Dogs. 17 



altogether different upon the olfactory nerves of cats. 

 These mysteries of sensation, in other beings, are quite 

 unfathomable, and our human theories about delicacy of 

 taste are not worth a moment's attention. The dog is 

 quite as good an authority on these questions as the best 

 of us. 



I cannot think it is very surprising that dogs should re- 

 member odours well, since odours so long retain the power 

 of awakening old associations in ourselves. I distinctly 

 remember the odour of every house that was famiUar to 

 me in boyhood, and should recognise it at' once. In the 

 same way dogs know the scent of a well-known footstep, 

 even after long separation. An officer returned home 

 after the Franco-German war and did not meet his dog. 

 After his arrival he watched for the dog through the win- 

 dow. He saw it at last in a state of intense excitement, 

 following his track at full speed, never raising its nostrils 

 from the ground, and then came the joyful meeting — the 

 scent had been recognised from the beginning, even in a 

 much-frequented street. 



Innumerable anecdotes might be collected to illustrate 

 the reasoning power of dogs. A certain lawyer, a neigh- 

 bour of mine, has a dog that guards his money when 

 clients come into the office. There are two or three 

 pieces of furniture, and sometimes it happens that the 

 lawyer puts money into one or another of these, tempora- 

 rily, the dog always watching him, and guarding that par- 

 ticular piece of furniture where the money lies. In this 

 instance the dog had gradually become aware, from his 

 master's manner, that money was an object of more than 

 ordinary solicitude ; in fact, he had been set to guard coin 

 left upon the table. I refrain from repeating current 

 stories about the sagacity of dogs, because, although many 



