44 CASSELL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY. 



There is a fifth group, now to be considered it is formed of dogs of great intelligence ; the 

 forehead is developed, and the scent acute ; the muzzle is moderate; the ears moderately large, some- 

 times very large, and pendant ; and the hair is long and fine. 



THE SPANIEL* 



THERE are many varieties of this dog ; black, brown, pied, liver-coloured, and white. The spaniels are 

 remarkable for docility and an affectionate disposition, and these good qualities, combined with their 

 beauty, render them general favourites. The fur is long and silky, sometimes crisped or curled, the 

 ears are large and pendant, and the expression of the countenance sagacious and pleasing. This race of 

 dogs was known to the Romans ; it appears clearly figured in some of their later monuments. 



Tn the number of the " Mercurius Publicus," for June 28th, 1660, there is an advertisement for 

 " a smooth black dog, less than a greyhound, with white under his breast, belonging to the king's 



% 



- 



THE SPANIF.U 



majesty." This dog was evidently *a very great favourite, for the next publication of the journal 

 contains another advertisement with respect to him, printed in larger italic type, the diction of which, 

 from its pleasant raillery, looks as though it had come from the king's own hand : 



" We must call upon you again for a Slack Dog, between a Greyhound and a Spaniel, no white about him, 

 onely a streak on his Brest, and Tayl a little bobbed. It is his Majestie's ain Dor;, and doubtless was stoln, for the Dog 

 was not lorn nor bred in England, and would never forsake his master. Whosoever findes him may acquaint any at 

 Whitehal, for the Dog was better known at Court than those who stole him. Will the;/ never leave robbing his Majesty ! 

 must he not keep a Dog ? This Dog's place (though better than some imagine) is the only place which nobody offers 

 to beg." 



Pepys, about this time, describes the king, with a train of spaniels and other dogs at his heels, 

 lounging along and feeding the ducks in St. James' Park, and on occasions still later he was often seen 

 talking to Nelly, as she leaned from her garden-wall that abutted upon the Mall, whilst his canine 

 favourites grouped around him. 



On these occasions, perhaps, the representatives of those gentlemen to be seen in Regent Street, 

 with two bundles of animated wool beneath their arms, were on the look-out, as we find his Majesty 



* Cania extrarius. 



