71S C A 
would trace him through the thickeft and mod fecret co* 
verts ; nor would it ceafe its purfuit till it had taken the 
felon. For this reafon, there was a law in Scotland, that 
whoever denied entrance to or.e of thofe dogs, in purfuit 
of Rolen goods, (hould be deemed an acceffliry. Blood* 
hounds were formerly ufed in certain diitricts lying be¬ 
tween England and Scotland, which were much ir.feftcd 
by robbers and murderers; and a tax was laid upon the 
inhabitants for keeping and maintaining a certain number 
of them. But, as the arm of judice is now more equally 
extended over every part of the country, and fewer recedes 
where villainy may lurk concealed, thefe fervices are no 
longer necelfary. In Scotland it was diftinguifhed by the 
name of the Jlcuth-hound. Some few of thefe dogs are dill 
kept in the fouthern parts of the kingdom, and are ufed 
in purfuit of deer that have been previoudy wounded 
by a fiiot to draw blood, the fcent of which enables them 
to purfue with mod unerring Readinefs. They are fame- 
times employed in difcovering deer-Realers, whom they 
infallibly trace by the blood that iffues from the wounds 
of their victims. They are alfo faid to be kept in con¬ 
vents, (ituated in the lonely and mountainous countries of 
Swiderland, both as a guard to the facred manfion, and to 
find out the bodies of men that have been unfortunately 
loR in eroding thofe wild and dreary tradts. The blood* 
hound is taller than the old Englilh hound, handfornely 
formed, and fuperior to every other kind in fcent, fpeed, 
and fagacity. They feldom bark, except in the chafe ; 
and are commonly of a reddifh brown colour. 
III. The SpANifL; canis extrarius. Dogs of this va¬ 
riety vary in (ize, from the water-fpaniel and fetting-dog 
to the cocking-fpaniels and lap-dogs. i. King Charles’s 
breed, fo named from Charles II. who was very fond of 
this kind, and was often attended by feveral of them : it 
is black, and has its palate alfo black. 2. The pyrame; 
generally black, marked on the legs with a red tan colour, 
and above each eye with a fpot of the fame. 3. Shock, 
the Maltefe dog, with filky long hair; and, 4. The lion- 
slog, with Ihorter hair towards its poRerior extremities, 
■ except the point of the tail, which is tufted. 
IV. The Greyhound ; canis cuiforius. This variety 
confitts of dogs with fhort pendent ears; long legs and 
bodies. Of this kind are, r. The Irifh greyhound, a va- 
riety once very common in Ireland, and ufed in the chafe 
of the wolf, but how very fcarce. This is a dog of great 
fize and firength ; it is It matin of Button, and the canis 
graius Hibcmicus of Ray. 2. The common greyhound ; a 
creature fo well known, that any defeription of it would 
be premature. Every one that has feen it, mutt admire 
the elegance and beauty of its form. Its German name 
of windfpicL indicates its fwiftnefs; its French name of 
harchound, its life; its Saxon name of ge^ehund, oc gaze- 
hound, denotes that it hunts by fight, and not by fcent; and 
its Englifii name, though corrupted, announces its Grecian 
original. The Italian and Oriental varieties come the 
nearefi to this. 3. The Danilh dog, which is the largeft 
■of dogs, and is of a ttronger make than the Irifh grey¬ 
hound. Button mentions his having feen only one of 
thefe; that, when fitting, was five feet high. From this 
.race fprung the Newfoundland dog, which is varied only 
by tire peculiar nature of the climate: and Inch, in all 
probability, were the dogs of Epirus mentioned by Arif- 
fotle, and thofe of Albania, the modern Shirwan, or Eaft 
Georgia,.fo beautifully deferibed by Pliny, as prefented to 
Alexander the Great. While Alexander was on his march 
to India, the king of Albania fent him a dog of unufual 
bignefs, as a p re (Cut. Delighted with his appearance, he 
ordered bears, wild boars, and deer, to be turned loofe be¬ 
fore him. The dog, through contempt of fuch game, lay 
Rill without feeming to take the leaf! notice of the n. The 
high-fpirited prince, provoked at fuch indolence in a crea¬ 
ture of fuch (ize, ordered him to be put to death. Fame 
-Carried the news to the king. Wherfefore, fending him a 
fecond, lie added this melfage, “ that he fhould not try 
him on fmall beads, but on a lion or an elephant; that he 
N I S. 
had only two: that, if this were (lain, he fhould have none 
left.” Alexander did not delay, and foon law a lion quite 
overpowered. Then he ordered an elephant to be brought, 
and was never more entertained with any fight. “ Bn fi¬ 
ling up the hair over his whole body, lie opened upon him 
with a bark like thunder. Inftantly he begins the attack, 
rifing again!! the elephant, now on this fide, now cn that, 
with artful combat, attacking or retreating as he faw it 
necelfary, till, by continually wheeling round, he at laft 
brought him to the ground, the earth being fliaken all 
around by his weighty-fall.” 
