2 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE DOG. 



slender and rapid greyhound the stunted yet formidable 

 bull-dog the diminutive and sensitive Blenheim spaniel and 

 the still more diminutive, and now almost extinct, lapdog of 

 Malta all arise from a brace of curs ? If they did, to what 

 are we to attribute the varieties now existing? We are 

 told, to climate and breeding. As to breeding, how could it 

 operate when there was but a single pair to breed from ? 

 How, if the varieties of dog proceeded but from one original 

 type, could development thus be produced extending beyond 

 the limits of the faculties and powers proper to that type ? 

 Will change of climate ever convert a greyhound into a bull- 

 dog ? Will it truncate the muzzle, raise the frontal bones, 

 enlarge the frontal sinuses, or effect a positive alteration of 

 the posterior branches of the lower maxillary bones ? Or will 

 change of climate, on the other hand, operate to convert a 

 bull-dog into a greyhound, produce a high and slender form, 

 diminish the frontal sinuses, deprive the animal of the sense 

 of smell, at least comparatively, together with courage and 

 other moral qualities depending on organization ? I say noth- 

 ing ; I only ask my intelligent readers, do they believe this 

 possible ? Thus far a very eminent naturalist, Colonel Ham- 

 ilton Smith, goes with me, hand in hand ; all that I have ad- 

 duced he admits, but here we unfortunately part company. 

 Colonel Smith seeks to account for these differences, by call- 

 ing in the intervention of a supposed admixture of wolf, fox, 

 or hyaena, &c. He admits an originally formed dog, and one 

 variety only ; and refers for the alterations that have taken 

 place in him to crossing with these wild animals. Now, I con- 

 sider this theory as even less tenable than that of the wolfish 

 or Vulpine origin of the dog, as the colonel is obliged to bring 

 several races of wild dogs to his aid ; and, may I venture to 

 inquire, where is their origin ? Besides this, we have to refer 

 to the decided antipathy subsisting between these animals in a 

 state of nature, and thus effectually precluding intermixture, 

 unless through human intervention and agency, which clearly 

 was never exerted in that condition for this purpose. For 

 my own part, I am content that the false theories which have 

 been advanced should be overthrown and confuted ; and I am 

 satisfied to admit that an impenetrable veil of mystery appears 

 to hang over the subject, and the suggestions that I am about 

 to advance are submitted to my readers with extreme diffi- 

 dence and reluctance. 



Whether more than one variety of any species of animals 

 was formed at the Creation is, perhaps, still a question, though 



