3. Besides the innumerable mixed curs that have no well-defined characteristics, many distinct varieties are our familiar acquaintances. The terrier group embraces the smooth English black-and-tan, the rough Scotch and Isle of Skye, and the fox terriers, all of whom show their inbred propensity to search the terra or earth, when the word "rats" is mysteriously pronounced. The spaniel, with soft, curly hair and pendulous ears, is known by his fondness for the water. The mastiff group includes the bull-dog, who makes his attacks without a bark, the famous English mastiff the prince of watch-dogs-and the abused little pug, whose kingdom is the lap of his mistress. The great, shaggy, noble-hearted Newfoundland is the pride of the household, and the trusted friend of little children.

4. Hundreds of stories have been preserved which illustrate the almost human traits of dogs-their intelli gence, reasoning power, memory, humor, jealousy, deceit sympathy, and fidelity. In ancient Egypt the dog was regarded with veneration. By the Egyptians, Sirius was called the dog-star. But the Eastern nations despised the dog, and from them have descended those phrases and comparisons which class him with objects that are low and wicked.

5. From these people, who never treated this animal as a friend or companion, have come those expressions of anger and insult we too often hear: "You're a dog," "a cur," "a hound." And in the cities and towns of India and Turkey, even to-day, travelers are impressed with what are called "street dogs," who have no masters and no friends.

6. Some gentlemen, who kept tigers in cages, have fed them with the street dogs of India. "I know," says Mr. Williamson, "an instance of one who was thus devoted to

destruction, and was expected to become the tiger's 'daily bread,' standing on the defensive in a manner that completely astonished both the tiger and the spectators. He crept into a corner, and, whenever the tiger approached, scized him by the lip or the nose, making him roar most piteously. The tiger, however, impelled by appetite, for no other supply was given him for several days, would renew the attack. The result was ever the same.

7. "At length the tiger began to treat the dog with more deference, and allowed him not only to eat the mess of rice and meat daily furnished for his subsistence, but even refrained from any attempt to disturb his rest. The two animals, after some weeks, became completely courteous, and each showed symptoms of attachment to his companion. But, what must appear extraordinary, was that the dog, on being allowed free ingress and egress through the hole, considered the cage as his home, always returning to it with confidence, and, when the tiger died, moaning for want of his companion."

8. To illustrate the reasoning power of the dog, John Randolph related the story of one who, in pursuit of his master, came to a place where three roads branched off. The dog scented the ground on the first road, then on the second, and then took the third without using his scent, as much as to say, "He did not go by the first or the second, therefore he must have gone by the third." A Newfoundland dog, annoyed beyond endurance by a small dog, picked the little creature up and dropped it into the water, and afterward rescued it from drowning. Another, whose nose was seized by a bull-dog, who scarcely ever lets go its grip, discovered, near at hand, a kettle of boiling tar. Into this he plunged his tormenter, and received instant relief.

9. Dr. John Brown, of Edinburgh, Scotland, was a

great friend of dogs, and he has written a delightful sketch of his pets, entitled "Rob and his Friends." He gives this graphic account of his dog " Nipper": "Many years ago I got a proof of the unseen and therefore unhelped miseries of the homeless dog. I was walking down Duke Street, when I felt myself gently nipped in the leg. I turned, and there was a ragged little terrier crouching and abasing himself utterly, as if asking pardon for what he had done. He then stood upon end, and begged as only these coaxing little ruffians can.

10. "Being in a hurry, I curtly praised his performance with Good dog!' clapped his dirty sides, and, turning round, made down the hill; when presently the same nip—perhaps a little nippier—the same scene, only more intense, the same begging and urgent motioning of his short, shaggy paws. There's meaning in this,' said I to myself, and looked at him keenly and differently. He seemed to twig at once, and, with a shrill cry, was off much faster than I could. He stopped every now and then to see that I followed, and, by way of putting off the time and urging me, got up on the aforesaid portion of his body, and when I came up was off again.

11. "This continued till, after going through sundry streets and by-lanes, we came to a gate, under which my short-legged friend disappeared. Of course, I couldn't follow him. This astonished him greatly. He came out to me, and as much as said, 'Why don't you come in?' I tried to open it, but in vain. My friend vanished, and was silent. I was leaving in despair and disgust, when I heard his muffled, ecstatic yelp far off round the end of the wall; and there he was, wild with excitement. I followed, and came to a place where, with a somewhat burglarious ingenuity, I got myself squeezed into a deserted coach-yard, lying all nude and waste.

12. "My peremptory small friend went under a shed, and disappeared in a twinkling through the window of an old coach-body, which had long ago parted from its wheels and become sedentary. I remember the arms of the Fife family were on its panel; and I dare say this chariot with its C-springs had figured in 1822 at the King's visit, when all Scotland was somewhat Fifeish. I looked in, and there was a female pointer with a litter of five pups; the mother like a ghost, and wild with maternity and hunger; her raging, yelling brood tearing away at her dry dugs.

13. "I never saw a more affecting or more miserable scene than that family inside the coach. The poor bewildered mother, I found, had been lost by some sportsman returning south, and must have slunk away there into that deserted place, where she placed her young, rushing out to grab any chance garbage, and running back fiercely to them day after day and night after night.

14. "What the relief was when we got her well fed and cared for, and her children filled and silent, all cuddling about her asleep, and she asleep too, awaking up to assure herself that this was all true, and that there they were, all the five, each as plump as a plum—

All too happy in the treasure

Of her own exceeding pleasure'—

what this is in kind, and all the greater in amount as many outnumber one, may be the relief, the happiness, the charity experienced and exercised in a homely, wellregulated dog-home.

15. "Nipper, for he was a waif, I took home that night and gave him a name. He lived a merry life with me, showed much pluck and zeal in killing rats, and incontinently slew a cat which had-unnatural brute, un

like his friend—deserted her kittens and was howling offensively inside his kennel. He died aged sixteen, healthy, lean, and happy to the last. As for Perdita and her pups, they brought large prices, the late Andrew Buchannan, of Coltbridge-an excellent authority and man, the honestest dog-dealer I ever knew-having discovered that their blood and her culture were the best."

CHAPTER VI.

TRAINED AND FAITHFUL SERVANTS.

1. On the top of Mont St. Bernard, in Switzerland, stands a hospice, or convent, inhabited by monks, in which for many ages has been preserved a large noble race of dogs specially trained to search for and relieve unfortunate and benighted travelers. The dangers of the mountain-passes, of the deep snows, and of falling avalanches, beset the poor wayfarer, and, if night should overtake him before he reached a human habitation, he often became exhausted, lay down in the snow, and froze to death.

2. On a stormy night these St. Bernard dogs are sent in pursuit of hapless and snow-bound travelers. By their strong scent they are able to find the spot where the victim of misfortune lay, when by their huge paws they clear away the snow, wake the traveler, and by their deep sonorous bark call the monks to the spot, bringing relief. One of these noble dogs won a European reputation, and wore a medal about his neck as a token of distinction, for he had saved the lives of forty persons.

3. The Scotch collie, or shepherd-dog, retains more of the form and appearance of the wolf than any other spe