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3Jli5rtilnncnit3 lintitrs. 



Anecdote of a Horse.— For a few years back, and until last year, there was a Horse ran in the 

 Coach between Dumfries and Mofl'at— a very old animal it was— I believe close on thirty years of 

 age ; and well known to every one who had occasion to travel by this conveyance. His coat was 

 pure white, and his whole appearance indicated old age; and his evident willingness to do his 

 best, msured respect, for "beasts as well as bodies" whatever their position in life may be, when 

 doing their duty, are entitled to and generally command respect. On looking at this poor old 

 Horse our Poet Bums' s lines were forced on our memory; and, although we had not seen what 

 the latter lines of the verse expresses, still I know some one must. 



Tho' now thou 's dowie, stiff, and crazy, 

 And thy auld hide 's as white 's a daisy, 

 I've seen thee dappl'd, sleak, and glaizie, 



A bonny gray: 

 He should been tight that daur't to raize thee, 



Ance in a day. 



But to my story: — This same old Horse -was gifted in a marvellous degree with the use of his 

 olfactory nerves, as applied to one species of animal at least, the Ecd Deer. He had occasion 

 to pass Raehills, the seat of J. J. Hope Johnstone, of Annandale, every day, a place much fre- 

 quented by the Red Deer ; and if any of these animals w ere within iifty yards or more of him, he 

 was not slow to tell you ; down wont his ears, as you will observe Horses do when they bite (or try 

 to do so) and away he went at the gallop, if allowed ; whether he was pleased or pained I could 

 not well say. Eyesight hud nothing to do with the matter, because a wall higher than he could 

 possibly see over was between him and them; and it was only by being on the top and outside 

 of the Coach that we could see the Deer on the other side of the wall. When there were no 

 Deer he passed along in his usual way : many a time has he drawn our attention to look out, and 

 we never yet saw his ears go down but we saw Deer in the neighbourhood. — W. G. Johnstone, 

 Grecnbrae Cottage, Dumfries, January 14th., 1853. 



The Hedgehog, (Erinaceus Europoeus.) — My son having read, in the February number of 

 "The Naturalist" (see vol. iii. page 35.) Mr. Ferris's observations on the habits of a Hedgehog, 

 kept in a garden at Bristol, asks me to give you my own similar observations, which he has 

 heard me relate, regarding a Hedgehog which I kept, more than twenty years ago, in Ogleforth, 

 in this city. It was often brought into the kitchen at night, for the purpose of destroying the 

 house- beetles, which it did most effectually; and, though at first it was alarmed when touched, 

 and rolled itself into the figure of a ball, it soon became so bold as to extend its head and 

 legs, when carried, and showed some impatience to be set upon the kitchen floor; and, when 

 placed there ran off instantly in full chase, nearly at the speed of a rat. This at first much 

 surprised me, having little expectation that the animal was capable of such speed. When the 

 beetles became extinct, which happened soon, as the Hedgehog had an insatiable appetite for 

 them, I fed him in the garden with bread and milk, and he got besides such worms and 

 insects as he could find. After some time, I was much surprised to find a circle, of from three 

 to four yards in diameter, on the grass-plot, formed by a path of the Hedgehog. The circle 

 was very perfectly defined. The grass soon quite disappeared under the footprints and dung 

 of the animal, so that the ring formed a striking contrast to the bright green around and within 

 it. I at once began to watch the movements of my pet, and was soon gratified by observing 

 him come from his dormitory, in the root of a thick lilac bush, and take his long journey 

 on the ring. He travelled at as quick a pace as when in pursuit of the beetles in the kitchen. 

 These excursions were continued daily, and for long periods, but I was unable to discover why 

 they were made. Had this long-used and well-dunged track been made on a poor turf, I was 

 satisfied that the herbage upon it when permitted to grow, must, for a length of time after- 

 wards, have been more luxuriant, and of a darker hue, than the surrounding grass, and I 

 thought it probable that some of the "fairy rings" which are seen in the fields, might owe 

 their origin to the Hedgehog.— W. Whytehead, Clifton, York, February Uth., 1853. 



Perhaps the Fungi which grow on fairy rings, are propagated by the Hedgehog's dung. — 

 B. R. M. 



Longevity of the Domestic Cat. — A Idttcn was brought to J. Gordon, Esq., of Saxlingham, 

 VOL. Ill, M 



