The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-04-22

tuslly Rrunt and snufle II II also notevorthv
that the most rrimitiyo tribes Of Brazil have
not carried their mineral system tcyond
three or four. and designate all higher mum.
bers by gestures OF ore tribe we learn that
II can count no further than two. and indicate.
all numbers beyond that bv a word slgniyine
many On the other hand. certain observ,
tons seem 10 prove that creatures oven lower
in the scale OF organized Icing than the an
thropoH apes are allie to count. \ mouse
from which nine young ones had eca TAXI on
came nine times to fetch them back one By
one. although she had not been able 10 look
into the cap IN which they were Imprisoned
Tho maEple can count to io1r. but NJ further
II four hunters hide u emselvcs tefore her
ewes and three OF them GO away che knows
that one Of them is still there. and is on hor
guard: but IT, on the contrary. there are i've
Of them anil four go away she thinks that all
are Como and becomes careless.
But. IL may lie urged. men use tools and ares
do not. Cnce again. an apparent differences
fades away upon Investigation. OF many
tribes II IL related that they have scarcely any
idea OF using tools. For example according
to a report made to the Paris Anthropolcsical
Society. the black Inhabitants Of the Andaman
Islands in the Fay oi Bengal DO not even pos-
sess stone hatchets. They have no means OF
con structinR dwellings, and are unacquainted
with fire. ON the other hand some wild AMI
nais employ I'm elements. Forbes observed in
Ceylon the wild elephants breaking OF
bouGhs from the treos to use them for Keeping
or the flies Apes push stones between the
open valves OF the mussel shell to prevent
their closing and open the shells Of oysters ~
striking them with stones Moreover. in Adil-
ton to the fact already mentioned that ares
hurl down branches or heavy fruits from the
trees on their pursuers there Ia no doubt that
they defend themselves with eticks or
cudRels. But surely. 1t will be said Ian
Ruage constitutes an ineifaceable mark Of
difference between men and apes. Let
us zee. The Australian Language IL
very poor. comprising only . few hundred
words. and among them not one to express
a general idea. The speech OF the Hottentot,
and Bushmen. also. 10 distinguished by It's
poverty in words. De Ia Gironniere. who stayed
some days among the Ajetas on the island Of
Luzon rays that the people appeared to him
like large family OF apes. and that the
sounds they uttered resembled the short
shrek OF those animals. The Brazilian Bolo-
kudo according to Adolphe d'Assier. has al
extremely rudimentsry language. indicating
by the same word a number OF toIsrably de
verse objects The language OF the savages OF
Borpeo and SumEt a IL said to be rather n sort
Of cackic or croak than true human speech.
Generally. savaRes are accustomed to convey
emotions and ideas moro By gestures and
looks than 10y words. or the Veddahs In Cey-
lon Sir Emerson Tennent tells us that they
mutually make themselves understood almost
entirely by signs. Rrinaces, and cultural
sounds which have little resem blance to ar
ticulate speech. That language. on the other
hand. IL not exclusively the property OF man
10 shown by the Circumstance that brutes also
possess the faculty Of m utual communication
90 La IL AL b.
certain number OF distinct sounds to express
its wishes. wants. sensations. &o. Dupont
By close observation. found that pigeons
and fowls have twelve different tones,
dogs fifteen, cats fourteen. horned cat
tie twenty-five an estimate which has
been deemed too low. As for the
power OF articulation. We scarcely need recall
the fact that 1t Is possessed by parrots. star
lings. ravens. &c. Concerning the speech OF
apes. Investigations are now In progress. and
every we-lnformed reader is aware that Mr..
Garner recently made q system ATTIC and most
interesting effort to determine whether tho
gorillss possess q language. He was able. IL
seems. to distinguish a number OF articulats
sounds which ppeared to be true words. IL
has long been noticed that the tones which tho
higher apes are accustomed to utter exhibit .
close approximation to tho lowest primitive
forms OF human speech. On this subject
Clemence Roger remarks that there Is q greater
difference between the most highly developed
analytical language-that. for instance. OF .
Shakespeare or a Corneille-aud that OF .
Papuan negro. than between the latter and the
stammerinG cry Of an angry ape when scold-
ing his female or young.
1t Ia unquestionably true that many. In tho
face OF these significant approximations. will
prefer to regard thcmsel as the descend
ants ora lump OF earth. Into which a deity In