Aesop's Fables [6th century BCE +] (The Dog with the Meat and his Shadow; Perry 133): A dog seized some meat from the butcher shop and ran away with it until he came to a river. When the dog was crossing the river, he saw the reflection of the meat in the water, and it seemed much larger than the meat he was carrying. He dropped his own piece of meat in order to try to snatch at the reflection. When the reflection disappeared, the dog went to grab the meat he had dropped but he was not able to find it anywhere, since a passing raven had immediately snatched the meat and gobbled it up. The dog lamented his sorry condition and said, 'Woe is me! I foolishly abandoned what I had in order to grab at a phantom, and thus I ended up losing both that phantom and what I had to begin with.' - [ Gibbs translation]

Pliny the Elder [1st century CE] (Natural History, Book 8, 61-63): [Book 8, 61] We are told of a dog that fought against brigands in defense of his master and although covered with wounds would not leave his corpse, driving away birds and beasts of prey; and of another dog in Epirus which recognized his master's murderer in a gathering and by snapping and barking made him confess the crime. The King of the Garamantes was escorted back from exile by 200 dogs who did battle with those that offered resistance. The people of Colophon and also those of Castabulum had troops of dogs for their wars; these fought fiercely in the front rank, never refusing battle, and were their most loyal supporters, never requiring pay. When some Cimbrians were killed their hounds defended their houses placed on wagons. When Jason of Lycia had been murdered his dog refused to take food and starved to death. But a dog the name of which Duris gives as Hyrcanus when king Lysimachus's pyre was set alight threw itself into the flame, and similarly at the funeral of King Hiero. ... But above all cases, in our own generation it is attested by the National Records that in the consulship of Appius Julius and Publius Silius when as a result of the case of Germanicus's son Nero punishment was visited on Titius Sabinus and his slaves, a dog belonging to one of them could not be driven away from him in prison and when he had been flung out on the Steps of Lamentation would not leave his body, uttering sorrowful howls to the vast concourse of the Roman public around, and when one of them threw it food it carried it to the mouth of its dead master; also when his corpse had been thrown into the Tiber it swam to it and tried to keep it afloat, a great crowd streaming out to view the animal's loyalty. Dogs alone know their master, and also recognize a sudden arrival as a stranger; they alone recognize their own names, and the voice of a member of the household; they remember the way to places however distant, and no creature save man has a longer memory. Their onset and rage can be mollified by a person sitting down on the ground. Experience daily discovers very many other qualities in these animals, but it is in hunting that their skill and sagacity is most outstanding. A hound traces and follows footprints, dragging by its leash the tracker that accompanies it towards his quarry; and on sighting it how silent and secret but how significant an indication is given first by the tail and then by the muzzle. ... When Indians want hounds to be sired by tigers, during the breeding season they tie up bitches in the forest for this purpose. They think that the first and second litters are too fierce and they only rear the third one. Similarly the Gauls breed hounds with wolves; each of their packs has one of the as leader and guide; the pack accompanies this leader in the hunt and pays it obedience; for dogs actually exercise authority among themselves. It is known that the dogs by the Nile lap up water from the river as they run, so as not to give the greed of the crocodiles its chance. When Alexander the Great was on his way to India, the king of Albania had presented him with one dog of unusually large size; Alexander was delighted by its appearance, and gave orders for bears and then boars and finally hinds to be let slip; the hound lying contemptuously motionless. This slackness on the part of so vast an animal annoyed the generous spirit of the Emperor, who ordered it to be destroyed. Reports carried news of this to the king; and accordingly sending a second hound he added a message that Alexander should not desire to test it on small game but on a lion or an elephant; he had only possessed two of the breed and if this one was destroyed there would be none left. Alexander did not put off the trial, and forthwith saw a lion crushed. Afterwards he ordered an elephant to be brought in, and no other show ever gave him more delight: for the dog's