NATURAL HISTORY. 05 



So true, so brave, a lamb at home, 

 A lion in the chase.&quot; 



299. Wliy do dogs betray fear when a person who has a lamt 

 and stooping gait approaches ? 



Because the action which the lame person uses in walking has a 

 close resemblance to the attitude of a person etcoping to pick up 

 a stone. 



300. Why does a dog generally turn round three or four times 

 before he lies down to sleep ? 



It is supposed that this singular and almost invariable practice 

 is one of the dog s natural instincts, altered or modified to his 

 domesticated life ; for, when in a wild state, he takes up his night s 

 quarters in a field of tall withered grass or among reeds or rushes, 

 thus wheeling round he separates the vegetation in the spot where 

 he is to lie, and forms a bed with overhanging curtains all 

 round for his protection and warmth. 



301. Why should the treatment of dogs be regulated more by 

 moral than by brute force ? 



Because the nervous system in this creature is largely developed, 

 exerting an influence over all his actions and giving character to 

 the species. The brain of the dog is seldom in repose ; even 

 when asleep the twitching of the legs, and the suppressed sounds, 

 inform us that the dog is dreaming. No animal is more 

 actuated by the power of imagination. To diseases of cerebral or 

 spinal character it is more liable that any other domesticated 

 a himal. Its very bark is symbolical of temperament, and its 

 mode of attack energetically declares the excitability of its nature. 

 The most fearful of all diseases to which it is exposed (rabies) is 

 essentially of a nervous character. Delirium usually precedes 

 its death, and nervous excitability is the common accompaniment 

 of most of its disorders. This peculiar temperament of the animal 

 at once suggests how much may be done by gentle treatment ; 

 while on the other hand it makes known to us the fact that words 

 spoken to a dog in a harsh and unkind tone, and the inflictioD 

 of blows or kicks, may occasion indescribable pain. 



