FROM THE* SPECTATOR? 83 



INSTINCT OF LOCALITY IN 

 DOGS. 



\_March 4, 1893.] 



A CAT carried a hundred miles in a basket, a 

 dog taken, perhaps, five hundred miles by 

 rail, in a few days may have found their way 

 back to the starting-point. So we have 

 often been told, and, no doubt, the thing has 

 happened. We have been astonished at 

 the wonderful intelligence displayed. Magic, 

 I should call it. Last week I heard of a 

 captain who sailed from Aberdeen to Ar- 

 broath. He left behind him a dog which, 

 according to the story, had never been in 

 Arbroath, but when he arrived there the dog 

 was waiting on the quay. I was expected to 

 believe that the dog had known his master's 

 destination, and been able to inquire the way 

 overland to Arbroath. Truly marvellous ! 

 But, really, it is time to inquire more care- 

 fully as to what these stories do mean ; we 

 must cease to ascribe our intelligence to 

 animals, and learn that it is we that often 

 possess their instinct. A cat on a farm will 



