718 THE DOG. 



Persian Greyhound is of the same race with those of other 

 countries' of the East; and it is a reasonable supposition, 

 that the Celtse, as well as the Teutons of Europe, derived 

 their greyhounds from this source, or, at least, that the 

 greyhounds of the East were mixed in blood with the dogs 

 of different countries, giving their distinctive characters to 

 the breeds we term Greyhounds. But whatever be the pris- 

 tine stock, one or more, of the Greyhound, the conformation 

 of these animals, wherever they are found, shews us that 

 they possess a certain common class of characters, and are 

 fitted to pursue their prey by speed of foot rather than by 

 the powers of scent. The form of the true Greyhound is 

 peculiar, and distinguishable from that of any other class of 

 dogs. His jaws are elongated, so that he may seize his prey 

 when at speed ; his neck is long, and his back extended and 

 flexible ; and, the caudal vertebrae corresponding with the ex- 

 tension of the dorsal, his tail is long. His shoulder is oblique, 

 so as to give freedom of motion to the fore-extremities. His 

 limbs are long, tendinous and slender below the knee and 

 hock, and bent and elastic from the fetlock -joint. His 

 breast is deep, so as to give space for the lungs, but nar- 

 rowed before, so that the limbs may not be thrown too far 

 asunder in the stride. His abdomen is contracted, his loins 

 are strong, and his posterior limbs are long and muscular to 

 the hocks. His ears are delicate and slightly pendulous, 

 and his sense of hearing is acute : his eyes are large and 

 brilliant, and his integuments thin. But the external cha- 

 racters of the Greyhound vary with the agencies affecting 

 the animal. In the colder countries, his hair is long and 

 wiry ; in the more temperate, it is short and smooth. When 

 he is habituated from generation to generation to the chase 

 of the larger animals, as the stag, he acquires a more mus- 

 cular form than when he is employed in the chase of the roe, 

 the fox, and the hare ; and when he is withdrawn altogether 

 from the pursuits natural to him, and reared up continually 

 in an artificial state in our dwellings, he acquires the charac- 