hair bristled all over his body and it first gave a vast thunderous bark, then kept leaping up and rearing against the creature's limbs on this side and that, in scientific combat, attacking and retiring at the most necessary points, until the elephant turning round and round in an unceasing whirl was brought to the ground with an earth-shaking crash. [Book 8, 62] The genus dog breeds twice a year. Maturity for reproduction begins at the age of one. They carry their young for sixty days. Puppies are born blind, and acquire sight the more slowly the more copious the milk with which they are suckled; though the blind period never lasts more than three weeks or less than one. Some people report that a puppy born singly sees on the 9th day, twins on the 10th, and so on, a corresponding number of days' delay in seeing light being added for each extra puppy; and that a bitch of a first litter begins to see sooner. The best in a litter is the one that begins to see last, or else the one that the mother carries into the kennel first after delivery. [Book 8, 63] Rabies in dogs, as we have said, is dangerous to human beings in periods when the dog-star is shining, as it causes fatal hydrophobia to those bitten in those circumstances. Consequently a precautionary measure during the 30 days in question is to mix dung, mostly chicken's droppings, in the dog's food, or, if the disease has come already, hellebore. But after a bite the only cure is one which was lately discovered from an oracle, the root of the wild-rose called in Greek dog-rose. Columella states that if a dog's tail is docked by being bitten off and the end joint amputated 40 days after birth, the spinal marrow having been removed the tail does not grow again and the dog is not liable to rabies. - [Rackham translation]

Aelianus [170-230 CE] (On the Characteristics of Animals, Book 7, 10): Pyrrhus of Epirus was on a journey when he came upon the corpse of a man who had been killed, with his dog standing beside and guarding its master to prevent anybody from adding outrage to murder. Now it happened that this was the third day for which the dog was keeping its assiduous and most patient watch, unfed. And so when Pyrrhus learnt this he took pity on the dead man and ordered him to be buried; but as for the dog, he directed that it should be cared for and gave it whatever one offers a dog with one's hand, in sufficient quantity and of a nature to induce it to be friendly and well-disposed towards him; and little by little Pyrrhus drew the dog away. So much then for that. Now not so long after, there was a review of the hoplites, and the King whom I mentioned above was looking on, and that same dog was at his side. For most of the time it remained silent and completely gentle. But directly it saw the murderers of its master in the review, it could not contain itself or remain where it was, but leaped upon them, barking and tearing them with its claws, and by frequently turning towards Pyrrhus did its best to make him see that it had caught the murderers. And so a suspicion dawned upon the King and those about him, and the way in which the dog barked at the aforesaid men caused them to reflect. The men were seized and put on the rack and confessed their crime. - [Scholfield translation]

Gaius Julius Solinus [3rd century CE] (De mirabilibus mundi / Polyhistor, Chapter 15.8-11): [Chapter 15.8] Dogs esteem all masters equally, as is well-known from sundry examples. In Epirus a dog recognized his master’s murderer in a crowd, and revealed him by barking. After Jason the Lycian was killed, his dog scorned food, and died from starvation. [Chapter 15.9] When the funeral pyre of King Lysimachus was lit, his dog threw himself into the flames, and was consumed by the fire along with his master. The king of the Garamantes was brought back from exile by his two hundred dogs, who fought those who resisted them. The Colophonians and Castabalenses lead their dogs to war, and in battle, build their front lines with them. [Chapter 15.10] When Appius Iunius and Publius Sicinius were consuls, there was a dog which could not be driven away from his condemned master. The dog accompanied his master into prison; when the man was executed, the dog followed after, howling. When, from pity, the people gave him food, he carried the meat to the mouth of his dead master. Finally, when the body was thrown into the Tiber, the dog swam after it and tried to bear it up. [Chapter 15.11] Dogs recognize their own names, and remember their journeys. The Indians relegate their female dogs to the forests when they are in season, so they mate with tigers. The offspring from the first conception are judged useless, owing to their excessive savagery; likewise the second. Those from the third conception are reared. - [Arwen Apps translation, 2011]

