Dec. 



1881.] 



KNOWLEDGE 



liorse, and although I incline to the eamo opinion, I will not 

 •omnient upon it, but content rayeelf with simply relating this 

 inecdotc. A. H. 



anecdote 



Noi: 19, 1881. 



[58] — A sinpilar instance of apparent prescience in a dog occurs 

 in an account pivon Xov. 21 of a father shot by his son. Here is 

 the evidence of tlie wife and mother : — 



" We heard notliing to di.sturb us after retiring to bed until 

 about half-past two o'clock neit morning. About that time a little 

 do;^ which belonged to my husband, and was a great favourite, 

 oavio upstairs, and jumjied upon our bed. My husband tried to 

 make the dog po away, but he could not do so, as the little thing 

 Roemed so ' fussy.' At last he thought the best thing to do would 

 be to take the dog downstairs, and by shutting the door at the 

 bottom, prevent it from returning. My husband got out of bed, and 

 took tlie dog in his arms for the purpose of carrying it away. In 

 about half-a-minute, and when he was on the stairs, I heard a loud 

 leport, as if a pistol or a revolver was being fired. This was re- 

 iwatod twice, and the deceased then shouted out at the top of his 

 voiie, ' I am shot !' " 



The peculiarity here is that the coming danger, of which the 

 animal appeared cognisant, could only have been imparted by the 

 footsteps or other movements of a meuther of the family ; this, 

 iimUr ordinary circumstances, could have given no such premoni- 

 tions of danger to the dog. Has any similar case been observed ? 



Bark. 



[59] — In tlie article on " Intelligenee in Animals," in Xo. III. of 

 KxoHLEDGE, p. 46, the writer speaks of animals possessing the 

 power of practical reasoning, bnt not abstract. Does not the follow- 

 ing anecdote show a power of moi-e than merely practical reason- 

 ing ? I do not know whether it has been quoted by anyone else in 

 this relation to Darwin's theory. 



Two students were in the habit of visiting each other at their 

 respective rooms; each had a dog. On one occasion both dogs were 

 left outside the room while their owners were inside. The dogs 

 began to tight, which ended in their being admitted into the room 

 and kept at a distance from each other. On a subsequent visit one 

 dog was absent, and the other dog was put outside as before. 

 The two students were soon after surprised by hearing what they 

 thought was their two dogs outside fighting. On opening the door 

 the dog walked into the room, which was the end he desired. He 

 bad remembered the reason why, on a previous occasion, both he 

 and the other dog had been admitted into the room, and he had 

 icted accordingly. — Yours, &c. Feedeeick G. Abbiss. 



REASON IX AXIMALS. 



[60] — In support of the view that animals possess a certain 

 anount of reasoning power, I would contribute the following 

 iistance, which has not hitherto been published. 



During my boyhood my father had the shooting over some 

 poperty adjoining a deer-park, and we owned at this time a very 

 itelligent setter, which used also to retrieve. One day my father 

 sot and wounded a hare, which made its way through a hole in the 

 p«k-i)aling. Tlie dog leaped the paling, caught the hare, and 

 bought it back to the fence in its mouth. It then tried several 

 til es to return by leaping tlie paling, but the weight of the hare 

 l)riVonted it from reaching the top. After resting awhile it 

 behought itself of the hole through which the hare had come, and, 

 tatng the hare to this hole, it ))ushed it through, then leaped the 

 pak paling, and brought the hare to my father. — I am, sir, your 

 obdient servant, B. Clemext Lcc.is, B.S., F.K.C.S. 



lav. 18, 1881. 



ARE WOMEX INTERIOR TO MEX ? 

