ind of dogs from
the vast but rather untrustworthy mass of anecdote with which our books
are filled. So large a part of this evidence is contaminated by
prepossessions, and a yet larger part is so unverified in any scientific
sense, that for purposes of sound inquiry it is worthless. It therefore
seems best to limit ourselves, as has been done in this paper, to those
general actions of the creatures which are matters of common knowledge
and safely beyond question. From these indices we are able to determine
a basis for some important conclusions. These are in effect as follows,
viz.: Our domestic dog is derived from a species, one or more, akin to
the wolf, the jackal, and the fox; to a group of animals not
characterized by great native intelligence, but distinguished for their
ferocity and their general untamableness. There is no reason to believe
that the primitive dog had any more foundation for his great attainments
than his obstinately savage kindred, except that he may have had a
greater disposition to form an attachment to a master. We can hardly
believe that he had any share of that marvellous sympathy with man
and understanding of his motives which characterize the high-bred
varieties of his species. All this vast transformation, which from a
psychological point of view has carried the dog relatively as far up
above his origin as civilization has lifted man above his lowest
estate, has been due to human intercourse and the long and effective
concomitant selection of good from bad. It is hardly too much to say
that a large part of our human nature has been transferred into the
descendants of this ancient wild beast. The sense of property, a great
part of human affections, many of the attributes which constitute the
gentleman, have been passed over to him.

In considering the effects arising from the intercourse of man with the
dog, we should not overlook the development of human sympathy which has
come about through this relation. The fact that the dog has been made by
far the most sympathetic of the lower animals, is due to the affection
which men for thousands of years have given to him. In his intercourse
with this creature, man first learned to develop his altruistic motives
beyond the limits of his own kind. With this extension of his affection
must have begun the growth of that large motive, which is the most
distinguishing feature of our modern life, which leads us to go forth in
a loving manner to the li