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 IDRARY 
 
MAN AND BEAST. 
 
MAN AND BEAST 
 
 HERE AND HEREAFTER. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY MORE THAN THREE HUNDRED 
 ORIGINAL ANECDOTES. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. J. G. WOOD, M.A., F.L.S., 
 
 AUTHOR OF "HOMES WITHOUT HANDS," &c. 
 
 I canna but believe that dowgs hae sowls." 
 
 JAMES HOGG, the Ettrick Shepherd. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 FRANKLIN SQUARE. 
 
 1875- 
 
BIOLOGY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 G 
 
 BY J. G. WOOD. 
 
 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS : being a Description of the Habitations of Animals, classed 
 according to their Principle of Construction. By J. G. WOOD, M. A., F.L.S., Author of " Il- 
 lustrated Natural History." With about 140 Illustrations engraved on Wood by G. PEAR- 
 SON, from Original Designs made by F. W. KEYL and E. A. SMITH, under the Author's 
 Superintendence. 8vo, Cloth, $4 50 ; Sheep, $5 oo ; Half Calf, $6 75. 
 
 the magnitude of the results compared with the slen- 
 derness of the materials attainable. According to this 
 definition, many animals exhibit far more than in- 
 stinctthey show genius in the construction of their 
 homes. But it is only when we study them on some 
 such connected plan as that furnished by Mr. Wood 
 that we gradually become irresistibly impressed by 
 sheer cumulative force, rather than direct proof, with 
 the absurdity of the popular talk about blind instinct, 
 and can not help seeing the large amount of downright 
 solid intellect which birds and beasts bring to bear on 
 the construction of their homes Spectator, London. 
 
 Mr. Wood's classification of the habitations of ani- 
 mals opens up so wide and connected a perspective 
 into the psychology of the animal creation that it pos- 
 sesses quite a peculiar interest and fascination. The 
 facts that rats and mice live in holes, and birds make 
 nests, taken in an isolated way, leaves little impres- 
 sion upon the imagination of the master-builder man, 
 druuk with his own glories, who looks with pity and 
 contempt upon dwellings and contrivances which, if 
 not in grandeur, at all events in delicacy of adaptation 
 and ingenuity of workmanship, rival bis own. Nie- 
 bnhr said somewhere or other that genius is seen in 
 
 PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTH R-RS, NEW YORK. 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS will send the above work by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the 
 United States or Canada, on receipt of the price. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IN the opening of Bishop Butler's "Analogy of Religion" the following 
 passage occurs, showing that this eminent divine considered the lower ani- 
 mals as capable of a future life : " It is said these observations are equally 
 applicable to brutes; and it is thought an insuperable difficulty that they 
 should be immortal, and by consequence capable of everlasting happiness. 
 Now this manner of expression is both invidious and weak; but the thing 
 intended by it is really no difficulty at all, either in the way of natural or 
 moral consideration." 
 
 The Bishop then refers to the " latent powers and capacities " of the lower 
 animals, and sees no reason why they should not be developed in a future 
 life. In the present work, I have endeavored to carry out his train of 
 thought, and to show that the lower animals do possess those mental and 
 moral characteristics which we admit in ourselves to belong to the immortal 
 spirit, and not to the perishable body. 
 
 The scheme of the book is briefly as follows. I begin with clearing away 
 the difficulties which arise from two misunderstood passages in the Old Tes- 
 tament, and prove that the Scriptures 'do not deny a future life to the lower 
 animals. I then show that the lower animals share with man the attributes 
 of Reason, Language, Memory, a sense of Moral Responsibility, Unselfishness, 
 and Love, all of which belong to the spirit and not to the body ; and that as 
 man expects to retain these qualities in the next world, there is every reason 
 to presume that the lower animals may share his immortality hereafter as 
 they share his mortality at present. 
 
 In order to prove that animals really possess the above-mentioned qualities, 
 I cite more than three hundred original anecdotes, all being authenticated by 
 the writers, and the documents themselves remaining in my possession. 
 
 ' J. G. W. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAOB 
 
 I. THE TESTIMONY OF REVELATION 9 
 
 II. REASON AND INSTINCT 16 
 
 III. REASON (continued) . . . 24 
 
 IV. REASON (concluded) 32 
 
 V. LANGUAGE [OF ANIMALS] 39 
 
 VI. LANGUAGE [HUMAN] . 50 
 
 VII. MEMORY 60 
 
 VIII. GENEROSITY .68 
 
 IX. CHEATERY 75 
 
 X. HUMOR 79 
 
 XI. PRIDE, JEALOUSY, ANGER, REVENGE, TYRANNY 89 
 
 XII. CONSCIENCE 97 
 
 XIII. SYMPATHY AND FRIENDSHIP 104 
 
 XIV. LOVE OF MASTER 114 
 
 XV. CONJUGAL LOVE 126 
 
 XVI. PARENTAL LOVE 128 
 
 XVII. THE FUTURE STATE 136 
 

 
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 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE TESTIMONY OF KEVELATION.' 
 
 The Future of the Lower Animals, as popularly supposed to be Taught in the Scriptures. The "Beasts that 
 perish." If the Literal Sense of the Scriptures alone be taken, the Future Life of Man is repeatedly denied 
 in the Books of Psalms, Job, and Ecclesiastes. The Necyomanteia of Homer compared with the Psalms 
 and Ecclesiastes. The Future State of Man according to Horace. Comparison of the Renderings of Psa. 
 xlix. 20 (the "beasts that perish") in the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, English (Douay version), German, Spanish, 
 Italian, French, Chaldaic, Syriac, and Arabic Versions. Subject of Psa. xlix., and the Real Signification of 
 the Concluding Verse. Opinions of Correspondents. The "Spirit of the Beast that goeth downward to 
 the Earth." Subject of the Book called Ecclesiastes. Teaching by means of Irony. Distinction between 
 the Spirit of Man and that of the Lower Animals. 
 
 IN dealing with a subject of this nature name- 
 ly, the spiritual condition of the animals inferior 
 to Man it is clear that we must, in the first place, 
 refer to the Scriptures, from which is derived all 
 our authentic knowledge of spiritual life. 
 
 There is a popular belief I should rather say 
 a popular tradition that somewhere in the 
 Scriptures we are taught that, of all living in- 
 habitants of earth, Man alone possesses a spirit, 
 and that therefore he alone survives in spirit 
 after the death of the material body. If this 
 were true, there would be no room for argument 
 to those who profess to believe the Scriptures 
 literally, and to base their faith upon that literal 
 belief; and, however such a statement might 
 seem to controvert all ideas of benevolence, jus- 
 tice, and even common -sense, such believers 
 would be bound to receive it on trust, and to 
 wait for a future time in which to understand it. 
 
 Many persons go so far as to deny to animals 
 even the possession of Reason, and only attribute 
 to them the power of Instinct, while there are 
 comparatively few who do not believe that when 
 an animal dies, its life-principle dies too that 
 the animating power is annihilated, while the 
 body is resolved into its various elements so as 
 to take form in other bodies. 
 
 This belief is almost entirely, if not wholly, 
 due to two passages of Scripture, one being in 
 the Psalms, and the other in Ecclesiastes. The 
 
 former is that which is generally quoted as de- 
 cisive of the whole question. It runs in the au- 
 thorized version as follows : ' ' Nevertheless, man 
 being in honor, abideth not ; he is like the beasts 
 that perish " (Psa. xlix. 12, 20). 
 
 The Prayer-book version is somewhat differ- 
 ent, but is yet translated much to the same effect. 
 " Man, being in honor, hath no understanding, 
 but is compared to the beasts that perish." 
 
 The second passage occurs in Ecclesiastes iii. 
 21 : "Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth 
 upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth 
 downward to the earth." 
 
 On the strength of these two passages, we are 
 called upon to believe that when a beast dies, it 
 dies forever, and that its life is utterly extin- 
 guished as is the flame of an expired lamp. Now 
 every one who has had even a slight acquaintance 
 with the exposition of Scripture is aware that 
 nothing is more dangerous than attempting to 
 explain any passage, however simple it may ap- 
 pear to be, without making a reference to the 
 original text. The translator may have mis- 
 taken the true sense of the words ; or he may 
 have insufficiently expressed their signification ; 
 or, owing to a change in the meaning of words, 
 a passage may now bear on its surface an exact- 
 ly contrary sense to that which it conveyed when 
 it was first written. 
 
 However, we will lay aside that point for the 
 
10 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 present, and accept fhe 1 passage as it stands, to- 
 gether with the literal signification of the words 
 as generally understood. 
 
 There will then be no doubt that we must be- 
 lieve that beasts have no immortal life. But, if 
 we are to take the literal sense of the Bible, and 
 no other, we are equally bound to believe that 
 Man as well as beast has no life after death. 
 
 See, for example, Psa. vi. 5 : "In death there 
 is no remembrance of thee : in the grave, who 
 shall give thee thanks ?" 
 
 Also, Psa. Ixxxviii. 10, 11, 12 : 
 
 ' ' Wilt thou show wonders to the dead ? Shall 
 the dead arise and praise thee ? 
 
 " Shall thy loving-kindness be declared in the 
 grave, or thy faithfulness in destruction ? 
 
 " Shall thy wonders be known in the dark, 
 and thy righteousness in the land of forgetful- 
 ness ?" 
 
 Also, see Psa. cxv. 17 : " The dead praise not 
 the Lord, neither any that go down into silence." 
 
 Also, Psa. cxliii. 3 : " For the enemy hath 
 persecuted my soul ; he hath smitten my life 
 down to the ground ; he hath made me to dwell 
 in darkness, as those that have been long dead." 
 
 Also, Psa. cxlvi. 3, 4 : 
 
 " Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son 
 of man, in whom there is no help. 
 
 " His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his 
 earth ; in that very day his thoughts perish." 
 
 If we are to take the Scriptures solely in their 
 literal sense, there can be no doubt of their mean- 
 ing. The whole range of heathen literature con- 
 tains nothing more gloomy, dreary, or more de- 
 spondent in the contemplation of death. "Let 
 us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die, "would 
 be a fit result of such a belief. 
 
 In the very book in which occurs the single 
 passage on which is based the denial of the im- 
 mortality of the lower animals are five passages 
 which proclaim the same end to the life of man. 
 We are told distinctly and definitely that those 
 who have died have no remembrance of God, 
 and can not praise him. Death is described as 
 the "land of forgetfulness " the place of dark- 
 ness, where all manjs thoughts perish. Can 
 more than this be said of the * ' beasts that perish ?" 
 
 Now we will leave the Psalmist, and proceed 
 to other writers. Treating, not of the wicked, 
 but of mankind in general who " dwell in houses 
 of clay," the writer proceeds as follows : " They 
 are destroyed from morning to evening ; they 
 perish forever, without any regarding it" (Job 
 iv. 20). 
 
 Take another passage from the same book, a 
 passage which is even more definite in its state- 
 ment : "As the cloud is consumed and vanish- 
 
 eth away, so he that goeth down to the grave 
 shall come up no more " (Job vii. 9). 
 
 Again 
 
 "Man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man 
 giveth up the ghost, and where is he ? 
 
 "As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood 
 decayeth and drieth up : 
 
 " So man lieth down, and riseth not " (Job 
 xiv. 10, 11, 12). And ver. 14 : " If a man die, 
 shall he live again ?" 
 
 See also the piteous wail of Job over his life 
 as shown in chap. iii. and x. In the first he 
 complains that he was ever born, that being was 
 ever given to him, that he was ever taken out of 
 a state of absolute nonentity. In the second he 
 repeats the same lamentation, with the addition 
 that even death can bring no relief to his suffer- 
 ings except extinction. 
 
 " Wherefore, then, hast thou brought me forth 
 out of the womb ? Oh that I had given up the 
 ghost, and no eye had seen me ! 
 
 "I should have been as though I had not been ; 
 I should have been carried from the womb to the 
 grave. 
 
 " Are not my days few ? Cease then, and let 
 me alone, that I may take comfort a little, 
 ' " Before I go whence I shall not return, even 
 to the land of darkness and the shadow of death ; 
 
 " A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and 
 of the shadow of death, without any order, and 
 where the light is as darkness " (Job x. 18-22). 
 
 Turning to the Book of Ecclesiastes, in which 
 occurs the solitary passage which is held to dis- 
 prove the immortality of the lower animals, we 
 find the following passages, which are even more 
 emphatic as to the future state of man : 
 
 " I said in my heart concerning the estate of 
 the sons of men, that God might manifest them, 
 and that they might see that they themselves are 
 beasts. 
 
 "For that which befalleth the sons of men 
 befalleth beasts ; even one thing befalleth them. 
 As the one dieth, so dieth the other ; yea, they 
 have all one breath, so that a man has no pre- 
 eminence over a beast : for all is vanity. 
 
 "All go unto one place; all are of the dust, 
 and all turn to dust again" (Eccles. iii. 18, 19, 
 20). 
 
 Also in ch. ix. 5 : "For the living know that 
 they shall die, but the dead know not any thing, 
 neither have they any more a reward, for the 
 memory of them is forgotten." 
 
 Also in ch. ix. 10: "Whatsoever thy hand 
 findeth to do, do it with thy might ; for there is 
 no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom 
 in the grave whither thou goest." 
 
 Taking the literal sense of these words and no 
 
THE TESTIMONY OF REVE. 
 
 other, it is impossible to doubt their import. 
 They state definitely that, as regards a spiritual 
 life, there is no distinction between man and 
 beast ; and that when they die, all go to the 
 same place. The writer also distinctly states 
 that after death man can work nothing, know 
 nothing, nor can receive any reward. The same 
 vein of irrepressible sadness that characterizes 
 the extracts taken from the Psalms is prominent 
 in those passages from Job and Ecclesiastes ; 
 and if from these alone we were to deduce our 
 ideas of the condition of man after death, most 
 sad and hopeless would be the very thought of 
 dissolution. 
 
 It is true that we do not accept them in this 
 light, knowing that they are written symbolically 
 or parabolically, and that there underlies them 
 the spiritual sense of which St. Paul speaks 
 when he contrasts the life-giving spirit with the 
 death -dealing letter (2 Cor. iv. 6). With that 
 meaning, however, we have in the present case 
 nothing to do. We are only concerned with the 
 literal meaning of our translation, and, accord- 
 ing to that literal meaning, if we take two texts 
 to prove that beasts have no future life, we are 
 forced by no less than fourteen passages to be- 
 lieve that Man, in common with beasts, has no 
 future life. We have no right to pick and choose 
 which passages we are to take literally, and which 
 symbolically, but must apply the same test to all 
 alike, and treat all in the same manner. 
 
 Let us pass for a while from sacred to secular 
 literature. All my classical readers must be fa- 
 miliar with that wonderful eleventh book of Ho- 
 mer's "Odyssey" generally called the Necyo- 
 manteia, or Invocation of the Dead. In this 
 strange history Ulysses is shown as descending 
 into the regions inhabited by departed spirits, 
 for the purpose of invoking them and obtaining 
 their advice as to his future adventures. 
 
 He sails to the boundaries of the ocean, and 
 lands in the country of the Cimmerians, who 
 dwell in perpetual cloud and darkness, and in 
 whose country are the gates leading to the re- 
 gions of the dead. He utters solemn prayers 
 and invocations, offers sacrifices, and pours their 
 blood into a trench of a cubit square, which had 
 been consecrated for that purpose. Straightway 
 there throng around the trench the spirits of the 
 dead, eager to drink the blood, and so to be able 
 to hold converse with one who was still a deni- 
 zen of the upper world. See Pope's version of 
 the passage : 
 
 "Thus solemn rites and holy vows we paid 
 To all the phantom nations of the dead. 
 Theu died the sheep ; a purple torrent flowed, 
 And all the cavern smoked with streaming blood. 
 
 When lo ! appeared 
 
 Thin, airy shoals of visionary Q\ 
 
 Fair pensive youths and soft enamored maids, 
 
 And withered elders, pale and wrinkled shades : 
 
 Ghastly with wounds, the forms of warriors slain 
 
 Stalked with majestic port, a martial train : 
 
 These and a thousand more swarmed o'er the ground, 
 
 And all the dire assembly shrieked around." 
 
 The hero stands over the trench, defending it 
 with his sword from the hosts of the dead, and 
 only allowing the spirits to drink the blood one 
 by one. Thus he converses with the spirits of 
 his companions Elpenor and Tiresias, then sees 
 his mother Anticlea ; and at last the spirit of 
 Achilles approaches. The dialogue between the 
 inhabitant of the earth and the denizen of the 
 regions of the dead must be quoted entire : 
 
 "Through the thick gloom his friend Achilles knew, 
 And as he speaks the tears dissolve in dew. 
 
 'Comest thou alive to view the Stygian bounds, 
 Where the wan spectres walk eternal rounds; 
 Nor fear'st the dark and dismal waste to tread, 
 Thronged with pale ghosts familiar with the dead ?' 
 
 To whom with sighs, 'I pass these dreadful gates 
 To seek the Theban, and consult the Fates ; 
 For still distressed I rove from coast to coast, 
 Lost to my friends and to my country lost 
 But sure the eye of Time beholds no name 
 So blessed as thine in all the rolls of fame ; 
 Alive we hailed thee with our guardian gods, 
 And, dead, thou rulest a king in these abodes.' 
 
 'Talk not of ruling in this dolorous gloom, 
 Nor think vain words (he cried) can ease my doom. 
 Rather I'd choose laboriously to bear 
 A weight of woes and breathe the vital air, 
 A slave to some poor hind that toils for bread, 
 Than reign the sceptred monarch of the dead." 
 
 Coleridge well remarks of this passage, and 
 indeed of the whole of the Necyomanteia, that it 
 is " remarkable for the dreary and even horrible 
 revelations which it makes of the condition of 
 the future life. All is wild and dark ; hunger 
 and thirst and discontent prevail. We hear 
 nothing of elysian fields for piety or wisdom or 
 valor, and there is something quite deadening in 
 the answer of the shade of Achilles to the con- 
 solation of Ulysses. " 
 
 Gloom, misery, and vain regrets for earth per- 
 vade the whole of this episode : 
 
 ' Now, without number, ghost by ghost arose, 
 All wailing with unutterable woes. 
 ****** * 
 
 But swarms of spectres rose from deepest hell 
 With bloodless visage and with hideous yell. 
 They scream, they shriek ; and groans and dismal 
 
 sounds 
 
 Stun my scared ears, and pierce hell's utmost bounds. 
 No more my heart the dismal din sustains, 
 And my cold blood hangs shivering in my veins." 
 
 These are the ideas of a heathen poet concern- 
 ing the future state of man. It is no wonder 
 that sensual pleasures should be held the chief 
 
12 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 object in the life of man, when he is to look for- 
 ward to such a future as this a future from 
 which neither wisdom nor virtue nor piety could 
 save him an eternity of gloom, darkness, re- 
 pining, and hopeless despondence. 
 
 Yet, sad as is this picture of the heathen poet, 
 it is far brighter than that of the Psalmist, the 
 Preacher, or Job. 
 
 Those who have passed into the world of spir- 
 its do not at all events forfeit their individuality 
 by death. The youth, the maiden, the elder, 
 and the matron are distinguished in the spirit 
 as they. had been in the flesh; and those who 
 had lost their lives in honorable battle retain 
 the stern port and martial demeanor of the 
 earthly warrior. 
 
 Memory is still left to the dead. They re- 
 member their earthly career ; they do not lose 
 their interest in their friends who still remain on 
 earth ; and, above all, Love survives. Anticlea 
 retains her maternal love for Ulysses, for loss of 
 whom she died ; and she watches over the wel- 
 fare of Penelope and Telemachus. The spirits 
 hold converse with each other. Those who have 
 been friends on the upper earth resume their 
 friendship in the lower regions. Haughty, self- 
 willed, discontented in death as in life "Impi- 
 ger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer " Achilles still 
 receives some solace in the constant companion- 
 ship of his friend Patroclus. 
 
 But, if we are to take literally the passages 
 of Scripture which have been quoted, no such 
 consolation exists in the future state of man, 
 who passes at death into a place of darkness, 
 forgetfulness, and silence, where is no work, 
 nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom where 
 even nis very thoughts perish. If these passages 
 are to be understood in their pure literal sense, 
 there is no other interpretation to be put upon 
 them ; for the statements are too explicit to be 
 explained away or even softened. 
 
 According to the outward sense of their writ- 
 ings, the Psalmist, Job, and the Preacher are 
 very much on a par with Horace in their abso- 
 lute unbelief in a future existence, and the vein 
 of melancholy which in consequence underlies 
 their utterances. Take, for example, Whittier's 
 short and brilliant analysis of the philosophy of 
 Horace as supposed to be spoken by a friend : 
 
 "Speaking of Horace, he gives us glowing 
 descriptions of his winter circles of friends, where 
 mirth and wine, music and beauty, charm away 
 the hours, and of summer- day recreations be- 
 neath the vine-wedded elms of the Tiber, or on 
 the breezy slopes of Soracte ; yet I seldom read 
 them without a feeling of sadness. 
 
 "A low wail of inappeasable sorrow, an un- 
 
 dertone of dirges, mingles with his gay melodies. 
 His immediate horizon is bright with sunshine ; 
 but beyond there is a world of darkness, the light 
 whereof is darkness. It is walled about by the 
 everlasting night. The skeleton sits at his table ; 
 a shadow of the inevitable terror rests upon all 
 his pleasant pictures. He was without God in 
 the world ; he had* no clear abiding hope of a 
 life beyond that which was hastening to a close. 
 Eat and drink, he tells us ; enjoy present health 
 and competence ; alleviate present evils, or forget 
 them, in social intercourse, in wine, music, and 
 sensual indulgence ; for to-morrov/ we must die. 
 Death was in his view no mere change of con- 
 dition and relation ; it was the black end of all. 
 
 "It is evident that he placed no reliance on 
 the mythology of his time, and that he regarded 
 the fables of the Elysian Fields, and their dim 
 and wandering ghosts, simply in the light of 
 convenient poetic fictions for illustrations and 
 imagery. 
 
 "Nothing can, in my view, be sadder than his 
 attempts at consolation for the loss of friends. 
 Witness his Ode to Virgil on the death of Quin- 
 tilius. He tells his illustrious friend simply that 
 his calamity is without hope, irretrievable and 
 eternal; that it is idle to implore the gods to re- 
 store the dead ; and that, although his lyre may 
 be more sweet than that of Orpheus, he can not 
 reanimate the shadow of his friend, nor persuade 
 the 'ghost-compelling god' to unbar the gates 
 of death. He urges patience as the sole resource. 
 He alludes not unfrequently to his own death in 
 the same despairing tone. 
 
 "In the Ode to Torquatus one of the most 
 beautiful and touching of all he has written he 
 sets before his friend, in melancholy contrast, the 
 return of the seasons, and of the moon renewed 
 in brightness, with the end of man, who sinks into 
 the endless dark, leaving nothing behind save ash- 
 es and shadows. He then, in the true spirit of his 
 philosophy, urges Torquatus to give his present 
 hour and wealth to pleasures and delights, as he 
 had no assurance of to-morrow." 
 
 Compare this analysis with that of the Psalm- 
 ist, Job, and the Preacher, and the result will be 
 found to be the same in all the cases namely, 
 an inability to believe in a future life, and a con- 
 sequent desire to snatch what fleeting pleasures 
 the world can give, before the inevitable Fates 
 consign him to dark oblivion. 
 
 It may seem rather startling to compare the 
 teachings of a Greek idolatrous heathen and of 
 a Latin Epicurean heathen with those of sacred 
 writers. Still more startling is it to show that 
 the teachings of the Epicurean sensualist are no 
 worse than those of the Scriptural writer, while 
 
THE TESTIMONY OF REVELATION. 
 
 18 
 
 those of the Greek poet are very much better. 
 It is, however, the fact, and, if we are to be bound 
 by the literal meaning of the Scriptures, there is 
 no possibility of denying it without doing violence 
 to reason and ordinary common-sense. 
 
 Now, however, we come to the point which 
 was mentioned on page 9. Does the author- 
 ized version give a full and correct interpretation 
 of the Hebrew text? It certainly does not. 
 There is no change in the significance of the 
 words, there is no mere insufficiency in the 
 translation, but the rendering is absolutely and 
 entirely wrong. The word "perish" does not 
 occur at all in the Hebrew text, nor is even the 
 idea expressed. The words which our transla- 
 tion twice renders as " beasts that perish" are 
 
 in the Hebrew W5 tvrarM, . e., "dumb 
 
 beasts." On comparing a number of transla- 
 tions of Psalm xlix. into various languages, I find 
 that scarcely any of them even imply the idea 
 of perishing in the sense of annihilation. First, 
 we will take the "Jewish Bible," which is ac- 
 knowledged to be the best and closest translation 
 in our language, and which has been made by 
 Dr. Benisch, under the supervision of the Chief 
 Rabbi. Both in verses 12 and 20 the transla- 
 tion is as follows : 
 
 "Man that is in honor, and understandeth 
 this not, is like the beasts that are irrational." 
 A foot-note gives the word " dumb," as an alter- 
 native reading for " irrational." 
 
 The Septuagint has very much the same read- 
 ing, the verse ending with these words, " Trapa- 
 (rvvffiXriQti roTg KTi]vevi TOIQ avor\roiq" This is 
 the Vatican text. Sir Lancelot C. Lee Brunton's 
 translation of the Septuagint runs as follows : 
 "Man that is in honor understands not; he is 
 compared to the senseless cattle, and is like 
 them." 
 
 Here is the Vulgate : 
 
 " Comparatus est jumentis insipientibus, et si- 
 milisfactus est illis." 
 
 In Wycliffe's Bible, which is a translation from 
 the Vulgate, the passage is thus rendered : 
 
 "A man whanne he was in honour understood 
 not ; he is comparisound to unwise beestis, and 
 is maad lijk to tho." 
 
 The "Douay" Bible, . e., the translation of 
 the English Roman Catholic College of Douay, 
 being the version which is accepted by that 
 branch of the Church in England, renders the 
 passage as follows : 
 
 " Man, when he was in honor, did not un- 
 derstand ; he hath been compared to senseless 
 beasts, and made like to them." 
 
 The Ethiopian version, as read by means of a 
 
 Latin translation, is nearly the same as the Vul- 
 gate. 
 
 The French and Italian are the only two 
 which resemble our version. The former runs 
 thus : 
 
 " L'homme qui est en honneur, et qui n'a point 
 d'intelligence, est semblable aux betes qui peris- 
 sent. " 
 
 The Italian is as follows : 
 
 " L'uomo che e in instato onorevole, e e non 
 ha intelletto, simile alle bestie che periscono." 
 
 There is a curious Chaldaic version of the pas- 
 sage, which, according to a Latin translation, 
 adds a few words by way of explanation, and, 
 in these words, places ivicked men and beasts 
 on the same level of nothingness after death. I 
 have placed the additions in brackets : 
 
 "Homo [sceleratus] in tempore quo subsistet 
 in honore, non intelligit ; cum removetur gloria 
 ejus ab eo, comparator bestiag [et redigitur in ni- 
 hilum]." 
 
 Into some other translations a new idea is im- 
 ported. Take, for example, Luther's Bible : 
 
 " Kurz, wenri ein Mensch in der Wiirde ist, 
 und hat keinen Verstand, so fahret er davon, wie 
 ein Vieh." 
 
 So the Spanish : 
 
 "El hombre quando esteba en honor, no lo 
 intendio ; ha sido comparado a las bestias insen- 
 satas, y se ha hecho semejante a ellas." 
 
 The Arabic is almost exactly the same as the 
 Spanish, but ends with the word Alleluia, which 
 is not in the Hebrew. 
 
 The Syriac version, according to the Latin 
 translation, conveys a similar idea : 
 
 "Homo gloriam suam non intellexit, sed aequa- 
 vit se animanti et similis factus est ei." 
 
 Even supposing that the word "perish" is 
 rendered correctly, it does not follow that an- 
 nihilation is signified. Take, for example, the 
 tenth verse of the same Psalm in the same ver- 
 sion : 
 
 " For he seeth that wise men die, and like- 
 wise the fool and the brutish person perish, and 
 leave their wealth to others." 
 
 Surely no one would interpret this passage as 
 a declaration that the wise and fools and the 
 brutish had no life after the death of the body. 
 
 The last verse of the Psalm is, as Luther puts 
 it, a summary of the whole poem. The Psalm- 
 ist draws a vivid picture of the true object of 
 man's life in this world, and the tendency of 
 man to forget it. He sets forth the shortness 
 of human life, and shows that neither wealth, 
 rank, nor fame can endure after a man dies, all 
 these things belonging to the mere earthly life 
 of man. Consequently, men who set their hearts 
 
14 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 upon these earthly things ignore the honor of 
 their manhood, and degrade themselves to the 
 level of the dumb beasts, whose aspirations are, 
 as far as we know, limited to this present world. 
 
 It will be seen, therefore, that we may dismiss 
 from our minds the idea that the beasts are said 
 by the Psalmist to have no future life, and that 
 we may reject the passage as being totally irrel- 
 evant to the subject. It is of the greatest im- 
 portance that this should be done, as the passage 
 in question is the only one which even appears to 
 make any definite statement as to the future con- 
 dition of the lower animals. 
 
 Some years ago, when writing my "Common 
 Objects of the Country," I ventured to doubt the 
 truth of the popular belief on this subject, and 
 was rather surprised at the result. Almost every 
 periodical which gave a notice of the book quoted 
 the passage, and, with only one or two exceptions, 
 more or less approved of it. The exceptional 
 cases were those of distinctly religious publica- 
 tions, and they of course brought against me 
 "the beasts that perish." 
 
 I was also inundated with letters on the sub- 
 ject. Many, of them were written by persons 
 who had possessed favorite animals, and who 
 cordially welcomed an idea which they had long 
 held in their hearts, but had been afraid to ex- 
 press. Many were from persons who were seri- 
 ously shocked at the idea that any animal lower 
 than themselves could live after the death of the 
 body. 
 
 Some were full of grave rebuke, while others 
 were couched in sarcastic terms. 
 
 Two are specially worthy of notice. The one 
 contains twelve pages of closely written, full-sized 
 letter-paper, in which the writer tells me that any 
 one who cherished the hope that animals could 
 live after death was unworthy of his position of a ! 
 clergyman, ought to be deprived of his university 
 degrees, and expelled from the learned societies 
 to which he belonged. This argument was so un- 
 , answerable that I did not venture to reply to it. 
 
 The writer of the second letter remarked that, 
 whatever I might say, he would never condescend 
 to share immortality with a cheese-mite. I re- 
 plied that, in the first place, it was not likely that 
 he would be consulted on the subject ; and that, 
 in the second place, as he did condescend to share 
 mortality with a good many cheese-mites, there 
 could be no great harm in extending his conde- 
 scension a step further. 
 
 But, no matter whether the writers agreed with 
 me or not, no matter whether they were sympa- 
 thetic, severe, or sarcastic, they invariably men- 
 tioned "the beasts that perish." Some wished 
 to know how it was possible to get over a pas- 
 
 sage which had always prevented them from in- 
 dulging in the hope that the animals which they 
 had loved on earth would have a future life ; 
 while others brought forward ' ' the beasts that 
 perish " as a crushing and conclusive argument, 
 of which they evidently supposed me to be en- 
 tirely ignorant. 
 
 The reader will therefore see how important 
 it is that the true meaning of the Hebrew text 
 should be known, and that the Psalmist should 
 not be accredited with putting forward a doc- 
 trine to which, whether true or false, he makes 
 no reference whatever. 
 
 Having thus disposed of the "beasts that per- 
 ish," let us turn to the passage in Ecclesiastes, 
 which, as we have seen, is the only one which 
 has any direct reference to the future state of 
 the lower animals. 
 
 "Who knoweth the spirit of man (or the sons 
 of man) that goeth upward (or ascending), and 
 the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to 
 the earth ?" (Eccles. iii. 21). 
 
 We have here, at all events, an admission that, 
 whether the spirit ascend or descend, both man 
 and beasts do possess spirits the Hebrew word 
 being the same in both cases. There is no dif- 
 ference in the various translations, and the ren- 
 dering in the Jewish Bible is verbatim the same 
 as that of our authorized version. We will take 
 the entire passage, and not only an isolated text : 
 
 "I said in mine heart concerning the estate of 
 the sons of men, that God might manifest them, 
 and that they might see that they themselves 
 are beasts. 
 
 "For that which befalleth the sons of men be- 
 falleth beasts ; even the one thing befalleth them : 
 as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they 
 have all one breath ; so that a man hath no pre- 
 eminence above a beast : for all is vanity. 
 
 "All go to one place ; all are of the same dust, 
 and all turn to dust again. 
 
 "Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth 
 upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth 
 downward to the earth ? 
 
 "Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing 
 better than that a man should rejoice in his own 
 works ; for that is his portion : for who shall 
 bring him to see what shall be after him ?" (Ec- 
 cles. iii. 18 to end of chapter). 
 
 The sad, contemptuous irony of the first three 
 chapters of the book tells its own story. Wheth- 
 er or not this book be the production of Solomon 
 in his later years matters very little. It well may 
 be so, for it is the confession of one who has pos- 
 sessed well-nigh all that earth can give him, and 
 who has lived to see its emptiness. Indulgence 
 
THE TESTIMONY OF REVELATION. 
 
 ir, 
 
 has been avenged by satiety, and the writer's 
 summary of life is contained in the despondent 
 avowal, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." 
 
 Self-reproach for a wasted life breathes in ev- 
 ery page of this book ; and the Preacher, speak- 
 ing from his own experience, shows that wealth, 
 glory, pleasure, and even wisdom are in them- 
 selves but utter emptiness. Practically the theme 
 is the same as that of the forty-ninth Psalm, 
 though the two writers handle it in opposite 
 ways. The Psalmist approaches the subject with 
 grave solemnity, warning his hearers of the brev- 
 ity of human life, and showing that if man for- 
 gets the glory of his manhood, made in the im- 
 age of God, he places himself on the level of the 
 dumb beasts. 
 
 The Preacher takes a different view of the 
 case, though he comes to the same conclusion. 
 Employing biting sarcasm instead of solemn 
 warning, he first shows the utter emptiness of 
 all worldly and selfish pleasures, and the miser- 
 able end of the voluptuary, and then ironically 
 advises his readers to place their whole happiness 
 in them. 
 
 Briefly, this is the argument : Suppose any 
 one may say that this is living a mere animal 
 life, what of that ? Who could be expected to 
 
 know that the spirit of beasts is inferior to that 
 of man, and that the spirit of man was made to 
 soar above earthly things, while that of beasts is 
 limited to them ? 
 
 The bitter irony is evident, and through the 
 book this idea repeatedly occurs under various 
 forms. 
 
 But by no manner of interpretation can the 
 twenty-first verse mean that beasts are annihi- 
 lated after death, while men rise again. The 
 writer ironically assumes that his readers do not 
 know the difference between the spirit of man 
 and that of beast, and, arguing from that assump- 
 tion, advises them to live a mere animal life. 
 
 "There is nothing better for a man than that 
 he should eat and drink, and that he should make 
 his soul enjoy good in his labor." 
 
 I have already shown that the former of these 
 passages does not even contain the idea of anni- 
 hilation as regards beasts ; and that the latter is 
 entirely misapprehended is now evident. We 
 may therefore dismiss from our minds both Psa. 
 xlix. and Eccles. iii. as having no bearing what- 
 ever on the subject. The Scriptures therefore, 
 as far as we have seen, do not deny future life to 
 the lower animals. Whether they assert it, is 
 not relevant to the present issue. 
 
16 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 REASON AND INSTINCT. 
 
 Distinction between Instinct aud Reason. Definition of Instinct. Rarey the Horse-tamer. Various Phases 
 
 of Instinct in Man and Beast. Definition of Reason. Comparison between Children and Animals 
 
 Reasoning Powers of the Fishes and Reptiles. Reason Displayed by the Common Toad. The Axolotl 
 and the Horned Toad. Two "Temperance" Dogs and their Masters. "Mess" and his Ways. Knowl- 
 edge of his Regimental Uniform. Methodical Habits. Medicine and Nightcaps. A Broken Leg and 
 its Consequences. Unexpected Failure of Reasoning in my Dog "Apollo." 
 
 HAVING now disposed of the purely theolog- 
 ical objections to the future life of the lower an- 
 imals, we proceed to the subject which necessa- 
 rily follows next in order namely, the pos- 
 session of reasoning powers in them. 
 
 There is much vagueness of idea on this point, 
 the general tendency being to confound reason 
 and instinct together, and to wonder when one 
 ends and the other begins. For example, there 
 are hundreds of anecdotes, too familiar for quo- 
 tation or even mention, which are described as 
 wonderful examples of instinct, whereas every 
 one of them is a proof of reason, and has nothing 
 to do with instinct. 
 
 When the late Mr. Rarey was exhibiting his 
 wonderful powers of horse-taming in England, I 
 had a long argument with him. It was his cus- 
 tom to preface his performances by a short lect- 
 ure, in which he was in the habit of saying that 
 he conquered the animals because he possessed 
 reason and the horse did not. I submitted to 
 him that his words and his actions were diamet- 
 rically opposed to each other ; for that, while 
 he denied reason in the horse, every successive 
 stage in the education of the animal was a direct 
 appeal to its reason. 
 
 His success was really due to the higher and 
 more comprehensive reason subduing the lower 
 and more limited ; while, if the horse did not 
 possess reason, Mr. Rarey could have exercised 
 no influence whatever upon it. Indeed, as he 
 had stated in his lecture that dull and stupid 
 horses were more difficult to tame than intelli- 
 gent and high-spirited animals, he had already 
 granted their capacity of reasoning. 
 
 Some years ago I had a standing dispute with 
 my valued friend, the late Charles Waterton. 
 Swayed probably by his religious views, which 
 were of the severest character, he never would 
 admit, and never did admit, that any animal 
 lower than man could possess reason. Yet in 
 
 all his dealings with the animal world, in which 
 he was simply without a rival, he invariably ap- 
 pealed to their reason and not to their instinct. 
 
 For example, he never would allow his farm 
 horses to be tied up or even shut in their stalls 
 after their day's labor. He always had them 
 fed in loose boxes, and the doors left open, so 
 that after their meal the animals could go into 
 the yard and talk to each other. "We like to 
 chat over our meals," said the kindly old man, 
 "and so do they." 
 
 I remember one case in which the bailiff was 
 within an ace of being dismissed on the spot be- 
 cause one of the men had fastened a horse in its 
 stall. Mr. Waterton quietly took out his pen- 
 knife, cut the halter into inch lengths, laid them 
 on the floor of the stable, and went his way. At 
 six next morning the bailiff waited on his mas- 
 ter, looking very much as if he were going to be 
 hanged with a like halter. He knew perfectly 
 well the sort of reception which he would meet, 
 and was evidently relieved when he left the room 
 and found himself still bailiff. 
 
 Whenever Waterton showed himself there was 
 a general commotion in the domain, all the in- 
 habitants recognizing their friend and trying to 
 get near him. 
 
 One scene I never shall forget. There was a 
 splendid young bull, milk white, one of the many 
 favorites of its master, and the terror of the farm- 
 laborers. It was a high-spirited and playful 
 young beast, and when let out of the stable used 
 to indulge in pranks that are very becoming to 
 a kitten, but seem rather out of place when per- 
 formed by a bull. 
 
 One morning I accompanied Mr. Waterton 
 through the farm-yard, and he casually ordered 
 the men to let ' ' Tommy " loose. When we came 
 around again Tommy was still in his stall, not 
 one of the men having dared to touch him. His 
 master, after calling the men a set of cowards, 
 
REASON AND INSTINCT. 
 
 17 
 
 proceeded to loose Tommy himself, whereupon 
 the men all armed themselves with big cudgels. 
 These Mr. Waterton immediately took away 
 again, just as he removed the weapons of his as- 
 sistants when he captured the huge snake in 
 Guiana, telling them that if they were afraid 
 they might go ; which they did. 
 
 He then loosed Tommy, who came plunging 
 out in the exuberance of his freedom, capering 
 about, first on his fore and then on his hind legs, 
 and tossing bundles of litter into the air with 
 his horns. Once he rushed at the great feed- 
 ing-crib that stood in the middle of the yard, 
 knocked it down, picked it up with his horns, 
 and was on the point of smashing it to pieces, 
 when the men, who were in a horrible fright on 
 the other side of the fence, threw ropes over it 
 and dragged it out of the animal's reach. 
 
 Tommy then made a charge at Mr. Waterton, 
 and came straight on him with head down as if 
 he meant to fling him after the crib. I felt 
 rather nervous myself at this ; but Mr. Water- 
 ton took it with perfect coolness, and just put 
 his hand on the beast's broad white forehead, 
 saying in a tone of mild remonstrance, "Now 
 then, old boy !" Whereupon Tommy kicked up 
 his heels, gave himself a shake, and next mo- 
 ment was prancing all over the yard. 
 
 There was not the least harm about the ani- 
 mal. He only wanted to let off the superfluous 
 steam, so to speak, and indulged himself in the 
 absurd antics which have been described. It is 
 very likely that if he saw the men running away 
 he would run after them, thinking that they were 
 joining in his game, whereas they thought that 
 he was going to immolate them on the spot. 
 
 In a few minutes Tommy's exuberant spirits 
 had calmed down, and he was seen quietly lying 
 down in the straw with his master seated on him, 
 and feeding him with bits of bread out of his 
 storehouse of a pocket. 
 
 I should have liked to have painted that scene : 
 the great white bull lying on the ground with the 
 tall, spare form of his master seated on its huge 
 body ; the litter all tossed here and there by his 
 pranks; the horses, cows, cats, poultry, and all 
 sorts of birds crowding around in hope of scraps ; 
 and in the background the shamefaced laborers, 
 still in undisguised terror of the bull, and in 
 equally undisguised admiration of their master's 
 courage. 
 
 The reader will see here that Mr. Waterton 
 was simply gauging the reason of the bull by 
 means of his own, and that, if the animal had 
 only possessed instinct instead of reason, his mas- 
 ter would in all probability have been killed on 
 the spot. 
 
 B 
 
 Let us define clearly the distinction between 
 instinct and reason. 
 
 The well-known and perfectly correct defini- 
 tion of Instinct is this ".A certain power or dis- 
 position of mind by which, independent of all in- 
 struction or experience, animals are directed un- 
 erringly to do spontaneously whatever is necessary 
 for the preservation of the individual or the con- 
 tinuation of the species." 
 
 Take ourselves, for example. It is instinct 
 which teaches the child to seek its mother's 
 breast and to obtain its nourishment by suction. 
 This it does in the first hour of its existence as 
 well as if it had been taught by example and had 
 practiced the art for years. It is instinct which 
 teaches the newly born child to breathe, to cry 
 when it is hungry or otherwise uncomfortable, 
 and to clasp with its tiny hand the finger that is 
 put into it. 
 
 It is instinct that teaches a bird how to make 
 its nest after the way of its kind, to sit upon 
 its eggs until they are hatched, and to feed the 
 young with their appropriate food. This may 
 seem to many of my readers a needless state- 
 ment, but even in one of the learned societies of 
 London I have heard a speaker assert that the 
 power of building the nest was not an innate 
 quality, but was communicated to the young bv 
 their long observation of the nest in which they 
 were reared. That such an hypothesis is utter- 
 ly absurd may be seen from the following facts. 
 
 In the first place, although the young pass their 
 first few weeks inside the nest, they do not see 
 the outside, neither can they possibly learn from, 
 their parents where the materials were obtained 
 and the mode of putting them together. Each 
 species, moreover, adheres to the habits of its 
 kind, so that a chaffinch, if bred in a redstart's 
 nest, would build the nest of a chaffinch and not 
 that of a redstart. There have been countless 
 generations of cuckoos, but, although every one 
 of them was bred in the nest of a foster-parent 
 not of its own species, not one of them has learned 
 to build a nest for itself, but, when it becomes a 
 mother, is taught by instinct to lay its eggs in the 
 nest of some other bird. 
 
 Take the case of insects. Instinct teaches the 
 silkworm to make its cocoon, to wait there until 
 it is developed into a moth, and then to force its 
 way into the world. It has never seen a cocoon 
 before, so that it could not learn by imitation. 
 Its mother died long before it was hatched, so 
 that it could not learn by instruction. But, 
 taught by instinct, it forms its cocoon exactly as 
 did its parents whom it never saw, and as will its 
 offspring whom it never will see. 
 
 All practical entomologists are familiar with 
 
18 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 many instances of pure instinct on the part of 
 insects. One of the most common is furnished 
 by the well-known currant moth, or magpie moth, 
 as it is sometimes called, which may be seen any 
 summer day flitting about the currant bushes, 
 seeking for a convenient spot in which to place 
 its eggs. It is a very conspicuous insect from its 
 mottled yellow, black, and white wings, and is re- 
 markable for the fact that the perfect insect, the pu- 
 pa, and the caterpillar, all possess the same colors. 
 
 The caterpillar belongs to the group which is 
 scientifically termed Geometridae, or earth -meas- 
 urers, and popularly loopers, on account of the 
 manner in which they walk, not crawling like 
 other caterpillars, but drawing up their bodies in 
 the middle into a staple -like shape, and so ad- 
 
 vancing by successive steps, stretching themselves 
 straight and drawing themselves into a loop alter- 
 nately. 
 
 All these caterpillars are provided with spin- 
 nerets and silk -producing apparatus, by means 
 of which they can save themselves if they fall 
 from a branch an accident to which their way 
 of walking makes them peculiarly liable. As they 
 proceed, with the head and tail drawn closely to- 
 gether, they attach a thread to the object on which 
 they are walking ; and when they stretch forward 
 the body to take a new hold with the front legs, 
 they draw out a corresponding length of silken 
 cord. If they should fall, they are brought up 
 by the cord ; and if danger should threaten, they 
 let themselves down to the ground, and regain 
 their position afterward by climbing up the sus- 
 pended cord. Sometimes a knowing bird has been 
 observed to take advantage of this habit, and to 
 shake the branches until the caterpillars had 
 lowered themselves to the ground, when he de- 
 scended and ate them at his leisure, instead of 
 hunting for them among the branches. 
 
 These caterpillars are hatched toward the end 
 of summer, and feed for some three or four weeks, 
 when they make preparations for the coming 
 winter, which they must pass in a state of som- 
 nolescence. Let us watch one of them at this 
 period of its life. Its home is within a leaf of 
 the currant or gooseberry, the edges of the leaf 
 being drawn together and fastened by silken 
 cords. But, before doing this, the caterpillar 
 ties the leaf to the branch by several strong silk- 
 en bands attached to the stem. 
 
 This process completed, the caterpillar goes 
 into its winter-quarters, and sleeps undisturbed 
 until spring. In process of time, the laws of nat- 
 ure loosen the leaf from the branch : it can not, 
 however, fall, being tied by the silken cords, and 
 so it only hangs suspended, and swings about 
 safely in the wind until the following spring. 
 
 Now here is a remarkable example of instinct 
 pure and simple. It is utterly impossible that 
 the caterpillar should know that the leaf would 
 fall in the coming winter -time, and that the 
 threads would keep it safely suspended until the 
 warm weather of the following year. 
 
 Indeed, it is absolutely impossible that the 
 creature should even know that there was such 
 a season as winter, or that it would be obliged 
 to live in the state of hibernation for some six 
 months. When it again retires into quiescence 
 during its pupal state it does not act in the same 
 manner, but merely slings itself to the branch by 
 its tail, previously spinning around it a slight co- 
 coon by way of protection. 
 
 In both cases instinct, and instinct only, dic- 
 tated its actions. In the one case it fastened 
 the leaf to the bough, without knowing that the 
 leaf would soon fall ; in the other it slung itself 
 to the branch, without knowing that during the 
 warm days of summer it will need no protection 
 from the elements and little from enemies. 
 
 It is instinct which teaches the newly hatched 
 chicken to run about and peck up its food for it- 
 self, while instinct teaches the young pigeon to 
 sit still in the nest and wait until fed by its moth- 
 er. Ducks, though hatched under a hen, will 
 instinctively make their way to the water ; while 
 chickens, though hatched under a duck, will in- 
 stinctively keep out of it. Instinct throws a mon- 
 key into the most abject terror at the first sight 
 of a serpent; while instinct teaches the secretary- 
 bird, at first sight of a serpent, to kill and eat it. 
 Instinct, and not parental instruction, teaches 
 animals to select such food as suits them, and to 
 reject that which would injure them. There are 
 certainly some cases where instinct fails, as, for 
 example, cattle who poison themselves by eating 
 the leaves of the yew. But, in these instances, 
 the cattle are domesticated, have not been obliged 
 to depend wholly on their own efforts for pro- 
 curing food, and their instincts have in conse- 
 quence lost much of their power. 
 
 It is instinct which directs with unerring ac- 
 curacy the cormorant to plunge into the water 
 and to capture the swfft fishes in their own ele- 
 ment. It is instinct which tells the mole to find 
 its food beneath the earth, and the swallow to 
 catch the flies in the air. The swallow never 
 tries to catch fish, nor the cormorant to chase 
 flies, each being endowed from birth with the 
 power of knowing its proper food and the means 
 of obtaining it. 
 
 It is instinct which teaches the dragon-fly, an 
 active inhabitant of the water, and the drone- 
 fly, an absolutely inactive inhabitant of the mud, 
 while in their larval states, to take to their wings 
 
REASON AND INSTINCT. 
 
 li) 
 
 as soon as they have attained their perfect con- 
 dition, and to dart through the air quicker than 
 the eye can follow them. They use their wings 
 at once with as much skill as if they had learned 
 under skillful teaching and with long practice. 
 
 It is instinct, and not reason, that forces the 
 birds to migrate, and which guides them in their 
 long journeys. 
 
 Man, as well as the lower animals, has his in- 
 stincts ; but, as he is able to bring most of them 
 in subjection to his reason, very few of them are 
 apparent. Some, however, remain and assert 
 themselves throughout the whole of human life. 
 
 Reason differs from instinct in the widest pos- 
 sible manner, the former being an exercise of the 
 will, and the latter independent of it. Instinct 
 is implanted at birth, while reason is an after- 
 growth of the mind. Instinct requires no exer- 
 cise of thought, while reasoning may be briefly 
 defined as a deduction of a conclusion from prem- 
 ises. This power is possessed by animals in 
 common with ourselves, although not to the same 
 extent ; and it is by the superiority of our reason 
 over that of the animals that we maintain our 
 supremacy. Very often their deduction is insuf- 
 ficient, or their premises false ; but the process 
 is still one of pure reason, and has no connection 
 with instinct. 
 
 With them, as well as with ourselves, reason 
 often conquers instinct, especially in the case of 
 those animals which are domesticated, and so 
 develop their reasoning powers by contact with 
 reason of a higher quality than their own. For 
 example, if a hungry dog or cat be in a room 
 where food is left unguarded, their instincts urge 
 them to jump upon the table and satisfy their 
 hunger; if properly trained, however, their rea- 
 son restrains their instinct, and, no matter how 
 hungry they may be, they will not touch the food 
 until it is given to them. 
 
 I had scarcely written these words when I re- 
 ceived the following anecdote, which shows the 
 power of reason over instinct in exactly the man- 
 ner which I have mentioned : 
 
 "A cat of ours once showed great self-denial. 
 She was a terrible eater of small birds, chickens, 
 etc., and therefore, when on one occasion she 
 was found to have passed the night in our aviary 
 of doves, great was the alarm. However, on in- 
 spection, not one dove was missing ; and though 
 she was asleep in an inner cage, close to a nest 
 of young doves, she had not touched a feather. 
 What made her conduct the more remarkable 
 was the fact that on being released she ate raven- 
 ously." 
 
 It is just the same with ourselves. A child 
 that has been well brought up can be left with 
 perfect safety alone with any kind of dainties, 
 the parents having taught its reason to conquer 
 its instincts. Whereas a spoiled or ill-bred child, 
 which has been suffered to allow its instincts to 
 be paramount, will be sure to fall upon the covet- 
 ed dainties as soon as it is left alone, and proba- 
 bly to make itself very ill. Surely the conduct 
 of both the animal and the child is identical. 
 
 In the human idiot we have too frequent ex- 
 amples of the terrible power of instincts or pro- 
 pensities, as they are sometimes called, when the 
 reason is insufficient to counterbalance them. 
 
 Almost any animal can be thus trained to sub- 
 ject its natural instincts to its reason. I have a 
 letter from a lady, who writes that she has a pig 
 which for good manners and cleanliness is as fit 
 for a drawing-room companion as any lap-dog. 
 
 The distinction between reason and instinct 
 is strongly defined in the conduct of a dog who 
 possessed both qualities in a very superior de- 
 gree. 
 
 The animal in question was named "Don," 
 and was in his master's opinion the "prince of 
 pointers." His scent was extraordinarily keen. 
 For example, one day, when out shooting, he 
 suddenly came to a point, and stood like a rock. 
 His master went up to him ; but no game rose, 
 and still the animal continued to point. His 
 master walked on in the indicated direction, un- 
 til he was stopped by a stone wall, and on look- 
 ing over it he saw a hare closely crouched to the 
 ground. The keen scent of the dog had detect- 
 ed it in spite of the intervening wall. 
 
 As often happens, birds got wild toward the 
 end of the season, and used to rise while out of 
 shot. Now "Don" knew the range of the game 
 as well as his master, and invented a singularly 
 ingenious mode of literally circumventing the 
 birds. 
 
 His peculiarly keen scent enabled him to detect 
 them at a considerable distance, so that they 
 would not be afraid of him. Instead of going 
 directly toward them, "Don" used to. circle 
 around them, gradually contracting his lines until 
 he came within range. He would then look back 
 at his master, as if to say, "It's all right, we have 
 them now ;" and so they had. 
 
 Here we see both characteristics developed to 
 the fullest degree, the lower being controlled by 
 the higher, and used as its tool. The singularly 
 keen scent was purely instinctive, and had noth- 
 ing to do with reason. But the reasoning pow- 
 ers of the animal enabled him to employ his in- 
 stincts in the service of his master. First, he 
 had observed that the gun was never used beyond 
 
MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 a certain sange, and had come to the conclusion 
 that beyond that range birds could not be shot. 
 
 Then he had observed that when birds were 
 Avild they rose out of distance, and so set himself 
 to invent some plan by which they would not 
 take alarm while out of shot. The device which 
 he practiced was exactly that which is at the 
 present day employed by the hunters of South 
 America. If they see a partridge in the plain, 
 they ride around and around it in ever-narrowing 
 circles. The bird lies closely crouched to the 
 ground in hopes that it is not observed, and the 
 horseman at last approaches so closely that he is 
 able to kill it with a blow from the metal handle 
 of his whip. 
 
 Fishes are not supposed to be possessed of 
 much reason ; yet every angler knows that all 
 the powers of his mind are taxed before he can 
 induce an old and wary trout to take his bait, or, 
 when he has succeeded in hooking the fish, to 
 prevent it from breaking his line. 
 
 The natural instinct of a fish teaches it to fly 
 from man, and we all know that even our shad- 
 ows on the water will frighten away the fish and 
 destroy the angler's hopes of success. Yet I know 
 a pond full of gold-fish which are quite tame, and 
 which, when they see a human being at the side 
 of the pond, come toward him instead of being 
 alarmed. If a little rippling be made on the 
 surface of the water, they come crowding to the 
 spot, that being the signal for food ; and so per- 
 fectly confiding are they that they will take 
 bread or biscuit out of the hand, and if the hand 
 be kept under the water, one or two of the fishes 
 will presently be nibbling at each finger. 
 
 Here then is an example of the instinct, which 
 urges them to flee from man, being overcome by 
 the reason, which tells them to approach him. 
 I have seen an electric eel fed in just the same 
 manner. The creature was blind ; but it at once 
 recognized the ripple, coiled itself around the 
 spot where the water was agitated, and with a 
 shock killed a fish which the keeper had placed 
 there. At the British Museum there are now 
 some Axolotls kept alive in a glass vessel. They 
 are sluggish creatures, mostly lying at the bottom 
 of the vessel ; but if the water be agitated, up 
 they come with open mouths, expecting the strip 
 of meat with which they are fed. 
 
 This conduct is a distinct deduction of a con- 
 clusion from premises, and, so far from being 
 dictated by instinct, is absolutely opposed to it. 
 If the reader will keep in mind the definition of 
 reason, he will see that, in all the anecdotes which 
 are narrated in this and the two succeeding chap- 
 ters, reason, and not instinct, is the motive power. 
 
 The following account of a tame "Horned 
 
 Toad," or "Horned Frog," as the animal is 
 called, is written by one of my brothers. I may 
 ! first state that the creature in question is neither 
 a toad nor a frog, but a lizard belonging to the 
 great family of the Iguanas. Its native popular 
 I name is Tapayaxin, and it is known to science as 
 ' Phrynosowa Blainvillii. The former of these 
 names is composed of two Greek words signify- 
 ing toad-bodied, and is given to the creature on 
 account of its flat, toad-like aspect. ^ 
 
 "The Horned Toad, so called by the people 
 of the regions inhabited by this curious reptile, 
 is a very oddly shaped lizard, measuring when 
 full grown about six inches in length, of which 
 the tail occupies one and a half inches, and three 
 | inches across the back, which is enormously wide 
 and flat when compared with the little and ele- J 
 gant forms of the lizards in general. 
 
 " The head, back, and tail are thickly planted 
 with spines, which in\jhe full-grown animal look 
 exactly like those of the black-thorn. The head 
 from behind the eyes radiates spines ; the back 
 is covered with them, some large and some small. 
 The two edges of the belly are set like the teeth 
 of a saw, as is also the tail, which appendage is 
 short for the size of the animal, and tapers from 
 three quarters of an inch at the base to a point 
 at the extremity, being a distance of only an inch , 
 and a half. 
 
 "This lizard, probably from its form, is not 
 nearly so active as its race generally are even 
 when disturbed seldom running more than three 
 or four feet, and then stopping close to some stone 
 or root, to which instinct teaches it it bears a 
 close resemblance, and trusts to that resemblance 
 to escape detection, in which it often succeeds, 
 as in such cases none but an eye educated in ob- 
 servation can trace the fugitive, or detect in the 
 apparent root or stone a living reptile ; on these 
 occasions a quick grasp of the hand will mostly 
 secure it alive. 
 
 " The facility with which these strange creat- 
 ures are tamed is almost ludicrous in its effects. 
 When seized in the hand, it endeavors to escape 
 by repeatedly pressing its head against the de- 
 taining fingers of its captor, in the hope that the 
 spikes with which it is armed will effect its de- 
 liverance ; but then if the head is allowed to pro- 
 trude from the hand and gently stroked, and the 
 under-jaw treated in like manner, in less than a 
 minute the eyes close and the creature is asleep ; 
 and it will be found, upon awakening, that the 
 timid, shy lizard is completely tamed. This cu- 
 rious process I have tried on some eight or nine 
 specimens without a single failure. 
 
 " When thus tamed, these lizards make the 
 most engaging pets possible, their forms are so 
 
REASON AND INSTINCT. 
 
 strange, and their actions so quaint and old- 
 fashioned in the extreme. They are very chilly 
 creatures, reveling in the mid-day sun, and hid- 
 ing away in some warm corner when the sun goes 
 down ; in the wild state they scrape a small hole 
 in the sand, heated by an almost tropical sun, and 
 lie there during the night, until the warm rays of 
 the morning sun again arouse them into activity. 
 
 "This habit showed itself to me in a very cu- 
 rious manner. I had caught some seven or eight 
 specimens, and put them in a box with about an 
 inch of sand it the bottom, where they ran about 
 merrily enough during the day ; but next morn- 
 ing, when I looked to see how they were getting 
 on, not one was visible, and I naturally supposed 
 that they had taken French leave and escaped. 
 But after the lapse of an hour or so I heard a 
 scratching in the box ; and on looking in, there 
 were all my little friends, some running about, 
 others still half buried in the sand. This led me 
 to suspect their habits, and so next morning, just 
 after sunrise, I went to the place most frequent- 
 ed by them, and sat down patiently to watch for 
 them. In about half an hour my eye caught a 
 movement in the sand about half-a-dozen yards 
 to my right, and, after a moment or two, out came 
 a lizard, and before an hour had passed I had 
 seen four come out of their sandy beds. 
 
 "I hear from those who have traveled on the 
 greater part of this continent that this lizard is 
 only found in the Sage-brush district, and never 
 near water or damp places. It is also stated 
 that one of these reptiles may be placed in a 
 bottle, corked and sealed up for years, and will 
 be as lively at the end as when first put in. I 
 have commenced an experiment on this subject, 
 On the 1st of September I placed four specimens 
 in different bottles, corked, sealed, and then, over 
 all, several layers of tinfoil tightly pressed down. 
 
 "I have had one very large specimen living 
 at large in my bedroom for the past six weeks ; 
 during this time he has on several occasions 
 gone out of doors on fly-catching expeditions, 
 but always returned to sleep under an old piece 
 of cloth in one corner of the room ; and even 
 when outside, where a run of a couple of yards 
 would give him liberty, he will always allow me 
 to pick him up without trying to escape. 
 
 "But of all the amusing proceedings on his 
 part is his way of catching flies in the room. 
 
 " During the latter part of the day the sun 
 shines through a hole in the shutter of my bed- 
 room, and makes a nice warm spot on the floor 
 alongside one of my portmanteaus, and on this 
 spot the flies ' most do congregate ;' so my little 
 pet, who is not quick enough to catch the flies 
 in fair chase, climbs on the top of the portman- 
 
 teau, and, lying half on 
 opportunity, and woe to the unfortunate fly that 
 settles below him ; the instant the fly is quiet 
 the lizard gives a few preliminary curls to the 
 tip of his tail, just as a cat does when watching 
 a mouse, and then tumbles down bodily upon 
 the heedless fly, cuddles his prey between his 
 fore legs and chest, and then, bending down his 
 head as far as possible, allows the fly to struggle 
 out of his embrace, when with one quick mo- 
 tion of his tongue the poor fly has disappeared. 
 After a moment's rest, up he climbs again, and 
 is ready to repeat the process. 
 
 "I have once counted seven flies caught in 
 this manner within an hour, and, during the 
 whole of the time that I have had him, I have 
 only seen him miss twice in catching the prey 
 upon which he had fixed his eye. 
 
 "As the nights are getting colder, I notice 
 my pet is daily becoming more lethargic in the 
 morning, and from this assume, in all probabil- 
 ity, this species hibernates during the winter. I 
 hope to be able to make some few experiments 
 upon this subject during the coming winter, and 
 the results, if any, shall be duly forwarded for 
 publication." 
 
 The writer of this notice sent me a Tapayaxin 
 by post. It arrived in perfect health, and lived 
 for some time ; but I have no hot-house, and a 
 severe winter killed it. 
 
 The reader will probably have observed that 
 in this mode of catching prey the creature was 
 guided by reason rather than by instinct. It had 
 observed that the flies were in the habit of settling 
 on the spot which had been warmed by the sun- 
 beam, and so took advantage of the portmanteau 
 as a post of vantage whence he would leap, or 
 rather fall, upon his prey. 
 
 If there be any animal in which we should 
 look for reasoning powers, it is the dog. I pro- 
 pose, therefore, to give a few original anecdotes 
 of this animal, in all of which the power of rea- 
 son will be evident. In the course of this work 
 many other anecdotes will be related, both of 
 dogs and other animals, in which their power of 
 reason will be shown ; but as the anecdotes have 
 a more distinct bearing upon other attributes, 
 such as love, hate, sympathy, generosity, etc., 
 they will be placed under those respective beads. 
 In the two anecdotes which follow it seems as 
 if the man and the beast had almost changed 
 places. At all events, even if the animals did 
 not possess more reasoning powers than the men. 
 they exercised those powers which they did pos- 
 sess to a better purpose. 
 
 Y I had a friend who possesses a little black- 
 and-tan English terrier. His master had the 
 
MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 misfortune not only to prefer two glasses of grog 
 to one, but greatly to prefer three or four, with 
 the usual consequences. On one of these occa- 
 sions he beat his dog severely, and from that 
 time the dog, whenever there was a recurrence 
 of the fourth tumbler, went and hid himself in 
 the cupboard, never showing himself until the 
 effects had passed off, and his master was re- 
 stored to sobriety. 
 
 "I know of another dog, a Scotch terrier, 
 whose master is extremely fond of him, and the 
 attachment is mutual. At times this gentleman ; 
 exceeds the bounds of prudence, and, when he 
 does so, the bout lasts for two or three days. 
 Although on these occasions he is quite inclined 
 to fondle and make much of his dog, the animal 
 will not go near his master, nor even look at 
 him, but shuns him in every way, and keeps 
 aloof until his" master is restored to a perfect 
 state of sobriety." 
 
 There was a Scotch terrier dog who lately ! 
 died, to the very great sorrow of his master, an ' 
 officer in the 4oth Regiment, and the very great : 
 rejoicing of his master's friends. He was good | 
 C . enough to honor me by admitting me among his ! 
 friends the only person not belonging to the 
 family to whom he extended that privilege. His 
 name was " Mess," which was a military abbre- 
 viation of "Mesty," which was an abbreviation 
 of Mephistopheles, the name being given to him 
 in consequence of his temper, which really de- 
 served the name of infernal. No one, except his ! 
 master, his master's family, and an exceptionally 
 favored servant or two, could put a hand on him 
 without being bitten. I know a learned bar- j 
 rister who has been kept in bed until a very late : 
 hour in the morning because " Mess" had come i 
 into his room when the servant brought the hot j 
 water and would not allow him to get up. As 
 long as he lay still in bed, "Mess" sat quietly on 
 the floor ; but at the least movement "Mess" i 
 sprang up with a menacing growl, flashing eyes, ! 
 and gleaming teeth, and the unfortunate guest I 
 had to subside again, unable even to ring the 
 bell for help, and anxious th^t his host and ! 
 hostess must be waiting breakfast for him and 
 chafing at his laziness. 
 
 One day I paid a visit to "Mess's" master, 
 not knowing any thing about the dog, and not 
 seeing the dog when I arrived. Being accus- 
 tomed to an early walk before breakfast, I start- 
 ed off as usual on the following morning, and 
 on returning met a little procession, consisting 
 of a nurse-maid leading a donkey, on which were 
 the two daughters of my host in panniers, and a 
 remarkably fine Scotch terrier, which was trotting 
 along in front. As soon as he saw me, the dog 
 
 sprang forward, and I, not knowing any thing 
 of his character, and thinking that he wanted a 
 game, stooped down, patted him, rolled him on 
 his back, pretended to box his ears, put my hand 
 into his mouth, and, in short, let him have his 
 game. The nurse-maid stood by almost para- 
 lyzed with horror : but why she should be fright- 
 ened seemed rather mysterious. 
 
 On coming to breakfast I spoke in high terms 
 of the splendid dog with whom I had enjoyed a 
 game, and the host was almost as horrified as 
 the nurse had been. Not until then did I hear 
 about the dog's temper ; but, whatever it was, it 
 was never displayed toward me, and I believe 
 that I am the only person not belonging to the 
 family who was ever allowed to put a hand on 
 him. I may mention that a life-sized portrait 
 of "Mess "-was taken in crayons by Mr. Water- 
 house Hawkins, and occupies a place of honor in 
 his master's dining-room. 
 
 Some years ago "Mess" and his master were 
 stationed at Parkhurst, where was a depot. 
 Although several regiments were represented, 
 "Mess" perfectly knew the green facings of his 
 own regiment, and would recognize men belong- 
 ing to it, but no others. This, by the way, was 
 the more curious, as all the troops wore the scar- 
 let coat. He had a way of being present at the 
 morning parade, and then going off to the bar- 
 rack-rooms to breakfast. He had arranged in 
 his own mind a regular series of rooms to be 
 visited ; and if the men succeeded in decoying 
 him into a room which did not correspond with 
 the day, he bit somebody and went off to the 
 right room. 
 
 There are many officers and men of the 4/5 th 
 who perfectly recollect "Mess" even after the 
 lapse of several years. 
 
 Once, while home on leave, his master was 
 taken with a fit of illness, "Mess," as a matter 
 of course, keeping guard. In the course of the 
 night the necessary medicine was brought by 
 the patient's mother, who wore a rather elegant 
 nightcap, reserved, as she used to say, in case of 
 fire. The medicine happened to be peculiarly 
 distasteful, and the patient gave an involuntary 
 shudder. Whereupon " Mess," thinking that his 
 master was being injured, flew at the lady, and 
 never afterward would endure the sight of a fem- 
 inine nightcap. 
 
 "Mess" was good enough to extend his friend- 
 ship to his master's father, a surgeon, and conde- 
 scended to accompany him on his rounds, sitting 
 in great state on the box. One day he fell off 
 as the carriage started, and the wheels went over 
 him, breaking one of his legs. He would not 
 allow himself to be touched, except by the sur- 
 
REASON AND INSTINCT. 
 
 geon's hands ; and to him he was quiet and 
 amenable, allowing his leg to be set and laid in 
 splints without showing the least anger, and be- 
 ing evidently grateful for the services rendered 
 to him. The leg rapidly recovered, and "Mess" 
 was at his master's country-house when the sur- 
 geon came to pay his son a visit. No sooner 
 did "Mess" see him than, although his injury 
 had long been healed, he began to limp, went to 
 his old friend, rolled over on his back, and held 
 up his leg. Nor would he desist until a hand- 
 kerchief had been tied around the leg and some 
 water poured over it. Afterward, when he hap- 
 pened to injure a paw, he went of his own accord 
 to the surgeon, held up the damaged limb, and 
 asked for help as plainly as if he possessed hu- 
 man language. 
 
 We shall hear more of "Mess" in succeeding 
 pages, but meanwhile it is impossible not to see 
 that the actions of the dog proceeded from real 
 reason. Sometimes his premises were false, as 
 in the case where he kept the guest in bed, 
 or when he must needs have the sound limb 
 dressed ; but there is no doubt that he did draw 
 a conclusion from premises, and that therefore 
 he possessed reason. 
 
 A lady of my acquaintance once saw a curious 
 instance of reasoning in a toad. 
 
 She was sitting in a garden, when she saw 
 something alive moving along the base of the 
 wall, which was an old one and full of crevices. 
 The object proved to be a large toad, which was 
 examining the wall in a most systematic fashion. 
 She saw the creature raise himself on his hind 
 legs, peer into a crevice first with one eye and 
 then with the other. Then he tapped the wall 
 with his paw, and pushed it into the aperture. 
 Evidently dissatisfied, he went away, and tried 
 another crevice in the same manner and with 
 the same result. A third, however, was larger 
 than the others; and this seemed to be to his 
 taste, for he slowly drew himself up the wall and 
 disappeared into the crevice. 
 
 It was evident that the creature knew his own 
 dimensions, and was taking measurements of 
 the crevices in order to find one that would al- 
 low him to enter. Toads, by the way, possess 
 sufficient reason to be easily tamed, and to come 
 at a call. My children generally have some 
 tame toads in the summer-time, and are in the 
 habit of carrying them around the garden, and 
 holding them up to let them catch the flies and 
 other insects that settle on the flowers. The 
 creatures are so accustomed to this mode of 
 being fed th'at they do not require to be held, 
 but sit quietly on the open hand. 
 
 It is very curious to note how the reason of 
 the lower animals suddenly fails just where least 
 expected. My bull -dog, "Apollo," an animal 
 of peculiar intellectual powers, once displayed a 
 singular example of this sudden failure. 
 
 I was walking out, with Apollo as usual at 
 my heels, when I met a party of friends, who 
 began to ridicule the dog, saying that he was of 
 no use except at a dog-fight, and could not even 
 fetch or carry. I answered by throwing my 
 stick, a heavy "Penang lawyer," over a high 
 park fence standing on the top of a steep bank. 
 Apollo dashed after it, and, being lithe and act- 
 ive as a greyhound, he sprang up the bank and 
 fairly leaped the fence, just helping himself over 
 with his legs. 
 
 Presently we saw his round head come up on 
 the other side of the fence, the stick being in his 
 jaws. It was so heavy that he could not even 
 get his fore legs on the fence, aud so he ran 
 along the inside trying to find an outlet. As 
 the fence had been recently repaired, he could 
 not find an exit, and straightway set about 
 making one. He put down the stick, and de- 
 liberately bit a hole through the fence, tearing 
 away the oak planks as if they were pasteboard, 
 until he had made a hole through which he could 
 pass. He went through the hole, put his head 
 into the field, took the stick in his mouth, and 
 tried to pull it after him. As, however, he had 
 grasped it by the middle, the stick naturally re- 
 sisted his efforts. 
 
 I thought that the dog would be sure to take 
 the stick by one of its ends, and so pull it through ; 
 but, instead of doing so, he went back into the 
 field, and tore away the fence till he had made a 
 hole large enough for the stick when held by the 
 middle. 
 
 This story is the more remarkable because 
 other dogs, certainly not of greater mental calibre 
 than Apollo, have resorted to that very simple 
 mode of getting out of a difficulty. 
 
 For example, I have a letter before me in 
 which is an account of a dog who had been sent 
 into the water after a wooden rail about eight 
 feet long and several inches wide. The animal 
 took it by the middle, and swam with it to the 
 only place where a landing was practicable ; but, 
 finding that there was not sufficient space for 
 the long rail, he swam out again, turned the rail 
 around, took one end in his mouth, and so brought 
 it ashore. Presently his master threw the rail 
 into the water again, and this time the dog took 
 it by the end at once in order to bring it in, 
 never seizing it by the middle after his first 
 failure. 
 
MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 REASON (continued). 
 
 History of a Friend's Dogs." Pincher "and his Mistress." Pepper" and the Velvet Cat. The Maltese Dog 
 and Lady C.'s Carriage." Joey " and the Alarmed Household Joey's Last Days. Dogs Discovering 
 Lighted Gas and Unfastened Doors at Night. The Cat Detective. Dogs Understanding the Use of Money. 
 The Penny and the Red-hot Iron. The Margate Dog and the Baker. The Suicide's Dog. The Hat and 
 
 the Walk. Hide aiid Seek. A Too-conscientious Dog. The Terrier and her Hiding-place. " Bosco's" 
 
 Curiosity Gratified. A Gallant Rescue and Deserved Castigation. Acquisitiveness in a Dog. Lord M.'s 
 Dog and the Runaway Horse. The Retriever and the Hedgehog Courtesy to Ladies. An Ass too 
 Clever to be Kept. Various Modes of Opening Doors. The Clever Mule. A Morning Caller. The 
 Monkey, the Cage, and the Strap. 
 
 A LADY who has a great fondness for animals, 
 especially dogs, has kindly sent me a few anec- 
 dotes relating to traits of character among her 
 pets. The following have been selected as ex- 
 amples of reason in the dog, though other traits 
 are also manifest. 
 
 "Poor old Pincher! His name was most 
 old-fashioned and unaristpcratic, and he was one 
 of the occupants of our stable-yard, and never 
 allowed to enter the house. His education was 
 totally neglected and uncared for. He was a 
 middle-sized, smooth-haired, black terrier, and 
 had acquired some peculiar ways of his own. 
 
 " In his time we were in the habit of spending 
 about two days per week at our country-house, 
 ten miles distant from Canterbury. Pincher 
 generally accompanied our carriage, and seemed 
 to enjoy these country days as much as any of 
 us. On one occasion, home-engagements had 
 prevented us from paying our accustomed visit 
 to Harnden. Pincher disapproved of the alter- 
 ation, as he started off with the carriage as usual ; 
 but when he found our destination was not Harn- 
 den, he refused to follow, but turned off to the 
 house, went the whole distance (mystifying the 
 servants there, who expected us to follow), re- 
 mained there until evening, and then returned 
 home. 
 
 " Years later the poor dog became too old to 
 accomplish the whole distance. He could not 
 walk, and would not ride ; so he adopted the 
 expedient of going about half-way with us, always 
 waiting at the same spot until our return, and 
 then following us home. " 
 
 "A little Scotch terrier, named ' Pepper,' one 
 of our former pets, was, like most of his relatives, 
 
 a capital fellow for hunting a rat, a cat, or a 
 mouse. He was our companion when calling on 
 an old lady, where I thought we could take him 
 without uny fear of his hunting propensity caus- 
 ing annoyance, as I knew she had no living pet 
 of any description. We had scarcely entered 
 the spacious drawing-room, when, from under- 
 neath an Indian cabinet at the extreme end of 
 the room, our dog Pepper saw two large, glassy, 
 yellow eyes glaring at him with more than natural 
 ferocity. Without waiting to use his power of 
 scent, he rushed fiercely on his imagined foe, 
 which fell lifeless at his feet, Pepper retreating 
 to our side, hanging down his tail, and looking 
 more like the vanquished than the victor. 
 
