212 ANIMAL ARTISANS 



on the stone walls contemplating the passers-by, and 

 hoping against hope that a stray animal may come past 

 which they can aid in rounding up. But their ingenuity 

 in finding "jobs" about the house is great. Besides 

 fetching the two or three cows, perhaps from the 

 adjacent meadow, about which they make a maximum 

 of fuss and barking, they fetch the chickens to be fed, 

 bring the ducks up from the river, see the horses back 

 from plough, and often go to the school, perhaps a 

 couple of miles off, and fetch the children home. 



Dogs kept much in the owners' company do not 

 necessarily learn to understand the meaning of words. 

 That depends on the alertness and interest of both 

 the animal and its owner. But they can be made to 

 understand much if treated in a way which appeals 

 to them. For example, an eager little dog, brought 

 into the house on the understanding that it is going 

 ^out for a walk, and quite disconsolate at seeing its 

 mistress going upstairs as though she were giving up 

 the idea of a walk, will run gaily upstairs if the 

 latter says, " I am going to put my hat on," em- 

 phasising the remark by pointing to her head. Nearly 

 all dogs know what " going to church " means 

 namely, that they must not come. It is the opposite 

 and contrary of " going for a walk." 



Mr. Bartlett the elder, the first Superintendent of 

 the " Zoo," held that however attentive to his duties 

 a keeper might be, he was never successful if he did 

 not talk to his animals ; and there can be little doubt 

 that even if they fail to understand most of the 

 conversation, the mere fact of being talked to creates 



