DOGS : THEIR MANAGEMENT. 305 



motionless, the dog would pass on and leave them behind 

 uninjured. But they begin^ to run, and at the sound, 

 the dog pricks up. His entire aspect changes. Eage 

 takes possession of him. What made that noise 1 He 

 pursues it with all the energy of madness. He flies at 

 one, then at another. He does not mangle, nor is his 

 bite, simply considered, terrible. He cannot pause to 

 tear the creature he has caught. He snaps and then 

 rushes onward, till, fairly exhausted and unable longer 

 to follow, he sinks down, and the sheep pass forward to 

 be no more molested. He may have bitten twenty or 

 thirty in his mad onslaught ; and would have worried 

 more had his strength lasted, for the furor of madness 

 then had possession of him. • 



He may be slain while on these excursions ; but if he 

 escapes he returns home and seeks the darkness and 

 quiet of his former abode. His thirst increases ; but 

 with It comes the swelling of the throat. He will plunge 

 his head into water, so ravenous is his desire ; but not a 

 drop of the liquid can he swallow, though its surface is 

 covered with bubbles in consequence of the efforts he 

 makes to gulp the smallest quantity. The throat is en- 

 larged to that extent which will permit nothing to pass. 

 He is the victim of the most horrible inflammation of the 

 stomach, and the most intense inflammation of the 

 bowels. His state of suffering is most pitiable. He has 

 lost all self-reliance ; even feeling is gone. He flies at 

 and pulls to pieces anything that is within his reach. 

 One animal in this condition, being confined near a fire, 