Saint Ambrose [4th century CE] (Hexameron, Book 6, 4.17; 4-23-24): [Book 6, 4.17] What shall I say about dogs who have a natural instinct to show gratitude and to serve as watchful guardians of their masters' safety? ... To dogs, therefore, is given the ability to bark in defense of their masters and their homes. [Book 6, 4.23] That dogs are devoid of reason is beyond all doubt. Nevertheless, if you consider the keenness of their senses, you can well believe that their sagacity of sense perception has taken on the trappings of reason. Hence, one can easily perceive that they are able to understand, by the training given by nature, what it has taken a few individuals a long period of time to achieve with the aid of the refinements of syllogistic argumentation acquired in the advanced schools of rhetoric. When they discover the tracks of a hare or of a stag at a point where there is a side path or a crossroad leading in several directions, they proceed to make note of the starting point of each of these trails. In silence, they weigh the problems one with the other. By applying their keenness of scent they seem to make the following observation: 'Our quarry has gone either in this direction or in that', they say, or 'surely he has fled into this clearing. Yet he has not taken this route or that. One direction remains. There is no reason, therefore, to doubt that he has taken this route.' What men, with the aid of prolonged discussion and meditation, achieve with difficulty nature readily supplies to dogs, who weigh first the false hypothesis and when that is repudiated finally discover what is true. ... Who is as mindful of benefits and as grateful for kindness as the dog? For their masters' sake they go so far as to leap on robbers and to keep off strangers prowling at night. They are prepared, too, to die in defense of their masters and even to die with them! Dogs have often been the means of convicting people accused of homicide by showing clear evidence of the crime committed. Reliance is made in many cases on their testimony. [Book 6, 4.24] It is related that in the early morning in a remote part of the city of Antioch a man who had a dog as a companion was found slain. The killer was a certain soldier bent on robbery. In the dusk of the morning hours he was able to find refuge in another region. The body lay unburied and attracted a crowd of bystanders. The dog bewailed with mournful cries the loss of his master. It happened that the man who committed the murder, in order to assure his innocence and make himself secure by his presence such is human astuteness joined the circle of people and with the air of displaying sympathy approached the corpse. At that moment the dog relinquished his whine of distress and assumed the role of avenger. He attacked him and held him prisoner. Raising a pitiful cry after the manner of an epilogue in a speech, the dog brought tears in the eyes of everyone present and inspired trust in his testimony. This man alone of all the men present was seized and held fast. The man thereupon became alarmed. He was unable any longer to deny his guilt. Such a clear indication of his offense could not be made void by pleas of hate, enmity, ill-will, or of injury inflicted. Since he had not succeeded in his master's defense, the dog in this case undertook a more difficult role, that of avenging him.- [Savage translation, 1961]

Isidore of Seville [7th century CE] (Etymologies, Book 12, 2:25-28): [Book 12, 2.26] The Latin word ‘dog’ [canis] seems to have a Greek etymology, for the animal is called skýlos in Greek. Still, some people think it is named for the sound [canor] of barking because it is loud, whence also the word ‘sing’ [canere]. No animal is smarter than the dog, for they have more sense than the others. [Book 12, 2.26] They alone recognize their own names; they love their masters; they defend their master’s home; they lay down their life for their master; they willingly run after game with their master; they do not leave the body of their master even when he has died. Finally, it is part of their nature not to be able to live apart from humans. There are two qualities found in dogs: strength and speed. [Book 12, 2.27] The offspring of any kind of animal are incorrectly called ‘pups’ [catulus], for, strictly speaking, pups are the offspring of dogs [canis], formed as a diminutive. [Book 12, 2.28] Dogs born from the chance mating of wolves with dogs are called lycisci, as Pliny says. Also the Indians are accustomed to tie up female dogs in the forest at night, to expose them to wild tigers, and the tigers mount the dogs; from this mating are born dogs so fierce and strong that they overcome lions in combat.

