SIR JOHN LUBBOCK AND HIS DOG.

Clutha Leader, Volume X, Issue 558, 20 June 1884, Page 2

SIR JOHN LUBBOCK AND HIS DOG.

That there is a wide gulf dividing man from the most intelligent of the brute creation even Charles Darwin made no attempt to conceal. And his advancement of the ' missing-link ' theory was simply an attempt to lessen the gap that could not be hid. The word ' Soul,' though somewhat difficult to define, is the common term used tc express the vast mental difference between mankind and the next best endowed form of animal life. Man is said to possess a Soul — i.e., a spiritual and immortal part, which altogether lifts him out of and above the other forms of life, and makes him the thinking, speaking, reading, writing, contriving, and governing being that he undoubtedly is. This, shortly stated, is at least what man has been up till now, but whether some, all, or any of these attributes and acquirements are to remain the sole possession of humanity would seem to depend very much on the educative experiments of such scientists and naturalists as Sir John Lubbock. Amongst the most intelligent of brutes the dog has at all times taken a high place, and under human tuition many wonderful specimans have been turned out, and many wonderful stories have been related of canine sagacity, from the shepherd's collie to the mastiff of St. Bernard. The extract published from Sir John Lubbock's article in Nature about his clog ' Van ' could hardly fail to arrest the attention of many readers. Sir John's attempts in the "meantime seem to be confined to teaching the animal to read words written or printed on pasteboard cards. ' The essence of my ideas,' he says, c was to have various words such as " food," " bone," " wa^er," " out," "pet me," <fee., printed on pieces of cardboard, and, after some preliminary training, to give the dog anything for which he asked by bringing a card.' The cards are ten inches by three inches, and are placed on the floor of the room, and it seems that the clog has now reached such a pitch of perfection in the art of — -reading — shall we say 1 that it correctly brings the ' water ' card when thirsty, the ' out ' card when it desires a scamper in the garden, the ' bone ' card when it wishes to have an enjoyable gnaw under the table, and ' pet me ' when it feels in a mood for receiving attentions It was suggested to Sir John that scant was the means by which the dog distinguished the particular card wanted, and he accordingly printed oft* a number of duplicates of each card, and changed them, but tin's it seems in no interfered with the scholarly attainments of ' Van,' who apparently has learned his letters, and cannot be deceived by any number of duplicatory dodges, if in a frolic 'Van' picks up a wrong card hurriedly, and does not perceive his mistake until the article mentioned thereon is presented to him, he at once snatches away the card with a sort of ' beg-your-pardon ' manner, returns it to the floor, and selects the proper one in its place. Sir John is quite satisfied that his dog cati actually read printed letters, and considers that ' Van ' is guided in his selection of a card in the self-same way that he is. He has learned how to read certain words and to distinguish between the meaning of one word and another. This is perfectly clear. He says, ' I have no doubt that he can distinguish between different words. For instance, when he is hungry he will bring a " food " card time after time until he has had enough.' The object Sir John has in view is to open up a method of instruction by which dogs and other animals may be able to hold actual communication with man. He is still engaged in the extension of this somewhat unique experiment, and is at present, he says, considering the best mode of testing ' Van ' in ' very simple arithmetic. '