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
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account