he contrary,
when I am disposed to be merry, he shows by his manner that he
rejoices with me. I have often watched the effect which a change in my
countenance would produce. If I frown or look severe, but without
saying a word or uttering a sound, the effect is instantly seen by the
ears dropping, and the eyes showing unhappiness, together with a
doubtful movement of the tail. If I afterwards smile and look pleased,
the tail wags joyously, the eyes are filled with delight, and the ears
even are expressive of happiness. Before a dog, however, arrives at
this knowledge of the human countenance, he must be the companion of
your walks, repose at your feet, and receive his food from your hands:
treated in this manner, the attachment of the dog is unbounded; he
becomes fond, intelligent, and grateful. Whenever Stanislas, the
unfortunate King of Poland, wrote to his daughter, he always
concluded his letter with these words--"Tristan, my companion in
misfortune, licks your feet:" thus showing that he had still one
friend who stuck to him in his adversity. Such is the animal whose
propensities, instincts, and habits, I propose to illustrate by
various anecdotes.

The propensities of the dog, and some of them are most extraordinary,
appear to be independent of that instinct which Paley calls, "a
propensity previous to experience, and independent of instruction."
Some of these are hereditary, or derived from the habits of the
parents, and are suited to the purposes to which each breed has long
been and is still applied. In fact, their organs have a fitness or
unfitness for certain functions without education;--for instance, a
very young puppy of the St. Bernard breed of dogs, when taken on snow
for the first time, will begin to scratch it with considerable
eagerness. I have seen a young pointer of three or four weeks old
stand steadily on first seeing poultry, and a well-bred terrier puppy
will show a great deal of ferocity at the sight of a rat or mouse.

Sir John Sebright, perhaps the best authority that can be quoted on
this subject, says that he had a puppy of the wild breed of Australia;
that the mother was with young when caught, and the puppy was born in
the ship that brought her over. This animal was so like a wolf, not
only in its appearance, but in all its habits, that Sir John at first
doubted if it really were a dog, but this was afterwards proved by
experiment.

Of all the propensities of the brute creation, the w