

 consciousness, was hurried down the stream. More than a 

 mile from the place of the accident, a person on the bank 

 saw something dark in the flood, which an eddy brought suf- 

 ficiently near to enable him to reach with a pole which he 

 had in his hand. It was a man supported by a dog, the lat- 

 ter nearly exhausted. The person laid the gentleman on the 

 bank, and by rubbing him, endeavoured to restore heat to his 

 body. The gentlemen awoke as from a frightful dream ; and 

 became at once conscious of what had taken place, when he 

 saw the red torrent sweeping past, the stranger endeavour- 

 ing to restore him to animation, and his faithful dog licking 

 his hands. 



II. THE VERTRAGAL GROUP.* 



The nearest allied, in conformation and habits, to the 

 Lyciscan Group of Dogs, is the Vertragal, of which the com- 

 mon Greyhound is typical. The Greyhound appears to have 

 preserved his distinctive form, and to have been used for 

 the services in which he is now employed, from early times, 

 We can distinguish the characteristic form of the race in the 

 representations of the Dog in Egyptian sculptures, where he 

 is sometimes depicted as held in pairs by the leash, ready to 

 be slipped at the game, as in modern times j and on nume- 

 rous medals which have been recovered from ancient ruins, 

 and especially on those representing the Dea Venatrix, whose 

 worship appears to have extended from the Indus to West- 

 ern Europe, w r e find the Dog represented of a form which 



* So named from Vertraha (Grat, Cyncy,\ a Dog used fo? the chase of the 

 Deer and Hare, 



