164 



EXTRACTS FROM FOREIGN JOURNALS. 



ZOOr.OGY. 



Remarkable Iijf stance of Intelligence in a Dog M. Alph. Be 



Candolle has communicated the following observations on the instinct of 

 animals : — Being last October in the neighbourhood of Aiguesmortes, I 

 had occasion to observe a remarkable instance of intelligence in a Dog. The 

 day was hot, and the season unfavourable, by reason of the trade winds so 

 troublesome on the shores of the Mediterranean. After walking several 

 hours in the desert which separates the town of Aiguesmortes from Camargne, 

 we arrived at a plain where we found, in the midst of a whirlwind, some 

 remains of a shipwreck. Out of three Dogs which had followed our guide, 

 two only accompanied us to this spot. Their black hair attracted the rays of 

 the sun, and the poor creatures, like ourselves, seemed to find the sand some- 

 what too warm to be pleasant. I sat down on a mat half buried in the sand. 

 One of the Dogs quickly conceived the idea of establishing itself near me. 

 It nestled close to a horizontal plank, by way of procuring a little shade, but 

 finding this insufficient, it hollowed the sand until it came to the part moist- 

 ened by the sea. It then stretched itself with delight in this fresh and shady 

 bed. There, said I, is an undoubted instance of reason. Had it been instinct, 

 every animal of the same species placed in similar circumstances, would 

 have acted alike. But the other Dog, though of the same race and also weary, 

 knew not what to do ; it writhed on the hot sand. One of these Dogs evident- 

 ly remembered that by hollowing the sand hillocks, a cool and moist part is 

 arrived at, and it applied the reminiscence to this particular case. It may 

 perhaps be^said that the Dog which made no burrow, had never been on the 

 plain, and had therefore had no opportunity of ascertaining the coolness of 

 the sand underneath. But this is not probable, since both Dogs had been 

 accustomed to the sea shore. This, again, is another difference between in- 

 stinct and reason ; instinct acts without previous experience. The Dog of Pec- 

 cai, the less sagacious of the two, might perhaps one day have learnt to burrow 

 to the cool part of the sand hills — [From our own observations, we are con- 

 vinced that M. De Candolle is right, and that many animals, as the Horse, 

 Dog, &c., &c., possess reason — some individuals even in a considerable 

 degree — Eds.] 



Monograph on the Arvictjles of Likge — The smaller quadrupeds 

 are among the vertebrated animals which present considerable difficulties to 

 the naturalist, in the discrimination of species. M. Selys Longchamps has 

 endeavoured to disembrangle the history of the Arvicules ; he has found five 

 species in Belgium, three of which were already known in France and Ger- 

 many, and the other two are new. The number of Arvicules in central and 

 western Europe amounts, then, to six. Here follows an enumeration of the 

 five Belgian species : — Arvicola fulvus, Desm. Length of the body, Sin. 21., 

 of the tail, 111. ; ears scarcely visible. — A. amphibius^ Desm., CMus amphibius, 

 Linn.^. Length of body, 6in. 31. ; tail, 3in. 4l — A. arvalis, D.S.L. (Mus 



