WAYS OF NATURE 



jealousy, and rivalry — are undoubtedly the same 

 in the lower orders. 



Though almost anything may be affirmed of dogs, 

 for they are nearly half human, yet I doubt if even 

 dogs experience the feeling of shame or guilt or 

 revenge that we so often ascribe to them. These 

 f eehngs are all complex and have a deep root. When 

 I was a youth, my father had a big churn-dog that 

 appeared one morning with a small bullet-hole in 

 his hip. Day after day the old dog treated his 

 wound with his tongue, after the manner of dogs, 

 until it healed, and the incident was nearly forgotten. 

 One day a man was going by on horseback, when 

 the old dog rushed out, sprang at the man, and came 

 near pulling him from the horse. It turned out that 

 this was the person who had shot the dog, and the 

 dog recognized him* 



This looks like revenge, and it would have been 

 such in you or me, but in the dog it was probably 

 simple anger at the sight of the man who had hurt 

 him. The incident shows memory and the asso- 

 ciation of impressions, but the complex feeling of 

 vengeance, as we know it, is another matter. 



If animals do not share our higher intellectual 

 nature, we have no warrant for attributing to them 

 anything like our higher and more complex emo- 

 tional nature. Musical strains seem to give them 

 pain rather than pleasure, and it is quite evident that 

 perfumes have no attraction for them. 



144 



