gentle a demeanour as he had borne the
accusation of error.

"One occupation seems to bring the giddy Bianco to the gravity of the
elder savant; and when the spectators are tired of arithmetic and
orthography, the two dogs either sit down to _ecarte_, or become the
antagonists of one of the company. They ask for, or refuse cards, as
their hands require, with a most important look; they cut at the
proper times, and never mistake one suit for another. They have
recourse to their ciphers to mark their points; and on one occasion
Bianco having won, he selected his number, and on being asked what
were the gains of his adversary, he immediately took an O between his
teeth, and showed it to the querist; and both seemed to know all the
terms of the game as thoroughly as the most experienced card-players.
All this passes without the slightest visible or audible sign between
the poodles and their master; the spectators are placed within three
steps of the carpet on which the performance goes forward; people have
gone for the sole purpose of watching the master; everybody visits
them, and yet no one has hitherto found out the mode of communication
established between them and their owner. Whatever this communication
may be, it does not deduct from the wonderful intelligence of these
animals; for there must be a multiplicity of signs, not only to be
understood with eyes and ears, but to be separated from each other in
their minds, or to be combined one with another, for the various
trials in which they are exercised.

"I have seen learned pigs and ponies, and can, after these spectacles,
readily imagine how the extraordinary sagacity of a dog may be brought
to a knowledge of the orthography of three hundred words; but I must
confess myself puzzled by the acquirements of these poodles in
arithmetic, which must depend upon the will of the spectator who
proposes the numbers; but that which is most surprising of all is the
skill with which they play _ecarte_. The gravity and attention with
which they carry on their game is almost ludicrous; and the
satisfaction of Bianco when he marks his points is perfectly evident."

Nor is this a solitary instance of the extraordinary sagacity of the
poodle. A lady of my acquaintance had one for many years, who was her
constant companion both in the house and in her walks. When, however,
either from business or indisposition, her mistress did not take her
usual walk on Wimbledon Common, the dog,