ZOOLOGY, 



ILLUSTRATIONS OF ANIMAL EEASON. 



( Continued from p. 8. ) 

 By W. LAUDER LINDSAY, M.D., F.R.S.E., F.L.S. 



IN December 1873, I was favoured with the following com- 

 munication from William Chambers, LL.D., proprietor of, 

 and a frequent contributor to, " Chambers's Journal." 



" I am requested by the Baroness Burdett-Coutts* to draw your 

 attention to a very interesting and true anecdote illustrative of 

 the affection of a white barn-door Cock, which, on the death 

 and burial of a favourite hen (the hen having died naturally), 

 laid itself down on the little grave, and was there found dead 

 one morning. The incident is rather remarkable, as the Cock is 

 not usually deemed a very sentimental animal. The anecdote 

 is verified by Mrs. Brown, the companion of Lady Burdett-Coutts r 

 and has been given in the Animal World." 



In reply to a query as to the authenticity of certain anecdotes 

 of animal sagacity, recorded in Chambers's Journal, Dr. Cham- 

 bers gave me, at the same time, the following assurance : — 



" All the statements regarding the intelligence and affection- 

 ate qualities of "Donald," in the story of a. Donkey, are quite 

 true In the article on animals, I introduced an anec- 

 dote about Cats, which I heard told by Dr. Carpenter f as 

 occurring in connection with his own house. I likewise in- 

 troduced the anecdotes about Rats in Hertfordshire, as related 



* Whose efforts on behalf of, and interest in, the lower animals, have 

 long been well known in connection with the proceedings of the Ladies' 

 branch of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 

 of which she is President. 



+ Presumably W. B. Carpenter, M.D., F.R.S., Registrar of the 

 University of London ; and formerly President of the British Association 

 for the Advancement of Science. 



