There is an important faculty, termed 'attention'. It is that which
distinguishes the promising pupil from him of whom no good hope could be
formed, and the scientific man from the superficial and ignorant one.
The power of keeping the mind steadily bent upon one purpose, is the
great secret of individual and moral improvement. We see the habit of
attention carried in the dog to a very considerable extent. The terrier
eagerly watching for vermin--the sporting dog standing staunch to his
point, however he may be annoyed by the blunders of his companion or the
unskilfulness of his master--the foxhound, insensible to a thousand
scents, and deaf to every other sound, while he anxiously and
perseveringly searches out the track of his prey--these are striking
illustrations of the power of attention.
Then, the impression having been received, and the mind having been
employed in its examination, it is treasured up in the storehouse of the
mind for future use.
This is the faculty of memory; and a most important one it is. Of the
'memory' of the 'dog', and the recollection of kindness received, there
are a thousand stories, from the return of Ulysses to the present day,
and we have seen enough of that faithful animal to believe most of them.
An officer was abroad with his regiment, during the American war. He had
a fine Newfoundland dog, his constant companion, whom he left with his
family. After the lapse of several years he returned. His dog met him at
the door, leaped upon his neck, licked his face, and died.
Of the accuracy and retentiveness of memory in the dog, as respects the
instruction he has received from his master, we have abundant proof in
the pointer and the hound, and it may perhaps be with some of them, as
with men, that the lesson must sometimes be repeated, and even impressed
on the memory in a way not altogether pleasant.
[We know an imported Irish setter, formerly in possession of a gentleman
of this city, who on many occasions, while hunting, displayed an
extraordinary instinct, even sufficiently remarkable to make us believe
that he possessed not only the most acute powers of observation, but
that he also enjoyed the faculty of "inductive reasoning," independent
of any mechanical training, many of his performances being entirely
voluntary, and the result of causes dependent upon accidental
circumstances alone: for instance, when lost from observation, he would
noiselessly withdraw from his point, hunt up his master, and induce him,
by peculiar signs, to follow him to the spot where he had previously
observed the birds.
In his old days, "Smoke" was much opposed to hunting with an indifferent
shot, and would leave the field perfectly disgusted, after a succession
of bad shooting; seeming to argue that he no longer sought after game
for amusement, but that he expected his efforts to be repaid by the
death of the birds.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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