iLIFORNIA LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY & ~ ^% Jiitfz LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA % CALIFORNIA LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA THE REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. THE REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. BY THE REY. JOHN SELBY WATSON, M.A., M.R.S.L.^ "* Iv was in a great degree restored, and the elephant could partially see. The doctor was in consequence ready to operate similarly on the other eye on the following day; and the animal, when he was brought out and heard the doctor's voice, lay down of himself, placed his head quietly on one side, curled up his trunk, drew in his breath like a human being about to endure a pain- ful operation, gave a sigh of relief when it was over, and then, by motions of his trunk and other gestures, gave evident signs of wishing to express his gratitude. Here we plainly see in the elephant memory, under- standing, and reasoning from one thing to another. The animal remembered the benefit that he had felt from the application to one eye, and when he was brought to the same place on the following day and heard the operator's voice, he concluded that a like service was to be done to his other eye. The two following stories are of a similar character. The second especially shows the sagacity of the ani- mal : ' ' During one of the wars in India, many Frenchmen had an opportunity of observing one of the elephants that had received a flesh-wound from a cannon-ball. After having been twice or thrice conducted to the hospital, where he extended himself to be dressed, he afterwards used to go alone. The surgeon did what- ever he thought necessary, applying sometimes even fire to the wound ; and though the pain made the ani- mal often utter the most plaintive groans, he never ex- prsssed any other token than that of gratitude to this person, who by momentary torments endeavoured, and in the end effected, his cure." 1 1 Bingley, c Animal Biography,' vol. i. p. 155. 56 SEASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. " In the last war in India a young elephant received a violent wound in its head, the pain of which rendered it so frantic and ungovernable that it was found im- possible to persuade the animal to have the part dressed. Whenever any one approached, it ran off with fury, and would suffer no person to come within several yards of it. The man who had the care of it at length hit upon a contrivance for securing it. By a few words and signs he gave the mother of the animal sufficient intelligence of what was wanted ; the sensible creature immediately seized her young one with her trunk, and held it firmly down, though groaning with agony, while the surgeon completely dressed the wound ; and she continued to perform this service every day till the animal was per- fectly recovered." 1 When elephants are in their wild state " they com- monly march in large troops, the eldest precede ; the young and the feeble are placed in the middle, and those of middle age and full vigour bring up the rear. The mothers carry their young firmly embraced in their trunks. This order, however, they observe in perilous marches only, as when they intend to pasture in cultivated fields. In the deserts and forests they travel with less precaution, but never separate so far as to exceed the possibility of receiving assistance from each other." 2 They call to one another, either to give warning of danger, or to summon to some plentiful pasture ; the leader or leaders being especially prominent in giving these signals, as cocks among hens in a farmyard. So the wild horses, in the Ukraine and among the Cos- 1 Bingley, 'Animal Biography,' vol. i. p. 155. 2 Buffon, Hist. Nat. de PElephant. Plin. H.N. viii. 5. ELEPHANT. SELF-GOVERNMENT IN THE WILD STATE. 57 sacks,, going in troops of four or five hundred, obey, apparently by compact, the command of a leader of their own number. He, by signs and voice, makes them proceed or stop at his pleasure. When the troop is attacked by wolves or otherwise, he gives orders for the necessary arrangements for defence; if he finds any horses out of their place or lagging behind, he obliges them to take their proper station. These ani- mals, of their own natural impulse, march in nearly as good order and steadiness as our trained cavalry ; they form companies, and pasture in files and brigades, with- out confusion or separation. The chief holds office for four or five years ; when he grows weaker and less active, another horse, conscious of strength and am- bitious of command, springs forth from the troop and attacks the old chief, who probably resists, and if not vanquished, keeps his command, but if conquered re- tires, with evident shame and dejection, into the com- mon herd. The conqueror is then recognized as sove- reign, and obeyed. 1 Major Skinner gave the following account of the proceedings of a herd of elephants to Sir James Emer- son Tennent, observing that it seemed to denote more of reasoning power in brute animals than anything he had previously seen. In the height of the hot season at Neuera Kalawa, the streams of water are all dried up and the tanks nearly exhausted; and animals in consequence, being sorely pressed by thirst, congre- gate in the neighbourhood of those tanks in which any water is left. During one of these seasons Major Skinner was encamped on the bank of a rather small i Smellie, vol. ii. p. 418, from a ' Description de TTIkraine ' by Beau- plan, and M. Sanchez apud Buffon. 58 SEASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. tank, the water in which was sunk so low that the sur- face could not have exceeded five hundred square yards, and as it was the only tank within several miles, he knew that a large herd of elephants which had been seen in the vicinity in the daytime must resort to it at night. He resolved accordingly, as it was moonlight, to watch their proceedings. He caused all his camp- fires to be early extinguished, and all his men to retire to rest, and went forth on the adventure alone. He climbed a tree about four hundred yards from the water, and waited patiently for two hours, before he heard or saw anything of the elephants. At length he saw a huge beast issue from the wood, and advance cautiously across the open ground to within a hundred yards of the tank, where he stood perfectly motionless ; and the rest of the herd, meanwhile, were so quiet that not the least sound was to be heard from them. Gradu- ally, at three successive advances, halting some minutes after each, he moved up to the water's edge, in which however he did not think proper to quench his thirst, but remained for several minutes listening in perfect stillness. He then returned cautiously and slowly to the point at which he had issued from the wood, from whence he came back with five other elephants, with which he proceeded, somewhat less slowly than before, to within a few yards of the tank, where he posted them as patrols. He then re-entered the wood, and collected the whole herd, which must have amounted to between eighty and a hundred, and led them across the open ground with the most extraordinary composure and quiet till they came up to the five sentinels, when he left them for a moment, and again made a recon- naissance at the edge of the tank. At last, being ap- ELEPHANT. SELF-GOVERNMENT IN THE WILD STATE. 59 parently satisfied that all was safe, lie turned back, and obviously gave the order to advance," for in a moment/' says Major Skinner, cc the whole herd rushed to the water with a degree of unreserved confidence, so opposite to the caution and timidity which had marked their pre- vious movements, that nothing will ever persuade me that there was not rational and preconcerted co-ope- ration throughout the whole party, and a degree of re- sponsible authority exercised by the patriarch-leader." When elephants are in the woods in hot weather, they are often to be seen, during the heat of the day, hold- ing in their trunks leafy branches of trees, with which they will switch off the flies that torment them. 1 We shall next proceed to contemplate the sagacity of the Dog. 1 Major Forbes, ' Eleven Years in Ceylon,' yol. i. p. 286. Mrs. Lee, Anecd. of Animals, p. 286. See also Buffon, torn. ix. p. 277, ed. 1769. 60 CHAPTER VIII. DOG. GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. Or the sagacity and understanding of dogs, such num- bers of stories, many of them well authenticated, are told, that it is a work of care and labour to make a se- lection of the most expressive. That such accounts should be numerous, is not strange, for every human being, who has seen anything of dogs, cannot but have noticed their good sense and good feeling. But we shall endeavour to choose, from among the mass of anecdotes related of them, a few of those which most remarkably prove them to have some share of the reason which pre-eminently distinguishes man. We shall first give some instances of their general intelligence, and then notice some ex- amples of it exhibited in several species of dogs, and in different modes. The story of the dog who attended daily at a con- vent in France, at the hour when twenty paupers were served with dinner, to pick up whatever scraps might remain, and who, observing that each person was sup- plied with his portion on ringing a bell, and finding himself one day but scantily regaled, rang the bell him- self for more, is a fine example of reasoning power DOG. GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. 61 in the animal. The dog, says the account, rang the bell day after day, and received a persons portion without being for a long time discovered ; for the por- tions were served out by means of a tour, a machine like the half of a barrel, which, turning on a pivot, ex- hibits whatever is placed in the hollow of it, without allowing the giver and receiver to see each other. At last the steward, finding that there was every day de- livered one dinner more than the number of authorized receivers, set himself to detect the unlicensed appli- cant, and, watching from a hiding-place, saw the dog, as soon as the last recipient had retired, walk up to the bell-rope and pull it with his mouth. But the commu- nity, it is said, when the matter was made known to them, were so delighted with the dog's intelligence, that they allowed him to ring every day for his dinner till he died. 1 A similar story is told of an Italian greyhound, a kind of dog supposed to be among the least intelligent. This animal belonged to a gentleman at Bologna, and was accustomed to go from home every morning to visit a dog of its own species at a neighbouring house. But sometimes, when it made its call, it found the door of the house in which its friend dwelt not yet opened. In such a case it would place itself opposite the house, and by loud barking solicit admission. But as the noise which it made was not always agreeable, the door was often not only kept shut against it, but endeavours were made to drive it away by throwing stones at it from the windows. It would creep, however, so close up to the door as to be perfectly secure against the stones, and it was then driven away with a whip. After 1 Bingley, An. Biog. vol. i. p. 206. 62 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. this repulse it stayed away some time, and then, on going again, used to wait without barking till the door was opened. As it thus watched, it sometimes saw people come to the house, and knock at the door ; and it observed that after this operation the door was opened. At last it thought of using the knocker itself, and leaped at it several times, till it at length raised it and made it strike the door. Somebody from within opened the door, and was surprised to find no person at it ; but the dog meanwhile slipped in with delight, and soon made his way to his friend. After this, simi- lar knocks were often heard at the same time ; and it was discovered that the dog had found the art of using the knocker ; when, from admiration of his ingenuity, he was no longer refused access to his companion's habitation. Mr. Jesse 1 relates the following instance of the in- telligence of a dog belonging to a gentleman residing near Pontypool. The gentleman's horse was brought to the house by a servant, but while the servant was ap- plying at the door, the horse detached himself, and ran away to a neighbouring hill. The dog, seeing the oc- currence, set off after the horse of his own accord, seized the bridle, and brought him back. The following manifestation of sagacity in a dog is told by a Mr. John Knight as having occurred at HazelPs Farm, near Sandby, a station on the Great Northern Railway. A few years ago, on account of the foxes being preserved for hunting, much havoc was made by them among the hens and their eggs. A hen, being about to lay one morning, proceeded, evidently with a view to securing her egg, into the kennel to which the 1 Anecdotes of Dogs, p. 23. DOG. GENEEAL INTELLIGENCE. DO dog was chained, where she delivered herself of her bur- den,, and came forth with the cackle usually consequent on the operation. The dog appeared to know that the egg ought to be preserved for the use of his master, and brought it out very carefully in his mouth, carrying it so as not to break or crack it, and depositing it as near to the house as his chain would allow him to go. The housekeeper took up the egg, and gave the dog something to eat as a reward for his care. This pro- cess was repeated day after day, the dog laying down the egg, and the housekeeper giving him his recom- pense. Mr. Knight says that he had this account from the housekeeper's own mouth. During a very severe frost and fall of snow in Scot- land, the fowls at a certain farmhouse were missing at the hour when they usually retired to roost, and no one could discover what had become of them. But while the people of the farm were in perplexity, the house-dog entered the kitchen, carrying in his mouth a hen which was apparently dead. He made his way to the fire, laid the fowl down before it, and went out again. Soon after he returned with another fowl, which he deposited by the side of the former, and continued to bring others, one by one, till the whole number were got together. It appeared that the fowls, wandering about the stack-yard, had become numbed by the ex- treme cold, and unable to walk, when the dog, observ- ing them in this condition, had come successfully to their rescue, for they all revived under the warmth of the fire. 1 As one of the northern mails was travelling towards London one very dark night, a dog came up before the 1 Jesse, Anecd. of Dogs, p. 22. 64 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. leaders, and kept up an incessant barking, jumping up at the same time at their heads. The coachman, fear- ful of an accident, pulled up, and the guard got down to drive the animal away ; but the dog ran backwards and forwards, so as plainly to indicate that he wanted the guard to follow him ; he therefore^ took out one of the lamps, and went after him. He had gone about a hundred yards, when he found a farmer lying drunk across the road, and his horse standing by his side. Had it not been for the sagacity of the dog, the coach would probably have been driven over the man's body. 1 A dog, who used to go for bread to a baker's with a penny, was one day presented by the baker's journey- man, in fun, with a penny roll too hot for him to hold, when, after several ineffectual attempts to retain it in his mouth, he seemed to guess the trick that was being played upon him, and, jumping on the counter, snatched up the penny, and went off to the shop of another baker. To the former he never returned again. 2 Most of us have heard of the dog who used to go to the butcher every day for his pennyworth of meat, with his penny in his mouth, which he would not deliver till the meat was ready for him to take. But a story is told of a dog in Bristol that was accustomed to go to the butcher's for a pennyworth of meat on trust, the butcher scoring it up to him on a board with a piece of chalk ; and on one occasion, observing the butcher make two marks instead of one, he seized on an addi- tional piece of meat, which he retained in spite of all the butcher's attempts to take it from him, and went off to his home with both pieces in his mouth. 3 1 Jesse, Gleanings in Nat. Hist. yol. iii. p. 14. 2 Brown, ' Anecdotes of Dogs.' 3 ' Bristol Mercury ' newspaper. DOG. GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. 65 An instance of sagacity exhibited in a similar way was given a short time ago by a dog belonging to Mr. Robert Nash,, an inhabitant,, and churchwarden, of the parish of Otford, near Sevenoaks, in Kent. The dog was a fine black retriever, which would start regularly to the post-office in the village at about twenty minutes after seven every morning, to fetch his master's letters arid newspapers. It used to go straight into the office, and the postmaster placing the letters on the counter, the animal would seize them in its mouth, and hasten off with them to its master's house, refusing always to deliver them to any one but Mr. Nash himself; and if he could not find him at once, he searched about the house and premises till he discovered him. It] was invariably observed, too, that the dog walked slowly, and at its ease, from its master's house to the post-office, but returned with its charge at a quick trot. " At Albany, in "Worcestershire, at the seat of Ad- miral Maling, a dog went every day to meet the mail, and brought the bag in his mouth to the house. The distance was about half a quarter of a mile. The dog usually received a meal of meat as his reward. The servants having, on one day only, neglected to give him his accustomed meal, the dog on the arrival of the next mail buried the bag ; nor was it found without consi- derable search." 1 It were to be wished that the ac- count had added whether matters were ever made up with the dog ; how he acted the next day, or how they acted towards him. For proof of the sagacity of dogs, it is observed by Mr. Frank Buckland, in his ' Curiosities of Natural 1 Jesse, ' Anecdotes of Dogs,' p. 48. P 66 SEASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. History./ that if a person wishes to frighten away a dog by pretending to pick up a stone and throw it at him, he must take care that there are stones in the place in which he makes such pretence ; for, if the dog sees that there * are no stones lying about, he under- stands very well that none will be thrown at him, what- ever motions of his arm the simulating thrower may display. A cur dreads a stone hurled at him, but, in the midst of the bogs of Ireland, or any ground of that description, the veriest cur would care nothing at all for the most violent gesticulations in imitation of hurling. A friend of Mr. Jesse's, an officer in the 15th Hussars, had a favourite bulldog, the mother of a brood of pup- pies, which, as they grew up, were making her, in the opinion of her master, too thin and weak ; and he there- fore took them from her, and shut them up in a sort of coop, to which he thought she would have no access. She contrived, however, to climb over the wall of the yard, and to get close to the coop ; but finding that her pups could not reach her to suck, she emptied the con- tents of her stomach into their place of confinement, and continued to do so, two or three times a day, for some time ; and, having no difficulty in procuring as much food as she wanted, she kept them, in this strange fa- shion, well supplied. " Instinct alone," observes Mr. Jesse, " would not have taught her this method of feed- ing her offspring.-" A dog belonging to a man named John Godfrey (as is told by the Rev. Thomas Jackson 1 ), who worked at the wharf of a coal-merchant on the Surrey side of the water, had a dog, which used to attend him in his visits 1 Our Dumb Companions, p. 48. DOG. GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. 67 to a public-house in Gibson Street, Waterloo Road, where he was taught to drink malt-liquor, of which he gradually became excessively fond. One evening, a companion of Godfrey's said to him, " Jack, let's make the dog drunk/' a proposal to which Godfrey readily assented ; and an extraordinary quantity of liquor being given to the animal, he was unable, when he went home with his master, to ascend the stairs to the room where he used to sleep, getting up a step or two only to roll back. This afforded Godfrey and his companion much amusement; but the dog, who lived five years after this transaction, would never again taste malt-liquor, but showed his teeth and snarled whenever a pewter pot was presented to him. As for John Godfrey him- self, he died in Lambeth Workhouse ; and his com- panion, who retained his love of beer, was often told by his wife that he had not half the sense of Jack God- frey's dog. Mr. Nassau Senior, in one of his articles in the ( Quarterly Review,' a notice of a satirical book called ' Anecdotes of Monkeys,' gives an instance, from his own knowledge, of such cunning in a terrier as { ' would have done honour," as he expresses it, " to an Old Bailey attorney." We shall give the story in Mr. Senior's own words. " Our Oxford readers are pro- bably aware that dogs are forbidden to cross the sacred threshold of Merton common-room. It happened one evening that a couple of terriers had followed their masters to the door, and, while they remained excluded, unhappily followed the habits rather of biped than of quadruped animals, and began to quarrel like a couple of Christians. The noise of the fight summoned their masters to separate them, and as it appeared that the F 2 68 SEASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. hero of our tale had been much mauled by a superior adversary, the severe Menseances of the place were for once relaxed, and he was allowed to enjoy, during the rest of the night, the softness of a monastic rug and the blaze of a monastic fire ; luxuries which every ini- tiated dog and man will duly appreciate. The next day, soon after the common-room party had been as- sembled, the sounds of the preceding evening were re- newed with tenfold violence. There was such snapping and tearing, and snarling and howling, as could be ac- counted for only by a general engagement : ' The noise alarm' d the festive hall, And started forth the fellows all.' But instead of a battle royal, they found at the door their former guest, in solitude sitting on his rump, and acting a furious dog-fight, in the hope of again gaining admittance among the quieti ordines deorum. We have heard that he was rewarded with both the grandes and the petites entrees ; but this does not rest on the same authority as the rest of the narrative." 1 Dr. Arnaud d'Andilli, the translator of Josephus, author of several well-known works in the French lan- guage, was one day talking with the Duke de Lian- court on the opinion of Descartes that beasts were mere machines, having no portion of reason to direct them, and producing sounds only as machines may be made to produce them by the agency of wheels. The doctor was inclined to support Descartes, but the Duke de- clared himself of a quite contrary opinion, giving some instances in support of his conviction, one of which had come under his own knowledge. " I had in my kitchen," 1 Nassau Senior's ' Biographical Sketches,' p. 516. DOG. GENERAL INTELLIGENCE, 69 said he, "two turnspits, one of which, went regularly every other day into the wheel. One of them, however, not liking his employment, hid himself on the day on which he should have worked, so that his companion was ordered to enter the wheel in his stead. But the dog hung back, crying and wagging his tail, and ma- king signs to those present to follow him. Being cu- rious to see what he would do, they put themselves under his guidance, when he led them straight to a garret where the idle dog was hid, and immediately fell upon him and killed him on the spot." 1 A similar proceeding is related as having occurred at the Jesuits' College at La Fleche. One day when the cook had got the meat ready for being roasted, he learned that the dog which should have turned the spit was nowhere to be discovered. He attempted to employ another turnspit, but it bit his leg and ran away. Soon after, however, the same dog returned, driving before him the one that had shrunk from his duty, and forcing him to enter the wheel and perform his task. 2 A blind dog, it seems, may have as much use of his ears, and form as accurate conclusions from what he perceives through them, as a blind man. " In the Zoo- logical Gardens," says Mr. Youatt, 3 ' ( an old blind dog used to be placed at the door of the dissecting-house. Few had any business there, and every one of them he, after a while, used to recognize and welcome full ten yards off, by wagging his tail ; at the same distance he would begin to growl at a stranger, unless accom- panied by a friend. From the author's long habit of 1 Elaine, Encycl. of Kural Sports, p. 398. 2 Jesse, Anecd. of Dogs, p. 303. 3 On the Dog, p. 114. 70 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. noticing him, he used to recognize his step before it would seem possible for its sound to be heard. He followed him with his sightless eyes in whatever direc- tion he moved, and was not satisfied until he had petted and fondled him." 71 CHAPTER IX. DOG. NEWFOUNDLAND BREED. IT is an opinion of Mr. Grantley Berkeley, and perhaps of others, that it is a mistake to suppose that one spe- cies of dog has greater sagacity than another. But to this notion we are not inclined to assent. We are dis- posed to think that a greater portion of strong natural sense is manifested in the larger kinds of dogs, as the Newfoundland and the mastiff, than in the smaller. First of all we shall give a few examples, for most of which we are indebted to Mr. Jesse, of intelligence in the Newfoundland dog. Of such examples, as he ob- serves, an almost infinite number might be collected. A lieutenant in the navy informed Mr. Jesse 1 that while his ship was under sail in the Mediterranean, a canary bird escaped from its cage, and flew overboard into the sea; when a Newfoundland dog belonging to the vessel, seeing the bird drop, jumped into the water and swam up to it, and then, taking it in his mouth, swam back with it to the ship. When the dog came on board, and opened his mouth, it was found that the bird was perfectly uninjured, the dog having carried it as ten- i Anecdotes of Dogs, p. 127. 72 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. derly as if he were quite aware that the slightest pres- sure would destroy it. Mr. Youatt relates, that as he was going one day to open a gate, to pass from one part of his premises to another, he saw a lame puppy lying just within, so that he could not push back the gate without rolling the poor animal over, and adding to its sufferings. As he was hesitating what to do, and thinking of going round by another gate, a Newfoundland dog, which was waiting within, and which Mr. Youatt was wont to caress as he passed, saw, as he glanced at the lame dog, the cause why Mr. Youatt delayed to enter, and putting out his great strong paw, gently rolled the in- valid out of the way, and then drew back himself to al- low room for the gate to open. In acting thus the dog evidently reasoned within himself, and decided what was requisite to be done in the case before him. 1 One of the late chaplains of the embassy at Lisbon brought to England with him a dog of the Newfound- land breed, so large that he was obliged to be taken from Torquay to London by sea, as no coach would convey him. He was very gentle, but perfectly well aware of his own strength, for when the waiter of the hotel at Torquay spoke harshly to him and tried to prevent him from going where he wished, he felled the man with one stroke of his paw, but without hurting him, and passed on. On the third day of his stay at the hotel he wanted water, and not being able to find any, went to the kitchen, took up a pail in his mouth and carried it to the pump in the yard, where he sat down till one of the men-servants came out, to whom he made such significant gestures that he pumped the 1 Youatt, On the Dog.' DOG. NEWFOUNDLAND BEEED. 73 pail full for him; and when he had drunk enough he carried the pail back to the place in the kitchen from whence he had taken it. His proceedings were wit- nessed by the gentleman who related them. 1 Is any other instance known of a dog having restored a thing to its place, of its own accord, after having used it ? Mr. Jesse 3 also speaks of a Newfoundland dog that used to attend his master's wife and sisters when they went abroad ; and if they were unaccompanied by any gentleman, he always walked before them, obliging any crowd that they might encounter to make way for them, but, if a gentleman was with them, he always walked retiringly behind. A gentleman of Mr. Jesse's acquaintance, shooting one day, attended by a keeper, killed a hare, which had run through a hole at the bottom of a stone wall. The keeper sent a sagacious old dog of the Newfoundland breed to fetch the hare. The dog brought the dead animal in its mouth to the wall, over which he attempted to jump, but after several attempts, found that his load rendered him unable to do so. Desisting from his in- effectual efforts, therefore, he laid down the hare by the hole, through which he pushed it as far as he could with his nose, and then leaping over the wall, dragged it through on the other side, and brought it to his master. From the high ground on which the gentle- man and his keeper stood they were able to see dis- tinctly the whole of his proceedings. 3 The following contrivance on the part of a dog is of a similar nature. A friend of Mr. Jesse's was shooting wildfowl with his brother, accompanied by a New- 1 Jesse, Gleanings in Nat. Hist. vol. iii. p. 30. 2 Ib. vol. ii. p. 221. 3 Ib. vol. iii. p. 14. 74 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. foundlander, and coining to some reeds at the side of the river, they threw down their hats, the better to con- ceal themselves as they approached their game. After firing, they sent the dog for their hats, one of which was smaller than the other, and the animal, after seve- ral vain attempts to bring them both together in his mouth, at last placed the smaller hat in the larger one, pressed it down with his foot, and thus brought them with ease. " Extraordinary as this anecdote may ap- pear," says Mr. Jesse, "it is strictly true, and strongly shows the sense, and I am almost inclined to add, the reason, of the Newfoundland dog." 1 Great circumspection was shown by a dog of this kind which was in the habit of stealing from a kitchen that had two doors opening into it ; for he would never indulge his thievish propensity if one of them was shut ; but if both were open, he understood that the chance of escape was doubled, and readily seized what he could. Similar precaution was exhibited by a Newfoundland dog, the mother of two whelps, which she had suckled till it was time for them to be weaned, but which were constantly following and annoying her for milk when she had little to give them. She was confined at night in a shed, which was divided from another by a wooden partition some feet high, and into this she conveyed her puppies, leaving them there by themselves, that she might enjoy her night's rest in the other shed undis- turbed. 2 A vessel containing eight men was driven by a storm on the beach at Lydd in Kent, when the surf was raging with such fury that no boat could be got off to her assistance. At length a gentleman came forward, 1 Anecdotes of Dogs, p. 113. 2 Ib. p. 108. DOG. NEWFOUNDLAND BEEED. 75 attended by his Newfoundland dog, into whose mouth he put a stick, and pointed in the direction of the vessel. The dog readily understood what he was ex- pected to do, and sprang into the sea. He fought his way courageously through the rolling waves, but was unable to get close enough to the vessel to deliver that with which he was charged. The crew, however, seeing what was intended, fastened a piece of wood to the end of a rope, and threw it towards him. No hu- man being could have comprehended more quickly what he ought to do than did the sagacious dog ; he instantly dropped his stick and seized the wood which had been thrown to him, and then, with almost incredible strength and perseverance, dragged the rope attached to it through the surge, and brought it to the hands of his master. A line of communication was thus formed, and the whole crew saved. 1 A Newfoundland dog, belonging to a grocer in a large way of business, had observed one of the porters of the house, who had frequent occasion to go into the shop, take away money from the till and carry it into the stable to hide it. After seeing several such thefts, the dog became restless, and often pulled persons by the skirts of their coats, as if he wished them to do something for him. At last, noticing an apprentice enter the stable one day, he followed him, and going up to a heap of rubbish, scratched at it with his paws till he had uncovered the concealed money. The ap- prentice brought the hoard to his master, who marked the pieces of coin, and afterwards restored it to the hiding-place. But some of it was soon after found upon the porter, who was thus convicted of the theft. 2 1 Jesse, 'Anecdotes of Dogs,' p. 119. 2 Ib. p. 121. 76 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. A dog belonging to Mr. Garland, a magistrate at Harbour-de- Grace, in Newfoundland, was in the habit of carrying a lantern before his master at night, bear- ing it along as steadily as the most attentive servant could have done, and making a halt whenever he ceased to hear his master's footstep behind him. If, more- over, when his master was from home in the evening, the lantern were given him with the command, " Go, fetch your master \" he would set off immediately for the town, which was a mile from Mr. Garland's resi- dence, and would stop at the door of every house which he knew his master frequented, setting down the lantern and barking at the door, till he had dis- covered where his master was. His recollection of the houses as he went his round was always most accu- rate. 1 A gentleman at York had one of these large dogs, which had great sagacity in fetching and carrying articles. Sometimes the gentleman, on purchasing an article in a shop, and finding it inconvenient to take it away with him at the time, would call the dog's atten- tion to it, and, after finishing his other business in the town, would tell his dog to go and fetch it. The in- telligent animal never failed to return with the right article in his mouth. One day his master bought a brush in a shop, pointed it out to Carlo in the usual way, and sent him some time afterwards to fetch it. Unluckily the shopman had not detached the brush from the cord connecting it with a number of others, and the dog ran off with a whole string of brushes, dragging them vigorously along the street. The shop- man pursued ; but the dog gave him to understand 1 Jesse, { Anecdotes of Dogs,' p. 124. DOG. NEWFOUNDLAND BEEED. 77 that lie had better not take possession ; nor did he stop till he had laid the whole number at the feet of his master. 1 Smellie, in his ' Philosophy of Natural History/ re- lates that a man who went through the streets of Edinburgh ringing a bell and selling pies, gave one to a large dog belonging to a grocer of that city. The next time the dog heard the pieman's bell, he ran im- petuously towards him, seized him by the coat and for- bade him to pass. The pieman showed him a penny, and pointed to his master, who stood at the street-door observing what was going on. The dog now, by all the means in his power, pleaded with his master for a penny, and, on receiving one, carried it in his mouth to the pieman, who gave him a pie. This matter of buy- ing and selling was daily practised for several months. Colonel Hutchinson relates that a lady, a cousin of one of his brother- officers, was walking out one day at Tunbridge Wells, when a Newfoundland dog, quite strange to her, came up to her side and snatched her parasol out of her hand, carrying it off in his mouth. She of course followed him, but he did not hurry away ; he only kept a little ahead of her, looking back from time to time to see if she were coming. At last he stopped at a confectioner's shop and went in ; the lady went after him, and tried to take her parasol from him, but he refused to let it go. She then applied for assistance to the shopman, who told her that it was an old trick of the dog's, and that she would not be able to get the parasol from him without giving him a bun. The bun being offered, the parasol was readily given up. This proceeding, if it proved the dog inclined to extor- 1 Rer. T. Jackson, ' Our Dumb Companions,' p. 60. 78 SEASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. tion rather than honesty, certainly manifested great intelligence in him. It is of the same class with that of the dog that stopped the pieman, and both seem to have acted from their own original thought. Lord Eldon had a Newfoundland dog, which, he said, not only showed dejection for some time before his master left home, but pleasure in anticipation of his return for some days before it was to happen. He wrote an epitaph on him, of which the following is the conclusion : " To his rank among created beings The power of reasoning is denied ; Caesar manifested joy For some days before his master Arrived at Encombe ; Caesar manifested grief For days before his master left it ; What name shall be given To that faculty Which thus made expectation A source of joy, Which thus made expectation A source of grief ?" l 1 Twiss's ' Life of Lord Eldon.' 79 CHAPTER X. DOG. PUNISHMENT OF SMALL DOGS BY LARGER. THE understanding or reasoning of these large dogs is shown more remarkably, perhaps, in none of their doings than in the way in which they often punish smaller dogs that annoy them. " The mastiff/' says Mr. Bewick, " conscious of its superior strength, knows how to chastise the imperti- nence of an inferior. A large dog of this kind, belonging to the late M. Ridley, Esq., of Heaton, near Newcastle, being frequently molested by a mongrel and teased by its continual barking, at last took it up in his mouth by the back, and with great composure dropped it over the quay into the river, without doing any further in- jury to an enemy so much his inferior/' 1 A gentleman was staying at Worthing, where his Newfoundland dog was teased and annoyed by a small cur, which snapped and barked at him. This he bore without appearing to notice it for some time, but at last the Newfoundland dog seemed to lose his usual patience and forbearance, and he one day, in the pre- sence of several spectators, took the cur up by his back, 1 Bewick, Hist, of Quadr. p. 337. 80 REASON TNG POWER IN ANIMALS. swam with, it to the sea, held it under the water, and would probably have drowned it, had not a boat been put off and rescued it. " There was another instance communicated to me. A fine Newfoundland dog had been constantly annoyed by a small spaniel. The former, "seizing the opportunity when they were on a terrace under which a river flowed, took up the spaniel in its mouth, and dropped it over the parapet into the river." 1 The following anecdote is given by Dr. Abell in his ( Lectures on Phrenology/ and repeated by Mr. Youatt. 2 A Newfoundland dog in the city of Cork had been greatly annoyed, as he passed along the streets, by a number of noisy curs, of whom, however, for a while he took no notice. But one of them, more forward than the rest, at length carried his presumption so far as to bite the Newfoundland dog in the back of his leg. The large animal, provoked beyond endurance, instantly sprang round, ran after the offender, and seiz- ing him by the skin of his neck, carried him to the quay, when, after holding him suspended over the water for some time, he at last dropped him into it. But he had no intention to drown him, or to inflict on him more than a mild punishment, for after he had been well ducked and frightened, and was beginning to struggle for life, his chastiser plunged into the flood and brought him safe to land. Dr. Hancock, noticing this anecdote in his ' Essay on Instinct/ says, " It would be difficult to conceive any punishment more aptly contrived, or more com- pletely in character. Indeed, if it were fully ana- lysed, an ample commentary might be written in order 1 Jesse, 'Anecdotes of Dogs,' p. 112. 2 On the Dog, p. 54. DOGS. PUNISHMENT OF SMALL DOGS BY LAEGER. 81 to show what a variety of comparisons and motives and generous feelings entered into the composition of this act." Baby, a Newfoundland dog at Windsor, well known, for a long time, to every inhabitant of the place, was often much exposed, as he slumbered in front of the hotel to which he belonged, to the attacks of all sorts of curs, but though he never tamely submitted to an in- sult from a dog approaching his own size, he seemed to think that a pat from his heavy paw was sufficient punishment for any inferior assailant, for his gentleness was equal to his courage. 1 A literary friend of Mr. Jesse's, Lady Morgan we believe, relates of an old Irish wolf-hound, which she knew in her youth, that he kept two rough terriers that were with him in the same house in admirable order. One of them he could easily repress by merely placing his paw upon it when it became too frisky ; but the other, a female, was more difficult to manage, and when she grew extremely presuming and troublesome, his extreme measure, at least in summer-time, was to take her up in his mouth, carry her out-of-doors, and de- posit her, half strangled, in a bed of nettles at some distance. But what was most remarkable in his treat- ment of her was the discrimination which he showed between what was intended on her part and what was involuntary, for some of the family, in order to tease him a little, would occasionally push her against him, or make her do something to annoy him, but when this was the case he never punished her ; though, when she provoked him of her own accord, chastisement was sure to follow. 2 1 Jesse, 'Anecdotes of Dogs/ p. 105. 3 Ib. p. 90. G* 82 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. The Rev. J. Gr. Wood says that a Newfoundland dog belonging to one of his friends seized a little dog, by which he had been some time tormented, in his mouth, and the sea being at hand, swam out with the animal to some distance from the coast, dropped it in the water, and left it to make its way back again if it could. He tells also a similar anecdote of another Newfoundland dog, who, being assaulted and at last pinned by the nose by a little pugnacious bull-terrier, which could not be made to relax its hold, walked up to a pailful of boiling tar that happened to be near, and deliberately let down the terrier into it. The terrier escaped, but not without a severe scalding. A Newfoundland dog, at the town of Honiton, in Devonshire, used to lie several hours every day before the entrance to the Golden Lion Inn, to which he be- longed. As he was reposing, there used frequently to go by a little ill-conditioned cur, which never passed without barking and yelping at the larger dog, for the purpose of insulting him. The Newfoundland dog bore the annoyance a long time with apparent indifference, but one day he rose up deliberately, seized the cur by the neck, carried him across the street, and dipped him into a pond of water, in which he kept him immersed' over head and ears for some seconds, when he lifted him out, laid him down on the kerb-stone, and walked back with dignified slowness to his usual place of rest. It may be supposed that the cur never insulted him again. But the meditated purpose of the larger dog to punish his annoyer without seriously hurting him, and the de- liberate execution of that purpose, assuredly showed great reasoning powers in the animal. 83 CHAPTER XI. DOG. SHEPHEKD'S. NEXT in intelligence to the Newfoundland dog ought to be placed, perhaps, the Scottish sheep- dog, of whose sagacity extraordinary stories are told. Hogg, in his ' Shepherd's Calendar/ gives accounts of several dogs of this kind that he himself possessed. Of one, which he named Sirrah, he says that, "whenever he was hard pressed in accomplishing the tasks to which he was set, he had expedients of the moment that bespoke a great share of the reasoning faculty." Hogg observes that his exploits might fill a volume, but that he can only mention one or two to show his character. One of these was his collection of seven hundred lambs into a hollow by his own unassisted exertions. Hogg had always about that number of lambs under his care at weaning-time ; and had only a lad and his dog to help him in keeping charge of them. It was necessary to watch them day and night, lest they should run away in search of their dams. One night, between eleven and twelve, the lambs broke loose, running, as it hap- pened, towards their keepers, with a noise, as Hogg expresses it, " louder than thunder." He and his as- G 2 84 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. sistant got up and shouted, and did what they could to turn the lambs, but without the least effect. At last, they had the fortune to break them into three great divisions, one of which ran north, another south, and the third westward. Hogg cried out to his dog, " Sirrah, my man, they're a' away," an exclamation which always set him more on the alert than any other ; and Sirrah immediately started off, but, on account of the darkness of the night and the blackness of the moor, Hogg could not tell in what direction. He him- self, however, pursued one division of the lambs, and with great exertion, and the help of another old dog, turned them about for a space, but lost them again in a few minutes altogether. Hogg was in utter despair, but kept whistling at intervals to Sirrah, to keep up a communication with him ; and at last the lad returned, but could give no account of either Sirrah or the lambs. However both of them concluded that whatever way the lambs ran at first, they would finally reach the folds where they had left their mothers ; and thither accord- ingly they bent their course ; but when they arrived there, there was nothing to be seen or heard of them. Hogg then ran several miles towards the west, and the lad a great distance towards the north, and the two met after daybreak, but neither had discovered the least trace of the lambs. " It was the most extraor- dinary circumstance," to borrow Hogg's own words, ' ' that had ever occurred in the annals of the pastoral life. We had nothing for it but to return to our mas- ter, and inform him that we had lost his whole flock of lambs, and knew not what was become of one of them. On our way home, however/' he continues, " we dis- covered a body of lambs at the bottom of a deep ravine, 85 called the Flesh Clench, and the indefatigable Sirrah standing in front of them, looking all around for some relief, but still standing true to his charge. The sun was then up ; and when we first came in view of them, we concluded that it was one of the divisions of the lambs, which Sirrah had been unable to manage till he came to that commanding situation, for it was about a mile and a half distant from the place where they first broke and scattered. But what was our astonishment when we discovered by degrees that not one lamb of the whole flock was wanting ! How he had got all the divisions collected in the dark is beyond all compre- hension. The charge was left entirely to himself from midnight to the rising of the sun ; and if all the shep- herds in the forest had been there to assist him, they could not have effected it with greater propriety. All that I can say further is, that I never felt so grateful to any creature below the sun as I did to Sirrah that morning." This proceeding showed great sagacity, and even in- telligence, in the dog ; but there is another exploit re- corded of him by Hogg, that showed even greater sa- gacity. Hogg was sent to a place fifteen miles distant from his employer's house to fetch back a strong and frisky ewe that had strayed from home. The way lay over steep hills and through deep glens ; there was no track ; and neither Sirrah nor his master had ever tra- versed that part of the country before. When they reached the place from whence the ewe was to be brought, she was secured and put into a barn over- night ; and after having been scared and annoyed by the restraints laid upon her, she was turned out to be driven home by herself. " She was as wild as a roe/" 86 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. says Hogg, " and bounded away to the side of the mountain like one." " Do you really suppose/' said the farmer to Hogg, ' ' that you will drive that sheep over those hills, right through the midst of all the sheep in the country ?" Hogg said he would try. The farmer replied that he might as well try to reach the sun. However, Hogg showed the ewe to Sirrah, and signified to him, as well as he could, that he was to have the charge of her. " After this/' says Hogg, " I seldom got a sight of the ewe, for she was sometimes a mile before me, sometimes two ; but Sirrah kept her in command the whole way, never sutfered her to mix with other sheep, nor, as far as I could judge, ever to deviate twenty yards from the track by which he and I went the day before." At last Hogg lost all traces of them ; he passed two shepherd's houses and asked at each if they had seen a black dog driving a sheep ; but they had seen no such objects. " I had nothing for it," he continues, "but to hold my way homeward ; and at length, on the corner of a hill at the side of some water, I discovered my trusty coal-black friend sitting with his eye intently fixed, though some- times giving a glance behind to see if I was coming. He had the ewe standing there, safe and unhurt." But the affair was not destined to end satisfactorily to Sirrah. When the ewe was got home, and set at liberty among the other sheep, Sirrah took it highly amiss. He could scarcely be prevailed upon to let her go, and was so displeased that she should have been liberated after all his trouble, that he would not go near his master for some time, and refused to eat any supper when he went into the house. In acting thus, the dog showed that he reasoned about the matter DOG. SHEPHEKD'S. 87 in his way, and formed his conclusions respecting it he had understood that that sheep was to be kept by itself, and that he was to be the instrument of keeping it so ; and he considered himself insulted by the dismission of the sheep to go among other sheep, after he had been required to make such exer- tion, and had made it so successfully, to keep her separate. It is worth while to transcribe a few sentences in praise of the shepherd's dog from the pages of one who was so well qualified to judge of his merits and value as James Hogg. "A single shepherd and his dog," says he, "will accomplish more in gathering a flock of sheep from a Highland farm, than twenty shepherds could do without dogs ; and it is a fact that without this docile animal the pastoral life would be a mere blank. Without the shepherd's dog, the whole of the open mountainous land in Scotland would not be worth a sixpence. It would require more hands to manage a stock of sheep, gather them from the hills, force them into houses and folds, and drive them to markets, than the profits of the whole flock would be capable of maintaining. Well may the shepherd feel an interest in his dog; he it is, indeed, that earns the family's bread, of which he is himself content with the smallest morsel ; always grateful, and always ready to exert his utmost abilities in his master's interest. Neither hun- ger, fatigue, nor the worst of treatment, will drive him from his side; he will follow him through fire and water as the saying is, and through every hardship, without murmur or repining, till he literally fall down dead at his feet. If one of them is obliged to change masters, it is sometimes long before he will acknow- 88 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. ledge the new one, or condescend to work for him with the same willingness as he did for his former lord ; but if he once acknowledge him, he continues attached to him till death ; and though naturally proud and high- spirited, these qualities (or rather failings) are, as far as relates to his master, kept so much in subordination that he has not a will of his own." It is no uncommon thing for one of these dogs to have the charge of a sheep, to take it from the fold to the farmhouse, though not for such a distance as the frisky ewe was conducted by the dog Sirrah. When a ewe's lamb dies, she is usually separated from the rest of the flock for a time, and the sheep-dog is often sent home with her under his sole care. Hogg tells a story of one that would bring home any ewe that was com- mitted to him ; but it was necessary to look after the ewe as soon as she reached home ; for, when once the dog perceived that any one had noticed the ewe, he would no longer continue his attention to her, but would consider his commission to be at an end; and no flattery or threats would induce him to assist in getting her into a place of security. As to finding sheep which they are sent to trace, the anecdotes told of these dogs are amazing. One of them is as follows : A man, on a very dark night, was driving a ewe through the lands of his neighbour, whose name was Graham, and lost her, she having scampered away from him up the side of a hill. He immediately applied to Graham, whose house was near, to assist him in recovering her. Graham replied, that it would be rather difficult to capture the animal in the darkness, but that he did not know what his dog Chieftain might be able to do. So the two men, accompanied by the dog, and by James Hogg, DOG. SHEPHERD'S. 89 who was then quite a boy, went out to the spot where the man had missed the ewe, hurrying to reach it as soon as possible, lest the scent of the feet should be lost. When they came to what the man believed to be the place, Graham said to his dog, "Fetch that, Chieftain," but the dog, seeing nothing, jumped round and round his master in perplexity, not knowing what he was to do. At last Graham told his neighbour that he must hit upon the very track which the ewe was pursuing when she disappeared. The man then fixed on a certain grey stone, and said he was sure that when the animal took to the hillside she was within a yard of that stone. Graham then pointed with his finger to the ground, and said to the dog, "Fetch that, Sir; away !" The dog scented slowly round about the stone for some time, and then vanished in the darkness. "As all these good dogs/' adds Hogg, "perform their work in perfect silence, we neither saw nor heard any more of him for a long time. I think, if I remember right, we waited there about half an hour, during which time all the conversation was about the small chance which the dog had to find the ewe, for it was agreed on all hands that she must long ago have mixed with the rest of the sheep on the farm. How that was, no man will be able to decide. John, however, persisted in waiting till his dog came back, either with the ewe, or without her ; and at last the trusty animal brought the individual lost sheep to our very feet." The owner of the sheep did not choose to run another chance of losing her by attempting to drive her before him, but tied her legs together and carried her off on his back. This anecdote, which was published in the ' Percy 90 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. Anecdotes/ was told by the Ettrick Shepherd himself to Mr. Jesse. 1 I will add another anecdote of a dog bringing- home sheep, which I have read, not in Hogg's ' Shepherd's Calendar/ but in Bingley. A farmer sold a flock of sheep to a dealer, who wanted assistance to drive them to his home, a distance of about thirty miles. The far- mer told him he would want no more assistance than that of an intelligent dog which he would lend him, and that when he reached the end of his journey, and wished to part with the dog, he had only to feed him, and desire him to return home. The dog in conse- quence, at a sign from his master, set off with the flock and the drover, but instead of returning when he was expected, was absent for several days, so that his mas- ter began to be anxious about him, when one morning, to his great surprise, he found the dog before his door with a large flock of sheep, including all those that he had lately sold to the dealer. On making inquiries, he found that the dealer, seeing the value of the dog, had desired to appropriate him, and had accordingly shut him up, with the intention of keeping him in confine- ment till he should leave that part of the country. The dog, it may be very well supposed, was impatient of restraint, and at last succeeded in making his escape, when he went off immediately to the field, collected the whole of the dealer's sheep, and drove them back to his master. Whether the animal had some dim no- tion that the dealer had no right to the sheep, and ought not to detain them any more than to detain itself, and conceived that it was its duty to take them back to its master, may be matter of conjecture ; but from 1 Jesse Anecd. of Dogs, p. 160. 91 its mode of proceeding it may well be supposed that it had some such notions in its head. Assuredly the mas- ter of the dog might well be delighted to own so intel- ligent an animal. The dog, devoted to his master,, has no care but to please him, and is ready to do anything, honest or dis- honest, for his master's gratification. Sir Walter Scott, in his Notes to ( St. Ronan's Well/ tells a story of a dog that was taught to steal sheep in the night by one Millar, a shepherd, who, in conjunction with his master, named Murdison, committed extensive depre- dations on the flocks of their neighbours by the aid of this dog. Both of these men were hanged for* their offences against the law in 1773. They lived in the vale of Tweed, and Millar had trained his dog with such art, that, in the words of Sir Walter, "he had only to show him during the day the parcel of sheep which he desired to have, and when dismissed at night for the purpose, Yarrow (for that was the dog's name) went right to the pasture where the flock had fed, and carried off the quantity shown to him. He then drove them before him by the most secret paths to Murdi- son' s farm, where the dishonest master and servant were in readiness to receive the booty. Two things were remarkable. In the first place, that if the dog, when thus dishonestly employed, actually met his mas- ter, he observed great caution in recognizing him, as if he had been afraid of bringing him under suspicion ; secondly, that he showed a distinct sense that the ille- gal transactions in which he was engaged were not of a nature to endure daylight. The sheep which he was directed to drive, were often reluctant to leave their own pastures, and sometimes the intervention of rivers 92 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. and other obstacles made their progress peculiarly dif- ficult. On such occasions, Yarrow continued his efforts to drive his plunder forward, until the day began to dawn, a signal which, he conceived, rendered it neces- sary for him to desert his spoil, and slink homeward by a circuitous road. It is generally said that this ac- complished dog was hanged along with his master ; but the truth is, he survived him long, in the service of a man in Leithen, yet was said afterwards to have shown little of the wonderful instinct exhibited in the service of Millar." A similar extraordinary instance of the intelligence of a sheep-dog is related by Dr. Anderson. The owner of the dog was hanged for sheep-stealing, and, among other facts elicited by the evidence given on his trial, it was proved that when the man intended to steal sheep, he did not take them himself, but sent his dog to act for him. Under pretence of looking at a flock of sheep with intent to purchase it, he would go through them with the dog at his heel, and make secret signals to him, so as to let him know the individual sheep that he wanted, to the number of ten or twenty, as Dr. Anderson says, out of a flock of some hundreds. He would then go away to several miles' distance, and send back the dog by himself in the night-time, who would fix on the sheep that had been pointed out to him, separate them from the rest, and drive them be- fore him till he fell in with his master, to whom he re- linquished them. 1 Of his dog Sirrah, Hogg relates that when he grew old, and was incompetent to take charge of a large flock of sheep, though still able to give much assis- 1 Jesse, Anecd. of Dogs, p. 158. 