Washington sentinel., 1898-03-26
Do animals Talk
Sbeckatoy.

an animal grammar" in the terms
of which they express themselves.
It is no bad test OF the assertion
that animal speech exists to apply
the old formal divisions OF the
grammarians to the instances in
which they appear to voice" their
thoughts, and ascertain by trial
whether the forms into which the
human speech has been divided at
the latter. The time honored divi-
sions of speech are ID statement
Of fact; (z) request, including COM
mands; (3) question. 1t is not to
be supposed that the very limited
range and simple character Of ami
NAL wants and ideas would neces-
sarily bring into play the whole Of
this category of articulate speech.
But, as a fact, they do not need to
use all three forms of expression,
but omit the last. Unlike children.
animals do not ask questions.
They only ''look" them, and
though they constantly and anx-
iously inquire what is to be done.
how it is to be done, and the exact
wishes Of their masters, and occa-
sionallY even OF other animals, the
inquiry is made by the eye and at.
titude. A terrier, for instance, can
almost transform his whole body
into an animated note Of interro.
cation.
OF the two remaining forms of
Speech-statement and request
the animals make very large use,
but employ the latter in a far
greater degree than the former.
They use sounds for request, not
only for particular cases in which
they desire something to be done
for them, but also in a great num-
Der of cases in which the request
is a form OF waruing-"Comel'
"Be carefulW Look outw go
aheadp' "Helpp The speech
which indicates danger is sufi.
GENTLY differentiated. Birds, for
instance, have separate notes OF
warning to indicate whether the
danger is in the form OF a hawk or
q cat, or Of man. If hawk, cat,
or owl is on the move the birds,
especially blackbirds always utter
a Gathering note, constantly re-
peated, and chickens have a spec
isl sound to indicate the presence
Of hawk. But when disturbed
by man the blackbirds have quite a
different sound Of alarm and the
chickens also. Animals on the
march are usually silent; but the
hamadryad baboons use several
words Of command; and the cries
Of cranes and geese when flying in
ordered hocks are very possibly
signals or orders.
Specific requests are commonly
made by a sound, which the ami.
NAL intends to be taken as expires
sing want, while it indicates what
il wants by showing the object.
The greatest difficulty is when the
object wanted, or required to be
dealt with, is not present. The
animal has then to induce you to
follow and see the thing, and this
often leads to great ingenuity both
in the use OF voice and action.
This form Of request is practised
more or less successfully by a con-
siderable number OF the animals
kept as pets or servants Of man.
Various monkeys, geese, a goat, a
eve with a lamb, elephants, cats
very commonly, and dogs innum-
cradle are credited with "accost-
ing persons, and bringing to their
notice by vocal means the objects
they desire or the actions they wish
done. A most ingeniously con-
structed request Of this kind was
made a few years ago by a retriever
dog late one night in London. The
streets were empty; and the dog
came up and, after wagging his
tail, began to bark--using not the
rowdy bark which dogs employ
when jumping at horses head or
when excited, but the persuasive
and confidential kind of bark which
is used in requests or Teproaches.
He was very insistent, especially
when a small, dark passage was
reached, up which he ran, still
barking. AS this did not answer,
the dog ran back, and took the
writer's hand in which he was car
rVing his glove, in his mouth, and
gave a gentle pull in the direction
OF the passage. AS this did not
meet with the attention desired,
the dog pulled the glove out of the
hand and carried it off up the pas
sage, keeping few yards in front
way; this naturally led to pursuit,
when the dog, still keeping ahead,
dropped the glove in front ofa gate
leading into butchers yard, and
began to bark again. AS it obvI-
ously wanted the gate to be opened,
this was done, and it trotted in
without further remark.
Everyone who has kept dogs
knows the tone OF the bark OF re-
quest, a low "wouf," very unlike
the staccato bark OF anger, or yex-
alton, or remonstrance. A bull
dog at the EarPs Court Dog Show,
made his particular part Of the
bench almost uncomfortable by this
form OF bark, kept up, (as we heard)
for nearly three hours without a
stop, because he was jealous ofthe
attentions paid to the dog next
him. This had won the first prize,
and consequently received all the
admiration; so the other dog
barked short, sharp, incessant
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