FOOTNOTES:

THE END.

Animal Intelligence.

By GEORGE J. ROMANES, F.R.S.,Zoölogical Secretary of the Linnæan Society, etc.—————————12mo.Cloth, $1.75.—————————

"My object in the work as a whole is twofold: First, I have thought it desirable that there should be something resembling a text-book of the facts of Comparative Psychology, to which men of science, and also metaphysicians, may turn whenever they have occasion to acquaint themselves with the particular level of intelligence to which this or that species of animal attains. My second and much more important object is that of considering the facts of animal intelligence in their relation to the theory of descent."—From the Preface.

"Unless we are greatly mistaken, Mr. Romanes's work will take its place as one of the most attractive volumes of theInternational Scientific Series. Some persons may, indeed, be disposed to say that it is too attractive, that it feeds the popular taste for the curious and marvelous without supplying any commensurate discipline in exact scientific reflection; but the author has, we think, fully justified himself in his modest preface. The result is the appearance of a collection of facts which will be a real boon to the student of Comparative Psychology, for this is the first attempt to present systematically well-assured observations on the mental life of animals."—Saturday Review.

"The author believes himself, not without ample cause, to have completely bridged the supposed gap between instinct and reason by the authentic proofs here marshaled of remarkable intelligence in some of the higher animals. It is the seemingly conclusive evidence of reasoning powers furnished by the adaptation of means to ends in cases which can not be explained on the theory of inherited aptitude or habit."—New York Sun.

"The high standing of the author as an original investigator is a sufficient guarantee that his task has been conscientiously carried out. His subject is one of absorbing interest. He has collected and classified an enormous amount of information concerning the mental attributes of the animal world. The result is astonishing. We find marvelous intelligence exhibited not only by animals which are known to be clever, but by others seemingly without a glimmer of light, like the snail, for instance. Some animals display imagination, others affection, and so on. The psychological portion of the discussion is deeply interesting."—New York Herald.

"The chapter on monkeys closes this excellent work, and perhaps the most instructive portion of it is that devoted to the life-history of a monkey."—New York Times.

"Mr. Romanes brings to his work a wide information and the best of scientific methods. He has carefully culled and selected an immense mass of data, choosing with admirable skill those facts which are really significant, and rejecting those which lacked sustaining evidence or relevancy. The contents of the volume are arranged with reference to the principles which they seem to him to establish. The volume is rich and suggestive, and a model in its way."—Boston Courier.

"It presents the facts of animal intelligence in relation to the theory of descent, supplementing Darwin and Spencer in tracing the principles which are concerned in the genesis of mind."—Boston Commonwealth.

"One of the most interesting volumes of the series."—New York Christian at Work.

"Few subjects have a greater fascination for the general reader than that with which this book is occupied."—Good Literature, New York.

—————————For sale by all booksellers; or sent by mail, post-paid, on receipt of price.—————————New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street.

Ants, Bees, and Wasps.

A Record of Observations on the Habits of the Social Hymenoptera.By Sir JOHN LUBBOCK, Bart., M. P., F. R. S., etc.,Author of "Origin of Civilization, and the Primitive Condition of Man," etc., etc.—————————With Colored Plates.12mo.Cloth, $2.00.—————————

"This volume contains the record of various experiments made with ants, bees, and wasps during the last ten years, with a view to test their mental condition and powers of sense. The principal point in which Sir John's mode of experiment differs from those of Huber, Forel, McCook, and others, is that he has carefully watched and marked particular insects, and has had their nests under observation for long periods—one of his ants' nests having been under constant inspection ever since 1874. His observations are made principally upon ants because they show more power and flexibility of mind; and the value of his studies is that they belong to the department of original research."

"We have no hesitation in saying that the author has presented us with the most valuable series of observations on a special subject that has ever been produced, charmingly written, full of logical deductions, and, when we consider his multitudinous engagements, a remarkable illustration of economy of time. As a contribution to insect psychology, it will be long before this book finds a parallel."—London Athenæum.

"These studies, when handled by such a master as Sir John Lubbock, rise far above the ordinary dry treatment of such topics. The work is an effort made to discover what are the general, not the special, laws which govern communities of insects composed of inhabitants as numerous as the human beings living in London and Peking, and who labor together in the utmost harmony for the common good. That there are remarkable analogies between societies of ants and human beings no one can doubt. If, according to Mr. Grote, 'positive morality under some form or other has existed in every society of which the world has ever had experience,' the present volume is an effort to show whether this passage be correct or not."—New York Times.

"In this work the reader will find the record of a series of experiments and observations more thorough and ingenious than those instituted by any of the accomplished author's predecessors. . . . . Sir John has been a close observer of the habits of ants for many years, generally having from thirty to forty communities under his notice, and not only watching each of these in its carefully isolated glass house, but, by the use of paint-marks, following the fortunes of individuals. . . . . One notable result of this system has been the correcting of previous theories as to the age to which ants attain: instead of living merely a year, as the popular belief has been, some of Sir John's queens and workers are thriving after being under observation since 1874 and 1875."—New York World.

"Sir John Lubbock's book on 'Ants, Bees, and Wasps' is mainly devoted to the crawlers, and not the fliers, though he has some observations upon honey-bees and more interesting ones upon the unpopular wasp, which he fondly deems to be capable of gratitude. Darwin made a strong case for the monkeys, but Lubbock may yet make us out to be, as Irishmen say, 'The sons of our ants.' For he begins his entertaining book thus: 'The anthropoid apes no doubt approach nearer to man in bodily structure than do any other animals, but, when we consider the habits of ants, their large communities and elaborate habitations, their roadways, their possession of domestic animals, and, even in some cases, of slaves, it must be admitted that they have a fair claim to rank next to man in the scale of intelligence.'"—Springfield Republican.

—————————For sale by all booksellers; or sent by mail, post-paid, on receipt of price.—————————New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond Street.

