138 THOSE OTHER ANIMALS. 



blandishments will seduce them into friendliness with one 

 of whose disposition they disapprove, and it must be owned 

 that, like children, they are seldom mistaken in their in- 

 tuitive likes and dislikes. 



A flesh-eater by nature, the dog adapts itself readily to 

 the habits of those around. His preferences are for meat, 

 but few things come absolutely amiss to him : bread and 

 cheese, fish, pies and puddings of all sorts, vegetables, and 

 even fruit, are eaten by him with apparent relish, and he 

 needs but very little education to take to beer, wines, and 

 spirits. As might be expected from the analogy of man, 

 the big dog, as a rule, is much more gentle, patient, and 

 good-tempered than the small one. The latter is ready 

 upon the smallest provocation to become excited or 

 pugnacious ; he seems to be on the look out for affronts, 

 and ever on the watch to assert himself. The big dog, 

 upon the contrary, is generally quiet and dignified, and 

 very slow to wrath. While careful breeding has brought 

 about great varieties in size, form, and appearance, its 

 effects upon the dog's mental organisation can scarcely 

 be traced, save for such differences of disposition as are 

 the result of size rather than race. The St. Bernard and 

 the toy terrier, the pug, the poodle, the Dachshund, and 

 the spaniel, although differing as widely from each other in 

 appearance and shape as if they belonged to different 

 families, are yet identical in their possession of the virtues 

 and methods of dogdom. Their habits may differ slightly, 

 some seeming to find their chief happiness in lying asleep 

 on a soft cushion, others in an incessant pursuit of rats and 

 other vermin, some in accompanying their masters to the 

 chase. There are dogs whose greatest joy is a swim, 



