The Dog

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[Notwithstanding the Indians occasionally eat their dogs either through
necessity or when they wish to pay a marked tribute of respect to their
gods, or prepare a feast of friendship with strangers, they value them
very highly, and do not by any means consider their flesh superior to
that of the buffaloes or other animals of the chase. Mr. Catlin remarks,
that "the dog, amongst all Indian tribes, is more esteemed and more
valued than amongst any part of the civilized world: the Indian, who has
more time to devote to his company, and whose untutored mind more nearly
assimilates to that of his faithful domestic, keeps him closer company
and draws him nearer his heart: they hunt together and are equal sharers
in the chase--their bed is one; and on the rocks and on their coats of
arms they carve his image as the symbol of fidelity." (Vol. I., p. 230.)

On visiting the Sioux, they prepared for this gentleman as a token of
regard a dog feast, previous to partaking of which they addressed him in
a manner that plainly exhibits the veneration in which they held these
faithful animals, at the same time forcibly demonstrating the peculiar
circumstances under which they alone are willing to destroy them:

"My father, I hope you will have pity upon us; we are very poor. We
offer you to-day not the best we have got; for we have a plenty of good
buffalo hump and marrow; but we give you our hearts in this feast, we
have killed our faithful dogs to feed you, and the Great Spirit will
seal our friendship. I have no more to say." (Vol. I., p. 229.)--L.]

As a counterpart to much of this, the ancient Hyrcanians may be
mentioned, who lived near the Caspian Sea, and who deemed it one of the
strongest expressions of respect to leave the corpse of their deceased
friends to be torn and devoured by dogs. Every man was provided with a
certain number of these animals, as a living tomb for himself at some
future period, and these dogs were remarkable for their fierceness.

[Not only the Hyrcanians but most of the people dwelling on or near the
Caspian sea, preserved this race or a similarly formidable one, more
particularly to devour their dead; it being considered more propitiatory
to the Gods, and more flattering to the spirits of the deceased, to make
this disposition of the corpse, than consigning it to the gloomy grave
or funeral pile.

This custom is noticed by Theodoret as being pursued by the inhabitants
of those parts, and was not abolished till after their adherence to
Christianity.--L.]

DOMESTICATED DOGS OF THE FIRST DIVISION

Some of the readers of this work may possibly recollect three beautiful
dogs of this species in the gardens of the Zoological Society of London,
which afforded a perfect illustration of the elongated head of the dogs
belonging to Cuvier's first section. Mr. Bennett, the Secretary of the
Society, gave an interesting account of them in 1835, derived from the
observation of Sir John Franklin and Dr. Richardson.

The elongation and sharpness of the muzzle, and the small capacity of
the skull, first attract attention. The dog was doubtless fitted for its
situation, where its duty is to hunt by sight after the moose or
rein-deer, but would have been comparatively worthless if he was to be
guided by the scent. Its erect ears, widened at the base and pointed at
the top, gave it an appearance of vivacity and spirit. Its depth of
chest, and tucked-up flank, and muscular quarters, marked it as a dog of
speed, while its light frame, and the length of the toes, and wideness
of web between them, seem to depict the kind of surface over which it
was to bound. It is not designed to seize and to hold any animal of
considerable bulk; it bounds over the snow without sinking, if the
slightest crust is formed upon it, and eagerly overtakes and keeps at
bay the moose or the rein-deer until the hunters arrive. This animal
furnishes a beautiful illustration of adaptation for a particular
purpose.

The hair of these dogs is white, with patches of grayish-black and
brown. They are known only in the neighbourhood of the Mackenzie River
and of the Great Bear Lake in North America They appear to be
good-tempered and easily manageable, and soon become familiar even with
strangers. They are most valuable to the Indians, who live almost
entirely on the produce of the chase. In their native country they never
bark, but utter a whine and howl resembling that of the Esquimaux dog;
yet one of the three, who was born a few days after its parents arrived
at the gardens, while it whined and howled occasionally with its
parents, at other times uttered the perfect bark of its companions of
various breeds around it.

[It is the general belief among the Indians and others who are familiar
with this dog, that his origin is connected, in some way, with the
Arctic Fox, Canis Lagopus, as he so much resembles this animal in his
general appearance and habits.

This fox when taken is easily tamed, a few days of captivity being often
sufficient to render him quite docile, and ample opportunities have thus
been afforded for studying his peculiarities.

