With respect to minor differences little need be said. Isidore
Geoffroy has shown[63] that in size some dogs are six times as long
(the tail being excluded) as others; and that the height relatively
to the length of the body varies from between one to two, and one
to nearly four. In the Scotch deer-hound there is a striking and
remarkable difference in the size of the male and female.[64] Every
one knows how the ears vary in size in different breeds, and with
their great development their muscles become atrophied. Certain
breeds of dogs are described as having a deep furrow between the
nostrils and lips. The caudal vertebrae, according to F. Cuvier, on
whose authority the two last statements rest, vary in number; and
the tail in English cattle and some shepherd dogs is almost absent.
The mammae vary from seven to ten in number; Daubenton, having
examined twenty-one dogs, found eight with five mammae on each
side; eight with four on each side; and the others with an unequal
number on the two sides.[65] Dogs have properly five toes in front
and four behind, but a fifth toe is often added; and F. Cuvier
states that, when a fifth toe is present, a fourth cuneiform bone
is developed; and, in this case, sometimes the great cuneiform bone
is raised, and gives on its inner side a large articular surface to
the astragalus; so that even the relative connection of the bones,
the most constant of all characters, varies. These modifications,
however, in the feet of dogs are not important, because they ought
to be ranked, as De Blainville has shown[66] as monstrosities.
Nevertheless they are interesting from being correlated with the
size of the body, for they occur much more frequently with mastiffs
and other large breeds than with small dogs. Closely allied
varieties, however, sometimes differ in this respect; thus Mr.
Hodgson states that the black-and-tan Lassa variety of the Thibet
mastiff has the fifth digit, whilst the Mustang sub-variety is not
thus characterised. The extent to which the skin is developed
between the toes varies much; but we shall return to this point.
The degree to which the various breeds differ in the perfection of
their senses, dispositions, and inherited habits is notorious to
every one. The breeds present some constitutional differences: the
pulse, says Youatt[67] “varies materially according to the breed,
as well as to the size of the animal.” Different breeds of dogs are
subject in different degrees to various diseases. They certainly
become adapted to different climates under which they have long
existed. It is notorious that most of our best European breeds
deteriorate in India.[68] The Rev R. Everest[69] believes that no
one has succeeded in keeping the Newfoundland dog long alive in
India; so it is, according to Lichtenstein,[70] even at the Cape of
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