342 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



tributed to the result. Strong evidence. of tbaaisi ■ i Ehi 

 fact, that when, as not seldom occurs, dogs run wild, I hoy dp 

 not revert to any one particular stock, but to several different 

 stocks, according, it would seem, to the facts of ancestry in 

 each individual case. Sometimes when dogs nm wild under 

 peculiar isolated condition.'?, they acquire ffi K ChJB 



It Is obviously impossible' to give a diognoaifl of the dog: 

 nothing short of descriptions of various races would charac- 

 terize the animal. Take t ho matter of size alone. Full-grown 

 dogs less than sis inches long are recorded; other dogs cope 

 with stags and bulls. The Linmean definition, UttJJM 



trorsum reeuroata, was a shrewd and searching generali- 

 zation, for the tendency to a curly tail is well nigh universal, 

 though it may be completely arrested; Color is, of course, 

 wholly indeterminate. Form is only less so. Compare the 



Pebte 



ages from nil to 

 oglcal differ- 

 a ratrast with 

 bulge of the 



turnspit, bulldog and greyhound, 

 a woolly fleece. There is a wide 

 ence ; the long, low, narrow skill 

 those of othere which are apish ii 

 cranial part. 



Nevertheless, dogs of all breeds share some trails, in vary- 

 ing degree of development— traits which need only be recalled 

 as well known things often overlooked. Dogs attach them- 

 selves to persona, as cats do to places. They arc strongly af- 

 fected by music. They undoubtedly dream. They turn 

 around when about to lie down (a supposed relic of a wolfish 

 habit of so doing to press down herbage circularly and make 

 a soft bed). They trot sideways, but wait or run straight. 

 They prefer to lead rather than follow their master. They 

 like to eat alone, and bury the remains of a feast, often re- 

 turning to the board. They eat ineat, and various forms of 

 starch, but rarely herbs or fruit ; they are nauseated by grass. 

 vomit without, exertion, and often return to eat the <jcc.ta. 

 Gestation endures about two months; parturition is plural* 

 the pups are born weak and blind. 



Dogs howl to no purpose at night (obviously retaining a habit 

 of the night-prowling wolf. ) They snarl and growl in anger, 

 yelp in hunger, pain or flight, bark in pleasure, in the chase, 

 i U va:: Thejffljenace before attadt, with show 



of teeth and bristling hair. 13iey droop the tail and 

 fear, raise them in confidence or expectation, and wag the tail 

 in delight. Some hunt by scent and others by sight, and spring 

 upon prey at short range, after prowling approach. + or drag 

 it down in open chase. They do not sweat, but are cooled by 

 evaporation of saliva from a lolling tongue. They drink with 

 noisy lapping. They endure abuse without loss of affection, 

 and rarely resent injuries. They are impatient of strange ad- 

 vances, especially in sorded guise. They are trained to per- 

 form every service a brute can render to man; their intelli- 

 gence may he developed to imething only less than human, 

 and their predacious instincts may be stimulated to the highest 

 known pitch of blind combativeness. They are, finally, sub- 

 ject to disease, believed original with them, incurable when 

 fully developed, inoculable through the saliva, and constituting 

 one of the most formidable maladies to which the human race 

 is exposed. 



Among the dogs of this country are nearly all the usual 

 breeds of civilized races, and several more or less peculiar ones. 

 The Esquimaux dog is t lie well-known indispensable beast ot 

 burthen in northern sections, to the white man as well as to the 

 aborigines. The Ifewfodndlaiid dog, of noted swimming 

 powers, is a near relative. The Hare Indian dog is a peculiar 

 rarely, described by Richardson and Audubon. Most of the 

 Indian dogs of the West are mixtures, immediate or nearly so-, 

 with the wolves, their frequent Copulation, not only with the 

 coyote. b.H with the large wolf us well, is a simple mailer of 

 fact, notwithstanding their en luring enmity under ordinary 

 circumstances. The "harries3'' dag of New fflexiw) ami 

 southward is a curious variety, in extreme cases of which tin' 

 body is only covered with sparse hue hairs. The animal is 

 essentially a mongrel of kind known as the " fice." 



Dr. Eni"n Cou.es, IT. S. A. 



— Tnji dog pom. ■ ■. ■ i reel nd East Bivar, was lo- 

 cated by John Avery, eby surveyor, last week, and the build- 

 ing is progressing rapidly. 



Tokonto T'.encii Snow.— A bench show of does mid exhi- 

 bition of birds is to he held at Ihe Adelaide Street Kink. 

 Toronto. Conflda, July 4th and 6th. The enterprise is under 

 : incut of the mayor and an excellent committee, 

 and promises to be a success. Information maybe obtained 



of Alderman Piper, 'I or \ 



» .«■ . 



— L. F. Whitman, of Detroit, Mich., has sold to R. M. 

