34 ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE 
etc. The fact that each individual of a pack of hounds 
will respond to his own name is also significant. The 
observation that, as noticed by one member, his dog 
would answer sometimes to names very similar, as 
“Dick” and “Vick,” was not without parallel in the 
case of men, and was explicable either by imperfect 
hearing or by inattention. 
The case, as instanced by a terrier that seemed to 
hunt equally well for rats, whether “cows” or “rats” 
was the inciting term, did not furnish a wholly valid 
objection it was thought, for in all such instances the 
accompaniments of the utterance of the mere word were 
of more significance than the word itself. I shall have 
evidence to present to you during this year which I 
think will make it clear that at least many dogs really 
do know their names in the same sense as very young 
children, if not even in a higher sense. 
Frequently, during the past two years, the influence 
of breed, of the individuality of the owner or trainer 
of the animal, of food, and general treatment has been 
under discussion. 
These questions are not only of the highest theoretical 
interest, but of the greatest practical importance. At 
one of our meetings certain members advanced a view 
favourable to a course of severity in dealing with certain 
horses, such, for example, as the “bucking” ponies of 
the prairies. The President believed that it was of the 
utmost importance that such a view should not be 
entertained by veterinary surgeons, and that efforts 
should be made to eradicate it from the public mind in 
so far as it really exists. 
Most of the difficulty experienced in managing 
animals arises from their not understanding what is re- 
quired of them, or from mental associations which have 
been established by previous unwise or cruel treatment. 
I cannot here refrain from stating the opinion of an 
