  A linear stability analysis of the hydrodynamic equations with respect to the
homogeneous cooling state is carried out to identify the conditions for
stability as functions of the wave vector, the dissipation, and the density. In
contrast to previous studies, this description is based on the results derived
from the Enskog equation for inelastic hard spheres [V. Garz\'o and J. W.
Dufty, Phys. Rev. E {\bf 59}, 5895 (1999)], which takes into account the
dependence of the transport coefficients on dissipation. As expected, linear
stability shows two transversal (shear) modes and a longitudinal (``heat'')
mode to be unstable with respect to long enough wavelength excitations.
Comparison with previous results (which neglect the influence of dissipation on
transport) shows quantitative discrepancies for strong dissipation.