 " Do any of my readers remember those now 
 unmade cats of pasteboard and black velvet text- 
 ure, those no\v non-existent ornaments of former 
 days ? Such was Pepper's foe. Dogs know well 
 enough when they are the objects of ridicule, and, 
 finding we were all laughing at his discomfiture, 
 he returned to the velvet pussy, and in playful 
 mood carried her around the room, evidently 
 wishing to hide his mistake by convincing us 
 that it had only been a sham fight from the be- 
 ginning." 
 
 The action of the dog here is very human, and 
 it behaved just as a clever child might be ex- 
 pected to do when it had been deceived, and 
 was afraid of ridicule. In the next anecdote 
 the reasoning powers of a dog are seen to be at 
 fault, as they sometimes are with human beings. 
 
 " The dog which we now have, though not an 
 equestrian like his predecessor, is exceedingly 
 fond of carriage drives ; and if a well-appointel 
 carriage should draw up, he will often stop, and 
 look up most pleadingly at the coachman to have 
 
REASON. 
 
 the door opened. Of course he has had many 
 drives with us in cabs, but he never of his own 
 accord enters one of these vehicles. 
 
 ' ' We have been lately staying in town, and 
 the day after our arrival we went out, followed 
 by our little dog. We had just passed through 
 one of the large squares, when we missed our 
 favorite. With only a faint hope of finding him, 
 we retraced our steps to the square, where a 
 handsome carriage, with coachman and footman, 
 was drawn up at the door of one of its most 
 stately mansions. We asked the footman if he 
 had seen a little white Maltese dog in the square. 
 
 * Yes, madam : as soon as Lady C got out 
 
 of the carriage, he jumped in so quickly that I 
 had not time to prevent him, seated himself on 
 the cushion, and defied rne to remove him.' 
 
 " There he was, evidently waiting for us. Just 
 at that moment her ladyship came "out of the 
 house, accompanied by her little pug-dog. In 
 jumped the pug, down jumped the Maltese, and 
 there was a sharp fight, which was ended by my 
 removal of the usurper. We were only too glad 
 to find him again, and Lady C said, good- 
 naturedly, that he deserved a drive for his deter- 
 mination." 
 
 " A few years ago we left our household, in 
 the old city of Canterbury, in the charge of a 
 man and his wife, who also undertook the care 
 of a little Maltese spaniel, named ' Joey.' 
 
 '"On one rough, blustering December night, 
 when the inhabitants were in their profoundest 
 slumbers, a tremendous 'bang 'resounded through 
 the house, awaking all its inmates, including Joey, 
 just as the cathedral clock struck the midnight 
 hour. Men and maids rushed hither and thither ; 
 but no evident cause could be found for the alarm, 
 every door and window being perfectly secure. 
 
 "After the first disturbance had subsided, 
 Joey returned to the quietude of his own basket, 
 with evident disgust at the unusual and, in his 
 opinion, uncalled-for commotion, and refused to 
 take any part in the search. 
 
 " At last he was forcibly put into the garden 
 as an advanced guard, but he flatly declined to 
 move a step. All joined in upbraiding him. 
 
 * Joey was lazy !' ' Joey was a coward !' ' Joey 
 was no use as a watch-dog !' And one of the 
 servants expressed an opinion that he had been 
 drugged by thieves, and that she had noticed a 
 drowsiness on the preceding day. Next morn- 
 ing it was found that the large old-fashioned 
 clock in the lobby did not strike the hour as 
 usual. The fact was, the weight which drove 
 the striking part of the machinery had broken 
 away from its cord, had fallen into the bottom 
 
 of the case, and had produced the sound which 
 had startled the house." 
 
 The dog evidently knew that no danger was 
 signified by the sound, and so declined to trouble 
 himself about the matter. This was the more 
 remarkable, as he was the wariest and most sus- 
 picious of dogs. He would never compose him- 
 self to sleep unless the shutters of the garden door 
 were properly closed, and used to bark and growl 
 at the door until it was made secure, 
 
 " In a former letter to you I mentioned my 
 little dog Joey. 
 
 " The last summer of his life we left him as 
 usual in the care of a man and his wife ; but 
 this time, unfortunately for the dog, their son 
 George, a boy of fifteen, was at home for his 
 school holidays. On our return, after an absence 
 of some months, no little Joey welcomed us, 
 and no one can tell how we missed his merry 
 voice. Was Joey dead or ill ? No ; he was 
 only shut up in a room up-stairs until after our 
 arrival. 
 
 "We thought this to be rather a mysterious 
 proceeding, and, on our entering the room, the 
 poor little animal rushed to meet us, and then 
 fell down powerless in a fit. The first time that 
 George came into the room, Joey walked up to 
 him, stared him in the face, and commenced a 
 series of growls, looking at us every now and then 
 as if to ask whether we understood him. 
 
 " Whenever the boy entered the room this 
 scene was repeated, and, even if we took Joey 
 in our arms, he continued to growl, and seemed 
 as if he thought that we ought to growl also. At 
 the time we could not interpret his meaning ; but 
 we afterward discovered that the boy had given 
 him a blow on the head, which caused him to 
 have fits whenever excited, and at last caused his 
 death. How plainly did he tell us who had in- 
 jured him !" 
 
 In neither of these cases was instinct in the 
 least concerned, the whole proceedings being 
 dictated by reason, and reason alone. In the 
 first instance the dog knew whence proceeded 
 the sound which had alarmed the house, reasoned 
 with himself that there was no cause for alarm, 
 and, though he would have been in a paroxysm 
 of barks if danger had really impended, he went 
 back to his couch, and declined to trouble him- 
 self. In the second case the poor little creature, 
 not possessing human language, tried to make 
 his friends understand, by a language of signs, 
 that he had been injured by the boy. The lan- 
 guage was singularly expressive, and would have 
 been at once understood, were it not that bis 
 mistress was herself so kind to animals that she 
 
26 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 never suspected that any one could be capable 
 of doing the dog a willful injury. 
 
 I know several instances where domestic ani- 
 mals have discovered that there was something 
 wrong in the arrangements of the house, and have 
 called attention to it. There is a little dog belong- 
 ing to one of my friends, who one night became 
 very importunate, pulling the skirt of his mistress's 
 dress, and insisting on her returning down-stairs. 
 She was rather alarmed : but the dog drew her 
 to the greenhouse door, which he evidently meant 
 to be opened. On unlocking the door, she found 
 that she had forgotten to turn off the gas. The 
 little dog had been accustomed to see the gas 
 turned off before the family went to bed, and 
 was too conservative to allow any change. 
 
 Here is a similar example, which was com- 
 municated to me by a lady. "Did I tell you 
 that my dog Tiny once found that the house- 
 maid had forgotten to shut a closet door in a 
 bedroom at the top of the house ? He came to 
 me, made me follow him, and showed me the 
 open door." 
 
 Cats are not generally considered as house- 
 guardians, but that they can act as such the fol- 
 lowing anecdote will show. 
 
 A lady had a very strong objection to "fol- 
 lowers," and forbade her servants to receive a 
 man into the house. One evening she was sit- 
 ting in the drawing-room, when she heard the 
 cat mewing and scratching at the door, as if for 
 admittance. She opened the door ; but the cat 
 would not enter, and evidently wished to be fol- 
 lowed down -stairs. She then descended the 
 stairs, and led her mistress into the kitchen, 
 where was the obnoxious "follower." 
 
 This anecdote shows also that the animal 
 must have been able to understand human lan- 
 guage, or otherwise she could not have known 
 that her mistress had forbidden strange men to 
 enter the house. 
 
 In the two following anecdotes the action of 
 the dog can only be attributed to reason, and 
 that of no mean character. 
 
 The first anecdote was sent to me by one 
 of the principals in a well-known engineering 
 firm. 
 
 "I once lost a sovereign in a bet which 1 1 
 made that a wonderful little dog would not take ! 
 a penny off a red-hot bar of iron. The dog be- 
 longed to an ironmonger at Knighton, Radnor- 
 shire. The dog was in the habit of searching 
 for pence purposely hidden in the shop, and, 
 when found, taking them to a baker's shop and 
 getting buns in exchange. He quite knew the 
 
 right-sized bun, and used to keep his paw on the 
 penny until he got it. 
 
 "A bar was heated red-hot, and no sooner 
 was the penny laid on it than the dog, without 
 the least hesitation, dashed at it. By some 
 means which I could not see, because it was 
 done so quickly, the dog knocked the penny off 
 the bar, and then sat down quietly by it until the 
 coin was cool. His look of perfect self-satisfac- 
 tion was most absurd. " 
 
 Some years ago there was a dog at Margate 
 which also knew the use of money. He used to 
 beg for pence, and take them to a baker to be 
 exchanged for biscuits, at a shop in the narrow, 
 hilly lane which is pleased to assume the title of 
 High Street. One day the baker, wishing to see 
 how the dog would behave if he played the ani- 
 mal a practical joke, took his penny and gave 
 him a burned biscuit. The next time the dog 
 had a penny he took it to the baker as usual, 
 showed it to him, and then went off to another 
 baker who lived nearly opposite. This he after- 
 ward did invariably, showing the penny to the 
 baker who had offended him, and then transfer- 
 ring his custom to the rival on the opposite side 
 of the narrow street. 
 
 The whole of these proceedings were dictated 
 by pure reason, and instinct had nothing to do 
 with them. It was, in fact, doing on a small 
 scale precisely what the dog's master would have 
 done on a large scale if a tradesman had taken 
 his money and given him a bad article for it. 
 He would have withdrawn his custom from the 
 offender, and given it to another man who he 
 thought would serve him more honestly. 
 
 No one can say that instinct had any thing to 
 do with these proceedings, the dog in each case 
 deducing a conclusion from premises, and de- 
 ducing them rightly. Had a child acted in the 
 same manner, we should have thought it a veiy 
 clever child ; but we certainly should have attrib- 
 uted its action to reason, and not to instinct; 
 and I do not see that we have any right to at- 
 tribute reason to the one and to deny it to the 
 other. 
 
 We are familiar with many instances where 
 dogs have tried to assist their fellow-creatures, 
 whether human or belonging to their own kind. 
 The following history of a suicide's dog was sent 
 to me by a Scotch lady, who takes a great inter- 
 est in dogs. 
 
 "There is a cottage called 'Blaw-weary' on 
 
 the farm of C , the property of the Marquis 
 
 of T . This cottage is just on the other side 
 
 of our march-fence, about half a mile from our 
 house on the west. 
 
REASON. 
 
 27 
 
 "A shepherd lived in Blaw-weary some four 
 years ago (about 1868), and one day he and his 
 collie dog went out early in the morning, accord- 
 ing to their custom. At breakfast-time the dog 
 returned alone, looking miserable, and would eat 
 nothing. After remaining a few minutes, he 
 went out again ; the man's wife, who was at 
 home, suspecting nothing. At dinner-time the 
 dog came back again, also alone, and 'banged 
 through the hoose,'as his mistress said. 
 
 "Presently he went out, and soon came in 
 again, making piteous efforts to attract attention. 
 The assistant shepherd followed the dog, and 
 was taken straight to a small clump of trees in 
 the neighborhood, on one of which was hanging 
 his master, quite dead. The poor dog would 
 not allow any one to touch the body ; and it was 
 not until after he had been overpowered and led 
 away that the corpse could be removed from the 
 branch on which the wretched man had hanged 
 himself." 
 
 Here we have a story which is exceedingly 
 valuable, as it shows not only that the dog pos- 
 sessed reason, but is another proof that the rea- 
 son will sometimes suddenly fail exactly when it 
 seemed to have been most successful. The poor 
 animal had evidently witnessed his master's dy- 
 ing struggles, and, feeling himself unable to help, 
 had gone to his house for assistance. Having 
 obtained that help, however, he could not un- 
 derstand that any one could touch his beloved 
 master without intending to injure him. Many 
 medical men have met with similar experien- 
 ces, the dog bringing assistance to his helpless 
 master, and then not suffering any one to touch 
 him. 
 
 Probably the animal felt that his master was 
 dead, and that no one could restore him to life. 
 
 The following stories illustrating the reason- 
 ing powers of dogs have been sent to me from 
 Scotland, where dog-nature seems to be better 
 appreciated than in England. 
 
 "A retriever, named 'Bevis,' an old favorite 
 of our own, was in the habit of going for a walk 
 before breakfast with my father. One morning 
 it so happened that my father did not intend to 
 take his usual walk. Bevis soon became very 
 impatient, and, seeing no signs of his master, he 
 got upon a chair in the hall, took his master's 
 hat off its peg, carried it up to his room, and 
 then scratched at the door for admission. As 
 soon as the door was opened, in walked Bevis, 
 laid the hat at his master's feet, and pushed his 
 nose into his hand. It was entirely his own 
 idea, as he had not even been taught to fetch a 
 hat." 
 
 | " Another dog of ours, a little Maltese poodle, 
 named ' Pop,' was unusually full of tricks and 
 oddities. 
 
 " He was fond of a game at hide and seek, a 
 key being hidden for him, while he buried his 
 
 ! face in the sofa-cushions. Sometimes he would 
 be guilty of cheating, and would slyly peep out 
 to see where the key was being hidden; but 
 when reproached with the two simple words, 
 'Oh, Pop!' he would put down his head again, 
 and be very much ashamed of himself." 
 
 The reader can compare with this story sever- 
 al anecdotes of a similar character related in the 
 chapter headed " Humor." 
 
 The following anecdote, which was sent by 
 the same correspondent, affords a good example 
 of wrong reasoning, i. e., drawing an incorrect 
 conclusion from the premises. 
 
 "A collie dog, named 'Moss,' belonging to a 
 farmer, had excited the admiration of a drover 
 who was helping the shepherd to bring home 
 cattle to the farm. The drover asked to be al- 
 lowed to borrow Moss for a few days, to help 
 him in getting some cattle from another market 
 to Burntisland. 
 
 "The dog, being on friendly terms with the 
 drover, went willingly, and gave his help in bring- 
 ing the cattle on their journey. On their return, 
 they had to pass the spot where the road to 
 Burntisland branches oft' from that which led to 
 his own farm ; Moss refused to go any farther 
 on the Burntisland road. Not only this, but he 
 would not allow the drover to take the cattle any 
 farther, and the man was at last obliged to let 
 the dog deliver the cattle at his master's farm." 
 
 The process of reasoning is quite evident here. 
 The dog had always known that any property 
 of which he had been placed in charge belonged 
 to his master, and consequently brought the cat- 
 tle to his master's farm. His reasoning was cor- 
 rect enough, but one of his premises was false. 
 
 Here is another example of reasoning in a 
 dog. Several successive litters of puppies had 
 been taken from their mother, a little terrier. 
 When the next litter was expected, she left the 
 house, and was not seen again for some time. 
 
 At last she returned, bringing with her in great 
 pomp a whole retinue of fine healthy puppies. It 
 appeared that she had hidden herself in a rabbit- 
 burrow, evidently knowing that, if she could only 
 
 | conceal her puppies until they were able to shift 
 for themselves, no harm would come to them. 
 
 ! The result proved that she had been perfectly 
 
 ; correct in her interpretation of her master's char- 
 
 i acter. 
 
28 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 " One day my dog 'Bosco' wished to ascer- 
 tain if the roast beef still stood upon the passage- 
 table at the dining-room door. He stood on his 
 hind legs, jumped up, but all in vain. So, after 
 thinking a little, he ran a short way up-stairs, 
 pushed his head through the banisters, looked 
 down, and, after ascertaining that there was only 
 pudding on the table, returned quietly to the par- 
 lor." 
 
 I have known a King Charles spaniel to act in 
 very much the same way, except that in the lat- 
 ter case the dish which the dog wanted to inspect 
 was on the dining-room table. After trying in 
 vain to see what was on the table, he went out 
 of the room, went half-way up the stairs, and so 
 took a survey of the table through the open door- 
 way. 
 
 The following anecdote was sent to me by a 
 gentleman resident in the neighborhood of the 
 locality where the adventure occurred. 
 
 " There is a water-mill, called Maxwellheugh, 
 on the side of the road between Kelso and Tev- 
 iot bridges. It is driven by a conduit of water 
 from the Teviot immediately before its junction 
 with the Tweed, and consists of two flats. The 
 upper flat is on a level with the public road, and 
 is called the * Upper Mill,' while entrance to the 
 lower flat, or 'Under Mill,' was reached by a 
 cart-road descending from the highway. 
 
 " The first thing the miller did in the morning 
 was to unchain the dog. He immediately placed 
 himself on guard across the upper doorway while 
 the miller proceeded with his work in the Under 
 Mill. As soon as the miller had finished his 
 work there, and removed to the Upper Mill, the 
 dog, without being told, set off to the miller's 
 house, and in two journeys brought his master's 
 breakfast namely, milk in a pitcher and por- 
 ridge in a 4 bicker,' tied up in a towel. 
 
 " On one occasion, when the Teviot and the 
 Tweed were in flood, a little dog ventured incau- 
 tiously into the Tweed, and was rapidly carried 
 down the stream, struggling and yelping as it 
 was hurried along. 
 
 " It so happened that the miller's dog, while 
 carrying his master's breakfast to him, saw the lit- 
 tle dog in distress. He immediately put down his 
 burden, turned, and set off at full gallop down the 
 stream. When he had got well below the drown- 
 ing dog, he sprang into the river, swam across, 
 and so exactly had he calculated the rapidity of 
 the river and his own speed, that he intercepted 
 the little dog as it was being helplessly swept 
 down the current, and brought it safely to land. 
 
 " When he got his burden safely on shore, the 
 dog, instead of displaying the least affection for 
 
 it, cuffed it first with one paw and then with the 
 other, and returned to the spot where he had de- 
 posited his master's breakfast, and carried it to 
 him as usual." 
 
 How is it possible to refer the proceedings 
 of this animal to mere instinct ? Had a negro 
 slave performed them, we should have used them 
 (and with perfect justice) as arguments that so 
 intellectual and trustworthy a man ought not to 
 be the property of an irresponsible master. 
 
 The whole behavior of the dog is exactly like 
 that of a burly, kindly, and rugged bargee, pos- 
 sessed of cool judgment and rapid action, willing 
 to risk his life for another, and then to make 
 light of the whole business. I was for some 
 years in charge of a water-side parish, and knew 
 many a bargee who would have acted exactly in 
 the same way if a child had fallen into the river. 
 He would have got the child out at the risk of 
 his own life, and then, instead of waiting for 
 thanks, would have boxed its ears soundly, rated 
 it for interrupting him in his work, and then have 
 proceeded with his journey as if nothing had hap- 
 pened. 
 
 The man would have been held worthy of the 
 medal of the Eoyal Humane Society, and would 
 probably have received it. The dog can receive 
 no reward in this world : shall we say that he will 
 receive none in the next ? 
 
 The process of reasoning that took place in 
 the dog's mind is as evident as if the brain had 
 been that of a man and not of a dog. The ani- 
 mal exhibited self-denial, presence of mind, and 
 forethought. Had he jumped into the water at 
 once, he could not have caught the little dog ; 
 but by galloping down the stream, getting ahead 
 of the drowning animal, and then stemming the 
 current until it was swept within his reach, he 
 made sure of his object ; and no man could have 
 acted better if he had tried to save a drowning 
 child. 
 
 The following curious instance of reason joined 
 with accumulation has been recently sent to me. 
 I know the dog, and an odd, eccentric little be- 
 ing he is. 
 
 " Property of every description requires a cer- 
 tain amount of supervision, whether * real or per- 
 sonal,' as the lawyers say, and has its attendant 
 anxieties as well as its attendant pleasures ; but 
 I never saw any animal so impressed with the re- 
 sponsibility as our present little dog appears to be. 
 
 " Having been in our possession all his little 
 life-time, the items of his personal property have 
 gradually increased. At first he occupied the bas- 
 ket of his predecessor, which was taken up-stairs 
 for him at night. After some time, another bas- 
 
REASON. 
 
 29 
 
 ket was purchased for the drawing-room, the old 
 one retaining its place up- stairs. New things are 
 always favorites with children, and this at first 
 was supposed to be the case with our little ani- 
 mal : he would not occupy the old basket at 
 night, so the new one was brought up at night 
 and placed beside it. This was continued for a 
 short time : when the old one was taken down, 
 the new one only remaining up-stairs. This was 
 not the right thing to do : he then refused to 
 occupy the new one. 
 
 " I must confess to humoring his little pecul- 
 iarities, so I fetched the old basket up, leaving 
 both in the room. This was quite what he want- 
 ed, and gave evident satisfaction : he jumped 
 into one, which he arranged comfortably, then 
 performed the same operation in the other, and 
 finally occupied both baskets at intervals during 
 the night. He will now never compose himself 
 at night until both baskets are in the room. One 
 night I purposely removed his dish of water ; he 
 missed it, sat up begging on the spot it always 
 occupied, and great was his delight on its res- 
 toration, although he had no wish to drink. I 
 have given him duplicate property, and placed 
 his baskets, water-dishes, etc., at different parts 
 of the room ; he never fails to go the round and 
 inspect his property before fixing himself for the 
 night, and most amusing it is to witness his anx- 
 iety until he has the whole of his goods under 
 his own protection." 
 
 Here is an anecdote of important help ren- 
 dered in a most unexpected manner. It was 
 sent to me by the wife of the dog's owner. 
 
 " The late Lord M. had a very fine large black 
 Newfoundland dog, called ' Neptune,' which used 
 to be kept chained up in a court-yard outside the 
 castle. Now Neptune was very fond of mutton 
 and pork, and used to worry the sheep and pigs 
 whenever he had a chance. He was consequent- 
 ly very seldom let loose or taken out, unless they 
 were going to ride in some out-of-the-way dis- 
 trict. On one occasion, in the autumn of 1856, 
 Lord M. and Mr. H. were riding across country, 
 accompanied by Neptune, when coming to a high 
 bank with a broad ditch on either side, Lord 
 M.'s horse refused to take it; so Lord M. dis- 
 mounted, and, getting onto the bank, tried to 
 lead him over it; but while so standing on the 
 bank a gust of wind blew his hat off', and in 
 trying to save it the bridle slipped from his hand, 
 and the horse became loose. 
 
 "As quick as lightning, Neptune, who had ap- 
 parently been most interested in the endeavor to 
 get? the horse over, sprang after the hat, and, 
 catching it, jumped with it onto the bank, drop- 
 
 ped it at his master's feet, and dashed after the 
 horse, which was trotting off; and, before Mr. H. 
 could overtake it, he had seized the bridle with 
 his teeth, and held on, checking it till Mr. H. 
 came up and took the bridle from him, when he 
 appeared to express his pleasure by little short 
 barks and a variety of gambcls. What makes 
 this a remarkable circumstance is that Neptune 
 had never been broken in to fetch and carry, and 
 had never been used as a retriever, or was known 
 or seen to do any thing of the sort before that 
 occasion." 
 
 In the following example of the conduct of a 
 dog, it is impossible to see that instinct had any- 
 thing to do with his conduct, which was evi- 
 dently prompted by reason. 
 
 "While a friend of mine was last week super- 
 intending his workmen in a wood, he observed 
 his dog, a retriever, busily occupied in collecting 
 mouthfuls of hay and withered grass, and carry- 
 ing it all to one spot. On going to examine it, 
 he found the deposit made was on a closely coiled 
 hedgehog. The dog, having attained his evi- 
 dent purpose of rendering the spines harmless, 
 proceeded to take up the heap with its contents, 
 and then set off triumphantly toward home." 
 
 No human being could have acted in a more 
 judicious manner ; and had a man saved his 
 fingers by enveloping the hedgehog in grass, he 
 would not have felt particularly flattered if told 
 that he had acted by instinct and not by reason. 
 
 A rather odd example of dog-reasoning oc- 
 curred not long ago. A Newfoundland dog was 
 walking with his mistresses, when he got into a 
 quarrel with a costermonger's dog, fought him, 
 conquered him, and left him howling on the 
 ground. Seeing, however, that the animal would 
 be in the way of the ladies, he returned, took up 
 the animal in his mouth, and deposited him in 
 the middle of the road, so as to allow them to 
 pass without annoyance, and then returned to 
 his usual position. 
 
 We will now pass to other animals. 
 
 We are often accustomed to use the name of 
 ass as a synonym for stupidity, whereas it is one 
 of the most intelligent animals in the world. 
 The Rev. C. Otway has the following remarks 
 on the subject : 
 
 " I assert that if you were to make yourself ac- 
 quainted with asses, you would find them clever 
 enough. I once purchased an ass for the amuse- 
 ment of my children. I did not allow him to be 
 cudgeled, and he got something bettor to graze 
 upon than thistles. 
 
30 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 "Why, I found him more knave than fool; 
 his very cleverness was my plague. My ass, like 
 the king's fool, proved the ablest animal about 
 the place, and, like others, having more wit than 
 good manners, he was forever, not only going, 
 but leading other cattle into mischief. There 
 was not a gate about the place but he would open 
 it ; there was not a fence that he would not 
 climb. Too often he awoke me of a summer's 
 morning, braying with sheer wantonness in the 
 middle of my field of wheat. I was obliged to 
 part with him, and get a pony, merely because 
 he was too cunning to be kept." 
 
 A correspondent of Land and Water gives an 
 interesting account of a similar mode of proceed- 
 ing on the part of two long-horned cows. The 
 door of the hay-chamber opened outward, and 
 was fastened by a latch lifted by the finger thrust 
 through a hole in the door. The cows had seen 
 this done, and, if left alone, would invariably 
 open the door by inserting the tip of a horn into 
 the finger-hole, lifting the latch, and then draw- 
 ing the door toward them. He also describes 
 the mode in which a cat opened a kitchen door, 
 by jumping up and hanging on the handle of the 
 latch. 
 
 Dr. Bell has recorded almost identical habits 
 both of the horse and the cow, and I have heard 
 similar stories in many places. 
 
 As if to illustrate this point still further, I have 
 just received an account of a cow which could 
 not be kept in the field, because she was in the 
 habit of lifting the latch with her horn and then 
 pushing the gate open. 
 
 The same correspondent mentions a horse 
 which was accustomed to pump water for him- 
 self. The pump was in a corner of the horse- 
 box in which the horse was shut for the night, 
 and the coachman used to be puzzled at the fact 
 that when he came in the morning the end of the 
 stable was always an inch or so deep in water. 
 At last he suspected that the horse might have 
 been the delinquent, and so fastened him up with- 
 out giving him any water, and watched him un- 
 observed when let loose in the morning. The 
 animal went at once to the pump, took the han- 
 dle in his teeth, worked it up and down, and, 
 when the water was in full flow, placed his mouth 
 under the spout to drink. He could not endure 
 being watched while pumping, and, if he saw 
 any one observing him, would rush at him with 
 open mouth in order to scare him away. 
 
 The mule, like the ass, is popularly thought to 
 be a stupid and stubborn creature, and yet there 
 are few animals more intelligent in their way. 
 
 I can not resist relating one or two anecdotes, 
 which are told by J. Froebel, in his work on South 
 America. The mule, it appe&i-s, is a most diffi- 
 cult animal to manage, on account of its cunning. 
 Force is of no use, and the Mexican mule-drivers 
 pride themselves in their skill in managing the 
 animals. At the end of the day's journey, the 
 mules are unharnessed and allowed to go free, 
 and are captured by the lasso when they are to 
 be again harnessed. Some mules are so cunning, 
 however, that even the experienced muleteers can 
 scarcely capture them. Some of them assemble 
 in a compact circle, with their heads all pressed 
 together, so as to prevent the noose from settling 
 on their necks, while others push their heads un- 
 der the wagons or between the wheels. Others, still 
 more cunning, stand still, and as the lasso rushes 
 toward them, merely step aside and let it pass. 
 
 One mule, a white one, succeeded in baffling 
 the attempts of the drivers throughout the whole 
 of a long journey. As soon as the harness-time 
 approached, it ran off for half a mile, and there 
 stood until the whole train of wagons was in mo- 
 tion, when it quietly joined its companions. On 
 one or two occasions it was captured by a couple 
 of men on horseback ; but it led them such a 
 chase, wasted so much time, and fatigued the 
 horses so much, that it got its own way and had 
 a mere journey of pleasure, while all its compan- 
 ions were hard at work. 
 
 Another mule, which belonged to a convent, 
 was equally averse to work. There were six 
 mules, each being worked on one day of the week 
 in regular order. This mule knew its own day 
 perfectly well, and on that morning it always 
 tried to keep the servants out of the yard by 
 backing against the door. 
 
 The following account of a horse was sent to 
 me by a clergyman : 
 
 " I had long entertained the idea of sending 
 you a brief account of an instance of reason which 
 .occurred to my own knowledge, and indeed at 
 pur own door. 
 
 "A neighbor possessed a young foal, which, 
 with his mother, used to pass our house daily, 
 early in the morning, during our breakfast-time, 
 and had a habit of straying upon a piece of waste 
 ground which then occupied its front, but has 
 since been inclosed and formed into a front gar- 
 den. My daughter, who is extremely partial to 
 horses, used to run out and offer the little animal 
 a piece of bread. 
 
 "This went on regularly, until at last, when 
 he was between two and three years old, he would 
 not wait for the bread, but used to go to the door, 
 plant his fore feet on the steps, so as <to gain suf- 
 
REASON. 
 
 81 
 
 ficient elevation, and then lift the knocker with 
 his nose, afterward waiting for the expected 
 morsel. 
 
 " Had I been a rich man, I would have bought 
 him at almost any price ; for his mother was a 
 well-bred mare, and he promised to be a very 
 useful roadster." 
 
 Here we have the two qualities of memory and 
 reasoning displayed in a most unmistakable char- 
 acter. Indeed, if we suppose that a dumb man 
 had acted as the horse did, we should have been 
 disposed to marvel at the way in which human 
 reason could communicate ideas without the aid 
 of speech. In this case, the memory of the ani- 
 mal enabled him to expect his daily dole of bread, 
 and his reason not his instinct taught him 
 that, when the knocker was sounded, some one 
 came to the door. It is evident that the horse 
 had seen the knocker used, had noted the result, 
 and had followed the example, using, of course, 
 his nose in lieu of a hand. 
 
 Perhaps there are few of us who have possessed 
 pet cats who have not seen the animals' perform 
 very similar feats. Although too small to reach 
 a knocker or a latch, many a cat has been seen 
 to knock at the door and to open it for herself, 
 merely by jumping and striking the object with 
 her paw. 
 
 Sometimes, when a door must be opened by 
 means of a knob instead of a latch, the animal 
 knows perfectly well that it is physically incapa- 
 ble of turning the handle, and therefore does not 
 try to do so. But it will always find some way 
 of intimating its wish to have the door opened, 
 and will ask, as plainly as if it possessed speech, 
 some human being to perform the task of which 
 it feels itself incapable. 
 
 Some few years ago, Professor Cope related 
 the proceedings of a tame monkey which he pos- 
 sessed one of the common Capuchin monkeys. 
 
 The animal was kept in a cage, or rather was 
 supposed to be kept in it, for he had a strong ob- 
 jection to confinement, and was sure to break 
 loose sooner or later. He always directed his 
 attention to the hinges, and no matter how firm- 
 ly they were fixed, he was sure before long to 
 extract the staples, pull out the nails, and so 
 open the door at the hinges and not at the latch. 
 
 Finding that the cage could not hold him, his 
 master had him confined by a strap fastened 
 around his waist, after the manner of monkeys. 
 The strap proved to be of no more use than the 
 
 cage, for the crafty animal soon contrived to open 
 it. This he did by the ingenious expedient of 
 picking out the threads by which the strap was 
 sewn to the buckles, and so rendering the fasten- 
 ings useless. 
 
 Then he was replaced in the cage and carefullv 
 watched. Having rid himself of the strap, he 
 thought that he might as well turn it to some 
 useful purpose. So, having perceived that some 
 food had fallen out of his reach, he took one 
 end of the strap in his paw, flung the other over 
 the morsel of food, and so drew it toward him. 
 In this feat he displayed great accuracy of aim, 
 seldom missing the object which he wanted. 
 
 Once or twice, when he had to make a longer 
 throw than usual, he loosened his hold of the 
 strap. The first time that this happened, some 
 one handed him the poker. He took it, drew the 
 strap toward him, and resumed its use as before. 
 
 Now I should think that no reasonable reader 
 could deny that every one of these acts was 
 prompted by reason, which, so far from being 
 even aided by instinct, was acting in direct op- 
 position to it. The instinct of an animal when 
 confined or tethered in any way is to break loose 
 by main strength, and the instinct of the mon- 
 key would have impelled him to force his way 
 through the bars of the cage or to strain at the 
 strap until he broke it. His reason, however, 
 taught him to look for the weak part in both 
 cage and strap, and, having found it, to work 
 at that part .alone until he succeeded in his ob- 
 ject. 
 
 How was it possible for instinct to teach him 
 that the hinges were the weak part of his cage, 
 and that, if he could only manage to draw the 
 staples or nails, the door would open and he would 
 be free ? How could instinct teach him that the 
 stitches of the strap-buckles were to the strap 
 what the staples and nails were to the hinges, 
 and that, if he could pick out the threads, the 
 fastenings of the strap would be rendered useless? 
 Neither could instinct teach him to use the strap 
 in the light of a lasso, or to employ the poker in 
 regaining his lost weapon. 
 
 Baron Trenck himself could not have displayed 
 more ingenuity in discovering the weak parts of 
 his prison and bonds than did this little monkey, 
 nor could he have shown more patience and per- 
 severance in working at them. Indeed, there 
 are many human beings who would not have 
 been half as sensible. 
 
MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 .REASON (concluded). 
 
 Enjoyment of Work by Animals. The Elephant and the Dray-horse. The Miners' Horse. "Jock" at his 
 Work. The New Forest Horses. The Carrier's Horse and his Master. Sir Hope Grant's Story of a 
 Wounded Horse. An Elephant in a Quicksand: Mode of Extrication. The Cat and the Lobster. In- 
 genuity of Rats. Pigs verms Rats. Crows versus Pheasants The Ravens and the Bird-traps. Robbing 
 the Railways. My Raven " Grip " and his Run. History of a Parrot. A Self-tamed Red-breast, with 
 his Well-educated Family ; Death of the Father and Friendship of the Widow and Children. The Cat 
 " Patch " and the Mouse. " Fret's" Mouse-chase. Reason and Power of Combination in the Rat. The 
 Fox and the Grouse. A Dog-strategist in Battle. 
 
 SOMETIMES animals take a pleasure in their 
 work, and do it without needing any .supervision. 
 Elephants, as is well known, when once shown 
 what their work is, will go on with it while their 
 drivers are elsewhere engaged. Dray-horses may 
 often be seen exercising their reasoning powers 
 while drawing casks out of the cellars. The dray- 
 man in the cellar makes the rope fast, and calls 
 to the horse. The animal understands the sig- 
 nal, and goes off with the rope, keeping an eye 
 on the cellar-door. As soon as he has brought 
 the cask safely to ground, he stops, backs to al- 
 low the rope to be removed, and then goes back 
 for another cask. This may be seen almost any 
 day in London. 
 
 Mr. J. Nelson Smith tells me that, while ex- 
 amining one of the American mines, he saw a 
 horse which was doing his work without the as- 
 sistance of any driver. As soon as his cart was 
 filled with ore, one of the miners gave his signal, 
 and the animal went off to the spot where his load 
 was to be "dumped," waited until the cart was 
 unloaded, and then returned for another load. 
 The strangest point in his conduct was that he 
 had to take a certain number of loads daily, 
 and knew when his task was finished as well as 
 did any of the men. Mr. Smith happened to 
 be present at the time when he deposited his 
 last load for the day, and, on seeing him trot 
 off quickly in another direction, was told that 
 he knew his work to be finished, and that he 
 was going home, where he would meet a kind 
 reception from his mistress. 
 
 A lady has sent me the following account of 
 a horse of her own : 
 
 "We have an old horse named 'Jock,' a 
 very wise beast, but cross-tempered. He fell 
 when drawing Lord L.'s carriage, and, in con- 
 
 sequence of his broken knees, was purchased 
 cheaply. 
 
 "He knows his work so well that the man 
 who accompanies the cart does not need to lead 
 or drive him, Jock preferring to do his own 
 work in his own way. I have often seen him 
 take the cart to the exact spot intended, turn 
 it round himself, and wait to have it loaded. 
 When the cart is filled, he takes it to the spot 
 where it is needed, and, after it is unloaded, 
 brings it back again. He evidently enjoys the 
 work, and seems to take a pride in it." 
 
 Horses will really do a wonderful amount of 
 work without assistance, if properly managed, 
 and will sometimes do so even when employed 
 by owners who would scarcely be thought capa- 
 ble of acting as teachers. In the New Forest, 
 a place tenanted by a race of human beings al- 
 most independent of their fellow -beings, and 
 holding their laws and customs in equal scorn, 
 I have often, when driving along one of the 
 roads, been obliged to turn off the road, and to 
 manoauvre both horse and vehicle into the un- 
 derwood, in order to allow a train of wood- 
 carts to pass. These wagons are constructed 
 in cool defiance of the Act which prohibits 
 more than a certain width between the wheels, 
 so that a cart will occupy the full breadth of 
 the road. No one drove the horses ; but on 
 each cart lay one or two men, utterly intox- 
 icated, having managed to scramble into their 
 vehicles under the knowledge that their horses 
 would take them safely to their homes. 
 
 I know of a carrier's horse which acts in a 
 similar manner, though not for a similar rea- 
 son. The man has to make a night journey, 
 beginning about midnight and ending about six 
 A.M. The driver has such perfect confidence 
 
REASON. 
 
 9] 
 
 in his horse that he composes himself to sleep 
 as soon as he has started, knowing that the an- 
 imal will stop at the right house. Sometimes he 
 is asleep when the journey is over. The horse, 
 after looking around at his master, and seeing 
 that the stopping of the cart has not aroused 
 him, begins to stamp on the ground, and rattles 
 his harness until he awakes. 
 
 General Sir Hope Grant, in his diary of the 
 "Incidents in the Sepoy War," narrates a most 
 remarkable instance of reason on the part of a 
 horse : 
 
 During the war, after the Secundra Bagh 
 had been taken by our troops, the Europeans 
 were aroused by musketry from some unseen 
 quarter. Sir Hope's nephew then went to the 
 place, gaje his horse to a Sikh soldier to hold, 
 and went inside, when he found that some of 
 the rebel sepoys were on the top of the wall. 
 Finding themselves discovered, the men, with 
 the curious indifference to life that characterizes 
 their race, came down and were shot. 
 
 Suddenly a loud explosion was heard. An 
 awkward soldier had fired into a barrel of pow- 
 der, which, together with a quantity of loose pow- 
 der that was scattered about, exploded, and did 
 much damage. The non-commissioned officer in 
 charge of the Sikh party was so severely burned 
 that he died a few days afterward ; and several 
 were killed, among whom was the man who was 
 holding the horse. 
 
 The animal was so scorched that he had to 
 be shot. It so happened that the man to whom 
 this task was intrusted aimed badly, and, in- 
 stead of killing the poor creature, only inflicted 
 a severe wound in the head. 
 
 The horse broke away, galloped directly to- 
 ward a picket of the enemy, dashed through 
 them in spite of their fire, and was soon out 
 of sight. Next morning it was discovered that 
 the horse had made his way five miles in 
 straight line, and had gone direct to the sick- 
 horse stables of the 9th Lancers. In fact, he 
 had acted exactly as a wounded soldier would 
 have done gone to the hospital and reported 
 himself sick. 
 
 I wish I could give a more pleasing end to 
 the story, but the poor horse was found to be 
 so fearfully injured that the most humane course 
 was to destroy him at once. 
 
 A very similar exercise of reason was dis- 
 played by a little Welsh pony. 
 
 At Rhyll there are many of these animals let 
 
 for temporary hire, and among them was one 
 
 that was ridden by a young lady in delicate 
 
 C 
 
 health, who was 
 
 pace. One day in 
 
 seen dashing along at full gallop, until it reached 
 
 a blacksmith's forge, into which it went without 
 
 a pause, carrying, its unwilling rider with it. 
 
 The astonished blacksmith tried to lead the 
 animal out of the forge, but it resisted this 
 strongly, and he found that it had cast a shoe, 
 which it wished to have replaced. Now in this 
 instance, as in many others, reason conquered 
 instinct. The instinctive feelings of a horse 
 are strongly opposed to the operation of shoe- 
 ing, and some horses can scarcely ever be made 
 to stand still under the process. It is very nat- 
 ural that they should not like their feet to be 
 hammered and filed and scraped and scorched, 
 and it therefore requires a very determined ex- 
 ercise of reason to induce an animal voluntarily 
 to counteract its own instincts. 
 
 In the following account of an elephant's in- 
 genuity in extricating himself from a quicksand, 
 instinct is shown to have no part. The story 
 was sent to me by the gentleman who witnessed 
 the occurrence, and was one of the party. 
 
 "It was at the close of a ' pig-sticking ' meet 
 on a large island in the Ganges, opposite Cawn- 
 pore, in June, 1873, that an event occurred which 
 excited my admiration. With three friends I 
 had been riding hard all the afternoon, and, feel- 
 ing very tired, we determined to go home on the 
 elephant. 
 
 "We had traveled some way, and were near- 
 ing the river, when one of us noticed that the 
 ground looked rather unsafe, and that the ele- 
 phant seemed to become uneasy. So we all de- 
 cided to dismount and walk to the river, pre- 
 viously instructing the mahout to take the ele- 
 phant by a short circuit, so as to avoid the soft 
 ground. The man, however, evidently consid- 
 ered that he knew better than we did ; and we 
 therefore went straight on, not thinking of look- 
 ing around. 
 
 "We had not proceeded far when we heard 
 the elephant trumpeting (a well-known signal 
 of distress or anger), and on looking around saw 
 that the poor beast was in a quicksand, and 
 that the mahout had dismounted and was mak- 
 ing the best of his way out of reach of the ani- 
 mal. I may here mention that to be on an ele- 
 phant's back or within his reach under such cir- 
 cumstances is certain death : he is sure to take 
 hold of a man and place him under his feet, so 
 anxious is he to get something solid to stand 
 upon. 
 
 "We were then about fifty yards from the 
 river, and it was rapidly getting dark. The ele- 
 
34 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 phant was making frantic efforts to escape out 
 of his difficulties, and the ground heaved all 
 around him. How to help him we did not 
 know ; for he was sinking deeper and deeper, 
 and go near him we dared not. 
 
 "As good fortune would have it, there hap- 
 pened to be at hand a number of large planks 
 which had been left by some villagers. We 
 went as near the elephant as we dared, and 
 threw the planks within his reach. The clever 
 animal seized them in his trunk, drew them to 
 him, and laid them one upon the other in front 
 of him. When he thought that he had enough, 
 with one gigantic effort he got his fore legs out 
 of the quicksand, and in a short time he had 
 managed to extricate himself, and was stand- 
 ing safely on the planks, though trembling all 
 .over. 
 
 *'Hs had still some fifty yards to go before 
 he .could reach the river, and the intelligent 
 beast never moved a step until he got a plank 
 and placed it in front of him. He thus moved 
 on, step .by step, on successive planks, until he 
 reached the river. The mahout then remounted 
 him, and he crossed the Ganges in safety. This 
 was no small relief to our feelings ; for the loss 
 of the elephant would not only have been a very 
 costly business, but the mode of his death would 
 have been inexpressibly painful." 
 
 The following account of reasoning in a cat 
 was communicated to me by its mistress, Lady 
 E., whom I have known for many years. The 
 animal evidently felt surprised that such a thing 
 as an empty plate should be allowed upon a 
 breakfast-table, and so, in her own way, showed 
 her mistress how a plate ought to be filled. 
 
 " Our breakfast-room had bow-windows, and 
 the houses were very near each other. 
 
 "One morning, when the windows of both 
 houses were open, our younger cat, Tiny, disap- 
 peared into our neighbor's window, and a few 
 minutes after rushed back into our room, and, 
 leaping upon the breakfast- table with a lobster 
 in her month, held it over an empty plate. She 
 evidently only wished us to see it, as she would 
 not allow any one to touch it, and darting out of 
 the window again, with the lobster still in her 
 mouth, she replaced it upon the table without 
 taking any, and came back to our room. 
 
 "The lobster was returned so carefully that 
 our neighbors assured us they should not have 
 known it had been touched." 
 
 The same lady has sent me several anecdotes 
 of this same cat and her mother "Rosie," all of 
 which are interesting, and serve admirably to il- 
 lustrate the subject of this work. 
 
 Several good instances of reasoning as dis- 
 played by rats are given in Hardwicke's Sci- 
 ence Gossip for July, 1871. A number of rats 
 had got into a basket of grapes, and devoured a 
 considerable part of the contents. The man who 
 discovered them replaced the basket, in hopes 
 that they would again visit it and be caught ; 
 but the wary animals never again came to the 
 basket in which they had been detected. 
 
 They were so numerous and so bold that they 
 used to come and pick up the crumbs from be- 
 tween the men's feet as they sat at meals. 
 " Wishing for a shot at some of them, I dropped 
 a few grains of maize on the ground, and took 
 up my position, gun in hand. Soon one rat 
 bounded across the space as if in great alarm ; 
 but no rat touched a grain of the corn, which 
 was exposed for several days and nights, being 
 at last crushed and lost by the passing of feet 
 and goods. 
 
 "Rats were numerous in the pigsties, and ate 
 with the pigs, one of which I turned out of her 
 sty, and contrived a trap-door to close the trough 
 by pulling a cord. I baited the trough with 
 ground maize, of which they are very fond ; but 
 neither by day nor by night would a rat venture 
 there as long as the pig was excluded. Return- 
 ing the pig to the sty, the rats also returned." 
 
 I know of a similar case in which the rats 
 were so many and so bold that they forced them- 
 selves into the troughs at feeding -time, would 
 not be driven away, and consumed no small 
 amount of the food which ought to have gone to 
 the pigs. The owner of the pigs then laid a gun 
 so as to rake the trough, turned out the pigs, 
 and had the trough filled as usual. Not a rat 
 would make its appearance ; and at last the pigs 
 were put back, when the rats came trooping in 
 as numerous and as bold as ever. 
 
 Now, in these cases, the rats could not have 
 known the precise danger which menaced them ; 
 but they saw that something unusual had hap- 
 pened, and therefore inferred that it would be 
 the safer plan to keep out of the way until the 
 ordinary conditions were restored. 
 
 Many birds display great reasoning powers, 
 and act in a way that would do credit to any 
 human being. From the many anecdotes 
 which have been placed at my disposal I select 
 only a few, none of which have as yet been pub- 
 lished. 
 
 In places where pheasants are preserved it is 
 customary to give them their food in such a way 
 that other birds can not get at it. This is done 
 by placing it in a feeding-box, which is closed 
 by a lid, communicating by a lever with a perch. 
 
REASON. 
 
 35 
 
 The weight of the lid is so adjusted that when a 
 pheasant stands on the perch the lid is raised, 
 and the bird can get at the food. The pheas- 
 ants soon learn the object of the perch, for, when 
 these boxes are first introduced, a few beans are 
 laid on the outside of the lid. The bird gets on 
 the perch in order to reach them, and so exposes 
 the stores of food in the box. 
 
 Such an arrangement is made at Mountquhar- 
 rie, Cupar, Fife ; and one day a gentleman was 
 watching the pheasants and their boxes on the 
 lawn just before the house, and saw a crow also 
 watching them. Presently the crow flew to one 
 of the boxes, settled upon the perch, and expect- 
 ed the box to open. The bird, however, being 
 much lighter than a pheasant, was unable to lift 
 the lid in spite of all its efforts. After several 
 ineffectual attempts it flew off to a tree where 
 there was another crow, and a grand jabbering 
 ensued. The two crows then flew to the feed- 
 ing-box, both settled on the perch, and their 
 united weight was sufficient to raise the lid. 
 
 It is impossible to attribute this proceeding to 
 any thing but reason. Instinct is wholly out of 
 the question in such a case as this. The bird 
 first watches the pheasants, and learns that by 
 settling on a certain perch the box is opened 
 and the contents attainable. It then proceeds 
 to follow the example of the pheasants, judging 
 that the same result would follow. Finding that, 
 although it acted exactly as did the pheasant, the 
 lid was not raised, it set itself to discover the 
 cause of failure, and, as we have seen, succeeded 
 in so doing. Having reflected that the pheasant 
 could lift the lid on account of its superior weight, 
 the bird calculated that two crows might be equal 
 in weight to one pheasant. So it goes off to find 
 a comrade, explains the state of things in its own 
 bird language, and the two then co-operate in 
 producing the desired effect. No human being 
 could reason more corredly, or reduce its theory 
 to action more successfully. 
 
 That the raven can act in a similar manner is 
 shown by an anecdote sent by Mr. R. Ball to 
 Mr. Thompson, and quoted in his "Natural 
 History of Ireland:" 
 
 "When I was a boy at school, a tame raven 
 "was very attentive in watching our cribs or bird- 
 traps, and when a bird wa's taken he endeavored 
 to catch it by turning up the crib ; but in so do- 
 ing the bird always escaped, as he could not let 
 go the crib in time to seize it. After several 
 vain attempts of this kind, the raven, seeing an- 
 other bird caught, instead of going at once to the 
 crib, went to another tame raven and induced it 
 to accompany him, when the one lifted up the 
 
 crib and the other bore the poor captive off in 
 triumph." 
 
 Crows are wonderfully sagacious, and seem to 
 notice every thing. 
 
 A gentleman, pne of the principals in a well- 
 known engineering firm, tells me that the way 
 in which crows rob the railway-boxes of the 
 grease is quite notorious among those who are 
 connected with the lines. 
 
 As my readers are probably aware, each of 
 the wheels has an iron box over the axle in or- 
 der to contain the grease which lubricates the 
 wheels. Cocoa-nut oil is used for this purpose, 
 as it is solid at moderate temperatures, and only 
 melts and sinks upon the axle when the latter is 
 heated by over-friction. Indeed, if cocoa-nut oil 
 had not been discovered, it is difficult to imagine 
 how railways could be carried on. The boxes 
 are closed with spring lids, and we have most of 
 us seen the porter, armed with a little pail of co- 
 coa-nut oil and a wooden spatula, open the box 
 with the spatula, fill it with the yellow grease, 
 and slap down the lid upon the box, where it is 
 kept in position by a spring. .This is absolutely 
 necessary in order to prevent the oil from being 
 mixed with the cinders ejected from the engine 
 and the particles of earth driven up by the wheels. 
 
 Now it happens that crows value the cocoa- 
 nut oil as much as we do, but for a different 
 reason. They consider it to be a great dainty, 
 and so, when a train is standing still on a siding 
 and no one near, the crows flock to it, substitute 
 their strong beaks for the porter's wooden spatu- 
 la, pry up the spring lids, and help themselves 
 to the yellow oil. 
 
 It is evident that they must act from reason 
 and not from instinct. Some of them had seen 
 the porters lifting up the lids, and had followed 
 their example. All the crow tribe are wonder- 
 fully expert in the use of their beaks, and the 
 dainty manner in which a raven, a magpie, or a 
 jackdaw will turn over, twist, and display with 
 its beak any object that may excite its curiosity 
 could scarcely be surpassed if the bird possessed 
 a hand instead of a beak. 
 
 My raven, " Grip," who unfortunately died from 
 eating too much linen, had astonishing delicacy 
 in the touch of his great iron beak. If I tied a 
 knot in a piece of string and left it within his 
 reach, he was sure to untie it, and then walk 
 about triumphantly with one end of the string in 
 his beak. He had a large wooden cage made 
 from a chest, and faced with strong iron bars. 
 A hole was cut in the end of the box, leading to 
 a large "run," inclosed with wire netting. 
 
 There was not a spot at which the netting had 
 been joined that had not been tested by Grip's 
 
36 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 beak, and more than once I have just been in 
 time to prevent his escape. He always resented 
 my interference, and used to seize in his beak the 
 wire with which I was making the defect good, 
 and try to pull it out of my hands. At last he 
 gave up the wire net, and turned his attention 
 to the bars of the cage. They were much too 
 strong for him to bend, but he deliberately set to 
 work at one of the central bars, and dug away 
 the wood in which it was set until he had loosen- 
 ed it at the bottom. Fortunately I was just in 
 time to see him pulling at the bar, or there would 
 have been an escaped raven and frightful havoc 
 among the poultry kept by my next-door neighbor. 
 
 Directly Grip saw me he set up a great squall, 
 and did his best to get out the bar before I could 
 reach him. I at once sent for wire and pliers, 
 and at last succeeded in connecting the whole of 
 the bars with cross-wire, so that unless all the 
 bars were dug out both above and below they 
 would hold their place. 
 
 Grip was horribly angry during the time, and 
 tried to annoy me as much as possible by strik- 
 ing at my fingers through the bars, and trying to 
 pull away the wire. Once he did seize the pliers, 
 and I was obliged to bring on the scene my dog 
 " Bosco," whom Grip hated beyond conception, 
 before I could induce him to drop the pliers. 
 Bosco's presence, however, elicited a scream of 
 rage ; and as the pliers fell from his beak, I se- 
 cured possession of them. He afterward tested 
 the wires from end to end, tried to undo every 
 knot, and, finding himself baffled, gave up the 
 whole business as a bad job. 
 
 Here are some parrot anecdotes, all perfectly 
 original : 
 
 "A parrot, belonging to one of our servants, 
 very soon knew us by name, and could distinguish 
 the tread of its favorites, showing its joy by ruf- 
 fling its feathers and making an odd noise in the 
 throat. ' Polly ' was very tame, and was sometimes 
 allowed to walk about the house, always announc- 
 ing its arrival in a room by 'Polly going a- walk- 
 ing.' In hot weather she enjoyed having water 
 poured over her, and when satisfied would say, 
 'That's enough.' 
 
 "She used to tease our large dog by whistling 
 loudly, and calling him 'Bran! Bran!' on which 
 he ran in and looked around, and on the cook 
 coming in, Polly would say reprovingly, ' Go back, 
 Bran, go back ;' out went Bran, and by and by, 
 when the cook's back was turned, the same scene 
 was acted over again, until Bran grew wiser and 
 neglected the call. 
 
 "Polly was a very accomplished bird, and, 
 when quite alone, could be heard going through 
 
 her acquirements. She sang 'Cheer boy?, cheer,' 
 very plainly, and could dance. If any stranger 
 went into the kitchen, and no one was there, 
 Polly called out, ' Somebody's wanted;' and she 
 has more than once startled people by saying, 
 ' What's your business ?' 
 
 "We used to go in and see Polly before we 
 went to bed, and she always said ' Good-night ' 
 several times, each time in a different tone of 
 voice. She called mamma ' my dear ' until told 
 that it was not respectful, after which she always 
 said ' ma'am.' The remarks this bird made were 
 so apposite that it really seemed at times as if it 
 understood what was going on." 
 
 I know a parrot, or, correctly speaking, a ring- 
 ed parrakeet, that acts, as the servants say, "just 
 like a Christian. " If told to call the cat, she will 
 sometimes mew loudly, and sometimes call the 
 cat by its name, "Winks," which is an abbrevia- 
 tion of Tiddlywinks. She makes the room ring 
 again with the name, her voice is so powerful. 
 Sometimes she will play at hide and seek ; and 
 if her mistress gets under the table, Polly trav- 
 erses it in all directions, and, not seeing her, 
 knocks violently on the table with her beak, in 
 order to induce her mistress to come out of her 
 hiding-place. 
 
 In the following history of a self-tamed red- 
 breast, we shall see that instinct plays but a very 
 small part, almost the whole of the bird's proceed- 
 ings, as weir as those of his family, being insti- 
 gated by pure reason without any admixture of 
 instinct. To the lady who sent me the anecdote 
 I am indebted for several of my most interest- 
 ing accounts of animal life. She does not wish 
 her name to be mentioned, but it is well known 
 throughout the whole literary world : 
 
 " In the years 1864 and 1865 a robin made it- 
 self at home in my dining-room, always coming 
 to the window and tapping to have it opened at 
 breakfast - time. When he came in, he shared 
 my oatmeal porridge with me, seating himself on 
 the edge of the cup and picking out such grains 
 as caught his fancy. He then picked up crumbs 
 of bread or toast, and, when he had satisfied him- 
 self, he sat on the back of my chair and sang, or 
 sometimes betook himself to the top of a large 
 screen. When he wished the window to be open- 
 ed for him, he used to make a peculiar little noise, 
 unlike any sound I ever heard from a bird not 
 loud, but very much like articulate language. 
 
 "As you may fancy, he was a great favorite 
 with every one in the house. If the day were 
 very cold, he always seated himself on the edge 
 of the fender as soon as he was let in, puffing out 
 his feathers to receive the heat, and, when he 
 
REASON. 
 
 37 
 
 found that he was warm enough, he came to his 
 breakfast. 
 
 " During the summer of 1864 he came occa- 
 sionally to the window, but seldom came in, and 
 then only for a moment, though he would some- 
 times follow me out of doors. In the winter of 
 180-t-o he again established himself in the house, 
 on his own familiar terms, and became even a 
 greater pet than ever. He then began to prefer 
 the butter-cooler to the porridge-cup for his 
 breakfast, but I never allowed him to take too 
 much. He almost lived in the house, sometimes 
 remaining all night when the weather was bad. 
 
 ' ' When summer came around again, he appear- 
 ed one day at the window with his wife and chil- 
 dren, who sat on the ledge of the window while 
 he entered and took food out to them. It then 
 came out that of late he had often been detected 
 in carrying off food from the peacock's bowl 
 which I kept in the dining-room ; this food he 
 had doubtless carried to his lady in her nest : 
 the dining-room window, being mostly open in 
 summer, gave him access to the bowl. 
 
 "A sister-in-law of mine and her daughters 
 came to stay with me just then, and to see the 
 little redbreasts get their breakfast daily from 
 their papa was one of our morning's amuse- 
 ments. 
 
 " But, alas ! one day he came looking very ill, 
 with his feathers puffed out, and looking twice 
 his natural size. I observed that he swallowed 
 large lumps of butter himself while helping his 
 young ones. This went on for some days, and 
 at last he did not make his appearance at all ; 
 his wife and family came without him, and then 
 we knew that he must be dead. There was gen- 
 eral mourning for poor ' Bobby ' in the house. I 
 have never had so tame a redbreast before or 
 since, though his wife and children, who seemed 
 to miss him much, still continued to receive their 
 dole at the window. 
 
 " I heard a still more wonderful story about a 
 robin from my sister-in-law, who knew the lady 
 to whom the bird f belonged. She had made it 
 so tame that it used to fly after her carriage ; 
 and when she went in the winter to spend a few 
 days with a friend who lived several miles from her 
 house, the bird followed her. On the following 
 morning, when she opened the window accord- 
 ing to custom and called the robin, he at once 
 entered the room and perched on her finger. 
 
 "Was not this very like reason ? It certainly 
 was a combination of ideas. The bird had fol- 
 lowed his mistress to a strange place, slept there, 
 and came at her call, trusting to her for his break- 
 fast. My sister-in-law was staying at the house 
 at the time, and witnessed the circumstance." 
 
 In the former of these two cases, reason taught 
 the bird to conquer its instinct, which teaches it 
 to fear man and avoid him. The bird soon found 
 that he was being kindly treated, and, reasoning 
 upon such premises, came to the conclusion that 
 he would be treated in the same manner for the 
 future. Then, that birds must have a language 
 in which to express their ideas is evident from 
 the fact that his wife and family accompanied him 
 to the house, and waited outside while he went 
 and brought out food for them. The reason why 
 they did not enter the house is evident to all who 
 know the habits of the redbreast. It is one of 
 the most jealous of birds, and never will allow 
 another bird to enter the place of which it has 
 pleased him to consider himself the owner. 
 There can be little doubt but that he had pre- 
 viously forbidden his family to enter the house 
 where he felt himself a privileged inmate. 
 
 The capability of cats for opening doors, ring- 
 ing bells, etc., is perfectly well known. There 
 was a cat named "Patch" who was a great 
 adept in these arts. One evening she came out 
 of a bedroom in a state of great excitement as 
 the occupant went in, mewed and fidgeted about ; 
 went up to an unlighted candle, though there was 
 a fire in the room, back to the lady and then 
 again to the candle, and would not be contented 
 until it was lighted. Then she drew particular 
 attention to the window -curtain, reaching up 
 with her paw as far as she could, and touching 
 it. The curtain being shaken, out dropped a 
 mouse, which Patch immediately seized and car- 
 ried off. She had, probably, previously brought 
 it into the room, as she was in the habit of doing 
 so with her prey, and on two or three occasions 
 dead mice were found deposited in the bed. 
 
 My own cat, * ' Pret, " has often behaved in a 
 similar manner, and has brought me to help him 
 in getting at a mouse* which had hidden itself in 
 some spot where he could not reach it. 
 
 I might multiply anecdotes to an indefinite ex- 
 tent, but have thought it better to take a com- 
 parative few, nearly all of which have been as yet 
 unpublished. The reader will see that in no one 
 of these cases does instinct play any part, and 
 that in the generality of them the reasoning pow- 
 ers of the animal have overcome its natural in- 
 stincts. 
 
 Here is an example of reason and the power 
 of combination in the rat. The writer was at 
 the time resident in Liverpool : 
 
 " In my garden there is a conservatory, along 
 the roof of which is trained a vine, on which the 
 fruit would not ripen for the last few years, so I 
 
MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 had the vine inclosed in a glass frame in the 
 hope that, the heat being confined, the grapes 
 would ripen better than when exposed to the cold 
 night air. This plan being successful, I had this 
 year a plentiful crop of large-sized bunches of 
 grapes. These, however, began to disappear 
 very quickly as soon as ripe, but not bunch by 
 bunch as would be done by thieves, but only the 
 ripest grapes of each bunch were taken. 
 
 "At first, I thought that some of the boys 
 working in the garden had been helping them- 
 selves ; but all denied it, and no one had seen 
 them near the glass house. Then I sealed up 
 the door of the covering, but still the fruit disap- 
 peared. So I told the gardener to cut all the 
 good fruit and take it into the house when I re- 
 turned home in the evening ; after giving the or- 
 der, the gardener came in with gleeful visage and 
 said, ' I've got the thieves, sir,' and told his tale 
 in that roundabout way which men in his condi- 
 tion love, of which the following is the condensed 
 description : 
 
 " ' When lying on my back for rest after cut- 
 ting a lot of branches, I heard a scuffling sort of 
 sound, and looked around and saw five or six large 
 brown rats come into the frame ; they then jump- 
 ed up at the lowest hanging branches and man- 
 aged to knock down two or three grapes, which 
 they proceeded to eat like a squirrel, sitting up 
 on their hind legs and holding the fruit in their 
 front paws. 
 
 " ' Soon after, a large female, followed by four 
 young ones, came in ; . and the old one ran up the 
 vine and bit off one of the ripest bunches, which 
 fell down to the expecting young ones below, who 
 fastened on it and began to eat. Then,' conclud- 
 ed the old man, 'I could not keep my laugh any 
 longer, but shouted out, which sent them all head 
 over heels out, as if a dog were after them.' " 
 
 A curious instance of reason in the fox has 
 been furnished to me by an eye-witness : 
 
 " I will now tell you a story of a fox. Some 
 years ago, when I lived in a lonely but beautiful 
 part of the Lammermoors, there came a dread- 
 ful snow-storm. All nature was white for miles, 
 
 as if wrapped in a winding-sheet, and birds and 
 beasts were put to strange shifts for food. 
 
 "I was talking with one of my shepherds, 
 when far away on the opposite side, and on the 
 top of what is here called a cleugh or hollow, I 
 espied a small dark object. It was the only one 
 in the vast expanse of snow, and it appeared to 
 me to be moving. I pointed it out to the shep- 
 herd, who said that it was a tuft of heather, from 
 which the snow had drifted. I watched it more 
 carefully, and, feeling sure that it really did move, 
 I went into the house for my gun, and told the 
 shepherd to accompany me. ^" 
 
 "Slowly we plodded our weary way through 
 snow up to our waists in some places ; and when 
 we arrived within a few hundred yards of the 
 mysterious object, it was revealed in the shape of 
 a crafty fox, who deliberately walked away, every 
 now and then stopping to look at us. 
 
 " It was evident what he had been doing. He 
 had coiled himself round so as to look like a bunch 
 of heather (and done it so well that he had even 
 deceived the practiced eyes of the shepherd), and 
 thus decoyed the hungry grouse near enough to 
 seize them. That he had succeeded was plain, 
 from the feathers and other remains of several 
 birds which lay near the spot where we first saw 
 him. Foxie is a rare purveyor, and nothing can 
 beat him." 
 
 A rather amusing instance of reason in a dog 
 has been narrated to me. The animal was a 
 Newfoundland, and of a quiet disposition. There 
 was, however, a much larger and quarrelsome dog 
 of the same kind, who was frequently meeting 
 " Lion," and taking every opportunity of molest- 
 ing him. 
 
 One day the big dog met him, and evidently 
 bent upon a fight. Whereupon Lion, knowing 
 that he was no match for his antagonist without 
 some aid, ran off to a neighboring manure-heap, 
 and rolled himself over and over in it, until he 
 was completely covered. He then went back to 
 his enemy, challenged him, fought him and beat 
 him thoroughly, and after that victory the big dog 
 always gave Lion a wide berth. 
 
LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS. 
 
 39 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 LANGUAGE [OF ANIMALS]. 
 
 Ideas Useless unless they can be Transmitted. Language the Means of Transmission. Various Kinds of 
 Language. The Spoken Language, or Language of Words The Gesture-Language, or Language of 
 Signs. The Language of the Eye, or a Direct Transmission of Ideas without the Aid of Words or Gest- 
 ures. Language of Insects. The Wasps at my Breakfast - table : a Messenger and Result of the Mes- 
 sage. Language among the Ants: Severity of their Military Discipline. Ant-Uudertakers. A Sum- 
 mary Execution. Power of Combination and Submission, to a Single Leader. Comparison with the 
 Egyptian and Assyrian Laborers. Language among Dogs. A Tempter and his Victim. Language and 
 Combination among Dogs. Ditto among Wolves. A Specific and a Universal Language among Ani- 
 mals. Language and Combination among Baboons. Monkeys and the Charge through the Mud. Di- 
 vision of Labor between Dogs. Mutual Arrangements between a Dog and a Cat. Rook Parliament 
 seen by a Lady in England. Ditto by a Gentleman iu India Ditto by a Gentleman in Cornwall. A Thrush 
 Parliament Discussing the Fruit Question. Martins Sitting in Judgment on a Sparrow, and Killing 
 Him. "Beau" and his Rescuer. A Quarrel and a Peacemaker. The Goose, the Ducklings, and the Hen. 
 
 THE possession of ideas, whether they be right 
 or wrong, infers more or less reason in those be- 
 ings who possess them. Those ideas would be ab- 
 solutely unknown without some means of trans- 
 mitting them, and such means we call by the 
 name of Language. 
 
 There are several kinds and degrees of lan- 
 guage known to ourselves. First comes the 
 spoken language, in which ideas are clothed in 
 certain definitely regulated sounds. Then there 
 is the written language, in which those sounds 
 are reduced to form, and are heard with the eye 
 instead of the ear. 
 
 Then there is the language of gesture, which 
 is little employed among ourselves, but in some 
 parts of the earth forms a necessary concomitant 
 to the spoken language, or can be substituted for 
 it. The Bosjesmans of Southern Africa, for ex- 
 ample, are unable to converse with freedom when 
 in the dark, the visible gestures being needed to 
 supplement the audible words. This necessity 
 is so great that if they wish to talk in a dark 
 night they are obliged to light a fire. 
 
 Among the North American Indian tribes the 
 language of gesture forms an important part of 
 every man's education. There are very many 
 of these tribes, and they all speak different dia- 
 lects, which in many cases vary so much that 
 they are practically different languages. 
 
 Were it not for some other means of commu- 
 nication besides spoken words, no one would be 
 able to converse with another who did not hap- 
 pen to belong to his own tribe. Gestures, how- 
 ever, take the place of words, and form a uni- 
 
 versal language. This sign - language is very 
 simple, is based upon definite principles, and is 
 easy of attainment. Captain Burton has writ- 
 ten an account of the sign-language, which ought 
 to be carefully read by all travelers. The lan- 
 guage as given by him is easily mastered, and by 
 its use, acquired in a few hours, an Englishman 
 would be capable of conversing with any of the 
 savage tribes of North American Indians with- 
 out understanding a single word of their spoken 
 language. 
 
 The English, in consequence of their physical 
 constitution, which their Continental neighbors 
 are pleased to call "phlegmatic," use gesture-lan- 
 guage less than almost any nation upon earth, 
 looking upon gesture in connection with language 
 much as they do upon ornament in connection 
 with objects of utility. Yet even they use it, 
 though sparingly, and almost unconsciously. 
 
 That its use is natural is shown by the un- 
 taught and graceful gesture-language of a child, 
 which is able to express its thoughts by gesture 
 long before it obtains the power of speech. I 
 knew a child who managed to express himself 
 so well by gesture that he did not trouble him- 
 self to speak a word until after he had completed 
 his third year. His mother was terribly dis- 
 tressed at his backwardness ; but after he found 
 the use of his tongue he more than compensated 
 for his previous silence, and I fancy that his 
 mother would occasionally have preferred an in- 
 terval of the gesture-language which had been 
 so distasteful to her. 
 
 In maturer years this silent language survives. 
 
40 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 To take a few familiar examples : The uplifted 
 finger expresses the idea of warning as plainly as 
 if the word had been used. If one person tell 
 another a tale, and his narrative be received with 
 
 of personages and all kinds of emotions, as long 
 as the gestures can be represented. An old, 
 gray -headed, long -bearded man, with his hair 
 tossing in the wind and his hands wildlv clinch- 
 
 an almost imperceptible shrug of the shoulder, ed, represents grief and madness, as personated 
 
 incredulity is expressed as clearly and as offens- 
 ively as if the lie had been given in words. 
 Similarly, the upraised eyebrows express won- 
 der, but at the same time imply belief. 
 
 To shake the closed fist expresses menace, 
 and indeed such a gesture is actionable at law. 
 To present the palms of the hands toward an 
 
 in Lear. The same individual, with face up- 
 raised and a harp on his knee, will be adoration, 
 personified by David. Let him shut his eyes 
 and hold out his hands, and he represents digni- 
 fied penury in the person of Belisarius. The 
 same rule holds good with sculptors. Man real- 
 ly could not go through existence without a gest- 
 
 object expresses rejection, while the open arms ' ure- language, and that language, as we 
 
 equally express acceptance. There are some 
 ladies who are addicted to the feminine vice of 
 tossing their heads when they meet with any 
 thing which does not happen to suit them at the 
 moment. It is really wonderful to see how 
 much they enjoy it, and how they think them- 
 selves to have elevated their dignity together 
 with their noses above the ordinary level of hu- 
 manity. Their idea is a ludicrously false one, 
 but they certainly express it by their gesture. 
 Again, words can not express contempt more 
 
 presently see, is the common property of himself 
 and the lower animals. 
 
 Even among ourselves there is a recognized 
 language of signs, namely, that by which we can 
 exchange ideas with the deaf and dumb. It has 
 been reduced to a form almost as definite as the 
 written or spoken language ; and it is worthy of 
 notice that very many of the signs are identical 
 with those in use among the Indian tribes. Thus 
 a deaf-and-dumb man who had learned the sign- 
 language would be able to converse with the 
 
 forcibly than the action of snapping the fingers i Indian tribes ; while a man who was in posses- 
 or turning the back ; nor can words be more ex- sion of his powers of speech and hearing could 
 pressive of veneration than the act of bending ! neither understand them nor make himself in- 
 the knee. Words are not needed to express de- j telligible to them if he were ignorant of this sim- 
 votion when the clasped hands and uplifted eye ' pie code of signs. I have seen evidence taken 
 are seen ; while remorse is shown by the cower- in a court of law by means of the sign-language, 
 ing form crouching to the earth as if crushed by j and such evidence was accepted as if it had been 
 the weight of guilt, and conscious innocence by \ spoken or written, 
 the erect body and uplifted head. 
 
 Not to multiply further examples which will 
 strike any one who takes the trouble to think on 
 the subject, it is evident that ideas can be con- 
 
 Lastly, there is the language of the eye, by 
 which ideas are interchanged without the neces- 
 sity of words or gestures. It is essentially the 
 veyed by gestures without the use of words, and ! language of idea, and by it spirit speaks directly 
 that any mode of transmitting ideas is a form of to spirit, conveying by a single glance of the eye 
 
 language. 
 
 The gesture-language is that which is chiefly 
 used by the lower animals when they wish to 
 convey their ideas to man, and, in its way, it is 
 as perfect a language as that which was em- 
 ployed by the child above mentioned, who did 
 
 thoughts which whole volumes would fail to ex- 
 press. 
 
 There is none so obtuse that he can not un- 
 derstand the fiery glare of anger, the soft, beam- 
 ing glance of love, or the dull, purposeless stare 
 of hopeless sorrow. When the mother contem- 
 
 not choose to take the trouble of speaking when ! plates her infant,her entire soul is poured through 
 he could make himself understood by gesture ; ! her eyes, and no language is adequate to express 
 and, whether these gestures be used by man, j the boundless love which is manifested by the 
 child, or beast, they are intended for the trans- eye alone. 
 
 The look of appeal is sufficiently recognizable 
 
 mission of ideas, which are the result of reason, 
 and not of instinct. 
 
 Painters would be in a very bad way if they 
 were not aided by the natural language of gest- 
 ure. They can not paint ideas, but they can 
 paint the gestures which are expressive of ideas, 
 and so can make themselves as well understood 
 as if they had made use of the written language. 
 Indeed, the same model does duty for all kinds 
 
 to be expressed by the painter's art, an admi- 
 rable and familiar example of which is seen in the 
 two faces in Millais's " Huguenots." Solemn 
 question and equally solemn response can be giv- 
 en in a moment, and without the use of word or 
 sign; and there are those who have known a 
 single glance given and returned change the 
 whole course of two lives. 
 
LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS. 
 
 41 
 
 If animals possess reason in common with 
 man, it is evident that they must be able to in- 
 terchange thoughts with each other and with 
 man, when brought in contact "with him. They 
 must possess a language of some sort, by means 
 of which they can understand each other, can 
 comprehend human language, and render them- 
 selves intelligible to man. All these conditions 
 are fulfilled in the lower animals, and the infer- 
 ence to be drawn from them is self-evident. 
 
 There is one distinction between the capability 
 of understanding their own language and that of 
 man, namely, that they are born with the one 
 and have to learn the other. Newly hatched 
 chickens, for example, understand their mother 
 perfectly well, though they have only entered the 
 world an hour or so ago ; they know what she 
 means when she calls them to find what she has 
 scratched up for them, and they know what to 
 do when she gives them warning of danger. 
 They, again, are able to talk to their mother, 
 and even the most incurious must have noticed 
 how different are their tones under various cir- 
 cumstancessay, for example, the little piping 
 notes of content when all is going on well, and 
 the cry of alarm when they have lost their way 
 or are otherwise frightened. 
 
 Looking at the nervous system of insects, in 
 whom there is no definite brain, but merely a 
 succession of ganglia united by a double nerv- 
 ous cord, many physiologists have thought that 
 reason could not be one of the attributes of the 
 insect race. Yet nothing is more certain than 
 that they are able to converse with each other 
 and communicate ideas, this fact showing that 
 they must possess reason. As far as we know, 
 the hymenopterous insects namely, the bees, 
 wasps, and ants are the best linguists of the in- 
 sect race, their language being chiefly conducted 
 by means of their antenna?. A good example of 
 this was witnessed by me in the summer of 1 872. 
 
 At breakfast-time some pieces of the white of 
 an egg were left on a plate. A wasp came in at 
 the window, and, after flying about for a while, 
 alighted on the plate, went to the piece of egg, 
 and tried to carry it off. Wishing to see what 
 the insect would do, I would not allow it to be 
 disturbed. After several unavailing attempts 
 to lift the piece of egg, the wasp left it and 
 flew out of the window. Presently two wasps 
 came in, flew direct to the plate, picked up the 
 piece of egg, and in some way or other contrived 
 to get it out of the window. These were evi- 
 dently the first wasp and a companion whom it 
 had brought to help it. 
 
 I had a kind of suspicion that when the wasps 
 
 reached their home they would tell their com- 
 panions of their good fortune, and so I put some 
 more egg on the plate and waited. In a very 
 short time wasp after wasp came in, went to the 
 plate without hesitation, and carried off a piece 
 of egg. The stream of wasps was so regular that 
 I was able to trace them to their nest, which was 
 in a lane about half a mile from my house. 
 
