390 ANIMALS AND THE MIRAGE. 



cated mind, represented as they are with such won- 

 derful realistic effect, that it is hard for the spectator 

 to persuade himself that the whole thing is simply a 

 phantom scene, set upon the stage of the great theatre 

 of Nature; and an optical illusion only. 



Remarkable, therefore, is the fact that however com- 

 pletely these unreal pictures may impose upon the 

 boasted superiority of our human senses; they have 

 never been known to do so upon the supposed duller 

 instincts of the wild animals, who are the inhabitants 

 of the wastes. Dogs are alleged to have been some- 

 times deceived by it, but this is a doubtful point and 

 may have arisen from the animals wandering off in 

 search of water. It is well known that dogs and 

 pigeons will occasionally take the reflexion of them- 

 selves in a mirror which is held up before them, for 

 that of some other member of their fraternity. The 

 author, on one occasion, nearly had a valuable pier 

 glass smashed, when playing this trick upon a favourite 

 bull terrier. Still, after a careful examination of this 

 curious subject, he has been unable to find any trace 

 of an instance where wild animals are known to have 

 been deceived by mirage : yet it is hardly to be supposed 

 that the images of cooling waters and sheltering groves, 

 would be invisible to their penetrating gaze; or that 

 what is so plainly visible to the human eye, could be 

 hidden from the eyes of the thirsty camel or the desert 

 antelope. 



Nevertheless, notwithstanding his superior genius 

 and wisdom, man seems, of all created beings, to be 

 the most easily taken in by it, and many instances 

 have been from time to time recorded of his falling 

 a victim to his own delusions by following these 



