I am throwing my experiences at Niagara into a readable shape, intending to make a Friday evening lecture out of them on the 4th of April. As soon as ever the paper is ready I shall send it to you.
I have not yet got properly into harness; indeed, this is always a difficulty with me. When I get into a rut I tend to persist in it.
Had a letter yesterday from Hector. He tells me that he has forwarded the deed of trust to Prof. Henry. I did not keep a copy of it, and should like some time to have one, but there is no hurry. . . .
| Yours ever, |
| John Tyndall. |
My Dear Youmans: The "Tyndall number," as the World calls it, of The Popular Science Monthly duly reached me. I wish you had sent over a dozen of them. I took the number to Bence Jones (who to my great grief is dying) and to others. They were mightily struck by its tone, and Bence Jones predicts all manner of great things for a nation which can evoke the spirit manifested in the address of President White.
. . . I send you by this post a proof of my little paper on Niagara; it may be printed as it stands if time be an element of importance,[1] otherwise I am having a little map of the Falls prepared which will add to the clearness of the paper. . . .
| Faithfully yours, |
| John Tyndall. |
| THE PSYCHOLOGY OF A DOG. |
By JOHN MONTEITH,
IN his recent work on Justice, Mr. Herbert Spencer turns a new light upon old questions in ethics, by tracing the roots of ethical principles to the animal community. There is something wonderful in the way certain animals form a society and exemplify the egoistic and altruistic sentiments of justice working in harmony. With all their selfish quarrels and contests, the compact of animals throws many an attempt at human combination into the shade.
But such co-operation by limitation and adaptation is only possible where there is power of perception, thinking, emotion, and purpose. Therefore, we must either assume or constantly prove, until demonstration is secured, that some animals, like human beings, think, reason, and feel, and execute intelligent purposes. Do they?
It is in the line of answer to this question that I introduce the subject of the following sketch, and record some careful observations I have made of the mental operations of my subhuman dog. I am unable to gratify the curiosity of the fancier touching
- ↑ This very interesting paper may be found in the third volume of The Popular Science Monthly, page 210.
