oyster-shells (Dampier). In the commoner case of birds, shell-fish are either dropped from a height on stones or rocks or, held in their beaks or bills, they are dashed violently against stones.

Various thrushes, especially, are in the habit of smashing snail-shells on or against stones. In our own country it is a habit of the common thrush to do so by grasping the snail-shell in its bill and bringing it down with force on a stone-usually some particular or favourite stone, round which may be found a whole heap of shell debris-a miniature 'kitchen midden' ('Animal World'). The mavis breaks the shell of Helix nemoralis 'by reiterated strokes against some stone. . . It is not uncommon to find a great quantity of fragments of shells together, as if brought to one particular stone for that purpose' (Montagu). There are, in fact, sometimes small shell-mounds' about these favourite anvils,' as Atkinson calls them. The sacred kingfisher of Australia kills small snakes by beating their heads against a stone or other hard substance' (Jesse). The caama (asse or swift fox) of Southern Africa is said to break the eggs of the ostrich by rolling them with its paws 'forcibly against a stone or other hard substance.' Boddam Whetham mentions a large land-crab of Samoa that, after having removed the husk of the cocoa-nut, carries the nut to the top of a tree, and lets it fall upon a rock or stone, so as to break it.

Stones are also used as wedges by apes (Watson). Thus they push stones between the open valves of the musselshell to prevent their closing' (Büchner). Certain birds employ stones for their weight as keep-fasts-for instance, in the bowers of bower birds (Nichols). And certain spiders use fragments of gravel to steady their webs.

The elephant breaks off leafy branches for the purpose of using them variously—as (1) fans or punkahs; (2) whisks, to brush or ward off flies or other insect plagues; (3) sunshades (Watson).

Certain of the anthropoid apes make a kind of tente d'abri, a rude sort of hut, of the branches and leaves of trees-a dwelling quite comparable with the shelters constructed for themselves by the various primitive people who

had, or have, advanced a stage or two beyond the prehistoric troglodytes or cave-dwellers.

cases.

Many animals show their sense of the value of, or necessity for, their natural tools or weapons by keeping them in good working order-sharpening them in the majority of The Felina generally whet or sharpen their claws; the bear sharpens both teeth and claws; the boar whets its tusks; for this purpose, probably, the cat defaces leatherbound books in libraries, and the tiger is fond of scratching the bark of trees, especially the Indian fig. Hence, too, the propensity of the stag to rub his antlers against trees in summer, to clear them of their skin and to polish them,

CHAPTER XXIV.

USE OF MAN'S INSTRUMENTS.

Nor a few animals use, and in some cases or in certain respects in the same way as man himself does, various instruments fashioned by him. Thus they know the use, and in some cases apply to their own purposes their knowledge of such use, of—

1. Money or coin.

2. Doors and gates, with their latches or handles, bolts and knockers.

3. Boxes and their lids.

4. Instruments of punishment or restraint, such as the whip or collar.

ware.

5. Fire-arms or other weapons.

6. Ropes and chains.

7. Table utensils, such as cutlery, crockery, and glass

8. Household furniture.

9. Windlasses, spits, pumps, wheels, bells, turnip-slicers, forge bellows, paddles, pestles and mortars, hammers and nails.

10. Bed and body clothes or coverings.

11. Artificial nests or dwellings of all kinds.

12. Baskets and sacks.

13. Musical instruments, such as the organ, cymbal, drum.

14. Games, such as cricket, cards, dominoes, swings.

15. Torches or lanterns.

16. Canes, sticks, or staffs in walking.

The use of man's coins by the dog in the purchase of

eatables for itself or its master is a subject of the highest interest from several points of view, illustrating as it does not only

1. The purchase of rolls at a baker's by tendering a copper held in the mouth, involving a knowledge of the practice, if not of the principle, of exchange or barter; but also

2. The earning and accumulation or saving of money, with its storage for the future needs either of its master or itself. 3. A knowledge of coins and their relative value, including the getting of change.

4. Bargain-making with man.

5. Selection of a particular shop and dealer.

6. Perception and resentment of deception or dishonesty, or attempts thereat, real or assumed.

7. The use of credit and the running up of accounts.

In the town near which I reside there are at least two large dogs whose peculiarities are well known to many of the inhabitants, and especially to school children, which dogs are habitually sent by their masters-merchants in the town -to purchase bread for themselves. Each carries a penny in its mouth, and each trots off, whenever a penny is given to it, to a certain baker's shop. There they rear themselves on their hind legs, place their fore paws well on the counter, and thus firmly supporting themselves they drop their penny on the counter, receiving a roll in return. This they carry back in their mouths-in one case intact, the dog not eating its allowance till the bread being broken up and offered, it understands it to be for its own use, and devours the rollfragments. One of these so-called 'performances' I witnessed and conducted for myself for experimental purposes. But such incidents are merely types of others of common

occurrence.

Much less common, but more suggestive, incidents are the following:-A certain terrier, now dead--'Captain'— long well known in Rothesay, publicly begged money from suitable persons, showing great discrimination in the selection of the persons to whom he made his appeal. When he had an excess of funds-more than he required to buy his

modicum of bread at the baker's-he hid his money in the office of his master (who was, and is still, harbour master), or sometimes about the quay, in which latter case his hoards were frequently found and appropriated by needy and greedy quay porters or street arabs. He carried on this profitable business of begging on his own account till his teeth were quite worn down by the incessant friction of the coins he had caught up and carried (Animal World").

A certain Newfoundland dog, when offered a coin, if not at the moment hungry,' would hide it under his mat,' thus gradually accumulating a fund of coppers, from which he abstracted a penny or halfpenny at a time, according to the state of his appetite. He knew perfectly well the difference between the coins and their relative value, and that he was entitled to receive two biscuits for the larger sum and only one for the halfpenny.' Sometimes he only wanted a single biscuit .. and wished for the change out of his penny. Now and then he took a fancy for a French roll by way of variety. . . . If you gave him a sixpence he would receive the change, and then allow you to take it out of his mouth, satisfied with his two biscuits' (Macaulay).

A retriever, in consequence of being repeatedly tricked never lets the penny out of his reach until the roll is laid down.' Another dog quite knew the rightsized bun, and used to keep his paw on the penny until he got it.' A third dog having once been deceived by a baker, went ever afterwards to a rival establishment on the other side of the street, always, however, calling first at the deceiver's shop to let him see the coin and custom he was losing (Wood). Instances have been given also of dogs selecting particular coins and stealing them; saving money for specific ends; buying rolls or meat on credit; running up accounts with a butcher or baker (Watson). But it is desirable that the details of some of these incidents should be re-observed, verified, and analysed.

Beggars' dogs regularly earn or make money for the subsistence of themselves and their masters. They sit in begging attitude; their looks are eloquently those of appeal; they receive coins in tin jugs tied round their necks; and they