158 HISTORY OF THE DOG. 



tion, no interest, no desire of revenge, no fear but that of 

 displeasing him, he is all zeal, all warmth, and all obe- 

 dience ; more sensible to the remembrance of benefits than 

 of wrongs, he soon forgets, or only remembers them to 

 make his attachment the stronger ; far from irritating, or 

 running away, he even exposes himself to new proofs; he 

 licks the hand which is the cause of his pain, he only 

 opposes it by his cries, and at length entirely disarms it by 

 his patience and submission. 



In deserts, and depopulated countries, there are wild 

 dogs, which in their manners differ only from wolves, by 

 the facility with which they are tamed ; they unite also in 

 large troops, to hunt and attack by force wild boars and 

 bulls, and even lions and tigers. 



Dogs which have been abandoned in the deserts of 

 America, and have lived wild for a hundred and fifty, or 

 two hundred years, though changed from their original 

 breed, since they are sprung from domestic dogs, have, 

 notwithstanding this long space of time, retained, at least 

 in part, their primitive form, and travellers report that they 

 resemble our greyhound. These wild dogs, however, are 

 extremely thin and light ; and as the greyhound does not 

 differ much from the cur, or from the dog which we will 

 call the shepherd's dog, it is natural to think that these 

 wild dogs are rather of this species, than real greyhounds ; 

 since on the other side, ancient travellers have said, that 

 the dogs of Canada had the ears straight like foxes, and 

 resembled the middle-sized mastiff, that is, our shepherd's 

 dog, and that those of the deserts of the Antilles isles, had 

 also the head and ears very long, and in appearance very 

 much resemble foxes. 



Dogs are commonly born with their eyes shut j the two 

 eyelids are not only closed, but adhere by a membrane, 

 which breaks away as soon as the muscle of the superior 

 eyelid is become strong enough to raise it and to overcome 

 this obstacle ; and the greater number of dogs have not 



