Page:The Dog.djvu/21

Rh wasted away, and, at the expiration of the tenth day, he died, the victim of an attachment that would have done honour to man.

The belongs to the division of animals termed  (see 'The Horse,' 2nd edition, page 106) because it has a cranium or skull, and a spine or range of  proceeding from it. It ranks under the, because it has teats, by which the female suckles her young; the  , because its extremities are armed with nails; the  , because it walks principally on its toes. The  has two tubercular teeth behind the large carnivorous tooth in the upper jaw; and the, the , has the pupils of the eye circular, while those of the wolf are oblique, and those of the fox upright and long.

There has been some dispute whether the various species of dogs are of different origin, or sprung from one common source. When we consider the change that climate and breeding effect in the same species of dog, and contrast the rough Irish or Highland greyhound with the smoother one of the southern parts of Britain, or the more delicate one of Greece, or the diminutive but beautifully formed one of Italy, or the hairless one of Africa, or Brazil—or the small Blenheim spaniel with the magnificent Newfoundland; if also we observe many of them varied by accident, and that accidental variety diligently cultivated into a new species, altogether different in form or use, we shall find no difficulty in believing that they might be derived from one common origin.

One of the most striking proofs of the influence of climate on the form and character of this animal, occurs in the bull-dog. When transported to India he becomes, in a few years, greatly altered in form, loses all his former courage and ferocity, and becomes a perfect coward.

It is probable that all dogs sprung from one common source, but climate, food, and cross-breeding caused variations of form, which suggested particular uses; and these being either designedly or accidentally perpetuated, the various breeds of dogs thus arose, and they have become numerous in proportion to the progress of civilization. Among the ruder, or savage tribes, they possess but one form; but the ingenuity of man has devised many inventions to increase his comforts: he has varied and multiplied the characters and kinds of domestic animals for the same purpose, and hence the various breeds of horses, and cattle, and dogs.

The parent stock it is now impossible to trace; but the wild dog, whereever found on the continent of Asia, or Northern Europe, has nearly the same character, and bears no inconsiderable resemblance to the British fox-dog, while many of those from the Southern Ocean can scarcely be distinguished from the English lurcher. There is, however, no more difficulty in this respect with regard to the dog, than any other of our domesticated animals. Climate, or chance, produced a change in certain individuals, and the sagacity of man, or, perhaps, mere chance, founded on these accidental varieties numerous breeds possessed of certain distinct characteristic properties. The degeneracy of the dog, also, in different countries, cannot for a moment be disputed.

The most natural arrangement of all the varieties of the dog is according to the development of the frontal sinus and the cerebral cavity, or, in other words, the power of scent, and the degree of intelligence. This