Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1889-06-28
THE ANIMAL WORLD.
INSTINCT OR REASON.


emotions, are precisely similar TO
mans. They caress with their lips
and limbs, show resentment by facial
distortion. bites and kicks, and fear
by tremor; they leap with JOY, loll
with thirst, lag with fatigue, and at
tack for revenge and reprisal. Even
fishes, with their poor deficient bodies,
are able to manifest many mental OPP
erations in a manner intelligible TO
man as we'll as to each other. There
is no end to authenticated instances
of animal sagacity, indicating pre-
meditation, plan, purposes, sense OF
duty, prudence, gratitude, method,
Judgment. Animals memorize. They
cherish malice, they dream in their
sleep, they can count, they have
sense of injustice, a consciousness of
error, and notions of forgiveness and
reparation.
Animals mediate. Dogs have been
seen to sit in fit of abstraction, so
that no one could engage their atten-
ton, and presently start off with an
impetus which showed there was a
mental impulse behind it. That was
a keen sense of finesse displayed by
the Newfoundland dog at a seaside re-
sort, when he pushed little children
off the pier so that he could jump in
magnanimously to the rescue, and
thereby obtain the reward of a hand
full of candy which he anticipated the
grateful parents would bestow. He
repeated the trick SO often that he fell
into suspicion and disgrace, but his
method showed not only a conception
of the efficacy of a virtuous act and its
logical recompense, but the advan-
tage of deception when successfully
practiced. A crow slammed hunger
habituallv so as to obtain more food,
which he invariably carried off and
hid in a wall, and then came back for
more. In this way he accumulated
large boards of provender. A GER
tain Java sparrow was able TO dlstln-
guish the click of its masters latch
kew in the hall door from any other
persons, and flew to meet him with
demonstrations of JOY as soon as he
entered the house. He never made a
mistake. A sagacious master always
pulled the door-bell when he desired
to enter. A parrot in New Orleans
seemed to answer questions categoric-
ally, and recognized different persons,
calling them by name. The intelli-
gence of insects is even more wonder
full. Fishes exhibit remarkable sagac-
itv. which has made the theme of
writer's for two thousand years.
MIR. ALIENS MULE.
II see," said Representative Allen,
of Mississippi, to New York Tribune
correspondent, that Senator Hamp-
ton has been telling about n crow he
owns that can talk, and Senator Vest
tells of dog that can black bootsand
initiate a Methodist eXhorter. Now, |
have a mule on my place in Mississip-
pi whose favorite amusement is 70 go
in swimming with the boys; and would
you believe it, he can swim on his
back and dive eheadforemost like fish.
Yes. sir, he has dived at least thirty
feet and come up with his head all
covered with mud.
That mule can counterfeit almost
any wind instrument. There is fer
ry-man who has shot at him several
times. The ferry-man has horn on
the opposite side OF the river for trav-
ellers to blow whenever they want to
come over. The mule caught on To
the racket, and whenever he gets
chance he goes down to the river and
brays like a horn BLOWN On foggy
days the ferry-man cannot see across
the river, and he doesn't know wheth-
er it is the mule or traveller. He
told me the other day that last year
he pulled his boat over sixty times 10
answer that blessed long-eared mule,
as he termed il.
Ion my farm / have a large bell
with a rope attached TO ring up the
hands at day-break. An old colored
man used to attend to this duty, but
one day about two years ago he sud
denly died. The next morning every
body was astonished to hear the bell
ring at the usual hour | went out 70
see who was ringing it, and / hope |
may never get back to Mississippi ifit
was not that mule. Yes, sir, and that
mule has been ringing that bell ever
since at daybreak every morning.
Not only that, but he canters down
between the negro quarters just as the
old man used to do to see that every
BODY gets out on time. The old man
had a way of kicking on the door of
hand who did not move out briskly;
and one morning the mule followed
his example In a certain cabin there
was very lazy colored family that
never stirred until everybody else was
out at work. Just at daybreak the
mule backed up TO the door and gave
a kick with both feet that sent the
whole family through the back win
dow. The mule did not know it, how
ever, and kept on kicking. The next
day II took four carpenters to mt fhe