Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/343

DOG 325 as dumb. This faculty appears to be readily lost and to be capable of reacquirement. The domestic dogs which ran wild on the island of Juan Fernandez are said to have lost the power of barking in 33 years, and to have gradually reacquired it on removal from the island. The Hare Indian Dog makes an attempt at barking, which usually ends iu a howl, but the young of this breed born in the Zoological Gardens seem to possess this faculty to the full extent. In tropical America, where jackals are unknown, there are several wild species of dogs to which the domestic breeds of those regions bear a considerable resemblance, and at the present day the Arawak Indians cross their dogs with an aboriginal wild species for the purpose of improving the breed. In Australia the Dingo, regarded by many as constituting a distinct species indigenous to that country, its remains having been found in caves associated with those of other extinct mammals, occurs both in the wild state and domesticated at the present day. Darwin, after reviewing this question, concludes that " it is highly probable that the domestic dogs of the world have descended from two good species of wolves (Canis lupus and C. latrans), and from two or three other doubtful species of wolves, namely, the European, Indian, and North African forms, from at least one or two South American canine species, from several races or species of the jackal, and perhaps from one or more extinct species." Remains of the dog, of Neolithic age, occur in the kitchen- middens of Denmark, and in similar deposits in Switzer land. In Denmark the earliest known dog is followed, iu the Bronze period, by a larger breed, and that by a still larger form in the succeeding or Iron period ; while a somewhat similar succession occurs in Switzerland. These successive changes, however, may merely indicate the appearance in those countries of new races of prehistoric man, who brought with them their own dogs. In historic times the earliest records of the dog are to be found in the figures of these animals on Egyptian monuments from three to five thousand years old ; and these show that thus early, such varieties as the hound, greyhound, watch-dog, and turnspit were cultivated on the banks of the Nile. By the ancient Egyptians the dog was worshipped under the title Anubis, as the genius of the River Nile, the appearance of Sirius, the dog star, corresponding with the time of the annual rise of that river. The city of Cynopolis was built in its honour, and there its worship was carried on with great pomp. Certain kinds of dogs were regularly sacrificed to Anubis, their bodies being afterwards embalmed ; and occasionally the mummies of these are still found. The earliest record of the dog in sacred history is in connection with the sojourn of the Israelites in Egypt; and the religious homage paid to it by their oppressors may probably explain why the Jews were taught to regard it as unclean. Under Moslem law, which in many matters was founded upon Jewish practices, the dog occupies an equally degraded position ; and through out Mahometan countries at the present day, their generally wretched condition bears ample testimony to the neglect and ill-treatment to which for centuries they have been subjected. The pariah dogs of Eastern cities know no master ; they prowl about the streets in troops, eating whatever garbage may come in their way, thus serving the useful purpose of scavengers, and occasionally receiving a meal from the more humane of the inhabitants. On no account, however, must even the garmsnts of an orthodox Mahometan be defiled by their touch, and such is the intelligence and sagacity of these ownerless curs that, having become aware by painful experience of this religious prejudice, they seem to take the greatest care to avoid giving such offence. The value set upon the dog by the Egyptians seems to have been shared in by the ancient Greeks and Romans, who possessed many breeds closely allied to still existing forms. Those early breeds, however, are remarkable for the entire absence of pendulous ears, which do not make their appearance till near the decline of the Roman empire. By both Greeks and Romans they were employed in the chase, and in war, and for the latter purpose they were armed with spiked collars, and some times even with a coat of mail. Corinth was said to have been saved by 50 war dogs, which attacked the enemy that had landed while the garrison slept, and which fought with unbounded courage till all were killed except one, which succeeded in rousing the garrison. Shakespeare thus put no figure of speech in the mouth of Antony when he exclaims " Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war." Dogs are naturally carnivorous, preferring flesh that is slightly putrid ; but they can also live on vegetable food, arid in countries where the dog itself is eaten, it is generally thus fed. In drinking it laps with its tongue, and it never perspires, although when heated its tongue hangs from its mouth, and a fluid runs from it. When about to go to sleep, no matter where, it turns round and round, and scratches the ground with its forepaws as if to form a hollow couch ; and in this seemingly senseless action it is no doubt continuing a habit once found useful to its wild progenitors. Its sense of smells and hearing are exceed ingly acute, and many suppose that the remarkable power possessed by the dog, in common with the cat, of finding its way for great distances along unknown roads may be due to the exercise of the former sense. The differences that obtain between the various breeds of dogs are very great, the skulls, according to Cuvier, differing more from each other than they do iu the different species of a natural genus. The molar teeth, which normally consist of 6 pairs above and 7 below, sometimes number 7 pairs above and below, while in the hairless dog of Egypt the teeth are sometimes reduced to a single molar on each side, incisors and canines being entirely awanting. Some varieties are six times as long as others, excluding the tail, and the number of vertebrae in the latter organ is also exceedingly various ; nor is the number of mammae always uniform, there being 5 on each side in some, and 4 in others, while occasionally the number on the two sides is unequal. While man has thus bestowed great attention on the physical development of the dog, and availing himself of natural variations has, by careful selection and intercross ing, moulded the dog into an almost infinite variety of forms, he has also, by education, developed its moral and intellectual capabilities, so that the dog may, in this respect, be said to have, within its own limits, kept pace with its master s advancement; and it is undoubtedly owing to a certain community of feeling existing between dog and man that this domestic animal has, since the earliest times, been regarded as the companion as well as the humble servant of mankind. There are few human passions not shared in by the dog. It is, like him, subject to anger, jealousy, envy, love, hatred, and grief; it shows gratitude, pride, generosity, and fear. It sympathizes with man in his troubles, and there are numerous instances on record of its showing sympathy for the distressed of its own kind. It remembers, and is evidently assisted thereto, as man is, by the association of ideas ; that it is not devoid of imagina tion may be assumed from the fact that it dreams, pursuing in its sleep imaginary game. Its judgment is often singularly correct ; while it may almost be said to have a religion, in which man is its god, and his will its rule of conduct, disobedience to which produces an evident feeling of shame and a quiet submission to punishment.

It shares with man in awe of the unknown, and the most