89 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE DOG. 



THE FRENCH MATIN. 



Many contradictory descriptions of this dog are given by 

 naturalists, some of whom describe him as a smooth dog, sim- 

 ilar to the Dane ; others as a rough and lurcher-like mongrel. 

 Button, the first who brought the matin into anything like no- 

 tice, describes and figures him (quarto ed.) as a sort of rough- 

 coated greyhound, of only moderate stature, and not remark- 

 able for any physical or moral quality. Mr. Martin describes 

 a matin* which he saw in Paris as a smooth-coated, glaucous- 

 colored dog, standing three feet high, and as reminding him 

 of the vast stature and beauty which characterized the Irish 

 wolf-dog. 



Colonel Hamilton Smith (Nat. Lib. Mam. vol. x.) describes 

 this dog as equalling the Dane in stature, but having a flatter 

 forehead, a more pointed nose, rugged hair, color usually white, 

 with one or more clouds of brown ; " the ears, also, are more 

 triangular, and the tips bent down, showing upon the whole a 

 certain intermixture of the older Gallic dog. It is fierce, but 

 not remarkable for daring." Against this description I have 

 nothing to object, except as to stature. The great Dane, usu- 

 ally, as I have already stated, exceeds thirty inches in height 

 at the shoulder, and I do not think anybody ever saw a ma- 

 tin that stood over twenty-eight: indeed, I should say that 

 twenty-six inches is about the average height. BufFon, with 

 perhaps pardonable nationality, but in the absence of both 

 sound reasoning and common sense, has put forward the 

 matin as the origin of the dog, and, in his very fanciful gene- 

 alogy, derives many noble and valuable breeds immediately 

 from him. 



THE FERAL DOG OF ST. DOMINGO. 



This dog is fully described by Colonel Smith, who also 

 gives a figure of him. It appears to be a sort of wild hound, 

 approaching closely to the form of the greyhound, but some- 

 what coarser, and to be the descendant of the bloodhounds 

 formerly used by the Spaniards, to effect their conquests in 

 the western hemisphere. In stature, Colonel Smith describes 

 this dog as " at least equal to the largest Scottish or Russian 

 greyhound, or about twenty-eight inches high at the shoulder, 



* I think that the fine animal which attracted Mr. Martin's notice 

 saust have been the Great Dane. 



