The Central Nevadan. [volume] (Battle Mountain, Nev.) 1885-1907, 1888-01-19

ception of outlines and the uncon-
scious registration Of general intervals
by feelings Of fatigue, number of steps,
and SO on.
There is no unit of distance or time
Distance is to them perception, not
an idea. Just SO dog. in attacking a
boar, accurately judges the length Of
his leap. the size aud strength Of the
enemy; but this does not involve any
mathematical calculations. The ap.
parent understanding of language by
trained dogs comes under the same
head. The dog does not appreciate
the phonetic value Of the words, but
takes his clew from the intonatisn. the
little gestures, and the like. The
horse understands the Language of the
bit" better than that Of his master.
Animals, in brief, have their geometri-
cal sense of relations well developed
fbetter than men in some respects)
but they are not arithmeticians. Birds
| it is true, are much alarmed if an egg
be removed from their nests. but they
are equally alarmed if the arrange
ment of the eggs be disturbed; thus
indicating that it is the general dis
turbance that causes the alarm, not a
counting of the eggs. The mother
recognizes her young individually, and
thus can notice the absence Of one; but
she probably sees no more difference
between the eggs than we do, and
judges their number only by their ar
rangement. Cats probably distinguish
their young by differences in the fur,
and 50 on; they are little affected If
one kitten be removed; bu. if more
than four be taken away. they are
greatly disturbed, and especially 80 if
but one be left. If the kittens are
weaned, the loss is not taken SO
seriously then. Dogs notice the ab.
sence of one of their number; but that
they recognize each other individually
is shown by their preferences and
jealousies. both among themselves and
toward men. Shepherds dogs do not
count their fold. but simply have a
general picture of its size Likewise
trained dogs do not count, but hav 5
simply learned to associate mechani-
cally certain geometrical forms with
certain actions. Sir John Lubbock s
dog, that brings different label ac-
cording as it wants something to eat.
to go out, and SO on, does not appre-
ciate the intellectual value of the
letters, but regards the label as an ar
tlhcial means for gaining certain ends
The dogs faculties in these respects,
however, seem to- be not inferior to
those of the Bushmen, who count
only to two and cs,l all above that
"many." Number is here concrete
only with reference to objects where
plurality is useful trait; it is never
abstract, and so can no more reach the
stage of mathematical art than can
their emotional language reach the
stage Of ideational abstraction to
which ours has attained. But this is
not meant that animals can form no
abstract notions, but that their general
notions are very limited in scope, and
are along the line of directly useful in
terests only. The animal thinks by
generic images, does not err in its
judgments, is not liable to fallacies,
all of which are distinctly human be-
cause we think by the Intervention of
words; and this difference forms the
difficulty of our communication with
them. Animal trainers have ignored
these facts, not recognizing that ge-
ometry is more fundamental than ar
ithmetic, and have attempted to make
animals arithmeticians when nature
has made them geometers. Ourselves
accustomed to look on everything
from its numerical aspect, We fail to
see how trivial part this plays in an
imal life Science.
The most picturesque figure on the