THE QUALITIES OF THE DOG; EXAMPLES OF ITS ATTACHMENT TO ITS MASTER; NATIONS WHICH HAVE KEPT DOGS FOR THE PURPOSES OF WAR

Latine · Mayhoff 1906

Ex his quoque animalibus, quae nobiscum degunt, multa sunt cognitu digna, fidelissimumque ante omnia homini canis atque equus. pugnasse adversus latrones canem pro domino accepimus confectumque plagis a corpore non recessisse, volucres ac feras abigentem. ab alio in Epiro agnitum in conventu percussorem domini laniatuque et latratu coactum fateri scelus. Garamantum regem canes CC ab exilio reduxere proeliati contra resistentes. propter bella Colophonii ilemcque Castabalenses cohortes canum habuere. hae primae dimicabant in acie numquam detrectantes; haec erant fidissima auxilia nec stipendiorum indiga. canes defendere Cimbris caesis domus eorum plaustris inpositas. canis lasone Lycio interfecto cibum capere noluit inediaque consumptus est. is vero, cui nomen Hyrcani reddit Duris, accenso regis Lysimachi rogo iniecit se flammae, similiterque Hieronis regis. memorat et Pyrrhum, Gelonis tyranni canem, Philistus; memoratur et Nicomedis Bithyniae regis, uxore eius Cosingi lacerata propter lasciviorem cum marito iocum. apud nos Vulcatium nobilem, qui Cascellium ius civile docuit, asturcone e suburbano redeuntem, cum advesperavisset, canis a grassatore defendit; item Caelium senatorem aegrum Placentiae ab armatis oppressum, nec prius ille vulneratus est quam cane interempto. sed super omnia in nostro aevo actis p. R. testatum Appio Iunio et P. Silio cos., cum animadverteretur ex causa Neronis Germanici filii in Titium Sabinum et servitia eius, unius ex his canem nec in carcere abigi potuisse nec a corpore recessisse abiecti, in gradibus gemitoriis maestos edentem ululatus magna populi Romani corona, ex qua cum quidam ei cibum obiecisset, ad os defuncti tulisse. innatavit idem, cadavere in Tiberim abiecto, sustentare conatus, effusa multitudine ad spectandam animalis fidem.

Soli dominum novere et ignotum quoque, si repente veniat, intellegunt; soli nomina sua, soli vocem domesticam agnoscunt. itinera quamvis longa meminere, nec ulli praeter hominem memoria maior. impetus eorum et saevitia mitigatur ab homine considente humi. plurima alia in iis cotidie vita invenit, sed in venatu sollertia et sagacitas praecipua est. scrutatur vestigia atque persequitur, comitantem ad feram inquisitorem loro trahens, qua visa quam silens et occulte, set quam significans demonstratio est cauda primum, deinde rostro! ergo etiam senecta fessos caecosque ac debiles sinu ferunt, ventos et odorem captantes protendentesque rostra ad cubilia.

E tigribus eos Indi volunt concipi et ob id in silvis coitus tempore alligant feminas. primo et secundo fetu nimis feroces putant gigni, tertio demum educant. hoc idem e lupis Galli, quorum greges suum quisque ductorem e canibus et ducem habent. ilium in venatu comitantur, illi pa- rent; namque inter se exercent etiam magisteria. — (Certum est iuxta Nilum amnem currentes lambere, ne crocodilorum aviditati occasionem praebeant) — Indiam petenti Alexandro Magno rex Albaniae dono dederat inusitatae magnitudinis unum, cuius specie delectatus iussit ursos, mox apros et deinde dammas emitti, conteinptim inmobili iacente eo, qua segnitia tanti corporis offensus imperator generosi spiritus interemi eum iussit. nuntiavit hoc fama regi. itaque alterum mittens addidit mandata, ne in parvis experiri vellet, sed in leone elephantove: duos sibi fuisse, hoc interempto praeterea nullum fore. nec distulit Alexander leonemque fractum protinus vidit. postea elephantum iussit induci, haut alio magis spectaculo laetatus. horrentibus quippe villis per totum corpus ingenti primum latratu intonuit, mox ingruit adsultans contraque membra exurgens hinc et illinc artifici dimicatione, qua maxime opus esset, infestans atque evitans, donec adsidua rotatum vertigine adflixit, ad casum eius tellure concussa.

Canum generi bis anno partus. iusta ad pariendum annua aetas. gerunt uterum sexagenis diebus. gignunt caecos et, quo largiore aluntur lacte, eo tardiorem visum 15 accipiunt, non tamen umnquam ultra XXI diem nec ante septimum. quidam tradunt, si unus gignatur, nono die cernere, si gemini, decumo itemque in singulos adici totidem tarditatis ad lucem dies, et ab ea quae sit femina ex primipara genita Faunos cerni. optimus in fetu qui novissimus cernere incipit aut quem primum fert in cubile feta.

Rabies canum sirio ardente homini pestifera, ut diximus, ita morsis letali aquae metu. quapropter obviam itur per XXX eos dies, gallinaceo maxime fimo inmixto canum cibis aut, si praevenerit morbus, veratro.

