OF NATURAL HISTORY. 471 



perceive particular objeds, hear particular founds, or fmell certain 

 odours. At firft, they approach or fly without any other determin- 

 ing principle but that of imitation. Afterwards, they approach or 

 fly fpontaneouHy, becaufe they have then acquired the habit of ap- 

 proaching or flying, whenever they feel the fame or fimilar fenfa- 

 tions. Many inflinds, as terror upon hearing particular founds, the 

 appearance of natural enemies, the feledion of food, &c. feem to be 

 partly the efFeds of imitation. It is remarked by Uiloa, that, in the 

 year 1743, the dogs in Juan Fernandes had loft the faculty of bark- 

 ing. When alTociated with other dogs, it was with great difficulty 

 that they again learned, by imitation, to bark. The caufe of thefe 

 dogs lofing the expreflion of their ufual language in a domeftic ftate, 

 it is not eafy to inveftigate. Perhaps, by the aid of experience, and 

 their own fagacity, they difcovered that barking warned tlicir prey 

 to efcape from danger. The jackals, however, who are confide'-ed 

 as belonging to the dog-kind, not only hunt in packs, but, during 

 the chace, make a loud and a hideous noife. Mr White, in his. 

 Natural Hiftory of Seiborne, a work which contains much infor- 

 mation, and difcovers a good and benevolent heart in the author, 

 informs us, that he had an opportunity of feeing two dogs, a male 

 and a female, which had been brought from Canton in Cniua. Thefe 

 dogs, which, in China, are fattened for eating, are about the fize of 

 an ordinary fpaniel, and are of a pale yellow colour. ' When taken 

 ' out into a field,' he remarks, ' the bitch fhowed fome difpofition 

 « for hunting, and dwelt on the fcent of a covey of partridges till 

 ' fhe fprung them, giving her tongue all the time. The dogs in 

 ' South America are dumb ; but thefe bark much in a fliort thick 

 ' manner, like foxes; and have a furly favage demeanour, like their 

 ' anceftors, which are not domelticiited, but bred up in fties, where 

 • they are fed for the table with rice-meal, and other farinaceous 

 ' food. Thefe dogs, having been taken on board as foon as weaned, 

 ' could not have learned much from their dam ; yet they did not 



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