THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID CANINE PATHOLOGY; OR, A DESCRIPTION or THE WITH THEIR CAUSES, SYMPTOMS, AND MODE OF CURE, DraittH from Twenty Years' extensive Veterinary Practice : % ^]^{lo0op]b«al anti practical TREATISE o.v THE BREEDING SYSTEM IN GENERAL, AND Rearing of Dogs in particular ; A COPIOUS DETAIL OF THK PRECEDED BY A CRITICAL INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN OF THE DOG, THE VARIETIES HE IS BRANCHED INTO, AND HIS MORAL AND IlN'TELLECTUAL QUALITIES. SECOND EDITION. BY DELABERE BLAINE. LONDON : PRINTED FOR BOOSF.Y AND SONS, BROAD STREET, EXCHANGE. 1824. ^1 h ^^reface to tfie Seconti lEmtion. The Canine Pathology is founded on a small work published some years ago, under the title of ^* A Domestic Treatise on the Diseases of Horses and Dogs" In each of the several editions it passed through^ I promised that, at a future period, I would present the public with a more complete and ex- tended work, which should embrace every informa- tion connected with the medical treatment of dogs, that a long and successful practice thereon had taught me. By the publication of the Canine Pathology, 1 have endeavoured to redeem this pledge : and when it is considered that the whole path I have tra- velled over has been hitherto unbeaten, and that no authority existed from whence the smallest assistance could be gained, the task may be considered as a laborious one, and that some industry and attention have been displayed in its prosecution. r/j^50788 vi PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. This Second Edition presents itself with some im- portant additions. The introductory chapter on the Moral Qualities of the Dog has been preceded by an Inquiry into his disputed Origin — a Summary of his Natural History-— and an Account of the principal Varieties into which he is branched out ; all of which will, I hope, prove not uninteresting or unaccept- able to the lovers of the animal in question. ^ Every member of society owes, both to his friends and to the public, either a direct consistency of conduct, or some statement of the reasons that have occasioned a departure therefrom. Under the guidance of this sentiment, in the former edition, I entered into a detailed account of- circumstances which (for the purpose of.. introducing more import- ant matter) I have now condensed into the few fol- lowing apologetical facts : — As it is pretty, generally understood that I was regularly educated to the practice of human medi- cine, so some surprise and inquiry have been ex- cited relative to the motives that influenced my de- parture from the regular track of my profession, to PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. Vll stoop, as it is considered, to the medical treatment of such inferior branches of the creation as Horses and Bogs, In answer to these inquiries, I have to alledge, that my first motives were, an inherent and powerful attachment to brute animals in general, which early prompted me to study their habits, and take a warm interest in their welfare. This predilection strengthening with my years, engaged me, during the prosecution of my medical studies, to pay particular attention to compai'ative anatomy, which a residence with the ingenious Dr. Haighton tended to promote. A knowledge that such were my predilections, gained me the notice of the pa- trons of the Veterinary College; and I was, by them, offered the appointment of Demonstrator and As- sistant Anatomical Teacher to the pupils of that Establishment. Here my attention was directed to the diseases of animals likewise ; and, on my removal from the College, I gave a course of public lec- tures on the anatomy and physiology of the horse. I continued, for a few years afterwards, to endea- vour to extend the knowledge of the veterinary art, at that time but little known, arid its importance but little appreciated ; and I may enumerate, among the Vlll PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. additions I made to the general stock, an improved method of treatment of foundered Feet in Horses, and a successfal remedy for the Distemper in Dogs. At the pressing solicitation of relations, I how- ever relinquished, for a time, the further pursuit of animal medicine, and recommenced the practice of human surgery ; first, privately, and next in the army, where an active scene of service on the Con- tinent increased my experience considerably. In- terrupted in this career by the bequest of some pro- perty, I afterwards passed some years as a country gentleman, until an improvident management of my resources obliged me, once more, to direct my ener- gies to some useful purpose ; but to what, I was for some time undetermined. The practice of human medicine naturally pre- sented itself foremost to my view ; yet it was an un- pleasant reflection, that I had lost some years in my st^rt, and that my cotemporaries, having the advan- tage of early residence, had outstripped me in the race, and established themselves in a professional practice, that it would probably take me some years PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. IX to form. While thus irresolute, accidental circum- stances drew me into extensive correspondencies on the diseases of animals, and I became, in conse- quence, irresistibly and almost insensibly drawn into a popular practice on them. Further consideration seemed to point this as a path at once eligible and useful, and one which my former predilections strengthened me in my determination to pursue. In this almost unbeaten track I might hope to reap both fame and emolument ; and although the prac- tice of brute medicine must always be considered as subordinate to that of the human, yet the humanity and utility of the pursuit ought ever to gain its pro- fessors the meed of honourable distinction. For myself, it is not without pride and self-approbation that I reflect that I am the first person in this, and, perhaps, in any other country, who has reduced to systematic and acknowledged principles the medical treatment of the diseases of that most useful ani- mal, the dog ; a treatment founded on a knowledge of his anatomy, animal economy, and long and at- tentive observation of his morbid appearances. Regarding myself, therefore, as the very father of X PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. canine medicine, it may be supposed that I could not again witness its disuse without extreme regret. For, though nearly twenty years of unceasing atten- tion to this, and the other branches of brute medi- cine, might have claimed the indulgences of future ease and repose ; yet they would have been but par- tially enjoyed by me, unless I had fortunately met with a person fully qualified to continue and extend the humane pursuit I was so long occupied upon. Mr. W. You ATT (the gentleman alluded to) was con- nected with me in the practice of Veterinary Medi- cine for some years before I retired ; and I can with truth affirm, that his abilities and experience are only equalled by his humanity and attachment to the cause he is engaged in. To him, therefore, I have delegated, with confidence, the further advance- ment of this new branch of the healing art ; and to his attentions I would earnestly recommend that ap- plication may be made, whenever the assistance of an able veterinarian is wanted. ©©N®€MCS. PAGE PAGE INTRODUCTION - - 1-66 i Costiveness - - - Cough - - » . - 127 - 128 DISEASES OF DOGS - - 67 i Cropping - a . - 130 Age of Dogs - - - 74 Dislocations - - . - 132 Alteratives - - - 75 Distemper (The) - - 133 Asthma - - - - - 78 Dropsy - - . - 153 Astringents - - - 82 Dysentery - _ . - 158 Bathing _ - 83 Emetics - 159 Bleeding - - 85 Exercise - . - 160 Blindness - - ib. Eyes (Diseases of) - 162 Blisters - - 86 Eyelids, ulcerated - 165 Breeding in Bitches - - 87 Breeding and Rearing of Pup- Fatness, excessive - ib. pies - - - - - 92 Feeding of Dogs - - 167 Bronchocele - " - 113 Feet, sore - Fever - - - . - 174 - ib. Cancer - - - - - 114 Fits - - . . - ib. Canker in the Ear - - - 116 Fleas in Dogs - 177 Canker on the Outside of the Fractures - 178 Ear - - - 118 - Tumefied Flap of the Ear - 120 Glandular Swellings - 181 Castration - - - 121 Gravel - - _ . - ih. Claws - - - 122 Clysters - . 123 Hernia - - - - - 182 Colic - - - - - 124 Husk - . . . - 183 Condition - - - 126 Hydrophobia - ib. CONTENTS. PACE Inflammation - - - 183 Inflamed Bladder (Cystitis) - ib. Inflamed Bowels (Enteritis) - 184 Inflamed Liver (Hepatitis) - 190 Inflamed Lungs (Peripneumo- nia) 192 Inflamed Stomach (Gastritis) 194 Jaundice - 195 Looseness, or Purging (Diar- rhoea) - - . . i^^ Madness Mange - 199 200 Neck, swelled Paralysis, or Palsy Physic - - -. piles - Poisons Mineral Poisons Vegetable Poisons Animal Poisons Polypus Pulse - - _ Pupping - 208 - 209 - 210 - 211 - ib. - 213 - 217 - 220 - 221 - 222 - ib Rabies Canina,. or Madness, in Dogs - - - 225-292 Rheumatism - Rickets - Scirrhus Scrotum, inflamed Setons - - - - Sickness, excessive Spasm - - - - Spaying Stone in Dogs St. Anthony's Fire - St. Vitus's Dance - Surfeits _ _ _ Testicles, diseased Tetanus, or Locked Jaw Tumours - - _ Ulcerous Affections Urine, bloody Warts in Dogs Washing of Dogs - Worming Worms - - - Wounds PAGE - 292 - 296 ib. ■ 300 ib. 301 302 303 304 305 ib. 306 307 ib, 308 309 310 311 312 313 316 319 f age 58. INTRODUCTION. The Dog has, by all naturalists, been assigned a dis- tinguished niche in Nature's scale; and whatever ob- scurity may seem to hang around his direct origin, yet, were we enabled satisfactorily to trace his history, even as a cultivated animal, we should probably be carried back to the earliest periods of human association*. Such were the superior powers of mind and body dis- played in the predatory habits of the whole canine genus, that man, in his state of primitive simplicity, could not long remain unobservant of them : and it was one of the highest efforts of his intelligence that prompt- ed him to the selection of this particular member of it ; whereby he insured to himself a powerful assistant and ally in his meditated conquest over the remainder of the animal world. Neither is it, perhaps, too much to assert. ■ A reverend author fancifully observes, " Tbat the dog- was pro- " bably the next object, after woman, that shared the attention or " espoused the cause of mankind."— Lascf.lles on Sportiiuj. B 10 INTRODUCTION. that, without this aid, man would have found it difficult either to gain or maintain such conquest. This is ex- emplified in the present situation of those countries where either the dog is not indigenous, or his uses are not known. Here the wretched inhabitants are con- tent to search for casual subsistence from the natural fruits of the earth, the accidental ensnarings of animals less wily than themselves, or the contributions of a re- ceding tide ; and even these, wanting the protecting care of the dog, they are frequently forced to share with the wild beasts that surround them. On attempting a sketch of the natural history of any animal, our first efforts are necessarily directed to its immediate origin ; and in this instance it would be pecu- liarly interesting to be enabled to trace the exact gene- alogy of one that is now become our constant compa- nion and most faithful friend. Nevertheless, we have to lament the obscurity of the subject is such, that the most distinguished zoologists are totally at variance with regard to it. Most of our eminent naturalists, justly appreciating the importance of the dog, have advocated his claim to a pure originality of formation ; others, and those of no mean note, have derived him from one or other of the members of the genus to which he belongs; while a third class has considered his ori- gin as altogether spurious, and the effect of the ac- cidental commixture of other nearly allied animals. Again, a few of those who allow him all the originality of formation his most zealous partizans could wish, have yet deemed it impossible that the varied scions growing around them can have proceeded from one common stock, but altered by the powerful agencies of climate, habit, food, and domestication, into the vast diversifications of size and form that now distin- guish this extensive family. On tlie contrary, they have INTRODUCTION. 11 maintained, that the dog was originally formed in such correspo7iding varieties as fitted him to inhabit the dij- ferent countries wherein he was placed. To the lover of the animal in question, it will not prove uninteresting if we dedicate a few moments to the examination of this subject: and although the weight of conflicting autho- rities, and the speciousness of opposed arguments, may prevent our arriving at a conclusion altogether satisfac- tory, yet the attempt may throw some light on the sub- ject, and, at least, it may enable others to draw their own inferences. In the zoological arrangement of the great naturalist. Sir Charles Linne, the Dog (canis familiaris) is the first species of a genus which comprehends animals whose exterior forms and habits are considerably va- ried, but whose generic characters bear a close resem- blance to each other. The animals included, are, the Wolf (can. lupusj, the Fox (can. vnlpes), the Jackal (ca7i. aureusj, and the Hyaena (can. hycenaj . The characters of the genus are drawn from the number and the incisive formation of the teeth. There are, in front, six pointed conical fore teeth above and below; the laterals being more lobated and longer than the others. The molar or grinding teeth are furnished with pointed prominences, and in the intermediate space between the incisor and molar teeth (which is considerable, from the great length of maxillae, or jaws, in this genus) is placed on each side, above and below, what is charac- teristically called a canine or dog tooth"". ^ Why these tusk teeth, common to various orders of quadrupeds, and to man also, should be characterized by the generic term canine^ appears extraordinary. In man, the monkey, the horse, &c. &c. they appear merely formed to preserve that beautiful regularity which is so conspicuous throughout the links of Nature's vast chain ; while to B2 12 INTRODUCTION. BuFFON, who warmly espoused the origmality of the dog, has endeavoured to prove, that all the varieties met with are derived from one common parent, which parent he considers to have been the Shepherd's Dog (can. domesticiis, Lin.). To confirm such an opi- nion, this great but fanciful naturalist should have traced this varied and wide-spread tribe to its direct origin ; and, having so done, he should have retraced it back through the several varieties we now witness it under. But, independent of the reasons we have for believing that the shepherd's dog himself has different origins according to the quarter of the globe he is found in, we have more direct proofs that most of the larger breeds of European dogs are descended from the dog called the great Dane; Buffon's hypothesis, there- fore, appears completely without foundation. Those celebrated zoologists and comparative anato- mists, Blumrnbach and Cuvier (whose systems do not essentially differ from each other, but are both modifications and improvements on the Linnaean ar- rangement), assign the dog a specific and distinct ori- gin. The former divides the order fercE into twelve compartments, of which the genus canis occupies the ninth. The latter divides the fer(B into two lesser orders; in one of these (carnivora) he places the canine genus. In addition to the incisive formation of the teeth, these authors draw a generic character from the simplicity and shortness of the canine alimentary track. If the limits of the inquiry would allow, to these advocates for the originality of the dog might be the elephant, the boar, the dog, and some other quadrupeds, they are long and pointed, they form an advantageous weapon of defence. In these animals they might therefore, with propriety, be called pugnaioty teeth. INTRODUCTION. 13 added, an innumerable host of other respectable au- thorities ; but, contenting myself with these for the pre- sent, I sliall now turn to those of a contrary opinion, who, though they are less numerous, are yet sufficiently important to merit attention. Mr. Pennant, a deservedly esteemed naturalist, in his British Zoology, derives the dog from the jackal. Independently of the recorded fact, that these animals had been known to breed together, and produce prolific origin, it did not escape this accurate observer that the teeth of the jackal more nearly resembled those of the dog than those of the wolf or fox ; many of his habits also are so nearly allied to those of the dog, as strongly incline him to consider the dog as nothing more than a reclaimed jackal. The opinion of Pallas on this point seems some- what wavering. In some of his writings he argues that the jackal is unquestionably the source of our dogs ; which conclusion he draws from the similitudes of size and figure, and also from a close resemblance in man- ner and disposition \ In others, on the contrary % he seems to give the dog altogether a factitious origin, and considers him as not derived from any original stock, ^ Homini facillimae adsuescit nunquani, iiti lupus et vulpes cicu- rati, iiitidi animi sigria edeus, lususve cruentaiis ; canes non fugit sed ardentur appetit, cum lisque colludit, ut plane nullum sit dubium cum iisdem generaturum si tentetur expeiimentum. Vocem desi- derii caninae simillimam habet; homini cauda eodem modo abblandi- tur, et in dorsum provolvi atque manibus demulceri amat. Ipse quoque uiulatus ejus, cum latratu canura ejulabundo magnum habet analogiam. Ergo dubium vix esse puto, hominis speciem, in eadem cum lupo aureo climate naturaliter inquilinam, antiquitus hujus catu- lis cicuratis domesticos sibi educasse canes, quorum naturalis iustinc- tus jam homini, quem feri non multum timent, amicus, et in venatio- nem pronus erat. — Spicil. ZooL fasc. xi, p. 1, note. * Memoir sur la Variation des AnimAUX,— Acta Acad, Petrop, 1780. 14 INTRODUCTION. but from an accidental union of other animals, as the wolf, fox, and jackal. Gulden STiEDT also attributes the origin of the dog to the jackal, whose teeth and caecum he found exactly like those of the dog, but less like those of the fox, and totally dissimilar to those organs in the wolf and hysena. The jackal, he observes, waters sideways like the dog ^ ; is easily reclaimed from a wild state to own a name, wag his tail, and exhibit a fondness for his master. Jackals hunt also in packs, and it is sup- posed, from some sounds they utter, that the bark is inherent in their voices. From a few coincidences of personal similitudes, but more particularly from a gene- ralization of recorded facts, relative to the habits and manners of the jackal, some other respectable natu- ralists have also been led to a similar conclusion with those last quoted. It may be remarked, that the zoologists of former days laboured under a manifest disadvantage in framing a satisfactory and systematic arrangement of their sub- ject. In the absence of more conclusive evidence, they were forced to resort to the aids of such general opera- tions of nature as had been recorded by unphilosophic travellers, or to a few parallels of exterior resemblance drawn from their own observation. Throughout every page of Nature's history, harmony and uniformity are strikingly apparent : the gradations (of animal life par- ticularly), instead of having their boundaries distinctly marked, slide into each other with scarcely perceptible shades. This uniformity has in itself tended to increase the difficulties of zoological arrangement, and to em- barrass the labours of naturalists. Fortunately for those 5 " OrAeiat aiuim alterius; coliaerct copula junctus." — Nov. Com- ment. Petrop. vol. XX, p. 450, tab. xi. INTRODUCTION. 15 of the present age, a more extensive knowledge of com- parative anatomy greatly assists them in methodising and arranging their subjects; for that which was for- merly referred to exterior form only, or an imperfect acquaintance with habits and manners, is now subjected to the scrutiny of internal organization, and to the phy- siological deductions springing therefrom. Although we must still be content to draw many of our conclu- sions in the interesting study of natural history from analogy and probability, yet we are principally taught by our observations on the invariable construction of certain parts of the body, of which the bony portions are subject to the fewest variations by all the efforts of art ^ With these aids, I shall attempt to examine the various opinions detailed above ; and I propose to in- quire, first, what claim each of the individuals, classed with the dog in the canine genus, as the wolf, fox, and jackal, has to the rank of being his primogenitor and parent. In the next place, I would endeavour to inves- tigate whether it is more probable that his origin is al- together spurious, and derived from prolific intercourse between different members of this genus. If we attentively examine the Wolf, we shall find that he varies very considerably from the dog, in form, as well as in habits and manners. The whole osteology of his head presents a more angular mass. The auditory 6 The bones are not, however, wholly unaffected by a life of art, as we witness in the altered form of those composing the head of the bull-dog, pug, greyhound, and some others. The coccygal bones may also be artificially altered, as is observed in some breeds, par- ticularly of sheep dogs, who are, many of them, born without tails, or with a very short one only. The teeth, however, as parts of the bony structure, may be still impli<;itly relied on ; for these, I believe, under every change of circumstance, remain invariably the same, and become, therefore, our safest criteria. 16 INTRODUCTION. portions of his temporal bones are placed higher, and more anteriorly in the skull, than those of the dog. The orbitary fossae are much more inclined, and his teeth are not only proportionally longer and stronger, but they also differ in their general form ^ ; his cubitus is longer and more obliquely placed, and his caecum is very dissimilar. Exteriorly, his form is unlike that of any known breed of dogs : with a tail always pendu- lous, and a coat always coarse and shaggy ; under every variety of climate, he is still a wolf. In habits he is wholly carnivorous and predatory, nor does he ever congregate except under the stimulus of excessive hun- ger, in the pursuit of prey of stronger powers than his own. Always ferocious, every attempt to reduce him to perfect obedience has proved unsuccessful ; cruel, craft>, and suspicious; a tyrant in power, and a cow- ard in jeopardy ; he appears to have no latent or hidden tinge of the qualities that so eminently distinguish the dog; and if, as is asserted by naturalists, the female wolf feels oestrum but once a year, and gestates about one hundred days, then the individuality of the dog, as far at least as regards the wolf, is established. The Fox, attentively viewed, will be found to present ^ I am aware the domesticated clog can hardly be considered a fair subject for this comparison. A life of art has unquestionably ope- rated considerable changes on his whole frame ; and it is equally true, that such wild dogs as have fallen under the examination of comparative anatomists, have all presented a more sharp and pointed visage, a more confined torehead, and ears more erect, than are ob- servable in any of the cuKivated breeds. To this I have to remark, that the comparison above alluded to has been made with specimens of such dogs as have never been subjected to a life of art ; or with such as, having been only partially so (as the northern breeds), may be supposed to present but little variation from the original, parlicH- liirl.y in (heir bony structure. INTRODUCTION'. 17 lines of distinction, if not altogether so strong, yet suf- ficiently legible, to separate him specifically from the dog. In the anatomical arrangement of his bones, in the approximation of his eyes, and the formation of his caecum, the same variations occur as in the wolf, but they are less strongly marked. The extreme foetid odour of his urine is one of his strongest characteristics, and accompanies him through all the varieties produced (which, as he is an inhabitant of almost every coun- try, are sufficiently numerous); and is so peculiarly vul- pine, that it is not, I believe, imparted even to his bastard progeny ^. Possessing in every country a mark- ed outline, he cannot be easily mistaken : he is always solitary, never barks, but has a peculiar whine, and, in all the modulations of his voice, he is totally unlike the dog. That the Jackal is the source from whence the dog is derived, it has already been stated, attempts have been made to prove, by authorities of no mean note ; and in candour it must be allowed, that the reasons assigned give this opinion much more weight than that which has traced his genealogy to the wolf or fox. The striking resemblance between the general assemblage of the bones of the two animals, and between their teeth in particular; the similarity of their caeca, and of the whole alimentary canal; are all important and argumen- tative facts. — There are still, however, sufficient proofs ^ If the aiiimal produced between the dog and fox possesses no foetor in his urine, which I believe is the case, it is a strong proof that nature has drawn an inseparable line between their organs. — It is remarkable, that Buffon should have taken so much pains to prove that the dog will not breed with the fox. The connexion is, I be- lieve, never sought, but it sometimes does occur, and progeny follow. 18 INTRODUCTION. that these nearly allied members of the same genus are specifically distinct animals. The jackal, although he has been found diffused over most parts of the old world ^, yet he has never become naturalized to the new; and from some attempts to transplant him, it ap- pears that he was not formed to live, like the dog, as an exotic. It may be further observed, that, among the efforts made to reclaim both the Asiatic and African breeds, there are not sufficient authorities to prove that any have succeeded, except in one small variety called the adive, and with him but imperfectly ; and although the number and direction of the bones of his skeleton are similar to those of the dog, yet there is a very con- siderable disproportion between the length of the fore and hinder extremities, which gives to his whole exte- rior an appearance unlike to that of any race of dogs at present known. These considerations would seem to disprove the origin of the dog from the jackal; and if the account is true (but which I much doubt), that the female jackal gestates only four weeks, the subject receives a decisive confirmation. Between the Hyaena and the dog the lines of distinc- tion are so apparent, that no relationship has ever been attempted to be proved between them. I have yet to examine upon what authority the opi- nion rests, that derives the dog from an accidental mix- ture of such nearly allied animals, as, by engendering, can produce fruitful uff«priug. The zoologists of the last century were led to regard, as a criterion of spe- ^ Copiosissimum in universe oriente animal. — Pallas. It may be also observed, that, were the dog a descendant from the jackal, it is more than probable mixed breeds would be prevalent ; but this is never the case. INTRODUCTION. 19 cies, the capability of copulating together, and of pro- ducing thereby progeny that, in their turn, should prove prolific. Camper, Daubenton, Pallas, Buffon, Hunter, and other celebrated naturalists and physio- logists of that time, adopted this criterion : but latter observations have proved that this rule is by no means infallible, and that it is in fact to be but little depended on ; for, although hybrid animals for the most part do not prove fruitful, yet it is sufficiently notorious that instances do occur when even prolific offspring are produced between parents of difierent species. The mule has been known to cover the mare ; and, in warm countries, it is not very uncommon for her to produce, by this union, an animal that usually partakes less of the mare than of the mule. In the East, the mule itself has also been known to fecundate. The he-goat and ewe have likewise, by their union, produced prolific young ; and, among birds, similar instances are by no means uncommon. From these, and numerous other facts of a similar tendency, we are able analogically to decide, that the capability of the dog to produce fruit- ful off'spring, from sexual intercourse with any other member of the canine genus, cannot be considered as any proof of his being himself derived from such a source. In addition to what has been advanced, it remains to be added, that native breeds of wild dogs are still found in some parts of the world, all of which present one common character, particularly of the head and face; and which character differs considerably from that of either the wolf, fox, or jackal. Further, it may be remarked, that such dogs as had once been re- claimed and made tame, but which from circumstances had again become wild (however, during their subjuga- 20 INTRODUCTION. tion, they might have been altered in size and form), had all of them, in their future progeny, been found to travel back towards the form, size, and character of the original wild breeds ; which facts alone seem con- clusive, and prove that the dog has, from the creation, existed as a pure, unmixed, and original animal. If I could flatter myself that this cursory view of the matter had satisfied the lover of the dog of his un- doubted claim to perfect originality of formation, I might rationally indulge a hope that it would be less difficult to prove that the powerful agencies of habit, food, climate, and domestication, had been of them- selves fully sufficient to produce the endless varieties that are met with in this multifarious race ; and that, therefore, it was totally unnecessary to resort to the less rational opinion, that such varieties had been originally formed as were adapted to the spots whereon they have been placed. The effects of climate on the animal frame have occasioned much controversy amongst na- turalists and philosophers, some of whom have admitted its powerful controul over the external and even inter- nal organization of the inhabitants existing under it ; others, on the contrary, have argued, that the animal machine is endowed with an inherent capability of main- taining itself in its primitive integrity of form and cha- racter under every variety of climate. Adverse as these opinions may seem, the partizans of each have been enabled to bring forward imposing facts in support of it ; neither is it difficult, to a certain degree, to recon- cile these seeming discrepancies, and to allow to each theory a considerable portion of truth. It requires no great depth of research, nor any extensive collation of facts, to prove, that to every branch of animated na- ture there undoubtedly has been imparted an inherent INTFIODUCTION. 21 power of maintaining itself in its original purity of form and character '°, when such animated branch is not sub- jected to the various physical and moral agencies re- sulting from change of climate, restraint, and artificial food. But it admits of as ready proof, and it has long been observed by philosophers, that the same agen- cies, arbitrarily imposed, possess a considerable modi- fying power over the organization of animal bodies. Of these agents, climate and domestication are the most powerful. Climate, it is well known, has a great influ- ence over all the living bodies placed under it : to its operations on mankind we are to attribute the two op- posite extremes of white and black races ; while extra- tropical shades, ranging between these, as they ap- proach to or recede from the sun's rays, confirm the assumption. Within the tropics, almost all animal mat- ter is distinguished by the strength and depth of its ex- ternal hues ; whereas a blanching or whitening effect is produced, on the same matter, as it approaches the poles. The Siberian roe, the varying hare, the varie- ties of grous and partridge, even the diminutive mouse, and, in fact, almost all the wild animals of high north- ern latitudes, become lighter as winter approaches; «° Mr. Lawrence, in his scientific Lectures on Comparative Ana- tomy (to which I am proud to own many obligations), observes, that this inherent tendency to preserve the original form and character " is illustrated by the zoological descriptions of Aristotle, which, " although composed twenty-two centuries ago, yet apply, in all " points, to the individuals of the present time ; and also, by all the " works of art handed down to us from antiquity, in the form of " statues, paintings, mummies, &c." It may be added, that, in the human race, a similar tendency is observed. The Jewish or Cau- cassian face has never altered, although spread over the globe ; and the same may be remarked of Gipsies, who are generally considered as descendants from the Egyptians. 22 INTRODUCTION. while others, as the polar bear, arctic fox, snow bunt- ing, &c. &c., the inhabitants of still more rigorous re- gions, remain always white. Neither is the effect of climate confined to an alteration in the colouring only of the exterior coverings of its inhabitants; it extends to the organization and texture of them also, admirably adapting them to the circumstances of exposure under which its wearers are placed. In the sterile and inhos- pitable regions, where ice and snow hold a stern domi- nion, the quadrupeds are furnished with a short fleecy covering, which is rendered still warmer by either a long and shaggy, or a short and crisp, surtout of strong hair. The feathers of alpine water fowl conceal an immense mass of the warmest down underneath, while the land birds of these regions are feathered down to the very claws. To further exemplify the effects of climate, ob- serve how difi*erent are the clothings of the thick-fleeced dog of Baffin's Bay and the naked dog of Barbary ; the dense woolly covering of the European sheep, and the thin hair of those inhabiting hot countries. Contrast the glossy tunic of the Arabian stallion with the shaggy coat of the Shetland poney : and further, it may be ob- served, that where, for the purposes of beauty, nature has bestowed on the beasts of arid climes a long coat or covering, it is commonly observed to be one whose thin and silky texture can neither absorb the solar rays nor confine the animal heat : this may be seen in the length- ened fine hair of the goats, cats, and rabbits of Angora, and other eastern countries. Our domesticated animals are equally under the influence of climate, and, as win- ter advances, they are seen to change their thin fine hair for one of longer and thicker texture. Our horses in autumn prepare for the coming season, and change their fine summer coat for one thicker and longer ; but, under an artificial climate produced by hot stables and INTRODUCTION. 