THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



201 



WORK OF DOGS IN THE WAR 



It would not be fair to close this article 

 without brief mention of the splendid 

 work performed by dogs on the battle- 

 fields of Europe. 



From the very beginning of the war, 

 dogs have had a paw in it. When the 

 Germans invaded Belgium the harness 

 dogs, which up to that time had been used 

 for hauling milk, vegetables, and other 

 produce, began to assist the refugees in 

 getting their children and household 

 goods out of the invaded territory. Since 

 then they have hauled light artillery, and 

 carts laden with blankets, bread, hay, and 

 scores of other things for the comfort of 

 soldiers and their horses. 



They have done sentry duty in the 

 trenches and, with their masters, patrol 

 duty out on Xo Man's Land, their acute 

 senses often making them aware of the 

 approach of an enemy long before an un- 

 assisted man could have detected it. 



They have carried dispatches through 

 barb-wire entanglements and amid the 

 hail of bullets, and in neat baskets 

 strapped to their backs have delivered 

 homing pigeons intended to carry mes- 

 sages for longer distances. 



But perhaps the greatest service they 

 have rendered has been in connection with 

 the Red Cross, especially in the French 

 and German armies. A part of their 



work has been to find the wounded after 

 a battle. 



It is well known that when a man is 

 wounded, usually one of his first thoughts 

 is to get out of the way of the bullets 

 and the shells, and if he has strength he 

 will crawl to some comparatively safe 

 place, often a place where it would be 

 difficult for a man to find him, especially 

 at night. Later, perhaps, he will be too 

 weak to crawl out again or even to cry 

 for help, and in many cases he would be 

 lost if it were not for the dogs. 



Keen of scent, these animals are not 

 dependent on eyesight or hearing, and 

 one of them will probably find him. If 

 it does it will take his cap or something 

 else belonging to him and hurry back 

 to the lines and presently return with 

 stretcher-bearers, who will carry the poor 

 fellow in to receive the best attention 

 possible. 



Other dogs, each with a big can of hot 

 soup strapped to either side, are sent 

 through the front-line trenches to carry 

 this cheering fare to the fighting men. 



Many of the dogs have been mentioned 

 in the dispatches, a number have been 

 decorated for bravery or distinguished 

 service, and many, many more have done 

 their bit, the biggest bit it is possible to 

 do. and gone without a whimper where 

 the best men and the best dogs go. 



OUR COMMON DOGS 



By Louis Agassiz Fuertes and Ernest Harold Baynes 



With Illustrations by Louis Agassiz Fuertes 



THE dog is a species without known 

 beginning, and of all man's de- 

 pendent animals the most variable 

 in size, form, coat, and color. Further- 

 more, no breed as we now know can be 

 considered a species, as any dog may 

 breed with any other and produce fertile 

 offspring, which in itself is the very defi- 

 nition of a species. 



The great plasticity of the present-day 

 dog is due, of course, to this fact, and 

 no other one of man's domestic animals 



(excepting possibly chickens) presents 

 the range of possibility and the readiness 

 with which new ''varieties" may be pro- 

 duced and stabilized. Thus, up to 1885 

 the well-known and justly popular Aire- 

 dale was a nondescript and variable ter- 

 rier of the lowly poacher — simply a 

 clever, faithful, and dependable mongrel. 

 Today no breed demands a more exact- 

 ing set of requirements nor meets them 

 so generally ! 



The illustrator's problem in preparing 



