14 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE DOG. 



dog and our wolf-dog. But the comparison of crania points to a 

 closer approximation in the mastiff 2i\\6i Danish dog : after which 

 come the hounds the pointevy and the terrier, which do not ma- 

 terially differ between themselves except in size and the propor- 

 tions of the limbs. The greyhound is altogether more lank, its 

 frontal sinuses also are small, and its scent but feeble. The shep- 

 herd's dog and the wolf-dog present the straight ears of the wild 

 dogs, but with a greater development of brain, which proceeds in- 

 creasing, wdth a proportionate degree of intelligence, in the harhet 

 and the spaniel. The bull-dog, on the other hand, is remarkable 

 for the shortness and strength of its jaws, as well as the vigour and 

 determination with which he retains his hold on the nose or lips of 

 the bull. The cerebral cavities of the bull-dog are very confined, 

 and consequently his intellect is not very extended. He is without 

 doubt an unnatural production, but is, nevertheless, a striking 

 proof of that power which man exercises over nature. 



The dog is born with the eyes closed, and they remain so until 

 the tenth or twelfth day. His teeth begin to change in the fourth 

 month, and his growth terminates at two years of age. The fe- 

 male goes with young sixty-three days, and brings forth from six 

 to a dozen, or even more, young ones. The dog is erroneously 

 said to be old at five years, and that he seldom lives more than 

 twenty, which is true in the majority of instances ; but we have 

 seen more than one dog that had lived beyond twenty. We knew a 

 French dog which weighed less than four pounds, and which, as we 

 were told by its owner, had reached its twenty-third or twenty- 

 fourth year, we forget which. The vigilance, the bark, the sin- 

 gular mode of copulation of this animal, and his striking suscepti- 

 bility of a varied education, are universally known^. 



' The illustrious naturalist, Cuvier, evinces some of the nationality which 

 marked Buffon in his reveries on the origin of the dog : nor can I agree with 

 him that the dog is old at five ; he is, on the contrary, then in his prime. 

 And by limiting the number of progeny to twelve, he is equally in error : I 

 took myself from a pregnant setter, after her death, sixteen young ones, within 

 a week of their expected birth. 



