2... ...DOGS. AND ALL ABOUT THEM 



find* a" 'better sheltef-m association with man than if he were 

 fr 'hferovta. account. Thus mutual benefit would 

 Jrt some kind.'ofc <acit agreement of partnership, and 

 through the generations the wild wolf or jackal would gradu- 

 ally become gentler, more docile, and tractable, and the 

 dreaded enemy of the flock develop into the trusted guardian 

 of the fold. 



In nearly all parts of the world traces of an indigenous 

 dog family are found, the only exceptions being the West 

 Indian Islands, Madagascar, the eastern islands of the Malayan 

 Archipelago, New Zealand, and the Polynesian Islands, where 

 there is no sign that any dog, wolf, or fox has existed as a 

 true aboriginal animal. In the ancient Oriental lands, and 

 generally among the early Mongolians, the dog remained 

 savage and neglected for centuries, prowling in packs, gaunt 

 and wolf-like, as it prowls to-day through the streets and 

 under the walls of every Eastern city. No attempt was made 

 to allure it into human companionship or to improve it into 

 docility. It is not until we come to examine the records 

 of the higher civilisations of Assyria and Egypt that we 

 discover any distinct varieties of canine form. 



Assyrian sculptures depict two such, a Greyhound and a 

 Mastiff, the latter described in the tablets as " the chained-up, 

 mouth-opening dog " ; that is to say, it was used as a watch- 

 dog ; and several varieties are referred to in the cuneiform 

 inscriptions preserved in the British Museum. The Egyptian 

 monuments of about 3000 B.C. present many forms of the 

 domestic dog, and there can be no doubt that among the 

 ancient Egyptians it was as completely a companion of man, 

 as much a favourite in the house, and a help in the chase, 

 as it is among ourselves at present. In the city of Cynopolis 

 it was reverenced next to the sacred jackal, and on the death 

 of a dog the members of the household to which he had 

 belonged carefully shaved their whole bodies, and religiously 

 abstained from using the food, of whatever kind, which 

 happened to be in the house at the time. Among the distinct 



