Smyrna times., 1890-01-08
WONDERS OF INSTINCT.
THE CURIOUS POWERS OF ANIMALS
WHO DO NOT REASON.

/ a
Soudanese emirs or cl1ieftains once per-
mitted him to deposit his baggage in
their military camp while he pursued
his inquiries in the glens of neighbor-
ing mountain range. On his return he
presented necklaces of beads to the
emirs, and, having observed that there
were just twenty tents in the fortified
kraal, and that every tent was occupied
by exactly seven men, he handed the
emirs bag containing 14O glass buttons
VIII the request that they give one but
ton to every warrior in the camp.
Ihe gllttering keepsakes were at once
distributed, and Ruppell had Just re-
loaded his baggage cart, when one of
the ch1eftains removed the professors
hat, and gravely examined the ton and
rear Of his head.
Verify, oh, friend" he said, "you
must have an extra eye somewhere or
other, for else you could not possibly
nave discovered the exact number Of
our men,"
The honest emir himself could proba-
bly, count up to seven, and with the aid
OF all his fingers and toes, perhaps could
count even to twenty, but evidently did
not think it possible that the human
mind could grasp the vast product of
the two factors.
a similar mistake may often tempt 1s
to misconstrue the abilities of our in
stinct guided fellow creatures. Thesun-
posed sixth sense" may often be nothing
but an uncommon development Of a com
mon faculty.
Take for example the deerhound.
which pursues his game through brush
and brake, and returns safely home
even after he has crossed waters that
would prevent him from retracine his
steps by the sense of smell. A few years
practice, however, enables the hunter
himself to remember the general direc-
ton OF his rambles through a painless
forest where a novice would surely lose
his way.
By hereditary transmission of the
traits Of countless generations of dogs
that have hunted, and which include the
wolf-llke ancestors, the domestic dog
may have perfected the ability to find
his way to an apparently preternatural
degree.
Individual experience, indeed. often
wholly fails to explain such faculties as
the protective instincts" of certain
birds and animals. The British zoolo-
gist, Spalding, once procured some
newly Matched turkeys, and in order to
make an experiment carried them into
hall adjoining a room where he kent a
pair of pet hawks that had not been fed
that morning, and which now and then
vented their impatience in a sbrill
scream.
Fhe young turkeys had but Just come
out OF their egg shells, and had never
seen hawk or heard one before; but at
the trst sound Of those screams thev all
started to their feet and toddled off with
every sign Of terror.
AG sight OF a snake or a rat nv net
baboon will retreat to the farthest cor
ner OF her cage. I ascribed the precau-
ton to nervous dread of all unknown
animals, until 1 made the experiment
with pair Of guinea pigs. Jenny was
eating her breakfast when the squealing
little strangers entered her cage. but in
this case her only dread seemed to. be
that she might have to share her meal
with the unlimited guests.
For minute or two she watched their
movements with an air of puzzled curl
oslty, but then, instead Of taking to her
heels, she made grab at the intruders.
and without further ado hustled them
out, and discouraged repetition of the
visit by giving each a parting pinch in
the back.
Jenny had received her zoological ed
ucation in the Abyssinian highlands
while guinea pigs are natives of South |
America, but somehow the sight of the !
waddlng pigmies seemed to satisfy her
that they could be no fighters.
This baboon has a strange appetite for
insects. She appears to recognize the
olHerence between the harmless north
ern centipede and its dreadful tropical
relative, but she handles crawfish with
evident suspicion, either on account of
their pinching apparatus or because of
their resemblance to the overgrown scor-
piOns Of the tropics.
With snakes she absolutely declines
to take any risks; the non-poisonous va
rletles include too many dangerous
strangers.
Hereditary instincts sometimes con-
tinue to assert themselves under circum-
stances that seem to make their assist
ance rather superhuous. There was a
Tune when the ancestors of the dog found
1t useful precautioE to bury the rem
nants OF a good meal, and thus provide
against possible times Of scarcity. and
that old race habit still prompts their
descendants to hide bones and old crusts
even where the bounty of their masters
supplies them with regular and abun-
dant daily meals.
Lapdogs that have never left the prem
ises OF fashionable residence 'hunt" in
their dreams, which proves that their
minds retain latent aptitude for the
Lavorlte pastimes Of their forefathers.
During summer tour in the Austrian
Alps one Of my neighbors bought a
young shepherd dog and brought him to
suburb Of Cincinnati, where sheep are
'een only in the form of mutton; but
every little while the young herder would
.ry to earn his board by collecting a
'roop Of stray geese, and, in spite of their
Kissing protest, drive them along the
street like a flock of restless sheep