10 EARLY HISTORY OF THE DOG. 



this sort related of the wolf, the lion, and even the cat and the reptile : 

 but in no other animal in no other, even in the genus Canis do we find 

 the qualities of the domestic dog, or the slightest approach to them. " To 

 his master he flies with alacrity," says the eloquent Buffon, " and sub- 

 missively lays at his feet all his courage, strength, and talent. A glance 

 of the eye is sufficient ; for he understands the smallest indications of his 

 will. He has all the ardour of friendship, and fidelity and constancy in his 

 affections, which man can have. Neither interest nor desire of revenge 

 can corrupt him, and he has no fear but that of displeasing. He is all 

 zeal and obedience. He speedily forgets ill-usage, or only recollects it to 

 make returning attachment the stronger. He licks the hand which causes 

 him pain, and subdues his anger by submission. The training of the dog 

 seems to have been the first art invented by man, and the fruit of that art 

 was the conquest and peaceable possession of the earth." " Man," says 

 Burns, " is the God of the dog ; he knows no other ; and see how he wor- 

 ships him. With what reverence he crouches at his feet with what 

 reverence he looks up to him with what delight he fawns upon him, and 

 with what cheerful alacrity he obeys him !" 



If any of the lower animals bear about them the impress of the Divine 

 hand, it is found in the dog : many others are plainly and decidedly more 

 or less connected with the welfare of the human being ; but this con- 

 nexion and its effects are limited to a few points, or often to one alone. 

 The dog, different, yet the same, in every region, seems to be formed ex- 

 pressly to administer to our comforts and to our pleasure. He displays a 

 versatility, and yet a perfect unity of power and character, which mark 

 him as our destined servant, and, still more, as our companion and friend. 

 Other animals may be brought to a certain degree of familiarity, and 

 may display much affection and gratitude. There was scarcely an animal 

 in the menagerie of the Zoological Society that did not acknowledge the 

 superintendent as his friend ; but it was only a casual intercourse, and 

 might be dissolved by a word or look. At the hour of feeding, the brute 

 principle reigned supreme, and the companion of other hours would be 

 sacrificed if he dared to interfere ; but the connexion between man and 

 the dog, no lapse of time, no change of circumstances, no infliction of 

 evil can dissolve. We must, therefore, look far beyond the wolf for the 

 prototype of the dog. 



Cuvier eloquently states that the dog exhibits the most complete and 

 the most useful conquest that man has made. Each individual is 

 entirely devoted to his master, adopts his manners, distinguishes and 

 defends his property, and remains attached to him even unto death ; and 

 all this springing not from mere necessity, or from constraint, but simply 

 from gratitude and true friendship. The swiftness, the strength, and the 

 highly developed power of smelling of the dog, have made him a power- 

 ful ally of man against the other animals ; and, perhaps, these qualities in 

 the dog were necessary to the establishment of society. It is the only 

 animal that has followed the human being all over the earth. 



There is occasionally a friendship existing between dogs resembling that 

 which is found in the human being. The author pledges himself as to 

 the accuracy of the following little anecdote. Two dogs, the property of 

 a gentlemen at Shrewsbury, had been companions for many years, until 

 one of them died of old age. The survivor immediately began to manifest 

 an extraordinary degree of restless anxiety, searching for his old associate 

 in all his former haunts, and refusing every kind of food. He gradually 



