It is not the largeness of make, elegance of form, strength of body,
freedom of motions, or all the exterior qualities, which constitute the
noblest properties in an animated being; in mankind genius is preferred
to figure, courage to strength, and sentiment to beauty; so we consider
the interior qualities in an animal as the most estimable; for it is
by those he differs from the automaton, rises above the vegetable
species, and approaches nearer to man. It is sentiment which ennobles,
regulates, and enlivens his being, which gives activity to all his
organs, and birth to desire and motion. The perfection of an animal
depends, then, upon sentiment alone, and the more this is extended
the more are his faculties and resources augmented, and the greater
are his relations with the rest of the universe. When this sentiment
is delicate, exquisite, and capable of improvement, the animal then
becomes worthy to associate with man; he knows how to concur with
his designs, to watch for his safety, to defend and to flatter him
with caresses; by a repetition of these services he conciliates the
affection of his master, and from his tyrant makes him his protector.
The dog, independent of his beauty, strength, vivacity, and nimbleness,
has all the interior qualities which can attract the regard of man. A
passionate and ferocious temper, makes the wild dog dreaded by most
animals, as much as the pacific disposition of the domestic dog renders
him agreeable; to his master he flies with alacrity, and submissively
lays at his feet all his courage, strength, and talents; he seems to
consult, interrogate, and supplicate for orders, which he is solicitous
to execute; a glance of the eye is sufficient, for he understands
the smallest signs of his will. Without having like man, the faculty
of thought, he has all the ardour of sentiment, with fidelity and
constancy in his affections; neither ambition, interest, nor desire of
revenge, can corrupt him, and he has no fear but that of displeasing;
he is all zeal, warmth, and obedience; more inclined to remember
benefits than injuries; he soon forgets ill-usage, or at least only
recollects it to make his attachment the stronger. Instead of becoming
furious or running away, he exposes himself to the severity of his
master, and licks the hand which causes his pain: he only opposes by
his cries, and in the end subdues by patience and submission.
More docile than man, more tractable than any other animal, the dog
is not only instructed in a very short time, but he even conforms
himself to the manners, motions, and habits, of those who command him.
He assumes all the modes of the family in which he lives; like other
servants he is haughty with the great and rustic with the peasant.
Always attentive to his master, and desirous of pleasing his friends,
he is totally indifferent to strangers, and opposes beggars, whom he
knows by their dress, voice, and gestures, and prevents their approach.
When the care of a house is committed to him during the night he
becomes more bold, and sometimes perfectly ferocious; he watches,
goes his rounds, scents strangers at a distance, and if they stop,
or attempt to break in, he flies to oppose them, and by reiterated
barkings, and other efforts of passion, he gives the alarm to the
family. He is equally furious against thieves as rapacious animals; he
attacks, wounds, and forces from them what they were endeavouring to
take away; but contented with having conquered, he will lie down upon
the spoil, nor even touch it to satisfy his appetite; giving at once an
example of courage, temperance, and fidelity.
To determine the importance of this species in the order of nature, let
us suppose it had never existed. Without the assistance of the dog how
could man have been able to tame and reduce other animals to slavery?
How could he discover, hunt, and destroy noxious and savage beasts? To
preserve his own safety, and to render himself master of the animated
world, it was necessary to make friends among those animals whom he
found capable of attachment to oppose them to others; and therefore the
training of dogs seems to have been the first art invented by man, and
the fruit of that art was the conquest and peaceable possession of the
earth.
Almost all animals have more agility, swiftness, strength, and even
courage than man. Nature has furnished them better; their senses, but
above all that of smelling, is more perfect. To have gained over a
tractable and courageous species like the dog, was acquiring new senses
and faculties. The machines and instruments which we have invented
to improve or extend our other senses, do not equal, in utility,
those nature has presented to us; which by supplying the defects of
our smelling, have furnished us with the great and permanent means of
conquest and dominion. The dog, faithful to man, will always preserve a
portion of his empire, and a degree of superiority over other animals;
he reigns at the head of a flock, and makes himself better understood
than the voice of the shepherd; safety, order, and discipline are the
fruits of his vigilance and activity; they are a people submitted to
his management, whom he conducts and protects, and against whom he
never employs force, but for the preservation of peace and good order.
But in war against his enemies, or wild animals, his courage shines
forth, his understanding is displayed, and his natural and acquired
talents are united. As soon as he hears the noise of arms, as soon as
the horn, or the huntsman's voice gives the alarm, filled with a new
ardour, the dog expresses his joy by the most lively transports, and
shews by his emotions and cries, his impatience for combat and his
desire to conquer. Sometimes he moves along with cautious silence to
discover and surprise his enemy; at others he traces the animal step by
step, and by different tones indicates the distance, species, and even
age of what he is in pursuit of. Pushed, intimidated, and despairing
of safety in flight alone, animals make use of all their faculties and
oppose craft to sagacity. In no instance are the resources of instinct
more admirable: in order to make it difficult for the dog to trace him,
the animal doubles, goes over its own steps again, by a single spring
will clear a hedge or highway, and swims over brooks and rivers; but
being still pursued and unable to annihilate himself, he endeavours to
put another in his place; for this he seeks an unexperienced neighbour,
with whom he keeps close until he supposes their steps are sufficiently
intermixed to confound the scent of his, when he suddenly leaves him to
become a victim to his deceived enemy. But the dog, by the superiority
which exercise and education have given him, and by the excellence
of his sensations, does not lose the object of his pursuit; by his
scent he finds out all the windings of the labyrinth, all the false
means adopted to make him go astray; and far from abandoning the one
he was in pursuit of for another, he redoubles his ardour, at length
overtakes, attacks, and puts him to death; thus drenching in his blood
both his hatred and revenge.
