The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-07-20

They Never Forget the Trap or Gun
That Once Injured Them.
The proof that experience IL the guide
of life among the lower animals may be
found very low In the scales of animal
organisms. The razor shell, or mollusk,
~ soon as the tide retreats, buries itself in
the sand, often to the depth of several feet.
The fishermen who hunt them use q long,
thin iron rod, hooked at the end, or they
sprinkle O little salt in the hole to drive
out its occupant. This generally succeeds;
there is q movement In the sand, and half
the creature appears on the surface.
With q quick movement the fisherman
tries to seize him; II this fails the mol
lusk vanishes into its hole, and all the
Establishments of the fishers art would
fail to tempt him out . second timc-the
mollusk has profted by experience.
Similar conduct Of animals which can
not be regarded as other than the result
of experience may be noted among the
most diverse species.
A fox that has once been caught in
dom, will profit by the experience and
beware OF traps in future; the same IL
true Of many other animals, and the birds
by the allurements of the "call," II they
regain their freedom, will never be al
lured by IL again. Every hunter is famil-
lar with the fact that 1t Is much easier to
outwit young animal than an experi-
enced one.
Bortase tells very interesting story Of
how lobster got the better OF an oyster.
The lobster several times inserted his
claws In the half-opened shell, but the
oyster always closed In time to save him.
self. The lobster then seized stone, and
inserted 1t quickly into the cautiously
opened shell and devoured the oyster.
Monkeys secure oysters by the same trick,
but there is nothing 90 remarkable in
that, ~ their intelligence Ii well known.
Kirby tells Of the bees, that after repeated
raids of the "death's head Z" upon their
store, they built . sort of bulwark OF
wax about the hole Of the entrance to
keep him out. Duges observed q spider
which had seized q bee from behind, and
thus hindered IL from flying. The
stronger bee, however, had its legs free,
and walked OF with the spider, which
tried to drag her into his den. The strug-
gle lasted some time, when the spider
lowered itself with It's prey by thread.
The bees legs were useless in mid-air, and
the spider clung to her until he had ac-
complished his full purpose.
It Is impossible to argue that these are
exceptions, which afford no proof of q
general intellectual capacity OF animals.
Every such experience IL individual, and,
from circumstances Of Its origin, cannot
extend to the species. We must concede,
too, that even among animals, there are
individuals much more highly gifted than
the general run of the species. Innumer-
able instances are seen among horses,
dogs, elephants and monkeys. To deny
the fact would be to deny the capacity OF
of animals for further development. The
possibilities of such advance are, OF
course, limited, but so, also, Is the posi-
bility OF human advance, although the
boundary line is not yet In sight.
The higher animals are much more
ready TO meet exceptional exigencies this n
the lower, both because their capacities
are greater and because they have been
more highly developed by wide range OF
experiences.-vi Vienna Stein der weisen.