436 . CORRESPONDENCE. [1857, 



handsome. We could not bear to give him the name 

 of his lamented predecessor ; so Mrs. Gray named him 

 Han§, — a souvenir of Pontrilas. . . . 



Dr. Gray's dogs and cats were always well-recog- 

 nized members of the family. He had a great love of 

 animals, which was warmly returned by his different 

 pets. In his early married life the kittens he helped 

 raise by feeding them with a dropping-tube from his 

 microscope rather preferred him to their young and 

 careless mother, and, confounding all other men with 

 him, were perpetually scrambling into laps, to the 

 surprise of callers. Two grew into fine cats, who de- 

 manded a regular attention and consideration from 

 him, reminding him by gentle taps, one on each side, 

 when bedtime came. 



Of his first dog, he always said that they stood 

 more in the relation of brothers than master and dog ; 

 and the dog felt a guardian care of him. The differ- 

 ent characters of his two Newfoundland dogs, and 

 of the smaller ones he had later, interested him, for 

 they were singularly different, though both the New- 

 foundlands shared his affection for a pretty Maltese 

 cat who had succeeded the other cats ; they were espe- 

 cially fond of her kittens and attentive to them, allow- 

 ing them all sorts of liberties. The cats and dogs 

 always lived affectionately together. Dr. Gray always 

 recognized their good consciences, which varied some- 

 what with the different type of animal, and considered 

 that the size of different breeds had much to do with 

 their characteristics. They always learned to eat what 

 their master did ; not so much, he woidd say, from 

 any preference for oysters and dry toast, as that they 

 were ambitious to do as far as possible what he did. 



