244 THE BOOK OF A NATURALIST 



in his simplicity that some kind lady had picked it 

 up and left it with one of the shopmen to be claimed 

 by its rightful owner. 



I had heard of such actions on the part of dogs 

 before, but always with a smile ; for we know the 

 people who tell this kind of story — the dog- 

 worshippers, or canophilists as they are sometimes 

 called, a people weak in their intellectuals, and as 

 a rule unveracious, although probably not con- 

 sciously so. But now I had myself witnessed this 

 thing, which, when read, will perhaps cause others 

 to smile in their turn. 



But what is one to say of such an action ? Just 

 now we are all of us, philosophers included, in a 

 muddle over the questions of mind and intellect 

 in the lower animals, and just how much of each 

 element goes to the composition of any one act ; 

 but probably most persons would say at once that 

 the action of the little red dog in Regent Street 

 was purely intelligent. I am not sure. The swift- 

 ness, smoothness, and certainty with which the 

 whole thing was carried out gave it the appearance 

 of a series of automatic movements rather than a 

 reasoned act which had never been rehearsed. 



Recently during my country rambles I have 

 been on the look-out for the small red dog, and 

 have met with several interesting examples in the 

 southern counties. One, in Hampshire, moved me 

 to laughter like that small animal at Charterhouse 

 Hinton. 



This was at Sway, a village near Lymington. A 



