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Dogs and All about Them
·
Robert Leighton
370
CHAPTER
XLVI
THE
MALTESE
DOG
AND
THE
PUG
No
doubt
has
been
cast
upon
the
belief
that
the
small,
white,
silky
Canis
Melitaeus
is
the
most
ancient
of
all
the
lap
dogs
of
the
Western
world.
It
was
a
favourite
in
the
time
of
Phidias;
it
was
an
especial
pet
of
the
great
ladies
of
Imperial
Rome.
It
appears
to
have
come
originally
from
the
Adriatic
island
of
Melita
rather
than
from
the
Mediterranean
Malta,
although
this
supposition
cannot
be
verified.
There
is,
however,
no
question
that
it
is
of
European
origin,
and
that
the
breed,
as
we
know
it
to-day,
has
altered
exceedingly
little
in
type
and
size
since
it
was
alluded
to
by
Aristotle
more
than
three
hundred
years
before
the
Christian
era.
One
may
gather
from
various
references
in
literature,
and
from
the
evidence
of
art,
that
it
was
highly
valued
in
ancient
times.
"When
his
favourite
dog
dies,"
wrote
Theophrastus
in
illustration
of
the
vain
man,
"he
deposits
the
remains
in
a
tomb,
and
erects
a
monument
over
the
grave,
with
the
inscription,
'Offspring
of
the
stock
of
Malta.'"
The
"offspring
of
the
stock
of
Malta"
were
probably
first
imported
into
England
during
the
reign
of
Henry
VIII.
It
is
certain
that
they
were
regarded
as
"meet
playfellows
for
mincing
mistresses"
in
the
reign
of
Elizabeth,
whose
physician,
Dr.
Caius,
alluded
to
them
as
being
distinct
from
the
Spaniel,
"gentle
or
comforter."
Early
writers
aver
that
it
was
customary
when
Maltese
puppies
were
born
to
press
or
twist
the
nasal
bone
with
the
fingers
"in
order
that
they
may
seem
more
elegant
in
the
sight
of
men"--a
circumstance
which
goes
to
show
that
our
forefathers
were
not
averse
to
improving
artificially
the
points
of
their
dogs.
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