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NATURAL HISTORY. 



power to prevent. What makes the case more striking is, that this was the only occasion during the 

 many years he slept in my bed-room that the Terrier disturbed me in the night-time. Indeed, the 

 scrupulous care with which he avoided making the least noise while I was asleep, or pretending to be 

 asleep, was quite touching : even the sight of a Cat outside, which at any other time rendered him 

 frantic, only causing him to tremble violently with suppressed emotion, when he had reason to 

 suppose that I was not awake. If I overslept myself, however, he used to jump upon the bed and 

 push my shoulder gently with his paw. 



" The following instance is likewise very instructive. I must premise that the Terrier in question 

 far surpassed any animal or human being I ever knew in the keen sensitiveness of his feelings, and 

 that he was never beaten in his life. Well, one day he was shut up in a room by himself, while 

 everybody else in the house where he was went out. Seeing his friends from the window as they 

 departed, the Terrier appears to have been overcome by a paroxysm of rage, for when I returned I 

 found that he had torn all the bottoms of the window-curtains to shreds. When I first opened the 

 door he jumped about as Dogs in general do under similar circumstances, having apparently forgotten, 

 in his joy at seeing me, the damage he had done. But when, without speaking, I picked up one of 

 the torn shreds of the curtains, the Terrier gave a howl, and rushing out of the room, ran up-stairs. 

 screaming as loudly as he was able. The only interpretation I can assign to this conduct is, that his. 

 former fit of passion having subsided, the Dog was sorry at having done what he knew would annoy 

 me ; and not being able to endure in my presence the remorse of his smitten conscience, he ran to the 

 farthest corner of the house, crying peccavi in the language of his nature. 



" I had had this Dog for several years, and had never even in his puppyhood known him to 

 steal. On the contrary, he used to make an excellent guard to protsct property from other animals, 

 servants, &c., even though these were his best friends. Nevertheless, on one occasion he was very 

 hungry, and in the room where I was reading and he was sitting there was, within easy reach, a, 

 savoury mutton chop. I was greatly surprised to see him stealthily remove this chop and take it 

 under a sofa. However, I pretended not to observe what had occurred, raid waited to see what would 

 happen next. For fully a quarter of an hour this Terrier remained under the sofa without making a 

 sound, but doubtless enduring an agony of contending feelings. Eventually, however, conscience came 

 off victorious, for, emerging from his place of concealment, and carrying in his mouth the stolen chop, 

 he came across the room and laid the tempting morsel at my feet. The moment he dropped the 

 stolen property he bolted again under the sofa, and from this retreat no coaxing could charm him for 

 several hours afterwards. Moreover, when during that time he was spoken to or patted, he always 

 turned away his head in a ludicrously conscience-stricken manner. Altogether, I do not think it would 

 be possible to imagine a more satisfactory exhibition of conscience by an animal than this ; for it must- 

 be remembered, as already stated, that the particular animal in question was never beaten in its life." 



That extreme sensitiveness, so often an attribute of the highest kinds of mind, was developed to 

 an extraordinary degree in this wonderful Terrier. His owner says : " A reproachful word or look 

 from me, when it seemed to him that occasion required it, was enough to make this Dog miserable for 

 a whole day. I do not know what would have happened had I ventured to strike him ; but once, 

 when I was away from home, a friend used to take him out every day for a walk in the park. He 

 always enjoyed his walks very much, and was now wholly dependent on this gentleman for obtaining 

 them. (He was once stolen in London, through the complicity of my servants, and never after that 

 would he go out by himself, or with any one whom he knew to be a servant.) Nevertheless, one day, 

 while he was amusing himself with another Dog in the park, my friend, in order to persuade him to 

 follow, struck him with a glove. The Terrier looked up at his face with an astonished and indignant 

 gaze, deliberately turned round, and trotted home. Next day he went out with my friend as before, 

 but after he had gone a short distance, he looked up at his face significantly, and again trotted home 

 with a dignified air. After this, my friend could never induce the Terrier to go out with him again. 

 It is remarkable, also, that this animal's sensitiveness was not only of a selfish kind, but extended itself 

 in sympathy for others. Whenever he saw a man striking a Dog, whether in the house or outside, 

 near at hand or at a distance, he used to rush to the protection of his fellow, snarling and snapping in 

 a most threatening way. Again, when driving with me in a dog-cart, he always used to seize the 

 sleeve of my coat every time I touched the Horse with the whip." 



