The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1891-01-17
ANIMAL

interesting Incidents in Proof of the
Theory that the Lower Animals Talk.
All domestic animals, living a life OF
routine, dependent on the care of human
beings, and often, as in the.case Of COWS
and horses, with little chance to com
municste with others of their own kind,
use a very limited vocabulary in their
everyday life; but any unusual circum-
stance produces new words, easily dis
tinguished by any n at all familiar
with their ordinary speech, The re-
marks Of my horse, for instance, will,
for weeks, be noticeable for nothing but
their sameness; hen he will give me q
most uncsnny feeling by an entirely
new observation called out by some
change in feed or surroundings.
Fowls have undoubtedly a larger
vocabulary nan any of the other do
nestle Animals; yet in half = day you
will probably hear from them all the
sounds that they use in ordinary life.
But any thing out Of the ordinary is in
stantly expressed in unusual sounds. l
always know what is disturbing the
flock. whether dog, cat, hawk, or stran-
ger. The cry for a hawk near at hand
ia q IL" - ou bCOulb w oO IL A.
word, but with q different emphasis and
in a different key. Woodchucks have
the same greeting az cats, but louder
and more emphatic. One day l was
startled by sounds from the yard which
/ had never heard before, and, rushing
to the rescue, / found a tame red fox
dragging a broken chain, trying to get
through the fence. The new sentence
consisted of several words not compli-
mentary to foxes l have never heard
any thing like them since. Very tame
hens often show q desire to talk to you,
and it is usually possible to understand
their meaning. Once q Cochin, whose
years and breeding entitled her to . sep
arate perch came and stood in front Of
me, looked me full in the face, and COM
planned loudly Of something, could not
translate further. Patient investiga-
ton revealed that n end Of her
perch had slipped down, and Mrs. Buff
had no idea of sleeping on an inclined
plane. Another time q nervous little
Leghorn met me at he hen-house door
fairly screaming and jumping with OK
element 1 understood, from the .cackle
which finished zach sentence, that she
had been disturbed in her nest. l did
not wonder at her new powers Of speech
when l found her nest occupied by my
cat and three small kittens.
When the chickens first begin to move
in the egg. just before Matching, the
mother hen sings to them q low Groom
ing song, very sweet, and never heard
OF any other time. A friend tells me
that her canary startled her n day by
an entirely new call. 1t was so plainly
"Come here quick" that she hurried to
the cage to find an cat, with
face pressed against the window-pane,
staring in at poor Ned-a danger suf'
ficiently great to account for the new
call.
There are but two ways by which one
can near animals really converse. One
Is to listen to them when they are no
aware Of your presence, always a din
cult feat; the other Is to win their en-
tire love and confidence. Hours of pa
tient coaxing would be needed before
monkey would do more than ''chatte,
unintelligently," or scream angrily;'
and ''poking with q stick" seems
rather u~nscientific way to produce thu
desired result One can not help fancy
ing tina Professor Gamers grapha
phone holds nothing but varieties o
monkey profanity.
It Is Q curious reflection on the intelli
genoe Of mankind that while animal
easily learn our language we make n
advance at all in learning theirs. On
can not help hoping that some futur
generation Of men may be sufficient.
kind and patient and large-hearted t
believe that what these dependent crea
lures have to say to US may sometime
be as important as what we have t
say to them and to act accordingly.-N
Y. Evening Post