CHAP. 62.—THE GENERATION OF THE DOG. [Note]
This animal brings forth twice in the year; it is capable
of bearing young when a year old, and gestation continues for
sixty days. The young ones are born blind, and the greater
the supply of nourishment from the mother's milk, the more
slowly do they acquire their sight; still, however, this never
takes place later than the twentieth day, or earlier than the
seventh. It is said by some writers, that if only one is born,
it is able to see on the ninth day; and that if there are two,
they begin to see on the tenth, every additional one causing the
power of seeing to come a day later. It is said, too, that the
females which are produced by the mother in her first litter,
are subject to the night-mare. [Note] The best dog of the litter is
the one which is last in obtaining its sight, or else the one
which the mother carries first into her bed.