23 extra clothing, by losing the stimulus of necessity, they retain the same appearance throughout the year. Nei- ther are the coverings of the body the only parts that are subject to the effect of climate ; the form and bulk also are equally affected by its operations. By its pow- erful agency, varieties, the most disproportionate, are produced. Compare the eastern pigmy horse, scarcely thirty inches high, and the diminutive ponies of Shet- land : compare these with the stately coach and cart horses of England. — Place together the gigantic urus of Lithuania " ; the monstrous bison of America, with his shoulders surmounted by an enormous lump of flesh; the mild zebu of Africa ; the musk bull of Arctic re- gions ; the European ox, and the dwarf bull of India, not higher than a young English calf; having so done, the extremes of size and dissimilitudes of form and cha- racter will leave us in astonishment at the number and variety of Nature's works. — If we carry on the compari- son to sheep and swine, we shall find the efiects of climate as apparent on them as on the horse and ox. In Africa, the sheep are found swift, tall, gaunt, and even bold, with a pendulous dewlap. In Turkey, they are seen with a fleshy rump entirely disproportioned to the other parts. In Persia this disproportion is translated to the tail, which is said, in some instances, to weigh fifteen or even twenty pounds. In Iceland, sheep are found with " Naturalists difl'er with regard to the urus, which is considered by the majority of them as the original stock from which our cattle are derived. Cuvier, and some other zoologists, seem disposed to think that neither the urus or bison of the antients, and the aurochs oif the Germans, nor indeed any wild species at present found in Asia, can be considered in this light. Cuvier's researches have dis- covered, as he supposes, the characters of our oxen in certain fossil crania ; and thence he concludes that the primary race has been de- stroyed. — Des Animnux Fossiles, \.4: Ruminans Foss. p. 51. 24 INTRODUCTION. three or more horns ; in Wallachia, with two only, but those are long and spiral; and in Kamschatka they have horns of an enormous length, but without being spiral'^. In northern countries, the sheep are diminu- tive ; but in temperate climates they arrive to a great size and weight. In swine, the variations, in size at least, are equally disproportionate. In England, the hog has attained to the proportions of— length, 3 yards 8 inches ; height, 4| feet ; weight, 700 lbs. In China, on the contrary, he measures from 18 to 20 inches in height ; and in some parts of India he is still smaller. In Piedmont, swine are black ; in Bavaria, red ; and in Normandy, white : and, as a further proof of the effect of climate on them, it is observed that the breeds ori- ginally removed to Cuba are become twice as large as those first taken there. With these instances before us, we must, by analogy, admit, in its full force, the agency of climate on the dog also, in operating many of those extreme disproportions in size, and variations in form and character, that we meet with or know to exist. Domestication is a no less important agent in the production of these numerous varieties in the dog. It includes not only the restraint imposed on the animal by man, but man also chooses his food, directs his habits, and even regulates his sexual intercourse. These restraints, judiciously employed, are called cultivation ; and it is by these that the most important and beneficial '* The three-horned sheep (ovis polycerta, Lin.), the spiral-horned (ov. strepsicheros, LiN.), and the long-horned (capra aminou, Lin.), are supposed by some naturalists to be distinct species ; nor are they agreed relative to the origin of our domestic breeds: two or three wild kinds have had this honour. Pallas, however, considers the arg^ali, found in the great mountains of Asia, as the original parents. INTRODUCTION. 2;) changes are brought about, not only in the dog, but in all our domestic animals also. It has been already remarked, that the universal and inherent aptitude to retain the original stamp of nature appears to become weakened when animals are subjected to confinement and a life of art. Numerous deviations in size, form, and qualities, seem the necessary consequence of the physical and moral agencies which they become ex- posed to under these circumstances ; and the range of these deviations appears proportioned to the degree of confinement and restraint imposed on them. The cat, who is still predatory, and dependent, in a great degree, on her own exertions for support, differs but little in size and form from the original, and presents but few varieties. The dog, on the contrary, who is wholly subjugated, and whose life may be considered as pure- ly artificial, afibrds Variations the most numerous and extensive, in size, form, and general character. These varieties present themselves to us in dissimilitudes so great, in successions so endless, and in combinations so extraordinary, as to appear rather a sportive or capricious operation of nature, than the consequences of fixed and established laws. An original and determi- nable form is lost in boundless variety : nothing re- mains permanent but the anatomical arrangement of the internal organs, which appears always the same. With scions so infinitely varied, it is evident that it becomes difficult to form, altogether, a conclusive opi- nion relative to the size, form, and character, of the original root from whence they sprang ; but by the aids of analogy and probability, and more particularly by an observance of such wild dogs as are still met with, and appear never to have been reclaimed, we are enabled to approach near the truth. All such native wild dogs as have fallen under the notice of travellers C 26 INTRODUCTION. and naturalists, have, I believe, invariably been ob- served to approach a middling size, and to present a head more pointed, and ears more erect, than those of the domesticated breeds. The fore-quarters are found deep, and the hinder extremities long, but muscular. That such was the original size and form of the dog, when first created, we are further warranted in con- cluding, from the important fact before stated, that dogs which had accidentally or purposely been left on newly discovered countries, and in consequence again became wild, predatory, and gregarious, had been always observed to degenerate in their progeny towards the same size, form, and character, as distinguished the native wild breeds. The Asiatic or Indian dog, eaten by some sects of the natives, and known in this coun- try under the name of the Chinese dog, is, I am dis- posed to believe, a very close representative of the original wild dog. The form and character of the first dogs being lost, in a great measure, in an endless succession of diversified progeny, man has been enabled thereby to select par- ticular varieties, either for use or ornament. Many of these are probably the effect of chance ; but by far the most important were artificially produced by man him- self, who, by regulating the sexual intercourse, and by propagating from such duplicates only as approached a given form, has been enabled to efibct the greatest deviations from the original. In some instances, an accidental deformity or variety was seized on and pro- pagated by future selections, till it became permanent, and then it constituted a distinct breed'K Many at- *' See the article Breeding, where this part of the subject is con- tinued. INTiiODUCTION. ^7 tempts have been made to classify these varieties or breeds ; but many difficulties have prevented, and will perhaps long prevent, a complete synopsis of the ca- nine race. The obscurity attending the gradual changes that have brought about many of these varieties, and the undetermined outline of many of the breeds them- selves, together with the capability of altering them, or of creating new ones, all present obstacles not easily surmounted. BuFFON '"^ has enumerated fourteen varieties of the dog; but, however permanent some of these have re- mained, the characteristic outlines of others have be- come faint and indistinct. New breeds have sprung up, or have been brought into notice ; and it would be as easy now to enumerate twenty-four, as fourteen va- rieties. Dr. Caius, an early British writer on natural history, has also left us a synopsis of the dogs common in Eng- land'^ His divisions are founded on the habits or uses of the animal. Some breeds that he also notices are now extinct, and their places are supplied by new ones. Having thus endeavoured to trace back the genealogy of the dog towards its source, I shall now return ; and from the first races will endeavour to follow his general difi*usion over the world, and to describe the probable causes that have operated in producing the remarkable alterations from the original, and the innumerable va- rieties we daily observe. In those inhospitable climes where the herbage is unequal to the support of the horse, and where cultivation extends only to satisfy the common wants of its inhabitants, it may be supposed ^ BuFFoN Hist, Nat. torn. v. '5 J. Caii t\e Canibns Britannicus, Louth 1729. C2 28 INTRODUCTION. that more than ordinary pains would be taken to select and rear a race of dogs whose size, strength, and cou- rage, should, in a great measure, make up the deficiency. To this source it is probable that we are to look lor the breeds inhabiting Newfoundland'^ Karaschatka, Green- land, Iceland, Lapland, Siberia, and Pomerania ; all of which bear a strong resemblance to each other. These breeds had for their origin such eastern dogs'^ as had extended themselves northwards; where, being subject- ed to the effects of climate and altered habits of life, they gradually assumed new characters, and finally presented the varieties now become indigenous and common in those countries. When this enlarged breed had extended itself through the vast wilds of Russia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Germany, it became, by the united eff'ects of climate and cultivation, trans- formed into a gigantic animal, less rough in its external covering, greatly increased in its speed, and possessed of every requisite for defending its masters from the incursions of the wild and predatory animals that de voured their children and cattle, and even disputed with «6 The Nervfoundland dog, now so common with us, was but little known before the middle of the last century. He is hardy, courage- ous, faithful, and tractable in the extreme. His fondness for the water makes him appear almost amphibious. By his aquatic powers he can dive to great depths, and can remain, without injury, many hours in the water; and he seems never so pleased as when thus employed. This exotic dog, by his great size, superior 'beauty, and interesting qualities, has nearly banished the old English mas- tiff. A variety of the Newfoundland dog is sometimes imported, which is smaller and smooth coated ; but it is, at the same time, equally expert as a swimmer, and is said to be even a better diver than the rough breed. n We can have no hesitation in considering that the first dogs weye found in Asia: history, both sacred and profane, agrees in this. INTRODUCTION. 29 them the possession of the soil. This dog has been long known by the name of the Large Dane'^ It is more than probable that the selection of the shepherd's dog fcan. domestiais, LiN.) was cotemporary with the cultivation of the Dane. The pasture dog, as he extended himself, presented also several varieties or distinct breeds'^. Buffon has erroneously (as I have already attempted to prove) supposed this the parent of most of our dogs; but we have analogy, probability, and historical facts, to prove that most of our large breeds proceed immediately from the Dane. The '8 The Dane is considered as the largest dog known. Marco Paolo mentions some he saw as large as asses. They appear to have been originally of a light fawn colour ; but they are now seen brindled, and sometimes spotted, striped, or pied, with a dingy brown on the original ground. The dogs of Epirus, so famed for their strength and courage, were of this kind.— Aristotle, lib. iii, c. 21. Pliny also notices them in terms of admiration, lib. viii, c.40. *^ The shepherd's or drover's dog (le chien de Berger, BUFF.) is pro- bably the most generally diffused dog known ; and it is but reason- able to suppose he must therefore own different origins. In Africa and America, the varieties of pasture dog are so numerous as to in- clude every size, form, and colour. In Asia and Europe the vari- ations in size and form are also great; but the coat or hair, particu- larly in Europe, is almost always long and shaggy. In high northern latitudes he is found very tall, robust, and well defended by a coarse thick coat of rough hair. In southern Britain, where the breed is particularly attended to, the shepherd's dog is rather large, and mostly of a black and white colour, with hair either coarse and crisp, or more long and shaggy. These dogs have invariably short tails, from being tailed soon after they are pupped : such is the force of habit, and so long has this been practised, that some breeds are now actually pupped without tails. The pasture dog of Scotland is a distinct breed from that of England : it is small, but extremely active and sagacious. Indeed, so great is the intelligence displayed by the whole tribe of sheep dogs, when attending flocks and herds, that we cannot observe them without surprise and admiration. 30 INTRODUCTION. great Boar Hound of Germany was probably the first fruits of successful cultivation practised on the Dane. The Northerns, having obtained such an accession of power by the assistance of the Danish dog, be- came, at length, the aggressors, and in their turn hunted the wild beasts, as bears, wolves, &c. from their fast- nesses. EtFectually to do this, it was necessary to cul- tivate a breed, that, with the size and strength of the Dane, should have the hardihood of the rough-coated Alpine dog, and a degree of speed beyond either, that he might thereby be enabled to overtake the swift re- treat of the wolf, boar, and fox^". By the adoption of slender specimens to breed from; by subjecting these to extraordinary care ; and by continually selecting as parents such as shewed the greatest tendency to light- *° Specimens of the JBoar Hound are still preserved in Germany ; and I have met with a few in Ireland and Scotland also. In Ireland Ihey are called Irish Greyhounds (can. (jraius Hihernicus, Ray). Those I saw were majestically large, and symmetrically proportioned for strength and speed. Their coats were rough, wiry, and of a light gray colour, rather inclining to yellow. The few Scottish specimens I have seen were rather a strong, coarse, long-haired greyhound, than the real wolf-dog ; but it is probable that in the northern parts of the highlands more perfect specimens exist than those 1 saw. The German boar-hound is commonly described as being of a cin- namon or fawn colour, and as remarkably mild, generous, and faith- ful, although most formidable to his enemies. The original breeds were not all of them long-coated : on the contrary, I believe that the greater number were sleek and smooth ; but the hair, though short, was strong and thick.— It may be remarked here, that it is not easy to conjecture what dog Buffon means by Le Matin. Many naturalists, who follow the synopsis of this author, consider it as the Dane ; others })lace the boar-hound under this term. His own ac- count is, however, at variance with both these : " Le matin trans- " porte au nord est devenu grand Danois, et transporte au midi est " devenu levrier: les grands levriers vienncnt du Levant." — JiUFi ox, lii^i. ISai, torn, v, 'IIU INTRODUCTION. 31 ness of form, with length of limbs, the boar-hound was gradually cultivated into the greyhound (canis grains, LiN.)'S which was at lirst a strong robust animal, with •» The Greyhound (BvFFOs's, Levriei) occupies at present a pre- eminent rank in the scale of British dogs ; and that it has long done so, we have undoubted proofs- As e^rly as the time of King Canute, the forest laws directed that no person under the degree of a gentle- man should keep a dog of this kind ; and a very old Welch pro- verb, still current, reports, " that a gentleman may be known by his horse, his hawk, and his greyhound." At the feet of many monu- ments, and in the portraits of many distinguished personages, a grey- hound is sculptured or pourtrayed as the favoured companion of the deceased. The greyhound race is a very generally diifused one ; and it is, therefore, probable that the various breeds are not all de- scended from one stock. The breeds found in southern countries we should suppose are descended from some cultivated Asiatic dogs: the northern, we have every reason to believe, are the immediate descendants of the boar-hound Like other branches of the canine race, the greyhound has accommodated himself to external circum- stances ; he, therefore, presents very different appearances under different climates. In Turkey, we have the authority of Mr. Dal- LAWAY for asserting that the greyhounds are large and white, with their legs and tails fantastically stained with red. In Laconia, they are, according to Mr. Hobhouse, also large, and their hair long*. The long-haired greyhound is by no means confined to northern climates ; neither are long external coverings of hair among other domestic animals uncommon in the warmest countries, as we see in the cats, rabbits, and goats of Angora; but the hair so seen, however long, possesses a silky fineness of texture, and does not retain ani- mal heat as the thick, coarse, wiry hair of northern animals. Thus, many other of the greyhounds of the east, although delicately fine in their limbs, have long silk-like coats. The elegant animal called the Persian greyhound, to the utmost lightness of form and smoothness of body adds the peculiarity of having his ears, legs, and tail, be- fringed with very long fine hair, like that of the setter or spaniel. In temperate climes, but particularly in England, where the culti- vation of the greyhound is carried to the highest perfection, he pre- ' ■• "I'leatise on Gievhounds, Cd erht. p. f>. 32 INTRODUCTION. stout limbs, and generally a long coat. Such breeds are still seen in the northern parts of Europe. In some parts of Ireland, and in the Highlands of Scotland also, (besides a few specimens of real boar-hound) grey- hounds of this kind are by no means uncommon. In early times, the greyhound (partaking of the qualities of the originals from whence he sprang) hunted as well by scent as by sight; and with these united qualifications he must have been very destructive to the larger kinds of game, as deer, antelopes, wild goats, foxes, &c. Such a dog was the Gaze-hound, of whose extraordinary powers of vision, in selecting and keeping his game in view, we have numerous accounts. But, as the exer- tions of greyhounds became, by degrees, principally confined to the chase of animals of extreme speed, par- sents the most symmetric model of an animal formed for speed and beauty combined, that it is possible to conceive. Buffon conjec- tures that their original colour was cinnamon or fawn-like : *' lis sont de couleur fauve-clair pour la plupart.'* The greyhounds of for- mer times appear to have been remarkable for their fidelity and the warmth of their attachment; and these properties are still apparent in the rough coarse kinds : but in our improved breed, every quality seems absorbed in the acquisition of extreme speed : so true it is, that an extraordinary degree of excellence in one particular com- monly proves a hindrance to superiority in others ; by which wise provision, a great degree of equality is maintained throughout Na- ture's works. For a more full account of this important variety of the canine race, I would recommend the reader to a Treatise on Greyhounds^ attributed to Sir Wm. C , a Baronet of sporting celebrity. In this elegant and classic production will be found a fund of interest- ing and instructive matter relative to the breeding, rearing, and treatment of these dogs. According to the modesty of its author, it is besprinkled with " a few classical flowers ;" but the reader will find it a gay parterre, where literature and sporting change hands at every turn. INTRODUCTION. 33 ticularly of the hare, so it became likewise necessary to prevent them having recourse to smelling, or scenting their game, the very action of which retarded their pro- gress; and thus the quality of hunting by scent was gradually lost for want of exercising it.— It will now be necessary to return to the Dane, the cultivation of whose progeny produced other important varieties beside the boar-hound and greyhound. One of the first of these was the Mastiff rca?fc. molossus, Lin.), which is known to be a dog of great antiquity : he was formerly, also, of considerable importance among British animals". De- scended immediately from the Dane, was the Dalmatian or Spotted Coach-dog^^ From all these, there gradual- ** The Mastiff', or dogue ot Buffon, is unquestionably derived from the Dane, probably from the accidental deformity of a stunted or rickety specimen, %vhich peculiarity had afterwards been continued and cultivated. The breed of mastiffs was, in " olden times," an important branch of British commerce. When this island was under the Roman yoke, these dogs were in such request, that an officer was appointed, under the name of Procurator Synegii, to superintend the breeding and transmitting them to the Roman Amphitheatre. Strabo tells us that these dogs have been trained to war, and were used by the Gauls against their adversaries. The bull-dog un- doubtedly owes it origin to the mastiif. A very useful mongrel is also derived from it, which is still seen about farm-houses, and is known, in the older accounts of dogs, under the name of ban-dog : but the mastiff itself is now seldom seen, having given place to the more beautiful, but certainly not more trustworthy, breed from New- foundland. ^3 The Dalmatian, or Spotted Coach-dog, is called by Buffon Le Braqui^ de Bengal, or Bengal harrier. This application of term ap- pears extraordinary, when we consider that this breed is not natu- rally given to hunt ; and likewise that no such dog is common in India. The Dalmatian is evidently a smaller variety of the Dane, which he resembles in form and habits. Having a sleek, smooth, milk-white coat, regularly interspersed with black spots, and great symmetry of proportion, he forms an elegant appendage to the car- riages of the wealthy, and an useful guard to the stable. 34 INTRODUCTION, ly were produced, by means of accidental variety or purposed selection, the several breeds of Stag-hound, Blood-hound, old English Harrier (can, sagax, Lin.), Fox-hound, common Harrier, and Beagle ; with numerous varieties of the hound kind used in the chase throughout Europe and other countries. The selection and culti- vation of the Pointer (can. avicularis, Lin.'*) follow^ed these ; and about the same time, probably, the Bull-dog first appeared, whose origin, it i3 not unlikely, was de- rived from particularly small but sturdy specimens of the mastiff ^^ 44 The Pointer, it is supposed, uas first cultivated in Germany and Spain : he was originally a strong heavy dog, but of great sagacity. The pointer of Russia appears a distinct breed, and betrays, in strong characters, his immediate origin from the early northern races : neither are his general characters, nor his habits, like the southern pointers. The property of stoppint/ in pointers in general, as soon as either the sight or scent of those animals (and of those only) we call game arrests the attention, is wholly a cultivated qua- lity, founded on a natural one inherent in all dogs. Every dog in- stinctively crouches, or intently points, towards the object on which he meditates an attack. By this means he lessens his bulk to de- ceive his adversary or surprise his prey ; or he arrests his attention for the same purposes. In this way, it is not unusual to witness two complete mongrels making a perfectly steady point at each other. As this property is common to all, the introduction of the pointer was probably a chance selection from among the early dogs accus- tomed to hunt. The Setter is altogether a dog of different origin, being only a more highly cultivated spaniel. «* I confess myself totally at a loss from whence to derive the ori- gin of the Pug Dog. A hasty view might lead one to consider him as descended from a dwarf breed of bull-dogs ; but closer inspection shews many variations from the bull-dog in the external form. Well- formed pugs are seldom under-hung; bull-dogs arc always so : the colours also vary considerably ; and, above all, the bull-dog draws an essential character from the fine taper of his tail, while the pug is no less prized from his tail being of equal thickness throiighont. and locked up in a compact curl. INTRODUCTION. 35 The Large Rough Terrier, the Barbet, and the whole race of Water Spaniels (can. avarius aquaiicus, Lin.), owe their origin to such northern dogs as, being stationed along the shores of seas, lakes, or rivers, possessed, either hereditarily or contracted by climate, a thick rough covering of hair, and by habit a great aptitude for the water. While the Asiatic dog was extending his progeny through the northern regions into the varieties we have enumerated, the southern climes were also furnishing from the same source, but probably by another track. Here, likewise, the effect of climate became apparent, in the production of an equal number of varieties ; but all of them proved less hardy in their nature, and of a more delicate frame; and furnished wirh coverings, many of which were long and of silk-like texture, others were glossy and smooth, while some, like the naked dog of Barbary, were seen wholly without hair. From these are derived the Eastern Greyhound, most of the hounds used in Africa and South America, the Southern Pasture Dog, the Land SpanieP% the Set- '^ No dog iJieseuts such endless varieties as the Spaniel; all, however, admit of two cominon divisions, into land and water spa- niels: the latter arc derived from the northern, the former from the eastern dogs. Land Spaniels are all characterized by a long silky coat; and whether strong and muscular, or slender and diminutive, they are equally elegant and interesting. They are proverbially faithful ; and to the sportsman they are highly important, from their sagacit> and keen scent. King Charles II. has been said to have been extr^mely fond of spaniels, two varieties of which are seen in his several portraits, or in those of his favourites. One of these was small, of a black and white colour, with ears of an extreme length ; the other was large and black, but the black was beautifully relieved by tan markings, exactly similar to the markings of the black and tan terrier: Ihis breed the late Duke of Norfolk preserved Avith jealous care. 36 INTRODUCTION. ter^% the Smooth Terrier, and innumerable others, cul- tivated and kept either for use or ornament. Having proceeded thus far in attempting a feeble out- line of the natural history of the dog, I propose devot- ing a few pages to the more interesting task of describ- ing his moral qualities ; to which I am prompted by a hope that I may thereby more effectually advocate his cause ; and that, by exciting inquiry into his real cha- racter and properties, I may aw^aken a due considera- tion for him iii the minds of those (of whom there are too many) who now regard him with indifference, con- tempt, or dislike. To those who are conversant with the animal, I need offer no apology for such detail ; they will agree, that, in what follows, I have been guilty of no exaggeration; on the contrary, I have barely done justice to this amiable companion of man- kind ; to one that, whether we consider the extent of his ^7 The setter is undoubtedly derived wholly from the spaniel, and not, as has been supposed, from a mixture of spaniel and pointer. Robert Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, is recorded as the first person who broke (to the net) a setter (i. e. a spaniel), so called from its lying down before game until a net was drawn over both dog and game. After this aptitude had been displayed, it is natural to sup- pose that the breed would be continued, and future cultivations in- creased its size and powers. The setter retained the name of spa- niel until of late years ; and to this day he is called, in Ireland, the English spaniel. Gay calls him the " creeping spaniel;" Thomson, also, has How, in his mid-career, the spaniel struck Sliflf by the tainted gale, with open nose Outstretched, &c. The old English setter is now scarce, and has given place to a breed of less docility and subjection, but of enlarged size and increased speed: these are mostly red, and are of Irish origin. The term Index, by which the setter has been known, it is evident is not more appropriate ; indeed, it is less so than to the pointer. INTRODUCTION. 37 intelligence, the admirable qualities he displays, the entertainment he aifords, or the valuable services he renders us, challenges universal tenderness, attach- ment, and protection. It would seem almost invidious to attempt a display of the valuable properties of this animal, for the professed purpose of enforcing the principles and practice of humanity towards him ; yet it is but too evident that the relative duties of man towards the brute creation in general (but particularly towards the dog) are greatly neglected, too often out- raged^^ It is probable that these errors spring less as Were the principles and practice of humanity made a funda- mental part of the education of our children, and were these aided by judicious legal enactments, many branches of the brute creation would have reason to rejoice. Is it not disgraceful to an enlightened people to learn, that infidel nations, as the Turks, have almshouses for their animals ? It is an essential part of a Mussulman's creed, and it is an express command of Mahomet, to be humane towards the brute creation. In India, the Bramins are remarked for their tenderness towards all animals. The Banian Hospital is a most re- markable instance of this : it contains horses, asses, mules, oxen, sheep, and birds;— even noxious animals, as rats and mice, are not excluded ; all are treated with the utmost kindness and care, until death places them beyond the want of these charities. If we take the Scriptures for our guide, we shall find them full of precepts of humanity, and exemplified also by numerous examples of it : ''A merciful mati is merciful to his beast;'' " Thoushalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn,'' These are, alone, sufficient to establish the humane tendency of the antient sacred laws, where it was ex- pressly forbidden to " take the dam on her nest." The works of the heathens are equally filled with recommendations of tenderness to- wards animals. A Grecian magistrate condemned a child to punish- ment who had deprived a bird of sight ; and the Athenian court called the Areopagite, instituted express laws for the protection of brute animals from cruelty. Shall we, as professors of christianitj- and all the kinder virtues, shall we alone forget what is due to these useful dependants ? 38 INTRODUCTION. from the natural impulses of the heart, than from a mistaken consideration of the real rank that this com- panion of our mortal pilgrimage holds in Nature's scale. If it were customary to consider the higher orders of brute animals not as mere machines, endowed with fa- culties purely instinctive, and just suflScient to preserve their existence and extend their species *^ ; but, on the contrary, if they wTre universally regarded in their true light, as beings highly intellectual, actuated l)y the no- blest passions, endued with memory and recollection ^°, disposed to imitation, profiting by experience, and acquiring skill from discipline and instruction, then we might hope to see them regarded in their true light ; to witness their importance generally acknowledged ; and, consequently, to observe their situation ameliorated. These mental properties, in some degree common to all »9 " Whatever aftections are displayed by animals, they are ac- " counted but the mere eft'ect of mechanic impulse: however they ** may verge on human wisdom, their actions are said to have only " the semblance of sagacity. Enlightened by reason, man considers " himself immensely removed from animals, who (as he considers) " have only instinct for their guide ; and, born to immortality, he " scorns to acknowledge, with brutes that perish, a social bond. " Such are the unfeeling dogmas which are early instilled into the ** mind, and wliich induce a callous insensibility foreign to the na- " tive texture of the heart : such are the cruel speculations which " prepare us for the practice of that remorseless tyranny, and which *• palliate the foul oppression that we exercise over our inferior but " fellow creatures."— Oswald. 3° Philosophers distinguish between remembrance and recollec- tion : the former is, according to Aristotle, a passive faculty, acted on by antecedent impressions when circumstances have occasionally arisen to revive them. Recollection implies mental exertion, and the deductions of reason, with a capacity of deriving knowledge from experience. Allowing this definition to be just, a correct analysis of the brute mind will clearly shew them possessed of this faculty, although philosophers have usually denied it them. INTKODUCTIOX. 39 the animals around us, shine in their full lustre in the dog; nor am I afraid to hazard an opinion, not only that he is endowed with them beyond any other brute animal^*, but also that his bodily formation and his 3' I profess myself here to tread on tender ground ; but this opi- nion is the result of long and attentive observation, and of as critical and extended inquiry as my humble capacity and limited means would allow ; and, although I profess to throw no gauntlet, yet I would court examination and inquiry. It appears, from all 1 can collect relative to the qualities of the other branches of the canine race, as the wolf, fox, and jackal, that predatory habits and ferocity of disposition are so inherent in them, and that their thirst for blood is so essen- tially interwoven in their very organization, that, although domesti- cation might have subjugated them, and cultivation might have ope- rated great changes on their qualities and properties, yet they would never have totally eradicated those natural propensities, much less would they ever have developed the higher mental powers of that almost devotional atfachment, fidelity, and unceasing attention to the service of mankind, which peculiarly characterize the dog ; for, notwithstanding the apparent similarity of his structure to the rest of the canine genus, the dog appears, both from history and ob- servation, to be, even in a state of nature, omnivorous*; and that, unlike them, he by choice mixes his food with vegetable matter, voluntarily eats fruit, prefers dead to living flesh, and has no appe- tite for blood (which the others appear to have) distinct and separate from the animal mass of the bodies he may slaughter. If, also, it is true, as there is great reason to believe, that the intellectual phe- nomena of animals are in proportion to the extent or quantity of brain they possess, then the dog, whose forehead presents a more ample space for the reception of the anterior cerebral lobes than either the wolf, fox, or jackal, might, a priori, be pronounced, as indeed he is found to be, the most intelligent member of the genus. These characteristics, if just, eminently distinguish and raise the dog above those animals, whose similarity of form and habits might • I place great reliance on this characteristic. All animals purely carnivorous are savage, ferocious, and extremely difficult to reclaim. When by extreme care they have become subjugated, a treacherous watchfulness marks them, and they readily resume their former habits. To increase the courage and ferocity of the dog, we give him raw flesh. The cat, who is wholly Ciiruivorous, can liardJy be said to be reclaimed : it always prefers places to persons. 