190 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY 
Dog in a state of idleness; but two meals are necessary dur- 
ing the hunting season; and at all times, a constant supply of 
good, clear, and cold water, if possible, should be placed 
within the Dog’s reach. No sportsman should give his Dog 
water, which he would not be willing to drink himself, and 
it is disgraceful in any man, who keeps this animal confined, 
and permits him to drink stinking filth from the gutter 
and slop tub, when his fever or parching thirst calls for the 
best and most cooling water. 
A Dog is in the best condition for hunting when he is 
not very fleshy, both extremes of being over-fat or over- 
poor, are detrimental to the comfort and ability of a Dog 
to hunt, and should be avoided. To keep a Dog in proper 
trim, he should have plenty of exercise, but especially be- 
fore the shooting season commences; and every gentleman 
who rides in the afternoon should give his Dog a good run 
to the country; this gives him an opportunity to eat grass, 
and hardens him to fatigue, and disrobes him of superfluous 
flesh. 
When sickness approaches a Dog, nature points out to him 
the use of grass, as a preventative or remedy, and it is neces- 
sary, that this vegetable should be placed within his reach, 
and every gentleman who can, should grow a small quan- 
tity of oats, (being an excellent substitute for grass,) in his 
yard, which will be readily eaten by the Dog. Every Dog 
should have a good kennel provided for his comfort, and on 
no account be permitted to enter the dwelling. This prac- 
tice should be deprecated; what is more unpleasant than to 
see a Dog lounge about the parlour, bed-rooms, or stretch 
himself at full length before a fire, to the great inconvenience 
of the family, and the injury of the Dog? A Dog, housed in 
this way, is seldom hardy enough to stand much fatigue, 
or the inclemencies of the winter season. These rules are 
now submitted to all who desire to become acquainted with 
the principles of training Dogs. The theory, however, is 
not of great value, unless accompanied with much practice, 
and the first impressions you give your dog, and the pro- 
gress he makes during the first season of hunting, general- 
ly determines his value, and whether he will be worth your 
trouble and expense of keeping him. I shall hereafter 
treat on the diseases of Dogs, their treatment, and on the 
principles of shooting. I. 
growing near the edge of the water, from which proceeded 
a most singular noise, accompanied by a considerable splash- 
ing of the water; unable, on my first approach, to discover 
the cause, owing to the height of the weeds, and my dis- 
tance from the spot, I gained nigher access, by means of a 
fallen tree, and to my surprise and exceeding interest, I 
saw a violent combat between a Snake and an Eel. The 
former was of the water species, and, as nigh as I could 
judge, about four feet in length — the latter was much short- 
er, but equal if not superior in thickness; how long the 
combatants had been waging this war, was difficult to deter- 
mine, but, by judging from their vigorous efforts, when I 
first discovered them, I suppose they must have just com- 
menced. For a considerable length of time, neither par- 
ty appeared to gain advantage — their muscular actions were 
violent in the extreme and appeared to engage in deadly 
strife. Whenever the eel succeeded in drawing its antago- 
nist a short distance into the water, (and its chief efforts ap- 
peared to be directed to this end,) it was evident, the snake 
was no match for it; and this, the snake was aware of, and 
would redouble its exertions to regain the shore, and bring 
the eel with it, then the battle would be in favour of the 
snake; each evidently endeavoured, to wage war against the 
other on his own favourite element, and so would it pre- 
ponderate, according as each succeeded in getting this ad- 
vantage of its adversary — the eel appeared to lose that pow- 
erful energy, when rolling in the dirt, which belongs to 
it in its native element, and, it was as sensible as the snake 
of the difference, and would also by increased effort get 
back again into the water with the snake. At times they 
were completely encircled in each others folds, and although 
their rage was manifested by the manner in which they 
would continually bite each other, yet their whole efforts 
were devoted to their muscular strength to decide the vic- 
tory. After continuing this interesting combat for rather 
more than ten minutes, they separated mutually — the eel 
returning to its native bottom, and the snake to the grass. 
Believing that a circumstance of this kind is seldom wit- 
nessed, I have communicated it for insertion in your va- 
luable work. T. M. 
July 6th, 1831. 
BATTLE BETWEEN A SNAKE AND AN EEL. AN ENCOUNTER WITH WOLVES. 
Messrs Editors, The Deer in the vicinity of the prairies, of which I have 
been speaking, are very large. Some of them weigh from 
While I was walking, a few days since, along the bank 150 to 200 pounds. Wild Turkeys too, are here numerous 
of a shaded creek, a few miles from Philadelphia, my and they sometimes weigh from 20 to 30 pounds. But 
attention was attracted towards some weeds that were facts like these unduly affect the imagination. These kinds 
