10 



OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



ExdLLsii Mastiff 



combats between mastiffs and 

 bears or bulls. These arena 

 contests were probabl)- 

 fought by a cross breed 

 of mastiffs and Ii'ish 

 wolfhounds ; very cer- 

 tainly they did not 

 resemble the modern 

 mastiff. The latter 

 now stands f r o m 

 twent)'-fi\'e to l\\'ent\'- 

 eight inches high from 

 ground to shoulder, antl 

 has a weight of one hundred 

 to two hundred pounds. The 

 muzzle and ears are black, and the 

 dog himself is the color of a roc- 

 buck or deer. Sometimes, also, i 



Ot..J. 



the whole body is of a much darker 

 shade. 



T//r bulldog. The bulldog, smaller 

 than the mastiff, is related to him and 

 to his combative ancestors. These 

 dogs seem much more furious than 

 they really are. To what caprices ha\'e 

 they not been subjected in view of ex- 

 hibitions ! At one time breeders e\'en 

 went so far that little was wanting to 

 make their bodies and paws so eccen- 

 tric in form that they could hardl)- 

 drag themseh'es about. Happil}*, in 

 the present day, this danger is averted, 

 to the great joy of all true sportsmen, 

 and the bulldog now stands on his own 

 four paws. It is doubtful, however, 

 whether the prize wdnners of to-da)' 

 wciuld issue triumphantly from the 

 arena after such bullfights as those 

 in which the seventeenth-century 

 mastiffs took such a prominent part. 

 Henri II, Queen Mary, and Princess 

 Elizabeth of England encouraged 

 those combats, but in 1689 we find 

 them forbidden at Amsterdam, dogs 

 trained for such fights being called 

 " bear biters," a name still to be heard 

 on the banks of the Amstel. The bull- 

 og should be small, massive, and 

 rather thickset, especially 

 about the head ; the muzzle 

 should be thrust forward 

 and raised impudenth', 

 the under jaw ad- 

 \'anced b e y o n d the 

 upper, the lips hang- 

 ing hea\'ily on each 

 side of the chops, the 

 nose broad, and the 

 teeth large and often 

 \isible, — all of which 

 contribute to his ungra- 

 cious ajipearance. The 

 color is rather variable. A 

 bulldog may be brindled with 

 lAMPioN lii'i.Loof; black, or may be all white, spotted 



r. Ncwni.in, Ueikhcimpstead with whitc, rcd-brown, tawny 



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