The inclination for hunting or war is common to us with animals. Man,
in a savage state, knows only how to fight and to hunt. All carnivorous
animals which have strength and weapons hunt naturally. The lion and
the tiger, whose strength is so great that they are sure to conquer,
hunt alone, and without art. Wolves, foxes, and wild dogs, hunt in
packs, assist each other and divide the prey, and when education in
the domestic dog has improved this natural talent, when he is taught
to repress his ardour and to regulate his motions, he hunts with art
and knowledge, and always with success. In deserts and depopulated
countries, there are wild dogs, which differ in their manners from
wolves, in no case but in the facility with which they are tamed. They
unite in large troops to hunt, and will attack wild boars, bulls, and
even lions and tigers. In America the wild dogs spring from a domestic
race and were transported thither from Europe; some of them having
been forgotten or abandoned in those deserts, have multiplied in such
a degree that they go in troops to inhabited places, where they attack
the cattle, and will sometimes even approach the inhabitants, who are
obliged to drive them away by force and kill them like other ferocious
animals. Dogs however continue in this state only while they remain
unacquainted with man, for if we approach wild ones with gentleness,
they soon grow tame, become familiar, and remain faithfully attached to
their masters; but the wolf though taken young and brought up in the
house, is only gentle in his youth, never loses his taste for prey,
and sooner or later gives himself up to his fondness for rapine and
destruction.
The dog may be said to be the only animal whose fidelity will stand
the proof; who always knows his master, and even his master's friends;
who points out a stranger as soon as he arrives; who understands
his own name, and knows the voices of the domestics; who has not
confidence in himself alone; who, when he has lost his master, will
call upon him by his cries and lamentations; who in long journeys,
and which he may have travelled but once, will remember his way, and
find out the roads; in fine, the dog is the only animal whose talents
are evident, and whose education is always successful. Of all animals
he is also the most susceptible of impressions, most easily modified
by moral causes, and most subject to alterations caused by physical
influences. The temperament, faculties, and habits of his body vary
prodigiously, and even his form is not uniform. In the same country
one dog is very different from another, and the species seems quite
changed in different climates; from thence spring the mixture and
variety of races which are so great that it is impossible to enumerate
or describe them. From the same causes arise that great variety so
visible in the height, figure, length of the snout, form of the head,
length and direction of the ears and tail, colour, quality and quantity
of hair, &c. so that there seems to remain nothing constant in these
animals but the conformity of their internal organization, and the
faculty of procreating together. And as those which differ most from
each other can intermix and produce fertile individuals, it is evident
that dogs, however greatly they may vary, nevertheless constitute but
one species. But what is most difficult to ascertain in this numerous
variety of races, is the character of the primitive stock. How are we
to distinguish the effects produced by the influence of the climate,
food, &c.? How discover the changes which have resulted from an
intermixture among themselves, either in a wild or domestic state? All
these causes will, in time, alter the most permanent forms, and the
image of nature does not preserve its purity in those objects of which
mankind have had the management. Those animals which are independent
and can chuse for themselves both their food and climate, are those
which best preserve their original impressions, and we may believe the
most ancient of their species are the most faithfully represented by
their descendants. But those which mankind have subdued, transported
from climate to climate, whose food, customs, and manners of living he
has changed, may also be those which have changed most in their forms;
and it is a fact that there are more varieties among domestic than wild
animals; and as among domestic animals the dog is most attached to man,
lives also the most regularly, and who possesses sentiments to render
him docile, obedient, susceptible of all impressions, and submissive to
all restraints, it is not astonishing that he should be that in which
we find the greatest variety not only in figure, height, and colour,
but in every other quality.
There are also other circumstances which contribute to this change. The
life of the dog is short, his produce is frequent, and in pretty large
numbers; he is perpetually beneath the eye of man, and whenever by an
accident, which is very common in nature, there may have appeared an
individual possessing singular characters, or apparent varieties, they
have been perpetuated by uniting together those individuals, and not
permitting them to intermix with any others; as is done in the present
time, when we want to procure a new breed of dogs, or other animals.
Besides, though all the species were equally ancient, yet the number
of generations being necessarily the greatest in those whose lives are
short, their varieties, changes, and even degenerations, must have
become more sensible, since they must be further removed from their
original stock than those whose lives are longer. Man is at present
eight times nearer to Adam than is the dog to the first of his race,
because man lives to fourscore years, and the dog to not more than ten.
