DOG. 
223 
should be dependent, and fluctuate as she runs. 
This, however, ia by no means the case with the 
Irish wolf-dog', whose ears resemble those of the 
grey-hound,, and are far from fluctuating with 
the animal's motions. But of whatever kinds 
these dogs may be, whether known among the 
ancients, or whether produced by a later > mixture, 
they are now almost quite worn away, and are very 
rarely to be met with, even in Ireland. If car- 
ried to other countries, they soon degenerate ; 
and even at home, unless great care be taken, 
they quickly alter. They were once employed in 
clearing the island of wolves, which infested it in 
great plenty ; but these being destroyed, the dogs 
also are wearing away, as if nature meant, to blot 
out the species, when they had no longer any ser- 
vices to perform. 
In this manner several kinds of animals fade 
from the face of nature, that were once - well 
known, but are now seen no longer. The enor- 
mous elk of the same kingdom, that, by its bores, 
could not have been less than eleven feet high, 
the wolf, and even the wolf-dog, are extinct, 
or only continued in such a manner, as to prove 
their former plenty and existence. From hence, 
it is probable, that many of the nobler kinds of 
dogs, of which the antients have given us such 
beautiful descriptions, are now utterly unknown ; 
since among the whole breed, we have* not one 
that will venture to engage the lion or the tyger 
in single combat. The English bull-dog is per- 
haps the bravest of the kind ; but what are his 
most boasted exploits to those mentioned of the 
Epiro'tic dogs by Pliny, or the Indian dogs by 
iElian. The latter gives us a description of a 
combat between a dog and a lion, which I will- 
take leave to translate. 
When Alexander was pursuing his conquests 
