Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-24

Written FOR The Star by Or. James Weir jr
NV fox terrier has shown me time anc
again that he mot only loves music but
that he also possesses the power of must
cal discrimination. Certain musical keys
are agreeable to him, and certain other
keys are exceedingly distasteful. When l
execute compositions on the piano that are
written In the key of f sharp he Will lie
on the floor of the music room for hours
at a time. seemingly listening to the music
with much enjoyment. When l play IA
march. waltz or polka that is written in the
key Of B fiat he VIII Immediately sho that
the music is 4 'sagreeabIe 10 him by run
ming about the room and by going out as
soon as the door IS opened
Again. when the music is pleasing he will
sometimes utter howis lin tune or in &C
cord with the fundamental note of the key
in which the composition Is written
Mn attention was first directed 10 TINS
mower of musical discrimination in dogs
by the actions OF an exceeding lntei-
ligent collie. the property of u ne gho0F.
This dog lived next door to church, the
bell of which sounded . natural w hen-
ever this bell was ruug the collie would
utter howls In accord with G natu. al:
Sometimes. though rarely, his how.s would
be in the note OF G natural itself.
Very frequently dogs VIII give utterahce
to cries that are not in accord with the
KEY note At first I attributed this to dis
like but recent observations lead me to
believe that these false notes are due to
lack of skill.
At first glance this power of musical con-
sonance in dogs seems to be due to phe-
nomenal intelligence ON mature consider
alton however. we discover that II is the
result OF a natural law and one that we
observe in many different genera and spe-
cies OF the animal kingdom. / refer to the
law of imitation We observe II in some
form or other In birds. monkeys, dogs,
sheep, cattle. even in Insects. In the lower
races Of man IL IS striklngiy evident The
dogs bark is q direct result OF this law.
This animal in fits wild state, is mute;
its barking has been evolved by its domes-
tication, its association with man Our
primitive ancestors. when they first tanned
the dog talked to it; the dog underworld
to answer it's master in kind. Hence origi-
mated barking. RomOnes even ventures the
assertion that IT is only an anatom cal
barrier and a psychical accident that for
bid speech to the dog! In point of fact.
dogs, like parrots, have been taught TO
speak words. ay. phrases even, and the
above quoted author Instances one animal
whose vocabulary contained over a hundred
words.
The Dog and the Echo.
Dogs have discovered that pleasing and
mysterious phenomenon the echo. and seem
to elicit from II a wonderful fund Of enjoy
ment When l first advanced this idea, IT
met with quite an amount of opposition.
of recent years however. observers, both
in this country and abroad. have concurreI
with me in this matter.
II a dog which is I'm the habit of bay
ing at the moon be closely watched. II
will be noticed that, while giving his noJ-
turnal concerts. he viii occupy the same
spot or spots night after night Further
more, If the observer will experiment he
will also discover that an echo is invari-
ably TO be heard from such spot or spots
OF course. barking in a dog is often excited
by the barking Of another dog; consequent
~ the observer must take this fact into
consideration when making observations
end experiments.
noticed that one OF my dogs, a spaniel,
was in The habit OF crawling under a GER
tain honeysuCkle bush whenever he gave
serenade. The closest observation on my
part failed 10 discover an echo. and my the
DRY seemed 20 be in danger OF refutation.
Finally II occurred to me to occupy the
dogs position beneath the bush and then
try for an echo. With much difficulty I
at length succeeded in getting beneath the
honeysuCkle, whence I sent forth several
bowling barks. Greatly to my satisfac-
zion an echo was heard coming from some
buildings quarter OF a mile away. Ow
ing TO some peculiar acoustic conditions
or environments the echo was not to be
heard save from this one spot beneath the
bush. The dog had evidently discovered