44 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Ato. 13, 1^886. 



you might claanber up the path, till turning on the sum- 

 mit, your gaze might wander in an unobstructed sweep of 

 miles until, behold! the town Brobdingnaggia has become 

 XriUiputia and you have left yotir little knapsack of troub- 

 les there also. 



Years ago I said all tliis to my friend, the city dweller, 

 but "No, it is too far away," said he, "It is too steep, this 

 lull of yours to climb. I will build me a Queen Anne 

 castle and at evening I wiU smoke and SAving in a modern 

 hammock and this wiU be comfort." 



So he does. But it is not conrfort; Ms landscape is a 

 croquet lawn, his horizon a board fence, his sun sets be- 

 hind a barn. So now he sleeps in the valley and I, al- 

 though you think you may climb the garret stairs and 

 find me dozing in the arm chair, I am still the "Old Man 

 of the Hill." Jefferson Scribb, 



Forest and Stream Fables. 



Addrm all eammunicaUons to the Foi-est and Stream Pub. Co, 



THE INTELLIGENCE OF THE DOG. 



BEFOEE a crowded sitting of the biological section of 

 the British Association, Sir John Lubbock read a 

 paper in which he gave some interesting notes on the 

 mteUigence of the dog. The man and the dog, he said, 

 have lived together in more or less intimate association 

 for many thousands of years, and yet it must be confessed 

 that they know comparatively little of one another. That 

 the dog is a loyal, true, and alfectionate friend must be 

 gratefully admitted, but when we come to consider the 

 physical nature of the animal, the limits of our knowledge 

 are almost immediately readied. I have elsewhere sug- 

 gested that this arises very much from the fact that hith- 

 erto we have tried to teach animals rather than to leam 

 from them — to convey our ideas to them rather than to 

 devise any language or code of signals by means of which 

 they might communicate theirs to us. The former may 

 be more important from a utilitarian point of view, 

 though even tMs is questionable, but psychologically it is 

 far less interesting. 



Under these circumstances, it occurred to me whether 

 some such system as that followed with deaf-mutes, and 

 especially by Dr. Howe with Laura Bridgman, might not 

 prove very instructive if adapted to the case of dogs. I 

 have tried this in a small way with a black poodle named 

 Van. I took two pieces of card-board, about lOin. by Sin. , 

 and on one of them printed in large letters the word 

 "food," leaving the other blank. I then placed two cards 

 over two saucers, and in the one under the "food" card 

 put a little bread and milk, which Van, after having Ms 

 attention called to the card, was allowed to eat. TMs was 

 repeated over and over again till he had had enough. In 

 about ten days he began to distinguish between the two 

 cards. I then put them on the floor and made him bring 

 them to me, wMch he did readily enough. When he 

 brought the plain card I simply threw it back, wMle when 

 lie brought the "food" card I gave him a piece of bread, 

 and in ^out a month he had pretty well learned to real- 

 ize the difference. I then had some other cards printed 

 with the words "out," "tea," "bone," "water," spelt pho- 

 netically, so as not to trouble him by our intricate spelling; 

 and a certain number also with words to which I did not 

 intend him to attach any significance, such as "nought," 

 "plain," "ball," &c. Van soon learned that bringing a 

 card was a request, and soon learned to distinguish be- 

 tween the plain and printed cards; it took him longer to 

 realize the difference between words, but he gradually 

 got to recognize several, such as food, out, bone, tea, &c. 

 If he was asked whether he would like to go out for a 

 walk, he would joyfully fish up the "out" card, choosing 

 it from several others and bring it to me, or run with it 

 in evident triuraph to the door. 