English · Bostock & Riley 1855–57

Among the animals, also, that are domesticated with mankind, there are many circumstances that are far from undeserving of being known: among these, there are more particularly that most faithful friend of man, the dog, and the horse. We have an account of a dog that fought against a band of robbers, in defending its master; and although it was pierced with wounds, still it would not leave the body, from which it drove away all birds and beasts. Another dog, again, in Epirus, recognized the murderer of its master, in the midst of an assemblage of people, and, by biting and barking at him, extorted from him a confession of his crime. A king of the Garamantes also was brought back from exile by two hundred dogs, which maintained the combat against all his opponents. The people of Colophon and Castabala kept troops of dogs, for the purposes of war; and these used to fight in the front rank, and never retreat; they were the most faithful of auxiliaries, and yet required no pay. After the defeat of the Cimbri, their dogs defended their moveable houses, which were carried upon waggons. Jason, the Lycian, having been slain, his dog refused to take food, and died of famine. A dog, to which Darius gives the name of Hyrcanus, upon the funeral pile of King Lysimachus being lighted, threw itself into the flames, and the dog of King Hiero did the same. Philistus also gives a similar account of Pyrrhus, the dog of the tyrant Gelon: and it is said, also, that the dog of Nicomedes, king of Bithynia, tore Consingis, the wife of that king, in consequence of her wanton behaviour, when toying with her husband.

Among ourselves, Volcatius, a man of rank, who instructed Cascellius in the civil law, as he was riding on his Asturian jennet, towards evening, from his country-house, was attacked by a robber, and was only saved by his dog. The senator Cælius, too, while lying sick at Placentia, was surprised by armed men, but received not a wound from them until they had first killed his dog. But a more extraordinary fact than all, is what took place in our own times, and is testified by the public register of the Roman people. In the consulship of Appius Junius and P. Silius, when Titius Sabinus was put to death, together with his slaves, for the affair of Nero, the son of Germanicus, it was found impossible to drive away a dog which belonged to one of them from the prison; nor could it be forced away from the body, which had been cast down the Gemitorian steps; but there it stood howling, in the presence of vast multitudes of people; and when some one threw a piece of bread to it, the animal carried it to the mouth of its master. Afterwards, when the body was thrown into the Tiber, the dog swam into the river, and endeavoured to raise it out of the water; quite a throng of people being collected to witness this instance of an animal’s fidelity.

Dogs are the only animals that are sure to know their masters; and if they suddenly meet him as a stranger, they will instantly recognize him. They are the only animals that will answer to their names, and recognize the voices of the family. They recollect a road along which they have passed, however long it may be. Next to man, there is no living creature whose memory is so retentive. By sitting down on the ground, we may arrest their most impetuous attack, even when prompted by the most violent rage.

In daily life we have discovered many other valuable qualities in this animal; but its intelligence and sagacity are more especially shown in the chase. It discovers and traces out the tracks of the animal, leading by the leash the sportsman who accompanies it straight up to the prey; and as soon as ever it has perceived it, how silent it is, and how secret but significant is the indication which it gives, first by the tail and afterwards by the nose! Hence it is, that even when worn out with old age, blind, and feeble, they are carried by the huntsman in his arms, being still able to point out the coverts where the game is concealed, by snuffing with their muzzles at the wind. The Indians raise a breed between the dog and the tiger, and for this purpose tie up the females in the forests when in heat. The first two litters they look upon as too savage to be reared, but they bring up the third.

The Gauls do the same with the wolf and the dog; and their packs of hounds have, each of them, one of these dogs, which acts as their guide and leader. This dog they follow in the chase, and him they carefully obey; for these animals have even a notion of subordination among themselves. It is asserted that the dogs keep running when they drink at the Nile, for fear of becoming a prey to the voracity of the crocodile. When Alexander the Great was on his Indian expedition, he was presented by the king of Albania with a dog of unusual size; being greatly delighted with its noble appearance, he ordered bears, and after them wild boars, and then deer, to be let loose before it; but the dog lay down, and regarded them with a kind of immoveable contempt. The noble spirit of the general became irritated by the sluggishness thus manifested by an animal of such vast bulk, and he ordered it to be killed. The report of this reached the king, who accordingly sent another dog, and at the same time sent word that its powers were to be tried, not upon small animals, but upon the lion or the elephant; adding, that he had had originally but two, and that if this one were put to death, the race would be extinct. Alexander, without delay, procured a lion, which in his presence was instantly torn to pieces. He then ordered an elephant to be brought, and never was he more delighted with any spectacle; for the dog, bristling up its hair all over the body, began by thundering forth a loud barking, and then attacked the animal, leaping at it first on one side and then on the other, attacking it in the most skilful manner, and then again retreating at the opportune moment, until at last the elephant, being rendered quite giddy by turning round and round, fell to the earth, and made it quite re-echo with his fall.

This animal brings forth twice in the year; it is capable of bearing young when a year old, and gestation continues for sixty days. The young ones are born blind, and the greater the supply of nourishment from the mother’s milk, the more slowly do they acquire their sight; still, however, this never takes place later than the twentieth day, or earlier than the seventh. It is said by some writers, that if only one is born, it is able to see on the ninth day; and that if there are two, they begin to see on the tenth, every additional one causing the power of seeing to come a day later. It is said, too, that the females which are produced by the mother in her first litter, are subject to the night-mare. The best dog of the litter is the one which is last in obtaining its sight, or else the one which the mother carries first into her bed.

Canine madness is fatal to man during the heat of Sirius, and, as we have already said, it proves so in consequence of those who are bitten having a deadly horror of water. For this reason, during the thirty days that this star exerts its influence, we try to prevent the disease by mixing dung from the poultry-yard with the dog’s food; or else, if they are already attacked by the disease, by giving them hellebore.