Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-03-13
Souls in Beasts.

There are those who believe that di-
vine justice absolutely requires that
God should make amends TO animals
in the future life for all the wrongs
they suffer IN this. One author, Rev.
John Brown, declares that there is an
other world for animals. There is no
doubt that many animals recognize in
their declining powers the approach of
death. The dog retires to a quiet, Sc
questered spot TO die. 1t is matter of
general belief that they seek the most
sequestered spot, the most hidden
thicket, where, unnoticed and alone,
they can quietly lay down to eternal
sleep. Shrimp and prawns withdraw
under stones 10 die, thus showing q
wonderful premonition of death among
even the lower orders. The poet Cow
per beautifully illustrates this idea IL
lines that are inscribed on the monu-
ment erected to his memory in front of
the Memorial Church at East Dereham,
III Norfolk:
| Il was stricken deer that left the herd
Long since With many an arrow deep in
fixed,
My psn ing side was charged when I with
drew
To seek tranquil death in distant shades
The llamas of South America have
regular cemeteries in which they retire
to die, and their bones are found bleach
ing in great numbers.
Animals recognize approaching dis
solution in others, without question.
The dying whale is at once set upon by
the shark tribe. The aged buffalo of
the plains, sick or starving, cannot de-
ceive the coyote or prairie wolf, which
watch him, hound his footsteps and
even hamstring him, so that they may
devour his carcass The vultures of
the Himalayas gather to the number of
twenty or thirty about the dying calf
and composedly await his dissolution
that they may fatten on his carrion.
Animals recognize death in others,
without doubt They make, as it were,
a regular diagnosis of death. They
may have been fooled before, but old
animals show an especial and peculiar
soicitude, and once satisfied treat the
dead enemy with contempt or indiffer-
ence. The she bear, says Honzlan,
makes use of q process of experiment.
ing to ascertain the death of her cubs.
She offers them food; leaves and then
calls them; touches them with her paw
and finds them cold, rigid, motionless,
Indifferent. She makes use of obser-
walton, comparison, reflection. The ell
ephant bull or cow makes sure of the
death Of an enemy by trampling on it
| and goring it until all possibility of
life is extinct.
Animals sometimes show care for
their dead. The duk monkey carries
off the dead and wounded Some ami
mails bury their dead with funeral GER
emonies. Cassell says that gorillas
cover their dead. Certain birds, such
as the wren, twitter requiems over
them, and this fact is so we'll attested
that The Wren Requiem" is we'll
known as a mour1fuI twitter, quite diff
ferent from their usual chirpy, lively
notes. That many animals commit
suicide is we'll attested fact. Dogs,
abandoned and kicked out by their
masters, have been often known to kill
themselves. Stays OF deer, when seized
by the glutton, butt their heads against
trees. The scorpion is a well known
instance. The rattlesnake, close pur-
sued, will sting himself rather than De
captured, and the Indians know this so
well that while they eat them as food,
they reject them when death comes in
this form. These illustrations and an
ecdotes show that animals possess rea-
sOning powers to q certain extent, and
why not a soul?- Cincinnati Enquirer.