Although the cross between the wolf and dog may be considered
established beyond controversy, the testimony is not so very conclusive
as regards the fox. The most authentic instances on record are perhaps
those mentioned by Mr. Daniel, who states that Mr. Tattersall had a
terrier bitch, who bred by a fox, and the produce again had whelps by
dogs, also that the woodman of Mongewell manor had a bitch, the
offspring of a tame dog-fox, by a shepherd's cur, and she again had
puppies by a dog; he does not state, however, that he knew these facts
personally; but concludes from these two instances, that the fox species
may be fairly added to the other supposed original stocks of dogs.
(Daniel's Rural Sports, vol. 1. p. 15.)

Mr. Collinson also states, that it is certain that the Siberian dog not
only copulates with the wolf, but with the fox also. Notwithstanding
this assertion, he is not able to cite a single instance, but on the
other hand is forced to acknowledge, that he never met with any person
who had seen the coupling of these two animals. The peasants of that
country have a small dog, which, from their foxy appearance, they term
fox-dogs. Our Indian dogs, also, resemble somewhat the wolves and foxes,
the original inhabitants of this continent, while the canine family
throughout the east is strongly marked with the jackal, the wild
aborigines of that portion of the world.

These dogs, when fighting, do not shake their antagonists, like the
perfectly domesticated dog; their teeth are extremely sharp, and when
snarling, the skin is drawn from the mouth; their bite is more severe,
and they show but little disposition to attack the wolves, although
quite eager in the pursuit of all other game. The Indians had no dogs
previous to the coming of the whites, but depended in a great measure,
when hunting, upon the presence of the wolves, who, by their howlings,
indicated the position of the herds of buffalo or deer, knowing full
well that after the general carnage, they would come in for a full share
of the garbage of these animals.

Harlan, in his Fauna Americana, says,

"we have very little doubt that the various species of domestic dogs
are mere varieties of prolific hybrids, produced by the union of the
wolf with the fox or jackal. A prolific hybrid of this kind once
produced, the progeny would more readily unite with the congeners of
either parent, and with each other, and in this manner give rise to
the innumerable varieties which at the present day are found scattered
over the face of the earth." (Page 77.)

It is somewhat strange, that no naturalist has, as yet, succeeded in
causing a union between the fox and dog, if the thing be possible. We
ourselves are cognizant of an instance, where every effort was made to
produce an offspring from such a connexion, but to no purpose, although
the terrier bitch was thrice in heat while confined with the fox, and
lived on the most amicable terms with him. We agree with Doct. Godman,
that if a litter has ever been generated by these two animals, they were
hybrids, as nothing to the contrary of an authentic character has been
brought forward, whereas it is well known that the fox always exhibits a
great antipathy and instinctive repugnance to such an union. It is also
reasonable to suppose that if prolific hybrids had at any time been
produced, the breed, from its singular character, would have been
propagated by the fortunate possessor, either from curiosity or utility.
The intestines of the fox are shorter than those of the dog or wolf--L.]

THE ALBANIAN DOG

can be traced to a very remote period of history. Some of the old
authors speak of it as the dog which in the times of ancient mythology
Diana presented to Procris. Pliny describes in enthusiastic terms the
combat of one of them with a lion, and afterwards with an elephant. A
dog very much resembling the ancient stories is yet found in Albania,
and most of the districts of Greece. He is almost as large as a mastiff,
with long and silky hair, the legs being shorter and stronger than those
of the greyhound. He is gentle and tractable with those whom he knows,
and when there is no point of duty at stake; but no bribe can seduce him
from his post when any trust is committed to him.

[This dog, it is very probable, was highly impregnated with molossian
blood, and like that animal, was trained both for war and the chase. It
is rather doubtful, whether the dogs presented to Alexander the Great by
the king of Albania, were those of his own country or some that he had
obtained from other parts. We are inclined to believe that they were
imported dogs, for Pliny distinctly states, that these two were all that
the generous monarch possessed, and if destroyed could not be replaced.
From this circumstance it is natural to suppose that, if these dogs had
been native Albanians, the king would have been able to supply any
reasonable quantity of them, and, therefore, not necessitated to send
this message to Alexander. On the other hand, if these dogs had been of
the pure molossian type, such as were raised in Epirus, it is probable
that their huge dimensions would not have surprised this monarch so
much, as it is reasonable to believe that Alexander would certainly have
seen, if not heard, of dogs so remarkable, belonging to a kingdom in
immediate contiguity with his own. We are, therefore, forced to look to
some other source, from whence came these proud dogs, who alone deigned
to contend with the lion and elephant, and must yield to Strabo, who
states that these animals were of the Indian breed.--L. 15.]

