{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_19850/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_19850","id":"gutenberg_19850","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19850","summary":null,"tags":["Animal behavior","Animals-Wild","Biology","Category: Nature/Gardening/Animals","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Science - Biology"],"text":"Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Janet Blenkinship and the\nOnline Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: RECREATION IS AS COMMON AMONG ANIMALS AS IT IS AMONG\nCHILDREN.]\n\n\n\n\n  THE\n  HUMAN SIDE\n  OF ANIMALS\n\n  BY\n  ROYAL DIXON\n  AUTHOR OF \"THE HUMAN SIDE OF PLANTS,\" \"THE HUMAN SIDE OF TREES,\"\n\n\n\n\n  \"THE HUMAN SIDE OF BIRDS,\" ETC.\n\n  _WITH TWO ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLORS AND\n  THIRTY-TWO IN BLACK-AND-WHITE_\n\n\n\n\n  NEW YORK\n  FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY\n  PUBLISHERS\n\n\n  _Copyright, 1918, by_\n  FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY\n\n  _All rights reserved, including that of translation\n  into foreign languages_\n\n  MADE IN U. S. A.\n\n\n\n\n  TO\n  MARCELLUS E. FOSTER\n  WHO BELIEVED\n\n\n\n\nNOTE\n\n\nThe author wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to his\nfellow-naturalist and friend, Mr. Franklyn Everett Fitch, for carefully\nreading the entire manuscript and making many scholarly and valuable\ncriticisms and corrections.\n\n\n\n\n  CONTENTS\n\n  CHAPTER                                                  PAGE\n\n  FOREWORD                                                 xiii\n\n  I ANIMALS THAT PRACTISE CAMOUFLAGE                          1\n\n  II ANIMAL MUSICIANS                                        18\n\n  III ANIMALS AT PLAY                                        32\n\n  IV ARMOUR-BEARING AND MAIL-CLAD ANIMALS                    46\n\n  V MINERS AND EXCAVATORS                                    61\n\n  VI ANIMAL MATHEMATICIANS                                   88\n\n  VII THE LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS                                99\n\n  VIII IN THEIR BOUDOIRS, HOSPITALS AND CHURCHES            120\n\n  IX SELF-DEFENCE AND HOME-GOVERNMENT                       130\n\n  X ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS, AND HOUSE-BUILDERS               150\n\n  XI FOOD CONSERVERS                                        170\n\n  XII TOURISTS AND SIGHT-SEERS                              181\n\n  XIII ANIMAL SCAVENGERS AND CRIMINALS                      199\n\n  XIV AS THE ALLIES OF MAN                                  210\n\n  XV THE FUTURE LIFE OF ANIMALS                             234\n\n\n\n\n  ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n  Recreation is as common among animals as it is among children\n    (_in Colours_)                                         _Frontispiece_\n\n  The Indians claim that the mother bison forced her calf to roll often\n    in a puddle of red clay, so that it might be indistinguishable against\n    its clay background                                                6\n\n  The zebra is one of the cleverest of camouflagers. The black-and-white\n    stripes of his body give the effect of sunlight passing\n    through bushes                                                     7\n\n  Monkeys are the most musical of all animals. When they congregate\n    for \"concerts,\" as some of the tribes do, the air is filled with weird\n    strains of monkey-music                                           20\n\n  Cats, unlike dogs, are very fond of music. And it has been proved that\n    their music-sense can be developed to a remarkable degree         21\n\n  A happy family of polar bears. The young cubs wrestle and tumble,\n    as playfully as two puppies. This play has much to do with their\n    physical and mental development                                   34\n\n  Dryptosaurus. The prehistoric animals, too, undoubtedly had their\n    play time, with games and \"setting up\" exercises                  35\n\n  The mother opossum is never happier than when she has her little ones\n    playing hide-and-seek over her back                               38\n\n  This young fox came from his home in the woods daily to play with a\n    young fox-terrier. He is now resting after a romp                 39\n\n  Naosaurus and Dimetrodon, two extinct armour-bearers who should\n    have been well able to protect themselves                         50\n\n  An armour-bearer of prehistoric times whose shield was an effective\n    protection against enemy horns                                    51\n\n  To the polar bear the ice and snow of the Far North means warmth\n    and protection. The mother bear digs herself into a snowbank,\n    where she lives quite comfortably throughout the winter           84\n\n  The sharp claws of the ground squirrel are efficacious tools in digging\n    his cosy underground burrow                                       85\n\n  The coyote can readily distinguish whether a herd of sheep is guarded\n    by one or more dogs, and will plan his attack accordingly         94\n\n  The zebu, the sacred bull of India, in spite of its domestication,\n    has an agile body and a quick, alert mind                         95\n\n  Roosevelt's Colobus. These horse-tailed monkeys chatter together in\n    a language exclusively their own, yet they seem to have no difficulty\n    in making themselves understood by other monkey-tribes           112\n\n  A tamed deer of Texas, whose constant companion and playmate was\n    a rabbit dog. Between the two, there developed, necessarily, a\n    common language                                                  113\n\n  Water-loving animals, like the beavers, seemingly take great pride in\n    their toilets. Their fur is always sleek and clean               122\n\n  Great forest pigs of Central Africa. Like the common domesticated\n    hogs, they will seek a clay bath to heal their wounds            123\n\n  The Rocky Mountain goat has many means of defence, not the least of\n    which is his agility in climbing to inaccessible places          134\n\n  Wild boars are among the most ferocious of animals. By means of\n    their great strength alone they are well able to defend\n    themselves                                                       135\n\n  Brontosaurus. The animals that seemed best equipped to defend themselves\n    are the ones that, thousands of years ago, became extinct        144\n\n  This prehistoric monster was equipped not only with a pair of strong\n    horns but with a shield back of them as well                     145\n\n  The beaver is the greatest of all animal architects. His skill is\n    equalled only by his patience (in Colours)                       158\n\n  The skunk mother tries to keep on hand a good supply of such delicacies\n    as frogs and toads, so that her young may never go hungry        172\n\n  The porcupine and the hedgehog have a unique method of collecting\n    food for their young. After shaking down berries or grapes,\n    they roll in them, then hurry home with the food attached to\n    their quills                                                     173\n\n  The black bear is not one of the great migrating animals. The thickness\n    of his coat must therefore change with the seasons               188\n\n  Rabbits seem to have a well-devised system in their road-building,\n    running their paths in and out of underbrush in a truly ingenious\n    manner                                                           189\n\n  The mongoose, a scavenger of the worst type, feeding on rats and\n    mice and snakes, and even poultry                                202\n\n  Diplodocus. The prehistoric animals, also, undoubtedly had their\n    scavengers and criminals                                         203\n\n  The Esquimo-dog is man's greatest friend in the Far North          218\n\n  Chipmunks are among the most easily tamed of man's wild friends,\n    and they even seem fond of human companionship                   219\n\n  Men cruelly take the lives of these denizens of the wildwood, rejoicing\n    in their slaughter, but the animal soul they cannot kill         244\n\n  Two pals. There is between man and dog a kinship of spirit that cannot\n    be denied                                                        245\n\n\n\n\nFOREWORD\n\n  _\"And in the lion or the frog--\n  In all the life of moor or fen--\n  In ass and peacock, stork and dog,\n  He read similitudes of men.\"_\n\nMore and more science is being taught in a new way. More and more men\nare beginning to discard the lumber of the brain's workshop to get at\nreal facts, real conclusions. Laboratories, experiments, tables,\nclassifications are all very vital and all very necessary but sometimes\ntheir net result is only to befog and confuse. Occasionally it becomes\nimportant for us to cast aside all dogmatic restraints and approach the\nwonders of life from a new angle and with the untrammelled spirit of a\nlittle child.\n\nIn this book I have attempted to bring together many old and new\nobservations which tend to show the human-like qualities of animals. The\ntreatment is neither formal nor scholastic, in fact I do not always\nremain within the logical confines of the title. My sole purpose is to\nmake the reader self-active, observative, free from hide-bound\nprejudice, and reborn as a participant in the wonderful experiences of\nlife which fill the universe. I hope to lead him into a new wonderland\nof truth, beauty and love, a land where his heart as well as his eyes\nwill be opened.\n\nIn attempting to understand the animals I have used a method a great\ndeal like that of the village boy, who when questioned as to how he\nlocated the stray horse for which a reward of twenty dollars had been\noffered, replied, \"I just thought what I would do if I were a horse and\nwhere I would go--and there I went and found him.\" In some such way I\nhave tried to think why animals do certain things, I have studied them\nin many places and under all conditions, and those acts of theirs which,\nif performed by children, would come under the head of wisdom and\nintelligence, I have classified as such.\n\nLife is one throughout. The love that fills a mother's heart when she\nsees her first-born babe, is also felt by the mother bear, only in a\ndifferent way, when she sees her baby cubs playing before her humble\ncave dwelling. The sorrow that is felt by the human heart when a beloved\none dies is experienced in only a little less degree by an African ape\nwhen his mate is shot dead by a Christian missionary. The grandmother\nsheep that watches her numerous little lamb grandchildren on the\nhillside, while their mothers are away grazing, is just as mindful of\ntheir care as any human grandparent could be. One drop of water is like\nthe ocean; and love is love.\n\nThe trouble with science is that too often it leaves out love. If you\nagree that we cannot treat men like machines, why should we put animals\nin that class? Why should we fall into the colossal ignorance and\nconceit of cataloging every human-like action of animals under the word\n\"instinct\"? Man delights in thinking of himself as only a little lower\nthan the angels. Then why should he not consider the animals as only a\nlittle lower than himself? The poet has truly said that \"the beast is\nthe mirror of man as man is the mirror of God.\" Man had to battle with\nanimals for untold ages before he domesticated and made servants of\nthem. He is just beginning to learn that they were not created solely to\nfurnish material for sermons, nor to serve mankind, but that they also\nhave an existence, a life of their own.\n\nMan has long preached this doctrine that he is not an animal, but a\nkinsman of the gods. For this reason, he has claimed dominion over\nanimal creation and a right to assert that dominion without restraint.\nThis anthropocentric conceit is the same thing that causes one nation to\nthink it should rule the world, that the sun and moon were made only for\nthe laudable purpose of giving light unto a chosen few, and that young\nlambs playing on a grassy hillside, near a cool spring, are just so much\nmutton allowed to wander over man's domain until its flavour is\nimproved.\n\nIt is time to remove the barriers, once believed impassable, which man's\negotism has used as a screen to separate him from his lower brothers.\nOur physical bodies are very similar to theirs except that ours are\nalmost always much inferior. Merely because we have a superior intellect\nwhich enables us to rule and enslave the animals, shall we deny them all\nintellect and all feeling? In the words of that remarkable naturalist,\nWilliam J. Long, \"To call a thing intelligence in one creature and\nreflex action in another, or to speak of the same thing as love or\nkindness in one and blind impulse in the other, is to be blinder\nourselves than the impulse which is supposed to govern animals. Until,\ntherefore, we have some new chemistry that will ignore atoms and the\natomic law, and some new psychology that ignores animal intelligence\naltogether, or regards it as under a radically different law from our\nown, we must apply what we know of ourselves and our own motives to the\nsmaller and weaker lives that are in some distant way akin to our own.\"\n\nIt is possible to explain away all the marvellous things the animals do,\nbut after you have finished, there will still remain something over and\nabove, which quite defies all mechanistic interpretation. An old war\nhorse, for instance, lives over and over his battles in his dreams. He\nneighs and paws, just as he did in real battle; and cavalrymen tell us\nthat they can sometimes understand from their horses when they are\ndreaming just what command they are trying to obey. This is only one of\nthe myriads of animal phenomena which man does not understand. If you\ndoubt it, try to explain the striking phenomena of luminescence,\nhybridization, of eels surviving desiccation for fourteen years,\npost-matrimonial cannibalism, Nature's vast chain of unities, the\nsuicide of lemmings, why water animals cannot get wet, transparency of\nanimals, why the horned toad shoots a stream of blood from his eye when\nangry. If you are able to explain these things to humanity, you will be\nclassed second only to Solomon. Yet the average scientist explains them\naway, with the ignorance and loquaciousness of a fisher hag.\n\nBy a thorough application of psychological principles, it is possible\nto show that man himself is merely a machine to be explained in terms of\nneurones and nervous impulses, heredity and environment and reactions to\noutside stimuli. But who is there who does not believe that there is\nmore to a man than that?\n\nAnimals have demonstrated long ago that they not only have as many\ntalents as human beings, but that under the influence of the same\nenvironment, they form the same kinds of combinations to defend\nthemselves against enemies; to shelter themselves against heat and cold;\nto build homes; to lay up a supply of food for the hard seasons. In\nfact, all through the ages man has been imitating the animals in\nburrowing through the earth, penetrating the waters, and now, at last,\nflying through the air.\n\nWhen a skunk bites through the brains of frogs, paralysing but not\nkilling them, in order that he may store them away in his nursery-pantry\nso that his babes may have fresh food; when a mole decapitates\nearth-worms for the same reason and stores them near the cold surface of\nthe ground so that the heads will not regrow, as they would under normal\nconditions, only a deeply prejudiced man can claim that no elements of\nintelligence have been employed.\n\nThere are also numerous signs, sounds and motions by which animals\ncommunicate with each other, though to man these symbols of language may\nnot always be understandable. Dogs give barks indicating surprise,\npleasure and all other emotions. Cows will bellow for days when mourning\nfor their dead. The mother bear will bury her dead cub and silently\nguard its grave for weeks to prevent its being desecrated. The mother\nsheep will bleat most pitifully when her lamb strays away. Foxes utter\nexpressive cries which their children know full well. The chamois, when\nfrightened, whistle; they might be termed the policemen of the animal\nworld. The sentinel will continue a long, drawn-out whistle, as long as\nhe can without taking a breath. He then stops for a brief moment, looks\nin all directions, and begins blowing again. If the danger comes too\nnear, he scampers away.\n\nIn their ability to take care of their wounded bodies, in their reading\nof the weather and in all forms of woodcraft, animals undoubtedly\npossess superhuman powers. Even squirrels can prophesy an unusually long\nand severe winter and thus make adequate preparations. Some animals act\nas both barometers and thermometers. It is claimed that while frogs\nremain yellow, only fair weather may be expected, but if their colour\nchanges to brown, ill weather is coming.\n\nThere is no limit to the marvellous things animals do. Elephants, for\nexample, carry leafy palms in their trunks to shade themselves from the\nhot sun. The ape or baboon who puts a stone in the open oyster to\nprevent it from closing, or lifts stones to crack nuts, or beats his\nfellows with sticks, or throws heavy cocoanuts from trees upon his\nenemies, or builds a fire in the forest, shows more than a glimmer of\nintelligence. In the sly fox that puts out fish heads to bait hawks, or\nsuddenly plunges in the water and immerses himself to escape hunters, or\nholds a branch of a bush over his head and actually runs with it to hide\nhimself; in the wolverine who catches deer by dropping moss, and\nsuddenly springing upon them and clawing their eyes out; in the bear,\nwho, as told in the account of Cook's third voyage, \"rolls down pieces\nof rock to crush stags; in the rat when he leads his blind brother with\na stick\" is actual reasoning. Indeed, there is nothing which man makes\nwith all his ingenious use of tools and instruments, of which some\nsuggestion may not be seen in animal creation.\n\nGreat thinkers of all ages are not wanting who believe that animals have\na portion of that same reason which is the pride of man. Montaigne\nadmitted that they had both thought and reason, and Pope believed that\neven a cat may consider a man made for his service. Humboldt, Helvitius,\nDarwin and Smellie claimed that animals act as a definite result of\nactual reasoning. Lord Brougham pertinently observes, \"I know not why so\nmuch unwillingness should be shown by some excellent philosophers to\nallow intelligent faculties and a share of reason to the lower animals,\nas if our own superiority was not quite sufficiently established to\nleave all jealousy out of view by the immeasurably higher place which we\noccupy in the scale of being.\"\n\nFrom the facts enumerated in this book I find that animals are possessed\nof love, hate, joy, grief, courage, revenge, pain, pleasure, want and\nsatisfaction--that all things that go to make up man's life are also\nfound in them. In the attempt to establish this thesis I have been led\nmentally and physically into some of Nature's most fascinating highways\nand hedges, where I have had many occasions to wonder and adore. I will\nbe happy if I have at least added something to the depth of love and\nappreciation with which most men look upon the animal world.\n\n                                                    ROYAL DIXON.\n\n  New York, April, 1918.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HUMAN SIDE OF ANIMALS\n\n\n\n\nI\n\nANIMALS THAT PRACTISE CAMOUFLAGE\n\n  _\"She was a gordian shape of dazzling line,\n  Vermilion-spotted, golden, green and blue;\n  Striped like a zebra, freckled like a pard,\n  Eyed like a peacock, and all crimson barr'd,\n  And full of silver moons, that, as she breathed,\n  Dissolved, or brighter shone, or interwreathed\n  Their lustres with the glorious tapestries....\"_\n\n  --KEATS (_on Lamia, the snake_).\n\n\nThe art of concealment or camouflage is one of the newest and most\nhighly developed techniques of modern warfare. But the animals have been\nmasters of it for ages. The lives of most of them are passed in constant\nconflict. Those which have enemies from which they cannot escape by\nrapidity of motion must be able to hide or disguise themselves. Those\nwhich hunt for a living must be able to approach their prey without\nunnecessary noise or attention to themselves. It is very remarkable how\nNature helps the wild creatures to disguise themselves by colouring them\nwith various shades and tints best calculated to enable them to escape\nenemies or to entrap prey.\n\nThe animals of each locality are usually coloured according to their\nhabitat, but good reasons make some exceptions advisable. Many of the\nmost striking examples of this protective resemblance among animals are\nthe result of their very intimate association with the surrounding flora\nand natural scenery. There is no part of a tree, including flowers,\nfruits, bark and roots, that is not in some way copied and imitated by\nthese clever creatures. Often this imitation is astonishing in its\nfaithfulness of detail. Bunches of cocoanuts are portrayed by sleeping\nmonkeys, while even the leaves are copied by certain tree-toads, and\nmany flowers are represented by monkeys and lizards. The winding roots\nof huge trees are copied by snakes that twist themselves together at the\nfoot of the tree.