FOOTNOTES:[1]Letters may be addressed to me directly at 18 Cornwall Terrace, Regent's Park, London, N W.[2]Of course it may be said that we have no evidence ofpromptingin either case; but this is the side issue which concerns the general relation of body and mind, and has nothing to do with the guarantee of inferring the presence of mind in particular cases.[3]I.e., ancestral as well as individual. If the race had not always had occasion to close the eyelids to protect the eyes, it is certain that the young child would not so quickly learn to do so in virtue of its own individual experience alone; and as the action cannot be attributed to any process of conscious inference, it is not rational; but we have seen that it is not originally reflex; therefore it is instinctive.[4]Psychological Researches, p. 187.[5]H. J. Carter, F.R.S.,Annals of Natural History, 3rd Series, 1863, pp. 45-6.[6]For an account of the natural movements of the Medusæ and the effects of stimulation upon them, see Croonian Lecture inPhil. Trans.1875, and alsoPhil. Trans.1877 and 1879.[7]See Croonian Lecture, 1881, in forthcoming issue ofPhil. Trans.[8]Natural History of Ceylon, p. 481.[9]This fact is also stated by Bingley,Animal Biography, vol. iii. p. 454, and is now turned to practical account in the so-called 'Oyster-schools' of France. The distance from the coast to Paris being too great for the newly dredged oysters to travel without opening their shells, they are first taught in the schools to bear a longer and longer exposure to the air without gaping, and when their education in this respect is completed they are sent on their journey to the metropolis, where they arrive with closed shells, and in a healthy condition.[10]Bingley,loc. cit., vol. iii. p. 449.[11]De l'Espèce et de la Classe, &c., 1869, p. 106.[12]A Londoner's Walk to Edinburgh, p. 155 (1856).[13]Descent of Man, pp. 262-3.[14]The facts, however, in order to sustain such conclusions, of course require corroboration, and it is therefore to be regretted that Mr. Lonsdale did not experimentally repeat the conditions.[15]Journal Linn. Soc.vol. xiv. p. 406et seq.[16]Mag. Nat. Hist.1831, vol. iv. p. 346.[17]Thieresche Wille, § 78.[18]Leben der Cephalopoden, s. 21.[19]While this MS. is passing through the press Sir John Lubbock has read another paper before the Linnæan Society, which contains some important additional matter concerning the sense of direction in ants. It seems that in the experiment above described, the hat-box was not provided with a cover or lid, i.e. was not a 'closed chamber,' and that Sir John now finds the ants to take their bearings from the direction in which they observe the light to fall upon them. For in the experiment with the uncovered hat-box, if the source of light (candle) is moved round together with the rotating table which supports the box, the ants continue their way without making compensating changes in their direction of advance. The same thing happens if the hat-box is covered, so as to make of it a dark chamber. Direction of light being the source of their information that their ground is being moved, we can understand why they do not know that it is being moved when it is moved in the direction of their advance, as in the experiment with the paper slip.[20]It is to be noted that although ants will attack stranger ants introduced from other nests, they will carefully tend stranger larvæ similarly introduced.[21]The Naturalist in Nicaragua, 1874, p. 26.[22]SeeLeisure Hour, 1880, p. 390.[23]Introduction to Entomology, vol. ii. p. 524.[24]Vol. vii. pp. 443-4.[25]Büchner,Geistesleben der Thiere, pp. 66-7.[26]Origin of Species, 6th ed. pp. 207-8.[27]Loc. cit.p. 121.[28]Loc. cit.p. 123.[29]Origin of Species, 6th ed. p. 218.[30]Geistesleben der Thiere, pp. 145-9.[31]Loc. cit.[32]Loc. cit.p. 337.[33]Loc. cit.p. 97.[34]Harvesting Ants and Trap-door Spiders, London, 1873 and Supplement, 1874.[35]Journal Linn. Soc., vol. vi. p. 29, 1862.[36]Agricultural Ant of Texas, Philadelphia, 1880.[37]Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., i. 103, 1836.[38]Madras Journ. Lit. Sc., 1851.[39]For this see Moggridge,loc. cit.pp. 6-10, where, besides Prov. iv. 6-8, and xxx. 25, quotations are given from Horace, Virgil, Plautus, and others.[40]Proc. Phil. Acad. Nat. Sci., xii. p. 445.[41]Agricultural Ant of Texas (Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, 1880).[42]Missionary Travels, p. 328.[43]Animal Biography, 'Ants.'[44]Büchner,Geistesleben der Thiere, English translation, p. 49.[45]While this work is passing through the press, an interesting Essay has been published by Mr. MacCook on the Honey-making Ant. I am not here able to refer to this Essay at greater length, but have done so in a review inNature(March 2, 1882.)—G. J. R.[46]Vol. ix. p. 484.[47]Passions of Animals, p. 53.[48]Vol. xii. p. 68.[49]'Three months' in the Journal of the Linnæan Society, but Sir John Lubbock informs me that this is a misprint.[50]See Kirby and Spence, vol. ii. p. 591.[51]Letter to Mr. Darwin, published inNature, vol. x., p. 102.[52]Vol. xii., pp. 25-6.[53]Loc. cit.[54]Art. 'Bees,'Encycl. Brit.[55]Dr. Kemp,Indications of Instinct.[56]The Bee, 1877, No. 1.[57]Dr. Lindley Kemp,Indications of Instinct.[58]Handcock on Instinct, p. 18.[59]Introd. Ent., ii, p. 465.[60]Origin of Species, 'Cell-making Instinct.'[61]Origin of Species, p. 225.[62]Mind in Animals, pp. 252-3.[63]For a complete account of these habits see Bingley,Animal Biography, vol. iii., pp. 272-5.[64]Mém. sur les Insectes, tom. vi., p. 39.[65]Vol. i., pp. 22-3 (3rd ed.).[66]Vol. xvii., p. 373.[67]See Brehm,Thierleben, ix., p. 252.[68]An exactly similar case is recorded by Stodmann in hisTravels in Surinam, ii., p. 286.[69]Nature, ix., p. 189.[70]SeeKirby and Spence, vol. ii., p. 229.[71]Loc. cit., p. 189.[72]Ibid., p. 119.[73]Geistesleben der Thiere, pp. 194 and 199-200.[74]Phil. Trans.,loc. cit.[75]Body and Mind, p. 275.[76]Nature, xxiii., pp. 149-50.[77]Naturalist on the Amazon, p. 83.[78]For many other confirmations see Sir E. Tennent,Nat. Hist. Ceylon, pp. 468-69.[79]Kirby, vol. ii., p. 298.[80]Thompson,Passions of Animals, p. 145.[81]Loc. cit., p. 316et seq.[82]Hist. Habits and Inst. of Animals, vol. ii. p. 296.[83]Nature, vol. xx., p. 581.[84]Harvesting Ants and Trap-door Spiders, p. 120.[85]'The History and Habits ofEpeira aurelia,' inAnnals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.for June 1865.[86]Harvesting Ants and Trap-door Spiders, p. 126. This admirable work, with its appendix, contains a very full account of the whole economy of the interesting animals with which it is concerned.[87]Loc. cit., p. 319.[88]Gleanings, vol. i., p. 103.[89]Naturalist in Nicaragua, p. 19.[90]Quoted by Bingley,Animal Biography, vol. iii., p. 118.[91]Loc. cit., p. 344.[92]Büchner,loc. cit., p. 344.[93]Quoted in Strauss,Insects, s. 389.[94]Kirby and Spence,loc. cit., pp. 321-2.[95]Life and Recollections, vol. ii., p. 356.[96]Quoted by Bingley,loc. cit., vol. iii., pp. 150-51.[97]Gleanings, vol. ii., pp. 165-6.[98]American Journ. Sc. and Art, vol. x., Oct. 1875.[99]Animal Biography, vol. iii., pp. 244-5.[100]Nature, vii., p. 49.[101]Intr. to Ent., ii., p. 475.[102]Ibid., p. 475.[103]Œuvres, ix., p. 370.[104]Trans. Ent. Soc., vol. ii.[105]Introd. Ent., Letter xi.[106]Westwood,Trans. Ent. Soc., vol. ii., p. 1.[107]Kirby and Spence,Entomology, Letter xvi.[108]Trans. Ent. Soc. France, vol. i., p. 201.[109]Introduction to Entomology, Letter xxvi.[110]Phil. Frags., translated by Huxley,Taylor's Mag., 1853, p. 196.[111]Silliman'sAmerican Journal, Feb. 1872.[112]Ransom,Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 1865, xvi., p. 449.[113]Quoted from Francis Day, F.L.S., 'Instincts and Emotions of Fish,'Journ. Linn. Soc., vol. xv., pp. 36-7, where see for other cases of nest-building among fish.[114]Ibid.[115]Kaup,Catal. Lopho. Fish in Brit. Mus.1856, p. i.[116]Yarrell,Brit. Fishes, 2nd ed. ii. p. 436.[117]Compt. Rend., Nov. 4, 1872, p. 1127.[118]Phil. Trans. Royal Society, 1747.[119]F. Day,loc. cit.[120]Shelley,Lines written in the Bay of Lerici.[121]See Smiles,Lives of Engineers, vol. iii., p. 69.[122]See 'On the Jaculator-Fish,' by Schlosser,Phil. Trans.1764.[123]Natural History of Ceylon, p. 351.[124]Kirby,Hist. Habits and Instincts of Animals, vol i. p. 119.[125]F. Day,loc. cit.[126]Hist. des Poiss.,Introd., cxxx.[127]For sundry other similar cases see Mr. Day's excellent paper already quoted.[128]Cuv.,Anim. Kingd.x. p. 636.[129]F. Day,loc. cit.[130]Account of the United States, vol. ii., p. 9.[131]April 11, 1870.[132]See Bingley,Animal Biography, vol. ii., p. 406.[133]Smiles,Life of Edwards, p. 124.[134]Passions of Animals, p. 229.[135]Naturalist on the Amazon, pp. 285-6.[136]Ibid.The astonishing facts relating to the migration of turtles in the laying season will be treated under the general heading 'Migration' in my forthcoming work.[137]Gleanings, vol. i., pp. 163-4.[138]The tortoise which has gained such immortal celebrity by having fallen under the observation of the author of theNatural History of Selborne, likewise distinguished persons in this way. For 'whenever the good old lady came in sight, who had waited on it for more than thirty years, it always hobbled with awkward alacrity towards its benefactress, whilst to strangers it was altogether inattentive.'[139]This gentleman was Lord Arthur Russell.[140]TheTimes, July 25, 1872.[141]SeeAnnas. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., 2nd series, vol. ix., p. 333.[142]Thompson,Passions of Animals, p. 118; see also Bingley,Animal Biography, vol. ii., pp. 447-8.