The Van Buren press., 1895-08-31
ANIMAL AFFECTION.
Instances of Strong = achment Among
the Brutes.

the statement of the old Cambridge
scholar, that ''the dogge forsaketh not
his master, no, not when he is starcke
dead" The story of the Dog of Hell
vellyn" is given with sufficient detail
| in Wordsworth's verses. For three
months it remained the only mourner
by the body of its master, until it was
found by shepherd, who recognized
| it as the dog which he had seen with
the lost man on the high passes late
one summer evening A shepherd gave
the following account of the incident
some years afterward. 1.-The unfor-
tunate man." he said, was resident
of Manchester, who was in the habit OF
visiting the lakes and, trusting to his
knowledge of the country had ventured
TO cross one of the passes of Hell.
vellyn late in the afternoon aecompan.
led only by his dog. In the dusk he
wandered from the track, fell over the
rocks, and perished. After many weeks
of fruitless search the dog was discov-
cred guarding his masters body" The
shepherd had never heard the poem,
but concluded his story with exactly
the same sentiment. if not the same
words. God knows" he said, "how
the poor beast was supported SO long"
The "dog of Helvellyn'' gained mon
ument in Wordsworth's verse.
Another dog mourner has been hon.
ored by monument of stone. This is
the Edin burgh dog, "Greyfriars' Bob
by" which followed it's masters body
to the funeral, and, after the burial,
lay SO constantly by the grave that the
keepers of the grave yard gave it a small
kennel in which to lie. It's master S
grave became from that time its home,
and on its death it was honored with a
monument recording its DEVOTION y
In the case of the dog the strongest
forms of the emotions of affection,
jealousy and grief center round human
beings They are shown in very
minor degree in their relation to each
other. Perhaps the most curious in
stance is that of a female which mated
for life with handsome male dog, for
which she reserved her entire affec-
/ ons, and after his death would asso-
ciate with no other instance both
of grief and constancy. But the minor
forms of sorrow are very readily evoked
in their dealings with men. .Why
should leavethe dog at homer" asks
the sportsman in Mr.. Oswald Craw-
| ford's witty account of Portuguese
"cacada." If leave him at home he
will howl all dav, and my wife will
wish herself dead.'' Their sensitive
ness under temporary disgrace or neg
lect is no less obvious; but canine sor-
row is in its strongest form reserved
to deplore the loss of human friends or
masters. In no other domestic animal
is the emotion SO constantly exhibited,
or in so strong a form, although Mr..
Rudyard Kipling's story of "My Lord,
the Elephant Gf founded on fact shows
that that animal is sometimes capable
of as great devotion as the dog
Horses and cattle, though attached
to individuals, do not usually exhibit
emotion at their loss. In all the rumi-
nant animals the expression of emo
tion is very limited, and not easily
recognized. Cows certainly are much
distressed at the loss of a calf, and deer
by that of fawn. On the other hand,
|
comprehension that in India it is the
custom to stuff the skin of calf which
has been turned into veal, and set in
the COW stable, which at once induces
the COW to continue giving milk Cats,
when in distress, seem moved by exact
ly opposite causes to those which in
duce sorrow in the dog. They are in
finitely miserable at the loss of their
kittens, and frequently adopt some
seem little moved by the death or sick
ness of human friends. But this is not
always the case. During the last in
fuenza epidemic lady who was at.
tackled was moved into a different
room from that which she usually oc-
cupied. Her cat, gray Angora, al
once discovered this, and came and sal
outside for some days, but was not ad-
mitted, for fear it might also catch the
universal plague. When it did con
trive to enter it sprang on the bed
purring and showing as much pleasure
as it had previously shown detection
Wild animals naturally limit both
their affections and regrets to eacf
others society. In the social life o.
|. most animals there is so little differ
ence between the individuals that the
loss of one is easily replaced. It'leavei
, no gap in the daily life, as the loss O.
human being may in that of do
mestic animal. But Lord Lovat has
, given a sufficient number of instances
of the grief felt by wild deer at th'
, death or wounding of their compan
, ions to supplement the lesson Of Sir Z
Landseer's picture entitled Highland
Nurses" in which the kinds are watch
, ing by a wounded stag. Birds. which
since the days when Aeschylus de
scribed the hurried and anxious figh
of the vultures of their young nave al
, ways shown the utmost distress and
grief at the loss of their nestlings
seem seldom affected to sorrow by any
other circumstance, though Miss Ben
son, in her book, Subject to Vanity,
, has lately given an account of the "in
, human" Indifference OF hen Bud yea
. ipar parrakeet when it's mate was iii
and of the obvious dejectlcn which thi
indi ference caused in taa sick bird
/. But it is now doubted whether ''lov'
. birds" die of grief after the loss of thel
, mate, though the fact that one usual,
> dies very soon, often only few hour
E after the other, is not disputed. Blu
. they are delicate birds, and the samt
, unsuitable food ~ sudden draugh
| which kills one, usually affects tht
= other They are probably victims, no
: of sorrow, but of errors in ''domesti
9 hygiene "-London Spectator.
: Also Used In Greece.
D "And then" continued the traveller