342 ANIMAL MOTIVES AND 



liar to a certain dog under exceptional conditions ; the result 

 was such as would, or at least might, have arisen in man 

 from a realisation of danger, a knowledge of the best 

 available means of avoiding it, and an unselfish or self- 

 sacrificing readiness to adopt these means. 



We know, moreover, from other incidents that certain 

 dogs are capable of the highest self-sacrifice ; that they 

 realise danger not only as it threatens themselves, but also 

 when it approaches those in whom they are interested ; that 

 they are ingenious in devising the means of preventing or 

 removing it. We equally know that dogs, like all other 

 animals, have a keen love of life that they are selfishly 

 ready to take all necessary means for self-preservation, and 

 that some are too selfish, and others too stupid, to place 

 their master's interests before their own. 



While, therefore, the dog that saved its master from 

 death by cold may have been selfish or stupid, it is at least 

 quite as legitimate to suppose that it may have been 

 sagacious and self-sacrificing in other words, that it was 

 intentionally and consciously its master's saviour. That 

 such was the case no man dare, however, affirm ; that it 

 may have been so is at least probable. In such a case it is 

 only permitted to us to suppose not to know whether the 

 dog had a definite object or motive, and what, if so, that 

 object or motive was. 



Escapes from new homes are common in certain runaway 

 dogs ; desertions from their masters' houses are so frequent 

 that such animals are repeatedly 'lost.' Here, again, any one 

 of several motive causes may be operative such as affection 

 for a former master or home, or dislike to a new proprietor 

 or his abode ; or the animal may be trained to abscond by- 

 one of those vendors 'of pet dogs so common in London, who 

 in this way sell the same pug or poodle over and over again; 

 or the action may be attributable to love of liberty ; or it 

 must be set down to caprice, or relegated to the category 

 of eccentricity, individuality, or unexplained phenomena. 

 Which or whether any of these motives or causes has 

 determined the conduct it may be impossible to decide, or 

 even to guess. 



