536 The Dog Book 



row blaze, white chest and probably white feet. The shoulder height of the 



petit Danois is given by BufFon as 9 inches. 



BufFon's illustration of the grand Danois we give, so that it need not be 

 described. Buffon held that it was of the same family as the dog that we 

 know as the Molossian, also that the dog of Ireland was similar, but much 



.larger; he says he saw one that, when sitting, was five feet in height; the 

 only one he ever saw. The latter statement may be correct, but the former 

 cannot be. M. Daubenton gives a very brief description of the grand 

 Danois. He says it was larger than the largest of the French matins, that 

 the most common colour was fawn, but that others were grey (blue), black 

 and white with grey, black and fawn ; that they were given the name of 

 the carriage Dane because they accompanied equipages. Also that the 

 name of grand Danois was to distinquish it from the dog called the small 

 Dane, le petit Danois. 



It is very evident from what we have taken from BufFon that the name 

 of Danish dog was thoroughly established, otherwise he would not have 

 hesitated in changing the name of the smaller dog; but how the name be- 

 came so established or when it originated we are at a loss to determine. As 

 to the origin of the dog there is not the slightest doubt whatever that it is the 

 true descendant of the Molossian dog, much as the late Reverend M. B. 

 Wynn and other English writers would have us believe that the mastiff and 

 the Molossian are the same dog. To accept written descriptions, which are 

 usually comparative in their statements, when we have ocular proof from 

 statuary of undoubted authenticity to the contrary, is not the way to prove 

 a claim. 



Not only do we find the Molossian to have been of the Great Dane type 

 in head, but Roman and Grecian bas-reliefs show us the same dog, and 

 when we come to the earliest illustrations we still find this distinct type dog. 

 To show the high standing of the dog he is given precedence in being placed 

 near the nobleman as being the ranking member of the dog world. The 

 illustrations of the Gaston Phoebus book, for which we acknowledge in- 

 debtedness to the Messrs. Baillie-Grohman's sumptuous edition of "The 

 Master of Game," show us that the alaunt was the Great Dane of that time. 

 There is another illuminated book in the Metropolitan Museum of Fine 

 Arts showing an even more acceptable dog in head properties. This is also 

 white and is really a finer miniature than the Gaston Phoebus illustrations. 

 We also have Chaucer's reference to the white alaunts that were about the 



