Buffon's Natural History. Volume 05 (of 10): Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &cBuffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de
History
Buffon's Natural History. Volume 05 (of 10): Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &c
Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de
Natural history
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_]
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