\n\nIn the art of camouflage--an art which affects the form, colour, and\nattitude of animals--Nature has worked along two different roads. One is\neasy and direct, the other circuitous and difficult. The easy way is\nthat of protective resemblance pure and simple, where the animal's\ncolour, form, or attitude becomes like that of its habitat. In which\ncase the animal becomes one with its environment and thus is enabled to\ngo about unnoticed by its enemies or by its prey. The other way is that\nof bluff, and it includes all inoffensive animals which are capable of\nassuming attitudes and colours that terrify and frighten. The colours in\nsome cases are really of warning pattern, yet they cannot be considered\nmimetic unless they are thought to resemble the patterns of some extinct\nmodel of which we know nothing; and since they are not found in\npresent-day animals with unpleasant qualities, they are not, strictly\nspeaking, warning colours.\n\nDesert animals are in most cases desert-coloured. The lion, for example,\nis almost invisible when crouched among the rocks and streams of the\nAfrican wastes. Antelopes are tinted like the landscape over which they\nroam, while the camel seems actually to blend with the desert sands. The\nkangaroos of Australia at a little distance seem to disappear into the\nsoil of their respective localities, while the cat of the Pampas\naccurately reflects his surroundings in his fur.\n\nThe tiger is made so invisible by his wonderful colour that, when he\ncrouches in the bright sunlight amid the tall brown grass, it is almost\nimpossible to see him. But the zebra and the giraffe are the kings of\nall camouflagers! So deceptive are the large blotch-spots of the giraffe\nand his weird head and horns, like scrubby limbs, that his concealment\nis perfect. Even the cleverest natives often mistake a herd of giraffes\nfor a clump of trees. The camouflage of zebras is equally deceptive.\nDrummond says that he once found himself in a forest, looking at what he\nthought to be a lone zebra, when to his astonishment he suddenly\nrealised that he was facing an entire herd which were invisible until\nthey became frightened and moved. Evidently the zebra is well aware that\nthe black-and-white stripes of his coat take away the sense of solid\nbody, and that the two colours blend into a light gray, and thus at\nclose range the effect is that of rays of sunlight passing through\nbushes.\n\nThe arctic animals, with few exceptions, are remarkable for imitating\ntheir surroundings; their colour of white blends perfectly with the snow\naround them. The polar bear is the only white bear, and his home is\nalways among the snow and ice. The arctic fox, alpine hare, and ermine\nchange to white in winter only, because during the other seasons white\nwould be too conspicuous. The American arctic hare is always white\nbecause he always lives among the white expanses of the Far North. Both\nfoxes and stoats are carnivorous and feed upon ptarmigan and hares, and\nthey must be protectively coloured that they may catch their prey. On\nthe other hand, Nature aids the prey by providing them with colours that\nenable them to escape the attention of their enemies.\n\nThe young of many of the arctic animals are covered with fluffy white\nhair, so that while they are too young to swim they may lie with safety\nupon the ground and escape the attention of polar bears; but in the\nantarctic regions, where there are few enemies to fear, the young seals,\nfor instance, are exactly the colour of their parents.\n\nThe most remarkable exception of mimetic colouring among the animals of\nthe polar regions is the sable. Throughout the long Siberian winter he\nretains his coat of rich brown fur. His habits, however, are such that\nhe does not need the protection of colour, for he is so active that he\ncan easily catch wild birds, and he can also subsist upon wild berries.\nThe woodchuck of North America retains his coat of dark-brown fur\nthroughout the long, cold winters. The matter of his obtaining food,\nhowever, is easy, for he lives in burrows, near streams where he can\ncatch fish and small animals that live in or near the water.\n\nA number of the old-school naturalists believed that when an animal's\ncolouring assumed the snowy-white coat of its arctic surroundings, this\nwas due to the natural tendency on the part of its hair and fur to\nassume the colourings and tints of their habitat. This, however, is\nabsolutely false; and no better proof of it can be offered than the case\nof the arctic musk-ox, who is far more polar in his haunts than even the\npolar bear, and is therefore exposed to the whitening influence of the\nwintry regions more than the bear. Yet he never turns white, but is\nalways brown. The only enemy of this northern-dweller is the arctic\nwolf, and against this enemy he is protected by powerful hoofs, thick\nhair, and immense horns. He does not need to conceal himself, and\ntherefore does not simulate the colour of his surroundings.\n\n[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_\n\nTHE INDIANS CLAIM THAT THE MOTHER BISON FORCED HER CALF TO ROLL OFTEN IN\nA PUDDLE OF RED CLAY, SO THAT IT MIGHT BE INDISTINGUISHABLE AGAINST ITS\nRED CLAY BACKGROUND.]\n\n[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_\n\nTHE ZEBRA IS ONE OF THE CLEVEREST OF CAMOUFLAGERS. THE BLACK-AND-WHITE\nSTRIPES OF HIS BODY GIVE THE EFFECT OF SUNLIGHT PASSING THROUGH BUSHES.]\n\nMimetic resemblances are worked out with great difficulty, except in\nsuch cases as the nocturnal animals, which simply become one with their\nsurroundings. Mice, rats, moles, and bats wear overcoats that are very\ninconspicuous, and when suddenly approached they appear almost\ninvisible. Some of the North American Indians claimed that buffaloes\nmade their calves wallow in the red clay to prevent them from being seen\nwhen they were lying down in the red soil.\n\nThe kinds of protection from these mimetic resemblances are many and\nvaried: the lion, because of his sandy-colouring, is able to conceal\nhimself by merely crouching down upon the desert sands; the striped\ntiger hides among the tufts of grass and bamboos of the tropics, the\nstripes of his body so blending with the vertical stems as to prevent\neven the natives from seeing him in this position. The kudu, one of the\nhandsomest of the antelopes, is a remarkable animal in several ways. His\ncamouflage is so perfect that it gives him magnificent courage. With his\nspiral horns, white face, and striped coat tinted in pale blue, he is\nalmost invisible when hiding in a thicket. The perfect harmony of his\nhorns with the twisted vines and branches, and the white colourings with\nblue tints in the reflected sunlight conceal him entirely.\n\nThe snow-leopard, which inhabits Central Asia, is stony-grey, with large\nannular spots to match the rocks among which he lives. This colouration\nconceals him from the sheep, upon which he preys; while the spotted and\nblotchy pattern of the so-called clouded tiger, and the\npeculiarly-barred skin of the ocelot, imitate the rugged bark of trees,\nupon which these animals live.\n\nOne of the most unusual and skilled mimics is the Indian sloth, whose\ncolour pattern and unique eclipsing effects seem almost incredible to\nthose unfamiliar with the real facts. His home is in the trees, and he\nhas a deep, orange-coloured spot on his back, which would make him very\nconspicuous if seen out of his home surroundings. But he is very clever,\nand clings to the moss-draped trees, where the effect of the\norange-coloured spot is exactly like the scar on the tree, while his\nhair resembles the withered moss so strikingly that even naturalists are\ndeceived.\n\nHenry Drummond must have known the animal world rather well when he\nremarked that \"Carlisle in his blackest visions of 'shams and humbugs'\namong humanity never saw anything so finished in hypocrisy as the\nnaturalist now finds in every tropical forest. There are to be seen\ncreatures, not singly, but in tens of thousands, whose every appearance,\ndown to the minutest spot and wrinkle, is an affront to truth, whose\nevery attitude is a pose for a purpose, and whose whole life is a\nsustained lie. Before these masterpieces of deception the most ingenious\nof human impositions are vulgar and transparent. Fraud is not only the\ngreat rule of life in a tropical forest, but the one condition of it.\"\n\nMany of the larger cats live in trees, and most of them have spotted or\noscillated skins, which aid them in hiding among foliage plants. The\npuma who wears a brown coat is an exception, but it must be remembered\nthat he does not need the kind of coat his fellow friends wear. He\nclings so closely to the body of a tree while waiting for his prey as to\nbe almost invisible.\n\nThis phenomenon is true throughout the animal world. Everywhere does\nNature aid in escape and capture. Only those skilled in the ways of the\nwild fully realise how conspicuous amidst foliage, for instance, would\nbe a uniform colouration. A parti-coloured pattern is extremely\ndeceptive and thus protective, and for this reason one seldom sees in\nNature a background of one colour; and since the large majority of\nanimals need concealment, it is necessary for them to be clothed in\npatterns that vary.\n\nThese variations are especially noticeable in young animals, and furnish\nthem with a mantle that is practically invisible to predatory enemies\nduring the time they are left unprotected by their parents. These\nprotective mantles often differ strikingly in pattern and colouration\nfrom those of their parents, and indicate that the young animals\npresent the colouration and pattern of their remote forbears. It might\neven be said that \"the skins of the fathers are thrust upon the\nchildren, even unto the third and fourth generation!\" In fact, it is\nquite probable that they give through this varying colouration the\n\"life-history\" of their family.\n\nIn all hoofed animals--antelope, deer, horses--the protective\ncolouration is also adapted to habitat and environment. Most deer belong\nto the forest, carefully avoiding the open deserts and staying near\nwater. They live chiefly in the jungle or scrub, and are usually spotted\nwith red and white in such a way as to be almost invisible to a casual\nobserver; some, however, that live in the very shady places are\nuniformly dark so as to harmonise with their surroundings. The wild\nhorses and asses of Central Asia are dun-coloured--corresponding exactly\nto their sandy habitat.\n\nThe Shakesperian conception of the human world as a stage may be\nparalleled in the animal world. Animals, like human beings, have all a\ndefinite role to play in the drama of life. Each is given certain\nequipment in form, colour, voice, demeanour, ambitions, desires, and\nnatural habitat. Some are given much, others but little. Many have\nsucceeded well in the art of camouflage while endeavouring to make a\nsuccess in life. This success has brought the desired opportunity of\nmating, rearing young, bequeathing to them their special gifts and\nliving in ease and comfort.\n\nOne of the most successful and striking cases of protective colouration\nin young animals is found in wild swine. Here there is longitudinal\nstriping which marks them from head to tail in broad white bands, over a\nbackground of reddish dark brown. The tapirs have a most unique form of\nmarking. It is similar in the young of the South American and Malayan\nspecies. Their bodies are exquisitely marked in snow-white bars. At\ntheir extremities these bars are broken up into small dots which tend to\noverlap each other. During the daytime these young animals seek the\nshade of the bushes and as the spots of sunlight fall upon the ground\nthey appear so nearly one with their environment as to pass unnoticed by\ntheir enemies. The adults, however, vary greatly one from another in\ncolouration. The American species is self-coloured, while the Malayan\nhas the most unique pattern known to the animal world. The\nfore-quarters, the head, and the hind-legs are black, while the rest of\nthe body from the shoulders backwards is of a dirt-white colour.\n\nIt has been observed by all students of Nature that bold and gaudy\nanimals usually have means of defending themselves that make them very\ndisagreeable to their enemies. They either have poisonous fangs, sharp\nspines, ferocious claws, or disagreeable odours. There are still others\nthat escape destruction because of the bad company with which they are\nassociated by their enemies.\n\nThe reptiles offer us many good examples of mimicry. Most arboreal\nlizards wear the colour of the leaves upon which they feed; the same is\ntrue of the whip-snakes and the tiny green tree-frogs. A striking\nexample of successful camouflage is found in the case of a North\nAmerican frog whose home is on lichen-covered rocks and walls, which he\nso closely imitates in colour and pattern as to pass unnoticed so long\nas he remains quiet. I have seen an immense frog, whose home was in a\ndamp cave, with large green and black spots over his body precisely like\nthe spots on the sides of his home.\n\n     _Author Note:_ The word \"mimicry\" as used here implies a particular\n     kind of resemblance only, a resemblance in external appearance,\n     never internal, a resemblance that deceives. It does not imply\n     voluntary imitation. Both the words \"mimicry\" and \"imitation\" are\n     used to imply outward likeness. The object of the outward likeness\n     or resemblance is to cause a harmless or unprotected animal to be\n     mistaken for the dangerous one which he oftentimes imitates; or to\n     aid the unprotected animal in escaping unnoticed among the\n     surroundings he may simulate.\n\nA splendid example of pure bluff is shown in the case of the harmless\nAustralian lizard, known scientifically under the name of\n_chlamydosaurus kingii_. When he is undisturbed he seems perfectly\ninoffensive, but when he becomes angry, he becomes a veritable\nfiend-like reptile. In this condition he stands up on his hind legs,\nopens his gaping mouth, showing the most terrible teeth, which, by the\nway, have never been known to bite anything. Besides this forbidding\ndisplay he further adds to his terrible appearance by raising the most\nextraordinary frill which is exquisitely decorated in grey, yellow,\nscarlet, and blue. This he uses like an umbrella, and if in this way he\ndoes not succeed in frightening away his enemy, he rushes at him, and\nlashes him with his saw-like tail. Even dogs are terrified at such\ncamouflage and leave the successful bluffer alone.\n\nIn all parts of the tropics are tree-snakes that lie concealed among the\nboughs and shrubs. Most of them are green, and some have richly coloured\nbands around their bodies which look not unlike gaily coloured flowers,\nand which, no doubt, attract flower-seeking insects and birds. Among\nthese may be mentioned the deadly-poisonous snakes of the genus _elaps_\nof South America. They are so brilliantly provided with bright red and\nblack bands trimmed with yellow rings that it is not uncommon for a\nplant collector to attempt to pick them up for rare orchids!\n\nWherever these snakes are found, are also found a number of perfectly\nharmless snakes, absolutely unlike the dangerous ones in habit and life,\nyet coloured precisely the same. The _elaps fulvius_, for example, a\ndeadly venomous snake of Guatemala, has a body trimmed in simple black\nbands on a coral-red ground, and in the same country and always with him\nis found a quite harmless snake, which is coloured and banded in the\nsame identical manner. The terrible and much-feared _elaps lemnicatus_\nhas the peculiar black bands divided into divisions of three by narrow\nyellow rings, thus exactly mimicking a harmless snake, the _pliocerus\nelapoides_, both of which live in Mexico. Presumably, the deadly variety\nassumes the colouring of the harmless kind in order to deceive intended\nvictims as to his ferocity.\n\nSurely this is sufficient evidence that colouration and pattern-design\nis a useful camouflage device of the great struggle for existence. And\nit is safe to assert that any animal that has enemies and still does not\nresort to protective colouration or mimicry in some form is entirely\nable to protect itself either by its size, strength, ferocity, or by\nresorting to safety in numbers. Elephants and rhinoceroses, for example,\nare too powerful to be molested when grown, except in the rarest cases,\nand are furthermore thoroughly capable of protecting their young.\nHippopotamuses are protected by their immense heads, and are capable of\ndefending their young from crocodiles even when in the water.\n\nThe bison and buffalo, which were once so powerful on the plains of\nNorth America, were protected by their gregarious habits, which\nterrorised their enemies--the wolves. Their nurseries were a feature of\ntheir wisdom. These were circular pens where the tall grass was tramped\ndown by expectant mothers for the protection of their young. This\nnatural nursery was protected from the inside by sentinels who went\nround and round the pen constantly guarding the young not only from the\nattack of wolves but also from venturing forth alone too early into the\nopen unprotected plains. In a similar way the snow-pens of the moose of\nthe Far North serve to protect them from the hungry hordes of wolves of\nwhich they live in constant danger. This indicates that the annihilation\nof the bison and buffalo was due, not to lack of wisdom, but to man's\ninhumanity; for, taking advantage of their nurseries, the men crouched\nnear and concealing themselves in the grass killed not only the mothers\nfor food but even the young in their savage sport.\n\nThe large majority of monkeys are protectively coloured with some shade\nof brown or grey, with specially marked faces. Entire packs of\nCeylonese species will, at the slightest alarm, become invisible by\ncrouching on a palm-tree. One of the most strikingly coloured African\nmonkeys is jet black with a white bushy tail, and a face surrounded by a\nwhite ring, or mantle of long silky hair. He thus simulates so\nstrikingly the hanging white lichens upon the trees that he is rarely\nseen by his enemies.\n\nA book might be written upon the various ways that animals, when closely\nassociated with other animals or human beings, imitate them. Darwin says\nthat \"two species of wolves, which had been reared by dogs, learned to\nbark, as does sometimes the jackall,\" and it is well known that certain\ndogs, when reared by cats, imitate their habits, even to the licking of\ntheir feet and the washing of their faces. If a mongrel dog associates\nwith a trained dog for any period of time it is remarkable the progress\nhe will make. For this same reason young dogs are carried on hunting\ntrips with trained dogs that they may learn by imitation the art of\nhunting.\n\nIn the whole realm of Nature there is nothing more wonderful than this\nmatter of protective colouration. Animals do not monopolise the art. It\nextends through the whole world of living creatures. The fact that\nindividual animals have no voluntary control over their own colour is\neloquent testimony as to the existence of mysterious life forces and\nracial evolutions which are still far beyond the grasp of man's\nunderstanding. To see a tiny chameleon adapt his colouring to his\nenvironment, be it red, green, or yellow, in the twinkling of an eye, is\nto have seen an argument for God Himself.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nANIMAL MUSICIANS\n\n  _\"Nay, what is Nature's self,\n  But an endless strife towards\n  Music, euphony, rhyme?\"_\n\n  --WATSON.\n\n\nThe great thinkers of the age believe that the world is one marvellous\nblending of innumerable and varied voices. This unison of sound forms\nthe great music of the spheres, which the poets and philosophers have\nwritten so much about. Even from a purely scientific point of view,\nthere is no denying that this music exists. Aviators tell us that when\nthey listen from a distance to the myriads of noises and sounds that\narise over a great city, these are all apparently lost in a modulated\nhum precisely like the vibrations of an immense tuning-fork, and\nappearing as but a single tone. Thus the immense noise going from our\nworld is musically digested into one tone, and the aviator soaring above\nthe earth hears only the one sound--the music of the spheres.\n\nThe deep appreciation that animals have for music is becoming a\ngenerally known fact among those who have studied them closely. Every\none must admit that there is much truth in the old saying that \"music\nhath charms to soothe the savage breast.\" Music is composed of\nvibrations, which act with great power upon the nervous system of men\nand animals alike. Each is affected according to his particular physical\nand mental development.\n\nProfessor Tarchanoff has made a careful study of the influence of music\nupon men and animals. He has demonstrated, by means of a machine which\ncarefully registers the various activities of the hands and fingers,\nthat when the hands are so tired and fatigued that they cannot make any\nmarks except a straight line on the cylinder which registers the\nmovements, music will so stimulate the nerves as to cause all fatigue to\ndisappear. And as soon as the fingers again touch the cylinder, they\nbegin to draw lines of various kinds and heights, thus proving that the\nmusic had rested the fingers and placed them under control. Various\nkinds of music were used: that of a melancholy nature had precisely the\nopposite effect to that of a lively, cheerful character; the nerves of\nthe hands could either be contracted or expanded according to the nature\nof the music.