DOGS! THEIR MANAGEMENT. 393 



low ; but if its effects are not immediately witnessed, 

 tonics, without loss of time, sliould be resorted t;o. The 

 food must be mild ; and everything should be done to 

 guard against excitement. The system requires to be 

 soothed ; for the act is always attended with general 

 disturbance ; and attention must be paid to prevent the 

 milk from accumulating in the glands. 



Some persons entertain a notion that the bitch which 

 has once devoured her litter, will ever after retain the 

 disposition. This is a false idea. On the next occa- 

 sion, if properly treated that is, if not persecuted, chas- 

 tised, alarmed, and annoyed, but properly dieted she 

 may prove, and most likely will prove, an excellent mo- 

 ther ; the very excitability which, when over-stimulated, 

 induced her unnatural impulse, making her, when tran- 

 quil, the more alive to the instincts of her nature. I 

 once saw this in a very remarkable manner illustrated 

 by a rabbit. The doe was sold to me very cheap, and 

 was in litter at the time of purchase. A week after 

 she came into my possession, she plucked her fur and 

 made her bed. One morning I distinctly saw a nest 

 full of young ; but looking again at noon, not a single 

 one of the progeny was to be beheld. Some little blood 

 and a mangled leg told their history ; and the animal 

 a fortnight afterwards was again put to the buck. 



I by chance discovered, while the doe was breeding, 



that she had an inordinate thirst. At first it amused me 



to see the creature lap the water I presented to her ; but 



at last I placed within her hutch a cup, and had it kept 



17* 



