New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-05-02
PROFESSOR HUXLEY ON DOGS.
From The London Telegraph.

From The London Telegraph.
Professor Huxley pointed ont by the aid of n dia
QraID in which force given to tho illustration
by the skeleton of tho animal being RAISED on hlnd
legs, chat i'll internal construction tho only dler
enCe between man and dog was one of slzo and pro
portion. There was not a bone III one which dld
not exist in the Othcr-not asingle constituent in
the one that was not to be found III tho other. IN
the case of the dog there that which ON super
fetal examination. answered to the cOar-bOne OF the
man; but close dissection would disclose IN the
case of the lower animal littlo bono varying in
length from third to half an inch, occupying the
same place as the human cOllar-bono. which was in;
dubtably rudnentary cOllar-bOne. 1t appeared
to be OF no functional importance but there il was.
Considering the psychological nature OF the dog,
the lecturer remarked that ne might he met ut TIE
dog; why, don't believe he has mind Well,
the only reason he had for assuming that hc dog had
n mind was the same reason by which lie assumed
that all present had minds There was no direct
evidence of the fact any more i'll the one Chan III the
other Run pin into a man. and there was a start
and cry, by which they came TO the CONCLUSION
that pain had resulted. Run pin into q dog. ana
there was q howl and attempt, perhaps to bite, by
which We inferred that te animal was o III STATE
Could they say that tho dog was mere piece OF
animate nachineTyi It was quite true that certain
mon sense people would not have IT, and he be-
licycd the common sense people were right At the
feeling of pain was infinitely duer than in human
beings AS to the other senses belonging to dogs. lc
was inclined to doubt very much II dogs could see
with anything like the GIStlnctlebS Oh man lhcr
hearing was indspntaLly very acute; hut 1T was
remarkable fact that that sense was regulated on Il
totally different scale i'll dogs as compared with lu-
man IeinCs. Did they ever hear of Il dog taking q
pleasure in music? On the contrary, the sounds OF
music seemed TO cause him acute pain, accompanied
by horrible sort of fascination, which fastened
him to the spot ut which ne was subjected TO the
torture. Else, when a German band was doing It's
worst in the streets, why did he sit up on his aulch-
es and howl when he might get up and run away!
Yet he often wondered whether dogs really DID
suffer pain from music or whether they howled
purely III sympathy did the jaCtalS OF the plalIes
The sense Of smell in dogwas something marvel
lOIr-marVclOuS not only Tor its dclcaCy but Tor the
factIthat its discrimination OF what was agreeable and
disagrceablo exactly tho reverse of ours. They
never heard of dog being infatuated with lavender
water, or patchoulf, or Fan dc Cologne; he rather
revclcd in tho smells which to men were u source
of unfeiged horror and disgust. He once possessed
a dog which he frequently left amongst the thou
behind a tree. So soon as the animal found that he
had lost his master lie laid his nose to tho ground,
and in that manner ye:y soon tracked him to his
hiding-piace That showed that the dog had the
power of distinguishing the particular modification
of the leather of the boots caused by TIC wearing
of his master in contradistincti0n to the mOdihca
fions produced by hundreds of thousands Of other
people present at the moment
AS TO the ability of dogs TO- find their way
from place TO place, lie believed there was un-
cOncious registration in their m inds Of tho visual
pictures presented to IT. Ill inc, various Tracks
through which they passed, and that the memory
worked backward until the animal reached It's des
tnatiOn, No ono could doubt the moral disposition
OF dogs Some were trustworthy, others more or
less thieves; some were anlaDle, others Vicious
and so on. Neither was there any doubt that dog
had ideas I equality and inequality. They could
easily settle that point by offering dog large ana
serving which he took first. Indeed, there was no
fundamental faculty connected with the reasoning
powers that might not DO demonstrated 70 exist IN
dogs.