 Boyd of Racine, Wis., one of his Alell-Kob Roy whelps : 

 sdso, one I" J. II. f'annilf. Mr. Whitman has purchased of 

 Mr. Boyd the- Orange and while setter hitch, Fannie; also, 

 froin.Hr. OannifE a Maud-'Jarlowitz whelp. 



L. F. Whitman. 



THE OPERATION OF SPAYING OR 

 OVARIATOMY. 



Emtob Fokest and Stream : 



The desire of "Medico" to obtain information that will 

 enable him to perform the operation of '• spaying" is doubt- 

 less shared in by very many of the readers of your valuable 

 journal. 



Let me describe it so that any intelligent sportsman can per- 

 form it by taking ordinary pains and care in the manipulation. 



First, tiie pup should fast for several hours before the ope- 

 ration, and be from about four to six weeks old. 



The only instruments needed are a scalpel or sharp knife, a 

 pair of scissors, some threads of surgeon's silk, a soft Sponge, 

 and some ether to render Ihe animal insensible to pain during 

 I be operation, which should be performed in a warm room as 

 nearly the temperature of the animal as possible, as ihe ex- 

 posure of the bowels to the cold atmosphere renders the 

 liahilily of inflammation ,'pcrilouil is) following more probable. 



The little patient is now placed on a small' table, and with 

 the aid of an assistant the ether may be administered by pour- 

 ing a couple of leaspoonfuls on a folded napkin and holding 

 it over the nose in much the same manner as though the 

 patient were a human being. A few minutes will suffice to 

 effect unconseiousut ss. 



The animal will now be placed upon its back, and an incision 

 be made along the little groove in the middle of ihe belly 

 (Lima alba) from the navel, extending backward an inch ami 

 a half to two inches toward the crotch, 'flare will be no 

 bleeding worth speaking of, as no blood-vessels cross the 

 middle line of the abdomen. 



eratoT will, after cutting into the abdomen, place the 



animal's head pointing toward his chest for convenience. 

 The first object seen after opening carefully into the abdomi- 

 nal cavity will be the bladder, which will easily be recognized, 

 and a litth- gentle pressure upon it will expel the fluid from 

 it through the natural channel, and enable the operator to 

 more readily search for the womb. A few folds of the intes- 

 tines may now be drawn out to one side to give more room to 

 work. The womb must, now besought for immediately be- 

 neath the bladder which will be found to he a very small, 

 tortuous and cord-like organ, lying transve] I, v.\ cresi i,n 

 cally beneath the bladder, and to the inexperienced pel tl •: 

 looks like part of the intestine. When the womb is found, 

 draw it up gently and follow its course transversely to its ex- 

 tremity at one side of the abdomen, and there will be found 

 little hardish nodular body, about the size of a flattened gar- 

 den pea, resting like a little knob on the lateral extremity of 

 the womb as it, were. This is one of the ovaries, and is one 

 of the two similar organs to be removed in -'spaying.'' Now 

 put, a silk thread around its pedical, or base, tie tightly, and 

 cut the thread close to the knot, and then remove the" ovary 



tvith '.' assora close to the ligature. Now follow hack the 



tortuous w-omb till the opposite side is reached, when the 

 other ovary will be found, which is to be removed also in the 

 manner just described. The opening 



—Mr. R. ii. Gillespie, of Stamford, Conn., claims the 

 name of Silver foi a silver strain setter pup out of owner's 

 flora, by Smith's .fell. Also, the, names Pride of Stamford 

 and King of Connecticut, for his silver strain setter out of 

 Bess by Jeff , 



the 



• The 





net!. .a 

 int K 1 



:n, me 



moLhwswa ■ ■ .....-.,. e , 



':-,,., 'in /j ,,.,■,„,■;. ■- i ■■-'- • .lews .n't tile conl with 



ttieiinjiurin.il ii- oa obviating lemon i 



nourished for a ilnj nr two. minus wliiell period ana Usually takea no 

 f ,„..i i , v , 1 1 . r . .ii, ,,i I, the restol thesecujullnes, ua 



shown hv on. compl c. i ,■:., romliiionof tucflrel 



uarturition. 



i Tee motionless crouch ot the setter, the "eland" o£ the setter ime. 

 pointer are an artificial piolongatiouortne natural momentary ucttou 

 lust before seizure of pity. 



to I.e.- 

 thr 



ed up with silk. 



wide and three or four inches lc 



the Stitches compli iely 



at intervals of about half an 

 iptate the spaces between the 

 tut into strips quarter inch 

 ig, and applied warm. 



The little patient will now show symptoms of prostration, 

 and the operator will in all probability conclude that "the 

 dog is dead," or at, least about to die. hut don't be alarmed. 

