1867.] SKULL OF THE CHINESE PUG-NOSED LAP-DOG. 4.*? 



with him ; and if his hair gets wet he is almost sure to take cold, 

 unless thoroughly dried, which process he cannot bear. His temper 

 is most uncertain, as he may be lying in your lap and quite peaceful, 

 and if you touched him very Ukely he would snap ; he bites his best 

 friends ; in fact he is a small tyrant, so we are more or less afraid to 

 touch him. He feeds on cabbage-stalks boiled ; but in summer he 

 hkes cucumbers, both rind and inside ; this is his greatest delicacy. 

 He will eat beetroot, lettuce-stalks, asparagus-stalks, white of egg, 

 and fish : he is very fond of meat ; but we do not give him much, as 

 we find a vegetable diet so much more wholesome for him. He has 

 a trick of spinning round and round until he is apparently giddy, 

 when he will roll over on his side and get up again ; he does this 

 for his dinner or when he is hungry. He follows when we take him 

 for a walk very well ; but being so small he cannot go fast, and it is 

 a tedious process to get him along. If we have been away from 

 home or out for a few hours he shows his joy by running about in a 

 wild sort of way, snorting and wheezing ; but if we were to pat him 

 he would bite us. 



" He certainly does not appreciate the usual way people pet dogs, 

 like patting, fondling, &c. 



"His length of body is about 15 inches, and height abou 

 10 inches." 



Dr. W. Lockhart has kindly sent me the following : — 



"The Pug-nosed Dog, the skull of which I sent you, probably 

 originated in Pekin and North China, and was taken thence to Japan, 

 whence it was brought to Europe ; and thus this breed is called Ja- 

 panese : I do not know whether you will agree with this idea, I merely 

 state what I think is the fact of the case. There are two kinds of 

 Pug in China: — one a small black-and-white, long-legged, pug-nosed, 

 prominent-eyed dog ; the other long-backed, short-legged, long- 

 haired, tawny-coloured, with pug-nose and prominent eyes. Some- 

 times in these dogs the eyes are so prominent that 1 have known a 

 dog have one of his eyes snapped off by another dog in play. The 

 preference for vegetable food is a fact; but I think it is a result of 

 education, as most of them will take animal food ; this is usually kept 

 from them so that their growth and organization may be kept down. 

 The sleeve dog is a degenerated long-legged variety of Pug rigidly 

 kept on low diet, and never allowed to run about on the ground ; 

 they are kept very much on the top of a kang or stove bed-place, and 

 not allowed to run about on the ground, as it is supposed that if they 

 run on the ground they will derive strength from the ground and 

 be able to grow large. Their food is much restricted, and consists 

 chiefly of boiled rice. They are very subject to corneitis and ulcera- 

 tion of the cornea from deficient nutrition. They exhibit very little 

 personal attachment to the person who feeds them. 



" From Mongolia a noble black dog, as large as a full-sized New- 

 foundland, is brought to Pekin ; he is used as a sheep-dog. From 

 Shantung is brought a beautiful black, long-haired, long-backed, 

 long-legged terrier, very much like a black Skye." 



