66 



ME. Q. J. EOMAJTES — EIPEEIMENTS ON 



zigzags I bad made until he found me. Now in order to do tliis 

 he had to distinguish my trail from at least a hundred others 

 quite as fresh, and many thousands of others not so fresh, cross- 

 ing it at all angles." * 



The object of the experiments about to be described was that 

 of ascertaining whether a dog, when thus distinguishing his 

 master's trail, is guided by some distinctive smell attaching to 

 liis master's shoes, to any distinctive smell of his master's feet, 

 or to both these differences combined. 



I have a setter-bitch over which I have shot for eight years. 

 Having a very good nose, she can track me over immense dis- 

 tances, and her devotion to me being very exclusive, she consti- 

 tuted an admirable subject for my experiments. 



These consisted in allowing the bitch to be taken out of the 

 kennel by some one to whom she was indifferent, who then led 

 her to a prearranged spot from which the tracking was to begin. 

 Of course this spot was always to leeward of the kennel, and the 

 person who was to be tracked always walked so as to keep more 

 or less to leeward of the starting-point. The district — park-lands 

 surrounding a house — was an open one, presenting, however, 

 numerous trees, shrubberies, walls, &c., behind which I could hide 

 at a distance from the starting-point, and so observe the animal 

 during the whole course of each experiment. Sundry other pre- 

 cautions, which I need not wait to mention, were taken in order 

 to ensure that the bitch should have to depend on her sense 

 of smell alone, and the following are the experiments which were 

 tried : — 



1. — I walked the grass-lands for about a mile in my ordinary 

 shooting-boots. The instant she came to the starting-point, the 

 bitch broke away at her full speed, and, faithfully following my 

 track, overtook me in a few minutes. 



2. — I set a man who was a stranger about the place to walk 

 the park. Although repeatedly put upon his trail by my servant, 

 the bitch showed no disposition to follow it. 



3. — I had the bitch taken into the gun-room, where she saw 

 me ready to start for shooting. I then left the gun-room and 

 went to anotlier part of the house, while my gamekeeper left the 

 house by the back door, walked a certain distance to leeward in 

 the direction of some partridge-ground, and then concealed liim- 



* ' Mental Evolution in Animals,' pp. 92-3 ; where also see for additional 

 remarks of a general kind on the sense of smell in different animals. 



