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EDUCABILITY OF ANIMALS. 
me would lead it to me. It left my servant within twenty yards 
of my house, and was with me in a very few minutes, though the 
distance which it had to run exceeded a mile. I repeated this 
experiment at different times, and after considerable intervals, 
and uniformly with the same results, the dog always coming to 
me without the servant. I could mention several other instances, 
nearly as singular, of the sagacity of this animal, which I ima- 
gined to have derived its extraordinary powers in some degree 
from the highly-cultivated intellect of its male parent.” 
Mr. Knight states, that in sixty years he had observed the 
woodcock tribe become much more shy and wild than it for- 
merly was, the result, he conceives, of “ increased hereditary 
fear of man.” This is certainly a result in conformity with the 
difference observed between birds in general in peopled and un- 
peopled countries, the former being shy from the youngest period 
of life, while the latter are tame and unsuspicious at all periods, 
until they become acquainted with the destructive propensities of 
man. 
Mr. Knight adds a few more cases, which he describes as but 
a sample of a vast number equally remarkable. We can only 
afford room for one, relating to a young dog of the variety called 
retrievers. He obtained a puppy of this breed, a month old, from 
a distant county, and said to be descended of a very well-bred 
family. “ I had walked,” he says, “ up the side of the river 
which passes by my house, in search of wild ducks, when the 
dog abovementioned followed me unobserved, and contrary to 
my wishes, for it was too young for service, not being then quite 
ten months old. It had not received any other instruction than 
that of being taught to bring any floating body off a pond, and 
I do not think that it had ever done this more than three or four 
times. It walked very quietly behind my gamekeeper upon the 
opposite side of the river, and it looked on with apparent indiffer- 
ence whilst I killed a couple of mallards and a widgeon ; but it 
leaped into the river on the gamekeeper pointing out the birds to 
it, and brought them on shore, and to the feet of the game- 
keeper, just as well as the best instructed old dog could have 
done. I subsequently shot a snipe, which fell into the middle of 
a large nearly stagnant pool of water, that was partially frozen 
over. I called the dog from the other side of the water, and 
caused it to see the snipe, which could not be done without diffi- 
culty ; but, as soon as it saw it, it swam to it, brought it to me, 
laid it down at my feet, and again swam through the river to my 
gamekeeper. I never saw a dog of its age acquit itself so well, 
yet it was most certainly wholly untaught.” 
To conclude with dogs. A gentleman of our acquaintance, 
aud of scientific acquirements, obtained some years ago a pup 
