fourth and largest, being a mixture of the Newfoundland
and the shepherd's dog. I learned
in conversation with my new friends, who
were all very sociable, that one had been
bought of a man in the streets, another had
been presented to the old gentleman by a
friend, and the third had been encouraged to
follow our master in the same way as I had.
They were all well-fed and well-attended to,
being taken out in turns by the servants for
exercise, but never by their master. They
had speculated much upon the character of
the old gentleman, but they had not arrived
at any satisfactory conclusion. He was not a
dog-fancier, that was certain, nor was he of a
sporting turn (I winced at this phrase), for
he never went to the country; and why they
were kept there, as if to be looked at, and
yet were never looked at, was a mystery
they were unable to unravel, even with my
intelligent assistance.

For some weeks I was kept in the state my
companions had described, and I began to
get rather weary of the monotony of my life,
when one morning there seemed to be an
unusual stir in the house, and shortly after
breakfast several servants came down to the
stable, and took the whole four of us in a
body into the dining-room. The placid old
gentleman, our master, was there, and several
other old gentlemen equally respectable in
appearance, equally adorned with spectacles,
and equally placid in their manners.

"George," said our master, mildly, to one
of the servants, "is the surgery prepared?"

"Quite prepared, sir," replied the servant.

"Will you be kind enough, then," said our
master, very blandly, "to carry out my
instructions?"

Upon these orders the black-and-tan terrier
was first taken away, and, after the
lapse of a few minutes, the servants returned
for the Scotch terrier, and, after that, for the
bull-terrier. Although we were walking
about the dinning-room before being removed
to the surgery, the gentlemen assembled with
our placid master took no notice of us, but
kept up an animated conversation amongst
themselves near the windows that looked
into the square in front. At last, my turn
came, and I went with my conductor, and
some little misgivings, towards the surgery.
When I got there, before I had time to
observe what had become of my companions,
I was seized by several men, and fastened on
a rack which held me firmly, face upwards,
extended by the four legs, and in my mouth
was placed a round block of wood, which
prevented my making a noise. Scarcely had
the servants settled me in this uncomfortable
position, when I was conscious of the room
being filled with the placid gentlemen, and of
a very strong smell of drugs and physic.

"Since our last meeting, gentlemen," said
a voice, which I recognised as our master's,
"as you are probably aware, I have carried
on a controversy in the public prints with
a correspondent who signs himself Canis
Familiaris. It is not for me, in this
room, to speak of my own triumphs, but
it must be evident to you all that a
mere theorist like my anonymous opponent
can have little chance in an argument
with an unflinching experimentalist like
myself. "When Canis Familiaris asserts
that a decoction of Apocynum (the common
poisonous plant known as dog's-bane) will
not kill a healthy dog; I silence him for
ever when I reply that I have administered
with my own hands fourteen different doses
of this vegetable poison to fourteen different
dogs of various sizes, and that I have their
lifeless bodies now in my dissecting-room, as
a proof against all the world."

A murmur of satisfaction was heard from
the placid gentlemen after this speech
mingled with the clatter of glasses. At first
I supposed our time had come, and that
draughts of dog's-bane were being poured
out for our immediate destruction; but I
found from the smell that sherry was being
drunk, and from the thick voices of the
placid gentlemen that biscuits were being
eaten.

"Doctor Borax," said our master, with an
ill-suppressed air of triumph, "do you still
adhere to your assertion that the fossil we have
here is not the remains of the common dog?"

"I do, distinctly," replied Doctor Borax,
rather indistinctly, for his mouth was half
full of biscuit.

"Very well," returned our master, with
a chuckle; "I assert the contrary; and
what is more, I am prepared to prove, by
direct comparison, that the fossil is the
remains of one of two dogs—the Scotch
terrier, or the bull-terrier."

Another murmur of satisfaction ran round
the room at the close of this confident remark,
mingled still with the clatter of wine-glasses,
and the crunching of crisp biscuits.

"Here," said our master, with the air of a
conjuror, placing his hand upon a substance
which made a hollow sound, "I have a full-grown,
healthy specimen of the bull-terrier,
and here " (there was another hollow sound)
"I have an equally favourable specimen of
the Scotch terrier."

There was a general movement at this
point amongst the placid gentlemen, as if
for examination; and I judged rightly from
the two hollow sounds that my unfortunate
dog-companions were similarly situated to
myself close to where our master stood, and
that he had caused the noise by dropping his
hand upon their extended stomachs. When
the placid gentlemen appeared to be satisfied,
our master clicked a small table bell, which
was immediately answered by the usual
servant.

"George," said our master, "take those
two dogs down to Mr. James in the dissecting-room,
who will prepare them according
to my instructions."