G2 DIVISION I. VEKTEBKAL ANIMALS. — CLASS I. MAMMALIA. 



AlopeciJes of Laronia anil Ainorn'ia. Amvcloa, \Ylicrc tlicy were bred, 

 was a town of Laconia and tlio hirtliplaco of Castor and I'ollux. Fcstu.s 

 calls tliem " sagafc.s canes ex vtdjie ct cane." But as cros.sinu' Ijrecds was 

 constantly jH-actiscd, tlie Spartan, on otlier occasions, arc liinlily praised ; 

 and tiicy, no douht, were fit to grapple with the larger animals of the chase. 

 These, prohably, were the Castoridcs of Xenophon. 



Among the breeds cjf dogs known to the clas>ica.l writers of antiquity, 

 by report more than by personal information, was that styled Klynuvan. It 

 seems to lia\e belonged to the Klyma-i, a triije of the deserts bordering on 

 Ij.aetria and Ilireania, but to have extende(l as far as Egypt; for it is 

 depicted on the monuments of Thebes. C'irino, and the commentator on 

 Fracastor's Alcon, show the probaliility that from this name arose the 

 moilern appellation of Lijiuacr, in French Liintrr, applied to tlie lUood- 

 liiiuiid, because it was Ibrmerly used to track game, .such as wild lioar, 

 i.ti'., througli the forest, until the huntsman, who held it by a lengthened 

 hcnnne, or leash, came upon the lair of the animal. It is, however, likely 

 that the Linuucr is meant, fur the two races are confounded; and the last 

 mentioned was the most conunon. 



Of the Indiei, or Indian dogs, by Aristotle reported to be a hybrid race 

 between the dug and tiger, we may conjecture, as this intermixture is j)hysi- 

 ologically inadmissible, that the Greek philosopher trusted reports conveyed 

 to him from the East, and originating either in the love of the marvellous, 

 which ( )ri(ntal nations constantly lietray, or in the misapprehension of terms 

 used in the descrijition of the spotted or brindled parent animal, by the 

 Cirecks understood to be a tiger or a panther ; when the words of the na- 

 tives, which conveyed this idea, may lune confounded the Hunting-leopard 

 ^\ith a brindled canine of the woods, such as the Z_yr/.vr//.s (iijrix, or a 

 species of Lvcaon ( (Juii/.s jiicl/is) , of Central xVsia, now lost Ity aljsorption 

 in the ^Nlastiif race', or in a l)road-nionthed, spotted or brindled dog, nearly 

 allied to it, then <'alled the Libyan ?iI:itagoniau, and formerly also about 

 the temples of Cevlon ; f<ir this was likewise pretended to be a crossed race 

 with a wild beast. Several other rai'cs of dogs are mentioned by the Greek 

 classical writers of antiiputv ; but we know little more of theui than their 

 names, and with what breeds it was reciunmcndcd to cross them. But the 

 Cattle and She])herd Dogs, e(pially valuable in hunting and in watching 

 Hoicks, are described as far the largest and most useful. In this race was 

 intermixed tlie blood of the V/n/o/i. They were of the same kind as the 

 Epirotic ^bjlossi, and most likely the progenitors of the subsequent western 

 Boar-hounds. The liomans, during their extended empire, added several 

 races of dogs to the ( rrci'k catalogue. They notice the Celtic breed, which 

 was reij-arded as descended i'rom wolves. 



