92 DOGS : THEIR MANAGEMENT. 



The bone, therefore, should be large, and on it there 

 should be nothing which the knife can remove. It ought 

 to be thrown upon the earth, and the animal should be 

 allowed to gnaw it at leisure. During the act, a consi- 

 derable quantity of earth and saliva will be swallowed, 

 and little actual food be added to an already loaded 

 stomach. In all points of view the animal is benefited. 

 The soil is always slightly alkaline, and so is the saliva ; 

 any undue acidity is by both in some measure counter- 

 acted ; but the earth is also of further service. Food too 

 highly or purely nutritive will not support life ; but to 

 render it healthy, a certain quantity of indigestible or 

 refuse matter is imperative. The latter portion acts 

 mechanically as a stimulant to the intestines, and hence 

 gentlemen by choice consume bread in which a portion 

 of the husk is mingled, finding it prevents the costiveness 

 that the baker's " best " induces. Dogs are here very 

 like men, but they require more of the mixture than the 

 human being could bear. The animals, therefore, should 

 not be fed off plates. 



The better practice is to take the day's allowance and 

 throw it upon the ground, letting the beast eat it with 

 what addition it may please. Neither should the nature 

 of the food itself be disregarded. Oatmeal or ship-biscuit 

 ought always to be given, if alone the better, else rice 

 upon which gravy has been poured. Meat, when allow- 

 ed, should be lean, and the coarser the better. Paunch 

 or tripe is excellent food for dogs, and for a continuance 

 I have found nothing agree so well. Horse-flesh or any 



