100 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
feet is constantly increased by a draught of cold liquid. 
Captain Parry mentions that in winter the Esquimaux 
Dogs will not drink water, unless it happens to be oily. 
They know, by experience, that their cravings would be 
increased by this indulgence, and they lick some clean 
snow as a substitute, which produces a less contraction of 
the stomach than water. Dogs, in general, can bear hun- 
ger for a very long time, without any serious injury, hav- 
ing a supply of some substance for the distention of their 
stomachs. It is mentioned in the Memoirs of the French 
Academy of Sciences, that a bitch which had been shut 
up and forgotten in a country-house, was sustained for 
forty days without any nourishment beyond the wool of 
a quilt, which she had torn in pieces. A Dog has been 
known to live thirty-six days without food, or substitute 
for food. 
We have already noticed that the Esquimaux Dogs do 
not bark. This is a peculiarity of many varieties of the 
Dog; but very rarely of those which are natives of tempe- 
rate countries. Probably this is an effect of high as well 
as of low temperature. Sonnini says, that, the people of 
Upper Egypt have a species of Dog resembling the Shep- 
herd’s Dog, with voices so weak, that their barking can 
scarcely be heard. Columbus observed, that the voices of 
the Dogs which he took to the West Indies became feeble. 
In both cases the tropical climate probably produced this 
result. The prophet Isaiah alludes to this peculiarity, in 
his denunciation of idle instructors: “ They are dumb Dogs, 
and cannot bark.” 
The Newfoundland Dogs, one of the most active and 
sagacious varieties, are employed in their native districts 
to draw carts and sledges, laden with wood and fish, and 
to perform a variety of useful offices in the place of the 
horse. In many of the northern countries, the bold and 
powerful races of Dogs are thus rendered peculiarly valua- 
ble. A century ago, nearly all the travelling intercourse 
of Canada was carried on by Dogs. The superiority of the 
Newfoundland Dogs in swimming is well known: they 
are semi-webbed between the toes, which mechanism of 
the foot is of the greatest advantage to them; presenting, 
as it does, an extended surface to press away the water 
from behind, and then collapsing, when it is drawn for- 
ward, previous to making the stroke. The hereditary 
habits of these Dogs, too, eminently qualify them for 
swimming, or rowing through the water, as the action is 
more correctly described by Sir Everard Home. It is 
thus that we have the most abundant instances of human 
life being saved by these generous and courageous animals. 
All Dogs, however, can swim; although some dislike the 
water, and take to it with difficulty at the bidding of their 
masters. The Bull Dog would ajapear the least likely to 
combat with a heavy sea, as the Newfoundland Dogs often 
do; and yet the following circumstance is well authenti- 
cated: — On board a ship, which struck upon a rock near 
the shore during a gale, there were three Dogs, two of the 
Newfoundland variety, and an English Bull Dog, rather 
small in growth, but very firmly built, and strong. It 
was important to have a rope carried ashore: and as no 
boat could live for an instant in the breakers towards the 
land, it was thought that one of the Newfoundland Dogs 
might succeed; but he was not able to struggle with the 
waves, and perished. The other Newfoundland Dog, upon 
being thrown overboard with the rope, shared a similar fate. 
But the Bull Dog, though not habituated to the water, swam 
triumphantly to land, and thus saved the lives of the persons 
on board. Among them was his master, a military officer, 
who still has the Dog in his possession. 
[Lib. Ent. Knovol. 
MICROSCOPIC VIEW OF SPIDERS WEAVING 
THEIR WEBS. 
Op all the beautiful discoveries with which we have 
become acquainted, through the progress of the physical 
sciences, there are none more striking than those of the 
microscope, or which may be studied with greater ease. 
The application of a powerful lens to any of those minute 
objects which we have it daily in our power to examine, 
exhibits a scene of wonder, of which those who have 
never witnessed it cannot form an adequate idea. 
For example, the construction of Cobwebs has in all 
ages been lightly esteemed: nevertheless, for simplicity of 
machinery and neatness of execution, they cannot be sur- 
passed by the art of man. The spinners are the apparatus 
through which, by a most wonderful process, the spider 
draws its thread. Each spinner is pierced, like the plate 
of a wire-drawer, with a multitude of holes, so numerously 
and exquisitely fine, that a space often not bigger than a 
pin’s point includes above a thousand. Through each of 
these holes proceeds a thread of an inconceivable tenuity, 
which, immediately after issuing from the orifice, unites 
with all the other threads, from the same spinner into one. 
Hence from each spinner proceeds a compound thread; 
and these four threads, at the distance of about one-tenth 
of an inch from the apex of the spinner, again unite, and 
form the thread we are accustomed to see, which the spi- 
der uses in forming its web. Thus a spider’s web, even 
spun by the smallest species, and when so fine that it is 
