Useful Companions of Man. 33 
well-broken one of good temper may be taken anywhere, 
and is far more trustworthy than the Newfoundland, and 
quite equal to the St. Bernard. The sense of smell is 
acute, and the mastiff has been known to draw up to a 
covey of partridges like a pointer. 
The mastiff is remarkable for the combination of his 
general development. The conformation of the head 
bespeaks an unusual brain power, which is under ad- 
mirable control. He is a creature of strong and sincere 
attachment to man, endowed with a wonderful power of 
discrimination and true nobility of character, all of 
which he freely exercises in the interests of those for 
whom alone he seems to live. He is by nature docile 
and gentle to a fault. He lays aside his giant strength 
to unite in the gambols of the child with the same spirit 
of tenderness and grace. If his conduct be otherwise 
it bespeaks his origin in the mongrel or nondescript races, 
and his general conformation does not, as a tule, 
correspond to the portrait we have so feebly outlined. 
It is possible for apparently well bred animals to inherit 
the “bad blood of their forefathers;” but as greater 
attention is now paid to a careful system of selection and 
in-breeding, this dangerous element in the character may 
be kept in abeyance, in common with other serious 
defects. The well-bred mastiff allies himself to man as 
his friend, to whom he becomes the closest companion, 
and serves him with the truest devotion and sincerity. 
This animal should not be subjected to the restraint of 
the chain; if he is, whether young or old, he will be 
inevitably spoiled in outward form as well as temper. 
The foints of this breed are as follows :—The head 
should be massive, with a broad and flat forehead; ears 
small and wholly pendent, lying close to the cheek, 
though set on farther back than in the hound, pointer, and 
setter ; eyes small, but mild and intelligent in expression; 
face short, with a square muzzle, not tapering towards the 
point of the noise; teeth level, but sometimes there is a 
slight projection of the lower; flews deep; neck muscular, 
with the head well set into it, showing a slight prominence 
at the upper point of junction; body very large, with 
