Los Angeles herald., 1910-03-26

-. HE experiments and obserVa-
H. Al tions upon q colony of mon
lWRXl KEYS, conducted recently by
M NSNl the faculty members OF an
IN VII eastern college to determine
kEzzA the quality of reasoning
power possessed by the lit
tie simians, have revived the old con
troversy as to whether or not animals
can think. Our most eminent natural
lists are divided in their opinion on the
subject, and there are many stories III
support of both sides Of the argument
A ships captain accidentlly imprls-
oned large rat in glass apartment
in his cabin, and, being curious 10 see
Just how resourceful the mind oil tue
rodent would prove in its dilemma
placed inside q narrow-necked bottle
filled with water. The rat became Wis
IDLY excited at the smell of the liquid
and ran around the bottle time after
time in an attempt to get at the sorely
needed water. Finally it backed up 10
the receptacle, Inserted its tail III tne
neck of the bottle, and then cautiously
withdrawing the same, proceeded 10
lick the moisture from 1t.
Another captain tells about having a
pet weazel on board his ship that was
never known to modest the poultry on
board, but just as certain as they tied
UP alongside other craft at the various
ports where they called, the weazel
would go foraging and cut every foWls
throat that he could reach. This same
skipper says that he raised PAIR OF
pigeons on board that would always
fly away as the ship approached land
They would invariably depart before
land was sighted and seldom returned
until the vessel was far out at sea-
once they failed to join the ship, but
when that port was made again IN
about six months they were promptly
on board with q pair of young ones
they had raised in the meantime.
A hunter tells about firing into
flock of terms as they were feeding in
the sea. one of the birds fell into the
water with a broken wing. The tide
was moving shoreward at the time
and the helpless fowl was gradually
drifting into the clutches of the hunt
err. Imagine his surprise when a. cou-
pie of its mates swooped down upon
it, each grasping a wing in its beck
and bore it seward again. HIS as
constituent was increased when the
two plucky burden bearers were re-
lieVed by another pair of feathereu
rescurers, and still another, until their
home rock was reached in safety.
A southern lady had most sagacious
canary that objected to cloth or paper
being pinned around it's cage. When
ever "A covering of this sort was at
tachcd it plainly showed its disap-
prevail Finally 1t became Impossible
to keep a screen in place around the
cage. The wise little sohgster found
out that the pins were what held IN
place the barrier that shut off its
view, so it proceeded to pull them out
with its bill. They might be hidden
completely, but after little effort it
never failed to locate and promptly
extract them.
A New England man furnishes an
account of how a small dog contrived
to secure vengeance upon a larger
canine that was in the habit OF wor-
rying it, 1t was noticed that the small
dog was saving a part of its daily
allowance of food. The boarding con-
tinued for several days until quite
quantity had accumulated. Then the
scheming little terrier appeared with
a number of larger dogs, and a general
feast followed. At the conclusion of
the treat, which was made possible by
the denial of the one with a grievance,
they all set off toward another part
Of town, and the owner followed out
of curiosity. The object of the little
dogs economy and it's reason for shar-
ing with the others soon became APP
parent. They met and soundly
punished the big dog which had been
making life miserable for its small
neighbor. Although close watch
was kept the bully made no effort to
retaliate and gave the place u wide
berth thereafter.
Another remarkable case of canine
wisdom was where IA retriever and a
terrier saved a 2-year-old child from
drowning. A woman heard the dogs
barking for some time, first one and
then the other seeming to be in dis
tress, and the supposition was that
they relieved each other in the task
of keeping the little ones head up.
Some of her playthings were found ON
the end of a plank leading out over
the deep water, so it was easy to sur
mise whore she had fallen in. 1t was
certain that the retriever pulled her
ashore because the strength of the
little dog could not have been equal