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THE ZOOLOGIST. 



having also a longer and more tapering tiil* (Fig. 3), while the 

 fourth resembles the hound, but with a somewhat shorter muzzle 

 and shorter ears, and is considered by Dr. Birch to be a kind of 

 Mastiff. This type is seldom represented on the monuments, 

 and may have been introduced into Egypt perhaps from India. 

 It is somewhat similar to a large dog depicted on the marble 

 slabs of Assyria about 660 b. c. (Fig. 4). 



On other monuments and tablets, described by Sir Gardner 

 Wilkinson, in his ' Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyp- 

 tians,' besides the breeds just mentioned, we find another and 

 smaller dog with erect ears, a head like a Terrier, a long body, 

 short legs, and slender tapering tail (Fig. 5). Thus, even at this 



Fig. 3.— Egyptian Greyhound. B.C. 3700. (Birch, i.e.). 



remote period, several veiy distinct forms were known to the 

 ancient Egyptians, and the fact of their being domesticated is 

 still further indicated by their being represented with collars. 



By the ancient Egyptians the dog was worshipped under the 

 title Anithis, as the genius of the Nile — the appearance of Sirius, 

 the dog-star, corresponding with the time of the annual rise of 

 that river. 



Among the ancient Assyrians we find sculptured representa- 

 tions of two kinds of dog : a large dog like a Mastiff, used in the 

 chase of the lion, the wild bull, and wild ass (Fig. 4), and a sort 



* This perhaps was the breed specially used for the capture of the white 

 antelope, refen-ed to and figured by the Rev. W. Houghton, in his ' Natural 

 History of the Ancients,' p. 26. 