 The. insect had evidently reasoned with itself 
 that, although the piece of egg was too heavy for 
 one wasp, it might be carried by two ; so it went 
 off to find a companion, told it the state of 
 things, and induced it to help it in carrying off 
 the coveted morsel. Then the two had evident- 
 ly told the other inhabitants of the nest that 
 there was a supply of new and dainty food with- 
 in reach, and had acted as guides to the locality. 
 Here is positive proof that these insects possess 
 a very definite language of their own, for it is 
 impossible that human beings could have acted 
 in a more rational manner. 
 
 Every one knows that wasps carry out one of 
 the first principles of the military art by always 
 having the gate of their fortress guarded by a 
 sentinel. Should there be danger, the sentinel 
 gives the alarm, and out dash all the inhabitants 
 at the offender indicated by the sentinel. 
 
 It is clear that, out of the many hundred 
 wasps which form a full-sized nest, the individ- 
 ual who is to act as sentinel must be selected, 
 and its task appointed. We do not know how 
 the selection is made, but that such is the case 
 is evident ; for the rest of the wasps acknowl- 
 edge their sentinel, trust to it for guarding the 
 approaches of the nest, while they go about their 
 usual task of collecting food for the young and 
 new material for the nest. 
 
 As for the ants, some of their performances 
 are absolutely startling, so closely do they resem- 
 ble the customs of human civilization. 
 
 They have armies commanded by officers, who 
 issue their orders, insist upon obedience, and on 
 the march will not permit any of the privates to 
 stray from the ranks. There are some ants 
 which till the ground, weed it, plant the partic- 
 ular grain on which they feed, cut it when ripe, 
 and store it away in their subterranean granaries. 
 There are ants which are as arrant slaveholders 
 as any people on earth ever were. They make 
 systematic raids on the nests of other ants, carry 
 off the yet unhatched cocoons, and rear them 
 in their own nests to be their servants. 
 
 There are ants which bury their dead a fact 
 which was discovered by accident. 
 
 A lady had been obliged to kill some ants, the 
 bodies of which lay about on the ground. Pres- 
 
42 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 ently a single ant found its dead companions, and 
 examined them and went off. Presently it re- 
 turned with a number of others, and proceeded 
 to the dead bodies. Four ants went to each 
 corpse, two lifting it and the other two following 
 the main body, some two hundred in number, 
 following behind. The four bearers took their 
 office in turns, one pair relieving the other when 
 they were tired. They went straight to a sandy 
 hillock, and there the bearers put down their bur- 
 dens, and the others immediately began to dig 
 holes. A dead ant was then placed in each grave 
 and the soil filled in. The most curious part of 
 the proceedings was that some six or seven ants 
 refused to assist in grave-digging. Upon which the 
 rest set on them, killed them, dug one large hole, 
 and tumbled them unceremoniously into it. 
 
 In Froebel's work on South America there is 
 a good account of the proceedings of some ants : 
 
 "I had several opportunities of observing the 
 manners of several kinds of ants living in the 
 houses. All of them are very inoffensive and 
 even useful creatures. On one occasion I wit- 
 nessed a remarkable instance of the concerted 
 and organized action of a crowd of them. They 
 were of a minute species, but, hy the wonderful 
 order and speediness with which they worked to- 
 gether, and which it would have been difficult to 
 realize with men, they succeeded in performing 
 a task apparently quite beyond their capability. 
 
 " They carried a dead scorpion, of full-grown 
 size, up the wall of our room, from the floor to 
 the ceiling, and thence along the under surface 
 of a beam to a considerable distance, when at 
 last they brought it safely into their nest in the 
 interior of the wood. During the latter part of 
 this achievement they had to bear the whole 
 weight of the scorpion, together with their own, 
 in their inverted position, and in this way to 
 move along the beam. 
 
 " The order was so perfect that not the slightest 
 deviation from an absolute symmetry and equal- 
 ity of distances and arrangement was observable 
 in the manner of taking hold of the body of the 
 scorpion, and in the movement of the little army 
 of workmen. No corps of engineers could be 
 drilled to a more absolute perfection in the per- 
 formance of a mechanical task. According to a 
 rough calculation, there must have been from five 
 to six hundred of these intelligent little creatures 
 at work. Besides those engaged in the trans- 
 port, none were seen. A single one was sitting on 
 the sting at the end of the scorpion's tail, as if 
 placed there to overlook and direct the whole 
 movements; all the rest were, without exception, 
 at work. The operation may have lasted about 
 an hour." 
 
 This scene is an exact reproduction, in the in- 
 sect world, of the manner in which the ancient 
 Egyptians and Assyrians conveyed their colossal 
 statues to their places. There we see hundreds of 
 men all dragging at the multitudinous ropes at- 
 tached to the car on which the statue lay, and all 
 pulling in time to the gestures of a single man 
 placed on the top of the statue. The ants, how- 
 ever, had a still more difficult task than the men ; 
 for they possessed no carriage on which to lay the 
 scorpion, and were obliged to sustain the whole 
 of its weight as they passed over the ceiling. 
 
 In the same work, Froebel has narrated an- 
 other example of the manner in which ants can 
 combine, and make themselves intelligible to their 
 fellow-insects : 
 
 "Another time I witnessed the transmigration 
 of a whole state or commonwealth of ants, from 
 a hole in the wall, across our veranda, into an- 
 other hole in the opposite wall. 
 
 " Two facts struck my attention in this case. 
 The first was, that the marching army of these 
 insects, all moving in one direction, consisted of 
 individuals of such a difference in size and shape, 
 that to consider them as belonging to one species 
 seemed very difficult, and the idea of a common- 
 wealth of different insect nationalities was strong- 
 ly suggested. 
 
 ' ' The second was, that some little beetles, of 
 the family of Coccinellid^ marched along with 
 the ants from one hole into the other ; not quite 
 of their own will, for I observed that several times 
 one of them tried to deviate from the line, but 
 was quickly brought back to the ranks by some 
 of the ants placing themselves at its side. The 
 fact of little beetles, of the very family just men- 
 tioned, existing in the nests of ants is well known ; 
 but it is of considerable interest to see the fact 
 repeated in distinct climates, with different spe- 
 cies of insects of both tribes, and under opposite 
 circumstances." 
 
 As to the different sizes of the ants, all entomol- 
 ogists know that, in the hotter parts of the world, 
 the males, females, soldiers, and workers of the 
 same species will vary in size from that of a wasp 
 to that of a common garden ant, and that the 
 shape and aspect are as different as their size. 
 The second point is a very curious one. It has 
 long been known that many beetles live in ants' 
 nests, but I believe that this is the only record 
 of the beetles accompanying the ants in their 
 migrations. 
 
 We will now proceed to some of the higher 
 animals. 
 
 The Scotch shepherds, who are brought into 
 constant companionship with their dogs, fully be- 
 
LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS. 
 
 43 
 
 lieve that the animals not only understand the 
 words of their masters, but have a language of 
 their own in which they can communicate ideas 
 to each other. So certain are they of this that 
 a shepherd is quite as fastidious about his dog's 
 companions as he would be about those of his 
 own children. 
 
 It will be readily understood that in the great 
 sheep - feeding districts of Scotland there is no 
 doggish crime so unpardonable as sheep-killing. 
 As long as a dog can be kept from strange com- 
 panions there is no great danger, as a collie is 
 scarcely able to master the active and powerful 
 sheep of those parts sheep which, by reason of 
 their semi-wild life, are able to defend themselves 
 against foes to which a southern fold-bred sheep 
 would at once succumb. But evil communications 
 corrupt the manners of dogs as well as of men, and 
 there is the greatest danger of several collies unit- 
 ing in their attacks upon the sheep. 
 
 Some time ago a couple of shepherds met in a 
 market place, each, as a matter of course, accom- 
 panied by his dog, one of which had been suspect- 
 ed of sheep- worrying. After the manner of dogs, 
 the animals accosted each other, and soon as- 
 sumed so remarkable a demeanor in their con- 
 versation that their owners consulted together on 
 their own account, and agreed to set a watch 
 upon their dogs. On that very evening both 
 dogs started from their homes at the same hour, 
 joined each other, and set off after the sheep. 
 
 Here we have a direct example that dogs have 
 a sufficiency of language to convey ideas. The 
 old offender had invited the young and innocent 
 dog to go with him sheep-worrying, and had even 
 managed to tell him the time when he was to 
 start on his expedition. I have not been able 
 to ascertain whether audible sounds were em- 
 ployed by the dogs, but I believe that the lan- 
 guage, although perfectly understood by them- 
 selves and partly so by their masters, was entire- 
 ly one of look and gesture. 
 
 An event occurred near Leslie which corrob- 
 orates the story just told respecting dogs and 
 their power of understanding their own language. 
 
 A farmer had lost a considerable number of 
 sheep, and so he and his shepherd watched care- 
 fully throughout the night for the purpose of de- 
 tecting the dog which had worried the animals. 
 About the middle of the night they saw a troop 
 of seven dogs making at full speed for the field 
 where the sheep were kept. One dog was evi- 
 dently the leader, and there could be no doubt 
 that the animals, which belonged to different 
 owners, had pre-arranged their meeting, and even 
 settled the time at which they were to leave their 
 respective homes. This could only have been 
 
 done by means of some kind of language, which, 
 though it did not consist of words, was as intelli- 
 gible to them as human language is to mankind. 
 
 Two very remarkable instances of language and 
 combination are given by Colonel W. Campbell 
 in his " Indian Journal." The writer is perhaps 
 better known by his nom de plume, " The Old 
 Forest Ranger." ' He was at Eanee Bennore on 
 a hunting expedition : 
 
 " I witnessed this morning a curious instance 
 of wolfish generalship that interested me much, 
 and which, in my humble opinion, goes far to 
 prove that animals are endowed to a certain ex- 
 tent with reasoning faculties, and have means of 
 communicating their ideas to each other. 
 
 " I was as usual scanning the horizon with my 
 telescope at daybreak to see if any game was in 
 sight. I had discovered a small herd of antelopes 
 feeding in a field from which the crop had lately 
 been removed, and was about to take the glass 
 from my eye for the purpose of reconnoitring 
 the ground, when, in a remote quarter of the 
 field, concealed from the antelopes by a few in- 
 tervening bushes, I faintly discerned in the gray 
 twilight a pack of six wolves, seated on their hind 
 quarters like dogs, and apparently in deep con- 
 sultation. 
 
 " It appeared evident that, like myself, they 
 wanted venison, and had some design upon the 
 antelopes ; and, being anxious to witness the 
 mode of proceeding adopted by these four-legged 
 poachers, I determined to watch their motions' 
 I accordingly dismounted, leaving my horse in 
 charge of the sowar, and, creeping as near the 
 scene of action as I could, without being discov- 
 ered, concealed myself behind a bush. 
 
 " Having apparently decided on their plan of 
 attack, the wolves separated, one remaining sta- 
 tionary, and the other five creeping cautiously 
 around the edge of the field, like setters drawing 
 in a shy covey of birds. In this manner they 
 surrounded the unsuspecting herd, one wolf lying 
 down at each corner of the field, and the fifth 
 creeping silently toward the centre of it, where 
 he concealed himself in a deep furrow. 
 
 "The sixth wolf, which had not yet moved, 
 now started from his hiding-place and made a 
 dash at the antelopes. The graceful creatures, 
 confident in their matchless speed, tossed their 
 heads as if in disdain, and started off in a series 
 of flying bounds that soon left their pursuer far 
 behind. But no sooner did they approach the 
 edge of the field than one of the crouching wolves 
 started up, turned them, and chased them in a 
 contrary direction, while his panting accomplice 
 lay down in his place to secure wind for a fresh 
 
 
44 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 the bounding herd dashed across j 
 the plain, hoping to escape on the opposite side ; j 
 but here they were once more headed off by one 
 of the crafty savages, who took up the chase in ' 
 his turn, and coursed them till relieved by a fresh 
 hand from an opposite quarter. In this manner ; 
 the persecuted animals were driven from side to j 
 side and from corner to corner, a fresh assailant ' 
 heading them at every turn, till they appeared j 
 perfectly stupefied with fear, and, crowding to- 
 gether like frightened sheep, began to wheel 
 around in diminishing circles. 
 
 " All this time the wolf which lay concealed 
 in the furrow near the centre of the field had ] 
 never moved, and although the antelopes had 
 passed and repassed within a few feet of him, 
 and had, perhaps, even jumped over him, his 
 time for action had not yet arrived. It now be- 
 came evident that the unfortunate antelopes must 
 soon be tired out ; when it appeared probable 
 that the surrounding wolves would have made a 
 combined attack, and driven the terrified herd 
 toward the centre of the field, where the wolf 
 which had hitherto been lying in reserve would 
 have sprung up in the midst of them, and secured 
 at least one victim." 
 
 At this period of the proceeding the spectator 
 shot the nearest wolf, whereupon the other five 
 decamped and allowed the antelopes to escape. 
 
 Here we have reason and a power of combina- 
 tion for mutual action that would have done 
 credit to human beings. 
 
 The anecdote shows also that there is much 
 more detail in the language of animals than is 
 generally supposed. Each had its different post 
 assigned, so that the wolves must have possessed 
 some means of indicating that locality ; and each 
 undertook to play its own part in a scheme of no 
 small intricacy, so that their language must have 
 been capable of expressing abstract ideas. 
 
 Mr. Walter Elliot, also a mighty Indian hunter, 
 mentions in a foot-note to Colonel Campbell's ac- 
 count that he has witnessed similar instances of 
 combination on the part ofthe same animal. Once 
 he saw three gazelles chased by a single wolf. 
 They made for a " nullah, "or ravine, and plunged 
 into it. Presently two of the gazelles bounded 
 up the opposite bank of the nullah, but the third 
 gazelle and the wolf were missing. Going to the 
 nullah in order to discover what had become of 
 the animals, Mr. Elliot found the missing gazelle 
 in the jaws of three wolves. It was evident that 
 it had been decoyed into an ambush, two wolves 
 having hidden themselves in the nullah, and the 
 third driven the gazelles to the spot where his 
 accomplices were concealed, thus making up by 
 cunning for lack of speed. 
 
 I rather think that each species has its own 
 dialect, and that there is another language which 
 is common to all a sort of animal Ungva franca, 
 or "pigeon-English." For example, a cry of 
 warning, no matter from what bird or animal it 
 comes, is understood by them all, as is well known 
 to many a sportsman who has lost his only chance 
 of a shot by reason of an impertinent jay, crow, 
 or magpie which has spied him, and has given its 
 cry of alarm. 
 
 In Mansfield Parkyn's work on Abyssinia is a 
 remarkable account of language and the conse- 
 quent power of combination among the monkey 
 tribe : 
 
 " You may see them quarreling, making love, 
 mothers taking care of their children, combing 
 their hair, nursing and suckling them ; and the 
 passions jealousy, anger, love as fully and dis- 
 tinctly marked as in men. They have a language 
 as distinct to them as ours is ; and their women 
 are as noisy and fond of disputation as any fish- 
 fag in Billingsgate. 
 
 "The monkeys, especially the Cynocephali, 
 who are astonishingly clever fellows, have their 
 chiefs, whom they obey implicitly, and a regular 
 system of tactics in war, pillaging expeditions, 
 robbing corn-fields, etc. 
 
 " These monkey forays are managed with the 
 utmost regularity and precaution. A tribe, com- 
 ing down to feed from their village on the mount- 
 ain (usually a cleft in the face of some cliff), 
 brings with it all its members, male and female, 
 old and young. Some, the elders of the tribe, 
 distinguishable by the quantity of mane which 
 covers their shoulders like a lion's, take the lead, 
 passing cautiously over each precipice before they 
 descend, and climbing to the top of every rock 
 or stone which may afford them a better view of 
 the road before them. 
 
 " Others have their posts as scouts on the flanks 
 or rear ; and all fulfill their duties with the ut- 
 most vigilance, calling out at times, apparently 
 to keep order among the motley pack which forms 
 the main body, or to give notice of the approach 
 of any real or imagined danger. Their tones of 
 voice on those occasions are so distinctly varied 
 that a person much accustomed to watch their 
 movements will at length fancy and, perhaps, 
 with some truth that he can understand their 
 signals. 
 
 " The main body is composed of females, irir 
 experienced males, and young people ofthe tribe. 
 Those of the females who have small children 
 carry them on their back. Unlike the dignified 
 march of the leaders, the rabble go along in a 
 most disorderly manner, trotting on and chatter- 
 
LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS. 
 
 ing, without taking the least heed of any thing, 
 apparently confiding in the vigilance of their 
 scouts. 
 
 "Here a few of the youths linger behind to 
 pick the berries off some tree, but not long, for 
 the rear guard coming up forces them to regain 
 their places. There a matron pauses for a mo- 
 ment to suckle her offspring, and, not to lose 
 time, dresses its hair while it is taking its meal. 
 Another younger lady, probably excited by jeal- 
 ousy or by some sneering look or word, pulls an 
 ugly mouth at her neighbor, and then, uttering a 
 shrill squeal highly expressive of rage, vindictive- 
 ly snatches at her rival's leg or tail with her hand, 
 and gives her, perhaps, a bite in the hind- quar- 
 ters. This provokes a retort, and a most unlady- 
 like quarrel ensues, till a loud bark of command 
 from one of the chiefs calls them to order. A 
 single cry of alarm makes them all halt and re- 
 main on the qui vive, till another bark in a dif- 
 ferent tone reassures them, and they then pro- 
 ceed on their march. 
 
 "Arrived at the corn-fields, the scouts take 
 their positions on the eminences all around, while 
 the remainder of the tribe collect provisions with 
 the utmost expedition, filling their cheek-pouches 
 as full as they can hold, and then tucking the 
 heads of corn under their armpits. Now, unless 
 there be a partition of the collected spoil, how do 
 the scouts feed ? I have watched them several 
 times, and never observed them to quit for a mo- 
 ment their post of duty, until it was time for the 
 tribe to return, or till some indication of danger 
 induced them to take to flight. " 
 
 Here we have clear proof of the existence of 
 a definite language among beasts a language 
 so expressive that it could be understood by a 
 human listener. There are many birds which 
 act in almost exactly the same manner, a few 
 being posted as sentinels, while the rest devour 
 the crops in peace, knowing that warning will 
 be given if danger should threaten them. 
 
 The animal above mentioned is the Dogfaced 
 Baboon. Colonel Drayson, R.^A., has given a 
 similar account of another species, the Chacma, 
 of Southern Africa. 
 
 A ludicrous example of the possession of lan- 
 guage of the monkey tribe is given by Sir J. Bow- 
 ring in his admirable work on Siam. During a 
 journey one of his suite fired at a monkey, wish- 
 ing to secure the young one which she held in 
 her arms. He did not kill her, and the wounded 
 mother retreated into the jungle, carrying her 
 child with her. The rest must be told in Sir 
 John's own words : 
 
 "Five men immediately followed her ; but ere 
 
 they had been out of sight 
 them hurrying toward us, shouting ' Ling, ling, 
 ling, ling /' (t. e. , monkey). As I could see noth- 
 ing, I asked Mr. Hunter if they were after the 
 monkeys. 
 
 ' ' ' Oh, no, ' he replied ; ' the monkeys are after 
 them. 1 
 
 "And so they were, thousands upon thousands 
 of them coming down in the most unpleasant 
 manner. As the tide was out, there was a great 
 quantity of soft mud to cross before they could 
 gain the boat. Here the monkeys gained very 
 rapidly upon the men ; and when at length the 
 boat was reached, their savage pursuers were not 
 twenty yards behind them. 
 
 "The whole scene was ludicrous in the ex- 
 treme, and I really think that, if my life had 
 depended upon it, I could not have fired a shot. 
 To see the men making the most strenuous ex- 
 ertions to get through the deep mud, breathless 
 with their run and fright combined, and the army 
 of little wretches drawn up in line within twenty 
 yards of us, screaming and making use of the 
 most diabolical language, if we could only have 
 understood them. Besides, there was the feel- 
 ing that they had the right side of the question. 
 
 "One of the refugees, however, did not ap- 
 pear to take my view of the case. Smarting 
 under the disgrace and the bamboos against 
 which he ran in his retreat, he seized my gun 
 and fired both barrels on the exulting foe, who 
 immediately retired in great disorder, leaving 
 four dead upon the field. Many were the quar- 
 rels that arose from this affair among the men." 
 
 This incident shows clearly the existence of 
 language among the monkeys. Otherwise they 
 could not have unders-tood that one of their num- 
 ber had been injured by the hands of certain men, 
 and so quickly have organized a combined attack 
 upon their foes. 
 
 The following anecdotes have been sent to me 
 by a London physician, and forcibly illustrate the 
 faculty possessed by animals of communicating 
 ideas to each other. The first is an example of 
 dog language. 
 
 "While I was living in the country with a 
 friend, a most interesting incident was observed 
 in the history of the dog. 
 
 "My friend had several dogs, two of which 
 had a special attachment to, and an understand- 
 ing with, each other. The one was a Scotch ter- 
 rier, gentle and ready to fraternize with all hon- 
 est comers. The other was as large as a mast iff, 
 and looked like a compound between the mastiff 
 and the large rough stag-hound. He was fierce, 
 and required some acquaintance before you knew 
 
46 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 what faithfulness and kindness lay beneath his 
 rough and savage -looking exterior. The one 
 was gay and lively, the other stern and thought- 
 ful. 
 
 "These two dogs were often observed to go to 
 a certain point together, when the small one re- 
 mained behind at a corner of a large field, while 
 the mastiff took a round by the side of the field, 
 which ran up hill for nearly a mile, and led to a 
 wood on the left. Game abounded in those dis- 
 tricts, and the object of the dogs' arrangement 
 was soon seen. The terrier would start a hare, 
 and chase it up the hill toward the large wood at 
 the summit, where they arrived somewhat tired. 
 At this point the large dog, which was fresh and 
 had rested after his walk, darted after the ani- 
 mal, which he usually captured. They then ate 
 the hare between them, and returned home. This 
 course had been systematically carried on for 
 some time before it was fully understood." 
 
 The next anecdote shows that animals belong- 
 ing to different species, such as the dog and cat, 
 can communicate ideas to each other, and act in 
 concert. 
 
 "A relation of mine in Dumfriesshire had a 
 dog and a cat which were attached to each oth- 
 er in an extraordinary manner, and both were 
 great favorites in the household. The dog, how- 
 ever, was not intended to sleep in the house, 
 and was carefully put out every night ; but, 
 strange to say, he was always found in the 
 morning lying before the fire, with the cat by 
 his side. 
 
 " One evening the master of the dog heard a 
 sort of rap at a back-door leading to the kitchen, 
 and saw the sagacious cat spring up and strike 
 the latch, while the dog pushed open the door 
 and entered in triumph. This system must have 
 long been carried on, and when it was discover- 
 ed, I need not say how interested were the mem- 
 bers of the household in these intelligent and 
 really wonderful creatures." 
 
 Most persons have heard of the celebrated rook 
 parliaments, though very few have seen them. I 
 have an account written by a lady, who was at 
 the time in bad health, and was reclining among 
 some shawls behind a window-curtain, where even 
 the sharp-eyed rooks did not detect her. 
 
 The account much resembles those that have 
 already been given by other writers, but intro- 
 duces one additional circumstance. The rooks 
 (called crows by the spectator) assembled in a 
 circle, and in the middle was one bird looking 
 very downcast and wretched. Two more rooks 
 took their places at its side, and then a vast 
 
 amount of chattering went on. At last the two 
 birds, which seemed to act as accusers, pecked the 
 central bird and flew off. All the others then 
 set on the condemned bird, pecked it nearly to 
 pieces, and went away, leaving the mangled body 
 on the ground. 
 
 The lady who witnessed this remarkable scene 
 was much struck by the variety of tones em- 
 ployed by the birds, and their great expressive- 
 ness. 
 
 This account is corroborated by Major Norgate 
 in his "Notes on the Indian Crow," published 
 in the Zoologist, p. 9650 : 
 
 "The crow has meetings for some reason or 
 other ; these the natives call Punchayeti a sort 
 of court. 
 
 "I have several times seen these assemblies. 
 Four or five crows will alight upon an open 
 space, generally on green grass. Two or three 
 will begin cawing, and in a minute or two some 
 forty or fifty of them will come flying toward 
 the place by twos and threes from every quarter. 
 They then form a kind of ring around one crow, 
 which appears to have been an offender against 
 some of the rules of their society, and they re- 
 main still for some minutes, the culprit never ap- 
 pearing to attempt to escape. Then, all of a 
 sudden, five or six of them will attack the pris- 
 oner, pecking him, and striking him with their 
 wings. 
 
 "On one occasion I saw the crow left dead 
 on the spot, and on another the prisoner's wing 
 was broken ; but these courts, or whatever they 
 are, suddenly come to a termination by the too 
 near approach of a man or a dog. I saw one 
 meeting which lasted twenty minutes ; but no 
 punishment was inflicted on any of them, and no 
 noise was made. The whole assembly flew off 
 together : they were not disturbed at all, and 
 they were eating nothing, for it took place on a 
 bare plain. Of course, it must only be surmised 
 as to why these crows are punished by the oth- 
 ers ; perhaps some close observer may discover 
 the reason." 
 
 Here is casually noticed a rather important 
 fact, namely, that .these crow parliaments are 
 sufficiently common in India to have received a 
 name in the language of that country, and that 
 one individual saw several of them. I mention 
 this, because several accounts of crow parliaments 
 seen in this country have been received with con- 
 siderable incredulity. The reader will observe 
 that in all essential points the two narratives 
 agree. My own correspondent is of opinion that 
 the two birds which guarded the culprit were the 
 accusers, and that it was their duty to inflict the 
 
LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS. 
 
 47 
 
 first blow. There is a curious parallel here with 
 that portion of the Mosaic law which ordained 
 that in cases of capital punishment there must be 
 at least two witnesses, and that they must cast 
 the first stone at the convicted criminal. 
 
 An account of a similar act of justice is related 
 by Mr. J. Drew, in Hardwicke's Science Gossij> 
 for October, 1871. The event occurred at Nan- 
 sladron, in Cornwall. 
 
 "One summer afternoon my attention was 
 drawn to a vast assemblage of rooks on our 
 lawn. By the terrible vociferations they were 
 making, it was evident that something very unu- 
 sual was being enacted ; for, clamorous as these 
 birds are by nature, the noise and excitement of 
 this meeting it would be almost impossible to de- 
 scribe. 
 
 "After watching them for some time, it be- 
 came clear that they were in the act of carrying 
 out some preconcerted punishment upon a luck- 
 less offender of their own flock ; for on the ground 
 was a black object in the form of a rook, which 
 was evidently being pecked at, rolled over and 
 over, and so passed on from rank to rank of the 
 assembled multitude. That it was not a mere 
 pastime was evident from the ruthless way in 
 which feathers were pulled out and continuous 
 blows given. 
 
 " Having waited about ten minutes, we felt a 
 curiosity to know the effect of such chattering 
 ferocity upon the poor black object, and drew 
 near to pick it up. Of course the rooks flew 
 away with loud cawings as soon as we approach- 
 ed ; but, to our great astonishment, the prostrate 
 bird opened its eyes, spread its ragged wings, 
 and made, as it best could, for the nearest tree. 
 Whether, if we had not interfered, the punish- 
 ment would have been carried out usque ad mor- 
 tem I know not. But clearly it was a good case 
 to prove that the lower animals are governed by 
 the same principles of thought and action as we 
 are, each grade varying only in its mental and 
 moral qualities in proportion to the development 
 of the nervous system." 
 
 Here, as it will be noticed, the observer saw 
 the infliction of the punishment, but not the trial 
 which had evidently preceded it. Still he saw 
 enough to show that the birds must have possessed 
 the power of reasoning, and a language sufficient- 
 ly definite to enable them to unite in a common 
 object. 
 
 Other birds besides crows and rooks can as- 
 semble, hold council, and agree to act on the re- 
 sult of their deliberations. 
 
 One of my friends, then living near Manches- 
 
 ter, in the garden had a very fine mountain-ash 
 tree, which always produced a plentiful crop of 
 berries. Shortly before' the fruit ripened a great 
 number of thrushes got together at the end of 
 the garden, and were very noisy, chattering, and 
 evidently discussing some subject on which they 
 were not agreed. This went on for some time, 
 the assemblage and chattering continuing daily. 
 All this time the berries were ripening ; and one 
 morning an order appeared to be issued ; the 
 birds flew to the tree, and in a couple of hours 
 there was not a berry left upon it. This oc- 
 curred regularly during the three years in which 
 my friend occupied the house. 
 
 Last year a somewhat similar event took place 
 in the garden of one of my neighbors, who is a 
 great horticulturist, and very successful with fruit 
 as well as with flowers. There was a cherry-tree 
 bearing in that year a remarkably heavy crop of 
 fruit, which was carefully watched until it ripen- 
 ed. One evening the owner of the garden, see- 
 ing that the cherries had just reached the proper 
 stage for picking, ordered the gardener to gather 
 them on the following morning. But the birds 
 seemed to know as much about fruit as he did, 
 for when the gardener came with his basket the 
 crop of cherries had vanished, and nothing was 
 left except the stalks, each with the stone still 
 attached to it. 
 
 It was evident that in this case the birds must 
 have entered into some agreement on the sub- 
 ject, and must have arranged among themselves 
 not to meddle with the tree until the fruit was 
 quite ripe. The disappointed owner of the cher- 
 ry-tree stoutly avers that the birds overheard him 
 give the order to the gardener, and so anticipated 
 him ; but the former anecdote, showing the pow- 
 er of mutual arrangement among birds, explains 
 the latter. 
 
 An example of a somewhat similar mode of 
 action was related by Mr. G. B. Clarke, of Wo- 
 burn, to the Rev. F. O. Morris, and by him pub- 
 lished in the Naturalist:. 
 
 "In the summer of 1849 a pair of martins 
 built their nest in an archway at the stables of 
 Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire : and as soon as 
 they had completed building it, and had lined it, 
 a sparrow took possession of it, and although the 
 martins tried several times to eject him, they were 
 unsuccessful. But they, nothing daunted, flew 
 off to scour the neighborhood for help, and re- 
 turned in a short space of time with thirty or for- 
 ty martins, who dragged the unfortunate culprit 
 out, took him to the grass-plot opposite, called 
 'The Circle,' and there fell on him and killed 
 him." 
 
48 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 This story was told by Mr. Clarke to Mr. Mor- 
 ris a few days after its occurrence. It is useful 
 in this place as showing that birds are able to 
 communicate their thoughts to each other by 
 means of a language. Supposing that we had 
 heard the aggrieved martins talking to their 
 friends, we should have distinguished nothing but 
 a meaningless twitter. But, even with human 
 beings, especially those who are uneducated, the 
 sound of a strange language is scarcely more in- 
 telligible than the twittering of birds or the bleat- 
 ing of sheep ; and, indeed, the well-known term 
 of Barbarian i. e., those whose language is noth- 
 ing but "bar-bar" shows how the sound of an 
 unknown language affected even the well-edu- 
 cated and cultivated Athenians. 
 
 It is not likely that in the language of animals 
 there are any principles of construction such as 
 are possessed by all human languages. But the 
 same effect may be produced by different means, 
 and the reader will see that in this instance no 
 human language, however perfect its construction, 
 could have served its purpose better than did 
 the inarticulate language of the birds. They told 
 their friends that their dwelling was usurped by 
 an intruder too strong to be ejected by them ; 
 they asked for united assistance, and arranged 
 the course to be pursued. Had not this been 
 done, it is evident that the birds could not have 
 acted so perfectly in concert. 
 
 In fact, wherever animals of any kind form al- 
 liances and act simultaneously for one common 
 object, it is evident that language of some sort 
 must be employed. 
 
 Here is a case where one dog saw another in 
 difficulty, and went to give it advice. Finding 
 that its advice was not taken, it went again, and 
 forced the reluctant animal into action. 
 
 The dog, a little black-and-tan terrier named 
 "Beau," and his owner were at Penmaenmawr, 
 on the coast of North Wales. They were one 
 day on the sands, and were overtaken by the 
 tide, which cut them off from the shore by a belt 
 of water. A bathing-machine came up and took 
 off the dog's owner, Beau refusing to enter the 
 machine, of which he seemed to be suspicious. 
 The rest must be told in the writer's own words, 
 taken from the account in Old and New, for De- 
 cember, 1873 : 
 
 "When I found myself on the beach, I look- 
 ed for my dog, thinking that he would probably 
 come swimming after the machine. But no; 
 the little idiot was still on the island, yelping and 
 barking in great distress. I called to him for a 
 long time, bidding him swirn across, as I knew 
 that he could use his limbs almost as well in wa- 
 
 ter as on land. But the naughty animal would 
 .not come, and meanwhile the sea was gaining on 
 the sand, and Beau had scarcely space to stand 
 and whine. 
 
 "Playing near me on the beach was a large, 
 rough-haired, brave dog a sort of half-bred re- 
 triever, I should suppose. He perceived the fix 
 we were in, and suddenly dashed through the wa- 
 ter and went up to Beau, and said something to 
 him. I don't know what he said ; but I have no 
 doubt that he counseled Beau to swim across to 
 his mistress. Alas ! the kind, brave dog return- 
 ed to dry land, but no Beau. By this time the 
 sea had risen round my little terrier, and he was 
 himself like a tiny black-and-tan island. 
 
 "Now what did the brave dog do? For the 
 second time he dashed through the water and 
 stood beside the shivering, yelping creature ; then 
 he went behind Beau, and very gently but firmly 
 pushed, pushed, pushed him through the water 
 toward the place where I was standing. As 
 soon as they were both fairly in the deep sea, 
 and it seemed to be a case of sink or swim with 
 Master Beau, the wise, brave dog let him go, and 
 with a few vigorous strokes brought himself to 
 shore. Beau, having received such an impetus, 
 very soon presented himself dripping and breath- 
 less at my feet, amid the applause of the assem- 
 bled multitude. The brown dog, like a true hero, 
 made no fuss about what he had done, and I had 
 nothing to give him but a pat on the head. His 
 master was certainly not on the beach at the 
 time, and I do not think I ever saw the dog 
 again." 
 
 In the well-known Science Gossip there is a 
 very interesting paper by Mr. E. F. Elwin on the 
 habits of an ant called Myrmica ruginodis. As 
 is their manner, two of them had been fighting, 
 and one had succeeded in catching his opponent 
 by one of the antennae. Ants always try to do 
 this, as, if they succeed, the adversary succumbs 
 at once. In fact, with regard to ant combatants, 
 the result of seizing the antennas is precisely that 
 which is known among pugilists as "getting the 
 head into Chancery, "namely, rendering the op- 
 ponent helpless. 
 
 Another ant, coming up, seized the victim by 
 a leg, and tried to pull it away, but in vain, and 
 though a crowd assembled round the combatants, 
 they could not put an end to the fight. At last 
 a single ant ran up and stroked with his antennas 
 the victor, who at once released the prisoner, and 
 both the combatants and the spectators went qui- 
 etly away. 
 
 This is another example of an animal assisting 
 its fellow-creature, and doing so by means of its 
 
LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS. 
 
 49 
 
 own language, when force had proved unavail- 
 ing. 
 
 The following remarkable instance of the com- 
 munication of ideas among the lower animals is 
 narrated by the liev. C. Otway : 
 
 "At the flour -mills of Tubberakeena, near 
 Clonmel, while in the possession of the late Mr. 
 Newbold, there was a goose, which by some ac- 
 cident was left solitary, without mate or off- 
 spring, gander or goslings. Now it happened, 
 as is common, that the miller's wife had set a 
 number of duck eggs under a hen, which in due 
 time were incubated ; and, of course, the duck- 
 lings, as soon as they came forth, ran with natu- 
 ral instinct to the water, and the hen was in a 
 sad pucker her maternity urging her to follow 
 the brood, and her instinct disposing her to keep 
 on dry land. 
 
 "In the mean while up sailed the goose, and 
 with a noisy gabble, which certainly (being inter- 
 preted) meant, 'Leave them to my care,' she 
 swam up and down with the ducklings, and when 
 they were tired with their aquatic excursion she 
 consigned them to the care of the hen. 
 
 "The next morning, down came again the 
 ducklings to the pond, and there was the goose 
 waiting for them, and there stood the hen in her 
 great flusteration. On this occasion we are not at 
 all sure that the goose invited the hen, observing 
 her maternal trouble ; but it is a fact that she be- 
 ing near the shore, the hen jumped on her back, 
 and there sat, the ducklings swimming, and the 
 goose and hen after them, up and down the pond. 
 
 "This was not a solitary event ; day after day 
 the hen was seen on board the goose, attending 
 the ducklings up and down, in perfect contented- 
 ness and good-humor numbers of people coming 
 to witness the circumstance, which continued un- 
 til the ducklings, coming to days of discretion, re- 
 quired no longer the joint guardianship of the 
 goose and the hen." 
 
 D 
 
 On the evening of January 15, 1874, I re- 
 ceived a remarkable corroboration of the truth 
 of this story. I was narrating it to a lady, who 
 I found was perfectly acquainted with the facts. 
 She had heard the story told by a friend of hers, 
 who had witnessed the curious alliance between 
 the hen and the goose, and had not the least idea 
 that it had ever appeared in print. 
 
 There are one or two points about this narra- 
 tive which are deserving of notice. That language 
 was employed by the goose, the hen, and the 
 ducklings, is evident enough ; but it is a curious 
 question whether the ducklings understood the 
 hen better than the goose, or vice versa. I am 
 rather inclined to think that when a hen tries to 
 call from the water the ducklings which she has 
 hatched, she fails because she does not know how 
 to express herself. Her own chickens would nev- 
 er venture into the water, and she has no words 
 in her vocabulary to suit the occasion. 
 
 Ducklings understand a duck well enough ; 
 but when they are in the water they do not pay 
 the least attention to the hen on the land, though 
 she may flutter about in the greatest distress, and 
 use every means in her power to call her foster- 
 children to the shore. It seems, in this case, as 
 if the aquatic goose could talk to the aquatic 
 ducklings, both having the same expressions in 
 their vocabularies. It could take charge of them 
 as long as it thought proper, and, when the time 
 came, order them ashore, and deliver them over 
 to the hen. They did not obey, or did not un- 
 derstand the hen. when she called them to come 
 on shore ; but they both understood and obeyed 
 the goose. 
 
 That there was also a language common to 
 both parties is evident from the action adopted 
 by the hen. She could not have sat on the back 
 of the goose unless invited by the latter, which, 
 as we shall see in the course of the work, is a 
 bird possessed of great intellectual powers. 
 
50 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 LANGUAGE [HUMAN]. 
 
 Necessity for Communication of Ideas between Man and the Lower Animals. The Latter able to Make 
 Themselves Intelligible to Man. The Gander and the Goslings. The Skye Terrier and the Distressed 
 Kitten. Gesture-Language of Cats. Language of Intonation in Man and Animals. Gesture-Language 
 Employed by Animals as well as Man. Gesture-Language of the Rat. Capability of the Animals to Un- 
 derstand Human Language, even when not addressed to them. The Dray-horse and their Drivers. 
 "Turk," the French Dog. A Parrot Speaking Two Languages. Various Parrot Stories. The Mastiff 
 Overhearing the Midnight Conspiracy. The Retriever Understanding his Master and Anticipating Him. 
 "Rory" and "Banquo" Obeying various Orders. How to Teach Animals. " Ned " and the Rabbit. 
 "Carina's" Pitiful End. A Canine Umpire between a Farmer and his Shepherd. A Canine Connois- 
 seur in Wools "Sweep" and the Cows. Baldie Tait's Collie Dog "Hastie" and his Dog "Susy." 
 
 How the Collie Dog " Watch " Understood his Master and Helped Him out of a S( ripe. " Ben " Evading 
 
 an Overheard Order of his Master. "Help" Overhearing and Evading an Order for his Execution. 
 
 Another Dog Acting in a precisely Similar Manner. Dodge and Counter-dodge. " Bijou," the Spitz Dog, 
 Accepting a Reproof and Altering his Behavior. The Hon. Grantley Berkeley's Dogs, and their Com- 
 prehension of Human Language. "Missy" Understands the Doctor's Order, and Acts upon it. The 
 Cat "Rosy" Sent upon a Message to a Lady, and Delivering it Intelligibly. 
 
 THE next branch of the subject extends to man 
 as well as beast. "We have seen that the beasts 
 possess a language by which they can communi- 
 cate ideas to each other, and that they can act 
 upon the ideas so conveyed. We have now to 
 see whether they can convey their ideas to man, 
 and so bridge over the gulf between the higher 
 and the lower beings. Indeed, if there were no 
 means of communicating ideas between man and 
 animals, domestication would be impossible. 
 
 Every one who has possessed and cared for 
 pet animals must have observed that they can do 
 so. In many cases even their own language be- 
 comes intelligible to man. Just as a child that 
 can not pronounce words expresses its meaning 
 by intonation, so there is all the difference in the 
 world between the different modes of barking of 
 the same dog. There is the bark of joy or wel- 
 come, when the animal sees its master, or antic- 
 ipates a walk with him. Then there is the furi- 
 ous bark of anger, if the dog thinks that any one 
 is likely to injure himself or his roaster. And 
 there is the bark of terror, when the dog is sud- 
 denly frightened at something which it can not 
 understand. Supposing that its master could 
 not see the dog, but only heard it bark, he would 
 know perfectly well the ideas which were passing 
 through the animal's mind. 
 
 Take the cat. Every one who has kept cats 
 knows the difference between the mew of distress 
 and that of ordinary conversation, the purr of 
 
 pleasure the little gratified chuckle of content 
 when touched by friendly hands, and the low, 
 loving tones in which a mother-cat talks to her 
 kittens. It is the same with birds. A pet ca- 
 nary, for example, always knows how to call its 
 master, and when it sees him will give a glad chir- 
 rup of recognition quite distinct from its ordi- 
 nary call. 
 
 The bees and wasps have quite a different 
 sound in their wings when they are angry to 
 that which they emit when only at their ordinary 
 work. It is a distinct menace or challenge to a 
 supposed enemy, and any one who is conversant 
 with the ways of these insects understands it, 
 and makes the best of his way off. 
 
 These are examples of sound-language, while 
 the gesture -language is wonderfully extensive 
 and expressive. If a cat were to say in so 
 many words, "Please open the door for me," it 
 could not convey its ideas more intelligently than 
 it does by going to the door, giving a plaintive 
 mew to show that it wants help, and then pat- 
 ting the door. The dog, or, indeed, any animal 
 accustomed to live in the house, will act after a 
 similar fashion. 
 
 Here, then, we see that the lower animals can 
 form connected ideas, and can convey them to 
 man, so that the same ideas are passing at the 
 same instant through the minds of man and 
 beast, showing that they possess the same fac- 
 ulties, though of different extent. 
 
LANG UAGE HUMAN. 
 
 51 
 
 The following anecdote of a rat shows how 
 expressive and intelligible is the language of 
 gesture : A gentleman living in Kent had a 
 fancy for taming animals, and among others had 
 some rats, which were on the most friendly 
 terms, and used to run about him as he sat in 
 his room. One of his rats had a litter of young, 
 and, in order to insure their safety, they were 
 placed in a bird-cage and hung on a wall. 
 
 One night, after their master was asleep, he 
 was awakened by something patting his cheek, 
 and found it was one of his tame rats. He tried 
 to sleep again, but the animal would not allow 
 it, and was evidently disturbed about something. 
 As soon as he obtained a light, the rat went to 
 the door, and looked at him as if it expected him 
 to follow. Pie did so, and it led him down the 
 stairs into his room, and took him to the spot 
 where one of the young was lying, having fallen 
 from its cage. 
 
 Suppose that we substitute for the rat a deaf- 
 and-dumb man or woman, the action would have 
 been almost exactly the same, as would have 
 been the ideas that were so lucidly conveyed by 
 the language of gesture. The animal found that 
 it was unable to put back its fallen young one, 
 and must have calculated that its master was taller 
 and stronger than itself, and able to replace the 
 young rat. So it went in search of its master, 
 traced him to his bedroom, which it must have 
 done by the sense of smell, awoke him from his 
 sleep, and showed him where his assistance was 
 needed. 
 
 An anecdote of a somewhat similar charac- 
 ter will be related under another heading, the 
 actor being a dog instead of a rat. Indeed, 
 most of these anecdotes illustrate several charac- 
 teristics common to man and beast. I might 
 have placed this present anecdote under the 
 heading of Parental Love or Reasoning ; but as 
 it shows that, by means of their own language, 
 beasts can convey their thoughts to man, I have 
 placed it in its present position. 
 
 How completely animals can make themselves 
 understood by man, especially when they wish to 
 help each other by the aid of man, will be seen 
 in many of the anecdotes narrated in this work. 
 Here is a case where a gander managed to con- 
 vey ideas to human beings : 
 
 "I was once sitting at my window reading, 
 when a gander came up and stood at the window, 
 uttering the most discordant screams, and mak- 
 ing the strangest gestures with his head. I was 
 aware that he was a knowing bird, but was not 
 prepared for the sequel. 
 
 "As soon as my wife and I came out he 
 
 waddled away round the stables and out-houses 
 until he came to the mill-wheel. Then he 
 stopped, went forward a few paces, and kept look- 
 ing round at us. We could see nothing wrong ; 
 but in a short time we heard the plaintive voice 
 of some young goslings which had fallen through 
 the mill-lade, which had been left open. 
 
 " There was no possibility of rescue except hy 
 putting on sufficient water to wash them through 
 the conduit. I did so, ran to the. end, caught 
 them as they were washed out, and restored 
 them to their delighted parent. The gander 
 seemed overjoyed, as could be seen by his action 
 as he strutted off to a place of safety, conscious 
 that he had done great things. So he had." 
 
 As an example of gesture-language, nothing 
 could be more clear and intelligible than the 
 method employed by a Skye terrier belonging to 
 one of my correspondents. 
 
 He had formed a friendship with a kitten, and 
 the two were one day in the garden. Presently 
 the kitten wished to go into the house, and find- 
 ing the door shut, tried to call the attention of 
 the servants by mewing under the window. She 
 could not succeed in making them hear, where- 
 upon her friend, the Skye terrier, picked her up 
 gently in his mouth, held her in front of the win- 
 dow and shook her backward and forward so as 
 to be seen by the servants. They understood 
 what the animal meant, let the kitten into the 
 house, and ever afterward the dog employed the 
 same expedient. It is exactly that which would 
 have occurred to a human being under similar 
 circumstances. 
 
 On account of the exigencies of space, I am 
 obliged to omit many anecdotes which show the 
 power of gesture-language in the lower animals. 
 I must, however, mention one or two more. I 
 have at the present time a cat which is not as 
 companionable as I like to see a cat, heing rather 
 of a retiring and self-seeking disposition. 
 
 Nevertheless, she is quite aware of the fact 
 that I can understand her language, and always 
 comes to me in any difficulty. She is rather 
 given to straying, I fear, in some poaching raids 
 upon a neighboring rabbit-warren, and conse- 
 quently finds herself locked out of the house. 
 When this is the case, she jumps on the sill of 
 the window, raises herself on her hind legs, so as 
 to peer above the dead-glass blind, looks at me, 
 and sets up a most piteous mew, or rather howl. 
 No sooner do I rise than she jumps down, and 
 before I can reach the door she is already there, 
 purring and rubbing herself against it in anxious 
 expectation. 
 
MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 She comes iu very slowly, gives a passing greet- 
 ing, and then goes off to the kitchen, where she 
 lias two children, who are quite as big as her- 
 self, and all three coil themselves up into an in- 
 definite heap of black and white fur, in which a 
 head, a tail, or a leg occasionally shows itself 
 without any particular reference to any individual 
 animal. 
 
 A correspondent has furnished me with a very 
 similar account of her own cat, "Daisy." In 
 almost exactly the same manner the cat used to 
 make herself very conspicuous at the window. 
 Her mistress would then point toward the door. 
 The cat, having made her own gesture-language 
 intelligible, understood that of her mistress, and 
 went to the door in certain expectation that it 
 would be opened for her. 
 
 Examples of animals making their language 
 intelligible to man could be multiplied ad infini- 
 tum, and I therefore pass to the next division of 
 the subject, namely, the capability possessed by 
 the lower animals of understanding the language 
 of man. 
 
 That many of the lower animals understand 
 something of human language is a familiar fact. 
 All the domesticated animals, especially the dog 
 and the horse, can comprehend an order that is 
 given to them, though, perhaps, they may not be 
 able to understand the precise words which are 
 used. Yet there are many occasions, it is evi- 
 dent, when the knowledge of human language 
 does extend to the signification of particular 
 words. 
 
 Some of my readers may remember the ele- 
 phantine dray-horses which were engaged to draw 
 the funeral car of the late Duke of Wellington. 
 When the time for starting arrived there was a 
 hitch in the proceedings, for the horses could not 
 be induced to move. At last some one hit upon 
 the reason, and brought a drayman, who said, 
 "Gee, there!" or words to that effect, on which 
 the animals started at once. These horses are 
 never beaten, are always treated with kindness, 
 and are directed entirely by voice, the long whip 
 being only used for ornament, or for gently strok- 
 ing the animals. 
 
 There is a French dog called "Turk" near 
 my house, who was in a very uneasy state of 
 mind for some time after he came to England. 
 He did not know English, and was as puzzled as 
 if he had been a human being under similar cir- 
 cumstances. If addressed in French, he seemed 
 quite delighted and at his ease; but it was not 
 for some time that he learned English sufficiently 
 to be comfortable. 
 
 There was a parrot, well known to our family, 
 which was able to speak in two languages, and, 
 when addressed, always replied in the language 
 used by her interlocutor, speaking English or 
 Portuguese, as the case might be. 
 
 I never yet met with any owners of pet talking 
 parrots who had not come to the conclusion that 
 the birds not only imitate human language, but 
 that they understand the signification of the words 
 which they utter, and use them accordingly. I 
 personally knew two parrots who, if the servant 
 neglected to feed them at the proper hour of the 
 morning, would call her by name, and shout 
 loudly for breakfast. There was another parrot 
 a green one whom I did not know in life, 
 having only seen her preserved skin in a glass 
 case. She was a great favorite with the family, 
 being allowed to go at large over the house, and 
 in consequence was brought into much closer re- 
 lationship with human beings than is generally 
 the case with birds. 
 
 None of the family had the slightest doubt 
 that Polly was quite as well acquainted with the 
 meaning of the words which she spoke as any of 
 them could have been. Sometimes, before her 
 feeding-time, she would call out, "Cook! cook! 
 I want potato." She knew what potato was as 
 well as the cook did, and if any thing else was 
 put in the pan she would take the vessel in her 
 beak, throw out all the contents, and then cry, 
 * ' Won't have it ! turn it out ! " 
 
 Now she had never been taught either the 
 deed or the words. When she arrived in the 
 family she was new from her voyage, and could 
 only speak a sort of jabber, called by the sailors 
 "bush-talk," probably picked up from the na- 
 tives, together with a very few expressions, most 
 of which were of a nautical and decidedly objec- 
 tionable character. In all probability she had 
 noticed one of the servants use those words when 
 throwing something away which she disliked, and 
 had imitated her both in word and in gesture. 
 
 On another occasion one of the children, who 
 was then about seven or eight years of age, had 
 been reading about a mode of secret writing by 
 means of lemon-juice, and was fired with a de- 
 sire to try the experiment for herself. There 
 did not happen to be a lemon in the house, and 
 so she thought that she would try what vinegar 
 would do. One of my children, by the way, 
 took just the same idea a few months ago. 
 
 The only way to get at the vinegar was by in- 
 tercepting the cruets as they were brought out 
 from her parents' dinner. So she placed herself 
 in readiness in the kitchen, took the vinegar, and 
 was pouring it into a spoon, when she was inter- 
 
LANG UA GE HUMAN. 
 
 rupted by the parrot, who called out, "I'll tell 
 mother! Turn it out! turn it out! turn it 
 out!" Whereupon the conscience-stricken child 
 threw away the cruet and the spoon, and ran off 
 to the nursery as fast as she could. She had 
 the fullest belief that the parrot really would tell 
 her mother. 
 
 The few scraps of language which she had 
 learned on board ship were occasionally produced 
 just where they ought to have been omitted. 
 On one occasion the remarks were so singular- 
 ly inopportune" that one of the family offered a 
 remonstrance, saying, "Oh, Folly! Polly! who 
 could have taught you such language ?" Where- 
 upon the bird at once replied, " You did." It is 
 impossible, or, at all events, in the highest degree 
 improbable that the bird should not have under- 
 stood the language of its interlocutor as well as 
 herself. 
 
 Being in a family almost entirely composed 
 of girls, Polly had an objection to the opposite 
 sex, especially in the form of boys. On one 
 memorable occasion some boys had come on a 
 visit, and, after the manner of their kind, became 
 very uproarious. At last Polly could endure it 
 no longer, but called to one of the daughters of 
 the house, "Sarah! Sarah! here is a hullabal- 
 loo ! " Parrots, by the way, have a curious pre- 
 dilection for the name of Sarah, which seems es- 
 pecially easy for them to pronounce. 
 
 The same parrot always looked out for the 
 presence of the mistress of the house at the 
 breakfast-table. If she .did not come down be- 
 fore the meal was begun, Polly would begin to 
 inquire after her in a plaintive tone, "Where's 
 dear mother ? is not dear mother well ?" and so 
 on, evidently having heard and understood simi- 
 lar comments by members of the household. 
 
 A very similar circumstance is related of a 
 parrot by one of my correspondents. 
 
 It was an established custom in the house- 
 hold that at evening prayers the dog and the cat 
 were to accompany the servants. One evening 
 the dog made his appearance without his usual 
 companion ; whereupon the parrot called out, 
 "Where's Cattie?"this being the familiar name 
 by which the cat was called in the house. 
 
 Instinct is quite out of the question in any of 
 these cases. The bird had first used its reason- 
 ing powers, and had then communicated the re- 
 sult to human beings in their own language. 
 
 The following anecdote, related by the late 
 Rev. Caesar Otway, who produces vouchers for 
 the exact truth of the story, affords a remarkable 
 instance of the capability possessed by the lower 
 animals of understanding the language of man : 
 
 "A gentleman of property had a mastiff of 
 great size, very watchful, and altogether a fine, in- 
 telligent animal. Though often let out to range 
 about, he was in. general chained up during the day. 
 
 "On a certain day when he was let out he 
 was observed to attach himself particularly to 
 his master. When the servant came, as usual, 
 to fasten him up, he clung so determinedly to 
 his master's feet, showed such anger when they 
 attempted to force him away, and altogether was 
 so peculiar in his manner, that the gentleman 
 desired him to be left as he was. . 
 
 "With him the dog continued the whole day ; 
 and when night came on, still he stayed ; and on 
 going toward his bedroom, the dog resolutely, 
 and for the first time in his life, went up with 
 him, and, rushing into the room, took refuge un- 
 der the bed, whence neither blows nor caresses 
 could draw him. 
 
 "In the midst of the night a man burst into 
 the room, and, with dagger in hand, attempted 
 to stab the sleeper. But the dog started at the 
 robber's neck, fastened his fangs in him, and so 
 kept him down that his master had time to call 
 for assistance and secure the ruffian, who turned 
 out to be the coachman. He afterward confess- 
 ed that, seeing his master receive a large sum 
 of money, he and the groom conspired together 
 to rob and murder him, and that they plotted 
 the whole scheme leaning over the roof of the 
 dog's kennel." 
 
 The foregoing statement does not' assert that 
 the dog understood human language as complete- 
 ly as the men themselves did. But it is evident 
 that the animal did gather from the conversation 
 of the men that they intended to injure his mas- 
 ter. The narrator does not state whether the 
 conspirators mentioned any particular time for 
 the murder, which was probably left to opportu- 
 nity. The companionship of the dog during the 
 day (which the intending murderers knew) might 
 have prevented them from attacking their mas- 
 ter by daylight, while his presence at night 
 (which they did not know) effectually counter- 
 acted their plot. 
 
 Here is another anecdote, which shows that 
 an animal is capable of understanding human 
 language even although it be not addressed to it 
 personally. A gentleman who possessed a very 
 intelligent retriever dog was going from home 
 for some time, and arranged that the dog should 
 be sent to the house of a friend during his ab- 
 sence. On the day fixed for his departure the 
 dog went on his own account to the house, and 
 there'remained until his master's return. 
 
 When his master did come back the dog was 
 
54 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 overjoyed to see him, but became uneasy at the 
 long call which was being made. He evidently 
 took it into his head that his master was medi- 
 tating another absence, and every time that he 
 heard the hall door shut he rushed up-stairs to 
 make sure that his master was in the house. At 
 last, losing patience, he took his master's hat out 
 of the hall, and carried it up-stairs to him, as a 
 broad hint that he had better go home. 
 
 The following quaint anecdote is told by the 
 late Charles Dickens, and is given in Forster's 
 ' ' Biography. " It is evident from internal evidence 
 that the district was given to brick-making. The 
 story illustrates the capacity of the dog for un- 
 derstanding human language, and conveying 
 ideas to human beings : 
 
 "I must close (14th of May, 1867) with an 
 odd story of a Newfoundland dog an immense, 
 black, good-humored Newfoundland dog. 
 
 "He came from Oxford, and had lived all 
 his life at a brewery. Instructions were given 
 with him that, if he were let out every morning 
 alone, he would immediately find out the river, 
 regularly take a swim, and gravely come home 
 again. This he did with the greatest punctuali- 
 ty, but after a little while was observed to smell 
 of beer. She was so sure that he smelled of beer 
 that she resolved to watch him. 
 
 "Accordingly he was seen to come back from 
 his swim round the usual corner, and to go up a 
 flight of steps into a beer-shop. Being instantly 
 followed, the beer-shop keeper is seen to take 
 down a pot (pewter pot), and is heard to say, 
 
 " 'Well, old chap! Come for your beer, as 
 usual, have you ?' 
 
 " Up5n which he draws a pint and puts it 
 down, and the dog drinks it. 
 
 " Being required to explain how this comes to 
 pass, the man says : 
 
 " ' Yes, ma'am ; I know he's your dog, ma'am ; 
 but I didn't when he first come. He looked in, 
 ma'am, as a brick-maker might and then he 
 come in, as a brick-maker might and he wagged 
 his tail at the pots, and he give a sniff round, and 
 conveyed to me as he was used to beer. So I 
 drawed him a drop, and he drank it up. Next 
 mornin' he come agen by the clock, and I draw- 
 ed him a pint, and ever since he has took his 
 pint regular.'" 
 
 My own dog " Rory" perfectly understood 
 much of our conversation, and if told by any of 
 us to fetch the slippers, to shut the door, to wipe 
 his feet, or to put the cat down-stairs, he always 
 performed the right act, showing that he knew 
 the ideas represented by different words. 
 
 I know a dog, named "Banquo," who has 
 
 learned to wipe his feet on the mat when he goes 
 to a strange house ; but on no consideration can 
 he be induced to do so in his own house, where 
 he considers himself privileged to do as he likes. 
 Now my Rory acted in a very different manner, 
 for he always wiped his feet whether they re- 
 quired it or not, and would never think of enter- 
 ing a room until he had rubbed all his feet for 
 some little time. 
 
 In connection with this habit, I must mention 
 the case of a gigantic Newfoundland dog belong- 
 ing to a clergyman. -He had not learned to 
 wipe his feet, but he did know when they were 
 dirty, and acted accordingly. When he came in 
 with dirty feet, he crept into the hall gently, and 
 so up-stairs, taking care not to allow his foot- 
 steps to be heard. But when his feet were clean, 
 he would clatter up and down stairs, making al- 
 most as much noise as a pony. 
 
 The dog "Banquo," who has already been 
 mentioned, has a fine capacity for imitating a 
 lady in hysterics. When told to go into hys- 
 terics, he sits in his mistress's lap, howls, yelps, 
 flourishes his paws in a most fantastic manner, 
 and ends by flinging himself backward. But he 
 never performs this last feat without looking to 
 see that a protecting arm is ready to catch him 
 as he falls, thus adding to the truth of the repre- 
 sentation. I have often seen him go through 
 this performance, and a most ludicrous one it is. 
 
 The lady who possesses this animal, and who 
 has taught it many comical tricks, sends the fol- 
 lowing remarks on the training of dogs : 
 
 "Any one wishing to educate dogs should 
 commence by teaching them a few simple words 
 (not blows), with occasional rewards for pro- 
 ficiency in any accomplishment. Twilight, and 
 the dim but cheerful light of the winter fire, 
 seems a fitting time for a pause in the day's work 
 or the day's amusements, and then our little dog 
 Banquo thinks himself entitled to share in the 
 conversation. Last winter, having taught him 
 that his two fore paws are his hands, I showed 
 him how to warm them by sitting up and hold- 
 ing them outstretched to the fire. I remember 
 at a friend's house seeing three cats on three 
 footstools, in undisturbed possession of the din- 
 ing-room fire. Our dogs are never allowed thus 
 to monopolize either fire or hearth-rug, there- 
 fore the command ' Come and warm your hands ' 
 is generally most willingly obeyed." 
 
 The following anecdote is sent to me by a gen- 
 tleman living at Bassendean : 
 
 "I had a Bedlington terrier, called 'Ned,' a 
 very clever and intelligent dog. A few months 
 ago I was in the Bassendean bog, when Ned 
 
LANG UA GE HUMAN. 
 
 55 
 
 started a rabbit among some whins. The rab- 
 bit ran toward the dike, and escaped its pursuer 
 by getting into a hole in the dike. Two men 
 happened to be passing at the time, and, though 
 strangers to the dog, they helped him by pulling 
 away some stones at the place where the rabbit 
 had concealed itself. 
 
 "Ned immediately sprang into the hole, caught 
 the rabbit, and, after killing it, ran off with it to 
 me, a distance of three or four hundred yards. 
 I said to the dog, * Ned, you scoundrel, how dare 
 you take the rabbit from those men ?' The words 
 were scarcely out of my mouth when my dog 
 started off as fast as he could run, with the rab- 
 bit in his mouth, and laid it at the strangers' feet. 
 
 "Any dog may be trained to carry things to 
 his master, but this is the only instance I know 
 of where the dog took the thing to a stranger. 
 It certainly showed that he understood my words. 
 
 "When I am out in the fields, Ned is always 
 told to take care of my coat, in the pocket of 
 which I often have large sums of money. He 
 has sometimes been left in the field alone until 
 eight o'clock at night, and, although the field has 
 been full of laborers and Irish reapers, not one of 
 them has dared to touch the coat. The dog is 
 peculiarly mild and gentle in his temper, but he 
 will not permit any one to touch his master's 
 property." 
 
 The following pathetic little story is from the 
 same source : 
 
 "Mr. H had a beautiful little Blenheim 
 
 spaniel, called ' Carina.' About the beginning of 
 1873, while the family were from home, the gar- 
 dener slept in the house to take care of it. 
 
 "One night Carina, who had a family of 
 healthy puppies about a fortnight old, came to 
 the man's room, and scraped at the bedclothes 
 until he awoke. Without striking a light or ex- 
 amining the dog in any way, the man said, ' Ca- 
 rina, go back to your puppies,' and the dog accord- 
 ingly went away. In a short time she came 
 again, and awoke the man in the same way. She 
 again received the same order, and obeyed it 
 as before. In the morning, when the gardener 
 went to look at the dogs, the puppies were quite 
 well, and Carina was lying by their side quite 
 dead. Her puppies survived, and were brought 
 up on cow's milk." 
 
 It is evident that the poor little dog felt her 
 end approaching, and tried to make her last fare- 
 well before she died. That she was not under- 
 stood was not the fault of the dog, but of the man, 
 who was too dull or too sleepy to comprehend her 
 meaning, though she could understand him. 
 
 Here is an account of a dog which shows that 
 
 animals who live much with mankind manage to 
 learn more of human language than is generally 
 supposed. It was sent to me by a lady who 
 knew the dog, the collie named "Moss," who 
 has already been mentioned : 
 
 "His master and the shepherd were employed 
 in moving sheep from one part of the farm to an- 
 other. On reaching a certain point they fell into 
 a dispute about the number of the sheep, the 
 shepherd saying that they had the proper number, 
 while the farmer thought that there ought to bo 
 one more. Not being able to decide, they jok- 
 ingly appealed to Moss. The dog at once started 
 off, and presently returned, driving before him 
 the missing sheep, which he had brought from a 
 spot quite out of sight, and a considerable dis- 
 tance on the opposite side of a hill." 
 
 Collie dogs are noted for the manner in which 
 they can understand their masters' wishes ; and 
 the following anecdotes sent me by a Scotch 
 gentleman show that they not only comprehend 
 his general meaning, but the actual signification 
 of his words : 
 
 " For several years within the last half century 
 a deceased friend of mine was extensively en- 
 gaged in the wool trade, and was a considerable 
 buyer in Dumfriesshire. In one of these jour- 
 neys, and after a forty-mile drive in his gig, he 
 reached the house of a hill farmer in that coun- 
 try, arriving just at the close of the day. The 
 farmer told him that his samples of wool were 
 at some distance from the house, and that he 
 would submit them for inspection on the follow- 
 ing morning. My friend met with an hospitable 
 reception, and as the hours of evening glided on 
 the conversation turned on the management of 
 sheep and cattle, and especially on a fine breed 
 of shepherd dogs possessed by the farmer. 
 
 "Early in the morning all were astir, and the 
 farmer and his visitor left the house for the pur- 
 pose of examining the different kinds of wool. 
 But great was the astonishment of my friend 
 when they reached a level patch of ground be- 
 tween high hills where there was nothing to be 
 seen but a shepherd and two dogs, to be told that 
 this was the place for inspecting the wool. 
 
 " He was asked which kind of wool he would 
 look at first, and, having named the kind, the 
 shepherd called one of the dogs, and directed him 
 to turn the sheep upon one of the hills, and 
 bring them to him. The wise animal bounded 
 off, and in a very short time the sheep were seen 
 descending the hill by an easy pathway. The 
 wool was examined, and the sheep driven back 
 to the hill by another road. In the mean while 
 the second dog was sent to bring forward another 
 breed of sheep from a different place, and so on 
 
56 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 until all was finished, and without the least con- 
 fusion. This plan was followed by the worthy 
 farmer because he had not been able to find time 
 to clip his sheep." 
 
 J P , an elder in a Border congrega- 
 tion of the United Presbyterian Church, and a 
 very truthful and worthy man, lately informed me 
 that when he was a young lad he was at service 
 
 at B farm, in Berwickshire, and had charge 
 
 of the cattle. In the discharge of his duties he 
 was accompanied by a very intelligent collie dog, 
 called "Watch." 
 
 The farm is bounded on the west by the 
 river Whiteadder. Its stream is comparatively 
 trifling in dry weather ; but, owing to the drain- 
 age of the high lands on its banks, whenever 
 rain falls in any quantity hundreds of little rills 
 pour into the channel of the river, so that in a 
 very short time it overflows its banks. For the 
 same reason it diminishes rapidly when the rain 
 
 On one occasion, the day being stormy and 
 cold, he went into one of the cottages to warm 
 himself, and on coming out he observed that one 
 of the " kyloes " had strayed from the rest. On 
 looking about, he saw the missing animal grazing 
 among some cattle belonging to another farm on 
 the opposite side of the river. During his ab- 
 sence in the cottage a rain-storm had come on, 
 and the river had risen to a flood, so that he 
 found it impossible to cross it and bring back 
 the strayed beast. ? 
 
 Not knowing what to do, and without any ex- 
 pectation that he would be understood, he said 
 to the dog, { ' Watch, I canna gang through to 
 fetch the kyloe; ye'll hae to gang." The intel- 
 ligent animal immediately plunged into the rap- 
 id rolling water, and reached the opposite bank. 
 He went straight to the animal which belonged 
 to his master, paying no regard to the others 
 which were grazing with it, and brought the 
 beast safely across, both animals being obliged 
 to swim. 
 
 By so doing he helped his master out of a 
 scrape ; for the kyloe could not have strayed 
 if he had not neglected his duty by staying in 
 the hut long enough to allow the river to rise. 
 
 The same man, when engaged on another 
 farm, had a collie dog to help him. One day, 
 after the cattle had been driven into the sheds, 
 he found that he must remain for some time 
 longer in order to fodder them. He turned to 
 the dog and said, "I dinna need ye any mair to- 
 night, an' ye had better gang hame noo." The 
 dog perfectly understood him, and went home at 
 once. 
 
 " 'Ben,' a very fine collie, belongs to an ac- 
 quaintance of mine, a farmer. One day, as Ben's 
 master was preparing to go to a village at some 
 miles' distance, his wife asked whether he meant 
 to take Ben with him. He answered that he 
 should not do so, and told her to lock up the dog 
 until he came back. Ben, hearing this, slipped 
 out of the house unperceived ; and when his mas- 
 ter reached the village, he found Ben waiting for 
 him." 
 
 It is evident that in this case the dog must 
 not only have understood that he was not to go, 
 and that he would be locked up in order to keep 
 him at home, but that he must have known and 
 recognized the name of the village which his 
 master was about to visit. 
 
 " On one occasion when the farmer was going* 
 to Berwick by train from the village which has 
 just been mentioned, the faithful Ben had con- 
 trived to follow him, and sprang into the car- 
 riage just as the train moved off, so that he could 
 not be turned out. The dog attended him all 
 day until his master was about to leave. Time 
 was up, so that he could not wait for the dog, 
 but went off in the train to the station whence he 
 had started, and thence to his home. He had 
 only reached his house for a very short time, 
 when Ben presented himself, all covered with 
 mud, and quite flustered with fatigue, having 
 evidently run the whole distance, some thirteen 
 miles, at full speed. " 
 
 Reference will be made to this branch of the 
 subject unaer the title of "Love of Master." 
 
 A Scotch gentleman has kindly forwarded to 
 me the two accompanying stories, which illus- 
 trate the wonderful capacity enjoyed by many 
 dogs of understanding even the minutest of their 
 masters' language : 
 
 "A son-in-law of mine, an extensive sheep- 
 farmer in Berwickshire, Mr. G , of C , 
 
 had a collie dog, 'Sweep,' one of the very best 
 of his kind. When, on account of old age, he 
 became unfit for his ordinary work, he was used 
 for taking out and bringing in the cattle from 
 the parks. He generally lay before the kitchen 
 fire, and, when milking-time came, all that was 
 required was to say, 'Sweep, go for the cows,' 
 when he would at once get up and go for them, 
 bringing them up to the byre without any assist- 
 ance whatever. 
 
 "It sometimes happened that he would leave 
 a cow behind in the field ; but whenever he 
 was told so, he would again start off, pick out 
 the cow from among the young cattle, and take 
 her to the byre with the rest. I regret to say 
 that poor Sweep is dead. Without any premon- 
 
LANG UA OE HUMAN. 
 
 57 
 
 itory symptoms of illness, he was found lying 
 cold and stiff one morning in front of the shep- 
 herd's house. 
 
 "Some time about the beginning of the cent- 
 ury there lived on Clint's farm a man of the 
 name of ' Baldie Tait,' a noted sheep -stealer. 
 He had a collie as accomplished a thief as him- 
 self, and there are those still alive who have 
 known him to direct this dog to go to Heriot 
 Muir, a distance of several miles, to pick out the 
 best sheep he could get, take them to Hanging- 
 shaw, a wayside public-house on the high-road 
 to Edinburgh, and remain with them till Baldie 
 should come, when they were driven to Edin- 
 burgh and sold. 
 
 ".Baldie had become so notorious in his un- 
 lawful calling that a warrant was issued for his 
 apprehension. On the day on which he heard 
 of this he went to a sale of farm stock at a place 
 called Muircleuch, near Lauder. He as well as 
 his dog were well known ; and Baldie, knowing 
 how to improve the occasion, put up the dog to 
 be sold by auction, got ten pounds for it, and de- 
 camped at once not a minute too soon, for in a 
 short time the minions of the law were on his 
 track, but they were too late." 
 
 On receiving this account, I wrote to the nar- 
 rator, expressing my surprise that even so great a 
 rascal as Baldie should have parted with his dog. 
 I found, however, that selling the dog was a way 
 he had when he wanted money ; for, by some 
 means unknown, he always got the animal back 
 again. 
 
 One of my correspondents has favored me 
 with a brief history of a dog which understood 
 and obeyed the orders of its master : 
 
 "Not many years ago there lived in Edinburgh 
 a drunken, shiftless mole- catcher, of the name 
 of Hastie. Like most of his trade, he was very 
 fond of dogs, especially terriers ; and he had one 
 which he loved above all others, calling her his 
 'blessed Susie.' 
 
 "She often used to act the part popularly at- 
 tributed to the jackal, and provide her master 
 with food. When, as often happened, Hastie 
 was in straits for food, and had no money, he 
 would go past a butcher's-shop, point to a piece 
 of meat, and say quietly, 'Susie, I want that.' 
 He then went on his way, and in a few minutes 
 the meat was sure to be in his possession. 
 
 "Time wore on, and, as every thing mortal 
 must have an end, poor Susie became sick unto 
 death. The last I heard of the poor waif was, 
 that he was seen with the dying object of his af- 
 fection in his arms, hugging her and pressing her 
 to his heart. The man was weeping like a child, 
 
 and dreading the swiftly coming moment when 
 he and his beloved Susie were to be parted." 
 
 There really must have been a substratum of 
 good in this poor dissipated man, or he never 
 could have cherished or inspired so sincere a 
 love. 
 
 I have been rather uncertain as to the heading 
 under which the following anecdote ought to be 
 placed. As the reader will see, it illustrates rea- 
 soning and conscience, as well as the power of 
 understanding human language. The last-men- 
 tioned attribute, however, being very strongly 
 manifested, I have placed the story in its present 
 position. I give the story in the words of the 
 gentleman who kindly sent it to me: 
 
 "My grandfather, Mr. H , of Gilchrist- 
 
 cleugh, in Lanarkshire, possessed a watch-dog of 
 the name of ' Help,' who was usually kept chain- 
 ed up. For some time repeated losses had taken 
 place among the sheep, some of which were found 
 torn and mangled, but only partially, if at all, de- 
 voured. Every effort to trace the secret enemy 
 
 proved in vain. At last, while Mr. H was 
 
 walking one day on the banks of a little river 
 which flowed at the foot of the pasture hill, his 
 attention was attracted by seeing his dog, whom 
 he supposed to be safely chained near the house, 
 running down the hill. 
 
 "As the dog drew near, it was seen that his 
 mouth and fangs were covered with blood. My 
 grandfather concealed himself so that he might 
 watch unobserved what would follow. The dog 
 walked into the river, dipped his face in the wa- 
 ter, and shook his head backward and forward, 
 until he thought that all traces of his guilt were 
 removed. He then came out at the side next 
 the house, toward which he proceeded, his master 
 following at a little distance. The dog went to 
 his kennel, and, with the help of his paws, put on 
 his collar, which was lying with the chain on the 
 ground. 
 
 " My grandfather walked up to him and said, 
 'Help, my poor fellow, there is no help for you.' 
 He then went away, and gave the necessary or- 
 ders for the dog's execution. But when the serv- 
 ant came to lead him to his doom the collar 
 was once more empty, and ' Help' was never 
 more heard of in the county." 
 
 It is plain that the dog must have perfectly 
 understood the meaning, if not the exact words, 
 of his master's speech. 
 
 No reproaches had been used ; but he felt 
 himself detected, and understood that he would 
 have to suffer for his crime if he did not ab- 
 scond. 
 
 Another story of a very similar character was 
 
58 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 sent to me, but I have mislaid the MS., and can 
 not remember the name of the narrator. 
 
 A gentleman had an old dog, which was so 
 weighed down with the many infifmities of age 
 that his master thought that the kindest treat- 
 ment was a quick instead of a lingering death. 
 Accordingly, he asked a medical friend to bring 
 some poison. This he did, and, laying it on the 
 table, said, without mentioning the dog's name, 
 "That is the stuff which will do his business." 
 The dog was at the time in the room ; but soon 
 afterward his master noticed his absence, and in- 
 quired about him. No one had seen the dog, 
 and no one did see him again. In some myste- 
 rious way he had conjectured the object of the 
 visitor, and had withdrawn himself, probably to 
 die in some hidden spot, as is the way of all an- 
 imals when they feel that the thread of life is 
 being loosened. 
 
 Here I may observe that nothing would in- 
 duce me to poison a dog, or allow it to be poi- 
 soned, except by a competent person who would 
 administer a dose of prussic acid. Strychnine 
 and arsenic, which are the usual poisons employ- 
 ed for killing dogs, cause horrible agony before 
 death. Hanging and drowning are each objec- 
 tionable, as the life is extinguished by degrees 
 instead of suddenly, as ought to be the case. A 
 bullet or a charge of shot through the brain is by 
 far the most humane mode of destroying life, 
 as the great centre of feeling is instantaneously 
 crushed, and there is no time for even the slight- 
 est sense of pain. 
 
