34 



DOGS. 



Chap. I. 



races, lias probably increased the total number of breeds, and, as 

 we shall presently see, has greatly modified some of them. 

 But we cannot explain by crossing the origin of such extreme 

 forms as thoroughbred greyhounds, bloodhounds, bulldogs, 

 Blenheim spaniels, terriers, pugs, &c, unless we believe that 

 forms equally or more strongly characterised in these dif- 

 ferent respects once existed in nature. But hardly any one has 

 been bold enough to suppose that such unnatural forms ever 

 did or could exist in a wild state. When compared with all 

 known members of the family of Canidse they betray a distinct 

 and abnormal origin. No instance is on record of such dogs as 

 bloodhounds, spaniels, true greyhounds having been kept by 

 savages : they are the product of long-continued civilization. 



The number of breeds and sub-breeds of the dog is great : Youatt, for 

 instance, describes twelve kinds of greyhounds. I will not attempt to enu- 

 merate or describe the varieties, for we cannot discriminate how much of 

 their difference is due to variation, and how much to descent from different 

 aboriginal stocks. But it may be worth while briefly to mention some 

 points. Commencing with the skull, Cuvier has admitted 53 that in form 

 the differences are " plus fortes que celles d'aucunes especes sauvages d'un 

 meme genre naturel." The proportions of the different bones ; the curvature 

 of the lower jaw, the position of the condyles with respect to the plane of 

 the teeth (on which E. Cuvier founded his classification), and in mastiffs 

 the shape of its posterior branch; the shape of the zygomatic arch, and of 

 the temporal fossae ; the position of the occiput — all vary considerably. 54 The 

 dog has properly six pairs of molar teeth in the upper jaw, and seven in 

 the lower; but several naturalists have seen not rarely an additional pair 

 in the upper jaw ; 55 and Professor Gervais says that there are dogs " qui 

 ont sept paires de dents superieures et huit inferieures." De Blainville 56 

 has given full particulars on the frequency of these deviations in the 

 number of the teeth, and has shown that it is not always the same tooth 

 which is supernumerary. In short-muzzled races, according to H. Miiller, 57 

 the molar teeth stand obliquely, whilst in long-muzzled races they are 

 placed longitudinally, with open spaces between them. The naked, 

 so-called Egyptian or Turkish dog is extremely deficient in its teeth, 58 — 



53 Quoted by I. Geoffrey, 'Hist. Nat. 

 Gen.,' torn. iii. p. 453. 



54 F. Cuvier, in ' Annales du Museum,' 

 torn, xviii. p. 337 ; Godron, ' De l'Espece,' 

 torn. i. p. 342 ; and Col. Ham. Smith, in 

 'Naturalist's Library,' vol. ix. p. 101. 



55 Isid. Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, ' Hist. 

 des Anomalies,' 1832, torn. i. p. 660. 

 Gervais, ' Hist. Nat. des Mammiferes,' 

 torn, ii., 1855, p. 66. De Blainville 



(' Osteographie, Canidae,' p. 137) has 

 also seen an extra molar on both sides. 



5S ' Osteographie, Canidse,' p. 137. 



5 ? Wiirzburger, 'Medecin, Zeitschrift,' 

 1860, B. i. s. 265. 



58 Mr. Yarrell, in ' Proc. Zoolog. Soc.,' 

 Oct. 8th, 1833. Mr. Waterhouse showed 

 me a skull of one of these dogs, which 

 had only a single molar on each side 

 and some imperfect incisors. 



