Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1886-05-29
DO ANIMALS THINK /?
Interesting Discussion OF q
Question Often Asked.
Facts Advanced to Show Animals Pos
sess Some Human Qualities

4 great deal has been written TO show
that animals think and reason, just as
man docs, though in lower degree
Perhaps some Of our readers may notice
things in animals which show that they
have d great deal of intelligence, even If
they do not reason Mr.. Paul Brocca,
the French author, devoted much atten-
ton to this subject. at has been said
Of animals, !" writes Mr. Brocca, That
their actions are always mechanical and
without method" This may be true of
domestic pets, who are influenced almost
entirely by the human beings around
them, but does not the beaver change his
plans, acting now as builder, now as
miner, according to circumstances? Be
sides this, everyone knows that the bee
frequently substitutes pentagonal, or five
sided, for hcxagonal, or six-sided cells
and that this alteration in the work is
made only when necessary. 1t has also
been said that animals do not reason
What then is done by the foxes which
in Thrace, are driven on to the ice to test
its strength? These animals step careful
ly and lightly, with their heads inclined,
and turn back suddenly, directly they
discover, by the sound of the ice cracking,
that 1t Is not safe to proceed farther.
A dog, which, in following scent, ar
rives at cross-road is seen to st0p, con-
slider for a moment, then plunge along
one of the roads, shifting cautiously, turn
back and try another road in the same
manner, and finally dart unhesitatingly
down the third 1t is evident that his
logic tells him that as his prey has not
taken one of the first two roads examined,
it must necessarily have taken the third
road, so he does not waste time in fur
ther investigation That this is not mere
instinct is shown by the fact that dog
case, and that when the fact becomes ev-
ident, he sinks out Of sight of the hunt
ers, looking q picture of shame and hu.
initiation
+ Foresight is quality, the possession
of which one will deny to ants and bees,
and the former certainly have sense OF
compassion. This is displayed in the
tender care bestowed on the wounded
during the terrible battles fought be
tween different tribes of ants The suf
fering and helpless ones are not left tc
| perish, but are carried off of the battle
F field by regular ambulance corps.
No one doubts the existence Of memory
! in animals, and as to ambition, is it nee
/essary to recount the pitched battles
which take place in bee hives between
| the different candidates for ROYALTY
how can one pretend that man only ha
the gift of language? He must be blinc
indeed who does not see that all animal
have some means of communication Will
each other. To give only one example
there is no possible doubt that ants mak'
themselves understood by their fellows
by means of the touch of their delicate
sensitive antcnnn or fcclcrs Before war
council is held, and messengers hurr,
about. Scouts or spies are sent out, anc
the attack is fastened or postponed, ac
cording to their reports. All this coul'
not be done without very complet
method of communication, for the giyin.
and receiving orders, etc. Moreover,
animals had no language, how coulc
they teach their young! That they d
teach them is evident from tho fact 0
young foxes in countries where the AMI
mails are hunted, being infinitely NOR
wary than full grown ones in other lands
How else are We TO account for this tha
by saying that the parent foxes tel! thci
children Of danger, and to avoid it1
american A9rrulturis'
Nicknames Among Generals.