It is estimated that
there are at present, in Europe, about a hundred very distinct and
very fine breeds (that is to say, such as reproduce their kind with
constant characters), without counting a host of sub-breeds or
varieties that a number of breeders are trying to fix.
Most of the breeds of dogs, especially those of modern creation, are
the work of man, and have been obtained by intercrossing older breeds
and discarding all the animals that departed from the type sought. But
many of these breeds are also the result of accident, or rather of
modifications of certain parts of the organism--of a sort of rachitic
or teratological degeneration which has become hereditary and has been
due to domestication; for it is proved that the dog is the most
anciently domesticated animal, and that its submission to man dates
back to more than five thousand years. Such is the origin of the
breeds of terriers, bulldogs, and all of the small house dogs.
Man has often, designedly or undesignedly, aided in the production of
breeds of this last category by submitting the dog to a regimen
contrary to nature, or setting to work to reproduce an animal born
monstrous, either for curiosity or for interest. As well known, the
accidental characters and the spontaneous modifications which work no
injury to the essential functions of life became easily hereditary,
and the same is the case with certain artificial modifications pursued
for a long series of generations.
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