The Scottish Naturalist. 103 



as the only sign of affection he had strength to bestow, and in 

 .a few minutes after breathed his last. 



"He was never taught any of his odd tricks and Ways (for he 

 had many more than I can relate), but acquired them merely 

 through his powers of observation, having noticed that they 

 gave rise to amusement ; and when laughed at, or given a pat 

 of encouragement, he would repeat them." 



Dr. Murray Lindsay characterises the foregoing as a " faithful 

 account," bringing out, " very well and clearly," certain features 

 of the dog's character, such as those relating to obedience, 

 discipline, discrimination, knowledge of right and wrong, and 

 dread of 'water. The latter was the result of his "having once 

 jumped on green weeds, floating on the top of a pond, which he 

 mistook for grass, when he found, to his disgust and surprise, 

 that he got a ducking." In short, it had received one of those 

 practical lessons of experience of which the lower animals, no 

 less than man, profit, and which are serviceable in the regulation 

 of future conduct. 



Dr. Brown, of Rochester, lays it down (in a letter of April, 

 1875) as a proposition, which I would commend to the 

 attention of zoologists, and comparative physiologists or 

 psychologists, that "wherever Eyes are found, we know that 

 there is conscious mind." He is also of opinion that "the 

 higher animals possess moral nature like man. This is seen in 



qualities like gratitude The difference between 



man and the dog lies in the presence of the instinct of super- 

 nature, and the existence of abstract notions (or ideas), in man." 

 As to moral nature, he is right ; as to feeling, or perception of 

 the supernatural, and the formation of abstract ideas, I believe 

 him to be, in common with hosts of other people — including all 

 classes of philosophers so-called — wrong. The same gentleman 

 also sent me what he calls, "A tale of Insanity in a Cat;" one 

 that is, however, singularly inconclusive : — 



" My brother, John Don Brown, of Rochester, obtained a 

 cat, not quite full-grown, last year (1874) in the autumn. The 

 cat did not take to the family, and hid itself in a cellar. It lived 

 in the basement for about a month or six weeks, concealing itself 

 in a disused chimney, coming out at night to partake of food 

 placed in a saucer for it in the cellar. A large dose of prussic 

 acid was mixed in the saucer at last, and the cat died on the 

 spot, unable to reach the chimney. The rushing about of the 



