THE DALMATIAN OR COACH DOG. 227 



find that the countries which are the most productive of ferocious animals are most productive 

 of ferocious men : the Lion of Africa, the Tiger of India, the Grizzly Bear of America, the 

 Polar Bear of the northern regions, being but lower types of the destructive humanity that 

 prevails in those portions of the globe. 



As this subtle bond of similar affections is found to pervade the wild animals and the 

 human inhabitants of the same country, it is but natural that when the man and the brute are 

 drawn closer together by domestication, and the higher Being enabled to pour its influence 

 upon the lower, the similarity in their character should be still more apparent. 



So we find that, whether in cats, Dogs, or horses, the animals which are most frequently 

 made the companions of man, the disposition of the owner is reflected in the character of the 

 beast. The large-hearted, kind-souled man will be surrounded with loving and gentle animals. 

 His cat will sit and purr upon his shoulder fearless of repulse, his Dog will love and reverence 

 his master with faithful worship, and his horse will follow him about the field in which it is 

 freely grazing, and solicit the kind notice to which it is accustomed. On the other hand, the 



DALMATIAN OR COACH DOG.- Canie familiaris. 



cross and snappish cat, the snarling Dog, and the crabbed-tempered horse are sure signs of 

 corresponding qualities in the man that owns them, and will deter an observer of animal 

 natures from placing his confidence in the man who could infuse such evil qualities into the 

 creatures that surround him, and from whom they take their tone. 



As the Dog is possessed of a disposition which is more easily assimilated with that of man 

 than is the case with most animals, the affinity between itself and its master is constantly 

 brought before our notice. 



One man loves nothing so well as the largest Newfoundland or deerhound, while another 

 is not satisfied unless his Dog be of the minutest proportions compatible with canine nature. 

 One man places his faith in the terrier, another in the poodle ; one prefers the retriever, and 

 another the spaniel. The man who pursues his sport at morning, in the face of the sun, is 

 accompanied by the loud-tongued foxhound or beagle ; while the skulking nocturnal poacher 

 is aided in his midnight thefts by the silent and crafty lurcher. 



But of all the Dogs that are associated with man, and of all the men that make compan- 

 ionship with Dogs, the most repulsive, and most to be avoided by honest Dogs and men, are 

 the bull-dog and his owner. 



I may be accused of delivering too severe a judgment on Dog and man. Those who have 

 been led by duty, curiosity, or chance through the unsavory localities which are haunted by 

 the members of the "Fancy," and have instinctively stepped aside from the fur-capped, 

 beetle-browed, sleek-haired, suspicious ruffian, leading his sullen and scowling bull-dog at his 



