The Scottish Naturalist. 101 



over unknown ground by the dog, horse, ass, and other animals. 

 The discussion of this circumstance alone in " Mum's " case — 

 the power of distinguishing personal identity without the aid of 

 vision — would require a long article to itself; but the following 

 additional points of interest arise — all under the very first section 

 of " Mum's " biography : — 



(i) Its boldness when it felt itself supported by a friend : a 

 kind of adaptation to circumstances — or behaviour according to 

 external conditions, that is quite common in various animals, 

 though the modus operandi of their judgment or feeling in such 

 change of conduct has not been analysed nor explained. 



(2) Its knowledge of right and wrong — at least of what was 

 forbidden and permitted — or, in other words, the basis of a 

 moral sense, which, though quite common in well-trained dogs, 

 is one of the mental or moral qualities that are denied to the 

 lower animals by theological and other bigots. 



(3) Errors of judgment and temper, which strike at the very 

 root of the absurd, popular, and theological conceptions of so- 

 called "unerring" instinct. 



(4) The eccentricities of affection in animals, as illustrating 

 choice and caprice, — peculiarities which, though common, too 

 frequently defy all attempts at rational explanation, any more 

 than do human vagaries of a similar kind. 



In short, to analyse properly the mental phenomena illus- 

 trated in so simple and " common " a zoo-biography as that of 

 "Mum" would require a large amount of space, insofar as 

 such an analysis might be made the basis of whole chapters on 

 such subjects, as (1) the moral sense and moral responsibility; 

 (2) temper and temperament ; (3) jealousy and other passions ; 

 (4) gratitude and other virtues; (5) the diseases common to 

 man with other animals ; (6) the comparative intelligence of 

 man and other animals ; (7) expression or language ; (8) per- 

 ception of musical harmony or discord ; (9) individuality ; and 

 so forth. 



It so happens that the following fuller particulars have been 

 sent me relating to the dog " Mum : " details that are even 

 more interesting than those first recorded — the narrator, in the 

 present case, being the dog's mistress, Mrs. Murray Lindsay of 

 Mickleover, by Derby. 



"When my father was in the habit of coming home at a 



