ZOOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF THE DOG, 1 1 



wasted away, and, at the expiration of the tenth day, he died, the victim 

 of an attachment that would have done honour to man. 



The DOG belongs to the division of animals termed VERTEBRATED (see 

 'The Horse,' 2nd edition, page 106) because it has a cranium or skull, 

 and a spine or range of VERTEBRA proceeding from it. It ranks under 

 the class MAMMALIA, because it has teats, by which the female suckles 

 her young ; the tribe UNGUICUL.ATA, because its extremities are armed 

 with nails ; the order DIGITIGRADES, because it walks principally on 

 its toes. The genus CANIS has two tubercular teeth behind the large 

 carnivorous tooth in the upper jaw ; and the sub-genus familiaris, 

 the DOG, has the pupils of the eye circular, while those of the wolf are 

 oblique, and those of the fox upright and long. 



There has been some dispute whether the various species of dogs are 

 of different origin, or sprung from one common source. When we con- 

 sider the change that climate and breeding effect in the same species 

 of dog, and contrast the rough Irish or Highland greyhound with the 

 smoother one of the southern parts of Britain, or the more delicate one of 

 Greece, or the diminutive but beautifully formed one of Italy, or the 

 hairless one of Africa, or Brazil or the small Blenheim spaniel with the 

 magnificent Newfoundland ; if also we observe many of them varied by 

 accident, and that accidental variety diligently cultivated into a new 

 species, altogether different in form or use, we shall find no difficulty 

 in believing that they might be derived from one common origin. 



One of the most striking proofs of the influence of climate on the form 

 and character of this animal, occurs in the bull-dog. When transported 

 to India he becomes, in a few years, greatly altered in form, loses all his 

 former courage and ferocity, and becomes a perfect coward. 



It is probable that all dogs sprung from one common source, but 

 climate, food, and cross-breeding caused variations of form, which sug- 

 gested particular uses ; and these being either designedly or accidentally 

 perpetuated, the various breeds of dogs thus arose, and they have be- 

 come numerous in proportion to the progress of civilization. Among the 

 ruder, or savage tribes, they possess but one form ; but the ingenuity of 

 man has devised many inventions to increase his comforts : he has varied 

 and multiplied the characters and kinds of domestic animals for the same 

 purpose, and hence the various breeds of horses, and cattle, and dogs. 



The parent stock it is now impossible to trace ; but the wild dog, where- 

 ever found on the continent of Asia, or Northern Europe, has nearly the 

 same character, and bears no inconsiderable resemblance to the British 

 fox-dog, while many of those from the Southern Ocean can scarcely be 

 distinguished from the English lurcher. There is, however, no more 

 difficulty in this respect with regard to the dog, than any other of our do- 

 mesticated animals. Climate, or chance, produced a change in certain 

 individuals, and the sagacity of man, or, perhaps, mere chance, founded 

 on these accidental varieties numerous breeds possessed of certain distinct 

 characteristic properties. The degeneracy of the dog, also, in different 

 countries, cannot for a moment be disputed. 



The most natural arrangement of all the varieties of the dog is according 

 to the development of the frontal sinus and the cerebral cavity, or, in 

 other words, the power of scent, and the degree of intelligence. This 



