[Enclosure]

On the Modification of a Race of Syrian Street-Dogs by means of Sexual Selection.

Beyrout is one of the principal ports on the Syrian coast, & has a population of from eighty to one hundred thousand.² Like most Oriental cities, its system of street-cleaning is far from perfect, & much of the scavenging is left to the street-dogs, many hundreds of which roam at large through town & suburbs, picking up a subsistence as they best can. Twenty years ago, & previous, these dogs were quite a homogenious race, the following being a rough description of a typical specimen:— Height at shoulder, 20–22 in.; length from muzzle to root of tail 32–34 in.; length of tail, 12–15 in.; color, sandy-gray, with some variety of shades (rarely so light as to pass for dirty-white), in most distinctly darker above than beneath, & not unfrequently grizzled or brindled; head, of medium size, with rather pointed snout, & small, pointed, semi-pendulous ears; tail, bushy, usually carried up over back, sometimes much curled; general aspect, decidly jackal-like; or semi-wolfish; disposition cowardly, seldom savage. The only departures worthy of mention from the above type, at the time of which I write, were occasional black dogs, mostly with shorter hair than the sandy ones, &, rarely, piebald black & white specimens. At the present date, the case is very different. The sandy-gray color still prevails, it is true, but there is hardly an imaginable color or combination of colors which may not be found; & in form, size & proportions of trunk & limbs—shape of head,—form & size of ears—length & closeness of hair—length, bushiness & carriage of tail—there is nearly as much diversity.

Twenty years ago, but few persons in this city owned dogs of any foreign breed whatsoever; but pointers, poodles, terriers, a few greyhounds & setters, & an occasional Newfoundland, retriever or mastiff, have since been imported &, to some extent, bred here. By far the majority of foreign dogs to be found in Beyrout at any time are smaller & decidedly weaker than the original natives; very few indeed can range the streets, unaccompanied by their masters, without running a considerable risk of more or less serious injury from the street-dogs. Despite their marked muscular inferiority, however, the foreign dogs have succeeded in mongreling the whole race of street-dogs so thoroughly, that it is now no easy matter to find one of these which does not bear unmistakable evidence of a foreign strain.

To account for this, I can confidently cite the following facts, from my own personal observation & experience:— 1^st., Native bitches very often manifest a decided preference for certain foreign dogs; & I have repeatedly seen such a bitch reject, one after another, a train of kindred suitors, to accept without hesitation a thorough-bred pointer. (My brother once owned a French pointer named Jack—quite small, but beautifully proportioned, & of a uniform golden-fawn color. This dog was so great a favorite with the opposite sex of the native breed, that he led an exceedingly “gay” life. Pointer bitches, on the contrary, not infrequently refused him for the sake of a street-dog.)—

2^nd., Pointer & other well-bred bitches are frequently so decided & persistent in their preference for street-dogs (usually for some particular individual, unseen, it may be, but communicated with by the voice) that they will go barren whole seasons rather than accept mates chosen for them by their masters. In such cases, a moment’s carelessness or inattention is sufficient to ensure a litter of mongrel pups, which, if not destroyed in puppyhood, are very apt eventually to find their way into the street, there to multiply the chances of infection for the whole race.

3^d., Mongrel strains are most strongly pronounced in the suburbs, where street-dogs are rather less numerous than in the heart of the city, & where sly & runaway matches are favored by hedgerows, shrubbery, &c. &c. In the city itself, on the contrary, where the chances are ten to one that claims will be settled by the law of battle, the foreign taint is not so evident—indeed, a casual observer might easily overlook it in many instances; & if any pure-blooded representatives of the old stock are still in existence, it must be in the very most thickly stocked quarter, where butchers’ shops are many & near together, & street-dogs proportionately numerous.

W. T. Van Dyck, M.D.

Beyrout, Syria. | Feb. 27^th., 1882