Quadrupeds: or, outlines of a popular history of the class mammalia; with a particular notice of those mentioned in Scripture.

  • Religious Tract Society
Date:
1840
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Quadrupeds: or, outlines of a popular history of the class mammalia; with a particular notice of those mentioned in Scripture. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    renders the driving of one of the vehicles by no means a pleasant or easy task. When the driver wishes to stop the sledge, he calls out, ‘ wo woaj exactly as our carters do; but the attention paid to this command depends altogether on his abi¬ lity to enforce it: if the weight is small, and the journey homeward, the dogs are not to be thus delayed; the driver is therefore obliged to dig his heels into the snow to obstruct their pro¬ gress ; and, having thus succeeded in stopping them, he stands up with one leg before the fore¬ most cross-piece of the sledge, till, by means of laying the whip gently over each dog’s head, he has made them all lie down ; he then takes care not to quit his position, so that should the dogs set ofP he is thrown upon the sledge, instead of being left behind by them.” With “ good sleighing,” that is, on good roads, “ six or seven dogs will draw from eight to ten hundred weight, at the rate of seven or eight miles an hour, for several hours together.” With a smaller load they will run ten miles an hour, and are in fact almost unmanageable. To the women who nurse them when ill, and treat them with greater kindness than the men, they are affectionate in the highest degree. From the men they receive little except blows and rough treatment; still they are faithful and en¬ during. Here our account of the Dog must end. Were we to follow our inclination, we should trespass too far upon our limits, and too far perhaps upon the patience of our readers. To sum up the whole, various as are the breeds, and fitted for various spheres of usefulness to man, still we see among them all the same pervading charac¬ ters, the same intelligence, the same personal attachment, the same docility, and the same in¬ stincts. Below we present our readers with a sketch of the Skull of a Dog, in order to illustrate the dentition of the genus Canis, including the dog, wolf, jackal, etc., and to explain the terms by which the teeth are scientifically defined. The teeth are thus distinguished :— 1. Incisors : these are the cutting teeth, small in this genus, pointed, and six in nmnber above and below. They are succeeded, on each side, by a strong conical tooth, called, 2. The Canine: these teeth are large and strong in this genus, and throughout the whole order. Next to the canine foUow three teeth, on each side, in the upper jaw, and four teeth in the under, called, 3. The False Molars: they are small, and pointed in this genus, and behind them is a single large powerful tooth, called, 4. ITe Carnivorous or Laniary ]\lolar : these, for there is one on each side above and below. indicate, by their shape and scissor-like action upon each other, the quality of the food. They are followed by two smaller tubercular teeth, barely visible in the drawing, called, 5. The Tubercular Molars: these, according to their approximation to the shape of the laniary molars, indicate the nature of the diet. In the dog, their blunt tuberculous character has a re¬ lation to the vegetable matter which this animal does not refuse. The Wolf, (Canis lupus.) This animal has been in every age the terror of the fold. Skulk¬ ing, cowardly, savage, and voracious, he attacks every creature which he feels confident of being able to conquer ; but seldom man, and then only when pressed by necessity. His proportions are larger, and his frame more muscular than the dog, between which and himself there exists the most inveterate hatred. Wolves generally combine in packs, and hunt down their prey by the scent, or, forming a se micircle, advance upon it so as to force the un¬ fortunate animal over a precipice, or by gradually' hemming it in, prevent its escape. In the narrative of Captain Franklin’s “Over¬ land Journey,” we find the following confirmation of our statement:—“ We passed the remains of two red deer at the bases of perpendicular cliffs, from the summits of which they had probably been forced by the wolves. These voracious creatures, who are inferior in speed to the moose, or red deer, are said frequently to have recourse to this expedient in places where extensive plains are bounded by precipitous cliffs. Whilst the deer are quietly grazing, the wolves assemble in great numbers, and, forming a crescent, creep slowly towards the herd, so as not to alarm them much at first; but when they perceive that they' have fairly hemmed in the unsuspecting creatures, and cut off their retreat across the plain, they move more quickly, and with hideous yells ter¬ rify their prey, and urge them to flight by the only way which is towards the precipice, ap¬ pearing to know that when the herd is once at full speed, it is easily driven over the cliff, the rearmost urging on those that are before. The wolves then descend at their leisure, and feast on the mangled carcases.” In this manner a pack of nine wolves advanced on Dr. Richardson, who, undaunted by the for¬ midable array, passed boldly through them to the tents, while not one dared to begin the attack upon him. We find the Wolf noticed in several passages of the Holy Scriptures, and always with an allu¬ sion to its cruel and savage disposition. The first instance is in Gen. xlix. 27, where Jacob prophesies respecting Benjamin, that he “ shall ravin as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.” In the New Testament, false prophets are compared to this treacherous and crafty enemy : “ Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are raven¬ ing wolves,” Matt. vii. 15. The one treacher¬ ously seizes the body, and devours it; the others terrify and bewilder the soul, and drive it into error and perdition.