Morning journal and courier., 1885-07-24
ANIMAL LANGUAGE.
Interesting Items Concerning a Sub-
 jecI Little Understood.

ject Little Understood.
 TIE. P. F." in St. Louis Globe-Gemocrat.1 This subject of animal language interests me more and more, for find it not merely power to have, but very cultivable power If you will talk with the creatures in you1 back yard, they soon get not only to under stand your general meaning, but to reply with notifications of sound that are
 meant for you in particular. One or two
 hens in flock will show particular aptitude
 in telling you what they think. Some horses
 nave or can have an octave of sounds and
 express very nice gradations of dislike and
 pleasure, even up to defined laughter Other
 animals laugh, notably birds, with articulate
 sounds. Some years since owned & horse
 with which 1 undertook to drive to a neigh
 boring town over the hills in winter A spot
 of hidden ice suddenly tripped her, and for a
 ti11fe it was impossible for her to get up. But
 by efforts that entirely exhausted me final
 ly got Ter on foot again. never forgot
 it. But my approach to the stable was in
 variably welcomed by cordial neighs, aud
 tiiat not suffcing, she would put her head
 afectitnately on my shoulder or under my
 arm. On another occasion 8 pet Morgan
 called me, while was engaged fifty rods
 from the barn, with loud and persistent
 calls that l instantly understood meant
 trouble Going hastily to the stables, found
 the cows had broken down door and were
 capable of doing mischief. As soon as approached, the horse gave satisfied whin- ny, followed by long sigh of relief, and
 went to eating quietly.
 But for real vocalization the fowls surpass
 both animals and birds. I have had one rooster that had a remarkable power of laugh ing. No one could possibly hear him with out doing as he would when Cough laughs laugh with him. Now, dog has 8 diffused laugh ali over, but especially concentrates 8 chuckle in his tail The dog's tail is the most cultured tail among animals It not only laughs, but it talks. The tail of COW has no more sense than an ox-gad, and a horses tail is not much wiser. They even lash flies in 8 loose way that shows they don't know, except ill general way, where the fly is. It was necessary that men should lose such a brainless appendage. As the brain the tail deere ases, and laughing and talking go over to the brain.
 In studying animal language we must study, not only their power of adaptability to us, but our power of adaptation to them. That is, having ourselves evolved our lan- guage from the sign and emotional stage, there still is in us capacity for going back to those creatures that have not yet come up to an intelligent language; we can put forth an effort to meet them half way. Professor Bartholomew with his trained horses talks with them in equine language. It needs to drop words and threw expression into terms. In that way and for that reason singing brings us nearer to the most of our friends than articulation. Yet if we constantly talk to animals as if they understood us, we shall find ourselves involuntarily modifying our sounds, and shall be surprised to find how much they evidently comprehend our mean ing.
 The relation which we assume to animals rapidly modifes their articulation. It is not the parrot only that learns to talk from human intercourse, but all animals and birds as well. You have only to test this in your own yard or your farm. I have horse that, when purchased, knew human beings from some unpleasant side, and aecus toned to put on terrible pretenses of devour ing small boys. They had probably deserved to be eaten. She never vocaHzed except snort of anger, and declined any familiarity. way that would satisfy Dean Swift. There is B consciousness in every motion that she is with me; and she has quite vo- cal range of affection and inquiry.
 That this is capable of becoming matter of heredity you can determine in 8 short time. Try with small herd of cows or flock of sheep to breed for intelligence and is even more capable of evolution and natu- ral selection in the moral and emotional line than physical characteristics of a lower sort. [ have had 8 breed of cows to the sixth gen eration. In only one or two crosses has this stock failed of peculiar mildness of disposi ton; in those exceptions the intelligence was more than ever marked, but with tendency to trickery. But in all cases the evident de- sire to communicate and express emotions .o human beings has been predominant, and he ability has, think, increased. A Jersey cow rarely lows, but has range of soft, kindly sounds for her human friend.
 In all cases it is necessary to remember that animal language, like human language, be- gins on the level of emotional life; and in neither case rises often to the purely intel actual It is not impossible to meet men from some of the English countries and the Irish whose vocabulary does not exceed 200 ,r 300 words. If we are to believe reports, Australians have fewer. Articulation is purely intellectual affair to cover ideas, un ess used in the Smimicry of parrots. The .rirr al life does not require it. It requires ,nly ejaculation and projected sounds modi- jed by passicn or emotion. Love, haste, lnger, desire, are as plainly told ill their anguage as in the machinery af human words. Indeed, the language of animals tells Ill these things more emphatically and grace .ully. Words express love only when they oorrow the modulations of the dove.
 Mir George B. Chittenden and MT, James 5. Delano, of Washington, D. o., are occu- pying Mrs. Washburn's cottage at Sea Cliff, Madison shore
 During the wind storm of Monday after noon. in Birmingham lightning struck the south gate post at the entrance to the Bir- cemetery, shivering it and DOT tion of the arched gates to fragments. At the same time it struck tree on the lot of Isaac J. Gilbert, north of the driveway. No other uamage was done in the village.