reat
upon that subject; and could the animals concerned bear witness, they
would testify it was indeed no joke. The Lord Mayor of London does not
retire from office with a stomach more deranged than the majority of the
canine race, shielded by his worshipful authority, could exhibit. The
cause in both instances is the same. Dogs as they increase in years seem
to degenerate sadly; till at length they mumble dainties and relish
flavors with the gusto of an alderman. Pups even are not worthy of
unlimited confidence. The little animals will show much ingenuity in
procuring substances that make the belly ache; and, with infantine
perversity, will, of their own accord, gobble things which, if
administered, would excite shrieks of resistance. A litter of high-bred
pups is a source of no less constant annoyance, nor does it require less
incessant watching, than a nursery of children. There is so much
similarity between man and dog that, from fear of too strongly wounding
the self-love of my reader, I must drop the subject.

Indigestion in dogs assumes various forms, and is the source of numerous
diseases. Most skin affections may be attributed to it. The inflammation
of the gums, the foulness of the teeth, and the offensiveness of the
breath, are produced by it. Excessive fatness, with its attendant asthma
and hollow cough, are to be directly traced to a disordered digestion. In
the long run, half of the petted animals die from diseases originating in
this cause; and in nearly every instance the fault lies far more with the
weakness of the master than with the corruptness of the beast. He who is
invested with authority has more sins, than those he piously acknowledges
his own, to answer for.

The symptoms are not obscure. A dislike for wholesome food, and a craving
for hotly spiced or highly sweetened diet, is an indication. Thirst and
sickness are more marked. A love for eating string, wood, thread, and
paper, denotes the fact; and is wrongly put down to the prompting of a
mere mischievous instinct: any want of natural appetite, or any evidence
of morbid desire in the case of food, declares the stomach to be
disordered. The dog that, when offered a piece of bread, smells it with a
sleepy eye, and without taking it licks the fingers that present it, has
an impaired digestion. Such an animal will perhaps only take the morsel
when it is about to be withdrawn; and, having got it, does not swallow it,
but places it on the ground,