the other animals; and these qualities must have
attracted the attention of man at an early period--particularly in those
times when the chase was, perhaps, the only pursuit of mankind.

No animal is more widely distributed over the earth. He has followed
man everywhere; and wherever human society exists, there this constant
and faithful attendant may be found--devoted to his master, adopting his
manners, distinguishing and defending his property, and remaining
attached to him even after death.

It is a question among naturalists as to what was the parent stock of
the dog. Some allege that he has sprung from the wolf; others that he
is a descendant of the jackal; while not a few believe that there were
true wild dogs, from which the present domesticated race had their
origin. These ideas are mere speculations, and not very reasonable ones
either. It would not be difficult to show, that different kinds of dogs
have sprung from different kinds of animals--that is, animals of the
same great family--from wolves, foxes, jackals, zerdas, and even hyenas.
This can be proved from the fact, that domesticated breeds among savage
tribes, both in Asia and America, are undoubtedly the descendants of
wolves and jackals: such, for instance, as the Esquimaux dog of the
Arctic regions, the Dingo of Australia, the Indian dogs of North
America--of which there are several varieties--and also one or two kinds
existing in Mexico and South America.

Naturalists deny that there are any true dogs living in a wild state.
This is simply an unreasonable assertion. Wild dogs of several species
are to be met with in Asia and America; and if it be asserted that these
originally came from a domesticated stock, the same cannot be said of
the hunting dog of Southern Africa--which is neither more nor less than
a _wild hound_.

Perhaps none of the animals that have submitted to the conquest of man
have branched off into a greater number of varieties than this one.
There are more kinds than either of horses or oxen. We shall not,
therefore, attempt a description of each; but limit ourselves to speak
of those breeds that are the most remarkable--or rather those with which
the reader is supposed to be least familiar. To describe such varieties
as the spaniel, the greyhound, the mastiff, or the terrier, would not
add much to the knowledge which the English reader already possesses.

One of the most remarkable of dogs is the huge mastiff of Tibet.