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.! 



To return to our friend the dog. Early 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. 

 f Science, vol. ix. Nos. 217, 222. 



