Ch. XI.] HAIR AXD TAEASITES. 211 



their sleepiitg places almost daily. The ourang-outang, 

 that makes a nest of the boughs of trees, is said to con- 

 struct a fresh one every night. The dwelling-places of 

 savages, often made of, or lined with, the skins of 

 animals, with the dusty earth for a floor, harbour all 

 kinds of insect vermin, and produce and perpetuate skin 

 disease, due to the attacks of minute sarcopti ; and if the 

 dog by losing its hair should obtain any protection from 

 these and other insect pests, instead of wondering that a 

 hairless breed of dogs has been produced in a tropical 

 country, I am more surprised that haired ones should 

 abound. That they do so must, I think, be owing to 

 man having preferred the haired breeds for their supe- 

 rior beauty and greater variety, and encouraged their 

 multiplication. 



p - 



