ADVERTISEMENT. 



To thefe we may add that raoft ufeful animal the Dog, the 

 account of which forms a confpicuous part of our hiftory, and 

 we truft will afford fome entertainment to thofe who are pleafed 

 with contemplating the various talents of that trufty fervant and 

 humble companion of man : We have fele&ed the moft re- 

 markable of the different kinds, and have given faithful por- 

 traits of them, drawn from the life; there are ft ill others, not 

 unworthy of attention, which might have been added ; but to 

 have noticed all the variations and fliades of difference obfervable 

 in the canine race, would have fwelled our account, already 

 large, to an immoderate length, and have left us too little room 

 for others of equal importance, in a comprehenfive view of this 

 part of the animal creation. 



Our attention has been dire&ed in a particular manner to 

 the various inftinctive powers of animals — that hidden principle 

 which actuates and impels every living creature to procure its 

 fubfiftence, provide for its fafety, and propagate its kind. To 

 difcover more and more of this unerring guide, directing the 

 brute creation to their higher! good by the fimplefl and moft 

 certain methods, is a purfuit worthy of the moft refined under- 

 ftanding, and leads us to contemplate the wifdom and goodnefs 

 of the adorable Author of nature, who " openeth his hand, and 

 all things are filled with good." 



It may perhaps be thought neceffary to offer fome apology for 

 the evident want of proportion obfervable in the fizes of the dif- 

 ferent animals ; a defect to which every work of this kind muft, 

 in fome meafure, be liable. In adverting to this, we found, 

 that at whatever point, between the Elephant and the Moufe, 

 the fcale were to be fixed, a great and unavoidable deficiency 

 would be the confequence ; we were therefore obliged to relin- 

 quifh a plan, which, fo far from being practicable, would have 

 been the means of throwing the whole into irregularity and 

 confufion. 



