If the
sons and sons' sons of the wolf were always treated in the same
manner, you may suppose it possible that, in time, they would be as
loving and good as our dogs.
There seems, however, to be more reason to think that our domestic
dog is descended from a wild dog; as there are wild dogs in various
parts of the world; in Africa, Australia, and in India. The dog of
the Esquimaux was a wolf. There is a distinct kind of dog for almost
every part of the world, each sort differing in some things from the
wolf.
The earliest history of man speaks of his faithful companion, the
dog. Every schoolboy has read of the dog of Ulysses; and how, when
Ulysses returned, after a very long absence, so changed as not to be
recognized in his own house, his dog knew him immediately.
Cuvier, the great French naturalist, says that the "dog is the most
complete, the most remarkable, and the most useful conquest ever
made by man."
"Every species has become our property. Each individual is
altogether devoted to his master, assumes his manners, knows and
defends his goods, and remains attached to him until death; and all
this proceeds neither from want nor constraint, but solely from true
gratitude and real friendship."
"The swiftness, the strength, and the scent of the dog have enabled
him to conquer other animals; and, without the dog, man perhaps
could not have formed a society.
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