282 NATURAL HISTORY READER. 



16. "It is a curious fact in the history of these ani- 

 mals that the most useless of the breed have often the 

 greatest degree of sagacity in trilling and useless matters. 

 An exceedingly good sheep-dog attends to nothing else but 

 that particular branch of business to which he is bred. 

 His whole capacity is exerted and exhausted upon it, and 

 he is of little avail in miscellaneous matters ; whereas a 

 very indifferent cur, bred about the house and accustomed 

 to assist in everything, will often put the more noble breed 

 to disgrace in these services. If one calls out, for instance, 

 that the cows are in the corn, or the hens are in the gar- 

 den, the house-collie needs no other hint, but runs and 

 turns them out. The shepherd's dog knows not what is 

 astir, and, if he is called out in a hurry for such work, all 

 that he will do is to break to the hill and rear himself up 

 on end to see if no sheep are running away. 



17. "A well-bred sheep-dog, if coming hungry from 

 the hills, and getting into the milk-house, would, most 

 likely, think of nothing else than filling himself with 

 cream. Not so his lowly brother ; be has been bred at home 

 to form higher principles of honor. I have known such to 

 lie, night and day, among from ten to twenty pans full of 

 milk, and never once break the cream of one of them with 

 the tip of his tongue, nor would he suffer cat, rat, or any 

 other creature to touch it. This latter sort, too, are far 

 more acute in taking up what is said in a family." 



18. Sir Walter Scott says : " The wisest dog I ever had 

 was what is called the bull-dog terrier. I taught him to 

 understand a great many words, insomuch that I am posi- 

 tive that the communication between the canine species and 

 ourselves might be greatly enlarged. Camp one day bit 

 the baker who was bringing bread to the family. I beat 

 him, and explained the enormity of his offense, after 

 which, to the last moment of his life, he never heard the 

 least allusion to the story, in whatever voice or tone it was 



