The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1877-03-21
REASON IN ANIMALS.


payard Taylor in the Atlantic MonthiyI
Animals have much more capacity to I'M
derstand human speech than is generally
supposed The Hindoos invariably talk 70
their elephsnts and Ii is amazing how much
the latter comprehend. The Arabs govern
their camels with few cries, and my asso-
eiates In the African desert were aiways
amused whenever / addressed remark TO
the big dromedary who was my property for
two months. Yer. at the end of that time.
the beat evid' J knew the mean
ing OF number of simple sen
tenoes. Some years ago. seeing
the hippoporamus in Barnum's museum
looking very stolid and detected, spoke to
him in English, bat he did not even move
his eyes Then went to the opposite cor
ner OF the cage. and said in Arabic, 81
know you; come here to mel" He in
stantly turned his head toward me; re-
pested the words, and thereupon he came to
the corner of the cage where l was standing
pressed bis huge, ungainly head against the
bars Of the cage. and looked in my face with
. touching delight while / stroked his
mczzle. ] have two or three times found
lion who recognized the same language. and
the expression of his eyes, for an instant,
seemed positively human.
know Of nothing more moving, indeed
semi-tragic, than the yearning helpleSSnes
said 10 him and can not answer. We often
hear it said that no animal can endure the
steady gaze of the human eye; but this Is
superstitution. An intelligent dog or horse
not only endures but loves 1t. The eye of
beast is restless from natural habit, but hard
ly more so Than that of savage man. Cats.
birds and many other animals seek rather
than avoid n friendly human eye. 1t is pos
sible that tigers may have turned away by
an unf1inchiHg gaze, but suppose the secret
lay in the surprise of the beast at SO unusual
an experience, rather than in direct int, mi
dalton. Thieves are said TO have the belief
that q dog for the same reason, will not at
tack q naked man, but 1 do not remember
any account of q burglary where they have
tried the experiment 1853
Cattle, however, are easily surprised. Once
In l849, on the Salinas plains in California,
escaped exactly the same onset of a vast herd
of wild cattle as Mr.. Hsrte describes In has
Gsbriel 'oonroy, by sitting down upon the
ground They were 80 unaccustome1 TO
seeing q man, except on horseback, that the
position was an absolute bewilderment TO
them. The foremost halted within hun
dred feet, formed q line a. regular as q file
of soldiers, and stared stupidDy, until q
team, luckily approaching at the right time,
relieved me from my hazardous situation.
Few persons are aware of the great effect
which quiet speech exercises upon the most
savage dog. A distinguished English poet
told me that he was once walking in the
country with Canon Kingsley. when they
passed lodge where an immense and 6erce
nastiff, confined by long chain, rushed out
upon them. They were just beyond his
reach, bnt the chain did not seem secure;
the poet would have hurried past, but Kings
ley, laying hand upon his arm said, ''WTsit
. moment and see me subdue himl" There
upon he walked up to the dog, who. erect
upon his hind feet with open jaws and glar:
ing eyes, was the embodiment of animal
fury. Kingsley lifted his hand and quietly
said, you have made mistake; you must
70 back to your kenneth" The dog sank
down npon his fore feet. but still growled
angrtly; the. canon repeated his words in a
firm voice, advancing step by step as the dog
gave way. He continued speaking grave re-
proof, ss TO human being, unfit he had
forced the mastIff back into his kennel,
where the latter silently. and perhaps re-
morsefully. lay down.
can not now'tsll whether | remembered
this story, or acied simply from a sudden In
stinct. in q very similar case. / was In Gan
Francisco, and went to call upon gentle
man of my acquaintance, WHO lived upon
Rimon Point The house stood little back
from the street. IN beautiful garden. I
walked up between clumps Of myrtle and
fuchsia to the door, and rang che boil In
stead OF an answer, there was z savage bay:
a giant dog sprang around the corner of the
house and rushed at me with every sign OF
furious attack. faced him, stood STILL aud
sasd, Il am a friend Of Mr. -, and have
come to visit him. Y0g must not suppose
that mean any harm. l shall wait To see
IL the bell is answered. you may stay and
watch He. i aEI not afraid of you The an
imsl paused, listened intsntly. but Eas evil
IDENTITY not entirely convinced; he stih
growled and showed his teeth in rather
an ALARMING manner. Then 1 said:
al shall ring once more, Ii there
Is no answer. shalt < away He followed
me up 70 the steps Of the dooe, g ared fierce
ly while I rang and would undoubtedly
have dashed at my throat had made a s,1s-
picioGs gesture. A no one came % tbs
door finally said, II zee there is nobody IL
home. 81 | shall go. rs told you / would.
His growing ceased; side by SIDE We vent
down the walk, and when / had closed the
gate he turned away with angle dignifed
wave Of the tail. which I understood a. q
combined apology and farewell.
Brehm, the German naturalist, gives
very curious account Of chin panEee at the
geological gardens in Hamburg. He satisfied
himself that the animal UNDERWOOD rs much
human speech a. an average child two and a
half years old. For instance, when he
asked. "Dn YOU see the ducks1' the Chin
panzee would look about the garden, passing
over the geese and swans until he found the
birds Indicated At the command. 600 ard
sit down" uttered without any infection Of
voice or glance toward chair, he would
promptly obey. Oh being told. you are
Hs1xhsy. We would hsas his hesd. wt<h -