uthor brings forward strong evidence to prove that
the celebrated Irish wolf-dog resembled a greyhound in form. He will,
I hope, allow me to quote some of his arguments, which show
considerable research and historical information. He says:--

"Public opinion has long been divided respecting the precise
appearance and form of this majestic animal, and so many different
ideas have been conceived of him, that many persons have been induced
to come to the conclusion that no particular breed of dogs was ever
kept for wolf-hunting in Ireland, but that the appellation of
'wolf-dog' was bestowed upon any dog swift enough to overtake and
powerful enough to contend with and overcome that formidable animal.
While some hold this opinion, others suppose that though a particular
breed was used, it was a sort of heavy mastiff-like dog, now extinct.
It is the object of the present paper to show, that not only did
Ireland possess a peculiar race of dogs, exclusively devoted to
wolf-hunting, but that those dogs, instead of being of the mastiff
kind, resembled the greyhound in form; and instead of being extinct
are still to be met with, although they are very scarce. I myself was
once in a very gross error respecting this dog, for I conceived him
to have been a mastiff, and implicitly believed that the dogs of Lord
Altamont, described in the third volume of the Linnean 'Transactions'
by Mr. Lambert, were the sole surviving representatives of the Irish
wolf-dog. An able paper, read by Mr. Haffield about a year ago, before
the Dublin Natural History Society, served to stagger me in my belief,
and subsequent careful inquiry and research have completed my
conversion. I proceed to lay before my readers the result of that
inquiry, and I feel confident that no individual, after reading the
evidence which I shall adduce, will continue to harbour a doubt
respecting the true appearance and form of the ancient Irish wolf-dog.

"We are informed by several disjointed scraps of Celtic verse, that in
the times of old, when Fionn Mac Cumhaill, popularly styled Finn Mac
Cool, wielded the sceptre of power and justice, we possessed a
prodigious and courageous dog, used for hunting the deer and wild
boar, and also the wolf, which ravaged the folds and slaughtered the
herds of our ancestors. We learn from the same source that these dogs
were also frequently employed as auxiliaries in war, and that they
were 'mighty in combat, their breasts like plates of bra