The record-union., 1896-12-06
REASON OR INsTINCTs
Stories of Remarkable Sagacity
Shown by Dogs.

REASON OR INSTINCT!
Stories of Remarkable Sagacity
Shown by Dogs.
That the lower animal has the essen
tial power by which likeness as well
as a reflection is cognized is made plain
by what have witnessed the dog (not
| a show dog), Dodgerfield by name, OF
my friend the actor, w. E. Dalton, do.
Tedestalled pieces of tin are placed IN
disorder on the floor on which are
painted the Arabic figures 1, 2, 3. 4.
Name any one of these figures and
Dodgerfield will bring to you the piece
Of tin on which it is painted. This
proves beyond question, if it needs any
proof-and 1 find that everything IN
animal psychology has to be proven
that Dodgerfield has one OF the faculties
essential to the perception of IKE
ness, the faculty of form Without H.
it would be utterly impossible for MIN
to distinguish one figure from another
by sight, and l have taken pains TO
prove that he does not distinguish the
tins upon which they are painted py
scent. The other faculty necessary TO
distinguish colored likeness is OF
course that of color. That Dodgerneid
fas that is proven in this way -Four
handkerchiefs one white, one red, one
orange, and one green-are laid In dls-
order on the floor; you ask for the one
you want naming the color, and Dodg-
.rfield will bring it to you Here again
I can assure the reader the distinguish
ment is not through scent. Now. you
have a beefsteak painted by COM
Detent realistic artist. Show 1T to your
cog. See how quickly his attention
is attracted. He may not sink MS
teeth into the picture, but this Will not
be because he does not perceive us
form and colors, because the mistake
made by his eyes is corrected by ms
nose If you could make the picture
smell precisely as a beefsteak, you
would thoroughly fool the dog, as thor
cughly as l have seen men fooled by
painted greenback.
Under date of March 27th Mr.. Dalton
says: ''Dodgerfield has developed
fondness for sleeping on our bed in pref
erence to his own His bed is a small
cotton pad in a basket. He has settled
himself upon our bed every night after
the performance of late, and it has re-
quired quite a commanding tone 10
induce him to go to his own When tne
time comes for us to go to ours. Last
Thursday the climax came, and we sur
mise that he filled some of his doing
moments through the day in deVlslng
some way of attaining the desired ped;
for almost Immediately upon our re-
turning from. the theater he, OF his own
free will and direction, dragged his pad
fl ON his basket which was in closet,
then across a fourteen-foot room to our
bed, and jumped upon it, tugging the
pad after him. Then, spreading 1t out
the best he could, he lay down upon 1t
and went to sleep"
That DOdgerfield reasoned in this ac-
ton there can be no doubt. l have al
ready shown that he has two other
faculties necessary to the perception of
a portrait-that of form and that of
color That he has the fourth--that OF
the power of perception of the indi-
vidual within the person-is so appar-
ent that Mr.. Dalton thinks him capa-
h!e of receiving impressions, even
thoughts, through telepathy.
Now, were Mr.. Dalton or anyone else
to tell me that Dodgerfield had known
a portrait, 1 would not think the state
ment wild. But such a thing neither
Mr.. Dalton nor anybody else has told
me with relation to Dodgerfield. 1t
has been told me, however, with rela-
ton to another dog-Tiger by name
owned by the Rev. Peter Claude Crevel-
ing of Cornwall, N. Y. Mr.. Creveling
writes me under date Of January 10th:
my wife does crayon work. Last
week she had on her board two por-
traits, each striking likeness of it's sub
ject-one of myself, the other of
friend unknown TO Tiger. When Mrs.
Creveling had about finished her work,
and after my portrait had been placed
in a frame and stood on an easel-the
other being very near it-Tiger was ad-
mitted to the room. (You will please
remember that some precaution must
be taken before admitting him to a
studio, as his tail is not conducive to
the good order of such a place) I'M
mediately upon seeing his master in
crayon he walked over to the easel and
edeavored to kiss the face. 1t was COW
cred by glass. A second attempt was
made to show his recognition of love
for his master. He could only touch
the glass. This trial was enough to
convince him that any further attempt
to kiss the object of his love would be
in vain; so he lay down in front of the
easel, his eyes riveted on the covered
face thereon, and over his face passed
an expression of combined disappoint-
ment and love that was truly pathetic
He would fain have kissed my cheek to
tell me Of his love. After few mo-
ments of mental anxiety he rose, came
over to where l was sitting, got on my
lap Che weighs 105 pounds), kissing the
living face, expressed his love, and
fully showed his great delight that his
master still existed in tangible form
The subject of the pencil, it is quite
useless to tell you, was as much pleased
as Tiger."-C. ]. Adams in Fores: and
Stream.