INTIiODUCTION. 39 



the animals around us, shine in their full lustre in the 

 dog; nor am I afraid to hazard an opinion, not only 

 that he is endowed with them beyond any other brute 

 animaP*, but also that his bodily formation and his 



3' I profess myself here to tread on tender ground ; but this opi- 

 nion is the result of long and attentive observation, and of as critical 

 and extended inquiry as my humble capacity and limited means would 

 allow ; and, although I profess to throw no gauntlet, yet I would court 

 examination and inquiry. It appears, from all 1 can collect relative 

 to the qualities of the other branches of the canine race, as the wolf, 

 fox, and jackal, that predatory habits and ferocity of disposition 

 are so inherent in them, and that their thirst for blood is so essen- 

 tially interwoven in their very organization, that, although domesti- 

 cation might have subjugated them, and cultivation might have ope- 

 rated great changes on their qualities and properties, yet they 

 would never have totally eradicated those natural propensities, much 

 less would they ever have developed the higher mental powers of 

 that almost devotional attachment, fidelity, and unceasing attention 

 to the service of mankind, which peculiarly characterize the dog; 

 for, notwithstanding the apparent similarity of his structure to the 

 rest of the canine genus, the dog appears, both from history and ob- 

 servation, to be, even in a state of nature, omnivorous*; and that, 

 unlike them, he by choice mixes his food with vegetable matter, 

 voluntarily eats fruit, prefers dead to living flesh, and has no appe- 

 tite for blood (which the others appear to have) distinct and separate 

 from the animal mass of the bodies he may slaughter. If, also, it is 

 true, as there is great reason to believe, that the intellectual phe- 

 nomena of animals are in proportion to the extent or quantity of 

 brain they possess, then the dog, whose forehead presents a more 

 ample space for the reception of the anterior cerebral lobes than 

 either the wolf, fox, or jackal, might, a priori, be pronounced, as 

 indeed he is found to be, the most intelligent member of the genus. 

 These characteristics, if just, eminently distinguish and raise the 

 dog above those animals, whose similarity of form and habits might 



• I place great reliance on this characteristic. All animals purely carnivorous 

 are savage, ferocious, and extrenielj' difficult to reclaim. When by extreme 

 care they have become subjugated, a treacherous watchfulness marks them, and 

 they readily resume their former habits. To increase the courage and ferocity of 

 the dog, we give him raw flesh. The cat, who is wholly Ciirnivorous, can liardly 

 be said to be reclaimed : it always prefers pKices to persons. 