THE GREAT DANISH DOG, CALLED ALSO THE DALMATIAN OR SPOTTED DOG.

The difference between these two breeds consists principally in the
size, the Dalmatian being much smaller than the Danish. The body is
generally white, marked with numerous small round black or reddish-brown
spots. The Dalmatian is said to be used in his native country for the
chase, to be easily broken, and stanch to his work. He has never been
thus employed in England, but is chiefly distinguished by his fondness
for horses, and as being the frequent attendant on the carriages of the
wealthy. To that its office seems to be confined; for it rarely develops
sufficient sense or sagacity to be useful in any of the ordinary offices
of the dog.

[This dog is, perhaps, the tallest of the canine species in existence;
the smaller Dane, or "le braque de Bengal," of the French writers, is
perhaps a cross of this animal with the pointer or hound, or the
original dog degenerated by removal from his native soil. Although these
dogs generally display little or no intelligence, and are, in fact,
denounced by many writers as being incapable of acquiring sufficient
knowledge to make them in any way serviceable for hunting, still we are
led to believe that these latent qualities might be developed in this
breed as well as any other of his particular physical construction.

We had a little Dane in our possession, whom we instructed, with little
trouble, in a variety of tricks; although at first surly and stupid, he
soon exhibited great aptness and pleasure in repeating the various
lessons which we taught him. If he had been younger we might have given
him an opportunity of displaying himself in the field, as we are
confident, from his tractable disposition, that he might have been
tutored, with perseverance, even sufficiently well to stand upon game.
The dogs of Epirus were supposed to have been spotted like the
Dalmatian, if not of the same breed. These dogs may also be the "spotted
hounds" given by Pan to Diana.

Let the little Dane's intellectual abilities be what they may, long
habit and association have so intimately connected him with the stable
and its occupants that he seems no longer fit for any other purpose than
that of following in the wake of the carriages of the wealthy. This he
does with peculiar fondness and singular ingenuity; for, although
constantly by the side or at the heels of the horses, or under the
tongue of the vehicle, his sure retreat when attacked by other dogs, who
seem to have an antipathy for these pampered and fancy attendants on the
affluent, he seldom or never is trod upon, or otherwise injured.

The little Dane is often a good ratter; and a gentleman of this city
informs me that his dogs not only exhibit an attachment to horses in
general, but that one of them has a particular partiality for an old
carriage-horse, with whom he has been intimately associated for many
years, and always greets his return to the stable with every
demonstration of delight, by jumping up and kissing him, &c.--L.]

THE FRENCH MATIN.

('Canis laniarius'). There is considerable difficulty in describing this
variety. The French consider it as the progenitor of all the breeds of
dogs that resemble and yet cannot be perfectly classed with the
greyhound. It should rather be considered as a species in which are
included a variety of dogs,--the Albanian, the Danish, the Irish
greyhound, and almost the pure British greyhound. The head is elongated
and the forehead flat, the ears pendulous towards the tips, and the
colour of a yellowish fawn. This is the usual sheep-dog in France, in
which country he is also employed as a house-dog. He discharges his duty
most faithfully; and, notwithstanding his flat forehead, shows himself
to possess a very high degree of intelligence.

[The French matin we have seen of every variety of colour, being mostly
patched with brown, yellow, grey, black, or white. He is employed both
in France and Germany in hunting the boar and wolf; which savage animals
he fearlessly attacks with courage equal to any dog they possess.--L.]

THE GREYHOUND.

We find no mention of this dog in the early Grecian records. The
'pugnaces' and the 'sagaces' are mentioned; but the 'celeres'--the
swift-footed--are not spoken of as a peculiar breed. The Celtic nations,
the inhabitants of the northern continent of Europe and the Western
Islands, were then scarcely known, and the swift-footed dogs were
peculiar to those tribes. They were not, however, introduced into the
more southern parts of Europe until after the dissolution of the Roman
commonwealth.

