305 
This is all natiiralj and such facts could be multiplied 
indefinitely. They surely show^ in so far_, a Mndred nature in 
man and animals , — a kinship which is finely brought out by 
Burns in his address to a field-mouse, — his ‘^poor, earth-born 
companion and fellow-mortal/^ — applied, moreover (in the 
true spirit of poetry) to an instructive end : — 
“ Still thou art blest compared wi’ me, 
The present only toucheth thee ; 
But, och ! I backward cast my e’e 
On prospects drear ! 
An’ forward, tho’ I canna see, 
I guess an’ fear ! ” 
The next anecdote immediately following in tho same 
periodical conducts us still further : — 
“ A singular instance of ai^parent prescience in a dog occurs in an account 
given Nov. 21 of a father shot by his son. Here is the evidence of the wife 
and mother : — 
“ ‘ We heard nothing to disturb us after retiring to bed until about half- 
past two o’clock next morning. About that time a little dog which belonged 
to my husband, and was a great favourite, came upstairs, and jumped upon 
our bed. My husband tried to make the dog go away, but he could not do 
so, as the little thing seemed so “ fussy.” At last he thought the best thing 
to do would be to take the dog downstairs, and, by shutting the door at the 
bottom, prevent it from returning. My husband got out of bed, and took 
the dog in his arms for the purpose of carrying it away. In about half a 
minute, and when he was on the stairs, I heard a loud report, as if a pistol 
or a revolver was being fired. This was repeated twice, and the deceased 
then shouted out at the top of his voice, “ I am shot ! ” ’ 
“ The peculiarity here is that the coming danger, of which the animal 
appeared cognisant, could only have been imparted by the footsteps or 
other movements of a member of the family ; this, under ordinary circum- 
stances, could har e given no such premonitions of danger to the dog. Has 
any similar case been observed ? ” 
Is this supernatural or is it not ? 
I have been myself compelled to yield to invincible re- 
pugnance of a horse to pass a place which he rememhered 
as an Aceldama, or place of shedding blood.^’* This 
aversion belonged, I suppose, to his nature ; but if so, the 
nature of a horse partakes of greater sensitiveness than that 
of man. 
I now proceed to consider a case of the evidently super- 
natural class. It is that of the ass of Balaam, whose mouth, 
it is said, the Lord opened.^^ I will not attempt to show 
that some undiscovered law of nature might exist, of which 
An old slaughter-house. 