I need hardly say that the cards were not always put in 

 the same places. They were varied quite indiscriminately 

 and in a great variety of positions. Nor could the dog 

 recognize them by scent. Tliey were aU alike, and all 

 continually handled by us. Still I did not trust to that 

 • alone, but had a number printed for each word. When, 

 for instance, he brought a card with "food" on it, we did 

 not put down the same identical card, but another bear- 

 ing the same word; when he had brought that, a thii'd, 

 then a fourth, and so on. For a single meal, therefore, 

 eighteen or twenty cards would be used, so that he evi- 

 dently is not guided by scent. No one who has seen him 

 look down a row of cards and pick up the one he wanted 

 could, I think, doubt that in bringing a card he feels he 

 is making a request, and that he can not only distinguish 

 one card from another, but also associate the word "and 

 the object. TMs is, of course, only a beginmng; but it is, 

 I ventm-e to tMnk, suggestive, and might be canied fur- 

 ther, though the limited wants and aspirations of the ani- 

 mals constitute a great difficulty. 



My wife lias a very beautiful and charming collie. Pa- 

 tience, to wMch we are much attached. TMs dog was 

 often in the room when Van brought the "food" card, and 

 was rewarded with a piece of bread. She must have seen 

 this thousands of times, and she begged in the us-ual man- 

 ner, but never once did it occur to her to bring a card. 

 She did not touch, or indeed even take the slightest notice 

 of them. I then tried the following experiment: I pre- 

 pared six cards about lOin. by 3in., and colored in pairs- 

 two yellow, two blue, two orange. I put tMee of them 

 on the floor, and then holding up one of the others, en- 

 deavored to teach Van to bring me the duplicate. That 

 is to say, that if the blue was held up, he should fetch the 

 corresponding color from the floor; if yellow, he should 

 fetch the yellow, and so on. When he brought the wrong 

 card he was made to di'op it, and return for another till 

 he brought the right one, when he was rewarded with a 

 little food. The lessons w-ere generally given by my 

 assistant. Miss Wendland, and lasted half an hour, dm-mg 

 wMch time he brought the right card on an average about 

 twenty-five times. I certainly thought that he would 

 soon have grasped what w^as expected of Mm. But no. 

 We continued tlie lessons for nearly three months, but, 

 as a few days were missed, we may say ten weeks, and 

 yet at the end of the time I cannot say that Van appeared 

 to have the least idea what was expected of him. 

 It seemed a matter of pure accident wMch card he 

 brought. Tliere is, I believe, no reason to doubt that dogs 



can distinguish colors, but as it was just possible that Van 

 might be color blind, we then repeated the same experi- 

 ment, only stibstituting for the colored cards others 

 marked respectively L, II. and III. TMs we continued for 

 another three months, or say, allowing for intermission, 

 ten weeks, but to my sm-prise enthely without success. 

 I was rather disappointed at tMs, as, if it had succeeded, 

 the plan would have opened out many interesting lines of 

 inquiry. Still, in such a case, one ought not to wish for 

 one result more than another, as of course the object of 

 all such experiments is merely to elicit the truth, and our 

 result in the present case, though negative, is very inter- 

 esting. I do not, however, regard it as by any means 

 conclusive, and should be glad to see it repealed. If the 

 result proved to be the same, it would certamly imply 

 very little power of combining even extremely simple 

 ideas. 



I then endeavored to get some insight into the arith- 

 metical condition of the dog's mind. On this subject I 

 have been able to find but little m any of the standard 

 works on the intelUgence of animals. Considering, how- 

 ever, the very limited powers of savage men in this re- 

 spect—that no Australian language, for instance, con- 

 tains numerals up to four, no Australian being able to 

 count his own fingers even on one haaid — we cannot be 

 surprised if other animals have made but httle progress. 

 Still, it is surprising that so little attention should have 

 been directed to this subject. Leroy, who, though he 

 expresses the opinion that "the nature of tlie soul of ani- 

 mals is xmimportant," was an excellent observer, men- 

 tions a case in wMch a man was anxious to shoot a crow. 

