Page:The Dog.djvu/22

12 classification originated with M. F. Cuvier, and has been adopted by most naturalists. He reckoned three divisions of the dog:—

I. Those having the head more or less elongated, and the parietal bones of the skull widest at the base and gradually approaching towards each other as they ascend, the condyls of the lower jaw being on the same line with the upper molar teeth. The and all its varieties belong to this class.

II. The head moderately elongated, and the parietals diverging from each other for a certain space as they rise upon the side of the head, enlarging the cerebral cavity and the frontal sinus. To this class belong our most valuable dogs, the and the.

III. The muzzle more or less shortened, the frontal sinus enlarged, and the cranium elevated, and diminished in capacity. To this class belong some of the, and a great many dogs that might very well be spared.

This division of the different species of the dog is adopted here as being the most simple, intelligible, and satisfactory.