El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-05-21
The Speech of Animals.

The Speech of Animals.
Spectator. London. Condensed for Public
Opinion.
If animals talk. as we are convinced
that they do, to the extent of convey
ing wishes or facts by sound, their
speech ought to conform to the divis-
ions of human speech. There must, in
fact, be an ''animsl grammar" in the
terms of which they express them
selves. The time-honored divisions of
-peech are ID statement OF fact: ~ re-
quest, Including commands: ~ ques-
ton. 1t is not to be supposed that the
very limited range and simple charsc-
ter Of animal wants and ideas would
necessarily briog into play the who e
# this category of artculate speech.
They don't ''look'' questions, and,
though they constantly and anXiously
INQUIRE what Is to be done, how it is to
ne done, and the exact wishes of their
masters, and occasionally even of other
animals, the inquiry is made by the
eye and attitude. A terrier, for in
lance, can almost transform his whole
body into an animated noe of inter-
rogatiOn. OF the two remaining forms
If speech-statement aud request-the
animals make very large use, but en-
ploy the latter in q far greater degree
snan the former. They use sounds for
| Re quest, not only in particular cases
in which they desire something to be
lone for them, but also in a great num-
| GER of cases in which the request is q
orm of warning-"Come" BE are
ul!" Look out.'' $50 abe adj"
Help The speech which indicates
danger is sufficiently differentiated.
Birds, for instance, have separ ate notes
OF warning to indicate whether the
| Janger is in the form Of a hawk or cat,
or of q man. If a hawk, cat. or owl is
on the m I'VE the birds, especially black
oirds, always utter a altering note.
:oostantly repeated, and chickens have
spec al sound to Indicate the presence
# a hawk. But when disturbed by
man the black birds have quite diff r.
snt sound of alarm and the chickens
,lso. Animals on the march are usual
ly silent: but the ham .dryad baboon-
use several words of command. and the
cries of cranes aud geese when flying
IN ordered fOcks are very possibly
signals or orders.
Specific requests are commonly made
BY sound, which he animal intends to
be taken as express n a want, while IL
INDICATES what 1t wants by showing
the obi ct. The great test difficulty
is when the object wanted, or requ RED
to be dealt with, is not present. The
animal has then to induce you to fol-
ow aud see the thing, and this of en-
leads to great ipgeL uity DO b in the
use of voice and act on. This form OF
equest is practiced more or less cue
cessIully by a considerable numb-r of
The animals kept as pets or servants OF
man. Va ious monkeys, geese, goat,
q I'VE with lamb, elephants, cate
very commoul' ard dogs inumerable
ire credited with ''accO.ting persons"
and bringing to the notice by vocal
means the object they desire or
the actions they wish done. Every
one who has kept dogs knows the tone
of the bark of request-a low ''wouf,'s
very uni Ike The STAG, alto bark of apg r,
or exaliOn, or remOnStrance. In the
cat very low short NEW is commonly
Ised when the object is near, and will
almost certa My De granted, such a
the opening of door, or the giving OF
water or milk. Unusual food which il
fspcies it will not get is asked for 10
ano her note, and any request not
attended TO is repeated in the different
Key. The tiger uses the low NEW in
iona form OF cow -rsation with the
-iyress, and puma when domesticst-
ed has q considerable range of notes
to ask for food, water, and society, or
to return thanks: the latter being, as
n the case of the cat and tiger, q kino
of purr.
:'Statement'' in animal speech is
mainly confined to indications that the
creature has made a discovery. good or
bad. For the former the cock ha
perhaps, the most distinct set of
sounds; they are quite unlike any 9th
err note be uses, and are confined to
be assertion that he has found some
thing good to eat. Cock pigeons 90
the same, and we imagine that geese
nave an equivalent sound. Dogs have
two forms of sound to state a discOv-
Try, ele hants only one. The dog
barks loud and sharply over something
new, or merely surprising. We have
seen a dog barking in this way when a
couple of geographical globes were
placed in window-Objects he had
never seen and wished to call attention
to. But painful discovery, such as
hat of dead body or a dangerously
wounded man, is sometimes cOmmuni-
Gated by the dog howlinR-wh icn
marks different form of speech. A
practical acquaintance with shore
shooting and the men v no have learn
I'd to initiate the notes of shore birds
discloses some cur Gus facts as to the
minute differ ences between the talk"
of di fferent species. The greater num-
Der have particular note which sig
mites "Come," and this note seem al
ways to be understood and generally
obeyed, almost instantly, by the birds
of the same species, though no bird OF
another species pays the slightest at
tention to it. The difference between
the notes of invitation made by var
,ous shore fowl-s,ints, gray pIover,
golden plover, rlnged plover, knots,
and sapdpipers-is so slight that no
one but q fowler would notice them.
Yet to these men the diffe ence is ss|
great as that between the sound of
French AID Engli-h. A really first
class gunner will sit in q creek in Aug
ust and call the birds up, if within
hearing and inclined to move, in any
order you like to name.
OF all bird voices the song of the
swallow is most like human speech
not our speech, but like the songs
which the Lapp or such out
landish races sing. A Lapp woman
sings sorg just like that of a swallow
at dawn. Yet the swallows
seem really tn say little or nothing to
one another, and never come to each
others call. But the varieties of bird