The dog is, however, mentioned by Ovid; and his description of coursing
the hare is so accurate that we cannot refrain from inserting it. We
select a translation of it from Golding.

"I gat me to the knap
Of this same hill, and there behelde of this strange course the hap,
In which the beaste seemes one while caught, and ere a man would thinke
Doth quickly give the grewnd [9] the slip, and from his biting shrinke;
And, like a wilie fox, he runs not forth directly out,
Nor makes a winlas over all the champion fields about,
But, doubling and indenting, still avoydes his enemie's lips,
An turning short, as swift about as spinning-wheele he wips,
To disappoint the snatch. The grewnd, pursuing at an inch,
Doth cote [10] him, never loosing. Continually he snatches
In vaine, but nothing in his mouth, save only hair, he catches."

There is another sketch by the same poet:

"As when th' impatient greyhound, slipped from far,
Bounds o'er the glade to course the fearful hare,
She in her speed does all her safety lay,
And he with double speed pursues the prey;
O'erruns her at the sitting turn, but licks
His chaps in vain, yet blows upon the flix;
She seeks the shelter, which the neighbouring covert gives,
And, gaining it, she doubts if yet she lives." [11]

The English, Scotch, and Irish greyhounds were all of Celtic derivation,
And their cultivation and character correspond with the civilization of
the different Celtic tribes. The dogs that were exported from Britain to
Rome were probably of this kind. Mr. Blaine gives an account of the
progress of these dogs, which seems to be evidently founded on truth.

"Scotland, a northern locality, has long been celebrated for its
greyhounds, which are known to be large and wiry-coated. They are
probably types of the early Celtic greyhounds, which, yielding to the
influences of a colder climate than that they came from, became coated
with a thick and wiry hair. In Ireland, as being milder in its
climate, the frame expanded in bulk, and the coat, although not
altogether, was yet less crisped and wiry. In both localities, there
being at that time boars, wolves, and even bears, powerful dogs were
required. In England these wild beasts were more early exterminated,
and consequently the same kind of dog was not retained, but, on the
contrary, was by culture made finer in coat, and of greater beauty in
form."

[The canis leporarius, or greyhound of the present day, is quite an
inferior animal in point of size, when compared with his forefathers,
who alone were occupied in the chase of the boar, wolf, bear, deer, and
other animals both powerful and savage.

As these wild animals gradually disappeared under the hand of
civilization, these hardy dogs were less wanted; and thus, by slow
degrees, have degenerated into the less powerful, but more beautiful and
symmetrical proportions that we now see. This change, however, has
better adapted him for speed, and the coursing of such quadrupeds as
depend upon nimbleness and activity of motion, to secure their escape.

Owing, in some measure, to the climate, but more particularly to the
inactive life that they lead in this country, so much at variance with
that of England, we can lay claim to but few dogs that would be
considered above mediocrity among British sportsmen. We have seen
several of these dogs which, living in a state of idle luxury, have
degenerated considerably even in the third generation; and we cannot now
recall but one dog, in the possession of a young lady in Philadelphia,
that would at all come up to the English standard of perfection; and
this one is a descendant from a fine imported stock in the second
generation. The ancient Greeks were much devoted to coursing, but
previous to the time of Arrian, their hounds were not a sufficient
match, in point of speed, for the hare, and it was seldom that their
sports were attended with success in the actual capture of this fleet
animal by the dogs alone. If taken at all, it was generally by running
them down in a long chase, or driving them into nets, toils, and other
similar contrivances, as forcibly described in the following lines of
the ancient poet, when extolling the pleasures of a country life.

"Aut trudit acres hinc et hinc multa cane
Apros in obstante plagas,
Aut amite levi rara leiidit retia,
Turdis edacibus dolos;
Pavidumve leporem, et advenam laqueo gruem,
Jucunda captat praemia."

(Horace, 'Epode ii.', v. 31.)

Even after the introduction of the Celtic hound, who, as before stated,
was far inferior as regards speed to the present race, it was no easy
matter to take the hare, it being necessary to carry several couples of
dogs into the field, and let them slip at certain intervals in the
chase, so that the fresh dogs might, in this way, overtake the little
animal, already frightened and fatigued by previous exertion.

