Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1892-09-24
THE LOWER ANIMALS.
-.,,e interesting Notes About the Scale %
Animal Organism.

49,. interesting Notes About the scale %
Animal Organism.
The proof that experience is the
.,,ida of life among the lower animals
nav be found very low in the scale
If animal organisms.
The razor shell, or mollusk, as soon
&c the tide retreats, buries itself IN
t,,a sand. often to the depth of several
cot The fishermen who hunt them
,,se a long, thin rod, hooked at the
md or they sprinkle a little salt III
the hole to drive cut the occupant,
This generally succeeds; there is
,,ovement in the sand, and half the
craature appears en- the surface WIN
= ouicl5 movement the fisherman tries
~ seize him. If this fails the monusk
,,anishes into its hole, and all the hlan-
aishments of the fishers art would
fail TO tempt him out a second time
the mouusk has protiteo 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 III
q tran and fortunately regains ms
freedom viii profit by experience ana
beware Of traps in the future. 'Che
same is true of many other animals
and the birds also
Quail which have once been netted
nv the allurements of the "call, IL
tbey regain their freedom, will never
no alhred | it again. Every hunter
e familiar with the fact that it IS
much easter to outwit q young amman
than an experienced one
Bortase tells a very interesting story
of how lobster got the better OF an
oyster. The lobster several times III,
serted mis- claws in the half-opened
shell. but the oyster always closed in
4na tn save himself The lobster then
seized a stone and inserted it quickly
into the acknowledgement shell and de-
youred the oyster. Monkeys secure
oysters by the same trick, but there Is
nothing scr charitable in that as their
intelligence is well known.
Kirby tells Of the bees, that after
repeated raids of the deaths head
upon their store they build sort OF
bulwark about the hole of the entrance
IN keep them out. Durges, says the
Vienna Stein der Weiser, observed Il
spider which had seized a bee from
behind. and thus hindered it from fly
ing. The stronger bee, however, had
it's 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 &C
complished his purpose.
1t is impossible to argue that these
. are exceptions, which afford no proof
of a general intellectual capacity OF
animals. Every such experience is In
dividual, and, from the circumstances
of its origin cannot extend to the
SPECIES. We must concede, too, that
even among animals there are mdi-
viduas much more highly gifted than
the general run of the species.
Inumerable instances are seen
among horses, dogs, elephants and
monkeys; to deny the fact would be
to deny the capacity Of animals for
further developement The possibili-
ties of such advance are Of course,
limited, but so also is the possibility Of
human advance, although the boundary
line is not yet in sight. The higher
animals are much more ready to meet
exceptional eXigcncies than the lower,
both because their capacities are
greater and because they have been
more highly developed by wide range
of experiences.