1852-54 DOGS AS DRAUGHT ANIMALS 405 



course of Hunterian Lectures, which were still on 

 the Anatomy of Fishes, Owen gave a lecture on 

 February 10, at the Royal Institution, ' On the 

 Structure and Homologies of Teeth.' 



Amongst the correspondence for this year 

 there is a letter from the Duke of Argyll asking 

 Professor Owen whether he considers that dogs 

 are physically unfitted for use as draught animals. 

 The Duke mentions the case of the Esquimaux dog, 

 and says that there will probably be a discussion 

 and division in the House of Lords in a few days 

 on the subject. Professor Owen replied that the 

 general framework and muscular structure of dogs 

 adapted them for draught purposes, and that the 

 larger kinds do the work with goodwill and with- 

 out distress. But the physical unfitness for habitual 

 draught is seen in examining the foot and by 

 noting the evident soreness of foot in a dog which 

 has run for long on a hard road. He also remarks 

 that the case of the Esquimaux breed does not 

 apply, because they almost invariably run over 

 snow-covered surfaces, and not on hot and hard 

 roads such as exist in this country. 



In the summer of 1854 Owen devoted some 

 time to the water supply and sewage arrangements 

 of Lancaster. Whilst in the North of England 

 he attended the Liverpool Meeting of the British 

 Association, giving an address on * Anthropo- 

 morphous Apes ' at the ' New Hall ' there to an 

 audience of between two and three thousand. His 



