Morning journal and courier., 1892-09-30
why Dogs Wag Their Tails.

lDr. Louis Robinson in the Contemporary
There are many reasons for the tail be-
ing the chief organ of expression among
dogs. They have but little facial express
sion beyond the lifting of the lip to show
the teeth and the dilation of the pupil of
the eye when angry. The jaws and con-
tiguous parts are too much specialized for
the serious business of seizing prey to be
fitted for such purposes as they are in
man. With dogs which hunt by scent the
head is necessarily carried low, and is,
therefore, not plainly visible except to
those close by. But in the case OF al
hunting dogs, such as foxhounds, or wolves
which pack together, the tail Is carried
sloft, and is very free in movement. 1t is
also frequently rendered more conspicuous
by the tip being white, and this is almost
invariably the case when the hounds are of
mixed color. When ranging the long grass
of the prairie, or jungle, the raised tips of
the tails would often be all that an indi-
vidual member of the band would see of
his fellows. There is no doubt that hounds
hsbitually watch the tails of those in front
of them when drawing covert If
faint drag Is detected suggestive of the
presence of fox, but scarcely sufficient
to be sworn to vocally, the tail of the
finder is at once set in motion, and the
warmer the scent the quicker does IL wsg.
Others seeing the signal instantly join the
first, and there Is an assemblsge of waving
tails before ever the least whimper is
heard. Should the drag prove q doubtful
one the hounds separate sgain and the
waving ceases; but if it grows stronger
when followed up the waggiDg becomes
ass
another the hounds begin to whine and
give tongue, and stream of In Indian file
along the line of scent.
The whole question of tail-wsgging is q
very interesting one. All dogs wag their
tails when pleased, and the movement In
generally understood by their human as
socistes as an intimation that they are
happy. But when we attempt to discover
the reason why pleasure should be ex-
pressed in this way the explanation ap-
pears at first a very difficult one All
physical attributes OF living beings are,
upon the evolutionary hypothesis, trsces-
BILE to some actual need, past or present.
The old and delightfully."- conclusive dictum
that things are as they are because they
were made so at the beginning no longer
can be put forward seriously outside the
pulpit or the nursery. No doubt In many
cases, ss for instance the origin of human
laughter, the mystery seems unfsthoms
BILE. But this only results from our defec-
tive knowledge of data upon which to
build the bridge of deductive argument.
The reason is there all the time could we
but reach 1t; and almost daily we are able
to account for mysterious and apparently
anomalous phenomena which utterly baf-
fed our predecessors. Probably the man
ner in which domestic dogs express pleas
ure Is owing to some interlockipg of the
machinery of cognste ideas. In order to
understand this better 1t may be helpful to
consider some analogous instances with re-
gard to habits of our own species.
There can be no question that the chief
delight of wild dogs, as with modern
hounds and sporting dogs, 10 in the chase
and its accompanying excitement and con-
| sequences. One of the most thrilling mo-
ments to the human hunter land doubtless
to the canine), and one big with that most
| poignant of all delights, anticipation OF
| pleasurable excitement combined with
muscular activity, 10 when the presence Of
game is first detected. As we have seen In
Watching the behavior In Q pack of fox
hounds, this IL invariably the time when
/ tails are wsgged for the common good.
| The wsgging is an almost invariable &C.
compartment of this form of pleasure,
/ which is one of the ohiefest among the
agreeable emotions when in the wild state.
/ Owing to some incubation of the nervous
mechanism, which at present We cannot
unrsvel, the association of pleasure and
wagging has become so inseparable that
the movement of the tail follows the emo
ton whatever may call 1t forth.
An explanation of q similar kind can be
found for the fact that dogs depress thei,
tails when threatened or ssoldsd, When