2 4 8 THE DOG 



dog, etc. ; Shepherd Dogs of England, France, " collie " of Scot- 

 land, drovers, and cur-dog. Spaniels setter or land spaniel, water 

 spaniel, springer, etc. Class III. Two families come under this, 

 namely Mastiff British, Mount St. Bernard, Spanish, Thibet, 

 bulldog, pug dog, etc. Mongrels lurcher, bull terrier, etc. 



Of the sagacity, fidelity, affection, courage and other qualities 

 of the dog, with the several uses, mostly indicated by their names, 

 we have no occasion to speak ; but we may say that a majority 

 of their numbers are kept for no essential purpose, and in such a 

 mongrelity of breed as to baffle a Darwinian in respect of origin 

 and variation under domestication. In many, if not most, in- 

 stances of dog-keeping the plea is urged of necessity as guardian 

 of the homestead and companionship in the highways, which is a 

 strange reflection on civilization, inasmuch as it implies safeguarding 

 from the vicious of its own species. 



Where a good dog is kept, particularly of the terrier breed, ver- 

 min, especially rats, are not troublesome, for the dog either effects 

 capture or gives the owner no peace until the intruder is trapped. 

 But a dog of this description not kept well in hand intrudes into 

 neighbours' back-yards, ashpits and gardens, ever raising " a bone 

 of contention " ; and in the highways concerns itself chiefly in 

 hunting hedgebanks for rats and rabbits, and for a long time makes 

 frantic efforts at the mouths of the holes or burrows to " dig " out 

 the vermin. This leads to pot-hunting in bye-lanes. The terrier 

 gives place to the lurcher, and the rabbit and hare lead the dog 

 sooner or later into the wood, there as a mark for the keeper's gun, 

 or its putting its leg into a trap, or perchance its head into the 

 " hugger," while its owner drifts from fine to imprisonment and 

 ends on gallows. 



SELF-HUNTING DOGS are caught by a large and powerful Hugger 

 Trap (Wm. Burgess & Co., Malvern Wells), worked with two springs 

 instead of one, and 20-in. jaws, or for general trapping of stray 

 dogs, the Hugger with lo-in. jaws. Sheep-worrying dogs are 

 generally of the large mongrel breeds, and their owners mainly 

 conducive to their onslaught on sheep by allowing them to stray un- 

 muzzled, or even to run where they like by turning them astray 

 at night. 



In towns dogs are a great nuisance. The owners turn their 

 dogs into the streets at stated times, or they take them for a run 

 out, and the " messes " made against walls, fences, posts, etc., 

 and on pavements and footpaths render many so-called residential 

 parts of towns nauseous to the olfactory organs, unsightly to the 

 eyes, unsafe for the feet, and the odour given to besmeared garments 

 not as savoury as eau de cologne. Indeed, the eructations of the 

 dog only differ in degree from those of the cat, notable for its fetor 

 and the powerfully offensive and phosphorous-like odour of its 

 urine. 



