Weekly Trinity journal., 1877-09-22
ANIMAL SPEECH.

In comparison with the human voice,
that Of animals seems poor indeed. The
barking Of the dog, the mewing of the
cat the bleatirg Of sheep, cannot be call
ed language, in the proper sense. Yet
the larynx Of these creatures is on the
same plan as that of man. Among
monkeys the resemblance is perfect. To
all appearance the impossibiity Of speak
ing Is due To the formation of the lips aud
tongue. In Ills Lelbnitz announced to
the French Academy that he had met
with common peasants dog that could
repeat thirty words after his master. In
spite Of such an authority. we must al
WAYS say, when we most admire the in
teIligence of this faithful companion,
He only wants words" So well en-
dowed with memory, affection and intel
ligence, be can only express his joy by
sharp, short expirations of air through
the CLOTHS. Howling is prolonged note
in the pharynx, excited by deep grief or
pain. Yet they in common with many
other animals can communicate with each
other in marvellous manner when they
wish to organize An expedition. A dead
bullock was lying in waste far from all
inhNbilation>, when solitary dog, at
tracted by the smell, came and fed upon
| it 4; immed iatey he returned to the vii
! lage and called together his acquaintan-
ces. In less than m hour the bones were
picked clean by The troop.
Opportunities for studying the language
Of Wild animals are rare ; they fly from
man, and when in captivity they become
nearly silent, uttering only few cries or
mLrmurs. Travellers have sometimes
been able to watch the graceful move
ment, Of the smaller African apes. Liv-
ing in the branches of trees, they descend
with great prudence, An old male, who
is the chief, climbs To the top and looks
all around il satisfied, he utters cultural
sound. 10 tranquilze bi, baud but ii he
perceive danger, there j. .pecial cry,
an advertisement which does not deceive,
Ind Immediately they all i-perse On
one occa- ion naturalist watched sol-
larry monkey ~ he discovered an orange
tree laden with fruit. Without return
ing, he uttered short cries his compan-
ions understood the signal, and in mo-
nent they were collected under the tree,
only too happy to share its bpsutiful fruit.
Some kind, possess a curiou, appeudage,
sort OF aerial pouch, which opens into
the interior Of the larynx and makes II
tremendous sound These howing apes
also called stentors, inhabit the deepest
forests Of the New Word. and their cries
may be heard at the distance OF one or
two miles.
The greater number of small birds
have cries ofjoy or fear, appeals for help,
cries of war. All these explosions Of
voice borrow the sounds Of voweIs and
consonants, and show how easy and nat.
ursl is articulation among them. Those
specie, which are distinguished MS song
birds have very complicated vocal ap-
paralus For quality of tone, power,
brilliancy and sweetness, the nightingale
stands unrivaled yet 1t does not acquire
this talent without loog practice, the
Young ones being generally mediocre.-
The parrots, which live in large numbers
under the brightest suns, have love for
chatterng which captivity does not les
sen Attentive t. every voice and noise,
they initiate them with extraordinary ia
clitv; and the phenomenon of their ar
ticuating word is still unexplained. 1t
is supposed that there is peculiar activ-
ty in the upper larynx. A. rule, they
attach no meaning to what they say
but there are exceptions. When very
intelligent and well instructed, these bird,
can give suitable answer to certain
questions.