93 tance, lie sold him, as lie could not afford to keep two dogs on account of the tax, to a neighbouring farmer for three guineas. As Hogg told him to go, he went, but, when he found himself doomed to serve a stranger, he would never again take pains to do his duty as a sheep-dog ; on the contrary, he would run in among the sheep, and often seem intent on doing all the mis- chief he could. When Hogg found he was useless, he refused to take any money for him. His new owner gave him away to an old man, who was content to keep him in idleness for the sake of what he had been. While he was in this man's possession, he would fre- quently visit his old master's neighbourhood, but would never come to his house, being afraid, as it seemed, of the mortification of being driven away. He would watch, in the morning, near the road by which Hogg went out, and then walk along in the same direc- tion with him, but always keeping about two hundred yards off; and when he had gone as far as he thought proper, he would make off to the house of his last owner. ' ' When I thought," says Hogg, ' ' how easily one kind word would have attached him to me for life, and how grateful it would have been to my faithful old servant and friend, I could not help regretting my for- tune that obliged us to separate. The parting with old Sirrah, after all he had done for me, had such an effect on my heart, that I have never been able to forget it to this day. The more I have considered his attachment and character, the more I have admired them ; and the resolution he took up and persisted in, of never doing a good turn for any other of my race after the ingratitude that he experienced from me, appeared to me to have a kind of heroism and sublimity." 94 CHAPTER XII. SHEEP-DOG . ( Continued.} A STORY of sheep being found by a dog, similar to that which is related by Hogg concerning Sirrah, is told by Mr. Cuthbert Bede, though the number of sheep in the latter case was smaller. A shepherd found that two hundred .of his sheep were missing, and sought for them, in company with his dog, till nightfall without success. " I was with him," says the narrator, " when he came back. He explained to the dog, with similar words and manner that he would have used to a fellow- being, that the sheep must be found, and that he (the collie) must manage the business as best he could. With that he dismissed him. The collie answered with an intelligent look and wag of the tail, and bounded away into the darkness. " The next day the shepherd renewed his search, but neither sheep nor collie were to be seen. In the afternoon the shepherd had reached a distant moor, and heard every now and then the faint barking of a dog. Guided by the sound, he advanced up a glen that narrowed at its furthest extremity into a small plot of ground, guarded on every side but one by lofty rock walls. There, at the outlet, was the faithful collie, SHEEP-DOG. 95 giving signal barks, but not daring to stir from his post ; and there, before him, hemmed in by the rocky fold were all the sheep. Not one was missing. This glen was between four and five miles from the spot from whence the flock had wandered." 1 Lord Truro used to relate an instance of sagacity which he had seen in a drover's dog, that was desired to fetch three oxen out of some score which had mingled with another herd. ( Go, fetch them out !' was all the instruction the drover gave him, and he speedily brought out from the herd those very three. 2 The following anecdote was told by Eobert Murray, shepherd to Mr. Samuel Richmond, a farmer near Dunning in Fifeshire. Murray had purchased for Mr. Richmond fourscore sheep at Falkirk, but being pre- vented by some pressing engagement from taking them home himself, he committed them to the care of his female collie, in whose faithfulness and sagacity he had the utmost confidence, intimating to her that she was to drive them home, a distance of about seventeen miles. She proceeded on her way, and, as was after- wards found, was delivered, when she had gone a few miles, of two whelps, but, faithful to her charge, drove the sheep on a mile or two further; then, allowing them to stop, she returned for her puppies, which she then carried on for about two miles in advance of the sheep. Then, leaving her pups, she returned for the sheep, and drove them onwards for a certain distance. Thus she continued the whole way, alternately carrying her young and attending to the flock till she reached home. Her course of proceeding was learned by Murray from various individuals who had observed her going back- 1 Williams, c Dogs and their Ways,' p. 105. 2 Lord Brougham's 'Dialogues on Instinct,' dial. iii. 96 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. wards and forwards on the road. But her efforts for her offspring had but ill success, for, when she brought in her flock safe, her puppies were dead. Her sense or instinct, however, directed her to means for her relief, for she went to a rabbit-brae in the neighbourhood and dug out of the earth two young rabbits, which she deposited in some straw in a barn and suckled. 1 To this may be appended the following anecdote, which will serve to show at least the good feeling of the sheep-dog as a mother. It is given by Mr. Jesse in the words of the gentleman who witnessed the fact. " A collie, belonging to a shepherd on a farm where I happened to be, appeared very restless and agitated; she frequently sent forth howls and moans as if in great agony. ' What on earth is the matter with the dog r I asked. ' Ye see, Sir/ said the shepherd, ' aw drownt a' her whelps r* the pond the day, and she's busy greeting for them, 3 Of course I had no objec- tion to offer to this explanation, but resolved to watch her future operations. She was not long in setting off to the pond and fishing out her offspring. One strong brindled pup she seemed to lament over the most. After looking at it for some time she again set off at a quick rate to a new house then in course of erection and scooped out a deep hole among the rub- bish. She then, one by one, deposited the remains of her young in it, and covered them up most carefully. After she had fulfilled this task, she resumed her la- bours among her woolly charge as usual." 2 We may well admire the fidelity of a dog to a master who drowns her puppies, and her light estimation of her own bereavement and sufferings in comparison with her solicitude for his property. 1 Jesse, Anecd. of Dogs, p. 148. 2 Ib. p. 155. SHEEP-DOG. 97 Another of the stories told by Hogg shows the per- tinacity with which a dog will fulfil its trust without regard to its own personal inconvenience. A sheep- owner, named Steele, of Peebles, had such dependence on the attention of his dog to orders, that whenever he put a lot of sheep before her, he took a pride in leav^ ing them entirely to her care. But on one occasion he committed a drove to her charge at a place called Willenslee, without observing, as he ought to have done, how far she was gone with pup. Willenslee is five miles from Peebles, with wild and almost trackless hills between them. " Whether Steele," says Hogg, "remained behind, or took another road, I know not, but, on arriving home late in the evening, he was astonished to hear that his faithful animal had never made her appearance with the drove. He and his son, or servant, instantly pre- pared to set out by different paths in search of her, but on their going out into the street there was she coming with the drove, not one missing, and, marvellous to re- late, she was carrying a young pup in her mouth. She had been taken in travail on the hills, and how the poor beast had contrived to manage her drove in her state of suffering is beyond human calculation, for her road lay through sheep the whole way. Her master's heart smote him when he saw what she had suffered and effected ; but she was nothing daunted, and, having deposited her young one in a place of safety, she again set out full speed to the hills and brought another and another, till she brought her whole litter, one by one ; but the last one was dead." Another tale of the same kind is, Mr. Williams says,. well attested. A shepherd in one of our northern H V8 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. counties had driven part of his flock to a neighbouring fair, leaving his dog to watch the remainder during that day and the next night, expecting to see them on the following morning. Unfortunately, however, the shepherd, when at the fair, forgot his dog and his sheep, and did not reach home till the morning of the third day. His first inquiry was whether the dog had been seen; the answer was "No." "Then/' replied the shepherd, with a tone and gesture of anguish, " he must be dead, for I know he is too faithful to desert his charge." Instantly he repaired to the heath, where he found the dog just able to crawl to his feet, with an expression of joy, and almost immediately expired. 1 Mr. Williams had a friend, a farmer in Leicestershire, who had a dog that would go about among the sheep, and if he saw any that were lying on their backs and unable to rise, would set them on their legs again. The sheep in Leicester and Lincolnshire, in the early part of summer, are apt to roll on their backs to relieve the irritation caused by the ticks ; and, when they have put themselves in this position, they are often, if they are fat and have thick wool, unable to throw themselves on their side so as to recover their feet. They are then in danger of suffocation, especially if they happen to lie with their heads down a slope. In this condition they are said by the shepherds to be "" cast," and any good- natured person passing by will readily assist them to rise. But an intelligent dog will also often perform this service. The dog that has just been mentioned, whenever he heard his master utter the words " cast, cast," would run off to relieve whatever sheep he could find in this state. 1 Williams, ' Dogs and their Ways,' p. 124. SHEEP-DOG. 99 Mr. Williams also knew a Mr. B , who was ac- quainted with a farmer that had a dog of similar saga- city in this particular. Mr. B 1 asked the farmer one Sunday evening whether he was going to church, and the farmer replied that he was, for his dog would be shepherd in his absence. Mr. B , anxious to see how the dog would fulfil his charge, went up on a little hill where he could see all his movements. The farmer having told him to go and see that the sheep were all right, he saw him go into the first field and turn up any of the sheep that were " cast," and then proceed to several other fields in which there were sheep and do the same thing. He then returned quietly homewards and waited his master's return. 1 The following anecdote is given by Bewick, the fa- mous wood-engraver, in his ' Memoir of Himself : 32 " While I was at Woodhall," a place somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Cheviot Hills, " I was struck with the sagacity of a dog belonging to Mr. Smith, iy a friend of Bewick's. " The character for sagacity of the shepherd's dog was well known to me, but this in- stance of it was exemplified before my eyes. Mr. Smith wished to have a particular ram brought out from amongst the flock, for the purpose of seeing and examining it. Before we set out, he observed to the shepherd that he thought the old dog (he was grey- headed and almost blind) would do well enough for what he wanted with him. Before we reached the down, where the flock was feeding, I observed that Mr. Smith was talking to the dog before he ordered him off upon his errand ; and, while we were convers- ing on some indifferent subject, the dog brought a 1 Williams, ' Dogs and their Ways,' p. 102. * Ib. p. 182. II 2 100 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. ram before us. Mr. Smith found a deal of fault with the dog, saying, f Did I not order you so-and-so ?' and he scolded him for bringing a wrong sheep, and then, after fresh directions, set him off again, to bring the one he wished me to see. We then returned home, and shortly after our arrival there, the dog brought the very ram wanted, along with a few other sheep, into the fold, when I took a drawing of him." Lord Truro told Lord Brougham an anecdote of a dog of this sort that was fond of pursuing sheep on his own account at night. He used to be tied up in the evening, to prevent him from indulging in such noc- turnal excursions. To this he would quietly submit, but, when the family had retired to rest, would slip his head out of his collar, set off to gratify his propensity, and, returning before dawn, put his collar on again to conceal his offence. 1 A dog of this kind of equal sagacity is commemo- rated by Mr. Blaine. 2 A butcher and cattle-dealer, who lived about nine miles from Alston, in Cumber^ land, was accustomed to purchase sheep and oxen in his own neighbourhood, and after fattening them, drive them to Alston market for sale. In these jour- neys he was often astonished at the remarkable saga- city of his dog, which had previously belonged to a drover, and the dexterity with which he managed the cattle; so that at length he took very little trouble about them himself, but left the drove almost wholly to the charge of the dog. By degrees he became so convinced of his fidelity as well as intelligence, that he laid a wager that the dog would take a drove of sheep J Lord Brougham, Dialog, on Instinct, dial. iii. 2 Encyclop. of Eural Sports, Art. 806. SHEEP-DOG. 101 and oxen, alone and unassisted, from his house to Alston market. It was stipulated that no one who had the least control over the dog should be within sight or hearing, nor was any one in the least to inter- fere with him. All being settled, the animal proceeded with his business in the most steady and dexterous manner, and, though he had frequently to drive his charge through other herds that were grazing, he did not lose one, but, conducting them to the very yard to which he was accustomed to drive them with his mas- ter, he announced their arrival to the person appointed to receive them by barking at the door. Thus the wager was fairly won. Those who noticed the dog on his way, saw that when he was going through grounds in which other cattle came in contact with his, he would run on before, stop his own drove, chase the others away, and then, collecting his charge, start forward again. The following description of a somewhat similar dog is from the pages of ( All the Year Round/ It is fanciful, but perhaps does not exaggerate such a dog's merits and intelligence. "At a small butcher's in a shy neighbourhood (there is no reason for suppressing the name ; it is by Notting Hill, and gives upon the district called the Potteries), I know a shaggy black- and-white dog who keeps a drover. He is a dog of an easy disposition, and too frequently allows this drover to get drunk. On these occasions it is the dog's cus- tom to sit outside the public-house, keeping his eye on a few sheep and thinking. I have seen him with six sheep, plainly casting up in his mind how many he began with when he left the market, and at what places he has left the f est. I have seen him perplexed by not being able to account to Tiimself for any particular 102 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. sheep. A light has gradually broken on him ; he has remembered at what butcher's he left them, and in a burst of grave satisfaction has caught a fly off his nose, and shown himself much relieved. If I could at any time have doubted the fact that it was he who kept the drover, and not the drover who kept him, it would have been abundantly proved by his way of taking undivided charge of the six sheep when the drover came out be- smeared with red ochre and beer, and gave him wrong directions. He has taken the sheep entirely into his own hands, has merely remarked, with respectful firmness, f That instruction would place them under an omnibus; you had better confine your attention to yourself; you will want it all/ and has driven his charge away, with an intelligence of ears and tail, and a knowledge of business, that has left his lout of a man very, very far behind." 1 Colonel Hamilton Smith, 2 in speaking of shepherds' dogs, observes that they are as ready to defend their sheep as to keep them in order, and mentions the case of one that took vengeance on another dog for biting a sheep. The offender was a tailor's cur, which attacked a sheep in the rear of the flock ; an outrage unnoticed by the shepherd, but not by his collie, who immedi- ately seized the aggressor, dragged him into a puddle by the ear, and gravely dabbled him in the mud. The cur yelled ; the tailor came slipshod to its rescue with his goose, which he flung at the sheep-dog and missed him, and had then to stand and witness the end of the chastisement, not venturing to repossess himself of his instrument until the sheep-dog quitted the cur to fol- low the flock. 1 Williams, p. 139. 2 Naturalist's Library, TO!, x. p. 138. SHEEP-DOG. 103 " Mr. Carruthers, of Inverness/' says Dr. Brown in his ' Horae Subsecivse/ 1 " told me a new story of these wise sheep-dogs. A butcher from Inverness had pur- chased some sheep at Dingwall, and, giving them in charge to his dog, left the road. The dog drove them on, till, coming to a toll, the toll-wife stood before the drove, demanding her dues. The dog looked at her, and, jumping on her back, crossed his forelegs over her arms. The sheep passed through, and the dog took his place behind them, and went on his way." The shepherds of the Pyrenees have a breed of strong dogs, of a somewhat ferocious temper, but of the strictest fidelity, so that they can repose the fullest trust in them. " Attended by three or more of these dogs, the shepherds will take their numerous flocks at early dawn to the part of the mountain-side which is destined for their pasture. Having counted them, they descend to follow other occupations, and commit the guardianship of the sheep to the sole watchfulness of the dogs. It has been frequently known that when wolves have approached, the three sentinels would walk round and round the flock, gradually compressing them into so small a circle that one dog might with ease overlook and protect them, and that this measure of caution being executed, the remaining two would set forth to engage the enemy, over whom, it is said, they invariably triumph." 2 Colonel Hamilton Smith remarks of the cattle-dogs of Cuba and Terra Firma, that, like the sheep-dogs of Europe, they are extremely sagacious in managing cattle, though in a different kind of service. When vessels with live-stock arrive at any of the West India 1 P. 195. 2 Jesse, ' Anecdotes of Dog?,' p, 49, 104 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. harbours, these animals, some of which are nearly as large as mastiffs, are wonderfully efficient in assisting to land the cargo. The oxen are hoisted out with a sling passing round the base of their horns, and when an ox, thus suspended by the head, is lowered, and al- lowed to fall into the water, so that it may swim to land, men sometimes swim by the side of it and guide it, but they have often dogs of this breed which will perform the service equally well ; for, catching the per- plexed animal by the ears, one on each side, they will force it to swim in the direction of the landing-place, and instantly let go their hold when they feel it touch the ground, as the ox will then naturally walk out of the water by itself. 1 Smellie observes of the Scottish sheep-dog that " he reigns at the head of his flock, and tha.t his language, whether expressive of blandishment or of command, is better heard and better understood than the voice of his master. Safety, order, and discipline are the ef- fects of his vigilance and activity. Sheep and cattle are his subjects. These he conducts and protects with prudence and bravery, and never employs force against them, except for the preservation of peace and good order." But these dogs will show their intelligence in other Ways besides managing sheep. " A lady of high rank," says Mr. Jesse, "has a sort of collie or Scotch sheep- dog. When he is ordered to ring the bell, he does so ; but if he is told to ring the bell when the servant is in the room whose duty it is to attend, he refuses, and then the following occurrence takes place. His mis- tress says, ' King the bell, dog/ The dog looks at the 1 ' Naturalist's Library,' vol. x. p. 154. SHEEP-DOG. 105 servant, and then barks his ( bow-wow' once or twice. The order is repeated two or three times. At last the dog lays hold of the servant's coat in a significant man- ner, just as if he had said to him, ' Don't you hear that I am to ring the bell for you? Come to my lady.' His mistress always has her shoes warmed before she puts them on, but, during the late hot weather, her maid was putting them on without their having been previously placed before the fire. When the dog saw this, he immediately interfered, expressing the greatest indignation at the maid's negligence. He took the shoes from her, carried them to the fire, and after they had been warmed as usual, ho brought them back to his mistress with much apparent satisfaction, evidently intending to say, if he could, ' It is all right now.' "* How often he was permitted to repeat this process, we are not told. 1 ' Anecdotes of Dogs,' p. 47. 106 CHAPTER XIII. DOG. SPANIEL, POINTER, AND TERRIER. GEEAT intelligence is often shown by spaniels and pointers in their different ways of acting. Mrs. Lee gives the following anecdote of a large spaniel named Flora, from her own knowledge. She was an excellent house-dog, and in general under no restraint; but one summer, in consequence of some real or reported accident, an order was issued by the magistrate of the town in which her master resided, that no dogs should go at large unmuzzled. Flora, accordingly, whenever she went out, as was often the case, with the man-servant, was equipped with a muz- zle, which she evidently hated, but, after repeated ef- forts to get it off, she at length seemed to become re- conciled to the encumbrance. In consequence, it was, perhaps, less carefully buckled on ; and one day it fell off, when the man stooped down to pick it up and re- place it. The dog, however, was too quick for him ; she caught it up in her mouth and ran off towards a neighbouring pond, into which she at once plunged, and, when she had swum to the deepest part, dropped the muzzle into the water, and then swam back to DOG. SPANIEL, POINTER, AND TEREIEE. 107 the shore, expressing by her looks and gestures the greatest delight. 1 A spaniel belonging to a medical gentleman with whom Mr. Jesse was acquainted, residing at Richmond in Surrey, was in the habit of accompanying him at night whenever he went out to visit his patients. If, as was frequently the case, he was shut out of the house of a patient, he would return home, and, what- ever hour of the night it might be, would take the knocker, which was below a half-glazed door, in his mouth, and continue to knock till the door was opened. 2 I will mention, also, an example of sagacity in a spaniel which I myself saw. The dog was a small spaniel, much loved by its master and mistress. There usually stood, for the dog's use, a pan of water in its master's dressing-room upstairs, the door of which he constantly left open, that the dog might go in and drink when it pleased. But it happened one day, whether from its master's forgetfulness, or from some other cause, that the door was shut. The dog, going to drink, and finding the entrance stopped, and know- ing that its master was in the dining-room downstairs, went immediately down and scratched at the dining-room door, and when its master opened it to let it in, walked away at a slow pace upstairs, stopping on each step, wagging its tail, and looking first at its master and then up the stairs, intimating that it wanted his assist- ance upstairs, to enable it to get at its water. The master guessed what was the case, and went up and opened the door for it. Here is shown a certain por- 1 Mrs. Lee, ' Anecdotes of Animals,' p. 127. 2 Jesse, Anecd. of Dogs, p. 236. 108 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. tion of reasoning in the dog ; it knew that it could not get to its water without assistance, and it decided with itself on calling its master to its aid, and on the mode of calling him. The following anecdote of a spaniel, told by Mr. Jesse, shows great sagacity and judgment in the ani- mal. The dog probably formed its notions of what its master was going to do from signs and movements which it noted around it. It was a small dog belong- ing to a friend of Mr. Jesse's, much attached to its master, and was left, while he went from home for a few weeks' visit, under the care of a servant, but was so miserable during his master's absence that the servant wrote to inform him of the dog's condition. The master, in consequence, caused the animal to be sent to him at his friend's house, and he, overjoyed at seeing his master again, remained perfectly contented in his new abode. But when the time came for his departure, and preparations began to be made for it, the dog, the day before it took place, showed great uneasiness, as if he were afraid of being again left behind. During the evening he kept as close as pos- sible to the feet of his master, and was found, when his bedroom door was opened next morning before daylight, lying close at it, although it was winter and very cold. At breakfast he not only nestled against his master, but became so troublesomely affectionate that he was at last sent out of the room. On going into his dressing-room, where the dog had been in the habit of sleeping, he found him coiled up in his port- manteau, which had been left open nearly packed. In this instance, remarks Mr. Jesse, the animal's under- standing of what was going forward was very evident, DOG. SPANIEL, POINTER, AND TEERIEE. 109 and his fear of being left behind could not have been more strongly exhibited, affording a proof that his was a faculty much beyond instinct. 1 The small poodle called the barbet occasionally shows great sagacity, often displayed in small, sly tricks. The late James Gumming, Esq., an observer of dogs, used to tell an amusing instance of this peculiarity. That gentleman had a barbet that was not easily kept under proper control. To manage him the better, he purchased a small whip, with which, while he was out on a walk, he once or .twice corrected him. When he returned home, he laid the whip on a table in the hall, intending to let it lie there till he should want it again on the following day. But in the morning it was miss- ing, and was found, after some little time, in an out- house, when it was again used for correcting the dog. The dog, however, was suspected of having stolen it ; and it was placed again on the hall-table, and watched. The result was that the dog was caught in the act of carrying it off, in order to hide it a second time. 2 Pointers are extremely intelligent in their peculiar occupation. A pointer has been known to desert a bad shot, who has missed several birds in succession that the dog had found for him. The following in- stance of such desertion is told by Captain Brown : A gentleman, going out shooting, obtained the loan of a pointer from a friend, who told him that the dog would behave very well as long as he killed his birds ; but that if he frequently missed, it would leave him and run home. Unhappily the borrower was extremely unskilful. Bird after bird was put up and fired at, but flew off untouched, till the pointer grew careless. As 1 Jesse, Anecd. of Dogs, p. 229. 2 Youatt, ' On the Dog,' p. 50. 110 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. if willing, however, to give his client one chance more, he made a dead stop at a fern bush, with his nose pointed downward, his forefoot bent, and his tail straight and steady. In this position he remained firm till the sportsman was close to him, with both barrels cocked ; he then moved steadily forward for a few paces, and at last stood still near a bunch of heather, his tail expressing his anxiety by moving slowly back- wards and forwards. At last out sprang a fine old blackcock. Bang, bang, went both barrels, but the bird escaped unhurt. This was more than the dog could bear; he turned boldly round, placed his tail between his legs, gave one long loud howl, and set off" homeward as fast as he could. 1 . Mr. Jesse has also the following story. Some very bad shots went out to shoot partridges, attended by a good old steady pointer. After shooting some hours with very little success, they began to amuse them- selves by firing at a piece of paper stuck on a post. At such trifling the old dog was disgusted, and ran off. 2 The terrier is not less intelligent than the pointer or the spaniel. We have just noticed the craftiness of a barbet in hiding a whip with which it had been chas- tised. A terrier, belonging to a relative of Mr. Jesse, showed similar cunning in hiding its collar. Its owner was in the habit of tying it up at times, but frequently missed its collar, which he at last discovered that the animal carried off, whenever it was left in its way, in order to conceal it. A respectable farmer, residing in a village near Gos- port, had a terrier dog which was his constant com- 1 Jesse, Gleanings in Nat. Hist. i. 20. 2 Jesse, Anecd. of Dogs, p. 285. DOG. SPANIEL, POINTEK, AND TEEEIEE. Ill pardon. His business frequently took him across the water to Portsmouth, whither the dog regularly at- tended him ; and having a son-in-law, a bookseller, in the town, he frequently took the dog with him to his house. One day the dog lost his master in Portsmouth, and, after searching for him for some time, went to the bookseller, and endeavoured to make him understand that he could not find his master. His looks and gestures were so significant that the bookseller readily guessed what he meant, and, giving his boy a penny, ordered him to go with the dog directly to the beach, and pay the money for the dog's passage to the oppo- site shore. The dog, who understood the whole pro- ceeding, seemed greatly delighted, jumped into the boat with alacrity, and, when landed at Gosport, ran immediately home. If ever he lost his master again, adds the account, he always went to the bookseller, feeling sure that his boat-hire would be supplied. 1 Similar reasoning was exercised by a dog in the fol- lowing case: A dog belonging to a gentleman residing in the Tower of London, was lost one day about seven miles from town. He attached himself to a soldier, and, when the soldier got into an omnibus, followed close behind it. The man, alighting at the Horse Guards, went to the barracks in St. James's Park, and the dog continued to keep him company. At last some one examined the dog's collar, and found on it the name and residence of his owner. In consequence the soldier took him to the Tower, and gave the above particulars. It may be supposed that the dog, having been familiar with the sight of guardsmen at the Tower, 1 Jesse, Anecd. of Dogs, p. 198. 112 EEASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. had followed a man in a similar dress in hopes that he belonged to that building, and would conduct him to it. 2 The master of another terrier occupied furnished lodgings near the Inns of Court in London. Having occasion to remove, he left the dog, in the bustle of packing up, to the servants, who entirely forgot him, as he was not in the way when they left the house. When the dog returned, and found his master gone, he trotted off to Kensington, where he knew that an intimate friend of his master resided, to whose house he gained admittance, and quietly made himself at home in it. Being well known, he was fed and taken care of, till, at the end of three days, his master called, and he cheerfully went away with him. In this case, as Mr. Jesse observes, the dog exerted something of reasoning, which led him to conclude that the best chance he had of finding his master was to go to a place to which he had formerly accompanied him. 2 "There is a well-known anecdote of two terriers who were in the habit of going out together to hunt rabbits. One of them got so far into the hole that he could not extricate himself. His companion returned to the house, and by his importunity and significant gestures induced his master to follow him. He led him to the hole, made him understand what was the matter, and his associate was at last dug out." 3 "Mr. Morritt, well known to the readers of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, as his intimate and confidential friend, had two terriers of the pepper-and-mustard breed, or rather, as we prefer him to any other cha- racter Sir Walter Scott has delighted us with, the Dandy-Dinmont breed. These dogs were strongly i Jesse, Anecd. of Dogs, p. 208. 2 Ib. p. 207. 3 Ib. p. 197. DOG. SPANIEL, POINTEK, AND TEEEIEE. 113 attached to their excellent master, and he to them.; they were mother and daughter, and each produced a litter of puppies about the same time. Mr. Morritt was seriously ill at this period, and confined to his bed. Fond as these dogs were of their puppies, they had an equal affection for their master, and, in order to prove to him that such was the case, they adopted the fol- lowing expedient. They conveyed their two litters of puppies to one place, and while one of the mothers re- mained to suckle and take care of them, the other went into Mr. Morritt's bedroom, and remained quietly all night by the side of the bed ; and this they continued to do day after day in succession. This charming anec- dote was communicated to me from a quarter which cannot leave a doubt of its authenticity." 1 Two dogs of the terrier breed were much attached to a clergyman, and went out with him whenever they were permitted. Oue day he went to dinner at a house where he often dined, attended by the two dogs, which, when he alighted, went off with the horse, as was their custom, into the stable. When it was time for him to go home, the groom was desired to get his horse ready ; but, as it was a long while coming to the door, inquiry was made as to the cause of the delay, when the groom said that he dared not take the horse out of the stable, as one of the clergyman's dogs was on its back, and the other at its side, flying at every person that offered to touch the animal. The reason of their re- sistance was that there had been a change , of grooms ; the one whom they had known was gone, and the dogs would not trust a stranger to them with their master's property. 2 1 Jesse, Anecd. of Dogs, p. 206. 2 Mrs. Lee, Anecd. of Anim., p. 145. I 114 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. The following instance of intelligence in a terrier occurred in January, 1861, at a gentleman's house in Kent, who thought it so remarkable that he sent a letter on the subject to the 'Maidstone and Kentish Journal/ " I have/' he relates, " a very old, black- and-tan smooth terrier, which, for the sake of warmth, lies generally in the kitchen. He is a great favourite with the servants, as well as with every one else, and is allowed to doze away his days in a comfortable bas- ket near the fire. But, as the nights have lately been frosty, I have allowed a spaniel also to sleep in the kitchen, into which he had not been previously allowed to go. When he was first introduced into that part of the house, he made a minute inspection of the kitchen and the adjacent scullery, and finding in the scullery a brown earthenware jar, full of water for the terrier, took the liberty of drinking out of it. His lapping was overheard by the terrier, who appeared to think it his own property, and uttered from his basket a growl of discontent. The spaniel, however, continued to visit the jar, but every time a similar intimation of displea- sure proceeded from the basket. He had just finished his fourth draught, when the old terrier jumped out of his lair, seized the jar with his forepaws, dragged it out of the scullery, across the kitchen, and actually lifted it, by dint of great exertion, into his basket. The distance that he transported it was about six yards. I never knew him carry or attempt to carry anything before, and such a vessel is a most awkward thing for a dog to lift, especially one so small, weighing indeed not more than eight pounds." A Russian terrier, known to Mrs. Lee, lost himself one day in Dublin, and was brought home, after some DOG. SPANIEL, POINTEE, AND TEEEIEE. 115 hours' absence, by a policeman, who said that he had actually delivered himself up at the station-house, for he had come into the room where several persons were seated, looked into the face of one of them, and quietly suffered his collar to be inspected, and then himself to be taken up and brought away. The same dog one day entered the drawing-room where his two mis- tresses were sitting, and made signs for one of them to go to the door. As she paid little heed to him, he pulled her gown with his teeth, and she, thinking there must be some extraordinary reason for his earnestness, followed him. The instant she opened the door, he seated himself on the mat, thumping the floor with his tail, and looking alternately at his mistress and at six dead rats spread out before him, which it appeared he had killed and brought for inspection. 1 1 Mrs. Lee, Anecd. of Animals, p. 147. 12 116 CHAPTER XIV. DOG. SAVING LIFE. THE great intelligence of dogs is distinctly shown in their admirable efforts to save life, whether of human beings or of other dogs. These efforts, of course, have been chiefly made by the larger individuals of the ca- nine race. All water-dogs, says Colonel Hamilton Smith, will readily exert themselves to save life, as well of their own species as of others. He says that he has seen one, unbidden, plunge into the current of a roaring sluice, to save a little cur maliciously thrown into it; and that he witnessed the feat of a Pomeranian dog, belonging to a Dutch vessel, which, seeing a child fall into the water, sprang overboard and rescued it before any person in the ship had noticed the accident. 1 Mr. Youatt says that he knew a dog that had saved the lives of four persons. " " The following/' says Mr. Elaine, 2 "we can venture to vouch for the truth of, for we received it from the owner of the dog, and the dog itself we also saw many times. A gentleman of fortune, a native of 1 Naturalist's Library, vol. x. p. 86. 2 Encycl. of Rural Sports, art. 808. DOG. SAVING LIFE. 117 Germany, boarded and lodged with a clergyman with whom we were well acquainted. This gentleman had with him a large dog of the Newfoundland breed, of the most engaging qualities, and to which he was so attached, that, wherever he went, whatever sum he agreed to pay for his own board, he always tendered half as much for that of his dog, that thereby he might secure him the treatment which his fidelity so well merited. Travelling in Holland, the German one eve- ning slipped from off the bank of a large dike into the water below, which was both wide and deep. Being wholly unable to swim, he soon became senseless ; and when restored to recollection, he found himself in a cottage on the opposite bank of the dike to that from which he fell, surrounded by persons who had been using the Dutch means of resuscitation. The account he received from two of them was, that, returning home, they saw a dog swimming at a distance, seem- ingly employed in dragging, and sometimes pushing, a mass he appeared to have much difficulty in keeping above water, but which mass he at length succeeded in forcing into a small creek, and next drew it on land. By this time the peasants had advanced sufficiently near to discover that the object of his solicitude was a man, whom the dog, exhausted as he must have been, immediately set about licking the hands and face of. The peasants hastened across by the nearest bridge, and having conveyed the body to a neighbouring cot- tage, and applied the usual Batch means of resus- citation, the fleeting spark of vitality (thanks to the fidelity and intelligence of the dog) was soon restored to the full flame of life. It remains to add, that the body of our friend, when first stripped, was found to 118 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. be deeply indented by the teeth of the dog, both in the nape of the neck and in one of the shoulders, and these scars he used to show with much satisfaction ; and nothing could shake his firm conviction, that his dog had first suspended him by the shoulder, but that, finding his head was not elevated above the water, he had shifted his hold to the nape of his neck, for the express purpose of so elevating it. And, however we may hesitate to attribute this change of position to a motive so intrinsically intellectual, yet we must respect the error, if it was one, for where is the mind that might not be warped by such a debt ? If our memory be correct, it was near a quarter of a mile that the dog had to swim with his master's body be- fore any creek offered ; and, when arrived there, he had. still to drag it on a bank/' 1 ' A friend of mine," says Mr. Jesse, " took a New- foundland dog and a small spaniel into a boat with him on the Thames, and, when he had reached the middle of the river near one of the locks not far from Hampton Court, he turned them both into the water. They swam different ways, but the spaniel got into the cur- rent, and, after struggling with it some time, was in danger of being drowned; when the Newfoundland dog, perceiving the predicament of his companion, swam to his assistance, and brought him safe in his mouth to the shore." 1 An anecdote of a dog lying, during a cold night, on his master's body, as if to keep in it life and warmth, is told with the names of the persons connected with it. A Mr. Henry Hawkes, of the village of Hailing, in Kentj returning late homewards from Maidstone mar- 1 Jesse, Gleanings in Nat. Hist., vol. ii. p. 221. DOG. SAVING LIFE. 119 ket, stopped at a public-house at Aylesford, where he drank to excess, and left the place in a state of intoxi- cation. It was a night of severe frost ; and the whole face of the country was covered with deep snow. He had to pass a stream, an undertaking of some danger ; and this he accomplished in safety ; but a little on the other side he fell down in the snow, and, in his stu- pefied condition, was unable to raise himself, and fell asleep. His dog, who accompanied him, mounted on his body, and stretched himself over it; and in this condition the dog and his master lay all night, the snow still continuing to fall. In the morning, a gen- tleman, whose name was Finch, going out with his gun, caught sight of the dog's figure, and went to see why he was lying there. As the gentleman drew near, the dog jumped off his prostrate master, shook the snow from his hide, and seemed to desire the spec- tator to advance. Mr. Finch immediately recog- nized Hawkes, and caused him to be conveyed to the nearest house, where it was found that his heart was still beating; and, by the aid of restoratives, he was soon sufficiently recovered to be able to tell the story of his own intoxication and the dog's fidelity. He afterwards encircled the dog's neck with a silver collar, with these lines on it : " In man true friendship I long hoped to find, But missed my aim ; At length I found it in my dog most kind : Man ! blush for shame I" 1 In the year 1841 a labourer, named Rake, was at work by himself in a gravel-pit, in the parish of Botley, near Southampton, when the upper stratum of 1 'Sportsman's Cabinet.' 120 SEASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. soil gave way, and lie was buried up to his neck by a great quantity of gravel which, fell around him, being so much hurt, at the same time, (for two of his ribs, as was afterwards discovered, were broken,) that he was utterly unable to extricate himself. He cried out, but no one was within hearing, nor was any one likely to come near the place. Death, it seems probable, would have been his fate, had it not been for a Newfoundland dog belonging to his employer, which, as was re- marked, had been watching the man at work for some days, as if he had been aware that his assistance might be required. As soon as the dog saw what had hap- pened, he jumped into the pit, and began to remove the gravel with his paws, a work which he effected with so much vigour and expedition, that the poor man was at length able, though with great difficulty, to set himself free. What the animal did in this case, he ap- pears to have done from pure desire to be of service, for previously there had been nothing of friendship be- tween the man and him. 1 When Admiral Sir Charles Napier was a boy, he had a large dog. which was very fond of the water, and which used, in hot weather, to swim frequently over a river near which little Charley lived. One day he conceived the notion of making the dog take him across the stream ; so, throwing off his clothes, he tied a string to the dog's collar, and took hold of his neck, and thus the two went across together, the boy em- bracing the dog, and the dog pulling the boy. When they had both played about for awhile on the other side, they returne^. in the same manner, but Charley, on looking for his clothes, could find nothing but his 1 Jesse, c Anecdotes of Dogs,' p. 137. DOG. SAYING LIFE. 121 shoes, for the wind had blown all the rest of his ap- parel into the water. -The dog at once understood what was necessary to be done, and breaking away from the string by which he was held, dashed into the river, and brought out first the jacket, and then all the rest of the garments one by one. 1 When Mrs. Lee's father was a child, he was one day missed, and traced to a deep pond in the garden. A large Newfoundland dog, much attached to him, was called, and some of the boy's clothes shown to him, while the person who held them pointed to the pond. The dog instantly understood what was meant, dashed into the water, and in a short time brought out the boy, who had been bathing, and had sunk beneath the water and was quite senseless. The dog watched the efforts made to restore animation, and at last, when he was thoroughly dried, got into the bed with the child as if to communicate warmth to him. 2 The Newfoundland dog is ready, not only to save persons from drowning, but from destruction by land. It is a well -authenticated anecdote that when a child one day, in crossing one of the principal streets of Worcester, sloping towards the Severn, fell down in the middle of it, and would have been crushed by a horse and cart advancing, a Newfoundland dog rushed to its rescue, caught it up in his mouth, and conveyed it in safety to the foot pavement. 3 Sir Walter Scott gives an account of a dog that saved his master from fire. Lord Forbes, son of Earl Granard, an Irish peer, ( ' was asleep at his house at 1 Rev. T. Jackson, ' Our Dumb Companions,' p. 64. 2 Mrs. Lee, ' Anecdotes of Animals.' 3 Jesse, Anecd. of Dogs, p. 106. 122 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. Castle Forbes (in Ireland), when (he was) awakened by a sense of suffocation, which deprived him of the power of stirring a limb, yet left him the consciousness that the house was on fire. At this moment, and while his apartment was in flames, his large dog jumped on the bed, seized his shirt, and dragged him to the stair- case, where the fresh air restored his powers of exist- ence and of escape. This/' adds Sir Walter, " is very different from most cases of preservation of life by the canine race, when the animal generally jumps into the water, in which element he has force and skill. That of fire is as hostile to him as (to) mankind/' 1 There is no peril which a dog will not risk on behalf of his master. The dread of fire is over- whelming with animals, and yet he has often been found ready to brave the flames. At Libourne, in France, in 1835, one of the townsmen gave an old suit of clothes to dress up an effigy. His dog happened to be by when it was burnt, and, taking it for his master, he jumped again and again upon the fire to tear it away, biting those who attempted to restrain him, and would have been burned to death unless his master had ap- peared. 2 The following account is from the t Times ' of Oc- tober 10, 1865: An inquest was held at Charlton, in Kent, on the body of a child aged six years, named Elizabeth Ser- jeant, whose parents lived at No. 10, Ashford Place. She had been left there in a room on the ground-floor with two younger children, while their mother went to market. By some accident she set herself on fire, and, 1 Lockhart's ' Life of Scott,' vol. viii. p. 123. 2 M. Blaze, ' Histoire du Chien,' p. 340. DOG. SAVING LIFE. 123 when she screamed, a little dog jumped through a pane of glass into the room, where the mother, on her return a minute or two after, found him tearing off the child's clothes with his mouth and paws, and when he saw the woman, he immediately ran up to her, and laid hold of her gown to draw her towards the child. In this pro- ceeding we cannot but admire the dog's exercise of his own reason, and regret that it did not avail to save her whom he strove to aid. Several stories are told of dogs that have attached themselves to firemen ; attracted, probably, by some notice these firemen have casually bestowed upon them before they were past puppyhood. They have followed the engine and its attendants, to every fire to which it was taken, seeming to delight in volunteering to give such assistance as they could. Samuel Wood, a brave fireman, who was said some years ago to have saved the lives of nearly a hundred men, women, and children, was greatly aided in his meritorious efforts by a dog that he had named Bill. The dog would run about barking, on the alarm of fire, as if calling people to come and help. He would mount a ladder with as much agility as his master, arid he once saved his master's life by finding a way by which he was enabled to crawl out of a burning apartment. Bob, another fireman's dog, similarly accomplished, discovered at a fire in Lambeth a child in a house from which it was sup- posed that all its inmates had been rescued. The following story is told of a dog at a house in the parish of Marylebone. A servant had carelessly left a child, about four years old, alone in one of the lower rooms, and the child, in her absence, began to amuse itself with a candle, at which its cap caught fire. A 124 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. little terrier which was in the apartment, seeing the terror of the child, darted immediately up the stair to the room where the servant was, barking with all its might, and would not cease till it saw her coming down to find out what was the matter. The child was much scorched, and, but for the timely summons of the dog, might have been burnt to death, as the servant was out of hearing of the child's cries. 1 " Among the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii the skeleton of a dog was found stretched over that of a child. It was conjectured, on their discovery, that this dog, from his position, was attempting to save the child when the eruption of Vesuvius was fatal to the city. This opinion was confirmed by a collar which was found, of curious workmanship ; its inscription stated that the dog was named Delta, and belonged to a man called Severinus, whose life he had saved on three occasions, first, by dragging him out of the sea when nearly drowned ; then, by driving off four robbers who attacked him unawares ; and lastly, by his destroy- ing a she-wolf, whose cubs he had taken, in a grove sacred to Diana, near Herculaneum. Delta afterwards attached himself particularly to the only son of Seve- rinus, and would take no food but what he received from the child's hand." 2 The exploit of a dog belonging to a North American Indian, in saving a child's life, shows the intelligence of the animal in tracing any object to which its atten- tion is devoted. In the history of this little matter we have (what is too seldom the case in regard to these stories) the names and abodes of the persons connected with the occurrence. At a place named Wawaring, near 1 Williams's 'Dogs and their Ways,' p. 28. 2 Ibid. DOG. SAVING LIFE. 125 the Blue Mountains, in North America, lived a person, the owner of a large plantation, whose name was Le Fevre, the grandson of a Frenchman who had been obliged to flee from his country by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. One day, early in the morning, the youngest of Le Fevre' s children, aged about four years, was missed. No one could conjecture what had become of it. After searching some time, the family became alarmed, and sought the assistance of some neighbours. Parties explored the woods in every direc- tion, but without success, during the whole of the day, and next day the search was resumed, but with no better result. As they were sinking into despair, Tewenissa, an Indian from Anaguaga, on the banks of the Susquehanna, accompanied by his dog Oniah, happened to enter the house of the planter to ask leave to repose himself. Observing the family's distress, and being informed of the cause, he requested that the shoes and stockings last worn by the child should be brought to him. He then made his dog smell them, and walked with the dog through the grounds near the house, describing a semicircle of about a quarter of a mile, directing the dog to scent the ground as he went along. At last the animal began to bark gently, and then started off, barking louder, into the woods at full speed. In about half an hour he was seen return- ing, showing by his gestures the greatest joy ; and it was evident that he had found the child ; but the parents were in great fear lest it should be dead. Tewenissa followed his dog, which conducted him to the foot of a large tree where the child was lying unharmed, having slid down a small ravine, from which it was unable to climb up again. It had suffered from nothing but 126 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. hunger, and though extremely weak, was easily restored by a little care to its former vigour. For sagacity, and what may well be called human in- telligence in a lower degree, the dogs of the convent of St. Bernard, situate on a pass over the Alps between Switzerland and Savoy, have long been highly cele- brated. One of these dogs was renowned for having saved in twelve years the lives of forty persons ; and another was believed to have saved at least twenty-two. The dog that saved the larger number, one day found in the snow a little boy whose mother had been killed by the fall of an avalanche, and, by coaxing the boy in his peculiar way, got him to mount on his back, and carried him safe to the convent. 1 But stories of these excellent dogs are in the hands of almost everybody, and I need therefore say no more of their merits. ' ' In looking ... on the many varieties of the dog," remarks a writer in the/ Menageries,' 2 . . . " we can- not avoid observing the extraordinary modifications of which this quadruped has become susceptible. These modifications are so extensive, and have existed so long, that it is now impossible to decide which is the original breed. Buffon attempted a theory of this nature, but it is evidently unsupported by facts. Almost every country in the world possesses its different kind of dog, and in each of these kinds there are essential differences of charac- ter produced by education. The Esquimaux dog draws a sledge, the shepherd's dog guards a flock ; the mastiff protects a house ; a dog very similar in nature worries a bull ; the Spanish bloodhound hunts the naked Indian to the death, while the dog of St. Bernard rescues the perishing man at the risk of his own life. The dog 1 ' Menageries,' Soc. Prom. U. K., vol. i. p. 69. 2 Ibid. p. 70. DOG. SAVING LIFE. 127 certainly has the greatest sympathies with man of all the race of quadrupeds ; and the nearer an animal ap- proaches us, and the more easily he comprehends us, the more we are enabled to modify his nature and form his character. What is true of a species is also true of a class. The quadruped is more easily modified, that is, the class is more susceptible of instruction, than the bird, the bird than the insect, the insect than the fish. The difference between intelligence and instinct the nice partition which divides these qualities has formed the subject of infinite speculation. The qualities are certainly not one and the same, as some philosophers have maintained." 128 CHAPTER XV. DOG. COMMUNICATION OF THOUGHTS FROM ONE DOG TO ANOTHER. DOGS, as well as many other animals, have some means of making known their feelings or thoughts, such as they are, one to another. They have some power of intercommunication, some sort of language, as we may call it, though not the language of words. This is shown in numerous accounts of their proceedings. A story has several times appeared in print of a dog having had his broken leg cured by a surgeon, and having afterwards brought to the same surgeon another dog with a broken leg. 1 A friend told me that he knew a medical gentleman, an Englishman named Phillips, resident in France, to whom an affair of this kind occurred. He found a dog in the street with his leg broken, took him home, and cured him ; and some days after his departure he brought another dog with an injured leg to Dr. Phillips. In such cases the one animal must have some mode of signify- ing to the other what he wished him to do. This is shown also in those cases in which dogs have asked assistance one of another. The following 1 Blaze, Hist, du Chien, p. 46. DOG. COMMUNICATION OP THOUGHTS. 129 instance of such solicitation is given, from his own knowledge, by the author of ' The Menageries/ 1 pub- lished by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Know- ledge : he need only let Quail see him touch his head, and she would go to the hall table, select the right hat froin the rest, and bring it to him. If on these occasions, or any other, she went to the back door, to which there was no rapper, and at which people generally obtained admittance by thumping, she would beat the door with her tail till she brought some one to open it. One day Dr. Walsh went out to shoot, attended by Quail. He proceeded several miles before he fired his gun, and, on preparing to reload it, found that he was without his powder-horn. Quail readily understood what was wanting, and as readily went back in quest of it. She retraced her master's footsteps through meadows and fields, and across roads and ditches ; fol- lowing even several windings over the same fields ; till o REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. at last she discovered the powder-horn, and brought it back in somewhat less than an hour. An old woman in the family was fond of snuff, but unable to fetch it ; she therefore sought the services of the boy, but he transferred the commission to Quail. He put the coin for payment into the box, and taught the dog the way to the snuff- shop, where, putting her fore-feet on the counter, she would rattle the money in the box, and get the box filled. She was even brought to shut the door, a thing which dogs will very seldom learn; lifting up her paw, and pushing the door forward till the lock clicked. On one occasion she could not move the door, and after several efforts drew back, whining to express her disappointment. What prevented her was a smoothing-iron, which the servant had placed against the door to keep it open, because the room smoked. Quail, again returning to the door, considered awhile, and at last saw what was the hindrance; she then ran at the iron, dragged it away, and shut the door in an exultation of delight. Similar obstructions were often placed at the door after- wards, that it might be seen how she would act ; but she was no longer puzzled; she removed the object, whatever it was, and then barked at it and shook it, as dogs do in venting their displeasure at anything that annoys them. Dr. Walsh's mother lived with him, and during her absence on one occasion, a portrait of her was brought home, and placed on a sofa ready for being hung up. Hearing Quail barking with delight in the room the day after, the doctor looked in to see what was the cause, when he found that she had recognized the por- trait, and was licking its face. After the picture was DOG. FACULTY OP DISTINGUISHING ARTICLES. 195 hung, she always noticed it when she entered the room, and would lie down before it on the carpet, gazing at it intently ; a practice which she continued till Mrs. Walsh's return, when the original detached her attention from the portrait. A similar story is told of Mr. J. P. Knight's por- traits of his " Two Boys," which were so much ad- mired at the International Exhibition of 1862. When the likenesses were brought home, they were recog- nized with great joy by a spaniel strongly attached to the originals. The little animal endeavoured to at- tract their notice, and was with difficulty withheld from leaping on the picture and perhaps injuring it. This manifestation of feeling continued for many minutes, and was renewed on the next and following days ; but at last, finding no return made to its ad- vances, the spaniel drew off in mortification, yet con- tinuing to look back, as if reproaching its play-fellows for withholding their usual caresses. 1 This recogni- tion of likeness may have been a proof of superior in- telligence in these dogs ; for dogs in general, we be- lieve, will seldom pay much attention to the portrait of a friend ; and it is observable how little surprise (most commonly, we believe, none) dogs will show at seeing the exact likeness of themselves in a glass set on the floor. Most of them, perhaps, have seen the reflection of their faces in water ; but it might be expected that a complete image of themselves, presented before them for the first time, would startle them. But dogs are chiefly determined, as to identity or non-identity, by scent; if no scent proceeds from the object before them, it is to them unreal j if not the known scent, it 1 Williams, ' Dogs and their Ways,' p. 313. o 2 196 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. is by them unrecognized ; and we rather wonder that Quail, after finding Mrs. Walsh's portrait smelt of oil, should have retained the notion that it was Mrs. Walsh herself; if indeed she did retain that notion ; for she may, as we have intimated, from something of higher intelligence than that of ordinary dogs, have valued it only for its likeness to the original, without being de- ceived as to its real character. 