 [1] — I read with much pleasure your remarks on the question, 

 " A» women inferior to men ? " It occurs to me that if we are 

 infdior in brain capacity, the reason may be that sufficient care is 

 not tken to develope the brain. We all know tlie size of the hand 

 is inceased by constant work— at least of a particular kind. And 

 constnt use of the other parts of the body usually leads to an 

 alterd and probably heavier formation. Xow, in a girl's education 

 the bain is but slightly exercised. Music and needlework, which 

 oecup, so much of her time, scarce exercise it at all. And even 

 the ]iat of her education which does require brain-work seldom 

 calls itforth vigorously. She has fewer rewards to look forward 

 to if sb succeeds, and fewer punishments if she idles. Many idle 

 boys rquire whipping — and get it. Many idle girls require 

 •whippic; — and do not get it. Then, just when the boy is about 

 enterin! on the most active part of his brain-work in a Univer- 

 sity, th girl is taken from school, and sets out on a new 

 course i flirting and husband-catchin:;. She is sometimes at this 



work, and jierhups even married at iin age when the bov who idles 

 woulii be wlii|iped — as she ought to lie. Again, in her after-life, she 

 has but rarely much bniin-work to do, and the development "of the 

 brain is probably not maintained. But I should be surpirised. to 

 hear that the brain development of George Eliot, or George Sand, 

 for instance, was inferior to that of tlje average male, and if it was, 

 it would prove that the quality, not the quantity, of brain was the 

 reajly important point. If girls were aawell taught at schools as 

 boys, got as much bniin-work to do, and were then sent to uni- 

 versities, and did not begin to look for husbands until they were 

 twenty-two or twenty-three years old, I have no doubt their brains 

 would be much improved. 1 know my views en whipping will be 

 unpopular, but if the se.xea arc Jiqual, as I contend, why not treat 

 them alike ? — I remain, <4c., Susan G. 



EFFEMINACY OP APPEARAXCE. 



[62] — Can any of your readers give me a description of the 

 characteristic difference between the physiognomy of the male 

 and female of the human species ? You may sometimes see men 

 whose features might be called effeminate ; now in what does this 

 peculiarity consist ? 



The article on the question "Are women inferior to men?" 

 brought this to my mind. Physiognomist. 



OPTICAL ILLUSION. 

 [63] — In regard to the optical illusions, there may be added to 

 the instances adduced in Mr. Foster's article, one of circles. 



If, say, a 2-inch hole be cut in a piece of brown paper and an inch 

 jieriphery left round it. and, again, another 2-inch hole be cut with a 

 three inch periphery, the two holes, although exactly the same size, 

 will appear not to be so. — 1 am, &c., 



Pehcival a. Fothegill, F.R.A.S. 



A " LUNAR ILLUSION." 



[64] — 1 have frequentlj- noticed what your correspondent M. 

 calls a " Lunar Illusion " (No. 23, p. 57), but I have always supposed 

 a different reason for it, and I hardly think that M.'s arrow hits the 

 mai-k. 



Let us suppose a lighthouse on our horizon ; we know that a 

 straight Une from it dra\vii through the moon would bisect it very 

 differently from a line drawn from the setting sun (below, in fact), 

 though the sim would appear in the same place as the lighthouse, 

 and a line from it would, of course, seem as if it ought to bisect it 

 in the same way. The enonnoiis cnmpnrntii'e -distance of the sun 

 seems to me the true reason ; and I have sometimes thought that 

 a rough idea of his distance might be made by taking the angle of 

 JI.'s sagitta when the moon is near the zenith, knowing, of course, 

 the distance of our satellite from the earth. — I am, sir, yours, &c., 



Cleveland Lodge, Sydenham. S. H. W. 



TELESCOPES.— OPTICAL ILLUSION. 

 [65] — Would it lie in accordance with your plan to give a popular 

 description of the different kinds of telescopes, with the apparatus, 

 giving a few hints to amateurs in obtaining them, explaining among 

 other things the following : — 



The Terrestrial Telescope. 

 „ Astronomical ,, 

 ,, X'ewtonian ,, 



., Equatorial ,, 



,, Huyghenian Ej-e-Piece. 

 ,, Pancreatic ,, ,, 



„ Kitchener's Pancreatic Eye-Piece, &c., &c. 

 „ Different ways of mounting. 

 >, ,, kind „ stands. 



,, Power that object glasses will bear, &c. 

 As the circulation of Knowledge increases, as I am sure it will 

 do, you may be able to spare a portion of space in each number to 

 the above subject. 



The above appears to me very striking, the circle on the left 

 looking very much larger, though they are the same size. The 

 illusion vanishes when a card is placed at the top of the circles. 



F.H.S. 