[143]Natural History of Ceylon, p. 314.[144]Tennent,loc. cit., p. 299.[145]Curiosities, &c., p. 126. Wilson also, in hisAmerican Ornithology, gives the following sufficiently credible account of the memory of a crow:—'A gentleman who resided on the Delaware, a few miles below Easton, had raised [reared] a crow, with whose tricks and society he used frequently to amuse himself. This crow lived long in the family, but at length disappeared, having, as was then supposed, been shot by some vagrant gunner, or destroyed by accident. About eleven months after this, as the gentleman one morning, in company with several others, was standing on the river shore, a number of crows happened to pass by; one of them left the flock, and flying directly towards the company, alighted on the gentleman's shoulder, and began to gabble away with great volubility, as one long-absent friend naturally enough does on meeting another. On recovering from his surprise the gentleman instantly recognised his old acquaintance, and endeavoured, by several civil but sly manœuvres, to lay hold of him; but the crow, not altogether relishing quite so much familiarity, having now had a taste of the sweets of liberty, cautiously eluded all his attempts; and suddenly glancing his eye on his distant companions, mounted in the air after them, soon overtook and mingled with them, and was never afterwards seen to return.'[146]Journal of Mental Science, July 1879.[147]Couch,Illustrations of Instinct, p. 165.[148]Gleanings, vol. i., pp. 112-13.[149]Couch,Illustrations of Instinct, p. 232.[150]See especially Bingley,Animal Biography, vol. ii., pp. 327-29.[151]Gleanings, pp. 58-9.[152]Smiles,Life of Edward, p. 240.[153]History of Mexico, p. 220.[154]Zoologist, vol. ii.[155]Watson,Reasoning Power of Animals, pp. 375-76, where see also some curious cases of male storks slaying their females upon the latter hatching out eggs of other birds. He gives an exactly similar case as having occurred with the domestic cock; and in Bingley (loc. cit., vol. ii., p. 241) there is quoted from Dr. Percival another case of the same kind, in which a cock killed his hen as soon as she had hatched out a brood of young partridges from eggs which had been set to her.[156]See Darwin.Descent of Man, pp. 92, 381, 406, 413.[157]Gould,Birds of Australia, vol. i., pp. 442-45.[158]Bingley,Animal Biography, vol. ii., p. 220.[159]For full information, see Buckland,Curiosities of Natural History, p. 183.[160]Of the crow (carrion and hooded), Edward says: 'He goes aloft with a crab, and lets it fall upon a stone or a rock chosen for the purpose. If it does not break, he seizes it again, goes up higher, lets it fall, and repeats his operation again and again until his object is accomplished. When a convenient stone is once met with, the birds resort to it for a long time. I myself know a pretty high rock, that has been used by successive generations of crows for about twenty years!' Also, as Handcock says, 'a friend of Dr. Darwin saw on the north coast of Ireland above a hundred crows preying upon mussels, which is not their natural food; each crow took a mussel up into the air, twenty or forty yards high, and let it fall on the stones, and thus breaking the shell, got possession of the animal. Ravens, we are told, often resort to the same contrivance.'[161]Couch,Illustrations of Instinct, pp. 192-93.[162]Gleanings, &c., vol. i., p. 71.[163]Ibid.[164]Voyage of a Naturalist, &c., p. 184.[165]Orn. Biog., i., p. 276.[166]Newton,Encycl. Brit., art. 'Birds.'[167]Catalogue of Birds, &c., p. 16.[168]Gould,Birds of Australia, vol. ii., p. 155, where see for further description.[169]Animal Biography, vol. ii., p. 204.[170]SeeDescent of Man, p. 452et seq.[171]See Newton,Ency. Brit., art. 'Birds.'[172]Natural Selection, pp. 232-3.[173]Phil. Trans., vol. lxxviii., p. 221et seq.[174]The young cuckoo is generally hatched first.[175]Allusion is here made to the fact that the cuckoo lays her eggs at intervals of two or three days, and therefore that if all were incubated by the mother, they would hatch out at different times—a state of things which actually obtains in the case of the American cuckoo, whose nest contains eggs and young at the same time.[176]It is worth while to observe, as bearing on this theory of the origin of this parasitic habit, that even non-parasitic birds occasionally deposit their eggs in nests of other birds. Thus, Professor A. Newton writes in his admirable essay on 'Birds' in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 'Certain it is that some birds, whether by mistake or stupidity, do not unfrequently lay their eggs in the nests of others. It is within the knowledge of many that pheasants' eggs and partridges' eggs are often laid in the same nest; and it is within the knowledge of the writer that gulls' eggs have been found in the nests of eider-ducks, andvice versâ; that a redstart and a pied flycatcher will lay their eggs in the same convenient hole—the forest being rather deficient in such accommodation; that an owl and a duck will resort to the same nest-hole, set up by the scheming woodman for his own advantage; and that the starling, which constantly dispossesses the green woodpecker, sometimes discovers that the rightful heir of the domicile has to be brought up by the intruding tenant.'[177]Origin of Species, p. 215.[178]Tom. i., p. 130.[179]SeeBirds of India, i., p. 21;Passions of Animals, p. 60;Fac. Men. des Ani., tom. ii., p. 183;Mind in Lower Animals, vol. ii., p. 96; andDescent of Man, p. 74.[180]Animal Biography, vol. ii., p. 173.[181]Nature, xx., p. 266.[182]Vol. i., p. 216. See alsoDescent of Man, p. 80.[183]Menault,Wonders of Instinct, p. 132.[184]Nat. on Amazons, p. 177;Anecdotes, p. 135.[185]Gleanings, vol. ii., p. 96.[186]Ibid., p. 99.[187]Nature, vol. xiii., p. 303.[188]Unbeaten Tracks in Japan, vol. ii, pp. 149-50.[189]Smiles,Life of Edward, pp. 244-6.[190]Passions of Animals, p. 154.[191]See Mr. Darwin's account inNaturalist's Voyage round the World, pp. 151-2.[192]Nature, vol. xx., p. 21.[193]Thompson,Passions of Animals, p. 308.[194]Natural History of Ceylon, p. 54.[195]Ibid., p. 56.[196]Missionary Travels, p. 328.[197]Ibid., p. 280.[198]Gleanings, &c., vol. i., p. 20.[199]Ibid., vol. ii., p. 20.[200]Ibid., pp. 226-7.[201]Pp. 66 and 97.[202]Thompson,Passions of Animals, p. 308.[203]On the Pig, p. 17.[204]Ibid.[205]History of the North American Pinnipeds.The quotations are taken from pp. 348 to 361.[206]Animal Biography, vol. iii., pp. 301-2.[207]Thompson,Passions in Animals, p. 337.[208]Vol. viii., Washington, 1877: 'A Monograph of the North AmericanMustelidæ.'[209]It is particularly remarkable that if under these circumstances a rabbit bolts and, seeing the sportsman, doubles back into its burrow, being then certain that the sportsman is waiting, it will usually allow itself to be slowly and painfully killed by the ferret rather than bolt a second time. This is remarkable because it proves the strength of an abiding image or idea in the mind of the animal.[210]See Watson'sReasoning Power in Animals, andQuarterly Review, c. i., p. 135.[211]See especially Jesse,Gleanings, &c., iii., p. 206; andQuarterly Review, c. i., p. 135.[212]Thompson,Passions of Animals, p. 368.[213]The Rat, its Natural History, p. 102.[214]Mrs. Lee,Anecdotes of Animals, p. 264.[215]Jesse,Gleanings, &c., ii., p. 281.[216]Reasoning Power in Animals, p. 293.[217]Loc. cit.[218]Jesse,Gleanings, iii., p. 176.[219]Introduction to Arctic Zoology, p 70.[220]Dr. Henderson,Journal of a Residence in Iceland in 1814 and 1815, vol. ii., p. 187.[221]The American Beaver and his Works(Lippincott & Co. 1868).[222]To obviate this possibility, they often select as their site a place where a spring happens to rise in the bottom of the lake or pond.[223]In times of considerable 'freshet' the former case sometimes occurs; the beavers not being able to provide for a very considerable overflow through their dams, the latter become then wholly submerged. When again exposed, the animals take great pains in repairing the injuries sustained.[224]Note on Beaver Dams (Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 1869, p. 101,et seq.).[225]Plin.,Hist. Nat., viii. 1-13.[226]De Solert. Anim., c. 12.[227]Philosophical Transactions, 1799, p. 40.[228]See Bingley,loc. cit., vol. i., pp. 148-51.[229]Hist. Nat., viii., 5.[230]For these and other cases of vindictiveness, see Bingley,loc. cit., vol. i., pp. 156-8.[231]Memoirs, vol. i., p. 448.[232]Zoological Recreations, p. 315.[233]Animal Biography, i., pp. 156-8.[234]Anecdotes of Animals, p. 276.[235]Habits and Instincts of Animals, p. 37.[236]Reasoning Power of Animals, chap. iv.[237]Quoted inAnimal World, March 1882.[238]Philosophical Transactions, 1873.[239]Natural History of Ceylon, p. 114.[240]Natural History of Ceylon, p. 140.[241]Natural History of Ceylon, p. 196.[242]Phil. Trans.,A.D.1701, vol. xxiii., p. 1052.[243]Loc. cit., p. 216.[244]Memoirs, vol. ii., p. 64et seq.[245]Jesse,Gleanings in Natural History, vol. i, p. 19.[246]Descent of Man, p. 96.[247]SeeAnimal Kingdom, vol. iii., p. 374.[248]Reasoning Power of Animals, pp. 54-5.[249]Bingley,Animal Biography, vol. i., p. 155.[250]Bingley,Animal Biography, vol. i., p. 155.[251]See his letter to Sir E. Tennent inNat. Hist. of Ceylon, pp. 118-20.[252]Indications of Instinct, p. 129.[253]Descent of Man, p. 69.[254]Natural History of Ceylon, pp. 181-94.[255]Natural History of Ceylon, pp. 181-94.[256]Nature, vol. xix., p. 519.[257]Nature, vol. xx., p. 197.