102 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE. 



grass. After several unsuccessful attempts to carry the two 

 together in his mouth, he laid them on the ground, placed 

 the smaller within the larger, pressed it down with his foot, 

 and then easily carried them to his master. Instances are 

 recorded of dogs who while always ready to perform a 

 useful service, absolutely refused to act for the amusement 

 of on-lookers or to discharge unnecessary duties. Thus a 

 dog who would go into the water to retrieve a wild duck 

 would refuse to fetch anything that had been thrown in for 

 the purpose of displaying his agility, and another who was 

 accustomed to ring the servants' bell at the bidding of his mistress 

 refused to do so when told while the servant was in the 

 room, and if repeatedly commanded to do so, would lay 

 hold of the servant's coat and attempt to drag him to his 

 mistress. These illustrations seem to show a power of dis- 

 crimination not usually credited to animals. Of the intelligence 

 shown by dogs which have been trained, the following story 

 from the " Percy Anecdotes " is at once a remarkable and an 

 amusing illustration. "One day, when Dumont, a tradesman 

 of the Rue St. Denis, was walking in the Boulevard St. An- 

 toine with a friend, he offered to lay a wager with the latter, 

 that if he were to hide a six-livre piece in the dust, his dog 

 would discover and bring it to him. The wager was accepted, 

 and the piece of money secreted, after being carefully 

 marked. When the two had proceeded some distance from 

 the spot, M. Dumont called to his dog that he had lost 

 something, and ordered him to seek it. Caniche immediately 

 turned back, and his master and his companion pursued 

 their walk to the Rue St. Denis. Meanwhile a traveller, 

 who happened to be just then returning in a small chaise 

 from Vincennes, perceived the piece of money, which his 

 horse had kicked from its hiding-place; he alighted, took it 

 up, and drove to his inn, in the Rue Pont-aux-Choux. 

 Caniche had just reached the spot in search of the lost 

 piece when the stranger picked it up. He followed the 



