Fig. 33 Shepherd’s Dog
Fig. 34 Wolf Dog
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.