Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/189

DOG 181 dog (C. Pomeranm? Linn.) lias all the sagaci- ty of the shepherd's dog, with a strength which enables him to resist successfully the attack of a wolf; it is large, whitish clouded with brown, with pointed nose, erect ears, and long silky hair ; it is most common in southern Europe. The Alpine or St. Bernard dog is universally known; the old race resembled the New- foundland dog, but the present dogs are short- haired, with very broad feet, and generally of a fawn color; their bark is uncommonly loud and deep. They are trained to carry food, wine, and warm coverings, attached to their bodies and necks ; they depart in the morning, after violent snow storms, in search of lost travellers, and are followed by the monks. Many lives have been saved through their instrumentality; but now that the roads are better and more easily followed, and the inhabitants in the upper valleys more numer- ous, their services are less frequently called for. In the subdivision of the watch dogs of F. Cuvier are found some of the largest canines, and especially the fierce races mentioned by St. Bernard Dog. ancient authors ; they have short hair and a wide muzzle, but in their skulls they resemble the wolf; the typical color is rufous, which is more or less mixed with black and white ; oc- cupying the northern temperate zone, they are probably descended from the lyciscan dogs, mixed toward the south with the mastiff race. They are less docile and sagacious than the former groups, but more watchful and noisy, and have considerable courage, and are there- fore generally kept by the humbler classes to protect their farms ; from this cause they are greatly crossed, and are doubtless the progeni- tors of the mongrel races of western Europe ; from their moderate powers of smelling they are of little use in hunting. The Suliote dog (C. Suillus, Gmel.), sometimes called boar hound in Germany, is one of the largest and fiercest breeds; it is sometimes nearly 4 ft. high at the shoulder. Kesembling this is the Danish dog (C. glaucm, Smith), but smoother, with shorter ears, and of a slaty blue color. The matin dog (C. laniarius, Linn.) has the head elongated and the forehead flat, the ears pendulous at the tips, the hair rugged, of a yellowish fawn color with blackish rays ; the height is about 2 ft. ; being bold, strong, and active, it is valuable for a house and sheep dog. The Poe dog ( C. Pacificus, Smith) seems to be indigenous to the South sea islands, and once was very abundant in the Hawaiian group; the muzzle is pointed, the ears erect, the back long, the limbs crooked, and the hair smooth and tan-colored ; its food is vegetable, with a little fish, and it is much esteemed by the na- tives as an article of diet-; the aboriginal race is now lost, from mixture with the imported dogs of Europe. The dogs of Patagonia are as large as fox hounds, and wolf-like in appear- ance ; those of Tierra del Fuego are smaller, resembling a cross between the fox, shepherd's dog, and terrier. Their dogs are of great value to the natives of these regions. In France and several other countries, especially Holland, dogs are frequently employed as draught ani- mals, and in Kamtchatka and Greenland almost exclusively for the same purpose. Cuvier has asserted that the dog was perhaps necessary for the establishment of human society; though this may not be apparent in the most highly civilized communities, a moment's reflection will convince us that barbarous nations owe much of their elevation above the brute to the possession of the dog. That man has been able to make such extensive use of this animal must depend on innate qualities in the races, as, for instance, keenness of scent and the desire to chase, in the hound ; the impulse to seek ob- jects, in the spaniel and pointer ; the tendency to watch and guard in the shepherd's dog and mastiff. The activity of their brain is shown by their proneness to dream. It is said that the ancients were fond of the flesh of dogs ; it is well known that the Polynesians, Chinese, and American Indians consider it a great delicacy ; when fed principally on vegetable food, it is palatable and nutritious. The monuments of Egypt show that dogs, like men, were as dis- tinct in their races thousands of years ago as now ; and it becomes interesting to inquire if there are fossil dogs. Fossil canines have cer- tainly been found, but these have been referred without examination as a matter of course to wolves, foxes, and jackals, and not to dogs; they are chiefly met with in the pliocene caves, in the drift, and in the alluvium. The fact has been already mentioned that it is very difficult to distinguish the different species of canidce by their skeletons, except by the size of the bones. The domestic dogs have the last tubercular tooth wider than that of the wolf, and the teeth of many of the cave dogs differ from those of the domestic races only in being larger. Dr. Lund discovered fossil dogs larger than any now living in the caves of Brazil, as- sociated with an extinct monkey ; a similar association has been found in a stratum of marl, under compact limestone, in the Pyre- nees. Dr. Schmerling has described several