OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



INTRODUCTION 



animals, and the almost human tics that often 

 bind him to the brute creation. 



Our subject is inexhaustible. From the boy 

 who believes that his dog knows as much as he 

 to the scientist who demonstrates 

 to his satisfaction b}- laborator)" 

 experiments that animals are but 

 creatures of habit and not of rea- 

 son, all the world is interested in 

 the animals of the liome. Their 

 presence seems to be necessary t(j 

 complete the family circle. 



What touching tales we read 

 of the fidelity of dogs ! Who has 

 never amused himself by pla3-ing 

 with kittens, whose gracious little 

 ways are equal to their graceful- 

 ness .'' Who does not remember 

 the anguish of heart when liis pet 

 lamb of cliildhood was laid away in the garden The numerous photographs that illustrate 



gra\"e, or when the pet of any kind, whose last Our Dovicstic AiiiiiiaLs will cast light on the 

 da\-s had come, was returned to the earth for descriptions in the text, and we have stri\-en 

 burial and repose ? to make the st}'le of the volume agreeable and. 



These things indi- above all, anecdotical. It is by stories and [lic- 

 cate the affection which tures that we teach children the principal things 

 man has for domestic of life ; it is equalh' b\' stories and pictures that 



we now desire In create a love for the 

 animals who share our lot, and for those 

 whose fatal destin\- it is to feed us. 



Scientific men ha\-e concerned them- 

 seb'es seriousl)' (though relativel)' onl\' of 

 late) with most of the domestic animals in 

 a manner that promises the speedy solu- 

 tion of man)' problems. Designers ha\'e 

 cleverl)', though less seriously, represented 

 these animals, while painters ha\'e tried 

 to reproduce them, as far as brush and 

 palette would allow, — more particularh' 

 horses, d(")gs, and cats, — in all their mani- 

 fold \'ariety of form and C(.)lor. Sculptors 

 and poets liave immortalized them in many 

 a masterpiece, and the)' serve as models of 

 design for the various branches of the arts 



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