[258]Some of my correspondents tell me of pet or drawing-room cats jumping on chairs and looking at bells when they want milk—this being their sign that they want the bell pulled to call the servant who brings the milk; and Mr. Lawson Tait tells me that one of his cats—of course without tuition—has gone a step further, in that she places her paws upon the bell as a still more emphatic sign that she desires it pulled. But Dr. Creighton Browne tells me of a cat which he has that goes a step further than this, and herself rings the bell. This is corroborative of Archbishop Whately's anecdote. 'This cat lived many years in my mother's family, and its feats of sagacity were witnessed by her, my sisters, and myself. It was known, not merely once or twice, but habitually, to ring the parlour bell whenever it wished the door to be opened. Some alarm was excited on the first occasion that it turned bell-ringer. The family had retired to rest, and in the middle of the night the parlour bell was rung violently; the sleepers were startled from their repose, and proceeded downstairs with poker and tongs, to intercept, as they thought, the predatory movements of some burglar; but they were equally surprised to find that the bell had been rung by pussy, who frequently repeated the act whenever she wished to get out of the parlour.' The cases, however, mentioned in the text are more remarkable than any of these, which, nevertheless, all tend to lead up to them as by a series of steps. Dogs attain to the level of asking by gesture their masters to ring bells. One instance will be sufficient to quote. Mr. Rae says in 'Nature' (vol. xix., p. 459): 'A small English terrier belonging to a friend has been taught to ring for the servant. To test if the dog knewwhyit rang the bell he was told to do so while the girl was in the room. The little fellow looked up in the most intelligent manner at the person giving the order (his master or mistress, I forget which), then at the servant, and refused to obey, although the order was repeated more than once. The servant left the room, and a few minutes afterwards the dog rang the bell immediately on being told to do so.'It must also be added that dogs sometimes attain to the level of knocking knockers—though I should think this must be very rare with these animals, as I have only met with one case of it. This, however, is a remarkably good case, not only because it rests upon the authority of a famous observer, but also because it is so very definite as proving an act of reason. Dureau de la Malle had a terrier born in his house. It had never seen a knocker in its native home, and when grown up it was taken by its master to Paris. Getting fatigued by a walk in the streets, the animal returned to the house, but found the door shut, and it endeavoured vainly to attract the attention of those within by barking. At length a visitor called, knocked at the knocker, and gained admittance. The dog observed what had been done, and went in together with the visitor. The same afternoon he went in and out half a dozen times, gaining admittance on each occasion by springing at the knocker.Lastly, Dr. W. H. Kesteven writes to 'Nature' (xx., p. 428) of a cat which used to knock at a knocker to gain admittance, in the way already described of so many other cats; but as showing how much more readily cats acquire this practice than dogs, it is interesting to note that Dr. Kesteven adds that a dog which lived in the same house ascertained that the cat was able to gain admittance by knocking, and yet did not imitate the action, but 'was in the habit of searching for her when he wanted to come in, and either waiting till she was ready to knock at the door, or inducing her to do it to please him.'[259]Consul E. L. Layard gives inNature(xx., p. 339) a precisely similar case of a cat habitually and without tuition ringing a bell by pulling at an exposed wire.[260]I have requested Dr. Rae to write out all the particulars of these remarkable observations, and the following is the response which he has kindly made:—'When trapping foxes in Hudson's Bay it sometimes happens that certain of these acute animals, probably from having seen their companions caught, studiously avoid the ordinary steel and wooden traps, however carefully set. The trapper then sets one or more guns in a peculiar manner, having a line 15 or 20 yards long uniting the trigger with a bait, on taking hold of which the fox sets the gun off, and commits suicide. The double object of the bait being placed so near the gun is that the fox may be certainly killed—not wounded only—and that the head alone should be hit, and the body not riddled all over with shot, which would spoil the skin. It is also necessary to mention that four or five inches of slack line must be allowed for contraction of the line by change from a dry to a moist atmosphere, which otherwise would cause so great a strain on the trigger that the gun would be discharged without the bait being touched. So as to conceal as far as possible all connection between bait and gun, that part of the line next the bait is carefully hid under the snow.'When the fox takes the bait, he will have lifted it five inches (the length of the slack line) from its normal position before the gun goes off; consequently, instead of pointing the gun at the bait, it is aimed fully eight or nine inches higher, at the probable position of the brain of the animal when the gun is discharged.'For reasons which scarcely require explanation, foxes very generally go about in pairs (long before the snow disappears), not necessarily always close together, because they have a better chance of finding food if separated some distance from each other.'After one or more foxes have been shot, the trapper on visiting his guns perhaps finds that a fox has first cut the line connecting the bait with the gun, and then gone up and eaten the bait; or, if the gun has been set on a drift bank of snow, he or she has scraped a trench ten or twelve inches deep up to the bait, taken hold of it whilst lying in the trench, set the gun off, and then trotted coolly away with the food (taken, one may say, from the gun's mouth) safe and uninjured, as is clearly evinced by there being no mark of blood on the tracks.'In pulling the bait whilst in the trench, the fox would drag it five inches, or the length of the slack line,downwards, and therefore hisheadandnosewould be completely out of harm's way, both because of the snow protection, and also these parts of his body being twelve or thirteen inches below the line of aim.'In the cases seen by myself, and by a friend of greater experience, the trench was always scraped at right angles, or nearly so, to the line of fire of the gun. This at first sight may appear erroneous, but on reflection it really is not so, for if the trench is to be a shelter one—thinking, as the fox must have done, that the gun or something coming from it was the danger to be protected from or guarded against—it must be made across the line of fire, for if scratched in the direction of fire it would afford little or no protection or concealment, and the reasoning power or intelligence of the fox would be at fault.'My belief is that one of these knowing foxes had seen his or her companion shot, or found it dead shortly after it had been killed, and not unnaturally attributed the cause of the mishap to the only strange thing it saw near, namely, the gun.'It was evident that in all cases they had studied the situation carefully, as was sufficiently shown by their tracks in the snow, which indicated their extremely cautious approach when either the string-cutting or trench-making dodge was resorted to, in attempting to obtain the coveted bait without injury to themselves.'[261]It will be remembered that, from evidence previously detailed, both the wolverine or glutton and certain deer have been shown capable of similarly obviating the danger of gun-traps.[262]Nat. Hist. of Ceylon, p. 35.[263]Descent of Man, p. 74.[264]So many cases are on record of large dogs (especially of the Newfoundland breed) throwing troublesome curs into the water, and again rescuing them if they show danger of drowning, that we can scarcely fail to accept them as true. Such cases exhibit a wonderful play of human-like emotions.[265]Descent of Man, p. 71.[266]For many other instances of sheep-dog sagacity, see Watson,Reasoning Power of Animals, under 'Shepherd's Dog.'[267]Naturalist's Library, vol. x., p. 154 (quoted by Watson).[268]Since my MS. went to press I have myself met with a striking display of the recognition of a portrait by a dog. The portrait was one of myself, and the dog a half-bred setter and retriever of my own.[269]Missionary Travels, chap. i.[270]Illustrations of Instinct, p. 179.[271]Descent of Man, p. 70.[272]Gleanings, vol. iii. pp. 86-7.[273]Boston Journal of Nat. Hist., iv. p. 324.[274]Descent of Man, p. 72.[275]Descent of Man, 71.[276]Ibid., p. 69.[277]Descent of Man, pp. 77-8.[278]Naturalist in Nicaragua, p. 119.[279]Loc. cit., vol. i., p. 305.[280]On subsequent observation (January 14, 1881), I find this quietness was not due to shame at having bitten me, for whether he succeeds in biting any person or not he always sits quiet and dull-looking after a fit of passion, being, I think, fatigued. He has bitten me often since December 24, and seems to enjoy the fun on the whole.[281]These heavy objects he overturns with exceeding caution, balancing them several times carefully, and studying them before finally throwing or pulling them over.[282]January 14, 1881. The marble slab was left with him after the chain had been fastened to the ring; but since that time he has never attempted to move the marble.