If, therefore, from any cause these two species equally degenerate, the
alteration would be eight times more conspicuous in the dog than in
man. Those whose lives are so short that they are succeeded every year
by a new generation, are infinitely more subject to variations of every
kind than those which have longer lives. It is the same with annual
plants (some of which may be said to be artificial or factitious),
when compared with other vegetables. Wheat, for example, has been so
greatly changed by man that it is not at present to be any where found
in a state of nature, it certainly has some resemblance to darnel,
dog-grass, and several other herbs of the field, but we are ignorant
to which its origin ought to be referred; and as it is renewed every
year, and serves for the common food of man, so it has experienced
more cultivation than any other plant, and consequently undergone a
greater variety of changes. Man can, therefore, not only make every
individual in the universe useful to his wants, but, with the aid of
time, he can change, modify, and improve their species; and this is
the greatest power he has over Nature. To have transformed a barren
herb into wheat is a kind of creation, on which, however, he has no
reason to pride himself, since it is only by the sweat of his brow,
and reiterated culture, that he is enabled to obtain from the bosom of
the earth this, often bitter, subsistence. Thus those species, as well
among vegetables as animals, which have been the most cultivated by
man, are those which have undergone the greatest changes; and as we are
sometimes, as in the example of wheat, unable to know their primitive
form, it is not impossible that among the numerous varieties of dogs
which exist at present there may not be one like the first animal of
his species, although the whole of these breeds must have proceeded
virtually from him. Nature, notwithstanding, never fails to resume her
rights, when left at liberty to act. Wheat, if sown in uncultivated
land, degenerates the first year; if that is likewise sown it will
be more degenerated in the second generation, and if continued for a
succession of ages the original plant of the wheat would appear; and,
by an experiment of this kind, it might be discovered how much time
Nature requires to reinstate herself and destroy the effect of art,
which restrained her. This experiment might easily be made on corn and
plants, but it would be in vain to attempt it on animals, because they
would not only be difficult to couple and unite but even to manage, and
to surmount that invincible repugnance they have to every thing which
is contrary to their dispositions or habits. We need not, therefore,
expect to find out, by this method, which is the primitive race of
dogs, or any other animals, which are subject to permanent varieties.
But in default of the knowledge of these facts, which cannot be
acquired, we may assimilate particular indications, and from those draw
probable conjectures.
Those domestic dogs which were abandoned in the deserts of America,
and have lived wild for 150 or 200 years, though then changed from
their original breed, must notwithstanding, in this long space of time,
have approached, at least in part, to their primitive form. Travellers
say that they resemble our greyhounds; and they say the same of the
wild dogs at Congo, which like those in America, assemble in packs to
make war with lions, tigers, &c. But others, without comparing the
wild dogs of St. Domingo to greyhounds, only say that they have long
flat heads, thin muzzles, a ferocious air, and thin meagre bodies;
that they are exceedingly swift in the chace, hunt in perfection,
and are easily taken and tamed when young; thus these wild dogs are
extremely thin and light; and as the common greyhound differs but
little from the mastiff, or what we call the shepherd's dog, it is not
improbable that these wild dogs are rather of those species than real
greyhounds; because on the other hand more ancient travellers have
said that the dogs of Canada have ears erect like foxes, and resemble
our middle-sized shepherd-dogs; that those of the Antille Isles had
very long heads and ears, and had very much the appearance of foxes;
that the Indians of Peru had only two kinds, a large and a small one,
which they called Alco; that those of the isthmus of America, were
very ugly, and that their hair was rough and coarse, which likewise
implies they had ears erect. We cannot, therefore, have any doubt that
the original dogs of America, before they had any communication with
those of Europe, were all of the same race, and that they approached
nearest to those dogs which have thin muzzles, erect ears, and coarse
hair, like the shepherd's dogs; and what leads me further to believe
that the wild dogs of St. Domingo are not real greyhounds is the latter
being so scarce in France, that they are brought for the king from
Constantinople, and other parts of the Levant, and because I never
knew of any being brought from St. Domingo, or any of our American
colonies. Besides, in searching what travellers have said of dogs of
different colonies, we find that the dogs of cold climates have long
muzzles and erect ears; that those of Lapland are small, have erect
ears, and pointed muzzles; that the Siberian, or wolf dogs, are bigger
than those of Lapland, but they also have erect ears, coarse hair, and
sharp muzzles; and that those of Iceland have a strong resemblance
to the Siberian dogs; and, in the same manner, the native dogs of
the Cape of Good Hope and other warm countries, have sharp muzzles,
erect ears, long trailing tails, longhair, but shining and rough: that
these dogs are excellent for guarding of flocks, and consequently not
only resemble in figure but even in instinct our shepherd's dogs.
In climates still warmer, such as Madagascar, Madura, Calicut, and
Malabar, the native dogs have all sharp muzzles, erect ears, and in
almost every respect resemble our shepherd's dogs; nay, that even when
mastiffs, spaniels, water-dogs, bull-dogs, beagles, blood-hounds, &c.
have been transported thither they degenerated at the second or third
generation. In countries extremely hot, like Guinea, the degeneration
is still more quick, since by the end of three or four years they lose
their voice, can no longer bark, but only make an howling noise, and
their immediate offspring have erect ears like foxes. The native dogs
of these regions are very ugly; they have sharp muzzles, long erect
ears, and long pointed tails; they have no hair on their bodies, their
skin is usually spotted, though sometimes it is of an uniform colour;
in short they are disagreeable to the eye and still more to the touch.
We may presume, therefore, and with some degree of probability, that
the shepherd's dog is that which approaches nearest to the primitive
race, since in all countries inhabited by savages, or men half
civilized, the dogs resemble this breed more than any other. On the
whole continent of the New World, they had but these and no variety;
nor is there any other to be found on the south and north extremities
of our own continent; and even in France and other temperate climates,
they are still very numerous, though greater attention has been paid
to multiplying and rearing the more beautiful, than the preservation
of those which are most useful, and which have been totally abandoned
to the peasants who have the care of our flocks. If we also consider
that this dog notwithstanding his ugliness, and his wild and melancholy
look, is still superior in instinct to all others, that he has a
decided character in which education has no share, that he is the only
thing born perfectly trained, that guided by natural powers alone,
he applies himself to the care of our flocks, which he executes with
singular assiduity, vigilance, and fidelity, that he conducts them with
an admirable intelligence which has not been communicated to him; that
his talents astonish at the same time they give repose to his master,
whilst it requires much time and trouble to instruct other dogs for the
purposes to which they are destined; if we reflect on these facts, we
shall be confirmed in the opinion that the shepherd's dog is the true
dog of nature; the dog that has been bestowed upon us for the extent
of his utility; that he has a superior relation to the general order
of animated beings who have mutual occasion for the assistance of each
other; and, in short, the one we ought to look upon as the stock and
model of the whole species.