 In the story narrated below it is evident that 
 the dog perfectly understood the words of his mis- 
 tress, for he did violence to his own feelings, and 
 obeyed the wish which his mistress conveyed in 
 her rebuke. A thoughtless child, if reproved for 
 a similar action and behaving in the same man- 
 ner, would be held to have acted in a way that 
 became a being possessed of an immortal soul. 
 
 A lady, who is a thorough appreciator of ani- 
 mal character, writes to me as follows on this 
 subject : 
 
 "Dogs perfectly understand human language 
 when reference is made to them, even though the 
 words are not directed to the dog personally. 
 If my little dog ever heard me make a plan in 
 which he was to be left at home, while I was to 
 go somewhere without him, 'Nettle' invariably 
 set to work to counter-dodge me, and often got 
 his own way in consequence. It was impossible 
 to resist his queer, elfish determination. " 
 
 We knew a dog named "Bijou," a thorough- 
 
 bred Spitzberger. The house in which he lived 
 was one of a terrace with a veranda running 
 throughout its whole length, only separated by 
 a wooden railing at each house. This veranda 
 was Bijou's favorite resort; here he carried his 
 chicken bones, and here contemplated the pro- 
 ceedings of his neighbors. 
 
 " One day a half-starved dog spied one of his 
 bones lying about, carried it to the mat at the 
 door of the next house, and began eagerly to de- 
 vour it. Bijou saw the theft from the window, 
 sprang out with a threatening growl, carried oft' 
 the bone, and replaced it on his own mat. 
 
 "His mistress, who had been watching the 
 action of the dogs, said to him, ' Oh, you greedy 
 dog! You can eat no more, and that poor dog 
 is starving.' Bijou at once picked up the bone 
 of contention, carried it to his starving fellow, 
 laid it before him, and retired to his own house, 
 from the window of which he contemplated, with 
 a benign aspect, the disappearance of the bone." 
 
 The following letter, which was sent to me by 
 the Honorable Grantley F. Berkeley, illustrates 
 the individuality of character to be found in dogs, 
 the love which they bear toward their master, 
 and their knowledge of man's language : 
 
 "There was in my pet greyhound 'Brenda,' 
 there was in my dear lurcher 'Smoker, 'and 
 there is now in my dear lurcher 'Bar,' and in 
 my three setters ' Chance,' ' Quail,' and 'Quince,' 
 ^refinement of feeling and sagacity infinitely be- 
 yond that existing in multitudes of the human 
 race, whether inhabiting the deserts or the realms 
 of civilization. 
 
 "I can not better define it than by saying 
 that, if I give these dogs a hastily angered word 
 in my room, though they have never been beat- 
 en, they will, with an expression of the most de- 
 jected sorrow, go into a corner behind some 
 chair, sofa, or table, and lie there. Perhaps I 
 may have been guilty of a hasty rebuke to them 
 for jogging my table or elbow while I was writ- 
 ing, and then continued to write on. Some time 
 after, not having seen my companions lying on 
 the rug before the fire, I have remembered the 
 circumstance, and, in a tone of voice to which 
 they are used, I have said, ' There, you are for- 
 given.' In an instant, the greyhound Brenda 
 would fly into my lap and cover me with kisses, 
 her heart tumultuously beating. After she grew 
 old, her joy at my return home after a long ab- 
 sence has at times nearly killed her ; and when 
 I was away, the bed she loved best was one of 
 my old shooting-jackets, but never when I was 
 at home. 
 
 "Had I time, I could look up many an in- 
 
LANG UA GE HUMAN. 
 
 59 
 
 stance of soul, in some senses of the word ; but 
 I have not." 
 
 Here is another of a physician's reminiscences, 
 showing that dogs can exchange ideas with 
 human beings, and understand the language of 
 man: 
 
 "Having been much taken with the intelli- 
 gence, faithfulness, and beauty of a terrier be- 
 longing to a coachman whose family I attended, 
 I purchased three of her pups for myself and 
 two friends. 
 
 * ' Shortly after this the coachman and his 
 family moved to a new house, where they had no 
 friends. His wife was taken suddenly and seri- 
 ously ill, and could not stir from bed. The dog 
 lay constantly at her feet, and never moved till 
 the door was opened, when off she set in great 
 haste. She went to the house of the suffering 
 woman's parents, made a great and unwonted 
 noise, and often went to the door, even laying 
 hold of the woman's gown. 
 
 "The animal never rested until she followed 
 it, when it manifested every token of approba- 
 tion, as it looked around from time to time. It 
 went straight to her daughter's house, when the 
 real cause of the strange conduct of the dog was 
 understood. The dog resumed its place, and 
 scarcely left it for a moment until its mistress re- 
 covered. I then said, 'Now, "Missy," you may 
 come with me,' when she went all her round 
 with me, and returned home after dinner. This 
 was repeated several times. 
 
 "The dog seemed really to understand many 
 things you said, and even to forestall your 
 wishes." 
 
 In this interesting story we find in an animal 
 a singular aggregation of faculties which are held 
 in man to belong to the immortal, and not to the- 
 
 mortal part of his being. There is reason, i. e., 
 the deduction of a conclusion from premises. 
 There is the power of forming ideas and commu- 
 nicating them to man, and the capability of un- 
 derstanding man's language, and, as the writer 
 says, even of anticipating the wishes of her hu- 
 man friends. Lastly, there is the intense love 
 for her mistress, combined with the power of 
 self-sacrifice, which enabled her to keep her irk- 
 some watch by the sick-bed while her instinct 
 was urging her to take her accustomed exercise 
 in the open air. 
 
 The cat which is mentioned in the following 
 anecdote is the mother of Tiny, whose exploit 
 with a lobster has been previously narrated. The 
 
 writer is Lady E . The reader will see that 
 
 it illustrates two subjects : first, the fact that the 
 cat understood human language ; and next, that 
 she could make her message understood by a 
 human being. 
 
 "After my great loss, whenever I was left 
 alone in the room, * Rosy ' usually placed herself 
 on the table beside me, and watched my counte- 
 nance most earnestly. 
 
 "About this time, my sister, who was living 
 with me, had been some time in her room, and, 
 wishing her to come to me, I said, ' Rosy, go up- 
 stairs and tell Augusta that I want her.' The 
 cat immediately jumped from the table, ran up- 
 stairs to my sister's room, leaped upon the chest 
 of drawers by which she was standing, and, put- 
 ting her paw on Augusta's hand, mewed, then 
 hurried down-stairs, mewing and looking around. 
 This proceeding, Augusta could not mistake, was 
 intended to call her down-stairs ; so she follow- 
 ed, and asked if I wanted her, as Rosy had been 
 to call her. Rosy appeared delighted at being 
 understood, and purred with satisfaction." 
 
MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MEMORY. 
 
 Memory versus Materialism. Connection of the Brain with Memory. The Workman and his Tools. Mem- 
 ory in the Insects. The Tame Butterflies. Sir J. Lubbock's Tame Wasp. Bees and Wasps find their 
 Way by Memory, not by Instinct. Comparison with Human Beings under Similar Circumstances. 
 Memory the Means by which Animals, as well as Men, are Capable of being Taught Two Tame Moles; 
 which would Come when Called. A Partially Tamed Tiger-cat. Memory in the Water-hen and Cocka- 
 too. The Power of Memory among Poultry. Memory in the Ass." Donald," the Galloway, and his 
 Long-lost Friend. Memory of the Wolf. Karey versus "Cruiser." Memory in the Cat. "Fan," the 
 Blenheim Spaniel. 
 
 I SHOULD think that Memory must be rath- 
 er a hard nut for materialists to crack. What 
 is that which survives, though every particle of 
 the material brain has been repeatedly changed ? 
 What is that which more or less deeply receives 
 impressions and retains them through a long se- 
 ries of years ? And even when they seem to be 
 forgotten, they are often but hidden behind a 
 temporary veil, which at the touch of a passing 
 scent in the nostrils, a dimly heard sound strik- 
 ing upon the ear, the waving of a branch, or the 
 nodding of a flower, appealing to the eye, is in a 
 moment rent asunder, and scenes long forgotten 
 are reproduced before the memory as vividly as 
 though time had been annihilated. Nothing is 
 omitted ; but there comes a minute and instan- 
 taneous insight into every detail, that gives us 
 some faint idea of the omnipresence and omnis- 
 cience of the Creator, to whom space and time 
 are absolutely as nothing. For a moment we 
 escape from our fleshly tabernacle, and we see 
 and hear with our spiritual and not with our 
 material organs of sight and hearing. 
 
 As to ourselves, we expect that we shall retain 
 our memory, and cany it into the next world. 
 We expect to recognize in the spiritual world 
 those whom we have loved on this temporal 
 world. Memory, therefore, must be spiritual and 
 eternal; and wherever memory can be found, 
 there is an immortal spirit. Apart from Reve- 
 lation, which we have already considered, there 
 is no stronger evidence of a future life of man 
 than memory, and, in pure justice, if we apply 
 this proof to ourselves, we ought to apply it 
 wherever memory is found. 
 
 Some have said that memory is a mere ema- 
 nation from the brain, and have tried to prove 
 their point by asserting that which no one ever 
 denied, that an inferior brain is coupled with an 
 
 ! inferior intellect, that if the brain be injured by 
 : any cause all the powers of thought are weakened, 
 1 and that if it be seriously damaged all powers of 
 i thought are utterly in abeyance. 
 
 All this is true enough, but it affords no proof 
 
 , that thought is the creation of the brain. On 
 
 I the contrary, the brain is the organ or instru- 
 
 | ment of the thought -power, and stands to it in 
 
 ' the same relation that a tool does to a carpenter. 
 
 However good an artisan a carpenter may be, he 
 
 ! can not turn out good work with a blunt tool, nor 
 
 i any work at all with a broken one. So it is with 
 
 [ the brain : it is but the tool of the spirit, and, if 
 
 it be injured in any way. the keenest intellect 
 
 will be unable to work with it. 
 
 Moreover, memory exists in creatures which 
 have no brain at all. Take, for example, the 
 I insects, which have no real brain, but only a 
 succession of nervous ganglia running along the 
 body, and in many of them we shall find the fac- 
 ulty of memory very strongly developed. 
 
 Some ten years ago, I gave, in my " Glimpses 
 into Fetland," published by Messrs. Bell & Dal- 
 dy, an account of two butterflies which had been 
 i tamed by a lady. One of the very critical week- 
 , ly papers was good enough to treat the whole 
 ! story with scorn and derision, saying that I gave 
 it as from a lady, and thereby insinuating that 
 j the account was a willful imposition on the pub- 
 lic. The story had been told to me by the lady 
 in question, whom I have known for many years, 
 I and at my request she gave it in writing. 
 
 Here is the story, as published in " Petland :" 
 
 "Among the many pets that I have loved and 
 lost, few have endeared themselves more to me 
 than mv butterflies, two of which I once kept for 
 j the space of a year and a half. 
 
 "They came into my possession when in their 
 
MEMORY. 
 
 chrysalis state, and I, not knowing any thing of 
 entomology, shut them up for safety in a cabinet 
 having glass doors. The cabinet stood near a 
 small window in my bedroom. I was very un- 
 well that winter, and therefore a fire was kept up 
 in my room night and day. Therefore the room 
 was very warm, and I suppose that the little 
 butterflies were deceived thereby, and thought or 
 dreamed that summer smiled upon the earth ; 
 for, a few days after Christmas, to my astonish- 
 ment and delight, a little yellow butterfly was 
 seen fluttering feebly within the cabinet. 
 
 " My attention was first diverted to the cabinet 
 by the playful gambols of a pet pussy, who had 
 mounted on a chair, and stood upon its hind legs, 
 pawing at the little creature through the glass. 
 I soon sent pussy away, opened the cabinet, and 
 tried to induce the butterfly to alight on my hand. 
 But it was either dazzled and bewildered at find- 
 ing itself in its new and extended sphere of ex- 
 istence, or had already learned the fear of man ; 
 for at the approach of my hand it flew wildly 
 about, and finally settled down as if exhausted. 
 
 "I now became most anxious to feed the little 
 thing ; but how this was to be achieved I had not 
 the slightest idea, nor could any one in the house 
 advise or help me in this important matter. 
 Moreover, I was loudly ridiculed for the bare 
 idea of trying to tame and feed butterflies. 
 
 "However, I remember that the poets all agreed 
 in saying that butterflies sipped nectar from the 
 opening flowers, and therefore turned my atten- 
 tion to the manufacture of a substitute for nectar ; 
 so, having obtained some honey, which I diluted 
 with rose-water, I put one drop into the centre 
 of the open blossoms of a fairy rose, and placed 
 the little plant in the cabinet. I soon had the joy 
 of seeing the little thing flutter around the rose, 
 and finally settle upon it. 
 
 "Whether it really drank or not, I can not 
 say. I thought that it must have done so, as it 
 appeared to grow stronger and more lively every 
 day. I fed it in this manner for a fortnight ; 
 and by the end of that time it became so tame 
 that it would step off the flower or any thing else 
 'on which it might be standing, and appear quite 
 happy and at rest upon my hand. 
 
 "It also appeared to understand that I wished 
 it to come to me when I called it by the name of 
 ' Psyche,' that being the name which I had given 
 to the insect. 
 
 " About three weeks after the advent of 
 Psyche we were gladdened by the addition of 
 another butterfly to our establishment a pea- 
 cock. He was strong and vigorous from the 
 first, and flitted swiftly about, like a beam of 
 prismatic light. I used to fancy that they talked 
 
 to each other, as he at once fell int 
 
 and habits of the othe 
 
 Psyche, he too would come. I gave him another 
 
 name, but he never seemed to understand that it 
 
 belonged to him. 
 
 "They lived in this way until the earth had 
 donned her glowing summer robe of lilies and 
 roses, when I was told that their life-power could 
 only extend over a month or two, and that it was 
 cruel even to keep them as happy prisoners. I 
 was therefore induced to give them their liberty. 
 The cabinet was placed with open doors before 
 the window. 
 
 " It was many days before the butterflies vent- 
 ured to leave the window-sill, and this much to 
 my joy, for I thought that it might be affection 
 for me that held them back. However, one day, 
 with many bitter tears, I saw them depart and 
 join some wild companions ; but at night we 
 found them again in the cabinet. 
 
 "On the following morning they left us, and 
 came not back again until the cold and stormy 
 September weather set in. 
 
 "Yet, when in the garden, they would come 
 if I called them, and rest for a short time on my 
 hair or hands. At length, on a cold, windy day 
 in September, we saw them on the window-sill, 
 and, on our opening the window, they came in 
 and resumed possession of their old quarters, and 
 abode there for the winter. 
 
 "It is true they were but poor-looking objects 
 to what they were when they went forth. The 
 world seemed to have used them rather roughly, 
 for the sheen had gone from the rich wings of 
 the peacock butterfly, and the soft yellow bloom 
 from Psyche's plumage. Nevertheless they were 
 welcome guests ; and, though ragged and way- 
 worn, were not the less loved. 
 
 "We observed that during this winter they 
 slept more than they did formerly. They also 
 manifested pleasure when sung or talked to, and 
 were very fond of being waved about and danced 
 up and down in the air, while they would sit upon 
 the hand quite calmly. I think that the move- 
 ment must have reminded them of the nodding 
 flowers and fresh breezes of their summer life. 
 
 "The sun and earth ran their appointed course 
 until they brought us to another bright June, and 
 again I bestowed the boon of freedom on our fairy 
 pets, who went forth gayly ; but, alas ! never to 
 return. One day, after a heavy thunder-storm, 
 we found the inanimate form of a yellow butterfly 
 upon the window-sill. I took it up lovingly, and 
 did my best to revive it ; for I believed it to be 
 the material form of my own beautiful Psyche, 
 who had sought refuge from the storm, but found 
 the window closed. (Jf this I can not be sure, 
 
MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 for all our efforts to restore her were in vain. 
 The wondrous essence that had given it life, 
 beauty, motion, affection, and memory had re- 
 turned to the hand of its mighty Creator ; and 
 with him let it rest. 
 
 "The peacock butterfly never returned: 
 whether he fell a victim to that aerial shark, the 
 dragon-fly, or died of age, sickness, or forgot his 
 early friends, I know not. 
 
 "I have since tried to tame other butterflies, 
 but never was so successful, although I have 
 taught three or four to know me and to come at 
 my call. Indeed, circumstances have never been 
 so favorable ; for I never had any other butter- 
 flies in their chrysalis state, nor have a room and 
 a cabinet been ready to receive them." 
 
 There are one or two points to be noticed in 
 connection with this story. The first is, that the 
 narrator, as she says, knew nothing of entomolo- 
 gy. She was not aware that the yellow butter- 
 fly was our common "brimstone," and the so- 
 called peacock butterfly was in reality a "small 
 tortoise-shell," these being the earliest and the 
 hardiest of British butterflies, the. " brim-stone " 
 being almost invariably the first butterfly to be 
 seen, while the "small tortoise-shell" follows it 
 after a short interval. I was much puzzled at 
 the description as given in writing, and it was 
 only by getting a description of the so-called 
 "peacock" butterfly viva voce that I was able to 
 identify the insect. She did not know how a 
 butterfly fed itself. She knew nothing of the hi- 
 bernation of these insects, and yet if a practiced 
 entomologist had written the story, it could not 
 have been more accurate in these scientific de- 
 tails. 
 
 But if the reviewer will not believe the account 
 written by a lady, although authenticated by my- 
 self, he may believe Sir John Lubbock's account 
 of a far more difficult task, namely, the successful 
 taming of a wasp. Here is the story in his own 
 words : 
 
 "DEAR SIR, In answer to j'our inquiries, I 
 beg to send you the following particulars about 
 my poor wasp : 
 
 "I took it, with its nest, in the Pyrenees last 
 May. The nest, which was beautifully regular, 
 consisted of about twenty cells, the majority of 
 which contained an egg ; but as yet no grub had 
 been hatched out, and, of course, my wasp was 
 as yet alone in the world. 
 
 " I had no difficulty in inducing her to feed on 
 my hand ; but at first she was shy and nervous : 
 she kept her sting in constant readiness, and once 
 or twice in the train, when the official came for 
 tickets, and I was compelled to hurry her back 
 
 into her bottle, she stung me slightly I think, 
 however, entirely from fright. 
 
 " Gradually she became quite used to me, and, 
 when I took her on my hand, evidently expected 
 to be fed. She allowed me to stroke her without 
 any appearance of fear, and for some months I 
 never saw her sting. 
 
 " When the cold weather came on, she fell into 
 a drowsy state, and I began to hope she would 
 hibernate and survive the winter. I kept her in 
 a dark place, but watched her carefully, and fed 
 her if ever she seemed at all restless. 
 
 "She came out occasionally, and seemed as 
 well as usual till near the end of February, when 
 one day I observed that she had nearly lost the 
 use of her antennae, though the rest of her body 
 was as usual. She would take no food. Next 
 day I tried again to feed her ; but the head seem- 
 ed dead, though she could still move her legs, 
 wings, and abdomen. The following day I offer- 
 ed her food for the last time, but both head and 
 thorax were dead or paralyzed ; she could but 
 wag her tail a last token, as I could almost fan- 
 cy, of gratitude and affection. As far as I could 
 judge, her death was quite painless ; and she now 
 occupies a place in the British Museum. " 
 
 The reader will see that, in both these exam- 
 ples of tamed insects memory was absolutely in- 
 dispensable, and that without the existence of 
 this faculty it would have been impossible to in- 
 fluence them with human ideas. 
 
 As to the wasps, the late Mr. Stone, who had 
 made them his special study, told me a portion 
 of these insects' life -history which proves the 
 existence of memory. We were speaking of the 
 "homing" faculty of various animals, especial- 
 ly pigeons, bees, and wasps, and were debating 
 whether the faculty were due to instinct or rea- 
 son. Mr. Stone gave his decided opinion that 
 all those creatures were guided by reason, the in- 
 sects as well as the birds. 
 
 He said that any one who was accustomed to 
 the ways of these insects could tell by the man- 
 ner in which a wasp left the nest whether it were 
 an old or a young one. An old wasp crawls to 
 the entrance of the nest, and at once darts off 
 without any ceremony. A young one, however, 
 when going out on its first expedition, acts in a 
 very different manner. When it has emerged 
 from the entrance, it turns round and examines 
 the spot ; it then takes to wing, but flies back- 
 ward and forward in front of the nest, and al- 
 ways looking toward it as if taking notes of the 
 bearings, and gradually increasing its distance 
 until it is out of sight. 
 
 Here, then, is a distinct exercise of memory as 
 well as of reason, the creature impressing on its 
 
MEMORY. 
 
 63 
 
 mind the appearance of the objects near its nest, 
 and acting on the result of those impressions. 
 Human beings act in just the same way when 
 traversing for the first time a locality through 
 which they will have to return. And yet, as I 
 have already stated, the wasp has no true brains. 
 
 Mr. Stone remarked that he has seen bees act 
 in a similar manner when their hive has been 
 moved to a spot at any distance from that which 
 it formerly occupied. 
 
 We will now pass to some of the higher ani- 
 mals, taking, first, one or two examples of creat- 
 ures that are not usually subject to domestica- 
 tion, and can therefore have received no teaching 
 by means of their parentage. 
 
 By means of this faculty almost any living be- 
 ing is able to be taught by man, while, if mem- 
 ory were absent, no teaching would be of the very 
 slightest use. The mole, for example, seems to 
 be about as difficult a subject as can well be im- 
 agined, and yet I knew of one case where a mole 
 was perfectly domesticated, and another in which 
 it was partially tame. 
 
 The former was a specimen of the albino, or 
 white mole, a variety which is tolerably common. 
 It was living at St. Malo, in 1856, and the story 
 of its life was told to me in 1857. 
 
 It knew its name, would come to its master 
 when called, and had learned to perform some 
 little tricks : for example, when told to do so, it 
 would tumble over on the table, and would fetch 
 coins if they were scattered within its reach. 
 The animal had a curious preference for silver 
 over copper coins, probably because the sensitive 
 nerves of the mole were affected by the copper. 
 It always ran faster, and seemed more pleased 
 when it had a silver coin in its mouth than when 
 it had been dispatched after a copper coin. What 
 it might have done in .these days of the light 
 bronze coinage, I do not know. 
 
 The second example of a tame mole was one 
 of the common brown animals, which had got 
 into a garden, and was doing much damage. 
 The gardener, being practical and not sesthetic- 
 al in his tastes, did his best to kill the mole ; but 
 the inhabitants of the house, being aesthetical 
 rather than practical, tried to tame the animal, 
 in which they partly succeeded. 
 
 The aperture by which the mole usually came 
 into the open air was situated under a sage-bush, 
 and near the opening a piece of raw meat was 
 laid. The delicate organs of the mole soon per- 
 ceived the supply of food, and the animal, after 
 he had finished his meal, came to look for some 
 more. This was given him, accompanied by the 
 sound of his name, "Barty," an abbreviation of 
 
 Bartimeus. Sometimes the mole was too far 
 away from the aperture to hear his name, and in 
 these cases a measured stamp upon the ground 
 was sure to bring him to his meal. 
 
 Here is an instance of the influence of memory 
 upon an animal which is not often tamed, and 
 which in this case happened to be a peculiarly 
 fierce and sullen individual. 
 
 Some years ago I was a constant visitor to the 
 Zoological Gardens, and used to make acquaint- 
 ance with the various animals as far as they would 
 allow me to do so. 
 
 One day I was struck with the beauty of a very 
 large and beautiful ocelot, or tiger-cat ; but the 
 animal seemed to be a new-comer, and was very 
 wary and fierce, declining to respond to any over- 
 tures that were made. At last, when standing 
 by the cage on a hot summer's day, I thought 
 that I saw a mode of getting at the animal's 
 feelings. The place quite swarmed with flies, 
 mostly blue-bottles, a few of which occasionally 
 got inside the bars of the cages. Seeing the oce- 
 lot try to catch one of the flies, I captured a fine 
 large blue-bottle, and held it close to the bars so 
 as to make it buzz, and waited quietly. After a 
 while the ocelot came cautiously up, and, after 
 one or two feints, took the insect and ate it. I 
 immediately caught another, and offered it in the 
 same way, giving a low whistle at the time. This 
 time the ocelot took it without much difficulty, 
 and in half an hour or so he came at once to the 
 whistle, and took the fly. 
 
 On the next visit I repeated the proceedings, 
 the ocelot perfectly recognizing me ; and after 
 one or two visits, the beautiful creature would 
 press itself against the bars to be caressed, and 
 to have its nose and chin rubbed, just as does a 
 favorite cat. The keeper happened to come in 
 while I was talking to the ocelot, and was quite 
 alarmed, saying that even he did not dare to trust 
 his fingers between the bars. Now the keepers 
 are specially kind and gentle toward the animals 
 under their charge, and can do wonders with the 
 fiercest of animals ; so that for a keeper to be un- 
 able to trust his hand in a cage, shows the feroc- 
 ity of the animal confined in it. I fully believe 
 that in this, as in most other cases where an an- 
 imal is ferocious, fear, and not ill -temper, is the 
 real cause of its conduct. 
 
 The following account of a tame water-hen 
 was sent to me by the owner of the house a 
 lady well known in the literary world : 
 
 "Some five or six winters ago two water-hens 
 made their appearance in the mountain brook 
 which runs through our lawn, and were con- 
 
64 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 stantly to be seen upon the grass. One was 
 larger than the other, of a deeper color, and we 
 supposed them to be a pair. The winter was 
 exceptionally severe ; there was more snow than 
 usual, and when it melted the smaller of the 
 two was found dead. The other remained until 
 March, when it disappeared. During its stay it 
 had learned to come toward the dining-room 
 window while the pea-fowl were being fed, and, 
 if food were thrown to a little distance, would 
 pick it up. 
 
 "The second week in the October following it 
 again made its appearance, and remained through 
 the winter, becoming tamer every day. At last, 
 whenever it heard the window opened, it would 
 hasten, half running, half flying, to be fed. Ev- 
 ery year it has appeared and disappeared with 
 as much regularity as the swallows, and always 
 about the same day of the same month. Now as 
 soon as it arrives it is perfectly tame, and comes 
 running up as soon as the sound of the opening 
 window is heard. 
 
 "I always feel sorry when the time of its 
 departure arrives, and gladly welcome its return. 
 It has never had a companion, but it must leave 
 for the purpose of getting a mate. Yet it never 
 brings one here, nor have I ever seen another 
 water-hen within miles of this place." 
 
 Here is a good example of memory in the 
 case of a domesticated bird : 
 
 "Our noble yellow -crested cockatoo was the 
 especial pet of the eldest daughter of the house. 
 The young lady married an officer, and was ab- 
 sent from the old house for nearly three years. 
 Her anticipated advent on a visit to her father 
 was of course talked about, and we may imagine 
 the cockatoo pricked up her ears at the sound of 
 her name. The moment the carriage stopped at 
 the door she flew down from her perch, and, be- 
 fore mamma or sister could greet her arrival, was 
 outside the front door with ' Kiss me, my dear ; 
 kiss me, Sa ; kiss me, Sa.' " 
 
 Why it should be I can not tell, but our do- 
 mestic poultry are sadly neglected in the way of 
 human education ; and yet that they are perfect- 
 ly capable of receiving it, if properly given, I am 
 quite sure, having seen many instances in which 
 poultry of various kinds have preferred the com- 
 panionship of man to that of their own kind. I 
 knew personally a chicken and a duck who en- 
 tirely repudiated their proper companions and 
 domicile, preferring men to birds, and the draw- 
 ing-room to the poultry-yard. The chicken had 
 been an ailing little creature ; and being careful- 
 ly tended until its restoration to health, attached 
 
 itself vehemently to its nurse, and used to follow 
 her over the house, calling her anxiously until 
 seated in her lap. I shall presently have to tell 
 several anecdotes of poultry, but under a differ- 
 ent heading, so confine myself to one which was 
 sent to me by the chief actor : 
 
 "I am no poultry- fancier, being perfectly ig- 
 norant of the distinction between Brahmas, Co- 
 chins, etc. We have only a few fancy bantams. 
 
 " During the last illness of a favorite riding- 
 horse I was a frequent visitor to her stable ; and 
 one wintry morning, after a snow-storm, one of 
 these tiny bantams looked so cold and pitiful that 
 I put it on my hat, and thus transferred it to the 
 warm stable. I never could find much intelli- 
 gence in the poultry tribe; but this little bird, 
 which I named ' Jemmy, ' found the climate of the 
 stable so enjoyable that, in order to obtain an en- 
 trance, it watched my visits, always flying up to 
 my hat directly I approached. 
 
 " Mimicry is the gift of monkeys, but I know 
 that fowls are endowed with it. Jemmy had 
 some little brothers and sisters, who followed his 
 example. Not wishing to accommodate the whole 
 family on my hat, I made it my custom to push 
 the others off. Once, by mistake, I pushed off 
 Jemmy, who made me aware of the fact by a 
 great cacophony, and resented my unintentional 
 rudeness to such an extent that it was many days 
 before I could obtain his forgiveness, and induce 
 him to resume his high position. Once I entered 
 while wearing a bonnet : his efforts to obtain his 
 usual comfortable footing were most absurd, and 
 at last he descended in great disgust at the alter- 
 ation." 
 
 As for anecdotes of the domesticated animals, 
 such as the dog, the cat, the horse, and the ass, 
 there are so many that I am obliged to restrict 
 myself to a very few. Indeed, every one who has 
 had personal experience of these animals must 
 have remarked the great strength and endurance 
 of their powers of memory. 
 
 The following story is by the late Rev. Caesar 
 Otway, and is told in his lecture on the "Intel- 
 lectuality of the Domestic Animals:" 
 
 "I shall tell you what I know of an ass. 
 There is a lady resident in a parish where I was 
 for some years minister. She is the most ten- 
 der-hearted of the human race ; her tenderness, 
 though a general feeling, is principally confined 
 to the lower animals. I am disposed to think 
 that if in India or Turkey, she would leave all her 
 worldly goods to endow a hospital for deserted, 
 disowned, and abused animals. 
 
 "Well, this lady was walking along the road, 
 
MEMORY. 
 
 65 
 
 and she met a train of tinsers proceeding toward 
 Connaught, and one tall, tan-skinned, black-hair- 
 ed, curly-polled fellow, in all the excited cruelty 
 of drunkenness, was belaboring his ass's sides with 
 a blackthorn cudgel. This was too much for my 
 friend. She first rated the man for his barbarity : 
 she might as well have scolded Beelzebub. She 
 then coaxed the ruffian, and asked him if he would 
 sell the creature, which he consented at once to 
 do, asking, of course, three times the proper price. 
 You may judge of the joy of this amiable woman 
 when the beast, now her own, was relieved from 
 its panniers, allowed to roll about in the dust, 
 and graze at liberty. 
 
 ' ' For a long time she kept him perfectly idle, 
 until he recovered his spirits ; then he became 
 troublesome, and would break his bonds, and 
 used to go a-braying and curveting, and seeking 
 for asinine society all over the country. Idleness 
 is certainly, after all, a bad thing for asses as well 
 as men, and so this capricious fellow found it ; 
 for shortly a tinker, perhaps the very one that 
 sold it, stole it, and for three or four years there 
 were no tidings of the ass, until one day, as his 
 kind mistress was taking her usual walk along the 
 road, she saw a man urging along an ass strain- 
 ing and bending under a very heavy cart. 
 
 "Now the moment my friend came near there 
 was an alteration in the deportment of the ass ; 
 immediately the ears that were but just now 
 hanging listlessly over its eyes were cocked, and 
 its head elevated in the air ; and, raising its voice 
 more like a laugh than a bray, it urged itself un- 
 der its heavy load into a trot, and came and laid 
 its snout on the shoulders of the lady, who at 
 once, and not until now, recognized her long-lost 
 property, which she had again to purchase at a 
 high price. It is many years since that occurred ; 
 the beast is alive, and so is the lady. I hope it 
 won't be her lot to see in it that rare spectacle, a 
 dead ass." 
 
 An adventure of a nearly similar nature oc- 
 curred to the gentleman who furnished the ac- 
 count of the miller's dog at Maxwellheugh, and 
 who has kindly taken a great interest in the ob- 
 ject of this work : 
 
 "When I was a boy, my father bought from 
 a neighboring fanner a gray Galloway pony, 
 who was very vicious to all with whom he came 
 in contact except myself. The way in which I 
 acquired so much power over him was by feeding 
 him with bread, and showing him other acts of 
 kindness. 
 
 " Some years afterward I left home, and when 
 I returned to my father's house I found that 
 * Donald ' had been sold, and that all trace of him 
 E 
 
 had been lost for about seventeen years. At that 
 period, being resident in a village in a neighbor- 
 ing county, I saw an old white horse in a cart, 
 and thinking that it might be the same animal, I 
 went up to him in the same way as I used to do 
 in boyhood, and said, ' Donald.' He immediate- 
 ly turned his head to me, laid it on my shoulder, 
 pawed the ground, rubbed his nose upon my arm, 
 and showed the greatest possible affection. 
 
 "The driver of the cart came out of a shop, 
 and warned me to keep away from the horse or 
 he would bite me. I moved up the street, when 
 Donald became restive, wrenched the reins out 
 of the lad's hands, followed me along the street, 
 and it was not until I entered a house that, after 
 much difficulty, he was induced to move away." 
 
 This is a really wonderful act of memory on 
 the part of the horse, and not at all a bad one on 
 the part of the man ; and the incident affords a 
 direct proof that memory is a common possession 
 of man and beast. That the man should recog- 
 nize the animal which he loved in his boyhood 
 was a tolerably fair exercise of memory; but 
 that the horse should recognize the man is even 
 more astonishing. From boyhood to manhood, 
 the lapse of seventeen years makes such changes 
 in personal appearance that, as a rule, the man 
 of thirty can scarcely be recognized even by those 
 who knew him well as a boy of thirteen. Nor 
 can the voice give any help in recognition, for 
 the deep tones of the manly voice are as unlike 
 the shrill sounds of a boy's "treble pipe" as is 
 the bearded face of the man to the smooth cheek 
 of the boy. 
 
 Dress also makes a great difference in the ap- 
 pearance of a human being ; and when we con- 
 sider that the dress of a man is quite unlike that 
 of a boy, we must appreciate the strength of 
 memory which enables the horse to recognize his 
 friend in spite of so many alterations. 
 
 Anecdotes of a similar character are plentiful, 
 and even the wild beasts are known to remember 
 a human friend after a long lapse of years. In 
 Hardwicke's Science Gossip of October, 1871, 
 there is an account by Mr. W. W. Spicer of a 
 wolf at the Zoological Gardens at Clifton with 
 which he struck up a friendship. He was forced 
 to leave Clifton for some two years, and on his 
 return went to see his friend : 
 
 " I at once set to work to test the wolf's affec- 
 tion and retentiveness of memory by whistling in 
 a low tone at as great a distance from the den 
 as allowed my watching its movements. At the 
 first sound, the animal, which before was * loafing ' 
 about in a listless manner, raised its head and 
 listened ; and on my continuing to whistle, it 
 
66 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 bounded against the bars with every mark of 
 
 joy. 
 
 " Long before I reached the cage he recognized 
 my footsteps, and strove to engage my attention 
 by whining and throwing himself into all kinds of 
 queer positions. My welcome, in fact, was of the 
 warmest kind, and I left him with, I was going to 
 say, mutual expressions of sincere regret ; for if 
 ever an animal gave expression to its feelings, it 
 was this poor wolf, who recognized me after so 
 long an absence." 
 
 These anecdotes fully corroborate the opinion 
 which I have always held with regard to the 
 relationship between man and beast. The latter 
 was intended to serve the former, and there is 
 nothing in the hands of man half so powerful in 
 educating the lower animals as thoughtful kind- 
 ness. Inflexible decision, combined with gentle- 
 ness and sympathy, are irresistible weapons in the 
 hand of man ; and I do not believe that there is 
 any animal which can not be subdued if the right 
 man undertakes the task. By this mixture of 
 firmness and kindness that raging wild beast of 
 a horse, "Cruiser," was in three hours rendered 
 gentle and subservient, obeying the least sign of 
 his conqueror, and allowing himself to be freely 
 handled without displaying the least resentment. 
 
 I once saw Mr. Karey operate on a splendid 
 little black Arab horse that flew like a tiger at 
 him, kicking, biting, and screaming at once, now 
 attacking with his jaws, and now with his heels. 
 He might as well have attacked his own shad- 
 ow ; for, just as the Spanish bull-fighter absolutely 
 plays with the furious beast in the circus, so Rarey 
 seemed to play with the animal, stepping quickly 
 on one side as it made its rush with open mouth, 
 and then, as it spun round and lashed out with 
 its heels, being on one side, just out of reach. 
 
 Within half an hour Rarey and the horse were 
 lying together on the ground, Rarey's head rest- 
 ing on one of the hind hoofs, and the other hoof 
 being laid on his temple. He then got up, mount- 
 ed the animal, dismounted by sliding over its 
 tail, and finally, with hands in his pockets, ran 
 round the circus, the horse's nose resting on his 
 shoulder. He had impressed upon the animal's 
 memory that no harm was intended ; and so the 
 horse, instead of feeling fear and anger, conceived 
 an affection for the man who inflicted no pain, 
 and yet showed that he must obeyed. 
 
 The following anecdote of a cat demonstrates 
 several traits of character which are common both 
 to man and beast. I was rather doubtful under 
 which head it should be classed ; but as it illus- 
 trates the present subject, I have placed it here : 
 
 "I confess myself a great friend and admirer 
 of horses and dogs, but care little for cats in gen- 
 eral, although, when away from home pets, I oft- 
 en make playthings of them. Did you ever know 
 a landlady without a cat, visible or invisible ? 
 We had rooms in Berkshire, and the morning 
 after our arrival, on entering the dining-room, I 
 saw a real, visible cat sitting on our breakfast-ta- 
 ble, and reducing the quantity, if not the quality, 
 of the milk. The milk-pot being narrow at the 
 lop, she obtained it by putting in her paw, curl- 
 ing it round, and then lapping it up. (Animals 
 are never afraid of me, nor do I wish them to bo 
 so.) I allowed Puss to continue her depredation 
 on the milk ; we breakfasted without it, and her 
 theft remained unpunished. 
 
 "After we had been there some time, Puss 
 listened every morning until I rang for the tea- 
 kettle, which she always accompanied to the 
 break fast- table. One morning I was later than 
 usual, and while dressing I was surprised to hear 
 the cat mewing at the bedroom door. As she 
 had not before done so, I let her in, with the re- 
 mark, ' Puss knows I am late, and is waiting for 
 her breakfast.' I was, however, quite mistaken : 
 she was too ill to eat, but came to me for that sym- 
 pathy which she could not obtain from others. 
 After our departure no one cared for the poor an- 
 imal ; she was first neglected, and then killed for 
 being delicate. She was such a gentle and af- 
 fectionate creature that I would have taken her 
 to my own home if I had known her impending 
 fate." 
 
 Here are several mental characteristics exhib- 
 ited by the same animal. Her reason taught her 
 to get the milk out of the jug with her paw when 
 she could not reach it with her tongue. I know 
 a very intellectual cat, the grandmother of my 
 own lamented "Pret," who would steal bottled 
 porter in the same way. She would not take 
 milk, but porter had a fascination that she could 
 not withstand. Then this cat's memory retain- 
 ed the recollection of kindly treatment ; and so 
 she not only became partaker of the daily meal, 
 but asked and obtained loving sympathy when 
 she felt herself ill. A child who had been kind- 
 ly treated would have acted iri precisely the same 
 manner. 
 
 Another instance of reasoning and memory 
 brought to bear on sickness has been communi- 
 cated to me by a friend : 
 
 "As illustrative of memory, take the following 
 anecdote : A pet Blenheim spaniel, ' Fan, ' had 
 had two or three litters. At the birth of the 
 third or fourth family (who were all dead born) 
 she was extremely ill for some days, refusing ev- 
 
MEMORY. 
 
 67 
 
 ery thing in the shape of nourishment, till by dint 
 of much coaxing and petting she took captain's 
 biscuits, and lived on them solely till quite con- 
 valescent. In succeeding accouchements she re- 
 fused all other food till her master thought of the 
 biscuits. When offered, they were immediately 
 eaten with avidity, and she kept to that particu- 
 lar diet forever afterward when nursing. " 
 
 In all these examples of memory, the reader 
 will probably have remarked that there must be 
 something more in this faculty than a mere pro- 
 duction of a material brain. In several cases 
 there was no brain at all ; and in others, where a 
 brain did exist, its material particles must have 
 been repeatedly changed, while the ideas impress- 
 ed upon the memory still remained in full force. 
 
68 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 CHAPTER VHI. 
 
 GENEROSITY. 
 
 Different Senses of the Word Generosity. Firstly : the Sense of Liberality. Two Grateful Cats. "Pret" 
 and his Mice. Pret Entertaining his Friends. Generosity Before Justice. Another Grateful Cat 
 The Cat Providing Mice for Two Sea-gulls. The Retriever "Nellie" and her Cat Friend "Barbekark," 
 the Esquimau Dog, and the Reindeer. His Self-denial and Power of Command The Generous Spar- 
 row. Secondly : the Sense of Magnanimity, or Indisposition to Resent an Injury, though Possessing the 
 Power to do so. Might and Mercy Convertible Terms. Anecdote of Cribb, the Prize-fighter. "Lupo" 
 and his Little Friends. A Dog Fighting Himself into Favor. My Bull-Dog "Apollo" and the Re- 
 triever. 
 
 IN whatever sense we take the word which 
 heads this chapter, i. e., whether we accept it as 
 signifying liberality or magnanimity, the quality 
 is acknowledged to be a very lofty one, and one 
 which infinitely ennobles the characters of those 
 who possess it. 
 
 Take the former sense of the word. 
 
 It is, in fact, an attribute of God himself, who 
 gives us freely all that we possess, and so sets us 
 an example of generosity to our fellow-creatures. 
 That we recognize this as a fact is shown by the 
 extraordinary number of disparaging epithets and 
 nicknames which are employed in designating 
 those human beings in whom generosity is more 
 or less wanting. Miser, skinflint, churl, screw, 
 muck- worm, curmudgeon, scrimp, lick-penny, etc. , 
 are among the nicknames bestowed upon such un- 
 fortunate persons ; while among the epithets are 
 such flowers of speech as stingy, shabby, mean, 
 parsimonious, hard-fisted, sordid, covetous, nig- 
 gardly, and a host of similar terms too numerous 
 to mention. 
 
 Now if it be admitted that the possession of 
 generosity ennobles man's character, while the 
 lack of that quality debases it, we ought not to 
 deny the plain inference that when we find a 
 beast possessing generosity, and a man devoid of 
 it, the beast is in- that particular not only the 
 equal but the superior of the man. And that 
 generosity, being a divine attribute, belongs to 
 the spirit and not to the body, I should presume 
 that no one who believes in Christianity is likely 
 to deny ; so that wherever we find this charac- 
 teristic developed we must admit the presence of 
 an immortal spirit. 
 
 I will now produce a few authenticated anec- 
 dotes in order to prove that the lower animals do 
 possess generosity in the sense of liberality, sev- 
 eral of the circumstances having occurred within 
 
 my own observation, and the others being authen- 
 ticated with the names of the writers. 
 
 With regard to the sense of generosity and 
 gratitude which can be developed in the cat, the 
 following anecdote was related to me by a friend 
 of the owner of the animal : 
 
 The cat had some kittens, and one of them was 
 taken ill, and was apparently in a dying state. 
 The mother did all that she could for it ; and then, 
 finding all her efforts useless, brought the sick 
 kitten to her mistress, laid it in her lap, and left 
 it in her care. The lady accepted the charge, 
 nursed the kitten through its illness, and at last 
 was able to give it back to its mother quite re- 
 stored to health. 
 
 Some time afterward the lady herself was 
 seized with illness, and was unable to leave her 
 bed. By some mysterious means, whether by 
 mere instinct or by gathering the meaning of the 
 conversations around her, the cat became aware 
 of her mistress's illness. Finding herself unable 
 to enter the room by the door, she contrived to 
 climb up the wall of the house, scrambled in at 
 the window, jumped on the bed, and laid on the 
 pillow a mouse, as an offering of affection and 
 gratitude. 
 
 Since I began to write this book I have re- 
 ceived many anecdotes of a similar character, and 
 in nearly all, if not all of them, gratitude was 
 the existing cause of the animal's generosity. 
 Indeed, I could easily have made a separate 
 chapter on the subject ; but not wishing to mul- 
 tiply chapters, I have included them under the 
 present heading. Here is a story which appeared 
 in Good Words for December, 1873 : 
 
 "A cat in a Swiss cottage had taken poison, 
 and came, in a pitiful state of pain, to seek its 
 
GENEROSITY. 
 
 69 
 
 mistress's help. The fever and heat were so 
 great that it dipped its own paws into a pan of 
 water an almost unheard-of proceeding in a 
 water-hating cat. She wrapped it in wet linen, 
 fed it with gruel, nursed it, and doctored it all the 
 day and night after. It revived, and could not 
 find ways enough to show its gratitude. One 
 evening she had gone up-stairs to bed, when a 
 mew at the window roused her. She got up and 
 opened it, and found the cat, which had climbed 
 a pear-tree nailed against the house, with a mouse 
 in its mouth : this it laid as an offering at its mis- 
 tress's feet, and went away. 
 
 " For above a year it continued to bring these 
 tributes to her. Even when it had kittens, they 
 were not allowed to touch this reserved share ; 
 and if they attempted to eat it, the mother gave 
 them a little tap 'That is not for thee.' After 
 a while, however, the mistress accepted the gift, 
 thanked the giver wifh a pleased look, and re- 
 stored the mouse, when the cat permitted her 
 children to take the prey which had served its 
 purpose in her eyes. 
 
 " Here was a refined feeling of gratitude, re- 
 membered for months afterward, quite disinter- 
 ested, and placed above the natural instincts (al- 
 ways strong in a cat) toward her own offspring." 
 
 Urged by a similar feeling, my own cat, 
 " Pret," used invariably to give his mice to me. 
 
 He used to kill the animal in a most curious 
 manner, i. e., by taking it, while quite unhurt, 
 by the tip of the tail, carrying it to the top of 
 the house, and dropping it down the well of the 
 staircase. After repeating the process a few 
 times, he would bring the mouse to me, and while 
 I stroked and praised it, would keep rubbing him- 
 self against me and purring his content. He then 
 took the mouse again, played with it for a while, 
 and then brought it back to me. If the study 
 door were closed, and he could not gain admit- 
 tance, he always left the mouse on the mat, pre- 
 viously having bitten off the animal's head. He 
 had a strange fancy, also, for putting the mice 
 into my bed ; and once, on leaving my room in the 
 early morning, I found no less than nine mice 
 laid in a row just outside the door. Afterward 
 when we moved into the country, and he took to 
 catching rats instead of mice, he acted in precise- 
 ly the same manner, sometimes bringing me three 
 or four rats in a single day. 
 
 Now in both these cases the motive was one 
 that would show credit to humanity. There is 
 nothing that cats like so well as a mouse, and yet, 
 just because they thought mice the most precious 
 object in the world, the cats gave their mice to 
 those whom they loved. Affection, self-denial, 
 generosity, and gratitude were thus exemplified, 
 
 all being qualities which of necessity belong to 
 the spiritual and not to the animal nature. 
 
 Pret was also remarkable for generosity toward 
 his own kind. An example of this trait of char- 
 acter is given in my " Glimpses into Petland," 
 published by Messrs. Bell & Daldy. The ani- 
 mal was then living in London: 
 
 "When he was a few months old he began 
 to scrape acquaintance with other cats, and used 
 to meet them in a back-yard, which, by common 
 consent both of cats and householders, seemed 
 to be the feline club-house of the neighborhood. 
 Now it was very well of Pret to be social in his 
 habits, but when he took to hospitality the ques- 
 tion became serious. 
 
 " It is true that he never allowed strange cats, 
 no matter how big they might be, to enter the 
 house ; but then he was fond of entertaining his 
 friends in the yard, and was in the habit of bring- 
 ing his dinner to the club for the benefit of his 
 acquaintances, and then wanting a second dinner 
 on his own account in the evening. He even 
 went so far as to be disgusted with the meals fur- 
 nished to a neighboring cat, thinking that cat's 
 meat was not fit for feline consumption. Acting 
 on this supposition, he was seen to take away 
 the cat's meat as soon as it was brought by the 
 itinerant purveyor, to carry it into the cellar, 
 bury it under a heap of small coal, and to take 
 his own dinner up-stairs for his friend. 
 
 "Even these proceedings might have been 
 pardoned ; but Pret's generosity developed so 
 rapidly that we should have been obliged to de- 
 vise some effectual check, had not a removal to 
 another house put an end to the acquaintance. 
 
 "Finding that his own meals were not suffi- 
 cient to entertain his friends in the liberal man- 
 ner in which he thought himself bound to act, he 
 took to ransacking the larder, into which cham- 
 ber he contrived to gain admission in spite of 
 many precautions. In vain did we keep the 
 doors shut and the windows fastened, so as to 
 exclude any animal larger than a mouse, for Pret 
 always managed to enter the forbidden precincts 
 whenever he chose. At last we found out that 
 he achieved the feat by hiding under the servant's 
 dress, and stealthily creeping in when she had oc- 
 casion to visit the larder. 
 
 "On one occasion I heard an odd sort of a 
 bumping sound on the stairs, as of some one 
 who was dragging up a burden which could with 
 difficulty be lifted. On going to investigate the 
 source of the unwonted sounds,! found that they 
 were caused by Pret, who had made a raid on 
 the larder. He had contrived to drag out of 
 the dish, and half-way up-stairs, the entire bone 
 of a leg of mutton, resting on each step in order 
 
70 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 to get his breath, and then hauling the bone up 
 the succeeding step. The ant pulling a stick 
 over rough ground presents an exact resemblance 
 to Pret dragging the heavy bone up-stairs." 
 
 It must be remembered that this labor was not 
 undertaken for his own selfish purposes. He had 
 not the least idea of eating the meat which he 
 was carrying off, but intended to give it all to 
 his friends. 
 
 An anecdote, curiously similar to that which 
 has been related of two cats, has just been sent 
 to me. 
 
 There was a cat whose kittens had been res- 
 cued from danger by her master, to whom she 
 formed a devoted attachment. During his last 
 illness she never left his room except for the pur- 
 pose of procuring food, and even then she ate it 
 hastily, and rushed up-stairs again as fast as pos- 
 sible. One day, in order to show her gratitude 
 and affection, she went and caught a mouse, 
 which she laid on his pillow. 
 
 I have always thought that the good qualities 
 of the cat have seldom been appreciated at their 
 just worth. This one trait of generosity, which 
 we all agree in considering as one of the noblest 
 characteristics of man, is developed very greatly 
 in the cat, which, instead of being a greedy, self- 
 ish animal, as we are generally told, is really a 
 very unselfish and generous one, capable of great 
 self-sacrifice, and for objects which appear hard- 
 ly worthy of it. 
 
 The following anecdote of generosity in a cat 
 was told to me by Mr. Zwecker, the well-known 
 artist, to whom I am indebted for so many ad- 
 mirable illustrations. 
 
 A friend of his had a couple of tame sea-gulls 
 which ranged the garden freely, one wing of each 
 being clipped, to prevent them from flying away. 
 He had also a fine young cat, which struck up 
 an oddly assorted friendship with the gulls. Aft- 
 er a while she evidently compassionated their 
 crippled condition, and thought that it prevented 
 them from hunting. So she set to work at hunt- 
 ing for them, and was in the habit of bringing 
 them little birds and mice, which they ate with 
 the solemn satisfaction of a gull at meals. It is 
 astonishing, by the way, what a large morsel a 
 gull can swallow. I have often seen a gull take 
 a large slice of bread-and-butter by the middle, 
 and, in spite of the narrowness of its beak, the 
 bird contrived to swallow the slice without put- 
 ting it down or breaking it. 
 
 The following account of generosity on the 
 part of a cat was sent to me by a lady living near 
 
 Brighton. I knew both the animals mentioned. 
 "Nelly" was a large, black, silken-haired retriev- 
 er, and a great favorite. 
 
 "In the hot weather our large dog Nelly, whom 
 you admired so much, used to be chained under 
 a large oak in the grounds at the back of the 
 house, just within sight of her kennel and the 
 yard door. This was done that she might have 
 the comfort of the cool position during the heat 
 of the day, and at the same time command the 
 back entrance to the house. This, however, took 
 her away from the neighborhood of the cook, and 
 the little scraps and dainty bits which used to be 
 given to her now and then while the different 
 meals were in course of preparation. 
 
 "At the same time, we had a dear, motherly 
 old cat, who did not approve of the change of 
 position in which her friend Nelly was placed. 
 Still less did she approve of the cook putting all 
 the scraps in a plate, instead of giving them to 
 Nelly. So she set herself to work at conveying 
 them to her friend, and every thing that was not 
 too large for her to carry or drag along she took 
 to the dog under the tree, and seemed delighted 
 when she saw her friend eat them. 
 
 "Now she never stole any thing for herself, 
 but she would always do so for any of the dogs. 
 She used to carry little treats to a small dog 
 that was chained up in the house, but this was 
 after she developed the plan of helping Nelly to 
 the dainties of which she, in her pussy-cat brain, 
 considered her friend to have been defrauded." 
 
 I know of a somewhat similar case, where a 
 cat was seen to steal a piece of meat and run off 
 with it. She was followed, and then it was found 
 that she had stolen the meat in order to feed a 
 miserable cat that had fallen into a deep hole, 
 and could not get out. 
 
 The late Captain Hall, author of the well- 
 known "Life among the Esquimaux," was a great 
 appreciator of the lower animals, especially of the 
 dog. There was one sledge-dog in particular 
 who was a particular favorite with Captain Hall, 
 in consequence of his intellectual character, and 
 the odd, quaint ways which he had. The reader 
 will admire the singular self-denial and generos- 
 ity of the animal as shown in the story told by 
 Captain Hall : 
 
 "As Koojesse cautiously proceeded, we all 
 watched him most eagerly. Fifteen minutes 
 saw him ' breasted'* by a small island, toward 
 which the deer approached. When they were 
 within rifle-shot he fired, but evidently missed, 
 for the game wheeled around and darted away. 
 
 "Directly the report was heard, 'Barbekark,' 
 my Greenland dog, bounded off toward the bat- 
 
GENEROSITY. 
 
 71 
 
 tie-ground, followed by all the other dogs. This 
 was annoying, as it threatened to put an end to 
 any more firing at the game ; and, if they would 
 have heeded us, we should instantly have recall- 
 ed them. But it was now useless. The dogs 
 were in full chase, and fears were entertained 
 that if they got too far away, some, if not all of 
 them, would be lost. At length we saw Barbe- 
 kark, pursuing, not in the deer tracks, circuitous, 
 flexuous, mazy in course, but in a direct line, 
 thus evincing a sagacity most remarkable. The 
 other dogs, not taking the same course, soon fell 
 behind. 
 
 "On and on went Barbekark straight for a 
 spot which brought him close upon the deer. 
 The latter immediately changed their course, 
 and so did Barbekark, hot in pursuit after them. 
 Thus it continued for nearly two hours ; first this 
 way, then that ; now in a circle, then zigzag ; 
 now direct, then at right angles, among the nu- 
 merous islands at the head of the bay. 
 
 "For a while nothing more was thought of 
 the affair, save an expression of regret that the 
 dogs would not be able to find their way home, 
 so far had they been led by the enticing game. 
 
 "A little before twelve, mid-day, Barbekark 
 was seen coming back, and presently he came on 
 board, with blood around his mouth and over 
 his body. No importance was attached to this 
 beyond supposing that he had come into collis- 
 ion with the deer; but as for killing one, the 
 thought was not entertained for a moment. 
 Those who had often wintered in the Arctic re- 
 gion said they had never known a dog to be of 
 any use in hunting down deer, and therefore we 
 concluded that our game was gone. But there 
 was something in the conduct of Barbekark that 
 induced a few of the men to think it possible he 
 had been successful. He was fidgety, and rest- 
 lessly bent upon drawing attention to the quarter 
 where he had been chasing. 
 
 " He kept whining, and going first to one and 
 then another, as if asking them to do something 
 he wanted. The captain even noticed him jump- 
 ing about, and playing unusual pranks, running 
 toward the gangway steps, then back again. 
 This he did several times, yet no one gave him 
 more than a passing notice. He went to Kee- 
 ney, and tried to enlist his attention, which at 
 last he did so far as to make him come down to 
 me. 
 
 "I was writing in my cabin at the time, and 
 mention it ; but I gave no heed, being so much 
 occupied with my work. Perhaps, had Barbe- 
 kark found me, I should have comprehended his 
 actions. As it was, he failed to convey his 
 meaning to any body. Presently one of the 
 
 men, called ' Spikes,' went off to the wreck of the 
 Rescue, and Barbekark immediately followed ; 
 but, seeing that Spikes went no farther, the dog 
 bounded off to the northwest, and then Spikes 
 concluded that it was really possible that Barbe- 
 kark had killed the deer. Accordingly he return- 
 ed on board, and a party of the ship's crew start- 
 ed to see about it, though the weather was very 
 cold and inclement. They were away two hours ; 
 and when they came back, we could observe that 
 each was carrying something like a heavy bun- 
 dle on his head. 
 
 "Still we could not believe it possible that it 
 was portions of the deer; and only when they 
 came so near that the strange fact was percepti- 
 ble, could we credit our senses. One man, al- 
 most Hercules-like, had the skin wrapped around 
 him, another had half of the saddle, a third the 
 other half, and the rest each some portion of the 
 deer that we had all especially noticed. In a 
 short time they were on board, and deposited 
 their loads triumphantly on the scuttle-door lead- 
 ing to the cooking department below. 
 
 "Every officer and man of the ship, all the In- 
 nuits and Innuit dogs, then congregated round 
 the tempting pile of delicious fresh meat, the 
 trophy, as it really proved, of my fine Greenland 
 dog, Barbekark. The universal astonishment 
 was so great that hardly a man of us knew what 
 to say. At length we heard the facts, as follows : 
 
 * ' Our men had followed Barbekark's return 
 tracks for about a mile from the vessel, in a di- 
 rect line northward ; thence westward some two 
 miles farther to an island, where, to their sur- 
 prise, they found Barbekark and the other Green- 
 land dogs seated upon their haunches around the 
 deer lying dead before them. 
 
 "On examination, its throat was shown to be 
 cut with Barbekark's teeth as effectually as if any 
 white man or Innuit had done it with a knife. 
 The windpipe and jugular vein had both been 
 severed ; more, a piece of each, with a part of 
 the tongue, the skin and flesh covering the same, 
 had actually been bitten out. The moment 
 Sam, one of the men in advance of the rest, 
 approached, Barbekark jumped from his watch- 
 ful position close by the head of his victim, and 
 ran to meet him, with manifestations of delight, 
 wagging his tail and swinging his head about. 
 At the same time he looked up into Sam's 
 eyes, as if saying, 'I've done the best I could; 
 I've killed the deer, eaten just one luscious mouth- 
 ful, and lapped up some of the blood. I now 
 give up what you see, merely asking for myself 
 and these my companions, who have been faith- 
 fully guarding the prize, such portions as your- 
 selves may disdain.'" 
 
MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 It is impossible that human beings could have 
 acted more generously, and it is tolerably certain 
 that few savages would have done as much. In- 
 deed, after reading the accounts of the African 
 savages as written by Livingstone, Baker, Grant, 
 Burke, Burton, and other modem travelers, we 
 can but come to the conclusion that if a number 
 of savages in the service of a traveler had killed 
 an animal, very few minutes would have elapsed 
 before the carcass was torn to pieces. 
 
 See, also, how many human attributes are here 
 shown. There is Reason. The animal, on hear- 
 ing the gun, and seeing the deer go off, thought 
 that his help was wanted, and at once gave it, 
 with the assistance of his comrades, over whom he 
 evidently exercised the authority that is so often 
 evinced when peculiarly intellectual animals are 
 brought in contact with those less highly gifted. 
 The latter at once acquiesce in their own inferior- 
 ity, and submit to the leadership of their acknowl- 
 edged superior. His reasoning powers were again 
 shown by the way in which he led the chase of 
 the deer not following their circular tracks, but 
 cutting across them, just as if he had been a math- 
 ematician who knew that the chord was shorter 
 than the arc. 
 
 Having killed the deer, he set his companions 
 to watch the carcass, while he went off to bring 
 assistance in carrying the deer home. He knew 
 that although he and his companions could not 
 get the deer to the ship, the men could do so, and 
 accordingly he went to ask their aid in his own 
 doggish language. He must also, before he start- 
 ed, have told his companions that they must not 
 eat the deer. The generosity displayed by all the 
 dogs is really wonderful, when we come to con- 
 sider the circumstances. An Esquimau sledge- 
 dog is always hungry ; for, in the first place, the 
 constant and severe work in which they are en- 
 gaged is enough to give them a ravenous appe- 
 tite ; and in the next, the supply of food is al- 
 ways very limited. 
 
 So furiously hungry are these dogs that it is no 
 uncommon thing for them to eat up the leather 
 harness of the sledges, and at night it is necessa- 
 ry to suspend all such articles out of their reach. 
 Yet, with the carcass of a newly killed reindeer 
 before them, and with the certainty before their 
 eyes of such a meal as they had never enjoyed, 
 and were never likely even to see again, these dogs 
 were generous enough to restrain their appetites, 
 and, instead of gratifying their raging hunger on 
 the dainty banquet within their reach, sat and 
 guarded it for hours, and delivered it untouched 
 to their masters. How many hungry men are 
 there who would have acted so generous a part, 
 and have exercised such trying self-denial ? We 
 
 shall hear more of Barbekark in another portion 
 of this work. 
 
 In the Naturalist's Magazine there is a re- 
 markable instance of generosity on the part of a 
 sparrow. As a general rule, sparrows are re- 
 markable for their ability in taking care of them- 
 selves, and for the manner in which they will 
 seize for themselves the property of others. For 
 example, there are many places where the house- 
 mavtin used to abound, and is now almost ex- 
 tinct, simply because the sparrows allowed them 
 to build their mud nests, then ejected them, and 
 took possession themselves. Sparrows have also 
 been known to act as the eagle does to the osprey, 
 and the skua-gull to the smaller species, . e., al- 
 low the weaker bird to take all the trouble of cap- 
 turing prey, and then take it away by violence. 
 
 There are, however, exceptions to every rule, 
 and a very honorable one is recorded in the Nat- 
 uralist's Magazine. A lady possessed, among 
 other birds, a canary, whose cage used to hang 
 outside the window. One morning a sparrow 
 perched on the cage, and seemed to hold a sort 
 of conversation with the inmate. Presently he 
 flew away, but shortly returned with a grub, 
 which he dropped into the cage. Every day at 
 the same time the sparrow made his appearance 
 with his accustomed offering, and the canary at 
 last became sufficiently familiar to take his food 
 directly from the sparrow's beak. The lady then 
 put some more cages out of the window, and the 
 sparrow fed all of the inmates, invariably, how- 
 ever, selecting the canary for his first visit, and 
 making the longest stay with that bird. 
 
 Now let us pass to generosity in the sense of 
 Magnanimity, or unwillingness to resent an inju- 
 ry, though possessing the power to do so. There 
 are few qualities in human nature more noble 
 than the capability of foregoing revenge when 
 the offender is powerless to resist. I suppose 
 that all my readers have heard of the famous 
 answer to a justly offended man, "Would it not 
 be manly to resent such an affront ?" " Yes, but 
 it would be godlike to forgive it." Those who 
 are conscious of power are never afraid to forgive ; 
 and thus it is that in the daily services of our 
 Church the very first invocation runs thus, "Al- 
 mighty and most merciful Father." Almighty, 
 and therefore all-merciful. Looking back through 
 history, we shall find that those whose names have 
 lived as the noblest of the human race have been 
 distinguished by that divine quality of mercy 
 which Shakespeare has described in words too fa- 
 miliar for quotation. 
 
 Indeed, when we find those beings whom we 
 
GENEROSITY. 
 
 73 
 
 call "brute" beasts rising to a moral grandeur 
 which few men can attain, disdaining to avail 
 themselves of the opportunity of vengeance, and 
 even repaying evil with good, it does seem an ut- 
 ter absurdity to say that they are not acting under 
 the inspiration of Him who gave us the celestial 
 maxim, " Love your enemies." By their action 
 they show themselves worthy of life everlasting ; 
 and what they deserve they will assuredly re- 
 ceive at the hands of Him who is Justice and 
 Truth. 
 
 Consciously or unconsciously, this feeling is ac- 
 knowledged among mankind. Taking our own 
 nature, for example, prize-fighters are not con- 
 sidered among the most elevated class of society. 
 Yet one of the fundamental rules of the "ring" 
 is, " Don't hit a man when he is down ;" and any 
 boxer who demeaned himself by such an act 
 would be at once adjudged to have lost the fight, 
 and would be disqualified from entering the ring 
 for the rest of his life. Striking below the belt 
 is another disqualifying action ; and the custom 
 of shaking hands before a fight, and the victor 
 sending round his hat on behalf of his vanquish- 
 ed foe, are customs showing that even in this low 
 stratum of society there is a recognition of the 
 one great principle. 
 
 Of the axiom that those who are strongest are 
 least apt to use their strength, a curious example 
 occurred some years ago, when the "ring" was 
 in its palmiest days, and the highest in the land 
 went openly to see a fight as they now go to a 
 horse-race. 
 
 A man in the quarrelsome stage of drink came 
 into a public-house, and began to wrangle with 
 those who were already there. At last he took 
 umbrage at one of the guests who was sitting 
 quietly smoking his pipe, and finding that he was 
 not to be drawn into a fight, called him a coward 
 and struck him on the face, drawing blood. The 
 man merely wiped his face, and went on with his 
 pipe. One of the guests exclaimed, "How can 
 you stand this, Tom Cribb ?" At the sound of 
 the dreaded name, the assailant dashed out of the 
 room, and was not seen again. Cribb could af- 
 ford to take an insult from a man whom every one 
 present knew he could have killed at a single blow. 
 
 As with man, so it is with the lower animals ; 
 and there are many instances on record where 
 the strong have disdained to make reprisals on the 
 weak, no matter what the offense might be. 
 
 I knew two dogs in whom the " quality of mer- 
 cy " was strongly developed. One was an enor- 
 mous animal called "Lupo," because he looked 
 just like a white wolf, except that he was very 
 much larger. Handsome as he was, his enormous 
 
 size made him very inconvenient in the house, for 
 when he chose to lie on the hearth-rug no one 
 had a chance of coming near the fire. In the 
 same house was a little black -and -tan terrier 
 called "Tiny." Now in cold weather Tiny liked 
 to have a warm couch by the fire ; and whenever 
 Lupo had composed himself to sleep, she used to 
 climb upon his body, turn round and round in his 
 long fur as if he were nothing but a door- mat, 
 and also settle down to rest. 
 
 The absurdity of the proceeding was crowned 
 by the fact that when she had thus settled herself 
 she would not allow Lupo to move. If he even 
 ventured to stir and disturb her, she would fly 
 savagely at his head, barking and growling vi- 
 ciously; and if he did not at once lie quiet, 
 thought nothing of biting one of his long ears, 
 Lupo submitting as tamely as if he had taken his 
 name from a lamb, rather than a wolf. 
 
 Yet Lupo was by no means an animal to be tri- 
 fled with. He once had a tremendous fight with 
 his master about a bone ; and it was not until 
 after he had bitten his antagonist severely in the 
 wrist and arms, and had had a succession of sticks 
 broken over him, that he succumbed. Having 
 done so, he, after the manner of well-bred dogs, 
 gave in completely, and came crawling to his 
 master's feet for forgiveness. 
 
 As to dogs in general, Lupo had an objection 
 to them, and, when he accompanied his master's 
 carriage, had generally to be muzzled, lest he 
 should pick up any stray dog, give it a shake, toss 
 the dead body over his shoulder, and trot on as 
 if nothing had happened. The curious point in 
 his temperament was, that if a dog ran away from 
 him that animal was doomed, unless Lupo had 
 a muzzle. But if the dog flew at him he respect- 
 ed that dog, and treated him with perfect forbear- 
 ance. I have seen as many as three dogs at a 
 time hanging on to him, Lupo trotting on uncon- 
 cernedly, and not taking the least notice of them, 
 even when they dropped off through weariness of 
 jaw. 
 
 There was one dog which had actually fought 
 himself into friendship with Lupo. He was a 
 terrier belonging to a blacksmith who lived about 
 half-way between the station and the house of 
 Lupo's master. For some time the animal used 
 to fly at Lupo twice daily, namely, during the 
 progress to and from the station; Lupo, as usu- 
 al, respecting him for his courage, but not even 
 attempting to injure him. At last having, like 
 Mrs. Malaprop, begun with a little aversion, the 
 two animals struck up a friendship, the terrier 
 watching for Lupo, gamboling with him until he 
 had reached his journey's end, and then returning 
 home alone. 
 
74 
 
 MAN 
 
 BEAST. 
 
 ifci^ bull-dog "Apollo" was equally magnani- 
 mous :*b^ \xpul.d. suffer almost any provocation 
 from a dog smaller or not much larger than him- 
 self, but never would allow any liberty to be 
 taken by a big dog. Over and over again has 
 he allowed little dogs to bite him without trou- 
 bling himself to retaliate ; but if a big dog ven- 
 tured upon an insult, that dog had to run. 
 
 One day as I was walking to the post-office, 
 with Apollo at my heels, as usual, a remarkably 
 fine black retriever came up and began to growl at 
 him. Apollo only gave him a glance out of the 
 corner of his eye, and trotted on. The retriever 
 came close, and continued to growl ; whereupon 
 I cautioned his owner that, if his dog would let 
 Apollo alone, Apollo would have nothing to say 
 to him, but that if the retriever continued his in- 
 sults I could not answer for the consequences. 
 
 The only reply was a disdainful smile, and a 
 contemptuous look at the dog. After some more 
 annoyance Apollo gave a slight growl/ and the 
 hairs of his back began to bristle ominously. 
 Again I gave warning, but with the same result. 
 Presently the retriever flew at Apollo, bit him in 
 the ear, and next moment was on his back, with 
 Apollo's grip on his throat. The retriever's 
 master was so startled at the sudden change of 
 affairs that he could not interfere, and in a min- 
 ute there would have been a dead retriever. For- 
 tunately I had taught Apollo to loosen his hold 
 at the word of command (the hardest lesson I 
 ever had to teach a dog), and I culled him off. 
 
 In a few moments the fallen animal recovered 
 his breath and his legs, and made off at full 
 speed, yelping with pain and terror, and I saw 
 nothing more of him. As for Apollo, he fell 
 back unconcernedly to his place at my heels, 
 and trotted on as if such a thing as a retriever 
 had never been in existence. 
 
 The anecdotes which have been just related 
 show that animals can act magnanimously to- 
 ward each other. Here, however, is an instance 
 where a dog which would most assuredly have 
 assaulted the man whom he hated, had the latter 
 been in a position to defend himself, did most 
 nobly forego his vengeance when the enemy was 
 completely at his mercy. As is usually the case 
 with the most characteristic dog anecdotes, the 
 event occurred in Scotland : 
 
 "The manager of a mill in Fifeshire was 
 very much disliked by the watch-dog, probably 
 because he had acted harshly to the animal. 
 One very dark night he strayed from the path 
 and fell over the dog. Perceiving the mistake 
 which he had made, and that he could not recov- 
 er himself, he gave himself up as lost, the dog 
 being a very powerful one. The animal, how- 
 ever, was magnanimous enough to spare a help- 
 less enemy, and to lay aside old grievances. In- 
 stead of seizing the prostrate man by the throat, 
 the dog only licked his face and indicated his 
 sympathy. Ever afterward the man and the 
 dog were great friends." 
 
CHEATERT. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CHEATERY. 
 
 Animal Swindlers. " Barbekark " as a Cheat. Roguery Detected. Dogs Shamming Lameness. Dogs 
 Cheating Each Other. The Elephant, "Burnt Sahib," Hiding a Cake. Comparison with Humanity. 
 Golden-crested Wren as a Cheat and Thief. Two Ravens Uniting to Cheat a Dog out of his Dinner. 
 Alliance between a Dog and a Raven. Principle of the Ambuscade. 
 
 ALL virtues have their opposite vices ; and 
 just as there are animals capable of exercising 
 great self-denial in order to give to others that 
 which belongs to themselves, and even displaying 
 an amount of generosity unsurpassable by any hu- 
 man being, so there are animals which can cheat 
 like accomplished swindlers. Sometimes, as in 
 the following instance, the same animal is capa- 
 ble of both acts. 
 
 Here is an anecdote of "Barbekark," the dog 
 which killed the deer, and then gave it up to his 
 master. The narrator is Captain Hall : 
 
 "I have before mentioned some particulars 
 of these^dogs, and I now relate an anecdote con- 
 cerning them during our passage across from 
 Greenland. 
 
 "One day, in feeding the dogs, I called the 
 whole of them around me, and gave to each in 
 turn a capelin, or small dried fish. To do this 
 fairly, I used to make all the dogs encircle me, 
 until every one had received ten of the capelins 
 apiece. 
 
 "Now Barbekark, a very young and shrewd 
 dog, took it into his head that he would play a 
 white man's trick. So every time that he re- 
 ceived his fish he would back square out, move a 
 distance of two or three dogs, and force himself 
 in line again, thus receiving double the share of 
 every other dog. But this joke of Barbekark's 
 bespoke too much of the game that many men 
 play upon their fellow-beings, and, as I noticed 
 it, I determined to check his doggish propensi- 
 ties. Still, the cunning and the singular way in 
 which he evidently watched me induced a mo- 
 ment's pause in my intentions. 
 
 " Each dog thankfully took his capelin as his 
 turn came round; but Barbekark, finding his 
 share come twice as often as his companions, ap- 
 peared to shake his tail twice as thankfully as the 
 others. A twinkle in his eyes, as they caught 
 mine, seemed to say, * Keep dark ; these igno- 
 
 rant fellows don't know the game I am playing. 
 I am confoundedly hungry.' 
 
 " Seeing my face smiling at his trick, he now 
 commenced making another change, thus getting 
 three portions to each of the others' one. This 
 was enough, and it was now time for me to re- 
 verse the order of Barbekark's game by playing 
 a trick upon him. Accordingly every time I 
 came to him he got no fish; and although he 
 changed his position three times, yet he got noth- 
 ing. Then, if ever there were a picture of disap- 
 pointed plans, of envy at others' fortune, and sor- 
 row at a sad misfortune, it was to be found on 
 that dog's countenance as he watched his com- 
 panions receiving their allowance. Finding he 
 could not succeed by any change of his position, 
 he withdrew from the circle to where I was, and 
 came to me, crowding his way between my legs, 
 and looked up in my face as if to say, ' I have 
 been a very bad dog ; forgive me, and Barbekark 
 will cheat his brother dogs no more. Please, 
 sir, give me my share of capelins.' I went the 
 rounds three times more, and let him have the 
 fish, as he had shown himself so sagacious, and 
 so much like a repentant prodigal dog." 
 
 As cheatery requires the use of the intellect, 
 it is evident that the most intellectual animals 
 will be the most accomplished cheats. Dogs, 
 therefore, may be expected to be considerable 
 adepts in cheating, and are often very amusing in 
 their attempts to deceive human beings. Here 
 are one or two more examples of cheating in 
 the dog : 
 
 One of my friends had a couple of little toy 
 terrier dogs. As is usually the case in such 
 instances, though very fond of each other, they 
 were horribly jealous with regard to their master, 
 and neither could endure to see the other caress- 
 ed. It so happened that one of them broke its 
 leg, and was in consequence much petted. Its 
 companion, seeing the attention that was paid to 
 the injured animal, pretended to be lame itself, 
 
76 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 and came limping to its master, holding up the 
 corresponding leg, and trying to look as if it 
 were in great pain. 
 
 The following anecdote is sent me by a friend : 
 "A Skye terrier of our acquaintance named 
 'Monte' had at one time a very sore leg, and dur- 
 ing his illness he got a great deal of sympathy 
 and petting. Ever since, when he has been in 
 any mischief, he comes running on three legs, 
 holding up the one which was once sore, but is 
 now quite well. In his own way he is quite as 
 arrant an impostor as the well-known begging 
 ' sailor' with one leg tied up to look as if he had 
 lost it." 
 
 A curious and rather ludicrous instance of 
 cheatery on the part of the dog was observed by 
 one of my friends. 
 
 He has three little black-and-tan terriers, fa- 
 ther, mother, and daughter, which are great pets, 
 and consider the house as their own property. 
 Like most pet dogs, they have their favorite spots 
 by way of couches ; and as they all three gener- 
 ally take a fancy to the same spot, there is occa- 
 sionally a difference of opinion and a slight loss 
 of temper. The one pet spot of all is a soft cush- 
 ion at the head of a sofa. Now the cushion had 
 accommodated easily the father and the mother ; 
 but when the daughter came, and in course of 
 time wanted her share of the couch, it was found 
 that the quarters were rather too limited for com- 
 fort, especially as the daughter persisted in grow- 
 ing until she reached the size of her parents. 
 
