Note 103 — Chapter XVIII

Claws of dogs kept on boarded floors, or not exercised, occasionally become so long, that unless they are filed or pared down, they cause lameness. In the menagerie at the Cape of Good Hope I saw a fine tigress, the claws of whose fore-feet had grown so far beyond her power of sheathing that they had penetrated deep into the flesh, and it was under consideration how to secure her so that the operator should incur no risk while sawing off the ends. She was very tame and sociable, and would rub against the bars when she was approached by visitors to invite their caresses; but it was quite distressing to see her raising each leg alternately, really to ease it of her weight, but apparently as if soliciting relief. The blessings of chloroform were then unknown. No tiger while under its drowsy influence had ever had an injured limb amputated, as was once successfully managed at the Surrey Zoological Gardens.