\n\nLike all real scientists, Professor Tarchanoff does not claim to give\nany positive explanation of these facts. He believes, however, that the\nvoluntary muscles act in the same relation to the music as the\nheart--that is, that cheerful, happy music affects the excito-motor\nnerves, sets up a vibration in those nerves which produces cheer and\ngood feeling; while sad, morbid music plays along the depressant nerves\nand produces sadness and depression.\n\nIn view of these facts, it is easy to see how animals, with their\nnervous temperaments and ready response to outside stimuli, are greatly\ninfluenced by various kinds of music. It is scientifically recognised\nthat music tends to increase the elimination of carbonic acid and\nincreases not only the consumption of oxygen, but even the activities of\nthe skin. There is no doubt that good music at meal time aids the\ndigestion.\n\n[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_\n\nMONKEYS ARE THE MOST MUSICAL OF ALL ANIMALS. WHEN THEY CONGREGATE FOR\n\"CONCERTS,\" AS SOME OF THE TRIBES DO, THE AIR IS FILLED WITH WEIRD\nSTRAINS OF MONKEY-MUSIC.]\n\n[Illustration: CATS, UNLIKE DOGS, ARE VERY FOND OF MUSIC. AND IT HAS\nBEEN PROVED THAT THEIR MUSIC-SENSE CAN BE DEVELOPED TO A REMARKABLE\nDEGREE.]\n\nCats have a species of unbeautiful music all their own, generally\nproduced at late hours of the night on the house tops, garden walls, and\nin the alleys of our dwellings. Miss Cat's songs are far too chromatic\nto be appreciated by human ears; as a result her concertos and solos are\nrarely spoken of by human critics. However, Nature does sometimes\nproduce a Tetrazzini, Alice Neilson, or Caruso, in the form of a cat,\nwhich really delights in harmonious combinations of sound. I know, for\ninstance, of a cat called \"Nordica\" owned by Presson Miller, who\napparently takes the greatest delight in hearing good vocal and\ninstrumental music. Another well-educated musical cat belongs to a\nfriend who plays a guitar. This cat delights in touching the strings\nwith his dainty, soft paws, and springs with delight as the notes are\nproduced.\n\nThe _Animal World_ speaks of five musical cats, which were carried to\nvarious parts of the world and exhibited as \"bell-ringers,\" and their\nowner made a fortune out of their concerts. Five bells were suspended\nfrom a hoop, which hung above the stage, and to each bell was attached a\nsmall rope. At a given signal, each cat would seize a bell and give it a\npull. This was done with such perfect time and spirit that one might\nwell believe it was the work of human musicians and not of cats.\n\nCows are responsive to certain kinds of music. A funeral march makes\nthem sad, and ragtime so disturbs them that they give but little milk.\nThe newspapers claim that Charles W. Ward, who owns a ranch near Eureka,\nCalifornia, says that the right kind of music will increase the\nproduction of milk, and that he uses a phonograph in the dairy barn.\n\nA friend, who has travelled much, tells the story of a musical cow. He,\nin company with two other friends, was coming up a river in a small boat\nsinging. Just as they turned a bend, they saw a small brown cow,\nsuckling her calf, along with several other cows in a nearby pasture.\nThe cow seemed so fascinated with the music that she plunged into the\nwater and waded up to her head trying to reach the boat. As they rowed\nalong, she ran up and down the bank, cutting capers in a most\nastonishing manner and lowing and bellowing in testimony of her delight\nin the music. She would leap, skip, roll on the grass, paw up the earth,\nlike an angry bull, and chase off like a playful kitten, always with a\nlow plaintive bellow as a final farewell. These friends often rowed up\nthe river just to see if the musical cow was there, and she always\ngreeted them in the usual appreciative manner.\n\nLions and tigers are proverbially fond of music. Professional trainers\ntell us that these animals, when tamed, will not do their stunts without\nthe accompaniment of music. The story is told of a group of tigers which\nrecently refused to perform, because the musicians, while the\nperformance was going on, went on a strike. At once when the music\nceased, the animals returned to their respective seats and no amount of\nencouragement would induce them to continue their performance. No\namount of threats would induce them to work without music. The trainer\ndared not punish them too severely, yet he feared that if they were not\nforced to perform, they might continue to strike. But such was not the\ncase, for on the morrow when the musicians returned they acted as never\nbefore.\n\nSheep, both tame and wild, are exceedingly fond of music, and the\nshepherds of Scotland have used it with their sheep for ages. When the\nshepherd plays upon his flute or bagpipe, they gather around him and\nlisten apparently with great satisfaction; when the music ceases, they\nwander out to feed, and in the evening he leads them home by the single\nstrains of his flute.\n\nCircus horses are not only fond of music, but are partial to certain\ntunes, and demand that these be played while they are doing their turn.\nIf for any reason the band changes the tune during a performance, they\nimmediately refuse to go on with their stunts.\n\nThe original fountain of all music was based on the various voices and\nsounds of animals--and each musical instrument was originally devised to\nimitate these sounds. For all instruments--the bass drum, flute,\nclarinet, trombone, trumpet, violin, and even pipe organ--an animal may\nbe mentioned that owns the fundamental tones in its voice, and which\nman has imitated. Castanets, for example, were imitations of the\nrattlesnakes; the first musical instruments of any savage tribe of men\nare made so as to represent the voices of the chief animals of that\nparticular locality.\n\nEvery animal of the higher order, with the exception of a few mute dogs\nthat belong to very hot or cold climates, is possessed of some sort of\nmusical tone, expressive of pain or joy, and by means of which he can\nexpress certain emotions. Darwin claimed that the voice of the gibbon,\nwhile extremely loud, was very musical; and Waterhouse said that this\nmusician sang the scale with considerable accuracy, at least\nsufficiently well for a trained violinist to accompany him.\n\nOften when dogs hear music they howl, or attempt to sing. Some show a\ndecided preference for certain kinds of music, and actually try to\nimitate it. Gross tells of a friend of his who had a dog with which he\noften gave performances. The dog would accompany his master, when he\nsang in falsetto, with howls that were unmistakably attempts at singing,\nand which readily adapted themselves to the pitch of the tone. This was\na musical accomplishment of which he was very proud.\n\nOn a subject of which so little is known, there are, of course, diverse\nopinions. Scheitlin believed that music is actually disagreeable to a\ndog, but he says that it may be questioned whether or not the dog does\nnot in some way accompany it. And Romanes, the great animal authority,\nthought the same thing. He had a terrier, which accompanied him when he\nsang, and actually succeeded in following the prolonged notes of the\nhuman voice with a certain approximation to unison. Dr. Higgins, a\nmusician, claimed that his large mastiff could sing to the accompaniment\nof the organ.\n\nAlix gives such positive examples that they are really marvellous: \"Pere\nPardies cites the case of two dogs that had been taught to sing, one of\nthem taking a part with his master. Pierquin de Gembloux also speaks of\na poodle that could run the scale in tune and sing very agreeably a fine\ncomposition of Mozart's _My Heart It Sings at Eve_.\" All the scientists\nin Paris, according to the same authority, went to see the dog belonging\nto Dr. Bennati, and hear it sing the scale, which it could do perfectly.\n\nMonkeys and apes most nearly approximate human musicians. In central\nAfrica these animal tribes have musical centres where they congregate\nregularly for \"concerts.\" Prof. Richard S. Garner, the noted authority\non apes and monkeys, believes that the time has already come for the\nestablishment of a school for their education. He would have the courses\nbeginning with a kindergarten and advancing through as many grades as\nthe students required. Prof. Garner furthermore believes that we have\nlittle understanding of the gorilla, and points out that these animals\nhave a very happy and harmonious home life, the father being highly\ndomestic and delighting in the company of his wife and children. It is\nnot uncommon to find five or six generations in a certain district of\nthe jungle.\n\nTheir near kin, the chimpanzees, are equally clannish, but more musical.\nThey come down from the branches of the trees, seating themselves on the\ndry leaves and assembling like an orchestra. After all are ready, they\nbegin beating the leaves with their hands, at first very slowly, like\nthe quiet prelude to a symphony, and gradually increasing in tempo until\nthe grand crescendo is reached. Then, as if by the direction of an\ninvisible leader, the music suddenly ceases. To deny that this is to\nthem a real concert would lead us into extreme absurdities. In this\nconnection it is interesting to note that when a baby is expected in the\nvillage, all music ceases until after its birth, when they again resume\ntheir periodic musical festivals. Hensel verifies this observation, and\ntells us of having seen apes come from their shelter in the early\nmorning and congregate for a musical concert. \"They repair,\" he says,\n\"to the shelter of some gigantic monarch of the forest whose limbs offer\nfacilities for walking exercises. The head of the family appropriates\none of these branches and advances along it seriously, with elevated\ntail, while the others group themselves about him. Soon he gives forth\nsoft single notes, as the lion likes to do when he tests the capacity of\nhis lungs. This sound, which seems to be made by drawing the breath in\nand out, becomes deeper and in more rapid succession as the excitement\nof the singer increases. At last, when the highest pitch is reached, the\nintervals cease and the sound becomes a continuous roar, and at this\npoint all the others, male and female, join in, and for fully ten\nseconds at a time the awful chorus sounds through the quiet forest. At\nthe close the leader begins again with the detached sounds.\"\n\nPerhaps the most remarkable evidence of animals showing a comprehensive\nintelligence of musical pitch is demonstrated by cavalry horses. That\nthey thoroughly understand it is clearly demonstrated by the fact that\nthey will obey the calls of the bugle for cavalry evolutions without a\nmoment's hesitation and with no suggestion from outside sources. These\nbugle calls are produced by a combination of four notes, each of a\ndifferent pitch, and it is rarer to find a horse making a mistake in the\nmusical orders given than it is for their masters.\n\nRats and mice have a decided liking for music, as is attested by the\nfact that they appear as uninvited guests and also come as near the\nperformer as possible. Mice, one would believe, love church music, for\nthey often build their nests in pipe organs, thus being able to rear\ntheir children in both a musical and religious atmosphere! There is more\ntruth than imagination in the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, which\nillustrates how they respond to the simple charms of music.\n\nEven donkeys betray tendencies toward musical efforts, and seem to be\naroused by music at least temporarily to a higher mental plane than\nBalaam was inclined to ascribe to his wise ass. Not all of them sing\nequally well, but in Arizona the donkey is known as the \"desert canary.\"\nIf you were to spend a few glorious days in the Hopi village of Araibi,\nyou would hear through the still, silent night their long nasal bray or\nsong, and you would be convinced that the term is quite appropriate. You\nmay not exactly like the tune, but you will concede that they sing!\n\nSociety is just awakening to the joy and the significance of community\nart. This is everywhere indicated by the great growing group of people\nwho come together for a common music, either as a chorus or an orchestra\nor both. But in this field man has not yet attained such unity of\ncommunal effort as have the frogs. In the great swamps of the world\nmyriads of them gather from miles around, conscious of one purpose, and\nby a marvellous understanding and co-operation create for themselves a\nsymphony with beauties and harmonies of its own, and such as to stand\nunrivalled in man's musical world. In the great chorus are voices from\nthe lowest bass of the croaking bullfrog, squatting in the marshes, to\nthe myriads of tiny green tree tenors, between which are millions of\naltos, contraltos, sopranos, coloraturas and other voices not yet in our\nmusical vocabulary. These are accompanied by all the sounds of our\norchestra and innumerable others of such delicate shades and gradations\nas to defy the ear of man. If we listen to one of these concerts, we\nwill quickly recognise the tones of every familiar instrument, such as\nthe drum, pipe, horn, trombone, oboe, piccolo, 'cello, and violin. The\ngreatest of these musical festivals directly precedes the mating season,\nand is a dramatic instance of a manifestation of an inner rhythm which\ncorresponds to an external periodicity.\n\nAmong the oldest traditions of the Eastern world are those of\nsnake-charming by means of music. I have long been interested in this\nstrange phenomenon of Nature, and in company with a brilliant young\nviolinist visited a zoological park recently, and after securing\npermission from the head keeper, entered the snake-house. The violinist\nbegan by playing a few most sympathetic chords, first delicate and soft,\nthen sad, then gay, slow or tremulous. Near us, coiled in his immense\ncage, was a large cobra--the snake which all legend claims is most\neasily influenced by music. Almost immediately after the music began,\nthe cobra raised himself in a listening attitude, steadily gazed at us\nas though he were viewing the future, spread his immense hood, and\nslowly began to shake his head from side to side, as if he were trying\nto keep time to the music. As soon as the music would change, his\nattitude changed accordingly. Only after the music had ceased did he\nresume his normal position.\n\nThe Indians agree that under the influence of various musical\ninstruments, especially bagpipes, snake-charmers are able to get the\nsnakes to come out from their homes among the old rocks and walls, and\nwhen they appear they seem perfectly dazed so that they can be easily\ncaptured.\n\nIt is not well to have any kind of musical instrument played, when in a\nforest at night where there are dangerous snakes, lest they come to hear\nit. Snake-hunters always carry with them some kind of musical\ninstrument, depending upon the kind of snakes they wish to capture. It\nseems that all are not equally fascinated by it. I have experimented\nwith little effect upon a large rattler; it may have been that he was\ndeaf. But he gave little evidence of being interested.\n\nWe need not feel humiliated, then, for our animal kinspeople with their\nprimitive music: we were monkeys, and before them we were reptiles,\nbirds, fishes, even worms. But that was ages ago, and we have grown up\nand become better musicians. Evolution has chosen us as its favourites\nand given us every advantage in the struggle up the ladder of life. Our\nmusical rivals of yesterday are as chorus people compared to\nMetropolitan Opera stars, with us. On this earth we reign supreme, we\nhave conquered the earth, air, and water, annihilating time and\ndistance. What more is there for us to learn of Nature's secrets? Only\nan understanding of our lower brothers, the animals.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nANIMALS AT PLAY\n\n  _\"... _About them frisking, played\n  All beasts of the earth, since wild, and of all chase\n  In wood or wilderness, forest or den;\n  Sporting the lion romped, and in his paw\n  Dandled the kid; bears, tigers, ounces, pards,\n  Gambled before them; the unwieldy elephant,\n  To make them mirth, used all his might, and wreathed\n  His light proboscis.\"_\n\n  _--Paradise Lost._\n\n\nThat \"one touch of Nature makes the whole world kin\" is shown in no\nclearer way than by the games and play of animals. Recreation is as\ncommon among them as it is among our own children; and they seem always\nto be artistic and even skilled in their play. Young goats and lambs\nskip, jump, run races, throw flips in the air, and gambol; calves have\ninteresting frolics; young colts and mules have biting and kicking\ngames; bears wrestle and tumble; puppies delight in biting and tussling;\nwhile kittens chase everything from spools of thread to their own\ntails.\n\nBut animal children grow up, and stop playing to a certain extent as age\nadvances, precisely as human children do. Each settles down into a more\npractical condition of life. They dislike to have their games and play\ndisturbed, and if the mother dog growls because her playful son has\ncontinuously tumbled over her while she was sleeping, or the cat-mother\nslaps her kitten because he plays with her tail--it is a display of the\nsame kind of emotion that prompts a human mother to rebuke her child in\nthe nursery for making too much noise, or for throwing toys out of the\nwindow. Animals, like ourselves, feel every sensation of joy, happiness,\nsurprise, disappointment, love, hope, ambition, and through their\nyouthful games an entire index of their future lives may be obtained.\n\nThis play has much to do with the physical and mental development of the\nanimals; and it is strange indeed that so few writers have considered\nthe subject of play in the animal world. Most of those who have noticed\nthe subject at all, drop it with a few remarks, to the effect that it is\n\"highly amusing,\" or \"very funny,\" or \"unbelievable,\" or \"so like the\nplay of children,\" without even a word of explanation of the whys and\nwherefores of it.\n\nAll animals have some kinds of play. Plutarch speaks of a trained\nelephant that often practised her steps when she thought no one was\nlooking. No one who has ever visited a zoological park and seen the\ncrowded monkey and baboon cages can have failed to note the wonderful\nplay of these animals. Seals seem never to tire of chasing one another\nthrough the water; while even the clumsy hippopotamuses have diving\ngames.\n\nKittens begin to tumble and play before they are two weeks old. They\nwill roll and toss a ball, hunting it from the dark corners, lay in\nsilent wait for each other, and suddenly spring upon an unsuspecting\nfellow-cat-baby's back, just as they will do later in life, when seeking\ntheir prey. I have seen them play with a catnip mouse for hours at a\ntime, just as the mother cat plays with a real mouse.\n\nBrehm says that this is noticed in their earliest kittenhood, and that\nthe mother cat encourages it in all ways possible, even to becoming a\nchild with her children from love of them, as a human mother does in the\nnursery with her child. The mother cat begins the play by slowly moving\nher tail. Gesner considered her tail as the indicator of her moods. The\nkittens, while they may not understand what this means, are greatly\nexcited by the movement, their eyes sparkle, their ears stand erect, and\nslowly one after another clutches after the moving tail. Suddenly,\none springs over the mother's back, another grabs at her feet, while a\nthird playfully slaps her in the face with his tiny, soft, cushioned\npaw. She, patiently and mother-like, lovingly submits to all this\ntreatment, as it is only play.\n\n[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_\n\nDRYPTOSAURUS. THE PREHISTORIC ANIMALS, TOO, UNDOUBTEDLY HAD THEIR PLAY\nTIME, WITH GAMES AND \"SETTING UP\" EXERCISES.]\n\n[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_\n\nA HAPPY FAMILY OF POLAR BEARS. THE YOUNG CUBS WRESTLE AND TUMBLE, AS\nPLAYFULLY AS TWO PUPPIES. THIS PLAY HAS MUCH TO DO WITH THEIR PHYSICAL\nAND MENTAL DEVELOPMENT.]\n\nMany scientists have claimed that this so-called instinct should not be\nclassed as real play. However, such an authority as Darwin thought it\nwas play, and Scheitlin said that the cat let the mouse loose many times\nin order that she might have the experience of catching it each time. No\nmercy is shown the helpless mouse, which is the same to her as the toy\nball--in the same way as a real beetle and a toy beetle are the same to\na small child. Evidently the cat does not play with the mouse for the\ndelight in torturing it, but purely for practice that she may become\nskilled in the art of catching it. The cat also exercises in springing\nmovements, and by studying the mouse's probable movements, learns to\nacquire a knowledge and skill in mouse-ways otherwise impossible.\n\nThe same cruel practice is found among leopards, panthers, and wild\ncats. Brehm verifies the observation that many members of the cat family\npractise torturing their victims in a horrible manner, pretending to\nliberate them, until the poor creatures at last die from their wounds.\nLenz tells of a marten that would play with its prey for hours when not\nhungry. Especially was this true when marmots chanced to be his victims,\nand around these he would leap and spring, dealing them terrific blows\nfirst with one paw and then with the other. When hungry, however, he\nproceeded differently, devouring them at once from teeth to tail.