LAST WORDS 



EVERYTHING that I have so far experienced 

 or even heard of concerning dogs, I have 

 attempted to set down here, and to do so has 

 taken some fourteen months of close work. I have 

 further added certain observations dating from an 

 earlier period. It is my full intention to continue this 

 work of experimentation, and should be glad if I 

 might hope that what I have communicated in these 

 pages may raise a desire on the part of some of my 

 readers to embark on similar work in reference to other 

 animals ; for, in so difficult a field of discovery it can 

 only be after much independent spadework has been 

 done that the " complete form " we are groping after 

 will be laid bare. Up to the present it may be thought 

 that little of really practical value has been proved, 

 and to some this may suggest that the work is there- 

 fore superfluous. But, do we study astronomy for 

 mere practical reasons ? Does the : seeker in this 

 field of science imagine that he is going to derive 

 practical results for us, in the immediate future, from 

 his study of the heavens ? It is for purely ideal 

 reasons and in order to give seeking humanity that 

 which is indeed theirs, that we humans send forth our 

 thoughts, exploring every region of the world 

 be this " of use " or not ! And in thus probing the 

 depths of our own subject do we not come up against 

 ii 149 



