76 DOGS ; THEIR MANAGEMENT. 



servant of the man, and the companion of the aged, it is 

 seen in and around every home. 



Thus brought into intimate connexion with the human 

 race, and continually subject to observation, it is not 

 a little strange that the dog should be universally misun- 

 derstood. There is no quadruped which is more abused ; 

 whether treated kindly or otherwise, the dog is equally 

 made to suffer ; and probably the consequences of over 

 indulgence are more cruel in their result than is the 

 opposite course of treatment. The health of the beast is 

 perhaps best preserved when neglect deprives it of man's 

 attention ; then it may suffer from want, but it escapes 

 many of the diseases which caprice or ignorance entail 

 upon the generality of the tribe. There exists no 

 creature more liable to disorder, and in which disease is 

 prone to assume a more virulent or a more complicated 

 form. To minister to its afflictions, therefore, demands 

 no inconsiderable skill ; and it becomes the more difficult 

 to alleviate them, since canine pathology is not fully 

 comprehended, nor the action of the various medicines 

 upon the poor beast clearly understood ; yet there are 

 few persons who in their own estimation are not able to 

 vanquish the many diseases to which the dog is liable. 

 About every stable are to be met crowds of uneducated 

 loiterers, possessors of recipes and owners of specifics, 

 eager to advise and confident of success. I seldom send 

 a diseased dog into the park for exercise, that my servant 

 does not return to me with messages which strangers 

 have volunteered how to cure the animal. I hear of 



