Among wholly unsolved problems ranks the nature of the mental processes by which many different tribes of animals find their way back to the place from which they have been removed, when the distances involved are great, and often when they have never travelled so much as once the way by which they return.

Akin to this, possibly, though perhaps quite different, is the question as to the nature of the faculties by which animals are enabled to migrate. "How a small and tender bird, coming from Africa or Spain, after traversing the sea, finds the very same hedgerow in the middle of England, where it made its nest last season, is truly marvellous" (Darwin). We are much in need of more facts in regard to the migrations of animals; and it is hoped that the systematic work recently inaugurated by the American Ornithological Association may lead to useful results in this field. With regard to the so-called "homing instinct," it has been noticed that savage or semi-savage man possesses a power of finding his way in the trackless forest by more accurate observation than that of which the civilised man seems capable. While this throws light upon the case of the lower animals, it does but very inadequately explain it. It may turn out that both of these puzzles are susceptible of simple explanation ; but at present they strike me as rather belonging to that class of psychic phenomena, the meaning of which can be but inadequately understood by man, owing to his not possessing the requisite faculties or those faculties in sufficiently powerful or acute development. The performances of a Shakespeare and Scott in literature, or a Beethoven in music, to the mass of men, must be but imperfectly understood in any proper sense of realisation. Probably these sons of genius could have given little account of the "manner of it" themselves. We might hesitate to call such faculties

as the above in the lower animals genius, or to acknowledge any kinship; but genius among men is often as limited and as disassociated with general mental power as are certain marvellous faculties in the lower animals. It may be that migration is accomplished by means of some forms of acute sensation, according to which the animal acts more or less blindly. Plainly, no mere restless impulse can account for the performance, though it may initiate it. These and many other

problems are before us; and, like most recondite problems, they will require the labours of many, each bringing his little for their solution. But is it not worth while? Man can not live by bread alone. We hunger for completeness in our knowledge and harmony in our philosophy. But, apart from this philosophical satisfaction, it cannot but prove for the interests both of man and the lower animals that the latter should be better understood.

Belonging, as most of you do, to the veterinary profession, or, as I should prefer to call it, the profession of comparative medicine, either as students or as practitioners and teachers, the more you comprehend the mental workings and modes of expression of your patients, the more successfully must you arrive at an accurate knowledge of their symptoms, and so be the better prepared to relieve the suffering among them, and in so doing also advance man's material interests. To you, at the present time, must we especially look for diffusing more enlightened and humane views, views worthy of this renowned School of Comparative Medicine, which many of you have come so far to attend. It will be for you to intervene in cases of public panic, like that witnessed in connection with the recent hydrophobia scare; reassure the public mind, and protect our fellow-creatures of the lower ranks from needless molestation. There is probably no class

of men whose daily life-work gives them so large an opportunity for at the same time acquiring and diffusing truer views in regard to the lower animals. Your enthusiasm and success during the first year of our existence as a Society, have been a matter of equal surprise and delight to me, especially considering how fully you are occupied with the ordinary duties of your profession. We hope to enlist the interest of others and bring them into our ranks; to accumulate a library of books bearing on this subject; secure a large number of correspondents from widely separated parts of the continent, and in various other ways stimulate the study which we feel calls for and is worthy of man's earnest attention.*

I cannot close this address without making grateful reference on behalf of this Society to the kind manner in which, in many ways, Principal M'Eachran, and the Professors of the Veterinary College, have lent their support to our projects.

COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY.†

IN entering upon the third year of our existence as a Society, it has seemed to me that it might be encouraging to the older members and instructive to those who are meeting with us for the first time, to review the work of the Society for the past two years; to point out what we have tried to accomplish and what has been actually achieved.

This young Society, so far as known, the only one in America for the study of Comparative Psychology, is composed at present almost entirely of the students and teachers of the School of Comparative (Veterinary) Medicine in Montreal, though its membership is open to all eligible persons.

+ Read before the Association for the Study of Comparative Psychology in connection with the Montreal Veterinary College, in 1888.

Believing that men who had chosen Comparative Medicine as a career, must have some real liking for those animals, at least, which are classed as domestic, if not for all creatures that breathe the breath of life, and feeling assured that a knowledge of the mental constitution of animals must prove invaluable to the veterinary surgeon in the diagnosis and treatment of the diseases of his speechless patients, in the latter part of the year 1885, I called together such of the students of the Montreal Veterinary College as were attending my own classes in physiology, and suggested the desirability of forming some sort of association for the attainment of these objects. Those addressed responded to my proposals as only young men can. Soon almost every student in the College joined us. and Professors aided, both by smoothing the way and by active and cordial co-operation. A spacious and comfortable room was kindly placed at our disposal in the Veterinary College building in which to hold our meetings. As the project was tentative, we did not think it well to fetter ourselves with many rules or regulations. However, on commencing our second year, we felt warranted in giving our Association a name, providing for it a constitution and bye-laws, and taking such other steps as tended to show that organisation was warranted as a natural result of growth and development.*

The Principal

In order to present the history of our Association within a small space, you will bear in mind that the accounts of papers read, and the discussions ensuing, must appear in very condensed form; and that the comments I have now to make on them must be few, and rather indicative of the line of investigation we have

* Thus far the Principal of the Veterinary College, D. M'Eachran, has been the Honorary President; T. Wesley Mills, Professor of Physiology, M'Gill University, President; W. J. Torrance, Recording Secretary. The other offices have been filled by different members of the Association, including the Professors of the College.

followed, and should continue to pursue, than as statements of established results. Naturally, most of our studies, though by no means all, have been of the domestic animals, and, as was to be expected, the dog is the creature whose mental nature has been most frequently the subject of our enquiries-and this will likely be the case in the future, also, for many reasons; or if we can establish some conclusions regarding the psychic operations and development of any one of the lower animals, we then have more certain ground for comparison, even if we never succeed in showing that we have any warrant for interpreting the mental operations of inferior animals in terms of those of man. If we could establish a relative scale of intelligence for animals below man, much would have been accomplished. The first communication laid before the Society grew out of a paper read before the Veterinary Association by Principal M'Eachran. In this communication the behaviour of a dog that was manifestly possessed of unusual intelligence was described in detail. Among other evidences of this were his journeys to a baker's shop to purchase food for himself. Several such cases are on record, and as I shall have occasion to bring this matter before you again shortly, it will not be dwelt upon now. In all such cases we cannot be too cautious in the explanations we adopt. Mr Dawes, at the same meeting, sketched the history of a Cocker Spaniel that, in consequence of early training, would, on request, fetch any one of six different articles.

This case led to the important enquiry: In how far, or in what sense, do animals understand words? In the course of the discussion following, it was pointed out that dogs would answer to their names when uttered by strangers, in opposition to the view that the animal was guided chiefly, if not solely, by the general demeanour of the person calling the dog, the tone of voice,

C