42 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [Feb., 



enables the Academy to appreciate the bereavement of his wife and 

 children, to whom is extended its heartfelt sympathy. 



Mr. Robert Cushman Murphy spoke on bird-life at an outpost 

 of the Antarctic. The communication was beautifully illustrated 

 by lantern views. 



The Secretary read the following communication from Miss 

 Adele M. Fielde, of Seattle, Washington: 



Concerning the Sense of Smell in Dogs. — In the winter of 1911-12, 

 I spent over four consecutive months in the city of Tucson, Arizona, 

 lodging in one house and taking my meals in another, a quarter of 

 a mile distant. The street, In the residential section of the city, 

 traversed by me several times daily, was wide, with paved walk on 

 both sides, in front of detached houses whose owners generally 

 cherished watch dogs. In my earliest journeys along the sidewalks, 

 the dogs, of various breeds, in their respective, shrubby dooryards, 

 all barked at me, so intentionally as to make me doubt whether 

 existence would be tolerable under such local conditions. 



I persisted, however, in my course as a pedestrian, made no 

 acquaintance with the o\\Tiers of the dogs, no calls at their residences, 

 and no efforts at conciliation of the animals. Nevertheless, the 

 barking of the clogs gradually subsided and then ceased, first on the 

 west side of the street that I traversed most frequently, and later 

 upon the east side of the street, where I walked but seldom. Some 

 weeks before I left Tucson, all the dogs had stopped barking at me 

 during my passage alongside their grounds, whether by day or by 

 night. In the evenings I usually carried a lantern whose light fell 

 upon the pavement without illuminating me. 



A small dog, resident in the house where I lodged, maintained 

 hostilities toward me for several days after my arrival, but changed 

 his mental attitude toward me with no conciliation on my part, and 

 then habitually gave immoderate expression to his delight whenever 

 I returned to the house. 



Such change in the behavior of these clogs indicates that at my 

 earliest coming they perceived an unknown scent either upon the 

 pavement or in the air and resented its intrusion among countless 

 familiar odors. When accustomed to the intruded scent, having 

 received no injury from its bearer, they ceased from audible protest 

 against her presence. Without contact at any time, and with 

 darkness and distance often such as to make vision improbable, the 

 cause of the behavior of the dogs appears to lie in their sense of 

 smell. That they could pick up the scent laid down on the pave- 

 ment was to be expected of them. That they recognized its depositor 

 in the dark and at a distance of many yards, and refrained from 

 any vocal exercise save a monosyllabic assertion of being on duty,, 

 indicates high olfactory sensitivity. 



Joseph C. Guernsey, M.D., was elected a member. 



The following was ordered to be printed: 



