THE BULLDOG. 199 



obtain the fresh brain of a pure bulldog for the purpose of com- 

 parison (1879), and from an examination I have no doubt of 

 the fact being as above stated. The mental qualities of the bull- 

 dog may be highly cultivated, and in brute courage and unyield- 

 ing tenacity of purpose he stands unrivalled among quadrupeds, 

 and with the single exception of the game-cock, he has perhaps 

 no parallel in these respects in the brute creation. Two remark- 

 able features are met with in this breed: First, they always 

 make their attack at the head ; and, secondly, they do not bite 

 and let go their hold, but retain it in the most tenacious manner, 

 so that they can with difficulty be removed by any force which 

 can be applied. Instances are recorded in which bulldogs have 

 hung on to the lip of the bull (in the old days of baiting that 

 animal) after their entrails had been torn out, and while they 

 were in the last agonies of death. Indeed, when they do lay 

 hold of an object, it is always necessary to choke them off, with- 

 out which resource they would scarcely ever be persuaded to let 

 go. From confinement to their kennels they are often deficient 

 in intelligence, and they can rarely be brought under good control 

 by education ; and, from the same circumstance, they show little 

 personal attachment, so that they are almost as likely to attack 

 their friends as their enemies in their fury when their blood is 

 put up. Many a bulldog has pinned his master's leg in revenge 

 for a tread on his foot, and it is very seldom that liberties can 

 be taken with him by any one. There is an old story strongly 

 characteristic of this tendency, which will illustrate this passion 

 for pinning, and also the fondness of the lower orders in some 

 districts for the fighting and baiting propensities of their dogs. 

 A Staffordshire coalminer was one day playing with his bulldog, 

 an unentered puppy, when the animal became angry and pinned 

 his master by the nose. On this the bystanders became alarmed, 



