176 



NATURE 



[December 22, 1904 



Note on Radioactivity. 



In the course of some experiments on the chemical be- 

 liaviour of the /3 and 7 rays from radium (Ramsay and 

 Cooke, Nature, August ii) solutions were obtained con- 

 taining' a radio-active substance which could sometimes be 

 removed from the solution by the formation in it of a 

 suitable precipitate. Sometimes when such a solution, con- 

 taining ammonium salts, and in which several precipita- 

 tions had already taken place, was evaporated to dryness 

 on the lid of a porcelain crucible the residue was found 

 to be capable of lessening the rate of leak of the electro- 

 scope, i.e. it behaved in the opposite way to an active 

 residue, which would increase the rate of leak. This 

 " anti-activity" has been observed on several occasions, 

 and seems to be a specific property of the matter examined, 

 and not to be due to any variable condition of the electro- 

 scope ; thus the natural leak taken before is the same as 

 that taken immediately after such an experiment. 



I have not found any mention of a similar phenomenon 

 in the literature on radio-activity, but should be glad to 

 know if like results have been noticed by other observers. 

 An explanation of the " anti-activity " would seem to be 

 either that the leaf of the electroscope, which was always 

 negatively charged, receives particles carrying a similar 

 charge, which particles cause little ionisation of the air, or 

 that the rays exert a de-ionising power on the air, if one 

 ■can conceive of such an action. W. Ternent Cooke. 



Chemical Department, University College, 

 Gower Street, W.C. 



Blue Flints at Bournemouth. 



There is an old man living here, in Bournemouth, who 

 years ago was employed in re-laying a part of the Poole 

 Road, some little distance within the western boundary of 

 the borough. He says that he helped to put down a 

 quantity of refuse from the gas-works mixed up with flints, 

 &c. — for this was before the days when the Poole Road 

 began to be mended with granite. Now it so happened 

 that this very man w^as employed to dig up and remove the 

 surface of the road in preparation for the laying down of 

 the tram lines, and of the wood pavement with which the 

 whole road is now covered ; and he says that he helped to 

 dig up the very stuff which years ago he had helped to put 

 down, and that this old road material was carted off to 

 the new road then in course of construction upon the common 

 and along the top of the cliff close by this part of the Poole 

 Road. The flints, he says, came out blue, and are the blue 

 flints now to be seen in patches upon this new road along 

 the west sea-front. J. W. Sharpe. 



Bournemouth. 



Intelligence of Animals. 



As some stray remarks of mine seem to have set this 

 discussion agoing, I should be glad if you would kindly 

 allow me to supplement your correspondents' interesting 

 letters by two or three further stories which have come 

 directly under my own observation. They are intended to 

 be illustrative of methods of reasoning about reason in 

 animals, particularly dogs. It will be observed that each 

 story has its own distinctive shade of inaccuracy, and that 

 the shade grows deeper as you proceed. 



I trust, however, I shall by no means be taken as doubt- 

 ing the correctness of the facts sent you by your scientific 

 readers, though I admit I might plead guilty to an indict- 

 ment for suspecting seriously their interpretation. In the 

 case of one or two of them I should not be surprised if some 

 much more simple explanation than the one put forward 

 might have been overlooked. 



(i) Some years ago 1 had a favourite Irish terrier, Tim. 

 Tim was a brave little chap, and would not quail before 

 a lion. Like all of his strain, he had, I may say in pass- 

 ing, the rather human habit of grinning when amused, and 

 would smile back at you in quite a comical fashion. This 

 not too common trait is, I think, noteworthy. 



When a mere puppy, Tim, in one bound, leaped into the 

 household's good graces, and by no less meritorious an action 

 than by saving us all from being burned alive. It was this 

 way. Some newspapers thrown carelessly near the library 

 grate caught fire ; but Tim, who was snoozing on the hearth- 

 rug, bounded up and rushed to the cook, making such a 



NO. 1834, VOL. 71] 



row that that good lady dashed upstairs and tramped out the 

 budding conflagration. 