 Ci'.ehe, a teaspeonf.il or two of equal parts whisky and 

 :, and wrap her up in a blanket, and place her near the 

 E next day be ready to 

 icssion of a bone, which 

 gard as a very desirable 

 iteiat to keeping the 



'hen she will go to sleep, and th 

 light one of her brothers for the posi 

 liia starved condition will make her r< 

 thing lust now. Tl 



add 

 to see that the plasters have no! been licked'offby i, '. arido 



ous attentions of the mother. The wound heals rapidly, and 



be cut and drawn out, drawing on tbem toward the wound 

 so as not to fear it apart, first, however, taking tin.' precaution 

 in replace any loose adhesive straps, so as to give the wound 

 and abdomen such support as will prevent protrusion (/ternia) 

 ot the intestines occurring. 



The incision in the middle line of the abdomen is the best, 

 because here no muscles are divided, and consequently no 

 liability to interfere with the future free and perfect locomo- 

 tion of the animal. With your permission I will relate some 

 recollections of my first experience in spaying, with some of 

 the attending difficulties, of getting reliable information and 

 instruction how to proceed. 



The advent of a fine litter of pups in ray kennel from 

 finely bred setter bitch and a splendid field per- 

 former, made I li ' MB Of having the gyps spayed, at least 



] inquire i of my sportsmen friends for a competent opera- 

 tor, without success, lint was al last referred to a gentlemen of 

 color by birth, who was by assumption a physician, and by 

 natural faculty a blower on a brass horn, and by trade a 

 whitewashes and by common occupation a drunkard. The 

 sign that adorned the second story of the tenement in which 

 he lived bore ihe antipathetic announcement in similar cha- 

 racters to the Following ; 



DOCTOR GLUCKESON 

 BRASS BAND 



and 



White Washing 



Carpets Shuc to order. 



Galling upon the doctor, I found be and his wife had 

 just gotten through a little argument in which the den-tor was 

 slightly worsted to the extent of getting his shirt torn nearly 

 off his back and other injuries, among which was an eye that 

 promised to be a little "off color" before many hours, the 

 normal color of tins "general practitioner's '" skin bearing a 

 strong resemblance to a russet apple kept late in the spring, 

 with the skin bloated by decay ; the skin in the doctor's case 

 being bloated by blowing with a brass horn, a whitewash 

 brush and a blue bottle alternately at irregular hours, or pos- 

 sibly be was bloated blowing dust off carpets iu a professional 

 capacity. 



The doctor responded to my greeting with a respectful 

 salutation. He is a very Guestertleld Or D'Orsay under ordi- 

 nary rireurnstanccs, but was now a little wind-broken at los- 

 ing a straight heat in a domestic contest, and consequently 

 appeared to disadvantage. 



I asked him if he practiced much nowadays, fo which he 

 answered he did a little "now and den for de culhid folks." 

 With rather a knowing smile I said to him, "Doctor, you've 

 been abusing the old woman, haven't you ?" 



At this his doughy, bloated and obtuse features relaxed into 



a broad grin as he turned his face for a moment upon the re- 

 treating form of the wife of his bosom as she disappeared 

 down a basement, in the back yard, and with a wink at uie 

 with both his bleared eyes, he chuckled and said, "De ole 

 'onuin's gellus ob me." 



"How's that, doctor? you are regarded as a very correct 

 man, as far as I know," I said to him, assuringly. To Which 

 he replied : 



"Oh! Ise krect man, suah. But I had de brass ban' out 

 las' night playing for a culiud hall, an' de ban' got drunk an' 

 1 had to cany de ban' home; an' tuk me good "while too. It 

 did fur a fac*. An' dat rowdy. Joe Harbison, got to holleriu' 

 in de street, an' we all got arrested an' tuk down to de cage 

 'bout daylight, an' had to 'pear to' de Mayor dis mo'nin' : an' 

 I jis git home, an' de ole 'oman gellus ob me an' kick up a 

 row." 



"That's the cause of Ihe little misunderstanding you've 

 just had with Mrs. GluckUon, then, is it?" 1 asked. 



"Vasl Dat wench misunstan' me all de time," said be, 

 filling up with injured emotion- 

 Coming to the object of my visit I said, "Doctor, I have 

 been referred to you to get a couple of puppies spayed. 

 Have you ever done it ?" 



" Yas. boss; I git Rube to do it fur you, suah, soon as he 

 comes back," said lie, 



"Where's Bube now?" 1 asked, not being very particular 

 as to who Rube was. presuming he was Ihe doctor's surgical 

 assistant or principal operator, and possibly his son. 



"I duuno where dat nigger dun gone to. Some un say he 

 gone down de riber on a coal boat, and some uu say day seed 

 him up 'bout Unioutown. But when he come I "fetch him 

 down," he said, assuringly. 