 "To deceive this suspicious bird, the plan was Mt upon 

 of sending two men to the wash-house, one of whom 

 passed on, wMle the other remained; but the crow counted 

 and kept her distance. The next day tMee went, and 

 again she perceived that only two retired. In fine, it was 

 found necessary to send five "or six men to the wash-house 

 to put her out in her calculation. The crow, tliinking 

 that tMs number of men had passed by, lost no time in 

 returning." From this he inferred that crows could count 

 up to fom'. Lichtenberg mentioned a nightingale which 

 was said to count up to tliree. Every daj^ he gave it 

 tMee meal-worms, one at a time; when it had finished 

 one it returned for another, but after the third he knew 

 that the feast was over. I do not find that any of the re* 

 cent works on the intelligence of animals, either Buchner, 

 or Peitz or Eomanes in either of his books, give any addi- 

 tional evidence of this part of the subject. There are, 

 liowever, various scattered notices. There is an amusing 

 and suggestive remark in Mr. Galton's interesting ' -Narra- 

 tive of an Explorer m Tropical South Africa." After 

 describmg the Damara's weakness in calculations, he 

 says: "Once while I watched a Damara floundering 

 hopelessly in a calculation on one side of me, I observed 

 Dinah, my spamel, equally embarrassed on the other; she 

 was overlookmg half a dozen of her new-born, i^upjjies, 

 wMch had been removed two or tM-ee times from her, 

 and her anxiety was excessive, as she tried to find ou^t if 

 they were all present, ar if any were still missi"ng. She 

 kept puzzling and running her eyes over them backward 

 and forward, but could not satisfy herself. Siie evidently 

 had a vague notion of coimting," but the figm-e was too 

 large for her bram. Takmg the two as they stood, dog 

 and Damara, the comparison reflected no great honor on 

 the man." But even if Dinah had been clear on this sub- 

 ject, it might be said that she knew each puppy person- 

 ally, as collies are said to know sheep. 



The same remark applies generally to animals and tlieh 

 young. Swans, for mstance, are said to know directly if 

 one of then- cyg-nets is missing, but it is probable that 

 they know each young bird individually. TMs explan- 

 ation applies with less force to the case of eggs. Accord- 

 mg to my bird-nestmg recoUections,which I have refreshed 

 by more recent experience, if a nest contains fom* eggs, 

 one may safely be taken; but if two are removed the bird 

 generally deserts. Here then it would seem as if wo had 

 some reason for supposing that tliere is sufficient intelli- 

 gence to distinguisli three from four. An interestmg 

 consideration rises with reference to the number of the 

 victims allotted to each ceU by the solitary wasps. 

 Ammophila considers one large caterpillar of Noctvra 

 segetum enough; one species of Eumenes supplies its 

 young with five victims; another ten, fifteen, and even 

 up to twenty-four. The number appears to be constant in 

 each species. How does the insect know when her task 

 is fulfilled? Not by the cell being filled, for if some be re- 

 moved she does not replace them. Wlien she has brought 

 her complement she considers her task accomplished, 

 whether the victims are stiU there or not. How then does 

 she know when she has made up the number twenty -foirr? 

 Perhaps it will be said that each species feels some mys- 

 terious and innate tendency to provide a certain number 

 of victims. This would under no ctrcunastances be any 

 explanation, but it is not m accordance with the facts. In 

 the genus (Eumenes) the males are much smaller than the 

 females. Now in the Mve bees, bumble bees, wasps and 

 other insects, where such a difference occurs, but where 

 the yoimg are directly fed, it is of cotuse obvious that the 

 quantity can be proportioned to the appetite of the grub. 

 But in msects with the habits of Eumenes and AmmopMla 

 the case is different, because the food is stored up once for 

 all. Now, it is evident that if a female grub was supplied 

 with only food enough for a male, she Avould starve to 

 death; while if a male grub was given enough for a 

 female it would have too much. No such waste, how- 

 ever, occurs. In some mysterious manner the mother 

 knows whether the eggs wiil produce a male or female 

 gi-ub, and apportions the quantity of food accordingly. 

 She does not change the species or size of her prey; but if 

 the egg is male she supphes five, if female, ten victims. 

