THE DOG. 



ispecies is become our property ; each individual is entirely de- 

 Yoted to his master, adopts his manner, distinguishes and de- 

 fends his property, and remains attached to him even unto 

 death ; and all this springs not from mere necessity nor from 

 constraint, but simply from true friendship. The swiftness, 

 the strength, and the highly-developed power of smelling of the 

 dog, have made him a powerful ally of man against the other 

 animals, and were perhaps necessary to the establishment of 

 society. It is the only animal that has followed man all over 

 the earth." And all this since that remote period when the 

 Israelites were captives in Egypt, and when it was recorded 

 in sacred Scripture, " But against Israel shall not a dog raise 

 his tongue." 



That this animal has ever been held in the highest esteem in 

 all countries except the Bast, requires but little research to 

 pK)ve. The ancient fire-worshippers of Persia recognized the 

 dog as the " good principle," by which they were enabled to 

 resist the assaults of the evil powers. They symbolized 

 Ormord, their god, in the form of a dog ; for, to a nomad race, 

 there is no animal so dear, no type of a divine watchfulness so 

 true, as the protector of the herd. A thousand lashes was the 

 punishment for maiming any able dog, and it was a capital 

 offence to kill one. The sight of a dog by dying men was said 

 to comfort them with bodings of the conquest of all evil, and 

 of their immortal peace. In later times, the Persians held it 

 to be a good token for the dead, if a dog approached the corpse 

 and ate from between the lips a bit of bread that had been 

 placed there; but, if no dog would approach the body, that 

 was held to be a sign of evil for the soul. 



Among the old Franks, Suabians, and Saxons, a dog was 

 held in small esteem ; nevertheless, and, indeed, for that cause, 

 he was not seldom set over the highest nobles of the land. If 

 a great dignitary had, by broken faith', disturbed the peace of 

 the realm, a dog was put upon his shoulder by the Emperor. 

 To carry a dog for a certain distance was, in the time of Otto 

 the Eirst, and after it, one of the severest punishments inflicted 

 on unruly prisoners. Nobles of lower rank carried, instead of 

 the dog, a chain ; peasants, a plough wheel. The Peruvians both 

 worshipped the dog and ate it at their most solemn sacrifices. 

 Accor(ing to Kaempfer, the Japanese regard the dog with re- 

 ligious awe. Among ancient as well as modern Britons, the 

 dog was an honoured companion. Cn, in the ancient British 

 language, signified a dog, and among the ancient mighty Bri- 



