36 LEWIS'S AMEKICAN SPORTSMAN. 



in the species of the parents, but unfortunately for this claim, 

 investigation has brought to light the fertility of such cross-bred 

 produce. Pennant claimed the dog is only a domesticated jackal 

 crossed with the wolf or fox. Bell, in his work on British quad- 

 rupeds, published in 1837, declared the anatomy and osteology of 

 the dog and wolf are identical, and that they will breed together, 

 and the produce be fertile, and these views are fully sustained by 

 experience with the Indian dogs of the West, as it has been demon- 

 strated beyond doubt, that they breed freely with the coyotes and 

 wolves, and the produce of these unions are as fertile as their 

 parents. Before such showing all theories of distinct race must 

 go down, and modern scientists regard the dog as a mongrel brought 

 up to his present standard by the improving influences of domes- 

 tication. 



THE DOG IN HIS RELATION TO MAN. 



No other member of the animal kingdom can compare with the 

 dog in his intimate relations to man. As the protector of his 

 house and flocks ; his companion and assistant in the sports of the 

 field ; his rescuer from death mid Alpine snows or angry waves, 

 and as the watcher and guardian of his dead body, writers, sacred 

 and profane, poets, painters, and sculptors, ancient and modern, all 

 unite in bearing testimony to the faithfulness and devotion of the 

 dog to his master. As he is the inhabitant of nearly every portion 

 of the globe, he enjoys special opportunities for this association, 

 and attaches himself to man in all the different conditions of life, 

 from the most degraded of the tribes, to the elegance of wealth, 

 and the nobility of the scholar. 



DIVISIONS INTO BREEDa. 



Two influences have undoubtedly produced the division of the 

 original stock into the various breeds of the present time. The 

 first and natural influence is that of climate ; the second, the differ 

 ent uses to which man has put the dog. Although the former 

 cannot be ignored, it is to the latter we must ascribe the greatest 

 changes. Certain men by circumstances or taste for certain pur- 



