ANIMAL ETIQUETTE 45 



of the conditions of life, in which fighting becomes 

 not only a fine art, but an agreeable pastime for 

 persons of quality. Hence the elaborate salutations 

 of the duello, and the punctilio of the fencing school. 

 ' Shall I begin with a " damme ? " asks Bob Acres, 

 when writing his challenge. And his demur to the 

 plain ' Dear sir,' on the ground that he was not 

 asking his rival to breakfast, seems to plain people 

 rather natural. Yet some of the creatures which are 

 fighters by instinct go through formal preliminaries 

 not unlike those of the set duels of the Middle Ages. 

 The early phases of the cock-fight were so well known 

 as to provide materials for series of illustrations, in 

 which the birds appeared as acting by rules well 

 known and recognised by the ' fancy ; ' and even a 

 single combat between a ferret and a rat is conducted 

 in its early stages with curious reticence and a 

 recognition of rule. The rat, always on the defensive, 

 sits up on guard while the ferret runs to and fro, 

 often approaching so near as almost to touch the rat. 

 Both parties then draw back most politely, as if they 

 begged each other's pardon for the accident ; and 

 this is repeated several times, each appearing to ignore 

 the other's presence, until the ferret makes its spring 

 and the two engage in a furious wrestle, in which 

 the rat is not unfrequently the victim. This is quite 

 different from the conduct of the lobster in 'The 



