Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1873-07-17
Reason in Animals.

So much attention is at present directed
to this and similar subjects that we may
be pardoned for adding another instance
of the power in question. Nellie is a
Pomeranian dog, about thirteen months
old. She was given to her present mis-
tress six months ago, and the attempts
that had been made to educate her had
all resulted in failure She had not even
been properly instructed in the ordinary
amenities of life, as found in dogs who
are inmates of our city houses. Under
these circumstances her mistress took her
system Of rewards, and rarely of punish
ments, soon taught her the ordinary ac-
compishments Of sitting up, and walk
ing on her hind legs about the room. BY
degrees her attainments increased in num-
Der and perfection, and now during din
ner she stays under her mistress's chair,
and when the order is given to get her
table-cloth she brings a newspaper which
is kept i'm the corner of the room, spreads
it out, and sits up while her mistress pre-
pares her food in a saucer, which is then
placed on the newspaper-but Nellie does
not touch it until her mistress gives the
signal by counting one, two, three.
From the account we have given 1t
will be seen that Nellie is a dog of con.
siderable intelligence, and even possesses
a mathematical mind 1t is possibly this
latter gift that has enabled her to show
the evidence of reasoning power we pro-
pose to relate Four or five times each
day, for about a week, Nellie had carried
messages To her master, that were written
on old envelopes, and generally received
something to take back in return. She
had therefore learned that If she delivered
an envelope she received something.
Lunch being served on one occasion in
the library, Nellie sat up and begged for
sugar that happened to be on the
table, that failing, stood up; then
she tried sitting up again, but
without success. She then seemed to
think for moment, and as the result OF
her cOgitations went straight to the waste
paper basket, picked out an old envelope
and presented it to her mistress, evidently
in the hope that she would receive wha,
she desired, and SO earned her piece Of
sugar
II may be said that in this instance ap
petite gave the stimulus, and otherwise
she would not have exerted what certain
dDDCdlS W NC ICdoohihk -
meet this objection we give another in
stance. Nellie always comes down thu
hall-stairway to meet her master on his
return home, and after greeting him races
off to the front room for his slippers, ant
brings them to the head Of the stairway
A recent attack of illness having confined
her master to the house for a couple o
weeks, Nellie was in high glee until hi
went out for the first time after convalesc
ing, when she was greatly distressed, ant
watched him from the open window a
long as he was in sight; when he finally
disappeared she gave despairing yelp
and racing off to the place where the slip
pers were kept, snatched one in he
mouth, and, leaping on chair, held
out of the window as far as she coult
reach, and whined piteously, evident.
hoping that if the master saw the slippe
it would induce him to return. In thi
instance there is certainly nothing salts
factory in resorting to instinct for an ex
PLANTATION; the act was evidently the re
suit of true reasoning process, prompt
ed not by greed but by an almost human
affection and observation-disclosures dnt
Science, Scribner's for July.