106 



NATURAL HISTORY OF THE DOG, 



sent ; and this renders it still more singular that the dog and 

 its description should be so misplaced as at the head of the 

 greyhound group. 



In disposition, the Thibet dog is said to be very fierce, bu 

 much attached to his master. They were originally noticed 

 by Marco Polo, who described them as being " as large as 

 asses," a description contradicted by some subsequent travel- 

 lers, but since amply confirmed. The probable cause of these 

 discrepant accounts is, that the Thibet mastiff degenerates 

 rapidly if removed to a milder climate, and several inferior, 

 though similar breeds, exist in different portions of the Him- 

 alaya chain of mountains. 



The mastiff of Thibet is well figured in that interesting 

 work, " Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society." 

 Colonel Smith most justly refers to this dog as the typical 

 mastiff the Canis Urcanus described of old by Oppian. 



THE DOG OF ST. BERNARD, OR ALPINE MASTIFF. 



So many conflicting accounts of this dog have appeared 

 from time to time, that it is impossible to trust to the accura- 

 cy of any of them ; accordingly, I have rejected all, and 

 Mimed to nature itself to the existing dogs, and thf* verbal 



