722 ' THE DOG. 



his master, the greyhound manifests neither indocility nor 

 want of sagacity. He is affectionate, faithful, and delighted 

 with the caresses and favour of his protector. With respect 

 to the older greyhounds, they were remarkable, not only for 

 their affection and fidelity, but for their sagacity and courage. 

 The fine euloguim of Arrian on the virtues of his greyhound 

 is familiar to every classical scholar ; and the minstrels of 

 the middle ages have left us many charming descriptions of 

 the fidelity, courage, and intelligence, of these animals. 



The blood of the older greyhound can be traced, in innu- 

 merable varieties of dogs, found in all countries. It was a 

 common practice of the ancients to unite different races of 

 dogs together, so as to communicate to the one more or less 

 of the properties of the other ; and the same practice has 

 been continued up to our own times. The union with the 

 greyhound is calculated to give speed to the slower dogs. 

 In this manner were produced the Lurcher, and, apparently, 

 the old Gaze-hound, which seems to have been the offspring 

 of the talbot and deer-hound. This dog was employed in 

 the pursuit of the stag or fallow-deer. When one of a herd 

 was wounded, or otherwise pointed out to him, he selected it 

 from the rest, and pursued it, using the scent and eye, with 

 indomitable perseverance. In like manner, by uniting the 

 greyhound with dogs of the Molossian Group, were produced 

 many of those varieties which are termed Wolf-dogs and 

 Boar-hounds, from their special adaptation to the chase of 

 the wolf and boar. The great Irish Wolf-Dog was a dog of 

 this class. He was one of the tallest of the dogs of Europe, 

 measuring from three to four feet high at the shoulder. He 

 approached to the general conformation of the ancient deer- 

 hound, but his muzzle was broader, his neck relatively thicker, 

 his breast proportionally wider, and his limbs were more mus- 

 cular. He followed the game chiefly by the eye, grasping 

 it in the manner of the greyhound with his long and power- 

 ful jaws. He was a dog of amazing courage, and could de- 

 stroy unaided the fiercest wolf; and he communicated to his 



