Quadrupeds. 3505 



Remarkable Instinct of a Pony. — Every fresh instance of the wonderful sagacity 

 of animals must be interesting to those who make Natural History their study : al- 

 though one reads of extraordinary cases of instinct as remarked by many persons, yet 

 every new case, as it comes home to one, seems stronger than before, till at length the 

 boundary line between instinct and reason becomes very narrow and ill-defined. In 

 my Notes on Norwegian Natural History, I have had occasion to make mention of a 

 very sagacious pony I brought from Norway ; this pony has lately exhibited such won- 

 derful instances of sharpness, that in justice to her they ought to be recounted. Dur- 

 ing the past summer, autumn, and winter, while their masters were abroad, this pony, 

 in company with another brought at the same time from Norway, had a holiday at grass. 

 They not only enjoyed perfect rest from work, but very soon perfect liberty, inasmuch as 

 no common or uncommon fastenings, no devices of the groom availed ; they could un- 

 fasten, undo, or untie every gate, and ranged at will wherever their inclination led them. 

 For some time they were the companions of a foal of last year, which, being a great 

 beauty, was treated to two feeds of corn every day, a luxury denied to the Norsk ponies; 

 but one of them, not understanding the meaning of such partiality, and having been 

 brought up with somewhat of republican opinions, always contrived to get through the 

 door of the shed which divided her from the foal's dinner, and to share the oats with 

 him. Various were the contrivances of the groom to baffle the pony's ingenuity, but 

 they all signally failed. Tf he tied the door with a stout rope, the pony knew how to 

 pick out the knot with her teeth ; if he fastened it with a chain and staple and wooden 

 peg, no sooner was his back turned, than the peg was drawn and the gate undone : at 

 length, tired of being so often beaten, the man barred the entrance to the shed with a 

 heavy rail ; this was a sore trial to the poor pony, and the man looked on from a lit- 

 tle distance with a complacent smile, and rubbed his hands with glee at the victory 

 he had at last achieved, as he saw the pony make fruitless efforts to lift off the heavy 

 rail with her neck ; but her strength was unequal to this, and she seemed at once to 

 give it up in despair, for she turned round and trotted off to her companion. But what 

 was the astonishment of the groom to see her return to the rail with help ! She had 

 persuaded her friend, the other Norwegian pony, to come to her aid ; they both toge- 

 ther put their necks under the rail, and now what one could not accomplish, the com- 

 bined strength of the two achieved ; the rail was thrown down, and the way to the 

 corn cleared. I do not know what means at length succeeded in baffling the pony, but 

 when no longer able to come at the door, she managed to take down the shutter of the 

 shed, and feast her eyes at any rate upon the corn. On a subsequent occasion, when 

 these two Norwegian ponies were confined in a yard, they so repeatedly unfastened the 

 gate (whatever might be the new device of the groom to render it secure), and made 

 their escape, that nothing would avail but to nail it up with some stout tenpenny nails, 

 when all other means had been tried and failed. After such instances as I have men- 

 tioned above, of ingenuity, determination on a plan, communication with another, suc- 

 cessful carrying out of the proposed manoeuvre, and overcoming of the difficulty, I feel 

 some scruple in assenting to the logical definition of man as " animal rationale,'' for I 

 have my doubts if the epithet is peculiar to him alone. — Alfred Charles Smith ; Old 

 Park, Devizes, June 8, 1852. 



Note on the Rev. A. C. Smith's Anecdote of a Cat. — Without affecting to give an 

 explanation of the habit of the cat referred to by the Kev. A. C. Smith, in the May 

 number (Zool. 3452), I may mention that a cat, lately in the possession of the Rev. 

 Mr. Wilson, of this parish, had adopted the same method of feeding, and continued it 



x. 2 c 



