March 20, 1879] 



NATURE 



459 



ment, and at times she was so attractive that absences without 

 leave on the part of the dog were frequent. After one of these 

 excursions Bully had been brought back, and chained up for the 

 night. Next morning, while his master and I were sitting at 

 early breakfast, it was decided that he should be released, and 

 to effectually stop further delinquency, a peon was sent down to 

 the bridge with orders to intercept him if he started for the 

 cantonment. 



Bully was brought in and unchained ; he had that unmistak- 

 able air of detectSi guilt deservedly punished, and spent some 

 time in begging for scraps from the table in a most deprecating 

 maimer. Shortly, however, he strolled into the verandah, and 

 then down the front steps on to the gravel walk. After wander- 

 ing about aimlessly for a few minutes, he quietly started off down 

 the approach (a h b). We followed, keeping out of his sight. 

 At the turn of the road Bidly met the unexpected apparition of 

 the peon standing on the bridge. In a moment, though not a 

 word was spoken by the man, the dog turned and came straight 

 back to the room, whither we had in the meantime slipped back 

 unobserved, and re-entered it wagging his tail violently and 

 looking exceedingly sheepish. He now lay down and closed his 

 eyes. The cocked ears showed that sleep was mere pretence, 

 and he soon rose again, went out into the front garden, and 

 hunted for buried bones, purely imaginary ones, I believe. His 

 search gradually led him down the hill by the foot-path (a), — we 

 keeping him in sight, as before — and he finally reached the road 

 at the bottom. There all disguise was dropped, and he started 

 off for the cantonment. As he neared the spot (f) the peon 

 espied him, and shouted out his name. He turned at once, 

 climbed the hill, and came into the bungalow, where the same 

 farce of repentance was gone through. 



Bully now seemed to have made up his mind that escape was 

 impossible ; he lay down on a mat in the verandah, and re- 

 mained there for a long time. But for the persistent cock of 

 the ears we should have imagined the animal really asleep. Mr. 

 Cherry eventually went to his office-room, and I remained in the 

 verandah reading the morning paper, and occasionally glancing 

 at Bully. He lay very still, but once or twice I detected him 

 opening his eyes and raising his head to look round him. Each 

 time he caught my eye he wagged his tail vehemently for a 

 moment or two, and then resorted to his sham sleep. 



It may have been for half-an-hoiu", or thereabouts, that this 

 state of Uiings continued. I then became interested in an article 

 in the paper, and when I next looked up Bully was gone. I 

 called Mr. Cherry, and the house was searched. No Bully. The 

 peon was sent for and interrogated ; he had not seen the dog. 

 As a last resource inquiry was made of the horsekeepers down 

 at the stables (d). The reply was — " Yes, the dog had passed 

 through the gate (d) some time before." Taking advantage of 

 my occupation and the absence of his master. Bully had left the 

 house, and taken his way to the cantonment by the only path by 

 which he could have escaped unnoticed by the peon — that shown 

 by the dotted line. 



In this necessarily short account I have hardly done justice to 

 Bully's diplomatic powers, but most of your readers will appre- 

 ciate the intelligence that led the dog to successfully elude the 

 watch set over him. 



E. H. Pringle 



A SMALL English terrier belonging to a friend has been taught 

 to ring for the servant. To test if the dog knew -why it rang the 

 bell he was told to do so whilst the girl was in the room. 



The little fellow looked up in the most intelligent manner at 

 the person giving the order (his master or mistress, I forget 

 which), then at the servant, and refused to obey, although the 

 order was repeated more than once. 



The servant left the room, and a few minutes afteiTvards the 

 dog rang the bell immediately on being told to do so. 



