The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1879-05-17
ACassiz's Sympathy with Animals

His SympathieS included all kinds of AMI
mails, as they included all kinds of men,
| and he was repaid in kind There is not,
think, a single instance of his having been
| injured by any serpent or beast, however
| poisonous or fcrociouS, though much of his
! life was passed i'll the company of animals
1t is asserted that they have no language
| but he found no difficulty in conversing with
them, and they seemed to understand him
very well, adapted us his modes of communi
| eating with them were to their different ma
| lures. There probably never was Il natural
| list who combined such Il knowledge of their
physical organization with such Il pcnetrat-
| ing glance into what he called their souls.
! He was. III the aesthetics of zoology, the
dramaiist of the animal kingdom, rs Shak-
| Speare was the dramatist of the human race
Whether he had to do with \ ielly-tish, Or 4
| whale, or I'm elephant, he knew each of them
aS Shakespeare knew the varieties of human
kind from ''thc heart outward, and not
from the flesh inward" 1t was curious to
notice his behavior in presence of the domes-
| ticated animals. The ugiieSt, filthiest, stu
| pi,lest, most unreasonable, most obstinate
creature in the barnyarl is the pig, yet,
with Il stick in his hand, AgaSSiz would 60
| up to the most unsociable "cantankerouS,
mis;nthropic grunter, and after Il few soft
words and il movement of the stick over the
bristles of the creature in the right direction,
| the pig would lift its head erect, its small
| eyes would gliStcn with vague in diligence,
| it would remain almost motionless in Il kind
| of pleased surprise, and emit :: sound indie
| alive of as much content and comfort rs are
| indicated by the purring of Il cat The neigh
| of Il horse TO him was Il more friendly neigh
| than any ever heard by Il hoStler OF Il jockey.
| He carried Serpent> i'll his hat and in his
pockets with grand unconcern, and drop
| ped them sometimes even in his bedroom, SO
| that his wife was frequently troubled by
| finding them coiled up in her boots. When
| ever he entered a mcnagere he was eagerly
| welcomed by lions, tigers, wolves, hyenaS,
| and other beasts of prey, which considered
| even their keepers rs stupid louis. but re-
cognizcd in him the one person that they
| could have Il rational conversation with.
| Beauty says the poet, lis its own excuse
for being" .tgasSiZ went beyond this toll
Grant maxim to the extent Of affirming that
| Dctormity has its own excuse for being.
| The fact that any animal existed WAS with
| him Il Justification of its existence: ami after
converSing with it, and penetrating to its
| interior nature, he treated it as Shakespeare
treated Doghcrry, or Ancient Pistol, or Mrs.
| Quickly. or any other queer blood relations
connected with him through Il common de
scent fro,n Adam A. there WAS no form OF
| human existence which was too low to he
| beneath the humane >ympathieS of ShakS-
! peare. 81 there WAS no kind of animal exist
cnce which was too low 10 engage the SYM
p:,thieS of .\gaSSiZ. And the most evil
members of the animal kingdom bad no
malignant feeling toward him: indeed, they
checrfully consented to let him kill them,
| knowing that by such 4 submission to his
| will they were practically elected Is repre-
ScntativtS of their species in the grand lcgis-
| lativc assembly of the Animal Kingdom
gathered in the great hall of the Museum of
Comparative Zoology, under the literal
| ''Sprakcrship" of AgaSSiZ; that Is, under
the man who was alone capable OF being the
interpreter of their language So thrt its
signs could be clearly understood by the
human race, from which they We're divided
by pcculiaritics of organization and of soul.
One can almost conceive of these martyrs OF
the animal kingdom rs rejoicing while Ell
during the death which insured to the spe-
cicS to which they belonged an intelligent
recognition of their merits from the mem
hers of The superior race, to whom they were
thus introduced through his friendly agency.
| Whenever | look at them, preserved 81
carefully in their glass jars filed with alco-
hll, for one am deli yhteJl to find them in
such excellent Itrper's Mga;ine,