These dogs, the determined enemies of almost every species of vermin, are of great use to farmers and others, in the extermination of rats, polecats, and similar depredators. They are also employed in driving foxes from their dens, and on this account are generally attendants upon every pack of fox-hounds. Formerly they were used in rabbit warrens, to expel these animals from their burrows. In character they are fierce, keen, and hardy; and, being remarkable for vigilance, they are admirable house-dogs.
39. The LURCHER is a dog apparently partaking of the nature both of the terrier and the grey-hound; there are two varieties, one covered with short and thickset hair, and the other with long and harsh hair.
As this dog hunts both by sight and smell, and takes his prey without noise, he is frequently employed by poachers in their nocturnal excursions in pursuit of game. When in the midst of game the lurcher does not, like most other dogs, either bark or suddenly run upon it; but, by a seeming neglect, he deceives the object till it comes within reach, and then suddenly springs upon and secures it.
40. The TURNSPIT is a small dog, with short and generally crooked legs, and the tail curled upward.
These dogs were formerly much employed to assist in the roasting of meat. For this purpose they were placed in a broad kind of wheel connected with the spit, which they turned round by running in it as a squirrel does in his cage. They are still used in this capacity in most of the countries of the Continent; but being now in little request in England, the breed is nearly extinct with us.
41. The WOLF (Canis lupus) is a ferocious animal of the dog tribe, of brownish colour, with pointed nose, erect and sharp ears, and bushy tail bent inward.
This animal is found wild in most of the countries of the Continent, and was formerly common in England.
The wolf affords to us nothing valuable but his skin, which makes a warm and durable fur.
In North Carolina there is a kind of wolf the skin of which, when properly dressed, makes good parchment; and, when tanned, is convertible into excellent summer shoes. The Indians frequently use these skins for beds, under an impression that they drive away bugs and fleas; and they imagine that nearly all parts of this animal are useful as remedies for different bodily disorders.
In the ancient periods of our history wolves were so numerous and so destructive in England, that we are informed of places having been built in different parts of the island to defend passengers from their attacks. In the reign of Edward the First, a royal mandate was issued to a person whose name was Corbet, to superintend and assist in the destruction of wolves, in the several counties of Gloucester, Worcester, Hereford, Salop, and Stafford; and numerous individuals held lands of the crown, by the duty of hunting and destroying wolves. The latest account that has occurred respecting the existence of wolves in England is under the date of 1281. The last wolf known to have been killed in Scotland was in the year 1680; and the date of the complete extinction of these animals in Ireland is 1710.