82 DIVISION I. VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. — CLASS I. JIAMJIALIA. 



The Ci rocks, \\lii> Avoro more attracted Ijy the poetry than by the abstract 

 mcauins: oi' their own or their neighbors' religious emblems, after i)hicin"' 

 Cerberus to wateli tlic gates of their infernal regions, notice them most in 

 hunting scenes, ami in the faljulous or actual deaths of heroes and real per- 

 sonages, ]>y the agency of dogs ; although even here they are probably mere 

 types, including the fate of Actieon, and of Eschylus, torn to jiieces by Ester- 

 ices, — ■ not Terriers or House Dogs, as some seem to believe, but massacred 

 by en\ious coiu'tiers, on account of the honors paid him bj' King Attalus. 



The liomans, too, had their legends, symbols, and ceremonies, in which 

 dogs bore a conspicuous [lart. The image of a dog was placed in the vcstib- 

 ulinn of their houses to guard the I'enatcs. But in the symbolism of the 

 liomans dogs did not always occupy a place of honor. In conunemora- 

 tion of their deliverance from destruction, and of the remissness the Capi- 

 toline "\)'atrh Dogs were guilty of on the night when the Senonic (iauls 

 \\otdd \r,i\c cscalailed this last stronghold of the republic, and geese alone 

 were watciiful, they had annually a ceremony, wherein a dog was cruci- 

 fied upon an elder-tree, between the temples of Summanus and Juventus ; 

 and all dogs seen about the streets were then flogged, in punishment of 

 the neglect of their ancestors. 



In the fire-worship initiation of the Zendavesta, the nn-stieal dog that 

 re[iels Darkness and his agents, is portrayed with the eyes and eyebrows 

 yellow, and the eai-s white and yellow. The animal is still an object of 

 rc\crcncc with all the Parsees in India. Among the Ptoembarii of Elhio- 

 ])ia a li\ ing dog was kept and worshipped as an inspired being, whose V(jice 

 and aetidus wi're inti'rpreted by priests. 



In all the mythologies of the ancient world the dog was generally a 

 syniliol (if good signification, or at least of fidelity, however it may ha-\e 

 been enipl>>ved. The Jews were not fiind of dogs, and conscrpientl}' we 

 find them employed by Hebrew writers as types of whatever is wicked or 

 uueloan, an example of wliich we find in the Apocalypse: "For without 

 are dofjs, and surcercrs, and murderers,"' &c. 



SPECIFIC DESCKIPTION OF DOGS. 



We proceed now to give a descrijition of several species of Canines, 

 selecting those that present the most interesting features, and at the same 

 time best illustrate the habits and characteristics of the entire family. The 

 Feral or A\'ild Dogs we shall pass over without notice; the names of the 

 dillercnt species may lie found in our synopsis. Those who desire a further 

 acrpiaintance with them are referred to the " Xaturalist's Library," an ex- 

 cellent work, in forty volumes, IGmo., from which we have derived many 

 of the anecdotes just given. 