The human species appear clownish, deformed and diminutive in the
frozen climates of the north. In Lapland, Greenland, and in all
countries where the cold is excessive, we find none but small and ugly
men; but in the neighbouring countries where the cold is less intense,
we all at once meet with the Finlanders, Danes, &c. who for figure,
complexion and stature, are perhaps the handsomest of all mankind.
It is the same with the species of dogs: the Lapland dogs are very
ugly, and so small that they scarcely ever exceed a foot in length.
Those of Siberia, though less ugly have ears erect, with a wild and
savage look, while in the neighbouring climates, where we find those
handsome men just mentioned, are also the largest and most beautiful
dogs. The dogs of Tartary, Albania, the northern parts of Greece,
Denmark and Ireland, are the largest and most powerful, and are made
use of for drawing carriages. The Irish greyhounds (_fig. 30._) are of
very ancient race and still exist, though in small numbers in their
original climate. They were called by the ancients, dogs of Epirus, and
Albanian dogs; Pliny has recorded in terms as energetic as elegant, a
combat of one of these dogs, first with a lion and afterwards with an
elephant. These dogs are much larger than the mastiff; they are so rare
in France that I never saw but one of them, and he appeared as he sat
to be about five feet high, and in form resembled the large Danish dog;
but exceeded him very much in his size. He was quite white, and his
manner was perfectly gentle and peaceable. In all temperate climates,
as in England, France, Spain, Germany and Italy, we find men and dogs
of all kinds. This variety proceeds partly from the influence of the
climate, and partly from the concourse and intermixture of foreigners.
On the former we shall not enlarge here, but with respect to the dogs,
we shall observe, with as much attention as possible, the resemblances
and differences which care, food, and climate have produced among these
animals.
_Engraved for Barr's Buffon._
[Illustration: FIG. 30. _Irish Hound_]
[Illustration: FIG. 31. _Dane_]
[Illustration: FIG. 32. _Greyhound_]
[Illustration: FIG. 33. _Shepherd's Dog_]
[Illustration: FIG. 34. _Wolf Dog_]
[Illustration: FIG. 35. _Siberian Dog_]
The large Dane, (_fig. 31._) the mastiff, and the common greyhound
(_fig. 32._) though they appear different at the first sight, are
nevertheless the same dog; the large Dane is no more than a plump
mastiff; and the common greyhound is only the mastiff, rendered more
thin and delicate by care; for there is no more difference between
these three dogs than between a Dutchman, a Frenchman, and an Italian.
In supposing the Irish greyhound to have been a native of France,
he would have produced the Danish dog in a colder climate, and the
greyhound in a warmer; and this supposition seems to be proved by the
fact of the Danish dog's coming to us from the north, and the greyhound
from Constantinople and the Levant. The shepherd's dog (_fig. 33._),
the wolf dog (_fig. 34._) and the Siberian dog (_fig. 35._) are but the
same dog, and to which indeed might be added the Lapland, the Canadian,
the Hottentot, and all those dogs which have erect ears; in short they
only differ from the shepherd's dog in their height, in being more or
less covered with hair, and in that being more or less long, coarse or
bushy. The hound (_fig. 36._) the harrier (_fig. 37._) the turnspit
(_fig. 38._) the water dog (_fig. 39._) and even the spaniel (_fig.
40._) may likewise be regarded as the same dog; the greatest difference
between them being the length of their legs, and the size of their
ears, which in them all are long, soft, and pendent. These dogs are
natives of France; and I do not think we should separate them from what
is called the harrier of Bengal (_fig. 41._) as it only differs from
our harrier in its colour. I am fully satisfied that this dog is not
originally from Bengal, or any other part of India, and that he is not,
as some have pretended, the Indian dog spoken of by the ancients, which
they say was the produce of a dog and a tiger, for he has been known in
Italy above 150 years, and never considered as a dog come from India
but as a common harrier.[M]
[M] Canis sagax (vulgò brachus) says Aldrovande, an unius vel varii
coloris sit parum refert; in Italiâ eligitur varius et maculosæ lynci
persimilis, cum tamen niger color vel albus, aut fulvus non sit
spernendus. _Ulyssis Aldrovandi de quadruped. digitat. vivip. lib. iii.
