40 INTRODUCTION. 



mental capacity so fitted him for this pre-eminence, 

 that no culture would have produced similar effects in 

 any other selection man could have made from the 

 beasts around him. Nevertheless we have to regret, 

 so erroneous is popular prejudice, that a dog is the 

 object, of all others, that excites in some minds the 

 greatest contempt. It might not be irrelevant in this 

 place to inquire, how much of this unmerited contempt 

 we are to attribute to vulgar prejudice, and also to er- 

 roneous impressions communicated by means of figura- 

 tive language in common use. " You dog!" is a com- 

 mon term of reproach used towards those, as well 

 as by those, who often have not half the virtues of 

 one; yet, in ignorant minds, this metaphoric sarcasm 



otherwise have led to their selection instead of his own, for the im- 

 portant post of ally, friend, companion, and assistant to mankind. 

 It is presumed, that it is unnecessary to extend the comparison to 

 any other of the genera of quadrupeds. The sagacity of the monkey 

 and of the elephant will, 1 am aware, gain them many advocates 

 among discerning zoologists ; and were 1 reasoning merely on the 

 extent of intelligence displayed, and not on the remarkable aptitude 

 the dog exhibits for useful and companionable properties, and on the 

 higher intellectual qualities of fidelity and personal attachment 

 which he so eminently possesses, I should be content to divide the 

 palm with them. I should allow to the monkey, cunning, artifice, 

 and personal dexterity, to a greater degree than to any other ani- 

 mal whatever; but I should still contend, that the generous and 

 amiable qualities that mark the dog are neither latent nor apparent, 

 to be at all detected in him. With regard to the elephant, it is the 

 opinion of many eminent zoologists that he is, by nature, endued 

 with more rational power of mind than any other brute, the monkey 

 perhaps excepted. In him are also apparent generous and noble 

 passions : he is seen to combine, to compare, and to profit by ex- 

 perience ; and so convinced are the inhabitants of the countries 

 where he dwells of his extraordinary mental capacity, that they ap- 

 ply to him, to the monkey, and to man, one common term, oran, 

 which signifies intellectual or reasoning. Nevertheless, as a total, 

 the quality, if not the quantity, must be yielded to the dog. 



