Nature. Do Rogs Reason?

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2027, 4 July 1885, Page 2 (Supplement)

Nature. Do Rogs Reason?

Principal W\lt,fy, ct tha Boyal Veterinary College-, EighiUil, wnt>3 a^ folimfa :— Th« ahovo query vfia sas'?"bc d to my mind a ],erupil of thi cv.i of tiia dog who prosuntpd himself com« time ago at tha Ciiarmj Cross Ho. --itxl for tne purpo'9 of having; his foot, whi"h had been injmefi, at landed to. Thoie who oondiier that the highest faoulty of the mind, reasoning, is only possessed by mnn will doubtless at once answer the above qnestion, entirely to their own satisfaction, in the negative ; bat a little reflection may, perhaps, lead them to a different conclusion. Personally, I will at once answer the above question indirectly in the affirmative by saying that i! dogs do not possess the reasoning faoalty, they possess the power of se associating ideas as to enable them to arrive at conclusions of such a nature as in the case of man would ba attributed to the exoroiie of the faculty of reasoning, and not only to arrive at conolasions in connection with particular matters, but to act upon them. Such action will probably, by •ome people, bs attiibuted to instinct; from thii view I must most emphatically dissent, and for reasons whioh I need not ttay here to discuss. Tht following faots — a few only of many of a limilar nature stored in my memory — will prove, I think, the position I have taken up :—: — 1. Some years ago I wii standing, one afternoon, on the pavement at the Itegister Hoato, in company with ona of my pupils, waiting for a tramway oar, whan a large blaok retriever came behiad me and robbed his ntse against my hand, then looked up to my face in a very intelligent rmnn»r, wagged his tail, and placed one of hit paws in contact with my hand. Looking at the dog, I said, "Well, old fellow, what do you want?" Tke student turned round and said, "Don't you know that dog, sir ? It is the dog whose foot was so dreadfully orushed some time ago, and from whioh you removed two of the toea." A vary curHory examination of the foot convinced me of tha truth of the statement, and after I had patted him on the head, the dog trotted away, manifesting the greatest signs of delight to his master (Mr. S.), who stood some little distance from us, gazing in astonishment at the whole proceeding. 2. Two years ago I attended, during the •ummeT, a large Mastiff dog (the property of Mr. L. Leith), suffering from rheumatism in the left elbow, the joint, I need scarcely say, being very painful ; but after my first visit the dog always, when I called to see him, placed the limb upon some fixed object — such as the head of an empty cask, or the rails which bounded the landing of the ofice steps, upon which his kennel was placed— for me to examine it. During the following winter the rheumatism returned, and on visiting my patient I took it for granted he would repeat his previous performance, but, owing to my having on a heavy overcoat, he temporarily forgot me, and reoeived my reproaches in anything but a friendly way, until he recognised who I wa«, when he immed ately resumed his old position m order that I might the more effeotually examine his leg. S. On one occasion I had under my care a Terrier of mixed breed (the property of Colonel S.), suffering from a painful and intractable sore in the underneath surface of his body. To this I had to applp lunar eaustio, placing the dog on his back for the purpose. On each subsequent re-application of the caustic the dog voluntarily rolled on his back immediately he saw ms approaoh with the oaustio in my hani. 4. A dog belonging to Mr. H. was suffering from rheumatism in one of his legs. For the relief of this I ordered the application every night of liniment, After the first dressing the animal lay down eaoh night at the hour chosen for its application, in order to have the liniment applied to the affected limb ; but it so happened that on one particular evening the liniment was exhausted, and finding that he was not to have his leg rubbed, he became very uneasy, and made snob, unmietakeable demonstrations of his desir« that the nightly rubbing should be prooeeded with that his master ordered his servant to take the empty bottle in her hand and go through the usual routine; this she did, and the dog retired contentedly to his bed. This is a performance I have since scan repeated in the case of a pug dog. 5. For several years I possessed a Newfoundland dog, Triend by name; I will narrate one of his many sensible aotions :—: — IdvUg in the College house, the acoess to which was common to other parts of the building, I took the precaution to examine the outer doors every night before retiring to rest. During the performance of this selfimposed duty, the dog above-mentioned stood looking gravely on, and, on my patting him on the head and dosing the door of the house proper, he took up a position on the doormat, and there remained until the following morning. Having on one occasion to remain from home all night, the dog was observed, at about the usual hour for retiring, to walk deliberately to all the doors I was in the habit of examining ; bat not only did he do this, he insisted upon going into every room in eaoh case, making a oareful survey—dragging his body underneath all articles of furniture not sufficiently high for him to walk under, and he never after neglected the duty in my absence. 6. Last year I had to part with a large (St. Bernard and Newfoundland) dog, Leo, on account of his having oontraoted several bad habits. This dog was a noted voyager, visiting in turns Aberdonr, Barntialand, (North Berwick, Wick, and a number of other places. Aberdour was in the summer his favourite resort, and if he missed the boat at Leith, he would walk along to Granton, go on board the Burntisland steamer, and on landing at that place, find his way through the wood to Aberdour, where he would stay playing with the ohildren on thebeaoh, until the departure of the last boat for Leith. This dog constituted himself the guardian of the ash-buoket, and on no aooount would he allow any person — exoept one old woman, who used to bribe him with a bone— to interfere with it until the scavengers oame along with the refusecart. One morning the house-maid, of whom he was particularly fond, had to go a message, and on observing her issue from the door with a basket in her hand, he seemed to cogitate for a moment as to how he was to perform his self-imposed duty, and at the same time enjoy a trot with tha girl. He quiokly solved the difficulty by taking the basket from the hand of the latter and depositing it in the lobby behind the door. The girl watched her opportunity, as she thought, to seize the basket, and was making her way quietly round the oorner of the street, when the dog again rushed after her, and took away the basket, but did not put it on the door-step ; he deliberately put it down by the side of the ash-bucket, where it remained nntil the latter was emptied by the scavenger, when he looked up to the servant, and wagged his tail, as much as to say, " Now, you oan go." So he did his duty, and had his scamper too. 7. Suoh actions as those I have here recorded bear upon the face of them a higher guiding rule than more instinot ; and seeing that there is not one single trait in the character of man whioh has not its counterpart in the oharaotor of the dog — hate, love ; generosity, meanness ; gratitude, ingratitude ; magnanimity, jealousy; oharity, malice— l see no good grounds for denying him the possession of man's proud attribute, reason. — Live Stock Journal.

Oyster Dressing. — Drain carefully a quart of oysters ; out in small pieoea ; mix with dry bread crumbs — about a quart i! turkey is large ; butter the size of an egg ; season with pepper and salt to taste.

Gastronomio Connoisseur : Very fine cook you have, Mr. Feedwell. Mr. Feedwell : Ab, yes, a colored <7oman I brought with me from the South, and she is just as five as silk. Gastronomic Connoisseur : She ia, indeed ; ft sortofaook-nooa, as c^ara.