Hildegard von Bingen [1098-1179 CE] (Physica, Book 7.20): The dog is very hot and has a common and natural affinity with human ways. It senses and understands the human being, loves him, willingly dwells with him, and is faithful. The devil hates and abhors the dog because of its loyalty to humans. A dog, recognizing hatred, wrath, and perfidy in a person, often howls at him. If it knows there is hatred and wrath in a house, it quietly growls and gnashes its teeth. If a person has treachery in him, the-dog gnashes its teeth at him, even though the person loves that dog, since it recognizes and understands this in a person. If there is a thief in the house, or someone who wants to steal, it growls and gnashes its teeth. It will go after him testing his odor with its nose and stalking him. In this way the thief can be recognized. The dog sometimes has a foreboding of happy or sad events to come in the future or already present. In accordance with its understanding, it sends out its voice, revealing this. When the future events are happy, it is happy, and wags its tail; when they are sad, he is sad and howls. - [Throop translation]

Thomas of Cantimpré [circa 1200-1272 CE] (Liber de natura rerum, Quadrupeds 4.13): Dogs, as Jacobus says, are beasts that can be trained for any game. And although they would gladly sleep, yet they keep vigil in the houses of their masters. They love their masters so much that sometimes they risk death for them. For the existence of this thing is most important. By barking at night they betray the guilty. [Thomas here quotes Ambrose's story of the dog that revealed its master's killer; see above.] Pliny and Solinus report that when Alexander the Great was seeking India, the king of Albany sent a dog of unusual size. Alexander, delighted with his appearance, ordered first the bears, and then the wild boars to fight the dog, but in contempt of those the dog lay motionless. The emperor was offended because of the indolence of such a body and ordered him to be killed. When the king of Albany, who had sent him, heard this, he sent another message to try the dog among the lions. Nor did Alexander delay, and soon after he had let loose the lion, it killed the dog. Jacobus:There is also a certain kind of dog which perceives thieves by smell, and distinguishes them from other men with implacable hatred. Solinus: Dogs alone understand their own names; they remember the path. At the time of mating the Indians tie the female dogs in the forests, so that they may mate with these tigers. But the first of those conceived are useless because of excessive ferocity. Liber rerum: There are three kinds of dogs. The most noble of these are those whose form is more elegant and swifter for running and more suitable for hunting. These barkers do not know how to eat, and unless they are brought out to run, they keep to themselves below the house. They run at high speed and are strong in the chest. These are called leverarii. There are others who are suitable for hunting, with long and hanging ears. Smelling odors and intrusively barking they pursue the beast, and force it to weariness, until they bring it down to the plains into the hands of the hunters, or the mouths of the noble hounds. These do not abandon the beast which they are commanded by the hunters to follow, even if they have come upon many others; and this is what the Apostle admonishes: let us continue in the vocation to which we have been called. And although these are more rustic than the rest, yet they are more suitable for the services of men. In this genus there are many kinds: for of these there are large and strong, there are medium, there are small, and there are even the smallest little dogs, which the noble matrons carry in their bosoms. As for these, they defend all their houses by barking, and are intrusive to strangers. Pliny: dogs give birth to blind puppies, and bear them for sixty days. They give birth to their pups in the eighth month. It is considered miraculous if a dog bears one puppy. They enter the female from the sixth month. Dogs live sometimes 15 years, sometimes 20 years. From the twelfth year they cease to breed. In the middle of intercourse, it is exciting for both, and this is said to result from the excessive ardor of lust. The best among the offspring is the one who begins to see the last, or the one that that is the first the mother carries to bed. For all dogs are generally born blind and remain blind for 12 days, and some for three months. Rabies in dogs is calmed by adding chicken manure to their food. The root of the wild rose heals their bite: for the bite of a rabid dog is injurious. - [Badke translation/paraphrase]

