Note 87 — Chapter XII

The Australian dog never barks; and it is remarked by Mr. Gardiner, in a work entitled the “Music of Nature,” “that dogs in a state of nature never bark; they simply whine, howl, and growl: this explosive noise is only found among those which are domesticated. Sonnini speaks of the shepherds’ dogs in the wilds of Egypt as not having this faculty; and Columbus found the dogs which he had previously carried to America, to have lost their propensity to barking. The ancients were aware of this circumstance. Isaiah compares the blind watchmen of Israel to these animals—‘they are dumb, they cannot bark.’ But, on the contrary, David compares the noise of his enemies to the dogs round about the city. Hence the barking of a dog is an acquired faculty—an effort to speak, which he derives from his associating with man. It cannot be doubted, that dogs in this country bark more, and fight less, than formerly. This may be accounted for by the civilization of the lower orders, who have gained a higher taste in their sports and pastimes, than badger-baitings and dog-fights; and it may with truth be asserted, that the march of intellect has had its influence even upon the canine race, in destroying that natural ferocity for war which (happily for the world) is now spent more in words than in blows.”