DOG KIND. 



proper prey of the dog kind are only those ani- 

 mals that like themselves are unfitted for climb- 

 ing ; the hare, the rabbit, the gazelle, or the roe- 

 buck. 



As they are, in this respect, inferior to the cat, 

 so they exceed it in the sense of smelling ; by 

 which alone they pursue their prey with cer- 

 tainty of success, wind it through all its mazes, 

 and tire it down by perseverance. It often hap- 

 pens, however, in the savage state, that their 

 prey is either too much diminished, or too wary, 

 to serve for a sufficient supply. In this case, 

 when driven to an extremity, all the dog kinds 

 can live for some time upon fruits and vegetables, 

 which, if they do not please the appetite, at least 

 serve to appease their hunger. 



Of all this tribe, the dog has every reason to 

 claim the preference, being the most intelligent 

 of all known quadrupeds, and the acknowledged 

 friend of mankind. The dog,* independent of 

 the beauty of his form, his vivacity, force, and 

 swiftness, is possessed of all those internal qualifi- 

 cations that can conciliate the affections of man, 

 and make the tyrant a protector. A natural 

 share of courage, an angry and ferocious disposi- 

 tion, renders the dog, in its savage state, a for- 

 midable enemy to all other animals : but these 

 readily give way to very different qualities in the 

 domestic dog, whose only ambition seems the de- 

 sire to please: he is seen to come crouching 

 along, to lay his force, his courage, and all his 



* The rest of this description of the dog is taken from M. Buffon ; what 

 I have added, is marked as before. 



