The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle. — 1885-11-14 (Stourbridge, West Midlands, England)

EFI:EOTS OF MUSIC ON. ANIMALS.  THE stories of the mythical Anon and Orpheus, transmitted to us by classical authors, serve to indicate the high idea which the ancients entertained of the magical power of  music. _Anion was a Greek m-usicai genius, who was thrown into the sea by some surly, unappreciative sailors, and rescued from drowning by a humane dolphin that earr:ed him to shore on its low, and strong back. The dolphin that picked up the Greek musician was no more an ordinary inhabitant of the deep than the whale that saved Jonah  from a similar threatened fate : it must have  been endowed with a delicate musi al car,  4ud thus differed widely from the members of tho common run of finny tribes, which are deaf makes, being destitute alike of ears and ton4ue. Orpheus was a Thracian poet, who played such an enchanting accoppaniment en the lyre to his own verse that he put life _ .  and motion into inanimate things ; and even Pluto was so overcome by the spell of his marvellous music when ho visited the nether  regions to recover his lost Eurydice that the grim king agreed to restore to him his spouse, on cftudiiion that he would not look back when returning again to earth. But curiosity unfortunately was too strong an in_  stinct iU the Thracian- troubadour; and as  he could not resist turning his head round just when his foot was about to touch the firm land, the precious burden he bore melted from his grasp at the same moment, and 'vanished like a vision of the night. In  ap prec iat ion of musical sounds -the seal, which is an amphibious animal, has an affinity to the classical dolphin, as voyagers in the high latitudes which it chiefly frequents have reported it to be fond of listening to sailors when they whistle their fayourit• airs. Old Tom, in Marryat's “Jacob Faithful," who had served on board  whaltr. used to say, when relating his Arctic experiences, that seals conld be had for a whistle. Grimm took no account of the fact that ordinary fish, less fortunate than seals, are deaf mutes when he put into the mouth of the fisherman, in one of his attrac tire stories, these artless lines : fi h of the actft, Como listen to me ;"  but in fairy tales it is just as natural for fish to listen as for quadrupeds to talk. Being vocalists themselves, cage-birds take much delight in instrumental music, and at once start an accompaniment in singing when a piano or accordian is played in the room. If they happen to be sitting in a drowsy mood en their perches just before the music begins, they change in a moment, and become quite sprightly and gay. Even a coaxing chirp, especially if it issues from sweet musical lips, is quite sufficient to put them into the best of singing trim. In cottage kitchens the sound, cheerful if not musical, of something savoury cooking in the frying pan is quite sufficient to stir up the liveliest straine of the pat canary, or the loudest warbles of the caged thrush. The domestic cat is so well pleased with her own dtowsy mirr when comfortably resting on the warm hearth that she does not pay much heed to piano playing or any other music, and the name of the "Cat and Fiddle," which figures on some inn signboards, is not to be taken as an indication that puss waa ever skilful in tho use of the violin, but merely as a happy suggestion derived from the familiar "Hey l diddle diddle" nursery rhyme. Singing birds, whether wild or caged, are best relished by puss in the form of cat's meat. Dogs seem to entertain a d;slike for music of any kind. They often bark furiously at Italian organ grinders in the street, and Christmas waits, breaking the silence of midnight or the small hours of the morning, only evoke from them the response of longdrawn howls. Cattle, feeding on the pasture, are greatly concerned when a procession, with bands and banners, suddenly appears marching along an adjoining highway. It is difficult to say whether it can be the nattering of the flags, or the sound ot the drums and brass instruments that affect and excite them most. They stand gazing for a time in wonderment, become restless as their bewilderment increases, begin to dance wildly about, and finally scamper off helterskelter, with up-hoisted tails, too much excited and perturbed to resume feeding until the procession is out of hearing and sight. Cart and carriage horses often exhibit so much alarm when bands of music are passing along the streets that it ig necessary to ems° playing at intervals in order to avoid causing runaway accidents. But horses, when they get accustomed to instrumental music, show a decided liking for it, and prance proudly on the march in cavalry regiments when the mounted bandsmen are pla3 lug stirring ,tunes in the van. War-horses that, from - long service in the field, are entitled to be ealled old campaigners, seem to draw an inspiration, which sparkles in the dilated eye and thrills through the sinewy frame, when the lear notes of the bugle, ringing out amid the din of battle, sound the charge. -Marvellous dancing feats, to the accompanimeat of music, • performed by well-trained cavalry homes, always prove an attractive feature of the military tournament annually held in the Agricultural Hall at Islington. It is not BO much the inspiriting influence of lively tuns as the recollection of cruel treliment, and a dread of its repetition, that • induce dancing bears, at the command of their keepers, to go through their clumsy performance many times a day. Among the • race of reptiles the snake is the only one that feels the power of music, yielding to its influence uto an irresistible spell; and in India there are snake-charmers possessing something of the serpent's subtlety themselves, who make a livelihood by travelling about the country, like Punch and Judy showmen, with their stock-in-trade, which in their came happens to be live stock. It is a pity that the magical musical skill which enabled the "Pied Piper of Haralyn," immortalised in Brownings' inimitable ballad, to induce tho legions of rats that infested the town to commit suicide by drowning, has become an extinct art, and lives only in the tradition of the quaint old German legend.