40 INTRODUCTION. mental capacity so fitted him for this pre-eminence, that no culture would have produced similar effects in any other selection man could have made from the beasts around him. Nevertheless we have to regret, so erroneous is popular prejudice, that a dog is the object, of all others, that excites in some minds the greatest contempt. It might not be irrelevant in this place to inquire, how much of this unmerited contempt we are to attribute to vulgar prejudice, and also to er- roneous impressions communicated by means of figura- tive language in common use. " You dog!" is a com- mon term of reproach used towards those, as well as by those, who often have not half the virtues of one; yet, in ignorant minds, this metaphoric sarcasm otherwise have led to their selection instead of his own, for the im- portant post of ally, friend, companion, and assistant to mankind. It is presumed, that it is unnecessary to extend the comparison to any other of the genera of quadrupeds. The sagacity of the monkey and of the elephant will, 1 am aware, gain them many advocates among discerning zoologists ; and were 1 reasoning merely on the extent of intelligence displayed, and not on the remarkable aptitude the dog exhibits for useful and companionable properties, and on the higher intellectual qualities of fidelity and personal attachment which he so eminently possesses, I should be content to divide the palm with them. I should allow to the monkey, cunning, artifice, and personal dexterity, to a greater degree than to any other ani- mal whatever; but I should still contend, that the generous and amiable qualities that mark the dog are neither latent nor apparent, to be at all detected in him. With regard to the elephant, it is the opinion of many eminent zoologists that he is, by nature, endued with more rational power of mind than any other brute, the monkey perhaps excepted. In him are also apparent generous and noble passions : he is seen to combine, to compare, and to profit by ex- perience ; and so convinced are the inhabitants of the countries where he dwells of his extraordinary mental capacity, that they ap- ply to him, to the monkey, and to man, one common term, oran, which signifies intellectual or reasoniiuj. Nevertheless, as a total, the quality, if not the quantity, must be yielded to the dog. INTRODUCTION. 41 serves to beget contempt, both for the original and the portrait. Our oldest writers, with whom every thing vile and base is doglike, are full of this imagery. Even the sacred writings, abounding in the sublimest precepts of humanity, have added their share to this metaphoric disparagement. Trifling as this may appear, these figu- rative comparisons, however erroneous, sink deep in many minds, and beget a traditional contempt and ill- will towards one of the most valuable parts of the cre- ation. To combat these popular sources of inhuma- nity, I have before observed, no means seem so well calculated as to place the subject of our inquiry in his true light, by raising him from the debasement of a mere instinctive machine to the elevation of an intellectual being. There are so many proofs that the dog is a rational animal, that it affords matter of surprise that any think- ing mind should, for a moment, doubt it. Most of our ablest philosophers and metaphysicians have allowed him this distinction; but the extent of his reasoning powers has occasioned great diversity of opinion among them. Much, if not all, of this discordance has arisen for want of a precise idea of that inherent property we name instinct, under which general term it has been too common with writers to hide the pheno- mena of reason^"-. It is foreign to my present purpose, 3* Dr. Fleming states, that this discrepancy and confusion would cease, if we confined instinct to the movements of those powers of the mind termed active, which are usually considered to consist of appetites, desires, and affections. Reason, he argues, should own those phenomena that are purely intellectual.— P^zV. of Zool, vol. i, p. 241. This would appear a just and philosophic definition of the subject, were appetites and desires only included : affections are, many of them, purely intellectual. D 42 INTRODUCTION. it* it were within the range of my ability, to enter on an abstruse and metaphysical inquiry into the faculty of reason '\ It will be sufficient, if I attempt to analyze ^3 Reason has been descrihed, as the power or faculty by which the mind is enabled to deduce one proposition from another, or by which it proceeds from premises to consequences. Locke allows to brutes " ideas distinct enough/' and that they compare these ideas ; but, he thinks, imperfectly. He doubts whether they compound their ideas ; and he altogether denies them the power of abstraction, or of applying the consciousness of particular objects as a general representation of all objects of a similar kind. " For it is evident " we observe no footsteps in them of making use of general signs " for universal ideas; from which we have reason to imagine that " they have not the faculty of abstracting or making general ideas, " since they have no use of words, or any other general signs." Is Mr. Locke altogether right in this assumption? Have not other animals, besides man, an intelligible and a very varied language, which is generally understood between each species? Have they not also general sounds for universal ideas : one for fear or dread, let the object of it be what it may ; another for love ; a distinct one for desire? The call to warn their oflspriiig from danger, and that used to draw them together for food, are totally different, but are each well understood ; and that these calls are not purely instinctive we learn from seeing them understood, as well by ducklings fostered under a hen, as by the young chicks themselves. This may be car- ried still further ; for, if we can believe recorded facts, some birds, particularly parrots, have been not only taught speech, but the ap- plication of it. The ready and appropriate replies to questions asked of the parrot belonging to Captain O'Kelly, must be still fresh in the remembrance of a great many persons now living; for it was no uncommon tiling for some hundred persons to visit this ex- traordinary bird every year. This was, however, even a less re- markable bird than that mentioned by Sir AVilliam Temple, in his Memoirs of what passed in Christendom from l6r2 to 1679, p. 57^ 392. I also myself well knew a parrot that was fond of picking of bones, in which it was every day indulged. Whenever it had picked its bone, it used to whistle two or three times, and then call Carlo, Carlo; on which, a dog so named (if within hearing) immedi- ately ran towards the parrot. Mho invariably, on his appearance, INTRODUCTION. 43 the property of instinct; in prosecuting which, if I should be enabled to prove that innumerable actions performed by dogs, and other animals, are not at all dropped the boiie, and commonly concluded the operation by a chuckle of pleasure at this reciprocity of friendship. Was this purely an instinctive application of sounds? If the bird, in error, had ap- plied the call to any other food, it might have led to such a conclu- sion ; but, as the call was never made but when a bone was at hand, it certainly warrants the inference I would draw from it. Exactly a similar circumstance has been credibly related to me of a cockatoo which used to call a cat. Puss, Puss, to receive a bone when she had finished picking it. What does a dog mean that stands barking at a door where he has been usually admitted, but an intelligible notice that he is waiting, and an earnest request to be let in? It is reasonable to suppose, that, when Locke denied to brutes the use, or rather the application, of speech, or of such general sounds as convey universal ideas, he was either unacquainted with the history of the preacher monkey (simia Beelzebub, Lin.), or alto- gether disbelieved the accounts we have of it. Marcgraave, an observant naturalist of the highest authority, and one whose testi- mony has been corroborated by others who, like him, have been eye-witnesses to the peculiar habits of these extraordinary animals, has informed us that droops of these animals assemble in the woods of the Brazils regularly every morning and evening. At these times, one among the number, placing himself on a branch above the rest, seems to command general attention, for all assemble and sit be- neath him in profound silence. The superior, or preacher, then com- mences a species of chattering in a loud shrill kind of howl ; which having continued a certain time, he makes a signal with his hand, when the whole assembly join in chorus. This continues until he again by a signal commands silence ; the orator then resumes his discourse, and finishes his address, and the assembly breaks up. Dampier confirms this account, and further adds, that he has fre- quently witnessed with astonishment, the attention that members of the community have paid to one that has been wounded by a shot : they have gathered round the unhappy suff'erer, have endeavoured to close the wound, and, when the bleeding has been excessive, they have been observed to insert pledgets of vegetables to stop the hae- morrhage. The language of animals, it is evident, is sufficient for all the D 2 44 INTRODUCTION. re Terrible to this property, I shall have compassed my object, and shall have not illogically proved, that, if such actions are not instinctive, they must be rational. Instinct, in a popular point of view, may be defined to be, that property in animals "'^ by which such actions purposes of communication, from wliat we observe in the watching of sentinel birds, and in the instantaneous change in the flight and extraordinary aerial evolutions of many congregated fowls, which are performed with such astonishing rapidity and precision, as at once to convince us they are effected by a signal of sound, and not of sight ; which latter the dense mass of the flock would prevent many of them from observing. Presuming on the authority of Locke, it has been farther argued, that the manifest deficiency in the organs connected with speech in brutes, is an additional proof, not only that they have little oral com- munication between themselves, but that they are, from this cause, essentially inferior in their intellectual importance. Without deny- ing their inferiority, it may however be answered, that full or exten- sive intonation of voice is not necessary to the existence, or even to the individual importance, of an intellectual animal, as we witness in the conventional language of the deaf and dumb among the human. Neither, in fact, is it essentially necessary that the con- ventional language of brutes should be communicated by the mouth. In many insects we know it is performed wholly without the oral organs ; in some, air is agitated to produce different sounds by means of the wings ; in others, by a mechanism not unlike the pipes of an organ ; while others, again, either strike on hard substances with their antennae, or communicate by crossing these slender and flexible organs over the same organs of those with whom they wish to communicate. One cannot witness this mode of communication without being struck with the similarity between it and the convey- ance of sound to the perception of a deaf person, by speaking along a plane surface in connection with the inner surface of the mouth. 34- The instinctive principle is not confined to animals only; it pervades and directs the first movements of all organized bodies. Plants alter their course to seek the sun, or to imbibe a purer at- mosphere. Others produce surprising phenomena in their attempts to emerge from darkness into light ; and the roots of trees change and rechange their direction in search of earth adapted to their wants as often as the occasion requires it. INTRODUCTION. 45 are performed, as immediately tend to the preservation of themselves and the propagation of their species > It is a principle that may be considered as inherent in the organization of the body, and therefore (unlike to rea- son) it commences with the organization of the body it- self; as we know by the motions and other actions of animals in uiero. It developes itself (contrary to reason) in full perfection as soon as it is wanted. The young chick, the moment it is disencumbered of its shell, dex- terously picks up its food, and judiciously selects it from extraneous matter. The indigent and blind puppy, im- mediately on its entry into the world, searches out the mammillary processes that yield its nutriment, and adapts the surfaces of its little mouth to exhaust the gland, with more dexterity than the most acute philosopher aided by every mechanical principle could do. The operations of instinct being directed to the presrvation of exist- ence and the continuance of the species, it was neces- sarily given perfect, or these ends would not have been answered ; but as its operations seem confined wholly to these great ends, so it is very limited in its scale of action, and admits of little, if any, improvement. In domestic as well as unreclaimed animals, such actions as are directed to the essential laws of preservation and propagation remain alwaj^s alike : the same general ap- titudes, the same dexterity in catering their food, ex- cluding their enemies, and fostering their young, were as apparent two thousand years ago as at the present day. The instinctive principle, as a purely preserva- tive one, was originally given to them perfect ; it there- fore required no extension, and it has received none. If this definition of instinct should be considered cor- rect, it will require but little argument to prove, that, as innumerable actions are daily performed by animals, particularly of the higher and cultivated orders, which 46 INTRODUCTION, are totally imconnccteci with either oi" these great and fundamental laws of organic life ; so it is self-evident that all such actions can only be referred to the higher faculty of reason, and on that account they may be called extra-instinctive. These extra-instinctive opera- tions among animals present themselves in such infinite variety, and the impulses whereby they are directed are so diversified, that it is difficult to make any appropri- ate selections from among them. For the sake of elu- cidation, I will, however, instance two or three striking examples of what I consider intellectual operations of the mind, and such as are totally without the range of instinct. All enslaved animals have a proneness to deceive and to decoy others into the same state of captivity. If this disposition occurred in those that are gregarious only, it might be argued to be purely instinctive; but it takes place equally in such as are by nature solitary, that is, that associate in pairs only. This proneness is ob- served in caged birds to lure others to the net. The decoy duck traverses the pool, and, by a particular cry, she engages the attention of the wild fowl flying about her; when, having collected a sufficient number, she leads them through a narrow tunnel into direct captivity: on being herself released, she immediately departs in quest of more. Tame elephants are sent out in search of wild ones; which, having found, they return with, and entice within the enclosures. Each wild elephant so taken is then fastened between two tame ones, which immediately enter on a regular discipline, more or less rigorous, as their captive is more or less refractory. A few days' fasting, with occasional blows from the pro- bosces of their tutors, are generally sufficient to render their pupil mild and tractable. It has been asserted, that, much as this system must inconvenience the tame INTRODUCTION. 47 elephants themselves, they are, nevertheless, observed to enter on it with alacrity, and to conduct it so judi- ciously, as to excite sentiments of admiration in those who -behold it: surely this may be said to be extra- instinctive.— I once possessed a monkey, which, during the summer months, was chained to a window-seat over- looking a back area passage, to the rails of which the dist- ance might be four or five feet. From this window to the opposite rails the monkey used to jump every now and then for amusement. In one of these leaps he w as sud- denly arrested by his chain becoming entangled, and he received a severe fall. His memory made him remem- ber the pain, and his reflections taught him the cause. Benefitting by experience, his judgment determined him, before he again took the same leap, to pass the chain that confined him entirely through his hands; which having done, he took his accustomed spring without fear : this caution he observed in every future attempt. It is siiigular, and it serves to shew how he combined ideas, that it was only when leaping from the window to the rails that he examined his chain ; on his return, he always jumped fearlessly, because every portion of the chain w^as exposed before him, which in the other in- stance it was not. I was in possession of another mon- key, also, who used to amuse himself by swinging on a clothes line hung in a laundry in which he was confined. 1 was at the time a resident with Dr. Haighton, whose servants, not being so partial to pug as I was, resolved to play him a trick, and therefore purposely cut the rope, leaving only a few threads to preserve appearances and deceive the animal. As it may be supposed, the next time he attempted his amusement, he got a fall. When the line was replaced, he shew ed every inclination to re- new his sport, but none whatever to repeat his accident : 48 INTRODUCTION. before, therefore, he again attempted to swing, he examin- ed his rope most carefully, by tugging at each end. Hav- ing satisfied himself, he recommenced his sport ; but at every future time of swinging the crafty animal observed the same caution. Can these extraordinary instances of reflection and forethought be referred to instinct? The pain and fright in both instances were remembered^ but the effects resulting from the means made use of to avoid a repetition of them were recollected. — In a former note I have noticed the talking parrots of Prince Maurice and Capt. O'Kelly : with regard to the extraordinary powers of the latter, and its apparent rational applica- tion of speech, there can be no possible doubt, as hun- dreds of witnesses, at present living, can testify. The late Rev. Robinson, of Cambridge, was a great admirer of bees, with which he used to amuse him- self much. On visiting them early one morning, he was struck with the appearance of a toad, who, by some means, had stationed himself on the stand whereon the bees were placed. Mr. Robinson's first impulse was to remove the toad, but, observing that no bees issued from the immediate hive opposite to which the intruder had placed himself, he became curious to watch the event ; and the more so, as, by an unusual hum among the bees, he concluded they were in consultation relative to their unexpected visitor. This conjecture proved correct, for in a few minutes they unanimously came out and attacked the toad, who died in a little time. Having done this, they again retired within their hive, and again appeared to deliberate, probably on what w as next to be done. On reappearing, they, apparently with one accord, went in quest of a matter more plastic than their common wax, with which in a few hours they completely encased the dead toad, and by this means INTRODUCTION. 49 effectually prevented any noisome stench from proving injurious to them. This account I had from Mr. Ro- binson himself, and I make no doubt the curiosity it- self still remains in the family. This anecdote, I think, infers that these busy wanderers can compare, com- bine, and, perhaps, reason abstractedly. It is evident, from what occurred, that they can converse ; and their conduct throughout proved them under a guidance su- perior to that of instinct. For instinct cannot be sup- posed to combat against such accidents as result from a cultivated or domestic state : on the contrary, the capa- bility of so guarding against unnatural and improbable contingencies, presupposes reflection and forethought. The instinctive principle might have driven the bees to destroy the toad, without doubt ; but the prevention of the after effects likely to arise from it, and the unani- mity in the means pursued for the purpose, bespeak the highest efforts of reason. The following pages will pro- duce instances of equal, if not of superior, intellectual phenomena in the dog. Having, as I hope, satisfactorily proved that our subject, the dog, has rational powers; it remains to inquire how these have been cultivated to produce that obedience and utility which now so eminently distin- guish him. Had the dog enjoyed the properties of in- stinct only, he would have proved but an indifferent subject for cultivation. It has already been attempted to be proved, that instinct admits of little, if any, im- provement ; but, on the contrary, those faculties which are purely rational admit of great increase. In wild ani- mals, it is this improvement of their reasoning part that gives that traditional knowledge so generally observed among them, by which they increase their comforts, vary their food, and multiply their pleasures : yet these 50 INTRODUCTION. accessions are trifling, compared with those which arc gained under the fostering hand of* cultivation. Never- theless, the highest degree of cultivation practised on an individual would operate but little on that individual himself. He might be conquered, but he would be un- tamed ; his wild nature would still appear under all the mask that fear and hunger might cover him with : nei- ther is there any doubt but he would escape the first moment it was in his power, and instinctively seek his native plains. By some extraordinary provision of na- ture, the rational faculties of the mind are found to be equally capable of hereditary cultivation as the form of the body ^^ ; and the powers and energies derived from cultivation are handed down from sire to son, and receive additional improvement, as discipline and care are bestowed to bring the intellectual phenomena into action. This hereditary transit of cultivated qualities, this genealogical accumulation of knowledge, has never met with sufficient consideration among philosophers and ^' Precisely to understand how the faculties, under cultivation, become capable of being handed down in hereditary descent equally with the improved person, would require a knowledge of the mutual dependance that mind and body have on each other, and of the ex- act nature of the connection between them. That the intellectual functions are intimately connected with the organization and physi- cal condition of the brain, we are certain ; and although we have reason to consider the brain as only the organ by which the intellec- tual phenomena are administered, yet it will be evident that any increase in either the quantity or quality of the brain will enlarge the means whereby such phenomena are produced. That the vo- lume of brain is increased in the cultivated dog, every one must admit who remarks the difference between the expanded head of the domestic, and the more narrow and contracted one of the wild breeds. INTRODUCTION. , 51 naturalists ; and yet most of the phenomena observed in our domestic animals calculated to excite wonder, and frequently to create doubt, however true, mainly depend on it. That the intellectual powers are capable of cultivation, in both the animal and his progeny, ap- pears from numerous facts we daily witness. The fear of man, now so general among animals, is only a cultivated quality, if credit is to be given to numerous accounts related by travellers. Gmelin informs us, that the foxes in Siberia came readily towards him. BoUGANviLLE relates the same of the animals in the Falkland islands. The first European visiters to Dusky Bay, in New Zealand, were surrounded by birds, who settled on them, and became an easy prey to the cats on board their ships. Among ourselves, in districts where game is strictly preserved, the pheasants, par- tridges, and hares, feed close around us. The fearless- ness of the robin, wren, martin, and swallow, arises from a traditional consciousness that they are never in- terrupted: our sparrows and rooks, on the contrary, learn to avoid man as a constant enemy, and can dis- tinguish when he is armed with a gun, almost as soon as they are out of the nest. The pointing and setting of our sporting dogs is a property common to every kind of dog ; but it is improved and cultivated in these im- mediate breeds to a particular purpose. This property descends with the race, in some instances, so perfectly, as to require in the descendants no breaking or train- ing. Nature undoubtedly gave to the original dog all the ferocity so usually met with in the English mastiff; but the determined perseverance in battle, the contempt of pain, danger, and death, that characterize the bull- dog, is wholly a cultivated qtiality. It is the same in our game fowls ; for in the East, from whence they are derived, they arc not courageous. From all that has 52 INTRODUCTION. preceded, it may be gained that the judicious cultiva- tion of the dog has fostered and improved his personal and mental qualities to their present state of perfection. By the beauty of his form, he becomes a pleasing object to our eyes ; but principally is he rendered interesting to us by his utility and many amiable qualities ; in which last point of view a boundless field opens itself. If I might be allowed to draw a comparison between the human and brute character, I should hope to be able to prove, that whatever is noble, generous, and amiable in man, will meet with no mean counterpart in the dog. Is courage a human attribute universally esteemed ? Where can it be found in a more eminent degree than in the canine species ? The bull-dog attacks all animals, indiscriminately, without fear; and his fortitude is such, that, until he conquers his enemy, no suiFerings short of extinction can make him forego his purpose. The smallest dog, when enraged, heedless of the conse- quences, will attack one infinitely larger than himself; and, in these instances, we have frequently an oppor- tunity of observing bravery in its noblest form, as united with mercy ; for it is seldom that a large dog so attack- ed will hurt a small one. Mr. Dibdin says, " I had a " yard-dog, that had every thing of the wolf but the " ferocity. He was gentle as a lamb ; nothing ofi'ered " to himself could insult him ; but no roused lion could " be more terrible if any of the family, or the other ** dogs, were insulted." Are constancy and fidelity virtues ? The dog is the acknowledged emblem of them. His fidelity is wholly disinterested, and is not to be corrupted ; nor is any bribe, however tempting, sufiicient to make him betray a trust reposed in him. In London streets, we every day see carts and waggons watched by these faithful INTRODUCTION. 53 guardians in the absence of the drivers ; and, among the numerous stratagems employed by thieves to draw off the attention of the owners or drivers of these carriages, we never hear of any such attempt being successful while there is a dog at hand. During the still hours of night, this vigilant protector refuses sleep, and is continually on the watch. Common noises alarm him not ; but a whisper, a soft footstep, or any unusual sound, he interprets into danger to his master, and he employs all his might to prevent the perpetration of the threatened evil- In the country, the shepherd trusts his sheep to his dog, while he pursues his avocations at a distance, well assured that they will be carefully attend- ed to. The peasant's cur guards the coat and scanty meal of his master in the fields. The butcher, profiting by the fidelity of his dog, leaves his meat with no other protector ; and though the animal's support is derived from the bits and parings that come from this very meat ; and though he might, without present danger, satisfy his appetite ; yet he honestly refrains, and waits with patience for what may be gratuitously bestowed. I was once called from dinner in a hurry, to attend to something that occurred : unintentionally I left a fa- vourite cat in the room, together with a no less favour- ite spaniel. When I returned, 1 found the spaniel, who was not a small one, extending her whole length along the table, by the side of a leg of mutton which I had left. On my entrance, she shewed no signs of fear, nor did she immediately alter her position ; I was sure, therefore, that none but a good motive had placed her in this extraordinary situation : nor had I long to con- jecture. Puss was skulking in a corner ; and, though the mutton was untouched, yet her conscious fears clearly evinced that she had been driven from the table in the act of attempting a robbery on the meat, to 54 INTRODUCTION. which she was too prone, and that her situation liad been occupied by this faithful spaniel, to prevent a re- petition of the attempts. Here wdiS fidelity united with great intellect, and wholly free from the aid of instinct. This property of guarding victuals from the cat, or from other dogs, was a daily practice of this animal ; and, while cooking had been going forward, the floor might have ])een strewed with edibles : they would have been all safe from her own touch, and as carefully guarded from that of others. A similar property is common to many dogs, but to spaniels particularly. Perhaps the following instance of unwearied con- stancy can hardly be equalled : it was related to me, many years ago, by an old inhabitant of the parish in which it occurred ; and I have so much dependance on the probity of the gentleman who told it to me, tliat I can venture to answer for its authenticity: — In the parish of Saint Olave, Tooley Street, Borough, the churchyard is detached from the church, and sur- rounded with high buildings, so as to be wholly inac- cessible but by one large close gate, and by the windows which look into it. A poor tailor, of this parish, dying, left a small cur dog inconsolable for his loss. The little animal would not leave his dead master, not even for food ; and whatever he ate was forced to be placed in the same room with the corpse. When the body was removed for burial, this faithful attendant followed the coffin. After the funeral, he was driven out of the churchyard by the sexton, who, the next day, again found the animal, who had made his way by some un- accountable means (probably through some cellar win- dow) into the enclosure, and had dug himself a bed on the grave of his master. Once more he was hunted out, and again he was found in the same situation the fol- lowing day. The minister of the parish hearing of the INTRODUCTION. 55 circumstance, had him caught, taken home, and fed, and endeavoured by every means to win the animal's affections: but they were wedded to his late master; and, in consequence, he took the first opportunity to escape, and regain his lonely situation. With true be- nevolence, the worthy clergyman permitted him to fol- low the bent of his inclinations ; and, to soften the rigour of his fate, he built him, upon the grave, a small ken- nel, which was replenished once a day with food and water. Two years did this example oi fidelity and con- stancy pass in this manner, when death put an end to his griefs; and the extended philanthropy of the good clergyman allowed his remains an asylum with his be- loved master'^. I have seen a poodle dog, the property of the Ma rqu is of Worcester; which dog was taken by him from the grave of his former owner, a French officer, who, having been killed at the battle of Salamanca, had been buried on the spot. This dog had remained on the grave till he was nearly starved, and even then was re- ^^ Marie Antoinette avoit au Temple un cliieii qui Tavoit constamment suivie. Lorsqu'elle fiit transferree a la Conciergerie, le chieii y vient avec elle ; mais on ne la laissa pas entier dans cette nouvelle prison. II attendit longtemps au guichet, ou il fut mal- traite par les gendarmes, qui lui donncrent des coups de baionettes: ces mauvais traitemens n'ebranlerent point sa fidelite : il resta tou- jours prt'S de I'endroit ou etoit sa maitresse : et lorsqu'il se sentoit presse par la faim, il alloit dans quelques maisons voisines du palais, ou il trouvoit a manger. II revenoit ensuite se couclier u la porte de la Conciergerie. Lorsque Marie Antoinette eut perdue la vie sur Tecliafaud, le chien velloit toujours a la porte de sa prison; il continuoit d'aller chereher quelques debris de cuisine chez les trai- teurs du voisinage; mais il ne se donnoit a personne, et il revenoit toujours au porte ou sa fidelite I'avoit place — il y'etoit encore en 1795, et teut le quartier le designoit sous le noni de C/iien de la Rein. 56 INTRODUCTION. moved with difficulty ; so faithful was he even to the remains of him he had tenderly loved. I have known many dogs whose habit has been, as soon as left by their owners, to search for something belonging immediately to them— generally some article of dress. This has been carried by the animal to his bed, or into one corner of the room ; and to lie upon, or to watch this, without stirring from it till the owner's return, has been all his employ, and seemingly his only solace. Many dogs have an universal philanthropy, if I may so express it — a general attachment to all mankind. Others are not indiscriminately friendly to every one ; but such, almost invariably, make it up by a more ar- dent and a more durable regard for those they do love. Perhaps the duration of an attachment in these animals heightens our ideas of the intellectual powers, even more than the immediate ardency of it; for the con- stancy of it combines memory, reflection, and senti- ments, that completely soar above instinctive impulses. This regard for particular persons is so great, that it frequently interferes with, and, now and then, totally overcomes their instinctive care for their young. Here the moral principle is at war with the instinctive, which gives place to the superior powers of pure intellect. Dogs forcibly separated from those they love, frequently refuse food for many days : some have actually starved themselves; and others, taking just enough to support nature, have more gradually exhausted themselves, and at length have died of grief. The same has occasionally oc- curred when they have been separated from each other. Two spaniels, mother and son, were self hunting, in Mr. Drake's w^oods, near Amersham, Bucks. The gamekeeper shot the mother ; the son, frightened, ran INTRODUCTION. 