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ANIMALS OF 



entirely escape, it was frequently seen to run 

 with the platter round the yard five or six 

 times, still carrying it in a position that none 

 of its contents could fall. In this manner it 

 would continue running, only now and then 

 stopping to take breath, until the dog coming 

 up, the wolf would leave the victuals to attack 

 him. The dog, however, was the stronger of 

 the two, but as it was more gentle, in order 

 to secure him from the wolfs attack, he had 

 a collar put round his neck. In the third year, 

 the quarrels of these ill-paired associates 

 were more vehement, and their combats more 

 frequent ; the wolf, therefore, had a collar put 

 about its neck, as well as the dog, who began 

 to be more fierce and unmerciful. During 

 the two first years, neither seemed to testify 

 the least tendency towards engendering; and 

 it was not till the end of the third, that the 

 wolf, which was the female, showed the na- 

 tural desire, but without abating either in its 

 fierceness or obstinacy. This appetite rather 

 increased than repressed their mutual ani- 

 mosity; they became every day more untract- 

 able and ferocious, and nothing was heard 

 between them but the sounds of rage and re- 

 sentment. They both,inlessthanthreeweeks, 

 became remarkably lean, without ever ap- 

 proaching each other, but to combat. At 

 length, their quarrels became so desperate, 

 that the dog killed the wolf, who was become 

 more weak and feeble ; and he was soon af- 

 ter himself obliged to be killed, for, upon being 

 set at liberty, he instantly flew upon every ani- 

 mal he met, fowls, dogs, and even men them- 

 selves not escaping his savage fury. 



The same experiment was tried upon foxes, 

 taken young, but with no better success ; they 

 were never found to engender with dogs ; and 

 our learned naturalist seems to be of opinion 

 that their natures are too opposite ever to pro- 

 voke mutual desire. One thing, however, 

 must be remarked, that the animals on which 

 he tried his experiments, were rather too old 

 when taken, and had partly acquired their 

 natural savage appetites, before they came 

 into his possession. The wolf, as he acknow- 

 ledges, \vas two or three months old before it 

 was caught, and the foxes were taken in traps. 

 It may, therefore, be easily supposed, that no- 

 thing could ever after thoroughly tame those 

 creatures that had been suckled in the wild 



state, and had caught all the habitudes of the 

 dam. I have seen these animals, when taken 

 earlier in the woods, become very tame; and, 

 indeed, they rather were displeasing by being 

 too familiar than too shy. It were to be wish- 

 ed that the experiment were tried upon such 

 as these; and it is more than probable that 

 it would produce the desired success. Never- 

 theless, these experiments are sufficient to 

 prove that neither the wolf nor the fox are of 

 the same nature with the dog, but each of a 

 species perfectly distinct, and their joint pro- 

 duce most probably unfruitful. 



The dog, when first whelped, is not a com- 

 pletely finished animal. In this kind, as in 

 all the rest which bring forth many at a time, 

 the young are not so perfect as in those which 

 bring forth one or two. They are always pro- 

 duced with the eyes closed, the lidsbeing held 

 together, not by sticking, but by a kind of thin 

 membrane, which is torn as soon as the upper 

 eye-lid becomes strong enough to raise it from 

 the under. In general, their eyes are not 

 opened till ten or twelve days old. During 

 that time, the bones of the skull are not com- 

 pleted, the body is puffed up, the nose is short, 

 and the whole form but ill-sketched out. In 

 less than a month the puppy begins to use all 

 its senses ; and from thence makes hasty ad- 

 vances to its perfection. At the fourth month, 

 the dog loses some of his teeth, as in other 

 animals, and these are renewed by such as 

 never fall. The number of these amount to 

 forty-two, Avhich is twelve more than is found 

 in any of the cat kind, which are known never 

 to have above thirty. The teeth of the dog 

 being his great and only weapon, are formed 

 in a manner much more serviceable than those 

 of the former ; and there is scarce any quad- 

 ruped that has a greater facility in rending, 

 cutting, or chewing its food. He cuts with 

 his incisors, or fore-teeth, he holds with his 

 four great canine teeth, and he chews his meat 

 with his grinders ; these are fourteen in num- 

 ber, and so placed, that, when the jaws are 

 shut, there remains a distance between them, 

 so that the dog, by opening his mouth ever 

 so wide, does not lose the power of his jaws. 

 But it is otherwise in the cat kind, whose in- 

 cisors, or cutting-teeth, are very small, and 

 whose grinding-teeth when brought together, 

 touch more closely than tLose of the dog, and, 



