The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1886-06-22
DO ANIMALS THINK2
A Question Which Eminent Scientists An
swer i'm the Affirmative.

swer in the Affirmative.
A great deal has been written to
show that animals think and Reason,
Just e. man does, though in a lower
degIra. Perhaps some of our readers
may notice things in animals which
show that they have great deal of
intelligence, even if they do not reason.
Mr.. Paul Brocca. the French author,
devoted much attention to this subject.
Ii has been said of animals. writes MIR.
Broecs, that their actions are always
mechanical and without method. This
NAV 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? Besides this, every
one knows that the bee frequently sub
stitutes pentagonal, or five-sided, for
hexagonai, or six-sided cells. and that
this alteration In the work is made
only when necessary. Ii 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 care
fully and lightly, with their heads in
clined, and turn back suddenly directly
they discover by the sound of the ice
cracking that it is not safe to proceed
farther. A dog which, in following. a
scent, arrives At a cross road is seen to
stop. consider for a moment, then
plunge along one of the roads, shifting
nd tr-t-
road in the same manner, and finally
dart unhesitatingly down the third. Ii
is evident that his logic tells him that
as his prey has not taken one of the
first two roads examined it must ncccs-
sarily have taken the third road, 50 he
he does not waste time in further inveS-
tigation. That this is not mere instinct
is shown by the fact that dog some
times makes a mistake in such a case,
and that when the fact becomes evident
he sinks out of sight of the hunters,
looking picture of shame and humili-
alton.
Foresight is a quality the possession
Of which no one will deny to ants and
bees, and the former certainly have 4
sense of compassion. This is displayed
in the tender care bestowed on the
wounded during the terrible battles
fought between different tribes of ants.
The suffering and helpless ones are not
left to perish, but are carried OH OF
the battlefield by regular ''ambu-
lance No one doubts the ex-
istence of memory in animals, and Is
TO ambition, is il necessary to recount
IL f.l-
in bee-hives between the different can
didates for royalty? How can one
pretend that man only has the gift of
languagei He must be blind indeed
who does not see that all animals have
some means of communication with
each other. To give only one example:
there is no possible doubt that ants
make themselves understood BY their
fellows, by means of the touch of their
delicate, sensitive antenn9 or feelers.
Before war. council is held, and
messengers hurry about. Scouts or
spies are sent out, and the attack Is
FASTENED or postponed, according to
their reports. All this could not be
done without very complete method
of communication, for the giving and
receiving of orders, etc. Moreover. il
animals had no language, how could
they teach their younga That they do
teach them is evident from the fact OF
young foxes in countries whete the an
finals are hunted being infinitely more
wary than full-grown ones in Other
lands! How else are We to account FOL
this than by saying that the parent
foxes tell their children of danger, anC
to avoid it?-Americdn AgricaIturist.