444 ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE. 



He showed the same deliberate design of deceiving on other 

 occasions. Having hurt his foot he became lame for a time, 

 during which he received more pity and attention than usual. 

 For months after he had recovered, whenever he was harshly 

 spoken to, he commenced hobbling about the room as if lame 

 and suffering pain from his foot. He only gave up the practice 

 when he gradually perceived that it was unsuccessful. 



The following instance, which I observed myself, I 

 regard as more remarkable. It has already been pub- 

 lished in ' Nature ' (vol. xii., p. 66), from which I quote it : 



The terrier used to be very fond of catching flies upon the 

 window-panes, and if ridiculed when unsuccessful was evidently 

 much annoyed. On one occasion, in order to see what he 

 would do, I purposely laughed immoderately every time he 

 failed. It so happened that he did so several times in succes- 

 sion partly, I believe, in consequence of my laughing and 

 eventually he became so distressed that he positively pretended 

 to catch the fly, going through all the appropriate actions with 

 his lips and tongue, and afterwards rubbing the ground with 

 his neck as if to kill the victim : he then looked up at me with 

 a triumphant air of success. So well was the whole process 

 simulated that I should have been quite deceived, had I not 

 seen that the fly was still upon the window. Accordingly I 

 drew his attention to this fact, as well as to the absence of any- 

 thing upon the floor ; and when he saw that his hypocrisy had 

 been detected he slunk away under some furniture, evidently 

 very much ashamed of himself. 



This allusion to the marked effects of ridicule upon a 

 dog leads to a consideration of the next emotion with 

 which I feel certain that some dogs are to be accredited. 

 I mean the emotion of the ludicrous. This same terrier 

 used, when in good humour, to perform several tricks, 

 which I know to have been self-taught, and which clearly 

 had the object of exciting laughter. For instance, 

 while lying on his side and violently grinning, he would 

 hold one leg in his mouth. Under such circumstances, 

 nothing pleased him so much as having his joke duly 

 appreciated, while if no notice was taken of him he 

 would become sulky. On the other hand, nothing dis- 

 pleased him so much as being laughed at when he did 

 not intend to be ridiculous, as could not be more con 



