CARNARIA. CARNIVORA. 59 



feet, and four on the hind, are furnished with short, 

 blunt claws, incapable of being sheathed, and of no 

 use in seizing prey, or in climbing trees. They do 

 not possess courage proportioned to their strength, 

 and although the Dog may seem an exception to 

 this assertion, his courage is exerted only when 

 countenanced and supported by the presence of man, 

 to whom, as it has been well observed, he looks as 

 to a god. 



Canis,* the Dog, 



forms the first genus of this family ; " the friend and 

 companion, while still the faithful, and humble, and 

 laborious servant" of man in all ages and countries. 

 Endowed with almost a human intellect, great sus- 

 ceptibility of education, and strong memory, com- 

 bined with strength of nerve, fleetness of limb, and 

 power of patient endurance, he has devoted his facul- 

 ties unreservingly to man, clinging to him amidst all 

 his vicissitudes and reverses, in poverty and want, 

 and disgrace, with a most affectionate faith, a per- 

 severance of attachment that no circumstances can 

 wear out or subdue. The original of the Dog, (C. 

 Famitiari*,) has hitherto baffled the researches of 

 zoologists ; it seems pretty clear that no animal 

 exists in an independent state, to which we may 

 refer his parentage. If, indeed, the varying races 

 into which the domesticated Dog is divided had one 

 common stock, if they are all but varieties, and not 

 species, it may not be extravagant to suppose him 

 a primeval gift to man, by whose aid all other useful 



* Its Latin name. 



