DOGS IN LONDON 249 
I was probably more confined to London during 
the years 1897-9 than most persons who are keenly 
interested in animal life, and being so confined, I 
was compelled to gratify my taste or passion by 
paying a great deal of attention to the only animals 
that there are to observe in our streets, the dog 
being the most important. I also took notes of 
what I observed—my way of remembering not to 
forget; and, refreshing my mind by returning to 
them, I am able to recover a distinct picture of the 
state of things in the pre-muzzling times. It is 
a very different state from that of to-day. One 
thing that was a cause of surprise to me in those 
days was the large number of dogs, mostly mongrels 
and curs, to be seen roaming masterless about the 
streets. These I classed as pariahs, although they 
all, no doubt, had their homes in mean streets and 
courts, just as the ownerless pariah dogs in Eastern 
towns have their homes—their yard or pavement 
or spot of waste ground where they live and bask 
in the sun when not roaming in quest of food and 
adventures. Many of these London pariahs were 
wretched - looking objects, full of sores and old 
scars, some like skeletons and others with half 
their hair off from mange and other skin diseases. 
They were to be seen all over London, always 
hunting for food, hanging about areas, like the 
bone- and bottle-buyers, looking for an open dust- 
bin where something might be found to comfort 
their stomachs. They also haunted butchers’ shops, 
where the butcher kept a jealous eye on their 
