KNOWLEDGE BY INVESTIGATION. 251 



merely the scowl or the reverie, by interpreting some sudden 

 change of appearance, manner, or habit, in connection per- 

 haps with some criminal action on its own part, by the asso- 

 ciation of ideas and the rapid drawing of inferences, the dog 

 or cat frequently discovers that a master has made up his 

 mind to shoot, poison, or drown it, and the natural and 

 immediate action following upon such inference from the 

 facts of observation is getting out of his way before he can 

 put his intention into shape or execution. 



It is obvious that many animals appreciate, and must 

 therefore notice, not only general effect, but the most minute 

 details that, in combination, produce this effect. We know 

 that certain female birds at least appreciate patterns or 

 designs for instance, in carpets (White) but it has yet to 

 be determined whether female birds pay attention to each 

 detail of beauty, of colour or form, in the males they admire 

 and select (Darwin). 



Not only, moreover, do they distinguish colours, as many 

 animals much lower hi the zoological scale also do for in- 

 stance, bees and other insects but various birds notice even 

 the different shades of the same colour. And it is shown 

 in another chapter what is the effect of pictorial representa- 

 tions of persons and things on dogs and other animals. 



It is important here to note that the behaviour of many 

 animals differs according as they are, or believe themselves 

 to be, observed or unobserved by man or by their fellows. 

 Certain pet dogs have their * company ' as well as their 

 natural manners, the former being reserved for the human 

 society of the drawing-room, the latter being freely exhibited 

 among their own fellows beyond their mistresses' ken for 

 these are usually ladies' dogs in every sense. The thievish 

 dog or cat steals only when it is, or fancies itself, unnoticed. 

 Before or after the act of theft it may be found sitting or 

 reclining demurely and with an air of utter innocence in its 

 accustomed place before the parlour fire, or it may be seen 

 casting keen glances in all directions in fact, reconnoitring 

 as to the coast being clear, precisely as a human smuggler 

 would. 



Curiosity, when it dominates over caution, leads many an 



