76 DOGS I HAVE KNOWN 



Poor fellow, his temper was certainly unamiable, but 

 I think this was caused by the state of his health. 

 When he was a puppy he was troubled with insects, 

 and a stupid groom, to show, I suppose, that he had 

 some brains, declared he could cure him with some 

 nostrum of his own ; the effect of it being that 

 the poor puppy's hair nearly all came off. His 

 skin was burned in several places, and he was 

 made so ill that for several weeks a veterinary 

 surgeon did not think he could recover. He did 

 though, at length, but his constitution had received 

 such a shock that he was always subject to skin 

 disease, and yet lie could not stand the least 

 medicine. He was a very curious animal, never 

 showing much attachment to anyone; he would bite 

 his best friends on the least provocation. Nothing, 

 though, offended him so much as being laughed at, 

 — that was an insult he never forgave. If you 

 began to laugh at him, he would growl in a very 

 ominous manner, and, if you persisted in it, would 

 snap at you and give you such a bite, that you would 

 not care to try again. If you wished to please him, 

 you had to get a lot of old birds' nests, and give 

 them to him one by one; he would carry them about 

 for some time, and then he would sit down and 

 tear them to pieces. He was not particularly fond of 

 going for a walk with anyone ; but if you got some 



