70 EEMINISOENCES. [Ch. IV 



and shouted in his old manner ; the dog rushed out and set 

 off with him on his walk, showing no more emotion or excite- 

 ment than if the same thing had happened the day before, 

 instead of five years ago. This story is made use of in the 

 Descent of Man, 2nd Edit. p. 74. 



In my memory there were only two dogs which had much 

 connection with my father. One was a large black and white 

 half-bred retriever, called Bob, to which we, as children, were 

 much devoted. He was the dog of whom the story of the 

 " hot-house face " is told in the Expression of the Emotions, 



But the dog most closely associated with my father was the 

 above-mentioned Polly, a rough, white fox-terrier. She was a 

 sharp-witted, affectionate dog; when her master was going 

 away on a journey, she always discovered the fact by the signs 

 of packing going on in the study, and became low-spirited 

 accordingly. She began, too, to be excited by seeing the study 

 prepared for his return home. She was a cunning little 

 creature, and used to tremble or put on an air of misery when 

 my father passed, while she was waiting for dinner, just as if 

 she knew that he would say (as he did often say) that " she 

 was famishing." My father used to make her catch biscuits 

 off her nose, and had an affectionate and mock-solemn way of 

 explaining to her before-hand that she must " be a very good 

 girl." She had a mark on her back where she had been burnt, 

 and where the hair had re-grown red instead of white, and my 

 father used to commend her for this tuft of hair as being in 

 accordance with his theory of pangenesis ; her father had been 

 a red bull-terrier, thus the red hair appearing aften the burn 

 showed the presence of latent red gemmules. He was delight- 

 fully tender to Polly, and never showed any impatience at the 

 attentions she required, such as to be let in at the door, or out 

 at the verandah window, to bark at " naughty people," a self- 

 imposed duty she much enjoyed. She died, or rather had to be 

 killed, a few days after his death.* 



My father's mid-day walk generally began by a call at the 

 greenhouse, where he looked at any germinating seeds or 

 experimental plants which required a casual examination, but 

 he hardly ever did any serious observing at this time. Then 

 he went on for his constitutional — either round the "Sand- 

 walk," or outside his own grounds in the immediate neighbour- 

 hood of the house. The " Sand- walk " w r as a narrow strip of 

 land 1£ acre in extent, with a gravel-walk round it. On one 



* The basket in which she usually lay curled up near the fire in his 

 study is faithfully represented in Mr. Parson's drawing given at the head 

 of the chapter. 