 One day the father and daughter had got into 
 the room first, and according to custom made 
 straightway for the cushion, on which they es- 
 tablished themselves comfortably, occupying the 
 whole of its surface. Presently the mother came 
 in, and also went to the cushion. She tried to 
 take her place on it, but her husband was too 
 selfish and her daughter too undutiful to move, 
 and in consequence she had to retire. 
 
 Presently she went to the farthest corner of 
 the room, and suddenly began to scratch violent- 
 ly, barking, growling, and sniffing as if she were 
 digging out a rat. Up jumped the others, all 
 blazing with excitement, and anxious to have 
 their share of the sport. As soon as they had 
 got their noses well down in the corner, the 
 mother ran to the sofa at full speed, jumped on 
 the cushion, curled herself round, and was hap- 
 py. However, she was generous in victory, and 
 made room for her husband and daughter as 
 they came back to the sofa crest-fallen and hu- 
 miliated. 
 
 One of my brothers has furnished me with an 
 
 account of an audacious piece of cheatery prac- 
 ticed by his dog : / 
 
 "My dog is a white terrier, called 'Sambo,' *r 
 on account of his color, supposed to be a pure 
 specimen of the ' fox' variety, but perversely ex- 
 hibiting unmistakable evidences of the existence 
 of the more plebeian ' bull' somewhere in the roll 
 of his ancestry. He is good-tempered and affec- 
 tionate, and devoted to his master and to sport, 
 especially to the pursuit of rabbits. 
 
 " One fine morning last January I took him 
 out for a couple of hours' rabbiting, to his great 
 joy, but, as I could also see, by his way of con- 
 stantly coming back to have a look at my face, 
 to his intense puzzlement. An afternoon alone 
 with me was quite natural, and according to cus- 
 tom ; but starting at eleven A.M. had always 
 meant a day with the keepers, and where were 
 the keepers? We found no rabbits; but then 
 he was not busy as usual : his head was not suf- 
 ficiently clear from other matters to look them, 
 up with his usual care and perseverance. 
 
 " He passed many a likely bush without even 
 a glance of his eye, and I began to fear that 
 he was ill ; when suddenly, as luck would have 
 it, we heard several shots in rapid succession, 
 and found ourselves in the midst of a regular 
 rabbiting party. The effect upon Sambo was 
 miraculous ; his tail and ears went up, and he 
 sprang at once from a state of low desponden- 
 cy into one of violent activity. A few moments 
 before and he seemed to have made up his mind 
 that the British rabbit was an extinct animal, 
 and his master a great fool for carrying a gun 
 in pursuit of it : of course, as he was under or- 
 ders, he must look for them, or pretend to do 
 so but it was awful humbug. Now, to see him 
 rushing all over the place, quartering the ground, 
 with his tail going, and his nose investigating 
 every little tuft, one would have thought there 
 was a rabbit for every square yard. 
 
 "Things went on as usual until the time ar- 
 rived that I had to take my leave and return 
 home. Now not only had we just arrived at a 
 favorable spot in the covert a fact just as well 
 known to the dogs as to ourselves but there 
 were unmistakable signs of approaching lunch- 
 eon. My first call to my dog was, therefore, un- 
 heeded : he had suddenly conceived a violent af- 
 fection for another dog, with whom, by the way, 
 he could never on ordinary occasions agree, and 
 in the interchange of friendly confidences was 
 quite abstracted from the outer world. 
 
 "A more imperative summons made him start 
 
 a very false move; but he at once compen- 
 sated for it by facing round sharply in the op- 
 posite direction to me, and looking anxiously up 
 
CHEATERT. 
 
 77 
 
 the drive instead of down, with his head and ears 
 up, as if he rather expected to see me at the end 
 of it, about half a mile off. However, it would 
 not do, and he was reduced to following me, 
 though he kept to heel with drooping head and 
 tail, and many a wistful look behind. 
 
 "We had hardly got well out of the sight of 
 the keepers when he suddenly brightened up, as 
 though he thought life had yet some joys in store 
 for him, trotted on in front, and behaved himself 
 as usual. Suddenly, just a few yards from the 
 exit from the covert, he ' made a point' at a soli- 
 tary tuft of grass and rushes. I was astonished 
 that a rabbit could be harbored there, as we had 
 but just passed over the very spot with a regular 
 array of dogs and beaters ; but Sambo said ' rab- 
 bit' as plainly as possible: so in went my car- 
 tridges again, and the necessary permission was 
 given. 
 
 "To my astonishment, no rabbit appeared; 
 but none the less Mr. Sambo went through all 
 the regulation mano3uvres formulated and pro- 
 vided in such cases. He dashed into the tuft, 
 came out the other side as if in full chase, yelped 
 as if he were only just out of biting distance of 
 his prey, and was lost to sight in a moment ; and 
 what is more, he returned not. I whistled and 
 called, but no sound could be heard. Suddenly 
 his ' little game' flashed upon me. I went back 
 to the keepers, and there was my friend taking 
 his luncheon affably with one of them a partic- 
 ular friend. With the utmost respect for his 
 mental resources, I yet thought it necessary to 
 be * firm' with him, and I do not think he will 
 ever play me that trick again. " 
 
 One of the most amusing anecdotes of attempt- 
 ed cheatery is narrated of an elephant by Lady 
 Barker : 
 
 "When we paid them a visit upon the after- 
 noon of the storm, the huge beasts were taking 
 a bath, or rather giving.it to themselves by filling 
 their trunks with water and dashing it over their 
 heads, trumpeting and enjoying themselves im- 
 mensely. At a little distance the cooks were 
 busy baking the chupatties a muffin as large as 
 a soup-plate, and nearly as thick in mud ovens ; 
 and the grass-cutters had been down to a 'jhed,' 
 or pond, near, to wash the dust off the large bun- 
 dles of grass for the elephants' suppers. We talk- 
 ed a little to the mahouts, and one very pictur- 
 esque old man seemed exceedingly proud of his 
 elephant's superior slyness and cunning, and beg- 
 ged us to stay and see him ' cheat.' So we wait- 
 ed till ' Burra Sahib,' or ' Mr. Large,' had finish- 
 ed his bath and came slowly up to the mahout 
 for his supper. 
 
 "The mahout called out to the cook to bring 
 the chupatties, and made us retire behind a tree 
 and watch what Burra Sahib did. As soon as 
 the cook went away, the elephant put up his 
 trunk and broke off a large bough of the tree 
 above him. This they generally do to serve as 
 a brush to keep off flies, so he knew that was 
 nothing remarkable. He then looked slyly 
 around him with his bright, little, cunning eyes ; 
 and as he could not see his mahout, he thought 
 the coast was clear, and hastily snatched up a 
 chupattie, v/hich he put under the branch on the 
 top of his head. I noticed how carefully he felt 
 with his flexible trunk if any edge was uncov- 
 ered, and arranged the leaves so as to hide his 
 spoil completely. 
 
 "Burra Sahib then raised his voice and bel- 
 lowed for his supper in loud and discordant tones. 
 The mahout then ran up as if he had been a 
 long distance off, stood in front of him, and com- 
 menced handing him the chupatties, counting, as 
 he did so, one, two, three, and so on. The ele- 
 phant received each in his trunk, and put it gen- 
 tly into his huge mouth, bolting it as though it 
 had been a small pill. Twelve chupatties was 
 the allowance, and he required this sort of food 
 to keep him in good condition. When the ma- 
 hout came to number eleven muffin he looked 
 about for the twelfth in great dismay, pretending 
 that he could not think what had become of it, 
 and calling for the cook to scold him, search- 
 ing on the ground, and wondering, in good Hin- 
 dostanee, where that other chupattie could be. 
 The elephant joined in the search, turning over 
 an empty box which was near, and trumpeting 
 loudly. 
 
 ' ' The mahout was delighted to see how much 
 this farce amused me, and at last he turned sud- 
 denly to the elephant, who was still hunting ea- 
 gerly for the missing chupattie, and reviled him 
 as a thief and a ' big owl, ' adding all sorts of 
 epithets, and desiring him to kneel down, which 
 Burra Sahib did very reluctantly. The mahout 
 then scrambled up on his head, snatched off the 
 branch, and flung down the chupattie, belabor- 
 ing the elephant well with the bough which had 
 served to conceal it. It seems that the trick 
 had been played successfully many times before 
 Burra Sahib was found out, and the poor cook 
 used to get into trouble, and be accused of keep- 
 ing the missing chupattie for his own private 
 consumption." 
 
 A servant belonging to one of my friends act- 
 ed just like this elephant. She had broken a 
 valuable China vase, and in order to hide the evi- 
 dences of her delinquency she broke up the frag- 
 ments very small and buried them. When the 
 
78 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 vase was missed, she protested that she knew 
 nothing about it. She knew that such a vase 
 was somewhere in the house, but had not the 
 least idea where it could be ; and for three 
 whole days she went over the house with her 
 mistress, hunting in every cupboard and on every 
 shelf for the article which she had herself buried 
 in the garden. 
 
 Birds can be capable of cheating, not only 
 each other, but other animals. Even the pretty 
 little golden-crested wren has been detected in 
 deliberate theft and deception. 
 
 A gentleman was watching a chaffinch build- 
 ing its beautiful nest, and soon found that he was 
 not the only spectator. At a distance was perch- 
 ed a golden-crested wren, which watched the pro- 
 ceedings carefully. As soon as the chaffinch 
 went off to fetch more materials, the gold-crest 
 cunningly stole round in an opposite direction, 
 and carried off the newly brought hairs, etc., for 
 its own nest. This went on for some time, until 
 at last the aggrieved chaffinch found out the rob- 
 bery, and chased the gold-crest so fiercely that it 
 did not attempt to renew the theft. 
 
 This story is told by Mr. W. Thompson, in 
 his " Natural History of Ireland." He also states 
 that this kind of robbery is not at all uncommon 
 with the gold -crest. Its nest is made of the 
 same material as that of the chaffinch, and so it 
 is accustomed to avail itself of the labors of that 
 bird in order to lighten its own toil. 
 
 The celebrated arctic voyager, the late Sir 
 L. M'Clintock, mentions a curious instance of 
 stealing on the part of the raven. When they 
 were in Mercer Bay, a pair of ravens, probably 
 male and female, used to hang about the ship, 
 and pick up any refuse food that might be lying 
 about. At a certain hour of the day the men 
 were accustomed to wash out their mess-tins, the 
 rejected contents of which were regarded by the 
 ship's dog as his proper perquisites. The ravens, 
 however, held a different opinion, and by force 
 
 of superior intellect almost always contrived to 
 gain their own ends. 
 
 As soon as the tins were emptied, and the dog 
 ready for his meal, the ravens set to work to 
 cheat him out of his food. They assaulted him 
 from the front, keeping him from his food by 
 perpetual annoyance, and at last induced him to 
 make a charge at them. Of course, after the 
 manner of ravens, they contrived to flap their 
 way just out of his reach. This process was re- 
 peated until they had inveigled him to a consid- 
 erable distance, when they took to wing, and be- 
 ing able to fly faster than the dog could run, 
 managed to secure a good meal before he could 
 reach them. 
 
 It is evident that they must have concerted 
 this plan of action between them ; so that we 
 see in this ruse an example of reason and the 
 communication of ideas by means of language. 
 My readers may perhaps remember the story of 
 the two dogs who used to hunt the hare in con- 
 cert, the one starting the hare and driving it to- 
 ward the spot where the accomplice lay hidden. 
 I knew of an instance where a somewhat simi- 
 lar arrangement was made; only in this case 
 the two contracting parties, instead of being two 
 dogs, were a dog and a raven, the latter making 
 use of its wings in driving the prey out of the 
 heather into the open ground. 
 
 Many instances of such alliances are known, 
 and in all of them there is the curious fact that 
 two animals can arrange a mode of cheating a 
 third. In fact they employ one of the principal 
 stratagems in the art of war, z. e., the ambuscade, 
 or inducing the enemy to believe that danger is 
 imminent in one direction, whereas it really lies 
 in the opposite and unsuspected direction. No 
 one would say that a general who contrived to 
 draw the enemy into an ambuscade acted by in- 
 stinct : the act would be accepted as a proof of 
 reasoning powei-s surpassing those of his adver- 
 sary. And if this be the case with the man, why 
 not with the dog, when the deception is carried 
 out by precisely the same train of reasoning ? 
 
HUMOR. 
 
 79 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 HUMOR. 
 
 Practical Joking the Lowest Kind of Humor. Torture the Humor of the Savage. Spinning Cockchafers. 
 Making a Boy "Jump like a Dog." Humor in Birds. The "Chukor" Partridge and the "Punkah- 
 wallah." Humor in the Buzzard. The Kestrel's Idea of Humor. The Humorous Heron. "Making 
 Believe" in Children and Animals. Swallows Mobbing a Kestrel The Same Birds Mobbing a Hare. 
 Swallows Mobbing a Cat. Spar-Ousels Mobbing a Cat. Jackdaws Doing the Same. Ring-Doves Mob- 
 bing a Dog. Monkeys and Crocodiles. A Cock Tantalizing the Hens with Food, and Eating it Himself. 
 Sense of Humor in the Parrot. A Cat Deceived by a Parrot. The Peacock and the Poultry. Humor 
 in the Emeu. Humor in the Mooruk. A Dog and his Practical Jokes. A Horse Playing Practical Jokes 
 on a Boy. Mr. G.'s Pony. Horses Chasing a Pig. Animals Joining in Children's Sports. A Dog Play- 
 ing at "Touch." A Pony and a Cat Playing " Hide-and-Seek " with the Children. "Peter," the Field- 
 Mouse, Playing the Same Game. A Mischievous Canary. The Bullfinch and the Work-box. Practical 
 Jokes Played by " Ungka," the Siamese Ape. Sense of Humor in the Next World. 
 
 AMONG other traits of character which are 
 common to man and beast is the sense of hu- 
 mor. 
 
 This is developed in various ways. Mostly it 
 assumes the form of teasing or annoying others, 
 and deriving amusement from their discomfort. 
 This is the lowest form of humor, and is popu- 
 larly known among ourselves as practical joking. 
 Sometimes, both with man and beast, it takes 
 the form of bodily torture, the struggles of the 
 victim being highly amusing to the torturer. 
 Civilized man has now learned to consider the 
 infliction of pain upon another as any thing but 
 an amusement, and would sooner suffer the ag- 
 ony than inflict it upon a fellow - creature. But 
 to the savage there is no entertainment so fasci- 
 nating as the infliction of bodily pain upon a hu- 
 man being. 
 
 Take, for example, the North American In- 
 dian tribes, among whom the torture is a solemn 
 , usage of war, which every warrior expects for 
 himself if captured, and is certain to inflict upon 
 any prisoner whom he may happen to take. 
 The ingenuity with which the savage wrings 
 every nerve of the human frame, and kills his 
 victim by sheer pain, is absolutely fiendish ; and 
 yet the whole tribe assemble around the stake, 
 and gloat upon the agonies which are being en- 
 dured by a fellow -creature. Similarly the Af- 
 rican savage tortures either man or woman who 
 is accused of witchcraft, employing means which 
 are too horrible to be mentioned. 
 
 Yet even in these cases the cruelty seems to be 
 in a great degree owing to obtuseness of percep- 
 tion ; and the savage who ties his prisoner to a 
 
 stake, and perforates all the sensitive parts of his 
 body with burning pine -splinters, acts very much 
 like a child who amuses itself by catching flies, 
 pulling off their wings and legs, and watching 
 their unavailing efforts to escape. I do not know 
 whether it is the case now or not, but some 
 twenty years ago I saw cockchafers publicly sold 
 in Paris for children to torture to death ; the 
 amusement being to run a hooked pin through 
 its tail, tie a thread to it, and see the poor 
 insect spin in the air. After it was too enfee- 
 bled to spread its wings, it was slowly dismem- 
 bered, the child being greatly amused at its en- 
 deavors to crawl, as leg after leg was pulled 
 off. I rescued many of these wretched insects 
 from the thoughtlessly cruel children, and re- 
 leased them from their sufferings by instantane- 
 ous death. 
 
 In Italy a similar custom prevails, though in 
 a more cruel form, the creatures which are tor- 
 tured by way of sport being more capable of suffer- 
 ing pain than are insects. Birds are employed 
 for the amusement of children, just as are the 
 cockchafers in France. A string is tied to the 
 leg, and the unfortunate bird, after its powers of 
 flight are exhausted, is generally plucked alive 
 and dismembered. 
 
 It is not done from any idea of cruelty, but 
 from sheer incapacity to understand that a bird 
 or a beast can be a fellow- creature. The Ital- 
 ians are notorious for their cruel treatment of 
 animals ; and if remonstrance be made, they are 
 quite astonished, and reply, "Non e Cristiano" 
 (It is not a Christian). 
 
 Not that we in England have very much 
 
80 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 to boast of on this score. The Puritans did a 
 good work when they abolished bear-baiting, 
 even though, as Macaulay says, they did so not 
 because it gave pain to the bear, but because it 
 gave pleasure to the spectators. But up to the 
 present day there is a latent hankering after sim- 
 ilar scenes, even though they are now contrary 
 to law ; and dog -fighting, cock-fighting, badger- 
 drawing, and rat -killing are still practiced in 
 secret, though they can not be carried on in 
 public. 
 
 Mr. W. Reade, in his work on ' ' Savage Africa, " 
 mentions a case in which a woman and her son, 
 a young boy, were put to death on a suspicion of 
 witchcraft. The woman was drowned, and the 
 boy burned alive ; sundiy packets of gunpowder 
 being tied to his legs, which made him "jump 
 like a dog" thus causing great amusement to his 
 torturers. Mr. Reade remonstrated with them 
 upon their cruelty, but they could not be made 
 to see that there was any more cruelty in the fate 
 of the son than in that of the mother. The nar- 
 rator was astounded at the very notion. ' ' Bum- 
 ing more bad ! No, Mr. Reade, burning and 
 drowning all the same." The cruelty was not 
 intentional it was simply want of understanding. 
 To see the boy "jump like a dog" was highly 
 amusing to the spectators, and they never trou- 
 bled themselves about the fact that the ludicrous 
 contortions were caused by terrible pain. Sav- 
 ages are in many points nothing but children, 
 and they act after childish manners, but with the 
 powers of men for evil. 
 
 For example, the poor little boy of seven years 
 of age who was afterward so cruelly burped alive 
 was subjected at the hands of his captors to a 
 species of humor which was vastly entertaining 
 to them. " On the ground crouched the child, 
 the marks of a severe wound visible on his arm, 
 and his wrists bound together by a piece of withy. 
 I shall never forget that child's face. It wore 
 that expression of passive endurance which is one 
 of the traditional characteristics of the savage. 
 While I was there, one of the men held an axe 
 below his eyes : it was the brute's idea of hu- 
 mor." 
 
 In a similar manner, the sense of humor is most- 
 ly developed in the lower animals by causing pain 
 or annoyance to some other creature, and the 
 animal acts in precisely the same manner as a 
 savage or a child. 
 
 We will just take a few cases of humor as ex- 
 hibited by birds. 
 
 As might be expected from the character of 
 the birds, sparrows will gratify their feelings of 
 dislike by uniting together for the purpose of 
 mobbing some creature to which they have an 
 
 objection. There is a short account in Hard- 
 wicke's Science Gossip for December, 1872, of a 
 number of sparrows mobbing a cat. 
 
 The cat evidently intended to make a meal on 
 one of the birds, but was greatly mistaken ; for 
 the sparrows dashed at him so fiercely that he 
 soon turned tail and ran into the house, one of 
 the sparrows actually pursuing him into the 
 house. Poor Tommy ran up -stairs, and was 
 found crouching in terror under one of the beds. 
 This happened in London, where, by the way, 
 sparrows are much less numerous than they used 
 to be : this, I believe, is chiefly if not entirely 
 due to the staff of street -cleaning boys, who re- 
 move the substances from which the sparrows 
 used to derive the greater part of their subsist- 
 ence. 
 
 An account of a somewhat similar adventure 
 is given in the Dumfries and Galloway Stand- 
 ard. 
 
 In the year 1856 a number of "rooks" were in 
 the habit of assembling on a house, and it was 
 thought that they had nests there. One day a 
 cat came prowling over the roof, to the great dis- 
 comfiture of the rooks, who assembled on the roof 
 of a neighboring house and held a consultation. 
 This being over, they proceeded systematically to 
 attack the foe, dashing at her in groups of three 
 or four, flapping their wings in her very face, 
 and screaming dismally. 
 
 As for the cat, though a young one, she was 
 not in the least dismayed, her courage rising to 
 the occasion. 
 
 "It then," writes a spectator of the scene, 
 "looked the very image of defiance ; and a more 
 graceful figure of a cat we never saw when, in 
 fighting attitude, it strained its head and struck 
 out its dexter paw. The cat frequently changed 
 its position, with the view, we suppose, of doing 
 its best to bring itself into closer quarters with 
 the crows ; but in vain. They kept up a shower 
 of abusive language, and occasionally almost 
 grazed the head of Grimalkin with their feathers, 
 but they never ventured going within her reach. 
 Puss mewed impatiently at times, as much as to 
 say, ' Oh that I had wings for a few minutes, and 
 then I would put an end to your noise and blus- 
 ter.' 
 
 "This skirmish between this valorous cat and 
 the crows lasted fully half an hour, and ended in 
 a sort of drawn battle. The cat would have kept 
 the castle long enough, in despite of them ; but it 
 could neither get hold of them nor their nests, so 
 it at length quietly descended." 
 
 In his "Natural History of Ireland," Mr. 
 Thompson records a case where that rather rare 
 bird, the ring-ousel, mobbed and drove away a dog. 
 
HUMOR. 
 
 81 
 
 Mr. Thompson was shooting in the Crow Glen, 
 accompanied by his pointer, which was some 
 yards in advance. Suddenly the dog was at- 
 tacked by two male ring -ousels, which dashed 
 at its head, accompanying each stroke with loud 
 shrieks. They were incited to this action by a 
 female, which, after setting them at the dog, re- 
 tired to a distance and looked on at the fight. 
 The dog was so alarmed by the attack of the 
 birds that he was obliged to retreat to his mas- 
 ter. The birds were so determined in their 
 onset that they even attacked Mr. Thompson 
 and two of his friends, who were accompanying 
 him. 
 
 Had these birds been male and female, it might 
 have been thought that they were defending their 
 young, or trying to decoy the dog from their nest ; 
 but they were both males, and in their adult plum- 
 age. The action lasted for more than a quarter 
 of an hour. 
 
 All those who have watched the habits of an- 
 imals must have remarked how widely spread 
 among them is this species of humor namely, 
 annoying and insulting a stronger being than 
 themselves whenever they think that they can 
 do so with impunity. And so strong is the im- 
 pulse to gratify their sense of humor that they 
 do not hesitate to do so at the risk of their lives. 
 M. Mouhot, in his work on "Indo-China and 
 Cambodia," mentions that he has often witnessed 
 very amusing scenes between the monkey and 
 the crocodile. 
 
 The latter animal is lying half asleep on the 
 bank, and is espied by the monkeys. They seem 
 to consult together, approach, draw back, and at 
 last proceed to overt acts of annoyance. If a 
 monkey can find a convenient branch, he goes 
 along it, swings himself down, hangs by a hand 
 or a foot, slaps the crocodile on the nose, and in- 
 stantly scrambles up the branch out of the rep- 
 tile's reach. Sometimes, when no branch is suf- 
 ficiently near, several monkeys will hang to each 
 other so as to make a chain, and, swinging back- 
 ward and forward over the crocodile's head, the 
 lowermost monkey will torment the reptile to his 
 heart's content. The cream of the joke is when 
 the crocodile is at last so irritated that it opens 
 its enormous jaws, makes a vicious snap at the 
 monkey, and just misses him. Whenever this 
 happy event occurs, there are screams and chat- 
 terings of exultation from the monkeys, and a 
 vast number of joyful gambols executed among 
 the branches. 
 
 Of course, according to the old proverb, the 
 pitcher may go too often to the well; and it 
 does occasionally happen that the monkey does 
 F 
 
 not escape in time, and is ingulfed in the croco- 
 dile's jaws. Whereupon the cries of exultation 
 are changed into groans and shrieks of terror, 
 and the whole assembly make off as fast as they 
 can. But experience does not teach them dis- 
 cretion, and in two or three days they will be at 
 the same game again. 
 
 In Mr. T. C. Jerdon's " Birds of India" there is 
 an amusing notice of the habits of the Chukor 
 partridge (Caccabis Chukor) when domesticat- 
 ed. It is very tame and familiar, and some- 
 times becomes rather a nuisance on account of 
 its habit of playing tricks on people. It has a 
 special facility in discovering the most vulnerable 
 spot, and inflicts sly pecks at the bare feet of the 
 native servants as they move through the house. 
 Its great amusement, however, is to find the man 
 who pulls the punkah half asleep, as is customary 
 with these men as they rock backward and for- 
 ward at their monotonous task. The little bird 
 pecks his legs so fiercely and actively that he is 
 quite unable to drive it away and go on with his 
 work, and he is at last obliged to call for some 
 one to rid him of his tormentor. 
 
 A somewhat similar custom is related by Mr. 
 Thompson, in his "Natural History of Ireland," 
 the bird in this case being a tame buzzard. It 
 had a way of flying after strangers, and knocking 
 their hats over their eyes with a blow of its wing ; 
 and it was so quick about it that, even when fore- 
 warned, its victim had some difficulty in evading 
 the blow. The same bird took an objection to 
 the bow of its master's shoe-ties, and used to fly 
 at his feet and suddenly untie the strings. 
 
 I am personally acquainted with a heron in 
 which this form of humor is largely developed. 
 
 The bird was in one sense tame, for it was al- 
 lowed to run loose in a garden, and was on the 
 most affectionate terms of friendship with one of 
 the men employed in its owner's warehouse. It 
 is really beautiful to see the welcome which the 
 bird gives to the man, and to hear her low, lov- 
 ing gabble as she rubs her head against him, or 
 takes his hand gently in her beak. He has 
 taught her several tricks, as, for example, to 
 take off his hat at the word of command. She 
 is a beautiful creature ; and if the sense of hu- 
 mor were not quite so strong, she would be an 
 admirable bird. Unfortunately, she has an un- 
 appeasable relish for practical jokes, especially 
 against human beings, looking quite soft and 
 gentle until they are within reach, and then 
 driving her long, sharp beak at them with the 
 rapidity of a serpent's stroke. 
 
 On one occasion her sense of humor was de- 
 
MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 veloped to such an extent as to cost the loss of 
 her liberty. 
 
 The garden in which she lives is also inhabited 
 by a great number of aquatic birds, principally 
 gulls and ducks, and they have a way of laying 
 their eggs in different parts of the garden. One 
 day a learned and respected neighbor went into 
 the garden, and, seeing some ducks' eggs on the 
 ground, stooped down to examine them. As he 
 was thus engaged, the heron stole up softly be- 
 hind him, and delivered so tremendous a blow 
 that she fairly knocked him on his face. 
 
 The unfortunate gentleman, knowing that the 
 heron has an unpleasant way of pecking at eyes, 
 crouched as closely to the ground as he could, 
 sheltering his eyes with his arms, and calling for 
 help as loudly as he could in such a position. 
 The heron, enjoying the joke immensely, mount- 
 ed on his back, and triumphantly maintained her 
 post there until assistance arrived, and she was 
 driven off. 
 
 Since that exploit she has not been allowed to 
 run loose, but has been confined in a roomy cage, 
 in which she can run about. Even under these 
 circumstances she delights in enticing people to 
 come near the cage, and then darting her beak 
 at them between the bars a joke which she has 
 several times played at my expense. The dis- 
 tance to which she can project her beak is quite 
 marvelous, and it is no difficult matter for the 
 bird to decoy too confiding persons within her 
 reach. 
 
 Humor, indeed, seems to be a special charac- 
 teristic of the hawk tribe. I knew a tame spar- 
 row-hawk which was always trying to circum- 
 vent a magpie belonging to the same house ; and 
 the extraordinary ingenuity which these birds 
 showed in playing practical jokes on each other 
 could not have been surpassed by human beings. 
 In Hardwicke's Science Gossip of March, 1871, 
 there is an account of a tame kestrel which show- 
 ed a similar sense of humor : 
 
 " Insects of all sizes and kinds were summarily 
 devoured, and I have more than once captured 
 wingless females and imperfectly formed moths 
 unable to fly, by finding her dancing round them 
 in their endeavors to escape, and with a gentle 
 nibble giving them a hint to run faster. When 
 the poor insects were too maimed or exhausted to 
 crawl farther, the sport being ended, they were 
 eaten without further delay. Indeed, she ap- 
 pears quite indignant with spiders, because, in- 
 stead of hurrying off, they lie down and curl 
 themselves up." 
 
 Here we have an instance of a bird dealing 
 with an insect just as the French children dealt 
 
 with the cockchafers, neither bird nor children 
 having the least idea that the struggles which 
 amused them so much were the result of pain. 
 
 The same bird, if she could find neither mouse 
 nor insect, would pounce on a piece of brick or 
 stone, and carry it off in her claws, making be- 
 lieve that it was prey of some sort. She carried 
 on this pretense to such an extent that she would ' 
 resent any interference, and would fight for her 
 piece of brick as fiercely as if it had been a mouse, 
 of the delicacy of which she was most fond. Xo 
 child could have "pretended" with more aban- 
 donment than she did, and the bird which ' ' made 
 believe " that the piece of brick was a mouse, and 
 the child who "makes believe" that a piece of 
 stick is a baby, are for the time, and on that 
 point, precisely on a level. 
 
 The following account of bird humor, as dis- 
 played in practical joking, is taken from Hard- 
 wicke's Science Gossip of March, 1872 : 
 
 "I have imbibed many of the tastes of Gilbert 
 White ; but that which engrosses me most, and 
 which I may call my hobby, is the natural his- 
 tory of the swallow tribe. 
 
 "I have read that swallows will 'mob' and 
 put to flight a kestrel-hawk. This I was rather 
 skeptical of until lately, when my doubts were 
 removed by that most convincing of proofs, ocu- 
 lar demonstration. I had gone to see an old 
 castle in the neighborhood, which was built on 
 the only hill for miles around, and was therefore 
 tolerably certain to be the haunt of a pair or two 
 of hawks. I accordingly kept my eyes open, in 
 the expectation of seeing one, and I was soon re- 
 warded by the appearance on the brow of the hill 
 of a bird which, by its graceful form and the 
 hovering motion of its wings, I knew to be a 
 kestrel. 
 
 "His active little enemies, the swallows, a 
 flock of which were disporting themselves close 
 by, had been as quick to see him as I. These at 
 once advanced to meet the intruder, and. with 
 the utmost audacity, brushed past him in all di- 
 rections, one from one quarter and one from an- 
 other, each wheeling after it had swept by, and 
 returning to the charge, while the hawk made 
 futile dashes now and again, but was always too 
 late to do any damage to his nimble little oppo- 
 nents. . 
 
 "At last, tired of waging an unequal war, and 
 obliged to own himself conquered, he beat a hasty 
 retreat. He was not, however, allowed to get 
 off so easily, but was followed up by his victori- 
 ous foes ; and the apparent mystery of such little 
 birds proving more than a match for such a for- 
 midable-looking antagonist, armed literally cap- 
 
HUMOR. 
 
 83 
 
 a-pie, as he was, was quite cleared up ; for as he 
 made off', evidently at his best speed, the swallows, 
 with the utmost ease, when left at an apparently 
 hopeless distance behind, fetched him up, then 
 passed him (in what appeared to me most dan- 
 gerous proximity), wheeled round, met him on 
 their return journey, and then, taking another 
 sharp turn to the right about, repassed him, and 
 continued repeating these manoeuvres a dozen 
 times or more. 
 
 "The solution of the mystery lay in their ex- 
 traordinary power of flight. The way in which 
 the swallows made straight for him, apparently 
 bent on a personal encounter, and then, when the 
 kestrel was reckoning on clutching them in his 
 talons, gliding away at a tangent, was, though 
 no doubt tantalizing to the hawk, none the less 
 amusing and interesting to me. 
 
 "To crown all, when the others had left off 
 the chase, presumably not thinking it worth their 
 while to pursue any farther, it was curious to 
 watch one solitary individual carry it on alone 
 with such seemingly unrelenting vigor that he 
 seemed actuated by feelings of the direst re- 
 venge. However that might be, the swallow 
 certainly effectually prevented the discomfited 
 foe from pausing in his enforced retreat. I 
 watched them until pursuers and pursued both 
 vanished from my sight. I dare say the little 
 swallow continued the pursuit until he had wea- 
 ried and exhausted the hawk. 
 
 "On another occasion I witnessed a little in- 
 cident which has, to the best of my knowledge, 
 the merit of novelty ; and so I hope you will ex- 
 cuse my telling it. I saw a hare running across 
 a large park by the way-side, and was looking 
 about to see what had started it, but could not 
 imagine what it could be, as neither man nor dog 
 was in sight. It started again (for it had stopped 
 and sat in a listening attitude), and then I saw 
 that the disturbers were a flight of swallows, 
 who were following it up like a pack of hounds ; 
 now one and now another skimming past the 
 hare's ears along the ground, while the poor tim- 
 id creature was putting its best leg foremost; 
 but all to no purpose, for its relentless torment- 
 ors seemed to take pleasure in its fright, and to 
 enjoy the sport of teasing it. 
 
 " I followed the little group until an undulation 
 of the park hid it from my view, and was greatly 
 surprised to see the dexterity with which the 
 swallows calculated their distance so as to im- 
 press the hare with the idea they were flying 
 straight at her, and yet, when they were on the 
 point of dashing against her, took a sharp turn, 
 and swept off in a curve, to renew the attack 
 again the next moment. 
 
 "I will close my epistle with an anecdote re- 
 lated by the Rev. Philip Skelton, as having come 
 under his own observation, which seems to be ap- 
 propriate, and which, I believe, will be new to 
 most if not all your readers. I give it in his 
 own words : 
 
 "'I have entertained a great affection and 
 some degree of esteem for swallows, ever since 
 I saw a remarkable instance of their sense and 
 humor played off upon a cat which had, upon a 
 very fine day, rested herself upon the top of a 
 gate-post, as if in contemplation, when ten or a 
 dozen swallows, knowing her to be an enemy, 
 took it into their heads to tantalize her in a man- 
 ner which showed a high degree not only of good 
 sense but of humor. One of these birds, coming 
 from behind her, flew close by her ear, and she 
 made a snap at it with her paw, but it was too 
 late. Another swallow, in five or six seconds, 
 did the same, and she made the same unsuccess- 
 ful attempt to catch it; this was followed by a 
 third, and so on to the number just mentioned ; 
 and every one as it passed seemed to set up a 
 laugh at the disappointed enemy very like the 
 laugh of a young child when tickled. The whole 
 number, following one another at the distance of 
 about three yards, formed a regular circle in the 
 air, and played it off like a wheel at her ears for 
 near an hour, not seemingly at all alarmed at me, 
 who stood within six or seven yards of the post. 
 I enjoyed this sport as well as the pretty birds, 
 till the cat, tired out with disappointment, quitted 
 the gate-post, as much huffed, I believe, as I had 
 been diverted.'" 
 
 The habit of "mobbing" seems to be inherent 
 in animal nature generally, and is even found in 
 fishes, as may be seen by the following anecdote. 
 It is related by Captain Crow, from personal ob- 
 servation : 
 
 " One morning during a calm, when near the 
 Hebrides, all hands were called up at 3 A.M. to 
 witness a battle between several of the fish called 
 threshers, a fox-shark, and some sword-fish on 
 the one side, and an enormous whale on the 
 other. It was in the middle of summer, and the 
 weather being clear, and the fish close to the ves- 
 sel, we had a fine opportunity of witnessing the 
 contest. 
 
 "As soon as the whale's back appeared above 
 the water, the threshers, springing several yards 
 into the air, descended with great violence upon 
 the object of their rancor, and inflicted upon him 
 the most severe slaps with their long tails, the 
 sound of which resembled the report of muskets 
 fired at a distance. 
 
 " The sword-fish, in their turn, attacked the 
 
84 <:,, 
 
 distressed whale, striking it from below; and thus, 
 beset on all sides, and wounded, where the poor 
 creature appeared the water around him was 
 dyed with blood. 
 
 "In this manner they continued tormenting 
 and wounding him for many hours, until we lost 
 sight of him, and I have no doubt that in the end 
 they completed his destruction." 
 
 It is worthy of notice that, in this case, a tem- 
 porary alliance was formed between fishes belong- 
 ing to different families. The sharks and sword- 
 fishes have but little in common, and yet they 
 united in order to attack the whale, which could 
 not have done any harm to either of them. It 
 is evident, therefore, that fishes must be able to 
 communicate ideas to each other, and to act upon 
 those ideas. In other words, they possess a lan- 
 guage which is intelligible to fishes in general, and 
 not restricted to any one species. It is absolute- 
 ly inaudible and unintelligible to us, but that it 
 exists is an absolute certainty. 
 
 A still more curious alliance was mentioned 
 to me by Captain Scott, R.N. namely, a joint 
 attack upon a whale by the grampus and sword- 
 fish, i. e. , an alliance between a mammal and a 
 fish against a mammal. 
 
 Birds seem to be great adepts in the art of tor- 
 menting, and this talent accordingly shows itself 
 where least expected. As a rule, domestic poult- 
 ry are remarkable for the generosity with which 
 the master-bird treats his inferiors : he will scratch 
 the ground, unearth some food, and then, instead 
 of eating it himself, will call some of his favorites 
 to him, and give to them the delicacy for which 
 he had labored. But I knew of one case a sol- 
 itary one, I hope where the cock scratched as 
 usual, called his wives, and, when they had as- 
 sembled round him, ate the morsel himself. It 
 was just like the old school practical joke. Old 
 boy to new boy, holding out an apple : "Do you 
 like apples?" New boy to old boy: "Yes." 
 Old boy to new boy : "Then see me eat one." 
 
 Parrots are possessed of a very strong sense of 
 humor, and are much given to practical joking, 
 after the ways of mankind. My own parrot had 
 a bad habit of whistling for the dog, and then en- 
 joying the animal's discomfiture ; and there have 
 been many parrots who would even play practical 
 jokes on human beings. Dogs and cats, how- 
 ever, seem to be the principal victims of the par- 
 rot's sense of humor. 
 
 I know a case where a parrot is allowed to 
 about the house as it likes. In that house there 
 is also a cat, with which Polly is pleased to amuse 
 herself. One day when the cat was lying asleep 
 on the rug, the parrot began to mew and scream 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 just like young kittens when they are hurt. Up 
 jumped the cat, and rushed in frantic haste to 
 her beloved offspring, and was veiy much aston- 
 ished to find them all safe and comfortably asleep. 
 She then returned to the rug ; but as soon as she 
 had curled herself up and settled herself com- 
 fortably, the parrot recommenced her mewings 
 and cries, and in this way contrived to dupe the 
 cat three times. 
 
 Every one who has watched the habits of pea- 
 cocks knows the peculiar rustling sound which 
 they can produce by shaking the feathers of their 
 train. One of these birds, which inhabited a 
 large yard in common with other poultry, was 
 pleased to take umbrage at the chickens, and 
 amused himself by driving them about, and not 
 allowing them to eat their food. His crowning 
 joke was to drive them all into a comer, spread 
 his train, and rustle the feathers over their heads 
 so as to frighten them. 
 
 All birds of the gallinaceous order are hor- 
 ribly alarmed at any thing that appears above 
 them, probably owing to their instinct which 
 teaches them to beware of a bird of prey. Sports- 
 men who have found the birds become wild and 
 wary toward the end of the summer are well 
 aware of this fact, and by flying a common paper 
 kite are enabled to come quite close to the birds, 
 which mistake the paper kite for a bird of prey, 
 and crouch closely to the ground as long as it is 
 above them. The peacock was therefore play- 
 ing on this instinctive sense of fear when it spread 
 its train over the chickens. 
 
 In his "Gatherings of a Naturalist in Aus- 
 tralia," Mr. Bennett mentions an instance of 
 humor in an emu. A pair of these birds lived 
 at Sydney, and were so tame that they walked 
 about among the people who came to listen to 
 the band. One day some persons were present 
 who did not know the birds, and, being afraid of 
 them, ran away. Whereupon the emus, enjoying 
 the joke, gave chase after one of the fugitives, 
 and took off his hat. 
 
 The same author gives a description of the 
 beautiful species of cassowary called the mooruk. 
 He kept a pair of them in a yard with his poult- 
 ry, among which was a very consequential ban- 
 tam cock. Every now and then the mooruk 
 would take a fancy for chasing the bantam all 
 over the yard, and endeavoring to trample him 
 underfoot. 
 
 ere are two accounts of a similar mode of 
 practical joking carried on by a dog, which I 
 knew personally, and a horse, both belonging to 
 the same lady : 
 
HUMOR. 
 
 85 
 
 " We have a little Pomeranian dog, one of 
 whose principal amusements consists in persecut- 
 ing any fowls which may invade the precincts of 
 his garden, though he never meddles with them 
 when they keep to their own territories. His 
 favorite mode of torture consists in running 
 down the unfortunate fowl, rolling it over upon 
 its back, and then running round and round it. 
 This conduct the dog repeats as often as the 
 poor victim regains its feet. Should the fowl 
 happen to be a large Cochin or Malay, the fran- 
 tic agitations of its elevated legs are most ludi- 
 
 Horses, when kindly treated, are very fond of 
 practical joking, from sheer exuberance of spirits. 
 Ignorant grooms very often are unable to under- 
 stand that playfulness is not vice, and when they 
 are brought in contact with a high-spirited, play- 
 ful animal, consider it to be a vicious one, and 
 treat it with brutal violence, thus ruining the 
 temper of the animal. Here are some examples 
 of practical joking in horses : 
 
 "One of our carriage -horses, 'Charley,' al- 
 though by no means vicious, was a saucy creat- 
 ure. We had much difficulty in securing him, 
 as he could slip or untie his halter, take down 
 the bar, and open the stable door. One day the 
 groom forgot the necessary precaution of locking 
 the door. Out into the yard walked Charley, 
 where he found the coachman's little boy. The 
 animal did not attempt to hurt the child, but 
 (with that feeling which causes great boys to find 
 amusement in teasing younger ones) drove him 
 into a corner, and seeing that the little fellow 
 was frightened, kept him there by shaking his 
 head at him whenever he attempted to escape. 
 I happened to be the first person who discovered 
 them, and, although but a child myself, went to 
 the rescue. 
 
 "I knew the animal's funny tricks, and he 
 knew that I was not afraid of him ; therefore he 
 allowed me to lead him back to the stable, only 
 giving a parting shake of the head to his late 
 prisoner. Although so fond of liberty himself, 
 he would thus imprison dogs, cats, or fowls when- 
 ever an opportunity offered." 
 
 One of my friends, when a boy, had a Shet- 
 land pony, whose idea of humor consisted in 
 throwing every one who got on his back ; and 
 the variety of means which he could employ 
 showed a wonderful readiness and fertility of in- 
 vention. Having heard the owner of the pony 
 tell a few anecdotes of his former favorite, I ask- 
 ed for further details, and received from the old 
 coachman of the family the following account, 
 which I print exactly as it was written : 
 
 "In the year ITrr X'TtnTT" Fox 
 
 Hounds was kept at K , J. G., Esq., master 
 
 of them. There was three young Gentlemen, 
 sons of Mr. G. They had each Poneys for hunt- 
 ing. Mr. F. was the eldest, then Mr. C. and 
 Mr. A. Mr. F. twelve years of age, Mr. C. ten, 
 and Mr. A. nine. The Poneys was kept rough, 
 never in a Stable; they ran out in the Park 
 summer and winter, had a shed to go into at 
 night ; they got a little Corn and Hay in winter, 
 that was all the Grooming they got. One of 
 them named Tom tit was rather a rum one to 
 ride ; he was about ten hands High, a dark Bay 
 with Black Points, Carraed very little flesh, more 
 like a roe deer than a Poney ; his rider was Mr. 
 C. At that time his weight would be about 6 
 Stone. None Could ride him but him self. I 
 remember of 5 of the Stable Lads trying to 
 ride him in the Park arnongest the rest I was 
 one. No sooner did we get on to him then he 
 Pitched every one of us over his head. Of 
 Course we had no Saddle. 
 
 "I have seen Mr. C. get on to him. in the 
 Stableyard, and the first thing he would try to 
 do was to Pitch him over his head ; having failed 
 in that, he would try to rub him off against a 
 wall or house, thinking he had got his leg be- 
 twixt him and wall ; but Mr. C. "was too wide 
 awake for him, the moment he saw what he was 
 up too he put his leg up on his neck, then hav- 
 ing faild there, he maid for the Coachhouse 
 wich was verry narrow, Just room enough to let 
 a Man in along side of Carriage, he would get 
 in there trying first the wall and then against the 
 Carriage ; he had not room enough to turn to 
 get out, so that some of us would lift him and 
 his rider out without any Damage being done ; 
 then having faild in all these atemps, he ran off 
 Past the Mansion house; there is a burn runs 
 Close Past the house, a Bridge over it, and then 
 a gate about 4 feet High, and wich he maid an 
 atemp to Jump, he got his fore legs over the tope 
 bar up as far as the knees and he was fixed he 
 Could nether get one way nor another, he was 
 Standing on his hind feet almost as Straight as a 
 man and his rider Still in the Saddle. I run up 
 to him and said, What are you doing there ? 
 His rider said, I know what, he wants me off 
 some way or other, so must Just get down when 
 he had the boldness to get up, I will not Come 
 off: so I lifted the two off the Gate. I have 
 seen him when in a run with the Hounds go 
 through a hole in a hedge you would think not 
 large enough to let one of the Hounds. He was 
 very Seldom thrown out of a run, he Could gal- 
 lop like a race horse ; very Good for soft ground, 
 being so light. I remember of the going a-miss- 
 
86 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 ing all in a sudden so they were both lost. Mr. 
 G. called out, C., were are you? The answer 
 sounded near where were Standing I hear they 
 were both lying in a ditch up to the neck in wa- 
 ter, and Poor C. and Poney had to go home very 
 much aganst there will." 
 
 The same pony was afterward sold and taken 
 away. However, when he was some five or six 
 miles away, he had recourse to his old tricks : 
 he sent his rider over his head, galloped off, and 
 jumped several walls, swam the river Earn, and 
 presented himself at his old quarters. 
 
 The "Mr. C." mentioned by the coachman 
 tells me that the perpetual struggle for mastery 
 was nothing but pure fun on the part of the 
 pony ; but that if he had once dismounted, even 
 when in such absurd positions as those which the 
 coachman so well describes, the pony would have 
 been master ever afterward. 
 
 Last summer I was witness to a scene show- 
 ing that the horse possesses a strong sense of 
 humor. I was walking through Barfreyston, a 
 village near Dover, and saw over the rather high 
 wall of a farm-yard a couple of horses careering 
 about madly. The wall was so high that only 
 their heads could be seen, and occasionally a 
 whisk of their tails. Finding an aperture through 
 which I could look without being seen, I found 
 that the horses were amusing themselves by 
 chasing a pig, hunting it round and round the 
 yard, driving it into corners, and occasionally 
 flinging their heels into the air with delight. 
 
 They scarcely gave that wretched pig any 
 rest. Sometimes, when tired with their exer- 
 tions, they would lie still for a few minutes, and 
 the pig would get away as far as possible from 
 his tormentors. But no sooner did the poor 
 animal settle down to a cabbage leaf than the 
 horses would be at him again, driving him about, 
 and putting him in such a state of perturbation 
 by chasing him from different directions that he 
 had not the least idea where to run so as to es- 
 cape his tormentors. The horses, in fact, were 
 acting just as two school-boys might be expected 
 to do if a pig's adverse fate had delivered it in 
 their hands. 
 
 Many of the lower animals not only show their 
 playfulness in such tricks as those which have 
 been mentioned, but are able to appreciate and 
 take part in the games played by children. 
 When I was a boy I knew a little dog, a King 
 Charles spaniel, which was an accomplished 
 player at the well-known game called tag, or 
 touch. The little animal displayed quite as 
 much enthusiasm as any of the human players, 
 
 and would dart away from the boy who happen- 
 ed to be "touch" with an anxiety that almost 
 appeared to be terror. Of course to touch the 
 dog was an impossibility ; but he was a gener- 
 ous little creature, with a strong sense of justice, 
 and so, when he thought that his turn ought to 
 come, he stood still and waited quietly to be 
 touched. His mode of touching his playfellows 
 was always by grasping the end of their trousers 
 in his teeth ; and as it was impossible for the 
 boy to stop when so seized in full course, the 
 dog often got jerked along the ground for some 
 little distance. 
 
 A lady told me lately that, when a girl, she 
 had a pony which would play hide-and-seek with 
 the children. Hiding was necessarily only a 
 pretense on the part of the pony; but the ani- 
 mal would go to some corner, hide its head, and 
 make believe that it was entirely concealed. 
 
 Hide-and-seek seems to be a game which can 
 be learned and enjoyed by many animals. One 
 of my correspondents has sent me an account of 
 a favorite cat which was an adept in the game. 
 She was a white cat with yellow eyes, and went 
 by the name of "Daisy." She was given, when 
 quite a little kitten, to her mistress, who was 
 then a young child, and the two became insepa- 
 rable companions, joining in their sports, one of 
 which was hide-and-seek. 
 
 The little mistress used to hide, and the kitten 
 to search for her, invariably discovering her lurk- 
 ing-place. 
 
 One of the most curious points in this animal 
 was that when she became a cat and had a kit- 
 ten of her own, she taught her young one the 
 game which she had learned from her mistress, 
 importing into the game an element which I 
 have over and over again seen in the same game 
 when played by children. The kitten went and 
 hid itself, or rather pretended to hide, and the 
 mother went in search of it. She would pretend 
 not to see the kitten, and pass close to its hiding- 
 place. Then, as if startled, she would spring 
 back, the kitten would jump out at her, and the 
 two would rush about in high glee. 
 
 The reader can compare with this stoiy the 
 anecdote of "Pop" and the hidden key, which 
 will be found in another part of this work. 
 
 A somewhat similar anecdote is told in the 
 Zoologist, page 9430, of a short-tailed field-mouse, 
 which had been tamed. It was found so cover- 
 ed with ticks that it could hardly crawl. It was 
 picked up, cleared from the vermin, and placed 
 in a box. It was so grateful for the relief that 
 
HUMOR. 
 
 87 
 
 it did not try to escape, and on the very first 
 day took food from the hand of its benefactor. 
 
 "Little ' Peter,' as he was named, soon learn- 
 ed to come when called, and was let out of the 
 box every day to play about the room. Strange 
 to say, he showed a decided appreciation of fun, 
 a favorite amusement being to hide himself in a 
 basin of corn which was kept for his benefit. In 
 this he would bury himself, refusing to answer 
 to his name, and evidently expecting to be look- 
 ed for. If my friend took no notice of him, Pe- 
 ter's slender stock of patience soon became ex- 
 hausted; first a shrill squeak was heard, then 
 the corn flew up in showers, and at last up 
 came Peter's little round head to the surface." 
 
 This interesting little animal died from feast- 
 ing too freely on a pear which had been inju- 
 diciously given to it by one of the servants. 
 
 Dr. Bennett, in his "Gatherings of a Naturalist 
 in Australia," mentions that a couple of young 
 duck-bills in his possession used to play at hide- 
 and-seek behind the furniture of the room. One 
 would hide itself and then give a squeak, when 
 the other would hunt for it and at last find it. 
 
 The reader will remember that a kestrel pos- 
 sessed the same powers of "making believe," 
 pretending that a piece of brick was a mouse, 
 and fighting fiercely if any one offered to take it 
 away. 
 
 Not even the huge and unwieldy whales are 
 exempt from the sense of humor as displayed by 
 playfulness. In Bennett's "Whaling Voyage" 
 there is a short and graphic description of this 
 trait of character in the spermaceti -whale, or 
 cachalot, as it is often called : 
 
 ' ' A large party of cachalots gamboling on the 
 surface of the ocean is one of the most curious 
 and imposing spectacles which a whaling voy- 
 age affords ; the huge size and uncouth agility 
 of the monsters exhibiting a strange combination 
 of the grand and ridiculous. 
 
 "On such occasions it is not unusual to ob- 
 serve a whale of the largest size leap from the 
 water with the activity of a salmon, display the 
 entire bulk of its gigantic frame suspended at 
 the height of several feet in the air, and again 
 plunge into the sea with a helpless and tremen- 
 dous fall, which causes the surrounding waters 
 to shoot up in broad and lofty volumes capped 
 with foam. 
 
 "Others of the same 'school' leap or 'breach' 
 in a less degree, sportively brandish their broad 
 and fan -shaped flukes in the air, or protrude 
 their heads perpendicularly above the waves like 
 columns of black rock." 
 
 Captain Scott, R.N., once told me, as an ex- 
 ample of the height to which a cachalot will leap 
 
 in these gambols, that when standing on the 
 deck of a man-of-war, he has seen the horizon 
 under the animal before it fell again into the wa- 
 ter. When we recollect that these whales often 
 reach eighty feet in length, we may appreciate 
 the force which is exerted in projecting this huge 
 mass to such a height. 
 
 Here are two instances of humor as exhibited 
 by birds, and showing playfulness without any 
 desire to cause personal annoyance : 
 
 Two ladies were sitting at work in a room in 
 which was a pet canary belonging to one of them. 
 The bird threw a reel of cotton on the floor, took 
 the end of the thread in its beak, and wound it 
 first round the neck of one lady and then round 
 that of the other, until the reel was empty, when 
 the bird perched on a chair, and seemed quite 
 pleased with its freak. 
 
 The lady to whom the bird belonged tried to 
 unwind the thread from her neck ; but every time 
 that she attempted to remove it, the canary flew 
 at her and flapped its wings in her face, so as to 
 prevent her from freeing herself. 
 
 A young lady, who was considered as the mis- 
 tress of a bull-finch by every one except the bird 
 himself, sends me the following account of her 
 pet's sense of humor, which was developed, as is 
 usual among the lower animals, in the form of a 
 practical joke : 
 
 "One day while 'Bully' was flying about the 
 dining-room mamma went out of the room, leav- 
 ing on the table her work-box, in which was a lit- 
 tle pincushion stuck full of needles already thread- 
 ed, besides pins. Bully knew that he was not 
 allowed to touch the pins ; but as soon as mam- 
 ma left the room he pulled all the pins out of the 
 pincushion, and scattered them about the table- 
 cloth. The needles he carried to the top of the 
 lamp, and twisted the thread round a part of the 
 lamp. He then put the pincushion under the 
 sofa, and retired to the lamp, where he waited 
 until mamma came back." 
 
 It is really a remarkable fact that these two 
 birds, each belonging to the finches, should have 
 played similar practical jokes with thread, ". e., 
 twisting it about some object where it had no 
 business to be. I ought to add that the story of 
 the canary was sent to me only a few days ago, 
 while no less than thirteen years have elapsed 
 since the anecdote of the bull-finch was sent. It 
 had been put away in a box, and was only found 
 an hour or two before this present time 11.25 
 A.M., January 8, 1874. 
 
 In Bennett's "Wanderings in New South 
 Wales" there is a singularly interesting history 
 
MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 of the life and death of a Siamese ape, which 
 went by the name of " Ungka." He was a play- 
 ful animal, and sometimes, when he could not 
 find a human playfellow, he would try to make 
 companions of some small monkeys that were on 
 board the same ship. He was too big and black 
 for them, however, and they united together for 
 the purpose of driving him away. 
 
 "Ungka, thus repelled in his kind endeavors 
 to establish something like sociality among them, 
 determined in his own mind to annoy and pun- 
 ish them for their impudence. So the next time 
 that they united as before in a body on his ap- 
 proach, he watched the opportunity, and, when 
 one was off his guard, seized a rope, and, swing- 
 ing toward him, caught him by the tail and haul- 
 ed away upon it, much to the annoyance of the 
 owner, who had no idea that such a retaliation 
 was to take place. He continued pulling on it 
 as if determined to detach it, until the agility and 
 desperation of the monkey at being so treated 
 obliged him to relinquish his hold. 
 
 "But it not unfrequently happened that he 
 made his way up the rigging, dragging the 
 monkey after him, and thus made him follow his 
 course most unwillingly. If, in his ascent, he re- 
 quired both hands, he would pass the tail of his 
 captive into the prehensile palm of his feet. It 
 was the most grotesque scene imaginable, and 
 will long remain in the remembrance of those 
 who witnessed it. It was performed by Ungka 
 with the most perfect gravity of countenance, 
 while the poor suffering monkey grinned, chatter- 
 ed, and twisted about, making the most strenuous 
 efforts to escape from his opponent's grasp. 
 
 "His countenance, at all times a figure of fun, 
 
 now had terror added to it, increasing the delin- 
 eations of beauty ; and when the poor beast had 
 been dragged some distance up the rigging, Ung- 
 ka, tired of his labor, would suddenly let go his 
 hold of the tail, when it would require some skill 
 on the part of the monkey to seize a rope in order 
 to prevent his receiving a compound fracture by 
 a rapid descent on deck. Ungka, having himself 
 no caudal extremity, knew well that he was per- 
 fectly free from any retaliation on the part of his 
 opponent." 
 
 After this the small monkeys had a consulta- 
 tion, and agreed that whenever Ungka assaulted 
 either of them, they should all unite in attacking 
 him. This, by the way, is another proof of lan- 
 guage and power of combination among animals, 
 as mentioned in Chapter V. Having acquired a 
 taste for tail-pulling, and finding it unsafe to attack 
 the monkeys, Ungka took to pulling the tail of the 
 ship's pig, trying, but in vain, to straighten it. 
 
 We shall hear something more of this animal 
 in connection with the subjects of Pride and Con- 
 science. 
 
 Some persons have asked me what use the ca- 
 pacity of humor could subserve in the next world ? 
 I suppose, much the same that it subserves in 
 this. For my own part, I should extremely re- 
 gret, were it possible, to lose my sense of humor 
 whenever it may please my Maker to summon 
 me into the spirit-world. There are some, even 
 in this world, in whom the sense of humor seems 
 to be absolutely wanting, and, however estimable 
 they may be in character, they are just solemn 
 prigs. I should be sorry to resemble them in 
 the next world. 
 
PRIDE. 
 
 89 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 PRIDE, JEALOUSY, ANGER, REVENGE, TYRANNY. 
 
 PKIDE, or Self-esteem, among Animals. Etiquette in the Cow-shed. Pride of Ancestry in the Mule. Differ- 
 ent Positions of the Horse and the Ass among Mules. The " Bell Mare " and her Value to Muleteers. 
 Animals Sensitive to Ridicule." Pret's " Objection to Disparaging Remarks. Dislike of Ridicule Shown 
 by "Ungka." Pride in Personal Appearance. The Peacock, the Turkey, the Whidah-bird, and the Bird- 
 of-Paradise. JEALOUSY and its Developments. Definition of the Two Kinds of Jealousy Jealousies be- 
 tween Pets. " Zeiio," " Diver," and their Aquatic Rivalries. Jealousy of a Dog, accompanied by ANQEB, 
 and followed by REVENGE. The Brown Mouse and its White Rival Jealousy and Delayed Revenge 
 among Poultry. The Love-drama of the Mandarin Duck, and its Adaptability to the Stage. Comparison 
 with Human Beings. TYKANNY among the Animals. Tyranny in the Tiger-beetle. The Hermit Crabs 
 and their Conflicts. Tyranny among Gregarious Animals and Birds. The Tyrant and the Harem. Com- 
 parison with Polygamous Man. Tyranny in the Aviary. Tyranny of Pets. "Duchie " and her Mistress. 
 
 THE five characteristics which head this chap- 
 ter are not pleasing ; but, such as they are, they 
 belong to the immaterial, and not the material, 
 part of man. We shall see that the lower ani^ 
 mals also possess these qualities, and the infer- 
 ence to be drawn from that fact is obvious. We 
 will take those characteristics in order. 
 
 Pride, or self-esteem, is developed as fully in 
 many animals as it can be in the proudest of the 
 human race. This is shown most conspicuously 
 in animals which herd together. There is al- 
 ways one leader at the head, who will not suffer 
 any move to be made without his permission, 
 and who resents the slightest interference with his 
 authority. Especially is this the case with the 
 deer tribe, the horses, and the oxen. Even when 
 these latter animals are domesticated, and the 
 habits of their wild life are materially changed, 
 the feeling of pride exists to the fullest extent. 
 
 I have often amused myself by watching the 
 inhabitants of a farm-yard, and seeing how the 
 cows have their laws of precedence and etiquette 
 as clearly defined as those of any European court. 
 Every cow knows her own place and keeps it ; 
 she will not condescend to take a lower, and 
 would not be allowed to take a higher. When 
 a newly bought calf is first introduced to the 
 farm-yard, it is treated just like a new boy at 
 school. The previous inhabitants of the yard 
 come and inspect it contemptuously, they de- 
 cline its society, they crowd it away from the 
 hay-racks ; and a new-comer in a farm-yard has 
 about as much chance of approaching the rack 
 at feeding-time as a new boy has of getting near 
 the fire on a cold winter day. 
 
 However, as time goes on, the young calf in- 
 creases in growth, and is allowed to mix with 
 her companions on tolerably equal terms. Then, 
 if a younger animal than herself be admitted, it 
 is amusing to see with what gratification she 
 bullies the new-comer, and how much higher she 
 seems to rank in her own estimation when she 
 is no longer the junior. Should the fates be 
 propitious, she arrives at the dignity of being 
 senior cow, and never fails to assert that dignity 
 on every occasion. When the cattle are taken 
 out of the yard to their pasture in the morning, 
 and when they return to it in the evening, she 
 will not allow any except herself to take the 
 lead. I have heard of one instance where the 
 man in charge of the cows would not allow the 
 " S an g er " as the head cow is often called, to go 
 out first. The result was that she refused to go 
 out at all ; and, in order to get her out of the 
 yard, the man had to drive all the other cows 
 back again, so that she might take her proper 
 place at their head. 
 
 In great portions of this country we make little 
 use of the mule, and its real disposition is not 
 generally known. Those, however, who have 
 been forced into long companionship with this 
 animal have always observed some very curious 
 traits of character in it. Judging from popular 
 ideas respecting the mule, we might think that 
 the animal had no pride in its composition ; 
 whereas it is in reality a very proud animal, and 
 fond of good society, as is shown by the fol- 
 lowing extract from Froebel's " Seven Years in 
 Central America:" 
 
 "From drivers and muleteers we may pass to 
 
90 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 mules, which are in many respects far more in- 
 teresting than the former, and whose natural dis- 
 position is an attractive subject to the observer 
 of nature. 
 
 * ' One of the most striking characteristics of 
 the mule is his aversion to the ass, and the pride 
 which he takes in his relationship to the horse, 
 which instincts are met with obtrusiveness in 
 the ass and by indifference in the horse. If an 
 ass at any time, urged by the vanity peculiar to 
 its race as related to the mule, happens to fall in 
 with a drove of mules, he will, in all probability, 
 be kicked and lamed by his proud relations. A 
 horse, on the contrary, takes a distinguished po- 
 sition in a drove of mules. The latter crowd 
 around him and follow his movements, exhibit- 
 ing a violent jealousy, each striving to stand near- 
 est to their distinguished relative. 
 
 ' ' This instinct is employed to keep together a 
 drove of mules on a journey or at pasture, by 
 putting a mare to the drove, with a bell around 
 her neck, and called the ' Bell Mare ;' by the 
 Mexicans, 'Layegua Madre,' i. e., the mother- 
 mare. This animal is led day and night by a 
 cord, and the whole drove is thus kept under 
 control, and will not leave their queen. It is, 
 therefore, very difficult to separate the drove. 
 The man who leads the mare is instructed, in 
 case of an attack from the Indians, to leap in- 
 stantly upon the back of this animal, and take 
 refuge in the wagon encampment, whither the 
 drove is sure to follow him. 
 
 "Even if the Indians succeed in separating 
 any mules from the drove, they find it difficult 
 to carry them off. The animals incessantly at- 
 tempt to turn back, and the travelers are thus 
 enabled to overtake the robbers, and recover the 
 stolen animals. The Indians, in consequence, 
 use every means to get possession of the mare, 
 and, if they succeed in this, the whole drove is 
 lost to their owners. If several horses are in a 
 drove of mules, the danger is that the latter be- 
 come dispersed ; and this is the reason that, in 
 these journeys, saddle horses are not allowed to 
 go loose, but are led by a cord." 
 
 It is rather curious to trace among the lower 
 animals a feeling which bears a very close resem- 
 blance to pride of birth among mankind. 
 
 Pride shows itself in many ways, both in men 
 and animals. Here we have pride of rank and 
 love of precedence among cows, and pride of an- 
 cestry among mules. Sometimes pride takes the 
 form of sensitiveness to ridicule. There is noth- 
 ing so galling to a proud man as to feel himself 
 the object of ridicule, and precisely the same 
 trait of character is to be found in many animals. 
 
 As may be expected, this form of pride is most- 
 ly developed in the domesticated animals; or, 
 perhaps, it is in those that we have most oppor- 
 tunities of observing it. 
 
 My cat, "Pret," for example, was peculiarly 
 sensitive to any thing approaching ridicule. He 
 was quite conscious if we spoke of him in a dis- 
 paraging manner, and testified his disapproba- 
 tion after his own manner. But to laugh at him 
 was an insult which he could not brook, and, if 
 we continued to do so, he would arch his tail, 
 hold himself very stiff indeed, and march slowly 
 out of the room. How sensitive all high-bred 
 dogs are to ridicule is so well known that we 
 need not occupy space by citing examples. 
 
 The Siamese ape "Ungka," a part of whose 
 history has already been given in connection with 
 the subject of Humor, possessed a keen sense of 
 ridicule. The animal was exceedingly tame, 
 and at meal-times always came to take his share, 
 a corner of the table being appropriated to his 
 use. " When, from any of his ludicrous actions 
 at table, we all burst out in loud laughter, he 
 would vent his indignation at being made the ob- 
 ject of ridicule by uttering his peculiar hollow 
 barking noise, at the same time inflating the air- 
 sac, and regarding the persons laughing with a 
 most serious look until they had ceased, when 
 he would quietly resume his dinner." 
 
 Pride in personal appearance, or vanity, is 
 often to be seen among the lower animals, more 
 especially among those birds who are notable for 
 bright or abundant plumage. 
 
 Any one who has seen a peacock in all the 
 glory of his starry train will recognize the in- 
 tense pride which the bird feels at his own splen- 
 dor. He does not only display his magnificent 
 train for the purpose of attracting the homage of 
 his plainly clad mates, but seems to be just as 
 proud of the admiration bestowed by human be- 
 ings as of that offered by his own kind. 
 
 Nor does he despise the homage of birds whom 
 he considers his inferiors. Only a few hours be- 
 fore writing these lines I saw a peacock, with his 
 train fully spread, displaying all his grandeur 
 around a dozen barn-door fowls. He stalked 
 majestically among them, scarcely deigning to 
 look at them, but turning round and round so 
 as to display his grandeur to the best advantage, 
 and apparently as satisfied with the effect which 
 he produced as if he had been surrounded by his 
 own kind. 
 
 Then there is the turkey, whose movements 
 are so grotesque when he is strutting about in 
 his nuptial plumage, and who surveys himself 
 with ludicrous complacency. Taking the well- 
 
JEALOUSY. 
 
 91 
 
 known whidah-bird (or widow-bird, as it is often 
 called), we see this trait of character highly de- 
 veloped. He is woaderfully proud of his beauti- 
 ful tail, and, as long as he wears it, loses no op- 
 portunity of displaying it to every visitor who 
 approaches his cage. But when the moulting 
 season comes, and he assumes for a while the 
 plain, tailless suit of his mate, his manner is as 
 changed as his appearance, and, instead qf ex- 
 hibiting himself in all his pride, he mopes about 
 with a dull and listless demeanor, and seems ab- 
 solutely ashamed of his mean condition. 
 
 It might be expected that so magnificent a 
 creature as the bird-of-paradise would have its 
 full share of pride ; and that this is the case is 
 shown by the account of a tame specimen in 
 Bennett's "New South Wales," to which ref- 
 erence has already been made : 
 
 "One of the best opportunities of seeing this 
 splendid bird in all its beauty of action, as well 
 as display of plumage, is early in the morning, 
 when he makes his toilet. The beautiful sub- 
 alar plumage is then thrown out, and cleansed 
 from any spot that may sully its purity by being 
 passed gently through the bill. The short choco- 
 late-colored wings are extended to the utmost ; 
 he keeps them in a slowly flapping motion, as if 
 in imitation of their use in flight ; at the same 
 time raising up the delicate long feathers over 
 the back, which are spread in a chaste and ele- 
 gant manner, floating like films in the ambient 
 air. 
 
 "In this position the bird would remain for a 
 short time, seeming proud of its heavenly beau- 
 ty, and in raptures of delight with its most en- 
 chanting self. It will then assume various at- 
 titudes, so as to regard its plumage in every di- 
 rection. 
 
 " I never yet beheld a soil on its feathers. 
 After expanding the wings, it would bring them 
 together so as to conceal the head : then, bend- 
 ing gracefully, it would inspect the state of its 
 plumage underneath. This action is repeated 
 in quick succession, uttering at the same time 
 its croaking notes. It then pecks and cleans 
 its plumage in every part within reach ; and, 
 throwing out the elegant and delicate tufts of 
 feathers underneath the wings, seemingly with 
 much care and not a little pride, they were clean- 
 ed in succession by throwing them abroad, elevat- 
 ing, and passing them in succession through the 
 bill. 
 
 "Then, turning its back upon the spectator, 
 the bird repeats the actions above mentioned, 
 but not in so careful a manner ; elevating its 
 tail and long shaft feathers, it raises the delicate 
 
 plumage of a similar character to the sub-alar, 
 forming a beautiful crest, and, throwing its feath- 
 ers up with much grace, appears as proud as a 
 lady in her full ball-dress. Having completed 
 the toilet, it utters the usual cawing notes, at 
 the same time looking archly at the spectators, 
 as if ready to receive all the admiration that 
 it considers its elegant form and display of plu- 
 mage demand. It then takes exercise by hop- 
 ping in a rapid but graceful manner from one 
 end of the upper perch to the other, and descends 
 suddenly upon the second perch, close to the bars 
 of the cage, looking out for the grasshoppers 
 which it is accustomed to receive at this time." 
 
 Here we have the character of pride in per- 
 sonal appearance developed as strongly as it could 
 be in any human being. Moreover, the bird could 
 sufficiently enter into the feelings of the specta- 
 tors to understand that they were admiring its 
 beauty, and to exult in that admiration. 
 
 JEALOUSY. 
 
 Jealousy is of two kinds, one connected with 
 the love of some other being, and the other de- 
 pending on the love of self. The former is thus 
 defined in Webster's Dictionary : " That pas- 
 sion or peculiar uneasiness which arises from the 
 fear that a rival may rob us of the affection of 
 one whom we love, or the suspicion that he has 
 already done it." The latter is thus defined: 
 "The uneasiness which arises from the fear that 
 another does or will enjoy some advantage which 
 we desire for ourselves. " We will only deal with 
 the former of these traits of character. 
 
 In the first place, it is evident, from the defi- 
 nition which has just been given, that jealousy 
 implies the power of reasoning, and that any 
 creature by which it is shown must be able to 
 draw a conclusion from premises. Perhaps the 
 animal is wrong in its conclusion ; but the proc- 
 ess is still one of reasoning, however incorrect 
 that process may be. 
 
 All persons who have possessed pet animals 
 must be familiar with the exceeding jealousy dis- 
 played by most of them. This feeling is mani- 
 fested most strongly when an animal has been 
 the only pet, and another is introduced into the 
 house. 
 
 My own cat, "Fret," resented so strongly the 
 advent of a Skye terrier, that when the dog came 
 into the house he walked out, and never would 
 enter it again. He had already put up with a 
 baby, which was a very great trial to his feel- 
 ings ; but a dog was more than he could en- 
 
92 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 dure, and so he retired to his own house in the 
 garden, and lived there alone. His affection for 
 me remained unchanged, and he was only too 
 happy when I went into the garden. But he 
 held the house desecrated by a dog, and, even 
 when hungry, could not be allured within the 
 door by the offer of food. 
 
 Not that he had any personal objection to the 
 dog ; on the contrary, the two animals were very 
 friendly with each other, even eating out of the 
 same dish. But Fret considered that " Bosco " 
 had no right to me, and whenever I came on the 
 scene, Bosco got his ears boxed, and had to re- 
 tire into the background. So absurdly strong 
 was this jealous feeling, that whenever I wanted 
 Pret to come quickly, I used to call Bosco ; 
 which ruse always had the effect of bringing 
 Pret along at full speed, in order to anticipate 
 the dog. 
 
 One of my neighbors has a couple of little dogs 
 "Bell," a black-and-tan toy terrier, and "Fay," 
 a cross between Skye and Maltese. These two 
 animals are the best of friends, always lying on 
 the same mat, which they share with an enor- 
 mous cat called "Tommy." But, with regard 
 to their human friends, their jealousy of each 
 other is extreme. They do not seem to care if 
 notice be taken of the cat ; but if Bell be caressed, 
 Fay is sure to sidle up and try to interpose her- 
 self between Bell and the caressing hand. Bell 
 is equally jealous, but shows her feeling by noisy 
 and angry demonstrations of assault, which, how- 
 ever, are never carried into effect. 
 
 I suppose that most of my readers who have 
 possessed two or more dogs at the same time 
 must have been amused at the boundless jealousy 
 which they will display toward each other while 
 engaged in the service of their master, though, at 
 other times very excellent friends. Such scenes 
 as the following are of frequent occurrence, and 
 are instructive as well as amusing : 
 
 ' ' I have in my possession a favorite dog 
 called ' Zeno ' (from the Greek philosopher) ; 
 his age is over seventeen years ; he is a cross 
 between an otter terrier and a Scotch. 
 
 "There never was a cleverer dog. He is pas- 
 sionately fond of the gun ; and though very serv- 
 iceable in the field, still I disliked to have him 
 when pointers were at work. He was the finest 
 retriever I ever saw, and if there was a wounded 
 bird, hare, or rabbit, if he were allowed, he would 
 find it, go where it might be, even into the sea. 
 Wherever I went to shoot, he was sure to find 
 me, no matter whether I walked, drove, or rode. 
 I have seen him come up to me of an afternoon, 
 when he must have traveled seven or eight miles, 
 
 and well did he know he was doing wrong. He 
 would sneak up behind me, afraid almost to show 
 himself ; but whenever I gave him a sign of kind- 
 ly recognition he became quite frantic and over- 
 joyed ; in an instant, however, he was at my 
 heels. 
 
 " A favorite amusement of mine was to shoot 
 wild-fowl and teal in the Frith of Forth. I used 
 to take Zeno and a large Newfoundland, named 
 'Diver,' with me. 
 
 "Zeno was ever on the watch, and, wherever 
 I killed the bird, it was amusing to see the two 
 plunging into the waves, and racing to get first 
 to it. Zeno generally picked up the bird, having 
 no heavy coat to impede him ; but Diver often 
 thought that he should have the honor of carry- 
 ing it, and would attempt to take it from him 
 but it was of no use. The battle often became 
 fierce, the little dog dropping his game, flying at 
 the larger one with all his fury, then, picking up 
 his bird, would paddle his way to the boat-side, 
 look up in my face as if saying, ' Have I not done 
 well ?' and then I would help him up, when the 
 two were as good friends as ever." 
 
 The power of jealousy and anger is well shown 
 by the following anecdote of a pet dog. I knew 
 the animal well, and his mistress wrote the little 
 history at my request : 
 
 "One of our pet dogs, of a mixed breed, with 
 long white hair, was, in common with most pets, 
 of a very jealous disposition, always showing dis- 
 pleasure if any other living thing obtained a share 
 of that attention which he considered exclusively 
 his own. 
 
 " One wintry morning a poor little infantine 
 duck that had been injured was brought into 
 the house to be nursed and tended. The dog 
 watched all the attentions bestowed upon it, was 
 evidently annoyed at the intrusion of a rival 
 where he had ruled supreme, and vowed venge- 
 ance. 
 
 " After a few days the duck mysteriously dis- 
 appeared. The dog was suspected, but neither 
 dog nor duck could be found. Just before dark 
 a more minute search was made in the house and 
 garden, and at last something was visible under 
 a large rose-tree. There stood the culprit, shiv- 
 ering with cold, his nose and paws all covered 
 with mud, and at his feet was a half-filled grave, 
 in which was deposited the body of the murdered 
 duck. 
 