 Does she coimt? Certainly tMs seems very like a com- 

 mencement in arithmetic. " At the same time it would be 

 very desirable to have additional evidence how far the 

 number is really constant. 



Considering how much has been wi'itten on instinct, it 

 seems sui'iarising that so little attention has been directed 

 to this part of the subject. One would fancy that there 

 ought Uj be no great difficulty in determining how far an 

 an animal could count, and Avhether for instance, it could 

 realize some very simple sum, such as that two and two 

 make four. But Vhen we come to consider how this is to 

 be done, the problem ceases to appear so simple. We 

 have ti-ied our dogs by putting a piece of bread before 

 them and j)revent them from touching it until we had 

 counted seven. To prevent ourselves from unintention- 

 ally gi^'ing any indication, we used a metronome (the 

 ijistrument used for giving time when practiping a piano- 



forte), and to make the beats more evident we attach a 

 slender rod to the pendulum. It certaiixly seemed as if 

 om- dogs knew when the moment of permission had 

 arrived, but theu- movements of taMng the bread was 

 scarcely so definite as to pla'ce the matter beyond a doubt. 

 Moreover dogs are so very quick in seizing any indication 

 given them, even unintentionally, that on the wliole, the 

 attempt was not satisfactory to my mind, I was the 

 more discoiuaged from continuing the experiment in this 

 manner by an account Mr. Huggins gave me of a very 

 intelligent dog belonging to Mm. A number of cards 

 were placed on the ground numl^ered respectively 1,2, 3, 

 and so on up to 10. A question is then asked; the square 

 root of 9 or 16, or such a sum as 6x52 — 3. Mr. Huggms 

 pointed consecutively to the cards, and the dog barked 

 when he .came to the right one. Now Mr. Huggms did 

 not consciously give the dog any sign, yet so quick was 

 the dog in seizmg the shglitest mcUcation that he was able 

 to give the correct answer. TMs observation seemed to 

 be of great interest m connection with the so-called 

 "thouglit reading." No one, I suppose, will imagine that 

 there was in this case any "thought reading" in the sense 

 m which tMs word is used by Mr. Bishop and others. 

 Evidently "Kepler" seized upon the sUght mdication un- 

 intentionally given by Mr. Huggins. Hie observation 

 however, shows the great difficulty of the subject. 



I have ventured to bring this question before the section, 

 partly because I shall be so much obliged if any lady or 

 gentleman present will favor me with any suggestions, 

 and partly in hope of inducing others with more leisiue 

 and ojiportumty to carry on similar observations, wliicli 

 I cannot but tMnk must lead to mterestmg restdts.— 

 English Mechanic. 



A PREHISTORIC SWORD. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



During the last autumn, 1885, I was engaged in an ex- 

 ploration of the central part of northern Missouri, which 

 country is yet to a great extent primitive, the settlements 

 being few and many miles apart. This portion of the 

 State is noted for its mmierous and beautiful lakes of 

 bright pure water,, the primeval forest upon the shores of 

 which, except in a few instances, remains as yet un- 

 broken. 



In Forest county, on the northern border of Pme Lake, 

 resides Daniel Gagen and family, pioneers in tliese woods. 

 TMs "Uncle Dan" of the woods — as he is known every- 

 where — is a pioneer indeed. For more tlion thirty j^ears 

 the borders of this beautiful lake has been iiis home. He 

 is an Englishman by birth, his wife a native of the forest, 

 of the Chippeway tribe of Indians, an estimable and ex- 

 cellent lady, and well vei-sed in good housekeeping. Tliey 

 have raised to manhood fom- sons, some of whom have 

 been educated outside the forest in the schools of Mil- 

 waukee, and all are worthy young men. 