p. 552._
_Engraved for Barr's Buffon_
[Illustration: FIG. 37. _Harrier._]
[Illustration: FIG. 36. _Hound._]
[Illustration: FIG. 38. _Turnpit_]
[Illustration: FIG. 39. _Water Dog_]
[Illustration: FIG. 40. _Spaniel._]
[Illustration: FIG. 41. _Harrier of Bengal._]
[Illustration: FIG. 42. _Iceland Dog_]
[Illustration: FIG. 43. _Turkish Dog_]
England, France, Germany, &c. appear to have produced the hound, the
harrier, and the turnspit, for these dogs almost immediately begin
to degenerate on being carried into Persia, Turkey, and such warm
climates. But the spaniels and water dogs are natives of Spain and
Barbary, where the temperature of the air occasions the hair to be
longer and finer than in any other country. The bull-dog which is
improperly called the little Dane, since he has no resemblance whatever
to the large Dane except in having the hair short; the Turkish dog
and the Iceland dog (_fig. 42._) are but the same race, which being
transported into a very cold climate has taken a strong covering, and
in the warmer climates of Africa and India has lost its hair. The dog
without hair known by the name of the Turkish dog (_fig. 43._) is
improperly so called, since it is not in the temperate climates of
Turkey that dogs lose their hair, but in Guinea, and in the hottest
climates of the Indies that this change happens; and the Turkish dog
is no other than the small Dane, which had been transported into some
very warm climate, and having lost its hair was afterwards brought into
Turkey, where, from its singularity, care has been taken to multiply
the breed. The first of them that was seen in Europe, according to
Aldrovandus, were taken in his time into Italy, where they could not
multiply upon account of the climate being too cold for them. But as
he gives not any description of these naked dogs, we cannot determine
whether they were like those which are now called Turkish dogs, or
whether we should compare them to the small Dane, since dogs of every
breed lose their hair in very warm climates; and as already observed,
their voices also. In some countries they become quite mute: in others
they only lose the power of barking, and howl like wolves, or yelp
like foxes; and by this alteration they seem to approach their natural
state, for they change also in their form and instincts; they become
ugly and invariably have their ears assume an erect and pointed form.
It is only in temperate climates that dogs preserve their ardour,
courage, sagacity, and other natural talents, the whole of which they
lose when taken into very warm climates. But, as if Nature never made
any thing perfectly useless, in those countries where they cannot serve
the purposes for which we employ them, they are in great estimation for
food, and the Negroes prefer their flesh to that of any other animal.
Dogs are sold in their markets at as dear a rate as mutton, venison, or
game of any sort; a roasted dog being the most delicious feast among
the negroes. It is possible that their fondness for the flesh of this
animal may be occasioned by an alteration in its quality by the heat
of their country, and that although extremely bad in our temperate
climates it may receive a superior flavour by the warmth of theirs.
But I rather think this appetite dependent more on the nature of man
than on the change in the flesh of the dog, for the savages of Canada
have the same partiality for dog's flesh as the Negroes; and even our
missionaries sometimes eat of them without disgust. "Dogs," says Father
P. Sabard Theodat, "serve in the room of mutton at feasts. I have been
several times at these dog-feasts, and I own that at first they excited
in me a degree of horror, but after tasting them twice, I found the
flavour to be good, and not unlike pork."
In our climates the fox and the wolf are the wild animals which
approach nearest the dog, particularly the shepherd's dog, which I
look upon as the stock and type of the species; and as their internal
conformation is wholly the same, and their external differences
very trifling, I had an inclination to try whether they would breed
together: I hoped at least to make them couple, and that if they did
not produce fertile individuals, they would bring forth a species of
mules which might participate of the nature of both. For this purpose
I procured a she-wolf, of about three months old, from the woods, and
reared her with a shepherd's dog of nearly the same age. They were
shut up together in a pretty large yard, where no other beast could get
access, and where they were provided with a shed for their retirement;
they neither of them knew any individual of their own species, nor
even any man but him who constantly supplied them with their victuals.
In this manner they were kept together for the space of three years,
without the smallest restraint. During the first year they played
perpetually together, and seemed to be very fond of each other; in
the second year they began to quarrel about their food, though they
were always supplied with more than they could eat. The wolf always
began the dispute. They had meat and bones carried to them on a wooden
trencher, when the wolf, instead of seizing the meat, would drive off
the dog, then take the trencher so dexterously between her teeth as to
let nothing fall off, and carry away the whole; and I have frequently
seen her run five or six times round the wall of the yard with it in
her mouth, and only stop to take breath, devour the meat, or attack
the dog if he came near. The dog was stronger than the wolf, but as
he was less ferocious, we began to have some fear for his life, and
therefore put him on a collar. After the second year their quarrels
were sharper, and their combats more frequent, when a collar was also
put upon the wolf, whom the dog began to treat more roughly. During
these two years there was not the least appearance of desire in either
of them; towards the end of the third they began to discover some marks
of it, but it was without any signs of love, and instead of rendering
them more gentle when they approached each other, they became ferocious
and ungovernable. Nothing was now heard but dismal howlings mixed with
cries of anger; in about three weeks they both grew very thin, and
never came near each other without indications of mutual destruction.
At length they grew so enraged and fought so dreadfully that the dog
killed the wolf; and I was obliged to have the dog killed a few days
after, because as soon as he was set at liberty, he sprung with fury on
the poultry, dogs, and even men.
At the same time I had three young foxes, two males and a female,
which had been taken with snares and kept in separate places. I had
one of these fastened with a long light chain, and had an hut built
to shelter him. I kept him in this manner several months, and though
he seemed pensive and had his eyes constantly fixed on the country,
which he could see from his hut, yet he had constantly good health
and appetite. A bitch in season was put to him, but as she would not
remain near the fox, she was chained in the same place and plenty
of food was given them. The fox neither bit nor used her ill, and
during the ten days they remained together, there was not the smallest
quarrel between them, neither night or day, nor when they fed; he even
approached her familiarly, but as soon as he scented his companion,
the signs of desire disappeared, he returned in a melancholy manner to
his hut, and no intercourse took place. When the ardour of this bitch
was gone, another and even a third and fourth were put to him in the
same manner; he treated them all with the same gentleness and with the
same indifference; to ascertain whether it was natural repugnance, or
the state of restraint he was kept in, prevented his coupling, I had a
female of his own species brought to him, which he covered more than
once the same day, and upon dissecting her a few weeks afterwards we
found she was impregnated, and would have produced four young ones.