197 CHAPTER XXI. DOG. HOW MUCH HE MAY BE TAUGHT. THE intelligence of dogs is very much shown in the knowledge or accomplishments which they are capable of acquiring. Of what dogs have been taught there are many remarkable accounts. The art of teaching dogs tricks is as old at least as the days of the Roman emperors. Plutarch witnessed the performance of a dog thus taught before the Emperor Vespasian in the theatre of Marcellus. The animal belonged to a man who represented some kind of dramatic piece, in which were several characters, the dog also having a part, and acting it with suitable feelings, apparently, and gestures. One part of his performance was to counterfeit being poisoned by eat- ing a piece of bread, in which it was pretended that some deadly drug was mixed. "Having swallowed the bread/ ' says Plutarch, "he soon after assumed the appearance of trembling, staggering, and being stupe- fied, and at length, stretching himself out, he lay as if dead, and allowed himself to be dragged from place to place as the business of the play demanded ; but when he understood, from what he heard and noted, that it 198 KEASON1NG POWER IN ANIMALS. was time for him to come to life again, he began to stir himself, at first very gently, as if waking from a deep sleep j then he raised his head and gazed about him ; and, afterwards, to the astonishment of the spec- tators, rose and walked up to one of the actors, jump- ing up at him and seeming overjoyed, just as the tenor of the piece required; so that all who were present, the emperor as well as the rest, appeared to sympathize with him in his delight." 1 " The dancing dogs at Sadler's Wells/' says Bingley, 2 " were curiously instructed. After storming a fort, and performing various other feats, one of them was brought in as a deserter, was shot, and carried off as dead by his companions. The mode in which a dog is taught to point out different cards that are placed near him (a common trick) is this : He is first taught, by repeated trials, to know something by a certain mark ; and then to distinguish one ace from another. Food is fre- quently offered him on a card he is unacquainted with, after which he is sent to search it out from the pack ; and after a little experience he never mistakes. Pro- fiting by the discovery of receiving food and caresses as a reward for his care, he soon becomes able to know each particular card, which, when it is called for, he brings with an air of gaiety, and without any con- fusion ; and in reality it is no more surprising to see a dog distinguish one card from thirty others than it is to see him in the street distinguish his master's door from those of his neighbours." One of the most remarkable accounts of dogs' ac- complishments is given in the ' Lancet/ from which 1 Plutarch, ' De Solertia Animalium,' c. xix. 2 An. Biog. vol. i. 190. DOG. HOW MUCH HE MAY BE TAUGHT. 199 Mr. Youatt transferred it to his treatise on the dog. 1 I extract it from Mr. Youatt' s pages. The editor of the ' Lancet ' having heard that a French gentleman in London, M. Leonard, had been for some time in- structing two dogs in various difficult performances, with a view to elicit the highest manifestation of intel- lect and power of reflection that the dog can possibly exhibit, sought an introduction to him, and was obli- gingly favoured, at his house near Hanover Square, with a sight of what the dogs could do. He thus describes what he saw : " Two fine dogs, of the Spanish breed, were intro- duced by M. Leonard, with the customary French politesse, the largest by the name of Monsieur Philax, the other as Monsieur Brae. The former had been in training three, and the latter two years. They were in vigorous health, and, having bowed very gracefully, seated themselves on the hearthrug side by side. M. Leonard then gave a lively description of the means he . had employed to develope the cerebral system in these animals ; how, from having been fond of the chase, and ambitious of possessing the best trained dogs, he had employed the usual course of training; how the conviction had been impressed on his mind that, by gentle usage and steady perseverance in inducing the animal to repeat again and again what was required, not only would the dog be capable of performing that specific act, but the part of the brain which was brought into activity by the mental effort would be- come more largely developed, and hence a permanent increase of mental power be obtained. " After this introduction, M. Leonard spoke to his 1 P. 108. 200 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. dogs in French, in his usual tone, and ordered one of them to walk, the other to lie down, to run, to gallop, halt, crouch, etc., which they performed as promptly and correctly as the most docile children. Then he directed them to go through the usual exercises of the manege, which they performed as well as the best trained ponies at Astley's. ' ' He next placed six cards of different colours on the floor, and, sitting with his back to the dogs, directed one to pick up the blue card, and the other the white, etc., varying his orders rapidly, and speaking in such a manner that it was impossible the dogs could have executed his commands, if they had not had a perfect knowledge of the words. For instance, M. Leonard said, ' Philax, take the red card and give it to Brae ;' and ' Brae, take the white card and give it to Philax / the dogs instantly did this, and exchanged cards with each other. He then said, ' Philax, put your card on the green/ and f Brac, put yours on the blue/ and this was instantly performed. Pieces of bread and meat were placed on the floor, with figured cards, and a variety of directions were given to the dogs, so as to put their intelligence and obedience to a severe test. They brought the bread, meat, or cards, as com- manded, but did not attempt to eat or touch unless ordered. Philax was then ordered to bring a piece of meat and give it to 'Brae, and then Brae was told to give it back to Philax, who was to return it to its place. Philax was next told he might bring a piece of bread and eat it ; but, before he had time to swallow it, his master forbade him, and directed him to show that he had not disobeyed ; and the dog instantly pro- truded the crust between his lips. DOG. HOW MUCH HE MAY BE TAUGHT. 201 " While many of these feats were being performed, M. Leonard snapped a whip violently, to prove that the animals were so completely under discipline that they would not heed any interruption. "After many other performances, M. Leonard in- vited a gentleman to play a game at dominoes with one of them. The younger and slighter dog then seated himself on a chair at the table, and the writer and M. Leonard seated themselves opposite. Six dominoes were placed on their edges in the usual manner before the dog, and a like number before the writer. The dog having a double number, took one up in his mouth, and put it in the middle of the table ; the writer played a corresponding piece on one side ; the dog im- mediately played another correctly, and so on until all the pieces were engaged. Other six dominoes were then given to each, and the writer intentionally placed a wrong number. The dog looked surprised, stared very earnestly at the writer, growled, and finally barked angrily. Finding that no notice was taken of his remonstrances, he pushed away the wrong domino with his nose, and took up a suitable one from his own pieces, and played it in its stead. The writer then played correctly; the dog followed, and won the game. Not the slightest intimation could have been given by M. Leonard to the dog. This mode of play must have been entirely the result of his own observation and judgment. It should be added that the performances were strictly private. The owner of the dogs was a gentleman of independent fortune, and the instruction of his dogs had been taken up merely as a curious and amusing investigation." Two poodle dogs, educated in Milan, exhibited their 202 SEASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. attainments in Paris, and "I can vouch/' says Mrs. Lee, "for the veracity of the following statement. The elder was named Fido, and the younger Bianco. The former was a serious, steady dog, who walked about with much solemnity; but Bianco was giddy and frolicsome. A word was given to Fido from the Greek, Latin, Italian, French, or English languages, and selected from a book where fifty words in each tongue were inscribed, which, altogether, made three hundred" [two hundred and fifty] " combinations. He selected from the letters of the alphabet those which composed the given word, and laid them at the feet of his master. On one occasion the word ' heaven' was told to him, and he quickly placed the letters till he came to the second e, when, after vainly searching for the letter in his alphabet, he took it from the first syllable and inserted it in the second. He went through the first four rules of arithmetic in the same way, with extraordinary celerity, and arranged the double ciphers in the same way as the double vowel in ' heaven/ Bianco, however, although so heedless, was quicker than Fido, and, when the latter made a mis- take, was called upon to rectify it, but as quickly dis- missed, as he was wont to pull his companion's ears to come and play with him. " One day Fido spelt the word Jupiter with a b, but the younger savant being summoned to correct the error, he carefully contemplated the word, and, push- ing out the b, replaced it with a p. A lady held her repeating watch to the ear of Fido, and made it strike eight and three-quarters. Fido immediately selected an eight, and then a six for the three-quarters ; the company present and the master insisted upon his error, DOG. HOW MUCH HE MAY BE TAUGHT. 203 and lie again looked among his ciphers, but, being un- able to rectify it, he coolly sat down in the middle, and looked at those around him. The watch was again sounded, and it was ascertained that it struck two for every quarter, which quite exonerated Fido. Both dogs would sit down to play ecarte, asking each other for, or refusing cards, with the most important and significant look, cutting at proper times, and never mistaking one card for another. Bianco occasionally won, and went to the ciphers to mark his points, and when he was asked how many his adversary had gained, he took out a with his teeth. They sometimes play at ecarte with one of the company assembled to see them, when they evinced the same correctness, and seemed to know all the terms of the game. All this passed without the slightest audible or visible sign between them and their master." 1 Though Mrs. Lee "vouches for the veracity'-' of this account, yet, as she did not see these wonderful per- formances herself, it may be wished that she had told us from whom she received the information respecting them. Many readers must surely feel some degree of incredulity when they hear so positive a statement of dogs spelling two hundred and fifty words, and playing at ecarte without error, and without being prompted by any one about them. M. Blaze witnessed the exhibition of some dancing dogs, who took a citadel by assault ; part feigned to be vanquishers, part to be killed, others affected to be wounded, and went about limping. 2 Attempts have even been made to teach dogs to 1 Mrs. Lee, ' Anecdotes of Animals,' p. 134. 2 Hist, du Chien, p. 49. 204 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. speak, though, as might be expected, with no great success. In the ' Memoirs of the French Academy ' is an ac- count, communicated by Leibnitz, of a dog that was made to speak several words, and to call, as it is ex- pressed, for tea, coffee, chocolate, and other articles. It is described as a dog of middle size, and belonged to a peasant at Misnia, in Saxony. The peasant's son, a little boy, imagining that he heard the dog utter sounds resembling words, took it into his head to teach him to speak. For this purpose he took great pains with the animal, which was about three years old when its in- struction in language commenced, and was made to ar- ticulate, more or less distinctly, at least thirty words. He was however very reluctant to exercise his faculty, and could never be brought to utter a word unless it was first pronounced for him by his teacher. Even this imperfect attempt at elocution the French Academi- cians say they would scarcely have ventured to admit into their records, had it not been reported by so emi- nent a philosopher. 1 M. Blaze, in noticing this account, adds that of another dog at Berlin, whom his master, by exciting* him to growl, and then working about his jaws, taught to utter something like sixty words. 2 Joannes Faber, as Bewick observes, mentions a dog, belonging to a nobleman of the Medici family, which always attended at its master's table, took from him his plates, and brought him others ; and, if he wanted wine, would carry it to him in a glass placed upon a silver plate, which it held in its mouth, without spilling 1 Cited from Dr. Shaw in Elaine's ' Encyclopaedia of Rural Sports,' art. 2544. M. Blaze, Hist, du Chieri, p. 69. DOG. HOW MUCH HE MAY BE TAUGHT. 205 the smallest drop. The same dog would also hold the stirrups in its teeth, whilst its master was mounting his horse. 1 Dogs, as they may be taught other things, may also be taught to steal. Sir Walter Scott, who, as we have seen, tells the story of the sheep-dog that stole sheep for his master, tells a similar story of craftiness in a spaniel, which a J Jr friend of his had purchased from a dealer in dogs. This dog, whenever his owner entered a shop, would linger behind him at some little distance, keeping himself so far aloof as to appear totally unconnected with him. Thus he would wait about in the shop till his master left it, when he would still loiter behind till he could find, if possible, an opportunity of seizing a pair of gloves, or silk stockings, or some other thing that he could easily carry, which he would bring off and offer to his master. But finding these practices discouraged, when it had no longer a thief for its master, the animal was gradually cured of them. 2 Such acquirements in the dog as we have noticed in this chapter show great tenacity of memory, and great power of attention and understanding, and would scarcely be credible if we had not such trustworthy testimony to their having been gained. But we must be sensible that the dog, under such training and treat- ment, is only an instrument in the hand of man ; he requires the attention of man to keep him to the prac- tice of his accomplishments, that he may retain his hold of them ; if he were left to himself for but a few weeks or days, he would cease to cultivate, and gra- dually forget, all that he had learned. There is there- 1 Bewick's Hist, of Quadr. p. 367. 2 Notes to ' St. Konan's Well.' 206 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. fore no ground for hoping, with M. Leonard, that the intellect of the dog will be permanently enlarged and improved. His attainments are of no value, except to show what he is capable of being taught ; nor is it pleasant to contemplate the animal under the forced exhibition of them. I had rather see the dog frisking in his natural state, and showing such sense as he pos- sesses, in his own way, than witness his performance of the most elaborate tricks that can be taught him. I have seen dancing poodles taught to execute quadrilles, and go through much of the etiquette of a ball-room, but to me the sight of the dogs under constraint en- gage in toils in which they could feel no interest, was extremely painful. An acquaintance of mine had a dog that he had taught to walk round his dining-room after dinner on his hind legs, with his fore -feet against the wall, for the reward of a biscuit, and the amuse- ment of the company, but I should have been better pleased to have given the poor dog the biscuit without exacting the performance of the feat. As to uttering words, says M. Blaze, " I love better to hear the dog's natural language ; it is a thousand times more delight- ful than the mechanical repetition of all the words in the dictionary." But whenever men have have a fancy to train dogs for any purpose, it should be done by kind and gentle means. There is no occasion, says Mr. Youatt, who did not speak without knowledge of the subject, to chastise a dog by beating ; he should be corrected with good temper and firmness, not with passion or violence ; for a dog has sufficient sense to distinguish between an angry infliction and the intention to punish a fault. In educating hounds, an intelligent huntsman will care- DOG. HOW MUCH HE MAY BE TAUGHT. 207 fully note their various dispositions and tempers, and profit by the difference in them. Some hounds are timid, and require encouragement; some, though forward, and requiring to be checked, may yet be of a warm and generous nature, that will return kindness, and not be sullen under correction. Thus rewards and punishments may be adapted to their several disposi- tions. 208 CHAPTER XXII. DOG. MORAL FEELINGS. SENSE OF JUSTICE. As to moral feeling in the inferior animals, Sir Ben- jamin Brodie, in his ' Psychological Inquiries/ observes that dogs, and some other animals, manifest it in their actions towards one another, as well as in their con- duct towards man. Animals assist one another, and make suitable returns for good treatment, both among themselves and towards human beings. Bishop Wat- son, after reading Bingley's ' Animal Biography/ ob- served that " domesticated and well-educated animals seem to have a knowledge of what may be called their duty to their master." The horse, the dog, and the elephant attach themselves to those that deal kindly with them, and are ready to afford them any help in their power when they are in difficulties ; and even animals in their wild state, who have had no associa- tion with man, will, when they casually fall in with him, and receive from him any service, show a proper sense of it, and a willingness to make a recompense for it. The story of Androclus and the lion is too well known to every school-boy, from the pages of ' Sandford and Merton/ and other books, to be re- DOG. MORAL FEELINGS. SENSE OP JUSTICE. 209 peated here. Bat it may be observed that, though the truth of the story has been doubted, there is as much attestation to it as can well be desired. 1 " The inferior animals," says Mr. Youatt, " are, to a certain extent, endowed with the same faculties as ourselves. They are even susceptible of the same moral qualities. Hatred, love, fear, hope, joy, dis- tress^ courage, timidity, jealousy, and many varied passions influence and agitate them, as they do the human being. The dog is an illustration of this the most susceptible to every impression approaching the nearest to man in his instincts, and in many actions that surprise the philosopher, who justly ap- preciates it." 2 Mr. Youatt also tells us, in confirmation, that having once a Newfoundland dog, for which he had great fondness, but which it was inconvenient for him to keep, he gave it to a person who, he knew, would treat it well. Four years after he had parted with the dog, during which time he had never seen him, as he was going one day towards Kingston, he met him and his master at the brow of the hill where Jerry Aber- shaw's gibbet was then standing, when the dog, not- withstanding the length of their separation, immedi- ately recollected his former master, and began to jump upon him. After talking with Mr. Youatt awhile, his second master proceeded towards Wandsworth, and the dog followed him ; but Mr. Youatt had not gone halfway down the hill, when the dog came running up to his side again, not with gentle advances, but growling deeply, and with his hair bristling up. Mr., Youatt was surprised at the dog's demeanour, and 1 See Aul. Gell. v. 14. 2 ' Youatt, c On the Dog,' p. 107. P 210 REASONING POWER TN ANIMALS. turning about, saw two ill-looking fellows making their way through the bushes between the Roehampton and Wandsworth roads, who, when they saw Mr. Youatt attended by a formidable dog, retreated. Mr. Youatt thought that they were probably seeking an oppor- tunity for robbing ; and it was evident that the dog was convinced they meditated mischief, for his only reason for returning was to accompany Mr. Youatt to the bottom of the hill, where, seeing him out of danger, and wagging a farewell with his tail, he started off to overtake his master. Here we see a desire in a dog to make a return for kindness to a person whom he had not seen for four years, yet of whom he had a vivid recollection. There was much of moral feeling in the generous compassion for an injured animal, manifested by the hero of the following story. A cat, some years ago, fell into the hands of some young ruffians at Liverpool, who stoned it and dragged it through a pool of water. Many persons, during the course of their proceedings, passed by without attempting to stop them; but a dog, who came up at the time, was moved with pity and indignation. He rushed in among the boys, barked furiously at them, sprang towards the cat, stood over it, terrified its persecutors into flight, and carried it off in his mouth, bleeding, and almost sense- less, to his kennel at the Talbot Inn, to which he be- longed. There he laid it on the straw, licked it till it was clean, and then stretched himself on it, as if to impart to it some of his own warmth. At last it began to revive, when he went immediately to seek food for it, and the people of the house, observing the dog's operations, gave it some warm milk. It was some DOG. MOEAL FEELINGS. SENSE OP JUSTICE. 211 days before the cat fully recovered, but, till such was the case, the dog never remitted his attention to it ; and the cat from that time showed such attachment to the dog, that they were seen going about together for years in Liverpool. 1 A strong sense of justice must have existed in the dog who showed such decided resentment at being ill- treated as is told in the following anecdote, which is related as a fact by Mr. Westcott in his f Recreative Science/ A gentleman met with a retriever while on a shooting excursion. The dog came at the sound of a whistle, and, after a little coaxing, made himself quite friendly, and followed the gentleman home, seem- ing resolved to adhere to him as his master. Some weeks afterwards a stranger happened to be shooting in the neighbourhood, and, passing near the house in which the dog had found an abode, he was invited in by the owner to take some refreshment, who naturally asked what sport he had had. ' ' None worth men- tioning," he replied ; " my dog is unequal to his work. I lost one a short time since worth his weight in gold ; and, unfortunately, have heard no tidings of him since." His entertainer then asked when and how he lost him. " About fifteen miles from hence/' he re- plied, "while I was out shooting I missed several birds, which put me out of temper. I beat the dog, and threatened to shoot him. When I got into the next field the dog was gone. I thought I should find him at home ; but no, he had gone utterly ; and I be- lieve he went because I threatened to shoot him." Just as the visitor had proceeded thus far in his ac- count, the dog that had attached himself to the host 1 Williams's ' Dogs and their Ways,' p. 43. p2 212 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. entered the room ; and the stranger at once recognized him as the one that he had lost. But the dog would show no recognition of his former master; to his call he was resolutely deaf; and when he attempted to -pat him, he gave a threatening grow,!. His new master tied a cord round his neck, and gave the end of it to his former one ; but the dog planted his feet stub- bornly, and refused to be led away. When the cord was slackened he took refuge under the sofa, from whence he would not come out till his old master, who now willingly gave him up to his new one, had left the room. Strict observation of justice among themselves is maintained by the dogs of Constantinople, whose con- dition would greatly surprise an Englishman going thither without having received previous information respecting them. In this country every dog has a master; he is brought up under guardianship; if he loses his master, he sets himself to find another, being uneasy unless he is a client to some human patron. He deserts his own species that he may attach himself to man. But among the Turks the state of dogs is very different; the Mahometans regard them as un- clean, and will not admit them into their houses. Yet they tolerate them in the streets, where they are born and nurtured, and where they are of great use ; for, as the people throw their kitchen refuse out of doors, the stench and obstruction of the ways would soon become intolerable, were it not for the clearance made by the dogs acting as scavengers. These animals, being left to their own guidance, establish a kind of government for themselves; they understand, from natural sagacity, that each, as the DOG. MOEAL FEELINGS. SENSE OF JUSTICE. 213 proverb has it, is to live and let live ; and that every one, therefore, must confine his search for subsistence within a certain limit, allowing others to seek theirs without that limit. They, in consequence, form them- selves, like horses in their wild state, into troops, each of which keeps itself to a particular quarter of the city or suburbs, and of which every individual is on the watch to repel strangers from their territories. If a dog is found in a quarter not his own, the dogs of that quarter fall upon him, and it is well for him if he escapes with life. " No one, I suppose," says the Eight Hon. W. Gr. Rose, ' c who sees the dog depending on his master for meat, drink, and home, and only pursuing his game under his instruction, can easily imagine him the citi- zen of a canine republic, governed by certain laws, and supporting himself by his own exertions. Yet this may be seen at Constantinople. " At Constantinople dogs so entirely cover the streets that the French expression c'est de quoi les rues sont pavees may, literally speaking, be applied to them. These live masterless, and under a sort of federal government of their own, for they seem to have national and provincial laws. Thus, though they are united for general purposes, if a dog of another street intrudes into that of which he is not a denizen, he is driven out by the simultaneous attack of the autochthones. " This has been witnessed and related by hundreds of Europeans. What I am going to relate rests upon the authority of one alone, the son of an ambassador to the Porte, long resident at Pera. He assured me that if the intruding dog made a respectable resistance, a single champion was assigned him to contend against, 214 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. and, if he proved victorious, he not only received his denizenship, but was installed in the best quarters, to wit, in those nearest a butcher's shop. Nor do dogs only unite under a combination of artificial circum- stances ; they will do so in a state of nature. The buccaneers report that they form associations in South America for purposes of chase; and Woodes Rogers describes them as hunting under a captain of their own, and, when the quarry is brought down, suspend- ing their feast till he is satisfied." A similar state of things, in reference to dogs, may be seen at Lisbon, and, according to Sir Emerson Tennent, in Ceylon, where, though there are no native dogs, yet " every town and village is haunted by mon- grels of European descent, which are known by the generic description of Pariahs. They are a miserable race," he adds, " acknowledged by no owners, living on the garbage of the streets and sewers, lean, wretched, and mangy, and, if spoken to unexpectedly, shrinking with an almost involuntary cry. Yet in these perse- cuted outcasts there survives that germ of instinctive affection which binds the dog to the human race, and a gentle word, even a look of compassionate kindness, is sufficient foundation for a lasting attachment." " It is a singular but well-authenticated fact," says the Rev. C. Williams, that at Constantinople "not even a bone of roast meat will induce a dog to follow a person beyond his own district. A visitor to the city caressed, by way of experiment, one of these animals, whose post, with many others, was near the Mevlevi Khan; he daily fed the dog till he became fat and sleek, carried his tail high, and was no longer to be recognized as his former self. He was even so greatly DOG. MORAL FEELINGS. SENSE OF JUSTICE. 215 improved as to lose his currishness, and,, wlien his friends approached, expressed his gratitude by fondling upon them and licking their hands ; yet he would never follow them beyond an imaginary limit either way ; here he would certainly stop, wag his tail, look wist- fully after them till they were out of sight, and then return to his post. On one occasion, and only one, when very hungry, and allured by tempting food, he overstepped his limit, but he had not exceeded it twenty yards when he recollected himself and ran hastily back/' 1 Of the dogs of Egypt Sir Gardner Wilkinson 2 gives a similar account, and observes that the number of such barking plagues might be diminished, much to the advantage of the country. " They consist," he says, " of a number of small republics, each havin'g its own district, determined by a frontier line> respected equally by itself and its neighbours ; and woe to the dog who dares to venture across it at night, either for plunder, curiosity, or a love adventure. He is chased with all the fury of the offended party whose territory he has invaded; but if lucky enough to escape to his own frontier unhurt, he immediately turns round with the confidence of right, defies his pursuers to continue the chase, and, supported by his assembled friends, joins with them in barking defiance at any further hostility. Egypt is therefore not the country for a European dog, unaccustomed to such a state of canine society; and I remember hearing of a native servant, who had been sent by his Frank master to walk out a favourite pointer, running home in tears with the hind leg of the mangled dog, being the only part he could 1 Williams, ' Dogs and their Ways,' p. 267. 2 ' Modern Egypt.' 216 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. rescue from the fierce attacks of a whole tribe of subur- Whatever sort of feeling jealousy be considered, im- moral certainly rather than moral, and not a dweller in the strongest minds, it is experienced by dogs and other animals as well as by human beings. Newfoundland clogs, with all their intelligence, are subject to envy and jealousy, even when there is little cause for them. Mr. Charles Davis, the well-known huntsman of her Majesty's stag-hounds, told Mr. Jesse that a friend of his had a fine Newfoundland dog, which was a great favourite with the family, and that while the dog was confined in the yard, a pet lamb was given to one of the children, which the dog soon found to be sharing a great portion of those attentions from the inmates of the house which he had been in the habit of receiving. This state of things produced so severe an effect upon the poor animal that he fretted and lost his appetite, and became altogether extremely unwell. As it was thought that exercise might be of use to him, he was let loose; but he no sooner found himself at liberty than he availed himself of an opportunity of seizing the lamb, and carrying it off in his mouth. He was seen to convey it down a lane, which was about a quarter of a mile from the house, and at the bottom of which the Thames flowed ; and, when he came to the river, he thrust the lamb under the water, and held it there till it was lifeless. When it was afterwards ex- amined, it did not appear to have been bitten or other- wise injured; "and it might almost be supposed/' says Mr. Jesse, "that the dog had chosen the easiest death for removing the object of his dislike." 1 1 Jesse, Anecd. of Dogs, p. 126. DOG. MORAL FEELINGS. SENSE OF JUSTICE. 217 M. 'Blaze, in his ' History of the Dog/ tells us of a terrier that even killed a child, because he was jealous of the caresses bestowed by the child on a rival dog, while he himself was neglected. But if the dog has such defects in his character, his virtues are far more frequently shown than his vices. It is pleasant to read Arrian's account of his excel- lent greyhound, named, as being eager and spirited, Horme. " She is also," he proceeds, (for she was alive when the description of her was written,) " of a most gentle and affectionate disposition ; and never before was any dog so strongly attached as she is both to myself and to my friend and fellow- sportsman Megillus. When she is not actually engaged in cours- ing, she is never willingly absent from one or other of us. If I am at home, she remains with me ; if I go out, she follows me ; if I go to the gymnasium, she is at my side, and sits down near me while I am exercis- ing ; and, when I return, she runs on before, fre- quently turning back to notice whether I have gone out of the road, and, when she sees me coming, shows signs of pleasure, and trots on before me again. If I go out on any public business, she stays with my friend, and behaves to him as she would behave to me. If either of us is sick, she is his constant attendant. When she sees either of us after a short absence, she leaps gently up upon him by way of salutation, barking at the same time, as if to bid him welcome. At meals she pats us first with one foot and then with the other, reminding us that she is to have her share of food. She has also many tones of voice, more than I think I have ever known in any other dog, intimating by sounds what she wants. And having been, when a 218 KEASONLNG POWEE IN ANIMALS. puppy, corrected with a whip, she even to this day, if any one names a whip, goes up to the person that names it, crouching down and supplicating him, ap- plying her mouth to his as if to kiss him, leaping up, and hanging upon his neck, and not letting him go till she is satisfied that he had no intention of hurting her." 1 If the reader would wish to see the dog's virtues summed up, let him read M. Blaze's eulogy of him : " The dog possesses incontestably all the qualities of a sensible man ; and, I grieve to say, man has not in general the noble qualities of the dog. We make a virtue of gratitude, which is nothing but a duty; this virtue, this duty, are inherent in the dog. We brand ingratitude, and yet all men are ungrateful. It is a vice which commences in the cradle, and grows with our growth ; and, together with selfishness, becomes almost always the grand mover of human actions. The dog knows not the word virtue ; that which we dignify by this title, and admire as a rare thing and very rare it is in truth, constitutes his normal state. Where will you find a man always grateful, always affectionate, never selfish, pushing the abnegation of self to the utmost limits of possibility; without gain, devoted to death, without ambition, rendering every service, in short, forgetful of injuries and mindful only of benefits received ? Seek him not ; it would be a useless task ; but take the first dog you meet, and from the moment he adopts you for his master, you will find in him all these qualities. He will love you without calculation entering into his affections. His greatest happiness will be to be near you ; and should 1 Arrian, ' De Tenatione,' c. 5. DOG. MORAL FEELINGS. SENSE OF JUSTICE. 219 you be reduced to beg your bread, not only will he aid you in this difficult trade, but he would not abandon you to follow even a king into his palace. Your friends will quit you in misfortune ; your wife perhaps will forget her plighted troth ; but yo A 1 dog will remain always near you ; he will come and die at your feet ; or, if you depart before him on the great voyage, he will accompany you to your last abode/ n 1 Hist, du Chien, pref. p. iv. 220 CHAPTER XXIII. THE HORSE. GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. GOOD FEELING. OF the horse no stories are told denoting any very high sagacity or intelligence. The good qualities of horses are chiefly sensibility to kindness, attachment to those who treat them well, and docility under judi- cious management. Some instances of cleverness in their doings, however, are recorded, sufficient to show that they have a certain portion of understanding, though not approaching at all to the " half-reasoning" faculties of the elephant or dog. In one of Lord Brougham' s 'Dialogues on Instinct' mention is made of a horse that secured admittance to a pasture from which he had been excluded, by pressing down the upright bar of the latch of a wicket, exactly as a man would have done. A story is also related of a hunter, belonging to a gentleman near Leeds, that did some- thing more than this of a similar nature ; he was turned into a field where there was a pump and a trough, and observing that when people worked the handle a supply of water came, he imitated what he saw, and whenever he wanted to drink, and the trough THE HORSE. GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. 221 was empty, he would take the handle in his mouth and work it himself, till a sufficiency was collected for his need. Some other instances of equal or greater saga- city in the horse may be found, as well as examples of pleasing qualities, and what we may call sound moral feeling in him. A better illustration of the sagacity of the horse could hardly be found than is contained in the follow- ing anecdote : " Mr. J. Lane, of Frescombe, in Glou- cestershire, on his returning home one day, turned his horse into a field. A few days before this the horse had been shod, and unfortunately had been pinched in the shoeing of one foot. The following morning Mr. Lane missed the horse. He caused an active search to be made in the neighbourhood, when the following circumstances transpired. The animal, it is supposed, feeling the foot to be uncomfortable, made his way out of the field by lifting the gate off the hinges with his teeth. He went straight to the farrier's shop where he had been shod, a distance of a mile and a half. The horse advanced to the forge, and held up his ailing foot. The farrier examined the boof, and discovered the injury. He took off the shoe, and re- placed it more carefully, on which the horse set off at a merry pace for his well-known pasture. Shortly after, Mr. Lane's servants, who were in search of the horse, passed the farrier's shop, and mentioned their supposed loss, when the farrier laughingly replied, f Oh, the horse has been here, and got re- shod, and has gone home again/ This they found to be actually the case/' 1 Similar intelligence was shown by a horse at Glas- 1 Rev. T. Jackson, 'Our Dumb Companions,' p. 94. 222 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. gow, who applied for relief, of his own accord, to a farrier from whom he had before received medicine. He had an internal disease, which had at one time been very severe, but from which he had for a con- siderable period been free, till one morning, when he was employed with several other horses in drawing carts, he took an opportunity at breakfast time, when he was released from his cart, and his driver's back was turned, to walk off to the farrier's workshop, which was at some little distance. When the farrier appeared, he lay down, and seemed anxious to show, by every means in his power, that he was in distress. The farrier understood him, concluded that he was troubled with his old complaint, and administered the usual dose ; and in a short time the animal trotted off contentedly to his master, who had been looking in all directions in quest of him. The following anecdote is furnished, by Mrs. Lee. 1 The horse of whom it is told is said to have previously given many proofs of great sagacity ; who is the narra- tor, she does not state. "During the winter, a large wide drain had been made, and over this strong planks had been placed for our friend, the cart-horse, to pass over to his stable. It had snowed during the night, and had frozen very hard in the morning. How he passed over the planks in going out to work, I know not ; but, on being turned loose from the cart at break- fast, he came up to them, and I saw his fore -feet slip ; he drew back immediately, and seemed for a moment at a loss how to get on. Close to these planks a cart- load of sand had been placed ; he put his fore-feet on this, and looked wistfully to the other side of the drain. 1 Anecd. of Animals, p. 332. THE HOESE. GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. 223 Tlie boy who attended the horse, and who had gone round by another path, seeing him stand there, called him. The horse immediately turned round, and set about scraping the sand most vigorously, first with one hind-foot, then with the other. The boy, perhaps won- dering what he was going to do, waited to see. When the planks were completely covered with sand, the horse turned round again, unhesitatingly walked over, and trotted up to his stable and driver." In the ' Naturalist's Magazine ' a Mr. Billows says, " When a boy, living at Whitchurch, near Blandford, in Dorsetshire, I noticed two cart-horses that were driven from a farmyard to drink. The brook was frozen over, and one horse struck with his foot to break the ice, but it was too hard to yield. The two horses then, stand- ing side by side, lifted each a foot simultaneously, and causing their hoofs to descend together, the united im- pulse broke the ice." Men could not have acted with greater sense. The fallowing pleasing anecdote illustrates at once the sagacity of the horse, and his attachment to the master who uses him, and his desire to serve him to the utmost of his power : A German gentleman, a friend of Professor Kriiger, of Halle, was riding home one dark night through a wood, and had the misfortune to strike his head against the branch of a tree, and fell to the ground stunned and senseless. As soon as this occurred, the horse went back to a house about a mile distant, where his master had just called on a friend. The family were then going to rest, and the door was barred. But the horse struck his paw against it, and continued to paw it, from time to time, till some one, startled by the noise, came and opened it. All were 224 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. surprised and alarmed to see the horse of their friend standing riderless before them ; the animal turned round, and looked about as if he wished to be followed ; and the master of the house accordingly went after it, and was conducted by it to the spot where its owner was lying. 1 When a horse in a race lays hold with his teeth of a rival that his getting ahead of him, and endeavours to keep him back, something more is shown in the act than mere instinct. Instances are recorded of this having been done by horses. A fine horse called Forrester, after having won many severely contested races, was matched against a horse of extraordinary speed named Elephant, belonging to Sir Tennison Shaftoe. The course which they had to run was four miles in extent, and, as they approached the winning- post, Elephant was gradually getting in advance. Forrester made desperate efforts to recover his lost ground, but, finding himself unsuccessful, he at last made a desperate plunge forward, and seized his rival by the jaw with such force that he could scarcely be forced to quit his hold. Another incident of the kind occurred in 1753, when a fine horse belonging to Mr. Quin, a well-known sporting character of those days, became so frantic at finding his rival gradually passing him, that he seized him by the leg, and both riders were obliged to dismount to separate the animals. 2 So in the Italian horse-races, (run by riderless horses, having girths round their bodies, to which are attached loose straps with balls of lead at the end of them armed with steel points, for the purpose of spurring the 1 Youatt, on the Horse, p. 89. 2 Ib., p. 76 ; Bell's ' British Quadrupeds,' p. 381. THE HOESE. GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. 225 animals, as their running puts the straps in motion), the horses, in their wild career, often show emulation or spite by catching and biting at one another when they are afraid of being left behind. 1 A horse has also been known to assist his rider in battle, by seizing and tearing his antagonist's horse with his teeth. A horse named Jack, which was employed in draw- ing the trucks of stone for Waterloo Bridge, used his teeth for a different purpose, as is related by Mr. Smiles in his ' Lives of the Engineers/ He was a sensible animal, and a great favourite among the workmen en- gaged on the bridge. His driver was a man of tolerably steady character, but rather too fond of a glass of ale. The railway along which the trucks were drawn passed in front of a public-house door, at which the horse was frequently pulled up while Tom. secured his glass. But on one occasion the man stayed much longer than usual, so that Jack became impatient, and thrusting his head in at the open door, took his master's collar between his teeth, in a very gentle manner indeed, yet with sufficient force to draw him out from, among his companions, and oblige him to resume his work. The skill with which the horse uses his heels, offen- sively or defensively, is justly regarded, in general, as merely the suggestion of instinct, as the use of his horns by the bull, and of his beak and claws by the bird. But I have read an account of an affair in which a horse was concerned, where he showed such cleverness and judgment in the use of his heels, that we might almost suppose he reasoned about the employ- ment of them as a man would reason about the em- 1 < History of the Horse,' by W. C. L. Martip, p. 166. Q 226 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. ployment of an instrument. The account is contained in Bishop Newton's Narrative of his own Life, and is well worthy of notice, as a demonstration at once of the sense and courage of the horse. "When the Duke of Marlborough," says the Bishop, " was sent by the British Government on an embassy to the first King Frederick of Prussia, there was a battle of beasts exhibited one day for the Duke's entertainment. A trooper's horse and a bull were turned out, and soon after were let loose a lion, a tiger, a bear, and a wolf, [all] kept hungry for the purpose. The tiger was the first to commence operations ; he crawled along like a cat towards the bull, jumped upon his back, and brought him to the ground ; when a grand scramble began over the bull's carcass, which the beasts began to tear to pieces, fighting with one another at the same time for the possession of the best pieces, or the most convenient places for infixing their teeth. They tore each other till the wolf and the tiger fell dead, or dying. There was then a long struggle between the lion and the bear ; the lion, with his teeth and claws, wounded the bear in several places, but could not penetrate much beyond the skin. At last the bear contrived to take the lion at a disadvantage, drew him within his grasp, and hugged him with such force as fairly laid him breathless. All this time the trooper's horse was grazing quietly at some distance, seeming to take not the least heed of the other beasts' proceed- ings ; but the bear, when he had overcome the lion, thought proper to give the horse his attention, and walked up confidently towards him ; but the horse, as he approached, gave him a kick on his ribs, which repulsed him for a moment, but did not deter him from THE HORSE. GOOD FEELING. 227 making a second attempt, when the horse,, raising his heels again,, inflicted such a stroke upon his head as broke both his jaws and laid him helpless on the ground; so that, contrary to the expectation of all who had come to see the contest, the trooper's horse remained sole master of the field/' What was most re- markable in the affair was the tranquillity with which the horse continued grazing during the conflict among the other animals, as if he had settled in his mind that he might calmly await the result^ being a match for any of them whenever he might be attacked. Of good feeling in the horse there are many in- stances. The following is a pleasing example of gra^- titude in a colt : A farmer's boy, who had fed a colt, and taken great care of it, was one day attacked, as he was working in a field, by a bull, from which he attempted to escape by plunging into a ditch. The animal, however, still pursued him, and would at length probably have gored him, had not the colt come to his assistance, and not only kicked the bull, bat uttered so loud a scream (for scream only could the noise be called), that some labourers who were working near at hand, came to see what was the matter, and res- cued the boy from his danger. 1 Lamartine tells a most interesting anecdote of the attachment of an Arabian horse to those about him. His master, Abou-el-Marek, had, at the head of his tribe, attacked a caravan in the night, and all were returning, laden with plunder, when they were sur- prised by a body of cavalry belonging to the Pasha of Acre, and some killed, and others made prisoners. Among the captives was Abou-el-Marek himself, who 1 Jesse's ' Gleanings in Natural History,' vol. iii. p. 44. Q2 228 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. was carried to Acre, and laid, bound hand and foot, at the entrance to the horsemen's encampment. Du- ring the night, as the pain of his wounds kept him awake, he heard his horse, which was picketed at a little distance from him, neigh ; and wishing to caress him, perhaps for the last time, he dragged himself up to the animal, and said, " Poor friend, what will be your" fate among the Turks ? You will be shut up under a roof, with the horses of a Pasha or Aga ; the women and children of the tent will no longer bring you barley, camel's milk, or dhourra in the hollow of their hands ; you will no longer gallop free as the wind in the desert ; you will no longer cleave the waters with your chest, and lave your sides at pleasure. But if I am to be a slave, at least you shall go free. Ee- turn to our tent ; tell my wife that Abou-el-Marek will come to her no more ; put your head still under the folds of the tent, and lick the hands of my beloved children. '* Uttering these words, the chief, as his hands were bound, undid the fetters which held the horse, with his teeth, and set him at liberty ; but the noble animal, instead of galloping away to the wilder- ness, bent his head over his master, and seeing him unable to rise, took his clothes gently between his teeth, lifted him up on his back, and set off home- wards at full speed. He arrived at the distant tent in the mountains in safety, laid his master at the feet of his wife and children, and immediately dropped down dead with fatigue. " The whole tribe mourned him/' says Lamartine, ' ' and his name is still constantly in the mouths of the Arabs of Jericho." 1 Of the horse's sensibility to kind treatment, we find 1 Mrs. Lee, 'Anecdotes of Animals,' p. 321. THE HORSE. GOOD FEELING. 229 a remarkable instance in one that belonged to the mi- litary people at Woolwich, This animal had proved so unmanageable, that even the boldest rough-riders were afraid to mount him. He would lie down when any one attempted to get on his back, and try to roll over him, or would endeavour to crush his leg against a post. All efforts to cure him of these tricks proving ineffectual, he was brought before the commanding officer, Colonel Quest, as an animal incurably vicious, and with a recommendation that he should be sold out of the service. The Colonel, knowing the horse to be thoroughbred, and seeing that he was a very fine animal, was unwilling to part with him, and had him transferred to the riding-school. Here he undertook the management of the horse himself; he had him led quietly into the riding-school every day 5 he al- lowed no whip to come near hirr^ but patted him, and endeavoured by gentle means to make him perform little manoeuvres. As often as he was obedient, and seemed to try to do what was required of him, he rewarded him with a handful of corn or b.eans, or a piece of bread, which he carried in his pockets in readiness. By this treatment the horse was gradu- ally rendered perfectly tame and quiet. In a little time he would kneel down while his rider mounted, and was at length brought to perform more evolutions and tricks than any other horse in the regiment could be taught to execute ; and was at the same time so free from mischief that any one might approach him with perfect security. The following anecdote illustrates the same quality in the horse's character : A lady, remarkable for her kindness to brute animals, observed one day, from her 230 EEASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. garden gate, a poor miserable horse sent to graze on an open piece of ground adjacent, with its shoulder raw and bleeding. She coaxed the animal to the gate with a piece of bread, and then contrived, with some as- sistance, to cover the wound with a plaster of soft leather spread with adhesive ointment. Shortly after- wards, the owner of the animal, a coarse unfeeling fellow, led the horse away, and the lady saw no more of him till the next' day, when he reappeared at the garden-gate, and put his head over it with a gentle neigh. On going out to him she found that the plaster had been removed, either by some person's hand or by the rubbing of his collar, and applied a fresh one to the sore. The third day he appeared again, exhibiting the wound once more uncovered, and soliciting relief in the same manner. After this application, the plaster was allowed to remain, and the horse recovered ; and ever afterwards, when it saw the lady, it would go up to her., and evidently attempt to express, by its voice and gestures, its pleasure at seeing her, and, we may well suppose, its sense of gratitude for her kindness and service. 1 The horse is capable of strong attachment, not only to man, but to his own species, and to other animals. In the portrait of the Grodolphin barb, an Arabian be- longing to the Earl of Grodolphin, is a portrait of a cat, between which and the horse a strong affection sub- sisted. The cat could not endure to be long away from the horse, and the horse became uneasy if the cat's absence was greatly protracted. The cat, indeed, gave greater proof of its affection than the horse could give ; for the horse died first, in the year 1753, at the age of 1 Martin's * History of the Horse,' p. 120. THE HOESE. GOOD FEELING. 231 twenty-nine, and the cat afterwards gradually pined away, and was said to have manifestly died of grief for its loss. 1 Mr. Youatt observes, " We do not perhaps see many instances of horse-friendship ; we do not see many in man. He is a happy man who has met with one friend in the course of a long existence. Those friendships, however, do exist. We see them to a great degree in those horses that inhabit the same stable, or draw together. The coachman well knows that he gets over his stage in less time, and with a great deal more plea- sure, when old yoke-fellows are pulling together, than when strange horses are paired. In some, the friend- ship is so intense that they will neither eat nor rest when separated from each other." He adds the follow- ing instance of this from Jesse's ' Gleanings in Natural History : ' " Two Hanoverian horses had long served together, during the Peninsular War, in the German brigade of artillery. They had assisted in drawing the same gun, and they had been inseparable compa- nions in many battles. One of them was at last killed, and after the engagement was over, the survivor was picketed as usual, and his food brought to him. He refused however to eat, and was constantly looking about him in search of his companion, sometimes neighing, as if to call him. All the care that was be- stowed upon him was of no avail. He was surrounded by other horses, but he did not notice them, and he shortly afterwards died, not having tasted food from the time his former associate was killed." 1 Elaine's ' Encyclopedia of Kural Sports,' Art. 866. 232 CHAPTER XXIV. THE HORSE. GENERAL INTELLIGENCE AND GOOD FEELING. THE ASS. THE MULE. "MAN," said Napoleon, "is the link between the in- ferior animals and the Divinity. He is only an animal more perfect than the rest. He reasons better. How do we know that animals have not a language of their own ? My opinion is, that it is presumptuous in us to deny this merely because we do not understand them. A horse has memory, knowledge, and attachment. He distinguishes his master from his domestics, although these are more constantly about him. I had a horse which distinguished me from the rest of the world, and which manifested by his bounding and haughty gait when I was upon his back, that he carried a man su- perior to those around him. He would not suffer any one to mount him, except myself and the groom that took care of him ; and when the latter was on his back, his movements were so different, that he seemed to know that he was an inferior person. When I had lost my way, I threw the bridle upon his neck, and he always found it again, in places where, with all my observation THE HORSE. GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. 233 and particular knowledge of the country, I could never have succeeded." Of Bucephalus, Alexander's horse, it is said that, when he was without his trappings, he would allow the groom to mount him, but, when he was in full dress, would suffer none but Alexander himself to get on his back. 1 It is not surprising that an animal so ready to at- tach himself to man, should, when he is in difficulties, ask assistance of man. I was told by a friend that a gentleman in one of the midland counties was one evening startled, as he was sitting with a large party at the head of his dining table, by one of his mares forcing herself into the room through the glass door that opened upon the la,wn. The animal plainly showed that she wanted something, and, being followed at last by her master, led him away into a field where he found her foal in some embarrassment, from which he had to extricate it. Another story of the same kind is told by a writer in the ' Naturalist's Magazine/ who says, " It is curious to observe how any very powerful feeling will arouse a wonderful amount of sense in the dullest and most stupid of animals. A curious instance of this," he adds, " came under my notice a short time ago. An old cart- mare, belonging to a man in the village, that looked as if it had scarcely sense to do its work, and would certes be the last animal in the world one would ex- pect to show any power of mind, had a foal this summer, and one day the old mare came galloping up the village to its owner's door, neighing, and seeming very un- easy. Its master noticing it, said, ' Something must be wrong ;' and he went out. The mare trotted off neigh - 1 Plutarch, ' Be Solertia Ammalium,' c. 14. 234 SEASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. ing, and then returned to him ; so he followed her, and she led him to the mill-dam, where he found her foal had fallen in, and was nearly drowned. Having recovered her foal, the old mare relapsed into a most profound state of stupidity, though I always look at her with a feeling of great respect, knowing how deep the love must be that could call forth such an unwonted energy of mind and promptitude of action." The horse has an excellent memory both for persons and for places. " The horse," says Mr.Youatt, 1 "never forgets a road he has once travelled. Should years pass away, and his next journey be in the dusk or in the dark, the rider has nothing to do but to let the animal have his own way, and he will safely reach the destined spot. A friend assured me that he once rode thirty miles from home on a young horse which he had bred, and neither he nor the horse had ever before seen the village to which he was bound. Two years passed over, and he had occasion to repeat the same journey. No one rode this horse but himself, and he was perfectly assured that the animal had not since been in that di- rection. A mile or two before he reached his journey's end he was quite benighted. He had to traverse moor and common, and he could scarcely see his horse's head. The rain began to pelt. ' Well,' said he, ' here I am, lost ! absolutely lost ! I know not, nor can I see an inch of my road. I have heard much of the me- mory of the horse ; it is my only hope now ; so there !' throwing the reins on his horse's neck, ' go on !' In half an hour he was safe at his friend's gate." " We knew a horse," says the author of ' The Me- nageries,' 2 "which, being accustomed to be employed 1 On the Horse,' p. 89. 2 Yol. i. p. 56. THE HOKSE. -^-GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. 