102 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE.

grass. After several unsuccessful attempts to carry the twu
together in his mouth, he laid them on the ground, placed
the smaller within the larger, pressed it down with his foot,
and then easily carried them to his master. Instances are
recorded of dogs who while always ready to perform a
useful service, absolutely refused to act for the amusement
of on-lookers or to discharge unnecessary duties. Thus a
dog who would go into the water to retrieve a wild duck
would refuse to fetch anything that had been thrown in for
the purpose of displaying his agility, and another who was
accustomed to ring the servants’ bell at the bidding of his mistress
refused to do so when told while the servant was in the
room, and if repeatedly commanded to do so, would lay
hold of the servant’s coat and attempt to drag him to his
mistress. These illustrations seem to show a power of dis-
crimination not usually credited to animals. Of the intelligence
shown by dogs which have been trained, the following story
from the “Percy Anecdotes” is at once a remarkable and an
amusing illustration. “One day, when Dumont, a tradesman
of the Rue St. Denis, was walking in the Boulevard St. An-
toine with a friend, he offered to lay a wager with the latter,
that if he were to hide a six-livre piece in the dust, his dog
would discover and bring it to him. The wager was accepted,
and the piece of money secreted, after being carefully
marked. When the two had proceeded some distance from
the spot, M. Dumont called to his dog that he had lost
something, and ordered him to seek it. Caniche immediately
turned back, and his master and his companion pursued
their walk to the Rue St. Denis. Meanwhile a traveller,
who happened to be just then returning in a small chaise
from Vincennes, perceived the piece of money, which his
horse had kicked from its hiding-place; he alighted, took it
up, and drove to his inn, in the Rue Pont-aux-Choux.
Caniche had just reached the spot in search of the lost
piece when the stranger picked it up. He followed the