Bartholomaeus Anglicus [13th century CE] (Liber de proprietatibus rerum, Book18.25; 18.26; 18.27; 18.28): [Book 18.25] A Hounde is called Canis, and tooke that name of Gréeke, as Isido[re] saith. For an hound is called Cenos in Greek, & some men meane that he hath yt name Canis, of loude barking, as he saith: Nothing is more busier & wittier then an hound, for he hath more wit then other beasts. And houndes knowe theyr owne names, & love their masters, & defend the houses of their masters, & put themselves wilfully in perill of death for their masters, & run to take prayes for their masters, and forsake not the dead bodies of their masters: and hounds pursue ye foote of pray by smell of bloud, & love company of men, and may not be without men, as Isi[dore] saith. And there it is said, that oft hounds gender with wolves, and of that gendering commeth cruel hounds, which some men call Licisci. Also oft the Indians teach bitches, and lenne them in woodes by night, because Tygres should line them and gender with them, and of them come most sharpe hounds & swift, and be so strong, that they throw downe cruell beasts, as Lions, Huc usque Isid[ore] li. 12. cap. secundo. Libro. 8. cap. 40. Plinius speaketh of the hound, & sayth, that among beastes that dwell with us, houndes and horses be most gratious. Wée have knowen when yt hounds fought for their Lords agaynst théenes, & were sore wounded, & that they kept away beasts and foules from their masters bodyes dead. And ye an hound compelled the slaier of his master, with barking and biting to knowledge his trespasse & fault. Also we reade that Garamantus the king came out of exiling, and brought with him two hundered houndes, and fought agaynst his enimies with wonderfull hardynesse. Also Jasons hounde of Cilicie would take no meate when his Lorde was slaine, and so hée dyed with greate hunger and sorrowe. Also we read ye Celius the Senator of Placencia, was defended by an hound yt was overset of men of armes, and was not wounded till the hound was slayne. So Sabinus hound forsooke him not neither in prison nor in death, but abode with the dead bodye with dolefull and sorrowfull noyse, and howling, & a man gave the hound meate, and the hounde tooke the meat, and he would have put it in his mouth that was dead, and when the dead bodye was throwne into Tyber, the hounde leaped and swam in the river to holde up the dead body, and ther came much people to sée and behold the kindnesse of the true beast. Houndes have mind of full long wayes, and if they léese their masters, they goe by far space of lands and Countries to their masters houses. The cruelnesse of an hound abateth to a meeke man. In hounds is great wit & businesse in hunting, for by winde and by smelling, and also by water, they pursue and followe beasts that run and flye, and findeth theyr sorrows and dens, and warneth thereof by sute and by barking: Of Tygres and hounds commeth so strong houndes, that they overcome Lyons and Elephauntes: as greate Alexander made a proofe by the Hounde that the king of Alania did send to him, first in his presence he overcame a Lyon, and then an Elephaunt was brought to him, and when the hounde sawe the cruell beast, his haire stoode up in all the bodye, and barked fiercely first, and then reesed craftely, and fought so long with the Elephant, that he drewe him downe to the grounde. After the age of a yeare a hounde gendereth, and the Bitche goeth with whelpe in her wombe foure score dayes, and whelpeth blinde Whelpes. And the more plentye they have of milke, the later they take theyr light. Also they never take theyr sight after the .xxi. day, nor before ye seventh day: Some saye that when one is whelped alone, the ninth daye he séeth, and when they be twaine, the tenth day, and when they be three, the thirtéenth day, and so as they be mo whelped in number, the moe dayes is theyr sight tarryed. And that whelpe is best that hath last his sight, or that that the mother beareth first to the couch. Huc usque Plinius, libro 8. cap. 41. ther be reckoneth many other things. Aristotle libro secundo sayeth, that Houndes chaunge no téeth, but it bée by chaunce two, and the lesse they bee, the whiter téeth they have & the more sharpe. And thereby men have knowledge betwéene the young hound and the olde, for olde hounds have black téeth and blunt, and young houndes the contrarye. Also there, libro. 