Chap. I. DIFFERENCES OF BREEDS. 35 



sometimes having none except one molar on each side ; bnt this, though 

 characteristic of the breed, must be considered as a monstrosity. M. 

 Girard, 59 who seems to have attended closely to the subject, says that the 

 period of the appearance of the permanent teeth differs in different dogs, 

 being earlier in large dogs; thus the mastiff assumes its adult teeth in four 

 or five months, whilst in the spaniel the period is sometimes more than 

 seven or eight months. 



With respect to minor differences little need be said. Isidore Geoffroy 

 has shown 60 that in size some dogs are six times as long (the tail being 

 excluded) as others ; and that the height relatively to the length of the 

 body varies from between one to two, and one to nearly four. In the 

 Scotch deer-hound there is a striking and remarkable difference in the 

 size of the male and female. 61 Every one knows how the ears vary in size 

 in different breeds, and with their great development their muscles become 

 atrophied. Certain breeds of dogs are described as having a deep furrow 

 between the nostrils and lips. The caudal vertebrae, according to F. Cuvier, 

 on whose authority the two last statements rest, vary in number ; and the 

 tail in shepherd dogs is almost absent. The mammae vary from seven to 

 ten in number; Daubenton, having examined twenty-one dogs, found eight 

 with five mammas on each side ; eight with four on each side ; and the others 

 with an unequal number on the two sides. 62 Dogs have properly five 

 toes in front and four behind, but a fifth toe is often added ; and F. Cuvier 

 states that, when a fifth toe is present, a fourth cuneiform bone is deve- 

 loped; and, in this case, sometimes the great cuneiform bone is raised, 

 and gives on its inner side a large articular surface to the astragalus ; so 

 that even the relative connection of the bones, the most constant of all 

 characters, varies. These modifications, however, in the feet of dogs are 

 not important, because they ought to be ranked, as De Blainville has 

 shown, 63 as monstrosities. Nevertheless they are interesting from being 

 correlated with the size of the body, for they occur much more frequently 

 with mastiffs and other large breeds than with small dogs. Closely allied 

 varieties, however, sometimes differ in this respect ; thus Mr. Hodgson 

 states that the black-and-tan Lassa variety of the Thibet mastiff has the fifth 

 digit, whilst the Mustang sub-variety is not thus characterised. The extent 

 to which the skin is developed between the toes varies much; but we shall 

 return to this point. The degree to which the various breeds differ in the 

 perfection of their senses, dispositions, and inherited habits is notorious 

 to every one. The breeds present some constitutional differences : the 

 pulse, says Youatt, 6 * » varies materially according to the breed, as well 



dor,v^iV4T5 eVeterinary '' L ° n - Canid*/ p. 134. F. Cuvier, ■ Annales 



60 . Hist TVni n - i > j. du Muse um,' torn, xviii. p. 342. In 

 ^ Mist. Nat. General, torn. iii. p. regard to mastiffe, See Col. Ham. Smith, 



61 W Scrooe < Ai+nf n cu „ • ' Nat ' Lib> '' voL x - P- 218 - For the 

 p. 354 Art °fDeer-Stalk 1 ng,' Thibet mastiff, see Mr. Hodgson in 



62 fhmtPrl Kxr rvi xt c , 'Journal of As. Soc. of Bengal,' vol. i., 

 Quoted by Col. Ham. Smith in 1832, p. 342 



Naturalist s Library, vol. x d 79 64 . 7™ ^ , 



63 De BlainvillP <7w J \. " 'The Dog,' 1845, p. 186. With 



6 ^ amyille > Osteographie, respect to diseases, Youatt asserts (p. 



♦ D 2 