[1]Letters may be addressed to me directly at 18 Cornwall Terrace, Regent's Park, London, N W.

[2]Of course it may be said that we have no evidence ofpromptingin either case; but this is the side issue which concerns the general relation of body and mind, and has nothing to do with the guarantee of inferring the presence of mind in particular cases.

[3]I.e., ancestral as well as individual. If the race had not always had occasion to close the eyelids to protect the eyes, it is certain that the young child would not so quickly learn to do so in virtue of its own individual experience alone; and as the action cannot be attributed to any process of conscious inference, it is not rational; but we have seen that it is not originally reflex; therefore it is instinctive.

[4]Psychological Researches, p. 187.

[5]H. J. Carter, F.R.S.,Annals of Natural History, 3rd Series, 1863, pp. 45-6.

[6]For an account of the natural movements of the Medusæ and the effects of stimulation upon them, see Croonian Lecture inPhil. Trans.1875, and alsoPhil. Trans.1877 and 1879.

[7]See Croonian Lecture, 1881, in forthcoming issue ofPhil. Trans.

[8]Natural History of Ceylon, p. 481.

[9]This fact is also stated by Bingley,Animal Biography, vol. iii. p. 454, and is now turned to practical account in the so-called 'Oyster-schools' of France. The distance from the coast to Paris being too great for the newly dredged oysters to travel without opening their shells, they are first taught in the schools to bear a longer and longer exposure to the air without gaping, and when their education in this respect is completed they are sent on their journey to the metropolis, where they arrive with closed shells, and in a healthy condition.

[10]Bingley,loc. cit., vol. iii. p. 449.

[11]De l'Espèce et de la Classe, &c., 1869, p. 106.

[12]A Londoner's Walk to Edinburgh, p. 155 (1856).

[13]Descent of Man, pp. 262-3.

[14]The facts, however, in order to sustain such conclusions, of course require corroboration, and it is therefore to be regretted that Mr. Lonsdale did not experimentally repeat the conditions.

[15]Journal Linn. Soc.vol. xiv. p. 406et seq.

[16]Mag. Nat. Hist.1831, vol. iv. p. 346.

[17]Thieresche Wille, § 78.

[18]Leben der Cephalopoden, s. 21.

[19]While this MS. is passing through the press Sir John Lubbock has read another paper before the Linnæan Society, which contains some important additional matter concerning the sense of direction in ants. It seems that in the experiment above described, the hat-box was not provided with a cover or lid, i.e. was not a 'closed chamber,' and that Sir John now finds the ants to take their bearings from the direction in which they observe the light to fall upon them. For in the experiment with the uncovered hat-box, if the source of light (candle) is moved round together with the rotating table which supports the box, the ants continue their way without making compensating changes in their direction of advance. The same thing happens if the hat-box is covered, so as to make of it a dark chamber. Direction of light being the source of their information that their ground is being moved, we can understand why they do not know that it is being moved when it is moved in the direction of their advance, as in the experiment with the paper slip.

[20]It is to be noted that although ants will attack stranger ants introduced from other nests, they will carefully tend stranger larvæ similarly introduced.

[21]The Naturalist in Nicaragua, 1874, p. 26.

[22]SeeLeisure Hour, 1880, p. 390.

[23]Introduction to Entomology, vol. ii. p. 524.

[24]Vol. vii. pp. 443-4.

[25]Büchner,Geistesleben der Thiere, pp. 66-7.

[26]Origin of Species, 6th ed. pp. 207-8.

[27]Loc. cit.p. 121.

[28]Loc. cit.p. 123.

[29]Origin of Species, 6th ed. p. 218.

[30]Geistesleben der Thiere, pp. 145-9.

[31]Loc. cit.

[32]Loc. cit.p. 337.

[33]Loc. cit.p. 97.

[34]Harvesting Ants and Trap-door Spiders, London, 1873 and Supplement, 1874.

[35]Journal Linn. Soc., vol. vi. p. 29, 1862.

[36]Agricultural Ant of Texas, Philadelphia, 1880.

[37]Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., i. 103, 1836.

[38]Madras Journ. Lit. Sc., 1851.

[39]For this see Moggridge,loc. cit.pp. 6-10, where, besides Prov. iv. 6-8, and xxx. 25, quotations are given from Horace, Virgil, Plautus, and others.

[40]Proc. Phil. Acad. Nat. Sci., xii. p. 445.

[41]Agricultural Ant of Texas (Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, 1880).

[42]Missionary Travels, p. 328.

[43]Animal Biography, 'Ants.'

[44]Büchner,Geistesleben der Thiere, English translation, p. 49.

[45]While this work is passing through the press, an interesting Essay has been published by Mr. MacCook on the Honey-making Ant. I am not here able to refer to this Essay at greater length, but have done so in a review inNature(March 2, 1882.)—G. J. R.

[46]Vol. ix. p. 484.

[47]Passions of Animals, p. 53.

[48]Vol. xii. p. 68.

[49]'Three months' in the Journal of the Linnæan Society, but Sir John Lubbock informs me that this is a misprint.

[50]See Kirby and Spence, vol. ii. p. 591.

[51]Letter to Mr. Darwin, published inNature, vol. x., p. 102.

[52]Vol. xii., pp. 25-6.

[53]Loc. cit.

[54]Art. 'Bees,'Encycl. Brit.

[55]Dr. Kemp,Indications of Instinct.

[56]The Bee, 1877, No. 1.

[57]Dr. Lindley Kemp,Indications of Instinct.

[58]Handcock on Instinct, p. 18.

[59]Introd. Ent., ii, p. 465.

[60]Origin of Species, 'Cell-making Instinct.'

[61]Origin of Species, p. 225.

[62]Mind in Animals, pp. 252-3.

[63]For a complete account of these habits see Bingley,Animal Biography, vol. iii., pp. 272-5.

[64]Mém. sur les Insectes, tom. vi., p. 39.

[65]Vol. i., pp. 22-3 (3rd ed.).

[66]Vol. xvii., p. 373.

[67]See Brehm,Thierleben, ix., p. 252.

[68]An exactly similar case is recorded by Stodmann in hisTravels in Surinam, ii., p. 286.

[69]Nature, ix., p. 189.

[70]SeeKirby and Spence, vol. ii., p. 229.

[71]Loc. cit., p. 189.

[72]Ibid., p. 119.

[73]Geistesleben der Thiere, pp. 194 and 199-200.

[74]Phil. Trans.,loc. cit.

[75]Body and Mind, p. 275.

[76]Nature, xxiii., pp. 149-50.

[77]Naturalist on the Amazon, p. 83.

[78]For many other confirmations see Sir E. Tennent,Nat. Hist. Ceylon, pp. 468-69.

[79]Kirby, vol. ii., p. 298.

[80]Thompson,Passions of Animals, p. 145.

[81]Loc. cit., p. 316et seq.

[82]Hist. Habits and Inst. of Animals, vol. ii. p. 296.

[83]Nature, vol. xx., p. 581.

[84]Harvesting Ants and Trap-door Spiders, p. 120.

[85]'The History and Habits ofEpeira aurelia,' inAnnals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.for June 1865.

[86]Harvesting Ants and Trap-door Spiders, p. 126. This admirable work, with its appendix, contains a very full account of the whole economy of the interesting animals with which it is concerned.

[87]Loc. cit., p. 319.

[88]Gleanings, vol. i., p. 103.

[89]Naturalist in Nicaragua, p. 19.

[90]Quoted by Bingley,Animal Biography, vol. iii., p. 118.

