[Chapter II — The Varieties of the Dog — First Division]
The head more or less elongated, the parietal bones widest at the base and gradually approaching to each other as they ascend, and the condyls of the lover jaw being on the same line with the upper molar teeth.
To this division belong the greater number of the
Wild Dogs.
The wild dog, as existing in considerable numbers or communities, seems to be nearly extirpated in the southern parts of Europe; but there are several cases on record, of dogs having assumed native independence. A black greyhound bitch, belonging to a gentleman in Scarisbrick, in Lancashire, though she had apparently been well broken in, and always well used, ran away from the habitation of her master, and betook herself to the woods. She killed a great number of hares and made free with the sheep, and became an intolerable nuisance to the neighbourhood. She was occasionally seen, and the depredations that were committed were brought home to her. Many were the attempts made to entrap or destroy her, but in vain: for more than six months she eluded the vigilance of her pursuers. At length she was observed to creep into a hole in an old barn. She was caught as she came out, and the barn being searched three whelps were found, which, very foolishly, were destroyed.
The bitch evinced the utmost ferocity, and, although well secured, attempted to seize every one who approached her. She was, however, dragged home and treated with kindness. By degrees her ferocity abated. In the course of two months, she became perfectly reconciled to her original abode, and, a twelve-month afterwards (1822), she ran successfully several courses. There was still a degree of wildness in her appearance; but, although at perfect liberty, she seemed to be altogether reconciled to a domestic life.
1784 a dog was left by a smuggling vessel on the coast of Northumberland. He soon began to worry the sheep for his subsistence, and did so much mischief that he caused very considerable alarm. He was frequently pursued by hounds and greyhounds; but when the dogs came up he lay upon his back as if supplicating for mercy, and in that position they would never hurt him. He therefore lay quietly until the hunters approached, when he made off without being followed by the hounds until they were again excited to the pursuit. He one day led them 30 miles in this way. It was more than three months before he was caught and was then shot