06 THE REASON WHY. 



The dog, loud barking, 'mid the glittering rocks, 



Hunts, where his master points, the intercepted flocks." WORDSWORTH. 



302. Why have dogs and cats great difficulty in masticating 

 vegetable substances? 



Because, being carnivorous animals, their teeth and the motion 

 of their jaws is ill-adapted to the mastication of vegetable sub- 

 stances, which they sometimes eat when domesticated. 



303. As even those carnivorous animals which are best adapted for living upon 

 vegetable food, and live most upon it, have no grinding motion of the jaws, they 

 divide vegetable substances with much more difficulty than those races which have 

 the grinding motion and the short teeth, or true molars ; and, as the number of com- 

 p-.iratively flattened teeth diminishes, the difficulty increases. One case of this 

 gradation may be seen in the domestic dog and cat. The dog is the less carnivorous 

 of the two, and as he uses the mouth only in the capture and killing of his prey, 

 he has much more powerful and varied action of the neck. He can divide a portion 

 of tough vegetable matter, as for instance a crust of bread, only by repeated vertical 

 bites; but if he has much labour with the substance, and his hunger is strong 

 enough to induce him to eat it, he may be seen shifting his head, now higher at the 

 one side, then higher at the other, alternately, in order to bring the whole under 

 his teeth, and he also flings the head upwards or downwards, and gives a snap, so 

 that the lower jaw may bite with a momentum, while the substance to be divided 

 rests against the teeth of the upper jaw. The cat has a great deal more trouble in 

 this imperfect mastication, as she cannot snap and derive advantage from the 

 momentum of the jaw as the dog does ; thus with her the division of hard vegetable 

 food, so as to prepare it for the stomach, is no easy matter. 



' The dog," says Mr. Youatt, " is the only animal that is capable of disinterested 

 affection. He is the only one that regards the human being as his companion, 

 a:\d Tollows him as his friend ; the only one that seems to possess a natural desire 

 to be useful to him, and from a spontaneous impulse attaches himself to man. We 

 take the bridle from the mouth of the horse, and turn him free into the pasture, 

 iind he testifies his joy in his partially recovered liberty. We exact frcm the dog 

 the service that is required of him, and he still follows us. He solcits to be 

 continued as our companion and our friend. Many an expressive action tells us 

 how much he is pleased and thankful. He shares our abundance, and he ia 

 content with the scantiest and most humble fare. He loves us while Jiving, and 

 has been known to pine away on the grave of his master." 



A few anecdotes of this faithful animal will be interesting : 



TYKE THE FIRE DOG. 



304. A few years ago the public were amused with an account given in anewspap 

 of a dog whioh possessed the strange fancy of attending all the fires that occurred to 



