66 THE BULL DOG. 
The BULL-DoG is said, by all those who have had an opportunity of judg- 
ing its capabilities, to be, with the exception of the game-cock, the most 
courageous animal in the world. 
Its extraordinary courage is so well known as to have passed into a 
proverb, and to have so excited the admiration of the British nation that we 
have been pleased to symbolize our peculiar tenacity of purpose under the 
emblem of this small but most determined animal. In height the Bull-dog 
is but insignificant, but in strength and courage there is no Dog that can 
match him. Indeed, there is hardly any breed of sporting dog which does 
not owe its high courage to an infusion of the Bull-dog blood; and it is 
chiefly for this purpose that the pure breed is continued. 
It is generally assumed that the Bull-dog must be a very dull and brutish 
animal, because almost every specimen which has come before the notice of 
the public has held such a character. 
BULL-DOG.—(Canis Jamiliaris.) 
My own experience does not at all coincide with this notion. I once 
possessed one of these animals, and a better dog I never had. He was gentle 
almost to a fault, never taking offence except at an insult by a big dog. He 
was docile, obedient, and wonderfully intelligent, a good retriever, and one 
of the most accomplished water-dogs I ever saw. Active and broad-chested 
as a greyhound, his leaping powers were astonishing ; and his brown eyes 
had a look in them that was almost human, 
The shape of this remarkable animal is worthy of notice. The fore- 
quarters are particularly strong, massive, and muscular; the chest wide and 
roomy; and the neck singularly powerful. The hind-quarters, on the con- 
trary, are very thin and comparatively feeble; all the vigour of the animal 
seeming to settle in its fore-legs, chest, and head. Indeed, it gives the 
