38 The Descent of Man 



succeeding sensations (in this instance only too keenly asso- 

 ciated) are forcibly recalled, and with the recollection of the 

 sensation of hearing, the hand goes to the ear. Yet Mr. 

 Darwin considers this unimportant instance of such signifi- 

 cance that he goes on to say : — 



' Any one who is not convinced by such facts as these, and by 

 what he may observe with his own dogs, that animals can reason, 

 would not be convinced by anything I could add. Nevertheless, I 

 will give one case with respect to dogs, as it rests on two distinct 

 observers, and can hardly depend on the modification of any instinct. 

 Mr. Colquhoun winged two wild ducks, which fell on the opposite 

 side of a stream ; his retriever tried to bring over both at once, but 

 could not succeed ; she then, though never before known to ruffle a 

 feather, deliberately killed one, brought over the other, and returned 

 for the dead bird. Colonel Hutchinson relates that two partridges 

 were shot at once, one being killed and the other wounded ; the latter 

 ran away, and was caught by the retriever, who on her return came 

 across the dead bird ; she stopped, evidently greatly puzzled, and 

 after one or two trials, finding she could not take it up without per- 

 mitting the escape of the winged bird, she considered a moment, then 

 deliberately murdered it by giving it a severe crunch, and afterwards 

 brought away both together. This was the only known instance of 

 her having wilfully injured any game.' 



Mr. Darwin adds : — 



' Here we have reason, though not quite perfect, for the retriever 

 might have brought the wounded bird first and then returned for the 

 dead one, as in the case of the two wild ducks.' — Vol. i. pp. 47, 48. 



Here, we reply, we have nothing of the kind, and to bring 

 ' reason ' into play is gratuitous. The circumstances can be 

 perfectly explained (and on Mr. Darwin's own principles) as 

 evidences of the revival of an old instinct. The ancestors of 

 sporting dogs of course killed their prey, and that trained 

 dogs do not kill it is simply due to man's action, which has 

 suppressed the instinct by education, and which continually 

 thus keeps it under control. It is indubitable that the old 

 tendency 7)iiLst be latent, and that a small interruption in the 



