She is the picture of shame; she slinks
away at our approach, and her eye no longer confidently seeks that of her
master; her aspect is dejected, but I think more with sorrow than with
crime.

I would not plead for sin; but what I have beheld in dogs inclines me to
think the majority of those who have been hung for infanticide were
legally murdered. There is danger in admitting such an opinion; but seeing
all animals at certain periods exhibit a particular propensity, it is very
doubtful whether the morbid feeling, as exemplified in the human race, is
really one that calls for mortal punishment.

When a bitch has devoured her young, let an emetic be administered; and
should the bowels be costive, an aperient be exhibited. A little fever
medicine may follow; but if its effects are not immediately witnessed,
tonics, without loss of time, should be resorted to. The food must be
mild; and everything should be done to guard against excitement. The
system requires to be soothed; for the act is always attended with general
disturbance; and attention must be paid to prevent the milk from
accumulating in the glands.

Some persons entertain a notion that the bitch which has once devoured her
litter, will ever after retain the disposition. This is a false idea. On
the next occasion, if properly treated--that is, if not persecuted,
chastised, alarmed, and annoyed, but properly dieted--she may prove, and
most likely will prove, an excellent mother; the very excitability which,
when over-stimulated, induced her unnatural impulse, making her, when
tranquil, the more alive to the instincts of her nature. I once saw this
in a very remarkable manner illustrated by a rabbit. The doe was sold to
me very cheap, and was in litter at the time of purchase. A week after she
came into my possession, she plucked her fur and made her bed. One morning
I distinctly saw a nest full of young; but looking again at noon, not a
single one of the progeny was to be beheld. Some little blood and a
mangled leg told their history; and the animal a fortnight afterwards was
again put to the buck.

I by chance discovered, while the doe was breeding, that she had an
inordinate thirst. At first it amused me to see the creature lap the water
I presented to her; but at last I placed within her hutch a cup, and had
it kept constantly filled. Her desire for liquid was not speedily
quenched; and it became to me a source of some pain when I reflected how
much agony