Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-01-27
Teaching Animals to Converse,
Ne7D York Sun

Sir John Lubbock, the DISTINGUISHED
authropOlOgist and naturalist, sends To
the London NdiNTe a brief discussion Of a
subject which is full Of interest and al
ways peculiarly fascinating.
Frem the earliest times the speaking of
birds and beasts has heen the subject Of
fable, and every lover q 4 dog or horse
has !aG!, ned that only in fable was there
speech b tween man and the brute. Sir
John lubbock, however, seriously con-
siders the possibility OF teaching animals
tn converse with man. "It has occurred
to me-" he saws, whether some such Sys-
tenn "a that followed with deaf mutes, es-
pecially by DR.. HOwcs with Laura Bridg-
man. might not prove very instructive II
adapted To the case of dogs"
Accordingly he has tried experiments
with his dog. He printed in legIble let~
ters on pieces OF stout cardboard such
words as food" "bOne," ''outu The dog
was Il black poodle. breed which, Nv the
way, is generally known to be quick at
learning tricks; and Sir john Lubbock
got the head master of q deaf and dumb
SchOO. to assist at the experiments. They
began bV giving the dog food IN a saucer,
over which was laid the card on which
was the word food" and beside which
w"e placed an empty saucer covered by a
plain card.
CYAN" the poodle, soon learned to dis
tinguish between the two Afterwards
he was taught to bring the card which
expressed his wants. This he now dOes,v
says Sir John Lubbock, 'and hands it to
me quite prettily, and | then give him A
bone or little food, or take him out, ac-
cOrding to the card brought. He sLilI
brings sometimes a plain card, in which
case | point out his error, and he then
takes 1t back and changes it," That mis-
take, however, is not often made by Van.
lie has learned to distinguish between
the card with the word and the blank
card. no matter how often their relative
positions are changed.
This is On!y the beginning of the very
interesting experiments Sir John Lubbock
proposes to make. He means TO multiply
the cards so that the dog may be enabled
To communicate freely with him. He also
expresses the wish that other owners OF
dogs which have displayed especial intel
ligence and dOcilty, would conduct SINH
lar experiments, so that the results may
he cOllated and compared. 81 Confess
he concludes, Il hope that some positive
results might follow, which would enable
us to obtain more correct insight in to
the minds of animals that we have vet
acquired.''
All those who are familiar with dogs
and who enjoy their frequent companion
ship, will both acknowledge that Sir John
Lubbock has reason for his hope, and
trust with him that the results secured
VIII enable him to explore hitherto secret
chambers of the canine intellect.
An infant is taught TO communicate its
desires IN speech only after the expendi-
ture OF Infinite pains and unwearying pa
thence on the part OF the mother. 1t is a
very slow process, and the teaching goes
on during nearly the whole OF the chld's
waking hours. The lessons, too, are OBJ
Ject lessons. In the case Of the deaf ard
dumb and blind, the most marvellous re-
suits are attained by the patient teacher.
II Ike care and paine are spent in the
way indicated by Sir john Lubbock, NAV
we not also expect 20 reach results which
VIII be surprising and Of inestimable
value in the investigation of animal intel
ligence and the mental processes of
brutes! Dogs have been taughtb circus
men and others to do a great variety of
things which show the reasoning capacity
Of the animals; and the stories or canine
Intelligence and canine susceptihilities
are innumerable and wonderful. But we
do not know of any previous attempt to
pursue this subject after scientific
method, and for the specific scientific pur-
pose this distinguished naturalist has in
view.
At any rate, there is not more fasci-
mating inquiry thar that upon which Sir
John Lubbock has entered; and it is far
from absurd to hope, as flppaRJ writer
in the New York Times Lately implied,
that man will yet have added to his pleas
ures the opportunity of holding converse
with his dog