235 once a week on a journey with the newsman of a pro- vincial paper, always stopped at the houses of the several customers, sixty or seventy in number. But, further, there were two persons on the route who took one paper between them, and each claimed the pri- vilege of having it first on the alternate Sunday. The horse soon became accustomed to this regulation ; and, though the parties lived two miles distant, he stopped once a fortnight at the door of the half-customer at Thorpe, and once a fortnight at the door of the other half-customer at Chertsey, and never did he forget this arrangement, which lasted for several years." "A friend told me the other day that a horse had been in the habit of going with his master a certain road, and stopping at the same inn, when those who fed him always threw some beans into the corn put be- fore him. After a time, he and his master went from that part of the country, and remained away for two years ; then the same habits were resumed, and the same inn frequented ; the latter, however, had changed its owners. While enjoying his dinner, the rider was informed that his horse would not eat ; that he ap- peared to be perfectly well, but there was something wrong about the corn, which they knew not how to rectify, for it was the very best. The gentleman went to the stable; the horse neighed, looked at him and then at the manger, and it struck him suddenly that the animal missed the food he had been accustomed to receive there, and nowhere else. f Throw some beans in/ he said to the ostler ; he was obeyed ; and the horse looked at him as if to express his thanks, and took his meal contentedly." 1 1 Mrs. Lee's Anecd, of Animals, p. 331. 236 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. Of the memory and attachment of the horse a re- markable instance is given by Colonel Hamilton Smith. He had a charger in his possession two years, which, on quitting the army, he left behind him, but which was sent away and sold in London. Three years after- wards the colonel was travelling up to town by the mail, when, on getting out at a place where the horses were changed, his attention was attracted by one of the wheel horses, and, on going up to look at it more closely, he found that the animal recognized him, and testified its pleasure by rubbing its head against him, and making little stamps with its fore-feet. The coachman, observing the horse's gestures, expressed his surprise, and asked the colonel if it was not an old acquaintance. The colonel's reply was, that it was his old charger. 1 An old favourite horse of a resident in the Temple Chambers had been sold as unfit for his service. Some years afterwards a hackney-coach was admitted into the square, when the neighings of the old horse roused his former master from his breakfast ; and we do not envy him his feelings, when he beheld the four- footed Nestor with outstretched neck recognizing his former owner's domicile. 2 The horse's memory, like that of the elephant and the dog, is sometimes subservient to the infliction of revenge, when he imagines that he has been un- fairly treated. We have seen how Sir Walter Scott's horse bore in mind, as it seems, the wrong that he fancied himself to have received by Sir Walter's desertion of him ; and how he resented it. An anec- 1 Martin's ' History of the Horse,' p. 120. 2 Elaine's ' Encyclopaedia of Eural Sports,' p. 223* THE HORSE. GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. 237 dote also appeared in the newspapers, some time ago, of a horse that fell upon his master, for some sup- posed insult, and bit and trampled him to death. A gentleman in Suffolk had an excellent hunter, of so strong and well-compacted a frame that it seemed as if it never could be tired. It appeared as fresh, when it returned from a day's sport, as when it went out. One day his master, from some caprice, vowed that he would tire the horse. He rode him accordingly through ploughed fields, and all manner of difficult ground, till the animal plainly showed himself, at the end of the course, dead beat. He was taken by the groom, and suffered himself to be led off quietly to the stable as usual. But the next morning, when his master went to see how he was, he burst from his stall with the utmost fury, breaking the halter with which he was fastened, and attacked him with his feet and teeth so violently that he would quickly have killed him, had not the groom and some other attendants beaten him off. It is told of a horse, too, at Boston, in Lincolnshire, that he retaliated on his master in a similar way for deceiving him. His master, a farmer in the neighbour- hood of the place, was accustomed, like many other farmers, to take into his field, when he wished to catch his horse, a measure of corn, to which he invited the horse, and, while he was eating it, slipped the bridle over his head. But at last he thought of de- ceiving the horse, by offering an empty measure ; but the animal, after having taken the deception quietly two or three times, looked into the measure one day when he was called, and finding it empty, turned his heels towards 'the deceiver, and kicked him till he fell dead on the spot, 238 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. Most horses, if well treated, are docile and easy to be managed. Show a horse kindness, and he will in general take pleasure in doing whatever work you require of him, to the utmost of his ability. But there occasionally appear horses, which, from natural ill- temper, refuse to submit to training, or which, from mis- management in early years, have acquired vicious pro- pensities ; and these animals are rarely, if ever, brought into satisfactory subjection. It may be considered certain, says Mr. Youatt, depending not only on his own experience, but on that also of Mr. Castley, whom he calls an excellent veterinary surgeon, that if a horse once kicks in harness, whatever be the cause, he will be liable to kick ever afterwards ; and as to riding, a man may master a refractory horse, and make him quiet for months or almost for years, but, if an oppor- tunity for mischief offers, he will be nearly sure to try his old tricks again. He heard from Mr. Castley two instances of this incorrigibility ; one of a horse, so savage that nobody could ride him, being tamed by a Yorkshire colt-breaker, named Jumper, as famous in his district as the Whisperer was in a larger area ; but though he would for a time lie down on being bidden, carry double, or submit to anything like a tame dog, he became, after being turned out to grass for a summer, as vicious as before, would never suffer himself to be mounted, and was at last with difficulty brought to go in a stage-coach. The other instance is that of a horse tamed by the Whisperer 'himself, a racer named King Pepin, belonging to Mr. Whalley. He would at times fly at any person within his reach, and seize him with his teeth, so that it was impossible to ride him without what is called a sword, a strong stick attached at one THE HOESE. GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. 239 end to the check of the bridle, and at the other to the girth of the saddle, to prevent a mischievous horse from biting his rider's leg. On one occasion, when he was to run in the Curragh, in the spring of 1804, he fiercely resisted all attempts to put the bridle on his head, and seized a countryman, who volunteered to bring him to reason, by the chest, shook him like a rat, and would probably have killed him, but that, it being holiday time, he had on, as is customary with Irish- men on such occasions, an extra quantity of his best clothing. To tame him, the Whisperer was sent for, who, after being shut up with him all night, exhibited him in the morning so obedient that he would allow any person on the course to handle him and open his mouth ; so that he was easily brought to run in the race, which he won, arid continued docile for a long time, but at length, resuming his old ways, he became so ferocious that at the end of three years he was of necessity shot. 1 What was the mode by which the Whisperer ob- tained a mastery over horses, has never been positively stated. Possibly it was the same as that by which wild horses, as related by Mr. Catlin, are subjugated among the North American Indians, after they are caught with the lasso. When the captive horse, after violent struggling, sinks down from exhaustion, the Indian, still keeping the lasso tight upon his neck, advances slowly towards his head, and contrives to fetter his two fore-feet ; he then passes a noose round the under jaw, and in spite of the animal's rearing and plunging as he recovers breath, holds him down, so as to prevent him from 1 Youatt, ' On the Horse,' p. 440. 240 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. rolling over on his back. At length he places his hand over the horse's nose and eyes, and breathes into its nostrils, after which operation it becomes tame and docile, so that he can safely unloose its feet, and lead or ride it away wherever he pleases. Nor does it ever after, it is said, show the least return of a disposition to rebel. Of the Whisperer himself we get the most com- plete account from Mr. Crofton Croker, in his ' Fairy Legends and Traditions of Ireland/ 1 His name was Sullivan, and he was an awkward rustic, ignorant of almost everything but hunting and horse-breaking. The wonder in his subjugation of horses was its celerity and ease, being effected without any apparent means of coercion. " Every description of horse," says Mr. Croker, " or even mule, whether previously broken or unhandled, submitted without show of resistance to the magical influence of his art, and in the short space of half an hour became gentle and tractable." When he proceeded to operate, he shut himself up with the object of his experiment in the stable, desiring that the door should not be opened till he gave a signal, and after a tete-a-tete of not more, in general, than the time just named, during which little or no bustle was heard, he would be seen, on the door being opened, lying down with the horse by his side, and playing with him as with a dog. In regard to one case, in which Mr. Croker witnessed the effect of his skill, he observes that the animal on which his influence had been exer- cised " appeared terrified whenever Sullivan either spoke to or looked at him." In some instances he would tame the horse without retiring with him at all, 1 Part ii. p. 100. THE HORSE. GENEKAL INTELLIGENCE. 241 having apparently some instinctive power of securing ascendency over him. His fee for each case was two or three guineas, according to the distance that he had to go ; and, had he gone abroad, as he was advised, he might have made a large fortune, but his attachment to a pack of fox-hounds at Duhallow prevented him from leaving that spot. If he whispered in the ears of horses, as he is said to have done, and thus to have gained his name, he probably adopted the trick to cover his real mode of proceeding. He died in 1810, without divulging his secret; and his son, who suc- ceeded him as a horse-breaker, had no more influence over horses than ordinary men. It may seem surprising that many people, after read- ing Mr. Catlings account, have not tried the effect of the Indian process on vicious horses in this coun- try, as Mr. Dickens' s Uriah Heep is made to try it in seducing the affections of Miss Trotwood's pony. But we hear of only one or two experiments of the kind. "Mr. Ellis, a graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge," says Mr. Youatt, " felt a desire to put the truth of Mr. Catlings statement to the test ; and as his brother-in-law had a filly scarcely a year old, and quite wild, he resolved to try the efficacy of breathing into the nostrils upon her. The operation was per- formed by a gentleman of his acquaintance, a well- known amateur in matters relating to horses, who, after with difficulty contriving to cover the filly's eyes, blew into her nostrils, and then, as the blowing seemed to produce no effect, breathed into them ; when the animal, which had been very restive, and offered great resistance to being blindfolded, stood perfectly still and trembled, and was afterwards quite tractable. 242 EEASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. On the following morning, when she was taken out again, she was perfectly tractable, so that to startle or frighten her seemed almost impossible." Of this animal we hear nothing further. But of a restive colt on a neighbouring farm, which, after having utterly foiled the breaker, allowed itself to be tamed in the same way, at the same time, and sub- mitted to be bridled, saddled, and ridden in the space of an hour, we are told that, being taken in hand by the breaker on the following day, and beaten, according to his custom, with great severity, it burst from him, and became as unmanageable as ever, show- ing that judicious treatment is necessary to keep a horse in subjection, however effectually it may seem to have been cowed. That the late Mr. J. S. Earey, who so much dis- tinguished himself in horse-taming, had any secret art of this kind for mastering unruly animals, has not, as far as I know, been asserted. In his book, assuredly, no mention is made of any such stratagem. All that he recommends, and all that he himself practised, he says, was to treat a horse with such kindness and judgment as gradually to produce in him fear, love, and confidence ; and, when these feelings are once created in him, he will, if he be made to understand what he is expected to do, do it quickly and cheer- fully. He intimates that the horse has a pleasure in the scent of the human hand, and doubtless of the human body generally, and that this liking may be turned to account in strengthening a horse's attach- ment to a person. Turning our attention from the horse to the ass, we may observe that they are far from being by nature so THE ASS. 243 stupid as is generally supposed. Most of the donkeys that we see in England are no fair specimens of the animal. Many of them, from bad feeding and treat- ment, are not well grown ; ill-usage has rendered them obstinate and reckless ; and when once the temper of an ass is spoilt, there is no possibility of making the creature tractable. It will bear number- less blows without mending its pace, or exerting itself at all the more ; and it is well for the animal, con- sidering the barbarous treatment that it experiences from boys and unfeeling men, that it has an extremely tough hide. But in its best condition, when well fed and well managed, it is capable of being trained, and attached to man, with as much facility as the horse. Buffon even says that the ass is more susceptible of strong attachment than the horse, and under a good and kind master, may be made to exhibit very great sagacity. In Arabia and Persia the ass is of a very different character from that in which he appears among us; and in Spain he is so highly bred, and brought up to such a degree of beaufcy and vigour, as to be for many purposes equal to the horse. In these countries asses are smooth and sleek; they carry their heads erect, and have finely formed legs, and walk or gallop with extreme grace and agility. " A friend of mine, a Yorkshire farmer/' says the Eev. T. Jackson, 1 " used to say that he wondered why asses were considered emblems of stupidity ; for he had several horses and only one donkey, and if ever they played him an ingenious trick, the donkey was sure to be the leader in the exploit. On one occasion he fastened up several of his horses and the one donkey 1 ' Our Dumb Companions,' p. 115. E2 244 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. in a large paddock. In the next field he had a fine crop of oats that was nearly ripe. He found that the animals entered the field, and ate a considerable quan- tity of the oats, while they spoiled much more. He set a watch early one morning, and soon discovered that the donkey, with his teeth, deliberately undid the fastenings of the spring- sneck of the gate which opened from one field into another, and so let his companions through to browse upon the oats. . . . An ass is more than a match for wild animals larger than himself, in consequence of the skill with which he takes up a defensive position, while he strikes out his hoofs with the force of a catapult." The same writer relates, on the testimony of an eye- witness, that a costermonger, who had a donkey and a dog, to both of which he was very kind, had trained the donkey to stand still whenever he had to take vege- tables from his cart into a house, and to remain stand- ing until his return, and had taught the dog to keep guard over the vehicle and its contents during his absence, by mounting on the donkey's back. When the master came back to the cart, the dog at once jumped down, and the donkey then moved on to the next customer's house. The ass, like the horse, has an excellent memory for places that he has visited, and for anything that has occurred to him in those places. An ass, belong- ing to a carrier at Wigan, used to stop with his master at a certain public-house, where the master got a pot of beer, and always allowed the animal a small share of it. At length the master turned teetotaller, and had no occasion to stop at the public-house ; but the ass could not be forced by the place until he received beer THE MULE. 245 as before ; so that the man, though abstaining from it himself, was obliged to buy it for his beast. "What is here said of the ass, may be said still more strongly of the mule. The mule -drivers in Spain never beat or vex their mules, but treat them with the kind- ness and consideration with which the Arab treats his horse, and find docility and attachment to be the re- sult. The sagacity of a mule was once an object of wonder to the sage Thales. The animal was one of a number laden with salt, and was one day observed to roll him- self in the water of a river which he had to cross, by which means much of the salt was melted, and he rose up with his load greatly lightened. He seemed to be aware of the cause, and to keep the occurrence in his memory ; for whenever he came to the same river, he always took care to stoop and let down his panniers beneath the surface, inclining first to one side and then to the other, so that both his burdens might be equally affected by the flood. Thales directed that his baskets should be filled with wool. When the animal came to the river he acted as before, but find- ing that his load had become heavier instead of lighter, he understood that that mode of proceeding had be- come useless, and for the future forded the river with such caution as not to allow his panniers even to touch the water. 1 When a temple was being built at Athens in the time of Pericles, and large stones were brought for it on cars drawn by mules, an old mule, exempted from labour on account of his age, used to come up to the other mules, as they were drawing their loads, and run 1 Plutarch, * De Solertia Animalium,' c. 16. 246 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. along the side of them, as if exhorting them to exer- tion. His zeal was so much admired that he was kept to a great age at the public expense, like a super- annuated athlete. 1 1 Plutarch, c De Solertia Animaliura,' c. 13. 247 CHAPTER XXV. THE CAT. ' ' CATS/' said Sir Walter Scott,, " are a very mysteri- ous kind of folk ; there is more passing in their minds than we are aware of/' a remark which he extended, on another ocaasion, to the rest of the domesticated animals. * Cats, however, in general, show much less of intelli- gence than dogs. But there are many instances of cats manifesting something far beyond mere animal instinct. The Rev. J. G. Wood, in his ' Glimpses into Petland/ tells us of a cat which he bred up from a kitten, and which proved itself one of the most sa- gacious of its species. One particular in which he showed his understanding was, that, though he would never allow strange cats to enter the house, he would readily offer them food, (if he thought they were look- ing for food,) in the yard; he would thus sometimes give away his dinner, and then mew for another dinner for himself afterwards. From one cat in the neigh- bourhood, which was fed upon meat from the cat's- meat man, he took away her meat, as if he thought it not good enough for her, and buried it, and then gave 248 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. her some of his own meat. He would even steal meat for his friends, and it was for some time undiscover- able how he managed to effect his thefts; for the larder was kept closely shut, both as to doors and windows ; but it was at last found that he watched the cook as she went to the apartment, crept stealthily in under her dress, and accomplished his escape in the same way. One day he came mewing piteously to the door of the dining-room. When Mr. Wood opened it, he continued to mew, looking hither and thither as if he were disturbed and perplexed about something. At last he made for the foot of the stairs, ran up two or three steps, and then looked back as if he wished Mr. Wood to follow him. When Mr. Wood did so, he led him up to his study door, and going to a heap of books that lay on the floor, he began to thrust his paws under some of the volumes, continuing to mew with seeming impatience. Mr. Wood lifted the books one after another, the cat standing by with looks of earnest expectation; and, when the last volume was lifted, forth darted a mouse, which the cat soon seized and dispatched, and then began to purr, and to gesti- culate, as if expecting to be congratulated for his acuteuess in getting assistance when he was not able to effect his object by his own efforts. A wonderful instance of intelligence in a cat, with regard to one of its kittens that had died, is told by Dr. Good, the poetical translator of Lucretius, and author of the ' Book of Nature/ from which I extract it in his own words : ' ' A favourite cat, that was ac- customed from day to day to take her station quietly at my elbow, on the writing-table, sometimes for hour THE CAT. 249 after hour, while I was engaged in study, became at length less constant in her attendance, as she had a kitten to take care of. One morning she placed her- self in the same spot, but seemed unquiet, and instead of seating herself as usual, continued to rub her furry sides against my hand and pen, as though resolved to draw my attention, and make me leave off. As soon as she had accomplished this point, she leaped down on the carpet, and made towards the door, with a look of great uneasiness. I opened the door for her, as she seemed to desire, but instead of going forwards, she turned round, and looked earnestly at me, as though she wished me to follow her, or had something to com- municate. I did not fully understand her meaning, and, being much engaged at the time, shut the door upon her, that she might go where she liked. " In less than an hour afterwards, however, she had again found an entrance into the room, and drawn close to me, but, instead of mounting the table, and rubbing herself against my hand, as before, she was now under the table, and continued to rub herself against my feet, on moving which I struck them against something, and, on looking down, beheld with equal grief and astonishment, covered over with cin- der-dust, the dead body of her little kitten, which I supposed had been alive and in good health. I now entered into the entire train of this afflicted cat's feel- ings. She had suddenly lost the nursling she doted on, and was resolved to make me acquainted with it, assuredly that I might know her grief, and probably also that I might inquire into the cause, and, finding me too dull to understand her expressive motioning that I should follow her to the cinder-heap on which 250 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. the dead kitten had been thrown, she took the great labour of bringing it to me herself, from the area on the basement floor, and up a whole flight of steps, and laid it at my feet. I took up the kitten in my hand, the cat still following me, made inquiry into the cause of its death, which I found, upon summoning the ser- vants, to have been an accident in which no one was much to blame ; and the yearning mother having thus obtained her object, and got her master to enter into her cause, and divide her sorrows with her, gradually took comfort, and resumed her former station by my side." Mrs. Lee's mother-in-law had two great favourites, a cat and a canary. The bird she kept chiefly in her bed-room, where he was allowed to fly at large, the cat being of course excluded. But the two, by some means, contrived to effect a communication with each other; and their mistress, one morning, raising her head from her work, saw the bird perched on the cat's back, the bird being free from fear, and the cat evi- dently delighted. After this time the two were al- lowed to be constant companions. But one day, when they were together in the bed-room, their mistress was alarmed by seeing Puss, after uttering a slight growl, seize the canary in her mouth, and leap with it on to the bed ; her hair bristling, her tail stiffened out, and her eyes of twice their usual size. The lady of course gave up the bird for lost ; but her alarm was ground- less, for the cause of the cat's excitement was soon apparent : the door of the bed-room had been acciden- tally left open, and a strange cat had come in ; and it was to save the bird from the intruder that his friend had seized him. As soon as the" other cat was driven THE CAT. 251 away, she set him at liberty, and he was found quite unharmed. 1 Cats have the same faculty of communicating their thoughts or notions to individuals of their own or other species as many other animals have. M. Wenzel, a German, a great observer of the in- ferior animals, who wrote a volume ( On the Language of Brutes/ had a cat that was strongly attached to a dog, from which she would never willingly be sepa- rated. The dog returned her affection, and, whenever he had any choice food, was sure to share it with the cat. They daily ate out of the same plate, slept in the same bed, and took their airings abroad together. One day M. Wenzel, to put the cat's remembrance of the dog to the test, took her into his own room, and gave her a share of his own dinner, keeping the dog excluded. His object was to see how the cat would enjoy an excellent meal without her hitherto constant companion. He observed her carefully, and saw that she enjoyed her feast, apparently in utter forgetfulness of her associate. He left half a partridge, which his wife reserved for his supper, covering it with a plate, and putting it into a cupboard, the door of which she did not lock. The cat, when the meal was over, was suffered to go where she pleased, and M. Wenzel went out on business. When he returned, Madame Wenzel surprised him with an account of what had occurred in his absence. The cat, it appears, had noticed the depositing of the half-partridge in the cupboard, though she had not seemed to pay any attention to it. When she was let out of the dining-room, she went in search of the dog, 1 Mrs. Lee, ' Anecdotes of Animals,' p. 245. 252 SEASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. and having found him, mewed extremely loud, and in different tones of voice ; sounds which the dog an- swered with short barks. They then went together to the door of the dining-room, waited till some one chanced to open it, and then entered both together. The mewing of the cat drew the lady's attention, and she stepped softly to the door, which stood ajar, to as- certain what was going on, when she saw the cat lead the dog to the cupboard, where the half of the part- ridge was, and, pulling open the door, and pushing off the plate, exhibit the intended supper of her master to her friend, who eagerly seized and devoured it. l Cats, though supposed to be attached to places rather than to persons, have often strong affection, as far as their nature permits, for those with whom they are familiar. Montaigne's cat, and Dr. Parr's, are ex- amples of such fondness. One way in which they have shown their sagacity, as well as their attachment to their masters and mistresses, has been in fixing on the perpetrator of deeds of violence committed on those connected with them. Miss Knight, in her ' Auto- biography/ gives an account of an occurrence of this kind, which came under her own knowledge. An old lady of some property, who died in Ireland, had a nephew a lawyer, who had made her will, and to whom she had bequeathed all that she possessed. The old woman had a favourite cat, which was constantly with her, and even remained close by her coffin after her death. When the funeral was over, the will was read, and on the door being opened at the conclusion of the ceremony,, the cat sprang into the room, rushed at the lawyer and seized him by the throat with such force, 1 Williams, p. 51. THE CAT. 253 that she was with difficulty prevented from strangling him. About eighteen months after this scene the man died, and was moved by remorse to confess on his deathbed that he had murdered his aunt to get pos- session of her money. Mr. Jesse records a similar occurrence. " A man/' says he, " who was sentenced to trans- portation for a robbery informed me after his convic- tion that he and two others broke into the house of a gentleman near Hampton Court. While they were in the act of plundering it, a large black cat flew at one of the robbers, and fixed her claws on each side of his face. He added that he never saw any man so much frightened in his life/' l Of a story of this kind the author of the ' Experi- ences of a Gaol Chaplain/ an animated and interesting work, has availed himself. His account is, that an old woman was murdered ; that nobody could discover the perpetrator; that a miller of the neighbourhood, whom no one suspected of anything wrong, went to visit the scene of the crime with the rest of the people .around, and that a cat, when he entered the room where the old woman's body was lying, sprang upon him, and scratched his forehead, as if she would have torn his eyes out. As he seized her, and took her off, he said, half to himself, " This is the second time you have served me so." Those who overheard the words noted them, and began to consider when the first time might have been. The discussion led to inquiries about the miller, which ended in his apprehension and conviction ; and thus the attack of the faithful cat on the murderer was the cause of his punishment. 1 Jesse's ' Gleanings in Natural History,' vol. iii. p. 123. 254 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. Mrs. Lee gives an account of a similar affair that oc- curred in France. "A physician of Lyons was re- quested to inquire into a murder that had been com- mitted on a woman of the city. In consequence of this request he went to the habitation of the deceased, where he found her extended lifeless on the floor, weltering in her blood. A large white cat was mounted on the cornice of a cupboard, at the far end of the apartment, where he seemed to have taken refuge. He sat motionless with his eyes fixed on the corpse, and his attitude and looks expressing horror and af- fright. The following morning he was found in the same station and attitude, and when the room was filled with officers of justice, neither the clattering of the soldiers' arms, nor the loud conversation of the company, could in the least degree divert his attention. As soon, however, as the suspected persons were brought in, his eye glared with increased fury, his hair bristled, he darted into the middle of the apartment, where he stopped for a moment to gaze at them, and then pre- cipitately retreated under the bed. The countenances of the assassins were disconcerted, and they were now, for the first time, abandoned by their audacious fe- rocity." l The cat, like the dog and the horse, will occasionally manifest strong resentment if offended. A favourite cat, much petted by her mistress, was one day struck by a man-servant ; an injury which she resented so much that she refused to eat anything given to her by him. Day after day he tried to conciliate her by pla- cing her dinner before her, but she drew back in sulky indignation, though she eagerly ate the food when it 1 Mrs. Lee's ' Anecdotes of Animals,' p. 248. THE CAT. 255 was offered by any other person ; and she maintained her displeasure un diminished for upwards of six weeks. The same cat, having been offended by the housemaid, watched three days for an opportunity of retaliation, and then, finding her on her knees washing the floor, flew at her, and left deep marks on her arms, as if to show that no one should ill-use her with impunity. But if her resentment was strong, her attachment to those whom she liked was not less so ; and her affec- tion for her mistress she had singular methods of showing. All the tit-bits she could abstract from the pantry, and all the dainty mice she could catch, she in- variably brought and laid at her mistress's feet. She has been known to bring a mouse to her bed-room door in the middle of the night, and mew till it was opened, when she would put it down on the floor with the greatest delight, and remain afterwards quiet and contented. 1 The sagacity of the cat is often shown in the means by which she will make her way back to any place from which she has been taken, and to which she is attached. " A cat was once conveyed to a new home, and had kittens just after her arrival. Two of these kittens were kept, and the cat seemed so happy in attending upon them, that every one thought that she would settle contentedly in the new house. But as soon as the kittens could see and eat, Puss was one day missing with one of her little ones, and it was after- wards found that she had carried the kitten all the way back to the old house, a distance of many miles, and which must have taken two or three days to ac- 1 Jesse's c Gleanings in Natural History,' vol. iii. p. 125. 256 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. complish. She must have rested often on the road, but she arrived, very much exhausted, and so weak that she could scarcely crawl. The new owners of the house pitied the starving creature, and treated her well. As soon as her strength was restored, she left her kitten in their charge, and went back to fetch the other. The second kitten was now old enough to run by her mother's side a part of the way, so that the second journey was not so fatiguing as the first." 1 The same writer mentions a story which he had read of the manifestation of feeling in a cat : " A fine tabby was lurking about a bush in which there was a black- bird's nest containing young ones. The cat was evi- dently contemplating making a meal of the little birds. The old blackbird, however, suddenly appeared, and with a mother's daring new fiercely at the cat. Puss, apparently conscience-stricken, slunk away, leaving the bird in undisturbed possession of her treasure." 2 Smellie relates that he had a cat, which was fond of visiting a certain closet, the door of which was fas- tened by a common iron latch ; and, if she chanced to be shut in it, she was quite unconcerned, for, when she wished to get out, she would mount on the sill of a window near the door, lift the latch with her paw, and throw the door open ; a practice which she continued for years. 8 Mr. Jesse observes that a cat will get cream out of a jug with her foot, as a rat gets it out with his tail, when she .cannot thrust in her head. The strong affection which a cat feels for her young sometimes leads to extraordinary manifesta- tions of sagacity and foresight in her. A cat, when 1 Eev. T. Jackson, c Our Dumb Companions,' p. 126. 2 Ib. p. 132. 3 Smellie, Pbilos. of Eat. Hist. vol. i. p. 152. THE CAT. 257 she was about to have kittens, was observed to collect several mice and young rats, which she did not quite kill, but lamed, so as to prevent them from escaping. One day, when her master was sitting at dinner, she bounced into the room in chase of one of her maimed prisoners, a young rat which the servants had noticed for some days under her surveillance in a back court. The rat darted up the window- curtain for safety, but being unable to maintain its position, was soon re- captured. 1 Like other animals, they do not lose their natural propensities by association with man; indeed inter- course with man has much less influence on cats than it has upon dogs. If such reasoning power as they have is increased by domestication, it is not increased to such an extent as to prevent them from doing ab- surd things under the sway of their instinct. All the species of the cat tribe cover up their excrement. " Most persons," says the author of the ' Menageries/ 3 " must have observed that cats effect this with ashes, earth, or whatever loose rubbish they can find near ; a habit which renders them a great nuisance in gar- dens, particularly after seeds have been sown. From the great care with which, in such cases, they draw the mould together, going round and round the circle till they seem satisfied with their work, it might be concluded to be more a rational proceeding than one arising from instinct. But cats, when confined to a room or a paved yard, go through the very same pro- cess, scratching the wooden floor or the flag-stones and going similar rounds, as in a garden or a dust- pit ; whereas, had the animals possessed much ration- 1 'Menageries,' Soc. Diff. U.K. vol. i. p. 213. 2 Vol. i. p. 309. S 258 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. ality, they must at once have perceived the folly of such attempts. So I have seen a dog take a bone to the corner of a room, and make motions about it with his nose as if he were heaping earth upon it, continuing the motions as long as he would have continued them had he been throwing up mould in the open air. 259 CHAPTER XXVI. THE FOX. THE Fox we may pronounce to be possessed of at least as much intelligence as the cat, and being obliged, in its wild state, to shift for himself, his wits are much sharpened by his necessities. He has been celebrated in all ages for his craftiness and address. Much is told of his cunning, as exerted for his own good > but little of his amiableness, except in his attachment to his young, and his occasionally assisting a brother fox. He is fond of having a fixed habitation, and of secur- ing all possible domestic comforts about him. He chooses his situation with judgment, renders his den commodious; carefully conceals, as far as he finds practicable, the approach to it ; and makes proper out* lets from it for his escape in case of necessity. The ingenuity which he shows in these arrangements ought alone, in the opinion of Buffon, to set him high among the more intelligent of quadrupeds. He likes to settle on the borders of a wood, and in the neighbourhood of cottages or farm-houses, where he can hear the crowing and cackling of the poultry. He plans expeditions against them with great judgment, and executes them s 2 260 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. in the night, always with caution and mostly with suc- cess. He leaps the wall of the courtyard, or creeps through some hole in it, puts one or more fowls to death, and then retires stealthily, either concealing what he carries off in the neighbouring herbage or thicket, or taking it away to his lair. If he has killed two he will probably take away one, and return for the second, or, if he finds it expedient to hide both, will hide them in different places. He watches bird-catchers, and if he sees birds taken in their nets, seizes and carries them off. He will dig out rabbits from their holes, and cun- ningly surprises partridges and quails on their nests. When he is hunted he makes for his dwelling, but, as the hunters have generally stopped the entrance, he darts off when he finds his home shut against him, seeking thickets and other places difficult of access, where he trusts that the dogs may be unable to follow him. His arts to elude the hounds are well known. Being extremely fond of honey, he often attacks nests of wild bees, and when they rush out and sting him he rolls on the ground and crushes them, and re- turns to the charge so often that he forces them at length to abandon the hive, from which he extracts both the honey and the wax. He sometimes lies ex- tended as if dead, and eyes the birds on the hedges and trees, and, if any come within his reach, pounces upon them and kills them. 1 Mr. St. John tells the following story of a large fox whose operations he watched on the margin of a field near a plantation. " Just after it was daylight," he says, " I saw him come quietly along ; he looked 1 See Smellie's Philosophy of Nat. Hist. vol. i. p. 405 ; Bingley's Animal Biog., yol. i. p. 225. THE FOX. 261 with great care over the turf wall into the field, and seemed to long very much to get hold of some of the hares that were feeding within it, but apparently knew that he had no chance of catching one by dint of run- ning. After considering a short time, he seemed to have formed his plans ; he examined each of the dif- ferent gaps in the wall, fixed upon one which appeared to be most frequented, and laid himself down close to it, in an attitude like that of a cat at a mouse-hole. " In the meantime I watched all his proceedings. He with great care and silence scraped a small hollow in the ground, throwing up the sand as a kind of screen ; every now and then, however, he stopped to listen, and sometimes to take a most cautious peep into the field. When he had done this, he laid himself down in a convenient posture for springing on his prey, and remained perfectly motionless, with the exception of an occasional reconnoitre of the feeding hares. When the sun began to rise, they came, one by one, from the field to the plantation ; three had already come without passing by his ambush) one within twenty yards of him, but he made no movement beyond crouching still more flatly to the ground. Presently two came directly towards him, and though he did not venture to look up, I saw, by an involuntary motion of his ears, that those quick organs had already warned him of their approach. The two hares came through the gap together, and the fox springing with the quickness of lightning, caught one and killed her immediately. He then lifted up his booty, and was carrying it off, when my rifle-ball stopped his course." 1 When the fox is troubled with fleas he will go into 1 * Sketches of the Sports of the Highlands.' 262 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. water, at first to a small depth, tlie water rising very little above the bottom of his belly : the fleas, to avoid the water, will creep up towards the top of his back. Gradually he will go deeper and deeper, till the fleas actually gather on his back, when he will sink his hinder parts gently and by degrees below the surface of the water, till the fleas are driven forward; and he will at length merge every part of his body, in the same quiet way, beneath the water, except his nose, on which the fleas will congregate as on an island. At last he will suddenly sink his nose also and withdraw, leaving the fleas to be drowned. A gentleman told Mr. Jesse that he saw a fox doing this in a lake in Italy. 1 The people of Thrace used to say that when a river was frozen over, they could judge of the thickness of the ice by observing how a fox would act if he wanted to cross ; for he would step on it gently and cautiously from the bank, and when he had advanced a little way, would put down his ear, and if he heard any sound from the current underneath, would conclude that the ice was thin and unsafe, and come back again, but, if he heard no sound, would go forward without appre- hension. 2 Of the fox's stratagems to save himself when hunted there are many anecdotes. An old man in Ireland, as he was wandering by the side of a stream that runs into the Almand, ob- served a badger walking leisurely along the ledge of a rock on the opposite bank. Soon afterwards a fox came along in the same track, and after walking some distance in the rear of the badger, leaped into the 1 Jesse's Gleanings in Nat. Hist. vol. iii. p. 26. 2 Plutarch, ' De Solertia Amraalium,' c. 13. THE FOX. 263 water. In a little time came up a pack of hounds, in pursuit of the fox, which was then floating in se- curity down the stream, leaving the unhappy badger, as the old man witnessed, to be torn to pieces in his stead. 1 In the same neighbourhood occurred a similar in- stance of sagacity in an animal of the same species. A farm servant was preparing a small piece of land, near Pumpherston Mains, for the reception of wheat, and was surprised to see a fox going slowly along in the furrow immediately before the plough. He heard behind him, at the same time, the cry of hounds, and wondered that the fox should be apparently so much at his ease ; and turning round, he saw the whole pack at a dead stand near the other end of the field, at the very spot where the fox must have entered on the newly-ploughed land. It was evident that the fox had taken this effective method of breaking the scent, and the ploughman, admiring his cleverness, concealed his whereabouts from the hunters, and allowed him to escape. 2 A fox, which had been frequently hunted in Leices- tershire, was always lost at a particular place, where the hounds could never recover the scent. The *e- peated disappointments excited some curiosity, and it was at last discovered that he jumped upon a clipped hedge, and ran along the top of it, and from thence crept into the hollow of an old pollard oak-tree, where he lay concealed till the hounds had withdrawn. Another, with similar sagacity, selected a magpie's nest as a place of retreat, but was found out through his negligence in allowing bones, feathers, and other 1 Garratt, ' Marvels and Mysteries of Instinct,' p. 121. 2 Ib. 264 SEASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. tokens of spoils, to lie exposed on the ground under the nest. 1 At a fox-hunt in Galloway, in 1819, a very strong fox was hard run by the hounds. Finding himself in great danger of being caught, he made for a high wall at a little distance, over which he sprang, and lay down close by it on the other side. The hounds of course followed, and leaped the wall also, but no sooner had the last of them crossed, than he sprang back over it again, and thus cunningly gave them the slip, and got clear off. Another, at Pittsfield, was hunted for nearly two hours by an American gentleman with two blood- hounds, at the end of which time the dogs were at fault. Their master came up with them near a large log of wood lying on the ground, and saw them, to his surprise, making a circuit of several roods without any apparent object in view, for they seemed to have lost every trace of the fox, though they still went on yelping. The gentleman, after searching about for some time, discovered the fox stretched on the log, apparently lifeless. Forbearing to disturb the animal, he endeavoured to direct the attention of the dogs to * him, but without success. In the course of his efforts he approached so near him as to be able to see him breathe ; but, even then, he persisted in main- taining the semblance of being dead. At last he aimed a blow at him with the branch of a tree, when, finding that he was avoiding one sort of death only to be in danger of another, he resolved to make one more effort for life, and, leaping from his resting- place, was caught by the dogs. 2 1 Jesse, Gl. in N. Hist. vol. i. p. 208. 2 Mrs. Lee, Anecd. of An. p. 178. THE FOX. 265 A fox that had been unearthed by dogs, after run- ning away from them for a short distance, would not leave the cover, but kept running from one part of it to another. Just as a hound was going to seize him, he turned suddenly round, and jumped over him as he came up. Thus also he acted with another and an- other, and so saved himself for some time ; but at last, tired out with leaps over a long succession of enemies, he was obliged to yield. When he was examined, the reason for his manoeuvre was found to be that he had only three feet, having probably left one of them in a trap. "The cover being entirely of furze, and not large," says Mr. Hogg, who communicated the account to Mr. Bell, " I could see all sides of him during this hunt, and was much pleased with the many elegant and quick leaps which the poor three-legged fox made to save himself from destruction." 1 An occurrence, of which an account appeared in the public prints in 1863, just after it took place, illus- trates the cunning of the fox, as well as the readiness with which foxes will assist one another, as far as they can. The gamekeeper of a gentleman near Preston, in Lancashire, was going his rounds through a wood early one morning, when he saw a large male fox fas- tened by the neck, or rather suspended by the head, between two trees that grew close together. The ani- mal had apparently exhausted itself in desperate efforts for its release ; but, having found them all use- less, had at last settled itself in quiet, and saved its life by its own cunning; for, when the keeper ap- proached, it did not pull back its head, or make any endeavour to get away, but remained perfectly at rest, 1 Bell's 'British Quadrupeds,' p. 253. 266 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. as if it were quite satisfied of the inefficacy of any at- tempts to quit its position. It merely showed its teeth. But the keeper, having also a portion of cun- ning, was able to take him out without being harmed ; he threw over him a strong net which he was carry- ing, and then easily lifted his head from between the trees. He was quite uninjured, with the exception of a slight bruise in the neck ; but his ravenousness for food showed that he must have been captured for many an hour. Being taken to the house of the keeper's master, he was put into a kennel, and chained. On the second morning after he was caught, the keeper, as he was taking him his usual meal, saw another fox, of nearly equal size, lying by him, which darted away as soon as the keeper came up. He sup- posed this to be a female fox, which might venture to pay the kennel another visit ; a supposition which was confirmed by what afterwards occurred; for, the fol- lowing night, he missed two Cochin China pullets and a bantam cock, the feathers of which he saw lying in the kennel in the morning. As the occupant of the kennel could not have gone after the fowls, it was evi- dent that they had been brought to him by another animal, probably the one which the keeper had seen ; and, a trap being set, the female was caught a night or two afterwards, when both were put to death, the one as a robber of the henroost, and the other as a participator in the stolen property. To this story one of somewhat similar nature may be appended. It tells of a fox liberating its young one ; and the affair occurred at Ruthwell, in the county of Dumfries, not very long ago. A fox hardly full-grown, was caught in a trap on a Saturday night, and was THE FOX. 267 secured during Sunday in an outhouse, against the door of which a large stone was placed. On Monday morning, when the people of the house went to look at the animal, they found that though the door had not been opened, and though the stone was still against it, the prisoner was gone. On examination, it was seen that a hole had been gnawed in the door from the outside ; and there was little doubt that the mother fox, having ascertained the place where her offspring was confined, had worked during the night in gnawing a hole for its escape ; for that the gnawing had been done on the outside was evident from the marks of the teeth. Foxes sometimes hunt in concert. The following fact was communicated to Mr. Jesse by a gentleman of strict veracity : A friend of his was in the habit of shooting over a tract of wild and rocky ground in the south of France. Part of this ground was on the side of a very high hill, which was inaccessible to sports- men, and from which hares and foxes took their way to the plain in the evening ; and between the rocks and the lower ground were two passages, in the form of channels or gulleys made by the rain. Near one of these the gentleman and his attendant had stationed themselves one evening, in the hopes of being able to shoot some hares. They had not been there long when they observed two foxes coming down, one following the other, the first of which concealed himself under a large piece of rock, and the second returned to the heights, but soon came back, chasing a hare before him. As the hare passed the rock where the first fox had hid himself, he tried to pounce upon her with a sudden spring, but missed his aim. The chasing fox 268 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. then came up, and finding that his prey had escaped through the inefficiency of his associate, he fell upon him savagely, and the two fought together with such animosity that the gentleman and his attendant came up and destroyed them both. Of the foxes in the Arctic regions, Steller, a Russian traveller, who was long detained by ill-fortune on Beh- ring's Island, gives a full account, having had ample op- portunities of studying their habits, and says that these animals, for cunning, roguery, and impudence, far exceed the common fox, for a detail of their innumerable tricks might vie with Albertus Julius's ' History of the Apes on the Island of Saxenberg/ They would roll down casks of provisions weighing some hundred-weight, and steal meat out of them with such skill that the theft could hardly be believed to have been performed without human hands. If, to hide the carcase of an animal from them, the people buried it underground and piled stones upon the spot, they would contrive to push away stone after stone with their snouts and shoulders, assisting one another till they made a way to it. If the carcase were put on the top of a high pole, one of them would either climb up the pole and throw down what was on it to his companions, or the whole would com- bine together to dig up the earth at the bottom, and lay the pole with its burden flat upon the ground. If they could not consume the whole of what they seized at once, they trailed it in portions to the mountains, where they buried it, running to and fro as long as anything remained to be conveyed away, and while the greater number were thus engaged, others stood on guard and kept watch. Charleroix says that these foxes will lay themselves down at the edge of a piece THE FOX. 269 of water, and gently move their tails in such a way as to attract foolish waterfowl to come and pull at them, when they instantly spring round and capture the birds. 1 Dr. Henderson, in his ' Journal of a Residence in Iceland/ 2 gives much the same account of these foxes. " An animal of this species," says he, " on discovering a flock of sea-gulls sitting about the shore, approaches them backwards, with his tail so raised as to resemble one of themselves ; and as it is commonly white, and he advances with slow steps, they seldom discover the intrigue until he has reached them, when he is sure to seize one of them for his prey. In the winter he scrapes up the snow to the windward and blinds them, so that they are completely taken at unawares." The same writer gives also another instance of sa- gacity in this kind of foxes, which abound in Iceland, in the vicinity of the North Cape, where they hunt various species of seafowl. " They proceed," he says, " on their predatory expeditions in company, and, pre- vious to the commencement of their operation, they hold a kind of mock-fight upon the rocks, in order to determine their relative strength. When this has been fairly ascertained, they advance to the brink of the precipice, and taking each other by the tail, the weakest descends first, while the strongest, forming the last in the row, suspends the whole number till the foremost has reached their prey. A signal is then given, on which the uppermost fox pulls with all his might, and the rest assist him as well as they can with their feet against the rocks. In this way they proceed from 1 Bingley's c Animal Biography,' yol. i. p. 230, 233. 2 Vol. ii. p. 99. 270 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. rock to rock, until they have provided themselves with a sufficient supply/' Pontoppidan, speaking of the foxes in those parts, says that a man was one day surprised to see one of them near a fisherman's house, laying a number of cods' heads in a row. He watched to see what would follow ; and saw the fox hide himself at a little dis- tance, and pounce upon the first crow that came to taste them. 1 This was indeed employing a means to an end, and ought to set the fox, according to Dr. Dar- win's notion, high among rational beings. In giving an anecdote of the English fox, Sir Ben- jamin Brodie, in his ' Psychological Inquiries,' 2 takes occasion to observe how much the lower animals, even the most intelligent of them, are slaves to their in- stincts and appetites. " The object immediately before them," he observes, " seems to supersede every other consideration." "In a hunt," (as Sir Benjamin was told by a gentleman who saw the occurrence,) "the hounds had very nearly reached the fox, when a rabbit crossed his path. Apparently forgetting his own dan- ger, the fox turned on one side to catch the rabbit, and was soon after himself seized by the dogs with the rabbit in his mouth." Whatever portion of reason, therefore, we may consider the fox to have, he had not enough to control the force of his instinct, or he would certainly have done so at that moment, and have thought more of preserving his life than of gratifying his appetite. 1 Bingley's An. Biog. yol. i. p. 227. 2 Part ii. p. 142. 271 CHAPTEE XXVII. MONKEYS AND APES. THE general intelligence of monkeys and apes, except in the faculty of imitating what they see done by other animals, and especially by man, appears scarcely equal to that of the elephant, the dog, or the fox. As- suredly they are unequal to those animals in approxi- mation to what in mankind we call common sense. They have much cunning, but little reason to guide them in turning their cunning to any useful purpose. We shall offer a few remarks on their character, and add a few anecdotes in illustration of it. It has been said that they approach nearer to man in understanding than any other animal in their use of instruments. One mode in which they use an instru- ment is the following, as told by Gemelli Carreri in his ' Voyage Round the World/ where he says of the orang-outangs that they come down to the seacoast to seek a large species of oyster, of which they are very fond, and that when they find any of these fish with their shells open, they will not thrust in their paws, but will insert a stone between the shells to prevent them from closing, and then tear out the fish at their 272 SEASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. leisure. 1 Dampier relates that monkeys go still fur- ther in the use of an instrument ; for he says he has seen them on the coast of South America take up an oyster from the beach, lay it on a stone, and beat it with another oyster till the shells of one or both were broken, so as to allow them to devour the contents. Wafer says that he has seen monkeys on the island of Gorgonia lay the oyster on a stone, and beat it with another stone for the same object. 2 It is also said that they break the hard pod of the Brazil nut in a similar way, laying it on the branch of a tree or on another stone. 3 But monkeys are not the only ani- mals that have hit upon stones for tools ; birds also, it is said, have found out the use of stones in dealing with oysters, and an eagle is asserted to have turned ^Eschylus's head into a instrument for breaking a tor- toise. We shall have something more to say hereafter on the use of instruments by animals. Another way in which they use tools is taking sticks to beat anything hostile. . Mr. Gosse tells us how the greatest of all apes, the gorilla, wields his staff against the elephant. " The old male," he says, ' ' is always armed with a stout stick, and knows how to use it. The elephant has no intentional evil thoughts towards the gorilla, but unfortunately they love the same sorts of fruit. When the ape sees the elephant busy with his trunk among the twigs, he instantly regards it as an in- fraction of the laws of property ; and, dropping quietly down to the bough, he suddenly brings his club smartly down on the sensitive finger of the elephant's 1 ' Naturalist's Library,' vol. ii. p. 33. 2 Bingley, An. Biog. vol. i. p. 88. s Mrs. Lee, c Anecdotes of Animals,' p. 28. MONKEYS AND APES. 273 proboscis, and drives off the enraged animal trumpet- ing shrilly with, rage and pain." 1 At the English fort at Wimba, on the coast of Guinea, several apes surprised two of the slaves, and were just going to poke out their eyes with sticks, when a party of negroes came up and rescued them. 2 Such is their use of instruments ; but how far their reason and judgment extends in the application of them, is shown in the account of the female orang-outang described by Yosmaer, which, see- ing the padlock of her chain opened with a key, put a bit of stick into the key -hole and turned it about, in the hope of its producing the same effect as the key . 3 "When we speak of the monkey's use of tools, we mean his use of such tools as he takes for himself in his natural state. Those which he uses when domesti- cated with man, as spoons or forks, he uses, not from intelligence, but from mere fondness for imitating what he sees done. In this direction, by indulgingJiis pro- pensity, he makes wonderful progress. Thus, one of the chimpanzees in the Zoological Gardens at Paris would sit in a chair, set out his own dinner, and eat with his knife and fork. He would also, when drinking tea, make a proper use of his spoon, and seemed to delight in assimilating himself to all the habits of his keeper's family. 4 Such also was the case with one in the Zoo- logical Gardens in the Regent's Park; it learned to use the knife and fork, but preferred a spoon, which it handled as well as any child of seven or eight years old. 5 The orang-outang which Buffon closely ob- served would present his hand to conduct the com- 1 Gosse, ' Komance of Natural History,' 1st series, p. 258. 