26o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



from good authority that a tame sparrow was accustomed to go 

 out daily from the house where it lived in freedom just before 

 it was time for the children to come out from school. It would 

 wait at the school -house door for a child of the family with 

 which it lived, and return perched upon its shoulder. One day 

 it went out but did not return, having probably fallen a prey to 

 a cat. 



Nothing is more frequent among animals than daily acts at 

 fixed hours; but we have proof also that animals can measure 

 longer periods. A dog was used to go every Saturday evening 

 for his master, who came to spend Sunday at home, and went 

 away again on Monday. But the dog, instead of following his 

 master away, showed his displeasure at the parting by sulking in 

 a corner. Could this dog count the six days of the week during 

 which his master was absent ? It is more likely that his return 

 was foreshadowed by certain things going on in the house that 

 only occurred on that occasion. 



Houzeau de la Haie tells of a pelican living in a fisherman's 

 family at Santo Domingo that was fed upon the refuse of the fish- 

 cleaning. Looking for its food, it went to the shore every day 

 and waited for the boats to come back. The fishermen rested on 

 Sunday, and the bird acquired so clear a notion of the return of 

 that day, when it had to fast, that it would not stir from the tree 

 on which it was accustomed to spend its time. It is not necessary 

 to suppose that the pelican had learned to count the six days at 

 the end of which its masters would not go fishing ; but, while it 

 really estimated daily the time when it must make its excursion 

 to the shore, it was informed of the return of Sunday by observa- 

 tion of what was going on in the house, as, for instance, by the 

 fishermen putting on their Sunday clothes ; in the same way as 

 the dog knew when its master was going to hunt by seeing him 

 with his gun and game-bag. In such instances, animals show 

 that they have the faculty of associating ideas, of observing con- 

 secutive facts, and establishing a correlative connection between 

 them — things which have been proved by abundance of other 

 evidence, and which demonstrate not less intelligence than ac- 

 quaintance with the ten signs exposing the first ten numbers, or 

 the use of a system of numeration to express larger numbers. 



Broderip tells of an English Protestant minister's dog which 

 escaped every Sunday and followed its master to church. It was 

 shut up on one Saturday evening, but on the next week when they 

 went to shut it up it could not be found, and hid itself till the 

 service-hour on Sunday, when it appeared again at the church. 

 In acting thus, it had evidently reasoned out all its conduct, dis- 

 playing memory, foresight, and calculation. It is not likely, how- 

 ever, that it acted upon a count of the days, but rather on the 