 "His long hair had become entangled in the 
 thorns of the rose-tree while he was engaged in 
 burying his victim, and fear of detection and re- 
 proof had caused him to remain a silent captive 
 for so many hours. His pitiful condition dis- 
 
JEALOUSY. 
 
 armed our censure, for he was so firmly fixed 
 that the gardener had to cut off the rose-branch, 
 so that it might be more leisurely disentangled 
 in the house. Before this event the gardener 
 had not been a favorite with the dog, but ever 
 afterward it seemed to feel itself owing a debt of 
 gratitude to its deliverer." 
 
 The dog in question lives at Canterbury, where 
 his intellect and accomplishments have made him 
 well known. 
 
 We see in the behavior of the animal, not only 
 jealousy, but memory, hatred, and revenge, and 
 a sense of moral responsibility. The remem- 
 brance of the favors lavished on his rival rankled 
 in his memory, and the result was hatred culmi- 
 nating in revenge when he found an opportunity. 
 Then he knew that he had done wrong in killing 
 the duck, and, just as a man would do who had 
 committed a murder, tried to conceal the evi- 
 dences of his crime by burying the body of his 
 victim. So deeply was his conscience pricked, 
 that, when he found himself arrested by the bush, 
 he ran the risk of dying of cold and hunger rath- 
 er than allow himself to be discovered. 
 
 Even in such rarely tamed animals as the 
 common mouse the feeling of jealousy has been 
 known to be so strong as to lead to murder. A 
 young lady, one of my correspondents, had suc- 
 ceeded in taming a common brown mouse so 
 completely that it would eat out of her hand, 
 and allow itself to be taken off the floor. She 
 had also a tame white mouse in a cage. 
 
 One morning, when she went to feed the white 
 mouse as usual, Jie found it lying dead on the 
 bottom of the cage, and beside it was its murder- 
 er, the brown mouse. The cage being opened, 
 the latter made its escape, but how it had con- 
 trived to gain admission was a mystery. 
 
 An instance has lately come to my knowledge 
 where jealousy was restrained for a considerable 
 time through fear, and at last broke out when 
 the cause of fear was removed. The story is 
 told by a lady living in Edinburgh : 
 
 " I remember a Malay cock of mine manifest- 
 ing a mixture of hatred and revenge to a dead 
 rival, equal in fury, if not in power, to what a 
 Malay man, in similar circumstances, might have 
 shown. 
 
 " We had a very splendid dunghill cock, who 
 kept the Malay (a cowardly caitiff) in great sub- 
 jection. This cock died suddenly. His rival 
 came by chance on his dead body. He instantly 
 sprung on it, kicked, spurred, and trampled upon 
 the lifeless bird, and, standing upon the corpse, 
 flapped his wings, and crowed himself hoarse 
 with the most disgusting energy. 
 
 " The r.ascal took instant possession of the 
 harem, and I often thought that the hens must 
 sadly have missed their old lord. He always 
 used to share any titbits with them a practice 
 carefully avoided by his successor, the Eastern 
 despot, who greedily kept the best to himself." 
 
 Again, comparing man with beast, we see that 
 the bird in this case acted exactly as a savage 
 does when his enemy has fallen. The savage 
 exults over the dead body of an enemy, especial- 
 ly if that foe has been very formidable in life, 
 and mutilates in futile revenge the form which 
 he feared when living. 
 
 Take the following story, which is related in 
 Bennett's "Wanderings in New South Wales," 
 transform the actors into human beings, and see 
 how exactly the birds acted like human beings, 
 and how the plot of a powerful drama might be 
 constructed from the story. The birds in ques- 
 tion were the beautiful little " Mandarin" ducks, 
 which even in China are exceedingly valuable. 
 They are proverbial for their conjugal fidelity, 
 and in marriage processions a pair of these 
 ducks are carried about as emblems of the love 
 which ought to animate the newly married 
 couple. 
 
 " The following circumstance of fidelity was 
 mentioned to me as having occurred in two birds 
 of this species : 
 
 "A drake was stolen one night, with some 
 other birds, from Mr. Beale's aviary. The beau- 
 tiful male was alone taken, and the poor duck 
 was left behind. The morning following the loss 
 of her husband, the female was seen in a most 
 disconsolate condition; brooding in secret sor- 
 row, she remained in a retired part of the aviary, 
 pondering over the severe loss she had just sus- 
 tained. 
 
 "While she was thus delivering her soul to 
 grief, a gay, prim drake, who had not long before 
 lost his dear duck, which had been accidentally 
 killed, trimmed his beautiful feathers, appeared 
 quite handsome, and, pitying the forlorn condi- 
 tion of the bereaved, waddled toward her, and, 
 after devoting much of his time and all his at- 
 tention to the unfortunate female, he offered her 
 his protection. She, however, refused all his of- 
 fers, having made, in audible quacks, a solemn 
 vow to live and die a widow if her mate did not 
 return. 
 
 "From the day on which she met with her 
 loss she neglected her usual avocations, forsook 
 her food and usual scenes of delight, where she 
 loved to roam with him now absent, and to ex- 
 cite his brave spirit to drive away all the rivals 
 that might attempt even to approach them. But 
 
94 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 those fleeting hours of enjoyment had passed, 
 perhaps never to return, and no consolation that 
 could be offered by any of her tribe had the least 
 effect. Every endeavor was made to recover the 
 lost bird, as it was not expected that the beauti- 
 ful creature would be killed. 
 
 "Some time elapsed after the loss, when a 
 person, accidentally passing a hut, overheard 
 some Chinese of the lower class conversing to- 
 gether. He understood sufficient of their lan- 
 guage to find out that they said, * It would be a 
 pity to kill so handsome a bird.' 'How, then,' 
 said another, ' can we dispose of it ?' The hut 
 was noted, as it was immediately suspected that 
 the lost Mandarin drake was the subject of the 
 conversation. A servant was sent, and, after 
 some trouble, recovered the long-lost drake by 
 paying four dollars for him. He was then 
 brought back to the aviary in one of the usual 
 cane cages. 
 
 "As soon as the bird recognized the aviary, 
 he expressed his joy by quacking vehemently and 
 flapping his wings. The interval of three weeks 
 had elapsed since he was taken away by force ; 
 but when the forlorn duck heard the note of her 
 lost husband, she quacked, even to screaming 
 with ecstasy, and flew as far as she could in the 
 aviary to greet him on his restoration. Being 
 let out of the cage, the drake immediately entered 
 the aviary, and the unfortunate couple were again 
 united. They quacked, crossed necks, bathed 
 together, and then are supposed to have related 
 all their mutual hopes and fears during the long 
 separation. 
 
 " One word more on the unfortunate widower 
 who kindly offered consolation to the duck when 
 overwhelmed with grief. She, in a most ungrate- 
 ful manner, informed her drake of the impudent 
 and gallant proposals he made to her during his 
 absence. It is merely supposition that he did 
 so; but, at all events, the result was that, on 
 the day following his return, the recovered drake 
 attacked the other, pecked his eyes out, and in- 
 flicted on him so many other injuries as to occa- 
 sion his death in a few days. Thus did this un- 
 fortunate drake meet with a premature and vio- 
 lent death for his kindness and attention to a 
 disconsolate lady. It may perhaps be correctly 
 written on his grave, 'A victim to conjugal fidel- 
 ity.'" 
 
 The very same feelings which would have act- 
 uated human beings under similar circumstances 
 influenced these birds. There is conjugal love af- 
 fected by sudden and violent separation ; there is 
 conjugal fidelity in absence ; there is sorrow for the 
 loss of one who is loved ; there is joy in reunion ; 
 there is jealousy at an attempt to steal the affec- 
 
 tion of a partner ; and, finally, there is revenge 
 swiftly taken upon the offender. There also is 
 the power of language, as, without a very definite 
 language of her own, the duck could not have 
 told her partner of a particular drake, and so 
 drawn upon him the vengeance of her husband. 
 
 TYRANNY. 
 
 Another of the many traits of character which 
 are common to man and the lower animals is tyr- 
 anny, i. e., the oppression of the weak by the 
 strong, whether that strength belong to the body 
 or the mind. In many of the animals, tyranny 
 takes its most obvious form, the strong not only 
 oppressing the weak, but killing and eating them, 
 even though they be of the same species. A hu- 
 man cannibal acts just in the same way, eating 
 bis enemy after he has killed him. 
 
 As to the milder forms of tyranny, there is 
 scarcely an animal in which it may not be found, 
 and it is manifested quite strongly in the insects. 
 There is a notice in Hardwicke's Science Gossip, 
 for October, 1871, of tyranny shown by a tiger- 
 beetle toward its fellows, one insect assaulting 
 another, and driving it away, "much in the same 
 manner as sparrows do when they have secured 
 some morsel of food which they wish to keep to 
 themselves." 
 
 In the Daily News of November, 1873, there 
 was a brief and amusing account of tyranny as 
 shown by crabs. The writer had been observing 
 the proceedings of the creatures in the Brighton 
 Aquarium : 
 
 "It is well worth while to watch the move- 
 ments and manoeuvres of the hermit crab. He 
 is discerning, has a keen eye to his own con- 
 venience, pugnacious when any one comes be- 
 tween him and the object of his desire, and un- 
 relenting in following up his advantage. He 
 contends for some practical and substantial end, 
 pursuing conquest not for the sake of the bare 
 submission of his adversary. 
 
 " These remarks are induced by our own ob- 
 servation of the amusing habits of this little ani- 
 mal. Some time back we were, one bright 
 morning, watching the beautiful gleam of the 
 herring, as its scales reflected the sunshine in 
 varied colors, which played into one another, re- 
 minding one of a beautiful 'shot' silk dress. Our 
 attention was suddenly attracted by a commotion 
 among the hermit crabs, many of which are in 
 the same tank with the herrings. 
 
 " These crabs, as is generally known, have re- 
 
TYRANNY. 
 
 95 
 
 course to the cover of a whelk, or other shell, to 
 protect the abdomen, which is very soft and vul- 
 nerable. Suddenly one of the number, a large 
 specimen, whose adopted dwelling was of some- 
 what narrow dimensions, gave chase to a small 
 crab which occupied a shell much larger than 
 that of his bigger neighbor. The little one, ap- 
 parently quite alive to the sinister intentions of 
 his pursuer, took to flight as quickly as possi- 
 ble, and his attempts to escape were continued 
 with the utmost vigor until further effort was 
 hopeless. The way in which he dodged around 
 and behind oysters, and whatever afforded him 
 a temporary cover, was amusing in the ex- 
 treme. 
 
 "At length he was overtaken, and then a reg- 
 ular pitched battle ensued. The little one re- 
 sisted manfully, but was finally overcome, the 
 more bulky combatant having, after the most 
 strenuous exertions, succeeded in forcing his claws 
 between the body of his weaker opponent and his 
 adopted shell, and with the most frantic exertion 
 turning him out. They then, apparently as a 
 matter of course, exchanged shells, the ousted 
 tenant yielding submissively to his fate, and qui- 
 etly adapting himself to his reduced circum- 
 stances. In this encounter, from beginning to 
 end, all the qualities we began by enumerating 
 were exemplified in these little creatures the 
 discernment with which the larger crab fixed 
 upon the shell which exactly suited him, the de- 
 termination with which he followed up his inten- 
 tion of possessing himself of it, and the pugnac- 
 ity and perseverance displayed by both in the 
 course of the encounter. 
 
 "This was evidently no fight for mere fight- 
 ing's sake ; but the whole proceeding evinced a 
 settled plan, pursued, on the one hand, with the 
 greatest determination, and, on the other hand, 
 met with the most obstinate resistance." 
 
 I have often witnessed similar scenes, not only 
 in the Aquarium, but in the rock pools along the 
 coast. 
 
 Tyranny is invariably seen among gregarious 
 animals, the herd or flock being always under 
 the command of one individual, who has fought 
 his way to the front, and who will rule with im- 
 perious sway until he becomes old, and in turn is 
 ousted by a younger and more vigorous rival. 
 The same quality is very familiar to us in our 
 poultry-yards, where, no matter how many may 
 be the number of birds, one cock invariably as- 
 sumes the leadership. 
 
 As a rule, he takes his honors meekly, but 
 bases his conduct on the old Roman principle, 
 " Parcere subjectis, sed debellare superbis.' 
 
 There are mostly one or two younger cocks, 
 vith whom he does not interfere, unless they at- 
 empt to dispute his sway, or most unpardon- 
 ible offense of all to win the affections of any of 
 lis harem. In such cases an immediate attack 
 is the result. If he win (as he generally does, 
 f only by reason of his prestige), the state of so- 
 ciety remains unaltered. But, if he lose the bat- 
 le (which generally means losing his life), the 
 conqueror succeeds to his place, and takes as a 
 matter of right all his possessions, including his 
 tiarem. 
 
 It is curious to trace the analogy between these 
 birds and human beings, especially those of the 
 East, whether at the present day or in the an- 
 cient times, as depicted in the Old Testament. 
 Substitute human beings for birds, and the coun- 
 try at large for the poultry-yard, and the resem- 
 blance is exact. There are many petty chief- 
 tains ; but among them is sure to be one more 
 mighty than the rest, who holds his place by su- 
 perior force, either of intellect or military power. 
 If challenged by one of the inferior chiefs and is 
 victorious, he retains his post; while, if he is 
 vanquished, his conqueror takes his place, his 
 property, and his wives. And it is another cu- 
 rious point that, whether with men or birds, the 
 members of the harem seem to trouble themselves 
 very little about the change of master. 
 
 The Scriptures are full of allusions to the in- 
 variable custom that the conqueror takes the 
 possession of the harem belonging to the van- 
 quished. David did so with regard to the wom- 
 en of Saul's household. " I anointed thee king 
 over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand 
 of Saul. And I gave thee thy master's house, 
 and thy master's wives into thy bosom " (2 Sam. 
 xii. 7, 8). So, when Nabal died after his defiance 
 of David, the latter, as a matter of course, took 
 possession of Nabal's wife, together with the rest 
 of his property. Similarly, as had been foretold 
 by the prophet Nathan, when Absalom rebelled 
 against David, he publicly took possession of his 
 father's harem as a sign that he had assumed the 
 kingdom. 
 
 To those unacquainted with Oriental customs, 
 it seems strange and cruel that when Adonijah 
 asked Bathsheba to persuade her son Solomon to 
 give him Abishag as a wife, he should be at once 
 put to death. But, as explained by those cus- 
 toms, he had for the second time committed high- 
 treason. He was Solomon's elder brother, and 
 had already made an attempt to gain the throne. 
 He had failed, and had been pardoned on condi- 
 tion of future good conduct. But his demand 
 for the hand of Abishag, who had belonged to 
 David's harem, was considered equivalent to a 
 
96 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 second rebellion; and so he and his principal 
 supporters, Joab and Abiathar, met with instant 
 punishment, the former with loss of life, and the 
 latter "with deprivation and banishment. 
 
 The whole scene is worthy of notice. Bath- 
 sheba visits her son in full court, and prefers her 
 request. Solomon, who treated her with the 
 greatest respect as the king's mother, instantly 
 treats Adonijah's demand as an overt act of high- 
 treason. "And King Solomon answered and 
 said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask 
 Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah ? Ask 
 for him the kingdom also, for he is mine elder 
 brother; even for him and for Abiathar the 
 priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah." 
 
 Now Solomon was a man remarkable for his 
 mercy in an unmerciful time and among a ruth- 
 less race. He was probably the only Oriental 
 monarch who would not have secured himself on 
 the throne by putting to death all his brethren 
 a custom which prevails to the present day. Yet 
 he not only spared Adonijah's life, but forgave 
 him after actual rebellion. This second offense 
 was, however, unpardonable, the demand of Da- 
 vid's wife being tantamount to a claim on David's 
 throne, and therefore he paid the penalty with 
 his life, as being a dangerous man who could not 
 be trusted. Besides these instances, there are 
 many other allusions to the custom scattered 
 through the Scriptures. 
 
 The closeness of the parallel between man and 
 beast is most remarkable. In both there is a 
 single despotic ruler who allows no rival ; and in 
 both an attempt to gain the affections of one of 
 the harem is considered tantamount to a chal- 
 lenge for sovereignty, and is treated accordingly. 
 
 Sometimes a very curious sort of tyranny is 
 shown where a number of creatures are confined 
 in the same place. Mr. Bennett has some re- 
 
 ; marks on this subject in connection with the 
 Mandarin ducks which have already been men- 
 tioned under the head of Jealousy. 
 
 Speaking of the feeding-time in the aviary, he 
 says : " It is at this time that we can also observe 
 ' the querulous disposition of these animals. The 
 | males of one and the same kind of a different 
 j species endeavor to grasp all the supplies for 
 themselves, unmindful of the wants of others, 
 and will not even permit their companions to 
 perform their ablutions without molestation, al- 
 though they may have themselves completed 
 what they required. 
 
 "I often observed the Mandarin ducks excite 
 the drakes to attack other males or females of 
 the same species, as well as any other kind of 
 bird (not too powerful) in the aviary, against 
 whom the lady may have taken a dislike from 
 some cause or causes unknown to us. There al- 
 ways appear to be one pair who exercise a tyr- 
 anny over the others, not permitting them to 
 wash, eat, or drink, unless at the pleasure of 
 these little aristocrats. " 
 
 But, of all tyrants, commend me to a spoiled 
 dog, who is even worse than a spoiled child. 
 Obedience is a thing unknown to him. If he is 
 wanted to go out for a walk and prefers to stay 
 at home, he stays at home, and his master goes 
 out alone. If he wants to go for a walk, he 
 makes his master go with him, and take the di- 
 rections which he prefers. Perhaps a better ex- 
 ample of tyranny has never been given than Dr. 
 J. Brown's history of the Skye terrier " Duchie." 
 The little animal so completely domineered over 
 her mistress that the latter could not even choose 
 her own dinner, but was obliged to have what- 
 ever Duchie preferred, and was once kept out of 
 bed for half a winter's night because Duchie had 
 got into the middle and declined to move. 
 
CONSCIENCE. 
 
 97 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 CONSCIENCE. 
 
 Definition of Conscience. Its Exercise by the Lower Animals, and Comparison with the Conscience of Man. 
 Sense of Moral Responsibility iu the Dog. The Butcher's Dog, his Master, and the Old Woman's Mon- 
 ey. Parallel between Dog-servants and Human Servants. Voluntary Responsibility. "Vic" and the 
 Croquet-hoops. Zeal outrunning Discretion. The Robber in Custody of " Help." Dog Cooks and Nurse- 
 maids. "Offy" Saving the Servant's Life. Duty Paramount." Bree's " Fearful Leap Mistaken Ideas 
 of Duty. Church-go'ing Dogs. "Apollo's" Leap. "Boxer's" Notion of Duty. Epigram from "Salma- 
 gundi." Sin and Penitence. Suicide or Sorrow. A Dog's Grave. A Dog's Sense of Wrong-doing. 
 Guardianship. The Cat and the Butcher." Ungka's " Theft aud Restitution." Tokla," the Hunting- 
 dog, and the Sheep. 
 
 To those who have never studied the ways of 
 the lower animals, it may seem strange to assert 
 that they, as well as ourselves, possess conscience, 
 i. e., a sense of moral responsibility, and a capa- 
 bility of distinguishing between right and wrong. 
 It is necessarily developed strongest in those an- 
 imals which are placed under the rule of man, 
 and especially in those which, like the dog, be- 
 long to his household, and are made his compan- 
 ions. Conscience, in their dealings with man, is 
 their religion, and they often exercise it in a way 
 which would put many a human being to shame. 
 
 It is this feeling which induces the dog to make 
 itself the guardian of its master's property, and 
 often to defend that property at the risk of its 
 life. For example, if a dog be placed in charge 
 of its master's dinner, the faithful animal will 
 never touch a morsel of food, however hungry it 
 may be. Nay, a dog would rather, as an ordi- 
 nary rule, die of starvation than eat the food which 
 belonged to his master. We often see field-la- 
 borers working at one end of a large field, while 
 their spare clothes and their dinner are at the 
 other end, guarded by a dog. They are quite 
 easy about the safety of their property, knowing 
 well that the dog will not allow any one to touch 
 either the clothes or the provisions. 
 
 A still stronger instance of moral responsibili- 
 ty in a dog has just come before me. 
 
 A poor woman, who lived in an unprotected 
 part of Scotland, became unexpectedly possessed 
 of a large sum of money, with which property she 
 was as much troubled as ** Captain Jack" with 
 the money which he dared not spend, was afraid 
 to show, and could not carry about him for lack 
 of pockets. She would have taken it to the bank, 
 but could not leave the house. 
 
 At last she asked the advice of a butcher of her 
 G 
 
 acquaintance, telling him that she was afraid to 
 live alone in the house with such a sum of money. 
 
 " Never fear," said the butcher ; " I will leave 
 my dog with you, and I'll warrant you that no 
 one will dare to enter your house." So toward 
 evening the dog was brought, and chained up 
 close to the place where the money was kept. 
 
 In the middle of the night a robber made his 
 way into the house, and was proceeding to carry 
 off the money, when he was seized by the dog, 
 who held him a prisoner until assistance came. 
 The thief was the butcher himself, who thought 
 that he had made sure of the money. He had 
 not considered that his dog was a better moral- 
 ist than himself, and, instead of betraying a de- 
 fenseless woman, would even take her part against 
 his own master. 
 
 The woman kindly pardoned the intending rob- 
 ber ; and I hope that for the future he took a les- 
 son from his own dog, and amended the evil of 
 his ways. 
 
 A rather notable instance is now before me, 
 where the capacity of conscience, as it is mani- 
 fested in the lower animals, is very well shown. 
 There is a retriever belonging to a Scotch lawyer, 
 who was a very conscientious animal in his way; 
 that is to say, as far as his intellect would carry 
 him, he was absolutely conscientious ; but, un- 
 fortunately, there was a limit beyond which con- 
 science could not assert itself. 
 
 For example, no matter how hungry he might 
 be, the dog might be safely left in a room where 
 the dainties which he best loved were left unguard- 
 ed : not a morsel of food would he touch. But 
 he did not offer any objection to the cat when she 
 stole the food from the table ; neither did he dis- 
 play any scruples in sharing with her the product 
 of her theft. 
 
MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 Neither was he conscientious enough to submit 
 passively to imprisonment when his master wish- 
 ed to dispense with his company : he had a knack 
 of gnawing cords asunder, forcing shutters and 
 opening doors, which showed to a certainty that 
 the animal was actuated in such matters by rea- 
 son, and net by instinct. 
 
 This faithful animal was killed suddenly by a 
 railway train. His master writes of him as fol- 
 lows: "He was the most honest animal I ever 
 knew, and I only wish that we could get servants 
 as honest. Upon the whole, I think that he was 
 a much more exemplary character than many 
 men and women whom I have known, and I 
 should be very happy to meet him again in some 
 other sphere. I would rather hunt with him on 
 a planetoid, or a ring of Saturn, than spend my 
 time in the narrow heaven which some zealots 
 would arrogate to themselves and their small sect, 
 if they could. He certainly had much more char- 
 ity than they." 
 
 Not only does the dog guard the property 
 which is intrusted to its charge, but it often goes 
 a little further and assumes a charge on its own 
 account. 
 
 I was lately staying with a friend in the coun- 
 try, and became on very excellent terms with his 
 little bull-terrier, named " Vic." On the second 
 day after my arrival a croquet match was ar- 
 ranged, and I was asked to change the position of 
 the hoops, so as to suit the latest development of 
 the game. Accordingly, I went to the lawn, fol- 
 lowed by Vic, who took no particular notice, but 
 lounged about the lawn with no apparent object. 
 
 Presently my friend joined me. " Do you 
 know," said he, "why Vic is loafing about here?" 
 
 " No, except that she prefers the garden to the 
 house." 
 
 " Not a bit of it. She has come to see that 
 you do not take away any thing out of the garden ; 
 and so I came to warn you not to take a hoop or 
 a peg off the lawn." 
 
 It appeared that she always acted in the same 
 manner toward people whom she did not know 
 intimately, although, after a time, she had confi- 
 dence and let them alone. In point of fact, after 
 two or three days had elapsed, Vic never troubled 
 herself about me. 
 
 On one occasion her fidelity took an unpleas- 
 ant form. Her master had lent his chaise to a 
 friend, who was driving it, and who came to a hill. 
 He dismounted, and was stooping to put on the 
 skid, when Vic flew at him, having an idea in her 
 head that he was going off with the wheel. One 
 of the oddest points in Vic's conduct is that, as 
 if out of a sense of politeness, she does not make 
 
 her watch an ostentatious one, but merely keeps 
 in view the object which she is guarding, and the 
 person of whom she is suspicious. 
 
 In the cases which I have mentioned, Vic was 
 entirely wrong in her surmises. A remarkable 
 instance, however, has reached me, where the 
 dog was right, and acted in a way that would 
 have been creditable to any human being : 
 
 " Of ' Help,' a Newfoundland dog, several sto- 
 ries are told, and there was one especially which 
 showed that his sense of responsibility overcame 
 that of friendship. His master owned a wood- 
 yard, from which there had been a constant se- 
 ries of mysterious thefts. At last the dog was 
 put into the yard for the night, in hopes that he 
 might scare away the thief. 
 
 " Next morning, Help was found guarding one 
 of the men belonging to the premises, who had a 
 bundle of wood upon him. The man was aware 
 that the dog knew him perfectly well, and had 
 presumed on the animal's forbearance. Help, 
 however, assumed so fierce an aspect that even 
 the certainty of detection did not give him cour- 
 age to oppose the faithful creature, nor even to 
 get rid of his compromising load. " 
 
 Dr. J. Brown relates a similar anecdote of 
 "Rab." He flew at the throat of a man who 
 tried to rob his master, pulled him down, and re- 
 mained in charge of the fallen man while his mas- 
 ter went on his journey. After a while he was 
 seen coming alone to rejoin his master. It ap- 
 peared that the robber was a neighbor whom the 
 dog knew, and so, giving him a thorough fright, 
 he let him off, after subjecting him to very humil- 
 iating treatment. 
 
 It is well known that in India the elephant is 
 sometimes taught to take charge of children, es- 
 pecially if they happen to belong to his driver ; 
 but the dog appears to be even a more curious 
 nurse than the elephant. The dog Help, how- 
 ever, who took prisoner the midnight robber, was 
 accustomed to act as nurse, and performed the 
 task as well as any elephant could have done, 
 and indeed better than some nursemaids do. 
 
 " At times Help could take the place of the 
 nursemaid, and was often intrusted with the en- 
 tire charge of a little girl, only old enough to 
 crawl on the floor. As long as she amused her- 
 self safely, Help looked on with quiet dignity; 
 but whenever she moved toward the fire, or in 
 any direction that seemed dangerous, he put his 
 great paw upon her, and turned her another way. " 
 
 One of my friends has written to say that she 
 knows a dog in Berkshire who acts on the same 
 principle as Help, though, on account of his small 
 size, he can not do without human assistance. 
 When the cook puts a saucepan on the fire, she 
 
CONSCIENCE. 
 
 99 
 
 sets the dog to watch it, and can go about other 
 business in perfect security, knowing that, if the 
 saucepan should boil over, he will call her. He 
 is also put in charge of the cradle ; and if the 
 child should wake up, goes and fetches the nurse- 
 maid. In these cases, besides the sense of respon- 
 sibility, there is much reasoning power, and a ca- 
 pability of understanding human language. And 
 it must be noticed that the dog last mentioned 
 never brings the cook to the cradle, nor the nurse 
 to the saucepan. 
 
 A somewhat similar case is related by a lady 
 whom I have known for some years : 
 
 "One of my earliest recollections is of a fat, 
 black, curly-haired old dog, called * Offy. ' This 
 was an abbreviation of orphan, his mother hav- 
 ing died immediately after his birth, and his father 
 being unknown. Offy was the delight of our 
 hearts, the kindest, gentlest, and most attached 
 of dogs. At night he always lay at the top of 
 the stairs leading to the nursery, so that no one 
 could enter without his permission. 
 
 " Once, when we were at the seaside, my nurse 
 had a rheumatic fever, and was quite helpless. By 
 chance one day she was left alone, propped up 
 with pillows in a large arm-chair near the fire. 
 Suddenly the house resounded with Offy's barks. 
 One maid was out walking with us, and the oth- 
 er was busy getting dinner in the kitchen, when 
 Offy's barks attracted her notice. Eunning up- 
 stairs, she was met by the dog, who ran down to 
 meet her, caught her by the dress, pulled her up 
 the stairs, and there, lying on the floor, with her 
 head and arm on the fender, lay the poor nurse, 
 unable to move. Without the dog, she must have 
 been burned to death." 
 
 Here we have a variety of qualities which cer- 
 tainly do not belong to the mortal part of a living 
 being, whether man or beast. First, there is sym- 
 pathy with suffering. Then there is reason, tell- 
 ing the animal that the fallen woman was in dan- 
 ger, and could not help herself. Reason also 
 told the dog that he was incapable of helping her 
 himself, and that he must summon some one who 
 had the power. He then had recourse to his own 
 language, which he knew would be understood, 
 and called for help as intelligibly as if he had 
 spoken human words. 
 
 Sometimes conscience assumes the form of 
 moral responsibility, the animal being determin- 
 ed, at any risk, to perform the task which is al- 
 lotted to it. A gentleman, to whom I am indebt- 
 ed for many original anecdotes about various an- 
 imals, has sent me the following account of de- 
 termination to fulfill a duty : 
 
 "'Bree,' an English water-spaniel belonging 
 
 to me, was bred from two London prize dogs of 
 that class. 
 
 ' A few years ago, his former master went to 
 St. Abb's Head for shooting. At the ' Staples 
 Heugh ' he winged a duck. The bird, in agony, 
 rolled over the precipice ; while poor Bree ran 
 ,vith such impetuosity that he jumped over into 
 the sea, a height exceeding one hundred feet, and 
 fell into some forty feet of water. 
 
 " When he came to the surface, there was no 
 place near where he could land, and, seeing the 
 duck rounding the 'West-hare-cars,' he struck 
 out, and, after following it past the ' Skelly,' the 
 'Ramfands,' the Goose -cruives,' etc., overtook 
 it at the ' Claw fords,' in 'Hare-law-cove Bay.' 
 Grasping the duck in his mouth, he proceeded 
 with it up ' Eel-car-brae,' one of the most diffi- 
 cult passes on St. Abb's Head, and, on reaching 
 his master, laid the bird at his feet." 
 
 The distance which the dog swam is somewhere 
 about a mile. The gentleman, through whom this 
 anecdote was sent to me, writes as follows : "As 
 to the story of St. Abb's Head, you would require 
 to see it before you could appreciate what a dread- 
 ful leap the dog had taken." I possess photo- 
 graphs of Bree, his master, and St. Abb's Head. 
 The latter word, by the bye, is an abbreviation 
 of Ebba, the remains of whose convent are still 
 to be traced, close to the head itself. " Staples " 
 is a corruption of "steeples," a word derived 
 from some rocks that stand steeplewise in the sea. 
 
 The fall must have been a tremendous one, 
 and how the dog escaped instant death is more 
 than I can imagine. The shock must have been 
 a very severe one, and the animal would have been 
 quite justified in coming ashore at once. But 
 he knew that his duty was to catch the duck, and 
 he did so. That he did receive a very great shock 
 is evident from the fact that, although a retriev- 
 er, and by nature a good water-dog, he has since 
 this adventure contracted such a horror of the 
 sea that he can scarcely be induced to enter it. 
 
 Sometimes the dog takes up a wrong idea of 
 duty, but perseveres in it, notwithstanding all ob- 
 stacles. In the two following instances the dog 
 considered that iiis duty lay in accompanying his 
 master, and set himself to discover some plan of 
 overcoming obstacles : 
 
 "A friend of ours, a clergyman in one of those 
 rural Welsh villages whose name we find some 
 difficulty in writing, and still more in pronounc- 
 ing, had a spaniel, sent from a friend in England 
 to the rectory of C . I forget now the cor- 
 rect spelling, but no matter. 
 
 " Soon after his arrival, the dog proved him- 
 self a most determined church-goer. The first 
 attempt took the family quite by surprise. They 
 
100 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 knew not he had accompanied them, until they 
 had taken their seats ; so they very wisely push- 
 ed him underneath, where he remained during 
 the service, one of the quietest members of his 
 master's congregation. The next Sunday, when 
 the church bells commenced, the dog was shut 
 in the library ; but, soon after the service hcd 
 begun, he jumped through the window, pushed 
 open the church door, walked with all proper de- 
 mureness to his own pew, and resumed his for- 
 mer position under the seat, where he was again 
 allowed to remain. On the third Sunday, the 
 dog's movements were more vigilantly watched. 
 Directly the bells began, he started off full trot to 
 the church, once more occupied his old corner, 
 defied alike the threats and persuasions of the 
 servant to remove him, and, on the arrival of the 
 family, welcomed them triumphantly. 
 
 " One more last attempt was made on the suc- 
 ceeding Sunday to keep him away, which was 
 only a partial success. Early in the morning he 
 was shut in a shed, from which he could find no 
 egress ; but, directly the bells began, he struck 
 up a loud howling accompaniment, which he con- 
 tinued during the whole of church-time, and, as 
 the church was close to the rectory, he could be 
 heard at intervals during the service, of course 
 disturbing the risible powers of the junior mem- 
 bers of the congregation, so that nothing remain- 
 ed but to send him back to his former master in 
 England." 
 
 The dog in question ought to have learned by 
 heart an epigram in a curious and very scarce 
 quarto book called " Salmagundi." It was pub- 
 lished in 1791, and I have a copy, which was 
 presented by the author to my grandfather. It 
 is, in its way, as interesting as are Gilray's polit- 
 ical caricatures, comprising, as it does, the famous 
 " Wilkes and Liberty" times, and abounding with 
 witty little jeux (Tesprit in Latin and English. 
 Here is the epigram which has been mentioned : 
 
 ON A FAVORITE DOG WHO REGULARLY ACCOM- 
 PANIED HIS MISTRESS TO CHURCH. 
 
 "'Tis held by folks of deep research, 
 He's a good dog who goes to church ; 
 As good I hold him every whit, 
 Who stays at home and tnms the spit ; 
 For though good dogs to church may go, 
 Yet going there don't make them so." 
 
 A somewhat similar instance occurred to my- 
 self. I was making some arrangements in the 
 church, and had left my dogs outside, thinking 
 that they would amuse themselves by swimming 
 in a neighboring pond, as they were accustomed 
 to do. I had, however, not been in the building 
 for many minutes when a scratching, scrambling 
 sound was heard, followed by a heavy thump, 
 
 and up came my bull-dog "Apollo," looking de- 
 lighted to see me. 
 
 I put him out at the door, but could not im- 
 agine how he had made his entrance. Pres- 
 ently there was another scratching, and I saw 
 Apollo's head at a little window which had been 
 left open for ventilation. He contrived, in some 
 curious manner, to hold on by his fore paws un- 
 til he scrambled his hind legs upon the sill, and 
 then forced himself through an aperture so small 
 that he could not jump, but had to let himself 
 fall. The window is at a considerable height 
 from the ground ; and, as a rather wide trench 
 runs around the building, Apollo had to make a 
 tremendous leap to reach the window-sill. He 
 had evidently failed several times, the scratches 
 on the old wall showing where he had slid down. 
 He always was a fine jumper, but this window must 
 have tested his leaping powers to the utmost. 
 
 Sometimes we see in mankind an instance of 
 good-hearted blundering, wrong-headed honesty; 
 and much the same mixture of characteristics 
 is to be found in the dog. 
 
 There was a brilliant black-and-tan terrier, 
 
 named " Boxer," belonging to a Mr. B , who 
 
 was then in India, and about to proceed on the 
 welcome journey home. Boxer had one pre- 
 vailing idea in his doggish mind, namely, that 
 he had perpetually to take care of some one or 
 something. He watched his master's property 
 with the utmost fidelity. Once, after the return 
 of the family to Scotland, a couple of Irish beg- 
 gars came by, and were given a good meal, the 
 empty dish to be left outside the house. When 
 they had finished, the woman, seeing that the 
 cook was not in the kitchen, slipped in and stole 
 a loaf of bread. She had not calculated on 
 Boxer, who was out in a moment, caught the 
 woman by the bare ankle, and there held her 
 until his master came himself to take charge of 
 the thief. 
 
 Had the dog restricted himself to such guardian- 
 ship, he would have been a most excellent guard- 
 ian ; but, unfortunately, he was possessed with a 
 rooted idea that every one who approached his 
 mistress meant to hurt her, and must therefore 
 be assaulted. When she was ill, and lying on a 
 couch,, he used to sit by her side, and was so care- 
 ful in his watch that he would not allow even her 
 husband to approach without seizing him. He 
 did not hurt his master, though he bit his ankle 
 a hundred times, by way of reminding him that 
 his mistress was not to be disturbed. 
 
 In one way he was really useful, especially 
 during the residence of the family in India. Dur- 
 ing her illness, his mistress had a very great 
 antipathy to centipedes, cockroaches, and other 
 
CONSCIENCE. 
 
 101 
 
 creeping things, of which there is ample store 
 in that country. Boxer somehow found out that 
 they were obnoxious to his mistress, and used 
 to keep a sharp lookout for them if they ap- 
 proached her. Sometimes, if he were not at 
 hand, and he heard a scream, he would dash 
 off to his mistress, look about for the cause of 
 her annoyance, and straightway demolish it. 
 
 In his anxiety to do his duty to his mistress, 
 Boxer sometimes allowed his zeal to outrun his 
 discretion. 
 
 Once, during the voyage, the ship was becalmed 
 in the tropics, so that the man at the wheel had 
 
 a sinecure. Mrs. B was lying in the cabin 
 
 at the time. The man, seeing a needle lying just 
 outside the door of the cabin, went and picked 
 it up, and was instantly pinned by Boxer, who 
 chose to think that he was stealing the property 
 of his mistress. He did not hurt the man, but 
 frightened him so much that he hallooed loud 
 enough to alarm all the inmates of the ship. 
 
 Among others, Mrs. B ran out to see what 
 
 was the matter, and advised the man to put the 
 needle down again. This he did, when Boxer at 
 once released him. 
 
 He behaved in a somewhat similar manner 
 when the ship arrived in the Cove of Cork, though 
 in this instance with more show of right. The 
 stores of biscuit had been got up on the main- 
 deck, for the purpose of ridding them of the cock- 
 roaches, weevils, and other unpleasant creatures 
 that are apt to infest provisions. A number of 
 Irishmen came on board with milk, eggs, etc., 
 for sale, and one of them, thinking no harm, 
 began to eat a biscuit. Boxer, however, con- 
 sidered himself the guardian of the ship's stores, 
 flew at the man, and drove him away. 
 
 When home was reached, he took, in his wrong- 
 headed way, a violent antipathy to the clergy- 
 man. Perhaps he objected to a black dress, 
 after being accustomed to the light costumes of 
 India. At all events, he could not endure the 
 gentleman, and always seemed to know instinct- 
 ively whenever he was approaching the house. 
 On these occasions it was necessary to shut him 
 up ; and even then he used to tear and scratch 
 at the door so furiously that he greatly damaged 
 it. The oddest part of the proceeding was that 
 as soon as the gentleman was in the room with 
 his master and mistress Boxer did not trouble 
 himself about him. 
 
 This queer, faithful, blundering dog lived for 
 nearly twenty years in the family. 
 
 A very common form of conscience among 
 the lower animals is that which may be defined 
 as a recognition of having done wrong, and an 
 acknowledgment that punishment is deserved. 
 
 It is exactly the same feeling which induced 
 Adam to hide himself after he had fallen into 
 sin. Animals have in their way very decided 
 ideas as to right and wrong ; and when they 
 have committed an act which they know will 
 offend their master, they display as keen a con- 
 science as could be exhibited by any human being 
 self-convicted of a sin ; arid, in many cases, the 
 offense is acknowledged, and the creature remains 
 miserable until pardon has been granted. This 
 we call in ourselves penitence. 
 
 Two examples of this phase of conscience are 
 here given. As to the first, I was in doubt 
 whether to place it under the head of Reason- 
 ing, Language, or Love of Owner. But, as it 
 illustrates the power of conscience in the lower 
 animals, I have placed it under the present head, 
 without, however, removing the passages relating 
 to the other qualities : 
 
 "Reasoning powers are certainly exercised by 
 dogs ; how would they otherwise know when 
 Sunday came around? Our large dog, 'Bran,' a 
 cross between a retriever and a deerhound, never 
 thinks of following us to church, though he reg- 
 ularly comes in on Sunday afternoon, in expec- 
 tation of the walk which he knows his young 
 masters take between the services ; and on week- 
 days he will even run up-stairs if he hears us 
 moving about the bedrooms, which he in some 
 way connects with walking out. He looks so 
 intelligent that it is difficult to believe he does 
 not understand conversations, and we talk to 
 him often as if he were a human being. He is 
 very good-tempered, and particularly so with cats 
 and children. When we were at Worthing, two 
 years ago, a large white cat belonging to the 
 house constantly shared his bed ; and on more 
 than one occasion the cat, dog, and the little 
 grandchild of our landlady were found curled 
 up together. 
 
 " Whenever he did wrong as a young dog, we 
 found the greatest punishment was to take no 
 notice of him, and refuse his offered paw. On 
 one occasion, I remember, he ran off, and was 
 missing all day. When he came back, he was 
 shut up in his sleeping-place, after we had shaken 
 our heads at him and turned away. Although 
 he must have been very hungry, he would not 
 touch his food, but sat close to the door, whining 
 and crying, till we made it up with him by telling 
 him he was forgiven, and taking his offered paw, 
 when he ate his supper and went quietly to bed. 
 His love for us is unbounded, and he almost over- 
 whelms us sometimes by his affectionate em- 
 braces, especially if we have been away, when he 
 almost talks in his joy at seeing us again." 
 
102 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 A lady has sent me a short account of the be- 
 havior of another dog, which clearly shows that 
 the animal possesses the attribute of conscience. 
 The little animal has been taught many tricks, 
 among which is the accomplishment of shaking 
 hands. This he will seldom condescend to do 
 without much coaxing ; but if he has done any 
 thing wrong, he comes up, looking very much 
 ashamed of himself, and voluntarily offers his paw. 
 
 I may here refer to the dog " Help," who went 
 eheep-killing while his master thought that he 
 was chained up at home. It was a clear case of 
 conscience, though not accompanied by peni- 
 tence. He knew that he was acting wrongly, 
 and that his master would be offended, and there- 
 fore endeavored to avoid punishment by destroy- 
 ing the evidence of his crime. 
 
 How painfully keen can be the sense of con- 
 science in the dog is shown by the following ac- 
 count, which is written by a brother clergyman 
 well known in the literary world : 
 
 "A Newfoundland dog of great age, but still 
 the gentle, good-tempered friend of his master's 
 children, lay one morning sound asleep. One of 
 his playmates, wishing that he should accom- 
 pany their walk, gave him a kick. The poor 
 dog, suddenly awakened, seized sharply the little 
 girl's leg, but without really hurting her. The 
 nurse thereupon scolded him, pretended to beat 
 him with a pocket-handkerchief, and, when he 
 wanted to go with them, shut the door in his face. 
 
 " One of the men soon afterward found him 
 hang with his head in a ditch, dragged him out, 
 and brought him to the stables, where he lay, re- 
 fusing to eat or drink. Ere long he was again 
 found at the same ditch, dead. Whether, in re- 
 morse and despair of forgiveness, he had success- 
 fully repeated an attempt at suicide, or whether 
 he had lain down there to die of a broken heart, 
 I do not know." 
 
 One or the other was evidently the case, and, 
 whether it were suicide or sorrow, conscience was 
 the real cause of death. 
 
 The same writer proceeds to say : ' ' You also 
 nsked for the epitaph on our poor little friend's 
 grave. It is as follows : 
 
 ' "COLL," 
 
 'FAITHFUL, LOVING, GENTLE, WISE, 
 BY HIS UNTIMELY DEATH 
 
 MADE EMPTY NO SMALL SPACE 
 IN OUR HOME AND HEART. 
 
 'Alas! too soon, dear loving friend, 
 Onr close companionship doth end; 
 Yet sense of Right, heart true and fond, 
 Mast have, methiuks, some glad BEYOND: 
 
 I "Poor H. ! it was her first great grief, and 
 yet lives. A cousin spoke lightly of the epitaph 
 j as she stood by the grave the other day in her 
 garden. 
 
 " ' Please come away, G.,' said H., ' and don't 
 let us speak about it. Something has been left 
 out in your composition ; you can not under- 
 stand.' " 
 
 With regard to the supposition that the for- 
 mer of these dogs committed suicide, it is not so 
 groundless as might be supposed. Dogs certain- 
 j ly know that water will drown other beings, or 
 j they would not take the trouble of rescuing them ; 
 ! and it is therefore but natural to infer that they 
 j are aware that the same element will drown them- 
 selves. There is more than one instance known 
 of a dog deliberately drowning itself; and the 
 instance which has just been narrated looks very 
 much as if the same course had been adopted. 
 
 The following little story is one of Lady E.'s 
 anecdotes, and shows how not only dogs, but 
 cats, can possess a sense of moral responsibility : 
 
 "I trust the following anecdote of my cat 
 * Rosy ' may be found interesting. 
 
 "You know that she was given to me when 
 quite a kitten, and she is now nearly fourteen 
 years old. She has always had a great aversion 
 to dogs, and, no matter what their size might be, 
 she would drive them away if they came on our 
 premises. 
 
 "Whenever the servants left the kitchen, she 
 would sit near the door, and, if a stranger ap- 
 proached, growled like a dog. One day the cook 
 had left the cat alone, and the butcher's boy 
 came for orders as usual. Keceiving no reply, he 
 opened the door and walked inside. Perceiving 
 him to be a stranger, Rosy, to his surprise, flew 
 at him, and held him tightly till the cook re- 
 turned. Instead of being angry at the attack, 
 the lad admired her bravery, said she was as 
 good as a house-dog, and often rewarded her 
 with meat from his shop." 
 
 In Bennett's " W T anderings in New South 
 Wales," the Siamese ape "Ungka" is mentioned 
 as possessing the sense of moral responsibility, 
 though the mode in which it was manifested was 
 rather of the ludicrous than the lofty kind : 
 
 "One instance of a very close approximation 
 to, if it may not be considered absolutely an ex- 
 ercise of the reasoning faculty, occurred in this 
 animal. 
 
 " Once or twice I lectured him for taking away 
 my soap continually from the washing-place, 
 which he would remove for his amusement from 
 that place, and leave it about the cabin. One 
 
CONSCIENCE. 
 
 morning I was writing, the ape being present in 
 the cabin, when, casting my eyes toward him, I 
 saw the little fellow taking the soap. I watched 
 him, without his perceiving that I did so ; and 
 he would occasionally cast a furtive glance to- 
 ward the place where T sat. I pretended to write ; 
 he, seeing me busily occupied, took the soap, and 
 moved away with it in his paws. When he had 
 walked half the length of the cabin, I spoke qui- 
 etly, without frightening him. The instant he 
 found I saw him he walked back again, and de- 
 posited the soap nearly in the same place from 
 which he had taken it. 
 
 "There was certainly something more than 
 instinct in that action. He evidently betrayed a 
 consciousness of having done wrong, both by his 
 first and last actions ; and what is reason, if that 
 is not an exercise of it?" 
 
 I know a little child, not two years old, whose 
 favorite amusement is to get at a box full of 
 Windsor soap, and disperse the cakes all over 
 the room, in all sorts of places. She is not al- 
 lowed to do so without permission; and more 
 than once, when she has been detected in doing 
 so, she has acted exactly as Ungka did, i. e., re- 
 placed the soap, and tried to look as if she had 
 not touched it. In both cases the process of 
 reasoning is identical ; and so is the sense of 
 conscience, or moral responsibility. 
 
 A curious example of the power of conscience 
 is related by Mr. Mansfield Parkyns, in his well- 
 known work on Abyssinia. He had a semi- 
 tamed hunting-dog (one of the wild animals of 
 the country), and was much interested in' the 
 habits of the animal, which he named "Tokla." 
 
 "Once I remember being attracted into the 
 yard by a bustling noise as of animals running 
 about, intermixed with my pet's shrill, squeaking 
 voice. On going out, nothing was apparent but 
 a sheep lately bought for dinner, which, however, 
 was running about with every appearance of ner- 
 vousness. There was Tokla, whose voice I had 
 just heard uttering notes of unusual excitement, 
 lying quietly in a corner, shamming sleep, but 
 peeping at me from a corner of one of his little 
 wicked black eyes. 
 
 "I said nothing, but concealed myself in a 
 shed, through the branches that formed the sides 
 of which I could observe all that passed. For a 
 short time the little brute lay motionless in the 
 same position as I had left him. After a while, 
 however, he got up stealthily, stretching himself 
 as if just awake, but at the same time taking a 
 furtive glance to see that all was quiet. Having 
 
 
 10:; 
 
 satisfied himself oX this point, he madj 
 
 at the poor sheep, with his ears bad 
 
 ing horribly. The sh 
 
 only standing and butting at its little opponent 
 
 when driven into a corner, and evidently in a 
 
 desperate fright. 
 
 "Tokla seemed to heed little whether hoof 
 or horns met his advances, but kept on, now 
 rushing furiously in, now dodging for a more fa- 
 vorable opening, incessantly for half an hour. I 
 doubt not, though scarcely six pounds' weight, 
 he would have ended by walking into the mutton 
 of his adversary had I not felt compassion for 
 the poor sheep's sufferings, and disturbed my lit- 
 tle friend in his pursuit. Indeed, I could not 
 have allowed him to indulge his sporting propen- 
 sities so long as he did except as a study of his 
 natural ideas, manners, and customs." 
 
 Here is a distinct case of conscience, and of 
 cheating in order to conceal his delinquency. 
 He was perfectly aware that he was doing wrong 
 in attacking the sheep, and so feigned to be sleep- 
 ing when his master came on the scene. This is 
 the more curious, because Tokla was not one of 
 the domestic dogs, but a predacious animal which 
 had only been recently and partially tamed. 
 
 Almost every one who has possessed pet ani- 
 mals must have noticed how often they exhibit 
 remorse, i. <?., a keen sense of having done wrong, 
 their conscience having convicted them of their 
 misconduct, and their whole demeanor showing 
 that they are sensible of their fault. 
 
 Here is an example: A Mr. B had a mag- 
 nificent staghound, named "Gwynne." The 
 dog had one fault : he was not fond of children, 
 and therefore was given away, as unsuitable for 
 his owner's house. 
 
 His new master lived in Sutherlandshire, and 
 sent the dog to one of his farthest farms, where 
 he was taken in charge by the shepherd's wife. 
 One morning, after the woman had made the 
 porridge for breakfast, she went out of the house, 
 and on returning met the dog, who had evident- 
 ly been eating the porridge. With an expression 
 of anger she struck him on the head, whereupon 
 Gwynne left the place, and was never seen again, 
 though advertisements and liberal offers of re- 
 ward were issued. 
 
 This, however, is not all. Several times pre- 
 viously he had been given away, and had always 
 made his way back to his old master ; but this 
 time he did not do so, evidently because he felt 
 himself rightfully in disgrace for bad conduct, 
 and he did not dare to show himself in his mas- 
 ter's presence. 
 
104 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 CHAPTER XIH. 
 
 SYMPATHY AND FRIENDSHIP. 
 
 Love and its Various Phases of Development. Sympathy between Animals of the Same Species. Dr. J. 
 Brown's Story of "Nipper" and the Destitute Pointer. Protection of the Weak. "Pizarro" aud the 
 Terrier. " Mungo " and his Big Friend. The Ludicrous Side of Sympathy. Church Bells and their Ef- 
 fects. Cats and their Comrades. Division of Labor. Sympathy in the Weasel. Sympathy between An- 
 imals of Different Species. Several Anecdotes of Dogs and Cats. The Dog and the Persecuted Cock. 
 Dog Feeding Kids. Cat-sympathy. The Grandmother, the Daughter, and the Dead Grandchild. A Gen- 
 erous Redbreast. Animals Sympathizing with Man. Story of "Nelly" and her Mistress. Nelly's Death 
 and Last Request "Prettina's" Sympathy with a Sufferer. "Flo," the Family Consoler. Friendship 
 Defined. "Piucher" and the Quarrelsome Sheep-dog. Friendship between Cats. The Story of "Dick" 
 and "Kate." Kittens and Dog. Friendship between Cows and a Sheep; Cats and Horses. Friendship 
 between a Horse, a Cat, and a Lame Chicken. Friendship between a Cat and Ducks. Friendship be- 
 tween a Dog and Ducks ; Java Sparrows and Doves ; a Monkey and a Hen. 
 
 WE are now approaching the loftiest charac- 
 teristic which adorns humanity namely, Love 
 and are about to inquire how far it is shared by 
 the lower animals. It has many phases of de- 
 velopment, the first of which is sympathy, i. e., 
 the capacity of feeling for the sufferings of an- 
 other. I shall show that many and perhaps all 
 living creatures possess the capacity of sympa- 
 thy, and that in numerous cases it is not restrict- 
 ed to their own species, but is extended to those 
 beings which appear to have very little in com- 
 mon with each other. 
 
 Usually, however, sympathy is exhibited be- 
 tween animals of the same species, and is often 
 seen in the dog. Such, for example, is the Avell- 
 known instance where one dog was seen sup- 
 porting the broken leg of another ; also the fact 
 that a dog which has been cured of some injury 
 will take a fellow-sufferer to his benefactor an 
 example of which I knew personally. I need 
 hardly observe that such sympathy could not 
 be carried out unless the animals possessed a 
 language sufficiently defined to transmit ideas 
 from one to the other. 
 
 I will begin with a few instances of sympathy 
 between animals of the same species, and place 
 at their head Dr. J. Brown's graphic account 
 of his dog "Nipper:" 
 
 "Many years ago I got a proof of the unseen 
 and therefore unhelped miseries of the homeless 
 dog. I was walking down Duke Street, when I 
 felt myself gently nipped in the leg. I turned, 
 and there was a ragged little terrier crouching 
 and abasing himself utterly, as if asking pardon 
 for what he had done. He then stood up on 
 
 end, and begged as only these coaxing little ruf- 
 fians can. 
 
 "Being in a hurry, I curtly praised his per- 
 formance with ' Good dog !' clapped his dirty 
 sides, and, turning around, made down the hill ; 
 when presently the same nip, perhaps a little 
 nippier the same scene, only more intense the 
 same begging and urgent motioning of his short, 
 shaggy paws. ' There's meaning in this,' said I 
 to myself, and looked at him keenly and differ- 
 ently. He seemed to twig at once, and, with a 
 shrill cry, was off much faster than I could fol- 
 low. He stopped every now and then to see that 
 I followed, and, by way of putting off the time 
 and urging me, got up on the aforesaid portion 
 of his body, and when I came up was off again. 
 
 "This continued till, after going through sun- 
 dry streets and by-lanes, we came to a gate, 
 under which my short-legged friend disappeared. 
 Of course I couldn't follow him. This astonished 
 him greatly. He came out to me, and as much 
 as said, ' Why don't you come in ?' I tried to 
 open it, but in vain. My friend vanished, and 
 was silent. I was leaving in despair and dis- 
 gust, when I heard his muffled, ecstatic yelp far 
 off around the end of the wall ; and there he was, 
 wild with excitement. I followed, and came to 
 a place where, with a somewhat burglarious in- 
 genuity, I got myself squeezed into a deserted 
 coach-yard, lying all rude and waste. 
 
 "My peremptory small friend went under a 
 shed, and disappeared in a twinkling through 
 the window of an old coach body, which had 
 long ago parted from its wheels and become 
 sedentary. I remember the arms of the Fife 
 
SYMPATHY. 
 
 105 
 
 family were on its panel ; and I dare say this 
 chariot, with its C springs, had figured in 1822 
 at the King's visit, when all Scotland was some- 
 what Fifeish. I looked in, and there was a point- 
 er bitch, with a litter of five pups ; the mother 
 like a ghost, and wild with maternity and hun- 
 ger ; her raging, yelling brood tearing away at 
 her dry dugs. 
 
 " I never saw a more affecting or more mis- 
 erable scene than that family inside the coach. 
 The poor bewildered mother, I found, had been 
 lost by some sportsman returning south, and 
 must have slunk away there into that deserted 
 place when her pangs (for she has her pangs 
 as well as a duchess) came ; and there, in that 
 forlorn retreat, had she been with them, rushing 
 out to grab any chance garbage, running back 
 fiercely to them this going on day after day, 
 night after night. What the relief was when we 
 got her well fed and cared for and her chil- 
 dren, filled and silent, all cuddling about her 
 asleep, and she asleep too awaking up to assure 
 herself that this was all true, and that there they 
 were, all the five, each as plump as a plum 
 
 " All too happy in the treasure 
 Of her own exceeding pleasure ;" 
 
 what this is in kind, and all the greater in amount 
 as many outnumber one, may be the relief, the 
 happiness, the charity experienced and exercised 
 in a homely, well-regulated Dog Home. 
 
 " Nipper for he was a waif I took home 
 that night, and gave him his name. He lived 
 a merry life with me showed much pluck and 
 zeal in the killing of rats, and incontinently slew 
 a cat which had unnatural brute unlike his 
 friend deserted her kittens, and was howling of- 
 fensively inside his kennel. He died, aged six- 
 teen, healthy, lean, and happy to the last. As 
 for Perdita and her pups, they brought large 
 prices, the late Andrew Buchanan, of Coltbridge, 
 an excellent authority and man the honestest 
 * dog-man ' I ever knew having discovered that 
 their blood and her culture were of the best. 
 
 "I have subscribed to the London 'Home' 
 ever since I knew of it, and will be glad to do 
 as much more for one of our own, as Edinburgh 
 is nearer and dearer than the city of millions of 
 dogs and men. And let us remember that our 
 own dogs are in danger of being infected by all 
 the dog-diseases, from the tragic rabies down 
 to the mange and bad manners, by these pariah 
 dogs ; for you know among dogs there is in prac- 
 tical operation that absolute equality and frater- 
 nity which has only been as yet talked of and 
 shot at by and for us." 
 
 In this charmingly told anecdote, we see not 
 
 only sympathy, but self-denial, reasoning, and 
 a power of communicating ideas to a human 
 being. Being a waif and a stray himself, with- 
 out a master, and dependent upon chance for 
 food, the little animal took compassion on his 
 suffering companion, and went out to beg from 
 man the assistance which he was not able to 
 render himself. But that assistance was not 
 meant for himself, however much he needed it, 
 but for his companion who needed it more. 
 Doubtless his instinct, and not his reason, taught 
 him to select the person to whom he applied ; 
 for it is not every man who will allow himself 
 to be nipped in the leg without repaying the 
 bite, however gentle, with a kick or a blow. An- 
 imals, like children, always know their friends. 
 
 See, for example, when he forgot to calculate 
 the difference of size between his newly found 
 friend and himself. Finding that the man could 
 not crawl under the gate like himself, the dog 
 calculated the dimensions of the man, and pointed 
 out to him an aperture through which he could 
 make his way. 
 
 A lady writes to me to say that a friend of 
 hers has two dogs one a Newfoundland, and 
 the other a small black-and-tan terrier. They 
 are both good water-dogs, and are now in the 
 habit of swimming about together. But, on the 
 first occasion after their introduction to each 
 other, when the terrier jumped into the water, 
 the Newfoundland dog sprang in after him and 
 put him on the bank, evidently thinking that he 
 had fallen accidentally into the water and might 
 be drowned. 
 
 The following story is sent by another lady : 
 
 "We had a noble blood-hound, 'Pizarro,' 
 sent us from Manilla ; although his kind are 
 supposed to be more or less savage, he was most 
 gentle when well treated. When on board ship, 
 he became much attached to a small terrier, 
 which no one dared to molest in his presence. 
 The sailors used to take the little terrier in the 
 boat with them, leave Pizarro on board the ship, 
 and commence teasing his little friend a pro- 
 ceeding which rendered the blood-hound most 
 irritable. He afterward extended his protect- 
 ing power to one of those ornamental but useless 
 Danish dogs, which we had at that time, and 
 who always rushed to his kennel for protection 
 if threatened with punishment, and then no one 
 dared interfere." 
 
 Several anecdotes, of a character somewhat 
 similar to the following, are tolerable well known. 
 I am glad, therefore, to present my readers with 
 a story which possesses the double advantage of 
 being both original and authenticated : 
 
106 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 "In a little village in Wiltshire there lived 
 a small black terrier, called ' Mungo,' and a large 
 yard-dog, the two being on the most amicable 
 terms. One night the terrier paid a neighbor- 
 ing farm-house a visit, in order to offer his re- 
 spects to another little terrier, whom he much 
 admired. But, alas for his gallant intentions ! 
 a large rough watch-dog, not tolerating rivals, 
 set on him savagely, and poor Mungo returned 
 home in a sorry plight bleeding, torn, limping, 
 and scarcely able to crawl. 
 
 " He lay down by his faithful friend, and told 
 of his piteous wooing. Fondly and gently the 
 big dog listened, and licked his friend's wounds, 
 who for many a day lay sorely bruised, and 
 never attempted to leave home. Some time after- 
 ward, on a fine moonlight night, some laborers, 
 who were returning home across some fields, 
 met the two friends trotting gayly along. Next 
 morning the farmer found his savage watch-dog 
 stretched stiff and stark on the straw in his 
 yard." 
 
 What a combination of qualities do we not 
 find in the conduct of these two dogs. They 
 must have possessed a language sufficiently def- 
 inite for the one to tell the other what had 
 befallen him, and to designate the offender. 
 They then must have arranged that the big dog 
 was to avenge the injuries inflicted on his little 
 friend as soon as the latter was well enough to 
 show him the way. There was memory in both 
 dogs, enabling them to postpone the execution 
 of their design until the injured dog had recov- 
 ered ; and there was sympathy for suffering in 
 the large dog, and desire for revenge in the little 
 one. The two dogs in question belonged to a 
 clergyman, who told the story to my correspond- 
 ent. 
 
 There are instances among mankind where 
 even the best of feelings present a ludicrous side, 
 and animals are not exempt from this rule. In 
 the following example the sympathy was very- 
 well meant, though the mode of showing it was 
 exceedingly ludicrous : 
 
 "I have said that my dog 'Lion,' a cross 
 between the setter and the sheep-dog, always 
 sets up a piteous howling when the neighboring 
 church bells begin calling the villagers to morn- 
 ing service at eleven. At the first slow tolling 
 he takes no notice of the bell, but as they ring 
 the changes he becomes uneasy and wanders 
 about ; and when the chimes begin, he no longer 
 contains his feelings, but howls with all his might. 
 He is by no means a howling dog, and bears all 
 the other ills of life with patience, or, at most, 
 indulges in a whine. 
 
 "Now my mother's dog 'Snap,' a pure Skye 
 terrier, is, as a rule, supremely indifferent to 
 bells, though she will bark by the hour together 
 at a treed squirrel or at some distant or even 
 imaginary sound. No sooner, however, does 
 she, when on a visit to my cottage, hear Lion's 
 cry of distress and remonstrance, than she joins 
 the chorus, and the two dogs will sit on their 
 haunches, with nose in air, and howl there un- 
 til I call them in, or until the bells abate their 
 noise. The one dog affords a good picture of 
 sorrow, and the other of sympathy. " 
 
 Perhaps Snap thought that it was only good 
 manners to show that she felt for Lion's suffer- 
 ings, though she did not share them herself, and 
 so she joined him in his lamentations. 
 
 It may be, however, that Lion had more cause 
 for complaint than we might fancy. There are 
 many dogs to whom certain sounds are not only 
 obnoxious, but actually injurious. This is well 
 corroborated by a curious anecdote communi- 
 cated to me by the late J. Hatton, M.D. : 
 
 "With regard to the effects of sound upon 
 animals, I remember, when a child, my brother 
 going into the country, on a Sunday afternoon, 
 to see a friend, who gave him a young pup, 
 about ten weeks old. At that time we lived 
 in the precincts of the Cathedral. The. ringers 
 were accustomed to practice every Sunday even- 
 ing at eight o'clock. No sooner did they begin 
 than the dog began to run round and round the 
 room at a furious rate, and finally rushed under 
 the sofa, where the poor animal almost immedi- 
 ately died in convulsions." 
 
 Cats are often kind to each other, sympathiz- 
 ing under difficulties, and helping their friends 
 who need assistance. One of my friends is a 
 great admirer of cats and their disposition, and 
 has noted many of their ways. One of her cats 
 was rather a weak animal, and was unable to 
 carry her kittens about after the manner of cats. 
 So, when she wished to carry her kittens from 
 one place to another, she was accustomed to 
 impress a stronger cat into her service, she walk- 
 ing by the side of her friend in order to act as 
 guide. 
 
 Another of the cats, when oppressed with the 
 cares of a family, did exactly what a human 
 mother does when she can afford it. She em- 
 ployed a nursemaid, i. e., she brought a half- 
 grown kitten, and placed it in charge of, her 
 young while she went for a ramble. 
 
 In Hardwicke's Science Gossip, which is really 
 a treasure-house of information for those who 
 know how to use it, are many anecdotes of 
 
SYMPATHY. 
 
 107 
 
 sympathy between animals. One of these anec- 
 dotes shows reason as well as sympathy in the 
 common weasel. 
 
 A clergyman was driving along the road near 
 Basingstoke, when his horse trod on a weasel, 
 which could not get out of the way in time. 
 The little animal was paralyzed, its spine seem- 
 ing to be broken, so that it could not move its 
 hind legs. Presently another weasel came out 
 of the roadside, went up to the injured animal, 
 and, after carefully inspecting the invalid, picked 
 it up and carried it to the side of the road, where 
 it would not be endangered by traffic. 
 
 Another case of sympathy between creatures 
 of the same species is given in the same jour- 
 nal. A female wood-pigeon was sitting on her 
 eggs, and her mate was close at hand. A heavy 
 shower of rain came suddenly on, whereupon 
 the male bird took up a position above his mate 
 (who could not leave her eggs), and with his 
 spread wings formed a shelter from the rain. 
 
 We will now pass to sympathy between ani- 
 mals of different species. The hereditary en- 
 mity between cat and dog is proverbial; and yet, 
 when in good hands, they are sure to become very 
 loving friends, and even to show considerable 
 sympathy with each other. Here is a case in 
 which the animals had but the slightest passing 
 acquaintance with each other. The anecdote 
 which immediately follows is communicated by 
 the same lady : 
 
 " Compassion was shown in the following case. 
 A poor little cat was lying very ill by the kitchen 
 fire ; another cat came inquiringly up. A Scotch 
 terrier (belonging to the house in which we were 
 then lodging, and therefore a comparative stran- 
 ger to the invalid) immediately jumped off a 
 chair, and silently but firmly turned it back, 
 as if to say, 'You must not disturb her.' He 
 also turned back in the same manner our own 
 large dog." 
 
 "Many years ago my mother had a cat and 
 , dog ; and when the cat had kittens, the dog, 
 a terrier, would take charge of them for an hour 
 at a time, and no one dared touch them. Al- 
 though at other times he was gentle, he then 
 snarled at all comers. Directly the mother re- 
 appeared, 'Fly' walked off and resigned his 
 charge. " 
 
 The four following anecdotes all relate to sym- 
 pathy between cats and dogs, and have been 
 sent by different correspondents : 
 
 "One day a large black cat entered the gar- 
 den in a most deplorable condition, her tail 
 nearly cut in two by a tin kettle which had 
 been tied to it. The kettle was taken off, and 
 
 the poor creature brought into the house and 
 fed. Our little dog * Trotty ' was greatly de- 
 lighted to have another friend; but 'Blackie,' 
 as we called the cat, would not allow him to 
 go near her, scratching and spitting if he ap- 
 proached. All the time her tail seemed very 
 painful, but at the end of three or four days 
 Trotty somehow managed to bite off the end of 
 it. This eased the poor creature's pains, and 
 from that time they were loving friends." 
 
 Trotty's reasoning was as correct in this case 
 as if he had been the subject of transmigration, 
 and had formerly inhabited the body of a hospital 
 surgeon. 
 
 "When our little dog Trotty was quite young, 
 we had a kitten, ' Mittie' by name. She was a 
 gentle, loving creature, who evidently disliked be- 
 ing pulled about and teased by Trotty, but only 
 resented it in the most gentle way. The result 
 of this teasing was that poor little Mittie did not 
 grow, and at ten months old she was a dwarf. 
 
 " She was then accidentally scalded, and so 
 badly that for some weeks she lay on a pillow, 
 and had her sores regularly dressed with oil. 
 All this while Trotty was apparently troubled, 
 and when the sores were partially healed he 
 gently licked them, and so aided in her recovery. 
 From that time he never teased her, and they 
 lived together for a year, Mittie growing into 
 a fine cat. 
 
 "At the end of this time I fancied that Trotty 
 was again at his tricks, but on closely watching 
 them I found that Mittie held up her head in 
 order that Trotty might lick her neck, on which 
 Ave found a small lump. This went on for some 
 time, Mittie touching Trotty with her paw when 
 she wished to be licked, and again when she 
 wished him to desist. The lump proved malig- 
 nant, and dear little Mittie died. Trotty was 
 restless for weeks, and would not eat as usual." 
 
 * ' There was a ferocious bull-dog kept as a guard- 
 ian of the premises. He was so fierce that on 
 one occasion he tried to bite his mistress because 
 she ventured too near his kennel. Once, how- 
 ever, he showed that he was not deficient in 
 kindly feelings, and that they might have been 
 developed by proper management. 
 
 " One day a little kitten got out of a window 
 three stones high, and fell on the stone paving 
 of the yard near the dog's kennel. It was so 
 hurt and crushed that even its mother would 
 not go near it. The dog, however, picked it up 
 carefully, took it into his kennel, licked it clean, 
 and nursed it carefully till the poor little thing 
 died." 
 
 " 'Band}',' our turnspit dog, was an inmate 
 
108 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 of the house before Miss ' Chinchilla ' Puss came 
 to reside in it ten months ago. She was very wild 
 and frightened when she came, dogs being her 
 natural abhorrence ; but by constant association 
 at the dinner- table, round the fireplace, and 
 even in the ladies' rooms, they became good 
 friends ; and their love was cemented on the 
 occasion of poor Bandy having had a fit and 
 being unable to move for some hours. Miss 
 Chinchilla came frequently to inquire for him, 
 and greeted him with a kiss literally they 
 touched lips and noses. 
 
 " Time passed on, and Chinchilla arrived at 
 the dignified state of married life, and a month 
 ago she had her first kitten. On the occasion, 
 Bandy's anxious solicitations were constant and 
 gentle, nor could his curiosity be satisfied on 
 hearing ihe kitten's wee voice till he had seen 
 and smelt Kitty. The sight of such a warm 
 small lump of life excited an interest which 
 was far greater than curiosity, and whenever 
 Chinchilla left her kitten for any time, he took 
 upon himself the office of guardian and nurse, 
 for he licked and watched it as if it had been 
 one of his own offspring. The other evening, 
 while the mother was away, he even got into 
 the cat's basket, and curled himself up in it, as 
 she does, while the kitten lay upon him and un- 
 der his paw exactly as it does with its mother. 
 Now at a month old Kitty goes up to him and 
 * shows fight ' (as children say when they want 
 to have a stand-up game), while the mother looks 
 on, waiting to share in the fun. 
 
 "I am hoping to see, when Kitty grows up, 
 that she will have extinguished the natural an- 
 tipathy of her race to the dog tribe ; if so, I think 
 it will be a beautiful proof of cultivation and 
 domestication obliterating the prejudices of in- 
 stinct and hereditary habits. Since it is the 
 affection and instinct that form the life of all 
 existences, I believe and hope we are cultivating 
 the immortal principle in our domestic animals 
 by subduing the more animal nature, and educat- 
 ing their affections and intelligences, and so de- 
 veloping a higher race of dogs and cats, or horses, 
 or any other pet. 
 
 " I should like to know if you think that in 
 the next stage of existence our animals will 
 know us individually as they do now in a meas- 
 ure by smell and scent and voice. I am anx- 
 ious to see your work on the proofs of immor- 
 tality in animals. I do so hope that, when I 
 pass beyond the veil, I shall know and be recog- 
 nized by a dear old pet dog, 'Beppo,' a most 
 devoted animal, who lived and died with us." 
 
 A gentleman living in Edinburgh has just 
 sent me this remarkable anecdote of sympathy 
 
 in a dog, showing how wide .can be a dog's 
 sympathies, and how cleverly he can carry them 
 into effect : 
 
 "I once gave a spaniel, called 'Jack,' to a 
 farmer friend in the neighborhood of the city. 
 Jack's kennel was placed in the farm-yard, where 
 the poultry were daily fed. Among them hap- 
 pened to be a poor, unfortunate, unpopular cock, 
 which was not allowed to have a share of what 
 was going, but was punished severely whenever 
 he made an attempt to get any food. 
 
 "Jack somehow observed this, and, feeling 
 sympathy for the poor bird, was seen daily to 
 leave some of his food, to carry the 'bicker' 
 which contained it into his kennel, and wait 
 there until all the poultry were gone. He would 
 then take his bicker outside, put it down where 
 the cock could get it, and stand on watch all 
 the time in order to protect him. Sometimes 
 he would leave the bicker inside the kennel, and, 
 if the bird were near at hand, he would go 
 round about him until he got him into the ken- 
 nel, so that he might take his food without being 
 disturbed. 
 
 "I regret to say that Jack is now dead; but he 
 was a dog of more than ordinary canine parts 
 for he exhibited a sagacity and sympathy toward 
 that sadly tormented bird which showed that he 
 was an animal of a rare stamp, and far above 
 his fellows." 
 
 I hope that the reader will appreciate the 
 character of this dog as it deserves, and see 
 how he displayed virtues of which any human 
 being might be proud. There is compassion 
 for sufferings unjustly inflicted upon a fellow- 
 being, and a determination to redress them. 
 Then there is self-denial in depriving himself 
 of his food, generosity in giving it away, and 
 high reasoning power as exemplified by the va- 
 rious means employed in managing that the poor 
 persecuted bird should have its food in peace, 
 undisturbed by its heartless fellows. 
 
 The end of this strange friendship was verv 
 remarkable. 
 
 The ill-usage of the other birds still continued, 
 and at last the cock was accustomed regularly 
 to take refuge in the dog's kennel. Probably 
 from the perpetual bullying which he endured, 
 he fell ill, and one morning was found dead in 
 the kennel, lying closely pressed to his only 
 friend. 
 
 Giving food, indeed, seems to be a favorite 
 way by which animals of different species ex- 
 press their sympathies with each other. The 
 following little history is given in the Zoologist, 
 page 9G49 : 
 
SYMPATHY. 
 
 109 
 
 "Last year, when the troops left this station 
 to proceed to the frontier war, a goat belonging 
 to an officer had two young kids the very morn- 
 ing the force marched. The cruel native serv- 
 ants, who have less feeling than any animal, 
 even a tiger, took with them the poor mother 
 and left the two kids behind, because to carry 
 them would have entailed a little trouble a 
 thing most devoutly abhorred by this class of 
 menials. 
 
 " The little kids made a terrible bleating noise 
 at being left all alone ; and a pariah dog, who 
 was employed as a wet-nurse in the opposite 
 compound for two English puppies, came over 
 the road and took the helpless little kids in her 
 mouth, and conveyed them to the box where 
 her two puppies were. After this she regularly 
 suckled them, and brought them up with the 
 other two of her adopted family. It was a curi- 
 ous sight, the old lady suckling two puppies and 
 two kids. She lay down to the former, but had 
 to stand up for the latter, for they used to run at 
 her in the usual vehement way lambs and kids 
 do at their mothers, which often gave the dog 
 great pain ; but notwithstanding this she was 
 never known to bite at them. 
 
 " These two kids grew up and followed the 
 dog about, along with the puppies, all day, un- 
 til the kids became as big as the old dog her- 
 self; she nursed them for about three months, 
 when she had a family of her own, and left off 
 taking any notice of them further than by a 
 good-humored wag of the tail or an occasional 
 lick of their faces. These kids grew up to be 
 big goats, and continued playing with the dogs, 
 their foster brother and sister. The old dog 
 had been in the first place deprived of her own 
 offspring, and the two puppies had been brought 
 to her to bring up. Perhaps having lost her 
 own family made her take compassion on the 
 kids, thus showing that ' a kindred feeling makes 
 us wondrous kind ' does not apply to the human 
 race only." 
 
