244 NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 



chase pursued should be eaten.* Dogs again will not devour the 

 more rancid water-fowls, nor indeed the bones of any wild-fowls; 

 nor will they touch the foetid bodies of birds that feed on offal 

 and garbage : and indeed there may be somewhat of providential 

 instinct in this circumstance of dislike ; for vultures,f and kites, 

 and ravens, and crows, &c., were intended to be messmates with 

 dogsj over their carrion ; and seem to be appointed by nature as 

 fellow-scavengers to remove all cadaverous nuisances from the 

 face of the earth. I am, &c. 



LETTER LIX. To THE HON. DAINES BARRINGTON. 



THE fossil wood buried in the bogs of Wolmer-forest is not yet 

 all exhausted ; for the peat-cutters now and then stumble upon 

 a log. I have just seen a piece which was sent by a labourer of 

 Oakhanger to a carpenter of this village ; this was the but-end 

 of a small oak, about five feet long, and about five inches in 

 diameter. It had apparently been severed from the ground by 

 an axe, was very ponderous, and as black as ebony. Upon ask- 

 ing the carpenter for what purpose he had procured it ; he told 



* In describing the general disposition of a species of animal, naturalists have too often de- 

 duced their remarks from one or two individuals only, which they had had opportunities of study- 

 ing. Nothing can be more fallacious than such data ; as there is just the same original diversity 

 between the natural disposition of different animals of the same species, as we observe to be the 

 case amongst ourselves ; a faet which must indeed have been noticed by most who have ever 

 reared up a nest of young birds, or have attended much to the habits of animals of whatever kind. 

 Thus, however wild and savage, and insensible to kindness, may he the ordinary character of the 

 wolf, we have instances on record of their being as tractable, and attached to their owner, as the 

 most faithful dog ; and the inverse of this 1 have had occasion to observe in two or threejnstances, 

 wherein the dog evinced the usual disposition of the wolf or fox. In this neighbourhood, for two 

 or three years, there was a fine male pointer, which was a great destroyer of game, and, at times, 

 of poultry also, but so extremely wary that the keepers could never entrap it, or even get a shot 

 at the animal. It was not much in the habit of worrying sheep, but appeared to subsist chiefly 

 on hares and rabbits, which it hunted during the twilight. It was at length shot, after several 

 nights tedious watching. Another case occurred in a female greyhound, which derived its sus- 

 tenance much in the same manner. It was of a very fine breed, so that, on its being entrapped, 

 it was thought desirable to obtain from her a litter of puppies ; she was accordingly chained to a 

 kennel, but always remained savage, even to her feeders, and, -while her puppies were still very 

 young, she managed to escape to the woods, and never returned. Her progeny, five in number, 

 were accordingly brought up by hand, and three of them grew up to be excellent hounds, but the 

 other two inherited all the wild character of their dam, and, notwithstanding every attention, 

 contrived finally to effect their escape, and were afterwards shot, as was also their dam, for their 

 destructive poaching propensities. ED. 



t Hasselquist, in his travels to the Levant, observes that the dogs and vultures at Grand Cairo 

 maintain such a friendly intercourse as to bring up their young together in the same place. 



t The Chinese word for a dog to a European ear sounds like quihloh. 