2 Bingley, ' Animal Biography,' vol. i. p. 57. 3 Ib. p. 61. 4 Mrs. Lee, ' Anecdotes of Animals,' p. 16. 2 Jesse, Gleanings in Nat. Hist., vol. ii. p. 42. I 274 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. pany who came to see him, and walk along as gravely as they walked ; he would " sit down at table, unfold his napkin, wipe his lips, use a spoon or fork to carry his food to his mouth, pour his liquor into a glass, and make it touch that of the person who drank with him. At tea he would fetch a cup and saucer, place them on the table, put in sugar, pour out the tea, and allow it to cool before he drank it." But to keep him at these performances, till they were quite gone through, signs and orders from his master were occasionally requisite, though he would frequently go through them of his own accord. 1 Their wonderful faculty of imitation was noticed in days of old. Thus ^Elian 2 tells us of an ape that he himself saw, which, by imitating the motions of a charioteer, became skilful in driving horses, relaxing and tightening the reins, and using the whip with the greatest apparent judgment. The same author, also, gives a story of another ape, whose ardour for imita- tion was not quite so harmless ; for having observed, from some elevated position, a nurse in a chamber un- dressing a child, and dipping it into a bath, he made his way, as soon as the nurse was gone, through an open window into the room, undressed the child again, and plunged it, not into such water as the nurse had used, but into a pan of boiling water, and so put an end to its life. 3 This propensity for imitation is sometimes turned to their own destruction. Looking again into ^Elian, 4 we find accounts of stratagems for catching them adopted by hunters. One would put on a pair of 1 Buffon, vol. viii. p. 86, Eng. Traiisl. 2 De Natura Animalium,' vol. xxvi. 3 Ib. vii. 21. 4 Ib. xvii. 25. MONKEYS AND APES. 275 shoes in the sight of an ape, and then, going away, leave a pair of leaden shoes with springes attached, into which the ape would be sure to thrust his feet, and equally sure not to be able to draw them out. Another would use a looking-glass while an ape was observing him, and then leave another glass in its place with a trap affixed to it, in which the animal, while admiring himself in the glass, would assuredly be caught. Another would wash his face with water from a basin in sight of an ape, and place another basin for the imitator filled with a strong solution of bird-lime, with which it would glue down its eyelids, and be caught in a state of blindness. " We have heard, too," says a writer in the ' Naturalist's Library/ 1 e ' of monkeys cutting their throats in imitation of the feigned action of the person whom they annoyed, and of one who killed himself by infusing a paper of to- bacco with milk and sugar, instead of tea, drinking it as he had observed some sick sailor do." But they show, in their wild state, considerable in- telligence in the ways in which they act in concert, and support and assist one another. The species called the Barbary Apes often assemble in great numbers in the open plains of India, and form associations. Ta- vernier informs us that as he was travelling in the East Indies, in company with the English president, they observed several large apes upon the trees near them ; and the president requested Tavernier to shoot one of them. The native attendant, who was well ac- quainted with the dispositions of these animals, begged him to desist, for fear the survivors should do them some mischief in revenge. As the president was urgent, 1 Yol. ii. p. 52. 276 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. however, Tavernier killed a female, which fell among the branches, letting her little ones, which clung to her neck, fall" to the ground. In an instant all the other apes, to the number of sixty or more, leaped down from the trees in a fury, and sprang, as many of them as could, on the president's coach, and would soon have over-mastered Tavernier, had not the at- tendants been numerous enough to drive them off. Still they continued to follow, and watch for an op- portunity of attack, for at least three miles from the spot where their companion was slain. 1 In Job Ludolphus's ' History of ^Ethiopia/ there are some accounts of apes that set their understandings in a more favourable light than most other stories that are told of them. It is there stated that the ^Ethiopian and Abyssinian apes, going up and down in flocks of a thousand or more, and being very fond of worms and other small animals to be found under stones, turn up the stones for the purpose of discovering them, and that, if one comes to a stone which he cannot lift, he calls for one or more of his brethren, till enough are gathered round to raise it; that they often invade gardens for the sake of the fruit, but that they will never venture into them till they have sent spies before, and learned from them that the way is safe ; and that, if the young ones make a noise, they beat them into silence with their fists ; and also, that when they are pursued by larger beasts, and despair of escaping them by speed, they will make a halt, and, filling their paws with dust and sand, fling it in the eyes of their enemy, and then take to flight again. 2 1 Bingley's c Animal Biography,' vol. i. p. 68. 2 ' Naturalist's Library,' vol. ii. p. 32 ; ' Menageries,' vol. i. p. 39 ; Broderip, Zool. Eecreations, p. 219. MONKEYS AND APES. 277 These African apes, when they go in a bodj^ as they often do, to plunder gardens or plantations, always send one of their party to the top of an adjacent tree or high ground, as a sentinel to keep watch, who, if he perceives any person approaching, utters a peculiar kind of shriek, at which the whole troop immediately make oft' with whatever they have seized. There is a larger species of South American monkey, called ouarines, which, on account of a certain odd practice which they have, are often called preachers. Marcgrave, in his ' History of Brazil/ relates the fol- lowing facts concerning them, which he himself, he says, has often witnessed. Every morning and even- ing they assemble in the woods, when one of them takes a position higher than the rest, and makes a signal with one of his fore-paws for them to sit round him and listen. When they are all seated, he begins to utter a long succession of sounds, rapid and loud, so as to be heard at a great distance, while all the rest observe profound silence. When he stops, he gives another signal with his paws, and all the others then cry 'out together, and continue to make a confused noise till he gives a third signal, when they all become quiet again. He then recommences his seeming ha- rangue ; they again listen to him for a while, and the assembly disperse. Marcgrave makes no conjecture about the object of these apparent addresses ; nor has- his account, as far as I know, been confirmed by any subsequent writer; but, if the statement be true, the preachings must have as much meaning for those ani- mals as our public speeches have for us. 1 1 Smellie's Phil, of Nat. Hist. vol. ii. p. 425, from Marcgrave's Hist, of Brazil, p. 226. 278 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. The account of these preaching monkeys may re- mind the reader of another ludicrous story of a mon- key 's imitation. Pere Carbasson, a French abbe, brought up an orang-outang, which became so fond of him that, where- ever he went, it always showed a desire of accompany- ing him ; and whenever, therefore, he had to perform service in his church, he was under the necessity of shutting it up at home. On one occasion, however, the animal escaped and followed the preacher to the church, where, silently mounting the sounding-board above the pulpit, he lay perfectly still till the sermon commenced. He then crept to the edge, and, over- looking the preacher, imitated all his gestures in so grotesque a manner that the whole congregation were irresistibly urged to laughter. The father, surprised and confounded at this ill-timed levity, severely rebuked his audience for their misconduct. The reproof was without effect ; the congregation continued to laugh ; and the preacher, in the warmth of his zeal, redoubled his earnestness of remonstrance and gesticulation; and the ape imitated him so exactly that the audience could no longer maintain the least restraint on them- selves, but burst into loud and universal laughter. At length a friend of the preacher stepped up to him and showed him the cause of his hearers' be- haviour; and such was the arch and ludicrous de- meanour of the animal, when discovered by his master, that the father himself could hardly command the muscles of his countenance, and keep himself appa- rently serious, while he ordered the attendants to take him away. 1 1 Bingley's An. Biog! vol. i. p. 66 ; Garrett, * Marvels of Instinct,' p. 76. MONKEYS AND APES. 279 Mr. Broderip tells a story of an ape that lived with an old pig-tailed bachelor in some country town, and that would sit quietly and decorously at the dinner- table in a high child's chair, eating and drinking only of what was set before him or handed to him. One day, at a small dinner-party at his master's, at which Jacko was allowed to be present, there was some apri- cot tart on the table, to which the host helped several of his guests, but omitted to help Jacko. Jacko de- voured the tart for a time with his eyes, and at last, unable longer to restrain his desire for devouring with his mouth, put his paw quietly behind his master, and pulled his pig- tail. His master, startled and surprised, gave him a look, and Jacko, glancing alternately at his master's face and at the tart, made known what he wanted, and was pardoned his importunity and helped to a handsome slice. Mr. Broderip would make it ap- pear that Jacko' s intention in pulling his master's pig- tail, instead of touching him on the arm or shoulder, was that his hint of the inattention might be unob- served by the guests at the table ; but the justice of this view of the proceeding may be doubted. Some men, as Monboddo and Kousseau, who have no great notion of the dignity of their species, would fain persuade us that man is but a better developed monkey. It is well that those of a contrary opinion have Professor Owen on their side. Among many observations which that learned anatomist makes on this subject, he remarks that the difference in struc- ture of the feet and the teeth in man and the ape is sufficient to show that they are not one and the same animal. In man the muscle called flexor longus pollicis pedis terminates in a single tendon, concentrating its 280 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. force in the great toe, the principal point of pressure for raising the body on the heel for walking. In the ape this muscle terminates in three tendons spreading into the three middle toes, so as to enable them to grasp more firmly, and suit the requirements of an animal that climbs and sits upon trees. " Surely," says Mr. Owen, " it is too much to require us to be- lieve that, under any circumstances, these three ten- dons should become consolidated into one, and the one become implanted into a toe to which none of the three separate tendons were before attached." As to the teeth, he remarks that the germs of them exist be- fore the animal is born, and that, ' ' let a monkey im- prove his thinking faculties as he may, they must, in obedience to an irresistible law, pass through their phases of development, and induce those remarkable changes in the maxillary portion of the skull, which give to the adult orangs a more bestial form and ex- pression of head than many of the inferior simice pre- sent." 1 As to the physiognomies of man and the ape, it is well observed by Mr. Lawrence, that, while the human countenance is an organ of expression, an in- dex of what is passing within, the brute face is merely an instrument for procuring and preparing food ; and often an offensive and defensive weapon. Man could not, if he wished, walk on all fours, for he would be unable to keep his face raised so as to look forwards; nor can the monkey walk constantly erect, for he is destitute, like other quadrupeds, of any calf, or other muscular formation in his hind legs, to support him. (e Man," remarks Lawrence, ' { is bimanous and biped ; 1 Broderip, Zool. Kecr. p. 250. MONKEYS AND APES. 281 monkeys and apes can neither be called quadrupeds nor bipeds ; they are quadrumanous or four-handed, their fore-feet and hind-feet being equally formed for prehension. The orang-outangs, therefore, and other simicB, neither go erect in their natural state, nor on all-fours, but live chiefly in trees, for which they are admirably adapted by having prehensile members, in- struments for grasping and holding, both on the upper and lower extremities. Hence Cuvier calls them " Les grimpeurs par excellence." They love to be in trees, in which they find much of their food ; they can hang in them by one fore or hind leg, employing the remaining members in gathering fruit or in other ways ; and those which have less efficient hands are furnished with prehensile tails, with which they can be more securely supported in trees. The delineations of the orang-outang and chimpanzee, taken from the life, show how unnatural and inconvenient the erect posture would be to them; the hind feet, or rather hands, have the toes bent something like a clenched fist. The pelvis is narrow; the muscles of the but- tocks and calves are of small size ; the os calcis has no great prominence, and does not come to the ground. No ape can sustain the body on one foot only, like a man, with the sole spread flat on the surface of the ground; the outer edge of the ape's foot alone touches the ground, and the toes, as has been said, are bent." 1 As to the monkey's brain, indeed, it comes nearer in size to the human brain than that of any other of the mammalia. The weight of a man's brain, in proportion to that of his body, averages about 1 to 27; that of the long-armed ape about 40 ; while that of 1 Lawrence's Lectures, p. 138. 282 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. the fox, which comes next, is only as 1 to 205 ; that of the horse as 1 to 400 ; and that of the elephant as 1 to 500. 1 But there is this difference between the human brain and the monkey' s, that the cerebral hemispheres in man are prodigiously developed, to an extent to which no animal, whatever ratio its en- cephalon may bear to its body, affords any parallel. 2 The organs of speech in the monkey seem as fully formed as those of man, but the want of power in the brain, the want of connected thought and the faculty of reasoning, leaves them useless and inert ; and man himself, as Hobbes observes, could, without speech, have had no commonwealth or society more than lions, bears, or wolves. Camper is even said to have proved by dissection that the orang-outang is incap- able of speech. 3 There has been among monkeys, however, one case of suicide j for Sir Stamford Raffles, when he was in Java, had a pet monkey, which, on being corrected for faults, attempted to destroy itself, and, after two ineffectual attempts, at last succeeded ; and as suicide, observes Mr. Jesse, has hitherto been considered as confined to the human race, monkeys are thus brought nearer to us than might be wished. 4 Looking a little more at the doings of monkeys, we may see that much of what they perform of themselves is utterly unmeaning and without any good purpose ; so that the tricks which the foolish among human beings play, the practical jokes and other nuisances to 1 Garratt, ' Marvels of Instinct,' p. 23. 3 Lawrence's Lectures, p. 169. 3 Jesse, ' Gleanings,' vol. i. p. 253, citing Blumenbach. 4 Jesse, Gleanings in Nat. Hist. vol. ii. p. 77. MONKEYS AND APES. 283 reasonable persons, are very properly called monkey tricks. But monkeys, as Mrs. Lee justly^remarks, ap- pear to be very improperly called frolicsome, mirth- ful, and merry, for they go through all their proceed- ings in sober seriousness. They steal; they outwit one another, and human beings, when they can ; they tear and destroy whatever surrounds them in a domes- tic condition ; but they do not seem to enjoy the mis- chief; they seem to contemplate and effect it as a business. They lay artful plans to effect their mis- chievous purposes; but all with solemn gravity. Mrs. Lee has often watched them in their wild state in the woods, and says, "Do you stand under a tree, whose thick foliage completely screens you from the sun, and hope to enjoy perfect shade and repose ? A slight rustling proves that companions are near; presently a broken twig drops upon you, then another ; you raise your eyes, aud find that hundreds of other eyes are staring at you. In another minute you see the gro- tesque faces, to which those eyes belong, making grimaces, as you suppose; but it is no such thing; they are solemnly contemplating the intruder; they are not pelting him in play; it is their business to drive him from their domain. Eaise your arm; the boughs shake ; the chattering begins ; and the sooner you decamp, the more you will show your discretion." 1 The monkey tribe have a good memory of affronts, and the better disposed among them of good treat- ment. Mrs. Lee relates that she once annoyed a monkey in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, by prevent- ing him from appropriating the food of one of his com- 1 Mrs. Lee, ' Anecdotes of the Habits and Instincts of Animals,' p. 10 j Garratt, ' Marvels of Instinct,' p. 49. 284 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. pardons, and, in the course of the proceeding, gave him a knock on his paw. He was dreadfully pro- voked, rolled himself about and screamed, and would probably have done her some mischief, if strong wires had not protected her. Nor did he ever forget the offence. Whenever she visited the garden subse- quently, he would manifest the utmost rage as soon as he heard her voice, and after a lapse of several months, during which she had been constantly absent, he seized on her gown while she stood too near his cage, dragged a portion of it within the bars, and bit a large piece out of it, though it was made of very strong material. 1 A somewhat better-tempered monkey Mrs. Lee her- self brought from Senegambia, having given it to her daughter, then but a child, whom he did not hesitate to bite and scratch whenever he considered that he was handled too roughly. Mrs. Lee punished him when he thus offended, but caressed him when he was well-conducted, and so acquired an ascendency over him. Being mischievous in London lodgings, she was obliged to fasten him to the bars of a stove ; and he was no sooner let loose than he tried to break every- thing within his reach. At last, to get rid of him, it was resolved to present him to the Jardin des Plantes. Mrs. Lee took him there, and, while she stayed at Paris, paid him daily visits. When she ceased to go to him, he showed, as the keeper told her, great dis- appointment, perpetually watching for her return. Two years after, she went again to see him, and when she said, that it must have flown at an aver- age of twenty-four miles an hour. Fish have the same power as many land animals of finding their way back to places in which they have been bred, or to which they have become attached. A gentleman who often fished in the Thames was in the habit . of marking many of the fish which he caught, taking them miles up the river in the well of his boat, 1 ' Dialogue on Instinct,' Dial. iii. ANIMALS FINDING WAY FEOM PLACE TO PLACE. 335 and then turning them loose ; and he frequently caught them a second and a third time in the place where they were originally taken. Salmon, too, are supposed to return in all cases to the river where they were bred. Mr. Alexander Fraser, in his ' Natural History of the Salmon/ tells us that in February, 1829, he marked several grilse by cutting off the fin above the tail, and that in the following September he caught two of them, then grown into large fish of about fourteen pounds weight, very near the ground where they were marked. Mr. Mackenzie, of Ardross, he also observes, tied wire round the tails of some breeders returning to the sea in March, 1824, and caught one of them thus marked just a year after- wards, doubled in size. Various similar experiments have been made with like results. But it is not sup- posed that salmon go to so great a distance from their native place as that from which dogs and horses find their way home. 1 When the fishermen take a crab that is not in good condition, they put it back into the sea, and sometimes make a mark on its back with the point of a knife or other sharp instrument, which mark will not only remain on the old shell, but will be found on the succeeding new one ; and they say that though these marked crabs be carried out to the distance of two or three miles from the shbre, they will always find their way back to their old haunts, as they know by having retaken them there. 2 But the most extraordinary story told of a fish find- ing its way is the following, which is related by Mr. Jesse concerning the tortoise : 1 Jesse's Gleanings in Nat. Hist. vol. i. p. 78. 2 Bingley's An. Biog. vol. iii. p. 381. 336 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. " An officer of rank in the British army informed me that a ship, which touched at the island of Ascension, on her way to England, took in several large turtle, and, among others, one which from some accident had only three fins. It was in consequence called, and known on board the ship, by the name of the Lord Nelson. It was marked in the usual way by having certain initials and numbers burnt upon its under shell with a hot iron,- and which marks are known never to be obliterated. Owing to various causes, the ship was a long time on her passage homewards, a cir- cumstance which occasioned many of the turtle to die, and most of the rest were very sickly. This was the case with the Lord Nelson, and it was so nearly dead, when the ship arrived in the Channel, that the sailors, with whom it was a favourite, threw it overboard, in order, as they said, ' ( to give it a chance." Its native element, however, appears to have revived it, for two years afterwards the very same turtle was again taken at its old haunt on the island of Ascension. The proofs brought forward of the accuracy of the state- ment place its authenticity beyond a doubt, and it affords a most extraordinary instance of the wonderful instinct possessed by animals. When we consider the vast tract of waters this turtle had to pass through, and that the island of Ascension is only a little speck in the mighty ocean, it is impossible not to reflect with wonder upon the unexplained instinct which enabled so unwieldy, and apparently so stupid an animal, to find its way back to itii former haunts." 1 In this we can hardly suppose but that there must have been some- thing of chance. 1 Jesse' Gleanings in Nat. Hist. vol. iii. p. 76. ANIMALS FINDING WAY FROM PLACE TO PLACE. 337 Among insects, the bee kind have the same faculty of finding their way, and the unerring readiness with which they exercise it is marvellous. A bee will take its way to its own hive among scores of others exactly similar in appearance, flying to it as straight, and almost as swiftly, as a ball from a gun ; and it is well for bees that it is so, for, if they were at all puzzled as to their course, how much time would the} lose, and how would their labours be delayed and rendered inefficient ! Honey -finders in America dis- cover bees' nests by catching two bees, carrying them to some distance apart, and letting them fly. Each will at once take the straight line towards the nest, and by observing these two lines, and noticing when they in- tersect, the nest is found. Their instinct in this re- spect is the more remarkable, as the bees' vision, from the convex form of the eye, is known to be extremely limited ; insomuch that she is supposed to see not much more than a yard before her. 1 A multitude of bees were seen, on more than one occasion, stirred to the swiftest flight homewards by the approach of a thunderstorm. The house, in which the spectator lived, had a flower-garden on one side, and a kitchen- garden, in which stood the hives to which the bees be- longed, on the other ; and one large room in it had windows opening on both the gardens. Sometimes in summer the windows on both sides would be open, and the bees would find a passage through the room. But at times the window nearest to the hives might be shut, and if a storm arose, the insects, in their eager- ness to get home, would rush in at the window on the other side, fly across the room with a speed that made 1 Lord Brougham's ' Dialogues on Instinct,' dial. iii. Z 338 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. them almost invisible, and knock their heads against the glass of the closed window with a shock that brought them senseless to the floor. On recovering themselves, as they quickly did, it might have been expected, if they reasoned upon their proceedings, that they would have turned back, flown out at the open window, and made their way over or round the house towards their hives ; but, instead of doing this, they would, on rising from the floor, fly at the glass with seeming fury and anger, as if bent on forcing a passage through it, and as if no other course towards their hives were discoverable. Dogs, under similar circumstances, would have turned back and sought another road. 1 In concluding this subject, we may observe that the faculty of finding the way from point to point, without any mark to direct, is also possessed to a certain ex- tent by human beings in the savage state. A gentle- man, who lived some years in Australia, informed Mr. Jesse that, having occasion to go a great distance into the interior, he lost his way, and should have been un- able, he supposes, to return, but for the assistance of one of the natives, who conducted him in a straight line of more than a hundred miles to the place where he wished to reach, and who, he was assured, could have guided him as well blindfold, for he travelled as accurately when the sun was obscured as when it was visible. He was not assisted by marks on the bark of trees, or anything else but an instinct similar to that of the carrier pigeon. 2 Mr. Jesse observes that it is an interesting subject 1 Q-arrett's ' Marvels of Instinct,' p. 37. 2 Jesse's ' Gleanings,' vol. ii. p. 228. ANIMALS FINDING WAY FROM PLACE TO PLACE. 339 of inquiry why the instinct which is possessed by the savage man should be lost to man as his faculties be- come more cultivated. A savage man will find his way for scores of miles by instinct ; a civilized man has no sense or feeling of such instinct. z 2 340 CHAPTER XXXI. BIRDS. BIKDS, though they, are not generally regarded as having much understanding, yet exhibit, at times, a considerable portion of it. Arcussia, an old French writer on hawking, declared that they were possessed of greater intelligence than any others of the inferior animals; but this assertion appears to have been in the same spirit in which dancing-masters, and other professors of small arts, represent their pursuits as the most important of all human occupations. How- ever, we find various instances of acuteness displayed by birds. ' t Who taught the raven in a drought/' asks Bacon in his ' Advancement of Learning/ 1 " to throw pebbles into a hollow tree, where she espied water, that the water might ( rise so as she might come to it T' Having asked this question, he next inquires, ' ' Who taught the bee to sail through such a vast sea of air, and to find the way from a field in flower a great way off to her hive ?" Or, "Who taught the ant to bite every grain of corn that she burieth in her hill, lest it should J Bookii. BIRDS. 341 take root and grow ?" But it is plain that these cases of the bee and the ant are very different from that of the raven and the pebbles. When the ant bites off the end of a grain of corn, she does only what she is prompted to do by that which we call instinct ; she does it she knows not why, as it seems to us; and she cannot help doing it. Her proceeding is not the result of experiment, producing in her a conviction that what she does is for the best. The ant did the same with the first grain of corn that it ever seized for laying up, has gone on doing the same ever since, and will continue to do so, as far as we can judge, as long as it shall continue to raise hills. But with the raven and the water the matter is entirely different; the raven has not to put pebbles in his water every time he drinks, as the ant has to bite every grain of corn before she lays it up ; but, when she sees water that she cannot reach, she has to find out some means of bringing it within her reach; she considers, and thinks of getting pebbles into it; and her mode of proceeding appears to us as much the result of reason (though of a, lower degree of exercise of it) as man's invention of the pump. When the raven builds her nest, she builds it, like other birds, under the prompt- ing of instinct, but when she finds herself necessitated to raise water to a certain level, she hits upon the means of raising it by the exercise of a portion of reason. Whether there have been eye-witnesses of the raven throwing pebbles into water, (as there have been eye- witnesses of the rat dipping his tail into an oil-bottle and giving it to his neighbour to lick,) I do not know ; but it may be supposed that such a contrivance would 342 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. N hardly have been imputed to the raven if it had not occurred. The belief in ravens exercising such in- genuity is as old as the time of Plutarch, who men- tions it in his ( Treatise on the Sagacity of Animals/ 1 The crow kind are generally considered, I believe, to be among the most sagacious or intelligent of the feathered tribes. Lord Campbell, in his ' Lives of the Chancellors/ declares that the crows in Scotland (and Dr. Darwin says something similar of the crows of England) are able to distinguish Sunday from the other days of the week, and that though, on every working-day, they will take good care to keep out of the reach of gunshot, they will on the Sabbath come close to the houses, and pick up their food within a few yards of the farmer and his men, being able to tell the recurrence of the day of rest from the ringing of the bells and the discontinuance of field labour, and feeling certain that on that day they are safe from molestation. This is perhaps rather too much for belief; but it is certain that the Scotch have a high opinion of the sagacity and cunning of that species of bird. Captain M'Clure, the Arctic voyager, who had experience of the ravens a good deal further north, tells an amus- ing anecdote of two ravens that came about his ship in Mercer Bay, a place so near the Pole that he found wine frozen within a yard of the fire. These two birds, he says, established themselves as friends of the family for the sake of scraps of food thrown to them by the ship's crew. But the dog belonging to the ship, regarding their pickings as an encroach- ment upon his rights, used to fly at them from time 1 De Solert. An. cap. 10. BIRDS. 343 to time, and try to catch, hold of them with his mouth . But the birds took good care to baffle him; they used, at the time when the mess-tins were cleared out on the dust-heap, to throw themselves intentionally in his way, and when he sprang at them, would fly only a few yards off; and then, when he made another spring, they would take finother flight, till they had tempted and lured him to a considerable distance from the shore. They would then fly back, at their utmost speed, to the dust-heap, and had generally picked out the best scraps, and either devoured them or got them ready for carrying off, before the dog could re- turn to prevent them. How often this was repeated, Captain M'Clure does not say; but it may be sup- posed that the good sense of the dog would not always allow him to be outwitted in that way. Dr. Darwin remarks that apprehension of danger from mankind is more apparent in rooks than in any other birds. Any person who has paid the least at- tention to their ways, will have observed" that they even consider a man to be more formidable when armed with a gun than when he is weaponless; for they will follow a ploughman along the furrow, each striving to be nearest him, in order to have the best chance of the turned up worm. In the spring, when there are young in the nests, if a man happen to walk under a rookery with a gun in his hand, the inhabi- tants of the trees will rise on their wings and scream aloud, with the object, as it has been surmised, of giving notice to their offspring to shrink into their nests out of sight of the enenry ; and hence the coun- try-people assert that rooks can smell gunpowder. 1 1 Bingley, ' Animal Biography, 1 vol. ii. p. 105. 344 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. Sir Walter Scott used to tell with great delight an amusing story of the cunning of a mischievous corbie - crow, whose great and constant pleasure was to tease and plague all mankind and beastkind in whatever way it could devise. "A stranger," he said, as Basil Hall repeats the story, "called one day [at Scott's house] with a very surly dog, whose habit was to snarl and bite at every animal save man ; and he was consequently the terror and hatred of his own fra- ternity, and of the whole race of cats, sheep, poultry, and so on. ' Maitre Corbeau' seemed to discover the character of the stranger, and from the moment of his arrival determined to play him a trick. I watched him all the while, as I saw clearly that he had a month's mind for some mischief. He first hopped up familiarly to Cato, as if to say, ' How d'ye do ?' Cato snapped and growled like a bear. Corbie retired with a nutter, [as if] saying, ' God bless me, what's the matter ? I had no idea, my good Sir, that I was offending you ; I scarcely saw you; I was looking for a worm.' By-and-by he made another studied sort of approach, and when Cato growled, he drew off, with an air as if he said, f What is the matter with you ? Pm not meddling with you; let me alone.' Presently the dog became less and less suspicious of Mr. Corbie, and composed himself on the sunny gravel-walk into a fine sleep. Corbie watched his moment, and hopped and hopped quietly till close up, and then leaping on Cato's back, flapped his wings violently, gave one or two severe dabs with his bill, and then flew up to the edge of the cornice over the gateway, and laughed and screamed with joy- at the impotent fury of the dog ; a human being could not have laughed more naturally; and BIEDS. 345 no man that ever existed could have enjoyed a mischiev- ous joke more completely than our friend Corbie." 1 Mrs. Lee tells a similar story, observing that great in- telligence has often been shown by ravens in their arts of teasing dogs, yet without actually rendering them their enemies. A large otter-dog was kept chained in a stable -yard, where there was a raven on terms of in- timate familiarity with him. Yet the bird could not abstain from giving him small annoyances. He began by snatching a piece of food occasionally from the dog's feeding-pan, before he had finished his meal. As the dog submitted to such liberties quietly, the bird would at length take a scrap at any time, and, if he did not care to eat it, would carry it away out of reach of the dog's chain, then bring it back again within reach of it, and even hang it on the dog's nose, and, when the dog was opening his mouth to catch it, would dart off with it again out of his reach. At other times he would hide a piece under a stone, beyond the length of the dog's chain, and then, with a cunning look, perch upon the dog's head. Yet, with all his mis- chievousness, he would never run away with the dog's food altogether, but would allow him at last to have what he had been playing with, with the exception of any small portion that he might wish to deduct for himself. The dog was so little alienated by all these tricks, that he saved the bird's life when he was nearly drowned in a tub of water just beyond his range ; he saw the raven struggling, and dragged his heavy ken- nel forward till he could put his head over the edge of the tub, when he took up the raven in his mouth, and laid him gently down on the ground to recover. 3 1 Lockhart ' Life of Scott,' vol. vii. p. 333. 2 An. of Birds, p. 102. 346 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. The sagacity of a raven which had been bred up with a dog, and used, of his own accord, to go a- hunting with him, is remarkable. The two would go out together and watch hens and rabbits ; for, when they came to a cover, the dog would enter and drive out the animals, while the raven, waiting at the out- side, would seize and detain each as it came forth ; the dog would then hasten out, as soon as he could, to his assistance, and, by their joint efforts, every one would be dispatched. 1 ' e There is one trait/' says Mr. Jesse, 2 " in the character of rooks which is, I believe, peculiar to that sort of birds, and which does them no little credit. It is the distress which they exhibit when one of them has been killed or wounded by a gun while they have been feeding in a field or flying over it. Instead of being scared away by the report of the gun, leaving their wounded or dead companion to his fate, they show the greatest anxiety or sympathy for him, utter- ing cries of distress, and plainly proving that they wish to render him assistance, by hovering over him, or sometimes making a dart from the air close up to him, apparently to try and find out the reason why he did not follow them, " ' While, circling round and round, They call their lifeless comrade from the ground.' If he is wounded, and can flutter along the ground, the rooks appear to animate him to make fresh exer- tions by incessant cries, flying a little distance before him, and calling to him to follow them. I have seen one of my labourers pick up a rook so wounded, which Mrs. Lee, Anecd. of Birds, p. 102. 2 ' Gleanings,' vol. i. p. 59. BIRDS. 347 he had shot at for the purpose of putting him up as a scarecrow in a field of wheat, and while the poor wounded bird was still fluttering in his hand, I have observed one of his companions make a wheel round in the air, and suddenly dart past him so as almost to touch him, perhaps with a last hope that he might still afford as- sistance to his unfortunate mate or companion. Even when the dead bird has been hung, in terrorem, to a stake in the field, he has been visited by some of his former friends, but, as soon as they found that the case was hopeless, they have generally abandoned that field altogether." This concern is the more remarkable, as rooks in general avoid any one carrying a gun. Much of sense and sensibility in a crow is shown in the following anecdote, told by Wilson in his ' American Ornithology/ 1 A gentleman living near the Delaware, a few miles below Easton, had reared a crow, for which he had a great liking, and which lived a long time in his family, but at length disappeared, and was supposed to have been killed. Eleven months, however, after he had lost sight of it, he was standing by the side of the river, in company with several other persons, when, as a number of crows passed over their heads, one of them separated itself from its companions, and perched upon his shoulder, chattering at the same time with great volubility. Recognizing it for his old favourite by some mark, he spoke to it, and it seemed to listen placidly to his voice, but, when he attempted to lay hold of it, it drew back, and resolving to preserve its liberty, of which it had so long enjoyed the sweets, 1 Mrs. Lee, ' Anecdotes of Birds,' p. 98 ; Jesse, ' Gleanings,' vol. i. p. 64. 348 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. soared gently into the air, and vanished from his sight for ever. As for magpies, though generally noted only for their cunning, they are sometimes observed to show a higher kind of sagacity when occasion requires. A pair of them, in a neighbourhood where there were no trees, built their nest in a gooseberry bush, and fre- quented it for years ; but, as it was accessible to foxes, cats, and other animals, they barricaded, with a circle of briars and thorns, not only the nest, but the whole bush. Inside, the nest had the usual soft and warm lining, but outside was so rough and strong, and so firmly entwined with the bush, that even a man could not make his way in to the young without a hedge- knife, the surrounding barrier being more than a foot in breadth. They renewed the fortification every spring, choosing for the purpose the most prickly bushes, some of which it required their united forces to drag to the spot. 1 Mrs. Lee gives the following instance of a magpie's artfulness. He belonged to the family of a Mr. Ran- son, and would watch about a neighbouring toll-gate, at times when he expected the toll-keeper's wife to be making pastry ; and when he observed her so em- ployed, he would go and perch upon the gate, and shout " Gate ahoy ! " when of course, if her husband were absent, she would hurry out to open it ; the bird would then dart into the house, and carry a bill-full of her pie-crust, eating it and chattering over it with the greatest glee. 2 Looking to larger birds, we find the eagle, of which we have not many anecdotes, exhibiting his intelli- 1 Mrs. Lee's Anecd. of Birds, p. 112. 2 Ib. p. 113. BIEDS. 349 gence in the following case, related in the French Journals of 1807: The bird described was of the golden kind ; it had been for some time in the Menagerie of the Garden of Plants at Paris, and had shown as much good sense and temper, during an operation performed on its wounded foot, as an elephant or a dog could have shown under similar circumstances. (( He was taken," says the account, ' ' in the Forest of Fontainebleau, in a trap set for foxes, the spring of which broke his claw ; his cure was tedious, and attended by a painful opera- tion, which was borne by the eagle with a patience not often exceeded in man. During the operation his head only was at liberty, and of this he did not avail himself to oppose the dressing of the wound, from which several splinters were taken ; nor did he at- tempt to disturb the apparatus which the fracture required. Swathed in a napkin, and laid on one side, he has passed the entire night upon straw without the least motion. The next day, when all the bandages were unstrapped, he lodged himself upon a screen, where he remained twelve entire hoars without once resting on his unsound foot. During all this time he made no attempt to escape, though the windows were open. Yet he rejected all nourishment till the thir- teenth day of his captivity; when he tried his appetite upon a rabbit which had been given to him. He seized it with his uninjured claw, and killed it with a stroke of his beak between the head and the first joint of the neck. After having devoured it, he resumed his usual place upon the screen, from whence he stirred no more until the twenty-first day after his accident. Then he began to try the wounded limb, and without in the least 350 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. deranging the ligature by which it was bound, he has regained the use of it by moderate and reasonable ex- ercise. This interesting creature has passed three months in the room of the servant who attended him. As soon as the fire was lighted, he came up to it, and suffered himself to be caressed; at bedtime he mounted his screen, as close as possible to his attendant's bed, but removed to the opposite extremity as soon as the lamp went out. Confidence in his own powers ap- peared to exempt him from any kind of distrust. It is impossible to show more resignation, more courage, and, one might almost be tempted to say, more rea- son, than was exhibited by this eagle during the long continuance of his illness. He is of the most beauti- ful kind, and does not appear to experience the least weakness in consequence of the accident which robbed him of his liberty/' l For some time after his recovery an English game-cock was domesticated with him, which he at last killed and ate, but whether the cock provoked his wrath, or whether the eagle was tired of the cock's society, was not known. In general, it may be observed, these birds are not remarkable for gentle- ness and mildness, but rather for the contrary quali- ties, being sullen or ferocious when in captivity, and not to be trusted even by those who feed them. The following instance of intelligence in an eagle at St. Kilda is given by Mr. Macgillivray in his f History of British Birds.' " Two sons of a man of the name of Murray, having robbed an eagle's nest, were re- treating with the young, when one of the parent birds having returned, made a most determined attack upon Peniiy Magazire ' for 1835 ; Elaine's Encycl. of Eural Sports, Art. 2184. BIEDS. 351 them. They said they had never been in such peril ; for the eagle dipped her wing in a burn that ran by, and then in sand, and sweeping repeatedly by them, struck at them with her wing. Although each had a stick, it was with great difficulty tharfc they at length effected their escape, when almost ready to sink under fatigue." The dipping of the wing in water, and then in sand, to give more effect to its stroke, was as much an act of reason as any that has proceeded from man. 1 Of the heron, it is observed that she shows remark- able sagacity in fishing. It is well known that fish are startled at shadows in motion on the water; a feeling with which the heron would seem to be well acquainted ; for she fishes in general only when the sun does not shine. But on occasions when a river, having over- flowed its banks, and inundated the neighbouring ground, has left, on retiring, pools of water with fish in them, she will fish there in sun as well as in shade, as if quite certain that a shadow could be of no conse- quence, since her prey can no longer escape her. As these modes of proceeding, however, are common to all herons, we should perhaps be content to consider them only as the offspring of instinct. 2 It was said in old times that a heron would swal- low a shell-fish, with its shells closed, and keep it in her stomach, to her great inconvenience, till she felt it relaxing and opening under the influence of the warmth, when she would cast it up again, and pick out the edible part from between the shells. 3 To geese, also, the ancients were inclined to attri- 1 Elaine's Encycl. of Kural Sports, p. 656, Art. 2184. 2 Grarratt's ' Marvels of Instinct,' p. 153. 3 Plutarch, ' De Solertia Animalium,' c. 10. 352 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. bute more intelligence than people of modern times are disposed to allow them. The geese of Cilicia, says Plutarch, 1 when they fly over Mount Taurus, being afraid of the eagles by which it is frequented, carry small stones in their mouths, to prevent them from indulging their propensity to gabble, and attract the notice of the eagles. Maximus Tyrius speaks with equal commendation of the understanding of cranes. Sense and experience, says he, are not confined to man; for the inferior animals also learn and discover things by experience ; so that they also may claim to have some portion of intelligence. Thus when the cranes of Egypt, pre- paring to leave the country on account of the heat, extend their sail-like wings, and direct their course through the air towards Scythia, they find that, as their body is not well-balanced, (the middle being heavy, the neck long, the part near the tail light, that under the wings lank, and the legs spread), their course is necessarily unsteady, like that of a ship tossed by the wind ; and feeling this, either from mere pre- sent observation, or from previous experience, they are careful, before soaring into the higher regions of the air, to .take stones in their mouth as ballast, which is a means of ensuring them a safe course. 2 .^Elian says that when they take rest in the night during a journey, three or four keep watch for the rest, and, lest they should fall asleep, they rest only on one foot, and hold in the other a stone, which, if slumber should steal upon them, would fall and awaken them. 3 1 ' De Solertia Animalium,' c. 10. 2 Max. Tyr. Diss. xl. See also Aristot. Hist. Anim. viii. 12. 3 .2Elian, Hist. Anim. iii. 13. ; ii. 1. BIRDS. 353 This is assuredly fable,, but, among the larger birds, even geese are not without some portion of un- derstanding. There was a farmer in Westmoreland, whose ground was on the coast of Lake Windermere, and on the margin of his homestead was a small island. He kept several geese and one gander, and, one evening, the gander suddenly disappeared ; he could not be found in the morning, and it was supposed that he had been stolen. Afterwards, day by day, the geese disappeared one by one ; and it was supposed that they were stolen also ; but all the vigilance that they could use failed to discover the thief. All hope of recovering them was given up, when one day the farmer heard a cackling sound, and cried, f( Dear me, if I did not know my gander was gone, I should think that was his voice." On going out, he found the gan- der actually in waiting, attended by the whole flock of geese safe and sound, and each accompanied by a brood of young ones. It seems that the gander, whether by chance or from any internal impulse, had swum over to the island, which was at some distance, and, finding means of subsistence there, had enticed over first one of the geese, and then another, till he had collected them all around him. What induced him to return, whether failure of food, or any other motive, I do not know ; but it was observed that he seemed very proud of having brought back his house- hold safe, and strutted about before the farmer as if in a kind of triumph. An instance of sagacity and intelligence in a turkey is given by Audubon. " While at Henderson, on the Ohio, I had," says he, " among many other wild birds, a fine male turkey, which had been reared from its 2 A 354 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. earliest youth under my care, it having been caught by me when probably not more than two or three days old. It became so tame that it would follow any per- son who called it, and was the favourite of the little village. One morning I saw it fly off, at a very early hour, to the woods, in another direction, and took no particular notice of the circumstance. Several days elapsed, but the bird did not return. I was going to- wards some lakes, near Green River, to shoot, when, having walked about five miles, I saw a fine large gobbler cross the path before me, moving leisurely along. Turkeys being then in prime condition for the table, I ordered my dog to chase it and put it up. The animal went off with great rapidity, and, as it ap- proached the turkey, I saw, with surprise, that the turkey paid little attention. Juno was on the point of seizing it, when she suddenly stopped, and turned her head towards me. I hastened to them, but you may easily conceive my surprise when I saw my own fa- vourite bird, and discovered that it had recognized the dog, and would not fly from it ; although the sight of & strange dog would have caused it to run off at once. A friend of mine, happening to be in search of a wounded deer, took the bird on his saddle before him, and carried it home for me. The following spring it was accidentally shot, having been taken for a wild bird, and brought to me on being recognized by the red ribbon which it had round its neck. Pray, reader, by what word will you designate the recognition made by my favourite turkey of a dog which had been long as- sociated with it in the yard and grounds ? Was it the result of instinct or of reason, an unconsciously revived impression, or the act of an intelligent mind ? " 1 1 Broderip, Zool. Eecr. p. 132. BIEDS. 355 The following remarkable instance of intelligence in a moor-hen is given by Bishop Stanley : " A water-hen, observing a pheasant feed out of one of those boxes which open when the bird stands on the rail in front of the box, went and stood in the same place as soon as the pheasant quitted it. Finding that its weight was not sufficient to raise the lid of the box, it kept jumping on the rail to give additional impetus. This only succeeded partially, so the clever bird went away, and returned with another bird of its own species. The weight of the two had the desired effect, and they both enjoyed the reward of their sagacity." Sea-gulls sometimes exhibit great sagacity in harass- ing the eagle, as smaller birds do in annoying the owl or the hawk. A Mr. Drozier, of Norfolk, says that as he was one day admiring, on the northern coast of Scotland, the majestic flight of an eagle, he observed him on a sudden alter his direction, and heard, at the same moment, a flight of five or six sea-gulls whizz over his head with the greatest rapidity. These birds were in pursuit of the eagle, and pursued their way towards him in a steady unwavering course. They soon came up with him, and a fierce engagement en- sued, the short bark of the eagle and the cry of the gulls being clearly heard. Each of the gulls attacked the eagle in turn, but not in front ; he took a short flight round him till he brought his own head and tail in the same line with the eagle's, and then, making a desperate swoop, struck the eagle on the back, and then doubled up again almost perpendicularly. The birds acting thus in quick succession harass the eagle most unmercifully. If the eagle turned his head when a gull was about to descend upon him, the gull easily 2 A 2 356 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. started aside, and another took his place. The eagle constantly wheeled about as quickly as his ponderous wings would allow, and the contest, which lasted some time, was terminated by the eagle's approach to some rocks, whither the gulls did not care to follow him. 1 Rapacious birds, says Smellie, uniformly endeavour to rise higher in the air than their prey, that they may dart forcibly down upon it with their talons. To counteract such attempts nature has endowed the smaller and weaker species of birds with many arts of defence. When they see a hawk, if they cannot conceal themselves among trees, hedges, or brush- wood, they are often seen, in great numbers, ap- parently to follow the hawk, and expose themselves rashly to danger, but "in fact, by their numbers, their perpetual changes of direction, and their uniform endeavours to rise above him, they perplex the hawk to such a degree that he is unable to fix upon a single one of them, and after exerting all his art and address, is frequently obliged to relinquish the pursuit." When they fly to men or women for protection, they show their extreme terror of the hawk, and their sense that it will be better to fly for refuge anywhere than to await his grasp. 2 The owl, however, when it happens to be driven forth in the daytime, is pursued by small birds, it ap- pears, for the sake of sport ; for as the owl is unable to see in the bright light, and knows not where he is, whither to fly, or whom to attack, he is necessi- tated to suffer indignities with the most patient stu- pidity. An aversion which the smaller birds have to 1 Mrs. Lee's c Anecdotes of Birds,' p. 208. 2 Smellie's ' Philosophy of Natural History,' vol. i. 409. BIRDS. 357 him, and a temporary assurance that they have nothing to fear from his resistance, incite them to pursue him, encouraging each other by mutual cries to harass the common enemy. Bird-catchers sometimes take ad- vantage of this propensity, and, imitating the cry of an owl, attract a concourse of small birds to settle on twigs previously smeared with birdlime. 358 CHAPTER XXXII. KOBINS, TOMTITS, SWALLOWS, AND OTHER SMALL BIRDS. AMONG the smaller sorts of birds, one of the most sensible is the robin redbreast. I myself witnessed many proofs of intelligence given by a bird of this species. The robin is known to be one of the boldest of birds ; it will readily approach man, and become familiar with him, especially when in winter cold and hunger impel it to seek food and shelter. The one that I knew made gradual advances one winter to a family living in a cottage, who received it with kind- ness, and gave it encouragement. At first it came about the door, picking up crumbs, and, finding no repulse, ventured by degrees into the sitting-room, picking up whatever little eatables it could find on the floor. As it grew more confident, it would fly on the chairs and tables, and at length became so bold that it would alight on the table where the people were at dinner, and peck pieces from their plates. The family consisted of the master of the house, his wife, and a boy of about ten years old ; and it was observed that ROBINS, AND OTHER SMALL BIRDS. 359 it was more ready to take pieces from the boy's plate than from those of the grown-up persons, probably because the boy, being smaller than the others, was regarded by the bird with less fear. At last it became quite an inmate of the family, winter and summer, and when the doors were shut, and it wanted to be let in, it would come to the window and chirp, and when it saw through the window any one going towards the door, would immediately fly towards it. One of the eatables that it liked best was sponge-cake, and a little tray, with crumbled sponge-cake in it, was con- sequently placed for its use on the inside sill of one of the windows. There were two windows to the room ; birds are sometimes guilty, in a house, of little violations of cleanliness, but it was remarked that it never made any dirt in the window in which its tray stood ; and it was upon the whole a very clean bird. Thus it went on for three or four years ; though, with all its familiarity, it would never suffer itself to be handled; nor did it ever readily take anything from the hand. I believe it was only on two or three occa- sions that it was induced, with much coaxing, to do so ; at other times it held back, looking shy and sus- picious. At length its attendance ceased ; it was sup- posed some mishap had befallen it; and some days afterwards the dead body of a robin was found with many marks of violence about it, especially on its head, which was much injured; and it was supposed that it had been fighting with another robin, and, as robins are desperately pugnacious, had received in- juries in the combat of which it died. This bird, it may be well understood, gave proofs of great sagacity, not only in its chirping to be let in at the window, but 360 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. in its general demeanour towards the family to whom it attached itself. Visitors witnessed its behaviour with surprise. Captain Brown tells us that as his father was sitting at the window of his house during some severe autumn weather, a robin flew up, when he opened the window, and threw some crumbs for it on the floor. It hopped boldly in, and picked them up ; and as his father was fond of animals, he took pleasure in taming the bird. " At length," he says, " it would pick small pieces of raw flesh and worms from his hand; it sat on the table at which he wrote, and, when the day was very cold, perched upon the fender. When a stranger en- tered, it flew to the top of a door, where it perched every night. The window was frequently opened to admit air; but the robin never offered to go away. As the spring advanced, and the weather became fine, it flew away every morning, and returned every evening, till the time of incubation arrived; and it then flew away altogether. At the next fall of the year, it again asked for admittance, and behaved exactly in the same manner as before. It did this a third time ; but when it flew away in the ensuing spring, it was never seen again. " Here is an instance of a robin manifesting his reason- ing powers by asking assistance in a difficulty. A gardener, in the service of a friend of Mrs. Lee's, had encouraged the attendance of a redbreast, which would follow and hover about him ; but he was one day sur- prised at the frequency with which the bird came up to him, and then, retiring a short space, appeared to wait for him, and, when he did not follow, returned At last it struck him that the robin must want ROBINS, AND OTHEE SMALL BIEDS. 361 something, and he accordingly walked in the direction in which the bird went. After proceeding a consider- able distance, it stopped, and uttered a loud cry, near a flower-pot, in which the gardener found that its nest was built. On looking closely into the spot, the man perceived that a snake had coiled itself round the pot, but without having as yet done any mischief to the young. He removed the reptile, and the robin evi- dently attempted to express his gratitude by extra- ordinary flutterings and singing. 1 The tomtit, in the winter, when food is scarce, will often fly to a bee-hive, tap with its beak on the piece of wood at the entrance, and wait calmly till one of the bees comes out to see what is the matter, when it will immediately snap up the bee and devour it. I under- stand that it will swallow the bee without any regard to the sting, which appears not to affect the bird. This proceeding has often been witnessed by a farmer and bee-keeper in Kent, who spoke of it to an inti- mate friend of mine. " When the lapwing wants to procure food, it seeks for a worm's cast, and stamps the ground by the side of it with its feet. After doing this for a short time, the bird waits for the issue of the worm from its hole, which, alarmed at the shaking of the ground, endeavours to make its escape, when it is immediately seized, and becomes the prey of the ingenious bird. The lapwing also frequents the haunts of moles, which, when in pur- suit of worms on which they feed, frighten them, and the worm, in attempting to escape, comes to the sur- face of the ground, when it is seized by the lapwing." 