100 



NATURAL HIS TOUT. 



the misfortune only to know this friend of man in the character in which he now appears in Constanti- 

 nople as the common scavenger of the neighbourhood. The only instance in the Bible in which the 

 Dog is mentioned as a domesticated animal is in that magnificent drama, the Book of Job, a poem of 

 great antiquity, and very possibly not of Hebrew origin. The suffering patriarch, after recounting to his 

 " friends " the greatness of his former prosperity, says : " But now they that are younger than I have 

 me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock." This 

 passage is extremely remarkable, as showing at what an early period of the world's history the Dog was 

 sufficiently domesticated to be capable of the arduous task of guarding Sheep a task, the proper per- 

 formance of which necessitates the total suspension of the true canine instinct, which is not to guard 

 and protect the Sheep, but to worry and devour them. 



The prejudice of the Jews against the Dog is shown at the present day by the Hindoos and by 

 the Mahometans, with whom " Dog " is the greatest possible term of reproach, and who never think 

 of the animal as anything but a semi-useful, degraded beast, good for nothing but to clear off the offal 

 of the streets. Among many ancient nations, however, the Dog was held in great veneration, and was 

 even worshipped as a god. In the passage " Howbeit every nation made gods of their own . . . 

 and the Avites made Nibhaz," * the word Nibhaz is supposed to signify a barker, and it is thought 

 that this idol had the form of a Dog. " The Egyptians had several breeds of Dogs, some solely used 

 for the chase, others admitted into the parlour, or selected as the companions of their walks ; and some, 

 as at the present day, selected for their peculiar ugliness. All were looked upon with veneration, 

 and the death of a Dog was not only lamented as a misfortune, but was mourned by every member of 

 the house in which it occurred." 



It is certain that the Egyptians selected their Dogs in such a manner as to produce well-marked 

 varieties, for, as Mr. Youatt states, " there are to be seen on the Egyptian temples representations of 

 Dogs with long ears and broad muzzle, not unlike the old Talbot Hound." This is extremely interesting 

 as showing at what an early period the Dog had been completely differentiated from other Canidce, by 

 acquiring definite characters, quite distinct from those of his wild relations. The Assyrians, too, had 

 advanced considerably in the art of seizing upon important varieties in the structure of their Dogs, 

 and perpetuating them as Hounds. Mr. Darwin informs us that an undoubted Mastiff of enormous size 

 is figured on the tomb of Esar Haddon, about 640 B.C., and he goes on to say, " I have looked through 

 the magnificent works of Lepsius and Rosellini, and on the monuments from the fourth to the twelfth 

 dynasties (i.e., from about 3400 B.C. to 2101 B.C.) several varieties of the Dog are represented ; most of 

 them ai-e allied to Greyhounds. At the later of these periods a Dog resembling a Hound is figured, 

 with drooping ears, but with a 

 large back, and more pointed head 

 than in our Hounds. There is, also, 

 a Turnspit, with short and crooked 

 legs, closely resembling the existing 

 variety." t 



Both the Greeks and Romans 

 made much of the Dog, and among 

 the latter, Greyhounds, Hounds, 

 House Dogs, and Lap Dogs existed. 

 Some of them are preserved in 

 sculpture. The Greeks had a Dog 

 closely resembling our Newfound- 

 land, as is made certain from a piece 

 of sculpture, " said to have been 

 the favourite Dog of Alcibiades, 

 and to have been the production of 



Myron, one of the most skilful artists of ancient times." Dogs " were sacrificed at certain periods b\ the 

 Greeks and Romans to almost all their deities, and particularly to Mars, Pluto, and Pan, to Minerva, Pro- 

 serpine, and Lucina, and also to the moon, because the Dog by his barking disturbed all charms and spells, 



GREYHOUNDS. (From an Egyptian Monument.) 



* 2Kingsxvii. 31. 



t Darwin's " Animals and Plants under Domestication." 