The other male fox was successively presented with several bitches
in season; who were shut up with him in a close courtyard, but he
discovered neither hatred nor love to them; they had neither combats
nor caresses, and he died a few months after either of disgust or
melancholy.
These experiments prove at least that the wolf and fox are very
different in their natures from the dog; and that their species are so
distinct as to prevent their intermixture, at least in our climates;
that consequently the dog does not derive his origin from the wolf or
fox, and that the nomenclators who look on these two animals as nothing
more than wild dogs, or who imagine the dog to be a wolf, or a fox,
become tame, and give to all three in common the name of Dog, have
deceived themselves by not having sufficiently consulted nature.
In climates which are warmer than ours, there is a ferocious animal
which is less different from the dog than either the fox or wolf:
this animal, which is called the jackall, has been taken notice of
and tolerably well described by many travellers. They are found, we
are told, in great numbers in Africa and Asia; about Trebisond and
Mount Caucasus; in Mingrelia, Natolia, Hyrcania, Persia, India, Goa,
Guzarat, Bengal, Congo, Guinea, and many other places; and though
this animal is considered by the natives, where he is found, as a
wild dog, yet as it is very doubtful whether they intermix, we shall
treat of him as a separate species, as well as the fox and wolf, and
keep their histories apart from each other as well as from the dog.
Not that I pretend absolutely to affirm, that the jackall, or even
the wolf and fox, have never in any age or country coupled with dogs.
The ancients have so positively asserted the contrary, that there
still remain some doubts, notwithstanding the proofs I have adduced.
Aristotle says that although it is very rare for animals of different
species to intermingle, yet it certainly happens among foxes, dogs,
and wolves; and that the Indian dogs proceed from another wild beast
like themselves and a dog; and we may suppose that this wild beast, to
which he gives no name, is the jackall. But he says in another place
that the Indian dogs come from the tiger and the bitch which appears
to me more improbable, because the tiger is of a disposition and form
more different from the dog than either the fox, wolf, or jackall. It
must be allowed that Aristotle himself seems to invalidate his own
argument, for after having said that the Indian dogs proceeded from a
wild beast resembling the wolf or the fox, he afterwards says they come
from the tiger. If they are from a tiger and a bitch, or from a dog
and a tigress, he only adds, that it does not succeed until the third
trial; that the first litter is solely tigers; that if dogs be tied up
in deserts, unless the tigers are in season, they are often devoured;
that the frequent production of monsters and prodigies in Africa is
occasioned by the great heat and scarcity of water making a number of
different animals assemble together to drink where they grow familiar,
and often couple together. All this seems too conjectural, uncertain,
and suspicious to deserve any credit; for the more we observe the
nature of animals, the more we perceive that the indication of instinct
is the more certain way to judge of them. By the most attentive
examination of the interior parts we only discover slight differences.
The horse and ass, though they have a most perfect resemblance in the
internal parts, are, nevertheless, animals of very different natures.
The bull, ram, and goat, differ but little in their internal formation,
though they form three species more distant than the horse and the ass;
and the same observation holds with respect to the dog, the fox, and
the wolf. The inspection of the external form shews this more clearly;
but as in many species, especially in those the least distant, there
is even in the exterior much more resemblance than difference, this
inspection is not sufficient to determine whether they are of the same
or different species; and when the shades are still less we can only
combine them with the agreements they have with instinct. It is from
the disposition of animals that we should judge of their natures; if
we suppose two animals quite the same in their forms, yet different in
their dispositions, they would not copulate nor breed together, and
however much alike they would therefore be two distinct species.
_Engraved for Barr's Buffon_
[Illustration: FIG. 44. _Shock Dog_]
[Illustration: FIG. 45. _Lion Dog._]
The same means to which we are obliged to have recourse to judge of
the difference of neighbouring species, is what we ought still more
to employ when we would distinguish the numerous varieties which take
place in the same species. We know of thirty varieties in the dog,
and yet it is certain that we are not acquainted with them all. Of
these thirty there are seventeen which may be said to be owing to
the influence of climate, namely, the shepherd's dog, the wolf dog,
the Siberian dog, the Iceland dog, the Lapland dog, the mastiff, the
common greyhound, the great Dane, the Irish hound, the hound, the
harrier, the terrier, the spaniel, the water-dog, the small Dane, the
Turkish dog, and the bull-dog. The thirteen others, which are the
mongrel Turkish dog, the greyhound with hair like a wolf, the shock
dog, (_fig. 44_) or lap dog, the pug dog, the bastard pug dog, the
Calabrian, Burgos, and Alicant dogs, the lion dog, (_fig. 45._) the
small water dog, the Artois dog, and the King Charles's dog, (_fig.
46._) are nothing but mongrels which proceed from the first seventeen
races; and by tracing these mongrels back to the two races from which
they issue their natures will be easily known but with respect to
the first seventeen races, if we would know what relation there is
among them we must attend to their instincts, forms, and many other
circumstances. I have put together the shepherd's dog, the wolf dog,
the Siberian, the Lapland, and the Iceland dogs, because there is a
more striking resemblance between them than any others, in their forms
and coats, and because they have all pointed noses somewhat like the
fox, erect ears, and their instincts lead them to watch and follow
the flocks. The mastiff, the greyhound, the large Dane, and the Irish
hound, have, besides the resemblance of form and long snout, the same
dispositions; they love to course and to follow horses; they have but
indifferent noses, and hunt rather from their sight than their scent.
