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The Turnspit Dog was a short-legged, long-bodied dog bred to run on a wheel, called a turnspit or dog wheel, to turn meat. The type is now extinct. It is mentioned in ''Of English Dogs'' in 1576 under the name "Turnespete".〔 William Bingley's ''Memoirs of British Quadrupeds'' (1809) also talks of a dog employed to help chefs and cooks. It is also known as the Kitchen Dog, the Cooking Dog, the Underdog and the ''Vernepator''. In Linnaeus's 18th century classification of dogs it is listed as ''Canis vertigus''. The breed was lost since it was considered to be such a lowly and common dog that no record was effectively kept of it. Some sources consider the Turnspit a kind of Glen of Imaal Terrier,〔 others make it a relative of the Welsh Corgi.〔 The Vernepator Cur was bred to run on a wheel in order to turn meat so it would cook evenly. Due to the strenuous nature of the work, a pair of dogs would often be worked in shifts. The dogs were also taken to church to serve as foot warmers. One story says that during service at a church in Bath, the Bishop of Gloucester gave a sermon and uttered the line "''It was then that Ezekiel saw the wheel''...". At the mention of the word "wheel" several turnspit dogs, who had been brought to church as foot warmers, ran for the door.〔 Turnspits were described as "long-bodied, crooked-legged and ugly dogs, with a suspicious, unhappy look about them".〔 Delabere Blaine, a nineteenth century veterinarian (and self-described "father of canine pathology"), classified the turnspit dog as a variety of spaniel. Often, they are shown with a white stripe down the center of their faces. According to Bingley's ''Memoirs of British Quadrupeds'' (1809):〔 The Turnspit is again described by H.D. Richardson in his book ''Dogs; Their Origin and Varieties'' (1847):〔 The crooked leg is most likely owed to very distant ancestors as noted in ''Dogs And All About Them'' (1910), by Robert Leighton:〔 This has been confirmed with recent DNA testing.〔 According to John George Wood in ''The Illustrated Natural History (Mammalia)'' (1853):〔 Queen Victoria kept retired turnspit dogs as pets.〔 ==References== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Turnspit Dog」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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