I asked him if he knew "where the cuts are made in the ope- 

 ration. He said he did, but continued : " \e sec de old man 

 handed dc secret down to de boy, 'cos he didn't like me : but 

 Bube can make de cut suahebery time. I'll fetch him 

 down." 



" When did Rube go away ?" I asked. 



He answered; "Las' Fall dat nigger bin' doin' bad fo' 

 some time, and had to leave de town." 



I was now disgusted, and about resolved to take the pups 

 in a hag and throw them oil' one of the bridges into the river, 

 as I could get no information as to how to proceed ; when a 

 thought struck me— "I'll make the operation of ovariotomy ou 

 them as though they were human beings, and I'll 'an 

 of my professional friends to he present." I accordingly sat. 

 down and wrote a half dozen notes to as many physicians, 

 worded as follows: 



i pleased to have yon present on Tuesday next 

 si :u two ' .i-i s .if ovur. atomy. 



I had determined to operate on four pups, but if I stated 



four cases of ovariatomy in the note my friends would smell a 

 — pup, and not come at all ; but two cases, though extraordi- 

 nary, were yet plausible, and, like "tolled ducks" the doc- 

 tors would come and sec out of curiosity what was making 

 the stir. 



1 had everything ready, and when the morning arrived, so 

 did my friends. One by. One the doctors' gigs came up and 

 hitched to every post and hydrant in the neighborhood. 



" Come in, doctor ; glad to see you. Take a drink." "No, 

 no; don't drink before an operation. Got any aegars? — No! 

 - well, give me a drink, then. Tell inc about your cases." 

 " Oh, wait till the rest come. I don't want to tell the history 

 of these cases over a half a dozen times." 



In the general conversation that took place much evasion 

 was needed on my part, and some straightforward lying, too, 

 until all got together, when, at a proper signal, a small stand 

 was carried into the office, and placed before a window. Iu a 

 moment after a pup was brought in and placed on it, and 

 when I invited the most successful and experienced ovariate- 

 mist in the company to administer the aiia=lhetie lo the pa- 

 tient, the truth flashed on all, and much laughter ami merri- 

 ment followed, and many good-natured threats were indulged 

 in against the perpetrator of the deception, lina was kept up 

 during the operation on four successive pups, each of which 

 my guests declared would die as a penalty lor my deception; 

 but all arc living to-day and full grown, fine animals— and 

 so are the doctors. SOUTH Foek. 



A Dor's Sagacity and Tkac-io Dkath.— "D. YV. D. ," 

 Washinton correspondent, sends the following clipping from 

 the Daily Critic, with the remark: "I send this article that 

 you may not only have another of the many — very many— in- 

 stances of the 'sagacity ' of the noble dog, but that you may 

 learn that superstition still holds sway in the minds of many 

 persons who are credited with possessing more sense." 



Yesterday morning, between the hours of 2 and :; o'clock, 

 as Officer Heinline was walking his beat along K street, be- 

 tween Ninth and T. nth Northwest, be Btumbli ii upon a pros- 

 trate man, nicely dressed, wearing a gold watch and chain, 

 and near him was a handsome silk umbrella. The man was 

 unconscious, and laid in the broad glare of a gas lamp. 

 Standing over the man was a large black dog, who growled 

 and snarled ferociously at the officer as he approached, and 

 bit him severely on the leg. Several attempts to drive the 

 animal away were made, hut without avail, and ihe ani- 

 mal flew at "the. officer in a rage each time he drew near the 

 fallen rnan. Finally, as a last resort, the otficer called the 

 man in a loud lone, which aroused him, and he arose, 

 while Ihe dog jumped about with delight and balked joy- 

 fully. The gentleman staled that he had fallen in a vertigo 

 and could not say how long he had lain a prey to thieves. He 

 expressed great surprise at the action of the dog, ami dei 

 that it was not his, nor bad be ever seen it before. The dog, 

 officer and stranger went to the station, where after some dif- 

 ficulty the dog was secured, and j T esterday afternoon, fearing 

 that hydrophobia might result lrom the dog's bite, he was 

 shot, and thus rewarded for his faithful watch oyer a man in a 

 helpless conciitioii. 



Mr. John E. Pevelin's imported red Irish setter bitch, 

 Moya, whelped, at the kennel of Mr. David G. Hartt, Hbrth- 

 port, Ii. I., on June 80, with twelve puppies— si ■. 

 six gyps. Their sire is the imported red Irish setter flog El- 

 cho, "belonging to Dr. Jarvis, of j, r ew Hampshire. At the 

 late bench show in this city, Moya was awarded the first spe- 

 cial prize offeredfor brood" bitches of her strain. 



Visits.— Some subscribers think it indelicate to publish 

 " visits, " so that we hope to be excused from doing so in fu- 

 ture. In medical cases, where necessity requires, no seeming 

 prtulishness will prevent our discharging our duty to the 

 afflicted. 



