164 THE BULL-DOG. 



and fined (or rather ruined, for to them the fine is often 

 equivalent to ruin,) than the rich. 



Dr. Weissenborn relates that, a wood dealer residing near 

 Quai St. Michael, Paris, had an English bull-dog, and that once 

 when the man's wife was caressing a child, five years old, the 

 dog became jealous of it, and at last so furious that he broke 

 his chain, rushed at the child, worried it, and did not quit his 

 hold, until he was killed with a knife. The child was so severely 

 hurt, that its life was for some time despaired of. 



THE MASTIFF. (Canis molossus, Linn.) 



From a very early period, the English mastiff has been cele- 

 brated for its large size, great strength, courage, generosity, 

 and sagacity. Though the pure breed is now scarce, yet the 

 ordinary mastiff of the present day is a commendable dog. 

 " Unlike the bull- dog, it is susceptible of great attachment to 

 all who are kind to it, and seldom, except when closely chained, 

 offers any molestation without repeated aggression. It barks, 

 too, before it bites ; but the bull-dog makes its attack with a 

 savage and insidious silence."* 



* Bell's British Quadrupeds (1837), p. 251. 



