CANIS. 
This genus comprehends twenty-one spe- 
cies, several of which, particularly tlie C. 
familiaris, include numerous varieties. The 
following appear principally deserving of 
notice. 
The C. familiaris, or the familiar dog, 
of which the variety known by the name 
of the shepherd’s dog is imagined to ap- 
proach most nearly to the original animal. 
Its use is inferible from its designation. 
It keeps the flock collected, and defends 
it from injury. In the Alps, and some 
other regions of Europe, it is considerably 
larger and stronger than in England. See 
Mammalia, Plate V. fig. 1. 
Another variety is the dingo, Australa- 
sian, or New Holland dog. Plate V. fig. i. 
This dog does not bark so readily as 
ti’.e European dogs : its appearance much 
resembles the larger kind of the shepherd’s 
dog, and it is extremely fierce and untrac- 
tabie. 
The Pomeranian dog, another variety, 
is generally white, and is distinguished, 
among several characteristics, by tlie cur- 
vature of its tail, extending very nearly to 
a circle. Plate V. fig. 3. 
A fourth variety is the Siberian. These 
dogs are frequently employed in Siberia 
and Kamtschatka, in drawing sledges on the 
frozen snow, and four or six of them yoked 
to a sledge will convey three persons, with 
the usual quantity of baggage, forty miles 
or more in a day. The exertions of these 
dogs, however, are more to be praised tlian 
their fidelity or attachment. Their per- 
verseness and subtlety are a source of great 
vexation to their employers, who, how- 
ever, notwitlistandhig the malignity and 
cunning they are thus so incessantly called 
upon to counteract, find these animals in- 
dispensable to the convenience and inter- 
-course of these arctic regions. See Plate 
V. fig. 4. 
The Iceland dog is but little different 
from the last, as will be seen by a reference 
to Plate V. fig. b. Its general colour is 
black. 
For the great barbet see Plate V. fig. 6. 
The blood-hound was, some ages since, 
highly esteemed in England, and much em- 
ployed in the pursuit of robbers. The 
acuteness of its smell is so extraordinary, 
that it has traced a man to the distance of 
seven miles, along a much frequented high- 
way, and through several market towns, 
to the very upper room in which he was 
taking refi-eshment. 
The Irish grey-hound, now extremely 
VOL, II. 
rare even in Ireland itself, is perhaps the 
most beautiful and majestic, as well as the 
largest of, all dogs. It %vas this dog which 
was principally employed in clearing the 
island of wolves. It is, however, unfit for 
hunting foxes, hares, or stags, and is kept 
by a few persons merely for its beauty and 
size. Dr. Goldsmith had seen one four 
feet high. 
The mastiff, another variety, is of a very 
strong and thick structure, with a large 
head, and the sides of the lips pendulous. 
In the reign of James I. a trial of its vigour 
and courage was made in the Tower of 
London, and three mastiffs being opposed 
to a lion, two were mutilated and disabled, 
but the third obliged the lion to have re- 
course to flight. 
The terrier, another variety, is much em- 
ployed in unearthing foxes, and to all those 
quadrupeds which are comprehended in 
the class of Vermin, bears the strongest an- 
tipathy. A well-trained terrier is frequently 
found an over-match even for the fierce 
and hardy badger. This dog is extremely 
useful as an attendant on evei-y pack of 
hounds, to compel tlie game from its close 
cover of earth or thicket. 
The chief peculiarities of the species of 
which these few varieties out of many have 
been given are these. It cultivates the 
society of man, has rarely been found wild ; 
feeds on flesh and farinaceous vegetables, 
but not on greens ; it digests bones ; urines 
frequently, holding up its leg ; dungs upon 
a stone ; vomits itself by grass ; runs in an 
oblique direction ; very rarely sweats, but 
lolls out its tongue when hot. The male 
young resemble the dog, and the female 
the bitch. It is extremely docile, affec- 
tionate, and vigilant in its intercourse with 
man ; it eats with a glancing and envious 
eye ; has a great aversion to strangei’s, and 
particularly to beggars ; licks wounds ; 
hears and dreams in its sleep, sets up a 
howl on hearing musical sounds, and bites 
stones throwm at it ; it possesses a most 
acute sense of smell ; is liable to gonorrho'a ; 
is subject also to madness, which it imparts 
by biting, and in old age is addicted to 
gnawing itself. It is regarded by the fol- 
lowers of Mahomet as unclean. 
C. Lirpus, the wolf. Tliese animals are 
found in almost ail tlie temperatfrand cold 
climates of the globe. They abounded 
formerly in Great Britain and Ireland, but 
were extirpated by government's com- 
muting the punishments for several offences 
for a proportionate number of wolves’ 
F 