 A curious instance of sympathy is related by 
 Lady E. : 
 
 " Rosy's daughter was a curious tortoise-shell, 
 with four white paws, which were always kept 
 particularly clean. 
 
 "When she was nearly twelve months old 
 I went into the room to breakfast, and perceived 
 both Rosy and Tiney outside the window, rest- 
 ing their front paws on the window-frame, and 
 carrying a dead kitten in their mouths, Rosy 
 holding the kitten of a few hours old by the 
 back of the neck, cat-fashion, and Tiney support- 
 ing the hind legs. Both mother and daughter 
 
 were looking very solemn, as though soliciting 
 sympathy for the death of Tiney's first-born 
 child. 
 
 ' ' Rosy has had a great many kittens since 
 then, but Tiney never had another, though she 
 has been most anxious and attentive to her little 
 brother and sister kittens ; and whenever Rosy 
 left them longer than Tiney considered prudent, 
 she would call her and drive her to her baby 
 kittens, giving her an unmistakable box on the 
 ear and a scolding for her neglect of her young 
 ones. 
 
 ' ' When they grew too large and heavy for 
 Rosy to carry alone, the pair always bore the 
 burden between them, Rosy taking them by the 
 neck, and Tiney the hind legs, as in the first 
 instance. In this way they frequently mounted 
 the stairs, and it was extraordinary to see how 
 well they managed together. 
 
 "Poor Tiney, who was a wonderful cat, and 
 did most clever things, was lost while I was away 
 from home for some months. Rosy has traveled 
 about with me, and sits as quietly on my knee as 
 a child would do. She likes to look out of the 
 carriage window, and when any thing passing 
 takes her fancy she puts her paw on my chest, 
 and makes a pretty little noise, as though asking 
 if I had seen it also." 
 
 There are many examples known of birds 
 feeling sympathy w-ith the lost or deserted young 
 of other species, and taking upon themselves the 
 task of feeding the starving children. The fol- 
 lowing case is really a remarkable one, for it is 
 scarcely possible for two birds to be more unlike 
 in their manners than the starling and the red- 
 breast, the former being essentially a social bird, 
 and the latter as essentially a solitary one, isolat- 
 ing himself with the greatest care, and always 
 appropriating to himself some district which he 
 is pleased to consider as his own property, and 
 in which he will not allow another redbreast to 
 show himself. Indeed, he does not like a bird 
 of any kind to intrude upon his premises, and 
 whenever they show themselves they must be 
 very strong birds indeed not to be attacked by 
 this jealous defender of his rights. The follow- 
 ing little history is taken from Hardwicke's Sci- 
 ence Gossip for September, 1871 : 
 
 "A little redbreast has come to our door all 
 through the winter for his meals, and a most 
 friendly, welcome guest he has been. One spring 
 morning we saw robin do a deed of chanty that 
 more than ever endeared the little bird to our 
 hearts. It had been a bitterly cold night, and 
 on our servant going down-stairs to fetch some 
 coal to light the fires, she found a poor little 
 
110 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 starling shivering and frightened in the cellar. 
 She called me to see the bird : it had only just 
 left the nest, and it was so weak that it could 
 not fly. I tried to coax it to eat, took it near 
 the fire, ottered it bread-crumhs, seeds, water ; 
 but no the starling would not be tempted. 
 
 "Breakfast-time came, and with it the little 
 robin. We thought that if we put the wee 
 birdie out of doors its mother might come to 
 look for her lost child ; then came the fear of 
 robin he was so very pugnacious. Well, we 
 risked it, keeping a very strict watch over the 
 starling's safety. Robin eyed it for a moment, 
 and flew away ; still the little baby bird stood 
 on one leg shivering, and no mother arrived. 
 The moments seemed hours. Presently robin 
 came flying back, and with something in his 
 beak, too. Hop, hop, he came to where the wee 
 baby starling was shivering, and popped a worm 
 in its beak, which it opened, just as if robin had 
 said, ' Open your mouth here is some breakfast ; ' 
 and away he flew, and again returned with some 
 food to the young bird, and then they both flew 
 away. We never saw the starling again, but 
 good Rttle robin's deed made him more loved 
 than ever in the house. " 
 
 I am rather glad to have the opportunity of 
 making known these examples of sympathy be- 
 tween animals, because I have received com- 
 munications from persons who really appreciate 
 the moral capacities of the lower animals, but 
 who can not bring 'themselves to believe that 
 they feel any sympathy with each other, though 
 they do so for man. 
 
 We now pass to another branch of the sub- 
 ject, namely, the capacity of the lower animals 
 to sympathize with human beings in distress. 
 The following touching narrative is from the pen 
 of a lady : 
 
 ' ' Some years ago we possessed a large watch- 
 dog, a mastiff, who, when he became old, was 
 allowed the free range of the garden. 
 
 " We also had a little Skye terrier, whom he 
 took into his especial charge, walking with her, 
 and apparently showing her the various walks, 
 flower-beds, etc. She had, unfortunately, one 
 great fault, i. e. , chasing the cat, who was also 
 a pet. On one occasion she was taken in the 
 act, and her master was administering a little 
 castigation ; whereupon the mastiffcame up quiet- 
 ly to his master, and took his right arm in his 
 mouth, not offering to bite, but asking him to 
 withhold the coming stroke. 
 
 " The successor to this dog was a still more 
 remarkable animal, belonging to the St. Bernard 
 breed, named 'Nelly.' She came to us when 
 
 six weeks old, and died in November, 18G2, la- 
 mented not only by the household of which she 
 formed a part, but by the whole neighborhood. 
 Even strangers could not but notice her, for her 
 face was full of soul, nobility, intelligence, and 
 love. 
 
 ' ' She was with us during a season of bitter be- 
 reavement. Her own altered looks, her quiet 
 and sad demeanor, told how truly she shared in 
 the prevailing sorrow. For many weeks she nev- 
 er entered the house (except the kitchen), but 
 would often look wistfully up to the windows. 
 At length, when she did venture into the dining- 
 room, she merely walked direct to the well-known 
 chair, and, finding it vacant, with saddened look 
 turned away and left the room. 
 
 "As time rolled on, her visits to the house were 
 renewed, and then it was that her sympathetic 
 qualities were so touchingly displayed. She 
 seemed to realize the change that had passed 
 over us. She noticed our indications of sorrow 
 when we thought that she was sleeping, and, leav- 
 ing the spot where she was lying, she would offer 
 us her paw with an expression of countenance 
 which made itself felt. 
 
 " On more than one occasion she rose sponta- 
 neously from the warm rug, and, with a look 
 which conveyed as impressively as words could 
 do the sympathy which she felt, she rested her 
 beautiful flaxen breast on the lap of the lonely 
 one, clasped her in her arms, and licked the tear- 
 bedewed cheeks." 
 
 The last scene of Nelly's life was very remark- 
 able, as showing the complete understanding and 
 sympathy which can exist between man and the 
 lower animals. She entertained the profoundest 
 affection for the old gardener, affection which 
 was perfectly reciprocated. 
 
 " Her greatest trials were when George's duties 
 called him away from her. At such times she 
 used to station herself at the gate, eagerly lis- 
 tening for the coming footstep, with now and 
 then a piteous howl. And when he did appear, 
 what a rush of delight ! what greetings ! what 
 fondlings ! 
 
 " But I must hasten to the last sad scene. Our 
 loving and much-loved Nelly died three days 
 after giving birth to a litter of puppies. The 
 best skill that was to be had was obtained, and 
 her faithful George watched her by night and by 
 day. With all a mother's forgetfulness of self, 
 she fulfilled her maternal duties until the last day, 
 when she evidently felt that she had nothing and 
 could do nothing for them. She feebly rose from 
 her couch, and gave her children into George's 
 charge, with a look that said as plainly as human 
 words cculd speak, ' Care for these helpless ones 
 
FRIENDSHIP. 
 
 Ill 
 
 as you have cared for me.' What could a hu- 
 man mother do more? She then lay on the 
 couch, from which her children had already been 
 removed, stretched herself out, and, with her 
 paws in the hand of her faithful friend, quietly 
 breathed out her life. 
 
 "Can it be that virtues such as I have at- 
 tempted to portray have found no fitting sphere 
 for their exercise, but that, like the poor per- 
 ished body, they have gone to destruction ? Nay, 
 even the body is not destroyed ; it is only dis- 
 solved into other elements. Are we, then, to 
 think that the all-wise Creator shows less respect 
 for the immaterial than for the material ; that 
 while the inferior continues to exist, although 
 in altered form, the superior is consigned to an- 
 nihilation ? Reason and analogy oppose it ; rev- 
 elation does not support it." 
 
 I have witnessed an example of sympathy with 
 human sufferings shown by a cat. Her name 
 was " Prettina," and she was grandmother of 
 my own remarkable animal, who, although of a 
 different sex, received the abbreviated name of 
 " Pret," by way of honoring the memory of his 
 beautiful grandmother. One day, while I was 
 paying a visit, the cat's mistress was seized with 
 a distressing cough, which used to last for a con- 
 siderable time, and left her quite prostrate with 
 the fatigue. As soon as the cough began the cat be- 
 came uneasy, and at last jumped upon the couch 
 on which her mistress was lying, uttered a series 
 of sounds which evidently expressed pity, and 
 laid her paw on the sufferer's lips. 
 
 This, I heard, was her invariable practice 
 whenever a fit of coughing was prolonged more 
 than usual. 
 
 As for sympathy displayed by dogs, there is no 
 need for me to give examples. I suppose that 
 no human being was ever free from troubles of 
 some kind, and I am equally sure that no one 
 who had a companionable dog felt that he was 
 without sympathy. Doggie knows perfectly well 
 when his master is suffering pain or sorrow, and 
 his nose pushed into his master's hand, or laid 
 lovingly on his knee, is a sign of sympathy which 
 is worth having, though it only exists in the heart 
 of a dog. From that moment a bond has been 
 established between the soul of the man and that 
 of the dog, and I can not believe that the bond 
 can ever be severed by the death of the material 
 body, whether of the man or of the animal. 
 
 I know a case where a dog was always the 
 consoler. It belonged to a large family, and, as 
 will be the case in families, one of the children 
 occasionally got into disgrace, and was punished. 
 Whenever this happened, "Flo" was sure to 
 
 find out the sorrowing child, and, by licking its 
 face and offering many caresses, would show her 
 sympathy. One of the children was peculiarly 
 sensitive, and, as if conscious that she specially 
 needed sympathy, Flo would be more demonstra- 
 tive toward her than toward the others. 
 
 FRIENDSHIP. 
 
 That friendship, which is another bratach of 
 love, exists among animals is a very well-known 
 fact, exhibiting itself most frequently among do- 
 mesticated animals. Horses, for example, which 
 have been accustomed to draw the same carriage 
 are usually sure to be great friends, and if one 
 be exchanged the other is quite wretched for 
 want of his companion, and seems unable to put 
 any spirit into his work. 
 
 Dogs, too, are very apt to strike up friendship 
 with each other, one or two examples of which I 
 have already mentioned under other headings. 
 One of my friends has a little terrier called 
 "Pincher," who had in some way managed to 
 make friends with a great sheep-dog. This was 
 an unpleasant animal, of a quarrelsome disposi- 
 tion, and was always fighting some other dog. On 
 these occasions Pincher always used to run to 
 the assistance of his friend, and give him mate- 
 rial help by attacking his adversary in the rear, 
 snapping and barking, and biting his heels. This 
 was very good of Pincher, but it was scarcely fair 
 play to the other dog. 
 
 A very remarkable and affecting instance of 
 friendship in a cat has been communicated to 
 me by a lady : 
 
 "We had two kittens given us, fine, high-spir- 
 ited .animals, called ' Dick ' and ' Kate.' They 
 lived together happily for some time ; but Kate 
 was taken with fits, and, by the advice of the 
 doctor, she was poisoned with prussic acid. She 
 was buried far away from the house, because 
 Dick was so fond of her that we feared he would 
 find her grave. 
 
 " He did not see Kate removed, and of course 
 had no knowledge of his loss except by his own 
 instinct. But he hunted every where for her, call- 
 ed her in his way, and after the first day refused 
 to eat. He went about the house in the most 
 touching way, just like a person in grief, and at 
 the end of three days he died." 
 
 The love which this affectionate creature bore 
 to his companion was stronger than life, and I 
 can not believe but that it survived death, and 
 that the two loving creatures were again united 
 in their own sphere of existence. 
 
112 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 Among the animals, friendship is not confined 
 to one species, but sometimes exhibits itself in 
 animals which might be supposed to be peculiar- 
 ly incongruous in their nature. Here, for exam- 
 ple, is a case of friendship between a cat and a 
 dog : 
 
 "A strong case of friendliness between cat and 
 dog is to be witnessed in this house (near Guild- 
 ford) at the present time. Two kittens, not re- 
 lated to each other, and about six weeks old, 
 have been introduced into the house, at two dif- 
 ferent times, within the last seven or eight weeks. 
 Instead of taking alarm at the sight of our big 
 dog, they lick his face, bite his ears, and play 
 with his tail ; I believe they think that he wags 
 it on purpose, and I am not sure but they are 
 right ; finally, when they are tired, they go to 
 sleep beside him, so that it is not uncommon to 
 find him with one kitten between his paws and 
 the other leaning up against him ; and if he walks 
 about the house, one or both of the kittens will 
 trot after him. Neither of these little creatures 
 had seen a large dog until they came to us. " 
 
 That cows and sheep live, as a rule, on good 
 terms in the same pasture is a familiar fact, 
 though sometimes the former are a little apt to 
 bully the latter. I have, however, learned that a 
 very strong affection can exist between animals 
 so different, and that when accustomed to each 
 other's society neither could be happy without 
 the other. 
 
 ' ' Some years ago we had a lamb whose mother 
 died soon after its birth. It was brought up by 
 hand on cow's milk, and, for the convenience of 
 the feeder, was kept in the cow-house. It ac- 
 companied the cows to and from the field, and 
 remained their companion for two or three 
 years. 
 
 * ' The animal was quite a pet of the man who 
 had charge of the cows, and he kept it with 
 them until ordered by his master to place it 
 with the sheep. After much demur, this was 
 done ; but for some days the man complained 
 that ' Donald ' was miserable, that he would not 
 associate with the other sheep, and that they 
 beat him. The master gave little heed to the 
 statement, but at last gave permission for Donald 
 to be restored to his old associates, and invited 
 us to see the meeting. 
 
 "The cows all rushed to meet him, and he 
 ran up to each in turn ; but this was only a be- 
 ginning. After a few minutes a cow went to 
 Donald and began licking him from head to 
 tail, and continued to do so until she had passed 
 her tongue over every part of his body. He was 
 
 then passed over to another, who did the same 
 thing, until all the six cows had shown their 
 affection. " 
 
 That Donald should refuse to associate with 
 the other sheep is not a matter of wonder, as 
 he had been accustomed from his birth to the 
 society of cows ; but that the others should bully 
 him is not so easily explained, except on the 
 supposition that from long familiarity with cows 
 he had contracted habits that were unsheeplike, 
 and gave him a foreign air. 
 
 Horses are apt to contract friendship with 
 different animals. The goat and the horse are 
 frequent friends, and it often happens -that a 
 peculiarly vicious horse will allow a goat to take 
 any liberties with him without dreaming of re- 
 senting them. The stable cat, too, is quite 
 an institution in many places, the cat's usual 
 place of repose being the back of the horse, 
 and the horse being uneasy if left for any length 
 of time without the society of his usual com- 
 panion. 
 
 I know of one case where the friendship was 
 exhibited in a very curious manner. A little 
 kitten strayed, when very young, into the house 
 of one of my friends, and was adopted by a 
 cat who brought it up together Avith her own 
 young. This kitten became a great frequenter 
 of the stables, and made two rather odd friends, 
 namely, a pony and a lame bantam. It was a 
 curious sight to see the kitten and the bantam, 
 curled up asleep on the pony's broad back, 
 where they would spend hours without being 
 disturbed. 
 
 The horse and the goose have been known 
 to be excellent friends for a long time, the bird 
 rubbing his head, in the fondest manner, against 
 that of the horse. I have mentioned, under 
 another heading, the odd friendship that was 
 struck up between a kitten and a brood of 
 ducklings, the kitten always going to sleep on 
 the ducks when they had settled down for the 
 night. 
 
 Another odd instance of friendship occurred 
 in the house of one of my friends. 
 
 He had a fine Newfoundland dog which took 
 a fancy to a brood of young ducklings, and con- 
 stituted himself their protector. They were quite 
 willing to accept him in this capacity, and fol- 
 lowed him about just as if he had been their 
 mother. It was a specially interesting sight- to 
 watch the dog and the ducklings taking their 
 siesta. The dog used to lie on his side, and 
 the ducklings would nestle all about him. 
 
 There was one duckling in particular which 
 invariably scrambled upon the dog's head, and 
 
FRIENDSHIP. 
 
 113 
 
 sat on the eye which was uppermost, both par- 
 ties appearing to be equally satisfied with this 
 remarkable arrangement, though the dog must 
 have been put to no small inconvenience by the 
 pressure on his eye. 
 
 It is really curious to notice the apparently 
 incongruous friendships which are often found 
 among animals. 
 
 I knew of a monkey who was accustomed to 
 H 
 
 live in a hen-house. He formed a friendship 
 with one of the inmates, a hen which was in 
 bad health, and the two were accustomed to 
 sleep on the same perch, the monkey with his 
 head nestled under the hen's wing. 
 
 I also know of two Java sparrows which al- 
 ways pass the night under the wings of two 
 turtle-doves, which treat them like their own 
 offspring. 
 
114 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 LOVE OF MASTER. 
 
 Attachment of Animals to Man. Innate Yearning for Human Society. " Jimmie," the Squirrel. A Tame 
 Sparrow and its Ways. " Turey," the Rock-pigeon. Sad End of a Pet. Divided Allegiance. The Dead 
 Shepherd and his Dog. Animals Dying for Love of Man. "Phloss"and his Mistress. My Dog "Rory." 
 My Children's Canary Mr. Webber's Account of the Bullfinch. The Story of " Grayfriars' Bobb}-." 
 A Well-deserved Monument. Power Possessed by Animals of Returning to their Masters. A Collier Dog 
 Finding his Way from Calcutta to Scotland. "Zeno's" Singular Journey. A Dog and his Complicated 
 Journey from Manchester to Holywell. Cats and their Supposed Attachment to Localities. My Cat 
 "Pret" and his Travels. A Cat Crossing Scotland alone. Suggested Source of the Power. A Stray 
 Persian Cat. The Dog "Joey "and his Mistress's Letter. The Indian Fakirs and their Tame Tigers. 
 "Rob," the Bloodhound, and the Child. The Boy and the Savage Horse. Two Pet Sheep. Goose and 
 "Goosey." "Toby," the Gander Summary of the Subject. 
 
 UNDER this heading I place that feeling which 
 induces animals to attach themselves to human 
 beings, the feeling being the same whether the 
 object of it be technically a master or not. 
 
 I have already referred to the intense yearning 
 for human society which is felt by many of the 
 lower animals, and which is indeed but the aspi- 
 ration of the lower spirit developed by contact 
 with the higher. In those animals which are 
 domesticated, and therefore in perpetual contact 
 with man from birth, this feeling is no matter 
 of wonder. But that it should be exhibited in 
 the non- domesticated animals and birds, and 
 even, as we have already seen, in insects, is a 
 fact which is well worth our consideration, as 
 giving a clew to some of the many problems of 
 life which are at present unsolved. 
 
 The power of attraction which is exercised by 
 the spirit of man upon the spirit of the lower cre- 
 ation is well exemplified by the well-known fact 
 that many of the wild animals will attach them- 
 selves to human beings, and will forsake the so- 
 ciety of their own kind for that of the being 
 whom they feel to be higher than themselves. 
 
 One of the wariest animals is the wild squir- 
 rel, as any one will say who has tried to ap- 
 proach one. He is horribly afraid of human be- 
 ings, and if a man, woman, or child come to 
 windward of a squirrel, the little animal is sure 
 to scamper off at his best pace, scuttle up a tree, 
 and hide himself behind some branch. Yet, as 
 the following anecdote shows, the squirrel, wild 
 as he may be, is peculiarly susceptible to the in- 
 fluence of the human spirit, and for the sake of 
 human society will utterly abandon that of its 
 
 own kind. The little history which is here giv- 
 en was sent to me expressly for this work : 
 
 "The squirrel was given to me while I was 
 an undergraduate at Cambridge, in the summer 
 of 1854. He was very young, and could scarce- 
 ly jump from the table. I took him home with 
 me in the long vacation, and he soon became so 
 fond of me that when I went for a walk I used 
 to take him with me, and he followed me like a 
 dog. 
 
 "Although he had one of those whirlabout 
 cages, it was with difficulty that I could keep 
 him there, as when awake he preferred to follow 
 his own devices, and, when tired, he usually slept 
 on a soft cushion on the sofa ; or, if the doors were 
 left open, he would find his way into some bed- 
 room, and nestle under the pillows. 
 
 " At night he always used to sleep with me, 
 though he was rather troublesome, as nothing es- 
 caped his notice, and he always tried every thing 
 with a nibble. He used to hide things dreadful- 
 ly, and ladies' work-boxes were perfect mines to 
 him. I am afraid he was rather encouraged in 
 this, as my mother generally had a nut reserved 
 in the corner of her box. 
 
 " In the morning, while I was dressing, I used 
 to open my window, when ' Jimmie ' used to get 
 out, climb down a rose-tree that was nailed to 
 the wall, and amuse himself by taking a run be- 
 fore breakfast. Afterward he usually went out 
 again, and played about the lawn and plantation 
 for three or four hours, returning by the window, 
 and going to sleep on his favorite cushion. 
 
 " Once, when I was staying from home, and 
 had taken Jimmie with me, I lost him for two 
 nights. He had been playing about in the gar- 
 
LOVE OF MASTER. 
 
 115 
 
 den, and, being in a strange place, had evident- 
 ly lost his way. I was very unhappy about him, 
 and had given him up for lost, when on the sec- 
 ond day I heard his feet pattering near the 
 door, and joyfully welcomed him back. When 
 I came over to Jersey, I brought my little friend 
 with me; but in 1858 the poor little fellow 
 caught cold, became paralyzed, and soon died, 
 to my very great grief. " 
 
 The reader will observe that in this case there 
 was a deliberate abandonment of freedom and 
 the company of his own kindred for the sake of 
 human society. There was no coercion. If 
 Jimmie had wished to escape, there was nothing 
 to prevent him, and nothing bound him to his 
 master but an " ever-lengthening chain " of love 
 and aspirations which none but a human being 
 could satisfy. 
 
 Here is an instance where a sparrow, one of 
 the most independent and self-reliant of birds, 
 abandoned his own kind for the sake of human 
 beings : 
 
 * ' A lady, whom we know, tells rather a strange 
 story about a sparrow. 
 
 " Her brothers had rescued the bird from some 
 boys who had been robbing the nest. They 
 brought it home, and it was reared in the house. 
 It was never confined in a cage, but was allowed 
 to fly freely about the house. As a cat was kept, 
 she had to be watched lest she should injure the 
 bird. , j. 
 
 "On Sundays, when the whole family went to 
 church, and no one was left to keep an eye on 
 the cat, the sparrow was always turned into the 
 garden, where he flew about until the family re- 
 turned. The signal for his entry into the house 
 was that his mistress opened the dining-room win- 
 dow, and stood there without her gloves. If she 
 wore her gloves, the bird refused to enter. " 
 
 A somewhat similar instance is here given, the 
 narrator being an artisan : 
 
 "Forty years ago I was in Scotland, living 
 with an uncle at an old castle called Cakemuir. 
 There was a part in ruins, tenanted by quantities 
 of pigeons, many of which were taken for pies. 
 Among them was an unfledged young one, and 
 I, then a boy, took compassion on the solitary 
 thing, and begged it as a pet. I put it in a bas- 
 ket in an empty room, and fed it by hand; and it 
 grew apace, and formed an eVerlasting friendship 
 for me. It was a bright blue bird, with white 
 head and wings. 
 
 "When it was fledged, I gave it liberty, but 
 it would never associate with its fellows. It fol- 
 lowed me wherever I went, even for miles, tak- 
 
 ing long flights, and returning to settle on my 
 arms, head, or shoulders. It was a constant at- 
 tendant in the breakfast-parlor, driving out the 
 dogs and cats by blows of its wing. 
 
 " We removed to another house, where it was 
 perfectly at home. There also it was a great 
 pet with my uncle and aunt, but it would never 
 follow them. After a time I was apprenticed at 
 a village a few miles off, and used to return on 
 Sunday morning and spend the day there. ' Tu- 
 rey ' followed me as usual on the Sundays, and 
 when I returned on Monday would try to ac- 
 company me. At first I had to drive it back by 
 throwing stones toward it ; but it soon learned 
 my intentions, and would only go with me as far 
 as the road. On being told to go home, it would 
 fly around my head, then make a great round in 
 the air and fly home. 
 
 "Unfortunately it became troublesome, as 
 most pets do, and used to get into the dairy and 
 disturb the milk. My aunt shut it up, but for- 
 got to give it any water, and the poor bird died 
 of thirst. Many tears were shed, and we were 
 obliged to let my uncle think that I had the bird 
 with me in the village. " 
 
 I am acquainted with two jackdaws, which be- 
 have in much the same manner. One of them 
 entirely declines all intercourse with the jackdaw 
 world, and attaches himself exclusively to the in- 
 habitants of the house. He has the full use of 
 his wings, but generally employs them in flying 
 about the house, and occasionally settling on the 
 heads of persons to whom he chooses to take a 
 fancy. I have had him on my head many times, 
 and it was sometimes rather startling, when ab- 
 sorbed in a book or conversation, to see some- 
 thing black dash before one's eyes, to hear a 
 loud squall of "Jack!" in one's ears, and then 
 to feel the grasp of sharp claws on the top of the 
 head. 
 
 The other jackdaw owns a divided allegiance. 
 He does not enter the house, and freely consorts 
 with his fellows. But he is always within, or, at 
 all events, in sight of the garden, and is ready to 
 greet any members of the family who leave the 
 house. He will generally accompany them in 
 their walks ; and if they are accompanied by 
 friends who are not acquainted with his ways, he 
 is apt to startle them by an occasional swoop 
 close to their heads, accompanied by a loud caw. 
 
 Here is a case of divided companionship in a 
 rook. The anecdote was communicated to me 
 by a lady : 
 
 " In the early part of 1861 a young rook was 
 brought to one of my children. It was wounded 
 in the wing, and unable to fly ; but every care 
 
116 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 was taken of it, and it soon recovered. We gave 
 the bird its liberty ; but during the whole of that 
 year it kept about the garden and close to the 
 house, always coming to be fed when called. 
 
 " He remained with us for some years, when 
 he suddenly disappeared. We feared that he 
 might have been shot ; but, to our surprise, about 
 the month of, June 'Jack ' again made his ap- 
 pearance, sitting in his accustomed place in a 
 tree opposite the window. From that time he 
 has been a constant attendant, coming to us when 
 we call him, and following us from place to place. 
 At other times he joins his companions, and flies 
 about with them, only returning to us to be fed. " 
 
 The following pathetic little tale shows how 
 the love of master in a dog survived death. It 
 shows reasoning and self-denial on the part of 
 the dog, and also aifords another example of the 
 manner in which the power of reason in an ani- 
 mal seems to break down just where it might be 
 expected to manifest itself most successfully : 
 
 "Some years ago a fearful snow-storm hap- 
 pened in the Isle of Skye. A shepherd had oc- 
 casion to go to look after his flock, attended by 
 a faithful dog. The storm increased, and the 
 poor shepherd could not accomplish his task; 
 night had set in, and he was unable to return to 
 his home. Struggling in vain through the drift 
 and darkness, he became utterly exhausted, lay 
 down and died. 
 
 *' The dog, more fortunate than his master, 
 got back to the lonely sheiling ; and when it was 
 seen that he was alone, search was made, but in 
 vain. Hope was giving way to despair, when it 
 was observed that the dog daily took away a 
 piece of bannock, or cake, in his mouth, as it was 
 thought to hide it for some future occasion. 
 But, with that noble instinct with which a wise 
 Providence had endued him (although in this in- 
 stance unavailing), he set off day by day with 
 this supply to where his master lay, and on being 
 followed it was found that he had placed no few- 
 er than five pieces of bread on his breast. Alas ! 
 the vital spark had long since fled, but there was 
 the striking token of instinct and affection, meet 
 subject for even a Landseer to depict. " 
 
 The intensity of the love which the lower ani- 
 mals can entertain toward man may be estimat- 
 ed from the fact that they have been known to 
 die for the loss of those whom they love. I give 
 three instances of such potent grief, two being 
 exhibited by dogs, and the other by a canary 
 which lived in my own family for some years. 
 The first anecdote is taken from the well-known 
 " Memorials of a Quiet Life," by Augustus Hare: 
 
 " Her poor old dog, ' Phloss,' pined away from 
 the moment of his mistress's death. He pined 
 and vexed himself whenever the undertakers 
 came to the house, and on the night before her 
 funeral laid himself down and died died, as the 
 servant said, just like his mistress, with one long 
 gasp of breath. Thus ended a life bound up in 
 our recollections with ' Julius,' with Havelock, 
 from whom it derived its name, and Julius's dear 
 friend, Tom Starr, by whom it was given." 
 
 Then there was my dear dog "Rory," the 
 quaintest, funniest, and most eccentric dog that 
 I ever knew. A rough Irish terrier, black as 
 night, with a triangular patch of snowy white on 
 his breast, and another on the under side of his 
 tail - tuft ; thick, heavy eyebrows, with a bold 
 curve in them, only letting the gleam of the glit- 
 tering eyes sparkle from between their fringes ; 
 black moustaches to match the eyebrows, only 
 very much longer and thicker ; and ears standing 
 nearly upright for half their length, and then ab- 
 ruptly drooping as if made of black velvet. 
 
 I call him my dog, not because he ever be- 
 longed to me, but because he was pleased to 
 adopt me as his master, and totally to repudiate 
 his legal owner, who, by the way, very honorably 
 paid the tax for him. 
 
 Shortly after taking my degree, I accepted a 
 scholastic offer which took me into Wiltshire, 
 where it was impossible to introduce Rory. So, 
 with many regrets, I left him to the care of the 
 household, all of whom were very fond of him. 
 
 Of course, he was greatly troubled at my ab- 
 sence, and was perpetually on the watch for me, 
 but after some weeks he seemed to understand 
 the state of things and to be reconciled to his 
 lot. It so happened that after I had been away 
 for some three months, I had to attend to some 
 family business, and visited home for a few hours. 
 Rory was there, and gave me the most curious 
 welcome imaginable. 
 
 Naturally a dog of the most exuberant spirits, 
 exalted to the skies by a kind word, and crawl- 
 ing on the ground in utter abasement if scolded, 
 he might have been expected to be more than 
 usually demonstrative when I unexpectedly made 
 my appearance. But he did nothing of the kind. 
 He licked my hand, and that was all. But he 
 would not lose sight of me. He followed me si- 
 lently about the house, and, when I sat down, 
 lay on the floor, with* his chin resting on my foot, 
 and his beautiful loving eyes gazing steadily and 
 wistfully at me through their heavy fringes. He 
 seemed to know that it was for the last time, 
 and kept his steady gaze until I was obliged to 
 leave the house. He made no particular demon- 
 
LOVE OF MASTER. 
 
 117 
 
 stration when I bade him farewell ; but his law- 
 ful owner claimed him, took him away, and in a 
 few weeks my poor Kory was dead. 
 
 There are several now living who will always 
 cherish an affectionate regard for Kory and his 
 odd ways. No human being could have pos- 
 sessed a keener sense of humor than had Kory, 
 and no one could have been more fertile in hitting 
 upon plans for gratifying that sense of humor. 
 He would knock over every fat lap-dog that he 
 met, frighten their mistresses half out of their 
 senses, walk by their sides on his hind legs the 
 whole length of a street, and altogether com- 
 port himself like an amiable maniac. He chief- 
 ly exulted, however, in alarming college dons as 
 they statelily sailed along in the full glories of 
 silken gown, cassock, and scarf. Such, at least, 
 was the custom in my time, now some thirty 
 years ago ; but I am given to understand that 
 in these degenerate days the undergraduates wear 
 moustaches, and a don looks like any body else. 
 
 Perhaps that very sense of the ridiculous which 
 was gratified by seeing so stately a being lose all 
 his dignity in instant and groundless alarm was 
 owing to the susceptibility of disposition which, 
 on the one side, hurried him into absurd extrav- 
 agances, and, on the other side, cost him his very 
 life in disappointed longings for the presence of 
 his self-chosen friend. 
 
 The case of the canary was as follows : 
 
 It belonged to the head nurse, and was kept in 
 the day-nursery with the children. At all meal- 
 times the cage was always placed on the table, 
 and the bird received much notice. It so hap- 
 pened that the children went away for a few 
 weeks' visit. Although the nurse had the bird 
 in her room, it pined for the society of the chil- 
 dren, refused to eat, and in a day or two was 
 found dead at the bottom of the cage. 
 
 The following story is related by Mrs. Webber 
 in "The Song-birds of America," and shows how 
 a bird actually died because he thought that he 
 had lost the love of his mistress. 
 
 Mrs. Webber had just lost a pet thrush, and 
 was inconsolable. However, a piping bullfinch 
 was brought as a present, and liked to teach her 
 the airs which he knew. At first the bereaved 
 lady would not listen to him, but his winning 
 ways quite overcame her. 
 
 "Although I still said I did not love him, yet 
 I talked a great deal to the bird ; and as the lit- 
 tle fellow grew more and more cheerful, and sang 
 louder and oftener each day, and was getting so 
 handsome, I found plenty of reasons for increas- 
 ing my attentions to him : and then, above all 
 things, he seemed to need my presence quite as 
 
 much as sunshine ; for if I went away, if only to 
 my breakfast, he would utter the most piteous 
 and incessant cries until I returned to him; 
 when, in a breath, his tones were changed, and 
 he sang his most enchanting airs. 
 
 "He made himself most fascinating by his 
 polite adoration ; he never considered himself 
 sufficiently well dressed ; he was most devoted 
 in his efforts to enchain me by his melodies ; 
 art and nature both were called to his aid, until, 
 finally, I could no longer refrain from expressing 
 in no measured terms my admiration. He was 
 then satisfied, not to cease his attentions, but, to 
 take a step further, he presented me with a straw, 
 and even with increased appearance of adulation. 
 
 "From that time he claimed me wholly; no 
 one else could approach the cage ; he would fight 
 most desperately if any one dared, and if they 
 laid a finger on me his fury was unbounded ; he 
 would dash himself against the bars of his cage, 
 and bite the wires, as if he would obtain his lib- 
 erty at all hazards, and thus be enabled to pun- 
 ish the offender. 
 
 "If I went away now, he would first mourn, 
 then endeavor to win me back by sweet songs. 
 In the morning I was awakened by his cries, 
 and if I but moved my hand his moans were 
 changed into glad greetings. If I sat too quiet- 
 ly at my drawing, he would become weary, seem- 
 ingly, and call me to him ; if I would not come, 
 he would say, in gentle tone, ' Come-e-here ! 
 come-e-here!' so distinctly that all my friends 
 recognized the meaning of the accents at once ; 
 and then he would sing to me. 
 
 "All the day he would watch me: if I were 
 cheerful, he sang and was so gay ; if I were sad, 
 he would sit by the hour watching every move- 
 ment ; and if I arose from my seat, I was called 
 'Come-e-here;' and whenever he could manage 
 it, if the wind blew my hair within his cage, he 
 would cut it off, calling me to help him, as if he 
 thought I had no right to wear any thing else 
 than feathers ; and if I would have hair, it was 
 only suitable for nest-building. If I let him fly 
 about the room with the painted finch, he would 
 follow so close in my footsteps that I was in con- 
 stant terror that he would be stepped upon, or be 
 lost, in following me from the room. 
 
 "At last he came to the concksion that I 
 could never build a nest. I never seemed to un- 
 derstand what to do with the nice materials he 
 gave me ; and when I offered to return them, he 
 threw his body to one side, and looked at me so 
 drolly from one eye that I was quite abashed. 
 From that time he seemed to think I must be a 
 very young creature, and most assiduously fed me 
 at stated periods during the day, throwing up from 
 
118 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 his own stomach the half-digested food for my 
 benefit, precisely in the manner of feeding young 
 birds. 
 
 "But I did not like this sort of relationship 
 very much, and determined to break it down ; 
 and forthwith commenced by coldly refusing to 
 be fed, and, as fast as I could bring my hard heart 
 to do it, breaking down all the gentle bonds be- 
 tween us. 
 
 " The result was sad enough. The poor fel- 
 low could not bear it : he sat in wondering grief 
 he would not eat; at night I took him in my 
 hand, and held him to my cheek : he nestled 
 closely, and seemed more happy, although his lit- 
 tle heart was too full to let him speak. In the 
 morning I scarcely answered his tender love-call, 
 'Come-e-here;' but I sat down to my drawing, 
 thinking if I could be so eold much longer to such 
 a gentle and uncomplaining creature. 
 
 " I presently arose and went to the cage. Oh, 
 my poor, poor bird! he lay struggling on the 
 floor. I took him out I tried to call him back 
 to life in every way that I knew, but it was use- 
 less ; I saw he was dying his little frame was 
 even then growing cold within my warm palm. 
 I uttered the call he knew so well ; he threw 
 back his head, with its yet undimmed eye, and 
 tried to answer ; the effort was made with his last 
 breath. His eye glazed as I gazed, and his atti- 
 tude was never changed. His little heart was 
 broken. I can never forgive myself for my cru- 
 elty! Oh, to kill so gentle and pure a love as 
 that!" 
 
 Many of my readers will anticipate the subject 
 of the next few pages, namely, " Grayfriars' Bob- 
 by," a dog whose love of its master long survived 
 death. I have been acquainted with the story of 
 this faithful animal for many years long, indeed, 
 before the touching narrative was made public 
 through the very prosaic medium of the tax-gath- 
 erer. 
 
 In the Scotsman of April 13, 1867, the follow- 
 ing narrative appeared : 
 
 "A very singular and interesting occurrence 
 was yesterday brought to light in the Burgh Court 
 by the hearing of a summons in regard to a dog- 
 tax. Eight and a half years ago, it seems a man 
 named Gray, of whom nothing now is known, ex- 
 cept that he was poor, and lived in a quiet way 
 in some obscure part of the town, was buried in 
 Old Grayfriars' Church-yard. His grave, leveled 
 by the hand of time and unmarked by any stone, 
 is now scarcely discernible ; but, although no hu- 
 man interest would seem to attach to it, the sa- 
 cred spot has not been wholly disregarded and 
 forgotten. During all these years the dead man's 
 faithful dog has kept constant watch and guard 
 
 over the grave ; and it was this animal for which 
 the collectors sought to recover the tax. 
 
 " James Brown, the old-curator of the burial- 
 ground, remembers Gray's funeral, and the dog, 
 a Scotch terrier, was, he says, one of the most 
 conspicuous of the mourners. The grave was 
 closed in as usual, and next morning ' Bobby,' as 
 the dog is called, was found lying on the new-made 
 mound. This was an innovation which old James 
 could not permit ; for there was an order at the 
 gate stating, in the most intelligible characters, 
 that dogs were not admitted. ' Bobby ' was ac- 
 cordingly driven out ; but next morning he was 
 there again, and for the second time was dis- 
 charged. The third morning was cold and wet ; 
 and when the old man saw the faithful animal, 
 in spite of all chastisement, still lying shivering 
 on the grave, he took pity on him, and gave him 
 some food. 
 
 " This recognition of his devotion gave ' Bobby ' 
 the right to make the church-yard his home ; and 
 from that time to the present he has never spent 
 a night away from his master's tomb. Often in 
 bad weather attempts have been made to keep him 
 within doors, but by dismal howls he has succeed- 
 ed in making it known that this interference is not 
 agreeable to him, and latterly he has always been 
 allowed his own way. At almost any time dur- 
 ing the day he may be seen in or about the church- 
 yard ; and no matter how rough the night may be, 
 nothing can induce him to forsake the hallowed 
 spot, whose identity, despite the irresistible oblit- 
 eration, he has so faithfully preserved. 
 
 " Bobby has many friends, and the tax-gather- 
 ers have by no means proved his enemies. A 
 weekly treat of steaks was long allowed him by 
 Sergeant Scott, of the Engineers ; but for more 
 than six years he has been regularly fed by Mr. 
 Traill, of the restaurant, 6 Grayfriars Place. .He 
 is constant and punctual in his calls, being guided 
 in his mid-day visits by the sound of the time-gun. 
 On the ground of harboring the dog, proceedings 
 were taken against Mr. Traill for payment of the 
 tax. The defendant expressed his willingness, 
 could he claim the dog, to be responsible for the 
 tax ; but so long as the dog refused to attach him- 
 self to any one, it was impossible to fix the own- 
 ership ; and the court, seeing the peculiar circum- 
 stances of the case, dismissed the summons. 
 
 " Bobby has long been an object of curiosity 
 to all who have become acquainted with his his- 
 tory. His constant appearance in the grave-yard 
 has caused many inquiries to be made regarding 
 him, and efforts without number have been made 
 to get possession of him. The old curator, of 
 course, stands up as the next claimant to Mr. 
 Traill, and yesterday offered to pay the tax him- 
 
LOVE OF MASTER. 
 
 119 
 
 self rather than have Bobby Gray friars' Bobby, 
 to allow him his full name put out of the way." 
 Four years longer the faithful little dog kept 
 his loving watch, and at last died, to the regret 
 of all who knew him, never having been out of 
 reach of his master's grave ; though in his later 
 years the infirmities of doggish age forced him 
 to accept a partial hospitality of the curator. I 
 am sure that Lady Burdett-Coutts gladdened the 
 hearts of many lovers of animals as she certain- 
 ly did mine when she perpetuated his memory 
 by a lasting monument of granite and bronze. 
 The monument is a drinking-fountain made of 
 Peterhead granite, and surmounted by a life-size 
 statue of Bobby in bronze. 
 
 During the many years which elapsed between 
 the death of his master and his own departure, 
 the lowly grave was forgotten by all but the dog. 
 No stone guarded it, and not even a mound mark- 
 ed it. The grass and weeds grew luxuriantly 
 over it as over the level soil around. There has 
 been for years nothing that could mark out the 
 grave from the surrounding soil, but the little dog 
 knew the sacred spot under which lay his master's 
 remains, and for hours used to stand upon it, keep- 
 ing his guard. A little way from the grave is an 
 altar-tomb, under which Bobby used to shelter 
 himself in bad weather, and to which he always 
 used to take the bones and other food provided 
 for him by the generous persons whose names 
 have already been mentioned. 
 
 I possess three photographic portraits of Bob- 
 by. One represents him as standing upon the 
 nameless grave, which is utterly indistinguishable 
 from the weeds and herbage around. The por- 
 trait is not quite so good as it might be ; for just 
 as the photographer had got the dog into focus, 
 and had uncovered the lens, Bobby unfortunately 
 caught sight of a dog passing the gate of the 
 church-yard, and, according to custom, flew at 
 him furiously. He did not seem to object to hu- 
 man beings, but a dog he never would permit to 
 be even in sight. 
 
 The best of the three portraits is that from 
 which the bronze statue has been taken. He is 
 sitting on the altar-tomb above mentioned, and 
 is looking upward with that wistful, patient, long- 
 ing, yearning expression of countenance which 
 was peculiar to the animal, and is conspicuous in 
 all the photographs, however imperfect they may 
 be. 
 
 Some animals, notably dogf, have a wonderful 
 power of returning to their beloved master, even 
 though they have been conveyed to considerable 
 distances. So many examples of such feats are 
 on record that I refrain from mentioning them, 
 
 and only give one or two, the truth of which is 
 guaranteed by my correspondents, whose letters I 
 possess. 
 
 "A gentleman in Calcutta wrote to a friend 
 living near Inverkeithing, on the shores of the 
 Firth of Forth, requesting him to send a good 
 Scotch collie dog. This was done in due course, 
 and the arrival of the dog was duly acknowledged. 
 But the next mail brought accounts of the dog 
 having disappeared, and that nothing could be 
 seen or heard of him. Imagine the astonish- 
 ment of the gentleman in Inverkeithing when, a 
 few weeks later, friend Collie bounced into his 
 house, wagging his tail, barking furiously, and ex- 
 hibiting, as only a dog can, his great joy at find- 
 ing his master. 
 
 ' ' Of course all inquiry was made to find out 
 how Collie got home again, when it was discover- 
 ed that he had landed from a collier which had 
 returned from Dundee. Inquiry was made at 
 Dundee, when it was found that the dog had 
 come there on board a ship from Calcutta. Now 
 it can be understood that the dog might have rec- 
 ognized the collier, as he might have seen the ves- 
 sel on some former occasion at Inverkeithing; 
 but how he should have selected, at Calcutta, a 
 ship bound for Dundee is not so easily explain- 
 ed." 
 
 There is one solution of this remarkable prob- 
 lem which has occurred to me. Probably the 
 dog, not liking the strange land and the dark 
 faces, had slipped back to the ships with which 
 he had been familiar at home. Recognizing 
 the well-known Scotch accent on board one of 
 the ships, he must have got quietly on board, 
 and, on landing at Dundee, transferred himself 
 to the collier. This is merely conjecture, but I 
 do not see any other mode of accounting for the 
 dog's wonderful journey. 
 
 A scarcely less wonderful feat was performed 
 some time ago by a dog which returned to his 
 mistress from a distance. It is true that Man- 
 chester is not so far from Holywell as India is 
 from Scotland ; but the journey, though shorter, 
 was very much more complicated, and involved 
 several modes of locomotion, some of which, at 
 least, must have been adopted by the dog. The 
 narrator of the story is my friend, the late J. 
 Hatton, M.D., whose name has been perpetu- 
 ated on a life-boat presented by his widow to 
 the Dungeness station : 
 
 ' ' Some years ago, when I lived in Manches- 
 ter, I attended, for fever, a mechanic, who worked 
 for Messrs. Sharp, Boors, & Co., the celebrated 
 locomotive- engine makers. When he became 
 convalescent, he went to the house of his mother, 
 
120 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 who then lived at Holywell, in Wales. After he 
 had recruited his health, and was about to re- 
 turn home, his mother gave him a dog. 
 
 " He led the animal from Holywell to Bagill 
 by road, a distance of about two miles. Thence 
 he took the market-boat to Chester, a distance of 
 about twelve miles, if I remember right. Then 
 he walked through Chester, and took rail for 
 Birkenhead. From that station he walked to 
 the landing-stage and crossed the Mersey to 
 Liverpool. He then walked through Liverpool 
 to the station at Lime Street. Then he took 
 rail to Manchester, and then had to walk a dis- 
 tance of a mile and a half to his home. 
 
 "This was on Wednesday. He tied the dog 
 up, went to his work on Thursday as usual ; and 
 on the Sunday following, thinking that the dog 
 was accustomed to the place, he set it at liberty. 
 He soon lost sight of it, and on the Wednesday 
 following he received a letter from his mother, 
 stating that the dog had returned to her. Now 
 you will see that the dog went first by road, then 
 by market-boat, then through streets, then by 
 rail, then by steamer, then through streets again, 
 then by rail again, and then through streets again, 
 it being dark at the time ; and yet the dog had 
 sagacity enough to find its way back to the scene 
 of its early recollections. " 
 
 In this, as in other stories of a similar char- 
 acter, one of the most curious points is the ex- 
 treme rapidity with which the animal made the 
 journey. I do not know whether the market- 
 boat ran on Sunday, but, at all events, the dog 
 must have achieved the distance in some forty- 
 eight hours. 
 
 That the dog in question retained a remem- 
 brance of the route by which he had traveled, 
 and knew how to avail himself of the means of 
 transit, I have no doubt whatever ; and this no- 
 tion is confirmed by the behavior of a dog that 
 belonged to one of my correspondents, Mr. B., 
 who has kindly sent me several dog-biographies 
 that came within his own experience. 
 
 He was then living in East Lothian, and had 
 given the dog, a prize greyhound, to a friend 
 who lived at Greigston, near Cupar, in Fife. His 
 new owner took him home, but in a few days the 
 dog was missing. His owner advertised his loss, 
 and the animal was captured on the pier at Burnt- 
 island, evidently waiting for an opportunity to 
 cross in the steamer, whence he would undoubt- 
 edly have found his way back. This pier is fully 
 twenty miles from the spot which he deserted. 
 
 I can easily understand how a dog would man- 
 age to slip on board by pretending to belong to 
 one of the passengers. Dogs are quite alive to 
 
 the social distinction between those who belong 
 to some particular owner and those who are mas- 
 terless, the latter being looked upon by themselves 
 much as a " masterless man " was regarded in 
 the time of Elizabeth, i. e. , a sort of social out- 
 cast, unacknowledged by his fellows. 
 
 I owed the life-long friendship of my inimita- 
 ble Rory to this feeling. He was none of my 
 dog. He belonged to a man of another college, 
 with whom I had hardly exchanged half-a-dozen 
 sentences. His master was obliged to cross the 
 sea during the long vacation, and left the dog in 
 the charge of his scout. 
 
 Being always of an aristocratic turn of mind, 
 Rory repudiated the scout altogether, and, re- 
 membering that he had been in my rooms at 
 Merton, he paid me a visit one morning, and en- 
 gaged me as his master. It was not the least 
 use to take him back, for he always returned in 
 an hour or two ; and at last it was tacitly agreed 
 that he should retain possession of me. He knew 
 the value of a collegiate master, and was not go- 
 ing to be fobbed off with a scout. His legitimate 
 master having deserted him, he exercised his 
 right of selecting a master for himself, and ac- 
 cordingly he chose me, and kept me, and when 
 we were parted he died of grief, as has already 
 been narrated. 
 
 I know another dog who displayed great wis- 
 dom in escaping the snares of London life. 
 
 He was a beautiful little dog, just the animal 
 whom a professional dog-stealer would be sure 
 to snap up, if possible. One day he had been 
 for a drive with his mistress, and, on being al- 
 lowed to alight with her, had in some way been 
 separated from her. After a vain search she 
 drove home, and sent the servants to try and 
 find her lost pet. He was presently discovered 
 by the coachman trotting quietly homeward, not 
 in haste like a lost dog, but with a composed air, 
 and pretending that he belonged to some one who 
 was going in the same direction. 
 
 I have seldom met with a more curious ex- 
 ample of the ability of a dog to find his master 
 than is related in the following story : 
 
 " Some years ago, when I lived in Fife, I was 
 coming to Edinburgh with my eldest daughter. 
 Zeno accompanied us to the station, about a mile 
 from home ; and as I did not wish him to come 
 any farther, I asked a gentleman who was living 
 with me to take him home. 
 
 "Just as the train was about to start I looked 
 out to see if he had gone, when I saw him fol- 
 lowing my friend up the stairs at the station. 
 We rattled along for a distance of about twelve 
 
LOVE OF MASTER 
 
 121 
 
 or fourteen miles till we reached Burntisland, 
 where we had to cross the Forth. 
 
 " The day became very cold, with snow and 
 sleet, so we hurried down to the steamer. We 
 had left the pier about ten minutes when a pas- 
 senger, wishing shelter, opened the saloon-door, 
 when, to my great surprise, in walked Zeno, snif- 
 fing his way up till he came to me and jumped 
 upon my knee. How he came was a mystery 
 to me, and ever will be. All the carriages were 
 shut when I last saw him. I think that he must 
 have returned and got into the guard's van ; but 
 no one could tell me, and the strange thing was 
 that he did not get out at any intermediate sta- 
 tion. 
 
 " I still have the old dog, and he is as dear to 
 me as ever. Never was there his like : never 
 did he bite, though teased by children and grand- 
 children. His life is now one of constant repose ; 
 and when the cord will one day snap which will 
 sever our long and faithful connection, I shall 
 mourn his loss as that of a friend. 
 
 ' ' Talk of ' dumb animals ' we might well take 
 lessons from them in many things ; they would 
 even put many to shame. Yes, ours is a higher 
 and a nobler destiny ; but yet, withal, methinks 
 we might learn to profit from much we both 
 know and hear of in the lives of our animal 
 friends and relations." 
 
 The reader will perhaps remember that Zeno 
 has already been mentioned under the head of 
 "Jealousy." 
 
 It is often, but erroneously, said that cats are 
 selfish animals, attaching themselves to localities 
 and not to individuals. This idea has, perhaps, 
 some ground of truth, for it is not so easy to under- 
 stand the nature of a cat as that of a dog ; and 
 when a cat is not understood, it is very likely that 
 she cares less for the inhabitants of a house than 
 for the house itself. But I know of many in- 
 stances where cats have been in the habit of 
 moving about with their owners, and have been 
 as unconcerned as dogs would have been. 
 
 My own cat "Pret," for example, was first 
 taken from a small house at Greenwich to a 
 large one in the very heart of the city, where he 
 had the range of many cellars, but no open air. 
 Next he went to another large house in the city, 
 where he had no cellars, and could only get on 
 the leads by special permission. Then he was 
 moved into a house in the country, where he 
 had neither cellars, leads, nor tiles, but a garden. 
 After that we moved to a larger house in the 
 same village, whither he followed us of his own 
 accord. 
 
 His mother, "Minnie," always accompanied 
 
 her mistress when she was on a visit, and I have 
 more than once taken Minnie to her mistress for 
 a journey of several miles. Here is a corrobora- 
 tive letter from a lady : 
 
 " I believe, for my part, that cats attach them- 
 selves to people and not to places. Our cats al- 
 ways seemed to know their masters. One, be- 
 longing to my sister, would scratch all the rest 
 of the family, though quite gentle with her. We 
 traveled about once for a year and a half with a 
 favorite cat ; though during that time we changed 
 our lodgings many times, she never left us. She 
 even seemed to know our rooms, and kept to 
 them when there were other apartments in the 
 same house. She used to knock at the door when 
 she wanted to come in, and would endeavor to 
 turn the handle by taking it between her paws. 
 I have also seen her, when she was thirsty and 
 could not reach the water in the jug, dipping 
 her paws in to get it in that way. She would 
 follow my brothers around the room when they 
 whistled a tune, and rub her head against their 
 hands and face, and touch their lips with her 
 paw, as if pleased with the sound." 
 
 Perhaps the reader may remember the history 
 of Lady E.'s cat Rosy, on p. 109, in which it is 
 incidentally mentioned that she always traveled 
 with her mistress. 
 
 My late esteemed friend, Mr. W. Chambers, 
 called my attention some years ago to a story of 
 a cat, which showed that the attachment of the 
 animal toward man is much stronger than to- 
 ward locality. He guaranteed the truth of the 
 statement, and furnished me with the name and 
 address of the person to whom the cat belonged. 
 
 The story is briefly as follows : 
 
 A man and his wife, living in the northern 
 part of Scotland, near the west coast, had to 
 move to a place on the east coast. In conse- 
 quence of the expense of taking furniture by 
 land, they traveled by sea, passing around the 
 northern point, and landing near their new home. 
 Having been told that cats only cared for local- 
 ities and not for human beings, they, meaning 
 all kindness, left the animal behind them. They, 
 however, had not been long settled in their new 
 home, when the man, on returning from work, 
 saw a cat sitting on the wall, and found that it 
 was actually his own cat, who, by some mysteri- 
 ous means, had found him out. She was hun- 
 gry, emaciated, and tired, and had evidently 
 traveled by land to the same spot which they 
 reached by sea. The power by which she did 
 it may be instinct, or it may be the exercise of 
 a faculty not possessed by man. But I have re- 
 lated the anecdote to show how great must have 
 
122 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 been the love felt by the cat for its master, when 
 it left the 'hoiae ; which it knew well, and took a 
 long and fatiguing journey to join its master in 
 a house which it did not know. 
 
 The following anecdote shows that the cat 
 does love people more than places : 
 
 "Last summer we were staying for some 
 weeks at Victoria Place, Eastbourne, and every 
 morning the town-crier came in front of our 
 house, giving out the public amusements for that 
 evening, and a list of articles lost. Judging from 
 the large number of things daily missing, either 
 visitors or inhabitants must have been a most 
 careless race. He was the most amusing crier 
 I ever heard, making his announcements in a 
 semi-dramatic style and tone, which, together 
 with a good voice and most pompous delivery, 
 rendered these minor affairs quite important. 
 One of the missing items especially attracted 
 my attention. 
 
 " * Lost, a tortoise-shell cat,of the Persian breed, 
 with a velvet collar around its neck, rather old 
 and very shy. Whoever will bring it to the Crier, 
 dead or alive, shall receive ten shillings reward.' 
 
 "This was repeated for many days, and then 
 the reward was increased to one sovereign, with 
 the intimation that no larger sum would be of- 
 fered. At about the end of three weeks the 
 * Cat ' was taken off the list, and I inquired after 
 the fate of poor pussy. 
 
 " The cat, which was of rare beauty, had been 
 
 brought to this country as a present to Lady , 
 
 and had for years accompanied her when travel- 
 ing. Soon after their arrival at Eastbourne, 
 that love of liberty inherent in all animals, and 
 a due appreciation of the surrounding scenery, 
 induced pussy to stray into the woods, where 
 she was at first hunted as a wild cat, and after- 
 ward chased and shot at to obtain the offered 
 reward. She contrived to escape all these dan- 
 gers, and existed on the few wild birds that she 
 could catch, until Lady heard of her where- 
 abouts and went in search of her. The poor 
 half-starved pet, on hearing the voice of her 
 mistress calling her name, jumped on her shoul- 
 der, and thus terminated her rambles in the wild 
 woods. It is a most dangerous mistake to offer 
 a reward for a lost pet, ' dead or alive' the ad- 
 dition of the former word, while facilitating its 
 capture, oftentimes proving its death-warrant." 
 
 The same lady, who communicated the pre- 
 ceding anecdote, has favored me with two more, 
 showing the attachment felt by dogs to their 
 masters : 
 
 "A friend of ours, a great traveler, who has 
 
 generally several dogs of various breeds, always 
 takes one of them with him, making it a rule 
 to take a different dog each voyage, in order, as 
 he says, 'to give them all a foreign education ;' 
 home occupations preventing him from besto\v- 
 iug much time upon them when in England. 
 Our dogs do not have this advantage, being gen- 
 erally left at home during our absence in charge 
 and under the tuition of an old housekeeper. 
 
 "A remarkable instance of the power of scent 
 was manifested by our little Maltese dog, ' Joey. ' 
 Our travels are often long in duration, and far 
 distant ; but, however numerous the post-offices 
 through which our letters passed, he could al- 
 ways distinguish them from others, evincing 
 great joy when allowed to smell them, and often 
 trying to obtain possession. He was anxiously 
 watching the postman's knock one morning, 
 when several letters arrived. Accidentally they 
 all fell to the ground. Joey took advantage of 
 his position, selected ours, and rushed off in 
 great glee, giving the old housekeeper a famous 
 run around the garden, and then most decid- 
 edly refusing to give up his prize. She was 
 obliged to adopt the expedient of slipping the 
 letter (slightly damaged) out of the envelope, and 
 allowing him to retain the latter, which he car- 
 ried off in triumph to his basket." 
 
 This is the same dog of whom several anec- 
 dotes have already been related, showing his 
 great mental capacities. 
 
 As far as I can learn, all animals have not 
 only a capacity for the society of men, but an 
 absolute yearning for it. This feeling may be 
 in abeyance, as having received no development 
 at the hands of man ; but it is still latent, and 
 may be educed by those who are capable of ap- 
 preciating the character of the animal. Tigers, 
 for example, are not generally considered the 
 friends of mankind, and yet the Indian fakirs 
 will travel about the country with tame tigers, 
 which they simply lead with a slight string, and 
 which will allow themselves to be caressed by 
 the hands of children without evincing the least 
 disposition to make a meal of them. 
 
 In the case of domestic animals, even the 
 fiercest of them have this innate longing for hu- 
 man society, and will indulge it when they have 
 the chance. This chance generally occurs by 
 means of confidence on behalf of the human 
 being. The animal is surprised to see some, one 
 who is not afraid of him, and so gives his confi- 
 dence in return. The reader will perhaps re- 
 member how that eminently ferocious "Mess" 
 became my very good friend. A somewhat 
 similar case has just been related to me. 
 
LOVE OF MASTER. 
 
 A little girl, about two years old, wandered 
 from her nurse, and was lost. At last the child 
 was found asleep in the kennel of a peculiarly 
 savage bloodhound, named "Rob." The dog 
 was jealously guarding his little charge, and 
 would let no one approach until the mother came. 
 She called the child, who came to her, followed 
 by Rob. She took the child home, but Rob in- 
 sisted on accompanying them ; and as they went, 
 the little girl held her mother with one hand 
 and Rob's ear with the other the child being 
 so small, and Rob so large, that he had to walk 
 all the way with his head bent down. 
 
 I have read an account, but do not recollect 
 where, of a boy who went into a stable inhabited 
 by a notorious " savage." He did not know the 
 character of the animal, gave him bread and 
 other delicacies, and the horror of the groom 
 may be imagined when one day he found the boy 
 and the horse lying together on the floor of the 
 stable the boy not having the slightest idea of 
 the character of the horse, and the horse not 
 having the least intention of hurting the boy, 
 but cherishing him as a valued companion. 
 
 I have now the pleasure of giving a few little 
 histories showing the affection which is often 
 entertained for man by animals which he is not 
 generally accustomed to consider as his compan- 
 ions. I have already mentioned an instance of 
 friendship between a sheep and cows, and I now 
 give two examples of the same attachment of 
 sheep to man : 
 
 "We had a pet lamb, which was fed by the 
 cook. When the lamb was about six weeks 
 old, the cook became ill, and was confined to 
 bed for some days. While she was ill, the lamb 
 left its usual place of abode, lay beneath her 
 bed, and refused all food, although the milk was 
 offered from the usual bottle. It did not seek 
 nor worry the sick servant, but lay perfectly quiet 
 under her bed. 
 
 * ' A pet sheep of my late brother has come 
 to end its days with us at Bassendean. This 
 sheep was the constant out-door companion of 
 my brother and his niece. They were, however, 
 obliged to give up walking with him, for he 
 would insist on pushing his way between them, 
 and would not condescend to walk on one side. " 
 
 We are rather apt to consider the goose (in- 
 cluding gander) as a peculiarly stupid bird, and 
 to use its name, as we do that of the ass, as a 
 synonym for folly. Yet a greater mistake could 
 not be made in either case. We have already 
 been told of an ass which his master was obliged 
 to sell because he was too clever to be kept, and 
 
 e same 
 tion between 
 
 led the other a 
 writer now tells us 
 a goose and a man : 
 
 "A goose not a gander in the farm-yard 
 of a gentleman, was observed to take a particu- 
 lar liking to her owner. This attachment was 
 so uncommon and so marked that all about the 
 house and in the neighborhood took notice of it ; 
 and, consequently, the people, with the propen- 
 sity they have to give nicknames, and with the 
 sinister motive, perhaps, of expressing their sense 
 of the weak understanding of the man, called 
 him ' Goosey.' Alas for his admirer, the goose's 
 true love did not yet run smooth ; for her mas- 
 ter, hearing of the ridicule cast upon him, to 
 abate her fondness, insisted on her being locked 
 up in the poultry-yard. 
 
 "Well, shortly after he goes to the adjoining 
 town to attend petty sessions ; and in the mid- 
 dle of his business what does he feel but some- 
 thing wonderfully warm and soft rubbing against 
 his leg ; and on looking down he saw his goose, 
 with neck protruded, while quivering her wings 
 in the fullness of enjoyment, looking up to him 
 with unutterable fondness. This was too much 
 for his patience or the by-standers' good-man- 
 ners ; for, while it set them wild with laughter, 
 it urged him to a deed he should ever be ashamed 
 of; for, twisting his thong- whip about the goose's 
 neck, he swung her round and round until he 
 supposed her dead, and then he cast her on the 
 adjoining dunghill. 
 
 " Not very long after, Mr. Goosey was seized 
 with a very severe illness, which brought him 
 to the verge of the grave ; and one day, when 
 slowly recovering, and allowed to recline in the 
 window, the first thing he saw was his goose, 
 sitting on the grass, and looking with intense 
 anxiety at him. The effect on him was most 
 alarming. 
 
 " ' What!' says he, 'is this cursed bird come 
 back to life ? and am I, for my sins, to be haunt- 
 ed in this way ?' 
 
 " ' Oh, father,' says his daughter, ' don't speak 
 so hardly of the poor bird. Ever since your ill- 
 ness it has sat there opposite your window ; it 
 scarcely takes any food.' 
 
 "Passion, prejudice, the fear of ridicule, all 
 gave way before a sense of gratitude for this un- 
 utterable attachment. The poor bird was im- 
 mediately taken notice of, and treated from hence- 
 forth with great kindness ; and, for all that I know, 
 goose and Goosey are still bound in as close ties 
 as man and bird can be." 
 
 The second story, told by the same writer from 
 his own observation, has such a tragic conclusion 
 
124 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 that I could hardly make up my mind to print it. 
 There is in both cases extraordinary love, amount- 
 ing indeed to worship, on the part of the bird to- 
 ward man. In both cases there is not only a 
 want of reciprocity, but actual ingratitude, on the 
 part of the man toward the bird redeemed, how- 
 ever, in the preceding anecdote by repentance 
 and reciprocation of friendship : 
 
 "I must tell you, among many anecdotes I 
 know of geese, one that came under my own ob- 
 servation. When a curate in the county of Kil- 
 dare, my next neighbor was a worthy man who 
 carried on the cotton-printing business, and who, 
 though once in very prosperous circumstances, 
 was now, in "consequence of a change in the times, 
 very poor. 
 
 " In his mill-yard was a gander, who had been 
 there forty years ; he was the largest bird of his 
 kind I ever saw. His watchfulness was excess- 
 ive : no dog could equal him in vigilance, nei- 
 ther could any dog be more fierce in attacking 
 strangers or beggars ; he followed his old master 
 wherever he went, and at his command would fly 
 at any man or beast ; and with his bill, wings, 
 and feet he could and would hurt severely. 
 
 ' ' Whenever my neighbor paid me a visit, the 
 gander always accompanied him ; and as I was 
 liberal of oats, and had besides one or two geese 
 in my yard, he would, before his master rose in 
 the morning, come up and give me a call ; but 
 neither the oats nor the blandishments of the 
 feathered fair could keep him long away, and he 
 soon solemnly stalked back to his proper station 
 at the mill. 
 
 "Well, year after year I was perfecting my 
 friendship with Toby, the gander, and had certain- 
 ly a large share in his esteem ; when one winter, 
 after being confined to the house with a severe 
 cold, I, in passing through the mill-yard, inquired 
 for my friend, whom I could nowhere see. 
 
 " * Oh, sir,' said the man and he was about 
 the place as long as Toby himself' Toby's gone. ' 
 
 " ' Gone where?' 
 
 "'Oh, he is dead.' 
 
 "'How! dead?' 
 
 " 'Why, we ate him for our Christmas dinner.' 
 
 '"Ate him!' 
 
 " I think I have been seldom in the course of 
 my life more astonished and shocked. Positive- 
 ly I would have given them a fat cow to eat, could 
 I have saved poor Toby ; but so it was. Upon in- 
 quiry, I found out that the poor gentleman had 
 not means to buy his Christmas dinner ; that he 
 was too proud to go in debt, and, determined as 
 he was to give his people a meat dinner, poor 
 Toby fell a sacrifice to proud poverty. While 
 honoring the man for his independence, I confess 
 
 | I never could look upon him afterward without 
 a sense of dislike. I did not either expect or de- 
 sire that he should suffer as he who slew the al- 
 batross, but I was sure that he would not be the 
 better in this world or the next for killing the 
 gander." 
 
 In which sentiment I, and I hope all my read- 
 ers, most cordially agree. 
 
 Surveying all these examples of love displayed 
 toward human beings by animals, it is impossible 
 really to believe that such love can die. Unself- 
 ish love such as this, which survives even ingrat- 
 itude and ill-treatment, belongs to the spirit and 
 not to the body, and all beings which are capable 
 of feeling such love must possess immortal spirits. 
 All may not have an opportunity of manifesting 
 it, but all possess the capacity, and would mani- 
 fest it openly if the conditions were favorable. 
 
 We will just run over the anecdotes which I 
 have given. In those of the squirrel, the sparrow, 
 the blue pigeon, the jackdaws, and the rook, we 
 have examples to show that even in the wild ani- 
 mals the love of human beings can overpower that 
 of liberty and of their own kind, and that they will 
 forsake both liberty and their kinsfolk for the soci- 
 ety of man. I have no doubt that this is due to 
 their appreciation of a nature higher than their 
 own, and the feeling that their own nature is puri- 
 fied and elevated by contact with man. Indeed, it 
 is a fact that, whenever man and beast are brought 
 into contact, those which possess natures capable 
 of elevation and development cleave to him, court 
 him, and thrive by his presence ; whereas those 
 which are incapable of improvement perish before 
 his presence. 
 
 It is the same with the human race. When civ- 
 ilized man comes in contact with a barbarian, the 
 latter rapidly tends toward civilization, throws 
 off his barbarian customs, adopts those of the 
 superior being, learns by degrees his arts and sci- 
 ences, and so gradually merges into civilization. 
 With the savage the case is different. He can 
 not learn any thing good from the higher race. 
 He may, and does, gain means by which to de- 
 velop more completely his evil tendencies, but is 
 utterly incapable of improvement. He can nei- 
 ther replenish the earth nor subdue it, and so he 
 perishes before the presence of those who do, at 
 all events, endeavor to cany out that which is the 
 great mission of man. Wherever civilized man 
 sets his foot, the savage dies out. 
 
 Why this is we can not say ; but it is a fact long 
 familiar to anthropologists. The Tasmanians 
 have all gone. I have portraits of the last three 
 survivors, all of whom have since died. But the 
 
LOVE OF MASTER. 
 
 125 
 
 strange thing is that the race has died out for 
 want of new births, not because it was extirpated 
 by slaughter. For years before that final extinc- 
 tion of the Tasmanians, no children were born. 
 
 A similar phenomenon, though slower in its 
 operation, is now to be seen in New Zealand. 
 The native race, splendid specimens of the sav- 
 age as they are, become yearly fewer and fewer 
 in the presence of the European, the births 
 falling far short of the deaths. Even in the 
 vegetable world the same idea is carried out, and 
 the grand tree-ferns, as large as our oaks, are 
 perishing before the advance of the English 
 clover. The lower creation, if it can not be ele- 
 vated by the presence of the higher, dies out, 
 and the same rule holds good with man, with 
 beast, and with plant. 
 
 The next division of the subject shows how 
 
 intense must be the love of animals to man, 
 when the deprivation of the object of their af- 
 fection has killed them. We sometimes hear 
 of human beings dying from a similar cause, 
 and none of us who heard that a man or woman 
 had died from grief at the loss of a friend would 
 think for a moment that such intensity of love 
 could proceed from any other source than the 
 spirit. 
 
 Lastly, we have cases where animals, not usu- 
 ally made the companions of man, have, un- 
 sought, conceived a deep affection for human 
 beings, and have cherished that love in spite of 
 neglect, indifference, dislike, and violence. Such 
 a love is utterly unselfish, and must issue from 
 the same source that causes man to abandon 
 the love of self for the love of others. It is, in 
 fact, loving the neighbor better than one's self. 
 
126 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 CONJUGAL LOVE. 
 
 Necessary Limits of Conjugal Love among Animals. Non-pairing Animals. Polygamous Animals. Ani- 
 mals which Pair for a Season Animals which Pair for Life. Supply of Spare Partners. The Turtle- 
 dove, the Eagle, and the Raven. Conjugal Love in the Teal. Picture of the "Widow." Conjugal Love 
 among Fishes. The " Devil-fish " and its Fate. The Chocollito of South America. Faithlessness, Sor- 
 row, and Death. Materials for Drama. 
 
 As may easily be imagined, there are but few 
 animals in which this kind of love can be mani- 
 fested. The greater number of species have no 
 particular mates, but simply meet almost by 
 chance, and never trouble themselves about each 
 other again. No real conjugal love, therefore, 
 can exist, and it is rather curious that in such 
 animals a firm friendship is often formed between 
 two individuals of the same sex. 
 
 Next we come to polygamous animals, such 
 as the stag among mammals and the domestic 
 poultry among birds. Here is a decided advance 
 toward conjugal love, although, as in the case 
 of polygamous man, that love must necessarily 
 be of a very inferior character. Here is, at all 
 events, a sense of appropriation on either side, 
 and, as has been already mentioned in the chap- 
 ter headed "Jealousy," the proprietor of the 
 hareui resents any attempt on the part of another 
 male to infringe on his privileges. 
 
 Next we come to those examples where, as in 
 many birds, a couple are mated for the nesting- 
 season, but do not afterward seem to care more 
 for each other than for their broods of children. 
 If, during the nesting-time, one of the pair be 
 killed, the survivor, after brief lamentation, con- 
 soles itself in a few hours with another partner. 
 There really seems to be a supply of spare part- 
 ners of both sexes always at hand ; for, whether 
 the slain bird be male or female, one of the same 
 sex is sure to be ready to take its place. 
 
 Lastly, we come to those creatures which are 
 mated for life, and among them we often find as 
 sincere conjugal love as among monogamous 
 mankind. Prominent among them are the eagle, 
 the raven, and the dove ; and it is remarkable 
 that while we praise for its conjugal fidelity the 
 turtle-dove, the type of all that is sweet, good, 
 and gentle, we entirely forget to accredit with 
 the same virtue the eagle and the raven, types 
 of all that is violent, dark, and cunning. There 
 are many anecdotes in existence of the conjugal 
 
 love among such birds, but, as they are so well 
 known, I shall not refer to them, and only men- 
 tion one or two with which we are not so famil- 
 iar. 
 
 I shall give only three instances, all of which 
 show how deeply conjugal affection can be felt 
 by the lower animals, and how completely the 
 love of self is forgotten in the love of the part- 
 ner. In the first of these instances, life was 
 risked in the face of danger, and only spared by 
 reason of forbearance ; in the second, life was 
 risked and lost ; and in the third life was lost 
 without the intervention of any external dan- 
 ger. 
 
 In Hardwicke's Science Gossip for 1870, 
 p. 36, there is an account of the teal, in which 
 the conjugal love displayed by this bird is well 
 shown. The writer had been duck-shooting, 
 and had just shot a mallard, when a couple of 
 teal sprang up, alarmed at the report. 
 
 "The duck, being the nearest, received the 
 contents of the remaining barrel, and fell dead 
 upon the soft mud at the very edge of the water. 
 
 "While speculating upon our good luck, and 
 putting in two fresh cartridges, the cock teal, 
 which had flown up to the other end of the pool 
 when his mate fell, turned back, and, after fly- 
 ing up and down several times with mournful 
 notes, returned to the spot whence he rose, and 
 pitched upon the mud, close to the dead duck. 
 Here he remained for some seconds, nodding his 
 head and courtesying, as if about to take wing, 
 uttering a low note the while, as if to entice away 
 the duck, whom he appeared so loth to leave. 
 
 ' ' We were so struck at this manifestation of 
 affection that we could not find it in our heart 
 to shoot the poor bird ; and, as we moved on to 
 pick up his mate, he rose, and was soon out of 
 range again." 
 
 Perhaps the reader may remember a beautiful 
 painting by Landseer, entitled " The Widow," in 
 which a similar scene is represented, except that 
 
CONJUGAL LOVE. 
 
 127 
 
 it is the drake which is lying dead, and the duck 
 which is mourning over her deceased partner. 
 
 Fishes are thought to be rather prosaic beings. 
 They do not possess much expression of feature, 
 at all events, to human eyes ; and their habits 
 and their looks are, as a rule, much on a par. 
 Yet there is at least one instance known in which 
 a fish, and that a singularly hideous one, exhib- 
 ited a degree of conjugal love which would have 
 done honor to any human being. 
 
 Inhabiting the waters >f the Mediterranean 
 Sea is a gigantic ray, called popularly the Devil- 
 fish, and scientifically Cephaloptera Massena. 
 These fishes are formed much like our common 
 ray, but attain the most enormous dimensions, 
 sometimes measuring thirty feet across the fins. 
 The power of this fish is quite proportioned to 
 its size. When pierced with eight or ten har- 
 poons, and towing behind it a string of as many 
 boats, all pulling against it, the devil-fish has 
 been known to drag the whole line some ten 
 miles to sea, and finally to break lose and escape, 
 with all the weapons still sticking in its back. 
 
