5i6 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



human being brings into the world far more intellect than talent 

 for language." 



We may now proceed with Toots, since we have found for him 

 common footing with the speechless human baby. The necessity 

 of words to thinking will not be an a priori bar to the proper 

 interpretation of his acts. Mere tricks acquired by dogs are of 

 small value for our purpose, since they may be referred to reflex 

 action. Our concern is rather with those spontaneous and self- 

 directed acts of perception, adaptation, combination, and inven- 

 tion which can not be performed without the exercise of genuine 

 intellectual power. At an early period Toots discovered an in- 

 stinctive hostility to mice, moles, and black cats. His puppyhood 

 was passed in company with a gray kitten, whom he treated with 

 respect and affection, never failing to impress a kiss on its nose 

 when morning came, or after temporary separation. His associa- 

 tion of mice, moles, and black cats, and his discrimination in 

 favor of light- colored cats, suggest a perception of color, if not a 

 concept, which his actions have rendered unmistakable. I took 

 him to the house of a neighbor one day, where he fell in with a 

 litter of white-and-gray kittens, entirely strange to him, and he 

 treated them with the utmost kindness. A day or two afterward 

 he was introduced to a litter of black kittens, when, had he been 

 permitted, he would have torn them in pieces. In this idea of 

 " black " it will hardly be claimed that Toots has an abstract con- 

 cept of color, but has not he a vague concept such as a baby has 

 of " red," not redness ? Otherwise, why is it that he entertains 

 an equally intense aversion to black dogs ? 



The observing powers of this witty animal, and the resulting 

 inventions and devices, have experienced spontaneous develop- 

 ment in company with his human friends. He possesses in a rare 

 degree the power of laughing, or, more correctly, of smiling. In 

 a high state of pleasurable emotion he parts his lips, shows his 

 teeth, and wrinkles the skin of his cheeks, so as to leave a corru- 

 gated appearance, like the permanent expression of the nose in 

 the ribbed-nose or mandrill baboon. He reserves this laugh for 

 his friends, however, when he knows that they are returning from 

 an absence of considerable length, and never bestows it for a 

 brief separation, unless called upon to laugh. His sign and vocal 

 language is of his own adaptation. For a drink of water he has 

 one combination ; another for a request to be let out of the house, 

 and still a different one to pass out at the gate into the street. 

 He instantly observes any change in the dress of his three mis- 

 tresses, which change he assumes as a preparation for an outing, 

 and makes a corresponding request. The putting on of a skullcap 

 by his master brings from him a mild petition to go out into the 

 yard ; but when the tall hat appears, and a cane in hand, he runs 