[91]Loc. cit., p. 344.

[92]Büchner,loc. cit., p. 344.

[93]Quoted in Strauss,Insects, s. 389.

[94]Kirby and Spence,loc. cit., pp. 321-2.

[95]Life and Recollections, vol. ii., p. 356.

[96]Quoted by Bingley,loc. cit., vol. iii., pp. 150-51.

[97]Gleanings, vol. ii., pp. 165-6.

[98]American Journ. Sc. and Art, vol. x., Oct. 1875.

[99]Animal Biography, vol. iii., pp. 244-5.

[100]Nature, vii., p. 49.

[101]Intr. to Ent., ii., p. 475.

[102]Ibid., p. 475.

[103]Œuvres, ix., p. 370.

[104]Trans. Ent. Soc., vol. ii.

[105]Introd. Ent., Letter xi.

[106]Westwood,Trans. Ent. Soc., vol. ii., p. 1.

[107]Kirby and Spence,Entomology, Letter xvi.

[108]Trans. Ent. Soc. France, vol. i., p. 201.

[109]Introduction to Entomology, Letter xxvi.

[110]Phil. Frags., translated by Huxley,Taylor's Mag., 1853, p. 196.

[111]Silliman'sAmerican Journal, Feb. 1872.

[112]Ransom,Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 1865, xvi., p. 449.

[113]Quoted from Francis Day, F.L.S., 'Instincts and Emotions of Fish,'Journ. Linn. Soc., vol. xv., pp. 36-7, where see for other cases of nest-building among fish.

[114]Ibid.

[115]Kaup,Catal. Lopho. Fish in Brit. Mus.1856, p. i.

[116]Yarrell,Brit. Fishes, 2nd ed. ii. p. 436.

[117]Compt. Rend., Nov. 4, 1872, p. 1127.

[118]Phil. Trans. Royal Society, 1747.

[119]F. Day,loc. cit.

[120]Shelley,Lines written in the Bay of Lerici.

[121]See Smiles,Lives of Engineers, vol. iii., p. 69.

[122]See 'On the Jaculator-Fish,' by Schlosser,Phil. Trans.1764.

[123]Natural History of Ceylon, p. 351.

[124]Kirby,Hist. Habits and Instincts of Animals, vol i. p. 119.

[125]F. Day,loc. cit.

[126]Hist. des Poiss.,Introd., cxxx.

[127]For sundry other similar cases see Mr. Day's excellent paper already quoted.

[128]Cuv.,Anim. Kingd.x. p. 636.

[129]F. Day,loc. cit.

[130]Account of the United States, vol. ii., p. 9.

[131]April 11, 1870.

[132]See Bingley,Animal Biography, vol. ii., p. 406.

[133]Smiles,Life of Edwards, p. 124.

[134]Passions of Animals, p. 229.

[135]Naturalist on the Amazon, pp. 285-6.

[136]Ibid.The astonishing facts relating to the migration of turtles in the laying season will be treated under the general heading 'Migration' in my forthcoming work.

[137]Gleanings, vol. i., pp. 163-4.

[138]The tortoise which has gained such immortal celebrity by having fallen under the observation of the author of theNatural History of Selborne, likewise distinguished persons in this way. For 'whenever the good old lady came in sight, who had waited on it for more than thirty years, it always hobbled with awkward alacrity towards its benefactress, whilst to strangers it was altogether inattentive.'

[139]This gentleman was Lord Arthur Russell.

[140]TheTimes, July 25, 1872.

[141]SeeAnnas. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., 2nd series, vol. ix., p. 333.

[142]Thompson,Passions of Animals, p. 118; see also Bingley,Animal Biography, vol. ii., pp. 447-8.

[143]Natural History of Ceylon, p. 314.

[144]Tennent,loc. cit., p. 299.

[145]Curiosities, &c., p. 126. Wilson also, in hisAmerican Ornithology, gives the following sufficiently credible account of the memory of a crow:—'A gentleman who resided on the Delaware, a few miles below Easton, had raised [reared] a crow, with whose tricks and society he used frequently to amuse himself. This crow lived long in the family, but at length disappeared, having, as was then supposed, been shot by some vagrant gunner, or destroyed by accident. About eleven months after this, as the gentleman one morning, in company with several others, was standing on the river shore, a number of crows happened to pass by; one of them left the flock, and flying directly towards the company, alighted on the gentleman's shoulder, and began to gabble away with great volubility, as one long-absent friend naturally enough does on meeting another. On recovering from his surprise the gentleman instantly recognised his old acquaintance, and endeavoured, by several civil but sly manœuvres, to lay hold of him; but the crow, not altogether relishing quite so much familiarity, having now had a taste of the sweets of liberty, cautiously eluded all his attempts; and suddenly glancing his eye on his distant companions, mounted in the air after them, soon overtook and mingled with them, and was never afterwards seen to return.'

[146]Journal of Mental Science, July 1879.

[147]Couch,Illustrations of Instinct, p. 165.

[148]Gleanings, vol. i., pp. 112-13.

[149]Couch,Illustrations of Instinct, p. 232.

[150]See especially Bingley,Animal Biography, vol. ii., pp. 327-29.

[151]Gleanings, pp. 58-9.

[152]Smiles,Life of Edward, p. 240.

[153]History of Mexico, p. 220.

[154]Zoologist, vol. ii.

[155]Watson,Reasoning Power of Animals, pp. 375-76, where see also some curious cases of male storks slaying their females upon the latter hatching out eggs of other birds. He gives an exactly similar case as having occurred with the domestic cock; and in Bingley (loc. cit., vol. ii., p. 241) there is quoted from Dr. Percival another case of the same kind, in which a cock killed his hen as soon as she had hatched out a brood of young partridges from eggs which had been set to her.

[156]See Darwin.Descent of Man, pp. 92, 381, 406, 413.

[157]Gould,Birds of Australia, vol. i., pp. 442-45.

[158]Bingley,Animal Biography, vol. ii., p. 220.

[159]For full information, see Buckland,Curiosities of Natural History, p. 183.

[160]Of the crow (carrion and hooded), Edward says: 'He goes aloft with a crab, and lets it fall upon a stone or a rock chosen for the purpose. If it does not break, he seizes it again, goes up higher, lets it fall, and repeats his operation again and again until his object is accomplished. When a convenient stone is once met with, the birds resort to it for a long time. I myself know a pretty high rock, that has been used by successive generations of crows for about twenty years!' Also, as Handcock says, 'a friend of Dr. Darwin saw on the north coast of Ireland above a hundred crows preying upon mussels, which is not their natural food; each crow took a mussel up into the air, twenty or forty yards high, and let it fall on the stones, and thus breaking the shell, got possession of the animal. Ravens, we are told, often resort to the same contrivance.'

[161]Couch,Illustrations of Instinct, pp. 192-93.

[162]Gleanings, &c., vol. i., p. 71.

[163]Ibid.

[164]Voyage of a Naturalist, &c., p. 184.

[165]Orn. Biog., i., p. 276.

[166]Newton,Encycl. Brit., art. 'Birds.'

[167]Catalogue of Birds, &c., p. 16.

[168]Gould,Birds of Australia, vol. ii., p. 155, where see for further description.

[169]Animal Biography, vol. ii., p. 204.

[170]SeeDescent of Man, p. 452et seq.

[171]See Newton,Ency. Brit., art. 'Birds.'

[172]Natural Selection, pp. 232-3.

[173]Phil. Trans., vol. lxxviii., p. 221et seq.

[174]The young cuckoo is generally hatched first.

[175]Allusion is here made to the fact that the cuckoo lays her eggs at intervals of two or three days, and therefore that if all were incubated by the mother, they would hatch out at different times—a state of things which actually obtains in the case of the American cuckoo, whose nest contains eggs and young at the same time.

[176]It is worth while to observe, as bearing on this theory of the origin of this parasitic habit, that even non-parasitic birds occasionally deposit their eggs in nests of other birds. Thus, Professor A. Newton writes in his admirable essay on 'Birds' in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 'Certain it is that some birds, whether by mistake or stupidity, do not unfrequently lay their eggs in the nests of others. It is within the knowledge of many that pheasants' eggs and partridges' eggs are often laid in the same nest; and it is within the knowledge of the writer that gulls' eggs have been found in the nests of eider-ducks, andvice versâ; that a redstart and a pied flycatcher will lay their eggs in the same convenient hole—the forest being rather deficient in such accommodation; that an owl and a duck will resort to the same nest-hole, set up by the scheming woodman for his own advantage; and that the starling, which constantly dispossesses the green woodpecker, sometimes discovers that the rightful heir of the domicile has to be brought up by the intruding tenant.'

