92 



REMINISCENCES. 



had happened the day before, instead of five years ago. 

 This story is made use of in the ' Descent of Man,' 2nd Edit., 

 p. 74. 



In my memory there were only two dogs which had much 

 connection with my father. One was a large black and white 

 half-bred retriever, called Bob, to which we, as children, were 

 much devoted. He was the dog of whom the story of the 

 " hot-house face " is told in the ' Expression of the Emotions.' 



But the dog most closely associated with my father was 

 the above-mentioned Polly, a rough, white fox-terrier. She 

 was a sharp-witted, affectionate dog ; when her master was 

 going away on a journey, she always discovered the fact by 

 the signs of packing going on in the study, and became low- 

 spirited accordingly. She began, too, to be excited by seeing 

 the study prepared for his return home. She was a cunning 

 little creature, and used to tremble or put on an air of misery 

 when my father passed, while she was waiting for dinner, just 

 as if she knew that he would say (as he did often say) that 

 " she was famishing." My father used to make her catch 

 biscuits off her nose, and had an affectionate and mock- 

 solemn way of explaining to her before-hand that she must 

 "be a very good girl." She had a mark on her back where 

 she had been burnt, and Avhere the hair had re-grown red 

 instead of white, and my father used to commend her for 

 this tuft of hair as being in accordance with his theory of 

 pangenesis ; her father had been a red bull-terrier, thus the 

 red hair appearing after the burn showed the presence of 

 latent red gemmules. He was delightfully tender to Polly, 

 and never showed any impatience at the attentions she re- 

 quired, such as to be let in at the door, or out at the veran- 

 dah window, to bark at " naughty people," a self-imposed 

 duty she much enjoyed. She died, or rather had to be killed, 

 a few days after his death.* 



* The basket in which she usually lay curled up near the fire in his 

 study is faithfully represented in Mr. Parson's drawing, " The Study at 

 Down," facing page loi. 



