22 Phrenology and Animal Psychology. [January, 
Inveterate thieves are sometimes severely beaten, banished 
from the rookery, or even killed outright. These punish- 
ments are inflidfled at a general assembly of the rookery. 
Now law pre-supposes some notion of right and wrong, 
and could, therefore, never arise among beings incapable of 
making this distindflion. 
The following incident, which gives us a most valuable 
insight into the moral life of brutes, is recorded by Arago in 
his official eloge of Ampere. There is probably no scientific 
man in the world who would hesitate at recognising the 
latter as a trustworthy observer, utterly incapable of ex- 
aggerating or distorting any phenomena which he had 
witnessed. Travelling in the South of France — the exadl 
locality is little to the purpose — Ampere had occasion to 
make a short stay at a road-side inn where a roasting-jack 
moved by animal power was in use. Two dogs performed the 
duty of turning the machine, working, as it appears, alter- 
nately. The dog whose proper turn it was not happening 
to be in the way, the other was caught and put in the 
wheel. He flatly refused, however, to work, and neither 
coaxing, threats, nor chastisement produced any effedd. 
After some delay the missing dog was found and set to the 
task. After he had nearly completed the job, Ampere, who 
bad been greatly struck with the whole affair, proposed that 
the second dog should be released and the first tried again. 
This was accordingly done, and the animal so lately 
recusant now offered no opposition, and made the wheel 
revolve with a hearty good will till the roast was finished. 
This experiment showed that the dog’s former reludtance 
was due not to idleness or ill-temper but to principle. He 
evidently considered that the work was to be fairly shared 
between himself and his companion, turn and turn about. 
This incident proves that brutes are able to understand 
somewhat complicated relations. Had the dog been willing 
to work whenever ordered, his compliance would have been 
simply attributable to docility, or fear, or to habit. We 
find him, on the contrary, obedient up to a certain point, 
but no further. What is this but the idea of duty and of 
right ? He felt bound to work alternately with his colleague, 
but when expected to take two shifts in succession he knew 
that more than his legitimate duty was demanded, and that 
his rights were consequently invaded. This case alone is 
quite sufficient to prove that the sentiment of conscientious- 
ness crosses the boundary-line between man and the brutes. 
It shows that the “ actions of animals are accompanied by 
adds of conscious will directed towards the fulfilment of duty. 
