XIV INTRODUCTORY. 



his animals, all the more readily berates his family. However de- 

 graded, the man who loves his dog is not wholly lost. There ia 

 yet considerable humanity about him, which may, perhaps, be 

 sooner or later successfully appealed to. The dog is a valuable 

 factor in society. Cuvier styles the domestic dog " the most use- 

 ful conquest that man has gained in the animal world." Tlia 

 Shaggy Esquimaux which draws its heavy sled over weary roads ; 

 the faithful Colley, " without which," says the Ettrick Shepherd, 

 44 the whole of the open mountainous land in Scotland would not 

 be worth a sixpence " ; the noble Newfoundland which protects 

 and rescues life ; the sturdy Mastiff which guards well the home 

 from all intruders ; the Pointer or Setter which, with its unerring 

 scent, contributes to the delicacy of the table, and in the " season " 

 swells may be his masters slender income ; the lively Terrier which 

 rids the house of vermin; the ever alert Skye, whose shrill 

 night bark betokens danger one and all enact an important 

 part for mankind. When we take into account the very many 

 valuable services performed for us by the various species, we 

 can not so much wonder, perhaps, that the untutored savage thinks 

 his dog follows him straight to the spirit land, or that the ancient 

 Egyptians freshly shaved themselves as a mark of grief every 

 time a dog died in the family, or that a tribe of Ethiopia once set 

 up a dog for their king, and accepted the wags of his tail as 

 heavenly divinations. B<J is certainly one of the noblest and 

 most useful of animals. 