57 away for an hour or two, and then returned to look for his mother. Having found her dead body, he laid him- self down by her, and was discovered in that situation the next day by his master, who took him home, together with the body of the mother. Six weeks did this affec- tionate creature refuse all consolation, and almost all nutriment. He became at length universally convuls- ed, and died of grief. I have also seen several instances of dogs voluntarily undertaking the office of nurse to others, who have been sick. When we consider the warmth of their feelings, and the tenderness of their regard, this is not to be wondered at, if it happens among those habituated to one another; but I have occasionally observed it amono- those who were nearly strangers to each other. One very particular case occurs to my recollection, where a large dog, of the mastiff breed, hardly full grown, at- tached himself to a very small spaniel ill with distem- per ; from which the large dog was himself but newly recovered. He commenced this attention to the spaniel the moment he saw it, and, for several weeks, he con- tinued it unremittingly, licking him clean, following him every where, and carefully protecting him from harm. When the large dog was fed, he has been seen to save a portion, and to solicit the little one to eat it; and, in one instance, he was observed to select a favourite mor- sel, and carry it to the kennel where the sick animal lay. When the little dog was, from ilhiess, unable to move, the large one used to sit at the door of his kennel, where he would remain for hours, guarding him from interrup- tion. Here was no instinct, no interest ; it was wholly the action of the best qualities of the mind. In the human species, gratitude has ever been consi- dered as one of the highest virtues. Where shall we see it exhibited in a more interesting point of view than E •^8 INTRODUCTION. by these admirable animals ? A benefit is never forgot- ten by the majority of them; but for injuries, they have the shortest memory of any living creature. Every per- son must have been an eye-witness to many facts of this kind ; but my opportunities of seeing different dogs have presented me with such varied occasions, where gratitude has been displayed in its fullest extent, that I may be permitted to mention one or two. A large setter, ill with the distemper, had been most tenderly nursed by a lady for three weeks : at length he became so ill as to be placed on a bed, where he re- mained three days in a dying situation. After a short absence, the lady, on re-entering the room, observed him to fix his eyes attentively on her, and make an effort to crawl across the bed towards her : this he ac- complished, evidently for the sole purpose of licking her hands ; which having done, he expired without a groan. I am fully convinced that the animal was sen- sible of his approaching dissolution, and that this was a last forcible effort to express his gratitude for the care taken of him. The following anecdotes tend to set the sagacity of the dog in a favourable point of view ; but the instances of strong intellectual capacity are so common, that it is probable the experience of every one conversant with dogs will furnish many such : — A native of Germany, fond of travelling, was pur- suing his course through Holland, accompanied by a large dog. Walking, one evening, on a high bank which formed one side of a dike, or canal, so common in that country, his foot slipped, and he was precipi- tated into the water; and, being unable to swim, he soon became senseless. When he recovered his recol- lection, he found himself in a cottage, on the contrary side of the dike to that from which he fell, surrounded INTRODUCTION. 59 by peasants, who had been using the means so gene- rally practised in that country for the recovery of drowned persons. The account given by the peasants was, that one of them, returning home from his labour, observed, at a considerable distance, a large dog in the water swimming and dragging, and sometimes pushing, something that he seemed to have great difficulty in supporting ; but which he, at length, succeeded in get- ting into a small creek on the opposite side to that on which the men were. When the animal had pulled what he had hitherto supported as far out of the water as he was able, the peasant discovered that it was the body of a man. The dog, having shaken himself, began industriously to lick the hands and face of his master, while the peasant has- tened across ; and, having obtained assistance, the body was conveyed to a neighbouring house, where the re- suscitating means used soon restored him to sense and recollection. Two very considerable bruises, with the marks of teeth, appeared, one on his shoulder, the other at the root of the poll of the head : from these circum- stances his master seemed convinced that the faithful beast first seized him by the shoulder, and swam with him in this manner some time ; but that his sagacity had prompted him to let go this hold, and shift it to the nape of the neck, by which he had been enabled to support the head out of the water. I should, in justice to the gratitude of this gentleman, who related the cir- cumstances to me himself, state that, wherever he after- wards boarded, he always voluntarily gave half as much for the support of his dog as he agreed to give for himself, by which extreme liberality he insured the greatest care and kindness for his preserver. In relating the following, I shall possibly stagger the faith of some: I can only remark, that I would not E2 60 INTRODUCTION. willingly trespass the bounds of truth. The facts were detailed to me by several persons of veracity, who pro- fessed to have been eye-witnesses of them ; and all the circumstances appeared to be well known in the neigh- bourhood. A butcher and cattle dealer, who resided about nine miles from the town oi Alston, in Cumberland, bought a dog of a drover. This butcher was accustomed to pur- chase sheep and kine in the vicinity, which, when fat- tened, he drove to Alston market, and sold. In these excursions he was frequently astonished at the adroit- ness of his dog, and at the extreme dexterity with which he managed the cattle. At last, so convinced was he of his sagacity as well as fidelity, that he wagered he would entrust him with a certain number of oxen and sheep to drive, wholly unattended, to Alston market. It was stipulated that no person should be within sight or hearing who had the least controul over the dog ; nor was any spectator to interfere, nor be within a given distance. On trial, this extraordinary animal proceeded with his business in the most steady and dexterous manner; and although he had frequently to drive his charge through other herds who were grazing, yet he never lost one, but, conducting them into the very yard to which he was used to drive them when with his master, he significantly delivered them up to the person appointed to receive them, by barking at his door. What more particularly marked the dog's sagacity was, that, when the path the herd travelled lay through a spot where others were grazing, he would run forward, stop his own drove, and then, driving the others away, col- lect his scattered charge, and proceed. He was, I believe, several times afterwards thus sent alone, for the amusement of the curious or the convenience of his master, and always acquitted himself in the same INTRODUCTION. 61 adroit and intelligent manner. The story reaching the ears of a gentleman travelling in that neighbourhood, he bought the dog for a considerable sum of money. Extraordinary as the circumstances are, I have no doubt whatever as to the perfect correctness of the statement. I resided for a twelvemonth within a few miles of the spot, and, as I before observed, the whole appeared fresh in every one's recollection. I remember watching a shepherd's boy in Scotland, who was sitting on the bank of a wide but shallow stream. A sheep had stiayed to a considerable dis- tance on the other side of the water ; the boy, calling to his dog, ordered him to fetch that sheep back, but to do it gently, for she was heavy in lamb. I do not affect to say that the dog understood the reason for which he was commanded to perform this office in a more gentle manner than usual ; but that he did understand he was to do it gently was very evident, for he immediately marched away through the water, came gently up to the side of the sheep, tunied her towards the rest, and then both dog and sheep walked quietly side by side back to the flock. I was scarcely ever more pleased at a trifling incident in rural scenery than at this. The natural sagacity of the dog, united with a teach- able disposition, was early turned by man to many useful purposes. In antient history we have many relations of cultivated talents in dogs, as well as many anecdotes of extraordinary feats performed by them. Some breeds inherit this aptitude more than others, though all are sufficiently docile. The barbet, or poodle, is a prominent instance : I have seen several of these who have performed the ordinary offices of a servant ; they would run on errands, shut the door, ring the bell, &c. &c. In some instances they have been sent to con- 52 INTRODUCTION. siderable distances^ with letters, parcels, &c.— -The farce of the Deserter, got up some years ago at AsT- ley's, and performed wholly by dogs, exhibited the most astonishing proof of their teachable and imitative disposition that it is possible to conceive. I shall conclude this summary of the moral qualities of the dog, by noticing a property in him, which, if it has not altogether escaped the observation of philoso- phers and naturalists, it has certainly been but very cursorily noticed. It is, however, a subject worthy the most attentive investigation of the metaphysician and zoologist; and when its importance is considered, from the extraordinary nature of the phenomena it displays, it is only surprising that it has not before received a full investigation. This property may be justly called a sixth sense^^, although it has no outward organs con- 37 1 have been told that the late Mr. Harvey Combe sent a New- foundland dog: from Andover, in Hampshire, to Hyde Park Corner. Mr. Combe had, on passins^ throuo^h the turnpike, purposely placed his gloves on the chimney mantel-piece, in presence of the dog. When Mr. C. arrived at Andover, he despatched the dog back for his gloves, with which the sagacious animal returned in a shorter time than was supposed sufficient for the task. 32 Dr. RoGET, in a lecture delivered at the Koyal Institution, took some notice of what he termed a sixth sense that had been observed by him in bats, and some other animals, but which sense appears totally distinct from the faculty of observing distances. The pro- perty Dr. R. notices is that whereby some animals are enabled to perceive the situation of external objects without seeing or coming in contact with them. Spallanzani had noticed this long before. Mr. Jacobson has lately discovered, at the bottom and fore part of the nostrils, in some quadrupeds, certain organs, which communicate with the mouth, arc amply supplied with nerves and blood-vessels, and which seem to him to be the seat of some peculiar faculty ; but INTUODUCTION. 63 nectcd with it. All animals, man excepted, have it : it is altogether uuallied to any principle of intelligence in the human mind; and is totally distinct from the five outward senses common to both man and inferior ani- mals. Neither is memory at all concerned in it : it is purely instinctive, and is therefore seldom found to err ; and, being instinctive, it is very universally dis- tributed. This sixth sense is that whereby a dog, re- moved to a distance, is enabled to return alone, although the intervening portions of the distance are utterly un- known to him, and that, in such return, it is evident he can neither be assisted by seeing, hearing, smelling, or recollection. whether of the sixth sense noticed by Dr. Roget, or of that of the judgment of distances, or of some other, he is not able to decide. With regard to the perception of external objects " without vision" (I would rather say without apparent light) or contact, there are other ways of accounting for this property w ithout the intervention of a sixth sense. When we know that a condur (vultur gryphus, Lin.) can either see or smell, and perhaps both, a carcass, one or tAvo miles distant, we can readily conceive that the eye in nocturnal and crepuscular animals may be so exquisitely susceptible, as to be stimulated by rays of light infinitely finer than our organs can perceive. This perception might also be accounted for by the acuteness of smelling, which we know is, in some animals, so great, that the ap- proach of many objects is ascertained by it without vision. Another mode by which the situation of objects is perceived without seeing or coming in contact with them, is by means of the ears: this prin- cipally relates to large objects. It is not difficult to accustom one- self to walk by the side of a wall or along a dark passage, so as neither to touch the wall nor swerve from the centre of the passage. The sonorous rays reverberated (even the breathing may efiect this) from the objects, and again striking the ear, may enable it to judge of the distance by the acuteness of the sound, or the length of its return. This perception of large objects, without seeing or contact, 1 have often witnessed. 64 INTRODUCTION. If a man was travelling over an extensive plain, and a heavy fall of snow was suddenly to obscure his sight of the track, and other surrounding objects that might otherwise serve as guides, he would soon become be- wildered : all his senses would be useless to him ; and he would be, at length, utterly at a loss how to proceed. If he should deviate one moment from the straight line, he would become immediately involved in inexplicable embarrassment, and will be as likely to pursue a totally apposite direction, as to follow that which would con- duct him to his house. No such thing happens to either a dog or a horse ; on the contrary, when all track is lost, when no object appears but the falling mass, turn either the one or the other round as many times as you will, and endeavour even to bewilder him, yet, the moment he is left at his liberty, with little or no he- sitation he will turn his head towards home, and, if un- molested, will arrive there in safety. It is evident that neither the dog nor the horse, so situated, can see through the falling snow ; it is equally impossible for either to smell his way ; for if the distance is one, two, or three hundred miles, the faculty is alike active and certain. Neither can remembrance operate, for no sur- rounding object can become evident to assist. — Camels, who travel many hundred miles over sandy desarts, never mistake their road. Pigeons, removed under the closest covering, to a distance they have never before travelled, when set at liberty, immediately return. Lith- Gow assures us, that pigeons carry letters from Babylon to Aleppo in thirty hours, which require thirty days to be carried by a man. Bees, and other insects, readily return to any given spot without hesitation. Indeed, their whole life is spent in wandering, and without such a faculty they could never find their homes. A gentleman brought from Newfoundland a dog of INTRODUCTION. 65 the true breed for his brother, who resided in the neigh- bourhood of Thames Street, but who, having no other means of keeping the animal, except in close confine- ment, preferred sending him to a friend living in Scot- land. The dog, who had originally been disembarked at Thames Street, was again re-embarked at the same place, on board a Berwick Smack ; by which means, during his stay in London, he had never travelled half a mile from the spot he first landed at. During the short time he remained, he had, however, contracted an afiection for his master; and, when he arrived in Scotland, his regrets at the separation induced him to take the first opportunity of escaping; and, though he was certainly unacquainted with eveiy yard of the road, yet he found his way back in a very short time to his former residence on Fish Street Hill; but in so -ex- hausted a state, that he had only time to express his joy at seeing his master, and expired within an hour after his amval. Dogs losing their owners in the most remote and in- tricate parts of London, which they have never before visited, readily return by the same instinctive principle; and instances have occurred where they have found their way back from foreign countries even. Before I conclude this interesting subject, I would remark that dogs, in addition to the capability of tra- versing distances aright that are new to them, have also the faculty of remarking time, and of informing them- selves of the recurrence of determined periods. A dog was visited every Sunday by his master, and only on that day ; but, although no alteration \^natever took place in surrounding appearances, on that day he invariably placed himself at the door in silent expecta- tion till his master arrived. — '^ A dog trudged two miles " every Saturday to market, to cater for himself in the 66 INTRODUCTION " shambles : on that day, and on that day only, did he " ever attempt it." — New York Post. Many instances of similar observation have been noticed, which prove that the passage of time is marked by these animals, as well as the direction of situation and judgment of distance. Would my reader's patience to read, continue as long as mine to write on this subject, we should accompany each other through volumes. Innumerable anecdotes, tending to display the valuable properties and amiable qualities of the dog, crowd on my recollection : but I would indulge a hope that enough has been brought forward to prove him worthy of the highest estimation ; and to create for him such an interest as will insure that care and attention which he so eminently deserves. ■fTT -^ -f^^r-.' DISEASES OF DOGS. A WORK of this kind will not admit of an anatomical dis- play of the internal organs, nor of a minute inquiry into the animal economy of the dog. In the present state of canine medicine, it is sufficient to be aware, that the viscera of this animal bear so close a resemblance in anatomical structure to the same parts in the human subject, that to study the one, is tog-ain an acquaintance with the other. This resemblance is particularly striking between the or- gans concerned in the assimilation of food, and which is not to be wondered at, when we consider that both the subjects they belong to are omnivorous; and to which cause it is probable we must attribute the close affinity that exists be- tween their diseases also. This similarity of disease does not, however, equally extend to all the domestic animals around us. On the contrary, in some of them, the analogy wholly fails, and to this it is owing that the medical treat- ment of dogs has hitherto made such small progress. The human physician thinks the matter beneath his notice, and the veterinarian finds it beyond his comprehension. I have had innumerable opportunities of witnessing, and lamenting, this total want of experience and information on canine medi- cine, even among the best veterinarians ; and until it is studied as a distinct branch of art, it will remain so. Not only do the maladies of the canine race very nearly resemble those of the human species, in cause, appearance, and effect ; but the similarity is extended to the number and variety of them also : as may be seen by a reference to the nosological catalogue, where many complaints will be found 68 DISEASES OF DOGS. that have no existence among- other domestic animals. These affinities will, however, cease to excite wonder when we consider that, in addition to the complexity of structure in dog's, their complete domestication has subjected them to lives wholly artificial, and, in many instances, to habits the most unhealthy. But although the analogies between the human and canine diseases are so striking-, yet circumstances exist that would foil the most experienced physician, equally with the most able veterinarian, in his attempts at a successful curative prac- tice on dogs, without a particular and diligent attention to canine pathology, as a distinct branch of the ars medendi. In many diseases of the dog, every thing- must depend on the experience and acuteness of the practitioner, in detecting- the immediate seat of the complaint. Important exceptions to the strict analogy I have noticed, likewise occur, which would embarrass both the human and veterinary physicians. A prominent instance presents itself in the specific canine diseases, which are wholly unlike any human malady. Ano- ther important deviation arises from the different effects that some of the remedies employed have on the two subjects. Ten grains of calomel, though a full dose, is by no means a destructive one to a human subject, yet I have seen a larg-e pointer killed by this quantity, which had been ordered by an eminent surgeon ; this would not however always happen. On the other hand, three drams of aloes, which would pro- bably prove fatal to nine human persons out of ten, mig-ht be taken by some large dog-s with impunity. A do^ could take, without much derang-ement, a dose of opium which would destroy a man ; on the contrary, the quantity of nux vomica, or crowfig, that would destroy the larg-est dog-, would fail to destroy a man. Between the effects produced by many medi- cinal articles on the stomachs of other domestic animals, and that of the dog, a still more marked distinction, or, at least, a more universal one, exists. It will therefore be evident, that neither the human physician, nor the veterinary practi- tioner, can be equal to a successful medical practice on dog-s. DISEASES OF DOGS. 69 without much experience thereon, and a professed and par- ticular attention to the subject. When, also, the existing- disease has been ascertained, and the appropriate treatment has been determined on, still ano- ther difficulty often presents itself; which is, how to admi- nister the remedy. Now and then, dogs prove very refrac* tory, and no small degree of force is necessary to get any medicine down. In general cases, however, a slight degree of dexterity will accomplish the purpose. The most convenient Mode of Administering Remedies. Place the dog upright on his hind legs, between the knees of a seated person, with his back inwards (a very small dog may be taken altogether into the lap). Apply a napkin round his shoulders, bringing it forwards over the fore legs, by which they become secured from resisting. The mouth being now forced open by the pressure of the fore finger and thumb upon the lips of the upper jaw, the medicine can be conveniently introduced with the other hand, and passed sufficiently far into the throat to insure its not being returned. The mouth should now be closed, and it should be kept so, until the matter given has been seen to pass down. When the animal is too strong to be managed by one person, ano- ther assistant is requisite to hold open the mouth ; which, if the subject is very refractory, is best effected by a strong piece of tape applied behind the holders or fangs of each jaw. The difference between giving liquid and solid medicines is not considerable. A ball or bolus should be passed completely over the root of the tongue, and dexterously pushed some way backwards and downwards. When a liquid remedy is given, if the quantity is more than can be swallowed at one effort, it should be removed from the mouth between each deglutition, or the dog may be strangled. The head should 70 ' DISEASES OF DOGS. also be completely secured, and a little elevated, to prevent the liquid remedy from ag^ain running- out. Balls of a soft consistence, and those composed of nauseous ingredients, should be wrapped in silver or other thin paper, and greased, or they may occasion so much disgust as to be returned. Medicines wholly without taste, as mercurials, antimonials, &c. may be frequently given in the food ; but sometimes a considerable inconvenience attends this, which is, that, if the deception is discovered by the dog, he will ob- stinately refuse his food for some time afterwards. The purg- ing salts may also be sometimes given in food, being mistaken by the animal for the sapid effect produced by common salt. Dogs are not only very susceptible of disease, but, when ill, they require great attention and care to insure their recovery. It is however too common with many persons to neglect them under these circumstances ; and if they are placed in a cold room, or an outhouse, with stale or broken victuals and water placed before them, it is frequently all the attention they experience : unless, perhaps, to all this may be added, some- thing of doubtful efficacy as a remedy. But when we con- sider how very tender many of these animals are rendered by confinement and artificial habits, it will be clear that, un- der sickness, they must require peculiar care and attention. Warmth seems particularly congenial to the feelings of sick dogs, and is often of more consequence to their recovery than is imagined. Many of their diseases degenerate into convul- sions when the sick are exposed to cold. Cleanliness, and a change of their litter or bed, is very grateful to them in many cases of putridity, as in distemper, &c. Complaints purely inflammatory, it is evident, must be treated by abstinence ; but, in all others, the weakness present must be combated by nutritious aliment. It is not sufficient, as is often imagined, that food, particu- larly of the common kind, be merely placed before a sick dog. In many sucli cases, the appetite wholly fails ; and, if even the animal could eat, the stomach would not at this DISEASES OF DOGS. 71 time digest hard meat, or any of the common matters usually given to dogs. In these instances, nourishment is best re- ceived from strong broths, gravy, jelly, or gruel ; or, perhaps, best of all, from thick gruel and a strong animal jelly, mixed • for I have always remarked, that no simple liquid will afford equal nutriment with one thickened with flour or other meal. Sick dogs are also very fanciful, and often require enticino- to eat, by the same arts we use towards children. Fresh meat of any kind, but very lightly broiled, will sometimes tempt them. At others, pork, in particular, is highly relished • while, in some cases, raw meat alone will be taken. But in almost all cases, if the slightest inclination for food remains horse-flesh, lightly dressed, will be found irresistible ; so o-reat is their preference for this food. The extreme fickleness of their appetite, when sick, makes it necessary that every kind of edible should be tried, as that which is voluntarily taken will always digest more readily than that which is forcibly given. But in all illnesses of long continuance, when food is obstinately refused, nourishment should be forced down. In cases requiring active cordials, ale may be mixed with gruel or gravy. Wine is seldom advisable, from its disposition to inflame the bowels. I have, however, now and then used it with benefit in highly putrid cases of distemper ; in which instances forced meat balls also prove both nutritious and an active cordial. The intenseness of mental feeling in the dog is at all times great, but under disease it appears doubled ; and althouo-h it may, to a superficial observer, look like an affectation of ten- derness, it is a very necessary caution to observe, that at these times ♦heir minds should be soothed by every means in the power of those around them. Harshness of manner and un- kind treatment, in many instances, very evidently ao-o-ravate their complaints. Under some diseases their irritability of mind is particularly apparent. Distemper is a very prominent example of this. I have several times witnessed an angry 72 DISEASES OF DOGS. word spoken to a healthy dog", produce instant convulsions in a distempered one who happened to be near ; and the fits that come on spontaneously in distemper, almost instantly leave the dog- by soothing notice, so open are they to mental im- pressions. Joy and surprise will also often prove injurious to them when they are very weak. Even among- those who conceive themselves minutely ac- quainted with dogs (and who probably are so with the sport- ing- kinds, and with such as live more natural lives in the open air of the country, with the advantages of moderate feeding- and due exercise) there will be many who will reg^ard these extreme cautions as unnecessary. The number and variety of the diseases quoted will also probably excite their surprise ; and, unaware of the existence even of many of them, they will be apt to consider the diversity of symptomatic appear- ances described, the cautions insisted on, and the minuteness of detail in the medical treatment, as, in a great degree, su- perfluous : but a little further inquiry will satisfy such, that no animals can differ more widely than the dog-s they are accustomed to, and those that are born, bred, and perhaps constantly reside in cities, towns, or other confined situations. These instructions are necessarily confined to no one meridian: as well as the more healthy country animal, they embrace also the pet, and pampered favourite, that is perhaps im- mured, twenty-three out of the twenty-four hours, in a hot drawing or bed-room, breathing the same confined air, eating the same luxurious food, and exercising- in the same easy car- riage, with his owner. A life so wholly artificial alters the mental and bodily properties to such a deg-ree, of such as are subjected to it, that their constitutional tendency to disease is nearly as great as that of those they belong to : under dis- ease their irritability is nearly equal, the diversities of their symptoms nearly as numerous ; and, consequently, that they require every portion of that caution and attention I have prescribed to insure their recovery. DISEASES OF DOGS. 73 The alphabetical arrangement of the former edition has been objected to by the professional critic, as not sufficiently scholastic for the reputation of a teacher of medicine. It was then, as it is now, my anxious wish to make the Canine Pathology extensively useful, and a work of general refer- ence anions: the diversified classes whose interest, or amuse- ment, may connect them with dogs. A nosological arrange- ment of diseases, expressed in appropriate terms of art, would undoubtedly have given to the whole an appearance of greater medical erudition ; and had 1 written solely with a view to professional fame, or had I intended the work for the exclusive reading of those wiio had been medically edu- cated, I should certainly, both in the language and arrange- ment of it, have differed from my present mode, although the substance would have been still the same. But as the professional reader will not find the instructions contained in it less efficacious for being divested of medical technicalities, and as the unprofessional one will much more readily com- prehend them in their present form, so I hope I shall stand excused by all parties for having continued in the most plain and simple track of alphabetical arrangement; which, al- though it precludes systematic display, yet greatly increases the facility of reference. For this reason, likewise, I have made the Pathology not only a catalogue of diseases, but of symptoms also ; by which means those unaccustomed to professional reading may ascertain the existing disease by the leading feature or symptom of it. In compliance, how- ever, with medical taste, I have, in this edition, given the prescriptions in the chemical or pharmaceutical terms, sub- joining however, as before, the popular and long received names of the various medicaments in use. I hope that some dependance may be placed on the curative plans detailed ; they are the result of twenty years* extensive practice, in each year of which I have examined from two to three thousand sick dogs. The different ailments, as they occurred, were diligently attended to ; the operations of the various remedies used were carefully observed ; and the ge- F 74 AGE OF DOGS. neral result was accurately noted. In such cases as termin- ated fatally, the morbid appearances were attentively ex- amined, by which much light was thrown on future instances of a similar description. Age of Dogs, Dogs do not, like horses and cattle, present any exact cri- terion of their ag-e ; nevertheless, attention to the following appearances will assist us in determining- the matter. At about four years, the front teeth lose their points, and each of them presents a flattened surface, which increases as the age advances; they likewise lose their whiteness. In dogs fed much on bones, and in those who fetch and carry, as it is caviled, these teeth suffer very much, and are some- times broken out, while the dog is yet young. The holders, or tusks, are also blunted by the same causes. At seven or eight, the hair about the eyes becomes slightly grey* Gra- dually, likewise, a greyish tint extends over the face ; but it is not till ten, eleven, or twelve years, that the eyes lose their lustre. When they become dim, general decay pro- ceeds rapidly, though some last fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen years ; and I have seen a mother and son vigorous at twenty and twenty-one years old. Such instances as the latter must, however, be considered as rare. Now and then an extraordinary exception occurs : — I once saw a small French dog, which I was assured had reached his twenty-fourth year, and which, at the time I saw him, was still vigorous and lively. I am not aware that much difference exists between the various breeds, as to the age they arrive at. Spaniels I, however, think rather long- lived ; while terriers, on the contrary, I have seldom ob- served very old. The natural life of the dog may be consi- dered as ranging between fourteen and fifteen years. Do- mestication has tended, in some degree, to curtail the period, ALTERATIVES. 