Natural Hiftory of the Ancients. 29 



howling and dragging out bits of his clothing, by 

 which it was found out how he had perimed. 

 Indeed, they infenfibly acquire the type and 

 habits of their matters. Thus the Cretans are 

 light, fupple, and agile, and fo are their dogs. 

 The Moloffians are like their owners, moft 

 courageous, but when once a Carmanian and his 

 dogs' ire are aroufed they are moft difficult to 

 be appeafed. The Hand of Glory and its ufe to 

 credulous houfebreakers has been defcribed in moft 

 books of folk-lore. ^Elian gives a fomewhat 

 kindred receipt by which a thief may filence the 

 fierceft dog ; viz., by holding to it a torch 

 fnatched from a man's funeral pyre. 1 It were long, 

 however, to dwell on the fuperftitions and ancient 

 folk-lore connected with the dog. We fear left 

 any further attempt to do fo might be like invit- 

 ing readers to zprandium caninum (to quote a Jaft 

 allufion belonging to the ancient dog) ; that is, to 

 a teetotal banquet. 2 There are feveral chapters on 

 the virtues and vices of dogs in Bochart's " Hiero- 

 zoicon." Patroclus, in the " Iliad," potfe/fes nine 

 lapdogs (/cwvec rpaTrf^c), and Achilles facrificed 

 two of them on their matter's tomb (" Iliad," xxiii. 

 173). At Rome dogs were annually truffed upon 

 forks, and while thus, as it were, crucified, were 

 hung alive upon elder-trees, to deal exemplary 

 juftice upon the race which gave no alarm when 

 the Gauls fcaled the capitol. It feems, too, that 

 the Romans, like the Chinefe, valued the flem of 



1 " De Nat. An.," i. 6, i. 8 ; vi. 53 ; iii. 2 ; i. 38. 



2 Aul. Cell., xiii., 30, 12. 