Royal Institution, March 14 JOHN Rae 



Observing the remarks of Mr. G. Henslow (Nature, vol. 

 xix. p. 433) in reference to " abstract reasoning " as not to be 

 observed in the lower animals, it has occiured to me that the 

 following facts may have a useful bearing on this subject : — My 

 sister, who lives just opposite to my own house, possesses a cat 

 (now about thirteen years old) whose intelligence is very remark- 

 able. He has the habit of making use of the knocker of a side 

 door, which is just within his reach as he stands on his hind legs, 

 whenever he desires admission. A single knock is tried in the 



first instance, but if this is not answered promptly it is followed 

 by what is known as a " postman's knock ; " if this is not suc- 

 cessful, trial is then made of a scientific "rat-tat" that would 

 not disgrace a west-end footman. I should say that " Minnie" 

 holds the knocker in his paw as we should hold it in our fingers, 

 and not by simply tipping it up. How far this practice involves 

 "abstract reasoning" 1 will not say, but something like an 

 approach to it is suggested, for he was never taught to knock at 

 the door, and adopted the habit some three years ago, evidently 

 to gain admittance, very often to the annoyance of my sister's 

 family, who have occasionally been disturbed in this way at un- 

 seemly hours. I should be sorry in thus referring to the sagacity 

 of poor pussy (who is now also somewhat feeble) to reflect upon 

 him by noticing some other of his peculiaritie?, one of which is 

 his fondness for a little brandy and water and other alcoholic 

 stimulants ; but I think what I have referred to may be interest- 

 ing to Mr. Henslow or some other of your correspondents, and 

 it is within my own knowledge and observation. G. M. 



March 15 



Mr. Henslow asks for " cases of purely abstract mental 

 reflection in animals," and in reply I mention a case in Somer- 

 setshire of a kitten about half grown, at a house where I was 

 stopping, having mental reflection of some sort. 



I was sitting in one of the rooms, the first evening there, and 

 hearing a loud knock at the front door, was told not to heed it, 

 as it was only this kitten asking admittance. Not believing it, 

 I watched for myself, and very soon saw this kitten jump on 

 to the door, hang on by one leg, and put the other fore -paw 

 right through the knocker and rap twice. 



The knocker was an ordinary-shaped one fixed in the centre 

 of the door, half way up ; the top part of the door was glazed. 

 I saw this performance dozens of times aftens ards, and often 

 used to put the kitten outside to see it done. It was nev«r 

 known to knock when any one stood in the garden, but if one 

 went in-doors and shut it outside, in a few minutes came the 

 usual knock. 



A sister kitten to this one was never known to knock, but sat 

 on the doorstep and entered when the door was opened, and in 

 nine cases out of ten the knocks were successfiJ. 



This kitten was never taught in any way ; it would knock at 

 both front and back doors. I shoiild like to know if Mr. 

 Henslow considers this practical or abstract reflection; the 

 result was /rar/Zca/. MAURICE Belsham 



Simla Cottage, Barnes 



The explanations by Mr. Nicols (Nature, vol. xix. p. 433) 

 fail to convince me that the rats cut the pipes to get at the water. 

 I have seen the edge of joists cut or gnawed about eight inches 

 above the ground, where the rat would have to stand on its hind 

 legs to do it — What was that for ? Again, why does our cat 

 scratch the legs of the kitchen table ? It seems to me that rats 

 are often like children, they must be doing something to work 

 off the energy within them, and fill up the time, and they often 

 do things without any definite reason. Lastly, if the water is at 

 high pressure especially do they stop to drink the water at all ? 

 It also runs in my mind that the rats cut the lead pipes where 

 there was plenty of clean water without doing so. 



Glasgow, March 17 W, P. Buchan 



I BEG to thank Mr. Nicols for his courtesy in supplying the 

 missing links of evidence in the rat cases (Nature, vol. xix. 

 p. 433), cases which may, I think, be applied with reference to 

 Mr. Henslow's difficulty concerning " abstract mental reflec- 

 tion ; " for it seems to me now that the most probable supposi- 

 tion is that the rat-community had learned through experience 

 (likely got accidentally in cutting pipes which obstructed their 

 operations) that such-like pipes at times contain water, and by 

 exercise of reason came to the conclusion that it was worth while 

 to make the exploration in the instances given. 



I give the following as told me by my wife — now dead — who 

 personally witnessed the transaction on various occasions : — At 

 her sister's honse in Kent a donkey which, when not employed 

 by the children, grazed in a field with some cows, was in the 

 regular habit of acting as follows : — At the usual hour for the 

 cows to come home to be milked the donkey lifted the latch of 

 the field gate, opened and held back the gate (which would other- 

 wise have swung close again) till all the cows passed out, then 

 allowed the gate to shut, and went home with the cows. Of 



