MIMICRY IN A DOG i6i 



him a fine female mastiff. The httle dog was some- 

 what awed by this great beast, which could easily 

 have made a meal of him ; but he was evidently 

 very proud when allowed to accompany her for a 

 ramble in the country. After the mastiff had been 

 with us for a week or so, the terrier was heard 

 trying to reproduce her baying, which was, of course, 

 much lower in pitch than his bark. Several persons 

 witnessed these attempts at mimicry, and all said 

 how great efforts they appeared to be. Some days 

 afterwards I heard the terrier essay the imitation, 

 which he did very successfully. He raised his head 

 and uttered a great bark, about an octave lower in 

 pitch than his usual tone. All his breath was ex- 

 hausted by the effort, and he immediately coughed, 

 as though his larynx had been strained. I was 

 informed that his previous attempts had also had 

 the same effect. Weeks after the big dog had left, 

 the little one showed signs of sadness — by lowering 

 his ears, and in other ways — when her name was 

 pronounced to him. It is difficult to say how far 

 down the scale of creation we shall find the lowest 

 occurrence of voluntary imitation. I used to keep 

 fish in an aquarium, and I noticed that when one 

 gaped any other near would be tolerably certain to 

 gape soon afterwards, though none had gaped 