I am loth to point out that the young terrier could have 

 had no more idea of a conflagration than Juno's geese when 

 they cackled had of the Gallic invasion, from which by so 

 doing they are said to have saved the Roman Capitol, and, 

 further, 1 am greatly afraid that on the occasion showed 

 not the foresight set down to his credit, but for once in his 

 life — cowardice. The results, indeed, as not rarely happens 

 from that species of wisdom, were satisfactory, and the 

 appropriation of the praise on Tim's part quite after the 

 manner of fully acknowledged rationals. 



(2) In adult life Tim used to earn his breakfast of morn- 

 ings by carrying my boots up to my room. Where his 

 astuteness and " reasoning power " came in was by always 

 fetching up polished boots, though he might have three or 

 four pairs to pick and choose from. Of polished pairs he 

 would invariably seize my light ones if they were at hand — 

 a hint, the housekeeper used to insist, that he wished that 

 I should " go off with myself " and visit friends. 



When " doggie " stories are circling I seldom fail to 

 extract this from my budget, and I am always tempted to 

 add little flourishes. At all events, I never feel called upon 

 to explain that Tim possessed no acquired taste for bog-mud, 

 and accordingly he discarded soiled shoes. Further, though 

 Tim was by no means lazy, he set store by Helmholtz's 

 great principle of the conservation of energy. He had ex- 

 perimented and discovered for himself that there was far less 

 using up of brawn and muscle in bearing along and aloft 

 a thin than a heavy, thick-soled boot. All this by no means 

 appeared on the surface, and so his superlative judiciousness 

 was a source of delight to the cook, and of bewilderment to 

 her visitors, all the year round. 



(3) A farmer residing near me has a strong, useful 

 mongrel, Major by name. Though Major is a cur of low 

 degree, his wisdom is great and " uncanny." Like every 

 other dog around here he would almost know your think- 

 ing — to use the pet phrase — and certainly would understand 

 your talking. The latter statement can be proved, and I 

 beg to undertake the demonstration. 



For agriculturists in these parts fairs are the grand 

 monthly carnivals. Some months ago, on the eve of one, 

 our farmer said to his wife as they sat by the fireside, 

 " Jane, I think I must chain up Major to-night and not 

 have him follow us to-morrow as he did on the last 

 occasion." "Would you believe it," so the farmer relates 

 it, " on hearing his- sentence out marched Major, most 

 indignant." Next morning at an early hour, as Jane and 

 himself proceeded to the fair, there he was sitting on his 

 tail on a fence looking out for them more than a mile 

 from home ! And so he was at the fun of the fair as well as 

 another. 



Our farmer never conjectured there might have been 

 in the meantime for the mongrel an attraction of his own 

 in the direction of the town, though the torn ear was there 

 to set him thinking. Qui vtilt decipi, decipiatitr. 



(4) Another neighbour possesses a spotted dog which he 

 calls a water spaniel. Though he, no less than every other 

 puppy, whelp, and hound in the country, may be dis- 

 tinguished for intelligence, he and they are certainly not 

 noted for good looks or long pedigrees. This particular 

 thoroughbred, amongst manv things, (a) can go on a message 

 to any house he is directed to within a radius of three miles ! 

 (b) can catch any hare he sets his eyes upon ! and yet (c) will 

 be fifteen years old to a day if he lives until January 2 next ! 



Explanation : — His owner sometimes gives a loose rein 

 to a splendidly vivid imagination. 



I yield to no one both in my respect and liking for our 

 canine friends and in my admiration for their affection, 

 their highest developed quality. But I am inclined to think 

 their good points and " thinking powers " are often vastly 

 exaggerated by friendly and carelessly observing eyes. 

 Much that surprises may be of the type of one or other of 

 the four stories above given. Imperfect, ill-trained observ- 

 ation, reading into actions motives and purposes which were 

 never dreamt of, setting aside the simple for the marvellous, 

 assisted by a heavier or lighter dash of Munchausenism, 

 would turn folly into wisdom and wisdom into folly. By 

 the help of any one of these principles one is quite capable of 

 seeing in the most aimless action the profundity of the gods. 



Creevelea, co. Leitrim. Joseph Meeman. 



