58 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE DOG. 



men of a comparatively common breed of dog, called the 

 GREAT DANE, an animal that shall be treated of in this vol- 

 ume in his proper place. Had this been the Irish wolf-dog, 

 re absurd to speak of his scarcity, far less of his KXTIM-. 

 TION ! That Lord Altamont thought his dogs were wolf-dogs, 

 I do not doubt ; and it is very possible that, some g'n< r 

 back, they might have had a strain of the true breed in them, 

 subsequently lost by crossing ; and I likewise make no doubt 

 but that the' Great Dane, introduced into this country by our 

 Danish invaders, was often used in olden time as an auxiliary 

 in the chase of the savage animals, the wolf in pnrtirular, 

 with which our woods abounded ; but is it not most abs 

 find writers adopting Mr. Lambert's description and figure of 

 his Danish mastiff, and yet adhering to the aneient nomencla- 

 ture of " Canis Grains Hibernicus" the Irish greyhound ! 



Nor would these mastiff-like dogs have, alone, proved equal 

 to the task of wolf-hunting. They might, indeed, if 

 fine specimens but not such as Lord Altamont's have 

 sufficiently powerful to grapple with their grisly foe ; hut that 

 foe was very swift of foot, and he had first to be caught a 

 feat that dogs of their heavy make would find it impossible to 

 perform. Wanting the fleetness necessary to run into so swift 

 an animal, they would equally have failed in attempting to 

 run him down by scent. These dogs are of a very lethargic-, 

 sluggish temperament, qualities greatly in tin ir t'i\or as boar- 

 hounds, the purpose to which they are applied in their native 

 country, for if they were too eager or too swift in pursuit of 

 the boar, there would very soon be but few of the pack left 

 alive ; but such qualities would be most unsuitable, in 

 in the chase of an animal characterized by 



" The long gallop which can tire 

 The hound's deep hate, and huntsman's fire.** 



It is evident, then, that the desideratum in a wolf-dog was 

 a combination of extreme swiftness, to enable him to overtake 

 his rapid and formidable quarry, and vast strength to seize, 

 secure, and slay him when overtaken. 



I may here observe that, about five or six years ago, I pub- 

 lished an article on this subject in the ' Irish Penny Journal,"* 

 which every writer on dogs who has published since that time 

 has done me the honor of appropriating, some with full and 

 fair acknowledgment, others with only such a partial ac- 



May, 1841. 



