THE DOG. 



twenty-eigM inches at the shoulder, and its weight above a 

 hundred pounds. The shape of the mastiff breed is such at) 

 might be expected from a crossing of the bulldog and the blood- 

 hound. Like the former, the under jaw is generally slightly 

 protruded ; but the teeth are constantly covered, as is never 

 the case with the thorough-bred " bull." The mastiff's coat is 

 smooth, and its most common colour hght liver-colourj and 

 different brindlings, with black and white patches 



THE BLOO0HOIIND. 



This dog with a dreaiiful name was, in ancient times, very 

 common in England, and very commonly employed. Let not 

 the innocent reader, however, imagine that human blood is the 

 only sort this hound's nose is quick at scenting. They were 

 chiefly used for the detection of sheepstealers, it being the 

 common custom for the delinquent to slaughter the animals 

 before conveying them away, that their carriage might be the 

 easier. Little more than fifty years ago, however, we read of 

 the Thrapston Association, who, "for the detection of felons 

 in Northamptonshire, have provided and trained a bloodhound 

 for the detection of sheepstealers. To demonstrate the un- 

 erring infaUibility of this animal, a day was appointed for 

 public trial ; the person he was intended to hunt started, in 

 the presence of a great concourse of people, about ten o'clock 

 in the forenoon, and at about eleven o'clock the hound was 

 laid on. After a chase of an hour and a half, notwithstanding 

 a very indifferent scent, the hound ran up to a tree in which 