The real hunting dogs are the hounds, harriers, terriers, spaniels,
and water-dogs, and notwithstanding they differ in figure yet they
have all thick muzzles, the same instincts, and therefore ought to be
classed together; the only difference between the water-dog and the
spaniel is, that those with long bushy hair take to the water with
more facility than those whose hair is short and straight. The small
Dane and Turkish dog must be ranked together, since they are in fact
the same; the latter having only lost his hair by the effects of heat.
Lastly, the bull dog, (_fig. 47._) seems to form a particular variety,
and even to belong to a particular climate; he is a native of England,
and it is difficult to preserve the breed even in France. The pug-dog,
(_fig. 48._) and mastiff, (_fig. 49._) are mongrels from him and they
succeed much better; they all have short muzzles and but little scent.
The acuteness of the scent, however, seems in general to depend more on
the largeness than the length of the muzzle, for the greyhound, large
Dane, and the Irish greyhound, have their scent very inferior to the
hound, hairier, terrier, spaniel, and water-dog, although their muzzles
are more than proportionally longer.
_Engraved for Barr's Buffon_
[Illustration: FIG. 46. _K. Charles's Dog_]
[Illustration: FIG. 47. _Bull Dog_]
[Illustration: FIG. 48. _Pug_]
[Illustration: FIG. 49. _Mastiff_]
These animals have all a greater or less perfection of the senses, and
these differences, which in man occasion not any eminent or remarkable
quality, give to animals all their merit, and produce as a cause all
the talents of which their natures are susceptible. I shall not here
take upon myself to enumerate all the qualities of the sporting dogs;
it is well known how much the excellence of their sense of smelling,
together with their education, gives them the superiority over other
animals; but these details belong only to a distant part of Natural
History. Besides the tricks and dexterity, though proceeding from
nature alone, made use of by wild animals to elude the researches, or
to avoid the pursuit of the dogs, are perhaps more wonderful than the
most refined methods practised in the art of hunting.
The dog, as well as all animals which produce more than one or two at
a time, is not perfectly formed at the time of its birth. Dogs are
commonly whelped with their eyes shut; the two eyelids are not only
closed together, but adhere by a membrane which breaks away as soon as
the muscles of the upper eye-lid acquire sufficient strength to raise
it and overcome this obstacle, which commonly happens about the tenth
or twelfth day. At this time the bones of the skull are not finished,
the body and snout swelled, and the whole form incomplete; but in less
than two months they learn to make use of all their senses, begin to
have strength, and their growth is very rapid. In the fourth month
they lose some of their teeth, which, as in other animals, are soon
replaced by others that do not fall out. They have in all 42 teeth,
namely six incisive, and two canine at top and at bottom, fourteen
grinders in the upper, and twelve in the under-jaw; but these latter
are not always the same, as some dogs have more grinders than others.
When very young, males and females bend down to void their water; about
the ninth or tenth month, the males and some females begin to lift up
their legs for that purpose, and at which time they begin to be capable
of engendering. The male can couple at all times, but the females only
at stated seasons, which are usually twice a year, and more frequently
in winter than in summer; this inclination lasts ten, twelve, and
sometimes fifteen days and shews itself by exterior signs; the male is
apprized of her situation by his smell, although she seldom consents to
his approaching her for the first six or seven days. Once coupling is
sometimes sufficient for her to produce a great number of young, but if
left at liberty she will admit many times a day almost every dog that
presents himself. It has been observed that when allowed to choose for
herself, she generally prefers the largest, without attending either
to his form or beauty; and it frequently happens that small bitches
who have received large mastiffs die in bringing forth their young.
It is well known that these animals, from a singular conformation,
cannot separate after consummation, but are obliged to remain united
as long as the swelling subsists. The dog, like several other animals,
has not only a bone in its member, but also a hollow ring, which is
very apparent, and swells considerably during the time of copulation.
The females have perhaps the largest clitoris of any animal, and while
compressed, a swelling arises which probably lasts longer than that
of the male, and forces him to remain; for when the act is finished
he changes his position, to rest on his four legs; he has also a
melancholy air, and the efforts for separation are never made on the
female side. Bitches go nine weeks with young, that is 63 days, but
never less than 60. Those of the largest and strongest make are the
most prolific, and those will sometimes produce ten or twelve puppies
at a litter; while those of a small kind do not bring forth more than
four or five, and frequently but one or two; especially the first time,
which is always the least numerous in all animals.
