5 MAY 1894, Page 14

THE RECOGNITION OF LIKENESSES BY ANIMALS.

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SiE,—In the Spectator of April 21st there is an article on Apes, in which the following occurs :—" Monkeys, we believe alone among animals, can recognise the meaning of a picture.' It may interest some of your readers to hear that certain other animals can also do this,—two instances having come under my own observation. A cat, belonging to a little girl I know,_ was on the child's bed one morning, and made a spring at a picture of a thrush about life-size, which was hanging near. The other cm e is that of a dog, a female Irish terrier, who is- in the habit of running with her mistress's pony carriage. When she sees the pony being harnessed, she often shows her delight by jumping up at its head and barking. In a certain- shop to which she sometimes goes with her mistress, there is a picture of a horse hanging. The dog invariably behaves in exactly the same manner to this, jumping up and barking at it, thus showing unmistakably that she recognises its meaning._