The Savannah morning news., 1903-11-08
no ANIMALS COMMIT SUICIDE?
,,bro in the Dublin Zoo Said to
Have Taken Its own Life-At-
tempts of other Animals.
From the London Globe.

- in Dublin Geological Gardens
'..aar the circumstances which, accord
;ro 70 the report, suggest a deliberate
aIfanpt to take it's own life. The ques-
1ion whether animals can commit
,nicide is not new one; and 1t has of
I1fe been answered, perhaps rather
zoo confidently, in the affirmative.
mt the evidence on which this opin-
ion is foundred is generally open to
- different Interpretation Suicide
1accesarily involves intention and de-
eipn. and in most of the cases recorded
his is invaribly suggested by those
VINO could only observe the external
{.cts of the incident. And these are
CO curiously interviewer with, the
nJausible attribution of motive" that
r. cease to have any scientific value.
When we hear of the fool of a dog
VINO insists on committing suiside"
under the wheels of a motor car, we
know exactly the meaning which its
driver intends to convey. If the car
cCIIides with such an obstruction it is
chad for dogs" We may be stupid be-
W9Idered, and lose his haad. but we
probably acquit, him of any felon-
ious intention. In France how
ever. so called canine suicide"
is of frequent occurrence, and
a very deliberate one was lately re-
norted from Paris. A dog was much
friend Of his master, but his having been
sent away into the country. the be-
reaved dog was much distressed. After
remaining for some days quite inconsol-
able. the poor creature walked into the
Rue Rome and deliberately placing
itself in front of an approaching tram
car was killed on the spot"
Another unhappy dog is said to have
deliberately drowned itself at Montric-
hard. In this case, the animal, having
been lost, was taken home by a Strang-
er. who Vainly endeaVored to find its
owner. Miserable, apparently at the
loss of its old master and having for
some offense received a beating from
its new one, the dog at once went off to
a nighbOring stream, plunged into the
water and struck out until 1t was eX-
bsusted and sank" That is to say, it
prolonged it's agonies to the utmost
which. assuming the intention" is
hardly the course we might suppose the
animal to have taken. Again, the sup
posed suicide of a dog in England is
thus described: THE poor animal was
old. inflrm, paralyzed, useless, an out
cast and a Wanderer. Prior to its sui
eide by drowning it was characterized
by sadness of look. 1t obviously pom
dered it's course of action, exhibited
for a time hesitancy, but at last came
to a decision, and acted upon 1t with
prOmptness and resolution. 1t prefer
red death to it's experience OF LIE, and
refused to allow itself to be saved.
But this is, surely, a piece Of special |
pleading. Winnowing from the chaff of |
inference the grains of fact in this, |
doubtless, sympathetic statement, 1t |
is easy to imagine an inf1rm and para
lyzed dog wearing sad look. Nor is
It surprising that, entering the water |
under such conditions, the animal
should have miscalculated its strength
and been accidently drowned. In the
same way, it is related of horse sur
fering from a painful disease, that it
betook itself to the seashore, and In
the most determined way held its head
under water "as the only protest 1t
could enter against the cruelty of cir
cumstances and the hopelessness OF
existence" But this suggests the obvious
comment that immersion in the sea
water might have been greatful to the
animal in it's suffering condition, and
that in a proXysm of it's disorder 1t
could not withdraw from it, and was
thus accidentally drowned.
In the same loose and unsatisfactory
manner the act of suicide has been
attributed to many Varities of birds,
beasts, and fishes and even butter
flies have been charged with the de-
hbarate intention of thus shortening
their brief span of existence. Some
time ago it was seriously stated that
several hundred turtle "conspired to
die together, and carried out their de-
Gsion," on one of the Seychelles Islands,
opposite the harbor of Port Victoria;
an item of intelligence which seemed
10 invite the addition 1.-The rash act
is supposed to have been committed
In consequence of a contract entered
into by the island authorities with a
WeIl-known London purVeyor, coming
to the knowledge of the turtle" But
we may well feel surprised when a
scientific journal gravely announces an
epidemic of suicide" among the her
rings and spratS in Deal Roads, where
these fish rushed ashore in such myri-
ads that the fishermen grew tired of
cartlng them off. 1t is, however, fact
OF common knowledge that shoals of
small fish often thus behave when
pressed by sharks, dogfish, and oher
enemies. Even predatory sea birds
will sometimes combine to drive them
Iandward. They force the behring's to
huddle together, and in their efforts
10 escape they have been known to
throw themselves in a mass on the
beach, thus furnishing the local re-
porter with another instance of IAN
nlmal suicide" Scorpions, spiders, and
Wasps have also been placed in the
apocrlphal list of creatures capable of
committing the rash act" while in
stances of the so-called suicide are re
corded of the ass and mule; the camel,
monkey and deer; and the stork, jack
cav, and canvasback duck. The cat
aogue might be still enlarged, but
really for no useful or practical pur-
pose.
Natural history is not only a most
interesting study, but is also a humane
ana beneficent pursuit. But it is obvi-
ously of two kinds, plain and colored;
and it is to be feared that most vt
lhese stories of suicide are of the lat
Ter class. At the same time, many ac-
complished students have investigated
.he subject, though without, it must
ne confessed, throwing any real light
uIon It, The following sentence may
oe regarded as representing at least
uhe side of the question: "Those who
ana cannot commit suicide simply be-
Cduse they are lower animals-who con-
sller suicide one of the distinctive
privileges Of man-endeavor to explain
a"ay IN such cases all the ordinary
niollVes for suicide as they occur in
man But we are not entitled to take
y Tor granted that animals can be
ectuated by human motives, and the
idacal defect of the suicide hypothesis
= the assumption that they can. The
.ole iichard Jefferies once complained
.uat "a whole system of sentiment and
oonduct has been invested for birds ana
'IIInals based entirely on the method
~ attributing to the conceptions and
tt3hs which might occur to a human
ing This seems specially to apply to
we problem of animal suicide. De Quin-
~ VINO brought all his clear pre- ision