\n\nAll the cat family, it seems, are fond of human companionship, and take\nalmost as much delight in playing with human beings as with their own\nkind. This is especially true of the puma. Brehm tells of a tame one\nthat delighted in hiding at the approach of his master and springing out\nunexpectedly, just as the lion does. Hudson claimed that the puma, with\nthe exception of the monkey, was possibly the most playful of all\nanimals. Travellers tell many interesting tales of the play of these\nanimals, especially on the Pampas of South America.\n\nGross relates the experience of an Englishman who was compelled to spend\nthe night outdoors on the Pampas of the La Plata. At about nine o'clock,\non a bright moonlight night, he saw four pumas coming toward him, two\nadult animals and two young ones. He well knew that these animals would\nnot attack him, so he quietly waited. In a short time they approached\nhim, chasing one another and playing hide-and-seek like little kittens;\nand finally leaped directly over the man several times. The mother cat\nwould run ahead, calling to the little ones to follow her. But she never\ndisturbed him.\n\nAt times an animal at play with another uses the same tactics and\nmethods employed on its prey. Of course, the value of such practice for\nthe tasks of later-life is evident. Dogs play hide-and-seek, tag, and\nvarious chasing games for hours without resting. Among the negroes of\nthe South it is not uncommon to see a hound playing hide-and-seek with\nthe little pickaninnies. I have seen a hound peeping in and out among a\npile of brush to discover where the little ones were hiding, and at the\nfirst sight of a little black face, he would lay low in anticipation of\na playful spring, or a sudden dash-away, with the expectation of being\nchased by his friends. At times he would suddenly disappear toward his\nhome, and slyly slip around and approach the playground from an opposite\ndirection.\n\nEvery one who has owned fox terriers knows how they will crouch in the\nopen grass and remain motionless, with quivering expectation for the\nother playfellow to arrive, and when the one in ambush sees the other\ncoming he springs toward him, as though he were going to destroy him!\nAnd when the two come together, they attempt to seize each other by the\nnecks, as they would do in a real conflict. A wrestle and tussle ensues\nand when utterly exhausted from this play, the tired dogs, like two\nfatigued children, run to their homes.\n\nDogs are fond of playing ball, and will readily bring a ball or stick to\ntheir master when he has thrown it. They will also go into the water to\nbring out sticks that may have been tossed in for amusement. Eugene\nZimmerman had a young fox terrier that would set a ball in motion, when\nthere was no one to pitch it for him, by seizing it in his mouth and\ntossing it up in the air. Monkeys and jaguars will also play ball, and\ntame bears take great delight in wrestling, playing ball, and fighting\nmock battles.\n\n[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_\n\nTHE MOTHER OPOSSUM IS NEVER HAPPIER THAN WHEN SHE HAS HER LITTLE ONES\nPLAYING HIDE-AND-SEEK OVER HER BACK.]\n\n[Illustration: THIS YOUNG FOX CAME FROM HIS HOME IN THE WOODS DAILY TO\nPLAY WITH A YOUNG FOX-TERRIER. HE IS NOW RESTING AFTER A ROMP.]\n\nBeckmann wonderfully describes the play of a badger, whose only playmate\nwas an exceptionally clever dog, who from his earliest youth had been\ntaught to live with different kinds of animals. \"Together they went\nthrough a series of gymnastic exercises on pleasant afternoons, and\ntheir four-footed friends came from far and near to witness the\nperformance. The essentials of the game were that the badger, roaring\nand shaking his head like a wild boar, should charge upon the dog, as\nit stood about fifteen paces off, and strike him in the side with its\nhead; the dog, leaping dexterously entirely over the badger, awaited a\nsecond and third attack, and then made his antagonist chase him all\nround the garden. If the badger managed to snap the dog's hindquarters,\nan angry tussle ensued, but never resulted in a real fight. If Caspar,\nthe badger, lost his temper, he drew off without turning round, and got\nup snorting and shaking and with bristling hair, and strutted about like\nan inflated turkey-cock. After a few moments his hair would smooth down,\nand with some head-shaking and good-natured grunts the mad play would\nbegin again.\"\n\nYoung animals are strikingly like children in their craving for\namusement. A young bear will lie on his back and play with his feet and\ntoes by the hour, while a young pup can have a great game with only a\ndry bone, or by chasing his shadow on the wall. Rabbits come out in\nevenings on the sand-hills to play hide-and-seek with their young, and\nsquirrels never weary of this universally popular game. I know of a\nyoung fox that used to come from a nearby woods every evening to play\nwith a young fox-terrier. They became great friends and were often seen\nin the woods together.\n\nA friend who owns a ranch in Texas once raised two young wolves that\nromped and played with the neighbour's dogs just as if they were dogs\nthemselves. There are other animals, like the weasels, that will also\nplay with strange friends. But they prefer their own kind as playmates.\nThey take the greatest delight in playing with their parents, and\nnothing is more beautiful or strange than to see several of them playing\nin a valley on a sunny day. Out pops one little head, with twinkling\neyes glancing from side to side, and then as if from nowhere, the little\nbrothers and sisters begin to appear, chasing each other as though they\nwere playing tag. These exercises give them much agility which they will\nneed in later life.\n\nI once owned a tame raccoon, and often kept him chained in the back\nyard. When he could not find a young chicken or duck to torment, he\ndevised all kinds of schemes to relieve the monotonous hours. He would\npile up a number of small stones, and carefully await his chance to\nfling one into a group of young chickens. He seemed to understand that\nhe was more apt to make a hit when he threw into a crowd than when\naiming at a single chick. At other times he would lie on his back, madly\nwaving his tail as though he were signalling for some one to come near.\nIf we chanced to pass by without speaking, he would growl or whine in\nsome way to attract attention. After hours of self-amusement he would\nlie down as if life were useless, and wait until something or somebody\ncame along to amuse him. His greatest delight was in fishing things out\nof a pan of water, and he would wash every pebble or plaything that he\nowned and carefully lay it out to dry. One day he pounced upon a rooster\nwho insulted him by drinking from his water vessel, and plucked a long\nfeather from his tail so quickly that we could hardly realise what had\ntaken place. He then had great fun in attempting to stick the feather in\nhis head or by planting it upright in the ground. Another day, in\nwinter, he broke his chain and made straight for the kitchen, where he\nfound a snug warm place in old Aunt Moriah's kitchen oven. The old\nnegress came to cook dinner and when the raccoon suddenly sprang out of\nher oven, she vowed, \"I'se nevah gwine to cook in dis heah kitchen\nagain; dis place is hoodooed fo' life!\"\n\nOnce we gave him a pail of hot milk, and it was evidently hotter than we\nrealised; he started to drink it, and suddenly stopped, and in anger\ngrabbed at a very young puppy that was following us, and before we could\nstop him, dipped the puppy's head into the hot milk. Fortunately,\nhowever, the milk was not hot enough to injure the puppy. But the\nraccoon had taken his revenge out on the little animal, and was\nevidently satisfied.\n\nIt is interesting to note that all animals seem to play games and take\nexercises that will be especially helpful to them in later life.\nBadgers, for example, delight in turning somersaults; deer like to jump\nand leap; foxes and raccoons practise stealing upon one unnoticed;\ntapirs and crocodiles play in the water as night approaches; mountain\ngoats, sheep, horses and mules run, leap, jump, and play follow-leader.\nAnimals that live in the high mountains practise all kinds of\nhigh-jumps, which would be unnecessary if they lived on level ground,\nbut are highly essential in mountainous countries.\n\nBrehm claims that in summer the chamois climb up to the everlasting snow\nand take much delight in playing in it. They will drop into a crouching\nposition on the top of a very steep mountain, work their four legs with\na swimming motion, and slide down on the surface of the snow for a\nhundred and fifty metres. As they slide down the snow flies over them\nlike a fine powder. As soon as they reach the bottom, they jump to their\nfeet, and slowly climb up the mountain-side again, while many of their\ncomrades silently stand by and watch their coasting approvingly, first\none and then another joining in the sport, like human coasters would do.\nIt is not uncommon for a number of them to tumble together at the\nbottom, like romping children. This coasting is very remarkable, and\nthrough skill in it, no doubt, the lives of many chamois are saved from\nfrightful accidents later in life. Alix tells us that dogs of\nmountainous countries are also often skilled in the art of coasting.\n\nOur tame fawn used to delight in playing with our old rabbit-dog,\nNimrod. They were the best of friends, and the fawn would begin the\nchase by approaching Nimrod as though he were going to stamp him into\nthe earth, and then suddenly leaping quickly and safely over the dog, he\nwould run away. At this signal for a game, if Nimrod was in the mood, he\nchased the fawn, who would delight in jumping over fences and hedges and\nwaiting for poor Nimrod to get over or under just in time to see his\nplaymate leap to the other side.\n\nWolves, if taken when quite young, have a most unique way of showing\ntheir affection at the appearance of their master. They will spring into\nthe air, tumbling over, with whinnying cries of delight, falling to the\nground they pretend to bite and snap at everything, until their friend\nfinally comes very near them.\n\nPrairie dogs are fond of all kinds of races and jumping games; they will\neach appear at the entrance to their underground homes, and will play a\nsimple form of prisoners'-base for long periods of time. With defiant\ncalls at each other, one finally approaches the home of the other, which\nis a signal for the third to attempt to slip into the entrance to the\nsecond one's home before he can return. Many join in the game and it\nusually ends in a regular roll-and-tumble for their respective homes.\n\nPerhaps the strangest of all forms of play is that in which young\nduckbills indulge. They are slightly like puppies in their methods of\nroll-and-tumble, but the way in which they grab one another with their\nstrange bills, as they strike with their fore-paws is quite original.\nThey seem to have an unusually good disposition, and if one little\nplayfellow falls in the game, and desires to scratch himself before\narising, the other patiently waits until he arises, when the mock battle\nbegins anew.\n\nAntelopes have chase and marching games which are beautiful. They seem\nrapidly to follow an invisible leader over the plains, suddenly forming\nthemselves into pairs, fours, eights, sixteens, until the entire herd\nthus form one line, like an army of soldiers marching. While this game\nis progressing, certain of their number stand as sentinels and\nspectators, and the slightest approach of an enemy is the signal for all\nplay to cease, and for them to disappear over the plains.\n\nWhen we witness these abundant evidences of the need and prevalence of\nrecreation in the animal world, we are confronted with one more argument\nfor the existence of real mental and moral faculties among our\nfour-footed friends.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nARMOUR-BEARING AND MAIL-CLAD ANIMALS\n\n  _\"The spectacle of Nature is always new, for she is always\n  renewing the spectators. Life is her most exquisite invention;\n  and death is her expert contrivance to get plenty of life.\"_\n\n  --GOETHE'S _Aphorisms_ (trans. by HUXLEY).\n\n\nCivilised nations throughout the world at different times in their\ncountry's history have protected their soldiers and warriors with coats\nof armour or mail. This practice prevailed extensively during the Middle\nAges; but it has almost entirely disappeared. The German breastplates of\nto-day are an attempted revival. The coats of mail of the ancient\nwarriors underwent an evolutionary process, until they were indeed\nbrought to a high pitch of perfection and beauty. It was at this period\nthat they were abandoned as too burdensome to be of practical value.\n\nThis protective form of armour has been used by animals since time\nimmemorial, and was copied by man from them; and among the various forms\nof it are found examples of every kind of armour used in the human\nworld, from the rough leather shields of hide which the savages use, to\nthe ornamental suits of mail, like those used by the knights of the\nfifteenth century. Indeed, some animals have carried the art of\nprotection to such an extent that they are veritable movable forts, or\n\"tanks!\"\n\nIn the early part of the earth's history, animals needed greater\nprotection from powerful enemies than they do at present, and they\ndeveloped a coat of mail, exquisite in appearance and even more\nefficient than that used by man. Yet, like mankind, they have found\nnewer and more efficient methods of protection, and as a result of\nchanged conditions and enemies, have discarded, at least most of them,\ntheir coats of mail and armour. Most of those who have held to the\nold-fashioned ways of fighting and facing the world, have, like\nunprogressive peoples, perished; and to-day only a few armour-bearing\nanimals exist. These classes, however, have never been very large, and\nconsist of two small families; the pangolins and the armadillos. The\nformer live in southern Asia and Africa, while the latter are\ninhabitants of South America.\n\nThese animals have a great advantage over man, for their armour grows\nupon their bodies and is a part of them, while man must put his on and\ntake it off and continually replace the worn-out parts. Again, while\nthere are only three distinct kinds of human armour--the chain, scale\nand plate armour--there are many kinds of animal armour. What wonderful\nopportunities exist to-day in the great museums for studying the\ndifferent kinds of animal armour, for those who are interested!\n\nThe scaly ant-eater, who is at home in Africa and Asia, is one of the\nmost unusual and original types of mail-clad animals. He might be\ncompared to a wolf in outline, covered from head to tail in huge, horny\nplates, which look like immense finger-nails overlapping each other. His\nhead sharpens out into a long, narrow snout, which contains a sticky,\nworm-like tongue, and this he can use with great rapidity and effect in\nraiding an ant-hill. He drops his tongue over the entrance, and the ants\nattempt to crawl over it and are glued to it. He walks in a very unique\nway by going upon the backs of his feet. This preserves his wonderful\nclaws for bursting open ants' nests, as his chief food consists of these\ntiny insects and their eggs.\n\nA cousin of the scaly ant-eater, the great ant-eater of South America,\nhas the same general habits of his near-kinsman. He has an immense bushy\ntail with which some naturalists claim he sweeps up ants. This is not\ntrue, however; he uses his tail, when he lies down, to cover himself.\nThe hairs of the tail part in such a manner as to fall over the body\nlike a thatched roof, protecting it from rain and storm alike.\n\nA part of the head and under portion of this ant-eater's body are\nunprotected, and this is why he rolls himself up like a ball when danger\nis near. In this position, his scales stand out in such a way as to make\na complete row of sharp points, as uninviting as the wires on a barbed\nwire fence. Yet, it is claimed that certain of his enemies, like the\nleopard, know his one great weakness--a terror of being wet--and often\nmake him uncoil by rolling him into the water. His coat of hard covering\nis really compact masses of hardened hair drawn out to sharp dagger\npoints, and might be likened to pine cones endued with power. Through\nages of experience, the scaly ant-eater has learned that even his\npowerful coat of protection is not altogether a success in life's\nbattles, and from time to time his armour has been made lighter and\nlighter, and because he has been so slow in making the necessary\nchanges, he is to-day very scarce, and able only by the greatest caution\nto drag out a dull existence as a nocturnal and burrowing animal. It\nwould seem that with such powerful protection as he originally had, he\nwould have outlived the puny armadillos, but his fast disappearance\nproves that the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the\nstrong.\n\nAmong the animals which have discarded their old-fashioned coats of\nmail, and have successfully protected themselves against all enemies,\nmay be mentioned the frogs, newts, and their kinspeople, the reptiles.\nThese latter, the learned, with their delight in multiplying terms, have\nclassed as amphibians. During the period when the coal forests were\ngrowing over what we now know as England, there were innumerable\namphibians, and even to-day their petrified footmarks are found in\nsandstone. The underside of their chests were covered with large bony\nplates, and in some cases the rest of the body was covered with\nscale-like bones. Yet, all the newts and frogs of to-day have wisely\ndiscarded the old coats of armour used by their forefathers.\n\nThe armadillo has an armour of quite another kind, notwithstanding the\nfact that pangolins and armadillos belong to the same great family, and\neach eats ants. Their plates of armour, or shields, have nothing at all\nto do with the hair, nor do they have anything to do with the\nexo-skeleton; they are formed of bone material, which appears in the\ntrue skin in the form of tiny shields, and each shield is itself\ncovered with a hard plate which grows in the outer skin. The actual\nformation of these shields differs largely in the various species of\narmadillo.\n\n[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_\n\nNAOSAURUS AND DIMETRODON, TWO EXTINCT ARMOUR-BEARERS WHO SHOULD HAVE\nBEEN WELL ABLE TO PROTECT THEMSELVES.]\n\n[Illustration: AN ARMOUR-BEARER OF PREHISTORIC TIMES WHOSE SHIELD WAS AN\nEFFECTIVE PROTECTION AGAINST ENEMY HORNS.]\n\nIt is well to remember that the pangolins and armadillos are the last\nsurvivors of a great and ancient family of armour-bearers. Many of their\nremote ancestors have been found in the rocks and hills of South\nAmerica, and all of their representatives of to-day are small\nanimals--the last of a doomed race--creatures of yesterday. The\nglyptodon is known to have been more than eleven feet in length, and his\nnear-kinsman, the chlamydothere, was even larger. He was nearly the size\nof our present-day rhinoceros. These extinct giants carried on their\nbacks huge domes of bony plates, that must have rivalled our much-feared\ntanks, of trench war fame. One would think they were invulnerable, yet\nthe glyptodon and the chlamydothere, with many other equally well\nprotected creatures, have long ago disappeared from the earth, but how\nand why nobody knows. This total disappearance of these marvellously\nprotected giants, which seemed capable of defending themselves against\nany and all kinds of enemies that might have arisen, is one of the\nstrangest and most unsolvable problems of science.\n\nAnother mail-clad animal of importance is the armadillo of the tropical\nand temperate regions of South America. He is nocturnal in habits,\nsleeping in his underground home during the day, and coming out at night\nto seek for food. This underground home is rather large, and the nursery\nis well protected from enemies by its location. In it the mother\narmadillo rears her young until they are large enough to care for\nthemselves.\n\nAll species of the armadillos are powerful burrowers, and they are well\nequipped for their tunnelling in the earth with strong fore limbs. They\nfeed upon all kinds of insects and animal substances. It is claimed that\nthe giant armadillo is a veritable grave-robber and sometimes digs up\ndead bodies for the purpose of eating them.\n\nThese animals are plentiful upon the savannas of South America, and they\nfeast upon the bodies of dead cattle. So hard are their coats of armour\nthat the Gauchos sharpen their Spanish knives, which they always carry,\nupon them. Should the armadillo be attacked by a man on horseback, he\nwill burrow so rapidly that only by the quickest movements of the man\ncan he be caught; and if he is, watch out for his terrible claws!\n\nNo animal is better protected by nature from its enemies than the\npichiciago, whose scientific name is _chlamyphorus truncatus_. This\nstrange little mantle-bearer wears a coat of mail which is as flexible\nas the human-made coats of armour of olden times, and he is as safe\nunder its cover, which allows him perfect freedom, as if he were under\nthe ground. He is about the size of the ordinary mole, and his general\nhabits are not unlike those of the mole. He is an underground-dweller,\nwith enormous fore-paws, palm-shaped, upon which are five powerful\nclaws. These he uses to great advantage in digging in the earth for\ninsects and for building his home. He has a small snout, reminding one\nof that of a pig; while his piercing little eyes are deeply hidden in\nhis fur. He is a native of Chile, and because of his shy nature and\nsubterranean habits is rarely seen.