Natural Hijiory of the Ancients. 39 



" See'ft thou the gazehound ? how, with glance fevere, 

 From the clofe herd he marks the deftined deer ?" 



To our mind, however, Oppian's defcription ap- 

 pears to apply to no Britifh dog fo well as to a 

 Scotch terrier. We fubjoin a translation of his 

 fonorous Greek hexameters : 



" There is a certain kind of whelps apt for 

 tracking game, but of fmall power ; little in fize, 

 but worthy of much fong, thefe the fierce tribes 

 of painted Britons rear, and they are known par- 

 ticularly as ag offset. In point of fize they re- 

 femble thofe good-for-nothing dainty houfehold 

 pets, lapdogs ; round in fhape, with very little 

 flefh on their bones, covered with Shaggy hair, 

 flow of vifion, but armed on their feet with cruel 

 claws, and fharply provided with many poifonous 

 canine teeth. For its fcenting powers, however, the 

 agaffeus is chiefly renowned, and it is excellent at 

 tracking, fince it is very fkilled to difcover the 

 leaft footprint of any running game, and even to 

 mark the very taint of its quarry in the air." * 



Again the poverty of the times in literature 

 compels us to leap over rather more than a 

 century to Nemefianus. This Carthaginian poet 

 alfo celebrates the hunting-dogs of Britain : 



" Sed non Spartanos tantum tantumve Molossos 

 Pafcendum catulos, divifa Britannia mittit 

 Veloces, noftrique orbis venatibus aptos." 2 



We have another fcrap relating to Britiih dogs 



1 Oppian, " Cyneg.," i. 468. This defcription in the original 

 is a very favourable fpecimen of Oppian's ftyle. 



2 Nemefiani, "Cyneget," v. 123. 