5. he sayth, the male houndes be rather mooved to the worke of generation then females. And grey houndes gender rather then other hounds, as hée saith, li. 6. And this female goeth sometime with whelps in the wombe the sixt part of the yere: that is .40. daies, and her whelps be blinde .12. daies, and then the male commeth not at her, but in the sixt moneth after her whelping. And some grey Bitches goe with whelpes in theyr wombe .73. daies, and that is nigh the sixt part of the yeare, & her whelpes be blind 17. daies: and so the sooner the whelps bée made perfect in the mothers wombe, the sooner they have their sight, when they be whelped and come into the worlde. And the males are sooner mooved to the woorke of generation. For when they begin to heave up the legge for to pisse, and that is after 6. or 7. moneths, when they ware strong. And greye houndes have this propertie, yt they may gender more when they be in travaile, then when they be in rest. And the female may live ten yeare, and the male liveth shorter time then the female, and that is for the travaile of the male, and so it fareth not in other. For the male liveth longer then the female, as he saith ther. And other hounds, as wardens of houses and of cities, live longer, for they live sometime .14. yeeres, and sometime 20. as Homerus saith. Also li. 8. When hounds be sicke, they eat the roote of a certaine hearbe, and casteth and taketh medicine in that wise. Also lib. 8. Plinius sayth, that an hounde that hath filled him of evil meat, eateth an hearbe, and by perbraking and casting he purgeth him. [Book 18.26] The Bitch is called Canicula, and is called mother of Houndes, and in her the mother is evenlong set in the length of the wombe, and hath manye teates set it in two rowes, eyther afore other, eudlong the wombe. Which teates waxe greate in time of conception. And the Bitch whelpeth manye whelpes at once, but always blinde: But she loveth them most tenderly, and defendeth them with barking and biting: and if the Whelpes goe out of the couch ofte, the Bitch fetcheth them agayne, and beareth them in hir mouth betwéen hir téeth, without anye biting or grieving and beareth first home the best and the fayrest, for him shée loveth best, and giveth him first sucke, and stretcheth to him the teate, as Aristotle sayth, libro. 5. In time of generation and conception seven daies the Bitch delveeth her of uncleare matter, and then waxeth sicke, and the mother in her appayreth and hath no will to worke in generation, but flyeth and boydeth, but after purgation shee kindeleth the better, and whelpeth the more livelye. And after the whelping shee casteth out much fleamatik humour and thicke, and therefore then her bodye is cleane, an hée sayth. Also in Bitches, milke is founde many dayes before the whelping, and sooner in greye Bitches then in other: and first she milke is thicke, and thinne afterward, and is good and convenient after whelping, and commonly Bitches live lyttle time for great travaile and running about. And when the Bitch desireth for to pisse, she reareth not up the legge as the male doeth, but bendeth her downewarde behinde, as it were sitting. And the Bitch is lesser in bodye then the male, & more smaller and more féeble in might and strength: and most best to nourish and bring uppe the whelps, and more soft and mild in heart, excepte it bée when shée nourisheth her whelpes, and is more able to bée taught then the male, and more nimble in bodye for plyauntnesse of members, and more swifte. But for féeblenesse of sinewes she dureth lesse in course and in running. Gentlenesse and nobilytie of hounds and of Bitches is knowen by length of face and of the snoute, and by breadth of the breast, and by smalnesse of the wombe and flarike. And a gentle hounde is small about the reines and flanke, and also in the wombe, and is broade before about the breast, and hath long eares and plyaunt, and long legges and small, and that is needfull, to bée the more swifte in course & in running & his tayle is more long and crooked then the tailes of other houndes, and hath lesse flesh then a dogge and shorter haire, and more thinne and smooth. For if hée were too roughe and hairie, he shoulde be too hot in course and in running: If hée were too fleshie, hée shoulde be overset with flesh and run the worse: And if the tails were long downe betwéen the legges, it should let greatly the course and running. And also by hanging downe of the taile hée is accounted fearefull and not hardye. Also gentle houndes be cruell and fierce in pursuing and in taking of wilde beastes, and bee full milde and softe to men and to tame beastes. And if it happen sometime that he réeseth against straunge men, anone hée ceaseth, and withdraweth the réese. Also gentle houndes when they take an Hart or an Hare, they devoure not anone the beast that they take, but kéepe the pray to their Lorde, and holde them content with the bowelles and other vile partes, as bloud & other such, for theyr portion and part, and though they have no parte of the praye of one beast: yet for all that they spare not to pursue and take another. [Book 18. 