314 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 
7. Doe (Kvwv). 
Canis and Cuon (?)—Domestic and Wild Dogs. 
There are various allusions by our authors to other dogs besides. 
those which have been identified as the originals of the griffins. Thus. 
Ktesias, according to Photios,*® says that ‘‘the dogs of India are of 
great size, so that they fight even with the lion.”” This may possibly 
refer to the well-known fact that packs of wild dogs (Cuon rutilans) 
prove a match for the larger carnivora. There are numerous well 
authenticated cases of tigers having being killed by these dogs. 
Atlian™ relates that ‘‘Ktesias, in his account of India, says that the 
people cailed the Kynamologoi rear many dogs as big as the Hyrkanian 
breed; and this Knidian writer tells us why they keep so many dogs, 
and this is the reason: from the time of the summer solstice on to 
mid-winter they are incessantly attacked by herds of wild oxen, 
coming like a swarm of bees or a flight of angry wasps, only that 
the oxen are more numerous by far. They are ferocious withal and 
proudly defiant, and butt most viciously with their horns. The 
Kynamologoi, unable to withstand them otherwise, let loose their dogs 
upon them, which are bred for this express purpose; and these dogs 
easily overpower the oxen, and worry them to death. During the 
season when they are left unmolested by the oxen, they employ their 
dogs in hunting other animals. They milk the bitches, and this is 
why they are called Kynamologoi (dog-milkers). They drink this 
milk just as we drink that of the sheep or goat.” 
There is at present a tribe in India who are noted for keeping a 
large breed of dogs, which are most efficient in the chase. These are 
the Labanos or Brinjaras, who, by means of their pack cattle, per- 
form most of the inland carriage in the hilly central regions of the 
peninsula. JI have met their caravans, and also their fixed habita- 
tions in the central provinces bordering western Bengal, where they 
are very numerous. ‘This general region is the one where the Kyna- 
mologoi (or Kynokephaloi) may be presumed to have dwelt. In 
Orissa there is a Rajah of a petty state who keeps a very fine breed of 
dogs, by means of which deer are run down, especially, as I was told, 
during the rainy season, when the softness of the ground prevents 
them from running so fast as they are able to do at other times. There 
are similar breeds also in other parts of India. 
The ‘‘oxen” referred to were probably wild buffaloes, which still 
do much injury to the crops in some parts of India, and are a cause 
of terror to the natives. 
6 Ecloga in Photii, Bibl. Ixxii. i 
27 De Animal Nat., xvi. 31. Cf. Anc. India, by J. W. M‘Crindle, p. 36. 
