26 NATURAL HISTORY OP THE DOG. 



Other writers say that Anubis was represented as bearing 

 a dog's head, because when Osiris proceeded upon his Indian 

 expedition, Anubis accompanied him, clothed in the skin of 

 that animal. This, however, is at most very dubious, as 

 many writers assert Anubis to have been clothed, on this oc- 

 casion, with the skin of a sheep, and not that of a dog. Be 

 this as it may, the worship of the dog-god rapidly travelled 

 westward, and soon became intermingled with the religious 

 rites of other nations. Lucan says 



" Nos in templa tuam Romana acccpirnus lain, semicaneaque decs." 

 (" We have received into our Roman temples thine Isia, and divinities 



The fire-worshippers of Persia also paid divine honors to 

 the dog, by representing, under his form, the good principle, 

 by whose aid they were enabled to repel the assaults of the 

 powers of evil ; and he is still held in deep veneration by the 

 modern Parsees. 



The ancient Britons would likewise appear to have held 

 the doe in high respect, for when desirous of framing for 

 themselves titles of honor or distinction, they assumed his 

 name. CM. in the language of the ancient British, signifies 

 a dog; and do we not recollect the noble names of Cunolx -lin, 

 Cynobelin, and Canute ?* According to an eminent author,f 

 the word Khan, a title of dignity in the East, is identical . 

 with Can, and is likewise derived from the idea of a dog. 

 In the Erse, or native Irish, the word Cu signifies at once a 

 dog and a champion. 



Even the awful gates of Hades were furnished by the 

 ancient poets with a faithful and formidable guardian in the 

 shape of a dog ; but as the task of watching those dreadful 

 precincts was, doubtless, regarded as no ordinary one, Cer- 

 berus, the watch-dog of the Avernian portals, was awunU-rl 

 three heads instead of one, to ensure a triple degree of watch- 

 fulness. 



Seldom has the dog brought down obloquy upon his name ; 

 but even he, with all his noble qualities, has had his mo- 

 ments of frailty. Cerberus himself .listened to the promptings 

 of sordid appetite, and, like many another sentinel, accepted 



* Canute was a Dane, and this appellative, therefore, dhows the 

 pounectuoL' between the Celtic and Teutonic or Sclavonic. 

 t Hamilton Smith. 



