THE MOLOSSIAN GROUP. 723 



young his instinctive antipathy to that animal. This fine 

 variety is now scarcely anywhere to be found. With the 

 disuse of his appropriate services, he seems to have gra- 

 dually diminished to the size of other dogs, so that the few 

 that have been preserved pure cannot be compared in strength 

 and stature to the ancient model. It has been usual for 

 naturalists to class with the Irish "Wolf-dog the great Dog 

 of Denmark. But the Danish Dog is characterised by the 

 clouded colour of his fur, which is probably the result of 

 some intermixture with the races of warmer countries ; for 

 the peculiarity is not uncommon in the dogs of the South 

 and East. It was known to the ancients, who absurdly 

 ascribed it to an intermixture with the blood of the tiger. 

 In England we are familiar with this peculiar colour in the 

 case of a beautiful race of dogs which we call Dalmatian, 

 from their being found in some numbers in the ancient pro- 

 vince of that name lying on the shores of the Adriatic. They 

 are common attendants on the carriages of the opulent in 

 this country, and, being kept in stables, they manifest an ex- 

 traordinary love of horses, which, like other acquired pro- 

 pensities, they transmit to their offspring. 



III. THE MOLOSSIAN GROUP. 



The Molossian group of dogs comprehends the larger and 

 fiercer kinds, which approach more or less to the type of the 

 Mastiff. The most typical of this extensive group is the 

 noble Mastiff of Central Asia, which, from the high lands of 

 Thibet, seems to have extended to the western limits of 

 Europe. This is the most massive in his form of known 

 dogs. His limbs are muscular, his breast is wide, his 

 head large, and his muzzle broad. His upper lips hang 

 over the lower jaw, giving him a sullen and austere aspect. 

 The colour of his fur in his native region is a deep brown, 

 nearly black ; and over each eye is a light tawny mark, which 



