l8o WILD NEIGHBORS chap. 



root in the forests or fields, are the subjects of 

 many anecdotes. They have been trained in 

 several instances to scent and point game-birds 

 like a dog; and have been a feature at country 

 fairs in Great Britain for many years, picking 

 out letters of the alphabet as they were called, 

 and forecasting the fortunes of rustic damsels by 

 selection of cards. 



The French clown Corvi, of whom I spoke 

 a little while ago, trained pigs effectually, and 

 says that it requires extreme patience and tender- 

 ness of treatment. The least touch of the whip 

 disfigures the tender skin and disgusts the ani- 

 mal with work. Only coaxing succeeds. There 

 is an Irish proverb which runs thus : " Beat your 

 wife with a cudgel, and your pig with a straw." 



The minor carnivora have furnished the theatre 

 with several profitable animals, as dogs, cats, 

 wolves, jackals, hyenas, seals, and others. 



Of the dog we would expect a great deal under 

 the tutelage of a practical teacher of animal tricks, 

 and the public, perhaps, has not been disappointed, 

 though to the naturalist the result does not seem 

 very extensive or encouraging. Of all animals, it 

 is the one most closely associated with man, and 

 probably has the deepest insight into the human 

 mind — quite as deep, perhaps, as we have into 

 the canine mind. Through unnumbered genera- 

 tions of special breeding, his inclinations have 

 been modified toward those things in which he 



