Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-05-14
Professor Huxley On Dogs
London Telegraph

Professor Huxley pointed out by the
aid of diagram, i'll winch force was gwen
to the illustration by the skeleton of the
animal being on hind legs, that in inter
nal construction the only difference be
tween man and dog was one of size and
proportion. There was not bone III one
which did not exist in the other-not q
single constituent i'll the one that was not
to be found in the other. In the case of
the dog there was not that which, on
| superficial examination, answered to the
collar bone of the man; but close disssc-
ton would disclose III the case OF the
lower animal little bone varying IL
length form third to half en- inch. occu-
pying the same place az the human collar
bone, which was Individually rudiment-
airy collar bone 1t appeared to be OF no
| functional Importance, but there 1t was.
Considering the psychological nature
of the dog, the lecturer remarked that he
might be met at the outset with the OBJ
lection, Talk Of the mind of dog why,
don't believe he has a mind. Well, the
only reason he had for assuming that the
| dog had mind was the same reason 10y
which he assumed that all present had
minds. There was no direct evidence of
| the fact any more in the one than in the
other. Run a pin into man, and there
was a start and cry, by which they came
to the conclusion that pain had resulted.
Run a pin into dog, and there was n
howl and attempt, perhaps to bite, by
which we inferred that the animal WAS IN
a state of consciousness Ill which II also
suffered pain Could they say that tha
dog was a mere piece of animate machln-
cry 1t WAS quite true that certain PHI
| losophers had held views Of that kind,
but common sense people would not have
it, and he believed the common sense
people were right. At the same time lie was
disposed to think that in dogs the feeling
of pain was infinitely duller than III hui
man beings As to the other senses be
longing to dogs, he was inclined to doubt
very much if dogs could see with anything
like the distinctness of man. Their hear
ing was indisputably very acute; hut 1t
was IA remarkable fact that that sense was
regulated on Il totally different scale IN
dogs as compared with human beings.
Did they ever hear of dog taking pleas
ure in music On the contrary the
sounds of music seemed to cause hlm
acute pain, accompanied by horrli q
sort Of faclnation which fastened HIM Ia
the spot at which he was subjected to tie
torture. Else, when German band was
doing its worst in the streets, why did he
AIT mp an his launches and howl when he
| might get up and run away! let he "
ten wondered whether dogs really did
suffer pain from music or whether they
howled purely IN sympathy, as did the
iackals of the prairies.
The sense of smell III dog was some
thing Recommendations not only
for its delicacy, but for the fact that Its
| discrimination of what was agreeable
and disagreeable was exactly tho reverse
of ours. They never heard of u dog be
ing infatuated with lavender water, on
patchouli, or Eau de Cologne he rather
revealed III the smells which to men were
a source of unfeigned horror and disgust.
| He once possessed n dog which he Ire
uuently left amongst the thousands ire
uuenting Regents Park, to secrete HIM
self behind "A tree So soon ms the AM
NAL found that he had lost his master he
laid his nose to the ground. and i'll that
manner very soon tracked him to his hid
ing place That showed that the dog had
the power Of distinguishing the partic
ular modification Of the leather of the
boots caused by the wearing of his mas
ter, in contradistinction to the moditica-
ton produced by hundreds of thousands
of other people present at the moment
As to the ability Of dogs to find then
way from place to place. he believed
there WAS an unconscious registration III
their minds Of the visual pictures pre-
scented to it in the various tracks through
which they passed, and that the memory
worked backward until the animal reach
ed its destination. No one could doubt
the moral disposition Of dogs. Some we've
trustworthy, others more or less thieves
some were amiablc, others were vicious,
and SO on Neither was there any doubt
that dog had ideas Of equality and inc
quality They could easily settle that
point by offering dog II large and a
small piece Of meat on the same dish, and
by observing which he took first. Indeed,
there Was no fundamental faculty connec-
ted with the reasoning powers that might
not be demonstrated to exist in dogs
Consumption or debility in ts first stages prompt
I'll