THE PLAY OF ANIMALS. 133 



tail, faster and faster, until he falls down. A suspended 

 cord is a welcome plaything to him, too; if he finds he 

 can not pull it down, he seizes it in his teeth and jerks 

 it from side to side, with threatening growls. Close 

 observation of such actions clearly reveals their instinc- 

 tive origin. The way young dogs will shake a cord or 

 scrap of cloth is excellent practice for shaking their 

 prey — a habit which apparently has the double object of 

 stunning the victim and deepening the hold of the dog's 

 teeth. 



The fact that dogs beg to have a stone, a piece of 

 wood, or a ball thrown for them, shows how greatly 

 their chasing impulse is excited by the sight of moving 

 objects. While his master is getting ready for the 

 throw the dog stands waiting with eager eyes and all 

 ready for the spring, and as soon as the object flies off 

 he is after it and trying to seize it. Small dogs seem 

 to hold their prey entirely with their teeth, while my 

 St. Bernard leaps upon the object with his fore paws 

 stiffly extended and deals a blow which would break the 

 backbone of small animals. He will gnaw for a long 

 time on a piece of wood that he has run after, carrying 

 it away in his mouth as he would real prey, and cling- 

 ing to it energetically if any effort is made to get it 

 from him. This instinct makes it easy to train dogs to 

 carry sticks or baskets. We can be much more confi- 

 dent that a dog has some consciousness of the pretence 

 of the thing in his play than we are in the case of the 

 cat. He knows perfectly well that the stick which he 

 brings and lays at his master's feet time and time again 

 is not alive, and he, too, sets his plaything in motion 

 when there is no one to throw it for him, by seizing it 

 in his mouth and tossing it up in the air. Many dogs 

 delight to play with the feet of their master or mistress 



