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know the general principle; for there are thousands among 

 ourselves that act practically upon axioms all their lives, with- 

 out knowing that they are such, till they come to study Euclid ; 

 (such as, ' tilings which are equal to the same tiling, or to 

 equals, are equal to one another/ — 'a part is less than the 

 whole/ — 'if equals be multiplied or divided by equals, the 

 products or quotients are equal : ') in like manner, as a man 

 speaks prose all his life, often without being aware of the fact. 

 At all events, this acting upon previous experience is not the 

 result of mere observation, for Dr. Brown has shown, with 

 great clearness, that the past experience, or the recollection 

 of a fact, and the conviction of a future similarity, are 

 two things as distinct as any two things can be. The well- 

 known anecdote of the gentleman's two dogs that went to 

 hunt together, the one carrying the ring in lus mouth, and 

 the other pointing out the game, is a case in point. It ex- 

 hibits a knowledge of cause and effect, far surpassing any shown 

 by that caricature of humanity, the ourang-outang, which, as 

 phrenologists affirm, somewhat hastily, treads closest in our 

 footsteps. I knew a cat that regularly mounted to a resting- 

 place on the door-post, laid her paw upon the lever that raised 

 the latch, and then with both fore-feet pushed the door open. 

 This she did without any instruction. I have witnessed the 

 occurrence twenty times, and I should like to know how it 

 could take place, without some knowledge of the adaptation of 

 means to an end. A writer in Bees' s Encyclopaedia, knew a cat 

 who sometimes allowed her beaux to keep her out of doors 

 beyond the regular family hours. In such cases, she always 

 tapped with her tail most respectfully at the windows ; and to 

 make assurance doubly sure, she only went and applied herself 

 to the bed-room windows ! In these remarks, I have scarcely 

 at all alluded to anecdotes, which give particular cases ; the 

 accuracy of the observation being generally taken upon trust 

 from an individual. I have designedly appealed throughout to 

 general principles and general practices, which every one knows 