To this clafs. may alfo be referred the vaft dogs of Thi¬ 
bet, faid by Marco Polo to be as big as affes, and nfed in 
that country to take wild beafis, and efpecially the wild 
oxen called beyamini. Another kind belonging to this 
variety is, the mattiff ; a dog very ftrong and thick made, 
with a large head and great lips hanging down on each 
fide ; he has a fine and noble countenance, and grows to a 
great fize. Me feems every way formed for the impor¬ 
tant trail of guarding and (ecuring the Valuable property 
often committed to his care. Houfes, gardens, yards, &c. 
are fafe from depredations whilfl in his cuttody. Confin¬ 
ed during the day, as foon as the gates are locked he is 
left to range at full liberty : he then goes round the pre- 
mifes, examines every part, and gives notice that he is 
ready to defend his charge. Some are fo admirably trained, 
as to permit a ttranger to come into the yard, and will go 
peaceably along with him through every part of it, while 
lie touches nothing; but the moment he attempts to med¬ 
dle with any of the goods, or endeavours to leave the 
place, he informs him firfi by gentle growling, or if that 
be ineffectual, then by harfher means, that he nuiR neither 
do mifehief, nor go away, until his keeper be prefent. He 
never tifes violence unlefs refitted ; and even in this cafe, 
lie will feize the perfon, throw him down, and hold him 
there for hours, or until relieved, without biting. Dr. 
Cains, in his ingenious treatife on BritiRi dogs, tell 11s, 
that three of thefe animals were reckoned a match for a 
bear, and four for a lion. We have a curious account re¬ 
corded in Stow’s Annals, of an engagement between three 
mattiffs and a lion, in the prefence of James I. “ One of 
the dogs, being put into the den, was foon difabled by the 
lion ; which took it by the head and neck, and dragged it 
about: another dog was then let loofe, and ferved in the 
fame manner ; but the third, being put in, immediately 
feized the lion, and held him for a confiderab'le time ; till, 
being feverely torn by hts claws, the dog was obliged to 
quit his hold ; and the lion, greatly exhauRed in the con- 
fiidl, refilled, to renew the engagement; but, taking a Rid¬ 
den leap over the dogs, fled into the interior part of his 
den. Two of the dogs foon died of their wounds: the laft 
furvived, and was taken great care of by the king’s fon,; 
who faid, “ he that had fought with the king of beaRs 
fhould never after fight with any inferior creature.” The 
mattitts of Great Britain were highly valued in the time of 
the Roman emperors ; who appointed an officer, whole 
foie bulinefs it was to breed, and fend them from hence, 
fuch as would prove equal to the combats of the arena. 
V. The fifth clafs confifis of dogs, with (hort pendent 
ears, (hort compact bodies, fhort nefes, and generally long 
legs. At the head of this clafs Hands, 1. The bull-dog, 
a breed peculiar to England, but : lefs frequently to be met 
with fince the barbarous cuttom of bull-baiting has decli¬ 
ned : he is cruel and fierce, often biting before he barks, 
z. The pug-dog, a final 1 fpecies, and an innocent refem- 
blance of the laft. 3. The baffard pug, nearly allied to 
the former. Thefe dogs have very fhort muzzles, little 
fcent, and often fend forth a difagreeable fine! 1 . 4. The 
naked dog, a degenerate fpecies, with a naked body, hav¬ 
ing loft its hair by the heat of climate. 
The bull-dog is perhaps the fierce!! of all the dog kind, 
and is probably the moil courageous creature in the world. 
It is low in ftature, but very ftrong and mufcular. Itsnofe 
is fnort ; and the under jaw projedls beyond the upper, 
which gives it a fierce and unpleuling afpedt,—jts courage 