75 but not so much as mig-hl be expected *, considering the powerful operation of artificial habits. ■^^^s^«s^- Alteratives. There are many states in which, although there appears no very serious disease, yet a sufficient remove from health exists to make some alteration in the constitution necessary. When this is the case, the end may, in general, be attained by alteratives. An actual disease may also exist, whose re- move can be best effected by a slow gradual alteration to be brought about in the constitution by what are, from this cir- cumstance, termed alteratives. Hence excessive fatness, chronic coughs, fits, glandular swellings, mange, &c. &c. are best attacked by these sorts of remedies. Various substances are used as alteratives ; as antimonials, and the different preparations of mercury, iron, and tin. The nitrate of potash (nitre), the supertartrate of potash (cream of tartar), aloes, salines, &c. &c. &c., are excel- lent alteratives. Tartarized antimony (emetic tartar) often proves a very useful alterative in the chronic asthmatic cough to which dogs are subject, given as an emetic once or twice a week in doses of one grain to three. Antimonial powder, or James's Powder, may be also given w^ith benefit as an alterative in similar cases. Crude antimony is often found useful in diseases of the skin : but it is unfortunately very un- • BuFFON calculates the length of life in the dog from the time of his growth. " La duree de la vie est dans le chien, corame dans les autres ani- *' maux, proportionelle au temps de I'accroissemenf, il est environ deux ans « a croitre, ils vit aussi sept fois deux ans."— Buffon, Hist. Nat. torn, v, 223. jElian considers fourteen years as the natural period of life in dogs.— ^LiAN, De Nat Animal. t lib. iv, c. 41. Some of the antients have stated that a difference exists in the duration of life between the sexes, but experience justifies no such distinction.— Ar- aiANUS c?e Venationey c. 32. F 2 76 ALTERATIVES. certain in its operation : that is, some dogs will bear a con- siderable quantity, while others cannot even take a small one without violent sickness. The usual dose is from half a scruple to half a dram. Nitrate of potash {7iitre) is a very useful alterative to dogs for hot itching humours and redness of the skin, in doses of four grains to ten. The supertartrate of potash {cream of tartar) may be also given as an alter- ative with benefit, in larger doses, in the same cases. All the preparations of mercury, though excellent alteratives, require great caution when frequently repeated, or regularly o-iven ; for dogs are easily salivated, and salivation produces very hurtful effects on them. Dotys, when fully salivated, lose their teeth very early, and their breath continues offensive through life. The whole of the feline tribe are also easily affected by mercury. I was requested to inspect the very large lion that so long graced Pidcock's Menagerie. It may be remembered by many, that this noble animal's tongue constantly hung without his mouth ; which arose from his having been injudiciously sali- vated, many years before, by a mercurial preparation ap- plied by the keeper for the cure of mange. The submuriate of mercury (calomel') is, likewise, very irregular in its action on dogs ; 1 have seen eight grains fail to open the bowels of even a small one, w^hile, on the contrary, I have been called to a pointer fatally poisoned by ten grains. It forms, how- ever, a useful auxiliary to purgatives, in doses of three to six grains ; and as it not unfrequently acts on the stomach, so it may be used with advantage as an emetic in some cases, particularly in conjunction with tartarized antimony (tartar emetic). When, therefore, a purgative is brought up again, in which calomel was a component part, it may be suspected to arise from this source, and, if it is necessary to repeat the purge, the mercurial should be omitted. The various preparations of iron form excellent alteratives in some cases of weakness, particularly of the stomach and bowels, for which affections they act best when united with the aromatic bitters. Sulphur is the alterative remedy in the ALTERATIVES. 77 most general use of any ; but its properties in this respect are much overrated. It is a very common practice to put a roll of brimstone into the pans from whence dogs drink their water ; the impregnation of which, by means of the sulphur, is expected to keep the animals in health : but so completely insoluble in water is brimstone in this state, that a roll of it so kept would not lose ten grains of its weight in ten years, nor would it become in the least altered in its quality. Sulphur in powder, or flour of brimstone, as it is termed, is, however, more active ; but even in this form it often passes through the bowels nearly unchanged. It proves, in other instances, slightly purgative. In one disease, however, it seldom fails to do good, even unaccompanied by any thing besides, which is the piles, to which complaint many dogs are very subject. In conjunction with other alteratives of the cooling, cleansing kind, it proves also useful in mangy eruptions, canker, &c. ; and I am disposed to think, that one part of supertartrate of potash {a^eam of tarta?^), with two parts of sulphur, forms the best alterative that can be given in these cases. Externally applied, the benefits of sulphur are much more apparent, and are too well known to need enumeration. The cases that require the use of alteratives are numeious : when judiciously given, they keep dogs cool, and obviate the ill effects of improper feeding and close confinement. In sporting dogs they often prove very useful by removing their useless fat, assisting their wind, and purifying their juices* ; for no dog will hunt well whose secretions are tainted by mange or other eruptions. Alteratives prevent the accu- mulation of milk, as well as the coagulating or coreing of it in the teats of bitches. In short, old mange, cankered ears, chronic coughs, swelled glands, and all diseases of long * Modern pathology allows no primary vitiation of the blood : but whe- ther this theory may not have been carried too far by the partisans of John Hunter, may be a matter of doubt. However, I have no alternative, in a domestic and popular treatise, but to excite ideas that are generally familiar, and to use language in common acceptation. 78 ASTHMA. standing-, are best treated by alteratives, and all diseases that are brought on by confinement and artificial habits are best prevented by them. Asthma, Dogs are subject to a diseased alteration in the organs of respiration, which, however it may differ from some of the varieties of the human complaint of that name, and what- ever dissimilitudes are observable in its general origin, pro- gress, and termination, yet it so nearly resembles that type of the disease called the aerial or dry human asthma, as to justly warrant the application of this popular term. The in- habitants of country towns and villages can form no just idea of the prevalence and destructive nature of this disease in cities, and confined neighbourhoods : in such situations it is a most common complaint, and shortens the lives of thousands. Dogs appear to have no constitutional liability to the disease; on the contrary, its origin may be always traced to the ope- ration of accidental circumstances ; as, close confinement, over feeding, and an extraordinary accumulation of fat ; which latter is the inevitable consequence of the former, and may be considered as the immediate cause of the com^ plaint itself. According to the degree in which these predis- posing causes have been applied, the disease appears earlier or later in life. In some it comes on at three or four years old : in others, rather less improperly managed, it may not appear until seven or eight : but, sooner or later, most dogs, confined in close situations, deprived of exercise, and fed with heating and luxurious food, become subjected to it, and as certainly have their lives shortened by it. The disease is usually very insidious in its attack, com- mencing by a slight cough, which returns at uncertain inter- vals, and is therefore hardly noticed. Gradually, however, the cough becomes more frequent and troublesonje, and assumes its peculiar harsh; dry, and sonorous character : and ASTHMA. 79 is then often mistaken for a bone in the throat, or for sponge having- been designedly given. The cough is now excited by every change of temperature, food, or position ; until, at length, it is almost incessant, and even sleep is interrupted by it. In these latter stages the breathing becomes affected ; sometimes it is very laborious and painful. The irritation of the cough frequently excites nausea and sickness, but nothing is brought up but a little frothy mucus, which does not come from the stomach, as is supposed, but from the bronchial passages, where its presence forms the source of the irrita- tion. When the disease is fully formed, its further progress is quicker or slower as the exciting causes are continued or discontinued. The modes in which it produces its fatal ter- mination are also various. In some cases, the irritation of the cough, and the accom- panying hectic, emaciates and wears down the animal to a skeleton. In others, the congestion within the chest stops respiration, and kills by a sudden suffocation ; or the obstruc- tion the blood meets with in its passage through the heart occasions accumulation in the head, and convulsive fits are the precursors of death. Now and then a rupture of the heart, or of some large blood-vessel, suddenly destroys : but by far the most common termination of the complaint is in dropsy, or serous collections within the chest or belly, or both, but most frequently of the latter. In these cases, the limbs and external parts of the body waste, but the belly increases in its size ; the hair stares ; the breathing becomes most laborious ; and, in the end, suffocation ensues. The morbid appearances, on dissection, are not always the same ; but it may be remarked, that some disorganization is always apparent. In the majority of cases, the visceral marks of disease are very considerable. In some few, a rup- ture of the air cells, very similar to what occurs in some broken-winded horses, is apparent; in which cases, the air extravasating through the parenchymatous substance of the lungs, an emphysematous appearance takes place, and they slightly crepitate under the touch. In some cases, serum has 80 ASTHMA. occupied the air cells : in others, a morbid translation of the external fat was found to have taken place from without in- wards ; by which the diaphragm, large vessels, and the in- terstitial membranes of the chest, becoming obstructed and overcharged with adipose substance, the respiratory func- tions were at length totally suspended. But the most common appearance that the lungs have presented, in asthmatic subjects, after death, has been that of a total change of their natural structure into a hardened granular blueish mass throughout the whole substance. The cure of the disease is attended with much uncertainty, unless it be attempted in the first stages, and before the dis- organization of the respiratory organs has become too great for reduction ; but when it has been of long standing, al- though it may be palliated, it is hardly ever completely re- moved. As confinement and over-feeding are very common causes of the complaint, so it is evident that an attention to these particulars is essentially necessary to the cure. It is unfortunate that the accumulation of fat is, in some dogs, so much a disease, that even a very small quantity of food will still fatten. The food in these cases must, however, be so reduced as to produce absorption of the fat, or it will be in vain to hope for amendment: means to this effect are de- tailed under the head Feeding. An airy place ought to be allowed the animal to sleep in ; but, above all, regular and judicious exercise must be given ; — not violent, but gentle, and long continued. The absorption of the accumulated fat will be materially assisted by a regular exhibition of purga- tives once or twice a week. Bleeding now and then gives a temporary relief, and in the incipient stages, when there is active inflammation, it is proper ; but in the advanced stages it seldom does much good. Among the various plans of treatment I pursued for the cure of this complaint, that which proved most efficacious, was a continued course of emetics given at regular intervals, as twice a week. In the intermediate days alteratives w ere ad- ministered, with the occasional use of a purgative; provided ASTHMA. 81 the dog- was strong-, fat, and plethoric; otherwise this was dispensed with. The use of emetics and alteratives should be long- continued to ensure permanent benefit. The fol- lowing- alterative may be tried with hope of success : the form of emetic may be seen by a reference to the article Emetics. Submuriate of mercury {calomel) half a grain Nitrate of potash {nitre) 5 grains Supertartrate of potash (creawz q/far^ar) . 10 grains Antimonial powder 2 grains.— Mix. This may be g-iven either as a powder, or it may be made into a ball with honey ; the dose being- repeated every morning- ; and, in very bad cases, every evening also. The quantity of the articles may be aug-mented, or diminished, according- to the size of the dog; but the above is a medium proportion. On the morning that the emetic is given, the alterative should be omitted ; and it will also, in cases where the alterative is repeated night and morning, be prudent to watch the mouth, that salivation may not unexpectedly come on. If this should happen, the medicine must be omitted some days. Where also the calomel has been found to disagree, I have substi- tuted the following alterative with benefit : — Nitrate of potash (neYre) 3 grains Tartarized antimony (tartar emetic) 1 quarter of a grain Powdered foxglove half a grain.— Mix. This may be given as the other, and alternated with the emetic also. In some cases of long standing, where the cough has been very harsh, noisy, and distressing, I have added ten, twenty, or thirty drops of tincture of opium (laudanum), or the eighth part of a grain of opium, to each alterative with advantage. In other instances, the cough has been best allayed by an evening opiate of double the strength before prescribed. I have, now and then, experienced benefit also from the use of the balsamic gums, which may be all tried, therefore, in obstinate cases. Relief has been obtained likewise from the following, given every morning : — 82 ASTRINGENTS. Powdered squill halfagrain Gum ammoniacum, powdered 5 grains Balsam Peru 3 grains Benzoic acid 1 grain Anisated balsam of sulphur to form a ball. Or, the following-: — Inspissated white juice of the garden lettuce ... half a dram Tincture of balsam of Tolu 1 dram Powdered gum arabic and extract of liquorice . 1 ounce eacl) Make into balls, and give one night and morning. Mr. YouATT has, I believe, found benefit in asthmatic cases from the exhibition of the prussic acid : but the power- ful nature of this remedy requires professional skill when it is administered. Astringents: Astringents are substances which, from their bracing quality, are used to check immoderate secretions or fluxes. When used to restrain a flux of blood, they are termed styptics : of this kind are alum, dragons blood, &c. A very useful domestic styptic is puff" ball ; so are mole's-fur and cobweb. All these are considered external astringents, and are prin- cipally applicable to wounded blood vessels : but there are internal astring-ents also, applicable to various cases. For instance, there appears oftentimes in dogs a secretion or flow of blood from the penis ; now and then it proceeds higher up from the bladder or kidnies. The same also oc- curs in bitches, from the womb or the vaginal sheath. In these cases, a ball composed of two g-rains of alum, with twenty grains of catechu, mixed and given once or twice a day, proves a moss excellent astringent. The superacetate or sugar of lead, also, I have found sometimes useful in simi- lar cases; but I have not ventured to give more than from one grain to two, even to a large dog, which has been re- peated night and morning. When used as an injection into the womb for the same purpose, it often produces violent BATHING. 83 cholic. An infusion of oak or elm bark may, therefore, be more properly injected in this way in such cases. The astringents used to check diarrhoea, or looseness, are various. Rice milk, suet and milk, or boiled starch, are either of them proper as an astringent diet. Starch clysters may also be used. Opium, by the mouth, is sometimes use- ful, in doses of half a grain to a grain, or more. Prepared chalk, with gum arabic, and ipecacuanha, united in proper proportions, forms, however, the best astringent 1 know of. — See Looseness. Batlimg, Both the warm and the cold bathings of dogs are attend- ed, in many cases, with the happiest effects. Warm bathing seems peculiarly useful in many complaints, and it is some- times of itself a sovereign remedy. In inflammations, par- ticularly of the bowels, it is highly proper. In lumbago and other rheumatisms, which are very common to dogs, it is attended with the best effects. In obstinate costiveness, it will often relax the bowels when every other remedy has failed. When internal injuries have been received from accidents, it relaxes and prevents inflammation. In pupping, sometimes great difficulty is experienced ; in which cases the warm bath frequently relaxes the parts, and the young become more easily expelled. In convulsions and spasms it is also excel- lent. In obstructed urine, from an inflamed state of the neck of the bladder, it has proved a most efficacious remedy. When a warm hath is used for a dog, the heat should be regulated according to the case. In inflammations it should be considerable, and in rheumatisms also ; but it must be re- membered that, from habit, many human persons can bear, without inconvenience, a heat that would be most distressing to a dog; consequently, when it is attempted to ascertain the heat by the hand alone, this circumstance should be con- sidered. 100 to 102 degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer 84 BATHING. is a very considerable heat to dogs, and is only proper in vi- olent inflammations and active rheumatisms. For internal bruises, for spasms, or as a relaxant, 96 to 98 deg-rees is sufficient. The continuance in water is also to be regulated according to circumstances. To relax, as in the labour or pupping of bitches, in slight spasms, or in cases v^here the animals are very weak, or when the bathing is to be renewed daily, ten minutes is a sufficient t.ime to keep them in the water. But in suppression of urine, in violent spasms, cos- tiveness, inflammations, particularly of the bowels ; fifteen or even twenty minutes are not too much. When faintness comes on, it will be seen by the dog's panting and distress, when he should be removed from the water, particularly if it is a case wherein fainting would be prejudicial, as in a pupping bitch. The water should come all over the animal, except the head ; and when any one particular part is affect- ed, that part ought to be rubbed, during the bathing, with the hand. When the dog is removed from the water, the utmost care should be observed to avoid his taking cold by exposure. He should be first rubbed as dry as may be by a change of cloths, and then be put into a clothes basket, wrapped up in a blanket, and there confined till thoroughly dry. Cold bathing is also, in some instances, very useful, parti- cularly in the spasmodic twitchings that succeed distemper ; and in some other cases of habitual weakness, as rickets, &c. : but, for dogs in health, I am convinced that bathing is not so salutary as is often supposed. — See the article Washing of Dogs. bladder, in/lamed. See Inflamed Bladder. BLEEDING. ...BLINDNESS. 85 JBleeding. Dogs are much benefited by bleeding- in many diseases, as inflammations of the lungs, stomach, bowels, &c. In some cases of mange, in dry inflammatory coughs, and in fits, bleed- ing- is very useful also. Dogs may be conveniently bled by the jugular or neck vein, with a fleam or common lancet ; but the latter is much preferable. A ligature of tape or riband being- put round the lower part of the neck, and the head being- held up, the vein will swell and protrude itself on each side of the windpipe, about one inch from it. It will, however, be necessary pre- viously to cut the hair away if it is very thick, after which the puncture can be easily made with a common lancet. Nothing is necessary in general cases to stop the bleeding, but to remove the ligature; nor is any pin, plaster, or band- age, requisite for the orifice. When circumstances prevent blood being drawn from the neck, the ear may be punctured, or an incision may be made withinside of the flap of it, but not through its substance. Or the tail may be cut in despe- rate cases: but, when this is done, it is better to cut off* a small piece than to merely make an incision underneath; for I have seen, when this has been injudiciously done, the whole tail mortify and drop off*. The quantity of blood drawn should be regulated by the size of the dog : for a very small dog, one or two ounces are sufficient; for a middling sized dog, three or four ounces ; and for a large dog, five, six, seven, or eight ounces, according to the size and strength of the patient, and the nature of the disease he labours under. blindness. Dogs may lose the sight of one, or of both eyes, by the operation of several causes. Distemper will often produce an 86 BLISTERS. abscess destructive to one or both. Ophthalmia, or simple inflammation of this org-an, is another source of blindness. Cataract sometimes attacks one or both eyes. Dropsy, also, of the humours within the eye now and then occurs, and de- stroys vision.— The treatment of these several affections is referred to Diseases of the Eyes. Blisters, Blisters are useful in many of the complaints of dogs, and, in some instances, they are absolutely necessary. Blis* ters do not usually vesicate and detach the skin, as in the human subject ; but they irritate and inflame the surface suf- ficiently to answer every purpose required. Blistering- sub- stances for dogs are various ; but the best is that, in common use for the human subject, made of Spanish flies, applied as a plaster, and carefully secured by a bandage. When, how- ever, it is intended, as in very active inflammations, to raise a speedy irritation, blistering* ointment should be made use of; and, to render it still more active, it may be thinned with oil of turpentine. This should be well rubbed into the skin, and a covering carefully secured over the part after. The application may be repeated, in urgent ca:es, every three or four hours. A very quick inflammation may also be raised by common table mustard spread over any part. In inflammations of the stomach, and particularly of the bowels, an excellent and lasting method of irritating the skin may be practised by means of a sheep's or any other hide newly stripped off, and immediately applied and secured to the part. The skin should, however, be first stimulated with hartshorn or tur- pentine. It should be kept in mind, that vesicatories irritate and render dogs very refractory; they should therefore be very closely watched when under their action. BREEDING IN BITCHES. 87 Blood, flowing. See Astringents. -»^*^*^* JBloody Urine. See Urine, Bloody. 'Bowels, constipated. See CosTivENEss. Boivels, irflamed. See Inflamed Bowel Boivels^ loose. See Looseness. Breeding in Bitches. The reproduction of the animal form is broug^ht about, in do^s, by desires that are not constant, but which, among- the wild breeds, recur once a year; and at such a time of it, that the offspring" may be produced under the most favour- able circumstances to their well being, that is, in the spring. But in domesticated dogs, the powerful agencies of cultiva- tion and artificial habits have materially altered many of the phenomena attending the production of their young ; and as shelter and nouriture are found for them at all times of the year, so the periods of their oestrum, or heat, return at on- 88 BREEDING IN BITCHES. certain intervals, as six, seven, or eight months, as confine- ment or highly stimulating* food may hasten the sexual excite- ment*. The heat or cestf'um of bitches is the consequence of a sympathetic action between all the organs concerned in ge- neration, which, at these times, become more highly sus- ceptible and vascular: this shews itself by a swelling of the external parts, and a discharge from the vulva. There are likewise strong marks of general excitement throughout the body ; the plethoric and irritable state of which is such, that those bitches that have been before subject to fits, are now peculiarly liable to them ; and convulsions often appear at this time in those that have not before been affected by them. It is evident, therefore, that the precautions of cooling- food, judicious exercise, and opening medicines, are necessary at these periods, for the young and delicate particularly; and they are still more so for such bitches as are intended to be de- barred from the dog ; for, in these latter cases, that excite- ment remains long in action, which yields easily to the satiety of sexual intercourse. It is not, however, prudent, for several reasons connected with the health of the animals, to prevent females from breeding. Nature almost invariably punishes extraordinary deviations from her established laws, of which the reproductive system is one of the most import- ant. Breeding, therefore, is so much a healthy and necessary process, that bitches debarred from it rarely remain unaffected by disease, and more especially those whose confined and luxurious lives require the various outlets to the superabund- ance of the system, that are opened during the processes of breeding and rearing of young. In such, barrenness is par- ticularly hurtful, and greatly assists in bringing on, sooner or later, enormous and diseased collections of fat either uni- * It has been attempted to bring on heat in bitches by stimulating injec- tions, and it now and then succeeds : but as it is an unnatural process, and as the constitutional sympathy cannot be supposed to be so fully excited as to produce a general consent of parts, impregnation does not always follow the intercourse, and, when it does, the progeny are usually unhealthy. BREEDING IN BITCHES. 89 Tersal or partial. The partial collections frequently shew themselves by a swelling- on each side of the loins, produced by a deposit of adipose substance around each ovaria. In other cases, particularly where barrenness is occasional, the mammae, or milk glands, become affected with small indura- tions, which eventually end in confirmed scirrhi or open ulcers. — See SciRRHUS. A more immediate evil likewise often awaits the preventing- of dogs from breeding, which is, a troublesome accumulation of milk in the mammae, or teats ; for the various organs of generation have such a sympathetic connection with each other, that when females are denied the dog, still, when the customary period of gestation or going with young has passed, milk will nevertheless appear in the lactiferous glands. This sometimes occurs to a very consi- derable deo-ree, and occasions much heat and distention. it is more particularly observed in such females as have already had young ones, and they invariably suifer most in the future privation. In such cases, it is proper gently to press out the milk daily, which will greatly relieve the ani- mal ; the teats should also be frequently bathed with a mixture of brandy and vinegar a little weakened with water. Food should be given sparingly, and an occasional dose of physic will prove useful*. * The author of the Treatise on Greyhounds (whose opinion, as an ob- servant sportsman and breeder, ought to have due weight), remarks, that where breeding has been always prevented, he has never found any injurious effects whatever to follow from it. It is undoubtedly true, and it accords with my own experience, that the constitution having once been subjected to the reproductive process, or, in other words, that bitches once allowed to breed ar** more liable to suffer from the future deprivation of it than those in whom the constitutional sympathies have never been fully excited through- out the generative system. It may also be remarked, in answer to the above statement, that sporting and other dogs accustomed to moderate feeding and regular exercise (which are evidently those Sir W. C. draws his inferences from), will bear this deprivation with much greater impunity than those that are more confined and altogether more artificially treated. But as a law in the animal economy, and as one applicable to the general state and constitu- tion of the dog, the reproduction of the species is a necessary, a natural, G 90 BREEDING IN BITCHES. Bitches in heat are very cunning-, and elude the greatest vig-ilance used to confine them from the dog*. When, there- fore, it is intended to prevent them from breeding, the great- est care is requisite to prevent their escape. For want of due caution in this respect, numbers of them are every year destroyed ; for a bitch having eluded the attempts to restrain her, will naturally unite with the first dog she meets with, which, should it happen to be one of a much larger kind than herself, will so much influence the size of the progeny, that she will be very liable to die in pupping, from the inabi- lity to bring forth. When, therefore, a bitch has so escaped, it will be prudent immediately to follow her; not only to prevent the intercourse altogether, but to guard against the brutal folly of boys and others, whoj when it has taken place, often throw cold water over the animals, or tear them away from each other by violence. I have seen the parts of the female actually suffer inversion from this ; other injurious consequences have also very frequently followed. To the dog, likewise, it is no less hurtful, by fatally rupturing' the blood- vessels of the parts *, or by other lacerations. Impregnation takes place sometimes at the first copulation, in others not until the second, third, or fourth ; and in some and, consequently, a healthy process. This is alike reconcileable to fact as to theory ; for attentive observation extended to all the varieties of the spe- cies, and to the varied circumstances under which they are placed, vrill shew, that the suffering of bitches to breed, not only tends to keep them in health, but that those which have been allowed to bring up numerous litters, have more invariably attained a great age than such as have been debarred the in- tercourse. It may be added, that the/^ame is observed in the human, where the average of longevity among females is decidedly in favour of the married, compared with the single. * This retention of the male within the female parts after the act has been apparently completed, arises from a peculiarity of structure in both. In the male, the corpora cavernosa have two large lateral protuberances, which, when distended with blood, effectually retain the penis within the vagina of the female, till the venereal orgasm has entirely ceased. The clitoris of the fe- male also partakes of a similar structure, and firmly retains the penis in coitUy by a distended ring. The same structure is apparent in all the canine con^ geners. BREEDING IN BITCHES. 91 cases I have known, from decided proofs, that impregnation did not ensue until the seventh warding-. Dogs should be suffered, therefore, to remain together some days to insure prolific intercourse. During- g-estation, dogs do not appear to suffer much derangement of system ; some, however, ap- pear to be listless, nauseated, and averse to particular foods ; and most of them are more thirsty at this than at other times. It is not easy to detect whether bitches are in pup until the fourth or fifth week after warding: about this time the teats enlarge, the flanks fill, and the belly assumes a roundness unnatural to it at others. About the seventh week, the belly becomes pendulous, and the future increase is not so observable as the previous. In the last week of pregnancy, the contents of the belly seem to incline backwards, the vulva increases in size, and a slimy matter (to soften and lu- bricate the parts) often issues. Pupping usually comes on the sixty-second, sixty-third, or, at farthest, on the sixty- fourth day. A quarter or half an hour, and sometimes a longer time, intervenes between each young one. I have known a solitary puppy appear on the seventieth day from the last intercourse, and that in a case where superfoetation was improbable. — See Pupping. Dogs are certainly capable of superfoetation ; that is, im- pregnation may take place at more than one warding, and that by distinct mates. The fact was long ago admitted by naturalists and physiologists * ; since which time numerous circumstances have fallen under the notice of sportsmen that confirm the matter. I have, in several instances, seen whelps * In t^e superfcEtation of brutes, is there not reason to suppose that the germ is contributed from each ovaria in succession? or do the ova or germs present themselves indiscriminately from both ? The interesting experiments of Dr. Haighton, related in the Philosophical Transactions, 1797, p. 159; and by Mr. Cruickshanks, ib. p. 197, tend to throw light on this curious subject, Superfoetation seems extended also to the human ; instances of this are re- corded in Blumenbach's Institutions of Physiology , and in White's work on the Regular Gradation of the Human Race. G2 92 BREEDING AND REARING of the same litter with appearances which bore evident marks of distinct origin, and where the future disproportion in size and qualities, and all the distinctive marks of varied species, clearly evinced that more than one male was concerned in the process. Superfoetation is apt to be confounded with, or its phenomena are sometimes accounted for, by another pro- cess, still more curious and inexplicable, but which is wholly dependent on the mother. I allude to the impression made on the mind of the female parent, and conveyed by her to the foetuses within her, by which antecedent impressions in favour of a particular dog- will be stamped in characteristic marks on the progeny begotten by another totally different from him. This subject will be more fully treated of in the next article : it is only necessary to remark here, that in cases of superfoetation, the size, form, and qualities of the additional progeny all fully betoken their origin. In these instances of sympathetic deviation, the form, size, and character, are almost wholly the mother's ; but the colour is as certainly the favourite's, with, perhaps, a few shades of characteristic Mendings intermixed. JBreeding arid Rearing of Puppies. As gestation has not yet been at all considered as it regards the progeny, and as something yet remains to be stated that is immediately connected with the mother ; so it will pro- bably be more convenient to continue the subject, to its completion, here, in preference to removing it (as in the former editions) to its alphabetical situation under the head Pwppies. The extreme care that is bestowed to perfect some breeds of dogs, and to preserve such varieties in their utmost purity, is known to every one. To the sportsman it becomes a most interesting subject ; and to the breeder of domestic animals in general ii is no less important. I propose, therefore, to consider it, both philosophically and practically, rather more OF PUPPIES. 