\n\nThe most interesting feature about this little creature is the cuirass\nwhich so perfectly protects his body. Its formation and arrangement is\nquite unusual; it appears like a number of squared plates of horn,\ntightly united to short strips of tape, which are sewed together. The\ncuirass is not connected with the entire body of the animal, but only on\nthe top of the head and along the spine. It covers the entire back, and\nwhen it reaches the tail, turns downward, forming a perfect flap, which\nprotects the hindquarters.\n\nThe various species of manis are famed for their powerful coats of\narmour. They, also, belong to the great group of burrowers, and their\ncoats of mail assume both offensive and defensive characters. These\nmail-bearers are covered with numerous sharp-edged scales, like\nminiature horns, which entirely overlap one another, like shingles on a\nhouse. They are of great hardness, and form a belt which no animal of\ntheir regions can penetrate. A revolver shot will produce not the\nslightest effect upon the body of this iron-protected animal.\n\nThese animals are plentiful in India, and when they are molested, they\ndeliberately wind themselves up, coil their tails over their bodies, and\nremain in conscious security against the fruitless blows of their\nenemies, who soon weary of the wounds caused from the prickly scales of\nimpenetrable armour.\n\nInstead of wearing heavy coats of mail, certain animals, such as the\nhedgehog and porcupine, prefer to wear coats covered with needles and\npins. Of course, a coat of spines is used purely for protection. And\nagainst the attacks of such enemies as dogs, it proves all-sufficient,\nbut it is a well-known fact that pumas and leopards will kill and eat\nporcupines at all times, paying small attention to their spines, as is\nshown by the number which are sometimes found sticking in the body of a\nporcupine-eating animal.\n\nThere are several species of this great spine-bearing family; and many\nof them, especially the true porcupines and the echidnas, have burrows\nin the ground and thus have a double means of protecting themselves. But\nothers, such as the hedgehog, depend for their protection upon their\nability to roll up into a ball, thus presenting a barbed wire\nprotection. Still others live largely in the trees and seek by other\nmeans to protect themselves.\n\nOne of the most interesting coats of armour is that worn by the\nporcupine ant-eater--oft-times erroneously called porcupine or hedgehog.\nHe is a native of Australia, and is a powerful burrower. He is\nmarvellously protected by means of a coat of needles or spines which\ninflict painful wounds on the dog or other enemy that ventures to attack\nhim. In case of danger, he curls himself up into a ball, and defies any\none to come near. Not only does he possess the coat of prickles with\nwhich he defends himself, but he also has a large perforated claw or\nspur on each hind foot through which pours an ill-smelling liquid, and\nthese also aid in protecting him. There are several varieties of\nporcupines which inhabit Asia, Africa, Southern Europe and America.\n\nWhen a porcupine wishes to attack an enemy, he rushes at it backwards,\nand usually leaves the enemy literally covered, like a living\npin-cushion, with his spines. These animals have convex skulls, short\ntails, and live chiefly in the warmer regions of the Old World. Those of\nAmerica are different in one particular--the soles of their feet are\ncovered with hard, bone-like tubercles, instead of being soft and\nsmooth; there are also a number of hairs that are intermingled with the\nspines. The Canada porcupine has more hairs than the American, and a\nshorter and stumpier tail.\n\nAnother animal whose methods of defence are by means of his spines, is\nthe hedgehog. His spines do not terminate in sharp points, like those of\nthe porcupine, but end in tiny knobs. These are placed beneath the skin,\nand are like pins stuck through a cushion. The hedgehog, like the\nporcupine, rolls himself into a ball when attacked by enemies, and he\nhas the additional ability of throwing himself down a hillside, like a\nrolling ball, and thus escaping his enemies without injury to himself.\nIt would seem that the hedgehog, rolled into a ball and covered with\nprickles, would be protected from all enemies. But this is not true, for\nthe clever fox knows just how to make him unroll. This one secret of the\nhedgehog's weakness very often causes his loss of life. His weakness is\na terror of being wet or dropped into water; and when the fox finds him\nall rolled up, he carefully rolls him into a pond of water and, when he\nunrolls, quickly drowns him. Notwithstanding the shortness of the\nhedgehog's spines, he is the most highly specialised of all\nspine-bearing animals. In the lower order of animals there are spiny\nmice and spiny rats, and even the horned toad uses his horns as a means\nof protection against his enemies.\n\nOne of the most peculiarly armoured animals is the horned lizard,\ncommonly known as the \"horned toad\" of America. His body is covered with\nsmall spiny scales, while the chisel-shaped head has a circlet of\nminiature horns. These he uses when attacked by enemies to shield\nhimself against bites and knocks. The Indians claim that if a snake\nswallows the horned lizard whole, the lizard will immediately work his\nway through the snake. This would not be without a parallel, however,\nfor it is generally known that box-fishes, when swallowed by sharks,\nbite their way out!\n\nNature has been especially kind to horned lizards, and that is the\nreason there are so many of them. They well know the secret of the Gyges\nring, and can put on the garment of invisibility in a very short time.\nThey especially frequent the desert regions of the South and West; and\nthose that dwell in black sandy regions are black; those of red clay\nregions are red; those of grey regions, grey; those from the variously\ncoloured regions of blue and red are precisely the colour of the earth.\nBut not satisfied with all their protections of armour and camouflage,\nthey actually, when hard-pressed by an enemy, feign death, like an\nopossum! And if the enemy persists in his attack, and Mr. Lizard cannot\nescape, as a final effort he spurts tears of blood from his eyes. The\nMexicans call him the \"sacred toad.\" The phenomenon of blood-shooting\nhas been explained in various ways, all of which seem equally\nunsatisfactory. So far it is one of Nature's secrets. Perhaps some day\nwe may understand it.\n\nThe tortoises are among the best examples of creatures which to-day\nprotect themselves with armour. They are, of course, reptiles, yet in\nthe general formation of their armour, they are strikingly like\narmadillos. The tortoise has his armour so arranged over his body that\nit forms one big box. He draws his head and limbs into this whenever\ndanger is near. In Texas recently I found a small land terrapin, and as\nsoon as I came near, he closed his house. I picked him up, and then\ncarefully laid him upside down on the ground, and stepped behind some\nnearby bushes to see what he would do. Immediately he poked his head\nout, and then his feet, and then he began to wave his feet wildly in\nair, and finally threw himself in the right position and hastened away\nthrough the grass.\n\nThe turtle protects himself in the same way, and draws his head, feet,\nand tail under his own house-roof where nothing can get him.\n\nLobsters and crabs are excellent types of armour-bearing animals.\nLobsters wear marvellous coats of mail, very similar to those worn by\nhuman warriors during the age of chivalry. Their jointed structure\nassures them perfect ease and security. Crabs, however, believe, as the\ntortoise, in the strong-box protection. When resting, crabs tuck their\nlegs beneath them, so as to shelter themselves under the hard covering.\nUpon crabs Nature has bestowed twin protective characteristics: namely,\nthey are armoured, and also mimic their surroundings. The latter\nprotection is especially needful, because certain big fishes, like the\ncod, are in the habit of swallowing crabs whole. In this case the armour\nis of no use, while the protective resemblance saves the crab.\n\nTo discuss in detail all the various kinds of armour and mail that the\ndifferent groups of animals have used and developed for offensive and\ndefensive purposes since the days of the prehistoric gigantic\narmadillos to the present, would require a book of itself. It is\nsufficient to know that armour and mail and spines are among Nature's\nmost common forms of protection, and that each age develops new and ever\nmore efficient methods of defence. This simply means that the age-long\ndrama of evolution is always changing. Everything that is came out of\nthat which was, and throughout the ages the ever-evolving organisms have\nbeen developing out of the past, that they might ever be new.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nMINERS AND EXCAVATORS\n\n  _\"When the cold winter comes and the water plants die,\n  And the little brooks yield no further supply,\n  Down in his burrow he cosily creeps,\n  And quietly through the long winter sleeps.\"_\n\n  --(_The Water Rat._)\n\n\nThere are many ground-dwellers in the animal world, and foremost among\nthem is the mole. This remarkable little creature is not only gifted as\na digger of canals and tunnels, but plans and makes the most\nextraordinary subterranean homes. Sometimes he unites with his fellow\ncreatures and establishes whole cities with winding passages, chambers,\nexits and entrances. In fact, he has not only an exquisitely arranged\nhome, but highways and roads that lead to his kingly hunting-grounds\nwhich are as elaborate as that of a modern man of wealth and culture.\nIndeed his subterranean network of tunnels excels in complexity our\nmodern city subways. His engineering calculations never fail, and a\ncave-in of his hallways is unknown. This little gentleman with the\nvelvet coat is a genius of varied accomplishments!\n\nBut this is only true when the mole is in his proper sphere or home.\nThere he can fight like a tiger, catch his prey both below and above\nground, build wells to collect and retain water, swim like a fish, and\ndo many things which would seem impossible, judging from his awkward and\nclumsy manner above ground.\n\nHis apparent awkwardness while out of his natural habitat is largely due\nto the peculiar formation of his limbs, and the stupid appearance of his\nsmall half-hidden eyes. These features seem to mark him to the casual\nobserver as a dull animal, yet in reality he is very active and bright,\nand when at home displays his marvellous genius in many ways! His\nupturned hands become powerful shovels, and by the aid of an extra bone,\nthe sickle, which belongs to the inside of the thumb, he is enabled to\nwork like an athlete. His velvet-like hair stands straight up, like the\npile on velvet, and his tiny eyes are so hidden by hair that they do not\nget injured. The eyes are not well finished from an optician's point of\nview--but they serve admirably all the needs of the mole's life. As dull\nand stupid as he appears, he is, considering his size, the fiercest and\nmost active animal in existence. Imagine him the size of a wild cat! He\nwould be a beast of exceeding ferocity. Even a lion would find him a\nformidable antagonist. With such an animal tunnelling in his fields and\ncellars, man would have a terror hard to exterminate.\n\nThe mole is an engineer and miner who seems to have a strange sense of\ndirection practically unknown to many other animals. How he manages to\nform tunnels and burrows in lines of such unusual straightness is\nunknown; he always works in darkness, unless it is that he can see in\nthe dark. His little hills are not deliberate structures; they are only\nshaft ends through which this miner throws out the earth that he has\nscooped from subterranean depths, and in most cases smoothed out so that\nif an observer examines the burrow he will find only solid earth, and a\nroad into his tunnel which leads to his real habitation.\n\nThe home of the mole is usually beneath a tree or hillock, and reminds\none of a miniature city of tunnels and engineering feats. The main, or\ncentral, room is shaped like a great dome, the upper part of which is\nlevel with the earth around the hill, and therefore nowhere near its\napex. Mr. Wood has verified the observation that around the keep are two\ncircular passages, one of which is level with the ceiling, while the\nother is above. The upper circle is decidedly smaller than the lower;\nand there are five ascending passages which connect the galleries with\neach other. There is only one entrance, however, and from it three roads\nlead into the upper part of the keep. When a mole enters the house from\none of the tunnels, he must go through the basement in order to get to\nthe upper part of the house and so descend into the keep. There is still\nanother entrance into the keep from below. One passage leads downward\ndirectly from the middle of the chamber, then curving upward, leads into\na larger tunnel or subway.\n\nThroughout the vast network of tunnels every inch of wall space seems\nquite smooth and polished. This is due to the continuous pressure of the\nmole's fur against the walls. Thus there is little danger of the walls\ncollapsing even after a rain-storm. No human being knows just why the\nmole has such a complex system of underground streets and tunnels;\nperhaps it is because he finds that a greater feeling of safety\nsurrounds his home when he knows that in case of danger he can escape in\na dozen directions. Surely he is the original builder of labyrinths!\n\nHow marvellous that so tiny a creature can build such a fortress! The\ncomplex chambers and circular galleries do justice to an artist. The\nspace of ground covered by a single mole's roads and galleries is\nalmost unbelievable; in every direction from the fortress they run, and\nare sunk at various depths, according to the condition of the mole's\nhunting-grounds, which are really the spaces of ground through which he\ntunnels. Worms and underground insects are his chief food. Sometimes he\nploughs along the surface of the ground, and exposes his back as he\nworks; but if the weather is dry, he ploughs deeply into the earth for\nworms. He fills his storehouse with earth-worms for winter use, and he\nfinds it necessary to bite their heads off, which leaves them inert but\nnot dead. This cannot be done in the summer months without the heads\nre-growing and the worms crawling away. The mole knows the exact\ntemperature best suited for keeping his meat fresh!\n\nA most interesting and beautiful family of miner-cousins of the moles\nare the shrews. They are excavators of great ability, and because of\ntheir nocturnal habits are rarely seen alive. They are very similar to\nthe mole, though much more handsome. Their domicile is built of dry\ngrass at the end of a tunnel.\n\nThe shrew mole of North America is a ground-digger of great ingenuity.\nHe is second only to the mole in the extent and pretensions of his\nengineering and tunnelling. His eyes are very small and deeply hidden\nin his fur. During the day he constantly comes to the surface of the\nearth, and one may catch him by driving a hoe or spade underneath him.\n\nAnother underground-dweller is the elephant shrew of South America. He\nhas a long nose, thick fur, short ears, and, unlike his cousins, he\nloves to bask in the warm sunshine. At the least signal of alarm he\ndarts away to his subterranean home. As a mining engineer he is\nunexcelled; he sinks his tunnels by first boring an almost perpendicular\nshaft, and then making his burrows at an angle. It is a sad day for\nearth-worms when he decides to locate in their vicinity!\n\nIt is not an easy task to classify the homes of animals. Many of them\nhave characteristics that entitle them to be placed under several\ngroupings. The otter, for example, might be classed as a cave-dweller,\nas he seeks refuge in caves; yet he also rears his young in underground\nnests as a burrowing animal. But few naturalists believe that he does\nhis own digging. This is not surprising when we remember that there are\nmany other animals that live in caves and grottoes, and like the otter,\nseek ready-made homes for their convenience. Among these may be\nmentioned three American salamanders, bats, and a few strange mice, who\nseek darkness and constant temperature, and therefore find caves best\nsuited to their needs.\n\nThe same is true of the weasel, who is thought to be a great burrower,\nbut in fact, like our remote cave-dwelling ancestors, makes his home\nonly in caves, in rocky crevices, and under the gnarled roots of old\ntrees. He is a bright-eyed little creature, with a slender snake-like\nneck and red body. He is a great friend of mankind, as he does more\ntoward eradicating mice and other nocturnal depredators than all the\nrat-catchers in the land. His home is quite ordinary compared to that of\nthe more ambitious underground-dwellers.\n\nA near cousin of the weasel, and a most ingenious engineer and miner, is\nthe badger. He is a tenement-dweller and builds his home in the deep,\nshady woods. His home is rather pretentious with several chambers, and a\nmost delightfully furnished nursery which is warmly padded with dry\ngrass and moss.\n\nThe badger, once so plentiful in England and America, is fast passing\naway because of the increase of towns and cities. As soon as the forest\nin which he dwells is drained and converted into farm land, the badger\ndisappears. He is driven from the soil where he once held sway, and is\none of those unfortunate animals which are eliminated by man-made\ncivilisation.\n\nThe fox of the Far North is a famous excavator, and his underground home\nwhich shelters and protects him from the extreme cold is most spacious.\nIt is a strange fact that these cunning little animals rarely make their\nhomes away from others of their kind. Sometimes twenty to thirty are\nfound in close proximity. And their owners are unquestionably the\nsmartest, keenest, and quickest creatures that roam the wilds. While\nsome of their deeds are questionable, their quick wits and nimble bodies\nexcite our admiration.\n\nThese arctic foxes really build small cities, and their semi-social life\nmay be accounted for by the peculiar suitability of the place which they\nselect for a habitation. Their homes are usually in a sandy hill, where\nit is very easy for them to burrow; and the strangest part of the whole\ncity is that each burrow is complete and entirely independent in itself.\nThere are many winding paths and tunnels in each house, but each belongs\nexclusively to its owner and never winds into a neighbour's house. In\ncase of danger the fox has many directions in which he may escape.\n\nThe nursery is the most carefully arranged of all the rooms. It is\nrather small and is directly connected with the main outer chamber\nsomewhat like the nursery of the mole. So skilfully is it situated that\nit sometimes happens a hunter will dig into a fox's burrow and never\ndiscover the nest of young, and later the clever mother will return to\ncarry away her babes, which are usually five to six in number. Adjoining\nthe nursery are two or three storage rooms filled with food for the\nwinter. The number of bones usually found in the basement indicates that\na great variety of ducks, fish, hares, lemming, and stoats are regularly\neaten, and that the average fox family does not want for food.\n\nThe arctic fox is not only a beauty in his coat of pure white, but is\nunusually brainy. Persecuted animals, like persecuted human beings,\nbecome very wise. Nature is kind to the fox in his arctic home, and in\nthe winter turns his coat snow white so that he may easily escape his\nenemies--especially men, who seek his beautiful fur and edible body. He\nis skilled in his distrust of wires, sticks, guns and strings! No man\nknows better than he the meaning of foot-tracks in the snow, and how\nlong they have been there, and which way they lead; thus, those that\nsurvive their enemies have acquired extreme wisdom, and keep carefully\naway from everything that is at all suspicious to their eyes and\nnostrils.\n\nThe Siberian fox is one of those wise creatures that has defied in a\nmost extraordinary way his handicaps, and, refusing to admit them, has\nboldly selected the strangest dwelling-place known to the animal\nworld--the horn of the mountain sheep. This unique dwelling-place has\nbeen the home of the Siberian fox for ages, and his ancestors have known\nno other. The mountain sheep, which are giants among their kind, have\nthe longest horns in proportion to their size of any animal in\nexistence. The argali of Siberia is the largest of all sheep, and is\nequal in bulk and weight to an average-sized ox, with horns\nproportionally large. The horns of these animals are strikingly like\nthose of the Rocky Mountain sheep of America, except they are much\nlarger. They spring up from the forehead, tilt backward, then boldly\ncurve below the muzzle, before finally again pointing upward and\ntapering into a sharp and delicate point. They are hollow, though\nexceedingly stout and elastic, and strengthened on the outside by a\nnumber of ridges or horny rings set very close together. They are found\nin large numbers in this land of perpetual ice and snow, and it is\nthought that they break from the sheep's heads very easily.