NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE ENGLISH TERRIER. 



The TERRIERS never grow to any considerable size. There 

 are several breeds of terriers, among which the English and 

 Scotch are most conspicuous. These dogs are principally 

 used for destroying rats or other vermin, and are so courageous 

 that they do not hesitate to unearth the fox or the badger. 

 Otters are also hunted by them, but prove by no means an 

 easy prey, as their snake-like body, sharp teeth, and amphi- 

 bious habits, render them very difficult to seize, and their 

 tenacity of life will frequently enable them to escape when 

 the dog considers them dead. The Scotch terrier is a rough, 

 wiry little dog, with hair hanging over its eyes, so that those 

 organs are hardly visible, and when it is in the water its wetted 

 hair quite obscures its vision. There is a smaller breed of these 

 dogs called the " Skye Terrier," whose principal beauty seems 

 to consist in its ugliness. 



Terriers are extremely attached to their master, and are 

 capable of learning many amusing tricks. I had a terrier, 

 said to be of Irish breed, who had imbibed many of the 

 eccentricities of the Irish character. He was particularly fond 

 of terrifying lapdogs, a species of animal which he held in 

 supreme contempt. On one occasion, he met a very fat 

 lapdog, the property of an equally fat old lady, waddling 

 along the street. Rory looked at it for a short time, and 

 then gave it a pat which rolled it over on its back. Its 



