Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Supernaturalism, Religion, Animal Behaviour, Spiritualism

    Discusses remarks made in a lecture by Frederic W Farrar at the Anthropological Society (a version of which was published as Farrar 1864), in which he argued that the 'existence of some unknown power was not sufficient [...] to prove belief in a Supreme Being', owing to the fact that 'even animals' are conscious of 'some superior unseen power'. Draws attention to Farrar's report of a dog who refused to enter a wood because it was haunted, and recommends this case to the Spiritual Magazine, not least because it suggests genuine 'spiritual perception' by the dog. Concludes, however, by suggesting that the dog was either 'supernaturally sagacious' or heard talk of the haunted wood.