27] Houndes have other propertyes that be not full good, for hounds have continuall Bolisme, that is immederate appetite, and be sometime punished with hunger, that they waxe rabbish and mad: for houndes have sicknesse and evilles, baldnesse, squinatye, and madnesse, as Aristotle sayth, libro. 7. And all beastes that be bitten of a mad hound, waxe madde, except men alone, that scape sometime by helpe of medicine. And Constan[tine]. sayth in Viatico. li. viti. that an hound is kindly cold and dry, and blacke. Cholera hath mastrie in him. And if Cholera be much rotted and corrupt, it maketh the hound madde. And this falleth most in harvest and in springing time. And other hounds flye and voyde the madde hound; as pestilence and venim: and he is alway exiled; as it were an outlawe, and goeth alone wagging and rowling as a dronken beast, and runneth yaning, & his tongue hangeth out, and his mouth driveleth and foameth, and his eyen is evertourned and reared, & his eares lie backward, and his taile is wrickled by the legges and thighes: and though his eyen bée open, yet hée stumbleth and spurneth against all thing, and barketh at his owne shadow. Other houndes dreade him and flie and barke against him. And no hounds come nigh the bread that is wet in the bloud of the wounde of his biting. And those that bée bitten of him, dreame in theyr sléepe dreadfull dreames, and bée afearde in sléeping, and that commeth of rottennesse of corruption, and be wroth and astonied without cause, and looke and beholde aboute, though nothing grieveth them: and if this evill increase, then they begin to dreade and have abhomination of all drinke, and then they dread water, and barke as houndes, and dread so water, that they fall for dreade, and such die, but they be the sooner holpen with medicine. Cures and remedyes looke before libro de Morbis, cap. de Veneno. Libro 29. Plinius sayth, that under the houndes tongue lyeth a Worme that maketh the hounde madde, and if this worme bée taken out of the tongue, then the evill ceaseth. Also he sayth, that the violence and biting of a madde hound is so much, that his urine grieveth a man if he treadeth thereon, and namely if hée have a Botch or a wound. Also who that throweth his owne urine upon the urine of a mad hound, he shall anone féele sore ach of the neather guts and of the lends. Also an hound is wrathfull and malicious, so that for is awreak himselfe, he biteth oft the stone that is throwen to him: and biteth the stone with great madnesse, that he breaketh his own teeth, and grieveth not the stone, but his owne téeth full sore. Also he is guidefull and deceicable, and so oft he sickleth and fawneth with his tayle on men that passeth by the waye; as though he were a friends; and biteth them sore, if they take no héede backewarde. And the Hounde hateth stones and rods, and is bolde and hardye among them that hée knoweth, & busieth to bite and to feare all other, and is not bold when he passeth among straungers. Also he is covetous and gluttonous, and eateth therefore oft carren: so gréedely, yt he perbraketh and tasteth it up, but afterward when he is enhungred, he taketh again that yt he cast up in foule manner. Also the hound is envious, and therefore Avicen[na] saith, yt he gathereth hearbs prively, by whom he purgeth himselfe with perbraking and casting, and hath anuye, and is right sorrys if any man knoweth the vertue of those hearbes: and is also evill apaide, if any straunge houndes and unknowne come into the place there hée dwelleth, and dreadeth least he should face the worse for the other hounds presence, and fighteth with him therefore. Also hée is covetous & scarse, and busie to lay up & to hide the reliefe that he leaveth. And therefore he communeth not, nor giveth flesh and marrow boanes, that hée maye not devoure to other houndes, but layeth them up busily and hideth them until he hungreth againe. Also he is uncleane and lecherous. And so, li. 6. Aristot[le] saith, that hounds both male and female use lechery as long as they be alive, & give them to uncleannesse of lechery, yt they take no diversitie betwéene mother and sister, and other bitches touching the déede of lecherie: and therefore offering of the price of an hounde or of a