We enjoyed the hosjiitality of tliis family for several 

 days, and upon one occasion, wbUc discussing tlie prehis- 

 toric implements and cm-iosities whicJi have from time to 

 time been picked up or exhumed in the region stretching 

 from Lake Superior to the valleys and mounds of the 

 Ohio and Mississippi, "Uncle Dan" remarked that a short 

 time since he had ploughed up a piece of pure copjier 

 which had been worked mto the form of a sword, and 

 that near this he also found a copper arrow. 



Such prehistoric relics of a people now utterly extinct, 

 of whom even tradition is suent, at once begat in me 

 much interest, being an index, as they must, to the cul- 

 ture, the skill and capacity for design of that race now 

 silent except by the few and scattered rehcs of their 

 works. 



The sword was produced and proved to be, apparently, 

 only a part of what . once was a sword blade of good 

 dimensions, and appears to consist of pure copper, which 

 seems to have been tempered, being harder than the pure 

 metal and was also somewhat eroded. It was shapely, 

 14fin. in leng-th, cmwmg slightly and on good Une toward 

 the x^oint, and while both edges were tliin it was plain 

 that oiily one was designed for tlie edge. Where it had 

 parted from the base of the blade, which it did by in- 

 direct cleavage, it was two inches in width, tapering 

 thence gradually to a point. It was about as shapely as 

 would be expected of modern manufacture, thicker in 

 the middle so as to confer strength, and nicely whaped off 

 toward either side. Its weight was seventeen ounces. I 

 inclose to you a coiTect outline of tMs relic on paper. 

 Upon seai-ch the arrow could not be found. Mr. G-agen 

 believed that the fine plateau overlooking the lake and on 

 which lie lived must liave been a favorite resort for these 

 jieople on their migrations to and from tiie copper mines 

 of Lake Superior. Geoege H. Caj^non. 



WAsniNOTON, Mioh. 



Copulation of Eaiith-worms. — RotMey, England.— 

 Editor Forest and Stream: Hajvpening to read m your 

 issue of May 27, under natural history, Mi\ James Stol- 

 ler's most interesting essay on eai'thworms, I notice he 

 states the pairing takes place m the "night time, m the 

 months of Julf and August." Now I have not infre- 

 c^uently noticed worms m a state of copulation, when 

 suddenly lifting a large store box, hencoop, or anything 

 of that nature wMch has stood for a few days. On the 

 conmiencement of this last Jxme, on tm-ning over a large 

 box which I had used as a coop for some yomig ducks, I 

 noticed on the grass two large worms in a state of copu- 

 lation. I watched them for a few seconds and then drove 

 a strong chicken toward them, hoping to see him peck at 

 them. This he did, when they quickly parted company 

 and made off into sepai-ate holes, althoiigh they had taken 

 no notice of the box being lifted from off them. TMs 

 proves that earthworms will copidate m the day time, 

 and as early as June, — M. B. Wynn. 



Albino Bat.— Lake ville, Mass. , July 21!.— Editor Forest 

 and Stream: I send a box in which you will find a white 

 bat. It was shot by a boy. It is a novelty to the sportn- 

 men m tMs vicinity, as no one has ever seen nor heard 

 of one before.— C. F". S. [Probably young Atala/pha nove- 

 boracensis Coues]. 



Recent Arrivals at the PHiLADETiPHiA Zooloical Garden. 

 —Received by purchase and presentation— 1 red kangaroo (Maaro- 

 pifs ru/i«), 1 opelot (Frf(.sijc?rd(i?i-*), 1 barred owl (ayTnium- nehulo- 

 si(7;i), 4Bcreech owls (Scop^ (iMi>), 5 pigeon hawks (Acemter fmcitii), 

 1 American crow {Corons caneriixuiu.'-}, 1 ved-headerl duck {F.jerma 

 americana), 3 copperhead snakes (AncMtwlon contorlrix), 4 alliga- 

 tors (AUigator mtssissippiemis), and 2 gopher tortoises (TrMudo 

 Carolina), Bom in the Garden— 2 beaver (C. fiber canadensis), 1 

 common macaque (Macacus eynomoluus)^ and 1 pea hen fPavo eris- 

 tata). 