Though dogs are very ardent in their amours, it does not prevent their
duration, for they continue to propagate during life, which is usually
limited to fourteen or fifteen years, though some have been known
to live till twenty. Length of life in dogs is, like that of other
animals, proportioned to the time of his growth: for as they are about
two years in coming to maturity, so they live to twice seven. The dog's
age may be known by his teeth, which, when he is young, are white,
sharp, and pointed; and which, in proportion as he advances in age,
become black, blunt, and unequal; it is also to be known by the hair,
for it turns grey about the nose, forehead, and round the eyes. These
animals, though naturally vigilant, active, and formed for exercise,
become, by being over-fed in our houses, so heavy and idle, that they
pass their lives in sleeping and eating. This sleep, which is almost
continual, is accompanied by dreams, which is perhaps a mild manner of
existing; and notwithstanding they are naturally voracious, yet they
can subsist without eating a considerable time. In the Memoirs of the
Academy of Sciences, there is an account of a bitch, who having been
accidentally left in a country-house, subsisted 40 days without any
other nourishment than the stuff on the wool of a mattress, which she
had torn to pieces. Water seems to be more necessary for them than
food, for they drink frequently and very abundantly; and it is even
a vulgar opinion that if they want water for a length of time they
become mad. It is a circumstance peculiar to them that they seem to
make great efforts, and suffer pain in voiding their excrements. This
is not occasioned, as Aristotle alleges, from their intestines becoming
narrower in approaching the anus; for, on the contrary, it is certain,
that in the dog, as in other animals, the great intestines grow bigger
as they proceed downwards, and that the rectum is larger than the
colon: the dryness of the temperament of this animal is sufficient of
itself to produce this effect.
To give a clearer idea of the different kinds of dogs, of their
propagation in different climates, and of the mixture of their breeds,
I subjoin a kind of genealogical tree, in which all the different
varieties may easily be distinguished. The shepherd's dog is the stock
or body of the tree. This dog, when transported into the rigorous
climates of the north, such as to Lapland, becomes ugly and small,
but in Russia, Iceland, and Siberia, where the climate is rather less
rigorous, and the people more civilized, he is not only preserved,
but even brought to greater perfection. These changes are occasioned
solely by the influence of those climates, which produces no great
alteration in his form, for in each of them he has erect ears, long and
thick hair, and a wild look; he barks also less frequently, and in a
different manner from those that in more favourable regions have been
brought to greater perfection. The Iceland dog is the only one that has
not his ears entirely erect, but which bend or fold a little at their
extremities; and Iceland is, of all the northern countries, that which
has been most anciently inhabited by half-civilized men.
The same shepherd's dog, transported into temperate climates, and among
people perfectly civilized, as those of England, France, or Germany,
loses its savage air, erect ears, its long, thick, and rough hair, and
takes the form of the hound, bull-dog, and mastiff. Of the two latter
the ears are still partly erect, or only half-pendent; and in their
manners and sanguinary dispositions very much resemble the dog, from
which they draw their origin. The hound is the most distant of the
three; his ears are long and pendent, and the gentleness, docility,
and, we may say, the timidity of this dog, are so many proofs of
the great degeneration, or, more properly, the great perfection he
has acquired by a long state of domesticity, and a careful education
bestowed on him by man.
The hound, the harrier, and the terrier, are only one race, for it
has been remarked that in the same litter there have been harriers,
terriers, and hounds, though the female hound had been only covered by
one of the three dogs. I have coupled the Bengal harrier with a common
harrier, because they differ only by the number of spots upon their
coats. I have also coupled the turnspit, or terrier with crooked legs,
with the common terrier, because the defects in the legs of this dog
only proceed from a disease somewhat like the rickets, with which some
individuals have been attacked, and transmitted the effects to their
descendants.
The hound, if transported into Spain and Barbary, where all animals
have the hair fine, long, and thick, would become the spaniel and
water-dog. The great and small spaniel, which differ only in size, when
brought into England change their colour from white to black, and, by
the influence of the climate, have become the large and small King
Charles's dog, and the beagle, which is, in fact, the same as the
others, but with liver-coloured marks on the fore feet, over the eyes,
and on the nose.
The mastiff, transported to the north, is become the large Dane, and to
the south changes into a common greyhound. The large greyhounds come
from the Levant, those of a middling size from Italy, and the latter
being taken into England have become still smaller. The large Dane,
transported into Ireland, the Ukraine, Tartary, Epirus, and Albania,
have become the large Irish dogs, which in size surpass all the rest
of the species. The bull-dog, transported from England into Denmark,
is become the small Dane, and this small Dane taken into warm climates
changed into the Turkish dog. All these races, with their varieties,
have been produced solely by the influence of climate, joined to the
effects of food and education; the other dogs are not pure races, but
proceed from a mixture of those above.
The greyhound and mastiff have produced the mongrel greyhound, which
is called the _greyhound with wolf's hair_. The nose of this mongrel
is not so thin as that of the Turkish greyhound, which is very rare in
France. The large Dane and the large spaniel have produced the dog of
Calabria, which is a handsome dog, with long thick hair, and higher
in stature than the largest mastiff. The spaniel and terrier produce
what is called the Burgundy spaniel; and from the spaniel and small
Dane has come the lion-dog, which is now very scarce. The dogs with
long fine curled hair, which are called the Bouffe dogs, and which are
bigger than the water dogs, come from the water dog and large spaniel.
The little water dog comes from the small spaniel and the water dog.
The bull-dog and the mastiff produce a mongrel, which is larger than
the bull-dog, yet approaches him more than the other; and the pug comes
from the bull-dog and the small Dane.
All these races are simple mongrels, and come from the mixture of
two pure races; but there are other dogs which may be called double
mongrels, because they proceed from a pure race and one already mixed.
The bastard pug is a double mongrel, and comes from a mixture of the
pug with the small Dane. The Alicant dog is also a double mongrel; he
proceeds from the pug and the small spaniel. The Maltese, or lap-dog,
is a double mongrel, and comes from the small spaniel and little
water-dog. In fine, there are dogs which may be called triple mongrels,
because they proceed from the mixture of two races which have already
been mixed; as the Artois dogs and what is called the _street dogs_,
which resemble all dogs in general, but no one in particular, since
they proceed from races which have several times been mixed.