In captivity, the Cheetah is familiar, gentle and playful, becoming greatly attached to those who are kind to it. When pleased it purs; and mews like a Cat when in distress. THE DOG FAMILY. [Illustration: ESQUIMAU DOGS.] The many different kinds of Dogs that are spread over the entire surface of the globe, with the Wolves, Jackals and Foxes, and their numerous smaller relatives are all grouped under the family of Canidae, which is derived from the Latin word Canis, meaning a Dog. All the members of this family are digitigrade. Though they walk on their toes, like the members of the Felidae, or Cat family, their claws are neither sharp nor retractile like those of the Cat and they cannot serve either for attack or defence. Nearly all the members of this family have long tails, more or less clothed with hair, and their tongue is smooth, and in this respect different from the Cats. [Illustration: NEWFOUNDLAND DOG.] They are the most intelligent of the Carnivora. Their senses, particularly that of smell, are strongly developed. Some Naturalists claim that the Dog is a tamed Wolf, others that he is a well-educated Jackal, but there can be little doubt that he constitutes a genus set apart for the service of mankind, although there are such numerous varieties of domestic Dogs. It is impossible to discover in which of the past ages, the Dog became the servant of Man. The oldest traditions and the most ancient history show us the Dog as the friend and the servant of mankind. Volumes might be written relating stories of which Dogs are the heroes. Every day in ordinary life we see something of this kind, and which, although of such frequent occurrence, is none the less curious. As examples of the past we might call to memory the Dog of Ulysses, the model of fidelity; the Dog of Montargis, the vanquisher of crime; of Munito, the brilliant player of dominoes. It is not necessary to mention the Newfoundland Dog and the Dog of Mount St. Bernard, as preservers of human life; their wonderful exploits are too well known to require special instances as examples. Nor is it necessary to speak of the numberless instances of intelligent Dogs going for provisions for their masters, and serving them in curious ways—like the shoe-black’s Dog, who was trained to plant his muddy paws on the best polished boots, so as to bring more business to his master, the man of the brush. We should never come to an end if we attempted to tell of all the exploits of this valuable companion of man.