[177]Origin of Species, p. 215.

[178]Tom. i., p. 130.

[179]SeeBirds of India, i., p. 21;Passions of Animals, p. 60;Fac. Men. des Ani., tom. ii., p. 183;Mind in Lower Animals, vol. ii., p. 96; andDescent of Man, p. 74.

[180]Animal Biography, vol. ii., p. 173.

[181]Nature, xx., p. 266.

[182]Vol. i., p. 216. See alsoDescent of Man, p. 80.

[183]Menault,Wonders of Instinct, p. 132.

[184]Nat. on Amazons, p. 177;Anecdotes, p. 135.

[185]Gleanings, vol. ii., p. 96.

[186]Ibid., p. 99.

[187]Nature, vol. xiii., p. 303.

[188]Unbeaten Tracks in Japan, vol. ii, pp. 149-50.

[189]Smiles,Life of Edward, pp. 244-6.

[190]Passions of Animals, p. 154.

[191]See Mr. Darwin's account inNaturalist's Voyage round the World, pp. 151-2.

[192]Nature, vol. xx., p. 21.

[193]Thompson,Passions of Animals, p. 308.

[194]Natural History of Ceylon, p. 54.

[195]Ibid., p. 56.

[196]Missionary Travels, p. 328.

[197]Ibid., p. 280.

[198]Gleanings, &c., vol. i., p. 20.

[199]Ibid., vol. ii., p. 20.

[200]Ibid., pp. 226-7.

[201]Pp. 66 and 97.

[202]Thompson,Passions of Animals, p. 308.

[203]On the Pig, p. 17.

[204]Ibid.

[205]History of the North American Pinnipeds.The quotations are taken from pp. 348 to 361.

[206]Animal Biography, vol. iii., pp. 301-2.

[207]Thompson,Passions in Animals, p. 337.

[208]Vol. viii., Washington, 1877: 'A Monograph of the North AmericanMustelidæ.'

[209]It is particularly remarkable that if under these circumstances a rabbit bolts and, seeing the sportsman, doubles back into its burrow, being then certain that the sportsman is waiting, it will usually allow itself to be slowly and painfully killed by the ferret rather than bolt a second time. This is remarkable because it proves the strength of an abiding image or idea in the mind of the animal.

[210]See Watson'sReasoning Power in Animals, andQuarterly Review, c. i., p. 135.

[211]See especially Jesse,Gleanings, &c., iii., p. 206; andQuarterly Review, c. i., p. 135.

[212]Thompson,Passions of Animals, p. 368.

[213]The Rat, its Natural History, p. 102.

[214]Mrs. Lee,Anecdotes of Animals, p. 264.

[215]Jesse,Gleanings, &c., ii., p. 281.

[216]Reasoning Power in Animals, p. 293.

[217]Loc. cit.

[218]Jesse,Gleanings, iii., p. 176.

[219]Introduction to Arctic Zoology, p 70.

[220]Dr. Henderson,Journal of a Residence in Iceland in 1814 and 1815, vol. ii., p. 187.

[221]The American Beaver and his Works(Lippincott & Co. 1868).

[222]To obviate this possibility, they often select as their site a place where a spring happens to rise in the bottom of the lake or pond.

[223]In times of considerable 'freshet' the former case sometimes occurs; the beavers not being able to provide for a very considerable overflow through their dams, the latter become then wholly submerged. When again exposed, the animals take great pains in repairing the injuries sustained.

[224]Note on Beaver Dams (Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 1869, p. 101,et seq.).

[225]Plin.,Hist. Nat., viii. 1-13.

[226]De Solert. Anim., c. 12.

[227]Philosophical Transactions, 1799, p. 40.

[228]See Bingley,loc. cit., vol. i., pp. 148-51.

[229]Hist. Nat., viii., 5.

[230]For these and other cases of vindictiveness, see Bingley,loc. cit., vol. i., pp. 156-8.

[231]Memoirs, vol. i., p. 448.

[232]Zoological Recreations, p. 315.

[233]Animal Biography, i., pp. 156-8.

[234]Anecdotes of Animals, p. 276.

[235]Habits and Instincts of Animals, p. 37.

[236]Reasoning Power of Animals, chap. iv.

[237]Quoted inAnimal World, March 1882.

[238]Philosophical Transactions, 1873.

[239]Natural History of Ceylon, p. 114.

[240]Natural History of Ceylon, p. 140.

[241]Natural History of Ceylon, p. 196.

[242]Phil. Trans.,A.D.1701, vol. xxiii., p. 1052.

[243]Loc. cit., p. 216.

[244]Memoirs, vol. ii., p. 64et seq.

[245]Jesse,Gleanings in Natural History, vol. i, p. 19.

[246]Descent of Man, p. 96.

[247]SeeAnimal Kingdom, vol. iii., p. 374.

[248]Reasoning Power of Animals, pp. 54-5.

[249]Bingley,Animal Biography, vol. i., p. 155.

[250]Bingley,Animal Biography, vol. i., p. 155.

[251]See his letter to Sir E. Tennent inNat. Hist. of Ceylon, pp. 118-20.

[252]Indications of Instinct, p. 129.

[253]Descent of Man, p. 69.

[254]Natural History of Ceylon, pp. 181-94.

[255]Natural History of Ceylon, pp. 181-94.

[256]Nature, vol. xix., p. 519.

[257]Nature, vol. xx., p. 197.

[258]Some of my correspondents tell me of pet or drawing-room cats jumping on chairs and looking at bells when they want milk—this being their sign that they want the bell pulled to call the servant who brings the milk; and Mr. Lawson Tait tells me that one of his cats—of course without tuition—has gone a step further, in that she places her paws upon the bell as a still more emphatic sign that she desires it pulled. But Dr. Creighton Browne tells me of a cat which he has that goes a step further than this, and herself rings the bell. This is corroborative of Archbishop Whately's anecdote. 'This cat lived many years in my mother's family, and its feats of sagacity were witnessed by her, my sisters, and myself. It was known, not merely once or twice, but habitually, to ring the parlour bell whenever it wished the door to be opened. Some alarm was excited on the first occasion that it turned bell-ringer. The family had retired to rest, and in the middle of the night the parlour bell was rung violently; the sleepers were startled from their repose, and proceeded downstairs with poker and tongs, to intercept, as they thought, the predatory movements of some burglar; but they were equally surprised to find that the bell had been rung by pussy, who frequently repeated the act whenever she wished to get out of the parlour.' The cases, however, mentioned in the text are more remarkable than any of these, which, nevertheless, all tend to lead up to them as by a series of steps. Dogs attain to the level of asking by gesture their masters to ring bells. One instance will be sufficient to quote. Mr. Rae says in 'Nature' (vol. xix., p. 459): 'A small English terrier belonging to a friend has been taught to ring for the servant. To test if the dog knewwhyit rang the bell he was told to do so while the girl was in the room. The little fellow looked up in the most intelligent manner at the person giving the order (his master or mistress, I forget which), then at the servant, and refused to obey, although the order was repeated more than once. The servant left the room, and a few minutes afterwards the dog rang the bell immediately on being told to do so.'It must also be added that dogs sometimes attain to the level of knocking knockers—though I should think this must be very rare with these animals, as I have only met with one case of it. This, however, is a remarkably good case, not only because it rests upon the authority of a famous observer, but also because it is so very definite as proving an act of reason. Dureau de la Malle had a terrier born in his house. It had never seen a knocker in its native home, and when grown up it was taken by its master to Paris. Getting fatigued by a walk in the streets, the animal returned to the house, but found the door shut, and it endeavoured vainly to attract the attention of those within by barking. At length a visitor called, knocked at the knocker, and gained admittance. The dog observed what had been done, and went in together with the visitor. The same afternoon he went in and out half a dozen times, gaining admittance on each occasion by springing at the knocker.Lastly, Dr. W. H. Kesteven writes to 'Nature' (xx., p. 428) of a cat which used to knock at a knocker to gain admittance, in the way already described of so many other cats; but as showing how much more readily cats acquire this practice than dogs, it is interesting to note that Dr. Kesteven adds that a dog which lived in the same house ascertained that the cat was able to gain admittance by knocking, and yet did not imitate the action, but 'was in the habit of searching for her when he wanted to come in, and either waiting till she was ready to knock at the door, or inducing her to do it to please him.'

