The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1911-10-18

! according to Webster. something like
100000 words i'll the English language:
Shakespeare is said I" have used 1a.-
200. and the estimated active vo-
oahulary of the average man is under
1000 The semi savage inhabitants
Of Terra del Fuego have less thar
400. n the squ%alor-dulled peasants
Of eastern Russia have less than 800
words to their vo%cahularies. 1t will
be observed that the further down the
scale Of human development one goes
the less highly developed he will find
the language. And the same holds
r Of the other animals.
Using a system of hteroglpyhics
modelled upon the modern Chinese
system. z have compiled a dictionary
Of the language of the ordinary brown
or hearth cricket. which has the most
highly developed language Of any If
the animals l am familiar with. though
l nave reason to suspect the monkeys
are superior in this respect. From
my dictionary find there are twenty
seven elemental words or sounds. and
eiglty-fve other words made up Of
various combinations of the original
tw~onty-seven a cumulative system not
unlike that Of h Germans. The num-
her of words or sounds in other ami
NAL languages / am familiar with va
ries from twelve tn n~inety-fve.
IL lux WHICH
We are accustomed to regard as Of a
rather high order of intelligence. is
markedly deficient - the matter Of
language. both the grizzly bear and
h . rattlesnake being vastly his SUI
perior. In the vocabulary of the or
binary watchdog there are but seven
teen sounds knew one dog. an
exceptionally intelligent collie. who
regularly used twenty-one sounds in
ordinary conversation. The addition
al four were inventions of my own.
which ! was able 4 teach him only
after many months Of constant labor.
This lack of linguistic develop
ment on the part Of dogs proceeds. I
believe. not from any lack of intelli-
means Of expression. To a far greater
extent than any other animal of my
acquaintance. dogs depend upon their
intuition. a faculty which is developed
III them to a remarkable degree. They
seem almost to read each others mind
without any exchange Of signals what.
soever.
When I frs. hogan the study Of the
languages of wild animals expert
them. For 2 time I had first to earn
as best ] could from a distance a few
Of h more important sounds. hen
gradually. as ] became more familiar
with the animal world in general. the
difficulty entirely disa ppeared. Now I
am afraid Of No animal. and I en-
ounter very few that show the least
timldlty in my presence.
When I come before the Harvard
professors I shall permit them to
bring forward ~ number of speci-
mems of the animals 7 have mentioned
and shall prove to their entire sat
lsfactlon that a perfect understanding
EXISTS etwee me and the animals,
~ ! DO not I shall be perfectly willing
to he branded 4 nature faker."
Although Mr.. Kellogg admits that
hls ability to interpret the enuncia-
ions Of animals is the result of lone
ana arduous study. he insists that his
ability to make himself understood
10 initiate the sounds of these animals
is Gnd-given. He says he can with.
out the least difficulty reproduce n
sound that comes from an animaI:s
throat He has a peculiarly construct
ed palate. no tonsils. and the cord
connecting the teeth with the lower
ZIP is entirely missing. but he. has
been assured by the most noted sne-
c'ansts that there Ia nothing abnor-
MAJ ABOUT his. throat and vocal cords.
Ihey are AT a loss TO account for his
strange gift. '''
air. Kellogg exhibits a letter signed
by a French ornithologist of note i'm
which the var pays high tribute ia
MS powers Freely translated, the
letter reads in part as follows:
'Ihe powers Of this man are al
most supernatural. When We Of The
academy gave NJ. Kellogg an interyie,,
We were more than half Ia
fnd n paltry charlatan with = few
nheap tricks which could easily be dis.
posed of by a person Of intelligence
Instead We found n man whom naf,re
seems to have endowed with Il sort
OF universal understanding.
Nor" than a dozen birds of yarious
varieties were brought into his nres.
"nc", and with each OF these he ex.
changed sounds. the birds apnearino
20 answer his intonations as ~ N
perfect understanding of signals civ
en-" "" CIV
You MAJ have observed that a ve.,
pocket dictionary usually omits TN
word you wish to investigate.
II is a good deal easier to drive some
men to drink than to drive them ava =
from It,.
our notion of a smart man az
changes frequently is one who car
thoroughly comprehend a raiIwa,
folder.
AS long as a c%lairvoyant can make q
living at her trade. book agents