\n\nIt is not uncommon to find them lying in a spot which has been a\nbattlefield, where two sheep in attempting to settle some dispute have\nfought and fallen. It is not long after they have thus fallen before\nthey are utilised by Mr. Fox. He stores himself carefully away in these\nroomy horns, one of which Mrs. Fox uses as a nursery, finding it a snug,\nsafe, and warm place to rear her little family.\n\nThe other varieties of foxes, especially the grey and red, are not so\nskilled in home-making. This may be due to the fact that they do not\nhave need of such elaborate houses as their arctic cousins. Again, it\nmay be that the existence of numerous deserted homes of badgers, or even\nrabbits, makes it unnecessary for them to spend their time in building\nhomes of their own. It is much easier to enlarge the ready-made burrow\nof a rabbit than to dig a new tunnel, of course.\n\nIf there is no ready-made burrow to be had, then the wise fox sets to\nwork and scoops out his own. Herein he sleeps all the day, and comes\nforth only at night. A small chamber from the main room serves as the\nnursery, and here the babies are born and nurtured. Nothing is more\nbeautiful than to see the entire family--mother, father, and\nchildren--come forth at evening to play. The young are as sportive as\npups, but they never wander far from home. Their broad heads, grey\ncoats, short tails and awkward appearance would lead no one to think\nthat they were the children of handsome, nimble-limbed, intelligent Mrs.\nFox!\n\nWoe to the dog that enters Mrs. Fox's home! She is a pugilist of the\nfirst order, and knows how to fight far better than the average bull\nterrier. It requires a very savage dog to kill her, and he is apt to be\nminus an ear when the battle is over.\n\nRed and grey foxes are similar in intelligence, but differ in many other\nways: the former are like the gipsies in always moving about from place\nto place, while the latter stick to one general locality, although their\nhunting-grounds may range for several miles in all directions. Red foxes\nseem actually to enjoy being hunted by dogs; in most cases they will\noutrun the dogs, and rarely seek protection from caves or rocks.\n\nThe grey fox, on the other hand, cares little for racing, but seeks\nprotection among rocky cliffs where the dogs are at a disadvantage. Here\nnone but the smallest canines may enter the holes and crannies, and they\nare usually wise enough to stay out. Hunters are thoroughly familiar\nwith the tactics of the fox family, and therefore select the red ones\nfor their sport.\n\nThe foxes are truly famed for their cunning, and when other animals try\nto play tricks on them, the trick usually turns out in the foxes'\nfavour. During the winter season these wise creatures are sometimes hard\npressed for food. Birds and small animals are hard to catch, and the\nfarmers' chicken houses are closed. It is then that the wise fox needs\nall his wit and wisdom, for he oftentimes becomes the hunted as well as\nthe hunter. His chief enemies are the puma and the timber wolf, but they\nare seldom able to get him.\n\nThe prairie-dog is so talented that he might be classed under several\nheadings; he is sociable, a burrower, and especially gifted in the art\nof constructing underground \"dog towns.\" He is rarely called by his\nIndian name, _Wish-ton-wish_, and we know him only as the prairie-dog.\nEvidently he was given this name because of his yelping bark, which\nresembles the cry of a young domestic dog.\n\nHe is a good-looking but rather curious little animal. He has a round,\nflat head, and garish-red fur, and a stout little body. He makes an\naffectionate pet, and loves the society of human beings. When he decides\nto start a town, he usually succeeds, for he is an exceedingly prolific\nanimal, and his extensive burrows seem to have no ends. They are rather\nlarge, and run to great depths. In the western part of the United\nStates, especially on the big prairies, the prairie-dog towns often\ncover large areas. They are usually dug in a sloping direction, and\ndescend four to six feet in depth, and then suddenly rise upward again.\nHundreds of these little tunnels are dug in such close proximity to each\nother that it is quite unsafe for cattle and horses to pass over them.\nThis is the chief reason why ranchmen do not like the otherwise harmless\nlittle animals of the prairies.\n\nThese dog towns are most curious, and a visit to one of them well repays\nthe traveller. Strangely enough, the prairie-dog is exceedingly\ninquisitive and this very quality often costs the little animal his\nlife. Mr. Wood, in describing the prairie-dog's habits, says that this\nwise little Westerner, when perched on the hillocks which we have\nalready described, is able to survey a wide extent of territory and as\nsoon as he sees a visitor, he gives a loud yelp of alarm, and dives into\nhis burrow, his tiny feet knocking together with a ludicrous flourish as\nhe disappears. In every direction similar scenes are enacted. The\nwarning cry has been heard, and immediately every dog within a hundred\nyards repeats the cry and leaps into his burrow. Their curiosity,\nhowever, cannot be suppressed, and no sooner have they vanished from\nsight than their heads are seen protruding from their burrows. Sometimes\nhundreds of them will be peeping from their homes at one time, their\nbeautiful eyes sparkling as they cautiously watch the enemy's every\nmovement.\n\nThe prairie-dog is truly a tenement dweller, and his home is occupied\nnot only by his own kind, but by owls and rattlesnakes. Most naturalists\nbelieve that these incongruous families live in perfect harmony; but it\nis a well-known fact that the snake occasionally devours the young\nprairie-dogs, and he must be considered by them as an intruder who\nprocured board and lodging without their consent. The owls, on the other\nhand, are supposed to do no harm, although it may be that they also\noccasionally feast on a tender young pup.\n\nThe magnificent little animals known to scientists as vizcachas, and\nwhose homes are on the pampas of South America, are the most skilled\nbuilders of underground cities in the animal world. Their villages or\ncities are called \"vizcacheras\" and are provided with from ten to twenty\nmouths or subway entrances, with one entrance often serving for several\nholes. If the ground is soft, it is not uncommon to find twenty to\nthirty burrows in a vizcachera; but if the ground is rocky and hard,\nonly four or five burrows are found. These wide-mouthed, gaping burrows\nare dug close together, and the entire town usually covers from one\nhundred to two hundred square feet.\n\nThe vizcacheras are different from other underground animal cities; some\nof the burrows are large, others are small. Most of them open into a\nsubterranean main-street at from four to six feet from the entrance;\nfrom this street other streets wind and turn in all directions, like a\nman-made subway, and many of them extend clear into other streets or\nsubways, thus forming a complete network of underground passageways. All\nthe tunnelled-out dirt is brought to the surface and forms a large mound\nto prevent the water from entering the cities.\n\nAccording to W. H. Hudson, in _The Naturalist in La Plata_, \"in some\ndirections a person might ride five hundred miles and never advance half\na mile without seeing one or more of them. In districts where, as far as\nthe eye can see, the plains are as level and smooth as a bowling-green,\nespecially in winter when the grass is close-cropped, and where the\nrough giant-thistle has not sprung up, these mounds appear like brown or\ndark spots on a green surface. They are the only irregularities that\noccur to catch the eye, and consequently form an important feature in\nthe scenery. In some places they are so near together that a person on\nhorseback may count a hundred of them from one point of view.\"\n\nUnlike some burrowing animals, the vizcacha does not select a spot where\nthere is a bank or depression in the soil, or roots of trees, or even\ntall grass; knowing that they only attract the opossum, skunk,\narmadillo, and weasel, he chooses an open level plot of ground where he\ncan watch in all directions for enemies while he works.\n\nThe great or main entrance to some of these underground cities is\nsometimes four to six feet in diameter. A small man stands shoulder deep\nin them. The going and coming of these little vizcachas would almost\nlead one to believe that they have a primitive city government, and are\nruled according to definite laws. Their cities stand for generations,\nand many of the old human inhabitants tell of certain vizcacheras around\nthem which existed when their parents were living. The founder of a new\nvillage is usually a male; and he goes only a short distance from the\nother villages to establish his new colony.\n\nThese cities are by no means occupied by their builders alone, but have\ntheir undesirables within their borders. The unique style of burrowing\nwhich the vizcachas employ benefits several kinds of birds, especially\nthe Minerva, and one species of the swallows, which build their nests in\nthe bank-like holes in the sides of the vizcacha's cities. Several\ninsects, among which may be mentioned a large nocturnal bug, with red\nwings and shiny black body, also seek the same shelter; another foreign\ninhabitant is a night-roaming cincindela, with dark green wing-cases and\npale red legs, which remind one of oriental jewels. There are also no\nless than six species of wingless wasps, beautifully coloured in red,\nblack, and white. Dozens of spiders and smaller insects that live in and\nnear the vizcacheras, which are everywhere sprinkled over the pampas,\npass in and out among the streets recognising their respective friends\nand enemies.\n\nThe home life in these communities is most interesting. The burrowers\nremain indoors until late in the evening during the winter, but in\nsummer appear before the sun sets. One of the larger males is the first\nto appear, as if to see if everything is safe from danger; if it is,\nothers immediately pop up and take their places at the entrance to the\nburrow. The females are smaller than the males, and stand up that they\nmay see everything that happens. Curiosity struggling within them for\nmastery is often the cause of their death. Tiny swallows hover over the\nentrances, like myriads of large moths, with never-ending low, mournful\ncries.\n\nOf all the incongruous inhabitants of the vizcacheras, the fox is the\nmost dreaded and the least welcome. To appease his growls and snarls the\nvizcachas are sometimes forced to let him occupy one of their rooms for\na season, or even permanently. During a part of the year he appears\nquite unassuming and indifferent to the general affairs of the\nhousehold, and he really goes quite unnoticed, even though he may be\nsitting on the mound in the family group. But when the vizcachas appear\nin the spring, the fox begins to become interested in the nursery and as\nsoon as the older animals are away he devours the young. Occasionally,\nif the fox is hungry, or if he has another friend to aid him, he will\nhunt the vizcachera from end to end, battling with the old, and usually\nkilling all the young. It often happens that the mother vizcacha, when\nher babes are large enough to follow her, will take them away to another\nplace that is safer.\n\nThe language of these city-builders is most unusual; the males\nfrequently utter the most varied and astonishing cries. They are jarring\nin the extreme, and are produced in the most leisurely manner, growing\nlouder and louder and finally ending with a slow quaver. At other times,\nthey grunt like small pigs. Hudson says that any quick noise, like the\nreport of a gun, produces a most startling effect among these little\nanimals. As soon as the report is broken on the stillness of the night a\nperfect furore of cries issues forth from every direction. In a few\nseconds it ceases for a momentary lull, and then suddenly breaks forth\nagain, louder than before. The tones of the different ones are so\ndifferent that the cries of nearby individuals may be plainly\ndistinguished amidst the babel of voices coming from the distance. It\nsounds as if thousands upon thousands of them were striving to express\nevery emotion with their tiny tenor voices. No words can describe the\neffect that these sounds produce. One of the most peculiar calls is the\nspecial alarm-note, which is sharp, sudden, and shrill. It is reported\nfrom one to another until every vizcacha is safe in his burrow.\n\nBut with all the kind and sociable qualities of these little animals,\nthey have characteristics which seem rather paradoxical, and chief among\nthese is their resentment of any intrusion of neighbours into their\nburrows. Although a number of individuals may reside in adjoining\ncompartments in the same burrow, yet if one enters a burrow not his\nown--woe is he! Even when pursued by fierce dogs a vizcacha will rarely\nenter a room of another. If he does, he is immediately pounced upon by\nthe angry owner, and is usually driven clear out of the burrow. These\nanimals are undoubtedly far the most versatile and intelligent rodents\nin the world.\n\nA most unusual miner and underground dweller is the pocket gopher of\nNorth and Central America. He is a rat-like animal, and is most\nplentiful on the plains of the Mississippi region. He is unusual in\nappearance, dressed in brown and grey fur, with tiny white feet, small\neyes and ears, and a short stubby tail. His feet are wonderfully strong,\nand his fore-paws are armed with strong, curved claws. But he is famed\nfor his wonderful fur-lined pouches which open inside his cheeks and\nserve a peculiar use.\n\nHis entire life, with rare exceptions, is spent underground. There he\nmakes long tunnels for the purpose of securing tender roots for food;\nthese tunnels are about twelve to eighteen inches below the surface, and\nusually wind under the foot of a tree where a sinking passage goes down\nfour to five feet further and leads to a large living-room. This is the\nfamily nest and nursery, lined with grass and soft fur which Mrs. Gopher\nhas taken from her own body. Adjoining the living-room is a storage bin\nfilled with nuts, dried bits of roots, tobacco, and potatoes.\n\nMuch that is exaggerated has been said in regard to the adaptability of\nthe gopher for his work. But it is a fact that he is of all the diggers\nbest suited for his task. He uses his strong teeth, like a trench-digger\nuses a pick, to loosen the earth; and while his fore-feet are kept\nconstantly at work in digging and pressing the dirt back under the body,\nthe hind feet also aid in shovelling it still farther back. When a\nsufficient amount has heaped up behind him, he performs the strangest of\nall his feats--he turns around, and places his hands vertically against\nhis chin, thus forcing himself backwards, pushing the dirt ahead of\nhimself until it is forced out of the tunnel. At the outer end of the\ntunnel is formed a little hillock.\n\nDr. Merriam has made a special study of the gopher, and in speaking of\nthe strange habit of running backwards, he says that even in carrying\nfood to one of his barns or storehouses the gopher rarely turns round\nbut usually runs backwards and forwards, over and over again like a\nshuttle on its track.\n\nThe gopher uses his pouches for carrying food, not dirt. When he has\neaten a sufficient amount of food, he fills his pouches. If a potato is\ntoo large to be carried in this way, he trims it off to the right size.\nHis method of emptying his pouches is most interesting; with his two\ntiny paws he delicately presses the food from his cheeks.\n\nThe woodchuck is an American basement-dweller of considerable renown.\nHis peculiar whistling cry has won for him from the French the name of\n_siffleur_; and we sometimes call him by the very inappropriate name of\nground-hog. He is a skilled weather prophet, and his appearance in the\nearly spring signifies that the winter is over. He never shows himself\nuntil the cold is gone.\n\nThe home of the woodchuck is usually found under a hill, with a\nsheltering rock to protect the entrance, which leads into a tunnel, from\ntwenty to thirty feet in length, finally ending by entering his home\nproper. The tunnel descends obliquely for several feet, and again rises\ntowards the surface. His nest is rather large, and nicely lined with dry\ngrass and leaves, which serve as a carpet for the young woodchucks when\nthey come into the world. The young remain in the underground home until\nthey are about five months old, then they go out into the world for\nthemselves.\n\nThe ground squirrel long ago decided that he would rather have a\ndwelling under the ground than in the tree-tops, for in an underground\nhome he would have more protection, a better place for storing food,\nand a far safer nursery for rearing his precious babes. So snug, cosy\nand hidden are the tiny quarters to which his runs or subways lead that\nhis family is quite safe against most enemies. The ingenuity and skill\nshown in the construction of his home entitles him to rank among the\nleading animal miners and excavators.\n\nThe most unusual of all the underground and basement dwellers is the\npolar bear. This wise inhabitant of the Far North has long ago learned\nthat no animal needs to freeze to death in the snow. To him the snow is\na constant means of warmth and protection, and as winter approaches, he\nseeks a position, usually near a big rock, where he digs out a hole of\nsmall dimensions, and allows the snow to cover his body. Strangely\nenough it is only the female bear that seeks this permanent snow hut;\nthe males do not care to spend so much time in seclusion. The same is\ntrue of the unmated females. But the mated females always have snow huts\nin which they give birth to their young, and where they reside until\nearly spring; then the mother bear comes forth with them to seek food\nand teach them the ways of the world.\n\n[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_\n\nTO THE POLAR BEAR THE ICE AND SNOW OF THE FAR NORTH MEAN WARMTH AND\nPROTECTION. THE MOTHER BEAR DIGS HERSELF INTO A SNOWBANK, WHERE SHE\nLIVES QUITE COMFORTABLY THROUGHOUT THE WINTER.]\n\n[Illustration: THE SHARP CLAWS OF THE GROUND SQUIRREL ARE EFFICACIOUS\nTOOLS IN DIGGING HIS COSY UNDERGROUND BURROW.]\n\nThere is no danger that the bears will stifle for air under the snow,\nbecause the warmth of their breath always keeps a small hole open at\nthe top of the snow-cell. This snow-house increases as time goes on, the\nheat exhaled from their bodies gradually melting the snow. Often Mrs.\nBear's home is discovered by means of the tiny hole in the roof around\nwhich is collected quantities of hoar frost.\n\nHibernation is one of the strangest phenomena of the animal world, and\nbears, especially the white bear of the polar regions, the black bear of\nNorth America, and the brown bear of Europe, agree in the curious habit\nof semi-hibernation. In the late fall of the season, the bears begin to\neat heavily and soon become enormously fat, preparatory for the long\nwinter of semi-sleep.\n\nDuring the winter, at least for three months, the polar bear takes no\nfood, but lives entirely upon the store of fat which her body had\naccumulated before she went into retirement. The same is true of many\nhibernating animals, but in case of the bears it is more remarkable\nbecause the mother bear must not only support herself but nourish her\nyoung for a long period without taking any food for herself.\n\nAnother good example of a ground-dweller is the aard vark of Southern\nAfrica. He is as curious as his name, and scoops out immense quantities\nof earth to form his home. This dwelling might be termed a cave, as he\nheaps up the earth in the shape of a mammoth artificial ant-hill; on\none side is the entrance, which is so skilfully formed that it looks far\nmore like the work of man than of an animal.\n\nHis name is Dutch and means earth-hog. It is applied to him because his\nhead looks somewhat like that of a pig. His claws are powerful and\nenormous, and with them he is able to dig into the hardest soil, and to\ndestroy the giant ant-hills which are dotted over the plains of South\nAfrica, and which can withstand the weight of a dozen men.\n\nThis strange creature sleeps during the day, and comes forth at evening\nto seek his food. The first thing he does is to burst a hole in the\nstony side of an ant-hill, to the utter dismay of its tiny inhabitants.\nAs they run among the ruins of their fallen city, he throws out his\nslimy tongue and catches them by the hundreds. In a short time only the\nshell of a half-destroyed wall remains.\n\nThese once stately ant-homes metamorphosed into caves, form homes for\nthe jackals and large serpents of the plains. The Kaffirs of Africa use\nthem as vaults into which are thrown their dead. The aard vark\noutrivals, with his great claws, the most skilled burrowing tools of\nman. These animals are therefore rarely captured. It is not uncommon for\na horse to fall into their excavations and be killed.\n\nMiners, excavators, and underground dwellers teach us the great lesson\nthat, while many of them sought the ground as a protection, and found\nthere many difficulties to overcome, they not only have won in the great\nstruggle of life but have so skilfully adapted themselves to their\nenvironment and surroundings as to become entire masters, even artists,\nin their methods of living.