The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1891-10-14
THE CHARM OF MUSIC.
Do Animals Enjoy 1t and Can Their
Tastes Be Cultivated?

Are animals muSlcal?" is q query
that has been asked over and over
again. Decidedly they are, answers
Mr.. Frederick Whymper. The
keeper OF a menagerie was once asked
whether the band had any effect on
the animals. ITO be sure it does"
said he; 'they like it, and therefore
it does them good. If you were to
come in and look at them in a morn
ing, when the band is away peram-
bulating the town, you will see many
of them, the more savage beasts in par
ticular, dull and moping, and either
| sitting or lying in their dens. We,
who travel with wild beasts, cannot,
of course, give them the Don they
ought to have, and, being cribbed up
in show boxes, they degenerate for
want of exercise, do what we will
with them. But it would be very
much worse, l reckon, If it were not
for the music. When they hear the
band strike up they rouse themselves,
and begin taking what exercise they
can; the beasts of prey by walking
backwards and forwards, and the
Others by repeating the movements
| lldDlld " Y W III
birds will begin to chatter and plume
themselves at the sound; and even
the snakes at times will uncoil and
real up. and convince the people, who
sometimes seem to doubt the fact,
that they are living creatures" Dogs,
as is well known, are often taught to
| dance to violin, pipe, or drum, and
even to grind barrel organs. In the
latter case they very properly look
| extremely serious. But a judicious
dog finds the harlnonium eve
more trying. A writer records a
case of a dog-a cross between
a Scotch and a Skye terrier
who would come close to the har-
monium and evidently. enjoy the
music up TO a certain point. But
when a shrill note came from that in
strurnent of torture he would point
his nose in the air at an angle of
about forty degrees, and, s%tiffening
his body i'll a straight line from the
nostrils to the tail, emit the same note,
in q which indicated his dis
pleasure, and sustain it as long as did
the performer. That artist. general
ly. in fact, gave way first. An
other dog did excellent service,
it seems, in this fashion: - A
friend of the writer's, whose
vocal efforts were not calculated to in
spire any special respect for either his
abilities or education, had an old dog.
quiet, sedate and sleepy. which could
be reused to something approaching
fury when his masters performances
| commenced in his presence. The ex-
| preston Commenced" is used adj
| visedly, for these songs were never fin
ished, and, indeed, rarely got beyond
the bar raised against the bars OF the
executant by the dismal bowling of
that Intelligent quadruped. For Tex
ecutant" read murderer" The fam
lily had an intense regard for that dog.
Cats, we are told, have little natural
liking for music, but the taste ear be
acquired. A certain pet cat, though
as a kitten Indifferent to music, grew
| to like it, and regularly led the way
to the piano when tea was over Here
she took her post IN a chair, and
listened gravely during the whole per-
Torrance. When it ceased she would
| go to sleep, though not if the instru-
ment were left open, in which case
puss instantly leaped on the keys and
paved a performance of her own, in
| which she showed an extreme parti-
AMY lOI bHC UlO0lC AOtO5, 6Au oOlll0-
| thing like alarm at the lower bass
ones when she happened to give them.
an extra vigorous kick. Mice, on the
| contrary, are Intensely fond of
music" So, of course, are cows, as the
literature of the RAM DIES Vaches" is
enough to remind us. But the Eng
lish COW is especially fond, it seems.
of the guitar. On the boating trip of
seven or eight amateur musicians,
one of them specially noticed a spe-
| cially musical COW. This creature, a
small, cream colored Alderney, suck
led her calf, along with twelve other
vaccine mothers, in a meadow which
sloped down to the rivers brink.
whenever" says the historian of
| this trip, ''we turned the bend of this
river, with our voices in tune as our
oars kept time, and the meadow caine
in sight, there we were sure to see
the white cow, standing up to the
shoulders in the water whittier she
had advanced to meet us, her
neck stretched out, and her dripping
nose turned toward the boat. As we
skirted the meadow she kept pace
with us ON the bank, testifying her
| delight by antics of which no COW in
| her senses would have been thought
capable. She would leap, skip, roll
on her back, real on her hind legs,
| then hurl them aloft in the air, like O
kicking horse, now rushing into the
water to look at us nearer, now frisk-
ing off like a kitten at play. . :.
| After these mad gambols she always
retured to her calf, first saluting us
with a long plaintine kind of below,
by way of farewell" Verify, an APP
p~reciative cowl
Nh. Whymper's last anecdote, com
municated to him by a friend, con-
Germs a bird that no one would expect
to show musical taste. AT the old
farmhouse in Wiltshire, geese were
kept in the orchard. and the gander
would frequently enter the kitchen,
the door of which was usually open in
the summer time. The old bird was
a general pet aud took advantage of
the fact. One day the farmers sister
was playing on the piano in a room
near the kitchen, when shefelt III
thing touch her, and Looking
down discovered Master Gander
with his head resting on
her knee, listening with great
attention. When the music ceased
he stretched his wings, gave a quiet
cackle and walked off, but, the play
commencing, Tom-for that was his
name-returned to his old position by
the piano, nor could he be persuaded
to leave till the music ceased. From