16 THE DOG IX HEALTH. 



properties of the dog would have been of little service to 

 the human race. Many of the wild congeners of the dog 

 equal or excel him in hunting for game, etc., but such 

 animals are rather the enemies than friends and helpers 

 of man. But it is because the dog is teachable, tractable, 

 and adaptive, as well as courageous and intelligent, that he 

 has in all ages been one of man's most useful servants. 

 There are, however, other reasons why all peoples and 

 nearly all individuals have a kindly leaning toward the 

 dog. Scarcely surpassed in intelligence by any known ani- 

 mal, teachable in a high degree, ready to adapt cheerfully 

 to every condition of life, however much hardship it may 

 involve, fitted for so wide a range of duties, forgiving 

 without stint, meeting every wish of his owner even to 

 whims and caprices, contented with the homeliest fare and 

 the rudest shelter, so that he may but win his master's 

 approbation, faithful in many instances even unto death, it 

 is not surprising that in every age, in every clime, by the 

 lowest savages and by men of the highest talents and at- 

 tainments, the dog has been held in the greatest esteem 

 and, after a fashion, made a member of the family circle. 



The individual that can see nothing to admire in the 

 dog is surely defective either by nature or by education 

 in fact, a sort of human monstrosity. 



The psychic characteristics of the dog have probably 

 been more studied than those of any other animal. He 

 has been the theme of historians, philosophers, scientists, 

 and poets for ages, and yet the author ventures to think 

 that, with increasing knowledge and changing views of the 

 relations of things in the universe, the field is still open to 

 culture and worthy of the best human abilities. 