\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nANIMAL MATHEMATICIANS\n\n\n  _\"But what a thoughtless animal is man,--\n  How very active in his own trepan!\"_\n\n  --PRIOR.\n\nAmong the special senses of animals none seems more human than their\nknowledge of mathematics. A recognition of this quality in animals is\nencouraging because the new scientists are earnestly trying to build up\na true knowledge of animal behaviour by studying them in the light of\nthe new psychology. This will fill the place of the vast amount of\nmisinformation which those skilled only in book-knowledge, without\nreally knowing the ways of Nature, have builded. It will also record all\nthe strange and curious facts about animals and their ways without\ninsisting too much on rigid explanation. These new scientists are far\ndifferent from their predecessors who tried to explain everything they\ndid not understand about an animal's behaviour in terms of the scanty\ninformation gained by studying a few museum specimens. We might as well\nattempt to explain human nature from the study of an Egyptian mummy. The\nnew method is simply to give the facts about an animal, and frankly\nadmit that in many cases, such as are found in their knowledge of\ncounting and numbers, we must leave complete explanation to the future\nwhen we shall have a greater fund of scientific data on which to base\nour conclusions.\n\nIt is an established fact that some animals can count, and that they\nhave the faculty of close observation and keen discrimination. They\nlearn to count quickly, but they do not fully appreciate the value of\nnumerical rotation. Most of the arithmetical feats of trained animals\nare hoaxes regulated by their sense of smell, sight, touch and taste.\nBut no one doubts their ability to count. I have known a monkey that\ncould count to five. He played with a number of marbles, and I would ask\nfor two marbles, one marble, four marbles, as the case might be, and he\nwould quickly hand the number requested.\n\nAnother incident that will illustrate the point is the case of a mule\nowned by an old negro near Huntsville, Texas. The regular routine work\nof this mule was to cart two loads of wood to the town every day. One\nday the negro wished to make a third trip, but was unable to do so. When\nasked the reason, he replied, \"Dat fool mule, Napoleon, done decided we\nhad hauled enough wood fo' one day!\"\n\nPrantl claims that the time-sense is totally absent in animals, and that\nit belongs only to man, as one of the attributes of his mental\nsuperiority. However, many facts go to show that animals have not only a\nspecific time-sense, but also a sense of personal identity which reaches\nback into the past.\n\nTime-sense is very highly developed in dogs, cats, hogs, horses, goats,\nand sheep. They apparently are able to keep an accurate account of the\ndays of the week and hours of the day and night, and even seem to know\nsomething of numerical succession and logical sequence. A friend in\nTexas had an old coloured servant, whose faithful dog had been trained\nto know that just at noon each day he was expected to carry lunch to his\nmaster. I have seen the dog on more than one occasion playing with\nchildren in the streets, suddenly break away without any one calling\nhim, or any suggestion on our part as to the time, and rush for the\nkitchen just at the proper moment. No one could detain him from his\nduty. This same dog, however, would on Sundays continue to play at the\nnoon hour. Surely, if any explanation is to be offered in such a case as\nthis, it will imply as strict a sense of time as it does of duty.\n\nA friend relates a case of a dog that went each evening to meet a train\non which his master returned from the city. On one occasion the train\nwas delayed two hours, and it was exceedingly cold, but the devoted\ncompanion remained until his master arrived. Innumerable instances of\nsuch all-absorbing affection, showing at the same time a sense of time,\nmight be cited.\n\nDr. Brown gives a most remarkable example of a dog's ability to\ndistinguish time. The story is of a female dog, though named Wylie,\nwhich was purchased by Dr. Brown when he was a young man, from an old\nshepherd who had long been in his employment. Wylie was brought to his\nfather's, \"and was at once taken,\" he says, \"to all our hearts; and\nthough she was often pensive, as if thinking of her master and her work\non the hills, she made herself at home, and behaved in all respects like\na lady.... Some months after we got her, there was a mystery about her;\nevery Tuesday evening she disappeared; we tried to watch her, but in\nvain; she was always off by nine P. M., and was away all night, coming\nback next day wearied, and all over mud, as if she had travelled far.\nThis went on for some months, and we could make nothing of it. Well, one\nday I was walking across the Grass-market, with Wylie at my heels, when\ntwo shepherds started, and looking at her, one said, 'That's her;\nthat's the wonderful wise bitch that naebody kens.' I asked him what he\nmeant, and he told me that for months past she had made her appearance\nby the first daylight at the 'buchts' or sheep-pens in the\ncattle-market, and worked incessantly, and to excellent purpose, in\nhelping the shepherds to get their sheep and lambs in. The man said in a\nsort of transport, 'She's a perfect meeracle; flees about like a\nspeerit, and never gangs wrang; wears, but never grups, and beats a' oor\ndowgs. She's a perfect meeracle, and as soople as a mawkin'.' She\ncontinued this work until she died.\"\n\nAnother most striking instance, showing animals' sense of time, is that\nrelated by Watson in which he tells of two friends, fathers of families,\none living in London and the other at Guilford. For many years it was\nthe custom of the London family to visit their friends in Guilford,\nalways accompanied by their spaniel, Caesar. After some years a\nmisunderstanding arose between the two families. The usual Christmas\nvisits were discontinued; not, however, so far as the spaniel was\nconcerned. His visits continued as before. On the eve of the first\nChristmas following the misunderstanding, the Guilford family were\nastonished to find at their door their London friend, Caesar. Naturally,\nthey expected that he had come in advance of the family, and were happy\nin the thought of this unexpected reconciliation. All evening they\nawaited their friends, but none arrived. Nor did they the next day.\nCaesar had come of his own accord at the accustomed time, and remained\nwith his friends for the usual number of days. This naturally led to a\ncorrespondence between the families, who thereupon resumed their former\nfriendly relations. We do not believe, of course, that this dog counted\nthe exact number of days to know when to start to Guilford, but he\ndoubtless saw something to remind him of the past.\n\nSir John Lubbock once related before the British Association at Aberdeen\nhow cards bearing the ten numerals were arranged before a dog, and the\ndog given a problem, such as to state the square root of nine, or of\nsixteen, or the sum of two numbers. He would then point at each card in\nsuccession, and the dog would bark when he came to the right one. The\ndog never made a mistake. If this was not evidence of a mentality at\nleast approaching that of men, we do not know what to call it.\n\nIf there is any difference between an animal and a human mathematician,\nit depends upon special training. The animal never has the same\nopportunities to learn as the man. Many savages, for example, cannot\ncount beyond three or four. Sir John Lubbock gives an anecdote of Mr.\nGalton, who compared the arithmetical knowledge of certain savages of\nSouth Africa and a dog. The comparison proved to the advantage of the\ndog.\n\nThere is no reason that a dog should not be taught arithmetic. And if\none wishes to do so, it might be well to begin by making the dog\ndistinguish one from two, allowing him to touch both once at the word\none, and twice at the word two. Then he might pass on to six or seven.\nAfter he had progressed to ten, he might begin addition. At least the\nexperiment would be interesting and conducive to learning the truth.\nSurely a knowledge of mathematics is no more wonderful than that of the\nordinary pointer dog's ability to distinguish different kinds of birds.\nCertain of those wise dogs are trained to hunt only quail, while others\nhunt several varieties of game.\n\nIt should be remembered that all degrees of arithmetical aptitude are\nfound in the human races, from the genius of a Newton and a Laplace to\nthe absolute inability of certain of the Hottentots to count to three.\nThese inequalities in the mathematical notions of different people\nshould make us very cautious about saying that animals cannot count and\nhave no sense of numbers. It is extremely probable that if we had a way\nof choosing those animals with a special gift for arithmetic, they\nwould surprise us with their learning.\n\n[Illustration: THE COYOTE CAN READILY DISTINGUISH WHETHER A HERD OF\nSHEEP IS GUARDED BY ONE OR MORE DOGS, AND WILL PLAN HIS ATTACK\nACCORDINGLY.]\n\n[Illustration: THE ZEBU, THE SACKED BULL OF INDIA, IN SPITE OF ITS\nDOMESTICATION, HAS AN AGILE BODY AND A QUICK, ALERT MIND.]\n\nNo one denies that animals are capable of distinguishing relative sizes\nand even quantities. They are not so skilled as the average human being\nin making these distinctions, yet when mentally compared to the state of\nBushmen, Tasmanians, and Veddahs, who can count only two, and call it\nmany, there is not such a vast gulf between them and mankind.\n\nThe zebu, or sacred bull of India, shows his mathematical qualities to a\npronounced degree. When he grows attached to a small group of his kin,\nhe will often refuse to leave them unless the entire group accompany\nhim. When driven from his pen, if by chance one of his party is left\nbehind he refuses to go--thus indicating that he is able to tell that\nthe exact number is not with him. His affectionate and gentle\ndisposition, not to mention his love of his offspring, would entitle him\nto rank among the most human of animals. No wonder he is worshipped in\nIndia, where the human side of animal life is understood and appreciated\nto a degree quite unknown to the Western world!\n\nThe fox and the wolf, and even the coyote, can readily distinguish\nwhether a herd of sheep or cattle is guarded by three or four dogs, and\nwhether there is one herdsman or two. They cannot tell the exact number\nof sheep, however; neither could a man without first counting them.\nTheir knowledge of geometry is remarkable. They can orient themselves to\nthe surrounding woods, measure distances, figure out the safest way of\nescape, and the power of the enemy even better than savage man. Yet in\nmost of these problems, definite notions of number or figures have\nlittle part. A dog, when hunting, for example, on a prairie where he has\nto leap over ditches or quickly turn around a large tree, is able by a\nsecond's thought to do so without danger. He clears the wire fence,\nleaps the ditch, dashes through a closing gate, or escapes an infuriated\nenemy at a moment's notice. This natural wisdom is exercised\nspontaneously in him, it is the result of inborn theorems of which he\nmay not even be aware, but which he uses with a sureness that defies the\nbook-learning of all our teachers of mathematics. He uses speed, force,\nspace, mass, and time with so small an effort, and by the quickest and\nshortest routes.\n\nSuppose a wolf or a wild hog could not tell how many dogs were attacking\nit? There would be no way for it to defend itself. If four dogs attack\nit, they are counted and the tactics used that would be useless in other\ncases. If four dogs attack, two on each side, it retreats, with face\ntoward the enemy. If a dozen dogs are in the attacking force, the hog\nbecomes confused, loses all idea of number, and wildly bites at any\nenemy that comes nearest. Man in a similar condition would use\npractically the same tactics.\n\nCats undeniably count their kittens. If the mother loses one of three or\nfour, she searches for it immediately. When dogs are chasing a hare, if\nthey raise another, they become very confused, as if they did not know\nwhich to follow. Many shepherd dogs know if a sheep is missing from the\nflock and go to hunt it.\n\nThe efforts of scientific investigators, who work with so many learned\ntheories, have been less successful in discovering the real facts about\nanimals than of laymen, largely because the scientists have not yet\nlearned that arithmetical notions are more difficult than geometrical\nones. Our industrial civilisation has caused us to lose the idea of the\ninsignificance that number has in animal life compared to the idea of\nsize. Most animals have a remarkable sense of size; they measure time\nand distance better than civilised man. A hyena, for example, knows just\nhow near he dare approach an unarmed man.\n\nA sense of time is common among animals that daily eat at fixed hours.\nA donkey was accustomed to being fed at six o'clock in the morning, and\nwhen on one occasion his master did not appear on time, he deliberately\nkicked in the door to the barn and proceeded to feed himself.\n\nAnimals are capable of measuring lapses of time in which they are\nparticularly interested. Houzeau claims that a female crocodile remains\naway from her eggs in the sand for twelve to twenty days, according to\nthe species, but returns to the place exactly on the day they hatch.\n\nAlthough we should hesitate to affirm that all animals have an extensive\nknowledge of figures and numbers, yet it can hardly be denied that the\nelephant, donkey, horse, dog, and cat, if given the proper training,\nbecome good mathematicians. It is undeniable that they have a love of\nmental acquisition, and it seems that the Creator has given to every\nanimal, as a reward for its limitations in other respects, a definite\ninnate knowledge and desire to advance educationally. There is in the\nbreast of every animal an irresistible impulse which urges it to advance\nin the scale of knowledge. Where the animal is blessed with other mental\npowers, there is found a perfect harmony--of tact, intuition, insight,\nand genius--all that man himself possesses.\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nTHE LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS\n\n\n  _\"Who ever knew an honest brute\n  At law his neighbours prosecute,\n  Bring action for assault and battery\n  Or friends beguile with lies and flattery?\"_\n\n\nThe fact that all animals possess ideas, no matter how small those ideas\nmay be, implies reason. That these ideas are transmitted from one animal\nto another, no one can doubt in the light of our present scientific\nknowledge. \"Be not startled,\" says the distinguished animal authority,\nDr. William T. Hornaday, \"by the discovery that apes and monkeys have\nlanguage; for their vocabulary is not half so varied and extensive as\nthat of the barnyard fowls, whose language some of us know very well.\"\nThe means by which ideas are transmitted from one animal to another can\nbe rightly described by no other term than _language_.\n\nIt is evident that there are many kinds of language: the written; the\nspoken; the universal, which implies the motion, sign, and form\nlanguage; the language of the eye, by which ideas are exchanged without\nwords or gestures; and lastly, a mode of expression little known to the\nhuman world, but universal among animals. This language is spoken by no\nman, but is understood by every brute from the tiniest hare to the\nlargest elephant; it is the language whereby spirit communicates with\nspirit, and by which it recognises in a moment what it would take an\nentire volume to narrate. In its nature it differs essentially from all\nother languages, yet we are justified in thinking of it as a language\nbecause its function is to transmit ideas from one animal to another.\nEvery form of language is used by animals, and each has its own peculiar\nlanguage or \"dialect\" common to its tribe only, though occasionally\nlearned by others. All the emotions--fear, caution, joy, grief,\ngratitude, hope, despair--are disclosed by some form of language.\n\nIt would be interesting to know how the use of the word \"dumb\" ever\nbecame applied to animals, for in reality there are very few dumb\nanimals. Doubtless the word was originally employed to express a larger\nidea than that of dumbness, and implied the lack of power in animals to\ncommunicate successfully with man by sound or language. The real trouble\nlies with man, who is unable to understand the language spoken or\nuttered by the animals.\n\nThe gesture language is commonly used by many of the tribes of Southern\nAfrica, and some of the Bushmen are unable to converse freely after\ndark, because their visible gestures are needed as an aid to their\nspoken words. Only a few years ago there were almost as many different\nlanguages among the North American Indians as there were different\ntribes, and yet each tribe had a sign-language which any Indian in any\npart of the world might understand. In fact it was so simple that it\nmight be practically mastered in a few hours, and through it one might\nconverse with the Indians of the world without knowing a single word of\ntheir spoken language. And this is exactly what the animals do with\ntheir universal language.\n\nWho does not understand the meaning of a dog when he approaches his\nmaster, after receiving a reprimand for some misdemeanor, with downcast\nhead and lowered tail? Or who could fail to interpret the glee when he\nhas done a noble deed and been praised by his master? His is the\nlanguage of gesture and look, and is very similar to that in use by our\ndeaf-and-dumb men throughout the world.\n\nThe Hindoos invariably talk to their elephants, and it is astonishing\nhow they understand. Bayard Taylor says that \"the Arabs govern their\ncamels with a few cries, and my associates in the African deserts were\nalways amused whenever I addressed a remark to the dromedary who was my\nproperty for two months; yet at the end of that time the beast evidently\nknew the meaning of a number of simple sentences. Some years ago, seeing\nthe hippopotamus in Barnum's museum looking very stolid and dejected, I\nspoke to him in English, but he did not even open his eyes. Then I went\nto the opposite corner of the cage, and said in Arabic, 'I know you;\ncome here to me.' I repeated the words, and thereupon he came to the\ncorner where I was standing, pressed his huge, ungainly head against the\nbars of the cage, and looked in my face with a touch of delight while I\nstroked his muzzle. I have two or three times found a lion who\nrecognised the same language, and the expression of his eyes, for an\ninstant, seemed positively human.\"\n\nEvery one familiar with the habits of dogs believes that they have a\nlanguage. Certain shepherds are quite particular about the company their\ndogs keep. This story is told of a couple of shepherds meeting in a\nmarket-place in Scotland, each accompanied by his dog, one of which was\na sheep-murderer, the other a faithful and respectable dog. They seemed\nto strike up a great friendship, \"and soon assumed so remarkable a\ndemeanour in their conversation that their owners consulted together on\ntheir own account, and agreed to set a watch upon them. On that very\nevening both dogs started from their homes at the same hour, joined each\nother, and set off after the sheep.\" It is unquestionable that these\ndogs had a sufficiency of language to understand each other. The\ncriminal had invited his innocent young friend to join him in his\nmischief, and they agreed upon the time to meet and each kept his\nappointment. It is likely that there was not an audible sound uttered\nduring their conversation, but that they used the language of look and\ngesture, and while it was not understood by their masters, it was\nentirely comprehended by themselves.\n\nAnother instance of canine language is given by John Burroughs, who says\nthat a certain tone in his dog's bark implies that he has found a snake.\n\nThere is an old maxim which says: \"The empty wagon makes the most\nnoise,\" and it is interesting to note that the loudest-mouthed and most\nloquacious of all the animals are the lemurs, who are the least\nintelligent members of their great family. They chatter, scream, squeak,\nand grunt from morning till night, and two of them can make more noise\nthan a cageful of apes and monkeys. The orangs and chimpanzees, on the\nother hand, exceptionally wise and gifted linguists, seldom utter a word\nor cry, except under extraordinary circumstances, and then briefly.\n\nProf. Richard L. Garner, who has spent much time in studying the\nlanguage of animals, has attracted a great amount of attention through\nhis special study of the anthropoid apes. He has lived among these\nanimals in a steel cage in their native haunts and has used a phonograph\nto record their language. Prof. Garner told recently of an exceptionally\nintelligent ape, named Susie, whose home used to be at the Zoological\nPark, under the care of the Zoological Society, and he claimed that\nSusie could speak \"in her own language\" at least five words. They were\n\"yes,\" \"no,\" \"protest,\" \"satisfaction\" and \"contempt.