2 1 Mrs. Lee's < Anecdotes of Birds,' p. 55. 2 Jesse's ' Gleanings,' vol. i. p. 71. 362 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. A lady of Dr. Darwin's acquaintance saw a little bird repeatedly hop on a poppy-stem, and shake the head with his bill, till many seeds were scattered, when it settled on the ground and picked up the seeds. 1 Although birds build their nests, from instinct, al- ways in the same manner and form, yet they exercise thought and reason about ways and means of fixing or suspending them, and about modes of repairing and protecting them if they are injured or molested. A pair of goldfinches had built their nest on a small branch of an olive-tree, and, after hatching their brood, found that the weight of the nest and its con- tents would be too great for the bough on which it rested. Something was necessary to be done for its support. They were watched, and observed to fasten, with a piece of string which they had picked up, the failing twig to a higher and stronger branch of the tree ; a contrivance by which their nest was completely secured. 2 A farmer living near Spilsby, in Lincolnshire, was one day watching one of his ploughmen, who was ploughing a piece of fallow land, when he saw a par- tridge, disturbed by the plough, glide off her nest, which, on inspection, he found full of eggs, but which was so placed that it was evident the next round of the plough, if it was not removed, must overwhelm it. He observed the old bird, however, return to her nest as he was leaving the spot, and resolved to see how she would act when the plough came round again. As it approached, he looked for the nest, which he found, 1 Hancock's c Essay on Instinct,' p. 79. 2 Mrs. Lee's ' Anecdotes of Birds,' p. 85. ROBINS, AND OTHER SMALL BIRDS. 363 but the eggs and the bird were gone. It struck him that she must have removed them, and, before he left the field, he found her sitting on twenty-one eggs, some of which showed by cracks that they were on the point of sending forth young ones. The round of ploughing had occupied about twenty minutes, in which time she, with the assistance probably of her mate, had removed the twenty-one eggs to the distance of about forty yards. The farmer watched her subsequently, and found that she reared nineteen birds. 1 Of the intelligence of the lark in the protection of its young we find the following instance in the ' Naturalist/ As some mowers were cutting long grass in a field, one of them passed his scythe close over the nest of a skylark, but without injuring either the young or the female who was sitting on them. The bird did not fly away ; and the mowers went on with their work, levelling all the grass around her, whilst she showed no concern at their proceedings. The son of the owner of the crop, who saw what had happened to the bird, went back, some time afterwards, to see if she was still there, and found that she had constructed in the interval, a dome of dry grass completely over the nest, leaving only an aperture on one side for ingress and egress, and thus securing herself shelter similar to that which had been previously afforded by the long grass. During the early part of the summer of 1 835 a pair of water-hens had built their nest on the margin of a large ornamental pond, which was ordinarily fed by a spring, but was occasionally swollen by the contents of another pond being admitted into it. This addition to its waters once began to be made while the female coot 1 Jesse's ' Gleanings,' vol. iii. p. 161. 364 SEASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. was sitting ; and as the nest had been built when the water was at the lower level, the rise, which was of se- veral inches, threatened its speedy destruction. The birds saw the danger, and took measures to escape it ; for when the gardener, who had some regard for them, went to see in what condition they were, he found them both busily engaged in adding fresh materials to their structure, so as to raise it above the altered level of the water ; they had removed the eggs from the nest and deposited them on the grass about a foot from the brink of the pond. When they had made the nest suf- ficiently high, they replaced the eggs, and in less than half an hour the hen was again sitting quietly upon them. 1 This, Mr. Jesse 2 says, is not an uncommon proceeding among swans, the male and female al- ways joining in the work .; but he remarks that they are not always sufficiently speedy in their operations to prevent the nest from being swept away by the water. A gentleman, an attentive observer of the habits of birds, was told by some children of a wren's nest near a cottage which he sometimes visited. He looked at it, and wishing to having it left unmolested, told the chil- dren that, if they would take care it was not meddled with, he would give them some reward ; and they pro- mised to keep it undisturbed. Going to look at it again a short while afterwards, he found that the entrance to the nest had been stopped up, and in consequence accused the children of having broken their promise ; but they protested that they had neither touched the nest nor disturbed the old bird, though they admitted that they had frequently taken a look at it. On ex- amination, it was found that while the original entrance 1 Mrs. Lee, Anecd. of Birds, p. 194. 2 ' Gleanings,' vol. i. p. 111. ROBINS, AND OTHER SMALL BIRDS, 365 had been stopped, another had been made at the back part, showing that the bird, disliking to be watched, yet unwilling to forsake her eggs, had taken this pre- caution against the inconvenience or peril to which she considered herself exposed another proof of animals' sagacity and foresight. 1 Among small birds, swallows and martins have proved on various occasions that they have their wits about them. The affair of the sparrow that was walled up in a swallow's nest, of which it had taken possession, by other swallows that came in a body with their bills full of clay, and deposited their contributions in con- cert at the orifice of the nest, is well known. It is said to have taken place at the front of an uninhabited house in Merrion Square, Dublin ; where the nest was exhibited to several persons with the dead sparrow in it. Mr. Jesse 2 says that he received the account of the occurrence from a trustworthy person who witnessed the whole of the proceedings. In this operation there was shown, not only much of the reasoning faculty, but also the power of communicating desires among individuals of the same species. There is an older story of the same kind told by Father Bougeant in his ' Amuse- ment Philosophique sur le Langage des Betes/ pub- lished in 1739. This was combination for revenge. The following story, told by Mrs. Lee and others, exhibits them assist- ing one another for a different purpose : "A swallow's nest, built in the corner of a window facing the north, and containing a brood of fine young ones, had been so much softened by long- continued beating of rain against it, that it was unable to support the weight of 1 Jesse's ' Gleanings,' vol. ii. p. 294. 2 Ib. p. 99. 366 SEASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. its contents. At length it fell down into the lower corner of the window, and was broken to pieces, leaving the brood exposed to a tempest which was then blow- ing furiously. To save the little creatures from death, the owner of the house benevolently caused a covering to be thrown over them. In a while, when the storm had somewhat subsided, many other swallows, in com- pany with the parents, gathered about the spot, flut- tering round and round, and hovering over the tem- porary covering, which prevented them from seeing whether the young ones were alive or dead. When the tempest had altogether passed off, the covering was re- moved, and the whole group, as they beheld the young ones unhurt, manifested the utmost delight. After the old birds had fed them, the entire body seemed to arrange themselves in working order, and each taking its part, and bringing mud in its bill, they had before nightfall, by their united exertions, completed an arched canopy over the brood where they lay, and this effectually secured them against any further severity of weather. From the time that it took the whole flock to execute this piece of architecture, it was evident that the young must have perished of cold and hunger before the two parents could have completed the tenth part of the undertaking." 1 Such a performance shows, not merely instinct that acts always in the same man- ner under the same conditions, but a portion of reason that devised means of action in circumstances in which it could never have been placed before. Another account of a contention between some swal- lows and a pair of sparrows shows that swallows will retain the recollection of an injury till an opportunity 1 Jesse's ' Gleanings,' vol. ii. p. 96. ROBINS, AND. OTHER SMALL BIRDS. 367 offers of resenting it. A pair of swallows in 1832 built their nest under the ledge of a house at Hampton Court. But as soon as it was completed, a pair of spar- rows drove them from it, though they made a vigorous resistance, and even brought other swallows to aid them. The sparrows were then left in possession un- molested, until they were both obliged to go forth to seek food for their young. During their absence, a number of swallows came and broke down the nest, leaving the young sparrows to die on the ground. As soon as the destruction of building and life was com- pleted, the old swallows began to reconstruct the nest for their own use. The whole proceeding was wit- nessed by a gentleman living close to the spot. 1 No small intelligence was shown by a pair of martins against a wren in the following affair : Two martins had a box or cage fixed against the house of a Mr. Simpson, at Wilton, in North America but one morn- ing they were observed by him flying round and round near the box, and making repeated attempts to get into it without success. It appeared that, during their temporary absence, the box had been occupied by a wren, which, after awhile, flew out, and went off to some distance. The martins took the opportunity of returning to their abode; but their stay in it was short ; for their little adversary came again, and forced them to retire from it. The contention went on through the whole day ; but the wren secured the box for the night. The following morning, however, when the wren went out, the martins instantly took possession of their mansion, and, breaking up their nest, pro- ceeded to barricade the entrance with the materials. 1 Mrs. Lee's Anecd. of Birds, p. 68. 368 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. When the wren reappeared, she found that there was no admittance for her; she attempted to storm the fortress, but could not succeed ; the martins, abstain- ing from food nearly two days, persevered during the whole of that time in defending the entrance ; and the wren at last left the martins in quiet possession of their dwelling. 1 Communities of swallows are considered to be in general peaceable and friendly with each other. But an instance of contention among them is related by a gentleman of Blois, in France. He states that a nest was built in a corner of one of his windows by a pair of swallows, of which one at least had visited the place in the preceding year, as he recognized it by a remark- able white feather in one of its wings. As soon as the nest seemed finished, the gentleman' s attention was attracted by a great noise and bustle about it ; and, on looking out, he found that the disturbance was caused by another swallow trying to force its way into the nest while the rightful tenants were within; and at length, in spite of their united efforts, he succeeded in entering and driving them out. But as he could not always remain within, the pair took advantage of his absence to reinstate themselves, only, however, to be again expelled ; and these alternate dispossessions con- tinued day after day for at least a week. But one day he perceived the owners of the nest very busy outside, and found that they were engaged in lessening the diameter of the entrance, which they gradually reduced so much that they could scarcely force their way into it singly ; and, as soon as their work was completed, one or other of them constantly placed itself at the 1 Bingley's ' Animal Biography,' vol. ii. p. 210. ROBINS, AND OTHER SMALL BIRDS. 369 orifice, with its bill visibly protruding; and though the adversary persisted in making regular attacks on them for another week, he could never afterwards make any impression on them, but was compelled to leave them to* enjoy the result of their sagacity and forethought. 1 The male swallow of a pair, as Captain Brown re- lates, was shot by a sportsman ; and the female was so enraged at his loss, that she flew at the slayer, and struck him in the face with her wing, and continued to flit around him for a long time, screaming with anger. Nor was she content with acting thus once only, but whenever he walked out, she never failed to make similar attacks on him, except, indeed, on Sundays, when, as he was differently dressed, it is supposed that she did not recognize him. The swallow has been always noted for its courage ; and a writer in the ' Magazine of Natural History' gives a proof of it similar to that which is told above. Swal- lows used to build their nests in out-houses belonging to the writer's father, near which the house-cat would often bask in the sun ; and the swallows, when they saw her there, would testify their enmity to her by flying down over her head, at times almost, touching her, and appearing to signify their hatred by shrieks. The cat would attempt to annoy them in return by catching at them as they passed ; and they would then sometimes fly in front of her, sometimes behind her, making her oscillate from side to side. Now and then, as if provoked at their pertinacity and her own want of success, she would spring up at them with her utmost vigour; but she was never known to catch one of them. 1 Mrs. Lee's Anecd. of Birds, p. 64. 2B 370 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. A remarkable instance of the sense and reflection of the swallow was communicated to Mr. Jesse by a nobleman distinguished for veracity. A pair of swal- lows proceeded to make their nest under the arch of a lime kiln, at a point from which three chimneys branched off, and where the heat was so great that the hand could not long be held on the wall without a sen- sation of pain. Yet this was the spot which the swal- lows chose for their nest, which was nearly completed when the heat caused it to crumble and fall to the ground; and a second and a third nest, which they persisted in building in the same place, shared the same fate. A fourth nest was then constructed, which stood perfectly firm, although the heat of the kiln was by no means diminished; and in this nest they hatched and reared their young. The following year they built another nest there^ which stood the heat equally well ; and the third year they did the same with equal suc- cess. The fourth year they did not appear, having possibly, as Mr. Jesse observes, perished. On the occurrence, of which the most .satisfactory proof, he says, can at any time be presented, he makes the fol- lowing remarks : 1. The swallows, finding that the earthy composi- tion which they first used would not stand the heat, must have discovered and worked up another sort of composition which would stand it. 2. Instinct alone would not have taught them to do this. 3. When they returned to the kiln the second and third years, they must have kept in their recollection, not only that the earth which they commonly used for building their nests would not resist the heat there, ROBINS, AND OTHER SMALL BIRDS. 371 but also the sort of composition which was necessary for them to use. 1 Another anecdote is given b y the same writer, 2 indi- cating equal intelligence in the swallow in the con- struction of its nest. A swallow, in a gentleman' s garden in Northumberland, wishing to build her nest in a corner formed by two walls at right angles, and finding no ledge or projection on either of the walls large enough to support the nest, fixed a small bracket of clay on each wall at a little distance from the corner; she then brought a stick, and laid it across with the ends resting on the brackets ; and on this foundation she constructed her nest in perfect security. The gentleman to whom the garden belonged watched the progress of the building, and spoke of the contrivance with the greatest admiration. In making and fixing her brackets she probably made use of the strongest glutinous matter, for swallows can make clay of such stickiness as to adhere firmly to glass. 1 Jesse's ' Gleanings,' vol. ii. p. 96. 2 Ib. vol. iii. p. 4 ; see also p. 197. 2 B 2 372 CHAPTER XXXIII. BIRDS. COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS. RESEM- BLANCE BETWEEN BIRDS AND HUMAN BEINGS IN THEIR CONJUGAL RELATIONS. PARROTS. WE have seen how dogs and other quadrupeds com- municate their thoughts and notions one to another ; we may now see how the feathered tribe make like intercommunications. Something of this kind we have already noticed among swallows ; and more examples of it might easily be produced. We cannot omit the instance of combination among these birds given by Lord Brougham, in his ' Dialogues on Instinct/ 1 from the ' Animaux Celebres ' of Autun, to whom it was communicated by Dupont de Nemours, who witnessed the occurrence. A swallow had accidentally put its foot into the noose of a cord attached to the -spout of the pump of the College des Quatre Nations, of Paris, and all its attempts to extricate itself had no other effect than that of drawing the knot tighter. Its strength being exhausted, it uttered piteous cries, which drew a multitude of swallows to the spot. For a time they crowded together, as if engaged in consultation. 1 Dial. iii. BIEDS. COMMUNICATION OP IDEAS. 373 At length one of the number darted towards the string and skimmed over it so as to strike it with its beak in passing ; another and another did the same, till every one, as it seemed, had taken his turn ; but it was not till they had continued their efforts for half an hour that the cord was severed, and the captive set free. For some time afterwards they continued to hover to- gether, chattering among themselves, as if in delight at their success. A goose also will communicate its wishes to another goose. It is related by a Mr. Brew, of Ennis, that an old goose, which had been sitting on her eggs in a far- mer's kitchen for a fortnight, was observed to be un- well ; and that shortly after her condition was noticed, she left her nest, and went to an outhouse, where there was a young goose, only a year old, which she brought with her into the kitchen, and which straightway scram- bled into the nest, and continued to sit on the eggs ; while the old goose, as soon as the young one had taken her place, sat down by the side of the nest, and shortly after died. As the young goose had never been a visitor to the kitchen before, there seems no way of accounting for the proceeding, observes the narrator, than by supposing that the old one, sensible of being no longer able to perform her duty, had some mode of communicating her feelings and troubles to the other, and inducing her to become her substitute. The young goose conscientiously discharged what she undertook, for she hatched the eggs and brought up the brood. 1 As for rooks, an instance of the concord which they maintain among themselves, as well as of their regard 1 Mrs. Lee's * Anecdotes of Birds,' p. 222. 374 REASONING POWERS IN ANIMALS. for each other, is given by Dr. Percival, the author of the ' Dissertations/ A large colony of rooks had sub- sisted for many years in a grove on the banks of the river Irwell, near Manchester. One summer evening, the doctor occupied himself in watching their employ- ments and pastimes. Most of them amused them- selves with chasing each other in endless evolutions, making the air resound, at the same time, with an in- finity of discordant noises. In the midst of these exercises it happened that one rook struck his beak violently against the wing of another, which fell dis- abled into the river. A general cry of distress arose. " The birds hovered/' says the doctor, " with every ex- pression of anxiety over their distressed companion. Animated by their sympathy, and perhaps by the lan- guage of animals, known to themselves, the wounded one sprang into the air, and by one strong effort reached the point of a rock which projected into the river. The joy became loud and universal; but alas ! it was soon changed into notes of lamentation, for the poor wounded bird, in attempting to fly towards his nest, dropped again into the river and was drowned, amid the moans of his whole fraternity.-" It is observed that rooks, when they are sitting to- gether on their trees, often salute members of their fraternity, as they return from distant parts, with loud cries, as if asking for news ; and that after each fresh arrival fresh chattering takes place. 1 In Jamaica there is a crow which, being very talka- tive, is called the jabbering crow. The sounds which it makes, and which the negroes fashion into words, seem intended to attract others of its own kind, for, 1 Mrs. Lee's Anecdotes of Birds,' p. 108. BIRDS. COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS. 375 if there is one within hearing, it comes and joins the chatterer in its jabbering. 1 The proceedings of a community of rooks are rather perplexing to us. It is evidently their desire to live in society ; but they have some rules about the arrange- ment of places for their nests which we do not under- stand ; when they begin to build, some employ a large portion of their time in pulling to pieces the nests of others. If a pair, desiring to be at peace, offers to build on a separate tree, their nest is demolished at once ; and some unhappy couples, it is observed, are not per- mitted to finish a nest till the rest have all entirely con- structed theirs ; for as soon as they put a few sticks to- gether, a party comes and scatters them abroad; and their nest is at last completed only by one of the pair keeping guard while the other fetches materials. As to strangers that offer to join a community, they are generally beaten and driven away ; an instance of which violence was seen at Newcastle in 1 783, when a pair of rooks, wishing to unite themselves to a rookery near the Exchange, and being driven off, built their nest, though not even then without interruption from other rooks, on the weathercock. " In the northern parts of Scotland," says Dr. Ed- monson, " and in the Faroe Islands, extraordinary meet- ings of crows are occasionally known to occur. They col- lect in great numbers, as if they had all been summoned for the occasion ; a few of the flock sit with drooping heads, and others seem as grave as judges, while others again are exceedingly active and noisy ; in the course of about one hour they disperse, and it is not uncom- mon, after they have flown away, to find one or two 1 Grosse's c Account of the Birds of Jamaica.' 376 SEASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. left dead on the spot. These meetings will sometimes continue for a day or two before the object, whatever it may be, is completed. Crows continue to arrive from all quarters during the session. As soon as they have all arrived, a very general noise ensues ; and, shortly after, the whole fall upon one or two individuals, and put them to death. When the execution has been per- formed, they quietly disperse." 1 Various questions may be asked, as Garratt observes, about this proceeding. How do the rooks know when all that are required to form the council have arrived ? What are the crimes committed, and how do they be- come known through the whole body of birds ? Are the criminals aware of what is about to be done ? and are they guarded, or how is it that they make no effort to escape, even in the night ? None of these questions is it likely that any human being will ever be able to answer. We see what takes place, but not the secret springs and motives that bring it to pass. Sparrows are said to act in a similar way, but with- out proceeding to so great a length. Sometimes, it is stated, a force of about half-a-dozen sparrows may be seen in great agitation, clustering tumultuously to- gether in the air, apparently engaged in a sharp con- flict, but in reality punishing an offender. The opera- tion, which is attended with great clamour, is soon over, and it is observed that the sufferer, after having endured the penalty, is allowed to associate with the others as before. Such is the account given, but it seems to require confirmation. 2 Herons, also, seem to hold councils, but the object of them is not so apparent as that of the meetings 1 Garratt' s 'Marvels of Instinct/ p. 189. " Ib. p. 190. BIRDS. COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS. 377 among crows. A large assembly of herons takes place at certain times of the year at Bichmond Park ; fifty or sixty have been counted by Mr. Jesse at a time. " Sometimes they may be seen on the tops of trees, and at other times on the ground at a distance from the ponds, appearing perfectly motionless till they are disturbed. The assemblage is very curious. The nearest heronry from Richmond Park is the one near Walton-on-Thames, and the other in Windsor Great Park, both of which would scarcely furnish the number above mentioned. There seems to be no rea- son why they should congregate and remain for so long a time in the listless manner in which I have seen them ; nor can we give a probable reason why the birds from two heronries should meet at the same time in a place so far distant from their usual haunts. It is seldom that one sees more than two or three herons together in the same place, and then only when they are watching for their prey." 1 That ravens will act in concert to take revenge when they are injured or annoyed, is shown by a paragraph that appeared in the ' Stamford Mercury ' of Decem- ber 25th, 1766." A blacksmith at Bridgewater, in Somersetshire, named Duddridge, went out, a few days previous to that date, to amuse himself with his gun. As he was out in the fields, a large flight of ravens passed over his head, when he fired up among them, and shot two. The sight of their companions falling so irritated the rest, that they came down upon him in a body, and mangled his head and face with their claws and bills to such a degree that he died a few days afterwards. 1 Jesse's ' Gleanings,' vol. i. p. 212. 378 KEASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. That storks communicate with one another,, and arrange proceedings in concert, appears from various accounts. Captain Brown relates the following story : A tame stork had lived some years in the college-yard at Tubingen ; and on a neighbouring house was a nest, in which other storks, that annually resorted to the place, used to hatch their eggs. At this nest, one day in autumn, a young collegian fired a shot, by which the stork that was sitting on it was probably wounded, for it did not fly out of the nest for some weeks afterwards. It was able, however, to take its departure at the usual time with the rest of the storks. But in the ensuing spring a strange stork was observed on the roof of the college, which, by clapping his wings and other gestures, seemed to invite the tame stork to come to him ; but, as the tame one's wings were clipped, he was unable to accept the invitation. After some days the strange stork appeared again, and came down into the yard, when the tame one went out to meet him, clapping his wings as if to bid him welcome, but was suddenly attacked by the visitor with great fury. Some of the neighbours protected the tame bird, and drove off the assailant, but he returned several times afterwards, and incommoded the other through the whole summer. The next spring, instead of one stork only, 'four storks came together into the yard, and fell upon the tame one ; when all the poultry present cocks, hens, geese, and ducks flocked at once to his assistance, and rescued him from his enemies. In consequence of this serious attack, the people of the house took precaution for the tame stork's security ; and he was no more molested that year. But in the beginning of the third spring came upwards of twenty BIEDS. COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS. 379 storks, which rushed at once into the yard and killed the tame stork before either man or any other animal could afford him protection. A similar occurrence took place on the premises of a farmer near Hamburg, who kept a tame stork, and, having caught another, thought to make it a companion for the one in his possession. But the two were no sooner brought together, than the tame one fell upon the other and beat him so severely that he made his escape from the place. About four months afterwards, however, the defeated stork returned with three others, who all made a combined attack upon the tame one and killed him. 1 The two following anecdotes show not only the power of communication existing among storks, but prove that they have also a large portion of moral sense, and con- cert to execute punishment on such individuals of their communities as offend against their notions of right. A French surgeon at Smyrna, wishing to pro- cure a young stork, and finding great difficulty in do- ing so, on account of the extreme veneration in which they are held among the Turks, stole all the eggs out of a stork's nest, and replaced them by those of a hen. In the course of time the young chickens came forth, much to the astonishment of the two old birds. Shortly afterwards the male went off, and was not seen for two or three days ; but at the end of that time he returned with a great crowd of his companions, who all assembled in a circle, taking no notice of the nu- merous spectators which so unusual an occurrence had attracted. The female stork was then brought for- ward into the midst of them, and, after some seeming 1 Bingley's Anim. Biog. yol. ii. p. 289. 380 EEASONTNG POWER IN ANIMALS. consultation, the whole flock fell upon her, and tore her to pieces. They then dispersed, and the nest was for ever abandoned. 1 A similar case occurred on the estate of a gentle- man of landed property near Berlin. A pair of storks had built a nest on one of the chimneys on his pre- mises, to which he climbed up, and found one egg, which he took away, leaving a goose's egg in its stead. The storks appeared unconscious of the change, and the egg was hatched, when the male bird, perceiving the difference between that which was and that which ought to have been, flew round and round the nest with loud screams, and then disappeared for three days, during which time the female took care of the strange offspring. But early on the fourth morning, the inmates of the house were disturbed by loud and discordant cries in a field in front, where, on looking out, they saw at least five hundred storks assembled., of whom one, standing about twenty yards before the rest, was apparently making a harangue, to which the others seemed to listen with evident emotion. At length he was silent, another came forward, and seemed to address the assembly ; and he was followed by se- veral in succession, till about eleven o'clock, when they all rose together, uttering dismal cries. The fe- male, in the meantime, had remained on her nest, and was thought to be watching their proceedings with ap- prehension. In a little while the body of the storks made towards her, headed by one bird, supposed to be her mate, who struck her vehemently three or four times with his beak, and knocked her out of her nest, after which the whole mass followed up the attack, 1 Mrs. Lee's Anecd. of Birds, p. 190. BIEDS. COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS. 381 till they had not only destroyed the female stork, who made no attempt at escape or defence, but also the young gosling, and had utterly removed every vestige of the nest itself. Since that time no stork has been seen in that neighbourhood. 1 Thus a cock takes ven- geance on his hen for whatever he supposes to convict her of conjugal infidelity. Dr. Percival, in his ' Dis- sertations,' relates an incident that occurred in con- firmation of this point, at the house of a gentleman near Berwick. (< My mowers," says he, " killed a partridge on her nest, and brought the eggs, fourteen in number, to the house. I ordered them to be put under a large beautiful hen, her own being taken from her. They were hatched in two days, and the hen brought up the young ones perfectly well till they were five or six weeks old. During this time she was kept in a secluded out-house, with her supposititious brood, without being seen by any of the other poul- try ; but at the end of that time the door happened to be left open, and the cock got in. The housekeeper heard cries of distress from the hen, and, running to see what was the .matter, found her dead ; for the cock, having found her with a brood, not of chickens, but of what were to him monsters, had fallen upon her, and killed her; and when the housekeeper came up, he was tearing her with his beak and claws, although she was then senseless. This hen had previously been the cock's greatest favourite. 2 A great proof of good understanding and feeling among birds is, that inconstancy in their conjugal con- nexions is, unless observers of their habits are muchmis- 1 Mrs. Lee's Anecd. of Birds, p. 191. 2 Bingley's An. Biog. vol. ii. p. 241. 382 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. taken, often punished. This is said to have been exem- plified in the case of two magpies which had built their nest near the house of a person that paid great attention to their habits and proceedings. One morning early , the female magpie, during the absence of her mate, flew off into a neighbouring field, where she was joined by a stranger of the opposite sex. The mate returned, and, in looking about for his partner, discovering her hopping about familiarly with another mate, darted upon them both immediately with the utmost fury, put them to flight, and pursued them. Whether he killed his faithless spouse is not known ; but she was never seen again at the nest, and the deserted widower, after visiting the spot at times for a day or two, at last dis- appeared altogether. 1 Mr. Jesse observes that those who breed canary birds, and have opportunities of watching their peculiar dispositions, find as great a variety in their tempers as in those of human beings. " The mate of a canary bird which was sitting on her eggs was more intent on serenading than on feeding her. When this was the case, she would quit her nest, and chase him round and round the cage, pecking him violently with her beak, and showing her anger in a variety of ways. She would then return to her nest without attempting to feed herself, and the male would then, like a meek, obedient husband, immediately attend to her wants, carrying her a plentiful supply of seed, groundsel, and egg. He then resumed his song, and she re- sumed her discipline when his notes were too much prolonged." 2 1 Mrs. Lee's ' Anecdotes of Birds,' p. 112. 2 Jesse's ' Gleanings,' vol. iii. p. 143. BIRDS. COMMUNICATION OP IDEAS. 383 Pigeons, also, in their conjugal relations, may be seen to act similarly to human beings. A male pigeon, deserted by his mate, and the mate who deserted him, are mentioned by Captain Brown as having behaved exactly as a husband and wife among mankind might have done. The male, when his partner left him, was twelve years old, and seemed deeply affected by her inconstancy, but abstained from forming any new con- nexion. When he had remained thus widowed for two years, his faithless mate returned, and wished to share his abode, again. But he refused her admittance, though she tried every means of effecting it, and evi- dently exerted all her arts to revive affection in him. As she became insufferably importunate, he pecked her severely, and drove her off; but in the course of the following night she somehow contrived to effect a lodgment with him. At dawn he appeared some- what reconciled, and allowed her a share of his abode ; but soon afterwards she died. Seeming sensible that by her death he was placed more at liberty than when she had voluntarily left him, he in a while took wing, and returned a few hours afterwards with a new partner. Professor Kalm, in his ' Travels into America/ says that a very respectable lady and her children re- lated to him the following story respecting a pair of swallows, assuring him at the same time that they were all eye-witnesses to the fact : " A couple of swallows built their nest in the stable belonging to the lady; and the female laid eggs in the nest and was about to brood them. Some days afterwards the people saw the female still sitting on the eggs ; but the male, sometimes flying about the nest, and some- 384 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. times settling on a nail, was heard to utter a very plaintive note, which betrayed his uneasiness. On a nearer examination, the female was found dead in the nest ; and the people flung her body away. The male then went to sit upon the eggs ; but after being about two hours on them, and perhaps finding the business too troublesome, he went out, and returned in the afternoon with another female, which sat upon the nest, and afterwards fed the young ones till they were able to provide for themselves. " l A female pigeon, says Mr. Jesse, 2 which had been confined and made to pair with another, on being released, forsook him and her two young ones, which were only eight days old, in order to return to a former partner. Although flying about in the neighbourhood, she never again came near her off- spring. The ill-feeling of stepmothers among human beings towards their step-children is proverbial ; and in this feeling they are often abetted or encouraged by their husbands. A resemblance to mankind in this respect may be found in birds and other animals. A strange manifestation of such immoral perversity in a pair of turkeys is recorded by Bishop Stanley in his ' Book on Birds/ "A female turkey was shot just after her young had been hatched, and were not quite fledged. For a time the father of the brood hovered about the nest, uttering loud and menacing croakings, whenever anybody approached. At length, however, he dis- appeared, and absented himself for two or three days ; he then returned with another mate, when the poor 1 Bingley's ' Animal Biography,' vol. ii. p. 203. 2 Jesse, ' Gleanings,' vol. ii. p. 288. BIRDS. COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS. 385 half-starved nestlings were attacked without mercy by the step-mother; who, after severely wounding, pre- cipitated them from the nest. Two, however, were found at the foot of the tree with signs of life, and with great care and attention were reared at the rectory, about half a mile distant, and after being slightly pinioned, were allowed their liberty ; but they seldom quitted the lawn or offices, roosting on a tree in the shrubbery. Here, however, they were soon dis- covered by the unnatural pair, who, for a long time, used to come at early dawn and pounce upon them with fierce cries." 1 We have as yet said nothing of parrots in connex- ion with sagacity or intelligence. Most of the par- sot kind, however well they utter words, evidently do not refer what they say to any object. I have listened to a parrot that said, with the utmost distinctness, 11 Give poor Poll a bit of bread," seven consecutive syllables, but these syllables it would reiterate just as freely when it was in no want of food as when it was eager for it. There have been, however, some few exceptions ; some that have connected the sounds that they uttered with something that was before them. Smellie tells us of a parrot whose cage hung at a window near which a woman passed every morning crying " Salt \" The parrot soon learned to imitate the call. But after a time, he would, as soon as he caught sight of the woman, though she had as yet uttered no sound, call out " Salt !" In this case the object and the sound were evidently connected in the mind of the animal. 2 1 Mrs. Lee, Anecd. of Birds, p. 157. 2 Smellie's Philosophy of Is at. Hist. vol. i p. 458. 2 c 386 EE-ASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. If the account of the answers made by a Brazilian parrot to questions put to it by Prince Maurice, as re- lated by Sir William Temple/ and copied by Mr. Locke, 2 were true, we might indeed expect at some time to see birds of that kind exhibiting great powers of reasoning and speech. Prince Maurice, having heard extraordinary stories of the parrot, sent for it, and, when it was first brought into the room, where the prince was with a great many Dutchmen about him, it said, " What a company of white men are here \" They asked it, what it thought that man was, pointing at the prince ; it answered, " Some General or other." When they brought ifc close to him, he asked it, " D'ou venez-vous ?" It answered, " De Marinnan." The prince : ' ' A qui este-vous ?" The parrot : "A un Portugais." Prince : " Que fais-tu la ?" Parrot : " Je garde les poulles \" The prince laughed, and said, ' ( Vous gardez les poulles I" The parrot an- swered, " Oui, moi, et je sais bien faire/' and made the chuck three or four times that people use to make to chickens when they call them. " I set down," adds Sir William Temple, "the words of this dialogue in French, just as Prince Maurice said them to me. I asked him in what language the parrot spoke ; and he said, " In Brazilian," I asked whether he understood the Brazilian, He said No, but he had taken care to have two interpreters by him, the one a Dutch- man that spoke Brazilian, and the other a Brazilian that spoke Dutch that he asked them separately and privately, and both of them agreed in telling him just the same thing that the parrot said. . . I dare say this 1 ' Memoirs of Christendom from 1672-1679,' 2 ' Essay on the Human Understanding,' book ii. ch. 27. BIRDS. COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS. 387 prince believed himself in all that he told me, having ever passed for a very honest and pious man. I leave to naturalists to reason, and other men to believe as they please upon it." But from the way in which Sir William Temple speaks of the story, it is quite clear that he did not believe it ; nor, we may be assured, did Mr. Locke ; and we may feel certain that the prince was deceived by the Brazilian people, who wished to make a wonder of their parrot, and to play upon his credulity. Another much extolled parrot was one that belonged, in the last century, to Dennis 0' Kelly, called in his day Colonel 0' Kelly, or sometimes Count 0' Kelly, from the showiness of his- dress. He was an Irishman of the lower order, who made his way to London in 1 743, and earned his living as a carrier of sedan-chairs, in which capacity his Herculean frame attracted the notice of a lady of title, who enriched him so far that he was en- abled to bet on the turf, and at length became owner of the horse ( Eclipse/ and purchased an estate called Cannons on the Edgware Road. He also ientered the Westminster Militia, of which he became Lieutenant- Colonel. His parrot he purchased for fifty guineas at Bristol, where it is said to have been born. The account given of the bird in an ill- written catch-penny memoir of its master is this : " It not only repeats all things, but answers almost everything; and so strong is its retention that it sings a variety of tunes with exqui- site melody. It beats time with all the appearance of science, and, wonderful to relate, so accurate is its judgment, that, if by chance (for it is merely so when it happens) it mistakes a note, it reverts to the bar where the mistake occurred, corrects itself, and, still 2 c 2 388 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. beating regular time, goes through the whole w.th miraculous exactness. In addition to this we must add that it sings whatever air is desired, and intimates an express knowledge of every request/' 1 In the 1 Gentleman's Magazine' for 1787, 2 in a notice of O'Kelly's death, we find the parrot spoken of in nearly the same words, with the remark, " The account is so extraordinary that, to ' those who have not seei^, and heard the bird, it may appear fabulous, but the fact is unquestionable." In the same magazine for the year 1802, where the death of the parrot is re- corded, it is said that " it sang with the greatest pre- cision the 104th Psalm, ' The Banks of the Dee/ ' God Save the King/ and other favourite songs ; and, if it blundered in any one, instantly began again, till it had the tune complete." It died apparently of old age. Mr. Jesse, having heard of another extraordinary parrot, which had been brought from Brighton to Hampton Court, and which appeared to rival O'Kelly's in power of imitating sounds, made inquiry about it from the sister of the lady to whom it belonged, and received from her the following account, which he gives in her own words : 3 " As you wished me," she says, " to write down whatever I could collect about my sister's wonderful parrot, I proceed to do so, only promising that I will tell you nothing but what I can vouch for having my- self heard. Her laugh is quite extraordinary, and it is impossible to help joining in it one's self, more espe- cially when in the midst of it she cries out, ' Don't make 1 ' Genuine Memoirs of Dennis O'Zelly, Esq.,' Lond. 1788. 2 Page 1197. , 3 Gleanings,' vol. ii. p. 232. BIEDS. COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS. 389 me laugh so I shall die, I shall die V and then continues laughing more violently than before. Her crying and sobbing are curious, and if you say, ' Poor Poll, what is the matter ? ' she says, ' So bad, so bad, got such a cold ; ' and after crying for some time will gradually cease, and, making a noise like drawing a long breath, say, ' Better now/ and begin to laugh. " The first time I ever heard her speak was one day when I was talking to the maid at the bottom of the stairs, and heard what I then considered to be a child call out ' Payne ' (the maid's name), ' I'm not well, I'm not well ; ' and on my saying, ' What is the matter with that child ? ' She replied, ' It is only the parrot ; she always does so when I leave her alone, to make me come back/ And so it proved, for on her going into the room the parrot stopped, and then began laughing quite in a jeering way. * , " It is singular enough that, whenever she is affronted in any way she begins to cry, and when pleased, to laugh. If any one happens to cough or sneeze, she says, ' What a bad cold ! ' One day, when the children were playing with her, the maid came into the room, and on their repeating to her- several things which the parrot had said, Poll looked up, and said quite plainly, 1 No, I didn't/ Sometimes, when she is inclined to be mischievous, the maid threatens to beat her, and she often says 'No, you won't.' She calls the cat very plainly, saying ' Puss, Puss,' and then answers ' Mew.' But the most amusing part is, that whenever I want to make her call it, and to that purpose say ' Puss, Puss,' myself, she always answers ' Mew ' till I begin mewing, and then she begins calling ' Puss' as quick as possible. She imitates every kind of noise, and barks so naturally 390 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. that I have known her ,to set all the dogs on the parade at Hampton Court barking, and I dare say, if the truth was known, wondering what was barking at them ; and the consternation I have seen her cause in a party of cocks and hens, by her crowing and clucking, has been the most ludicrous thing possible. She sings just like a child, and I have more than once thought it was a human being; and it is most ridiculous to hear her make what one should call a false note, and then say ' Oh la ! ' and burst out laughing at herself, beginning again in quite another key. She is very fond of sing- ing * Buy a Broom ! 3 which she says quite plainly, but, in the same- spirit as in calling the cat, if we say with a view to make her repeat it, ' Buy a Broom/ she al- ways says ' Buy a brush/ and then laughs as a child might do when mischievous. She often performs a kind of exercise which I do not know how to describe except by saying that it is like the lance exercise. She puts her claw behind her, first on one side and then on the other, then in front, and round over her head, and, whilst doing so, keeps saying ' Come on, come on ! ' and,, when finished, says ' Bravo, beautiful ! ' and draws herself up. Before I was as well acquainted with her as I am now, she would stare in my face for some time, and then say ' How d'ye do, ma'am ?' This she invariably does to strangers. One day I went into the room where she was, and said, to try her, ' Poll, where is Payne gone ? ' and to my astonishment, and almost dismay, she said ( Downstairs/ I cannot at this moment racollect anything more that I can vouch for myself, and I do not choose to trust to what I am told, but from what I have myself seen and heard she has almost made me a believer in transmigration." BIRDS. COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS. 391 It is observed of parrots that they prattle, as dogs bark,, in dreams, repeating what they have committed, or have been trying to commit, to memory, in the day- time. 1 1 Marcgraye, cited by Bingley, Anim. Biog., yol. ii. p. 80. 392 CHAPTER XXXIV. DISTINCTION OF TIME BY ANIMALS. CON- SIDERATIONS ON THE SUBJECT. HAVING given so much attention to birds, we shall, be- fore proceeding to notice certain miscellaneous matters, bestow some consideration on the ability, which is seen in the more intelligent animals, of distinguishing times and seasons, as one day of the week from another. In this, as in most other indications of understanding, we shall find the dog most to be regarded. But it is not to be supposed, as Mr. Jesse would intimate, 1 that the dog, or any other animal, notes the days by counting, and registering in his mind, the numbers one, two, three, and so on, but rather that he knows when a particular day, whether Sunday or any other, has come round, by certain signs and changes of appear- ances, which he observes in the things or persons around him. This view of the matter, however, still allows full credit to the animal's understanding; he ob- serves, and draws conclusions from his observations. Thus Dr. Davy relates that when he was at Ceylon, Sir .Robert Brownrigg had a dog which always at- tended him when he went out, except when he was 1 'Anecdotes of Dogs,' p. 24; ' Gleanings/ vol. i. p. 19. DISTINCTION OF TIME BY ANIMALS. 393 going to church, or to council, or to inspect the troops, on all which occasions he wore his sword ; so that, when the dog saw the sword buckled on, he would go with Sir Kobert no further than the outer door. By similar means it is that dogs distinguish Sundays ; they see the family going out earlier, perhaps, than they go out on other days ; or they observe prayer-books got ready, or hats bfushed, or notice other matters, possi- bly very trivial to us, and of which we think them utterly regardless ; and thus they understand that it is the day on which they are not taken out as on other days. Mr. Bell relates the following instance of a sense of time, which fell under his own observation : A Newfoundland dog, which was kept at an inn in Dor- setshire, was accustomed every morning, as the clock struck eight, to take in his mouth a basket, placed ready for him, and containing a few pence, and carry it across the street to a baker's, who took out the money, and replaced it by the proper number of rolls. With these the dog hastened back, and deposited his charge in the kitchen, but, wbat was well worthy of remark, says Mr. Bell, 1 he never attempted to take the basket, or even approach it, on Sunday mornings. But surely the basket and money would not be placed for him on Sunday mornings ; for it would appear, from the tenor of the account, either that the baker did not sell rolls on Sundays, or, if he did, that the people of the inn did not use any ; and if the basket were occasionally set, in order to try him, there would be signs by which he would judge that it was not the time for him to carry it. ) alluded to History of British Quadrupeds,' p. 244. 394 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. mals can count time." 1 He supports it as dwelling on the fearlessness of rooks and other birds on Sun- day ; on a fact, which he had himself witnessed, of four horses, that had been regularly driven together six days in the week, showing the strongest dislike to start, and resisting even force, on the day on which they had been accustomed to rest ; and on the habit of the monkeys of Gibraltar assembling on Sundays, and on Sundays only, at a spot overlooking the ground on which the church parade is held, as is well known to all officers that have been quartered in that fortress. But the fact on which he lays most stress is the following : A farmer had a favourite dog which accompanied him wherever he went except on a Sun- day, when he could never be prevailed upon to leave the house. But in the middle of one week there oc- curred a fast day, on which the farmer, putting on his best clothes, set off for church; the dog, as was his custom on week-days, followed him, but seemed aware that something in his master's habits was out of course ; and after attending him for some distance, he looked up in his face with an appearance of anxiety and distrust, and then slowly walked back to the house. The farmer called to him, and he returned, but as the church bells happened then to begin ringing, he seemed all at once to comprehend what was going on, and went off home without further delay or concern. But, in truth, this anecdote shows that the difference in the dog's conduct on Sundays proceeded, not from "measuring time," or counting days, but from the alteration which he perceived in his master's dress and proceedings. 1 ' Gleanings,' vol. ii. pp. 10, 11. DISTINCTION OF TIME BY ANIMALS. 395 Mr. Elaine says that a dog which was "several weeks " under his care in the infirmary attached to his premises, being visited every Sunday by his master, who had no leisure to see him at any other time, learned to distinguish Sunday from the other days of the week, and would take his station at the door on the morning of that day, and not stir from it till his master had paid his accustomed visit. There was nothing par- ticular, Mr. Elaine says, done on that day to enable the dog to distinguish it from any other. But this we must take leave to doubt. Let us throw together a few more anecdotes on this subject, which those who think that dogs can count time, may use, if they please, in support of their own notion. We believe that they will rather be found to favour our own view of the matter, which however does not, as we said, disparage the animaFs under- standing. In the family of Mrs. Lee's father, when she was a girl, were two Scotch terriers, named Bruin and Pincher, who, when they saw any of the family equipped for a walk on week-days, were most clamor- ous to be allowed to accompany them, but on Sundays never expressed any such desire ; on the contrary, they would retire under the sofa. " They knew/' she says, " when we went, and generally came to meet us on our return, sometimes venturing as far as the gate of the churchyard, which was a mile distant, but never within the inclosure." 1 In this case the dogs proba- bly knew that the ladies, on Sunday forenoons, were leaving the house at an hour when they were not usually taken out with them. 1 Mr. Lee's 'Anecdotes of Animals,' p. 142. 396 SEASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. It would be the same, too,, with the dog mentioned in the following anecdote, given by the Rev. Charles Williams/ who says that he, some years ago, visited a gentleman in Suffolk, Mr. J. W. S , whose house he reached on a Saturday. In the latter part of the day he proceeded to take a stroll with his friend ; and, when they were taking down their hats, he observed Mr. S ' 's terrier in an ecstasy, bounding forward to accompany them on their ramble. But the following morning, when they took their hats to go to church, he looked at them without manifesting any concern, and left them at the door to pursue their way by themselves. Mr. Williams made a remark to Mr. S on the dog's apathy, and was answered, " Oh yes, it is always so on Sunday; Turk knows very well that on that day he is never taken out." The same writer states that a clothier in Wiltshire, with some of whose family he was acquainted, al- ways knew the two days in each week on which his master's wagon would come home, and regularly went several miles on the road to meet it. A brother of Lord Truro, he also states, had a dog that invariably distinguished Saturday night, from the custom adopted by the family of tying him up for the Sunday, which he greatly disliked. He observes, too, that a dog named Tom, some time after being domesticated in a certain family, was missing one day at dinner-time, and did not return till the day after the next. On in- quiring, it was found that he had spent the intervening day at a neighbouring village fair, which he continued to visit every year on the same day as long as he lived. But in this case the dog was probably reminded of 1 'Dogs and their Ways,' p. 60. DISTINCTION OF TIME BY ANIMALS. 397 the day by some preparations which he saw for the celebration of it ; travelling caravans, or extraordinary numbers of cattle or people on the road, might easily excite in his mind a recollection of what had been, and a consequent expectation of what would be. Southey, in his ' Omniana/ states that he knew a dog which had belonged to an Irishman, and which had been sold by him in England, that always refused to " touch a morsel of food" on a Friday. I must say that I cannot receive this account without distrust ; I cannot but suppose that Southey was in some way deceived. Who can believe that a dog would volun- tarily abstain from food every seventh day ? Who can credit that if a mutton chop had been offered him a Friday, he would long have withheld himself from falling upon it ? Southey also speaks, in the same passage, of a dog belonging to his grandfather, tf which trudged two miles every Saturday to cater for himself in the sham- bles." The dog doubtless knew, by some signs that he noted, that the day for finding abundance at the market town was come; he would see more traffic on the road, and perhaps people that he knew passing. A story is told of a dog at Locoyaine, a village in France, who used to set out from home every Satur- day, precisely at two o'clock, to go to Hennebon, a town about three miles distant. He had discovered that on that day the butchers cut up a great deal of meat, and his object was to visit their shops, in the hopes of obtaining a plenteous feast of offal. A Mr. Eipshaw, formerly master of Ipswich Gaol, had a favourite dog which used to accompany him in his walks, and always went with him to the assizes, 398 EEASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. held alternately at Ipswich and Bury, where he was obliged regularly to attend. At last, as the dog grew old, his master, one day when he was going to Bury, determined not to take him, as he thought the journey too much for his strength, and desired the ostler in the morning to shut him up ; an order which the ostler faithfully obeyed. But Mr. Kipshaw, on reaching Bury, was accosted, to his great surprise, by one of the officials, with the remark, " We have been expect- ing you these two hours, for it is full that time since your dog arrived." Such was the case ; but how the dog knew that that was the day of the assizes, or how he escaped from the ostler's custody, he could never discover. As to the day, however, it is probable that the dog ascertained it from some preparation which he saw his master making, perhaps on the preceding evening. We have a remarkable example of the distinction of time by a dog in Dr. Brown's ' Horae Subsecivae/ in an account of one which, though of the female sex, was named Wylie, and was purchased by Dr. Brown, when he was a young man, from an old shepherd who was retiring from his employment. She was brought to his father's, and " was at once taken," he says, " to all our hearts ; and though she was often pensive, as if thinking of her master, and work on the hills, she made herself at home, and behaved in all respects like a lady. When out with me, if she saw sheep in the streets or road, she got quite excited and helped the work, and was curiously useful ; she being so, making her won- derfully happy. And so her little life went on, never doing wrong, always blithe and kind and beautiful. But some months after she came, there was a mystery about her; every Tuesday evening she disappeared; DISTINCTION OF TIME BY ANIMALS. 