20 APRIL 1951, Page 5

In regard to communication between animals, it is suggested with

good reason that perhaps the nearest to actual communica- tion is between the hounds in a pack, and reference is specially made to the tutelage given to a " new entry," a puppy. Here all arc of the same breed, intent on the same pursuit ; even so, the communication is very limited ; nor does the fact that many -dogs have different barks for different occasions denote actual communication. One story well worth retailing reaches me. A man watching a badger's set in the New Forest one evening saw a badger emerge and utter a peculiar cry. Nothing happened. The next evening the same badger came out and uttered the same cry. This time a fellow-badger appeared frotn somewhere and they both vanished into the set, from which they emerged a little later dragging the body of a dead badger, which they proceeded to bury. This story is vouched for. On the general question, de Haan (quoted in the new Chambers's) doubts " whether animals ever use sounds with a view to communicate."