THE MOLOSSIAN GROUP. 731 



upper, which gives him the very advantage which he requires, 

 in running directly from the front to grasp the muzzle of his 

 antagonist. Thus the Bull-dog exhibits that adaptation to 

 the uses to which he is rendered subservient which we see 

 in every race of dogs ; and we have only to suppose the pe- 

 culiar characters of the animal called forth from generation 

 to generation by selection and breeding, to be assured that 

 a true breed would be formed. This has been so in a re- 

 markable degree in the case of the Bull- dog. After the Wild 

 Oxen of the woods were destroyed, the practice was intro- 

 duced, so early, we learn, as the reign of King John, of bait- 

 ing the domesticated bull and other animals ; and thus the 

 breed of dogs suited to this end was preserved, nay, culti- 

 vated with increased care up to our own times. The extent 

 can scarcely be imagined to which this savage practice was 

 carried in England, even till late in the last century. On 

 the accession of George III., there was scarcely a consider- 

 able town in England in which there was not a bear-garden, 

 or some place set apart for these frightful exhibitions ; and 

 even after they had ceased to be common, great numbers of 

 bull-dogs were kept for fighting with one another, and for 

 exportation to Germany and other countries. 



But the Bull-dog, as he has received a peculiar class of 

 characters, so he may lose them under new conditions of life. 

 The jaws may diminish in size, and, with this change, the short- 

 ness of the frontal bones, and lateral expansion of the pos- 

 terior part of the skull, to which- we may reasonably ascribe 

 that conformation of the cranial cavity to which the peculiar 

 propensities of the animal are due. The number of these dogs 

 has been greatly diminished, and of those that remain, few 

 retain the strength and ferocious temper of the older race ; 

 and we may hope to see this variety of dog disappear with 

 the disuse of the cruel occupations to which it has been ren- 

 dered subservient. Fierce and indomitable as this kind of 

 dog seems to be, it is -certain that there are cases in which 

 he has manifested affection and fidelity. More than one in- 



