74 MAMMALIA. 



In the second subdivision of tlie Digitigiada there are two flat 

 tuberculous teeth, behind the superior carnivorous tooth, which is 

 itself furnished with a large heel. They are carnivorous, but do not 

 exhibit a courage proportioned to their powers, and frequently feed 

 on carrion. 



Canis, Lin. 



Dogs have three false molars above, four below, and two tuberculous teeth 

 behind each of the carnivori; the first of these upper tuberculous teeth is 

 very large. Their superior carnivorus has only a small inner tubercle, but 

 the posterior portion of the inferior is altogether tuberculous. The tongue 

 is soft; the fore-feet have five toes, and the hind ones four. 



C. familiaris, L. (The Domestic Dog). Distinguished by his recurved 

 tail, otherwise varying infinitely, as to size, form, colour and quality of the 

 hair. He is the most complete, singular and useful conquest ever made 

 by man; the whole species has become his property; each individual is 

 devoted to his particular master, assumes his manners, knows and defends 

 his possessions, and remains his true and faithful friend till death — and all 

 this neither from constraint nor want, but solely from the purest gratitude 

 and the truest friendship. The swiftness, strength and scent of the Dog 

 have rendered him Man's powerful ally against all other animals, and were 

 even, perhaps, necessary to the establishment of society. Of all animals, 

 he is the only one which has followed Man through every region of the 

 globe. 



Some naturalists think the Dog is a Wolf, and others that he is a domesti- 

 cated Jackal, and yet those dogs which have become wild again in desert 

 islands resemble neither the one nor the other. The wild dogs, and those that 

 belong to savages, such as the inhabitants of New Holland, have sti-aight 

 ears, which has occasioned a belief that the European races, which approach 

 the most to the oi'iginal type, are the Shepherd's Dog and Wolf Dog; but 

 the comparison of the crania indicates a closer affinity in the MastiflP and 

 Danish Dog, subsequently to which come the Hound, the Pointer, and the 

 Terrier, differing between themselves only in size and the proportions of 

 the limbs. The Greyhound is longer and more lank; its frontal sinuses are 

 smaller, and its scent weaker. The Shepherd's Dog and the Wolf Dog re- 

 sume the straight ears of the wild ones, but with a greater cerebral devel- 

 opment, which continues to increase together with the intelligence in the 

 Barhet and the Spaniel. The Bull Dog, on the other hand, is remarkable 

 for the shortness and strength of his jaws. The small pet-dogs, the Pugs, 

 Spaniels, Shocks, &c. are the most degenerate productions, and exhibit the 

 most striking marks of that power to which man subjects all nature. 



The dog is born with his eyes closed; he opens them on the tenth or 

 twelfth day; his teeth commence changing in the fourth month, and his 

 full growth is attained at the explication of the second year. The dog is 

 old at fifteen years, and seldom lives beyond twenty. His vigilance, bark, 

 and susceptibility of education are well known to every one. 



