Did you ever hear of a veterinary surgeon in this city, of the name of Youatt; did you ever hear that he states distinctly that hydrophobia is extended in this country by dogs being highly trained, and in that state of excitement being brought to fight one against another?—I have heard that he has stated it so, but I can deny it, and likewise many more; he has never had the experience that I have. I have been bit by fighting dogs in my face and hands, from teasing them, and so on. I say that of all the dogs that are mad, no man can come forward as long as ever I live and say that those are fighting dogs; it is those dogs that run about the streets loose and pick things up on the road, and run after the females, licking all kind of filth and dirt, that go mad.—p. 19.

Hemmings, the only other of the proprietors of dog-pits who was examined, joins, as we have said, in the same argument with Roach. The few passages in his evidence which relate to this subject are, at all events, decisive of his opinions upon this interesting topic :

Have you ever heard it said that fighting dogs are more apt to go mad than other dogs?—As different as light from darkness is that; I never heard of a fighting dog going mad.

What class of dogs do you imagine most likely to go mad?—The dogs that run about in the streets, cur dogs; I never saw any fighting dogs go mad; I have seen curs go mad.

Will you tell the Committee whether, from your experience of dogs, you imagine it would be possible to make a fighting dog out of any other dog than the bull species ?-Bull-dogs are not all fighting dogs; but if it is the bull mixed with a terrier, that is the best sort.―p. 21.

You stated that you were a doctor of dogs; do you know a Mr. Youatt, a veterinary surgeon?-I do not know him, but I have heard of the name. Did you ever hear that he has stated distinctly that the hydrophobia in this country is brought on by fighting dogs ?-I never heard that he did so.

And in your estimation it does not arise from fighting dogs?—No; because a fighting dog is taken out every day in the fields, and fed well.

Can you account for that disease being so much more prevalent in this country than in other countries ?-No, I cannot.

You are aware that hydrophobia does prevail to a great extent in this country?—There is an oration put abroad about it; but I have not seen a mad dog this season, and I have not seen or heard of any person that has seen one.—pp. 22, 23.

What description of dog, generally speaking, of those which have come under your observation, is that which is most likely to become mad?—I think it is the dog that runs about the street, and picks up mud and dirt; I never saw a fighting dog that ever went mad.

You seem to doubt the fact, that madness is so prevalent as the people in general think it to be?—I do; I saw a dog myself this time twelvemonth; the dog was no more mad than I was mad; a parcel of people drove him from his master, and then said "There goes a mad dog! there goes a mad dog!" he ran away from them into a stable; and I went down stairs, and I saw the actions of the people in the street, and I said The

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dog is not mad; and I went to the stable to him, and as soon as he saw that I was going to treat him kindly, he wagged his tail and was quite quiet.

Those fighting dogs give considerable sport to the people who go to the pits?-Yes, as much as any other sport.―p. 23.

The Committee before which this evidence was taken having fully deliberated upon the details, came to a resolution, in which they expressed their conviction that numerous and wanton cruelties were practised, to the great and unnecessary increase of the sufferings of dumb animals, and to the demoralization of the people. But their labours being terminated abrubtly, there is no doubt that a fresh Committee on this subject will be chosen in the present session.

ART. III.-Customs and Manners of the Women of Persia, and their Domestic Superstitions. Translated from the original Persian Manuscript. By JAMES ATKINSON, Esq. 8vo. London: Printed for the Oriental Translation Fund. 1832.

It is universally thought in those countries that Mahomet inculcated as a fundamental principle of his religion, that women had no souls. We usually consider that the feelings which such a belief must engender, are the cause why females in the East are treated as an inferior race of beings, unfit almost to associate with man; at least, such is the impression that we have of the relation of the sexes throughout the Oriental world.

