hung over his eyes, which were rivetted upon those of his dead master. The tumult seemed neither to distract the attention nor change the attitude of the mourner, absorbed by the object to which he clung. Buonaparte, struck with the spectacle, stopped his horse, called his attendants around him, and pointed out the subject of his speculation. "The dog," said Buonaparte, "as if he had known my voice, removed his eyes from his master, and throwing them upon me for a moment, resumed his former posture; but in that momentary look there was a mute eloquence beyond the power of language; it was reproach, with all the poignancy of bitterness." Buonaparte felt the appeal; he construed the upbraidings of the animal into a comprehensive demand of mercy; the sentiment was irresistible; it put to flight every harsh and hostile feeling: Buonaparte instantly gave orders to stop the carnage.-Miss Williams's Sketches of the French Republic, vol. ii. p. 188.

A bet of 20 guineas was made on Monday the 1st of Dec. 1807, between Mr. Arnold, a sporting man, who resides at Pentonville, and Mr. Mawbrey a factor in Fulham-road, that the former did not produce a dog which should be thrown over Wesminster-bridge, at dark, and find it's way home again in 6 hours, as proposed by Arnold. The experiment was tried on Tuesday evening, when a spaniel, the property of a groom in Tottenham-court-road, was produced and thrown over in the centre of the bridge. The animal arrived at the house of it's humane master in two hours after the experiment had been made.-Bell's Weekly Messenger, Dec. 7, 1807.

Dr. Darwin has given us many curious facts relat ing to birds of passage, tending to prove, 1. All birds of passage can exist in the climates where they

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are produced. 2. They are subject in their migrations to the same accidents and difficulties, that mankind are subject to in navigation. 3 The same species of birds migrate from some countries, and are resident in others. From these circumstances he infers, that the migrations of birds are not produced by a necessary instinct, but are accidental improvements, like the arts among mankind, taught by their cotemporaries, or delivered by tradition from one generation of them to another.

The nests of birds are not always constructed of the same materials, nor in the same form, which ascertains that they are led by observation.

In the trees of Mr. Levets's house in Litchfield, there are annually nests, built by sparrows, a bird which usually builds under the tiles of houses, or the thatch of barns. So the jackdaw [Corvus monedula] generally builds in church-steeples, or under the roofs of high houses; but at Selbourne, iu Southamptonshire, where towers and steeples are not sufficiently numerous, these same birds build in forsaken rabbit burrows. [White's History of Selbourne, p. 59.] Can the skilful change of architecture in these birds and the sparrows above-mentioned, be governed by instinct? Then they must have two instincts; one for common, and the other for extraordinary occasions.

Birds brought up by our care, and which have had little communication with others of their own species, are very defective in acquired knowledge; their song is borrowed from any bird they happen to hear, or from the whistling of boys, and from accidental noises of machines, &c.; they are not only very awkward in the construction of their nests, but generally scatter their eggs in various parts of the room or

cage, where they are confined, and seldom produce young ones, till by failing in their first attempt, they have learnt something from their own observation.

As many ladies are too refined to nurse their own children, and deliver them to the care and provision of others; so is there one instance of this vice in the feathered world. The cuckoo in some parts of England hatches and educates her young; while in othther parts she builds no nest, but uses that of some lesser bird, generally either of the wagtail, or hedge sparrow, and depositing one egg in it, takes no further care of her progeny. Ths Rev. Mr. Stafford, walking in Glosop Dale, in the Peak of Derbyshire, saw a cuckoo rise from it's nest. The nest was upon the stump of a tree, which had been some time felled; among some chips that were in part turned gray, so as much to resemble the colour of the bird; in this nest were two young cuckoos; and he very frequently, for many days, beheld the old cuckoo feed these her young, as he stood very near them. The philosopher who is acquainted with these facts concerning the cuckoo, would seem to have very little reason himself, if he could imagine this neglect of her young to be a necessary instinct!

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INSTANCES OF DOCILITY IN ANIMALS. of the foregoing cases indicates reflection, and evinces an active effort to recal to memory, and to draw conclusions, probably of an intuitive kind, from past perceptions. They are proofs also of capacity for observation, and for deriving knowledge from experience. But the wonderful docility of animals leaves no room to doubt that they are possessed of such faculties. A raven may be taught to fetch and carry with the address of a spaniel; and some time ago, a canary bird was exhibited in London, that could pick

accident and experience, and communicated to future generations by example. The late circumnavigators observed at Duskey-bay, in Newzealand, that numbers of small birds, which dwelt in the woods were so unacquainted with men, that they hopped upon the nearest branches to them, and even upon their fowling-pieces, perhaps viewing the strangers as new objects, with a pleasing curiosity. This fearlessness at first protected them from harm, as it was impossible to shoot them under such circumstances. But, in a few days, it proved the cause of their destruction; for a sly cat belonging to the ship, perceiving so easy an opportunity of obtaining delicious meals, regularly took her walk in the woods every morning and made great havock among the birds, which had before no experience of such an insidious enemy.-Forster's Voyage, with Capt. Cook, vol. 1. p. 128.

ACQUIRED HABITS OF ANIMALS. "When I see the several actions and designs of my dog, I profess it is impossible to avoid being amazed. His passions are more quick than those of many men. There are some whose joy or grief at accidents, give them so little emotion, and are so dull, as to render it difficult to say which it is that affects them: but, in this honest animal, both are lively and strong. When any of the family return home, he discovers great gladness in caressing and skipping about them, and seems dull and concerned at their going out. But there is one among them whom he distinguishes in a most peculiar manner. When this person goes abroad, he is void of all comfort, and sits in a window crying incessantly, refusing victuals, and watching for his friend's return; who is always welcomed by much rejoicing and noise. If he wants to go out of the room, he puts his fore feet up against one of the com

pany, and, being taken notice of, runs to the door, rising up against it in the same manner, looking at the person he gave notice to before, till he be let out. If he wants drink, he gives the same notice and immediately runs into a closet, where stands a bottle of water, continuing to run to and from the person till he be served."-Dr. Parson on Animals and Vegetables.

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"On the northern coast of Ireland," says Dr. Darwin, a friend of mine saw above a hundred crows at once preying on muscles; each crow took a muscle up into the air, twenty or forty yards high, and let it fall upon the stones, and thus by breaking the shell, got possession of the animal." Eagles are said to act in the same manner, by the tortoise.

Instances of the sagacity and knowledge of animals are very numerous to every observer, and their docility in learning various arts from mankind, evinces that they may learn similar arts from their own species, and thus be possessed of much acquired and traditional knowledge. It is said, the reason of brutes is stationary, they never improve. This is not true. Individuals of the same species of animals differ in degree of sagacity, in the same manner as individuals of the human race. Their sagacity depends also, like that of the human race, on their situation. The otter, says Abbé Raynal, in Europe, a stupid and solitary animal, has made in America a greater progress in the arts of civil society than the native tribes of Indians. Horses, in this country, are not political animals, but in the deserts of Tartary and Siberia they are political; for, being there hunted by the Tartars, as hares and deer are in this country, they, for selfpreservation, form themselves into a kind of community, and take joint measures for saving themselves,