DOGS OF WAR AND THEIR HTSTORY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1746, 21 January 1888, Page 4

DOGS OF WAR AND THEIR HTSTORY

"Pobiio Opinion.")

The idea lately taken up-4u earnest m the Garman and Russian armies of using dogs f>r -ratHtary parposes has been generally talked of as an Innovation. This, howevor, as Mr Mounter sh >wi In a 3e«n»d article H the c> Revao Scieottfitua," Is a miitake. Diga of war, It Appears, were well known to the great nations of ancient tines, tnd Greeks and Korean?, and J4W6 mi Gantiles, made use of the fetrloss intelligent »n\mtl w^oso valor is bow ones again to be pat to the test. The Greeks had 'logs m ornry one of their fortresses ; en 1 E B z , one <"'f M. Meonlur'a ouihorities, 'ells a good a ory of an outpost ocouplofl by atronp watoh doge only. Opposite Oorir.th, facing the sea, snoh an outpost wassltuat d, ga»rdei by 60 does. Oae oight the enemy began to d ietnb%rk. The garrison was dranlr, and the doss had to keep back th» »ggreaid£4 They fought like lions and 49 of th«m*Vßfe" killed. "The only surrivor, 8ot»t, rushed away m hot haato, gave the alarm In the oamp, and the em my was driven back Ttte Romans as everyone knows were leas fortunate on a slmilst occasion, where the geese performed the tusk of the dogs In calling the attention of the soldierg to the Gauls coaling the walli of the Capitol, while the dogs were f««t asleep, A« a punitihmant for the nn'*itbfal servants a religious ceremony, at whli h oven Pintrach had still occasion to laugh on beholding It was thereafter annually performed at Rome. Its chief feature w&* that some dogs were taken through the streets with grert pomp, whipped at every crossroad and at every p 'blio pl«oP| ar.d finally hanged on a oros* of wood of the elder tree, near the Temple of Youth. Even m the six 1 eanth century two Tarkt pei formed a « : mil»s oaremooy m memory of the dogs whioh had devored the corpse of Mohammed. In Da'mttUn and Croatian garritoas dogs of war were kept m the seventeenth century, whose daty It was to reveal by their barking the presence of tbe Turkish sotditrs ; to run to the.r masters and make them acquainted not only with the fact of the approioh of tie enemy, ba> also to point ont m the forest the plaoewhare the aggressors were hidden. Bat, asks M« Meunler, is It possible for a dog to distinguish different D uion%lltloB ? It's impossible to give a certain answer to this question, but to imoh Is cettntn that the anoients had very well noted that the dog had this peouliar faculty. Minerva's trmple at Dju'U was guarded by d^gs which were trained with ■nod care tb»t they could distinguish Greeks and barbarians, lavishing oaresaea on the formsr, and barking continually if any of tho Utter arrived. And not only were dogs made use of m ordlnarp warfare, but from the time of the Roman Empire downward* s!m>st to our own d<iy, the ilave-bunters hive had Invaluable assi tints m tht ie oruel, gigantic bloodhounds. To the Spaniards belongs the doubtful honor of having trained their dogs moat perfectly f r the pursuit of ■laves, at.d under the Dretenoe of bringing religion Into the datk plaoei of the earth they seat their bloodthirsty dogs after the harmless natives. Their method of training, which they had to learn from ihe Romans, was as follows : — While still very young the dog was incessantly teased by children. Later on ha w>« worried till he got excited, an.l was then nttucked with the sword und allowed to fight till, tired ont and bleeding ho withdrew from battle, leaving h:'s advciairy, a serf charged with the dog's education, m rags and tatters. After ih^ fight the dog was carefully chained, and only after he bad become an excellent defedor wbb ho allowed to go frep. Then hifl master waa attacked with tho s«ord ; the dog defended him, and then ia the curse of time beoams accustomed to defending- his vaster against a'l attacks The curious notion held m ancu-nt Egypt that the licking of a dog was a sure cure for ophthalmia was based on the principle that puppies are born bliod, and are only cured of that infirmity by the moth r licking their eyes. In Greece, again, a certaia race of dogs was belioved to be _able to distinguish b ;twuen a real and apparent corpse, by which faculty they became particularly useful m time of plapues and on the battle field In conclusion M. Mennier describes Horace Vcr net's touching picture o f the chien dv regtment, wh eh creeps up with bleeling he id and shattered feet to hi t»o friends, the drummers ; but he forgets to mention the most famous of all recent do?s of wir, the Rgimentshund whi went through tne whole of the last Frinco -German war, an/i has now his well earned place on one of the magni6cent bas reliefs rouni the Seiges Saule at Berlin.