40 TEXT-BOOK OF ZOOLOGY 



toes offer but little resistance in drawing a load (compare, on the other 

 hand, the horse). On Jbehalf of its master it will risk its own life, and 

 there are many cases in which it has saved human beings from a certain 

 death. Take, for instance, that of Barry, the famous St. Bernard, who 

 alone rescued no less than forty human beings from perishing in the 

 snow. To the Eskimo the dog is as indispensable as the reindeer to the 

 Laplander, while the semi-savage dogs of the East act as a kind of sanitary 

 police by at once consuming all domestic refuse, and thus preventing 

 it from putrefaction. Unshakable affection, fidelity and attachment, 

 unconditional obedience, the utmost readiness for every service and the 

 most complete devotion — these are the qualities for which the dog has 

 almost become proverbial. On the other hand, if attacked by hydro- 

 phobia, the dog may become an object of danger even to its master; nor 

 is it always safe to allow one's self to be licked by a dog, or to go so far as 

 to kiss it, since in this manner the ova of a tape- worm peculiar to this 

 animal (which see) may be easily conveyed to man. 



C. The Anatomy of the Dog in Relation to the Services which he 



renders to Man. 



The anatomy of the dog in its most essential features agrees with 

 that of its ancestral parent.* Such deviations as occur are the result of 

 breeding and training extending over a long period of years. 



1. The dog, being under the protection of man, requires no protective 

 colouring. Consequently the colour of the skin is variable. 



2. The sense of smell is of astonishing acuteness. As is proved by 

 many instances, a dog can discover the scent of his master out of 

 hundreds, and even thousands, of confused scents. It is this wonder- 

 fully-developed sense which renders the dog so indispensable an 

 assistant in the chase. Long before man sights the game the dog scents 

 it. The track once discovered, he pursues it to the end. By the scent 

 the deerhound follows the track of the bleeding game, the bloodhound 

 that of a man. By means of the same sense the sheep-dog becomes 

 aware of the approach of a beast of prey, and prepares for combat. The 

 acuteness of the olfactory sense is closely connected with the length of 

 the head ; for the larger the skull, the larger are the nasal cavities, and 

 the more numerous the endings of the olfactory nerves. Hunting-dogs 

 have therefore usually long snouts (the greyhound, however, hunts more 

 by sight), and in short-snouted dogs, like the poodle and bull-dog, the 

 sense is less acute. By the scent, too, a dog will recognise its master 

 often after years of separation, while in order to "retrieve " an object it 



* The separate sections of what follows correspond with those of Section A. under "Wolf."' 



