LANGUAGE. 97 



use of signs b}- mammals which arc full}' detailed in Animal 

 Intelligence. 



Mr. S. Goodbehere tells me of a pony which used to push 

 back the inside bolt of a gate in its paddock, and neigh for 

 an ass which was loose in the yard beyond ; the ass would 

 then come and push up the outside latch, thus opening the 

 gate and releasing the pony (p. 333). 



With respect to gestures, Mrs. K. Addison wrote me of 

 her jackdaw — which lived in a garden, and which she usually 

 supplied with a bath — reminding her that she had forgotten to 

 place the bath, by coming before her and going through the 

 movements of ablution upon the ground (p. 316). 



Youatt gives the case of a pig which was trained to point 

 game with great precision (pp. 339,340), and this, as in the case 

 of the dog, implies a high development of the sign-making 

 faculty. Every sportsman must know how well a setter 

 understands its own pointing, and also the pointing of otJier 

 dogs, as gesture-signs. As regards its own pointing, if at any 

 distance from the sportsman, the animal will look back to see 

 if the "point" has been noticed ; and, if it has, the point will 

 be much more "steady" and prolonged than if the animal 

 sees that it has not been observed. As regards the pointing 

 of other dogs, the " backing " of one by another means that 

 as soon as one dog sees another dog point he also stands and 

 points, whether or not he is in a position to scent the game. 

 In my previous work, while treating of artificial instincts, I 

 have shown (as Mr. Darwin had previously remarked) that in 

 well-bred sporting dogs a tendency to " back," more or less 

 pronounced, is intuitive. But I have also observed among 

 my own setters that even in cases where a young dog does 

 not show any innate disposition to " back," by working him 

 with other dogs for a short time he soon acquires the habit, 

 without any other instruction than that which is supplied by 

 his own observation. I have also noticed that all sporting 

 dogs are liable to be deceived by the attitude which their 

 companions strike when defalcating ; but this is probably 

 due to their line of sight being so much lower than that of a 



II 



