240 



HISTORY OF MEXICO. 



DOGS. 



AMONG the abfurd opinions entertained by Mr. de 

 Paw, which are not a few, his ideas refpe&ing dogs are 

 not the leaft extraordinary : " Dogs," he fays, (n) 

 <c when tranfported from our countries, immediately 

 " lofe their voice, and ceafe to bark in the greater part 

 " of the regions of the new continent." The Americans 

 meet a number of things to make them fmile in the work 

 of Mr. de Paw, but in reading this paflage it may pro- 

 voke their loud laughter. Although we fhould grant to 

 Mr. de Paw that dogs have degenerated in many places, 

 nothing could from thence be inferred againft the new, 

 which could not be equally well applied to the old world : 

 for, according as Mr. de BufFon affirms, dogs when tranf- 

 ported from the temperate into the cold climes of the 

 old continent lofe their voice, and when tranfported into 

 extremely hot climes, they lofe not only their voice, but 

 alfo their hair. This afTertion of the count de BufFon is 

 fupported by the experiment made on European dogs 

 tranfported into Afia and Africa, whofe degeneracy, he 

 fays, is fo quick in Guinea and other very hot countries, 

 that after three or four years they remain entirely mute 

 and bald. Mr. de Paw does not dare to fay fo much of the 

 dogs tranfported to America ; but even that which he af- 

 firms is mod falfe. In what countries of America have 

 dogs loft their voice ? On the faith of what author has he 

 dared to publifh fuch a fable ? The greater part of the 

 countries of America to which European dogs have been 

 tranfported are fubje&ed to the king of Spain, and in none 



of 



(») Recherch. Philofoph. part i. 



