THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
treading on eggs, thus showing that they | 
look upon a signal as an injunction to 
secrecy, and act accordingly. 
In proof of this the following is told of 
the doings of an English terrier. 
" Brisk has been unfortunate enough to 
offend her master. Being in want of some- 
thing to do she gnawed the leg of a hand- 
some chair, and was chased out of the 
dinning-room in consequence. 
Having been accustomed to spend a good 
deal of her time on the hearthrug, she 
objects to this banishment, and as she is 
tolerated there when the master is ab- 
sent, she is always on the look out for his 
departure in the morning. 
She will peep in at the dining-room door 
and look at her mistress, as if to ask, " Is 
he gone yet ? " 
Without speaking, the lady will lift up 
her husband's hat or umbrella, or point 
to the outdoor boots by the lire-place ; 
when Brisk slinks off again, knowing 
that if these articles are in sight, the mas- 
ter has not taken his departure yet. As 
soon as the hall-door closes, Brisk prances 
in, tail erect, and manifesting her delight 
in every possible way, she takes up her 
favorite position. 
But, let her mistress rise and place her 
husband's slippers on the hearth. Brisk 
requires no other notice. The dog, so to 
speak, "has had her day," and she at 
once retires, knowing that the slipper- 
warming process always precedes, only a 
few minutes, the arrival of her master. 
If the lady when conversing with a 
friend, introduces the words, "William 
(William is her husband's name), will 
soon be home," or, " I believe William is 
coming," Brisk immediately rises, walks 
to the door, and manifests great discom- 
fort until it is opened and she can get out 
of the room. 
Yet the lady merely introduces a re- 
mark about her husband's return in the 
(bourse of conversation, and witliout look- 
ing towards the dog or varying her tone. 
Brisk may be stretched apparently asleep, 
but she never requires a second warning. 
Again, if the lady makes any allusion 
to her intention of going out when in the 
dog's presence, Brisk follows her every- 
where, dogging her footsteps and never 
losing sight of her for a moment, lest she 
should be left behind. But let her mis- 
tress say, " I shall take a bus or car," and 
Brisk gives it up as a bad job and retires 
to her own quarters sulky and digusted 
at being disappointed of her anticipated 
run. 
Visitors to Brisk' s mistress are often 
amused by seeing the effect produced on 
the little animal by these apparently 
casual allusions, and are convinced that 
this dog not only pays attention to the 
conversation, but understands certain 
portions of it in w^hich she is indirectly 
concerned, though of the greater part she 
can comprehend nothing. 
There is a very popular belief that some 
of the movements made by cats are in- 
fluenced to some extent by "coming 
events " in the atmospheric world. Good 
weather, it is said, may generally be ex- 
l)ected when cats wash themselves, and the 
reverse when she licks herself against the 
grain of her coat, or washes her face over 
her ear, or sits with her tail towards the 
fire. 
In Germany if it rains when women 
have a large washing on hand, they say 
it is a sure sign of the cats having a spite 
against them, because they have not 
treated the animals as they ought to have 
done. This belief is rather a favorable 
one for the cats, and often, among the 
working classes, insures for them, better 
treatment than they might otherwise 
get. 
An enemy to cats may depend upon 
being carried to her grave during a storm 
of wind and rain or freezing snow ; and 
in Holland, if the weather is rainy on a 
wedding day, the saying is, that the bride 
has neglected to feed the cat. English 
sailors do not much like to see cats on 
board ship, least of all do they care to see 
them unusally frisky or playful, for then 
they say, " the cat has a gale of wind in her 
tail," A strange black cat making her 
appearance in the house ?s said to be a 
sure indication of heavy rains and floods. 
I It api)ears that these cat indications and 
omens, have no effect unless a she cat is 
' the chief actor. Tommy, it would seem, 