It must also be added that dogs sometimes attain to the level of knocking knockers—though I should think this must be very rare with these animals, as I have only met with one case of it. This, however, is a remarkably good case, not only because it rests upon the authority of a famous observer, but also because it is so very definite as proving an act of reason. Dureau de la Malle had a terrier born in his house. It had never seen a knocker in its native home, and when grown up it was taken by its master to Paris. Getting fatigued by a walk in the streets, the animal returned to the house, but found the door shut, and it endeavoured vainly to attract the attention of those within by barking. At length a visitor called, knocked at the knocker, and gained admittance. The dog observed what had been done, and went in together with the visitor. The same afternoon he went in and out half a dozen times, gaining admittance on each occasion by springing at the knocker.

Lastly, Dr. W. H. Kesteven writes to 'Nature' (xx., p. 428) of a cat which used to knock at a knocker to gain admittance, in the way already described of so many other cats; but as showing how much more readily cats acquire this practice than dogs, it is interesting to note that Dr. Kesteven adds that a dog which lived in the same house ascertained that the cat was able to gain admittance by knocking, and yet did not imitate the action, but 'was in the habit of searching for her when he wanted to come in, and either waiting till she was ready to knock at the door, or inducing her to do it to please him.'

[259]Consul E. L. Layard gives inNature(xx., p. 339) a precisely similar case of a cat habitually and without tuition ringing a bell by pulling at an exposed wire.

[260]I have requested Dr. Rae to write out all the particulars of these remarkable observations, and the following is the response which he has kindly made:—'When trapping foxes in Hudson's Bay it sometimes happens that certain of these acute animals, probably from having seen their companions caught, studiously avoid the ordinary steel and wooden traps, however carefully set. The trapper then sets one or more guns in a peculiar manner, having a line 15 or 20 yards long uniting the trigger with a bait, on taking hold of which the fox sets the gun off, and commits suicide. The double object of the bait being placed so near the gun is that the fox may be certainly killed—not wounded only—and that the head alone should be hit, and the body not riddled all over with shot, which would spoil the skin. It is also necessary to mention that four or five inches of slack line must be allowed for contraction of the line by change from a dry to a moist atmosphere, which otherwise would cause so great a strain on the trigger that the gun would be discharged without the bait being touched. So as to conceal as far as possible all connection between bait and gun, that part of the line next the bait is carefully hid under the snow.'When the fox takes the bait, he will have lifted it five inches (the length of the slack line) from its normal position before the gun goes off; consequently, instead of pointing the gun at the bait, it is aimed fully eight or nine inches higher, at the probable position of the brain of the animal when the gun is discharged.'For reasons which scarcely require explanation, foxes very generally go about in pairs (long before the snow disappears), not necessarily always close together, because they have a better chance of finding food if separated some distance from each other.'After one or more foxes have been shot, the trapper on visiting his guns perhaps finds that a fox has first cut the line connecting the bait with the gun, and then gone up and eaten the bait; or, if the gun has been set on a drift bank of snow, he or she has scraped a trench ten or twelve inches deep up to the bait, taken hold of it whilst lying in the trench, set the gun off, and then trotted coolly away with the food (taken, one may say, from the gun's mouth) safe and uninjured, as is clearly evinced by there being no mark of blood on the tracks.'In pulling the bait whilst in the trench, the fox would drag it five inches, or the length of the slack line,downwards, and therefore hisheadandnosewould be completely out of harm's way, both because of the snow protection, and also these parts of his body being twelve or thirteen inches below the line of aim.'In the cases seen by myself, and by a friend of greater experience, the trench was always scraped at right angles, or nearly so, to the line of fire of the gun. This at first sight may appear erroneous, but on reflection it really is not so, for if the trench is to be a shelter one—thinking, as the fox must have done, that the gun or something coming from it was the danger to be protected from or guarded against—it must be made across the line of fire, for if scratched in the direction of fire it would afford little or no protection or concealment, and the reasoning power or intelligence of the fox would be at fault.'My belief is that one of these knowing foxes had seen his or her companion shot, or found it dead shortly after it had been killed, and not unnaturally attributed the cause of the mishap to the only strange thing it saw near, namely, the gun.'It was evident that in all cases they had studied the situation carefully, as was sufficiently shown by their tracks in the snow, which indicated their extremely cautious approach when either the string-cutting or trench-making dodge was resorted to, in attempting to obtain the coveted bait without injury to themselves.'

'When the fox takes the bait, he will have lifted it five inches (the length of the slack line) from its normal position before the gun goes off; consequently, instead of pointing the gun at the bait, it is aimed fully eight or nine inches higher, at the probable position of the brain of the animal when the gun is discharged.

'For reasons which scarcely require explanation, foxes very generally go about in pairs (long before the snow disappears), not necessarily always close together, because they have a better chance of finding food if separated some distance from each other.

'After one or more foxes have been shot, the trapper on visiting his guns perhaps finds that a fox has first cut the line connecting the bait with the gun, and then gone up and eaten the bait; or, if the gun has been set on a drift bank of snow, he or she has scraped a trench ten or twelve inches deep up to the bait, taken hold of it whilst lying in the trench, set the gun off, and then trotted coolly away with the food (taken, one may say, from the gun's mouth) safe and uninjured, as is clearly evinced by there being no mark of blood on the tracks.

'In pulling the bait whilst in the trench, the fox would drag it five inches, or the length of the slack line,downwards, and therefore hisheadandnosewould be completely out of harm's way, both because of the snow protection, and also these parts of his body being twelve or thirteen inches below the line of aim.

'In the cases seen by myself, and by a friend of greater experience, the trench was always scraped at right angles, or nearly so, to the line of fire of the gun. This at first sight may appear erroneous, but on reflection it really is not so, for if the trench is to be a shelter one—thinking, as the fox must have done, that the gun or something coming from it was the danger to be protected from or guarded against—it must be made across the line of fire, for if scratched in the direction of fire it would afford little or no protection or concealment, and the reasoning power or intelligence of the fox would be at fault.

'My belief is that one of these knowing foxes had seen his or her companion shot, or found it dead shortly after it had been killed, and not unnaturally attributed the cause of the mishap to the only strange thing it saw near, namely, the gun.

'It was evident that in all cases they had studied the situation carefully, as was sufficiently shown by their tracks in the snow, which indicated their extremely cautious approach when either the string-cutting or trench-making dodge was resorted to, in attempting to obtain the coveted bait without injury to themselves.'

[261]It will be remembered that, from evidence previously detailed, both the wolverine or glutton and certain deer have been shown capable of similarly obviating the danger of gun-traps.

[262]Nat. Hist. of Ceylon, p. 35.

[263]Descent of Man, p. 74.

[264]So many cases are on record of large dogs (especially of the Newfoundland breed) throwing troublesome curs into the water, and again rescuing them if they show danger of drowning, that we can scarcely fail to accept them as true. Such cases exhibit a wonderful play of human-like emotions.

[265]Descent of Man, p. 71.

[266]For many other instances of sheep-dog sagacity, see Watson,Reasoning Power of Animals, under 'Shepherd's Dog.'

[267]Naturalist's Library, vol. x., p. 154 (quoted by Watson).

[268]Since my MS. went to press I have myself met with a striking display of the recognition of a portrait by a dog. The portrait was one of myself, and the dog a half-bred setter and retriever of my own.

[269]Missionary Travels, chap. i.

[270]Illustrations of Instinct, p. 179.

[271]Descent of Man, p. 70.

[272]Gleanings, vol. iii. pp. 86-7.

[273]Boston Journal of Nat. Hist., iv. p. 324.

[274]Descent of Man, p. 72.

[275]Descent of Man, 71.

[276]Ibid., p. 69.

[277]Descent of Man, pp. 77-8.

[278]Naturalist in Nicaragua, p. 119.

[279]Loc. cit., vol. i., p. 305.

[280]On subsequent observation (January 14, 1881), I find this quietness was not due to shame at having bitten me, for whether he succeeds in biting any person or not he always sits quiet and dull-looking after a fit of passion, being, I think, fatigued. He has bitten me often since December 24, and seems to enjoy the fun on the whole.

[281]These heavy objects he overturns with exceeding caution, balancing them several times carefully, and studying them before finally throwing or pulling them over.

[282]January 14, 1881. The marble slab was left with him after the chain had been fastened to the ring; but since that time he has never attempted to move the marble.

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