 The Mediterranean fishermen employ in the 
 capture of the tunny a vast net, called a man- 
 drague, which is separated into many chambers. 
 In one of these nets a female devil-fish contrived 
 to entangle herself, was captured and taken 
 ashore. She weighed 1328 Ibs. A male who 
 had accompanied her, but had not got into the 
 net, was disconsolate at her capture, and for two 
 days haunted the spot where his companion had 
 been captured. He wandered round and round 
 the nets, seeking for his lost mate, and was at 
 last found in the mandrague, but dead, having 
 died of grief. 
 
 The last case is that of some little South 
 American parrots, called Chocollitos. They are 
 
 charming little birds, gentle, and easily tamed. 
 They are among the monogamous birds, and 
 are, as a rule, strictly faithful to their marriage 
 vows. There are, however, exceptions to most 
 rules, and one of these is related by Froebel, in 
 his work on South America. 
 
 The traveler in question was a guest for a 
 while in a house at Granada. In this house 
 about twenty chocollitos were kept ; and, as they 
 were all brought to the house when very young, 
 they did not form their matrimonial attachments 
 until after their arrival. Perhaps among them 
 the sexes were not equally divided, so as to in- 
 sure each bird a mate ; but the sad fact was 
 that, after one pair had entered the marriage 
 state, another male made love to the wife. The 
 lady was weak, and yielded to the solicitations 
 of the too fascinating lover. 
 
 The result was, according to Froebel's own 
 words, as follows : " When the husband under- 
 stood the whole extent of his misfortune, and 
 after he had made the last unsuccessful attempt 
 to bring his faithless companion back to the 
 path of duty, the unhappy creature, heart-broken 
 by his wrongs, took his lonely seat on the perch 
 on which he had passed happier nights, closely 
 pressed to the side of his partner, refused to eat 
 or drink, and one morning was found dead on 
 the floor below." 
 
 The reader may compare this narrative with 
 that of the Mandarin duck, narrated on page 94. 
 In both cases there was strong conjugal love ; 
 but in the former the lady was faithful, and her 
 husband avenged himself on the disturber of his 
 domestic peace ; while in the latter the lady 
 was frail, and the husband died of a broken 
 heart. Both narratives are wonderfully human, 
 and each could furnish the plots of a sensational 
 drama. 
 
128 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 PARENTAL LOVE. 
 
 Absence of Filial Love among Animals. Analogy with Human Beings. The Savage and his Parents. Parent- 
 al Love among Animals. The "Storge" of Theorists. Identity of the Feeling in Animals and Man. 
 Endurance of Parental Love in Animals. Exceptions to the General Rule. A Cat and Two Genera- 
 tions of Kittens. My own Cat and her. Young. The Dog "Georgie " and her Daughter. Abnegation of 
 Self. The Fly-catcher and my Cat. A Released Prisoner and Joyous Escape. A Courageous Swallow. 
 Redbreast and Viper. Passive Courage in a Partridge. The Whale and her Young. A Duck's Journey, 
 and Rescue of her Young. Do Animals have Names in their own Language ? The Mystery of Parental 
 Love in Birds. Love and Intellect Parental Love among Fishes The Stickleback and its Nest Ap- 
 parent Reversion of Parental Love. The Pipe-fishes and Sea-horses. The Cursorial Birds and their 
 Eggs. A Brave Spider. Comparison between Man and Animals. 
 
 BEFORE beginning this subject, I can not but 
 remark the apparently singular fact that, whereas 
 among the lower animals we find so many in- 
 stances of the love of parents toward their off- 
 spring, we see so few, if, indeed, any trustworthy 
 accounts of the Filial Love, or love of children 
 toward their parents. Yet the same analogy 
 prevails in this as in other cases which have al- 
 ready come before us, and we must look to man 
 if we wish to understand the lower animals. 
 Even human nature must be highly developed 
 before filial love can find any place in the affec- 
 tions. In the savages it barely exists at all, and 
 certainly does not survive into mature years. 
 
 Take, for example, even such fine specimens 
 of the savage as the North American Indian 
 and the Fijian. The idea of being subject to 
 their parents never enters their heads ; still less 
 does the idea of loving them. It is the glory 
 of a North American Indian boy, at as early an 
 age as possible, to despise his mother and defy 
 his father. And the women are just as bad as 
 the men. They, rejoicing in the pride of youth 
 and strength, utterly despise the elder and feeble 
 women, even though they be their own mothers, 
 and will tear out of their hands the food which 
 they are about to eat, on the plea that old women 
 are of no use, and that the food will be much 
 better employed in nourishing the young and 
 the strong. 
 
 Then, if the tribe be on the move, and those 
 who are old and infirm are felt to be hinderances, 
 they settle the matter by leaving them behind. 
 They just salve their consciences by building a 
 slight shelter of sticks and boughs, lighting a 
 fire, and leaving a little water and food. But 
 they know perfectly well that before another sun 
 
 has set there will be nothing left of their victims 
 but the bones, the wolves having made short 
 work of them as soon as the tribe was out of 
 sight. The forsaken make no complaints, neither 
 do those who press forward expect a better fate ; 
 and hence it is that they all wish rather to fall 
 in battle than to die a natural death, after feeling 
 themselves a burden to all around them. 
 
 The charming little episode in "Robinson 
 Crusoe," where Friday finds and rejoices over 
 his father, is a very pretty piece of writing, but 
 quite out of accordance with the repulsive reality 
 of savage life. 
 
 As to the Fijians, they have not the least 
 scruple in burying a father alive when he begins 
 to be infirm, and assist in strangling a mother so 
 that she may keep him company. With regard 
 to the Bosjesmen of South Africa and the "black 
 fellows " of Australia, I very much doubt whether 
 they ever have possessed the least idea that any 
 duty was owing to a parent from a child. Nor 
 have they much notion of duty from a parent 
 toward the child. The father is just as likely 
 as not to murder his child as soon as it is born 
 perhaps rather more likely than not ; and if he 
 be angry with any one for any reason, he has a 
 way of relieving his feelings by driving his spear 
 through his wife or child, whichever happens to 
 be nearest. 
 
 Even the mother treats her child rather worse 
 than a cow treats her calf, and leaves the tiny 
 creature to shift for itself at an age when the 
 children of civilized parents can scarcely be 
 trusted to pass a quarter of an hour alone. 
 
 This being the case with parental love, it may 
 be easily imagined that filial affection can have 
 but little opportunity of development, and I very 
 
PARENTAL LOVE. 
 
 129 
 
 much doubt whether in the true savage it really ex- 
 ists at all in the sense in which we understand it. 
 As, therefore, we find that in the lower human 
 races filial love either is very trifling, or is ab- 
 solutely non-existent, we need not wonder that 
 in the lower animals we find but few, if any, in- 
 dications of its presence. 
 
 We now proceed to the subject of this chap- 
 ter, namely, PARENTAL LOVE, and the various 
 modes in which it develops itself. 
 
 There are many writers who assert that pa- 
 rental love in the lower animals is not identical 
 with that of man. They say that it is only a 
 sort of blind instinct, and, in order to mark more 
 strongly the distinction between man and beast, 
 call the parental love of the latter by the name 
 of "storge." For myself, I really fail to see 
 any distinction between the two, except that in 
 civilized man the parental love is better regu- 
 lated than among the lower animals. But, as 
 we have already seen, among the uncivilized 
 races it is not regulated at all, and, indeed, 
 many of the beasts are far better parents than 
 most savages. 
 
 Neither can I understand why the word "storge" 
 should be applied to parental love among the low- 
 er animals, and not to the same feeling in man. 
 The word is used by Greek writers, together with 
 the verb from which it is formed, to signify the 
 love between human parents and children. For 
 example, in Plato we have the term used for mut- 
 ual love between parents and children "The 
 child loves, and is loved by its parents;" and 
 the same word is used in the same sense in sev- 
 eral passages of Sophocles and other writers. 
 
 One argument which is always employed by 
 those who deny the identity of the feeling in 
 both cases is that parental love endures through- 
 out life in man, while in the lower animals it ex- 
 pires with the adolescence of the young. This 
 statement is partly, but not entirely, true. As a 
 rule, it is true with civilized man ; but, as I have 
 already shown, the parental love of a savage does 
 not last longer than that of a bird, a cat, or a 
 dog, taking into consideration the relative dura- 
 tion of life. And the reason is the same in both 
 cases. Were parental love to exist through life 
 in the savage, the bird, or the beast, the race 
 would soon become extinct. Neither is able to 
 support their children longer than their time of 
 helplessness. The beast and the bird can not, 
 and the savage will not, provide for the future ; 
 and if the young had to depend upon their par- 
 ents for subsistence, they would soon perish of 
 hunger. 
 
 There are, however, exceptions to this general 
 rule, and always, as far as I can see, in domesti- 
 cated animals whose means of subsistence are al- 
 ready insured. Several of such cases have late- 
 ly come before my notice. One has been alreadv 
 narrated under a different heading, i. e. , " Sym- 
 pathy," p. 110, where some traits of two cats, a 
 mother and daughter, are recorded. I here pre- 
 sent the reader with another anecdote of parent- 
 al love surviving adolescence. It is a very re- 
 markable story, because we see, in the first place, 
 the usual law prevailing, and the once-favorite 
 child driven away in anticipation of a new fam- 
 ily. That family having perished, the original 
 parental love resumed its sway, and the very 
 child which she had angrily expelled from her 
 presence was recalled, and all the treasures of 
 her maternal tenderness poured out upon him : 
 
 "A cat, long an inmate of this house, kittened 
 this spring, and one of her offspring, a Tom, be- 
 ing given her to rear, she proved a most fond 
 and solicitous mother. The kitten grew and 
 throve, and soon became a very fine and playful 
 young cat. The maternal feelings were con- 
 stantly developed, the mother calling it, licking 
 it, sharing and promoting its frolics, and exhib- 
 iting the tenderest anxiety and jealousy when- 
 ever any strange person approached. 
 
 " In the midst of this exuberant affection a 
 change passed over the cat, and the young one 
 suddenly became the object of hate and irritation 
 to the formerly loving mother. She would not 
 allow it to approach her ; and if it only dared to 
 look at her, she would spit and hiss and fly at it, 
 becoming absolutely savage when she found it 
 near her. 
 
 "It soon became evident that there would be 
 another litter of kittens, and this sudden change 
 of manner was probably instinctive on the part 
 of the cat, who found herself unable to join in 
 the usual gambols. 
 
 " One day, however, a second revulsion of feel- 
 ing took place : she called her first-born in the 
 most tender and yearning tones, and tried to en- 
 tice it up-stairs with her. She was so anxious 
 to have her son with her, that she even tried to 
 drag him up-stairs by the neck as she used to do 
 when he was a little kitten. 
 
 " Two days afterward the second family was 
 born, and all of them met a watery death. The 
 cat did not seem to miss or regret her lost 
 young, but took back her first-born in their 
 place. Though as large as its mother, it at 
 once resumed all the habits of its infancy, suck- 
 ing as it had been accustomed to do. The moth- 
 er licked and caressed it, just as if it had been a 
 new-born kitten, and displayed the greatest anx- 
 
130 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 iety when the postman or any stranger approach- 
 ed. The young Tom still continues to suck, 
 though he has caught many mice and eaten 
 them." 
 
 A very similar event occurred lately (1873) 
 in my own house. My cat, called by the chil- 
 dren "Duckie," had a family, out of which two 
 were saved. These grew to be cats, and, in the 
 ordinary course of events, were sent off by their 
 mother. In the mean while a new family ar- 
 rived, but, as we already had three cats in the 
 house, they were at once dismissed from a world 
 in which there was no place for them. Their 
 mother immediately took the two former kittens 
 into favor; and the oddest thing was that she 
 treated them exactly as if they had been tiny 
 helpless kittens a few days old. 
 
 Her conduct reminded me very much of that 
 which we often see in parents, especially if they 
 live with or near their children. They really 
 can not understand that a man of forty or a 
 woman of thirty are any thing more than chil- 
 dren, and are greatly discomposed whenever 
 these elderly children venture to think or act 
 for themselves. It is the same with old serv- 
 ants ; and there are many parents of large fam- 
 ilies who to the old nurse remain " Master Tom- 
 my " or " Miss Emily " to the end of the chapter. 
 
 The next anecdote relates to the dog, and 
 shows that in a civilized dog, so to speak, pa- 
 rental affection can endure as in a civilized hu- 
 man being: 
 
 "My dog ' Georgie' (short for Georgina) has 
 a daughter, named ' Poppie,' whose father was a 
 collie, she herself being a retriever. People said 
 that it was not safe to keep a mongrel of that 
 description, but experience has proved the mis- 
 take. 
 
 " She is now (1873) five years old, and the af- 
 fection which exists between mother and daugh- 
 ter is really beautiful. They always sit close to- 
 gether, and Georgie playfully pinches her daugh- 
 ter all over. If they have been separated by any 
 chance, the daughter comes up wagging her tail, 
 and then licks her mother's nose and mouth. 
 
 "Sometimes they go out rabbit -hunting to- 
 gether, and always act in concert. Each of 
 them takes an opposite side of a whin-bush, and 
 one keeps watch while the other scrapes. They 
 perfectly comprehend the meaning of each whine 
 or bark, and no two ladies could understand their 
 own language better than did these dogs, or be 
 more companionable to each other." 
 
 Here is also another proof of the fact that an- 
 imals have a language of their own by means of 
 which they can convey definite ideas to each oth- 
 
 er, nearly if not quite as well as we can do with 
 the aid of words. 
 
 One of the most beautiful characteristics of pa- 
 rental love is the utter abnegation of self which 
 it gives. This is chiefly shown when the young 
 are in danger. A human mother in charge of 
 her child will defy a danger before which she 
 would shrink if alone, and in defense of her off- 
 spring will dare deeds of which most strong men 
 would be incapable. For the time her selfhood 
 is extinguished, and her very being is merged 
 into that of the child ; and rather than a hair of 
 that child's head should be touched, she would 
 calmly consent to endure the worst tortures that 
 could be inflicted upon her. Indeed, if she 
 Avould not do so, she would be no true mother, 
 and would degrade herself below the beasts and 
 the birds, who have no hesitation in performing 
 that duty to their offspring, though savans do 
 say that they only possess "storge," whatever 
 they may mean by it, and not parental love. I 
 will now give a few instances of the marvelous 
 courage inspired by parental love in the lower 
 animals. 
 
 Every one who has paid even a passing atten- 
 tion to the habits of birds must have noticed that 
 the spotted fly-catcher has a habit of selecting 
 some favorite perch, which it frequents from day 
 to day, scarcely ever changing its haunts. From 
 its coign of vantage it keeps anxious watch 
 around, and when it sees an insect on the wing, 
 dashes off, captures it, and returns with its prey 
 to its perch. It may possibly catch insects when 
 they are not on the wing, but I never knew a 
 fly-catcher do so. 
 
 In my garden there is a young mulberry-tree, 
 which is highly prized, having been sent special- 
 ly from Japan, and being the only survivor of 
 six, the others being all killed by nocturnal cats, 
 who found the stems exactly suitable for sharp- 
 ening their claws. Of course the young tree was 
 watched with exceeding care, and it was soon 
 seen to become the favorite perch of a spotted 
 fly-catcher. 
 
 The bird followed the usual customs of its kin, 
 but after a while it began to act in a very strange 
 manner, fluttering backward and forward be- 
 tween the house and the tree, chirping in a loud 
 and distressed tone, and evidently possessed by 
 anger as well as fear. The cause of its extraor- 
 dinary action was soon seen to be a cat, which 
 was crouching in front of the ventilation-aper- 
 ture of the ground-floor, and apparently watch- 
 ing something behind the bars. The bird tried 
 in vain to draw off the cat's attention, fluttering 
 so closely that I feared lest pussy should strike 
 
PARENTAL LOVE. 
 
 131 
 
 it down, and even at times pecking at the ani- 
 mal's tail. 
 
 On removing the cat, a young bird was seen 
 within the grating, evidently the offspring of the 
 fly-catcher. These birds have a way of building 
 their nests in very odd places, and I surmise that 
 in the present case the parents must have made 
 their way through a hole under the steps, and so 
 have reached the ventilating-shaft. 
 
 As soon as the cat had been removed, the 
 mother-bird, regardless of my presence, flew to 
 the grating and began to feed the young one. 
 She then went off to a little distance and called 
 her offspring. The poor little bird did all in its 
 power to get through the bars, fluttering its wings 
 and answering its mother with piteous chirps. 
 I felt quite uneasy about them both, for the cat 
 was sure to come back again, and the mother 
 was so bold and reckless in her assaults that I 
 feared for her life ; and if she had been killed, 
 the young one must have died of hunger. 
 
 So I tried to see if the young bird was suffi- 
 ciently fledged to use its wings, as in that case it 
 might be let out ; but it was so timid that it re- 
 treated into the darkness as soon as I approach- 
 ed, and would not let me examine it. An opera- 
 glass, however, overcame the difficulty, and, find- 
 ing that the young bird was fully fledged, I cut 
 away one of the bars so as to leave a passage, 
 and went to some little distance. 
 
 The mother, who was anxiously watching me 
 from the roof of an outbuilding, went at once to 
 the spot, and, after much calling, induced her off- 
 spring to come out of the aperture which had 
 been made for it. The delight of the two was 
 beautiful to see ; but the mother evidently had 
 the cat in her mind, and did not mean to waste 
 any time in placing her child in safety. So she 
 induced it by degrees to follow her up the branch- 
 es of an apricot-tree, and thence to the roof of 
 the house, where even a cat could not follow. 
 
 In his "Birds of Ireland," vol. i., page 115, 
 Thompson relates an anecdote of a spotted fly- 
 catcher. It had chosen for its resting-place the 
 unglazed window of an-outhouse at Beechmount, 
 and had there built a nest, " which was so com- 
 posed of cobwebs inside and outside that no other 
 material was visible. From its choice of this 
 fragile building substance, the spotted fly-catcher 
 is called * cobweb-bird ' in some parts of England. 
 On the nest alluded to being approached, when 
 it contained young, the parent-bird was very bold, 
 flying angrily at the intruder, uttering shrill cries, 
 and approaching him so near that it might have 
 almost been struck with his hand." 
 
 The same writer mentions that the spotted fly- 
 catcher is equally bold toward other birds, beating 
 
 away all which dare to approach their nest. It 
 is perhaps worthy of notice that, in the instance 
 which I myself observed, I did not once see the 
 male bird ; possibly he may have fallen a victim 
 to the cat. 
 
 The swallow is equally courageous in defense 
 of her nest. Some little time ago there was a 
 swallow's nest in the porch of the rectory at Adis- 
 ham the bird being, of course, carefully protect- 
 ed. Not knowing of the nest, I happened to be 
 standing near the porch, and was much annoyed 
 by a swallow, which persisted in flying round and 
 round, uttering its shrill, screaming cries, and oc- 
 casionally darting close to my face. It was not 
 until some little time had elapsed that I suspect- 
 ed the cause of the bird's behavior, and then, on 
 looking around, saw the nest and the young in 
 an angle of the porch. 
 
 In all these cases the bird had no hesitation in 
 matching itself against foes from which it would 
 have shrunk in terror had not the love of offspring 
 overpowered the love of life. It does not in the 
 least matter what the foe may be, the parent at- 
 tacking the most powerful enemy with as little 
 hesitation as if the relative proportions of size and 
 strength were reversed. A snake, foi example, 
 is specially feared by birds, especially if it be a 
 venomous one ; and yet, if a snake threaten the 
 nest of a bird, she will not hesitate to attack as 
 fiercely as if the poison-fangs belonged to her, and 
 not to her foe. The following account, published 
 in the Dumfries Courier , 1853, shows how com- 
 pletely parental love will overcome fear, and will 
 induce a feeble bird to fiercely attack a creature 
 from which she would have fled but for the su- 
 preme power of love : 
 
 " While Mr. Charles Newall, granite-hewer in 
 Dalbeattie, was plying his vocation at Craignar 
 quarry, his attention was suddenly arrested by 
 cries strongly indicative of distress, proceeding 
 from one or other of the feathered denizens of 
 the wood. 
 
 " On throwing from him his tools, and hurry- 
 ing to the spot whence the sounds proceeded, he 
 discovered a robin, apparently in a state of the 
 greatest agitation, whose movements immediately 
 certified him of the true cause of alarm. An ad- 
 der, twenty inches long and one inch in circum- 
 ference, had managed to drag itself up the face 
 of the quarry, and was at that moment in the 
 very act of protruding its ugly head over the edge 
 of a nest, built among the stumps of cut-down 
 bushwood, which contained poor Mother Robin's 
 fledged offspring. 
 
 " Her maternal instinct prompted her to the 
 only defense of which she was capable. She was 
 
132 
 
 MAN Affl) BEAST. 
 
 engaged, when Mr. Newall first got his eye on 
 her, in alternately coming down, the one moment 
 upon her spoliator, darting her beak into its fore- 
 head, and anon rising on the wing to the height 
 of a yard or so above the scene of danger. It 
 was the act of a moment for Mr. Newall to dis- 
 lodge the aggressor; but in doing so two of the 
 little birds were thrown out of their nest, where, 
 however, they were speedily and carefully re- 
 placed. 
 
 "While Mr. Newall was engaged in killing the 
 adder, the joy of the parent-bird was so excessive 
 that she actually perched on the left arm of her 
 benefactor, and watched with an unmistakable 
 and intense delight every blow inflicted by his 
 right arm upon her merciless and disappointed 
 enemy; and when that enemy was dead, she 
 alighted upon and pecked the lifeless trunk with 
 all her vigor. Revenge thus taken, she entered 
 her nest, and, having ascertained that all was safe, 
 swiftly repaired to a neighboring branch and piped, 
 as best she could, what was no doubt meant for a 
 hymn of gratitude and a song of triumph. 
 
 "When at work since, Mr. Newall has been 
 evidently recognized by the tiny biped ; and we 
 do hope that nothing may occur to interrupt a 
 friendship originating in circumstances so spe- 
 cially interesting." 
 
 In this account we have several characteristics 
 common to man and the lower animals. First, 
 there is parental affection ; next there is courage 
 emanating from that effect ; then there is reason, 
 which told the bird that the man, whom it would 
 have regarded as an enemy but for his attack on 
 the snake, was really a friend ; lastly, there is re- 
 venge, inducing the bird to peck at the body of 
 its dead foe, just as a savage insults and muti- 
 lates the carcass of a slain enemy. 
 
 From the description of the snake which is here 
 given, it is tolerably evident that the reptile was a 
 viper, those creatures having a special habit of 
 climbing trees and robbing birds of their young. 
 It has often been found by those who have killed 
 vipers that, after receiving the first stroke, the 
 reptile has opened its mouth and disgorged sev- 
 eral young birds, in order to lighten itself and en\ 
 able it to escape more quickly. The common, 
 harmless snake, sometimes called the " grass- 
 snake," mostly contents itself with frogs. 
 
 The preceding anecdotes show active courage 
 in the parent; but in Hardwicke's Science Gossip 
 for 1873, p. 204, there is an interesting account 
 of passive courage in a partridge: 
 
 "The affection and solicitude of the female 
 partridge for her young is very great, and in- 
 stances are frequently seen by the rural naturalist 
 
 in his rambles. The closeness with which she 
 will sit when about hatching is remarkable. I 
 once found a nest containing seventeen eggs, on 
 which the female was sitting, and, instead of fly- 
 ing rapidly away when I approached, she allowed 
 me to stroke her glossy head and soft plumage, 
 seeming to appreciate the familiarity. Her con- 
 fidence gained its reward, as all of the eggs were 
 duly hatched. 
 
 "A gentleman in this neighborhood, when 
 jumping across a hedge, alighted with a foot on 
 each side of a partridge-nest, where the female 
 was sitting. The affectionate bird did not stir, 
 even allowing the gentleman to stroke and fon- 
 dle her. But more admirable still is the ad- 
 dress with which both male and female will draw 
 the spectator away from the neighborhood of their 
 brood. Last July, when walking along the high- 
 way, I disturbed two partridges near some tall 
 grass. With startled cries they whirred away ; 
 and, alighting a few yards off in the middle of the 
 road, went through a series of manoeuvres, as if 
 desperately wounded, both of them groveling 
 along on their bellies in the dust, and seeming to 
 tumble over and over in their eagerness. Stop- 
 ping some distance off, they began to utter curious 
 plaintive cries. 
 
 "Being somewhat in a hurry, I did not insti- 
 tute a search for the cause of this little drama, 
 the young ; but I have seen a similar instance, in 
 which case I captured one of the plump little 
 chicks, and held it for a time in my hands ; but 
 the distress of the old bird became so great that 
 I soon released it. In June, 1868, a pair of par- 
 tridges had their nest in the clover field opposite, 
 the mowers thoughtfully leaving a tuft of clover 
 to shield the nest. It was very amusing to see 
 how careful the old birds were to prevent atten- 
 tion being drawn to their almost exposed nest. 
 Both of them would go in search of food, and then 
 fly back into the field together ; alighting within a 
 few yards of the nest, and having anxiously scan- 
 ned the. neighborhood for a time, the female would 
 slyly approach in a crouching attitude, and creep 
 into the nest." 
 
 H The proverbial skill of the lapwing in feigning 
 lameness is too familiar to need description. 
 
 It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary to cite here 
 the shamefully cruel plan that was formerly used 
 by whalers to secure their prey. If they met with 
 a young whale, or " calf," as they called it,, they 
 always used to harpoon it, knowing that its moth- 
 er would come to its rescue, and be so regardless 
 of her own safety that there was neither difficulty 
 nor danger in harpooning her also. 
 
 I believe that this atrocious custom is now aban- 
 
PARENTAL LOVE. 
 
 133 
 
 doiied, though I fear from commercial rather 
 than conscientious motives. The calf is all hut 
 useless; whereas, if it were allowed to live, it 
 would grow into a whale, and fill sundry barrels 
 that would otherwise have to go home empty. 
 The fact, however, remains that the whale is so 
 utterly forgetful of self, when its offspring is in 
 danger, that it neglects its usual wary habits, and 
 so falls a victim to parental affection. 
 
 The following curious story of parental affec- 
 tion was communicated to me by a lady express- 
 ly for this work : 
 
 "Some years ago (in 1868) our steward and 
 his wife lived in the lodge at our east gate, dis- 
 tant about half a mile from the house. As a fa- 
 vor, the steward's wife allowed a common duck to 
 sit upon a number of duck's eggs, which, according 
 to agreement, were to be taken away as soon as 
 they were hatched. In due time the eggs were 
 hatched, and the young ducklings removed to our 
 house, and placed in the poultry-yard, under the 
 charge of a hen who had already a few ducklings to 
 look after. The yard in question is protected by a 
 wall nearly three feet high, and upon this wall is 
 a wire netting seven feet in height. 
 
 " In the afternoon of the same day the mother 
 duck (who had never left the lodge in her life) 
 came waddling up all the way to the stables, got 
 on the top of the wall, and managed to get her 
 own little ducklings through the wire netting. 
 Having done this, she took them back to the 
 lodge, leaving the hen in quiet possession of the 
 ducklings of which she previously had charge. 
 
 "As soon as this was known, the ducklings 
 were again taken to the house, and the duck 
 shut up in a dark place at the lodge for two 
 days. But no sooner did she gain her liberty 
 than she made another journey to the poultry- 
 yard, and again began to drag her offspring 
 through the wire net, this time killing one by 
 letting it fall off the dike. I therefore bought 
 the duck from her owner, placed her in the 
 poultry-yard, and allowed her to bring up her 
 brood peacefully in her own way." 
 
 How did this duck find out her young ? I 
 imagine that it must have been by the sense of 
 hearing. Ducklings, when separated from their 
 mother, or when lost, always make a considerable 
 outcry. The mother duck had probably heard 
 them crying, had gone off in the same direction, 
 and when she got near the poultry-yard had 
 been directed by their voices. It is, moreover, 
 evident that both the mother and the children 
 must have understood each other's language, as 
 by no other means could she have called her 
 young brood to the fence, and directed them to 
 
 remain there while she pulled them through one 
 by one. 
 
 It really seems, in this as in many other in- 
 stances, as if, in their own language, the animals 
 had names known to themselves, and the Robin, 
 Dicky, Flapsy, and Pecksy of fiction to be not 
 so much fictitious as we might fancy. In feed- 
 ing their young, birds always take them in their 
 proper turn, and how they can do so without 
 some means of calling them by name, especially 
 in the case of birds which hatch many eggs in 
 each brood, is more than I can understand. 
 Both birds and animals know and answer to 
 names given to them by man in human language, 
 and I see no reason why they should not equally 
 know and answer to names given by themselves 
 in their own language. 
 
 I may here mention that the love of a bird 
 for the young which she hatches has always 
 been somewhat of a problem to me. In the 
 case of the mammalia, there is no difficulty in 
 understanding that the mother should feel love 
 for the creature who is absolutely part of herself 
 whose very life-blood is drawn from her veins. 
 But this is not necessarily the case with birds. 
 If, as it often happens with poultry, the eggs of 
 several hens are placed under one bird for hatch- 
 ing, the hen who hatches them knows no differ- 
 ence between tfye chickens that proceed from 
 her own eggs and those which are developed 
 from the eggs laid by others. 
 
 This curious trait of character holds good 
 even where the eggs belong to birds of different 
 species. Take, for example, the very common 
 instance of a brood of ducklings being hatched 
 and reared by a barn-door hen. The hen dis- 
 plays as much affection for the young ducklings 
 as if they had proceeded from her own eggs, and 
 this in spite of the disparity of instinct and hab- 
 it, which becomes stronger in proportion to the 
 ducklings' growth. 
 
 May it not be that parental love may have 
 different channels of transmission, and that in 
 such a case as this the emanation from the sit- 
 ting hen may be the vehicle of parental love to- 
 ward the young which are to be hatched ? Cer- 
 tain it is to those who observe that a sitting hen 
 is altogether a changed being, both in attitude 
 and expression. She is entirely absorbed in the 
 eggs which she is incubating, and, though she 
 may not have intellect enough to distinguish a 
 plaster of-paris imitation or a mere lump of 
 chalk from one of her own eggs, love is inde- 
 pendent of intellect, and may exist in all its 
 strength, though it may be wasted on an un- 
 worthy object. 
 
184 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 As I have already remarked, under the head- 
 ing of "Conjugal Love," fishes are not partic- 
 ularly emotional beings, and are not likely to 
 entertain a lasting love for any thing. Indeed, 
 in some cases parental love would be absolutely 
 useless, as in the case of the cod-fish, which could 
 hardly be expected to entertain a special love 
 for each of the countless thousands of young 
 which it produces every year. At least, if such 
 were the lot of the mother, her life would be 
 any thing but enviable, considering the varied foes 
 that beset her eggs as soon as they are produced, 
 and her young as soon as they are hatched. 
 
 Just, however, as there are fishes which pos- 
 sess conjugal love, so there are fishes which pos- 
 sess parental love, and the chief of these is the 
 stickleback. Many accounts have been written 
 of the proceedings of this remarkable fish, but 
 the best that I have seen was written by the late 
 J. KeastLord, in his " Naturalist in British Co- 
 lumbia." And the curious point is that parent- 
 al love in the case of the stickleback belongs 
 to the father, and not to the mother. Indeed, 
 as there is one father and a considerable number 
 of mothers, it is the only arrangement that could 
 be made. 
 
 Inverting the usual order of things, the whole 
 labor of providing for the young, which is very 
 considerable, devolves upon the male, the female 
 doing nothing except lay her eggs, and let the 
 male look after them. 
 
 Mr. Lord's description of his proceedings must 
 be given in his own words : 
 
 "I have often, when tired, lain down on the 
 bank of a stream beneath the friendly shade of 
 some leafy tree, and, gazing into its depths, 
 watched the sticklebacks either guarding their 
 nests already built or busy in their construction. 
 The site is generally among the stems of aquatic 
 plants, where the water always flows, but not 
 too swiftly. He first begins by carrying small 
 bits of green material, which he nips off the 
 stalks, and tugs from out of the bottom and sides 
 of the banks. These he attaches by some gluti- 
 nous material, that he clearly has the power of 
 secreting, to the different stems destined as pil- 
 lars for his building. 
 
 "During this operation he swims against the 
 work already done, splashes about, and seems 
 to test its durability and strength ; rubs himself 
 against the tiny kind of platform, scrapes the 
 slimy mucus from his sides to mix with and act 
 as mortar for his vegetable bricks. Then he 
 thrusts his nose into the sand at the bottom, 
 and, bringing a mouthful, scatters it over the 
 foundation. This is repeated until enough has 
 been thrown on to weight the slender fabric 
 
 down, and give it substance and stability. Then 
 more twists, turns, and splashings,to test the firm 
 adherence of all the materials that are intended 
 to constitute the foundation of the house that 
 has yet to be erected on it. 
 
 " The nest, or nursery, when completed, is a 
 hollow, somewhat rounded, barrel-shaped struct- 
 ure, worked together much in the same way as 
 the platform fastened to the water-plants ; the 
 whole firmly glued together by the viscous se- 
 cretion scraped from the body. The inside is 
 made as smooth as possible by a kind of plaster- 
 ing system ; the little architect continually goes 
 in, then, turning round and round, works the 
 mucus from his body onto the inner sides of the 
 nest, where it hardens like a tough varnish. 
 There are two apertures, smooth and symmet- 
 rical as the hole leading into a wren's nest, and 
 not unlike it." 
 
 I have seen plenty of these little nests, and al- 
 ways regretted the extreme difficulty of preserv- 
 ing such beautiful specimens of fish-architecture. 
 Unfortunately, although they answer very well as 
 long as they are under water, they do not hold 
 together when removed into the air, the peculiar 
 cement not being sufficiently strong to bear the 
 unsupported weight of the materials. 
 
 Having thus prepared his house, the fish sets 
 off in search of a partner to grace it. This she 
 does but for a very short time, simply passing in 
 at one aperture and out at the other, remaining 
 some five minutes in the nest, and during that 
 time depositing her eggs. Having finished, she 
 passes out, followed by the male, who goes and 
 brings another female, and repeats this process 
 until the nest is furnished with as many eggs as 
 it can hold. 
 
 He then places himself on guard, and watches 
 his treasure as vigilantly and fiercely as a tigress 
 watches her cubs. He often has to fight hard 
 battles, for there is no delicacy so loved by fish 
 as the roe of other fish, even of their own species; 
 and the nest is sure to be beset by sticklebacks 
 or other fish, and water-beetles, trying to get at 
 the eggs. For some six weeks he keeps this 
 anxious watch, and even when the young are 
 hatched he does not desert his post. It is said 
 that he will not allow them to wander far from 
 the nest, and that if one of them should stray be- 
 yond certain limits, he will seize it and bring it 
 back again. 
 
 In the encounters which he has to undertake 
 he runs much risk of losing his life, for the sharp 
 spines with which the body is armed are weapons 
 which can be used with fatal dexterity. Each 
 fish tries to force its way under the other, and, 
 if it can succeed, rises rapidly, and drives the 
 
PARENTAL LOVE. 
 
 135 
 
 spines into the sides or belly of its adversary, 
 often causing its death, and always wounding it 
 seriously. Even in fishes, then, we see parental 
 love sufficiently developed to induce the male 
 stickleback to remain for six weeks on guard, to 
 fight any foe that may attempt to rob him of his 
 treasure, and to risk and sometimes to lose his 
 life in the defense of his offspring. 
 
 The reader will not fail to have noted the cu- 
 rious fact that, whereas parental love is, in near- 
 ly all creatures, chiefly manifested in the moth- 
 er, in this case the mother never troubles herself 
 about the fate of the eggs which she has' depos- 
 ited, but leaves them all to the father. Neither 
 does she take any share in the preparation of 
 the nest, the whole of the labor belonging to the 
 male, who has to gather materials, make the nest, 
 get it stocked with eggs, guard it at the risk of 
 his life, and see the young safely started in life. 
 The human parallel is too obvious to need men- 
 tion. 
 
 There are other fishes in which the male takes 
 the chief part in the incubation of the eggs. 
 Such, for example, are the curious Lophobran- 
 chiate fishes, of which the common bill-fish, or 
 pipe-fish, and the quaint little sea-horse are good 
 examples. The former, by the way, is much 
 more plentiful than is generally supposed, and I 
 have found many of them served up among the 
 tiny fishes which are called by the general name 
 of whitebait. In all these fishes the males are 
 provided with some special apparatus, such as a 
 pouch, a double ridge of skin, etc., by means of 
 which the eggs are attached to the body of the 
 male until they are hatched. 
 
 Then there are certain birds, mostly belonging 
 to the Cursoria, or that group of which the os- 
 trich is the type, the females of which take no 
 trouble about their eggs after laying them, but 
 depute the whole of that business to their mates. 
 
 An instance where a spider defended its eggs 
 against most formidable enemies is narrated by 
 Mr. F. 0. Eawlins in Hardwicke's Science Gos- 
 sip for April, 1873. 
 
 In a recent number I saw some interesting 
 matter relative to spiders and their poisoning 
 apparatus. The following, which comes from 
 personal observation, will vouch for the efficacy 
 of this apparatus, and also show what a weapon 
 of defense it becomes when the parental instinct 
 is roused by an attack upon the offspring : 
 
 "One day in the autumn I captured a fine 
 
 specimen of the garden spider (Epdra diadeina), 
 which was running over a flower border, skillfully 
 conveying the precious filmy bag of eggs under- 
 neath its body over the various obstacles which 
 impeded its progress. It did not seem averse to 
 the shelter afforded by a small wooden box, and 
 remained at one end with its treasure so content- 
 edly that I left it for a few moments, and placed 
 it on the top of a dahlia-pole. 
 
 " On returning I discovered that an exploring 
 party, consisting of four ants, was scaling the 
 walls of the fortress. Until they were fairly 
 within its walls the spider seemed unaware of 
 their approach ; and, in fact, until a forcible at- 
 tempt was made by the intruders to grapple with 
 the egg-bag, it remained strangely apathetic. 
 But this insult offered to the helpless young was 
 too much. It darted forward and assailed the 
 foremost. It was a tough fight four to one 
 but the valiant mother conquered in the end ; 
 for three of the invading foe lay dead (evidently 
 poisoned by a venomous bite), and the fourth was 
 fairly driven off". The victor then retired with 
 her insulted property to a corner, and I carried 
 off the box. 
 
 "An untimely escape prevented an experi- 
 ment I hoped to make, viz., of trying to tame 
 this member of the usually disliked Arachnida 
 family." 
 
 It would have been easy enough to fill the 
 whole of the book with stories of true parental 
 love among the lower animals, but I have select- 
 ed these in order to show that the feeling is iden- 
 tical in man and the lower animals, although, of 
 course, the mode of manifesting it must differ. 
 First, we see the untruth of the theory that pa- 
 rental love is life-enduring in man and only brief 
 among the animals. We see that, in proportion 
 to the duration of life, it is quite as brief among 
 the savages as among the animals. Then we have 
 examples where parental love has been lost and 
 then restored, and also where it never was lost. 
 
 We see how, in the animals as well as in man,, 
 parental love causes complete abnegation of self,, 
 the parents living for their children, and not for 
 themselves. We see how it gives strength to 
 the weak and courage to the timid ; that even 
 the very fishes and the spiders are amenable to 
 the same influences as man, and that parental 
 love, one of the highest and holiest feelings of 
 which a living and immortal soul can be capa- 
 ble, is shared equally by man and beast, accord- 
 ing to their respective capacities. 
 
136 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 THE FUTURE STATE. 
 
 Immortality of Man as Treated in the Old Testament. The Lower Animals not Thought Unworthy of a Di- 
 vine Law. Man and Beast Equally Liable to Punishment for the Same Crime. Instinctive Belief in Im- 
 mortality. The Spirit of Animals Developed by Communion with the Spirit of Man. Opinions of Various 
 Writers on the Subject. Eugenie de Guerin and Mrs. Somerville. The Contemplative and Logical Minds. 
 Southey's Epitaph on his Dog. Lamartine on a Similar Subject. The Doctrine of Apparent Inequality 
 and Compensation. How to Reconcile Pain and Suffering with Divine Justice. The Different Lots of Man 
 and Beast. The Object of Suffering. Individuality connected with Immortality. Individuality often 
 Overlooked, even though it be Strongly Marked to those who can Detect it. The Groom and the Engine- 
 driver. Individuality Retained in the Next World, and Developed there. Mr. J. Nelson Smith on a Dead 
 Lion. The Spirit of the Beast ; Comparison with that of Man. Death and its Results in Man and Beast. 
 Spirit and Matter. The Dead and the Living. The Spiritual and Material Eye. The Story of Balaam. 
 The Cat and the Apparition. Parallel of the Two Narratives. Epilogue. 
 
 I HAVE already shown, at the beginning of this 
 work, that, contrary to the popular tradition, 
 the Scriptures do not deny a future life to the 
 lower animals. We will now see if Scripture 
 has any thing to say in favor of another world 
 for beast as well as man. 
 
 It is a very remarkable point that even as to 
 the immortality of man, the Scriptures of the 
 Old Testament teach that doctrine rather by in- 
 ference than by direct assertion. 
 
 I presume the reason to be that the writers of 
 the various books, which were at a comparative- 
 ly late period selected from among many others 
 and formed into the volume which we popularly 
 call the Bible, assumed as a matter of course that 
 man was immortal, and did not trouble them- 
 selves to assert that which they supposed every 
 one to know already. 
 
 As far as the Old Testament goes, inference 
 tells much stronger in favor of the beast's im- 
 mortality than in that of man ; for although in 
 either case there is no definite assertion of a fut- 
 ure life, there is at all events no such denial of 
 the immortality of the beast as we have seen to 
 be the case with man (see page 1 0). 
 
 We all know that the beasts were included in 
 the merciful provisions of the Sabbath, which 
 was in its essence a spiritual and not merely a 
 physical ordinance. Then we find in the an- 
 cient Scriptures many provisions against mal- 
 treating the lower animals, or giving them need- 
 less pain ; and these provisions occupy an equal 
 place in the Divine Law with those which treat 
 of man. 
 
 See, for example, the well-known prohibition 
 
 of " seething a kid in its mother's milk," this be- 
 ing apparently some cruel heathen custom dur- 
 ing harvest-tide. Then the ox which is used in 
 treading out the com is not to be muzzled, lest 
 it should suffer the pangs of hunger in the pres- 
 ence of the food which it may not eat. Even 
 such a trivial custom as bird's-nesting is regu- 
 lated by Divine Law (see Deut. xxii. 6, 7). As, 
 moreover, many animals must be killed daily, 
 some for sacrifice and others only for food, the 
 strictest regulations are given that their mode 
 of death shall be sharp and swift, and that the 
 whole of their blood shall be poured out upon 
 the earth, thus preventing them from lingering 
 in pain. 
 
 I need scarcely refer to the last few sentences 
 of the Book of Jonah : 
 
 "Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the 
 which thou hast not labored, neither madest it 
 grow ; which came up in a night, and perished 
 in a night : 
 
 "And should I not spare Nineveh, that great 
 city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand 
 persons that can not discern between their right 
 hand and their left hand ; and also much cattle?" 
 
 Again, see Psalm 1. 10, 11 : 
 
 "Every beast of the forest is mine, and the 
 cattle upon a thousand hills. 
 
 " I know all the fowls of the mountains : and 
 the wild beasts of the field are mine." 
 
 The Scriptures are full of similar passages, in 
 which God announces himself as the protector 
 of beast as well as of man ; among which we 
 may reckon the well-known saying of our Lord 
 respecting the lives of the sparrows. 
 
THE FUTURE STATE. 
 
 137 
 
 Allusion to this branch of the subject is made 
 by Cowper in his " Task :" 
 
 "Man may dismiss compassion from his heart, 
 But God will never. When He charged the Jew 
 To assist his foe's down-fallen beast to rise ; 
 And when the bush-exploring boy, that seized 
 The young, to let the parent-bird go free ; 
 Proved He not plainly that His meaner works 
 Are yet His care, and have an interest all 
 All in the universal Father's love." 
 
 COWPEE'S Task. 
 
 There is, however, one passage which certain- 
 ly does seem to point to a future for the beast 
 as well as for man, and does at all events place 
 them both on a similar level. It occurs in Gene- 
 sis ix. 5, and forms part of the concise law which 
 was delivered to Noah, and which was the fore- 
 runner of the fuller law afterward given through 
 Moses : * ' Surely your blood of your lives will I 
 require : at the hand of every beast will I require 
 it, and at the hand of every man ; at the hand 
 of every man's brother will I require the life of 
 man." 
 
 And this injunction was afterward incorpo- 
 rated into the Mosaic law, where an ox who 
 kills a man is subject to death, just as if it had 
 been a man who had murdered one of his fellows 
 (see Exodus xxi. 28). 
 
 As a writer in the London Review well said, 
 some years ago : "There would be no meaning 
 in this retribution if the animal had no living 
 soul to be forfeited, as the human soul had been 
 yielded to death. It would be absurd to destroy 
 a vegetable which had caused the death of a hu- 
 man being, inasmuch as it has no soul. It was 
 not considered absurd to destroy an animal un- 
 der such circumstances, inasmuch as it has a 
 soul." 
 
 Thus, while there are no passages of Scripture 
 which deny the immortality of the lower animals, 
 there are some which certainly tend toward in- 
 ferring it ; but I do not see how we could expect 
 to gain any information on the subject from the 
 Scriptures, which were written for human beings, 
 and not for the lower animals ; and, as we find 
 so few direct references to the future state of 
 man, we could hardly expect to receive direct 
 instruction upon that of beasts. 
 
 But just as man has always had within him- 
 self an intuitive witness to his own immortality, 
 so do I find that all who have watched the ways 
 of the lower animals have possessed an instinct- 
 ive sense that they too must have a future life. 
 Some, it is true, have been led away by a wrong 
 interpretation of the passages in the Psalms, Job, 
 and Ecclesiastes ; but, in conversing with them, 
 I have always found that underlying this idea is 
 a feeling that animals, which surpass many hu- 
 
 man beings in love, unselfishness, generosity, 
 conscience, and self-sacrifice, must share, togeth- 
 er with those virtues, an immortal spirit in which 
 they take their rise. 
 
 For myself, I attribute to the conduct of my 
 dog "Rory"my firm conviction that for such 
 animals a future life must be in store ; and if for 
 him, why not for all ? It is true that in him the 
 moral sense of duty was developed to a very high 
 degree, as were his reasoning powers and the 
 faculty of love. I could not believe that an ani- 
 mal which would die of grief, as he died, for the 
 absence of his master, could have his existence 
 limited to this present world, and that such in- 
 tensity of love should terminate at the same mo- 
 ment that the material heart ceased to beat. 
 
 But, though in his case these higher qualities 
 were so greatly developed by constant communion 
 with a human spirit, there are hundreds of thou- 
 sands of dogs with similar capabilities, but without 
 similar advantages. I feel sure that they will 
 have the opportunity of developing their latent 
 faculties in the next world, though their free 
 scope has been denied to them in the short time 
 of their existence in this present world. 
 
 I have been rather surprised to find how many 
 standard writers have held these opinions. All 
 students of theology are acquainted with the pas- 
 sage in Bishop Butler's "Analogy" in which he 
 states that the Scriptures give no reasons why 
 the lower animals should not possess immortal 
 souls. I will now take passages by two very cel- 
 ebrated women, the former a representative of 
 devotional religion, and the latter a thorough 
 mistress of the physical sciences, and a deep 
 mathematician. 
 
 The first extract is taken from the "Diary" 
 of Eugenie de Guerin, and is a remarkable in- 
 stance of the manner in which the contempla- 
 tive human soul yearns after companionship with 
 the souls of fellow-creatures that have been loved 
 and have passed away: 
 
 " 1st August, 1835. This evening my turtle- 
 dove has died ; I know not from what cause, for 
 it continued to coo up to to-day. Poor little 
 creature, what regret it causes me ! I loved it ; 
 it was white ; and every morning it was the first 
 voice I heard under my window, in winter as 
 well as in summer. Was it mourning or joy ? 
 I know not, but its songs gave me pleasure. 
 Now I have a pleasure the less : thus each day 
 we lose some enjoyment. 
 
 " I mean to put my dove under a rose-bush on 
 the terrace : it seems to me that it will be well 
 there, and that its soul (if soul there be) will re- 
 pose there sweetly in that nest beneath the flowers. 
 I have a tolerably strong belief in the souls of 
 
138 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 animals, and T should even like there to be a little 
 paradise for the good and gentle, like turtle-doves, 
 dogs, and lambs. But what to do with wolves and 
 other wicked minds ? To damn them ? that em- 
 barrasses me." 
 
 She might have reflected that, in its place, the 
 wolf is as useful and as innocent as the lamb. It 
 has an object in life, and carries it out until that 
 object be attained, when it perishes, as has been 
 the case in our own country, not only with the 
 wolf, but with the bear and other predacious ani- 
 mals. 
 
 The next passage is taken from Mrs. Somer- 
 ville's "Memoirs." I have selected these two 
 because they represent two differently constituted 
 minds, which yet agree just on the very subject 
 where one would have expected the greatest di- 
 vergence. 
 
 The one is essentially devotional, trusting to 
 intuitive ideas, and not having the least pretense 
 to logic, or even a sequence of reasoning. The 
 other is a mind trained to observation, to mathe- 
 matical accuracy, to hard reasoning, and to that 
 faculty which is so seldom seen in the female sex 
 namely, the power of generalization. Speaking 
 of death, and the accompanying change of sur- 
 rounding objects, Mrs. Somerville, then aged 
 eighty-nine, proceeds as follows: 
 
 "I shall regret the sky, the sea, with all the 
 changes of their beautiful coloring ; the earth, with 
 its verdure and flowers ; but far more shall I 
 grieve to leave animals who have followed our 
 steps affectionately for years, without knowing 
 for certainty their ultimate fate, though I firm- 
 ly believe that the living principle is never ex- 
 tinguished. Since the atoms of matter are inde- 
 structible, as far as we know, it is difficult to be- 
 lieve that the spark which gives to their union 
 life, memory, affection, intelligence, and fidelity 
 is evanescent. 
 
 " Every atom in the human frame, as well as 
 in that of animals, undergoes a periodical change 
 by continual waste and renovation : the abode is 
 changed, not its inhabitant. If animals have no 
 future, the existence of many is most wretched. 
 Multitudes are starved, cruelly beaten, and load- 
 ed during life ; many die under a barbarous vivi- 
 section. 
 
 " I can not believe that any creature was cre- 
 ated for uncompensated misery : it would be con- 
 trary to the attribute of God's mercy and justice. 
 I am sincerely happy to find that I am not the 
 only believer in the immortality of the lower ani- 
 mals." 
 
 We will presently revert to the latter part of 
 this interesting letter. I can not but notice the 
 remarkable fact that two minds so differently con- 
 
 stituted should have arrived at the same result in 
 two different ways. The one does not pretend 
 to any process of reason, but passes at once,/>er 
 saltum as it were, to the firm belief that the low- 
 er animals must have a future life. The other 
 works her way to the same point through a con- 
 secutive train of reasoning, basing her arguments 
 upon physical facts of which Madame de Guerin 
 was entirely ignorant. We instinctively agree with 
 the one, and we can not disagree with the other. 
 
 Having now seen the manner in which the con- 
 templative and logical female minds treat this 
 subject, let us turn to the masculine mind. We 
 will take for example Southey, a man of singu- 
 larly deep and wide reading, possessed of the ex- 
 ceptional gift of rendering poetical the least beau- 
 tiful of subjects. If ever there were a clumsy and 
 repulsive idealization in the world, it may be found 
 in the many-headed and many-armed deities of 
 Hindoo mythology ; and yet, in the hands of 
 Southey, they are invested with a glamour like that 
 which Scott threw over the most prosaic and com- 
 monplace of landscapes in his native land. 
 
 Writing of the death of a favorite spaniel who 
 had been his companion in boyhood, Southey pro- 
 ceeds as follows : 
 
 "Ah, poor companion ! when thou followedst last 
 Thy master's parting footsteps to the gate 
 Which closed forever on him, thou didst lose 
 Thy best friend, and none was left to plead 
 For the old age of brute fidelity. 
 But fare thee well. Mine is no narrow creed ; 
 And He who gave thee being did not frame 
 The mystery of Life to be the sport 
 Of merciless man. There is another world 
 For all that live and move a better one ! 
 Where the proud bipeds, who would fain confine 
 Infinite goodness to the little bounds 
 Of their own charity, may envy thee." 
 
 The following extract is taken from " Jocelyn's 
 Episode, par A. de Lamartine,"and is translated 
 by the author of " Episodes of Insect Life :" 
 
 "My dog! the difference between thee and me 
 Knows only our Creator ; only He 
 Can number the degrees in being's scale 
 Between thy instinctive lamp, ne'er known to fail, 
 And that less steady light of brighter ray, 
 The soul which animates thy master's clay ; 
 And He alone can tell by what fond tie, 
 My look thy life my death, thy sign to die. 
 Howe'er this be, the human heart bereaved, 
 In thy affection owns a boon received ; 
 Nor e'er, fond creature, prostrate on the ground, 
 Conld my foot spurn thee or my accents wound. 
 No ! never, never, my poor humble friend, 
 Could I by act or word thy love often d ! 
 Too much in thee I reverence that Power 
 Which formed us both for our appointed hour; 
 That Hand which links, by a fraternal tie, 
 The meanest of His creatures with the high. 
 Oh, my poor Fido ! when thy speaking face, 
 Upturned to mine, of words supplies the place ; 
 
THE FUTURE 8TA 
 
 When, seated by my bed, the slightest moan 
 
 That breaks my troubled sleep disturbs thine own ; 
 
 When noting in my heavy eye the care 
 
 That clouds my brow, thou seek'st its meaning there. 
 
 And then, as if to chase that care away, 
 
 My pendant hand dost gently gnaw in play ; 
 
 When, as in some clear mirror, I descry 
 
 My joys and griefs reflected in thine eye : 
 
 When tokens such as these thy reason speak 
 
 (Reason which with thy love compared is weak), 
 
 I can not, will not, deem thee a deceiving, 
 
 Illusive mockery of human feeling, 
 
 A body organized, by fond caress 
 
 Warmed into seeming tenderness ; 
 
 A mere automaton, on which our love 
 
 Plays, as on puppets, when their wires we move. 
 
 No ! when that feeling quits thy glazing eye, 
 
 ' Twill live in some blest world beyond the sky. 
 
 ******* 
 No ! God will never quench His spark divine, 
 Whether within some glorious orb it shine, 
 Or lighten up the spaniel's tender gaze, 
 Who leads his poor blind master through the maze 
 Of this dark world ; and, when that task is o'er, 
 Sleeps on his humble grave, to wake no more." 
 
 We will now revert for a time to the subject 
 mentioned at the end of the extract from Mrs. 
 Somerville's "Memoirs." Everyone must at some 
 time or another have been struck with the prob- 
 lem of apparent inequality in the lives both of 
 man and beast. We see some human beings en- 
 dowed with every thing that man can desire 
 health, strength, wealth, accomplishments, and 
 capacity of enjoyment ; while others are desti- 
 tute of all these accessories to happiness. 
 
 Putting aside the fact that some whose lots seem 
 to he the most enviable are the least to be envied, 
 we acknowledge that this inequality does exist, 
 and that the earthly lot of some is very hard, while 
 that of others is very easy. But we are taught 
 in the New Testament the great doctrine of Com- 
 pensation, which is, in fact, nothing more than 
 justice. 
 
 As St. Paul remarks, who spoke from personal 
 experience, the sufferings of this present world 
 are not to be compared with the glories of the 
 world to come ; and that, in fact, suffering is the 
 precursor of glory. That some such principle of 
 divine justice must exist was instinctively known 
 long before it was thus explicitly declared. We 
 find references to such compensation throughout 
 the Psalms, in passages too numerous and too fa- 
 miliar to need quotation ; and even Job himself, 
 sunk in the very depth of afflictions, could say. 
 "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him. 
 ... He also shall be my salvation " (Job xiii. 
 15,16). 
 
 As far, therefore, as man is concerned, the prob- 
 lem of apparent inequality is not so difficult of 
 solution. Expectant of a future life, we look for- 
 ward to it in our worst earthly sorrows, and fee 
 
 139 
 
 that when we h^aBiwrfnew life we 
 shall receive our reward. Thus, in spite of all 
 apparent inequalities of the human lot in this 
 world, we feel that divine justice will be more 
 than vindicated in the world to come, and that 
 when we enter that world we shall understand 
 and acquiesce in the justice that gave a hard lot 
 upon earth to us and an easy one to others. 
 
 But, supposing the lower animals to have no fut- 
 ure life, what becomes of divine justice ? Even 
 in our own country and in our own day, the cruel- 
 ties that are perpetrated upon animals are a dis- 
 grace to the nation. Bad as they are, however, 
 they are as nothing to the horrors which are seen 
 with absolute unconcern in other countries. But, 
 even in our own land, let us take as an example one 
 of the most ill treated of animals the donkey. 
 
 We will suppose the very likely case of two don- 
 keys of the same age and similar capacities being 
 sold to different masters, both costermongers. 
 One of them treats the animal with kindness, and 
 the other with cruelty. The one urges it to its 
 work by kind words, the other by blows and other 
 forms of bodily torture. The one feeds the ani- 
 mal as liberally as his means will afford, while 
 the other leaves the beast, by whose labor he lives, 
 to forage for himself, and spends in drink the mon- 
 ey which ought to have been expended in fodder. 
 
 One of these animals lives a long and a happy 
 life, doing his work with eager willingness, loving 
 his master, and being loved by him. The other 
 is soon worn out by hardships, trembles at the 
 very sound of his master's voice, and succumbs 
 at last to pain and starvation. I have purposely 
 placed the more favored animal in a laboring 
 sphere of life, because I am sure that it was form- 
 ed for labor, and that a properly directed life of 
 work is far happier than the state of a petted, 
 pampered, and idle animal. 
 
 Now, supposing that animals have no immor- 
 tal souls and no future life, it is simply impossi- 
 ble to recognize that the Maker of these two ani- 
 mals can be just. The two contrasted lives indi- 
 cate an injustice too flagrant for any human being 
 to perpetrate unless wholly deficient in ideas of 
 right and wrong. But supposing them to possess 
 immortal souls, and a future life in which those 
 souls shall be developed to the fullest amount of 
 their capacities, then we can at once reconcile 
 those apparent discrepancies with absolute justice 
 and perfect love. Dealing with the lower ani- 
 mals as with ourselves, the Creator looks to the 
 spiritual world, which is eternal, and not to the 
 material world, which is temporal, and by means 
 of the one instructs and prepares his pupils for the 
 other. 
 
 Take the most prominent instance of apparent 
 
140 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 inequality and injustice namely, poverty and 
 wealth. We are gifted with wealth, or it is 
 withheld from us, according to our individual 
 capacities. That which is good for one, as a 
 preparation for the future life, is bad for another, 
 and it is given or withheld accordingly. For 
 example, we all know that when our Lord met 
 the wealthy young man who was proud of his 
 riches, and yet desired to be a disciple, the con- 
 dition of admission was that he should divest 
 himself of all his wealth, and divide it among 
 the poor. 
 
 Many persons have inferred from this order 
 that no one ought to possess wealth. But a 
 little reflection will show that the order in ques- 
 tion was not universal, but addressed to a single 
 individual, and to no other. There were many 
 rich men with whom Christ habitually associated, 
 notably Joseph of Arimathea, and yet he never 
 advised them to reduce themselves to poverty. 
 
 He knew best what was good for each, and 
 a fortiori must he know what is good for ani- 
 mals which exist on a lower and more contracted 
 plane than man. I firmly believe, with St. Paul, 
 that the object of suffering in this present world 
 is that it forms a preparation and introduction 
 to the life to come ; and I am perfectly convinced 
 that any creature which is capable of suffering 
 has in that very capacity its passport to the eternal 
 life for which its sufferings are but a preparation. 
 
 This brings us to another stage in our argu- 
 ment namely, the possession of Individuality as 
 connected with Immortality. 
 
 As for ourselves, did we not possess individu- 
 ality we should need no diverseness of manage- 
 ment, for all would be treated alike. But we 
 see that in man no two faces are exactly alike, 
 simply because no two souls, of which the coun- 
 tenance is an indication, are alike ; and the same 
 will hold good among the lower animals. 
 
 Looking, for example, at a flock of sheep, 
 there is no apparent difference between them, 
 and a portrait of any one would equally resemble 
 any other. But the shepherd, if he know his 
 business, will be able to distinguish every sheep 
 separately, and can describe the mental pecul- 
 iarities of each individual. 
 
 Again : one yellow canary looks, to ordinary 
 eyes, just like another yellow canary, while in 
 reality the mental character of each bird is im- 
 pressed upon its countenance as strongly as are 
 human qualities upon the visage of man. I once 
 had some thirty canaries in a single aviary, and 
 not only knew them all by sight, but could an- 
 ticipate how each bird would act under certain 
 circumstances. 
 
 It is this quality, both in man and beast, that 
 implies a separate treatment for each individual, 
 and becomes a plea for immortality. That I am 
 not alone in this idea is shown by the following 
 letter from a correspondent : 
 
 "The difference in character between individu- 
 als of the same species is as striking as the dif- 
 ferences among men. 
 
 "My present dog, though very handsome, is 
 a thorough vulgarian in mind. He prefers bad 
 company, lives by choice in the kitchen, is rude 
 and unmannerly, never barks at a beggar, and 
 delights in a general row or a fight over a bone. 
 
 "My former dog, 'Nettle.' was a perfect aris- 
 tocrat. Nothing would induce him to consort 
 with vulgar people, to enter a kitchen, or descend 
 the area stairs.. He perfectly understood the 
 importance attached to a large house and hand- 
 some furniture. When we were traveling in the 
 Highlands, and had to put up in any lodgings 
 which we could get, Nettle was perfectly miserable. 
 I remember him at Ballater persistently rushing 
 past our shabby house into one next door, which 
 was handsomely furnished. The lady in occu- 
 pation disliked dogs ; so, after capturing Nettle 
 once or twice, when he had made a raid upon 
 our neighbor's premises, we had to watch him 
 when we neared the house, and bring him by 
 force into our mean quarters. At last we se- 
 cured handsome lodgings ; whereupon Nettle's 
 dignity was soothed, and he never mistook his 
 own abode any more. 
 
 " These things seem to be trifles, but it is the 
 observation of such apparent trifles in every 
 creature which I have been able to watch care- 
 fully that convinces me more of their separate, 
 individual, spiritual life than even the evidences 
 of great intellect that are occasionally given. 
 Were the beasts but mere animated machines, 
 these distinctive characteristics need not exist." 
 
 I may here mention that my own cat " Pret " 
 was equally aristocratic in his notions. Nothing 
 would induce him not even milk when he was 
 hungry to put his head into the kitchen, or to 
 enter the house by the servants' door. 
 
 To me, the manner in which we ignore indi- 
 viduality in the lower animals is simply astound- 
 ing. See, for example, how the generality of 
 grooms treat all horses as if they were just so 
 many machines turned out of the same mould, 
 and to be treated just like machines. The " Go 
 ahead," "Stop her," "Back her," of the engi- 
 neer are represented by the whip or spur of the 
 groom, the jerk or savage pull at the bridle ; 
 and the groom has no more idea that he is in- 
 flicting pain upon the senses of an immortal fel- 
 low-creature than has the engineer of hurting 
 
THE FUTURE STATE. 
 
 141 
 
 the iron and brass of his engine. Indeed, I fear 
 that, as a rule, the average driver is more merci- 
 ful to his engine than the average groom to his 
 horse, the former sparing it at the descents, and 
 helping it up the ascents by the accumulated force 
 obtained by the rush down the preceding decline. 
 
 We have thus in every species a double kind 
 of individuality : first there is one that is com- 
 mon to the entire species, and next there is one 
 that, in addition to this common characteristic, 
 distinguishes each separate being from its fellows. 
 It is the former of these which makes a species 
 to be what it is, and I am firmly convinced that 
 neither is lost in the future life that both may 
 be capable of development. Thus, I hold that 
 the dog, the horse, the lion, and the elephant 
 will be in the next world what they are in this. 
 They will be better animals in that world, just 
 as we hope to be better men ; but they will not 
 approach us any nearer than they do at present. 
 
 I will here quote an eloquent passage from a 
 very remarkable book, which is nearly unknown 
 namely, "The Science of Sensibility," by Mr. 
 J. Nelson Smith : 
 
 "Behold the lion, when he comes forth from 
 his den to seize the prey which his own wants 
 and those of his whelps demand, with flowing 
 mane, steadfast purpose, and paralyzing gleam 
 of eye. ... If the voice of lightning is fuller in 
 its volume as it peals over the plains, the vibrat- 
 ing death-knell of the lion is more appalling to 
 both man and beast. If the burning ball of 
 electricity is irresistible, the fatal grasp of the 
 lion is no less fatal to animals ; if its flash is 
 more vivid, the angry glare of his eye is more 
 terrible to encounter. The terror of all beasts, 
 and undisputed monarch of the forest, he roams 
 from jungle to jungle and knows no fear. 
 
 "But the skill of the hunter sends a bullet 
 through the organs of thought, judgment, and 
 will in that self-reliant head : one terrific bound, 
 one desperate sweep of those huge paws in a 
 vain effort to tear the earth from its centre, and 
 down goes the carcass of that fearful monarch 
 of the forest, stark, by the huge rock on which 
 he has so often gamboled. 
 
 "A few spasmodic surges, convulsive tremors, 
 and he stretches himself on the ground, an im- 
 movable mass of terrestrial matter. Those gleam- 
 ing orbs are glazed and sightless, and those ter- 
 rible limbs are stiffened with the chill of death. 
 Still, even that lifeless frame is an admirable 
 statue of animal force and unquestioned courage, 
 and his slayer approaches even his lifeless corpse 
 with fear, and springs back at the slightest tre- 
 mor of his departing life. 
 
 "What made his voice more terrible than 
 
 thunder, his spring more fatal than its bolt, and 
 where is it gone ? 
 
 "Since the departure of the soul, the intelli- 
 gent motive power which was driven out of that 
 muscular structure by the derangement of the 
 machinery of the mind on which it operated and 
 performed those appalling strains in the great 
 drama of life, that terrible structure of animal 
 life is as harmless as a marble statue, and is 
 soon decomposed by the chemical elements which 
 surround it. 
 
 "For an hour after its departure the carcass 
 remains warm and pliable. Every limb is per- 
 fect, not a muscle of the body is injured ; only 
 the organ of will is unstrung, and the spiritual 
 operator departed. And such an operator ! Is 
 his knowledge obliterated ? Has a leaden mis- 
 sile annihilated a decree of the Almighty, and 
 decomposed a celestial volition ? or has it only 
 released an immortal soul from the prison-house 
 of a terrestrial body, and given it a passport to 
 the sublime joy of its eternal existence ?" 
 
 In the last sentence the writer has touched 
 upon the central idea of this book namely, the 
 possession by animals of an immortal soul. The 
 reader may remark that at page 14 I have cited 
 the important passage of Ecclesiastes, in which 
 a spirit is assigned to the beasts as well as to 
 man. Now the very fact that man can trans- 
 mit his ideas to the lower animals is a proof that 
 they must possess a spirit which is able to com- 
 municate with the spirit of man. When, for 
 example, a man gives an order to his dog, and 
 is obeyed, he affords a proof that both possess 
 spirits, similar in quality, though differing in 
 degree. To give an order to a plant would be 
 useless and absurd, because the plant has no 
 spirit which can respond to the spirit of the man. 
 But the spirit of the dog can and does respond 
 to the spirit of the man and the two will equal- 
 ly live, each on its proper plane, after the earthly 
 body has been resolved into its elements. 
 
 One of our poets has rightly said 
 
 "Man never dies : the body dies from off him ;" 
 
 and this is equally true of man and beast. The 
 change which we call death is but a more rapid 
 disengagement of the spirit from the body than 
 that which is perpetually taking place. The body 
 is unceasingly separating itself from the spirit, 
 and whether in the waking or sleeping hours the 
 earthly particles which the spirit has accreted 
 around itself are constantly being thrown off. 
 In fact, the death of the body is ever with us, 
 and is a necessary concomitant of the temporary 
 connection between the immortal spirit and the 
 material world. 
 
142 
 
 MAN AND BEAST. 
 
 We now advance one more step. 
 
 We all know that spirit can not act directly 
 upon matter, and vice versa. The earthly eye, 
 for example, can not see spiritual objects. But 
 the spiritual eye, which gives force and potency 
 to the optic nerves of the material eye, can do so 
 if the outer veil of flesh be for a while removed. 
 Take, for example, a few instances of such ex- 
 tended vision as given in the Scriptures. First, 
 there is the case of Elisha's servant, whose spir- 
 itual eyes were opened, i. e., enabled to pierce 
 through the veil of the flesh, and who was ena- 
 bled to see the hosts of spiritual beings by whom 
 the place was surrounded. Similarly, when the 
 shepherds saw the angels who announced the 
 birth of Christ, and when the three apostles saw 
 Moses and Elijah, they saw these spiritual beings 
 with the eye of the spirit, and not with that of 
 the flesh. 
 
 There are, as we know, many persons who can 
 not believe that, as they put it, the living should 
 be able to see the dead. Neither do I believe it. 
 But as the spirit lives, though the material body 
 no longer inclose it, surely there can be no dif- 
 ficulty in believing that the living spirit within 
 an earthly body may see a living spirit which 
 has escaped from its material garment. We do 
 not doubt that after the death of the body the 
 spirit will live and see other spirits similarly 
 freed from earth, and it is no very great matter 
 that the living should see the living, though one 
 be still enshrined in its earthly tabernacle, and 
 the other released from it. 
 
 This being granted and it is not very much 
 to grant it necessarily follows that if the lower 
 animals possess spirit, they may be capable of 
 spiritual as well as material vision. That they 
 do possess this power, and that it can be exer- 
 cised, is shown by the story of Balaam. There 
 we find it definitely stated, not only that the ass 
 saw the angel, but that she saw him long before 
 her master did. Now the angel, being a spirit- 
 ual being, could only be seen with the spiritual 
 eye ; and it therefore follows that, unless the 
 story be completely false, the animal possessed 
 a spirit, and saw with the eye of that spirit. 
 
 I should think that none who believe in the 
 truth of the Holy Scriptures (and I again remind 
 the reader that this book is only intended for 
 those who do so), could doubt that here is a 
 case which proves that the spirit of the ass was 
 capable of seeing and fearing the spiritual angel. 
 And if that be granted, I do not see how any one 
 can doubt that the spirit which saw the angel 
 partook of his immortality, just as her outward 
 eye, which saw material objects, partook of their 
 mortality. Shortly afterward the eyes of the 
 
 prophet were opened, and he also saw the angel ; 
 but it must be remembered that the eyes of the 
 beast had been opened first, and that she, her 
 master, and the angel met for the time in the 
 same spiritual plane. 
 
 I have for a long time had in my possession 
 a letter from a lady, in which she narrates a 
 personal adventure which has a singularly close 
 resemblance to the Scriptural story of Balaam. 
 It had been told me immediately after I threw 
 out my "feeler" in the "Common Objects of 
 the Country." As I had at that time the inten- 
 tion of vindicating the immortality of the lower 
 animals, I requested the narrator to write it, so 
 that I might possess the statement authenticated 
 in her own handwriting. 
 
 At the time of the occurrence, the lady and 
 her mother were living in an old country chateau 
 in France. 
 
 " It was during the winter of 18 that one 
 evening I happened to be sitting by the side of 
 a cheerful fire in my bedroom, busily engaged 
 in caressing a favorite cat the illustrious Lady 
 Catharine, now, alas ! no more. She lay in a 
 pensive attitude and a winking state of drow- 
 siness in my lap. 
 
 "Although my room might have been with- 
 out candles, it was perfectly illuminated by the 
 light of the fire. There were two doors one 
 behind me, leading into an apartment which had 
 been locked for the winter, and another on the 
 opposite side of the room, which communicated 
 with the passage. 
 
 "Mamma had not left me many minutes, and 
 the high-backed, old-fashioned arm-chair, which 
 she had occupied, remained vacant at the oppo- 
 site corner of the fire-place. Puss, who lay with 
 her head on my arm, became more and more 
 sleepy, and I pondered on the propriety of pre- 
 paring for bed. 
 
 " Of a sudden I became aware that some- 
 thing had affected my pet's equanimity. The 
 purring ceased, and she exhibited rapidly in- 
 creasing symptoms of uneasiness. I bent down, 
 and endeavored to coax her into quietness ; but 
 she instantly struggled to her feet in my lap, and, 
 spitting vehemently, with back arched and tail 
 swollen, she assumed a mingled attitude of terror 
 and defiance. 
 
 "The change in her position obliged me to 
 raise my head ; and on looking up, to my inex- 
 pressible horror, I then perceived that a little, 
 hideous, wrinkled old hag occupied mamma's 
 chair. Her hands were rested on her knees, 
 and her body was stooped forward so as to bring 
 her face in close proximity with ,mine. Her 
 eyes, piercingly fierce and shining with an over- 
 
THE FUTURE STATE. 
 
 143 
 
 powering lustre, were steadfastly fixed on me. 
 It was as if a fiend were glaring at me through 
 them. Her dress and general appearance de- 
 noted her to belong to the French bourgeoisie; 
 but those eyes, so wonderfully large, and in their 
 expression so intensely wicked, entirely absorbed 
 my senses, and precluded any attention to detail. 
 1 should have screamed, but my breath was gone 
 while that terrible gaze so horribly fascinated 
 me : I could neither withdraw my eyes nor rise 
 from my seat. 
 
 "I had meanwhile been trying to keep a tight 
 hold on the cat, but she seemed resolutely deter- 
 mined not to remain in such ugly neighborhood, 
 and, after some most desperate efforts, at length 
 succeeded in escaping from my grasp. Leaping 
 over tables, chairs, and all that came in her way, 
 she repeatedly threw herself, with frightful vio- 
 lence, against the top panel of the door which 
 communicated with the disused room. Then, re- 
 turning in the same frantic manner, she furious- 
 ly dashed against the door on the opposite side. 
 
 "My terror was divided, and I looked by 
 turns, now at the old woman, whose great star- 
 ing eyes were constantly fixed on me, and now 
 at the cat, who was becoming every instant more 
 frantic. At last the dreadful idea that the ani- 
 mal had gone mad had the effect of restoring 
 my breath, and I screamed loudly. 
 
 " Mamma ran in immediately, and the cat, 
 on the door opening, literally sprang over her 
 head, and for upward of half an hour ran up 
 and down stairs as if pursued. I turned to 
 point to the object of my terror : it was gone. 
 Under such circumstances the lapse of time is 
 difficult to appreciate, but I should think that 
 the apparition lasted about four or five minutes. 
 
 "Some time afterward it transpired that a 
 former proprietor of the house, a woman, had 
 hanged herself in that very room." 
 
 The close but evidently unsuspected resem- 
 blance of this narrative to the story of Balaam 
 is worthy of notice. In both cases we have the 
 remarkable fact that the animal was the first to 
 see the spiritual being, and to show by its terri- 
 fied actions that it had done so. 
 
 There are but a few words to be said by way 
 of epilogue. 
 
 Some of the objections that have been made 
 to the future life of the lower animals have al- 
 ready been mentioned, but there are two others 
 which I must briefly notice. One is that, if all 
 created beings are to live eternally in heaven, 
 there would not be room for them. I feel al- 
 most ashamed even to mention such an absurd 
 notion, but as it has been put forward by several 
 persons I feel bound to notice it. 
 
 The answer is self-evident. In the first place, 
 in the spiritual world space and time do not ex- 
 ist ; and even if they did, surely God can create 
 space, if he has need of it. 
 
 The second objection is that by granting im- 
 mortality to the animals we lower the condition 
 of humanity ; but if the animals be immortal 
 there is surely no use in denying it. We can 
 not shirk a fact, and even if we could we ought 
 not to do so. Such an argument, moreover, is 
 not very creditable to humanity, for it seeks to 
 elevate man by depreciating his fellow-creatures 
 of a lower order. 
 
 In announcing my belief that the lower ani- 
 mals share immortality with man in the next 
 world, as they share mortality in this, I do not 
 claim for them the slightest equality. Man will 
 be man, and beast will be beast, and insect will 
 be insect, in the next world as in this. They are 
 living exponents of divine ideas, as is evident 
 from the Holy Scriptures, and will be wanted to 
 continue in the world of spirit the work which 
 they have begun in the world of matter. 
 
 But, though I do not claim for them the 
 slightest equality with man, I do claim for them 
 a higher status in creation than is generally at- 
 tributed to them ; I do claim for them a future 
 life, in which they can be compensated for the 
 sufferings which so many of them have to un- 
 dergo in this world ; and I do so chiefly because 
 I am quite sure that most of the cruelties which 
 are perpetrated on the animals are due to the hab- 
 it of considering them as mere machines, with- 
 out susceptibilities, without reason, and without 
 the capacity of a future. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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