Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1892-08-26
MEMORY IN M
They Never Forget the Trap or Gun That
Once Injured Them.

They Never Forget the Trap or Gun That
Once Injured Them.
The proof that experience is the guide of
life among the lower animals may be
found very low in the scale of animal or
ganisms. The razor shell, or mollusk, as
soon as the tide retreats, buries itself in
the sand, often to the depth of several feet.
The fishermen who hunt them use a long
thin iron rod, hooked at the end, or they
sprinkle a little salt in the hole to drive
out its occupant. This generally succeeds;
there is a movement in the sand and half
the creature appears OF the surface. With
a quick movement the fisherman tries to
seize him; If this fails the mollusk van
ishes into its hole, and all the %blandish.
ments of the fishers art would fail tc
tempt him out a second time-the moIlusk
has proited 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.
fox that has Qsce been caught in a
trap, and fortunately regained his Free
dom will profit by the experience and be-
ware of traps in future; the same is true
OF many other animals, and the birds also.
Quail which ave once been netted by the
allurements of the ~"call," if they regain
their freedom, will never be allured BY it
again. Every hunter is familiar with the
fact that 1t Is much easier to outwit q
young animal than an experienced one.
Bortase tells a very interesting story of
how a lobster got the better of an oyster.
The lobster several times inserted his claws
in the half opened shell, but the oyster al
ways closed in time to save himself. The
lobster then seized a stone and inserted it
quickly into the cautiously opened she'll
and devoured the oyster. Monkeys secure
oysters by the same trick, but there is moth
ing so remarkable in that, as their intelli-
gence is well known. Kirby tells of the
bees, that after repeated raids of the
deaths head" upon their store they build
a sort of bulwark of wax about the hole of
entrance to keep him out.
Duges observed a spider which had seiz-
ed a bee from behind, and thus hindered it
from flying. The stronger bee, however,
had its legs free and walked off with the
spider, which tried to drag her into his
den. The struggle lasted some time, when
the spider lowered itself with it's prey by a
thread. The bees legs were useless in
midair, and the spider chung to her until
he had accomplished his full purpose.
1t is impossible to argue that these ai~
exceptions, which afford no proof of a
general intellectual capacity Of animals. |
Every such experience is individual, and
from circumstances of it's origin cannot ex
tend to the species. We must concede, |
too, that even among animals there are in
dividuals much more highly gifted than
the general run Of the species.
lnnumerable instances are seen among
horses, dogs, Elephants and monkeys. To
deny the fact would be to deny the capa-
city of animals for further developments.
The possibilities Of such advance are, of
course limited, but so, also, is the possible
ity OF human advance, althoughth the bound
airy line is not yet in sight.
The higher animals are much more ready
to meet exceptional exigencies than the
lower, both because their capacities are
greater and because they have been more
highly developed by q wide range OF ex-
Stein der Weisen.