But if we only take the trouble to glance at the Koran, we shall have our prejudices very speedily dissipated. The great Prophet, in this venerated record, places women in the same rank of true believers with men; and he particularly inculcates on their husbands the duty of treating them with respect and kindness. But this is not all; for, in a civil point of view, Mahomet has established their right to dowers, and their claims to inheritance. More than this even has been accomplished by the Prophet, as if he was determined to show the solicitude which he so truly felt for the worldly happiness of the fair sex; for it is one of his fundamental laws, that no husband can efficiently establish the guilt of his wife, on a charge of violating her conjugal duties, unless there are four witnesses to be produced as to the truth of the fact. Should, however, the testimony of so many be out of the question, the husband can succeed if, having witnessed himself the guilt of the wife, he will swear four times to the fact, and add to these four oaths a denouncement of the wrath of God upon him if he should, by taking these oaths, prove a liar. Though this latter facility afforded to the husband may seem a partial concession to the male

sex, such a notion is at once done away with when we consider the resource which is placed, under these circumstances, in the hands of the woman; for should she only perform the same ceremony as the husband, namely, calling down upon herself the wrath of the Almighty if her husband was not swearing falsely, she is immediately exempted from all the legal penalties applied to the crime of which she was accused. Should, however, the parties be divorced, the wife is entitled to her whole dower, although the payment of it would be utter ruin to the husband.

It would really appear that the great bulk of the population of Persia live in a manner quite analogous to the way, so far as respects the married state, in which we ourselves pass our time. It is true the kings, statesmen, ministers, and the members of the most opulent ranks, have respectively a plurality of wives, who are placed in harems, and treated in a manner little better than slaves.

But such persons have to thank their wealth for the power of maintaining such establishments; and as the indulgence which they are able to enjoy is not accessible to the great majority of the community, it follows that one wife is enough for the generality of husbands; then after marriage she becomes mistress of the family of her husband, with unlimited authority over the children and servants, and in the possession of independent rights, which she is justified in calling on her immediate relations always to vindicate. In virtue of her habitual privileges, then, a Persian wife can go of her own accord to the public bath; she can leave her own place, and go when and how she thinks fit to pay a visit to a father, brother, sister, or son. All this she can do without even consulting her husband; nay, so little right has he to control her in these acts, that if he attends, or even follows her, he is deemed guilty of a great intrusion on the independence of his wife. But besides all this, the married lady in Persia has a portion of the family house altogether to herself; and here she can have visitors, and friends, and musicians, dancers, &c., nor can the husband come here on any pretence without giving notice. There is something singularly unaccountable, then, in the circumstance, that whilst the European impression represents Persian wives as so many captives in a state of slavery, the real truth is, that these women are in practice much better off than married females can be said to be in many countries which boast of the most refined state of civilization. Some years ago a Persian gentleman, named Mirza Abu Taleb Khan, visited and remained sometime in England. Being struck with the arrogance which was assumed by Englishmen, when they compared what they thought their respect for the female sex with the contempt of that sex which they ignorantly attributed to the Persians, Mirza took up the matter; and, after an elaborate digest of authentic facts, he drew the conclusion that his countrywomen enjoyed a superiority of privileges over the wives of Europe, both

by law and custom, which were so numerous and important, as to be capable of being arranged into no less than eight divisions.

One of the most material of these privileges peculiar to the Asiatic ladies is the prescriptive right belonging to her to tease her husband by every pretext. By virtue of this admitted faculty, the lady may go, for example, and visit her father, and not stir from under the parental roof until after the husband shall have solicited her to do so, and have gone to fetch her too, at least half a dozen times. And even the nuisance which she thus inflicts, she is at liberty to aggravate according to her caprice, for she can promise repeatedly to return home without having any intention whatever to redeem her pledge.

These are only specimens of the powers with which Persian wives have been immemorially invested, under the sanction, not merely of custom, but of law: and so defined are those powers, so certain, so free from any doubt or uncertainty, that the present work was drawn up by five of the most accomplished native women, to place in the hands of all Persian wives, in order that they may never be at a loss to know how to select the time and warrantable mode of proceeding in all conjugal, and in all household matters, provided that they have the ambition to conduct themselves in the married state with propriety, prudence, and decorum.

