American citizen., 1874-10-24
Intelligence OF Animals.

of inference They compare two modes
of action, or two substances, and judge
the one to be preferable to the other, and
accordingly select it. Sir Emerson Ten
nent tells us that elephants employed to
build stone walls in Ceylon will lay each
stone in its place, then stand off and look
to see if it is plumb, and, if not, will
move it with their trunk till it lies per
fectly straight. This is a pure act of
reflective judgment. He narrates an ad-
venture which befell himself in Ceylon
while riding on narrow road through
the forest. He heard a rumbling sound
approaching, and directly there came to
meet him an elephant, bearing on his
tusks a large log of wood, which he had
been directed to carry to the place where
it was needed. Sir Emerson Tennents
horse, unused to these monsters, was
alarmed and refused to go forward.
The sagacious elephant, perceiving this,
evidently decided that he must himself
go out of the way. But to do this he
was obliged first to take the log from
his tusks with his trunk and lay it on the
ground, which he did, and then back out
of the road between the trees till only
his head was visible. But the horse
was still too timid to go by, where
upon the judicious pachyderm pushed
himself further back till all his body, ex-
cept the end of his trunk, had disap-
pcdTeu- men Dir Ill
getting his horse by, but stopped to wit
ness the result. The elephant came out,
took the log up again, laid it across his
tusks and went on his way. This story,
told by an unimpeachable witness, shows
several successive acts of reasoning. The
log-bearer inferred from the horses ter
TOR that it would not pass: he again
inferred that in that case he must himself
get out of the way; that to do this he
Iay Il l., hat
further back; and accompanying this
was his sense of duty, making him faith
full to his task; and, most of all, his con-
sideration of what was due to this human
traveller, which kept him from driving
the horse and man before him as he
went on
There is another well-authenticated
anecdote of an elephant; he was follow
ing an ammunition wagon and saw the
man who was seated on it fall off Just
before the wheel. The man would have
been crushed had not the animal instant
ly run forward and, without an order,
lifted the wheel with his trunk and held
it suspended in the air till the wagon
had passed over the man without hurting
him. Here were combined presence of
mini, goodwill, knowledge of the dan
ger to the man and rapid calculation
of how he could be saved.
A gentleman who has recently died in
Paris, belonging to a well-known Boston
family, was in his early life sea-captain.
He had dog which he sometimes took
to sea with him, and sometimes left be-
hind, at his fathers house in Somerset
street. He once sailed for India, taking
his dog. Some three or four months
after the family in Somerset street were
astonished by the arrival of a dog, very
lean and dirty, but who claimed acquaint-
ance with them by many unmistakable
signs, and whom they recognized at last
as the captains dog. But how had he
got home? The vessel on which he sailed
had hardly arrived in India, much less
returned. Inquiring on the wharves
they at last learned that he had come to
the port of Boston on vessel just from
Marseilles- The captain could only say
that this dog had come on board in Mar
seilles and had insisted on remaining till
they arrived in Boston, when he instantly
leaped on the wharf and disappeared
The difficulty now was to know how he
got to Marseilles- This mystery was
solved on the return of his owner some
months after, who said that at sea he had
received such kindness from French
captain, who took a great fancy to his
dog, that he could not refuse to give him
to the Frenchman. The dog, therefore
had been carried to France and then had
found his way to a vessel bound for Bos-
ton and had come home. Whether he
smelt a certain Boston aroma hanging
round the ship, or merely observed that
the crew spoke the language with which
he was familiar, we cannot say. But it
is not every man who can succeed in
getting home so readily from a foreign
land.
Perhaps | may properly introduce here
AN account of the manifestations of mind
in the animals | have had the most op-
portunity of observing. 1 have horse,
who was named RubeZahl, after the
Mountain Spirit of the Harz, made famous
in the stories of Musaeus. We have con.
tracted his name to Ruby for convenience
Now. | have reason to believe that Ruby
can distinguish Sunday from other days
On Sunday l have been in the habit of
driving to Boston to church; but on
other days l drive to the neighboring
village, where are the postoffice, shops OF
mechanics, and other stores. To go to
Boston l usually turn to the right when
l leave my driveway; to go to the village
l turn to the left. Now, on Sunday, if
leave the reins loose, so that the horse
may do as he pleases, he invariably turns
to the right, and goes to Boston. On
other days he as invariably turns to the
left and goes to the village. He does this
SO constantly and regularly that none OF
the family have any doubt of the fact
that he knows that it is Sunday; ho,o he
knows it we are unable to discover.
have left my house at the same hour on
Sunday and on Monday; in the same
carriage; with the same number of per
sons in it, and yet on Sunday he alway.
turns to the right, and on Monday to the
left. He is fed at the same time on Sun
day as on other days, but the man come
back to harness him little later ON Sun
day than at other times, and that i
possibly his method of knowing that it i
the day for going to Boston But see hoy
much of observation. memory an,
thought is implied in all this.
Again, Ruby has shown a very distinC
feeling of the supernatural Driving on
day up a hill near my house, we met
horse-car coming down toward us run
ming without horses, simply by the fore
of gravity. My horse became SO fright
ened that he ran into the gutter an
nearly overturned me; and got him pas
with the greatest difficulty. Now he ha
met the cars coming down that hill draw
by horses hundred times and had neve
been alarmed. Moreover, only II day o
two after. in sgoing up the same hill W
saw a car moving uphill before u.s. wher
the horses were entirely invisible bein
concealed by the car itself, which wa
between us and the horses. But this di
not frighten Ruby at all. He evidentl,
said to himself, 1.-The horses are there
though l do not see him." But in tn
other case it seemed to him an effeC
without cause-sOmething plainl
supernatural. There was nothing in tn
aspect of the car itself to alarm him h
had seen that often enough. He wa
simply terrified by seeing it move will