93 at length in this than in the former editions. To examine the subject in all its bearing-s, it will be necessary to begin ah ovo*, and to trace the animal from the very germ or ovum of the mother, which, being vivified and called into action by the sympathetic influence of the seminal fluid of the father, bursts into life, and, after a gestatory period of sixty- three days, presents (with a fraternity similarly situated) an organized being, bearing the characteristic stamp of its spe- cies, and usually a close resemblance to its parents. It is, however, necessary here to notice a curious exception which now and then occurs to this usual consanguineous resem- blance, apparently occasioned by some mental impression received by the mother. This impression being always pre- sent to the imagination, appears to serve as a stamp for some, if not for all, of her future progeny. The existence of this curious anomaly in the reproductive or breeding system, is confirmed by facts of not unfrequent occurrence. 1 had a pug bitch whose constant companion was a small and nearly white spaniel dog, of Lord Rivers' breed, of which she was very fond. When it became necessary to separate her, on account of her heat, from this dog, and to confine her with one of her own kind, she pined excessively ; and notwith- standing her situation, it was some time before she would admit of the attentions of the pug dog placed with her. At length, however, she did so ; impregnation followed, and at the usual period she brought forth five pug puppies, one of which was e\egB.nt\y white, and more slender than the others. The spaniel was soon afterwards given away, but the impres- sion remained ; for at two subsequent litters (which were all she had afterwards) she presented me with a white young one, which the fanciers know to be a very rare occurrence t. * Ex ovo omnia. — Hervey. t It is a curious circumstance, that each succeeding white puppy was less slender in form than the former, though all were equally white ; which shew- ed, as I have before stated, that this mental influence extem's less perfectly to the individual form, than to its external characters, particularly of colour 5 and also that it lessens by time and absence. When, therefore, pups of com- 94 BREEDING AND REARING The late Dr. Hugh Smith (who was a sportsman of no mean celebrity) has related a similar instance of a very fa- vourite female setter that followed his carriag-e. Travelling- in the country, she became suddenly so enamoured of a mong-rel that followed her, that, to separate them, he was forced, or rather his anger irritated him, to shoot the mon- grel, and he then proceeded on his journey. The image of pletely different forms and kinds proceed from one litter, superfcetation has occurred, and not mental influence. The Rev. R. Lascelles, in his Letters on Sporting, p. 250, relates a case of a greyhound bitch, entrusted to the care of a servant, which whelped one perfect greyhound and six complete curs : the curs were the likeness of the dog she domesticated with in common ; the single one resembled the greyhound she was taken to during her heat. There is little reason, therefore, to doubt that the bitch had been previously lined by the cur, and the single greyhound pup was the effect of superfcetation. I mention this to shew how easy this mistake between two different causes may occur, and how they may be distinguished. I was not fortunate enough to rear either of my white puppies: the late Lord Kelly offered me fifteen guineas for one of them at three months old. Lord Morton bred from a male quagga and a chesnut mare. The mare was afterwards bred from by a black Arabian horse ; but still the progeny exhibited, in colour and mane, a striking resemblance to the quagga. D. Giles, Esq. had a sow of the black and white kind, which was bred from by a boar of the wild breed, of a deep chesnut colour : the pigs produced by this intercourse were duly mixed, the colour of the boar being in some very predominant. The sow was afterwards bred from by two of Mr. Western's boars, and in both instances chesnut marks were prevalent in the litter, which, in other instances, had never presented any appearance of the kind. — Phil. Trans. 1821. The former cases tend to confirm w^hat I have before remarked, that the mental influence excited on these occasions extends less to the internal organization than to the external characters of colour and covering. The following will, however, shew, that impressions from terror may sink so deep as to affect the organization also of the progeny. In the Linnaean Society of London is found an account, by Mr. Milne, of a pregnant cat, his own pro- perty, the end of whose tail was trodden on with so much violence, as, appa- rently, to give the animal intense pain. When she kittened, five young ones appeared, perfect in every other respect except the tail, which was, in each one of them, distorted near the end, and enlarged into a cartilaginous knob. — Lin. Trans., vol. ix, p. 323. 95 OF PUPPIES. this sudden favourite still haunted the bitch and for weeks after she pined excessively, and obstinately refused inter- course with any other doff. At length, I'^^^^^^^'^X by a regular setter; but when she whelped the Doctor Jas moftified with the sight of young which he percened bore evident marks (particularly in colour) of the impression received by the cur, and they were accordingly destroyed The same occurred in all her future puppings: ^^^^^^^^^jj^ breed was tainted by the recollection of her attachment to this ill-bred favourite. <,„n-ar The practical inferences that may be drawn from a know- ledge of this curious anomaly in the '^"^"'^^ ^'^^"""^'^J' that in very select breeds too much care cannot be taken to render the choice of the male agreeable to the female , and also, that where a bitct of a very valuable breed has been long habituated to any favourite male companion it is not intended she should be allowed to breed by, that it is advisa- ble to remove such favourite some time before the <^^t'»'» °^ heat of the bitch is likely to come on, which wiU prevent the disappointment that might otherwise occur. Having received no such mental impressions, and the pro- cess of gestation or pregnancy meeting with no other inter- ruption the produce of a connection between dogs of a simi- lar breed usually exhibits traits of individual resemblance to each, united with the characteristic marks common to the breed in general. When the parents are of different breeds the varying outlines of each are usually softened and blended in the progeny, in nearly equal proportionst. But this d.vi- * When dogs of different breeds are brought together, *" P™?^"'';- M ,o be a cross Thus, pointers are sometimes crossed w.th foxhounds to fncrel the ^ ed and a'rdour. The effect of these crosses is retamed to the le^nTh or eighth generation: among turf sportsmen it is supposed to exrst, %^x:ern;::;:frM^-a.^^^^^^^^^^^ b/hyb^rousanimi. Ho» easUy traced, and yet how "-de 'n« a w o e, , e tL characters of the horse and ass, as observed rn the.r ^y^"^^!^^';^ Hybrids also completely disprove the opm.on some phys.ologrsts 96 BREEDING AND REARING sion of parental character is not always equal : it sometimes happens that the more notable characteristics of form, size, and qualities, are principally derived from the male parent*. In others a strong^er similitude to the mother is apparent, and it now and then happens that these partialities seem to be confined to a part of the prog-eny only, or is divided between the parents. This is sometimes observed when a breed is made between a pointer and setter, in which case it has not formed, that the male parent, in the procreative act, imparts nothing beyond the mere stimulus of life to the ovum or germ of the female ; for it must be evident that the germ in the mare is naturally of the horse species ; and did such germ merely receive the vivifying principle by the sexual intercourse, it would be indifferent to the future produce whether the father were a horse .or an ass. * Some physiologists (and among them Sir E. Home) have supposed that the ovum or germ, previous to impregnation, is of no sex, but is so formed as to be equally fitted to become a male or female foetus, and that it is the process of impregnation that marks the sex, and produces both male and female generative organs. However this opinion may seem to be supported by facts, and although instances do occur that give reason to suppose that the male parent has considerable influence in determining the sex, yet an equal number of cases arise that prove the female to be equally concerned in this matter. It is true that some dogs, some stallions, and some bulls, are re- marked for begetting a greater number of males than females ; while others are the parents of more females than males. In the Phil. Trans. 1787, p. 344, mention is made of a gentleman who was the youngest of forty sons, all produced in succession, from three different wives, by one father, in Ire- land. But it is, at the same time, equally notorious, that some bitches, let them breed by what dog they will, yet still have a plurality of one sex. The same occurs, in a much greater degree, among other domestic animals, Mr. Knight remarks on the equal aptitude in the female in determining the sex : ** In several species of domesticated animals (I believe in all), particular " females are found to produce a majority of their offspring of the same sex ; ** and I have proved repeatedly, that, by dividing a herd of thirty cows into *♦ three equal parts, I could calculate with confidence upon a large majority " of females from one part, of males from another; and upon nearly an equal *' number of males and females from the remainder. I frequently endea- ** voured to change the habits by changing the male, but without success."— Phil. Trans. 1809, p. 397. In King's Langley church are the effigies of seven successive daughters boni to a man by his first wife, and of seven sons Isorn to him by a second wife, in succession. OF PUPPIES. 97 ^infrequently happened that a part of the litter has produced nearly thorough-bred pointers, while the remainder have proved well-bred setters Among- the various phenomena that the reproductive pro- cess present, breeding back, as it is termed among sports- men, is not the least curious, it would appear from these cases, as though a family character was originally imprinted on the generative organs, or that the ova or germs of the future race were formed after one common hereditary mould ; for it is often observed not only among dogs, but among other domestic animals, and even in man also, that their pro- geny bear a greater resemblance to the grand-dam or grand- father than to their immediate parents. It is evident that this is more likely to happen where a common character has been preserved during successive generations, or, in turf language, where the blood has been kept pure ; which is nothing more than an established variety, being acted on in its successive generations by the owner, in the direction of the sexual intercourse, the selection of food, discipline of qua- lities, and regulation of habits. It may, however, be necessary to remark, that, in a philo- sophical point of view, we have no such thing as a pure breed among any of our domestic animals. Our most boasted specimens are either altogether degenerates*, or produced * A more close examination of the subject will shew not only that our most highly prized animals are degenerates, but that many of them are mon- strosities. Degeneracy, among naturalists, is a departure from originality and a state of nature ; thus, philosophically, wild animals only can be con- sidered as perfect. But man, to gratify his artificial wants, has cultivated forms and properties in them which, however they may prove beneficial to himself, render the animals subjected to such alterations unfitted for the purposes they were originally destined for. What would become of some of our cultivated breeds of dogs, were they turned loos*j in a wild country ? Could a pack of pugs hunt down the antelope ? The high-bred greyhound's speed and vision united would fail in the same circumstances, deprived, as he would find himself by cultivation, of the means of following his prey through its various windings by scenting his course. The pointer might stand, and 98 BREEDING AND REARING from congenital varieties: the native and original pure breeds are mostly unknown to us. In the natural history of the dog, I have already had occasion to notice that these varieties or breeds in the canine race have been generated by various causes, as climate, peculiarity in food, restraint, and domestication. Man, active in promoting his own benefit, has watched these gradual alterations, and has improved and extended them by aiding the causes that tend to their production, and by future care has perpetuated and made them permanently his own. Many of the varieties among dogs and other domestic animals are the effect of monstrosity, and have arisen from his partners might hack him, until they all became monuments of perishing excellence : their cultivated talent would infallibly starve them. As promoters of the ease and comforts of mankind, every one yields the well-merited honours that are distributed among our enterprising cattle breeders ; but the philosopher, retired from the world, and the naturalist, contemplating his subject freed from extraneous bearings, regard the boasted excellencies of our domestic animals in general as monstrosities. The ma- jestic large breed of heavy carthorses, cultivated to their present stature by the luxuriant nature of the herbage in this and some other countries, would be ill calculated to save themselves from beasts of prey, by either flight or active resistance: their immense weight would sink them in loose soils, that their more agile originals would bound over with instinctive celerity ; and the scanty herbage in nature's wilds would ill suffice their multiplied wants. With the ox and sheep a constitutional obesity is encouraged, until the fat and muscular parts are totally disproportioned to the bony mass that is to support them, which lessens, according to modern excellence, in an inverse proportion to its necessities; and, as though the degeneration was not suffi- ciently pursued, in the polled breeds those original marks of distinction and safety, the horns, also yield to the sacrifice. Even the finest edibles amongst our garden bulbs, as the carrot, parsnip, &c. &c. are monstrosities, enlarged at the expense of the stem and other parts ; and the disproportionate magnitude of our fruit is attributable to the monstrosity of the pericarp. It is not attempted to argue that these are not actual advantages to mankind, nor to detract from the merit that has intro- duced these acknowledged imjnovements ; it is merely suggested to shew that a misconception and mis-appropriation of terms often arise according as the subject is viewed by the naturalist or the rural economist. OF PUPPIES. 99 some anomaly in the reproductive or breeding- process. When these accidental varieties have exhibited a peculiar organization or form which could be applied to any useful or novel purpose, the objects have been reared and afterwards bred from ; and when the singularity has been observed in more than one of the same birth, it has been easy to perpe- tuate it by breeding again from these congeners, and con- fining the future intercourse to them. To these accidental variations from general form and character among dogs we are to attribute our most diminutive breeds, our pugs, bull dogs, wry-legged terriers, and some others'^'. Our general breeds are, however, rather the effect of slow cultivation than of sudden and extraordinary production. It has been before observed, that every variety or breed has a tendency to degenerate, or travel backwards to something like the original standard : this tendency is greatest in the accidental varieties or breeds just hinted at, in which a few * Among other domesticated animals, prominent instances present tliem- selves of accidental variety. The solidungular breed of swine, with their undivided feet, and the ancon or otter breed of sheep, described by Colonel HuMFHRiES, in Phil. Trans, for 1813, part i, may be noticed in proof. These sheep were derived from the accidental deformity of one American Iamb, born with legs most disproportionately short to the rest of his body, which de- formity, added to great crookedness of the fore legs, rendered him unable either to run or lo break fences. With these qualities it was determined to attempt a breed of this kind ; and, by confining the intercourse between him and his future offspring, it succeeded, and the ancon or otter breed is now established. The pure milk-white breeds which we witness now as permanent among ferrets, rabbits, mice, &c. originally sprang from one acci- dental variety of each. Man himself is not exempt from this departure from established form and character, as we witness in the Albino, who presents the same leuccethiopic constitutional characters in the deficiency of colouring matter, a similar redness of iris and pupil, and consequently the same into- lerance of light, as the other white animals. There have been, and still exist, six-fingered families 5 and Mr. Lawrence informs us that the thick lip, yet visible in some noble Austrian families, was introduced by the marriage of the Emperor Maximilian with Mary of Burgundy. I have myself seen, in Sussex, a breed of tailless cats. 100 BREEDING AND REARING succeeding" generations* is sufficient to destroy all appear* ances of variation from the orig-inal ; but in breeds which have undergone great cultivation, it requires a much longer time wholly to degenerate them. The tendency is, however, inherent in all our domestic animals, and in none more than the dog ; and it is to counteract this inherent property that forms a principal part of the art of successful breeding, as it is termed in the language of rural economy. Notorious varieties or breeds are, therefore, the conse- quence of our attempts at the improvement of such races of dogs, or of any other domestic animals, as exhibit a constitu- tional tendency to a particular form or character, the proper- ties of which are either known or expected to prove useful. Or they originate in the adoption of any accidental variety that may spring up in the way lately described. Or a breed may be established by any determinate form or quality, with- in certain limits, being previously fixed on ; after this in- dividuals are selected, perhaps not exactly similar, but each of which having distinct points of resemblance to the desired form, conjointly, the full end may be gained in their own union and that of their affinities. In this way the most sur- prising alterations in the animal character have been, and still may be, brought about ; and forms almost ideal have been, and still may be, realized t. A breed or variety being * Lord Orford bred between a bull dog and a greyhound : in seven de- scents all traces of the cross were lost in form ; but he conjectured that he had gained an acquisition of courage and determination. Probably an acci- dental deformity might have disappeared sooner. t Among the experienced fanciers of the small yellow and white spaniels, which much resemble those known by the name of the iV/arZ6oroMorA breed, this is particularly exemplified. These elegant animals are very common among the Spitalfidds weavers j and to such a perfection have they brought the art of breeding them, that it is affirmed they can insure, almost to a certainty, the requisite quantity of colour, the length of coat, its texture, and its disposition to curl or to remain straight. The Herefordshire ox can be bred to a white or a half white face ; and the horns of some breeds can be insured to an inch. The colour of the game cock is arbitrarily imposed by the handler and feeder j and the experienced pigeon-fancier can breed to a feather. OF PUPPIES. 101 adopted and established, its permanency must depend on the care bestowed not only in selecting- proper individuals to propagate from, but also in the adoption of such other cir- cumstances as tend to preserve the animals themselves in that state the nearest approaching to what has been establish- ed as the standard. These circumstances include, choice of situation, proper food, due exercise, with judicious restraint and discipline. The aids we should lend to perpetuate a di- minutive race would be, close confinement, artificial warmth*, and sparing- food. Were our attempts directed to the ex- ternal covering, artificial warmth would render it thin and fine ; while, on the contrary, exposure would thicken and probably lengthen it. If great size exists, and we wish to continue or increase it, we should allow but one or two young to remain in a litter ; we should not only feed the mother liberally, but it would be proper early to accustom the young to eat of animal food also : adding to all these the free access of air, ample room, and opportunity for full exercise. But, above all, the permanency of a breed must depend on the judicious selection of individuals as parents, who, having the specified and definite form in the greatest degree, are enabled in their progeny to perpetuate the same. This care, when long continued, of confining to particular races or breeds the means of continuing their species, constitutes what is termed purity of blood. Immense importance is attached to this purity of blood, or lineal descent, amongst the breed- ers of almost every kind of domestic animal t. The scientific » The French are said to give their diminutive breeds spirituous li- quors when they are young, to stop their growth: if it has this effect, it is because artificial warmth produces premature developement of the frame, and thus promotes an early puberty. t The care taken by the Arabs in preserving the breeds of their horses is most remarkable. None but stallions of the finest form and purest hlood are allowed access to their mares, which is never done but in the presence of a professional witness or public officer, who attests thie fact, records the names, and signs the pedigree of each. The 102 BREEDING AND REARING sportsman acknowledges it, in its fullest degree, in the ge- nealogy of his dogs ; and experience teaches him that a cer- tain degree of perfection, once gained, can only be continued by successive propagation from the blood or breed. In our selection of breedei^s, a variety of circumstances should necessarily engage our attention ; as, whether we are continuing a breed already establiwshed, improving a defective one, or altogether forming a new variety. In either case, but particularly in the two latter, one or two propagations are not sufficient to enable us to judge of the merits or de- merits of a breed. Anomalies may occur, monstrosities ap- pear, or our dogs may breed back. It should likewise be always present to us, that, in despite of all our care, and in face of the most favourable opportunities for selection, still perfect specimens to breed from are unattainable ; and as, therefore, we are necessarily to expect defects, it should be our care to well examine that we do not select our male and female subjects with each the same faulty form or property; for, however psrfect they may be in other respects, they are, in such a case, totally unfit to breed from together. We may, for instance, suppose an otherwise eligible pair of pointers, of the purest blood, but that each, from early and constant confinement, had contracted long, weak, spread- ing phalanges or toes, instead of a round, cat-like, form of foot. By choosing a mate for each of these whose feet were particularly good, we might remedy this defect, and preserve the breed ; but it would be only propagating de- Circassians distinguish the various races of their horses by marks on the buttocks. When a noble mark is put on an ignoble breed, the forgery is punished with death.— Pallas's Travels in the Southern Pro- vinces of the Russian Empire, chap. 14. In Persia, almost equal ceremony takes place when a breed is under- taken between some of their most highly-prized dogs. In England, stallions have been sold for 1,000 guineas, bulls for 300, and rams for the same. The celebrated Yorkshire greyhound, called Snowhall, lined bitches at three guineas each. Such estimation is purity of blood and regularity of descent held in. OF PUPPIES. 103 formity to breed from them tog-ether. We can only expect to prove successful in rearing- a superior race of any domestic animal, when we make our selection of parents with a care- ful reference to the merits and defects in each, by balancings the one ag-ainst the other, and by thus combining- their dif- ferent properties. It is by inattention to these circumstances that so many persons, after giving- immense prices for ani- mals of particular breeds, have found themselves foiled in their attempts at rearing- any thing beyond mediocrity, which animals, under the judicious management of a Russell, a Coke, or an Ellman among cattle, or an Orford, a Mey- NELL, a Rivers, or a Topham among dogs, would have produced unrivalled excellencies. It is not no less to be understood, that it is not the form only that we can alter or bring into the line of descent ; the aptitudes and qualities are also to be cultivated ; they de- scend in succession equally with the external form. Temper, sagacity, and aptness under discipline, are all hereditary, and are all equally to be taken into the account by a breeder. Some breeds of pointers require little breaking, but the first time they come on game they exhibit the required proper- ties with nearly the steadiness of an old dog. A common fault is often committed by theoretical and inexperienced breeders, which consists in cultivating a particular quality, or propagating a particular point of form ; but, at the same time, losing sight of the general existing integrity, or future improvement of the whole. In this way, fox-hounds may be bred to run nearly as fast as greyhounds, at the expense of their scent, hardihood, and sagacity. For it cannot be too strongly inculcated on the mind of every breeder, as an esta- blished law in the animal economy, that an extraordinary de- gree of excellence on any one particular, either natural or acquired, is almost invariably accompanied with a privation of the usual quantity of it in some other. This law is fully exemplified in those animals where breeding is carried to its greatest refinement; or, in other words, where cultivation in qualities or form, or both, weakens or destroys the in- 104 BREEDING AND REARING stinctive habits to such a degree as to make the subjects of such cultivation bad breeders, and still worse rearers, of pro- geny. If I mistake not, a tendency to this may be observed in all our very high bred animals. Among the feathered race it is peculiarly remarkable. The higher any animal is bred, the more artificially he becomes placed with regard to external circumstances, till at length he requires constant care to obviate those contingencies that would be unheeded by others. Among the practical and systematic breeders of all domes- tic animals, and among none more than those sportsmen who devote themselves to the improvement of the dog, a great diversity of opinion has always existed on the subject of con- sanguineous breeding, or of that between near relations, characterised by the term In and In. The conflicting au- thorities on the subject are numerous, and the testimonies contradictory ; and it is more than probable that they will remain so, until a long course of experiment is undertaken by a body or society of scientific and observant breeders, on various domestic animals, for the express purpose of arriving at the truth in this particular. A few solitary or isolated facts can do little to set the subject at rest : theory can only assist by philosophically directing the inquiry aright. Truth should be the ultimate object of every pursuit, and, from whatever source it is obtained, it should be embraced. 1 profess to have had little experience myself as a practical breeder, but I have endeavoured to profit by the experience of others. I am by no means wedded to the in and in sys- tem of breeding ; and when I hear grave authorities stating facts (the only sure guides to truth) against it, I am disposed to waver ; but renewed examination produces counter state- ments, and 1 retrace my steps and become, as formerly, a defender (but, 1 own, not so zealous one) of consanguineous breeding. I will, however, endeavour to state the pro's and con's fairly, and then leave the matter, where it should be left, with the experimentalist. The first argument that presents itself on this subject is. OF PUPPIES. 105 that the early human and brute races must of necessity have been produced from the nearest afl&nities, and it is unreason- able to suppose that nature would have set out on a principle tending- to the immediate deterioration of her works. This has been called the mere argument of necessity, and is said to apply only to the precise period when there was no other connexion possible. I admit that this is an argument of necessity, viewed with reference only to primitive times ; but it stands otherwise, when w^e reflect that, for ages after, consanguineous marriages were consummated among nations of refinement, and, to this day, some savage tribes, particu- larly their reigning families and chiefs, confine themselves to marriage among lineal kindred*, and that in neither in- stance has any degeneration been observed. From a parity of reasoning, as we know that an insuperable bar has been placed against propagation among the several genera, by an instinctive aversion, that the specific forms might not be lost in hybridous productions ; so it does not appear to be strain- ing analogy too much to suppose that, had ill effects fol- lowed from consang-uineous intercourse, something like this instinctive aversion would be manifested here also t. Nei- * The Egyptians are said to have allowed of the marriages of brothers to sisters. The Athenians admitted the betrothing of brothers and sisters of the half blood, if related by the father's side. The marriage of Abra- ham with his sister assures us that it was practised among the Chal- deans ; and it may be remarked, that, when this island was conquered by Caesar, a peculiar system of cohabitation prevailed. — Uxores habent deni duodenique inter se communes, et maxime fratres cum fratribus, parentesque cum liberis ; sed si qui sunt ex his nati, eorum habentur li- beri. quo primum virgo quaeque dedvicta est. — Paley's Nat. Phil. f It may be argued, that such aversion is manifested in the political restrictions relative to consanguineous marriages among enlightened na- tions. That such prohibitions were necessary from moral and political necessity is evident ; for, by extending the social compact to marriages without the family pale, knowledge and the arts were extended, improv- ed, and became a common property ; wealth was diflfused, communities were enlarged, and social interests joined those who before were in op- position to each other; and, above all, the demoralizing and depopu- H l^^ BREEDING AND REARING ther does it appear, a prioi^i, easy to substantiate any phy- sical or physiological reason why breeding- among lineal kindred should of necessity prove deteriorating to the future progen}^ The same organization, the same constitutional sympathies, the same aptitudes, when not defective, would tend, under union, to produce a perfect similitude. But facts are infinitely more to our purpose than the most specious ar- guments. We are assured, that the Arab horses of high blood are bred in and in ; and we know that no people in existence pay more attention to the improvement of their horses than they do ; and as these horses have m.aintained their high character for ages, it forms a strong presumption in favour of this system. Mr. Bakewell, whose name will ever rank high as a breeder of cattle, reared his valuable stock wholly from consanguinity: in fact, his important improvements were all founded on this intercourse among lineal kindred, or their affinities. Mr. Meynell, who was no less celebrated as a sportsman than as a close observer of many subjects connected with the rural economy of the animals around him, bred all his fox-hounds in this manner ; and those adventurous gentle- men who have followed them, can bear testimony to their excellence. It might not, perhaps, be an erroneous con- clusion to draw, that the prejudices against breeding from near relationship in animals, are less the effect of reason or experiment than of a received prejudice of very long stand- ing, founded originally on philosophical arguments, connect- ed, not with brutes, but with the political and moral economy of the human subject. lating effects of an early departure from chastity, which unreserved fa- mily communication led to, was prevented. It is, however, clear, from history and from philosophical investigation, that such aversion is nei- ther instinctive nor necessary, but an acquired regulation of passion, implanted by education, and made general by refinement. Sir W. C— N observes that, according to Varro, this aversion has really occurred even in animals, — Equns matrem ut saliret adduci non posset, De Re Rustica, lib. iii, c. 5 ; but the ingenious Baronet candidly acknowledges that subsequent experience has not justified the assertion. OF PUPPIES. 