

THE COMMON DOG. 83 



may be credited, there was a little Dog, some years 

 ago, exhibited at Stockholm, which had been taught 

 to speak many words, and to utter even complete 

 sentences, both in the French and Swedish lan- 

 guages*. 



Although Dogs are naturally lively, active, and 

 vigilant animals; yet, when pampered and over- 

 fed, as we oftentimes see them, they become heavy 

 and indolent. They pass the principal part of their 

 lives in eating and sleeping. The latter, indeed, 

 is almost continual, and is often accompanied by 

 involuntary motions in the limbs, and a kind of 

 whining noise, the apparent effects of dreaming. 



These animals are all carnivorous; and the 

 powers of their stomach are very remarkable. 

 Bones are softened and digested so readily, that 

 the teeth have but to break them into such pieces 

 as can pass the gullet. The gastric juices have all 

 the work of this digestion, to which trituration does 

 not in the least contribute. 



Generally speaking, Dogs are extremely vora- 

 cious animals, and will devour almost any kind of 

 food; but they have an insuperable aversion to 

 many species of birds. By a singular depravity of 

 taste, they generally prefer flesh that is, in part, 

 corrupted, to perfectly fresh food. It is by no 



* For various anecdotes of the sagacity of Dogs, see Anima 

 Biography, third Edit. i. p. 200 232. 



G 2 means 



