Page:The Zoologist, 1st series, vol 1 (1843).djvu/63

Rh sought after by our whalers, being very wild and savage, and if taken, yielding a very small quantity of blubber.

The finner grows to a large size, exceeding a hundred feet in length. The skeleton of a finner, 95 feet in length, was exhibited some years ago at Charing Cross; the cavity of the ribs was fitted up as a kind of sitting-room, with chairs and a table, and was not unfrequently tenanted by a party of merry-makers, who resorted to this unwonted saloon to sip their wine. This whale was stranded at Ostend, and is said to have weighed 249 tons, and to have produced 4000 gallons of oil.

Note on the Intelligence of Animals, illustrated by means of two Pointer Dogs.

"M. Leonard read a paper on the intelligence of animals, which he illustrated by means of two pointer dogs which he had trained for the purpose.

"To show that these animals possessed the power of comparison, he placed different objects upon the ground, such as a glove, a roll of paper, a small box, &c, and having kept similar objects himself, he showed them one after another to either of the dogs, and desired the animal to fetch that which was like it from the ground. The dogs performed this task correctly, and all others which they were desired.

"Cards, with numbers from 1 to 9 painted upon them, were placed upon the ground, and the dogs fetched any particular number they were bidden: a number brought, M. Leonard ordered the dog to take back again and exchange for another number, and at the same time to deposit it in the place of that number. The dogs also selected a card of a particular colour, when desired, from among many of different colours. Pieces of bread were placed on the ground, and in placing them, their master called them by the names of different numbers in an irregular manner, and afterwards ordered the dogs to fetch the piece of bread he had called a certain number.—These and various other experiments (some with pieces of meat) were all performed correctly, and tended to show the great intelligence of the animals, and the control which their master had obtained over them.

"The dogs were named Phylax and Braque, and either dog, upon his name being called, performed the task he was ordered; but one of them appeared to be more quick than the other."—Proceedings of Zoological Society, 1841, p. 47.

Anecdote of a Bat flying by day-light. Seeing Mr. Douglas's note respecting the diurnal flight of the bat (Zool. 6), I send you the following note on the same subject. On the 11th of November last, at half-past 3 o'clock, in the wide part of the Boro' (Southwark), near the Town Hall, I saw a bat of the smaller species on the wing. I watched it for the best part of an hour, and left it performing its gyrations, which were, while I witnessed them, confined to about forty