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.[65] 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 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.[66] 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,[67] 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,[68] "varies materially according to the breed, as well {36} as
to the size of the animal." Different breeds of dogs are subject in
different degrees to various diseases.