THE DOG 



13 



they have prevented great evils, and many more 

 will remain forever unknown. 



On January 27, 1897, the little daughter of 

 a shepherd, in the province of the Loire, was 

 sitting at the edge of a forest when a wild 

 boar rushed out in front of her. She tried 

 to run away, but fell ; the animal wounded 

 her in the back and was about to strike 

 again, but as she fell she called to the dog 

 which was not far off : " Help ! help ! Bas 

 Rouge!" The brave dog, understanding 

 the danger, sprang upon the boar, which 

 was far stronger than himself, and caught 

 his ear, not letting it go till the child had 

 time to get up and run away ; he then aban- 

 doned the unequal contest, and the boar, 

 severely bitten, took to the woods. 



Every one knows how the little dog of 

 Prince William I of Orange saved his mas- 

 ter from an attempt on his life by bark- 

 ing, in order to wake him, the memory 

 of which act is immortalized in the statue 

 of William the Silent at The Hague. 



Another of the dog's good qualities is 

 that he forgets very quickly any wrong that has 

 been done him — if the doer is a friend. If, 

 on the contrary, he is an enemy, he is never 

 safe in the vicinity of the animal he has preju- 

 diced against him. Dogs never fail to recognize 

 their friends. Is it by sight, smell 

 hearing, or some intuitive per 

 ception of good will .? It is 

 probably not by the first of 

 those senses, for a dog 

 seems not to see things 

 very clearly when close 

 at hand, at least not 

 in comparison with 

 man. On the other 

 hand, he sees things 

 at a distance easily 

 and more accurately, 

 thanks to the more or 

 less oblique position 

 of his eyes. But in any case he trusts his ears 

 more than his eyes. Young dogs, especially, 

 guide themselves by sound rather than by 

 sight, for they are almost blind till they are 



twenty-five days old. Yet a d(;g will see better 

 than a man in a dim light, and this acuteness 

 of vision is owing to the peculiar cf)nstruction 

 of his visual organs, a construction that equally 



Astonishment 



explains the luminous brilliancy of his eyes in 

 the dark. 



The nose of a dog far surpasses that of man 

 in capacity, without referring to the difference 

 in shape, though that does undeniably exercise 

 some influence on the scent. It is not necessary 

 that the noses of all dogs should be moist to 

 keep them in good health, but those with wet 

 noses are much more 



■1 ' ' ' ^ likely to be healthy, 



and vice versa. We 

 shall have occasion 

 later to speak of the 

 miraculous, scent of 

 bloodhounds and 

 of hunting dogs, for 

 it is miraculous , 

 though belonging to 



They are Hot ! 



modern times. 



It is generally ad- 

 mitted that the hearing of dogs does not greatly 

 differ from that of man. His musical knowledge 

 and his taste for music alone leave something 

 to be desired. This explains his manner of 



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