Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-11-23
CRIMINAL BEASTS.
CURIOUS STUDY OF MANS DEAL
iNGS WITH TIE sRUTES. aa

Time Cscd {" BE when Magistrates Sol
EMMY II card A riga m ents Over the Guilt
or Innocence of n Bird or a Lizard or
an Inssct-Au Interesting Book.
A book which will delight all lovers of the
curious and srotesque, as we'll as provide
food for serious thought, Las appeared at
Naples under the title of Criminal Beasts"
It's author. Signor d'Addosio. describes it
as mere attempt to deal with The subject.
He prepared it without assistance, and adj
mits that it only imperfectiy covers the
ground he has outlined. Yet it presents
perfectly astounding array OF. facts and
veracious incidents relating to the sup
posed amenability of brutes to the civil law.
The reader is FIRST reminded that the
ancient laws of the Egyptians, Indians.
Persians, Hebrews and Greek, attributed
rights and duties to animals, and decided
that equally with men animals were sub
Ject TO praise or blame, reward or punish
ment- For this reason severe penalties
were instituted against men who took the
life OF animals, mRltreated or hurt them
without reason, and equally severe penal
ties were awarded to animals for acts hurt-
ful to the lives or property Of men. Little
by little these laws, which flourished
when mankind was still childlike and in
genuous, fell into disuse rs the human
race became aware of its immense supe-
riofity, and finally the cold and reasoning
Romans denied to animals any rights and
dutieeA and pronounced them to be void
n conscience IN personality. without,
however, deciding that they were mere
machines.
Then enrne reaction The Middle
Ages, distinguished for the predominance
OF imagination over reason, ieaped back at
bound to superstition and barbarism,
and all rights and duties were restored to
animals, together with such responsibility
that when they committed any act hurtful
to man or his works they we're summoned
| al criminals and subjected to the rigor Of
the law. In the Sixteenth century this
humaniLiES Of animals began again to de-
crease, until i'll the Seventeenth century il
entirely disappeared.
After this historical sketch. Signor
d'Addosio considers the advance of science
in relation to the animal kingdom. The
theory Of evolution, which ascribes to
brutes the rudiments of human attributes,
is carefully reviewed. The modern school
Of science, says the author, declares that,
in common with mankind, animals possess
reason viii, conscience, language, senti-
ments and sociability, and that the whole
difference lies in the more or less in guam
tity and not in quality. The modern penal
school now begins TO ask: "What is
crime?' and itself replies that crime is a
natural phenomenon, common to plants
and animals equally with men. Now,
slyly observes Signor d'Addosio, if this
theory be carried out TO its logical conse-
quenoe, ii would result that an animal
which sinned against human society ought
to be punished for its crime. as it was in
the Middle Ages.
The curious lawsuits which were in the
Middle Ages so often instituted against
members of the animal kingdom were
sometimes penal, sometimes civil The
former were directed against animals that
had destroyed human life, or resorted to
magic and diabolicai works, when the &C
cused were put in prison, tried, sentenced,
condemned and executed according to all
the formalities of lawsuits against human
criminals. The civil suits were directed
against such animals or insects as attacked
and damaged corn fields, vineyards, or
ehards, meadows and so on, or in any other
way were hurtful to the possessions of
men.
When prayers and professions had been
resorted to in vain an appeal was made to
the local ecclesiastical judge. who cited the
destroyers to appear before him and nomi-
mated advocates for and against. The in
habitants of the damaged district did the
same, and the trial took place with solem-
nifty and with all the tedious details and
long winded arguments of medieval JUS
tice and jurists The sentence generally
condemned the accused insects or animals
lHnVp p1
given date, on pain of curses and excom-
munication. and almost always assigned
some uncultivaCed place where they could
retire and live as they pleased. Often when
the creatures had been deaf to the sentence
new trial aud verdict were undertaken to
carry out the communication.
There are given in the book, on the au.
thority of official records, accounts of a
vast number of trials of horses, cattle
fowls, dogs, goats, snakes, leeches, etc
The majority of cases are taken from the
records of French courts, though Italy
furnishes a goodly number. In Naples
itself, for example, an ass was solemnly
tried and condemned to be burned to
death, proceeding which called forth a
scoffing poem from wit of the period
Civil suits were generally directed against
vermin, such as caterpillars, grubs, leeches,
locusts, rats, mice and SO on.
In l45l q suit was instituted against the
leeches which infested the ponds in the
neighborhood OF Berne, in Switzerland, and
the bishop Of Lausanne, in his instructions
to his parish priests Of Berne, which in
structions were solemnly approved Of by
the pr ofessors of the University of Heidel-
burg, mentioned that it would be advisa
bic to procure some of the aquatic worms
and place them before the magistrates. {"
This was done, and the leeches, both those
present and those absent, were ordered to
leave the places they had so boldly infested
within three days on pain of mourning the
nnalediction Of God.-New York Tribune.
About Airing Beds.
IN bo.,s q h. A.