62 VERTEBRATES. 



of the Dog kind, and easily trained for the chase when twelve 

 months old. It courses by sight, and not by scent, as other hounds 

 do ; and is supposed to outlive all the Dog tribe. Buffon imagines 

 it to be descended from the Irish Greyhound, only rendered more 

 thin and delicate by the influence of climate. There is a variety 

 of this species, which is called the Highland Greyhound. It is 

 very large, strong, deep-chested, covered with long rough hair, and 

 has the scent and sagacity of the bloodhound. This kind has 

 become exceedingly scarce. 



The King Charles' Spaniel is so called from the fond- 

 ness of Charles II. for it — who usually had some of them following 

 him wherever he went. Its form and character are well preserved 

 in one of the paintings of the unfortunate parent of that monarch 

 and his family. The ears deeply fringed and sweeping the ground, 

 the rounder form of the forehead, the larger and moister eye, the 

 longer and silken coat, and the clearness of the tan, and white 

 and black color, sufficiently distinguish this variety.. His beauty 

 and diminutive size have consigned him to the drawing-room or 

 parlor. 



The Water-Spaniel. — Of this breed there are two varie- 

 ties, a larger and smaller, both useful according to the degree of 

 range or the work required ; the smaller, however, being ordinarily 

 preferable. Whatever be his general size, strength and compact- 

 ness of form are requisite. His head is long, his face smooth, and 

 his limbs, more developed than those of the springer, should be 

 muscular, his carcase round, and his hair long and closely curled. 

 Docility an 1 affection are stamped on his countenance, and he rivals 

 every other breed in his attachment to his master. 



The Alpine Spaniel, or Bemardine Dog, is a breed almost 

 peculiar to the Alps, and to the district between Switzerland and 

 Savoy. The passes over these mountains are exceedingly danger- 

 ous from their steepness and narrowness. A precipice of many 

 hundred feet is often found on one side, and perpendicular rocks 

 on the other, while the path is glazed with frozen snow or ice. In 

 many places the path is overhung with huge masses of frozen snow, 

 which p"casionally loosen and fall, when the dreadful storms pceu- 