The name of the original MS. of which the present work is a translation, is Kitabi Kulsum Naneh, the two latter words answering to the name of the principal lady-judge of the committee, or patrons of five, whose rules and maxims form its contents. It commences with a general precept to all married women to remember that, as human life and human affairs are suspended but by a thread, and as success or failure in the search after happiness depends on the most dexterous and vigilant seizure of seasons and opportunities, so should it be held as a sacred obligation by all wives to observe punctually every religious ceremony or observance prescribed to be performed by them. Therefore, it is essential above all things that they should invariably consult the sun, moon, and stars, on every important occasion. With respect to this injunction, we are only surprised that any trouble was taken by the ladies about it, for in practice, there is nothing whatever done in Persia without an astrologer first gives his opinion respecting it. Sir John Malcolm relates that a certain Persian ambassador was once about to set out for India on a mission. His excellency's astrologer told him that he must not leave his house by the ordinary door, for that there was an evil star in the heavens which shed a malignant influence upon the house in that direction. The ambassador then, in order to leave the premises, had a hole made in one of the walls at the side of his mansion, but he found when he passed through it that he got into the residence of a neighbour; in short, his excellency had to make breaches in five succeed

ing walls in order to pass into the street, in a quarter which was shut out from the power of the evil constellation. In the street, however, a fresh obstacle presented itself, for he had already ascertained that the mischievous influence presided as much upon the gate of the fort as upon the door of his house. Under these circumstances, not being able to proceed by land in the natural road, he took a boat, in order to land and pursue his journey to India two miles off. But the roughness of the sea forbade the experiment, and it is an actual fact, that permission was granted by the governor of the town to the ambassador to throw down a part of its wall, in order to let out the gallant diplomatist by a passage which was luckily deserted by the ill-omened star.

To give more potency to the injunctions which are set forth in this work, Kulsum Naneh, already mentioned as the senior of the learned conclave, expresses the following deliberate opinion:

No woman can entertain the least hope of heaven whose husband forbids the things that are herein commanded, and considered proper for her pleasure and happiness in this world. For with what comfort can a woman remain in the house of her husband, who is continually opposed to those recreations to which her whole soul is devoted? Dadeh-Bazm Ará says, I have proved, from the instructions of my master Iblís, that the man who does not allow his wife to visit holy places and mosques, and the houses of her friends, male and female, with whom interviews may have been concerted, and who prohibits other innocent and agreeable proceedings, such as we have deemed proper and expedient for her own satisfaction and comfort, that man, I say, will be condemned hereafter to severe and merited punishment. And in such case it is wájib (i. e. expedient or necessary) that the relations of the wife should carry the husband before the Kází and claim a divorce, or deed of separation, to the end that the wife may be released from her misery, and be furnished with a separate maintenance. If the husband should refuse to be divorced, and the wife die of a broken heart, he and his relations are deservedly liable to pay the expiatory mulct, as in cases of murder. pp. 8, 9.

To this are added the following:

A woman should never on any occasion neglect to show her predilection for rich apparel and scenes of gaiety.

Another custom well deserving of particular attention is, that of sitting down at the junction of four cross-roads on a Wednesday night, and applying every sentence spoken by the passers-by to yourself, and considering it as a good or bad omen. There are several other ways in which a woman may obtain the knowledge of future good fortune. Take the Korán, and in the middle of the night, in the dark, open the volume, and lay the chamber-door key upon the leaves to mark the place. At day-break make two prostrations in prayer, and the words upon which the handle of the key is found will be prophetic of her destiny. Take also a mirror, and some sweet-meats arranged in a circle, and place a lock upon the mirror within the ring; then beckon to every person who passes along the road,