the Human Kind and other Animals. 273 



the domestic cat. And there is one fact, I think very 

 well ascertained, with respect to this animal, which 

 would have some influence upon the mind of Mr. Blu- 

 menbach, in the regular discussion of this subject. A 

 cat has been seen to faint away, in a true lypothemia, 

 when she beheld blood taken from another cat, with 

 which she was accustomed to pass a great deal of her 

 time ! 



I cannot, with much more confidence, attempt the 

 examination of Mr. Blumenbach's paragraph, " Morbi 

 mentis proprie sic dicti, ut Melancholia, Nostalgia, etc. 

 forte et Satyriasis, et Nymphomania." To discuss a 

 part of the subject, relating the supporting facts, would 

 require some intrusions upon delicacy. I shall, there- 

 fore, say only a very few words, at present. 



Where is the sportsman, or where is the master atten- 

 tive to the comforts, to the habits, the manners, &c, of 

 his dog, who will doubt that this faithful animal la- 

 bours, at times, under a true melancholia ; at least, a 

 state of grief, and mental distress ? Do not our books 

 of natural history relate many instances and examples of 

 this kind ? 



I know but little of Nostalgia as a disease, even in t 

 human kind. But if it be merely a vehement deslderu 

 urn to return to one's native country, or friends, I think 

 it would not be a difficult task to collect from the re- 

 cords of naturalists, sportsmen, and others, a large body 

 of facts to prove, that dogs and other animals arc by no 