In reference to this mode of coursing, the younger Xenophon particularly
enjoins that to prevent confusion in the field, naturally arising from
the hunters letting their dogs loose at improper intervals, from
eagerness to see them run,

"that a steward should be appointed over the sport, should match the
dogs, and give orders to the field:--if the hare start on this side,
you and you are to slip, and nobody else; but if on that side, you and
you: and let strict attention be paid to the orders given."
(Arrian, chap. xx.)

Alciphron, in his familiar epistles descriptive of the domestic manners
of the Greeks, gives a lively description of a course not very different
from those of the present day, as will be seen in the following extract:

"In trying whether the young dogs were fit for the chase, I started a
hare from a little bush; my sons loosed the dogs from the slips. They
frightened her confoundedly, and were very near taking the game. The
hare, in her flight, climbed a steep place, and found a retreat in
some burrow. One of the more spirited of the dogs, pressing close upon
her, gasping, and expecting to take her in his gripe, went down with
her into the hole. In endeavouring to pull out the hare, he broke one
of his fore-legs. I lifted up my good dog, with his lame leg, and
found the hare half devoured: thus, when I hoped to get something, I
encountered a serious loss."
(Letter ix.)

We will close our remarks upon this subject by introducing a few
descriptive lines, selected from one of the very rare English authors
who have attempted a versification of this exciting sport.

"Yet if for silvan sport thy bosom glow,
Let thy fleet greyhound urge his flying foe.
With what delight the rapid course I view!
How does my eye the circling race pursue!
He snaps deceitful air with empty jaws;
The suttle hare darts swift beneath his paws;
She flys, he stretches, now with nimble bound
Eager he presses on, but overshoots his ground:
Then tears with goary mouth the screaming prey."

('Gay's Poems', vol i.--'Rural Sports', v. 290),--L.]

Mr. Richardson, in his History of the Greyhound, gives a different
derivation of the name of this dog. He says that the 'greyhound' was of
Grecian origin--'cannis Graecus',--that 'Graecus' was not unfrequently
written 'Graeius', and thence was derived the term 'greyhound'. This
derivation, however, is somewhat too far-fetched.

Mention occurs of the greyhound in a very early period of the British
history. He was an inmate of the Anglo-Saxon kennels in the time of
Elfric, king of Mercia. There are paintings of him that can be
satisfactorily traced to the ninth century. In the time of Canute he was
reckoned first in degree of rank among the canine species, and no one
under the degree of a gentleman, 'liberalis', or more properly, perhaps
a 'freeholder', was allowed by the forest laws to keep them. Even he
could not keep them within two miles of a royal forest, unless two of
the toes were cut off and for every mile that an uncut dog was found
within this distance a fine of a shilling was levied on the owner. The
nobleman was rarely seen abroad without his hawk upon his fist, and his
greyhound at his side.

Henry II was passionately fond of them. John spared no expense to
procure good horses and swift hounds, and appears frequently to have
received greyhounds in lieu of money on the issue or removal of grants.
For the renewal of a grant in the year 1203 he received five hundred
marks, ten horses, and ten leashes of greyhounds, and for another, in
1210, one swift running horse and six greyhounds.

The Isle of Dogs, now devoted to purposes of commerce, received its name
from its having been, at this period, the receptacle of the greyhounds
and spaniels of this monarch. It was selected on account of its
contiguity to Waltham and the other royal forests where coursing was a
frequent amusement. For the same purpose he often took up his abode at
Greenwich. [12]

Blount's Ancient Tenures abound with instances of the high repute in
which this dog has ever been held in Great Britain. The holders of land
in the manor of Setene in Kent were compelled, as the condition of their
tenure to Edward I and II, to lend their greyhounds, when this king went
into Gascony, "so long as a pair of shoes of 4d price would last."
Edward III was partial to greyhounds; for when he was engaged in war
with France he took with him sixty couples of them, besides other large
hunting dogs.

Charles I was as fond of the greyhound as his son Charles II was of the
spaniel. Sir Philip Warwick thus writes of that unfortunate monarch;

"Methinks, because it shows his dislike of a common court vice, it is
not unworthy the relating of him, that one evening, his dog scratching
at his door, he commanded me to let in Gipsy; whereupon I took, the
boldness to say, Sir, I perceive you love a greyhound better than you
do a spaniel. Yes, says he, for they equally love their masters, and
yet do not flatter them so much."