107 1 have already stated, that numerous and powerful oppo- nents exist to the system of in and in breeding-, whose opinions ought to have their due influence when considering- the question *. Sir John Sebright, who has been long- known as a practical breeder and man of science, is under- stood to have been always inimical to consang-uineous breed- ing. His opinions on the subject have, of late years, been before the public, in a Letter on The Art of Improving the Breeds of Domestic Animals ; and as g-reat importance is justly attributed to them, 1 shall, in candour, quote so much as is necessary to shew the drift of his arguments. — He says, " if *' a breed cannot be improved, or even continued in the de- " gree of perfection at which it has already arrived, but by ** breeding from individuals, so selected as to correct each " others defects, and by a judicious combination of their dif- *' ferent properties (a position that I believe will not be de- " nied), it follows that animals must degenerate by being " long bred from the same family, without the intermixture of " any other blood, or from being what is technically called " bred in-and-in." Against Mr. Bakewell's authority the ingenious Baronet thus reasons : — " No one can deny the ability of Mr. Bake- *' well in the art of which he may fairly be said to have " been the inventor ; but the mystery with which he is well " known to have carried on every part of his business, and " the various means which he employed to mislead the public* " induce me not to give that w^eight to his assertions, which I " should do to his real opinion, could it have been ascer- " tained.'' To Mr. Meynell's opinion on the subject, he replies — " Mr. Meynell's fox-hounds are quoted as an instance of the * The principal arguments, in my own mind, against this mode of increase is, that hereditary diseases, which in some breeds are con- siderable, are by this means perpetuated and probably increased ; and, also, that when breeding by relationship is a settled practice, the acci- dental defects ar<* too apt to be passed over unobserved. H2 108 BREEDING AND REARING " success of this practice (i. e. the in-and-in)'^ but, on speak- " ing to that gentleman upon the subject, I found that he did *' not attach the meaning that I do to the term in-and-in. '' He said, that he frequently bred from the father and the " daughter, and the mother and the son. This is not what '' I consider as breeding in-and-in ; for the daughter is only '' half of the same blood as the father, and will probably '' partake, in a great degree, of the properties of the mother." This gentleman, also, in another part of his letter, states some important facts on the matter in these words :■ — '' I have '' tried many experiments by breeding in-and-in upon dogs, " fowls, and pigeons: the dogs became, from strong spaniels, " weak and diminutive lap-dogs ; the fowls became long in " the legs, small in the body, and bad breeders." The author of A Treatise on Greyhounds is also, in some degree, unfavourable to breeding a-kin. He says, *' If con- " tinned for some litters, a manifest inferiority of size, and a " deficiency of bone, will soon be visible, as well as a want " of courage and bottom; though the beauty of the form, *' with the exception of the size, may not be diminished." BuFFON argues on the same side : — '^ Ce qu'il y a de singu- " lier, c'est qu'il semble que le modele du beau et du bon soit " disperse par toute la terre, et que dans chaque ciimat il " n'en reside qu'une portion qui degenere toujours, a moins *' qu'on ne la r^unisse avec une autre portion prise au loin ; en " sort que pour avoir de bon grain, de belles fleurs, &c. &c. '' il faut en 6nchanger les grains et de ne jamais semer dans " le meme terrein qui les a produits ; et de meme, pour avoir " de beaux chevaux, de bons chiens, &c. &c. il faut donner *' aux femelles du pays des males etrangers, et reciproquement " aux males du pays des femelles etrangeres : sans cela les " grains, les fleurs, les animaux deg^nerent, ou plutot pren- " nent une si fort teinture du ciimat, que la matiere domine '' sur la forme, et semble Tabatardir, I'empreinte reste, mais " defiguree par tons les traits, qui ne lui sont pas essentiels. " En melant au contraire les races, et surtout en les renouve- " lant toujours par ies races etrangeres, la forme semble se OF PUPPIES. 109 " perfectionner, et la nature se relever et donner tout ce " qu'elle produit de meilleur/'— Buffon Hist. Nat., torn, iv, p. 216. Mr. Beckford, in his Thoughts on Hunting, has this re- mark : — '•' A very famous sportsman has told me, that he fre- " quently breeds from brothers and sisters. As I should be " very unwilling- to urg-e any thing- in opposition to such au- " thority, you had better try it; and if it succeeds in hounds, " it is more, I believe, than it usually does in other animals." It remains to add, that many practical breeders of inferior note are averse to breedings in succession from near relation- ship by blood, as brother and sister, father and daug-hter, &c. &c. ; but many allow even the benefit of relationship in a more remote deg-ree. This is particularly the case with some rearers of g-ame fowls, who are favourable to breeding- from the third remove, which they call a nick. From all which discrepancy of opinion may be g-ained, that the subject yet remains problematical ; and, also, that the opposition to it, if not altog-ether unfounded, has not yet, in the vastleng-th of time the system has been under trial, received such an ac- cumulation of striking- and incontrovertible facts as to force conviction. In kennels, where many dog-s are reared, it is usual to en- deavour to breed in the early months, which is a judicious practice, as it enables the young- to benefit by the g-enial warmth of the summer, and to expand their limbs by exercise in the open air more freely. During- the preg-nancy of bitches particular care should be taken to observe, and to remove, any ?ippearance of mange or other affections of the skin and surface : if this be neg-lected, the prog-eny will be brought into the world with an hereditary taint that no future endea- vours can wholly eradicate. Reai'ing of Puppies. — The number of young- that dog-s bring- forth varies from one to fifteen : instances have occurred where sixteen have been whelped, and I once removed the same number from a dead setter. Four, five, six, or seven, are common numbers. How many it is proper to rear, must 110 BREEDING AND REARING depend on circumstances. A very strong- healthy mother, with full feeding, may bring- up five : but when the breed is valua- ble, and g-reat size and strength are required, four, or even three, are more proper. — See Pupping. If a foster mother is procured for the supernumerary pups, she should, if possible, be one of the same breed with themselves. From the experi- ence I have had in this particular, I am strongly inclined to believe, that the qualities of the foster parent are, in some deirree. transferred with the milk ; and when the breeds are distinct, this must be very prejudicial. I am also borne out in this opinion by the testimony of other observant sports- men* Constitutional diseases may be likewise gained by this means t. There is, at times, some difficulty experienced in getting a foster parent to receive strange young. In this case it is usual to sprinkle them v/ith the milk of the bitch they are to be put to. This usually succeeds, upon the same principle that shepherds, when a ewe dies, take her lamb, and, havins" found a ewe who has lost one, the dead lamb's skin is stripped off by them, and sewed around the living lamb, who is then received by the foster parent as her own. Most animal instincts, connected with the reproductive sys- tem, are conducted by means of. smelling. Puppies are born blind, and remain so for many days ; their ears are also impervious. Eye-sight and hearing would have been useless to animals born so indigent, and which, in a state of nature, were intended to remain buried the first * The learned author of A Treatise on Greyhounds introduces some quotations to shew that this effect had not escaped the attention of the antients. Columella, lib. vii, c. 12, has the following remarks onit:— - '* Nee nunquam eos quorum generosam volumus indolem conservare, " patiemur alienae nutricis uberibus educari, quoniam semper lac et spi- « ritus maternus longe magis ingenii atque incrementa corporis augent." Similar observations occur in Xenophon. de Venat. 987 ; Oppian. Venat. i, 442 ; Cynosophium, &.c. f I am acquainted with a very fine child with diseased eyelids, who is the only one thus affected out of several children j she was likewise the only child put out to nurse. The woman who suckled her has a large family, and most of her children have the same affection. OF PUPPIES. Ill weeks of their existence in holes and dark caverns. These org-ans only develope themselves when their owners begin to be sensible of their wants. At this early age, the whole skin presents a beautiful pink tinge, but which gradually dis- appears, and gives place to a clear white in most parts of the body ; while the retemucosum of such parts as are intended to exhibit a dark hue, as the roof of the mouth, paws, nose, &c., at the same time assumes its intended colour. The up- per milk or temporary teeth, both cutting and grinding, appear first, and are tolerably complete at a month old ; the others appear later, by which arrangement the teats of the mother do not suffer : the milk teeth give place to the permanent set at six or seven months. The testes do not descend into the scrotum till the third, fourth, or fifth week, but they may be felt a week previously within the abdomen, on each side of the penis. Dogs are often born with super- numerary claws, among sportsmen called dew claws : some of these have a corresponding metacarpal or metatarsal bone, others are appendant only to the integuments. In either case they should be taken off early. — See Claws and Crop- ping. When many young of a litter are preserved, they should be early accustomed to lap : milk which has been boiled and slightly sweetened is proper ; when given raw it is apt to purge, and sweetening it makes it more nearly resemble the mother's milk. Meat, also, cut fine may be early given, as it will mate- rially save the mother, and benefit the progeny also. Clean litter, free access of air, and room for exercise, are essentials to their well doing. Young dogs should be early accustomed to restraint, with a chain and collar ; otherwise, when they are accidentally tied up, it is apt to occasion great alarm : I have seen fits follow this. Confinement, however, under any cir- cumstance, should be only occasional, and never long conti- nued : thousands are rendered weak, ricketty, and have their feet spread out into thin narrow phalanges, by close and early confinement. Young dogs are liable to several diseases that are peculiar 112 BREEDING AND REARING OF PUPPIES. to this stage of their existence. One of the most fatal of these seems almost peculiar to some breeds, particularly to terriers, pugs, the smaller kinds of spaniels, and, indeed, to most of the diminutive races ; and more especially to such as live luxurious and artificial lives. Among these, certain indivi- duals always bring forth their young, either already diseased, or with such a tendency to it, that the complaint alluded to soon makes its appearance, and with greater certainty when they have to combat with bad air or confined situation. This disease closely resembles tabes mesentericus, to which the human infant and monkies also are liable. It seems also to originate from the similar causes of constitutional predis- position, gained from the mother before birth, or from the want of nutrition in her milk from bad living afterwards. It appears also under the similar features of a large belly with stinted growth, an unthrifty state of the hair, and a countenance of peculiar sharpness and sagacity. The com- plaint commonly ends fatally by the animal's becoming tabid : neither is medical treatment of any service, unless very early resorted to ; in v/hich case, liberal feeding, free air, with mild purgatives and alteratives, will sometimes arrest its progress. When there is reason to suspect an unhealthy state of milk in the mother, a change should be made from it, by means, either of a foster parent, or by mares or cows' milk given by hand. Now and then the affection originates in worms ; in which cases, the hair stares more than usually, and, in addition, the animal rubs his hind parts on the ground, and his stools ap- pear irregular in consistence and colour. These cases of tabes are more manageable than the others, and, if treated as directed under the head Worms, may be generally relieved. Worms are very common in young dogs, perhaps few are without them ; whenever, therefore, puppies have fits, irre- gular bowels, violent and unnatural appetite, and a gene- ral unhealthy appearance, worms may be suspected as the cause. Rickets destroy many puppies also, particularly among the BRONCHOCELE. 113 breeds that are closely confined, as in cities and large manu- facturing towns. This disease shews itself by a large head united To a peculiar mixture of care and intelligence in the countenance ; the joints are distorted-those of the elbows turn outwards, and the whole appearance is unthrifty. Among terriers the deformity has been cultivated into a breed, called the wry-legged, which is much used in vermin-hunting. Rickets may be remedied by pure air, free exercise, cleanli- ness, and nutritious food. Young dogs are also liable to a peculiar spasmodic affec- tion of the bowels. I have seen it epidemic. A most pain- ful cramp seizes on the bowels ; the animal cries violently during the attack, which lasts a longer or shorter period, and then remits until it again seizes him. It is not very ma- nageable, but often proves fatal ; it, however, sometimes gives way to active mercurial purging. Bf'onchocele. BRONCHOCELE is a steatomatous swelling of the glands of the throat, apparently of the thyroid, and is a very common complaint among dogs. Pugs, barbets, and French pointers, are peculiarly liable to it. In the human species, this disease is most common to the inhabitants of mountainous countries. But in do-s, it does not appear endemial, and is more con- fined to some particular breeds. Other dogs, as terriers, spaniels &c., sometimes, however, have it; but it is not frequent in these, and in the larger tribes it is very seldom se-n The swelling comes on generally while very young, and continues to enlarge to a certain size; after vvhich it usually remains stationary, seldom increasing to such a de- gree as to prove fatal. It is, however, troublesome, and in some measure hurtful, from the pressure it occasions on the surrounding parts. The treatment is not difficult, nor usually unsuccessful. 114 CANCER. when early adopted. One of the following- balls should be g-iven every day ; in bad cases, twice a day : — Burnt sponge 1 dram Nitrated potash (wifre) half a dram. Make into six, nine, or twelve balls, according* to size, &c. Mild mercurial ointment half an ounce Blistering ointment half an ounce. Mix, and rub the swellings once a day with a portion equal to a hazel nut, or a walnut, according- to the size of the dog' ; first clipping- away the hair, and, after the application, wrap- ping- up the neck with a bandage, to prevent the ointment from being" rubbed off. During- the use of this application, the mouth should be examined now and then, to g-uard against the sudden attack of salivation. Should this treatment fail to remove the tumour, recourse may be had to the new re- medy Iodine, which has proved very successful in the human goitre. Internally given, it has occasioned the most serious symptoms, and, externally applied, it requires to be atten- tively watched ; consequently it ought to be resorted to only under judicious medical superintendance. •♦^•^N*-*^- Cancer Dogs are subject to tumours, principally of the glandular parts, which exhibit the true schirrous character, being first observed hard and circumscribed ; but, in their gradual in- crease, the skin becomes shining, distended, and discoloured, when ulceration soon follows : and, although the subsequent progress is seldom marked with the virulence of the human carcinomatous ulcerations, yet the resemblance is too striking not to warrant the same common term of cancer to both these morbid affections. The canine cancer not only pro- ceeds more slowly, but it likewise seldom deranges the gene- ral health, is seldom if ever translated to the lungs, and does not appear to occasion those lancinating pains felt by CANCER. 115 the human victim. Now and then, however, a more viru- lent character marks its progpress. 1 have seen the ulcer- ous affection, called canker in the ear, when of long- stand- ing-, take on the true carcinomatous character, and extend rapidly over the muscles of the face, till, having destroyed one eye, and commenced its attack on the throat and tong-ue, the animal was destroyed. I have also seen cancer in its most malig-nant form in cats ; first attacking- the mammae or teats, and then spreading- over the abdominal muscles and surrounding- parts. Any part may become the seat of scir- rhus, and consequently of cancer. Dog-s occasionally have their testicles affected by scirrhus, rarely by cancer, but it is much more common in the mammae, the uterus, and the vag-inae, of bitches. Cancers of the vagince and uterus are by no means un- common, and are sometimes occasioned by the foolish practice of exciting- premature oestrum by stimulating- injections, but more frequently by a brutality often exercised towards dogs, of dashing them with cold water, or of forcibly sepa- rating them during copulation. Cancer sometimes attacks the labiae, at others the inner surface of the vulvae, and sometimes extends to the uterus ; but, in either case, it pre- sents a fungous excrescence either of a deep red or a more livid colour, with ulcerated uneven edges. A bloody ichor constantly distils from the surface. In the very few cases where I have seen animals suffered to live to the extent of the complaint, the fatal termination has been slow but cer- tain : gradually, the morbid secretion of the part united with the irritation ; but, principally, the former has worn down the animal. When cancerous ulcerations have taken place in these or in other parts, I have seldom succeeded in restoring a healthy action, or of promoting a cure, otherwise than by excision. Now and then, however, I have experienced benefit from the use of the bruised leaves of the hemlock, as a poultice, daily ; with balls composed of one, two, or three grains of extract of hemlock (according to the size and strength of the 116 CANKER IN THE EAR. dog), and ten, fifteen, or twenty grains of, burnt sponge, io each ; repeated once or twice a day, as the health would bear them. Extirpation is however the most eligible remedy, and may be, in most cases, practised with safety by an expe- rienced surgeon or veterinarian. When cancer is purely glandular, from its circumscribed form, no difficulty will be found in detaching the whole morbid substance ; but when it has attacked the muscular, cellular, or superficial parts, as the face, parieties of the abdomen, scrotum, vulvae, or ute- rus, then the utmost caution is requisite to remove every dis- eased portion. It must also be taken into the account, that although, in the canine cancer, ulceration does not often re- appear in the immediate part, when the operation has been judiciously performed, yet, when the constitution has long been affected with this ulcerative action, it is very apt to appear in some neighbouring part soon after. This subject will be continued, and dilated on, when treating of Scir- rhous Tumours. Canker in the Ear, From confinement and luxurious living, dogs become sub- jected to various complaints, that evidently arise from the formation of too great a quantity of blood, and other juices; which, not being spent in the support of the body, find them- selves other outlets. Canker in the ear is evidently pro- duced by this disposition in the constitution to throw off the superfluity accumulated within. In these cases, the dog is first observed to scratch his ear frequently ; on looking with- in which, a red granular or scabby appearance is seen, from extravasated blood become dry. If the complaint is not stopped in this state, it proceeds to ulceration, when the in- ternal part of the ear, instead of being filled with dry blood as before, will be found always moist with matter. The dog now continually shakes his head from the intolerable itching; and, if the root of the ear is pressed, the matter within CANKER IN THE EAR. 117 crackles, and tenderness is expressed. When canker has re- mained long, the internal ear becomes closed, and the hear- ing- lost: now and then the ulceration penetrates inwards, and destroys the dog". I have also known instances where the ulceration has assumed a cancerous appearance, and ex- tended itself over the face. This complaint appears to have also another source besides over-feeding, heat, and confinement ; which is, the action of water within the ears. It is remarkable that all dogs, who frequent the water much, are more particularly disposed to canker than others. Any kind of dog may contract it thus, particularly when aided by artificial habits; hut Newfound- land dogs, poodles, and water spaniels, are liable to it when not so artificially treated. Perhaps the length of hair around their ears, not only keeps these parts hot, but also retains the water within, and thus encourages an afflux of fluids or humours, as they are termed, to them. That the water has this tendency is certain, for I have frequently seen it re- moved, by merely keeping such dogs from the water ; that is, in those cases where the feeding and exercise were pro- portionate, and the fatness has not been inordinate. The cure, it is rational to conclude, must be either simple, . or more complicated, according to the cause producing the disease. Whenever there is much fatness and fulness of habit, or when the dog has been subjected to much confinement in a hot close situation, these circumstances must be immediately rectified. Abstinence and purgatives will reduce the fat ; a cooler situation must be chosen, open and unrestrained ; full exercise must be allowed to assist also in giving another di- rection to the fluids. In those cases where there are symp- toms of a constitutional foulness, which shew themselves by a red itching skin, stinking coat, and mangy eruptions; in such, in addition to exercise, a vegetable diet, cleansing alter- atives, and occasional purges, should be given. See Alter- atives. — In very bad cases, a seton may be properly intro- duced in the neck, and suffered to remain there, until the 118 CANKER ON THE benefit derived from it is very apparent. When the cankered dog- is very fat, occasional bleeding- is also beneficial. External applications are likewise essential to the cure, and in some mild cases are all that are necessary, particularly where it may be supposed that swimming- much, or too frequent washing-, may have principally tended to produce the com- plaint. In the early stag-es a wash, composed of half a dram of acetate (^sugar) of lead, dissolved in four ounces of rose or rain water, is often all that is necessary. A small tea-spoon- ful may be introduced (previously warmed to a blood heat, to prevent surprise) nig-ht and morning-, rubbing- the root of the ear at the same time, to promote the entrance of the wash into the cavities. In more obstinate cases, it is prudent to add fifteen or twenty grains of vitriolated zinc {white vitriol) to the wash ; and if, instead of water, a decoction of oak bark is made use of to form the wash, it will g-reatly promote the end desired. In some cases, acetate of copper (^verdi- gris'), mixed with oil, has proved beneficial when introduced in the same manner. In others, submuriate of quicksilver (calomel) and oil have produced amendment in the same way. A very weak injection of the oxymuriate of quicksilver (^co7'- rosive sublimate) has succeeded when every other applica- tion has failed. Canker on the Outside of the Ear, Although this complaint bears the same name with the former, in appearance it is very different. It consists of an ill-disposed ulcer, which is usually situated on the lower edge of the flap or pendulous part of one or both ears, dividing it into a kind of slit. It seems to itch intolerably, and is therefore kept in a continual state of aggravation by the shaking of the dog's head. It is not a little remarkable, that whereas long-haired dogs (as Newfoundlands , setters, and water-spaniels) are more subject to internal canker of the OUTSIDE OF THE EAR. 119 ear; so smooth-coated dog-s (as pointers and hounds) are the only ones, in general, affected with this outer canker. Pointers and hounds who have been rounded, by having: the flap shortened, are less liable to it than those who have their ears of the natural length. From this circumstance it is common to round them after the disease has appeared ; but it frequently fails to cure, unless the part taken off extends considerably beyond the surface of the ulcerated slit. It is common also to burn out the ulcer either with the actual cautery, or with some caustic substance ; but this also proves an uncertain remedy. In full habits, and where over-feeding and confinement may be supposed to have had any share in the production of the disease, the same rules must be attended to, with regard to the constitution generally, as are detailed for the internal canker. But in other cases an external application is usually found sufficient. An unguent, made with equal parts of oint- ment of nitrated quicksilver and calamine cerate, may be ap- plied once a day, carefully securing the ear from the injury occasioned by the shaking of the head, by a sort of head dress, during its use. Or the following may be tried :— Oxymuriate of quicksilver (corrosive suhli- \ q grains ynate) very finely powdered -' Cerate of calamine (Twrner'^ cerate) 1 dram Sublimated or milk of sulphur 1 scruple. In some cases, the oxymuriate of quicksilver has proved more efficacious in a wash, six grains being dissolved in four ounces of water. Strong astringent washes are sometimes useful, as alum, dissolved in a decoction of oak bark. When the disease proves very obstinate, excision must be resorted to, taking care that the whole, not only of the immediate cracked part, but also of its tumefied edges, are included in the operation. 120 TUMEFIED FLAP OF THE EAR. Tumefied Flap of the Ear. From a similar repletion of habit, and from the same at- tempts in the constitution to find an outlet to the superfluous humours, or fluids ; the flap, or pendulous part of the ear, be- comes not unfrequently the subject of another complaint, which shews itself by a tumour, whose prominent part is always on the inner side. It sometimes swells to an enor- mous size, and occupies the whole of the inner surface of the flap, which then presents a shining tumid mass so painfully tender and weighty as to prove very distressing- to the ani- mal. It is most frequently met with in those dogs whose ex- ternal ears are long-, as setters, pointers, hounds, poodles, and spaniels. Attempts at dispersing- these tumours always fail, for the collections are, from the first, less phlegmonous than serous ; the only mode of relief is therefore to evacuate the contents : but it is too common merely to make a small opening- for this purpose, which is almost certain to heal immediately, and a fresh accumulation takes place of the same bloody serum. The tumour ought either to be opened its full length, and a pledget of lint introduced to prevent too hasty a union of the outer edges of the sac ; or a seton should be introduced the whole length of the swelling, which should be suffered to remain for a week or ten days. By this means, instead of a discharge of serum, healthy matter will form in a little time, the sides will granulate and unite, and, on the removal of the seton, the external lips of the wound will close firmly and healthily. It is, however, a necessary caution to observe, that it is not prudent to open the tumour until it exhibits its characteristic shining appearance with evident fluctuation. The future recurrence of the complaint must be prevented, by attending to the constitution as before directed. It is also proper to remark, that all the affections of the flap of the ear are greatly aggravated by the force with which they are wrapped against the head by shaking it ; the pendulous CASTRATION. 121 part should, therefore, always be secured in a kind of cap during the medical treatment. Castration, It now and then becomes necessary to perform this opera- tion, from disease of the spermatic chord, or from scirrhous swellings in the testicles themselves. Whenever such a ne- cessity occurs, although castration is not a dangerous opera- tion on the brute subject, yet it requires the assistance of a veterinary, or a human surgeon. Each testicle should be taken out of the scrotum separately, by an opening suffici- ently large, when a ligature should be applied, moderately tight only, around the spermatic chord, about an inch and an half beyond its insertion into the testicle ; the separa- tion should then be effected by the scalpel or knife between the ligature and testis. It is sometimes performed with- out the ligature, by making the division of the chord with a red-hot knife, but the other is the neatest and safest mode. In performing this operation on cats, nothing more is requi- site than to make a slight opening on each side the scrotum, to slip out the two testicles, and draw them away with the fingers. The rupture alone of the spermatic chord prevents hgemorrhage in them, and no future inconvenience is felt. It is often found difficult to secure a cat for this operation ; but it may be easily managed in two ways. One is, by putting the head and fore-quarters of the animal into a boot; the other is effected by rolling her whole body lengthways in several yards of towelling. Cataract. See Blindness. 122 CLAWS. Claws. Puppies are frequently born with dew claws ; sometimes they are double. The dew claws are those small additamen- tary ones situated on the inner side, one to each foot, distinct from, and much above, the claws of the toes. They are fre- quently unattached to any corresponding- metacarpal or meta- tarsal bone, having only a ligamentary union ; but whether there is any bony attachment or not, it is always prudent to cut them off in a few days after birth, otherwise they become very troublesome as the dog* g-rows up ; for the nail attached to the end of it frequently turns in and wounds the flesh ; or, by its hook-like shape, it catches into every thing- the dog- treads on. The horny claws are also subject, when dogs have not suf- ficient exercise, to become preternaturally long, and, by turn- ing in, to wound the toe, and lame the dog. The claws, when become too long-, are often cut off with scissars ; but unless the scissars used are very short and strong, they are apt to split the claws. It is better, therefore^ to saw them off with a very fine and hard cockspur saw, and then to file them smooth. The toes are also subject to a peculiar disease, in which one of them will appear very highly inflamed, swollen, and somewhat ulcerated, around the claw. In such a case the dog employs himself in continually lickino- it, and which, instead of doing good, as is supposed, always makes it worse. This complaint is commonly mistaken for some accidental injury, and the owner is surprised to find, that neither the dog's lick- ing, nor his own attempts to make the toe sound, succeed. The fact is, that this is simply a mang'y affection, and may be readily cured by applying the sixth ointment directed for the cure of mange, if it should, however, prove very obstinate, the first ointment directed for Canker on the Outside of the Ear may be then tried with confidence. In either case, the foot must be sewed up in leather, to prevent the dog getting at it ; taking particular care not to bind it up too tight : but CLYSTERS. 123 the securing- of the diseased part from being- licked is essen- tially necessary to the cure. Clysters. Clysters are of the utmost importance in many cases of sickness in dogs. They become a most powerful stimulant to the bowels in obstinate obstructions, and in many instances of this kind they alone can be depended upon for the purpose : for, when the obstruction arises from an accumulation of hardened excrement, situated far back in the coecum or rec- tum, purging- physic by the mouth loses all its efficacy, and, in fact, increases the evil. In inflammations of the bowels, bladder, kidnies, or womb, clysters have the additional ad- vantage of acting as a fomentation. Cases wherein they may be beneficially used as nutriment likewise, occur very fre- quently : as when there exists so obstinate a sickness, that nothing will remain on the stomach ; or when food cannot be passed by the mouth, as in locked jaw, in fractures, or in wounds of the mouth, face, or throat. In all such cases, clys- ters of broth, gravy, or gruel, will afford a very considerable quantity of nourishment: a small proportion of opium, as twenty drops of laudanum, may be given in each, to assist in retaining it within the bowels. Astringent clysters, as starch, rice water, alumine whey, infusion of red roses, or of oak bark, are useful in violent loosenesses. Purging clysters may be made of veal or mutton broth, with a portion of salt or moist sugar in them : the effect may be quickened by adding castor oil or Epsom salts. Clysters are very easily administered to dogs, and no appa- ratus is so convenient for the purpose as the common pipe and bladder. The liquid should be warm, but not hot ; the quan- tity from three ounces, to six or eight, according to the size of the dog, &c. : the pipe should be greased previously to its introduction, and the tail held down a minute or two after its removal. I -2 124 COLIC. Colic. Colicky pains may be the effect oi Inflammation, or of Constipation, or they may be occasioned by a Bilious colic. All these are treated of under Inflamed Bowels. The most violent pains may be occasioned within the bowels by Poisons, which see. Spasmodic colic will be further noticed under Rheumatism, which is by much the most fertile source of colic in dog-s. But besides this, there is a spasmodic constriction of the bowels that not unfrequently occurs, most distressing in its symptoms, obstinate in its character, and very often fatal in its termina- tion. I formerly attributed all these cases to worms, and I am still inclined to think that these animals, particularly the tape worm, will now and then occasion similar symptoms ; but the generality of cases may be considered as arising- from a disease sui generis. A person, not very conversant with the diseases of dogs/ might also conclude that the head, in these cases, was the sole seat of the complaint ; but innu- merable instances have convinced me, that the bowels are primarily and principally the seat of the disease, which is of a peculiar spasmodic nature, and is commonly attended with a slight degree of inflammation. The symptoms are dulness, loss of appetite; the nose is hot, but the forehead particularly so ; with some panting, and much restlessness. In some cases, there are appearances of acute occasional pain ; in others, there appears but little ; but in all there is a particular stupor, and a very remarkable inclina- tion to run round in a circle, and that always in the same di- rection. The sight seems affected, and sometimes the senses are wholly lost ; at others, although the stupor is consider- able, yet the faculties are not totally obscured. In some cases paralysis comes on, and the head becomes dra-wn to one side ; and I have always observed it to incline to the same side that, while capable of moving, the dog turned upon. The limbs also participate in these extreme cases, and become con- tracted likewise. COLIC. 