38 ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE 
mentioned that the session was opened by the election 
of officers and the delivery of an address by the 
President, in which many of the topics proposed for 
special study at the close of the previous year were 
reverted to, and the objects of the Society indicated. 
As this address has been published,* and copies of it 
are already in the hands of most of the older members, 
I shall not further refer to it than to say that the 
subject has attracted attention generally, and its treat- 
ment, as was expected, has received some criticism.t 
To return to our friend the dog. arly in the session, 
Mr Simpson made an important communication, the 
result of a careful study of a blind Pomeranian dog. He 
had proved conclusively that this animal understood 
his name, and also many other words, such as “sneeze,” 
“bark,” etc. The dog had been blind for two years, but 
had so made use of his remaining senses, and his mental 
faculties generally, that he seemed, except in special 
cases, but little worse off than before. He recollected 
well the location of stable objects, and was able to 
make his way successfully through the business portion 
of a city of considerable size. 
This paper led to much interesting enquiry, and light 
was thrown on the subject by comparison with blind 
men. Several members referred to cases of the latter 
whose history was known to them. The President 
thought that there was no doubt that the results, both 
in men and the lower animals, were dependent not 
only on greater acuteness of the other senses, but on 
the greater amount of attention paid by the mind to the 
data furnished by the former. It was to be remem- 
bered that improvement in the senses, whether in the 
blind or others, was largely to be referred to the brain 
* «Comparative Psychology: Its Objects and Problems,” Popular 
Science Monthly, March 1887. 
+ Sctence, vol, ix. Nos, 217, 222. 
