e nasty trash which the human stomach can endure, and
upon the tempting relishes which mankind know not, like dogs, how to
appreciate. An occasional bone and a little dirt are beneficial to the
canine race, while food nicely minced and served on plates is calculated
to do harm. Such keep fattens to excess, destroys activity, renders the
bowels costive, and causes the teeth to be encrusted with tartar.

A bone is of great service to the animal, which cannot employ a
tooth-brush; and the larger it be and the less meat upon it, the better it
will prove for little high-fed favorites. A dog in strong health may
digest an occasional meal of bones; but the pet has generally a weak and
often a diseased stomach, which would be irritated by what would otherwise
do it no harm. The animal, nevertheless, true to its instinct, has always
an inclination to swallow such substances, provided its teeth can break
off a piece of a size fitted for deglutition. Game and chicken-bones,
which are readily crushed, should therefore be withheld, for not
infrequently is choking caused by pieces sticking in the oesophagus;
though more often is vomiting induced by irritation of the stomach, or
serious impactment of the posterior intestine ensues upon the feebleness
of the digestion.

The bone, therefore, should be large, and on it there should be nothing
which the knife can remove. It ought to be thrown upon the earth, and the
animal should be allowed to gnaw it at leisure. During the act, a
considerable quantity of earth and saliva will be swallowed, and little
actual food be added to an already loaded stomach. In all points of view
the animal is benefited. The soil is always slightly alkaline, and so is
the saliva; any undue acidity is by both in some measure counteracted; but
the earth is also of further service. Food too highly or purely nutritive
will not support life; but to render it healthy, a certain quantity of
indigestible or refuse matter is imperative. The latter portion acts
mechanically as a stimulant to the intestines, and hence, gentlemen by
choice consume bread in which a portion of the husk is mingled, finding it
prevents the costiveness that the baker's "best" induces. Dogs are here
very like men, but they require more of the mixture than the human being
could bear. The animals, therefore, should not be fed off plates.

The better practice is to take the day's allowance and throw it upon the
ground, letting the beast eat it with