399 we tried to watch her, but in vain ; she was always off by nine P.M., and was away all night, coming back next day wearied, and all over mud, as if she had travelled far. She slept all next day. This went on for some months, and we could make nothing of it. Poor dear creature, she looked at us wistfully as she came in, &s if she would have told us if she could, and was espe- cially fond, though tired. " Well, one day I was walking across the Grass- market, with Wy lie at my heels, when two shepherds started, and looking at her, one said, ' That's her ; that's the wonderful wise bitch that naebody kens/ I asked him what he meant, and he told me that for months past she had made her appearance by the first daylight at the ' buchts ' or sheep-pens in the cattle- market, and worked incessantly, and to excellent pur- pose, in helping the shepherds to get their sheep and lambs in. The man said, in a sort of transport, ' She's a perfect meeracle ; flees about like a speerit, and never gangs wrang ; wears but never grups, and beats a,' oor dowgs. She's a perfect meeracle, and as soople as a mawkm.' He related how they all knew her, and said ( There's that wee fell yin ; we'll get them in noo/ They tried to coax her to stop and be caught ; but no ; though so gentle, she was off; and for many days ' that wee fell yin^ was spoken of by these rough fellows. She continued this amateur work till she died." In the following story, told by Mr. Broderip 1 in his amusing way, we have another instance of a dog mark- ing Sunday, doubtless by such signs as we have already intimated. In the west of England, not far from Bath, there 1 Zool. Eecreations, p. 184 400 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. lived, towards the close of the last century, a worthy, learned, and benevolent clergyman. He had a turn- spit, named Toby, a fine dog, with stout legs fit for his work, and enabling him to follow his master about hour after hour, sometimes indeed to his annoyance, but he was of too kind a disposition to repulse him. At length he became so persevering, and even presuming, in his attendance, that he would venture into the read- ing-desk on a Sunday morning. This the clergyman tolerated for a time, but thinking that he saw a smile, at Toby's appearance, on the face of some of his con- gregation, he began to fear that he was injudiciously indulgent, and ordered Toby, on the following Sunday morning, to be locked up in the stable. But he was locked up to no purpose, for he forced his way out through the leaded casement, and presented himself at the reading-desk as usual. Against the next Sunday, however, it was determined to take further precaution, and accordingly, when the dog had done his part on the Saturday towards roasting the beef which was to be eaten cold on Sunday, he was not suffered to go at large as on other occasions, but was bolted up in the wood-house, where there was no window to allow of escape. He continued, therefore, in confinement, testifying his uneasiness by barking and howling du- ring the greater part of the day of rest, but it was hoped his discomfort would be a warning to him to avoid the church. Being let out on Sunday even- ing, and left at liberty for the rest of the week, he passed the days in his usual fashion, did his duty in the wheel whenever he was wanted, and showed not the least sullenness or discontent. But at twelve on Saturday, when his services were required for the spit, DISTINCTION OF TIME BY ANIMALS. 401 Toby was not to be found; servants were dispatched in all directions in quest of him, but without effect ; it was supposed that he must have been stolen, and the cook and the master were alike in despair. On Sunday morning the clergyman went to church, free from Toby's officious devotion, but concerned at his unaccountable disappearance. His reappearance, how- ever, was equally unexpected ; for as his reverence entered the reading-desk, he saw Toby's eye twinkle a morning salutation in his usual corner. After this, no opposition was bffered to Toby's Sunday movements, but he was allowed to go to church as he pleased, with the unanimous approbation of the rector and the whole parish. In this case, if the dog did not reckon days, he showed excellent powers of calculation for his own ends. The following is, I think, the most wonderful in- stance that I have ever read of a dog noting time : There were two intimate friends, fathers of families, one living in London and the other at Gruildford, ancl for many years it had been the custom for the London family to pass their Christmas at Guildford, arriving in time for dinner the day before, and bringing with them a large spaniel, which was equally a favourite with both families. But after the lapse of seven years the two families had a misunderstanding, which occasioned an omission of the usual Christmas invitation. As the gentleman at Guildford, however, was standing at his window on Christmas Eve, about an hour before dinner, he saw the spaniel trotting towards the house, and ex- claimed to his wife, " Well, my dear, the W s are determined on reconciliation, for they are coming though we did not invite them, and Ca3sar is advan- 402 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. cingto announce them." As he finished speaking, the dog caine np to the door, and was admitted as usual into the parlour. The lady, in full expectation of soon seeing the W s, gave orders to prepare beds, and to keep back the dinner ; but no W s arrived, either on that day or any other. As for Csesar himself, he stayed the same number of days as on previous occasions, and then set off for his home, which he reached in safety. His visit led to some correspond- ence between the friends, and finally to a renewal of their intercourse; and C-desar, as long* as he lived, had the satisfaction of annually accompanying his master and mistress to Guildford. 1 But we cannot suppose that in this case the dog counted three hundred and odd days to learn the day for starting on his excursion. He doubtless saw some- thing in what was going on around him to awaken in him recollections of the past, and to stimulate him to do what he had done in previous years when he noticed the same occurrences. But it is strange that he should have gone off without his master and mistress; it might rather have been expected that he would have made signs, in his way, to induce them to go, and not have left them until he had failed to prevail upon them. But the story does not intimate that he made any such pre- vious attempts. A bull-dog, says M. Blaze, 2 was always present at prayers in a certain family, and, when the last Pater was commenced, he got up and stood at the door ready to go out the instant it was opened. We suspect with the ' Quarterly Reviewer ' who comments on the story, that the animal was instructed here by a slight move- 1 Jesse's ' Gleanings,' vol. iii. p. 36. 2 Hist, du Chien, p. 37. DISTINCTION OF TIME BY ANIMALS. 403 ment in the circle, or by a variation in the pitch of reading ; and not, as M. Blaze infers, by his abilities to count the number of Paters. 1 M. Blaze gives us also another account of a dog that observed Sunday. He tells us that he went out on that day of the week, accompanied by his friend M. Guillemain, with permission to shoot wild ducks on the preserved water near Versailles. They had but one dog between them, but, soon after the first shot was fired, a fine spaniel ran up to them, which fawned upon M. Guillemain, arid seemed to offer them his assistance. The gentlemen pursued ^heir sport during the whole day, and the dog constantly attended them and proved of great use. When the sport was over, he darted away at full gallop, and they saw him no more. They spoke of him to the keeper of the water, who told them that the dog belonged to a gentleman residing two leagues off, who was at the time laid up with the gout. " But the dog knows," he added, " that persons come to shoot here every Sunday, and on that day regularly makes his appearance on the banks of the water, when he" attaches himself to the first sportsman that he meets, and serves him till he finds he is no longer wanted, when he forthwith returns to his master." The faculty of marking times and seasons by certain signs is observed in the cat and the horse, and in other animals, though less frequently and conspicuously than in the dog. Mr. Jackson 2 speaks of a cat at Stoke Newington belonging to a lone widow woman, who shuts up her house on Sundays. But the cat does not like this solitary confinement every seventh day, and 1 ' Quarterly Review,' TO!, ci. p. 510. 2 ' Our Dumb Companions,' p. 128. 2 D2 404 SEASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. accordingly leaves the house of her mistress every Saturday night for that of a neighbouring gentleman, with whom she remains throughout Sunday, and re- turns home regularly every Monday morning. We are not to suppose that the cat keeps an account of the days, and prepares to migrate when it has reckoned seven ; we must consider that it understands when the day of confinement is corning by certain appearances and preparations that it sees around it. The 'instances found of observation of time in the horse, however, are but few. We have noticed the case of the newsman's horse, that stopped of his own accord at the house of each of two customers on alternate Sundays ; and we have heard two or three accounts of coach-horses that have refused to be put in harness on Sunday, and have successfully resisted all attempts to coax or coerce them to draw a carriage on that day. But, on the whole, the horse seems less remarkable for regular attention to times than for accurate observance of places. A Mr. Hill, of St. Domingo, gives an account of a tame pelican, which, as it had its wings plucked to keep it within bounds, and consequently was unable to catch fish for itself, was dependent for sustenance on the fish given it by the fishermen of the beach ; but 'as Sunday was not a fishing day with them, there was on that day no supply for the pelican. In time it became so well aware of the recurrence of this fast- day, that, though on other days it went regularly to the seaside to wait the return of the canoes, it never stirred on the seventh day from the trunk of a tree on which it roosted in the yard. It is a bird that can endure long fasting; but, as to discrimination of time, it probably abstained from DISTINCTION OF TIME BY ANIMALS. 405 going to the beach on a Sunday because it understood from certain signs that the boats had not gone out on that day. We have thus given our notions on this subject, with such examples as we have thought sufficient from among those which we have collected. We consider that animals, in these cases, exercise understanding and reason, though we do not believe, with Mr. Jesse and M. Blaze, that they count time as human beings count it. 406 CHAPTER XXXV. MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS OF INTELLI- GENCE. OX, SHEEP, PIG. ANIMALS of the ox tribe are not in general considered to have much understanding, but, if, we look into works that treat of them, we shall find indications that they possess moro intelligence than they have commonly been allowed. The Devonshire oxen and cows, according to Mr. Bell, are said to be more docile and sagacious than those of any other part. The following occurrence was witnessed by a lady nearly related to that gentleman : A Devonshire cow, which was feeding tranquilly in a pasture, the gate of which was open to the road, was much annoyed by a mischievous boy, who amused him- self by throwing stones at the peaceful animal ; who, after bearing with his impertinence for some time, at length went up to him, hooked the end of her horn into his clothes, and, lifting him from the ground, car- ried him out of the field, and laid him down in the road ; she then returned calmly to her pasture, leaving him quit for a severe fright and a torn garment/' 1 1 Bell's ' British Quadrupeds,' p. 417. MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS OF INTELLIGENCE. 407 The following anecdote, showing that the cow or ox, like the horse or dog, will ask assistance of man, I received from my friend Mr. Joseph West. A friend of his, Mr. Watt, the eminent engraver, was walking through a field, somewhere in Gloucestershire, when, a cow came up to him with an earnest kind of look, and after gazing in his face for a moment or two, turned her head back. He paid no attention to her movements at first, but observing that she repeated them, he concluded that she wanted to draw his atten- tion to something. He therefore walked round behind her, and observed a large stinging insect fixed on her loins, just in the part where she could 'reach it neither with her tail nor her nose. The cow stood still, and he at once removed the insect ; and she then walked quietly off' into the field to resume her feeding. When Mr. Watt told Mr. West this story, Mr. West recollected a similar act which he had himself seen in a horse belonging to a vetturino on the shores of the Lago Maggiore. He had engaged the vetturino, who was driving him along the coast of the lake, when his horse, which seemed a quiet well-conducted animal, suddenly stopped, and stood stock-still, but endea- vouring to turn his head back. " Ah !" said the driver, " I know what's the matter ; he always stops and looks in that way when he wants a certain service to be done for him." The man then jumped down, and re- moved a large gadfly from the horse's back, when the animal proceeded onward at the same steady pace as before. A striking instance of sagacity in a bull is given by the author of /Instinct Displayed/ 1 and by Dr. . l Letter xxxiv. 408 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. Hancock, in his ' Essay on Instinct/ 1 as a well-attested fact : " A gentleman in Scotland, near Laggan, had a bull which grazed with the cows in the open mea- dows. As fences are scarcely known in this part, a boy was kept to watch, lest the cattle should trespass on the neighbouring fields and destroy the corn. The boy was fat and drowsy, and was often found asleep ; he was of course chastised whenever the cattle tres- passed. Warned by this, he kept a long switch, and with it revenged himself with an unsparing hand if they exceeded their boundary. The bull seemed to have observed with concern this consequence of their transgression ; and as he had no horns, he used to strike the cows with his hard forehead, and thus punish them severely, if any one crossed the boundary. In the meantime he set them a good example himself, never once entering upon the forbidden bounds, and placing himself before the cows in a threatening atti- tude, if they approached it. At length his honesty and vigilance became so obvious, that the boy was employed in weeding and other business, without fear of their misbehaviour in his absence/' A buffalo, relates Mr. Jesse, kept at the Zoological Farm on Kingston Hill, a ferocious animal, which it was necessary to keep well under control, had a strong iron ring passed through the cartilage of its nose, to which was attached a chain of about two feet long, with another larger ring, three or four inches in diameter, at the other end, by which he might be caught and held. In grazing, the buffalo, unless he took great care, must occasionally have set his foot on the larger ring, and thus have given it a jerk which would have 1 Letter xxxiv. p. 90. MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTEATICWS OF INTELLIGENCE. 409 caused him pain ; and it must have been at all times inconvenient to him to drag or carry. To avoid such annoyance, he had the sense to put his horn through the larger ring, and thus relieve his nose in a great measure from the weight of it. Mr. Jesse says that he has seen him do this in a most deliberate manner, putting his head on one side till he got his horn through the ring, and then shaking his head till the ring rested at the bottom of the horn. 1 Mr. Jesse observes, we may here remark, a similar instance of sagacity in a raven : " I saw a raven lately/' says he, ' ' at the inn at Lyndhurst, in the New Forest, which had a chain of about three feet long fastened to a ring round its neck. Whenever the bird flew or hopped about, it always gathered up the chain in its mouth, to prevent the weight of it hurting his neck/' So an ape was seen to act with a chain by Dr. Abel, who had opportunities of observing his habits during a voyage from Borneo to England. The animal, being fastened by a chain to a staple, and having suc- ceeded in detaching it, ran about with the chain drag- ging behind him, but, finding himself impeded by its length and weight, he coiled it up, and threw it over his shoulder. 3 The buffalo, in his wild state, gives tokens of intel- ligence. When he is hunted, he becomes, if wounded, extremely furious, and will turn in the utmost rage upon his assailant, who, if he should climb a tree in order to escape, is far from being out of danger, for the animal will run with violence at the tree, and strike 1 Jesse's ' Gleanings in Natural History,' vol. ii. p. 226. 2 ' Naturalist's Library,' vol. ii. p. 73. 410 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. it with his massy horns, which cover as with a helmet the crown of his head, and of which the stroke will so shake the largest trees as to require a firm hold indeed to prevent the person from falling to the ground, and being consequently tossed into the air by the horns of the enraged beast. 1 Oxen are susceptible of much improvement, in re- gard to their understanding, if it were thought worth while to take pains with them for that purpose. " In. all the southern provinces of Africa and Asia, there are many wild bisons, or hunched oxen, which are taken when young and tamed. They are soon taught to submit, without resistance, to all kinds of domestic labour. They become so tractable, that they are ma- naged with as much ease as our horses. The voice of their master is alone sufficient to make them obey, and to direct their course. They are shod, curried, caressed, and supplied abundantly with the best food. When managed in this manner, these animals appear to be different creatures from our oxen. The oxen of the Hottentots are favourite domestics, companions in amusements, assistants in all laborious exercises, and participate the habitation, the bed, and the food of their master. As their nature is improved by the gentleness of their education, by the kind treatment they receive, and the perpetual attention bestowed upon them, they acquire sensibility and intelligence, and perform actions which one would not expect from, them. The Hottentots train their oxen to war. In all their armies there are considerable troops of these oxen, which are easily governed, and are let loose by 1 ' Travels in South Africa,' by Eev. John Campbell, a Dissenting Missionary, 1815. MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS OF INTELLIGENCE. 411 the chief when a proper opportunity occurs. They instantly dart with impetuosity upon the enemy. They strike with their horns, kick, overturn, and trample under their feet everything that opposes their fury. They run ferociously into the ranks, which they soon put into the utmost disorder, and thus pave the way for an easy victory to their masters. These oxen are likewise instructed to guard the flocks, which they conduct with dexterity, and defend them from the at- tacks of strangers and of rapacious animals. They are taught to distinguish friends from enemies, to un- derstand signals, and to obey the commands of their master. When pasturing, at the smallest signal from the keepers, they bring back and collect the wander- ing animals. They attack all strangers with fury, which renders them a great security against robbers. These brackeleys, as they are called, know every in- habitant of the kraal, and discover the same marks of respect for all the men, women, and children, as a dog does for those who live in his master's house. These people may therefore approach their cattle with the greatest safety. But if a stranger, and particu- larly a European, should use the same freedom, with- out being accompanied by one of the Hottentots, his life would be in imminent danger." 3 Nor are the oxen tribe without sensibility. Many animals, 2 remarks Mr. Jesse, show a pride in any dis- tinction bestowed upon them, and cannot bear to feel humbled by being deprived of it. This is the case not only with the elephant, the horse, and the game- cock, but it is a curious and well-known fact in Switzer- 1 Voyage de Cap,' par Kolbe, tome i. pp. 160, 307 ; Smellie, i. 457, ' Gleanings,' vol. iii. p 122. 412 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. land that if the bull which is fixed to the leading cow of a herd (and the finest and largest is generally se- lected for the purpose) is removed, the cow is fre- quently seen to pine away and die. Sheep at times show that they are' not without in- telligence. One mode in which they exhibit it is by asking assistance, like many animals besides, of man or of other creatures, when they are in difficulties. A gentleman travelling in a gig in a lonely part of the Highlands, was met by a ewe, which came up to him with piteous bleating. She increased her cries as she drew near to him, and looked up in his face as if to ask assistance. He alighted; she went back in the direction from which she had come, and he followed her. She led him to a little hill at a considerable dis- tance from the road, where he found a lamb wedged in between two large stones, struggling, with its legs uppermost, to extricate itself. He removed one of the stones, raised the lamb, and placed it on the green grass; and the mother, in a long-continued bleat, seemed to pour forth thanks. 1 " About the middle of last April," says a writer in the ' Magazine of Natural History/ 2 " I observed a young lamb entangled among briars. It had, seem- ingly, struggled for liberty until it was nearly ex- hausted. Its mother was present, endeavouring with her head and feet to disentangle it. After having at- tempted in vain, for a long time, to effect this purpose, she left it, and ran away baa-ing with all her might. 1 Brown's ' Popular Natural History.' Mrs. Lee's ' Anecdotes of Animals,' p. 370. 2 Mrs. Lee, Anecd. of Animals, p. 370 ; see also Blame's Encycl. of Rural Sports, p. 225. MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTKATIONS OF INTELLIGENCE. 418 We fancied there was something peculiarly doleful in lier voice. Thus she proceeded across three large fields, and through four strong hedges until she came to a flock of sheep. From not having been able to follow her, I could not watch her motions when with them. However, she left them in about five minutes, accompanied by a large ram that had two powerful horns. They returned speedily towards the poor lamb, and, as soon as they reached it, the ram immediately set about liberating it, which he did in a few minutes, by dragging away the briars with his horns." The anecdote is further illustrated by the following in- genious observations : " Now it may be asked what analogy, even in the remotest degree, had the actions mentioned in the above anecdote to the operations of instinct ? Was it an ' involuntary desire ' that in- duced the sheep to endeavour to liberate her young one, when she observed it imprisoned amongst briars ? Was she urged by an ' involuntary desire/ or did she act ' without motive or deliberation/ when she ran across three large fields, and surmounted four strong thorn- hedges, in search of its relief, which, by these means, she must have known, or at least hoped, that she could obtain ? Did the ram act ' without motive or delibera- tion/ when he returned with her, of course according to her request, and effected what she desired ? Or is it not infinitely more probable, is it not indeed indis- putable, that these, and a thousand actions of a similar nature, which are daily observable in our domesticated animals, are ' perfectly free/ are the result of volition, are, in short, neither more nor less than the operations of reason ? If we can entertain the contrary conclu- sion, our reason must have gone most wofully astray/' 414 SEASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. It is interesting, says Cuvier, to remark how ani- mals, in similar situations, communicate their wants and their distresses. An anecdote illustrating this is told of a number of sheep who surrounded a cow, as if they wished to bespeak her favour for a poor grassed ewe, which was unable to recover herself from her miserable situation, until the cow, advancing towards her, placed the tip of her horns beneath her side, and gave her a slight but dexterous toss, which instantly replaced the sufferer upon her feet. 1 To these particulars respecting the sheep we may add, from Mrs. Lee, 2 the following anecdote of the intelligence of a goat : " A goat and her kids fre- quented a square in which I once lived, and were often fed by myself and servants, a circumstance which would have made no impression, had I not heard a thumping at the hall door, which arose from the but- tings of the goat when the food was not forthcoming, and whose example was followed by the two little things. After a time this remained unheeded, and to our great astonishment, one day the area bell used by the tradespeople, the wire of which passed by the side of one of the railings, was sounded. The cook an- swered it, but no one was there save the goat and kids, with their heads bent down towards the kitchen window. It was thought that some boy had rung for them ; but they were watched, and the old goat was seen to hook one of her horns into the wire, and pull it. This is too much like reason to be ascribed to mere instinct." To these illustrations of understanding in the ox, 1 Griffith's ' Cuvier,' vol. iv. p. 37 ; Swainson's ' Habits and Instinct of Animals,' p. 24, 2 Anecd. of Animals, p. 366. MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS OF INTELLIGENCE. 415 sheep, and goat, we will add a few particulars regard- ing another domestic animal, the hog, to whose cha- racter, as to that of the ass, justice has by no means been done either by writers or by people in general. One of the earliest authors that thought of speaking favourably of him was Gilpin, who, in his ' Forest Scenery/ says, " He is commonly considered an obsti- nate, headstrong beast, and he may perhaps have a degree of positiveness in his temper, but if properly managed, he is, or may be made, an orderly docile ani- mal. When your meanings are fair and friendly and in- telligible, he may be led with a straw, nor is he without his social feelings, when he is at liberty to indulge them." " In a native state," says Mr. Youatt, 1 " swine seem by no means destitute of natural affection ; they are gregarious, assemble together in defence of each other, herd together for warmth, and appear to Lave feelings in common ; no mother is more tender of her young than the sow, or more resolute in their defence. Be- sides, neglected as this animal has been by authors, there are not wanting records of many anecdotes illus- trative of their sagacity, tractability, and susceptibility of affection. How often among the peasantry, where the pig is, in a manner of speaking, one of the family, may this animal be seen following his master from place to place, and grunting his recognition of his pro- tectors ! " In Minorca the hog is employed in conjunc- tion with oxen, horses, and asses, to draw carriages and plough the land. The docility of the learned pig, which was taught to pick up letters, written on pieces of card, and form them into words, is well known. It should not be for- 1 'The Pig,' p. 17. 416 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. gotten, however, that the showman admitted that three pigs had died under the training. But on the other hand, it is to be recollected, in favour of the pig's teachableness, that the original learned pig has had several successors, though no one of them had at- tracted such attention as the first, and perhaps no one has been equal to him either in natural or acquired talent. Another remarkable testimony to the pig's docility, is the account of the sow which was trained by Richard Toomer, a man eminent as a marksman and a cricketer, to find game, and to back and stand; an account which was first given in Bingley's ' Memoirs of British Quadrupeds/ from a narrative of Sir Henry Mildmay, which he drew up for Bingley. 2 Toomer and his two brothers were King's keepers in the New Forest, in which the sow, a black one, was born, and kept for the purpose of breeding. The Toomers were engaged in breaking pointers and setters, some for themselves and some for gentlemen in the neighbourhood, but of those that were sent to them many proved in- tractable, and incapable of being properly trained. As the brothers were talking one day of their ill suc- cess in this occupation, one of them observed that any other animal might be made to point at game as well as such stupid dogs. Just as he was speaking the sow came by, and they remarked how handsome an animal she was. Richard Toomer then threw her a piece of oatmeal roll, at which she seemed pleased, and ap- proached towards him ; and he resolved on trying to make her a sporting pig. He gave her the name of Slut, to which she ever afterwards answered. He 2 Bingley, ' Memoirs of British Quadrupeds,' p. 452. MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS OF INTELLIGENCE. 417 found her so docile that within a fortnight she would find and point partridges or rabbits, of which there was abundance near his lodge. In a few weeks she would retrieve birds that had run as well as the best pointer; and the brother declared her scent to be superior to that of the best pointer they had ever possessed. She hunted chiefly on the moors and heaths, and has stood at partridges, black-game, pheasants, snipes, and rab- bits, in the same day ; hares she was never known to point. She would sometimes join the sportsmen when out with their pointers, and continue with them se- veral hours. She has sometimes stood at a jack-snipe when all the pointers had passed it. But the dogs did not like her company, being jealous apparently of her greater keenness of scent, and she was in consequence but seldom taken out with them. She always showed great pleasure when game, dead or alive, was set be- fore her. She has frequently stood at a single part- ridge at forty yards distance, with her nose in an exact line towards the bird, and would continue in that posi- tion till the game moved, when, if it took wing, she would come up to the place from whence it sprang, and put her nose to it two or three times ; if it ran off, she would follow shortly after it, and, when the bird stopped, would stand at it as before. Eichard Too- mer's lodge was about seven miles from his brother Thomas's, and the sow often went by herself from one lodge to the other, as if to solicit one or other of the brothers to take her out with him. When she was about five years old, her trainer, Richard Toomer, died ; and as Sir Henry Mildmay wished to have her, she was sent to his seat, Dogmersfield Park, where she remained some years. At ten years of age she be- 2 E 418 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. came fat and heavy, but could still point game as well as ever. She was killed on suspicion of having de- stroyed lambs, and, when dead, was found to weigh seven hundred pounds. 1 Colonel Thornton, also, had a sow similarly accom- plished, able to hunt, quarter the ground, and take part with the pointers. 2 About fifty years ago, it was stated in the public papers that some gentleman had trained swine to draw his carrriage, and had driven four-in-hand through London with them. Subsequently, an eccentric old farmer near St. Alban's drove into the market-place of the town with a similar team, which he had been six months, he said, in training. In Minorca, as Pennant relates, swine are often made to draw vehicles ; and it is not uncommon to see hogs and asses drawing to- gether, or two young horses, a cow, and* a sow, yoked to a plough, the sow being the most efficient drawer of the four. Henderson, too, in his ' Practical Grazier/ tells how he and his brothers, when they were boys, trained swine to carry their baggage when they went out, and broke them in to be ridden. An anecdote of an American sow's intelligence is re- lated by a Mr. Craven. She had a numerous litter of pigs, with which she passed her days in the woods, but returned to the house in the evening to share a supper with her family. But one of her offspring, when it was old enough, was taken away to be roasted, and a little while after a second and a third. The next time she came to her evening meal, she was alone ; and, as her 1 Youatt, c On the Pig,' p. 17 ; Daniel's Encycl. Kural Sports. 2 Youattj ib. MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS OF INTELLIGENCE. 419 owners were anxious to know what was become of her brood, she was watched on the following evening, and observed driving back her pigs at the extremity of the wood, with much earnest grunting, while she went off to the house, leaving them to wait for her return. It was evident that she had noticed the diminution of her family, and had adopted this method to save those that remained. 1 In the ' Naturalist's Library ' we find another anec- dote indicative of no small intelligence in the pig. A pig, which had been kept a close prisoner in his sty for several days, was let out that it might be cleaned. He was no sooner at liberty than he ran to the stable, from which he carried several trusses of straw to his abode, to make himself a comfortable bed. The straw, being intended for another purpose, was carried back, but the pig, watching for a second opportunity, regained possession of it, to the extreme amazement of those who witnessed his operations. Of the attachment of which a pig is capable a strik- ing instance is quoted by Youatt 2 from a M. de Dieskau, who tells us that a young wild-boar, which he attempted to tame, formed such an attachment to a young lady in his house that he followed her wherever she went, and even slept upon her bed. He once, in her defence, attacked her maid when she was undressing her, and, had he been strong enough, would have done the girl some severe injury. He showed no affection for any other person in the house, and at last fretted himself to death because a fox, which was to be tamed, received a portion of her attentions. We think the pig much more indelicate than he really 1 Youatt, 'On the Pig,' p. 20. 2 P. 21. 2 E 2 420 SEASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. is. He lives, when left to himself, chiefly on vegetables, which he selects with great nicety, and it is only when pressed by hunger that he devours putrid carcases. He has the senses of smelling and taste in great perfec- tion ; no animal has more sympathy for those of his own kind ; the moment one of a herd gives a signal of dis- tress, all within hearing rush to its assistance ; and they have been known to gather round a troublesome dog and kill him on the spot. Enclose a male and female in a sty when young, and the female will decline from the instant that her companion is removed, and pro- bably die of a broken heart. 1 The pig is fond of a dry bed, and will secure one for himself if possible. Hartlieb, in his ' Last Legacie/ says that he " is the cleanliest of all creatures, and will never dung or stale in his bed if he can get forth. " As to his rolling in the mud, he rolls in it only like the elephant and rhinoceros, to cool himself and keep off flies, as savages in hot climates cover themselves with grease. The cleaner he is kept, the more healthy he will be. An old woman who kept pigs near Bath some years ago, used to carry for sale to that city the finest and most delicious pork that had ever been seen there. The butchers, and every one else, wondered by what arts she brought her pork to such excellence. She kept her secret for some time, to enhance the price of her meat, but, when the means of her success were disco- vered, they were found to be merely soap, water, and a scrubbing-brush. 1 Bingley's An. Biog. vol. i. p. 513. 421 CHAPTER XXXVI. MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS OF INTELLI- GENCE. DEER, HARES, WOLF, LION, TIGER, GLUTTON, RACCOON, BEAVER. FISHES: CARP, MULLET, SALMON, EELS, WALRUS. THE intelligence of the stag is shown chiefly in the arts by which he endeavours to escape when pursued. In order to deceive the hounds, he will return twice or thrice upon his former steps. He seems aware that he is followed by the scent, and will try, as he flees, to ex- cite hinds or younger stags to come after him, and draw off the dogs from his track. If he succeeds in this at- tempt, he will often spring away in a side course, and sometimes lie down on his belly, as well to rest as to conceal himself. It is not till he has exhausted all his artifices that he goes into the water to cut off the scent ; the swimming exhausts him, and he is obliged to stand at bay, and often does much mischief, till one of the huntsmen cuts his hams. 1 Mr. Jesse 2 relates a remarkable instance of sagacity 1 Smellie's Philos. of Nat. Hist. vol. i. p. 401. Bewick's 'History of Quadrupeds,' p. 147. 2 ' Gleanings,' vol. ii. p. 20. 422 EEASONTNG POWEE IN ANIMALS. for self-preservation which he witnessed in a stag. It had been turned out before a pack of hounds, and, being hard pressed, he saw it go twice among a flock of sheep, in both cases doubling back, evidently with the intention of baffling the dogs in pursuit, and thus making it appear that he was aware of being followed by scent, not by sight ; and, if such were the case, it affords, he observes, another indication that animals are possessed of something beyond instinct. Deer sometimes show their sagacity in other ways. " I have often been much delighted/' says the same writer, 1 " with watching the manner in which some of the old bucks in Bushy Park contrive to get the berries from the fine thorn-trees there. They will raise them- selves on their hind legs, give a spring, entangle their horns in the lower branches of the tree, give them one or two shakes, which make some of the berries fall, and they will then quietly pick them up." Hares, also, are extremely artful in making their es- cape when hunted. They double frequently, and the female, being weaker, more frequently than the male. In order to conceal themselves more effectually, they lie down between clods of the same colour as their own hair. Smellie 2 quotes the following passage from Fouil- loux : " I have seen a hare so sagacious that, after hearing the hunter's horn, he started from his form, and, though at the distance of a quarter of a league, went to swim in . a pool, and lay down in the rushes in the middle of it, without being chased by the dogs. I have seen a hare, after running two hours before the dogs, push another from his seat, and take possession of it. I have seen others swim over two or three ponds, the Gleanings,' vol. ii. p. 20. 2 Philos: of Nat. Hist. vol. i. p. 404. MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS OF INTELLIGENCE. 423 narrowest of which was eighty paces broad. I have seen others, after a two hours' chase, run into a sheep- fold, and lie down among them. I have seen others, when hard pressed, run in among a flock of sheep, and would not leave them. I have seen others, after hearing the noise of the hounds, conceal themselves in the earth. I have seen others run up one side of a hedge, and re- turn by the other, when there was nothing else between them and the dogs. I have seen others, after running half an hour, mount an old wall six feet high, and elf p down in a hole covered with ivy. Lastly, I have seen others swim over u river, of about eighty paces broad, oftener than twice in the length of two hundred paces." The craftiness of the hare had been noticed in the days of Plutarch. Hares, he says, when they have taken out their young to feed, are said frequently to bring them back by different ways, sometimes leaving a hundred feet distance between them, so that if a man or a dog comes in that direction, they may not be all in equal danger of being caught; and the hare herself will often return several times upon her own footsteps, so as to render the direction of her course uncertain to pursuers ; and then, when she approaches her sleeping- place, she will make the last leap into it a very long one, in order to leave as little trace of her feet near her abode as possible. The bear is said to use similar cau- tion with regard to his footsteps when he retires into his hole for the winter. 1 With wolves people have not been so intimately ac- quainted as to note many instances of intelligence in their proceedings. But we find a testimony to the 1 Plutarch, c De Solertia Animalium,' c. 16. 424 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. wolfs sagacity in the account of one of Sir John Franklin' s voyages to the North. Wolves prey npon the moose, or red deer, but are unable to catch them by speed of foot. In consequence, a number of wolves will combine together to encompass a herd of deer on large plains bounded by steep cliffs. While the deer are grazing, the wolves will form a crescent round them, and creep stealthily forward, so as to alarm them as little as possible at first ; but when they see that they have fairly hemmed them in, and cut off their retreat, they begin to move more quickly, and at last, rushing on with loud yells, they terrify the deer, and urge them to flee towards the precipice, as if they knew that when the herd is once put to its speed, some of them must be driven over the cliffs, the hindmost forcing on those in front. When several have thus been precipitated, the wolves go down at their leisure and feast upon their mangled bodies. Sir John Franklin and his party were sometimes glad to support them- selves on portions of the carcases which the wolves had left. The formation of a crescent is the usual mode in which packs of wolves prevent the escape of strong or swift objects of prey. There is a story told, too, of the cunning of a wolf, in a work called ( The Philosopher's Banquet/ pub- lished in 1614, in 8vo, so remarkable that it well deserves attention. The author of the book gives his initials as W. B., and says that he had his information from a friend of his, long resident in Ireland, in whom he could put trust. A man was travelling one evening between two towns in that island, at least three miles distant one from the other, when he was three times attacked by a wolf, which he every time repulsed with MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTKATTONS OF INTELLIGENCE. 425 his sword. As lie drew near to the town to which he was going, he met a friend who was bound for the town from which he came, but who was quite unarmed. He told his friend of the peril which he had encoun- tered, and how he had saved himself; and as he deemed himself secure through his proximity to the town, he lent his friend his sword for his defence. The wolf, who had halted at some distance, was pre- paring to attack the second man as he came up, but, observing him armed with the other's sword, imme- diately quitted him, and made off after the first man at his utmost speed, and, overtaking him before he got into the town, fell upon him, defenceless as he was, and killed him. 1 It were to be wished that we knew the names of the persons to whom this occurred ; but what we read of the cunning of other animals renders it by no means incredible; and we can as easily believe that the affair took place, as that any one deliberately invented it. As to other savage beasts, we find but few pleasing gleams of intelligence among them, with the excep- tion of what is seen in the intercourse of Androclus and the lion, the truth of whose story has been doubted; but it rests, assuredly, on better testimony than most of the accounts of animals which the an- cients have transmitted to us; for Apion the gram- marian, Josephus's antagonist, from whom Aulus Gel- lius translated the narrative, says that he himself wit- nessed the lion's recognition of the man at an exhi- bition of wild beasts at Rome before the Emperor, whether Tiberius or Caligula is now uncertain ; and 1 See ' Notes and Queries,' 3rd Ser. vol. iii. p. 46. 426 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. that the man, being summoned to the Emperor's pre- sence, told his story then and there as we now have it. Apion adds that Androclus was at once pardoned, presented with a sum of money, and allowed to keep the lion as his own property; and that he himself afterwards saw the man leading the lion in a string about the streets, and showing him at the shops, in the city of Home. Mr. Jesse gives an anecdote that may well be con- sidered as supporting the credibility of that of Apion ; an account of a lion recognizing his old master in the Tower of London. The lion, when very young, had become' the property of an English gentleman, who had treated it kindly, and kept it some time with him abroad. Eeturning to England, he brought it over with him, and not knowing what else to do with it, sent it to the Tower. Here the beast became exceed- ingly fierce, so that he was regarded by the keeper as untameable. When the gentleman, however, at the end of two or three years, called at the Tower to in- quire for his old acquaintance, the animal immediately recognized him with such symptoms of pleasure, that he went boldly into the cage and caressed him. 1 There is a similar story told, I know not on what authority, of Sir George Davis, Consul at Naples, in the seventeenth century, " being recognized, after three years' separation, by a lion in the menagerie of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. 2 Nor can I give the authority for the following anec- dote of gratitude in a lioness, which I find in a book on animals : " Part of a ship's crew being sent on shore 1 Jesse's ' Gleanings,' vol. i. p. 92. 2 < Traits and Anecdotes of Animals,' Eentley, 1861. MISCELLANEOUS 1LLU8TBATIONS OF INTELLIGENCE. 427 on the coast of India, for the purpose of cutting wood, one of them was led by curiosity to explore the coun- try at a considerable distance from the rest. As he was rambling, he was much alarmed at the appear- ance of a huge lioness, which he saw making straight towards him. But, as she came up, he was agreeably surprised to observe her crouch at his feet, looking up earnestly into his face, and then towards a tree a little way off. After glancing thus several times, she arose, and proceeded towards the tree, looking back several times, as if asking the sailor to follow. At length he ven- tured to go after her, and, on coming to the tree, per- ceived sitting among its branches a huge baboon, with two smaller animals in its arms, which he soon conr eluded to be the cubs of the lioness, as she lay down at the foot of the tree like a cat, and turned her eyes wistfully up towards them. The man being afraid to ascend the tree, decided, as he had his axe with him, on cutting it down, and set actively to work to do so, the lioness all the while watching his operations with great anxiety. At last the tree fell, and brought down the three animals together, when the lioness sprang upon the baboon and tore him to pieces; she then turned round and caressed her cubs with extreme de- light ; and next she walked up to the sailor, and tried to express her gratitude by fawning upon him, and rubbing her head fondly against him. At last, she took up her cubs one by one, and carried them away ; and the sailor, delighted with the termination of the adventure, returned to his companions." Little that is amiable is told of the tiger, but an in- stance is given by Captain Williamson of one that had sense enough to respect spirit in an animal weaker 428 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. than himself, and good feeling enough to spare the animal for its courage. In the Carnatic, tigers are often kept in cages, and whenever a pariah dog is caught in the neighbourhood, it is a common practice to throw it into one of the cages, as an easy means of supplying the tiger with food, and of getting rid of a troublesome cur. The larger animal generally made short work of the smaller; buc "I knew an instance of one dog," says Captain Williamson, " standing on the defensive in a manner that completely astonished both the tiger and the spectator. He crept into a corner, and when- ever the tiger approached, seized him by the lip or neck, making him roar most piteously. The tiger, however, impelled by hunger for all supply of food was purposely withheld would renew the attack. The result was ever the same. At length the tiger began to treat the dog with more deference, and not only allowed him to partake of the mess of rice and milk furnished daily for his subsistence, but even refrained from any attempt to disturb him. The two animals at length became reconciled to each other, and a strong attachment was formed between them. The dog was then allowed ingress and egress through the aperture, and, considering the cage as his home, he left it and returned to it just as he thought proper. When the tiger died, he mourned the loss of his com- panion for a considerable period." 1 The glutton is thought but a dull animal, but his mode of catching deer shows much the same portion of intelligence as that which is exhibited by the Arctic fox when he arranges cods' heads as baits to catch crows. He is said to climb into a tree in the neigh- 1 Youatt, ' On the Dog,' p. 18. MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS OF INTELLIGENCE. 429 bourhood of a herd, carrying up with, him a quantity of a kind of moss of which the deer are fond ; and, when he sees any one of the herd approaching, he lets a portion of the moss fall. If the deer stops to eat, the glutton instantly descends on its back, and torments it, by tearing out its eyes and other violence, to such a degree, that, either to get rid of its enemy, or to put an end to its sufferings, it beats its head against the trees till it falls down dead ; for, when the glutton has once fixed himself by his claws and teeth, it is impos- sible to dislodge him. After killing the deer, he di- vides the flesh into convenient portions, and conceals them in the earth for future provision. 1 The cunning of the Arctic fox for enticing waterfowl with his tail is also rivalled by similar art in the rac- coon, which, when desirous to catch crabs, will stand at the side of a swamp, and hang its tail over the water, of which the crabs, hoping it may be some kind of food, lay hold ; and the raccoon, as soon as he feels them pinch, pulls them out with a sudden jerk. In eating them, too, it is observed that he is always care- ful to get them crosswise into his mouth, lest he should suffer from their nippers. A raccoon that was kept in confinement, and partially domesticated, by M. Blacquart des Salines, would play, when chained up, sad tricks with the fowls around him: he would allow them to take portions of his food, and use every artifice to make them familiar with him; and then, after making them confident that they had nothing to fear from him, he would suddenly snap up one, and tear it in pieces. His mode of opening oysters, too, showed great intelligence : he would pass 1 Bingley's 'Animal Biography,' vol. i.p. 326. 430 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. an oyster under his hind paws, and feel with his fore paws for the weakest part; and then, pressing his paws on the spot, he would separate the shells and take out the fish with the utmost ease. 1 As to the beaver, Lord Brougham very well observes that it " may be called, in respect of its works, the bee of quadrupeds," but when he adds, " or, if you will, of intelligent animals," his remark is hardly so just, for almost all that the beaver does, though seemingly the result of sense and judgment in the animal, appears to be done from instinct, not from any thought or re- flection of its own. Yet there is one part of its pro- ceedings which is wonderful in its variety and adapta- tion to the different circumstances in which it may be placed. The communities of beavers in North America, for instance, build their houses either on lakes or ponds, or on the narrow creeks connecting the lakes together, but evidently prefer running water ; and if the stream is likely to sink below a convenient point, they provide against that evil by constructing a dam across it, varying the shape of the dam according to the character of the water ; for if the current is slow and weak, they run the dam across in a straight line, but if it is rapid and forcible, they form the dam in a curve, with the convex side towards the upper part of the stream. This curved form is just what a man would adopt for the sake of strength, after he had seen the beaver's use of it ; but it is questionable whether many men would think ^of it from their own contem- plation. Nor is it apparent how the beavers understand when the water is likely to fail so as to make a dam necessary ; a man would judge from the marks of the 1 Binglej's c Animal Biography,' vol. i. p. 331. MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTEATIONS OF INTELLIGENCE. 431 water along the banks, but how the beaver gets his knowledge we shall in vain try to discover. Yet that all their operations are instinctive is evident from their uniformity among all societies of beavers ; all construct dams, and all alike construct them straight or curved as the nature of the water requires. 1 How much intelligence or sagacity fishes, at least the higher kinds of them, may possess, we can have but very little knowledge, through our inability to fol- low them in the element in which they live. ( ' But their general character/' says Smellie, " is stupidity, joined to a voracious and indiscriminating appetite for food. In opposition to an almost general law of nature which subsists among other animals, fishes devour, without distinction, every smaller or weaker animal, whether it belongs to a different species or to their own. In animals of a much higher order, voracity of appetite is seldom accompanied with ingenuity or ele- gance of taste. When the principal attention of an animal is engrossed with any sensual appetite, it is a fair conclusion that the mental powers are weak, be- cause they are chiefly employed upon the grossest of all objects. If this observation be just, fishes must be ranked among the most stupid animals of equal magni- tude and activity." 2 At a meeting of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool, however, in February, 1850, Dr. Warwick communicated an account of a pike which seems to indicate that fishes may have a greater por- tion of intelligence than is generally supposed. When Dr. Warwick was residing at Durham, the seat of the 1 Garratt's ' Marvels of Instinct,' pp. 130-137. 2 Smellie, Philos.'of Nat. Hist. vol. i. p. 205. 432 SEASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. Earl of Stamford and Warrington, he was walking one evening by the side of a fish-pond in the park, and observed a large pike, of about six pounds weight, which darted hastily away, and, in so doing, struck its head against a tenter-hook in a post; and fractured, as it afterwards appeared, its skull, and turned aside the optic nerve. It seemed to be in great agony ; it first rushed to the bottom of the water, and bored its head into the mud, thickening the water so that it was for a time lost to the sight ; afterwards it plunged about hither and thither, and at last threw itself completely out of the water upon the bank. The doctor examined it, and found that a small portion of the brain was pro- truding from the skull, and succeeded, with the aid of his tooth-pick, in replacing it, and then put the fish into the pond again. At first it seemed relieved, and was quiet, but in a few minutes darted about again till it threw itself out of the water a second time. Again the doctor did what he could for it, and put it back into the water ; but it was still furious with pain, and afterwards threw itself out of the water several times. At last, with the assistance of the keeper, the doctor contrived a bandage for its head, and left the fish in the water to its fate. He however took care to visit the pond on the following morning, when the pike came up towards him, close to the edge, and, as he said, actually laid its head on his foot. He examined the fish's skull, and found it likely to do well. After- wards he walked backwards and forwards ^along the bank of the pond, for some time, and the fish continued to follow his movements, turning as he turned. Next day he took some friends to see it ; it came up to him as before ; and at length it grew so docile that it would MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTEATIONS OF INTELLIGENCE. 433 approach whenever he whistled, and feed out of his hand, though to other persons it continued shy. 1 So carp, which are frequently kept in fish-ponds, and fed by persons who come about them, may be attracted to the bank for food by a whistle. " Sir John Haw- kins was assured by a clergyman, a friend of his, that at the abbey of St. Bernard, near Antwerp, he saw a carp come to the edge of its pond, at the whistling of the person who fed it." 2 The carp, it may be observed, is said to have a larger brain, in proportion to the size of its body, than any other fish, approaching nearly to that of the elephant, namely, 1 to 500, while that of the tunny is only 1 to 37,000 ; and in many fishes scarcely any brain can be detected. The following account shows something of intelli- gence in a mullet : A person of the parish of Sennan, in Cornwall, says Borlase, the Cornish historian, ob- served a seal in pursuit of a mullet, which turned to and fro, and led its pursuer such a zigzag chase as a hare leads a greyhound. At last it found that it had no way to escape but by running into shoal water, into which it accordingly betook itself, and the seal pursued. The mullet then, to get the better out of danger, threw itself on its side, and then darted into shallower water than it could have entered in its na- tural position ; and by this means it placed itself in security. 3 So the salmon, when they are making their way up rivers from the sea, to deposit their spawn, will, when 1 Mrs. Lee's Anecd. of Birds, Reptiles, and Fishes. 2 Bingley's An. Biog. vol. iii. p. 79. 3 Bingley's An. Biog., vol. i. p. 175. 2 P 434 REASONING POWEE IN ANIMALS. they find themselves in shallow water, or are checked by sandbanks, turn on one side, and in that position work themselves into the deeper water beyond. 1 Both salmon and trout, when they are hooked, will frequently throw themselves out of the water, and endeavour, by falling upon the line with their whole weight, to break it. 2 Eels, it is well known, migrate, in order to deposit their spawn, from fresh water to brackish, from which the young eels return as soon as they are strong enough to make their way up rivers. They are thought to ascend the Thames as far as Oxford, or further. So strong is their migratory propensity that few obstacles will stop their progress. At Teddington and Hamp- ton they have been seen ascending the large posts of the flood-gates, when they have been shut longer than ordinary ; here some die in the effort, and stick to the posts; others, which climb a little higher, meet per- haps with the same fate, until a sufficient layer is formed of the dead to enable the living to overcome the difficulty of the passage. But the most remarkable instance that has been seen of their artful perseverance is observed annually at a place near Bristol, where, adjoining a stream, there is a large pond, into which the branches of a spreading tree hang down ; and up these branches the young eels ascend into the tree, which at times seems quite alive with them, and thence let themselves drop into the stream below ; a process which a friend of Mr. Jesse's witnessed. 3 Walruses, we may add, are gregarious, and are 1 Bingley's An. Biog. vol. iii. p. 51. 2 Jesse's ' Gleanings,' vol. ii. p. 20. 3 Jesse's ' Gleanings,' vol. ii. p. 47. MISCELLANEOUS ILLUSTRATIONS OE INTELLIGENCE. 435 known to combine together for mutual aid. If one is wounded by the fisherman, it will often dive into the water, and rise up again suddenly with multitudes of others, which will unite to attack the boat from which the violence proceeded. 1 1 Bingley's An. Biog. vol. i. p. 165. 2 F2 436 CHAPTER XXXVII. ANIMALS PLACING SENTINELS AND LEADERS. COUNTERFEITING DEATH. BE POKE we proceed to speak of the intelligence of bees and other insects, we would notice two proceedings, which are observed among many animals, but of which it may be doubted whether they are the offspring of instinct or of reason. I mean that of placing senti- nels, and that of feigning death to escape danger. As to placing sentinels, it is common to many ani- mals of the same species, and may therefore be con- sidered rather to have its origin in instinct ; but if such is the case, the mode in which the animals go about the operation gives many indications of reasoning. " In the forests of Tartary and South America," says Lord Brougham, 1 " where the wild horse is gregarious, there are herds of five or six hundred, which, being ill-prepared for fighting, or indeed for any sort of re- sistance, and knowing that their safety is in flight, when they sleep, appoint one in rotation who acts as sentinel, while the rest are asleep. If a man ap- proaches, the sentinel walks towards him, as if to re- 1 ' Dialogues on Instinct,' dial. iii. ANIMALS PLACING SENTINELS AND LEADEES. 