MISCELLANEA. 
479 
dent is upon record, and there seems no ground for doubting it, 
although it did not come under my own personal observation. 
This dog being left on the bank of a river by his master, who had 
gone up the river in a boat, attempted to join him. He plunged 
into the water; but not making allowance for the strength of the 
stream, which carried him considerably below the boat, he could 
not beat up against it. He landed, and made allowance for the 
current of the river, by leaping in at a place higher up. The 
combined action of the stream, and his swimming, carried him in 
an oblique direction, and he thus reached the boat. Having made 
the trial, and failed, he apparently judged, from the failure of the 
first attempt, that his course was to go up the stream, make 
allowance for its strength, and thus gain the boat. I do not vouch 
for the accuracy of this anecdote ; but I see no grounds for dis- 
believing it, as it is of apiece with many other recorded instances. 
There is another instance of this nature, which did come under 
my own observation, and is more worthy of being recorded, because 
the actor was a cat, — a species of animal which is considered 
generally very inferior in sagacity to a dog. This cat lived many 
years in my mother’s family, and its feats of sagacity were wit- 
nessed by her, my sisters, and myself. It was known, not merely 
once or twice, but habitually, to ring the parlour bell whenever it 
wished the door to be opened. Some alarm was excited on the 
first occasion that it turned bell-ringer. The family had retired 
to rest, and in the middle of the night the parlour bell was rung 
violently : the sleepers were startled from their repose, and pro- 
ceeded down stairs, with pokers and tongs, to interrupt, as they 
thought, the predatory movement of some burglar; but they were 
agreeably surprised to discover that the bell had been rung by 
pussy, who frequently repeated the act whenever she wanted to 
get out of the parlour. 
Here are two clear cases of acts done by a dog and cat, which, 
if done by a man, would be called reason. Every one would 
admit that the actions were rational — not, to be sure, proceeding 
from a very high exertion of intellect ; but the dog, at least, 
rationally jumped into the stream at a distance higher up from 
the boat into which he wished to get, because he found that the 
stream would thus carry him to it, instead of from it ; and the cat 
pulled the parlour bell, because she had observed that, when it was 
rung by the family, the servant opened the door. It is quite clear 
that, if such acts were done by man, they would be regarded as an 
exercise of reason ; and I do not know why, when performed by 
brutes, evidently by a similar mental process, as far as can be 
judged, they should not bear the same name. To speak of a cat’s 
