DOGS AS ART CRITICS. pro THE EDITOR OE THE "SPECTATOR."]
Stn,—Apropos of the recognition of pictures by dogs (Spec- tator, May 5th), I think you may be interested in the two following facts which came under my notice a few years ago. A sagacious but quite uneducated old terrier came with his master to call for me, and coiled himself on the hearthrug while we talked. Turning himself round in the intervals of slumber, his eye caught an oil-painting just over his head (a life-size half-length of a gentleman). He immediately sat up, showed his teeth, and growled, not once but continually, as both angry and mortified that neither eyes nor nose had given him notice of the arrival of a stranger ! The next instance was similar, except that the chief actor was a young, intelli- gent collie, who, on the sudden discovery of a man looking at him from the wall, barked long and furiously. In both instances, after their excitement had subsided, I led the dogs to look at another picture similar in size, and also of a gentle- man, but neither of them would take the smallest notice of it. I need only add that the picture which the dogs appreciated was painted by Sir Henry Raeburn,—the other was not. Might not a few sagacious canine members be a useful addition to the Royal Academy Hanging Committee P-1 am, Sir, &ie., B. THOMSON. St. Leonard's Wardie, Edinburgh, May 161h.
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