Dogs  were  the  doctors  who  attended  Lazarus ;  and,
what  is  more  than  can  be  said  of  some  modern  doc-
tors, thej  treated  him  as  they  did  themselves,  and,
Uo  doubt,  with  advantage.  Dogs  lick  their  sores.
It  is  the  instinct  of  nature.  Now  let  us  not  run
off  in  the  manner  of  the  ignorant  and  superstitious,
and  imagine  that  there  is  some  mysterious  virtue
in  a  dog's  tongue,  some  magnetic  agency  passing
back  and  forth ;  but  let  us  look  with  our  eyes  open,
and  in  the  light  of  a  few  well-known  facts.  Take  a
common  boil,  about  which  most  of  us  have  had  a
feeling  experience ;  the  surrounding  skin  is  dry,
hot,  and  hard ;  in  its  natural  state  it  is  moist  and
soft.  To  bring  it  to  its  natural  state  again  we  have
only  to  remove  the  dryness,  and  reduce  it  to  its
natural  temperature  ;  and  what  more  appropriate
than  simple  soft  water,  rained  or  distilled.  But  to
get  the  full  virtue  of  the  application,  it  should  be
kept  moist  all  the  time ;  this  would  require  con-
stant attention,  the  incessant  applying  of  water,
which  is,  in  a  measure,  impracticable,  except  to
the  unfortunate  few  who  have  nothing  to  do.
The  softest  fluid  in  nature  is  the  saliva ;  and  it  is
in  this  property  we  find  the  virtue  of  the  dog's
licking.
How  kindly  wise  is  that  Great  Being  who  made
all  worlds,  in  adapting  his  creations  to  the  safety  and
happiness  of  us,  his  children.
302  DR.  hall's  maxims.
