684 THE DOG. 



nel, and then call the name of any particular hound. The dog, 

 answering the call, thrust his nose through the hole, and the 

 raven was as prompt to peck it with his sharp beak, so as 

 often to draw blood, and send the dog howling away ; and he 

 always seemed vastly delighted when he succeeded in the 

 trick. 



The Dog is affected by certain notes of music, and espe- 

 cially of wind instruments, as the organ and trumpet. He 

 will sometimes howl loudly till the music ceases, or the note 

 is changed ; and he is sometimes affected in the same man- 

 ner by causes which are unknown to us, as when the moon 

 shines bright. Dogs have been observed to howl before an 

 earthquake, aware, probably, of the movements underneath, 

 before the sounds could impress the human ear. Supersti- 

 tion, it is well known, has connected the howling of the dog 

 with the presage of events, and, above all, with the death of 

 friends. In the latter case, the effect seems due to the dog's 

 nice observation of what he sees, as when he misses any one 

 of the household with whom he was familiar, and sees the 

 sad countenances of friends. A dog has been known to lay 

 himself upon the grave of his master, and continue his me- 

 lancholy howling until forced from the place. In like man- 

 ner, if the master of a dog has met with some dreadful acci- 

 dent, as the being rendered insensible by falling from his 

 horse, his dog has been known to utter loud bowlings, indi- 

 cative of grief or alarm. 



The Dog, like other quadrupeds, has sounds of the voice, 

 expressive of his proper wants and emotions. The cry of 

 grief, of joy, of recognition, of defiance, can all be distin- 

 guished ; and it is wonderful, when we attend to the modu- 

 lations of the animal's voice, how varied they become, accord- 

 ing to the exciting cause. The Canidse, in the state of na- 

 ture, rarely bark, though it is not correct to say that they 

 never do so. Even the fox has been heard to bark ; and the 

 peculiar cry of the hound when in chase is heard in certain 