437 connoitre and see whether he may be deterred from coming near; if the man continues, he neighs aloud and in a peculiar tone, which rouses the herd, and all gallop away, the sentinel bringing up the rear. No- thing can be more judicious or rational than this ar- rangement, simple as it is." These horses, too, have not only a sentinel, but also a leader, who directs their movements, and has some art, which we do not understand, of making his wishes known to the entire community ; and under him their union is so effectual for repelling carnivorous animals, that the wolf, the jaguar, and the puma, are powerless against their combined strength. Wild deer also are said to have such a leader, though how he is placed in office, or how he influences those under him, is be- yond our conception. So the large white-legged pec- caries, a kind of wild hogs, sometimes three feet and a half in length, which abound in Guiana, congregate and travel in large bands, sometimes amounting to a thousand, under the direction of a leader, who keeps his place in front. Should they come to a river, the chief stops for a moment, as if to see whether all is safe for crossing, and then plunges into the stream, fol- lowed by all the rest of the troop, for all can swim over the broadest and most rapid stream with the greatest facility. If they meet with anything unusual in their way, they stop, with terrific chatting, as if discussing whether there is danger, and do not proceed till they think that all is safe. Should a huntsman attack them, when they are thus in force, he would be torn to pieces with their tusks, unless he gets out of their reach by climbing a tree. 1 So, among birds, the vul- 1 ' The Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society,' vol. i. p. 62. 438 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. tures have a leader, or king ; and Mr. Byam, in his f Travels in Central America/ relates that he had an opportunity of seeing how he was adored by the other vultures ; and how they abstained from the carcase of a mule till they saw that he was satisfied. But with regard to the appointment of a sentinel, it is seen in the African apes, which often go in a body to attack gardens or plantations, but, before they commence plundering, always send one of their party to the top of an adjacent rock or tree, to give notice of any appearance of peril, and, if he perceives any per- son approach, he gives a loud shriek, at which the whole troop immediately run off, carrying with them whatever they have seized. 1 The monkeys in Brazil set a guard during their time of repose; and such is said to be the practice of the chamois and other species of antelope. 2 So the bobacs, a sort of marmot found in some parts of Poland and Russia, which form extensive burrows in the ground, and live together in large numbers, al- ways place a sentinel to give notice of danger during the time that the rest are engaged in feeding. The same is told also by Dr. Richardson, in his ' American Fauna,' of the marmots called whistlers, whose senti- nels give a whistle at the approach of danger, and the rest catch up the sound. So, too, the sheep in the mountainous parts of Wales, which are rendered partially wild by the liberty they enjoy, sometimes graze in parties of from eight to a dozen, of which one is stationed as a sentinel, and 1 Bingley's ' Animal Biography,' vol. i. p. 70. 2 Smellie's ' Philosophy of Natural History,' vol. i. p. 100 ; Swam- son's ' Habits of Animals,' p. 24. ANIMALS PLACING SENTINELS AND LEADERS. 439 when lie observes any person approach nearer than about a hundred yards, he gives notice, it is said, by a loud hiss or whistle, twice or thrice repeated, at which the whole party scour away into the least acces- sible parts of the heights. 1 So it is said that when crabs make the annual change of their shells, and retire for that purpose into cavities of rocks and under stones, a hard-shelled crab always stands sentinel, to prevent sea-insects from in- juring the rest in their defenceless state, and, from his appearance, the fishermen know whereabouts to look for others. 2 Among birds, also, the placing of sentinels is ex- tremely prevalent. Thus the shags, a kind of cormo- rant frequenting the Shetland Isles, go about, and also sleep, in flocks on the ledges of the precipices, but, before they go to rest, they place two, three, or more of their number, as sentinels, to prevent them from being surprised by men who attempt to catch them ; and though these sentinels are often deluded and en- snared, and many of their charge captured, yet the post- ing of a guard, however insufficient, shows a portion of intelligence even in their limited capacity of thought. 3 Thus also the flamingoes, a gregarious bird, which, when the Europeans first visited America, were tame and gentle, and allowed themselves to be shot one after another without making any attempt to escape, now regard man with aversion, and, wherever they haunt, one of the flock is always appointed to stand sentinel while the rest are feeding, and, as soon as he 1 Bingley, vol. i. pp. 388, 463. 2 Ib. vol. iii. p. 380. 3 Edrnonson's ' View of the Zetland Islee,' vol. ii. p. 53; Fleming's ' Philosophy of Zoology,' vol. i. p. 336- 440 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. perceives the least danger, he utters a loud scream, like the sound of a trumpet, in which all the rest im- mediately join, and at the same time % off into the interior with all speed. 1 The wild swans, too, in the countries bordering on the Black Sea, always fly in long lines, and stop to feed in shallow water ; and while they are feeding one is always on the watch, and abstains from feeding till another takes his place ; and, if any danger is dreaded, the sentinel gives notice by a loud cry. As to rooks, they appear to have a language amongst themselves, understood by the whole community, as well as a knowledge and foresight most extraordinary. " A peculiar note," says Mr. Jesse, 2 " from a bird set to watch, and warn them of approaching danger, is quite sufficient to make them take flight, and always in an opposite direction to that from which the danger is apprehended." The same writer 3 also thinks that among swallows particular birds give notice, by cries of peculiar shrillness, where insects, more abundant than usual, are to be found, and assemble the others, by Ihe same means, when the time comes for migrating, We shall now notice a few instances of the other peculiarity in animals which we mentioned, that of feigning death to escape danger ; a contrivance which has perhaps more of the appearance of proceeding from reason, and not from instinct, than that of placing sen- tinels ; for it is adopted by individual animals, and is not the offspring of any gregarious influence. One of the most remarkable examples of this practice is re- lated by Sir Emerson Tennent, in the case of a cap- 1 Bingley's ' Animal Biography,' vol. ii. p. 317. ' Gleanings,' vol. i. p. 57. 3 Ib. VD!. ii. p. 106. ANIMALS COUNTERFEITING DEATH. 44l tured elephant. 1 One of these animals, he says, will, when made prisoner, sometimes pretend to be dead in order to regain its freedom. He himself was witness to an instance of this deceit. An elephant, which he had seen taken, was led along, as usual, between two tame elephants, and had proceeded a considerable dis- tance towards the place of its destination, when, as night began to close in, and the torches were lighted, it refused to go any further, apparently from weak- ness, and at last sank down on the ground, and seemed to give up the ghost. Mr. Cripps, one of the party, who had the charge of the proceedings, ordered the fastenings to be removed from its legs ; and endea- vours were then made to raise it. But when all at- tempts for this purpose failed, he felt so convinced that the animal was dead, that he directed that all the ropes should be taken off from it, and the carcase abandoned. While this operation was being per- formed, Mr. Cripps and another gentleman of the company leaned against the animal to rest, without any suspicion that they were pressing on a body with life in it. But when they had all taken their depar- ture, and proceeded a few yards on their route, the elephant, to their astonishment, started up with the greatest alacrity, and fled away towards the jungle, screaming at the top of its voice, as if in triumph at having deceived its oppressors, and making its cries audible long after it had disappeared in the shades of the forest. The opossum displays cunning in the same way. If an opossum, when pursued, be overtaken, it will feign itself dead, and, if taken up in that state, will, accord- 1 ' Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon.' 442 , REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. ing to M. du Pratz, exhibit no signs of life even though placed on a red-hot iron. Whenever it has thus pre- tended to be lifeless, it never moves till the assailant of whom it is in dread has either gone away, or con- cealed himself; when it endeavours to scramble as fast as possible into some hole or bush. The opos- sum* s tenacity of life, and variety of stratagems to secure it, have given rise to the North Carolina pro- verb, " That, if a cat has nine lives, an opossum has nineteen." 1 The following instance of similar artfulness in a fox is given by a Mr. Mudie in ' Partington's Cyclo- paedia.' One morning a man in the north was going early to his work, that of mending the roads, through some furze on a common, and came upon a fox stretched out at full length, apparently lifeless, under one of the bushes. He drew the animal out by the tail, by which he swung him round, and then threw him on the earth ; but no symptom of life was elicited from him. The man, therefore, never doubted that the animal was dead, and, being willing to have his skin for a cap, threw him over one of his shoulders, carry- ing his mattock at the same time over the other. The animal was quiet for a time, but as the point of the mattock happened to jog against his side, he became discontented ; and, resolving to rescue himself while his ribs were yet whole, he gave a decisive snap, such as a fox well knows how to give, on a sensitive portion of the labourer's rear. The man, startled and pained, let go the fox, and turned round to face whatever foe was molesting him, when he beheld Reynard scampering off at full speed into the brake. 1 Bingley's ' Animal Biography,' vol. i. p. 336. ANIMALS COUNTERFEITING DEATH. 443 A similar occurrence took place at Kilmorac, a parish in Inverness-shire,, the minister of which had a well- stocked poultry -yard. A friend of ours, says the nar- rator, had spent a night with the divine, who was very hospitable, and some new-laid eggs were wanted for breakfast in the morning. The female servant accord- ingly went off with her basket to the hen-house to get a supply; but, when she opened the door, a direful scene of havoc presented itself; numbers of dead hens were lying on the floor, and in the midst of them a large fox, seemingly as dead as the other animals around him. The servant thought that he must have died of gorging himself, and, taking him up by the tail, hurled him into a receptacle for garden compost. Here he fell on soft material, and lost no time in start- ing up, and scampering off, to the woman's utter con- sternation, into the covert of the wood. 1 One of the most cunning tricks of rats, also, is that of pretending to be dead when they find themselves in danger of being killed. In Ceylon, where rats abound, and will gather about the houses, and seat themselves on chairs and screens, and scarcely retreat when mis- siles are thrown at them, a traveller one evening saw his dogs set upon a rat, and made them let it go. As it appeared to be dead he took it up by the tail, the dogs leaping up after it, and carried it into his dining- room to look at it by the light of the lamp. He laid it on the table, where it remained as if totally lifeless ; its limbs stretched out, and not a muscle moving. After letting it rest about five minutes, he threw it among the dogs, which were still in a state of excite- ment ; but, as it reached the ground, it alighted on its 1 Garratt's ' Marvels of Instinct,' p. 124. 444 SEASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. legs, and made off with such speed as baffled all its pursuers. 1 Snakes, too, will pretend to be dead, and lie motion- less, as long as they think they are observed, and in danger, but, when they believe that all foes have with- drawn, and they are out of peril, they will glide away with the greatest speed into the nearest hole or covert. 2 Among birds, the corncraik has been most remarked for this species of art. The author of ' The Natural History of the Corncraik' relates that one of these birds was brought to a gentleman by his dog, to all appearance quite dead. The gentleman turned it over with his foot, as it lay upon the ground, and was con- vinced that there was no more life in it. But after a while he saw it open one eye ; and he then took it up again, when its head fell, its legs hung loose, and it once more appeared to be certainly dead. He next put it into his pocket, and before long felt it strug- gling to escape ; he took it out, and it seemed lifeless as before. He then laid it on the ground and retired to a little distance to watch it, and saw it, in about five minutes, raise its head warily, look round, and decamp at full speed. 3 Of the smaller animals, the spider is said most fre- quently to try this stratagem, rolling itself up in a ball as if lifeless. "In this situation," says Mr. Smellie, " I have pierced spiders with pins, and torn them to pieces, without their discovering the smallest 1 Mrs. Lee's Anecd. of Animals, p. 258. 2 Jesse's ' G-leanings,' vol. iii. p. 80. 3 Quoted in Jesse, ' Gleanings,' vol. ii. p. 139 ; also in Mrs. Lee's Anecd. of Birds, p. 193. ANIMALS COUNTEKFEITING DEATH. 445 marks of pain. This simulation of death has been ascribed to a strong convulsion or stupor occasioned by terror. But this solution of the phenomenon is erroneous. I have repeatedly tried the experiment, and uniformly found that, if the object of terror be removed, in a few seconds the animal runs off with great rapidity." Some beetles, too, he adds, will counterfeit death, and allow themselves to be gradu- ally roasted in this condition without moving a single joint. 1 This stratagem is also said to be practised by the common crab, which, when it apprehends danger, will lie as if dead, waiting for an opportunity to sink itself into the sand, keeping only its eyes above it. 2 To these instances we will add an anecdote of a monkey feigning itself dead, not for the purpose of escaping from danger itself, but for that of taking ven- geance for certain annoyances that it had received. It was of the species called by Buffon the Talapoin ; had been trained by a native of Hindostan, and was kept chained to a pole thirty feet high, which he could ascend or descend at pleasure, the chain being attached to a ring that encircled the pole. But when he was at the top of the pole, the crows of the country, which are remarkable for audacity, would often make a de- scent on his food which lay at the bottom, and carry it off. Nothing that he could do to frighten them was of any effect; but one morning, when the birds had been particularly troublesome, he appeared to be seri- ously indisposed ; closing his eyes, hanging down his head, and exhibiting other symptoms of illness, though he still kept his position at the top of the pole. When his provisions were placed at the bottom of it as usual, 1 Bingley's 'Animal Biography, vol. iii. p. 358. 2 Ib. p. 380. 446 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. the crows, making a descent according to their prac- tice, began to seize on them. The monkey slid down the pole with great slowness, as if the effort were pain- ful to him, and as if his strength was scarcely equal to it. When he reached the ground, he rolled about for some time, as if in great agony, until he got close to the vessel containing the food, which the crows had now almost devoured. He now stretched himself out apparently powerless and insensible, and one of the crows, bolder than the others, presuming upon his seeming helplessness, advanced to seize the small por- tion of food that was left. No sooner did the bird's beak touch the vessel, than the monkey started up and caught it by the neck, chattering and grinning with every expression of triumphant gratification. The other crows gathered round about, cawing and scream- ing, as if they would fain rescue their captive com- panion. But to deliver him was hopeless; the monkey grinned at them awhile in mockery ; and then taking the prisoner between his knees, began to pluck the feathers off it with all a monkey's gravity. Having com- pletely stripped it, with the exception of the large feathers in the wings and tail, he threw it into the air as high as he could, and the bird, after flapping its wings for a few seconds, fell to the ground with a shock that stunned it. Its fellows immediately sur- rounded it, and pecked it, according to the fashion of birds, to death. The monkey manifested the utmost signs of joy at the sight, and ascended his pole with alacrity to enjoy a quiet repose. Whether his food was ever again attacked the account does not tell us. 1 1 Oriental Annual for 1836 ; Garratt's ' Marvels of Instinct,' p. 80. 447 CHAPTEE XXXVIII. BEES. ANTS. SPIDERS. BEETLES. IT remains for us to consider, as we draw towards a conclusion, how much of reason or intelligence is ap- parent in those operations of bees, ants, and some other small creatures, which many regard as proceed- ing wholly from instinct. Abundance of observations have been made on bees, to show that, however closely they may in general be moved by instinct, they are not without something of reason to assist them in extraordinary emergencies. To Mr. Jesse, to whom we are obliged for so many interesting remarks on animals, bees as well as others, we are indebted for the following anecdote illustrative of this point : Into a large glass hive, in which the operations of the bees could be distinctly seen, a large brown sing had made its way. The bees killed the slug, but, being unable to get it out of the hive, covered it with the thick resinous substance called propolis, and thus prevented it from becoming a nuisance to the colony. Into the same hive one of the common brown- shelled snails also gained admittance, but, as this had already a covering, they merely fixed it to the bottom 448 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. of the hive with a plastering of propolis round the edge of the shell. " I have in my possession/' says Mr. Jesse, " a regular fortification made of propolis, which one of my stocks of bees placed at the entrance of their hive, to enable them the better to protect themselves from the attacks of wasps. By means of this fortification a few bees could effectually guard the entrance, by lessening the space of- admission." 1 Bees also show great ingenuity in obviating the in- convenience which they experience from the slipperi- ness of glass hives, by fixing on the glass, before they begin to construct their combs, a number of small bits of wax at regular distances from each other, to serve as rests or stepping-places. This contrivance was noticed both by Mr. Jesse and Dr. Bevan. Dr. Brown also, in his book on the bee, gives another illustration of the reasoning power of bees, observed by a friend of his. A centre comb in a hive, being overburdened with honey, had parted from its fastenings, and was pressing against another comb, so as to prevent the passage of the bees between them. This accident excited great bustle in the colony, and as soon as their proceedings could be observed, it was found that they had constructed two horizontal beams between the two combs, and had removed enough of the honey and wax above them to admit the passage of a bee, while the detached comb had been secured by another beam, and fastened to the window with spare wax. But what was most remarkable was, that, when the comb was thus fixed, they removed the horizontal beams first constructed, as being of no further use. 1 Jesse's Gleanings in Nat. Hist. vol. i. p. 21. BEES. ANTS. SPIDEES. BEETLES. 449 Tliese operations occupied about ten days. Human reason could not have devised a better course of pro- ceeding. Something similar is told by Huber. " The bee/' says Lord Brougham, " upon being interrupted by Huber in her operations, shortened the length of her cells ; diminished their diameter ; gradually made them pass through a transition from one state to another, as if she was making the instinctive process subservient to the rational, and, in fine, adapted her building to the novel circumstances imposed upon her ; making it, in relation to these, what it would have been in relation to the original circumstances, if they had continued unaltered." 1 The plan which bees pursue, also, to ventilate their hives in hot weather, and preserve such a temperature as will prevent the wax from melting, is supposed to be a conception of their own, as, in their natural state, they are probably not in so confined a space as they are in our hives, or exposed so much to the sun's heat. In hot weather, says Mr. Jesse, 2 a great many bees, (the number being probably regulated by the state of the atmosphere,) may be observed busily em- ployed at the bottom of the hive, moving their wings with so much rapidity that the motion is almost im- perceptible, in order to produce a current of air. If, while this action is going forward, a lighted candle should be held at an opening at the top of the hive, it will immediately be blown out, a fact by which we may form some notion of the stream of air which these insects can create. But he has known instances, he says, in extremely hot weather, when all the efforts of 1 Lord Brougham's ' Dialogues on Instinct,' dial. iii. 2 ' Gleanings,' vol. i. p. 23. 2 G 450 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. the bees to preserve a just temperature have failed, and a part of the wax has melted ; in such a case they are in a state of extreme irritation, and it is dangerous to go near the hive. Dr. Darwin gives an instance of reasoning in a wasp. Walking one day in his garden, he observed a wasp upon the gravel-walk, turning about a large fly, nearly as big as itself, which it had caught. Kneeling down, he distinctly saw it cut off the head and abdomen of the fly, and then, taking up the trunk, to which the wings remained attached, fly away. But a breeze of wind, acting upon the wings of the fly, impeded the wasp, and forced him to wheel about. Upon this it alighted again on the gravel walk, sawed off the two wings, and then, the cause of its embarrassment being removed, flew off with its booty. 1 It has been said that there is no surer proof of reason in an animal than if, after having tried one method of accomplishing an object, and found it in- efficient, it has recourse to another that seems to promise success ; and, if this position be true, it can hardly be denied, by those who read the particulars just given, that there is a portion of reason in bees. It may well be considered an indication of reason in bees that they know, as is confidently asserted, their master, or the person who chiefly attends to them. A singular statement to this effect is given in Sted- man's ' Voyage to Surinam/ 2 ! was visited at my hut, says Mr. Stedman, whose words I abridge, by a neigh- bouring gentleman, who had no sooner entered, than 1 Darwin's ' Zoonomia,' sect. xvi. 2 Yol. ii. p. 246, cited in Swainson's 'Habits and Instincts of Ani- mals,' p. 34. BEES. ANTS. SPIDEES. BEETLES. 451 he leaped out again, roaring like a madman with pain, and ran off to the river to plunge his head into the water. The cause of his distress was, that, being a tall fellow, he had struck his head against a large nest of wild bees which had built in the thatch. I, appre- hensive of a similar attack, withdrew immediately from the hut, and ordered, the slaves to demolish the bees' nest without delay. They were just going to do so, when an old negro came up, and declared that the bees would never sting me personally, offering to undergo any punishment if one of them ever did so. " Massa," said the negro, " they would have stung you long ago, had you been a stranger to them, but, being your tenants, and allowed to build upon your premises, they know both you and yours, and will never hurt either you or them." This Mr. Stedman found to be the case, for even after shaking the nest, the bees would sting neither him nor his negroes. The same old negro told Mr. Stedman that he had lived on an estate on which there was a large tree, in which there had been, as long as he could remember, a society of birds, and another of bees, living together in the greatest amity ; for if any strange birds molested the bees, the birds on the spot drove them off in a body ; and if strange bees came near the birds' nests, the native bees attacked them and stung them to death. The family of the owner, he said, had so much regard for the harmo- nious colonies, that they considered the tree sacred. " My bees," observes Mr. Jesse, " are a constant source of amusement to me; and the more I study them, the more I am led to admire their wonderful instinct and. sagacity. Few things, however, surprise me more than the power which they possess of com- 2 G2 452 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. municating what I can only call ' intelligence ' to each other. This I observe to be almost invariably the case before they swarm. Some scouts may then be observed to leave the hive. In a little while the new swarm quits it, and settles on the branch which had been previously fixed upon by the scouts/* 1 The same faculty of communication, remarks the same writer, may also be observed in the ant, upon whom we may next bestow a little attention. " I have often put/' he says, ' ' a small green caterpillar near an ants' nest ; you may see it immediately seized by one of the ants, who, after several ineffectual efforts to drag it to its nest, will quit it, and go up to another ant, and they will appear to hold a conversation together by means of their antennas, after which they will re- turn together to the caterpillar, and, by their united efforts, drag it where they wish to deposit it. "I have also frequently observed two ants meeting on their path across a gravel walk, one going from, and the other returning to the nest. They will stop, touch each other's antennas, and appear to hold a conversa- tion ; and I could almost fancy that one was communi- cating to the other the best place for foraging, which Dr. Franklin thought they have the power of doing."" 2 Dr. Franklin formed his opinion on the following occurrence which came under his own knowledge, and of which we take the account from Bingley's ' Animal Biography/ 3 Believing that these little creatures had some art of intercommunication, and wishing to satisfy himself on the subject, he put a little earthen pot, con- taining some treacle, into a closet, where a number of 1 Jesse's ' Gleanings,' vol. i. p. 14. 2 Lord Brougham's 'Dialogues on Instinct,' dial. id. 3 Vol. iii. p. 296. BEES. ANTS. SPIDEES. BEETLES. 453 ants soon congregated, and began to prey on the con- tents. When it was all eaten, the doctor cleared the pot of the ants, and, putting some fresh treacle into it, suspended it by a string from a nail in the ceiling. By chance a single ant remained in the pot, which ate as long as it thought proper ; but, when it wanted to get away, it could not for some time find the means. It ran about the outside of the pot in perplexity ; but at last it found the way up the string to the ceiling, along which it ran to the wall, and so to the ground. It had scarcely been half an hour gone, when a nu- merous swarm of ants came into the closet, climbed up the wall to the ceiling, and then descended by the string into the pot. There they continued to eat till the treacle was all devoured, each taking his departure when he was satisfied, and one party running up the string and the other down. This power of intercommunication among ants was observed as long ago as the time of Plutarch, in whom we find the following account. 1 A certain Clean thes related that he had seen ants go from one ant-hill to the mouth of another, carrying a dead ant ; when ants would come up out of the ant-hill towards , which the body was borne, meet the others, and then go down again ; a proceeding which would be repeated two or three times ; till at last those from below would bring up, as a ransom for the corpse, a worm, which the others would receive and carry off, leaving the dead behind them. To this account we may very well append that of the funeral of a bee, which a correspondent of ' Notes and Queries ' 2 cut from the ' Glasgow Herald/ "Whilst 1 ' De Solertia Animalium,' c. 11. 2 Third Ser. vol. viii. p. 324. 454 SEASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. walking with a friend in a garden near Falkirk, says the writer, we observed two bees issuing from one of the hives, bearing betwixt them the body of a de- funct comrade, with which they flew for a distance of ten yards. We followed them closely, and noted the care with which they selected a convenient hole at the side of the gravel walk, the tenderness with which they committed the body, head downwards, to the earth, and the solicitude with which they afterwards pushed against it two little stones, doubtless in me- moriam. This task being ended, they paused for about a minute, and then flew away/' The person who communicates this paragraph says that he had certainly never seen the funeral of a bee, but that he had seen bees bury wasps, which, having penetrated into their hives with evil intent, they had killed there. Two bees would bring out the body, fly over a neigh- bouring brick wall with it, and deposit it on the other side. Ants, like bees, show that, in particular cases of difficulty, they are not without power to reason. A gentleman of Cambridge one day observed an ant dragging along what, in reference to the size and strength of the animal, might be denominated a piece of timber, while several others were engaged in their own occupations in the vicinity. Presently he came to an ascent, where the weight of the wood seemed to be too much for him ; but he did not remain long in perplexity, for three or four others came behind him, and helped him to push it up. Having got it on level ground, they went off again to their own affairs, and left it to his management. It happened to be con- siderably thicker at one end than at the other, and the BEES. ANTS. SPIDERS. BEETLES. 455 shape of it caused him a new difficulty ; for he unhap- pily lodged it between two other bits of wood, through which, after several fruitless efforts, he found that it would not pass. In this dilemma, he acted just as the most ingenious of human beings would have acted ; he pulled it back, and turned it on its edge, and then, running to the other end, drew it through with ease. 1 The people in Plutarch/ s time were not unobservant, as we have remarked, of the ways of ants, and had noticed that they would bite off portions of their bur- dens, as Dr. Darwin saw the wasp doing, to make them easier of conveyance. They were also aware of the ants' practice of biting off the germinating end of the grains of corn which they lay up : 2 an operation, how- ever, which seems to be merely the result of instinct. Let us glance from the ant to the spider and the beetle. The spider, though mostly regarded as a very con- temptible little animal, shows great sagacity in the way that it constructs and fastens its web, and deals with the flies that are caught in it. It may be thought that in these proceedings it is prompted merely by instinct; but it is not always so; it at times shows that it can think for itself and devise means of opposing diffi- culties and extricating itself from unexpected emer- gencies. The Rev. J. Gr. Wood, 3 from whom we have already borrowed an anecdote or two, relates a remark- able instance of a spider's ingenuity. One of his friends, he says, " used to shelter a number of garden spiders under a large verandah, and was much in- 1 Bingley's An. Biography, TO!, iii. p. 293. 2 Plutarch, ' De Solertia Animalium,' c. 11. 3 Glimpses into Petland.' 456 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. terested in watching their habits. One day a violent storm arose, and the wind beat so furiously through the garden, that, even though protected by the veran- dah, the spiders suffered terribly. In one case, one or two of the guy-ropes, as sailors would call them, were broken, so that the web flapped about like a loose sail in a storm. The spider did not attempt to make new guy-ropes, but had recourse to a remarkable ex- pedient. It lowered itself to the ground by a thread, crawled along the ground to a spot where were lying some fragments of a wooden fence that had been blown down, the wood being quite decayed. To one of these fragments it attached its line, re-ascended, and hauled the piece of wood after, it to the height of nearly five feet, suspending it by a strong line to its web. The effect was wonderful ; for the weight of the wood was sufficient to keep the net tolerably tight, while it was light enough to yield to the wind, and so prevent further breakages. The wooden weight was just two inches and a half in length, and about the diameter of a goose quill. " On the following day a careless servant struck her head against it, and knocked it down, but in a few hours the spider had found and replaced it, thus prov- ing that the occurrence was not accidental. After the stormy weather had ceased, the spider mended the web, cut the rope, and let the wooden weight fall to the ground." An anecdote of the sagacity of a beetle is published by the Hon. Grantley Berkeley, in his 'Life and Recollections/ l " In walking over the heath [near Bournemouth] the other day," says he, "the white, 1 Vol. ii. p. 356. BEES. ANTS. SPIDEES. BEETLES. 457 narrow,, sandy path at my foot, my observation was called to a beetle that was bearing aloft in his mouth, carrying it so as to prevent its being any impediment to progress, some heavy insect he had captured. By kneeling down, I discovered that this game was a large brown spider, its legs gathered up and collapsed in death. The beetle had wings, and his sides were of a bright orange or scarlet colour ; the rest was of a sombre hue. He was rather fly -like in shape, and more than half an inch long. As small blades of grass occasionally thwarted his progress and caused him to back or go round them, I placed the point of my stick in his way, and when he had ascended it with his bur- den, I lifted him up to a nearer view. While under- going this inspection, the weight of the spider over- whelmed him, and he and his burden fell to the path, separating ere they came to the ground. Apparently the beetle was in no way alarmed by the idea of hu- man interference, for the moment he came to his legs, he commenced a hurried search for his game, which lay about a foot off, and then I saw that a beetle has a nose as well as a dog. Having made two or three circles without finding it, he passed down wind, and then went straight to his prey. " It was perfectly obvious to me that the spider had been a dangerous enemy, for the beetle, on getting up to him, avoided his head, and by putting out a fore-leg and touching the insect's side, ascertained that life was extinct. Having convinced himself on this point, he again seized his prey, and commenced once more to bear him eagerly away. f ' Resolved to watch the issue, I interfered no further. After carrying his burden about a couple of feet 458 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. along the path, lie set it down, and went on without it. Now it was obvious to me that it was by no means his intention to leave his burthen when he had set it down ; so on my hands and knees I followed him, and saw him quit the sandy path and climb up to the top of several sprigs of heather. From the last of them he quickly descended, and retraced his steps direct to where he had left the quarry, again possessed himself of it, and bore it on to the foot of the sprig up which I had just observed him climb. On coming to its root he set down his burthen to rest ; presently pick- ing it up again, he climbed to the top, and deposited the dead game in the fibres he had previously ascer- tained to be adapted to hold it and to keep it safe. This done, he again descended, and I saw him go off among the roots of the heather, as if in search of more game. " By kneeling down, and giving a very minute inspection to these several sprigs of heather, I dis- covered that the only one that could have held the spider had been selected. The beetle, in short, had hung up his dead game in the most artistic manner, and in order to test the soundness of his judgment, I waved the tw^ig of heather to and fro as violently as any breeze of wind could have done, yet the spider remained unshaken. fc Now who will deny to the insect brain the faculty of reasoning ? The beetle thought that if he did not hang up his game, it might fall a prey to the other predatory creatures, and took all the trouble I have described to secure for it the best and safest larder." 459 CHAPTER XXXIX. CONCLUDING REMARKS. WE liave now sought for indications of reason and understanding through the inferior animal creation from the elephant to the ant and the beetle. We find signs of intelligence in various creatures ; intelligence quite distinguishable from the mere promptings of in- stinct. We have observed how the "half-reasoning elephant " shows his good sense and good feeling in innumerable ways. We have noticed how dogs distin- guish themselves by their general sagacity and per- ception of things ; how skilful they are in assisting and protecting man ; how they ask help of man and of one another ; how they communicate their notions and feelings ; how they use their memory for conferring benefits or inflicting revenge ; how they discriminate between persons and property ; and how they manifest, in many ways, a sense even of right and justice. We have seen how the same qualities are manifested, though in a less degree, in the horse. We have at- tended to the exhibitions of sagacity and artfulness in monkeys and rats, cats and foxes, in many other four- footed animals, and in birds. We have seen, too, how 460 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. insects, impelled mostly by instinct, are not wanting in intelligence to meet difficulties, or remedy accidents, in the process of their works. With all these particu- lars before us, may we not say of many of the animals of the present day, as Milton made the angel say of those in Paradise, " They also know, And reason not contemptibly ? " The ways of instinct are at all times, from necessity, the same, but in the instances which we have been contemplating we plainly behold the uncontrolled variations of reason. If man is pre-eminently en- dowed with the rational faculty, some portions of it are nevertheless bestowed on his humbler fellow-beings. Man has been justly said to be supreme over the other creatures as the tool-making and tool-using ani- mal. We observe, however, some efforts at the use of tools, though but imperfect, in the elephant, who car- ries a leafy branch in his trunk to shade himself from the sun ; in the ape, who puts a stone into an open oyster to prevent it from closing, or lifts a stone to break nuts, or beats the elephant's trunk, or his fellow- apes, with a stick, or takes the cat's paw, if the story be true, to extract chestnuts from the fire ; in the fox, who spreads cods' heads as a bait to catch gulls, or im- merses himself in the water, and holds a bough over his head to deceive the hunters ; in the raccoon, who captures deer with pieces of moss ; in the bear, who, as told in the account of Cook's third voyage, rolls down pieces of rock to crush stags ; in the rat, when he leads his blind brother with a stick ; in the bee, which uses propolis to cover a slug that has died in the hive; in the spider, which attaches a piece of CONCLUDING EEMARKS. 461 wood to its web to steady it ; and in the nymphae of water moths, which select straws in which they may float,, putting in a bit of wood if it be too heavy or a bit of gravel if it be too light. Indeed it has been said that there is nothing that man effects with all his tools, and all his skill in the use of them, of which some indication may not be seen in the brute or the insect. Thus the beaver and the bee give examples of construction, the spider of weaving, and the little nautilus of sailing. But there is one purpose to which man applies tools, of which there appears in the lower creatures no conception. The art of using tools for writing language, though some of the humbler animals have a notion of language, is to that class of existences utterly unknown. Barter is said to be one of the things in which man maintains a superiority. The nearest approach to it among the lower creation is made by the elephant, who, when any extra labour is to be performed, may be induced to apply himself to it by the exhibition of some favotirite food or drink, which he readily com- prehends that he is to receive in return for extraordi- nary exertion. There may be some shadowy concep- tion of it in other animals, when they are rewarded with any gratification for something done ; as when a dog is presented with a biscuit after putting himself in certain required attitudes. The giving of a worm by the ants of one nest to those of another, in ex- change for the dead body of a comrade, as we have mentioned on Plutarch' s authority, is, we fear, fabu- lous. Something of it is also understood by dogs which have been sent to the baker's with a penny to ex- 462 REASONING POWER IN ANIMALS. change it for a roll ; but this they have, not of their own thought, but from man's teaching. Locke 1 was not unwilling to allow beasts a portion of reason, for though, he says, they have no power of abstraction, or use of language, to increase their ideas, yet, if they are not mere machines, we cannot deny them to have some reason, and for his own part, he adds, ' ' it seems as evident that they do some of them in certain cases reason, as that, they have sense." Bishop Butler and Dr. Thomas Brown are of the same opinion, as well as Cuvier, and Dr. Fleming, the author of the ( Philosophy of Zoology/ All such actions of brutes, indeed, as have not for their object the preservation of the animal, or the propagation of its species, must be considered as the offspring of reason. " That animals should be found," says Southey, " to possess in perfection every faculty which is neces- sary for their well-being is nothing wonderful; the wonder would be if they did not ; but they sometimes display a reach of intellect beyond this/' We must here bestow a passing notice on the faculty which some have attributed to dogs, in cases where three objects are presented to them, of rejecting two by an application of sense and adopting the third, if it suits their purpose, by a deduction of reason. A dog, for instance, falls behind his master and loses sight of him ; he pursues him by scent till he comes to a place where three roads meet ; he smells at the first, and finding no trace of his master, forbears to follow it; he smells at the second, with a like result; and then, deciding on the third, without smelling to it, hurries forward along it. This supposed power of in- 1 'Essay,' b. ii. chap. ii. 11. CONCLUDING REMARKS. 463 ference in dogs is mentioned by Southey; by some writer who says that an instance of it was seen on Sudbury Common ; and by the American John Ran- dolph, of Roanoke, who seems to have been thoroughly persuaded of the dog's possession of it. But I do not believe that any manifestation of such power was ever witnessed in a dog. A dog trusts his smell rather than his sight, and will not,, I conceive, take the third of the three ways unless his scent satisfies him that his master, or whatever else he may be pursuing, has taken it before him. I have a dog which, when he sees me at a distance, will run to meet me ; but he never seems satisfied that I am really the person whom he expects till he has finally convinced himself by his sense of smell. The notion of such power of ratiocination resi- ding in dogs is as old as the time of Plutarch, 1 who alludes to it with derision, but whose remarks St. Basil 2 nevertheless adopts as statements of absolute fact. " Logicians/' says Plutarch, "declare that a dog, in pursuit of a hare or other animal, coming to a place where the road divides into three branches, uses that process of reasoning which consists in rejecting two terms of a series to the adoption of the third. The animal, he says to himself, has gone either this way, or that way, or the third way ; but I find that he has not gone this way or that way ; therefore he has gone the third way; as if sense gave him no assistance, but reason argued from premises to a conclusion. But the dog's intelligence," he adds, " needs no such extraor- dinary attestation, which is indeed groundless and fan- ciful, for his scent and his observation of the animal's 1 De Solert. Anim. c. 13. 2 Opera, Paris, 1721, torn. i. p. 84 ; M. Blaze, Hist, du Chien, pp. 41, 45. 464 SEASONING POWEK IN ANIMALS. footsteps indicating the direction which it has taken, afford him ample satisfaction as to what he has to do, without any aid from syllogistic inference. His good sense and good feeling may be fully understood from numbers of his ordinary acts and proceedings, without recourse being had to that which has no basis but in imagination." What has rendered some people reluctant to allow the lower animals something of intellect, observes Dr. Abercrombie, 1 is that the admission would tend to establish an immaterial principle in them like that of man. " To such objectors," he adds, " I have only to say, Be it so/' and observes that this immaterial prin- ciple will certainly be "something entirely different from the properties of matter." So, too, Sir Benja- min Brodie 2 says that the minds of inferior animals " belong to the same mode of existence, and are of the same essence, as the mind of man," and remarks that he does not see how any one, who reasons about the habits of animals at all, can arrive at any other con- clusion, unless, like Descartes, he regards them as un- conscious machines. But, if the minds of the inferior animals are thus similar to man's, have they not also something, not only of man's intelligence, but of his moral feeling ? Sir Benjamin admits that in many animals, especially the elephant and the dog, such moral feeling is clearly apparent ; and Bishop Watson, after reading Bingley's ' Anecdotes of British Quadru- peds,' observed that he could not imagine how any one could deny brutes a portion of moral feeling. Dr. Abercrombie, in admitting that brutes have an 1 ' On the Intellectual Powers,' p. 28. 2 ' Psychological Inquiries,' pref. and dial. iv. CONCLUDING EEMARKS. 465 " immaterial principle " in them, entirely distinct from matter, does not say that this principle, or soul, will live, like the spirit of man, after death. This opinion, however, has not wanted advocates, both in ancient and in modern times. Mr. Broderip, in his ' Zoologi- cal Recreations/ 1 has occupied a page or two in ad- verting to ancient poets and philosophers, Jewish Rabbis, and Christian Fathers, that have held this doc- trine. Virgil gives his heroes horses to drive in the Elysian fields; and the Greek poets gave Orion his dogs. Rabbi Manasseh, speaking of the resurrection, says that brutes will then enjoy a much happier state of being than they experienced here ; and Philo Judaeus foretells that ferocious beasts will in a future state be deprived of their savageness. Among the men of our day, Dr. John Brown, in his ' Horae Sub- secivse/ 2 boldly says, " I am one of those who believe that dogs have a next world ; and why not ?" Dr. Maitland declares himself of the same belief in his 'Eruvin/ And the Rev. J. G. Wood, 3 in one of his most recent publications, has the following passage : " Much of the present heedlessness respecting ani- mals is caused by the popular idea that they have no souls, and that when they die they entirely perish. Whence came that most preposterous idea? Surely not from the only source where we might expect to learn about souls not from the Bible, for there we distinctly read of ' the spirit of the sons of man/ and immediately afterwards of ' the spirit of the beast/ one aspiring, the other not so. And the necessary consequence of the spirit is a life after the death of the 1 P. 303. 2 P. 211. 3 ' Common Objects of the Country,' p. 21. 2H 466 REASONING POWER OF ANIMALS. body. Let any one wait in a frequented thorough- fare for one short hour, and watch the sufferings of the* poor brutes that pass by. Then, unless he denies the Divine Providence, he will see clearly that unless these poor creatures were compensated in another life, there is no such quality as justice." But of the probability or improbability of this theory I say nothing, leaving every one to form his own opinion. 467 INDEX. Abercrombie, Dr., his opinion of the lower animals, 462, 463. Animals, inferior, general intelli- gence of, 459 ; how far they use tools, 460 ; some allow them ' an immaterial principle,' and a next world, 463. Addison, not inclined to allow the inferior animals reason, 2 ; his remarks on instinct, 9. JElian, his anecdotes of elephants, 15-17 ; of a dog, 164 ; of apes, 274, 275. Alexander the Great's horse, 233. Anacreon, his dog, 164, 165. Androclus and the lion, 208, 425. Ants, intercommunication among, 452. Apes, see Monkeys. Aristotle, his opinion of the facul- ties of brutes, 2. Arrian's account of his greyhound, 217. Ass, good qualities of, 242-245 ; one that found his way two hundred miles, 328. Barter, scarcely practised among the inferior animals, 461. Beaver, intelligence in, 430. Bees find their way readily, 337 ; something in them beyond in- stinct, 447. Bell, Mr., his anecdote of a dog, 165. Berkeley, Mr. Grrantley, his two deer greyhounds, 170 ; his obser- vation of a spider, 456. Bewick, his anecdotes of dogs, 79, 99, 172. Birds, their intelligence, 340, seqq. ; communication of ideas among, 372 ; their conjugal relations, 381. Blaine, Mr., his anecdote of a but- cher's dog, 100 ; of a Newfound- land dog, 117 ; of dogs under- standing man, 139; of dogs guarding, 174. Blaze, M., his eulogy of the dog, 218. Bonaparte, Napoleon, his praise of the horse, 232. Broderip, Mr., his remarks on the intelligence of elephants, 37 ; his anecdote of a monkey, 279 ; his remark on Landseer's picture of the cat's-paw, 286. Brodie, Sir Benjamin, allows moral feeling to dogs, 208, 462. Brougham, Lord, knows not why beasts should be denied a portion of reason, 5. Brown, Dr., his account of " Eab," 182 ; thinks that animals have a next world, 463. Brutes, why men are unwilling to allow them a portion of reason, 2. Buckland, Mr. Frank, his remarks on canine sagacity, 66 ; his ac- count of some rats, 295. 468 INDEX. Buffon allows beasts no portion of reason, 4. Butler, Bishop, his opinion of the lower animals, 462. Carbasson, Pere, his extraordinary monkey, 278. Cat, 247-258; sagacity in finding way, 322, seqq. Cats have discovered murderers, 252-254. Catlin, Mr., tells how horses are tamed by the North American Indians, 239. Cellini, Benvenuto, intelligence of his dog, 152. Celsus claims reason for brutes, 10. Chabert, the fire-king, his sagacious dog, 146. Chemical affinities, 7. Chimpanzee, see Monkeys. Cock's revenge, 381. Condillac allows something of reason to beasts, 5. Constantinople, dogs of, 212. Cops, Mr., his sagacious orang-ou- tang, 287. Corncraik, feigning death, 444. Corse, Mr., his account of an ele- phant, 46. Cow, finding way from place to place, 329. Cranes, intelligence of, 352. Crocodiles, young, run to the water when hatched, 8. Croker, Crofton, his account of the Whisperer, 240. Crows, their sagacity, 342 ; see Books. Cnvier, Frederick, allows great in- telligence to beasts, 5. Darwin, Dr., allows beasts a por- tion of reason, 5. Davy, Dr., his experiment on a young crocodile, 8. Deer, intelligence in, 422. Descartes, his notion that the lower animals are mere machines, 3, 68. Dog, his general intelligence, 60, seqq. ; Newfoundland breed, 71, seqq. punishment of small dogs by larger, 79, seqq. ; shepherd's dog, 83, seqq. ; Spaniel, Pointer, Terrier, 106, seqq. ; saving life, 116, seqq. ; dogs of St. Bernard, , 126 ; communication of thought from one dog to another, 128, seqq. asking assistance of man, under- standing man's language, 136, seqq. ; memory, 150, seqq. ; dis- tinctions of persons and property, 159, seqq. ; intelligence in guard- ing, 174, seqq. ; in finding lost articles, 184, seqq. ; how much he may be taught, 197-207 ; moral feeling and sense of justice, 208- 218 ; M. Blaze's eulogy of, 218 ; Blind dog finding his way, 320. Dogs acting in concert, 130-132, 134 ; sometimes capricious in their attachments, 161; detec- tion of hostility towards their masters, 178, 179 ; recognizing portraits, 194 ; dogs of Constan- tinople and Egypt, 212-216. Drew, Samuel, his story of a dog, 144. Eagle, good sense of one, 349. Egypt, dogs of, 215. Eldon, Lord, his dog's epitaph, 78. Elephant, intelligence of 13, seqq. ; his mode of taking revenge, 19, seqq. ; love of regularity and order, 28, seqq. ; docility and judgment, 40, seqq. ; memory, 46, seqq. self-government in the wild state, 56, seqq. Faber, Joannes, his account of a dog, 204. Ferret, combat of one with a rat, 299. Feigning death, stratagem of ani- mals, 440. Finding way from place to place, sagacity of animals in, 309, seqq. Fish find their way from place to place, 334 ; what sagacity fish may possess, 431. INDEX. 469 Flourens, his distinction between beasts and men, 10. Fox, its qualities, 259 -270 ; feign- ing death, 442. Foxes, Arctic, extraordinary crafti- ness of, 268-270. G-alen's experiment on a kid, 7. Giraldus Cambrensis,his anecdote of a dog, 151. Glutton, stratagem of, 428. Goat, intelligence of, 414. Godfrey's, John, dog, its tempe- rance, 67. Goldfinches, ingenuity of, 362. Good, Dr., his account of sagacity in a cat, 248. Goose, sagacity of, 351, 353. Gorilla, its effective use of a stick, 272. Grenville, Lord, his Latin epitaph on a dog, 173. Gnat, Le, his notice of an ape in Java, 287. Hallam, his verses on Sir W, Scott's dogs, 158. Hancock, Dr., his remarks on the act of a Newfoundland dog, 80. Hares, intelligence of, 422. Harrington, Sir John, his dog, 168. Helvetius, allows reason to beasts, 5. Henderson, Dr., his account of the Arctic foxes, 469. Herculaneum, dog's collar found at, 124. Heron, sagacity of, 351 ; councils of herons, 376. Hogg, James, his accounts of the shepherd's dog, 83, seqq. Hobbes, remarks that man could have formed no society without speech, 282. Horse, intelligence and good feeling of, 220-242 ; sagacity in finding his way, 327. Horses, in a race, their intelligence, 224 ; their sensibility to kind treatment, 228-230; good me- mory of, 234, 236; sometimes revengeful, 236. Hughes, comic actor, his dog, 166. Humboldt allows reason to beasts, 5 ; his remarks on young turtles running to the sea, 8. Instinct defined, and distinguished from reason, 6. Jesse, Mr., thinks that animals count days, 392. Knight, Miss, tells of a cat that discovered a murderer, 252. Lamartine's anecdote of an Arabian horse, 227. Lark protecting its nest, 363. Lavater, his remark on human li- berty, 9. Lawrence, distinction in his ' Lec- tures ' between man and the ape, 280. Lee, Mrs., her account of the ex- traordinary performances of two dogs, 201-203 ; her remarks on the gravity of monkeys, 283. Leibnitz allows beasts a certain por- tion of reason, 4 ; his account of a dog that uttered thirty words, 11, 204. Lion, good feeling in, 424-427. Leonard, Mons., his accomplished dogs, 199. Locke allows animals a certain por- tion of reason, 462. Ludolphus, Job, his account of apes in ^Ethiopia, 276. Magpies, their artfulness, 348. Man, savage, finds his way through unknown parts by a kind of in- stinct, 338. Marcgrave's account of the preach- ing monkeys, 277. Mice, instances of their sagacity, 305 ; Iceland mice, 307. Monboddo, his comparison of mon- keys with man, 279. Monkeys and apes, general qualities of, 271-288 ; 409. Monkeys, their use of tools, 271,272 ; 470 INDEX. dexterity of a chimpanzee, 273 ; faculty of imitation in monkeys, 274 ; ouarines, or preaching mon- keys, 277; the monkey's brain, 281 ; monkey that committed sui- cide, 282 ; feigning death, 445. Montaigne allows thought to the inferior animals, 3. Montargis, dog of, 151. Morritt, Mr., Sir W. Scott's friend, his two terriers, 112. Mule, its good qualities, 245. Miiller, Max, observes that speech sets man high above beasts, 11. Napier, Sir Charles, anecdote of his boyhood, 120. Newton, Bishop, his account of the sagacity of a horse in a combat of wild beasts, 226. Opossum, feigning itself dead, 441. Ottley, Mr. W. Young, his anec- dote of a dog, 168. Ouarines, see Monkeys. Owen, Professor, his account of a dog's intelligence, 190; pro- nounces man not to be a deve- loped monkey, 279. Ox, intelligence in, 406-412. Parrots, what intelligence they pos- sess, 385 ; Prince Maurice's par- rot, 386 ; Dennis O'Kelly's, 387 ; another extraordinary one, 388. Partridge, sagacity in protecting its nest, 362. Pidcock, of Exeter Change, offends his elephant, 28. Pigeons, their power of finding their way, 332. Pliny, his praise of the elephant, 13, 14. Plutarch, his anecdotes of ele- phants, 14, 15, 16 ; of dogs, 150, 151, 176, 197 ; of the horse, 233 ; of mules, 245, 246; of a fox, 262. Pontoppidan, his relation of the Arctic foxes, 270. Poynder, Mr., remarkable account of his dog, 311. Pyrard, Francis, his notion of mon- keys in Sierra Leone, 287. Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, discovers two murderers by the aid of a dog, 150. Eaccoon, sagacity of, 429. Eats, instances of their ingenuity, 289, seqq. ; how they act in com- bination, 295-299; blind rat, 301 ; theatrical performance by rats, 304 ; feigning death, 443. Eaffles, Sir Stamford, his monkey that committed suicide, 283. Earey, the horse-tamer, 242. Eeason distinguished from instinct, 6,7. Eeaumur allows intelligence to the lower animals, 4. Eedbreast, intelligence of, 358. Eooks, communities of, 373, 440. Eose, Eight Hon. W. G-., his ac- count of the dogs of Constanti- nople, 213. Eousseau, J. J., inclined to think man a developed monkey, 279. St. John, Mr., his account of a fox, 260. Salmasius thought that beasts have something of reason, 4. Schoutton, his notice of apes, 287. Scott, Sir Walter, anecdote of his horse Daisy, 29 ; his accounts of dogs taught to steal, 91, 205 ; of a dog that saved his master from fire, 122 ; his dog Camp, 138 ; his remarks on the dog, 157 ; on the cat, 247. Seneca, his opinion of beasts as compared with man, 3 ; denies beasts memory, 11. Senior, Nassau, bis anecdote of a dog's sagacity, 68. Sentinels placed by animals, 436. Serpent finding its way a hundred miles, 331. Sheep finding way from place, 330 ; intelligence in, 412. Shipp, Captain, incurs the ven- geance of an elephant, 20 ; his INDEX. 471 account of the efficacy of ele- phants in military operations, 34. Sirr, Mr., his account of elephants in Ceylon, 44. Sirrah, the Ettrick Shepherd's dog, 83-87 ; 92, 93. Skinner, Major, his observation of a troop of elephants, 57. Smellie thought beasts partakers of reason, 5 ; his praise of the sheep- dog, 104 ; his cat, 256. Smith, Colonel Hamilton, his praise of shepherds' dogs, 102 ; of the cattle dogs of Cuba, 103; of water-dogs, 116 ; of dogs distin- guishing property, 168. Southey allows animals reason, 462. Spider, ingenuity of, 454. Storks, how they act in concert, 378. Sullivan, the Whisperer, his mas- tery over horses, 239-241. Swallows, ingenuity of, 365 ; com- munities of, 368. Swine finding way from place to place, 330 ; intelligence of, 415 ; sow trained to point at game, 416. Tavernier kills a female ape, 275. Terry relates how elephants may be trained, 24, 43. Thales, his experiment on a mule, 245. Tiger, respects spirit in a dog, 427. Time, how animals distinguish, 392- 405. Tomtit, its artfulness, 361. Tools, how far used by the inferior animals, 271-273. Tortoise finding its way from the English Channel to the Ascension Island, 336. Turkey, sagacity in a, 353. Turnspit dogs, sagacity of, 68. Turtle, young, run to the sea, 8. Tzetzes, his anecdotes of dogs, 151, 165. Walsh, Dr. Edward, his dog, 192. Watson, Bishop, his remark on do- mestic animals, 208. Weasel, ingenuity of, 292. Wenzel, his account of intelligence in a cat, 251. Westcott, Mr., his anecdote of a dog deserting his master, 211. Whisperer, see Sullivan. Wilkinson, Sir Gardner, his ac- count of the dogs of Egypt, 215. Wolf, anecdote of intelligence in a, 424. Wood, Eev. J. G-., his anecdote of a dog, 185 ; his intelligent cat, 247 ; his opinion that animals have ' a next world,' 464. Youatt, Mr., his advice on the treatment of dogs, 206 ; his re- mark on the dog's feelings and faculties, 209 ; gives an anecdote of dog's affection, ib. ; his re- marks on the horse, 231, 234, 238. FEINTED BY J. E. TAYLOR AND CO., LITTLE QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS. LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA : CALIFORNIA LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA i % (ERSITT OF ( 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED rCSi it BM *' * This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. VS> ERSITY OF C NQV I LD 21-50m-6,'60 (B1321slO)476 General Library University of California Berkeley ^V TO