125 The duration of the complaint is various. It sometimes destroys in a few days, while some cases linger two or even three weeks ; but eventually five out of every six attacked with it, die. On dissection, only slig-ht marks of inflamma- tion usually appear, and now and then intussusception is met with; but in all, constringed and lessened parts of the bowels are met with, while other portions again seem larger than natural, and are flabby and unnaturally relaxed, as though they had lost all their tone by the disease. The most attentive dissection of the head, in these cases, has never detected any morbid appearances there, except, in one or two instances, a slight increase of vascularity. The affection of it, therefore, during the progress of the complaint, must be considered as purely symptomatic, and as not at all referrible to any specific affection of thesensorium itself; and, although the head feels hot during the disease, the eyes are flushed, and great pain appears in it, from the pressure that is always made by the animal against the hand, when it is held to it ; and the sense of pleasure that is manifested when the forehead is rubbed ; yet direct medical applications to the head, as fomen- tations, blisters, and leeches, have always failed to give any re- lief; while the remedies that have succeeded have been such as were applied immediately to the bowels. The treatment I have found most successful consisted in early and active evacuations, combined with repeated warm bathing, and camphorated embrocations to the bowels. Strong anodyne clysters should be frequently administered; while large doses of aether, laudanum, and camphor, as pre- scribed under Spasm, are the proper internal remedies. In one instance strong shocks of electricity did good, and, in an- other, repeated affusions of cold water relieved ; but in some others this latter method seemed to aggravate the symptoms. A complaint somewhat similar occurs in puppies also, but is then not attended with stupor, or the disposition to turn round. In a very few cases I thought I could trace the affection to the action of lead, but, in others, there were no reasonable grounds for referring it to any such origin. ■*v^.r*See Alteratives. — Some sportsmen regularly dress their dogs, before the hunting season, with sulphur, even though no breaking out appears, and I by no means think the practice a bad one. Others curry or brush their dogs, whether any skin affection appears or not; and, to greyhounds, it is a very proper means of keeping up the equilibrium of the circulation, and of promoting muscular elasticity. When a lean dog is to be got into condition, less physic is necessary •, but good flesh feeding, plenty of exercise, and a due administration of alteratives, are principally to be resorted to: nevertheless, one or two doses of very mild physic will here also promote the condition, and even assist the accumu- lation of flesh. — -See Fep:ding and Exercise. -■»■**■*■ »^- Costiveness. All carnivorous animals have naturally a dry constipated habit. Dogs are of a mixed nature, and can live indiscrimi- nately on vegetable or animal substances, although they pre- fer the latter, which, as it is more congenial with their habit of hunting, is not to be wondered at. Dogs have, therefore, very frequently a tendency to a costive habit ; which tendency is increased or lessened according as they are supported, wholly 128 COUGH. or in part, on animal matter. The dog's that are kept as fa- vourites about the person, are too apt to have their inclina- tion for animal food indulged, which, added to their confine- ment, and the heat in which they live, greatly aggravate this tendency to costiveness in them. Costi'veness is productive of numerous evils ; it increases the disposition to mange and other diseased secretions. It also produces indigestion, encourages worms, makes the breath foetid, and blackens the teeth : but it is principally to be avoided from the danger, that the contents of the bowels may accumulate and bring on inflammation. — See Inflamed Bowels. — Whenever a dog has been costive three days, and one or two moderate aperients have failed of opening the bowels, it is not prudent to push the means of relief farther by more violent purgatives ; for this vv^ould be apt to hurry the contents of the intestinal canal into one mass, whose re- sistance being too great for the bowels to overcome, inflam- mation follows. Mild aperients may be continued, but clys- ters are principally to be depended upon. — See Clysters. — In such cases, the introduction of the clyster pipe will often detect a hardened mass of excrement. If the action of the pipe, or the operation of the liquid, should not break this down ; it is absolutely necessary to introduce the finger, or, in a very small dog, a lesser apparatus, and mechanically to di- vide the mass and bring it away. The recurrence of costiveness is best prevented by vegetable food, and exercise : but when vegetable food disagrees, or is obstinately refused, boiled liver often proves a good means of counteracting the complaint. — See Feeding. Cough. Dogs and horses are both very subject to coughs; but, while the latter have only an acute and a chronic kind to contend with, dogs are troubled with several kinds ; and, as COUGH. 129 these arise from very different causes, call for varied treat- ments, and have very different terminations ; so they require particularizing". One of the most common coug-hs to which dog's are liable is that which usually accompanies distemper. This, in general, is short and dry, producing- an effort to bring- up a little frothy mucus. This cou^h usually appears when a dog is just attaining- his full grow^th, at some time be- tween four and twelve months. When, therefore, a young- dog coughs much, shivers, is dull, and wastes in flesh, though he may eat as usual, it is more than probable that such dog has the cough of distemper ; which must be treated bj- the means recommended under that head. Sometimes a young full grown dog has a short occasional cough, that may likewise produce nausea, with the accompa- niments of staring hair, and foetor of the breath. This kind arises usually from worms, and is to be cured by the means recommended under the article Worms. Dogs are also liable to cough from a common cold taken. This kind of cough may be distinguished from any other, by its particular shortness, by its distressing frequency, and by the fulness and redness of the eyes ; the ears and paws will also generally be found cold. — >S'ee Inflamed Lungs. Another frequent cough in dogs is the asthmatic one, which usually comes on slowly; gradually becoming hollow and so- norous. It is at first less frequent than either of the former coughs, until the complaint has attained its full height, when it is most urgent and constant. The cough of asthma may be readily distinguished from the others, by attending to the subject Asthma. Crump, See S p A « M. -^^r«^r^^^- 130 CROPPING. Croppmg. This barbarous custom is one that would be more honour- ed in the breach than in the observance of it. Nature gave nothing in vain; some parts being intended for use, and some for beauty. That must, therefore, be a false taste, which has taught us to prefer a curtailed shape to a perfect one, without gaining any convenience by the operation. Ab the custom, however, is now fixed, directions are proper for its performance. Young dogs should not be cropped before the fourth or fifth week of their age : when the ears are cut earlier, they sprout again, and the form of the crop cannot be so well di- rected as when the ear is more developed. It is a barbarous custom to twist them off by swinging the dog round, and the crop never succeeds so well as when made by scissars, which should be large and sharp.— In cropping terriers, be- gin at the hinder root of the ear, close to the head ; and, when this cut is carried through, one other cross cut from the root at the front of the head, if managed with dexterity, will be sufficient, and will make an excellent fox crop, with- out torturing the animal with numerous trimmings. The less oblique the second cut is carried, the more sharp and foxy will the crop prove. A rounded crop may be made at one cut. The cropping of pug puppies is the most painful of any : the cuts must, in general, be repeated, and carried close to the root of the ear ; as upon the total absence of external ears (which gives an appearance of roundness to the head) is the beauty of the animal supposed to consist *. It is best to crop puppies in the absence of the bitch ; for it is erroneous to suppose that her licking the wounded edges does them * It is not a little surprising that this cruel custom should be so invariably practised on pug dogs, whose ears are particularly hand- some, and hang very gracefully. It is hardly to be conceived how the pug's head, which is naturally none of the handsomest, is improved by suflfering his cars to remain. CROPPING. 131 Ifood ; on the contrary, it only increases pain, and deprives the young animals of the be&t balsam, which is the blood. Bounding, which is a species of cropping, is also per- formed on pointers and hounds, both as a prevention and cure of the canker ; but in rounding- only a portion of the flap is taken off. When rounding- becomes absolutely necessary for the cure of canker, all other means having* failed {see Canker), care should be taken that the cutting may go be- yond the root of the canker, or the disease will return. When rounding is performed on a number of dogs, it is, in general, done with a rounding iron. Tailing. — When a dog is cropped, it is usual also to cut off a portion of the tail. Dog fanciers, as they are termed, commonly bite it off; but it were to be wished that a larger portion was added to both their knowledge and humanity^ The tail does not grow materially after cutting, therefore the length may be previously determined on with sufficient accu- racy, and cut off with a pair of sharp scissars. If the ears and tail are cut off at the same time, it is prudent to tie a ligature about the tail to prevent the effusion of blood, as sometimes the bleeding, from both ears and tail together, will weaken the animal too much ; but, when the tail alone is cut, no ligature is necessary. When a ligature is used, neither tie it too tight, nor suffer it to remain more than twelve hours. -«vr«vr«vr- Cystitis, See Inflamed Bladder. Diarrhoea. See Looseness. 132 DISLOCATIONS. Dislocations, The joints most liable to this injury ure the shoulder and knee before,, and the stifle and hip behind. It is not easy for any person to effect the reduction of a dislocation, but one habituated to the practice of surgery, and acquainted with the anatomy of the animal. As circumstances, however, ne- cessary to observe in all cases, it may be remarked that, when a dislocation has happened, particular care should be taken to examine whether there is a fracture also, which is fre- quently the case. Under these circumstances the treatment is rendered more complex, from the diiuculty of reducing- the dislocation, without using too much violence to the limb. — See Fracture. — The mode of detecting- a fracture in these cases is not difficult. On moving the joint, in case there is fracture, there will be an evident roughness and grating of the bones, which will be sensibly felt by the hand. When it is attempted to reduce a simple dislocation, it is evident that the direction in which the dislocated bone is parted from its socket should be first taken into consideration in the means used for reducing it. A moderately firm exten- sion should then be made by two persons; one holding the body and one part of the joint, and the other supporting the immediate dislocated limb, at the same time giving the lux- ated end a direction towards its socket. If this extension is sufficiently and properly made, the dislocated bone will slip into its place, and render the limb perfect. When the shoul- der is dislocated from the arm, which is a rare occurrence, the dislocation may be forwards or backwards: it occurs generally forwards. The elbow may be dislocated either inwards or outwards ; but it happens more frequently inwards, and is ^seldom dislocated without a fracture also. The hip joint is oftener dislocated than either of the for- mer, and it is most common for the head of the thigh bone to be carried upwards and backwards, which makes the hip of that side sensibly higher and more backward than the other. THE DISTEMPER. 133 and renders it easily detected. The muscles of the loins are so strong-, that reduction of the thigh is always difficult ; however, a firm and judicious extension will effect it. The hind knee, or stifle joint, which is that next the hip, is also subject to dislocation. This more frequently occurs inward than outward ; and, from the strength of the surrounding- muscles, is also often found difficult to reduce. It is bu°t seldom, likewise, that the elbow is dislocated without a frac- ture also. When a dislocation has been reduced, a pitch or other adhesive piaster should be applied around the joint to keep it in its place, which may be further assisted by a proper bandage. It may be useful to remark, that the inexperienced practitioner can no way detect the presence of either a dislo- cation or a fracture, so well as by comparing the sound limb or joint attentively with the unsound one. The Distemper, This scourge to the canine race, now so general and com- mon, does not appear to have been known a century ago ; and even yet, throughout the European continent, it is "de- scribed rather as an occasional epidemic which visits the dif- ferent countries every three or four years, than as a fixed complaint, like the measles or hooping cough in the human*. * In the Grand Encyclopidie Methodique the disease is thus described • <' II c'estjette,ily aquelqueannees, une maladie epidemique sur les - chiens dans toute PEurope ; il en est mort une grand partie sans one 1 on put trouver de remade au ma.V>~-Livraison LIX Chasses. In the Venerie Normande, by Monsieur Be La Conterie, the Distemper IS also described as a disease but lately observed: "Depuis vingt ans es chiens courants plus que tons les autres ont ete afflig^s d'une ma- J ladle que se communique aussi facilement que le galle ou la petite *^' verole, et que maintenant est comme sous le nomme simple de la ma- ^Madie C'est une sort de peste parfaitement resemblante a la gourme des chevaux. Si on me demande quel remade il faut employer centre 134 THE DISTEMPER. Our continental neig-hbours appear to have transmitted it to England, where also it seems first to have appeared in the form of an epidemic, but now exists as a permanent disease, to which every individual of the canine race has a strong constitutional liability. That we imported it, is evident from the circumstance that the earliest notices we have of it in sporting- works* are subsequent to its announcement in the «S^e Inflamed Bowels. Hepatitis, or inflamed liver, is commonly fatal, unless attend- ed to sufficiently early. When the sickness becomes fre- quent, when the limbs appear paralytic, and the mouth is pale as well as cold, a fatal termination may be expected. The proper treatment of the complaint consists in early and plentiful bleeding. A stimulating or blistering applica- tion should be applied to the belly, particularly towards the right side. A moderate purge should also be administered ; and, if circumstances should prevent the application of any INFLAMED LIVER. 191 stimulant to the region of the liver, the dog- should be put into warm water twice or thrice during the day. After the purge has operated, give the following every three or four hours : — Powdered foxglove 8 grains Antiraonial powder 16 grains Nitrated potash (^nitre) in powder 1 dram. Mix, and divide into seven, nine, or twelve powders; or make into as many balls, according to the size of the dog. If amendment does not become apparent, repeat the bleeding, and stimulate the skin more actively. Ch?'onic Inflammation of the Liver arises sometimes spon- taneously, and is idiopathic. In other cases it is brought on by the agency of other aifections. Long continued or in- verted mange will tend to produce disease in the liver. In some cases of distemper, also, a dull inflammatory action of the liver occurs, and which is almost always accompanied with a pustular eruption over the belly. The skin is also commonly tinged with a biliary suJQTusion, but the urine is in- variably impregnated with a very large quantity of bile. This complaint produces dulness, wasting, a staring coat, and very often a tumour may be felt in the right side of the belly. From the unhealthy appearance of the hair, it is often mistaken for worms ; but it may be distinguished from that complaint by the want of the voracity of appetite which cha- racterises worms, and also by the general and constant dul- ness of manner. The treatment of this disease should be commenced by a mercurial purge, after which give, night and morning, one of the following balls : — Submuriate of quicksilver {calomel)., ,.^ 20 grains Antimonial powder 30 grains Powdered myrrh 2 drams Powdered gentian 2 drams Aloes 2 drams. Mix with any adhesive matter, and divide into fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five balls, according to the size of the dog. 192 INFLAMED LUNGS. Mercurial ointment 1 ounce Blistering ointment 2 drams Ointment of yellow wax 1 ounce. Rub into the region of the liver a small portion of this oint- ment (the size of a nutmeg-) once every day. Pursue this treatment some time, carefully watching- the mouth, to g-uard against sudden and violent salivation. A moderate soreness of the mouth is, however, to be encouraged and kept up : nor have I ever succeeded in removing the complaint v/ithout it. Injiamed Lu7igs (Peripnemnonia). Pneumonia is not an unfrequent complaint among dogs. In some years it is remarkable that it rages in an epidemic form, and destroys vast numbers. In general cases it may, however, be directly traced to the action of cold on the body. I have seen it brought on, in a great number of instances, by the cruel practice of clipping or shearing rough dogs in cold weather. Throwing dogs into the water, and after- wards neglecting to dry them, is also not an uncommon cause of it. In fact, any unusual exposure to cold may occasion it. In some instances it is brought on by distemper. The complaint is commonly rapid, and usually fatal ; its fatal tendency being much increased by the circumstance, that in most instances it arrives at such a height, before it attracts sufficient notice, as to baffle all attempts at reducing the in- flammation. During one of the periods in which it raged in an epidemic form (a w^arm mild spring), hardly any dog sur- vived beyond the third day ; about which time most of the affected were suffocated by the quantity of water formed within the chest. A serous effusion, although a frequent, is not an invariable termination of the complaint. I have seen it destroy by a congestion of blood within the lungs. INFLAMED LUNGS. 193 It now and then, when attended to very early, terminates likewise by resolution and returning- health. Inflammation of the lungs shews itself by a very quick la- borious breathing- ; the heart beats in a very rapid but op- pressed manner. The head is held up to enable the dog to breathe more freely, and which peculiar posture very strongly characterises the complaint. In almost every instance also considerable moisture distils from the nose ; which, together with the ears and paws, are in general extremely and unna- turally cold. A short quick cough is often present, but this is not invariably the case. The cure should be begun by bleeding, and that very largely ; but it must be particularly remembered that bleed- ing ought only to be attempted early in the complaint : if it is performed after the second day, the dog commonly dies under the operation. This circumstance should never be for- gotten by a practitioner who may happen to be called in, the recollection of which may save him much mortification and disgrace. The first bleeding, if early attempted, may save, provided it is a full and copious one. For every pound a dog weighs, as far as eight pounds, he may lose half an ounce of blood. From that weight upwards, he may lose a quarter of an ounce for every pound, unless it should be a very large heavy dog, when the proportion must be moderated. The whole chest should likewise be immediately blistered between the fore legs, and behind the elbows, by removing the hair, and afterwards rubbing in a blistering ointment, and then covering the parts with a cloth carefully secured. If blister- ing ointment is not at hand, oil of turpentine, well rubbed in, and repeated at intervals of two or three hours, will do nearly as well. A clyster should also be given, and no time should be lost in administering the following by the mouth likewise : — Powdered foxglove 12 grains Tartar emetic 3 grains Nitre 1 dram. 194 INFLAMED STOMACH. Mix, and divide into six, nine, or twelve powders, or form into balls, and give one every two or three hours. But if there should be much cough present, then substitute the fol- lowing- : — Tincture of foxglove 1 dram Tartarised antimony (tartar emetic) 3 grains Nitrated potash (nitre) 1 dram Oxymel 2 ounces. Give from a tea to a dessert-spoonful of this mixture every two or three hours. If either of these medicines acts as a vomit on the dog", moderate the dose. In this complaint it is peculiarly requisite to keep the dog* in a cool temperature. Provided his skin is screened from the access of cold, it is no matter how cool the air he breathes. If amendment should not be apparent in four hours, the bleed- ing* may be repeated, and the blistering- Ukewise. But if, in spite of these renewed applications, the nose and mouth continue intensely cold, and the head remains held as hig-h, or even hig-her, than before, a fatal termination may be ex- pected *. •**#^4 Inflamed Stomach (Gastritis). The stomach is less frequently affected with idiopathic in- flammation than the bowels ; it is, however, now and then the seat of primary inflammation, and it often becomes in- flammatorily affected when the bowels are so. When the stomach is primarily inflamed, the sickness is incessant and most distressing-; the thirst is unquenchable, and whatever is taken in, is immediately thrown up again. There is also very * I would submit to the veterinarian the propriety of performing, in particular pneumonic cases, the operation for empyema as a last re- source. The evacuation of the serum, which is commonly thrown into the chest, might arrest the fatal termination : at least, the experiment would be worth the trial. \ JAUNDICE.. ..LOOSENESS. 195 great distress in the countenance, but the dog evinces less disposition to hide himself than in simple bowel affection. The mouth slavers, and is hot and cold by turns. Gastritis, when violent, is seldom relieved, even by any treatment. When it does admit of cure, it is done by bleed- ing early and largely, both by the neck, and by leeches to the region of the stomach. The warm bath should be used, and injections should be repeatedly administered. The chest should be blistered also, but nothing ought to be given by the mouth. The stomach is also liable to become inflamed from poi- sonous substances. The medical treatment of such cases is detailed under the head Poisons. Jaundice, Dogs now and then become affected with hepatic absorp- tion, in distemper and acute inflammations of the abdominal viscera ; but that icteric obstruction to the flow of bile pro- ducing human jaundice I have not met with in them. -*«r>er,°particularly in the former, do we witness rage or fierceness ? and whether contagious can be more justly applied to a disease that, al- though received, cannot, as we believe, be again communicated by m.an, admits of doubt. We have yet, therefore, to seek for a correct term for this anomalous malady. The French occasionally characterize the rabid disease by the term Cynolisson or Cynolysson; and wo have met- ^ith Cynohj'ssa as an English name bearing the same import, as well as Cynode'ctos (ituv«W. ...harrier, i6.,. .bea- gle, i6. ...pointer, i6.... bull-dog, i6....pug dog, i&.... terrier, ib. . . barbet, t&.... spaniel, 35. ..setter, 36 Dog, his moral qualities, 38. ..pos- sesses intellect beyond any other brute, 38. ..his sagacity is rati- onal and not instinctive, 46.. .his courage, 52. ..his fidelity, ib.... his tractability, 60.. .Dogs pos- sess a sixth sense, 63 Dogs, their qualities, 1-66. ..in ana- tomical structure they resemble the human, 67. ..their diseases also bear a great analogy, 68... this analogy not so striking in the operation of various medi- cinal articles, i&....mode of giv- ing medicities to dogs, 69. ..in sickness they require great care, 70. ..nutriment proper for sick dogs, i6.... their irritability very great, 71. ..their age, how ascer- tained, 74...1icking their wounds erroneously supposed salutarj', 320... condition particularly ne- Index, 323 cessary for sporting dogs, 126... naturally subject to a costive habit, 127. ..very subject to asth- ma, 78. ..exercise essentially ne- cessary for their health, 160... how to teach them to exercise themselves, 161. ..destruction of, when necessary, how bestefifect- ed, 219 Dogs^ their breeding, 87 to 109... capable of superfoetation, 91... opinions on breeding from con- sanguinity, 107. ..pupping, 223 ...rearing of puppies, 109-113 Do^-grass, the natural emetic for dogs, 160 Dressings for mange, 203-207— how performed, 208 Dropsij, 153. ..of the belly, 154...of the chest, 157. ..of the skin, ib.... encysted, 158. ..hydatids, ib.,.. Dropsy of the eyeball, 164 Dysentery, 158 Ears, cropping of them, 130... rounding them, ife....Ears can- kered, 116. ..the flap swelled, 120 Emetics generally, 159... excellent in asthma, 81... useful in distem- per, 145. ..dog-grass the most na- tural one, 160 Empyema, 194 Enteritis, 184 Epidemics, distemper sometimes so, 135. ..inflamed bladder proved so in 1810, 183"-inflamed lungs also sometimes epidemic, 193 Epilepsy, 174, 141 Eruptions, 200 Exercise of dogs, 160... great use of it, 161 ... particularly useful in preventing an undue accumula- tion of far, 166 Eyes, diseases of, 162.. .ulcer in, ib. ...spurious ophthalmia, ib.... very common in distemper, 163 ...true ophthalmia, i6.. ..cataract, 164 Eyelids, ulcerated, 165 Fatness, excessive, 165. ..its conse- quences, and how to prevent it, 166...a common cause of asthma, 78 Feeding of dogs, 167. ..physiology of digestion, it.. ..excessive feed- ing productive of disease, 168... various kinds of food, ib. 169... food proper in sickness, 71... mode of administering it, 70-71 ... clysters often a convenient medium of conveying nutriment in sickness,132,.. nutritious feed- ing particularly necessary in distemper, 147. ..feeding and ex- ercise should be regulated in re- lation to each other according to circumstances, 173 Feet, sore, 174 Fever, ib. Fits in dogs, their various kinds, 174...cauS;S of them, i6....very common in distemper, 141-149 ...often arise in otherwise healthy dogs, particularly in pointers, setters, and spaniels, from an ex- cess of irritability, 175.. .a very fatal kind brought on in bitches who suckle, 176, 224... common to puppies, 113, 318... worms a frequent occasion of fits, 318 Flap of the ear, swelled, 120 Fleas in dogs, how destroyed, 177 Fractures of the bones, with the mode of reducing them, 179.., how detected, 132. ..often united with dislocation, i&... .compound fractures, 180 Fungous excrescences, 309 G Gastritis, 181 Gestation, or going with young, 91 Glandular swellings, 181 Gravel, ib. GreyJiounds, natural history of, 31 ...condition particularly neces- sary for, 293. ..distemper parti- cularly fatal to them, 138 H Hcsmorrhage, 182 Hemorrhoids, ib. Hair, wire-haired dogs very liable to be affected with mange, and such hair soonest becomes dis- coloured, 201 Head, swelled, 182 Heal in bitches, 87 Hepatitis, 182 Hernia, ib. 324 Index. i/o«ntis, various, origin and natural history of, 34 Husk, 183 Hydatids, 158 Hydrophobia, 183... a misnomer for rabies in the dog, ih. Hydrothorax, 157 I and J Impregnation, phenomena of it, 95 Inflammation, 183 Inflamed bladder, ib. Inflamed bowels, 184... from rheu- matism, ib. 184, 292.. .from ob- structien, 185. ..from cold, 186... from vitiated bile, 188. ..specific kind of inflammation in rabies, 267... inflamed from poisons, 213 Inflamed liver, acute, 190.. .chro- nic, 191 Inflamed lungs, 192 Inflamed stomach, 194.. .from poi- sons, 213. ..specific kind in ra- bies, 267 Intussusception, 185 Irritability of dogs great in sick- ness, 71. ..often productive of fits in healthy dogs, 175 Jaundice common to chronic in- flammation of the liver, 195... and to distemper, 135 Jawj locked, 307 Liver, acute inflammation of, 190... chronic inflammation of, 191... a particular kind present in dis- temper, 135 Looseness, or diarrhoea, 131, 195... very common in distemper, 144 ...a bad kind brought on by mer- curials, 207, 216 Locked jav,' , 307 Ltimbayo, 199 Lungs, inflamed, ib. M Madness, 199. ..raging, 2.56... dumb madness, 259 Mange, 200...its varieties, 201. ..its anomalies, i&.... treatment of it, 203. ..frequently ends in dropsy, 154. ..acute mange, ib. Mastiff, 33 Medicines, mode of giving, 69 Mercurials, easily raise salivation in dogs, 76.. .are apt to produce violent diarrhoea, or looseness, 207, 216 Milk in bitches, when not drawn off", apt to occasion scirrhus, 89 Mineral poisons, 213 N Neck, swelled, 208 Newfoundland dog, natural history of, 28 Nux vomica, unequal in its action, but usually a deadly poison to dogs, 219 O Obstructions in the bowels, how to overcome them, 185 ... clysters very useful for this purpose, 124 CEslrum, or heat, in bitches, 208 Opium, not always a poison to dogs, ...an excellent remedy in asth- ma, 81 Ophthalmia, 162.. .common in dis- temper, 163 Ovaria, diseased, 158 Paint, dogs often poisoned by the lead in it, 215 Palsy, or paralysis, 209 Paralysis, or palsy, 209.. .a common accompaniment to many com- plaints, 124, 139, 295 't^enis liable to be aff'ected with fungous excrescences, or proud flesh, 309 Peripneumonia f 192 Physic for dogs, 210 Piles, 211 Pneumonia, 192 Pointer, his natural history, 34... pointing natural to all dogs, ib. ...a cultivated quality in the pointer and setter, i6.... pointers and setters liable to fits in hunt- ing, 175 Poisons, vegetable, 217 ... animal, 220. ..mineral, 211. ..when neces- sary to destroy life, the best, 219 ...opium an vmcertain poison to the dog, 217. ..mode of detecting poison, 213, 2l4,216...treatment of poisoned cases, t&.... tobacco a frequent accidental poison, 206 Index, 325 Pregnaiicy, 91. ..how distinguished from dropsy, 154 Preventive against rabies, 280 Pulse in dogs, 222. ..best detected by the breathing, ib. Puppies, breeding and rearing of, 92.. .diseases of, 112, 113.. .their claws, 122.,.. when too numer- ous, produce fits in the mother, 224... have a spasmodic colic, 113, 1 1 1 ...mode of cropping and tailing them, 130... are injured by much confinement. 111 Pupping, 223... when assistance re- quisite, ib Ca^sarean opera- tion, ib bitches killed from rearing too many pups, 224 Purging medicines, 210. ..how treat- ed, when a disease, 131. ..very common in distemper, 144... a • very dangerous kind brought on by mercury, 207, 216 R Rabies, 225. ..origin of the term,i6. ...history of it, 22.5-228. ..erro- neous notions relative to it, 231- 234. ..worming no preventive, ib. 3l3...at first of spontaneous origin, 234....subsequently not so, i&....heat not the origin of it, 237. ..nor season, 238. ..nor ab- stinence, 240 .... what animals have it, 241. ..what animals are capable of communicating it, 242.. .in what part of the body does the poison originally exist, 244. ..in the salivary glands, 248 ...time between the bite and ap- pearance of the disease, 249... symptoms of the disease, 250... early symptoms, ib. to 253. ..in- termediate symptoms, 255. ..rag- ing madness, 256 dumb mad- ness, 259. ..morbid anatomy of ra- bid subjects, 262... .what diseases may be mistaken for rabies, 268 ...modus operandi of the rabid poison, 269.. .remedies employed during rabies, 272-275. ..prophy- lacticks, or preventive remedies, 275 ...preventive qualities of the tree box, 280, ..destruction of the bitten part the most certain, 283 ...process of the operation, ib.... considered as regards the human subject, 289. ..unnecessary dread of rabid dogs, 2<)1 Rheumatism, 292. ..its varieties, ib. ...causes of it. 294. ..weather an eftect on it, ifc.... treatment of it, 295 Rickets common to puppies, 296... in the wry-legged breed of ter- riers this deformity is propa- gated, ib. Rounding, among hounds, 131 Runiting round, a symptom of spasm in the bowels, 124 St. Anthony's fire, 305 St. Vitus's dance, 305 Salivcdion easily excited in dogs, 76 ...very hurtful to them, r6. Salt forms a good domestic eme- tic, 160... a vermifuge also, 319 Scirrhous tumours, 297 .... morbid appearance of these tumours, ib. ...scirrhous teats in bitches, 297 ...scirrhous testicles, 299 Scouring in dogs, 131, 144, 195, 207, 210 Scrot}im, inflamed, 300 Setons, 300. ..not so beneficial as supposed in distemper, 151 Setters and pointers, their natural history, 36, 34.. .their condition necessary to be attended to, 126 ...setters m st liable to internal canker, and pointers most to ex- ternal canker, 118 Shepherd's dog, natural history of, 29 Sickness, excessive, 301 Spaniel, his natural history, .35... long lived, 74. ..subject to fits in hunting, 175 Spasm, varieties and treatment of, 302. ..spasmodic colic, 124.. .the same in puppies, 113 Spaying, 303 Stings of wasps and bees, 221 Stomach, inflammation of, 181... from poisons, 220. ..specific kind in rabies, 267. ..stomach, foul, 1 10. .when full of an indigestible mass, strongly characteristic of rabies, 265 Stone in dogs, 304 Sulphur, overrated as an altera- tive, 7? 326 Surfeit, 206, f)\ Swellings, 306 Index. Tailing of puppies, 130 Tapping of dogs for dropsy, 155 Tartar emetic, the best general emetic, 159 Teats, scirrhous swellings of them in bitches, 297. ..mode of pre- venting them, 89 Tenesmus, treatment of it, 121.... common in diarrhcea, 193. ..of- ten mistaken for piles, 211 Terrier, natural history of, 35... short lived, 74...a wry-legged breed, 296 Testicles, diseased, 299, 307. ..mode of castration, 121 Tetanus, or locked jaw, 307 Throat, swelled, 308 Tobacco, a frequent poison to dogs, 206 Toes, affections of, 122...sore from travelling, 174 Tumotirs, in general, described, 308 U Ulcerous affections in general, 309 ...of the eye, 162 Urethra in dogs, how placed, 304 Urine, bloody, 310, 82.. .in bitches often a sign of cancered womb, 115. ..when evacuated by drops, a sign of inflamed bladder, 183 Uterus of bitches, diseased, 115 Vaccination, 311, 134 Vegetable poisons, 217 Venomous bites, 311 Vermin, ib. Vertigo, or turning round, often dependent on a particular affec- tion of the bowels, 124 Vittis, St. his dance, 305 Vomiting, excessive, 301 ...bilious, 302.. .when the effect of poisons, 213. ..from inflamed stomach, 1 81 W Warts, 311 Washing of dogs, 312 Water in the belly, how distin- guished, 154. ..in the chest, 157 Weather an effect on dogs, 294 Wens, 299, 3\S Worming, 313 no preventive against madness, ib. 234 Worms, 317. ..remedies for, 319... occasion a particular colic, 124... are very common to puppies, 112 Wounds'in dogs, how treated,319 Yard of the dog often affected with fungous excrescences, 309. J. Compton, Printer, Middle Street, Cloth Fair. Londou. RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT TO^-^ 202 Main Library -1 LOAN PERIOD 1 HOME USE 2 : 3 4 5 ( S ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS ^^^.f^J'cL^^J^P RECHARGES MAY BE MADE 4 DAYS PRICfl TO DUE DATE LOAN PERIODS ARE t-MONTH, 3-MONTHS. 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