[Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1883, by the Rural New-Yorker In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
Tlaturalist. 
THE MASTIFF. 
The great naturalist Cuvier has asserted that 
the dog was perhaps necessary for the estab¬ 
lishment of human society. It may be a trifle 
diflicult to realize this in highly civilized com¬ 
munities, but a little reflection will convince us 
that less civilized nations owe much of their 
vanced condition of civilization. How much 
for ages has not man owed to the keenness of 
scent and love of the chase of the hound; the 
impulse to seek objects of the spaniel and 
pointer ; the puguacious disposition of the 
bull-dog; the intelligent philanthrophy of the 
St. Bernard: the fleetness and endurance of 
the Esquimaux, aud the tendency to watch and 
guard of the shepherd’s dog and mastiff. 
The mastiff form became known to the 
Greeks about the time of the Macedonian con- 
tiff, which is identical with the American, is 
perhaps descended from this, which from its 
great numbers and high perfection, appears to 
be the originator of the race. The English 
mastiff, however, though smaller and crossed 
somewhat with the stag and blood hound, i3 
more elegant in form and more majestic in 
appearance. 
Tie mastiff has always been the special 
guard of man’s person and property, and the 
qualities required to fill that position are: size 
acteristics of this noble breed; but the mastiff 
has ceased to be merely the ban-dog of the 
country-side; he is now also more used as a com¬ 
panion and personal guard than at any time in 
his history, and more attention has therefore 
been given to improvement in his general ap¬ 
pearance : hence the mastiff of to-day is a much 
handsomer animal than his rough, uncouth 
but no less powerful and faithful ancestors. 
Of this improved breed, our friend Mr. Bellew, 
who has won a high reputation as an artist on 
t V/f- 
ta ti< 
L'4 0u. aeA'j: 
“Coming Events Cast their Shadows Before/' 
elevation above the brute to the possession of 
the dog. The innate qualities of the different 
canine races enabled them to render vast assist¬ 
ance to man in a rude state of society aud 
these same innate qualities are sources of 
pleasure and profit to man in the most ad- 
quest, and classical Roman writers describe 
the pendulous lips, fiery eyes, loose folds of skin 
above the brows and other characteristics of 
the mastiff of Italy of those days and of the 
mastiff of Thibet of to-day—the largest, fier¬ 
cest and finest of the race. The English mas' 
to impress with fear; symmetry evidencing a 
combination of strength and activity; a dispo¬ 
sition watchful and keen but confident in its 
own strength; and a habit dignified aud calm, 
save the warning bark, deep, sonorous and re¬ 
echoing, For ages these have been the char- 
this and the other side of the Atlantic, has 
given us a splendid specimen in the fine illus¬ 
tration on this page. What a handsome, 
powerful dog it is! Head large aud broad 
across the skull; muzzle medium, cut off 
square, broad rather than deep; eyes, medium 
