"But the poor dog, in life the firmest friend,

The first to welcome, foremost to defend,

Whose honest heart is still his master's own,

Who labors, fights, lives, breathes for him alone."

- Byron. Boy is used here in a generic sense, for the love of animals, and especially dogs ,is not confined to either sex. We do not think a boy was ever born who, if "entered" properly, would not love a dog when given the opportunity. There seems to be some affinity between children and dogs. The selfish cat may be a family pet, but its horizon of affection is usually filled with a warm fireside and a saucer of milk and the claws within the velvet are typical of its nature; uncertain of temperament and cruel even in its seeming play. Not so the dog. It matters not whether his lineage proclaims him a blue blood or a mongrel, there is something behind the eye of a dog which draws to the heart. No animal is so responsive to the humanizing effect as the dog. His idiosyncracies and temperament are, like those of man, much a matter of environment. Cuff him and treat him generally as an Ishmael and he becomes one, treat him like so many are in kennels nowadays, as a mere chattel to be housed and fed as one of a number and he becomes a mere automaton; but treat him as a friend, as one of your household and how soon the human influence is marked. His ideas are widened, his intelligence develops and the many beautiful traits of a confiding, honest nature which have earned him the title of man's best friend, are brought to the surface. Though the society of man has a humanizing effect on our four-footed friends, the dog himself in no less manner, through his transparent temperament and honest actions may suggest and encourage the same traits in the budding nature of his little friend. Every boy should own a dog. Josh Billings well said that in the whole history of the world there is but one thing that money cannot buy, to wit: "The wag of a dog's tail." He might have added there is no animal on God's earth who, in the honesty of his affection, will still love and wag his tail for the hand which beats him. The love of Bill Sykes' dog for his brutal master is one of the sublimest thoughts Dickens ever conceived.

The boy who is raised with a dog for a "pal" is unwillingly humanized. The love for another is engendered in his heart, and afterward has its effect on his conduct in the wide world of mankind. Be his nature cruel, more from thoughtlessness than any inherent feeling, if he is a lad worth his salt he cannot but learn a lesson from the mild reproach of the brute he torments.

A horse would kick, a cat would bite or scratch under the same provocation; not so the dog. There are exceptions, of course, but no dog, we believe, is born savage; if he develops bad temper it is generally due to environment, and the parent's judgment must be exercised in providing the right sort of dog for the doy, as in other provisions for his welfare. A man may become a lover of dogs when manhood's cares and responsibilities place the dog on the same level as a favorite pipe. He has missed something. He will not "get into" his dog as he would have done as a boy. Once a dog lover always a dog lover, no matter whether the circumstances of his after life compel him to love them from afar. The dog is the better for it and so is the man. Buy your son a dog. - H. W. L.