one meal in twenty-four hours. When the prey was
caught, it would be torn to pieces, and with the flesh much earth would be
swallowed. The animal, however, is now to be regarded as subjected to man;
but while so viewing it, nothing will be lost by keeping in sight its
primitive habits.

The dog can fast for a great number of days. Abstinence for forty-eight
hours seldom injures it; but it is a practice which ought not to be too
frequently adopted, as by its repetition the digestion is weakened. One
meal, however, is sufficient, in every case, for the twenty-four hours.
Animals not worked, but kept as favourites, or allowed only to range at
pleasure, should not have any meat, nor be permitted to consume any large
quantity of fatty substances. Butter, fat, or grease, soon renders the
skin of the dog diseased and its body gross. Milk, fine bread, cakes, or
sugar, are better far for children, and can be on the human race bestowed
with advantage; while given to the brute they are apt to generate
disorders, which a long course of medicine will not in every case
eradicate. Beer, wine, or spirits, all of which the dog can be induced to
drink, show rather the master's ignorance than the creature's liking. Nice
food, or that which a human being would so consider, is in fact not fitted
to support the dog in health. It may appear offensive to ladies when they
behold their favourites gorge rankly, but Nature has wisely ordained that
her numerous children should, by their difference of appetite, consume the
produce of earth. The dog, therefore, can enjoy and thrive upon that which
man thinks of with disgust; but our reason sees in this circumstance no
facts worthy of our exclamation. The animal seeking the provender its
Creator formed its appetite to relish, is not necessarily filthy or
unclean; but could dogs write books, probably the opinions of these beasts
upon many of the made dishes and tit-bits of the fashionable circles,
would be opposed to the ideas which delicate epicures entertain concerning
such luxurious fare. The spaniel which, bloated with sweets, escapes from
the drawing-room to amuse itself with a blackened bone picked from a
dung-hill, follows but the inclination of its kind; and while tearing with
its teeth the dirt-begrimed morsels, it is, according to its nature,
daintily employed. Could we read its thoughts, probably the perverse
little pet, even while it is provoking its mistress's horror, is
reflecting upon th