82 SOME EARLY ENGLISH NATURALISTS 



with his sword by his side, a cape about his shoulders, a 

 little flat cap on his head, and a basket hanging from his 

 neck, in which were two or three dogs no bigger than 

 your fist. The comforter is mentioned in Bewick's 

 Quadrwpeds. 



The name of handog for the mastiff implies that it 

 was often tied up. Caius calls it "villaticus sen cate- 

 narius." The mastiff was used to guard flocks, to hunt 

 the wild boar, to keep swine from straying, to bait bulls, 

 and to draw water from wells ; it was also made into 

 a beast of burden, or chained up as a watch-dog. The 

 loyalty of mastiffs is praised, and we are expected to 

 believe that they were so intelligent as to gather the 

 embers together with their paws, so as to keep the 

 fire from going out, or to heap ashes over them when 

 the flame was too fierce. Bewick's bandog was a small 

 mastiff. 



Caius' mongrels were dogs of no particular breed, 

 which had been taught to bark at strangers, to turn 

 spits, or to dance to a tune. 



Wappe or wappet is the name of a mongrel kept for 

 giving warning by its bark. Caius derives wappe from 

 wau (our bow-wow?). 



The turnspit had a long body and crooked legs, 

 but these peculiarities are found in dogs of more than 

 one breed. Bewick (1790) still retains the turnspit 

 among the British dogs, but says that its services were 

 little valued. 



We shall notice next the omissions from Caius' table, 

 passing over the otter-hound, which, though not included 

 in the table, is mentioned in the text as a dog that 

 pursues the otter. 



The lurcher ( " canis furax " of Caius) was, he says, 

 a dog that hunted rabbits by scent and did not bark ; it 