Bitch was accounted as uncleane by the law of Moses, as offering of ye price of a common woman: for such wretched persons serve in al lechery as hounds doe. Also an olde hound is oft slowe and heavy. And so libr. 7. Aristotle saith, that houndes in age have ye podagre, & few of them scape that evill, and therefore they sleepe in daytime upon dunghills among flyes and other wormes, and be then fore grieved with Flyes, that be about theyr bleared eyen, and about theyr scabbed eien. And though they bite and pearce somtime the houndes eares, yet for slouth he taketh no comfort and strength to chase and drive them away: but unneth when they flye agaynst his face, hée snatcheth at them with his mouth, and busieth to bite them with his téeth. And at the last the scabbed hound is violentlye drawen out of the dunghill with a roape or with a whippe bounde about his necke, and is drowned in the river, or in some other Water, and so hée endeth his wretched lyfe. And his skinne is not taken of, nor his fleshe is not eaten nor buryed, but left finallye to Flies and to other diverse wormes. [Book 18.28] Whelpes be called Catuli, and bée the children of hounds. And Catulus is a nowne diminitive, & so is Catellus also. And by a manner misse use the young of other beasts are called Catuli, as Isi[dore] sayeth, li. 12. And generally these whelps bée whelped blinde touching perfect dooing of sight: for hounds whelps be whelped with sawing téeth though they be full small. And all beasts that have téeth like a saw and departed, be gluttons, and fight, as the Hound, the Woulfe, the Lion, yt Panther, & such other. And all such beasts gender unperfect broodes, as it is said before hand, in codem li. de Animalibus in generali. And in all beastes that bringeth forth unperfect young, the cause is gluttony, for if she shuld abide until ye whelps were compleate and perfect, they shoulde slay the mother with strong sucking: and therefore it néedeth that kind be hastie & spéedfull in such beastes. Looke before in eod. lib. For as Solinus saith, whelpes of houndes were in most worship among men in old time. As Plin[y] saith, li. 29. ca. 9 sucking whelps were accounted so pure & so good to meat among men in old time, yt they offred such whelpes to please their Gods in stéede of other beastes. And nothing was accounted better & more profitable against poison & venim. And yet to this day Authors commaund to take such whelpes wholsomely against venimous bitings: for such whelpes opened & layd hot to the biting of Serpents, draw out venim, & abate the age, and maketh ye sore members whole with remedies laid therto, as he telleth. And as he sayth, such whelpes the sooner they bée whelped, the later they have their sight, and the nobler milke they be nourished with, the more slower they receive perfect sight, and yet while they be blinde, they love their mother, and know her with voice and with odour, and séeketh her and her teates: and if it happen that the mother withholdeth the milke, they bite her teates with the sharpest téeth, and compell the mother to give more largelye milke. And when they be an hungred they cry and whine, and séeke their dammes teates. Also it is sayd, that they sucke in the same manner of order, as they lay in the Bitch. And the whelpe that is best and strongest the mother taketh first to sucking, and loveth him best, and comforteth him. And meate shall bée with-drawne warilye and wisely from hunting houndes, least they waxe too fat by too much meate, for by too great fatnesse they take slouth, and be the slower to their praye and to running. And though they be melancholyke beasts of qualitie and of complection, yet they bée nimble and swifte by disposition of members, and bée gladde and mery, and play much, and that is because of theyr age. And when they bée weaned from milke, they be able to be taught to hunting, and also to playeng, and to kéeping of beasts, and to defend them from Wolves. And houndes that be ordeyned to kéeping of houses shoulde bée closed and bound in a darke place by daye, and so they be the stronger by night, and the more cruell agaynst Théeves, for the office of such Houndes is to rest, and to sléepe by daye, and to wake by night, and to goe about courtes and closes agaynst Théeves. For the hound is to be blamed, that waketh and barketh and goeth about by daye, and sléepeth and hideth himselfe, and barketh not by night. Also that hounde is an evill hound, whether hée bée young or olde, that kéepeth and wardeth shéepe, and defendeth them from Wolves by daye in pasture, and strangleth and biteth them by night in the folde. - [Batman]