^88 DOG. 
ness increases, and he sometimes becomes perfectly 
ferocious. He watches^ goes the rounds, smells 
strangers at a distance, and if they stop or at- 
tempt to leap any barrier^ he instantly darts upon 
them, and by barkings and other marks of pas- 
sion, alarms the fcimily and neighbourhood. 
Equally furious against thieves as against rapa- 
cious animals, he attacks and wounds them, and 
forces from them wlsatever they have been at- 
tempting to carry oti'; but^ contented with vic- 
tory, he lies down upon the spoil, and will not 
touch it even to satisfy his appetite, exhibiting, 
at the same time, an example of courage, temper- 
ance and fidelity. 
To conceive the importance of this species in 
the order of Nature, let us suppose that it never 
existed. Without the assistance of the Dog, how 
could men have conquered, tamed, and reduced 
the other animals into slavery? How could he 
still discover, hunt down, and destroy noxious 
and savage beasts ? For his own safety, and to 
render him master of the world, it was necessary 
to form a party among the animals themselves; 
to conciliate by caresses those which were capa- 
ble of attachment and obedience, in order to op- 
pose them to the other species. Hence the train- 
ing of the Dog seems to have been the first art 
invented by man ; and the result of this art was 
the conquest and peaceable possession of the 
earth." 
The docility of the dog is such, that he may be 
taught to practise^ with considerable dexterity, a 
