The Strange Instincts of Cattle. 337 



spot, whereupon the fighters separate and marcu 

 off in different directions, or else cast themselves 

 down and deprecate their tyrant's wrath with 

 abject gestures and whines. If the combatants are 

 both strong and have worked themselves into a 

 mad rage before their head puts in an appearance, 

 it may go hard with him : they know him no longer, 

 and all he can do is to join in the fray ; then, if the 

 fighters turn on him, he may be so injured that hi? 

 power is gone, and the next best dog in the pack 

 takes his place. The hottest contests are always 

 between dogs that are well matched; neither will 

 give place to the other, and so they fight it out ; 

 but from the foremost in strength and power down 

 to the weakest there is a gradation of authority ; 

 each one knows just how far he can go, which com- 

 panion he can bully when he is in a bad temper or 

 wishes to assert himself, and to which he must 

 humbly yield in his turn. In such a state 

 the weakest one must always yield to all the 

 others, and cast himself down, seeming to call 

 himself a slave and worshipper of any other 

 member of the pack that chooses to snarl at him, or 

 command him to give up his bone with a good 

 grace. 



This masterful or domineering temper, so common 

 among social mammals, is the cause of the persecu- 

 tion of the sick and weakly. When an animal 

 begins to ail he can no longer hold *his own ; he 

 ceases to resent the occasional ill-natured attacks 

 made on him ; his non-combative condition is 

 quickly discovered, and he at once drops down to a 

 place below the lowest ; it is common knowledge 



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