skin is laid on the spot. A mat of this description, belonging especially to each dog, is kept for him in the waggon, and as each knows its own, he is sure to lie down wherever he finds it. The wolves would scarcely dare to attack a fortress so well garrisoned."

In the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Apennines of Calabria, dogs perform the same service. The powerful wiry dogs which guard the Bergamese sheep in the mountains are said to be able to cope singly with a wolf. They wear formidable spiked collars, and take charge of the flock in the absence of the shepherd.

Murray's Summer in the Pyrenees' thus mentions the noble protectors of the flocks

"Their fine-looking dogs, a couple of which are generally attached to each flock, have nobler duties to perform than that of chasing the flock and biting the legs of stragglers. They protect it from the attacks of wolves and bears, against whose approach they are continually on the watch, and to whom they at once offer battle. So well aware are the sheep of the fatherly care of these dogs, and that they themselves have nothing to fear from them, that they crowd around them, as if they really sought their protection; and dogs and sheep may be seen resting together, or trotting after the shepherd, in the most perfect harmony. The Pyrenean shepherd, his dog, and his flock, seem to understand each other's duties. Mutual security and affection are the bonds which unite them."

"He goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice."

The virtues of the dog are his own-his vices those of his master (at least Addison says he has been the companion of man 3000 years, and only learned of him to worry his species in distress). By the following extract from the 'Times' of February 29, 1864, a remarkable instance is shown of the difference of the Irish from the English dog. In England-a comparatively honest and justice-loving land -the canine race bark at the thief; but in the sister isle they give warning of the approach of the police! Paddy sporting on Sunday, recalls to mind the Act of the 13th Richard II.

Speaking of a proposed dog show in Dublin:

1

"Whatever may be proposed to improve the breed of dogs, something effectual should be done to diminish their number, for there are loud complaints from all parts of the country that they are becoming an intolerable nuisance. The number of worthless dogs in Ireland is prodigious, one or more of them being kept at every cabin. They annoy passengers and frighten horses by their furious barking on the public roads. Being half-starved at home, since the failure of the potatoes, they go prowling over the country at night in search of food. They attack flocks of sheep and kill many of them, worrying the rest almost to death. During the spring they prey upon

lambs to a fearful extent. and other bad characters at night, because they bark at the constabulary patrol, and thus give warning to criminals to keep out of the way. Many of them are also kept for poaching purposes, and their owners overrun the country hunting game, especially during the hours of worship on Sunday. From

They are a protection to robbers

all these causes a tax on dogs would be very well received by the Irish gentry, and would be a real benefit to the country."

"During my tour," says Sir Francis Head,'" wherever I went I had observed that Irish dogs are infected with a wooden log tied round their necks, and which bruises their knees if they attempt to go faster than a trot. It's inflicted on um by the aristocracy of England!' said a man, of whom I had modestly inquired on the subject.” . . . “As an English dog runs about unfettered, but taxed, and an Irish dog lives untaxed, but logged, it would admit of argument, if 'the twa dogs' were to meet, which was the freest animal of the two."

The dog, to a certain extent, propagates disease, but more especially where he is neglected, and the habits of the people are filthy. Mr. Simon, surgeon to the Medical Department of the Privy Council, has stated that dogs and animals eating the raw offal of slaughter-houses contribute largely to the dissemination of parasitic diseases produced by the tape-worm. In Iceland, where these complaints are numerous, causing one-fifth of the mortality, the agency of the dog in spreading them is established. The sheep-disease also, the sturdy or gid, so prevalent in the United Kingdom, is most common among flocks herded by many dogs. Irish pigs, however, are the great spreaders of the plague, most especially when herding with human beings, living in common, and devouring their excrement, or when fed on horseflesh, entrails, or diseased

1A Fortnight in Ireland.

meat. Pigs receive the complaint from man, and so may dogs in the same manner.1

A friend in Galway has obliged me with some particulars concerning the dogs in that county:

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The poor people keep dogs in their cabins, but in almost every case small ones. Those who have it feed them on potatoes and milk; the very poor only give them the skins and such scraps as the animals can pick up. In the villages there are some very miserable looking dogs: the people keep them more as companions than as watch-dogs, for they have but little to take care of, and those small dogs are great cowards; they will bark violently at a stranger while outside, but the moment you enter the door they run into their corner and hide. In some cabins you will now and then find a nice little terrier, or a small spaniel; but the generality are what people call cabin curs, most of them very ugly dogs, with large heads and long rat-like tails. You will rarely ever find a large one with those people--they could not feed them. Those little dogs are greatly attached to their poor owners. I can give you an instance of their attachment, but I fear it may be long; however I will put it in as few words as possible.

Not many months past a needy man was travelling on foot from a village at the other side of Galway to one down in the west. He took his little dog with him; it was a small smooth white one, something of a terrier, but a very common-looking dog. The man having travelled two days with but little sus

1 See Gamgee (J.), Professor Edin. Veterinary College; Dr. Leared; Dr. Hjaltlin, head of the Medical Board at Reykjavik.

tenance, was so exhausted with hunger, after being refused food at several cottages by which he had passed, that he turned into a field beside the road and lay down, not able from starvation to go any farther. Some people going by heard a low howl and went into the field, where they found the man almost dead, the little dog sitting at his head. At the moment my brother happened to be driving from church, so he stopped, and while having the man put up on the car, observed the dog, who was in a great state of excitement, so much so, that he put him up too-then the little creature was quite contented. My brother took them to the policebarrack and his little boy offered food to the starving dog, but he would not taste it, and kept quite close to his master while they were trying to restore him. When he saw him better and able to eat, then the little animal devoured his own food ravenously, all the while watching his master. The man and dog went away next morning, and we heard no more of either since.

"The sheep-dog in this country is rather a handsome animal: it is a very well made dog, with a long thick coat, which makes it appear much larger than it really is, and a long well-furnished tail. These dogs are rather curiously marked: the upper part of their body is nearly black, as also that of the head and tail; the rest of the body, legs, and the fringe of the tail is a light brown, and the lower part of the face lighter still. All sheep-dogs in this part of the country are marked as I have described, and are unlike any I have ever seen in England. They are such gentle creatures that they will allow a perfect stranger to come up and pet them.

"In every woodranger's cottage you will find a small dog