\"\n\nMr. George Gladden, writing in the _Outlook_ on the chimpanzee's voice,\ndid not exactly commit himself as to his belief regarding this matter,\nbut he says: \"Now, although Mr. Engeholm (for four years in charge of\nthe Primates House in the New York Zoological Park) has not been able to\ndiscover that his apes use any language, correctly speaking, he is\nconfident that the chimpanzees Susie, Dick, and Baldy comprehend the\ndefinite meaning of many words, and that their minds react promptly\nwhen these words are addressed to them in the form of commands. This\ncapacity is more highly developed in Susie than in any other of the apes\nin this particular group....\n\n\"It is difficult, of course, to determine from the commands which an\nanimal will obey precisely how many words employed in these commands are\nplainly understood; but I have endeavoured to do this tentatively in the\ncase of Mr. Engeholm's commands to Susie, all of which I have seen her\nobey repeatedly and promptly.\"\n\nMr. Gladden enumerates about forty-three commands which he claims to\nhave seen Susie obey promptly. And he further states that the belief\nwhich many students of animal psychology hold that an animal gets more\nof the meaning of a command from the gesture which accompanies the\ncommand than he does from the actual words by which he is commanded, is\nfalse, and he adds, \"as to this, I can testify that of the forty-three\ncommands ... thirty-six may be, and generally are, unaccompanied by any\ngesture whatever. How, then, does Susie comprehend those commands unless\nthrough her understanding of the meaning of the words in which they are\nconveyed?\"\n\nThe distinguished phrenologist Gall had a dog whose memory was\nremarkable, and he thoroughly understood words and phrases. \"On this\nsubject I have made,\" says Gall, \"the following observations: I have\noften spoken intentionally of things which might interest my dog,\navoiding the mention of his name, and not letting any gesture escape me\nwhich would be likely to arouse his attention. He always exhibited\npleasure or pain suitable to the occasion, and by his conduct afterwards\nshowed that he understood perfectly well.\"\n\nCol. W. Campbell in his _Indian Journal_ gives two remarkable instances\nof language and unity of work among animals which he saw at Ranee\nBennore, while he was on a hunting trip. He witnessed, one morning, a\nstriking case of wolfish generalship, which in his belief proved that\nanimals are endowed to a certain extent not only with reason but are\nable to communicate their ideas to others. He was scanning the horizon\none morning to see if any game was in sight when he discovered a small\nherd of antelopes feeding in a nearby field. In another remote corner of\nthe field, hidden from the antelopes, he saw six wolves sitting with\ntheir heads close together as though they were in deep conversation.\n\nHe knew at once that they were also seeking venison for breakfast and he\ndetermined to watch them. He concealed himself behind a clump of\nbushes, and the wolves who had evidently already decided upon their mode\nof attack began their manoeuvres: one remained stationary, while the\nother five crept to the edge of the field and one by one took the most\nadvantageous positions, the fifth concealing himself in a deep furrow in\nthe centre of the field.\n\nThe sixth, which had made no previous movements, dashed at the\nantelopes. The swift, graceful creatures, trusting in their incomparable\nspeed, tossed their heads as if in disdain of so small an enemy and\ngalloped away as though they were riding on the winds with their enemy\nfar behind. But as soon as they reached the edge of the field, one of\nthe hiding wolves sprang up and chased them in an opposite direction,\nwhile his fatigued accomplice lay down to recuperate. Again the\nlight-heeled herd darted across the field, evidently hoping to escape on\nthe opposite side, but here again they met another crafty wolf who\nchased them directly toward another of the pack. The chase had begun in\nearnest, the persecuted antelopes were driven from place to place, a\nfresh enemy springing up at every turn, till at last they became so\nterrorised with fear that they crowded together in the center of the\nfield and began running around in diminishing circles.\n\nDuring all this performance, the wolf which was hidden in a furrow in\nthe centre of the field had not moved, although the antelopes had passed\naround and over him dozens of times. He well realised his time for\naction had not yet come and crouched closer and closer awaiting a signal\nfrom his fellow hunters to spring into their midst, and down one of the\nweakened antelopes.\n\nAt this point Col. Campbell shot one of the wolves, and the other five\nran away and allowed the antelopes to escape. Surely no human\ncombination could have shown greater reason and concerted action than\nwas shown by the wolves under such conditions. Each had a particular\npost assigned, and evidently some means of communication was used in\nindicating their respective locations. Each had a definite part to play\nin the complex scheme--so that their language quite evidently expressed\nabstract ideas. That these ideas were carried out shows that the wolves\nwere capable not only of laying ambitious plans for capturing prey, but\nof carrying them out as well.\n\n\"That beasts possess a language, which enables them to communicate their\nideas,\" says Thomas Gentry, \"has been clearly shown. It is just as\napparent that they can act upon the ideas so conveyed. We have now to\nsee whether they can convey their ideas to man, and so bridge over the\ngulf between the higher and the lower beings. Were there no means of\ncommunicating ideas between man and animals, domestication would be\nimpossible. Every one who has possessed and cared for some favourite\nanimal must have observed that they can do so. Their own language\nbecomes, in many instances, intelligible to man. Just as a child that is\nunable to pronounce words, can express its meaning by intimation, so a\ndog can do the same by its different modes of barking. There is the bark\nof joy or welcome, when the animal sees its master, or anticipates a\nwalk with him; the furious bark of anger, if the dog suspects that any\none is likely to injure himself or master, and the bark of terror when\nthe dog is suddenly frightened at something which he cannot understand.\nSupposing, now, that his master could not see the dog, but could only\nhear his bark, would he not know perfectly well the ideas which were\npassing through the animal's mind?\"\n\nThere is no doubt that animals understand something of our human\nlanguage. They may not be able to comprehend the exact words used, but\nit is evident they get the meaning to a certain extent. I once had a\nsmall Mexican dog sent me from Mexico; he seemed not to understand what\nwas said to him, until a friend called who spoke to him in Spanish,\nwhereupon he showed his delight and became at once a friend to the man\nwho spoke his own language.\n\nThe Rev. J. G. Wood tells the following incident, which forcibly\nillustrates the ability possessed by animals to commune with each other.\n\"While I was living in the country with a friend, a most interesting\nincident was observed in the history of the dog. My friend had several\ndogs, of which two had a special attachment to, and an understanding\nwith, each other. The one was a Scotch terrier, gentle and ready to\nfraternise with all honest comers. The other was as large as a mastiff,\nand looked like a compound between the mastiff and the large rough\nstag-hound. He was fierce, and required some acquaintance before you\nknew what faithfulness and kindness lay beneath his rough and\nsavage-looking exterior. The one was gay and lively, the other, stern\nand thoughtful.\n\n\"These two dogs were often observed to go to a certain point together,\nwhen the small one remained behind at a corner of a large field, while\nthe mastiff took a round by the side of the field, which ran up-hill for\nnearly a mile, and led to a wood on the left. Game abounded in those\ndistricts and the object of the dogs' arrangement was soon seen. The\nterrier would start a hare, and chase it up the hill towards the large\nwood at the summit, where they arrived somewhat tired. At this point,\nthe large dog, who was fresh and had rested after his walk, darted after\nthe animal, which he usually captured. They then ate the hare between\nthem and returned home. This course had been systematically carried on\nsome time before it was fully understood.\"\n\nEvery animal has a definite language which is quite sufficient to\nexpress the desires and emotions of its nature, and to make them\nintelligible, not only to its own species, but also to other animals and\nsometimes to human beings. Those which do not actually speak by means of\na voice, make signs or mimic understood things so as to be perfectly\nintelligible. If animals had no language, they could not instruct their\nyoung. The young of animals in a civilised country are far wiser than\nthe old ones in wild, uninhabited countries. This can be explained only\nby the knowledge which the young receive from their parents.\n\nIt is not uncommon for animals belonging to widely different species to\nspeak the same language, and thus become great friends. A friend in\nTexas once owned a cow whose sole companion was a small black goat. One\nday the young goat followed the cow home from her grazing place, and\nfrom that time on they were constant companions, even occupying the same\nstall in winter, sharing the same food, and always sleeping near each\nother.\n\nIf one shoots a monkey in South Africa, and wounds it, allowing it to\nescape, there usually come droves of its kinspeople, screaming and\nchattering the most diabolical language, seeking to revenge the wrong\ndone their tribe. Nothing demonstrates plainer that they have a common\nlanguage; otherwise, how could they understand that one of their number\nhad been wounded? It is because of the communication of ideas by a\ncommon language among animals that hunters so fear to allow a wounded\nanimal to escape at the beginning of their hunting season in certain\nlocalities. A wounded bear who escapes, for example, will spoil the\nentire season for hunters by spreading the alarm among his people.\n\n[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_\n\nROOSEVELT'S COLOBUS. THESE HORSE-TAILED MONKEYS CHATTER TOGETHER IN A\nLANGUAGE EXCLUSIVELY THEIR OWN, YET THEY SEEM TO HAVE NO DIFFICULTY IN\nMAKING THEMSELVES UNDERSTOOD BY OTHER MONKEY-TRIBES.]\n\n[Illustration: A TAMED DEER OF TEXAS, WHOSE CONSTANT COMPANION AND\nPLAYMATE WAS A RABBIT DOG. BETWEEN THE TWO THERE DEVELOPED, NECESSARILY,\nA COMMON LANGUAGE.]\n\nNear our country home in Texas my sister found a very young red deer one\nmorning just outside the garden, and bringing it into the yard, soon had\na wonderful pet in this dainty spotted child of the woods. We knew that\nits mother was not far away, and so we placed salt and food just where\nthe baby was found, to attract the mother's attention. In a few days,\nwe saw the mother, and shortly afterwards five grown deer were seen\neating the food we had placed for the mother. Evidently the news had\nbeen carried through the pine forests that it was safe for deer to come\nnear our home. My sister's pet grew rapidly, and became a great friend\nof our yard dog. They often played by running races together, the deer\nwould leap over the fence and the dog would chase him with great\ndelight. Surely, they must have had a spoken common language!\n\nNo one claims that in the language of animals there are principles of\nconstruction such as we find in the human languages. The term Barbarian\nmeans those whose language is only a \"bar-bar,\" and this is really all\nthat the sound of an unknown tongue implied to the cultured Athenians.\nThe neighing of horses, the howling of dogs and wolves, the mewing of\ncats, the bleating of sheep, the lowing of cows, the chattering of\nmonkeys and baboons is nothing more nor less than their language. And it\nis quite as intelligible to us as is the chattering of the Hottentots of\nAfrica. Because we do not speak the languages of our animal friends does\nnot take away from the genuineness of the languages; we might as well\nclaim that because our horse does not comprehend what we are saying,\nthat we are not speaking a language!\n\nAnimals and men, under normal conditions, have been friends and\ncompanions since the beginning of time; and in order that they may\nconvey ideas to each other, it is necessary for them to have some sort\nof means of communication.\n\nAs a matter of fact, animal language is quite often intelligible to man.\nTheir language might be likened to that of a young child that cannot\npronounce distinctly the words we commonly use; and yet we get the\nmeaning from the intonation and gesture.\n\nAny man who has ever owned a horse understands the meanings of his\nvarious actions and vocal expressions. There is the neigh of joy, upon\nreturning home after a hard day's work, the neigh of distress, when he\nhas strayed from his companions, the neigh of salutation that passes\nbetween two horses when they meet, and the neigh of terror when enemies\nare near. There is also the neigh of affection that is often given to\nhis master when they first meet in the morning. Thus, spoken words are\nnot necessary to express elemental feelings.\n\nElephants readily understand most of the words uttered by their masters.\nMenault tells of an elephant that was employed to pile up heavy logs.\nThe manager, suspecting the keeper of stealing the grain set aside for\nthe elephant, accused him of theft, which he denied most vehemently in\nthe presence of the elephant. The result was remarkable. The animal\nsuddenly laid hold of a large wrapper which the man wore round his\nwaist, and tearing it open, let out some quarts of rice which the fellow\nhad stowed away under the voluminous covering.\n\nAnimals have the power to make themselves understood by man, especially\nwhen they are in distress and wish man to help them. And they often\ncombine to help one another. I was on a sheep ranch in western Texas\nonce when one of the sheep came bleating up to the camp late in the\nafternoon. She uttered the most distressing calls. A friend, whom I was\nvisiting, assured me that something unusual was wrong. Together we\nfollowed the sheep back to where she had been feeding in the pasture,\nshe going forward in short spurts and continually looking back to see if\nwe were coming. She finally led us to an old well, and we heard the\nplaintive voice of her young lamb that had fallen in. As the well had no\nwater in it, and was only about six feet deep, we secured a ladder and\nin a few minutes the lamb was restored to its mother. She seemed\ndelighted at the successful outcome of the accident. She had come and\ntold us her troubles and got aid.\n\nCats are gifted linguists. By mewing they can just as plainly express a\ndesire to have a door opened or closed as if they requested it in so\nmany words. A friend has furnished me with an interesting account of her\ncat's ability to make herself understood. It seems that the cat, with\nher three small kittens, at one time slept in a box prepared for her in\nthe kitchen. But one night when it was particularly cold, some one left\nthe kitchen window open, and late in the night the cat went to her\nmistress's bed and mewed continuously until her mistress arose and went\nto the kitchen and closed the window. The cat was perfectly satisfied,\nas she had made her great need understood.\n\nThe ability that animals have to make their own language understood by\nman is not the only linguistic power they possess; as already mentioned,\nthey are also capable of understanding something of human speech. There\nis no doubt that all domesticated animals understand the human language;\nthe horse, dog, ox, and sheep comprehend a large part of what is said to\nthem, though of course they may not understand the precise words used.\n\nI once owned a rabbit dog, \"Nimrod,\" and if he never understood another\nword of the English language, there is no doubt that he knew what the\nword \"rabbit\" meant. No matter in what manner or way I used the word,\nNimrod was ready for a hunt, and yelped with glee at the thought of the\nchase that he was to have. I tested him over and over again by saying\n\"rabbit hunt\" gently; it thrilled him with delight, and while he was not\nvery well educated in other things, he always lived up to his name.\n\nThe Rev. J. G. Wood speaks of the great individuality of character which\nhe has observed in dogs, and that they unquestionably understand the\nhuman language. \"There was in my pet greyhound 'Brenda,' there was in my\ndear lurcher 'Smoker,' and there is now in my dear lurcher 'Bar,' and in\nmy three setters 'Chance,' 'Quail,' and 'Quince,' a refinement of\nfeeling and sagacity infinitely beyond that existing in multitudes of\nthe human race, whether inhabiting the deserts or the realms of\ncivilisation.\n\n\"I cannot better define it than by saying that, if I give these dogs a\nhastily angered word in my room, though they have never been beaten,\nthey will, with an expression of the most dejected sorrow, go into a\ncorner behind some chair, sofa, or table, and lie there. Perhaps I may\nhave been guilty of a hasty rebuke to them for jogging my table or elbow\nwhile I was writing, and then continued to write on. Some time after,\nnot having seen my companions lying on the rug before the fire, I have\nremembered the circumstance, and, in a tone of voice to which they are\nused, I have said, 'There, you are forgiven.' In an instant the\ngreyhound Brenda would fly into my lap, and cover me with kisses, her\nheart tumultuously beating. After she grew old, her joy at my return\nhome after a long absence has at times nearly killed her; and when I was\naway, the bed she loved best was one of my old shooting-jackets, but\nnever when I was at home.\"\n\nThe impassable gulf which the writers of old created between mankind and\nthe animal kingdom was based mainly upon the belief that animals had no\nlanguage, but this has been proved a mistake and no longer exists. In\nthe light of modern knowledge and a better understanding of the\nmarvellous theory of evolution, we are thoroughly convinced that there\nis no break whatever in the long chain of living beings. Man has no art,\nhas developed no thing whatever, no mode of language or communication,\nthat is not to be found in some degree among animals. They are capable\nof feeling the same emotions as human beings, and are therefore subject\nto the same general laws of life. No science has been more beneficial\nthan psychology in proving that they are human in all ways; no discovery\nmade by the human mind is so poetical and of such value as that which\nleads mankind to recognise some part of himself in every part of\nNature, even in the language of animals.\n\nThis knowledge of all life is recognised by thinking men the world over,\nremoving forever that artificial barrier by which, in his ignorance and\nprejudice, he has separated himself from his lower brothers, the\nanimals, denying unto them even a means of intelligent communication.\nThis recognition of the existence of a common language will go far\ntoward establishing the universal brotherhood of all living creatures.\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nIN THEIR BOUDOIRS, HOSPITALS AND CHURCHES\n\n\n  _\"Never stoops the soaring vulture\n  On his quarry in the desert,\n  On the sick or wounded bison,\n  But another vulture, watching\n  From his high aerial look-out,\n  Sees the downward plunge and follows,\n  And a third pursues the second,\n  Coming from the invisible ether,\n  First a speck and then a vulture\n  Till the air is dark with pinions.\"_\n\n\nMany animals show a surprising knowledge of medical and sanitary laws,\nbut these laws vary in the different species as much as they do among\nhumans. Animals are divided into as many classes and social castes as\nare mankind; and those that have advanced beyond the nomadic life, and\nhave fixed homes with servants and luxuries, naturally are more refined\nin the matter of their personal care.\n\nScience may yet prove that the old legend of the mermaid sitting on a\nrock, with a glass and comb in her hand, was not so far from truth as\nwe imagine. No doubt, the bright-eyed seals looked like sea-maidens to\nmany ancient mariners. The originator of the mermaid stories had\npossibly seen seals making their toilettes. These beautiful and\naffectionate human-like creatures of the water, wear, attached to their\nfront flipper, a handsome comb-like protuberance. When they rest on the\nrocks, they use this little comb to brush the fur on their faces; and\nthe Northern fur-seals, when the weather is warm, use their flippers as\nfans. The secret of teaching seals to play tambourines is due to their\ndesire to comb their fur and fan themselves!\n\nMembers of the cat family are, perhaps, the cleanest of all animals,\nwith the exception of some of the opossums. Lions, panthers, and pumas\ndress themselves very much as the domestic cat performs her toilette.\nThey use their feet, dipped in water, as wash cloths, and their tongues\nas combs and brushes. Hares also use their feet to wash their faces, and\nthis they do very often, to keep their exquisite hair in perfect\ncondition. Dogs enjoy wiping their coats against green grass and shrubs.\n\nCertain animals are so fastidious that they have community\nbeauty-parlours! Goats, deer, giraffes, and antelopes, for example, are\nvery particular about their personal neatness and cleanliness, and they\ncome together to assist each other in making toilettes. One of the\nreasons that animals suffer so much in captivity, especially when alone,\nis that they have no one to help them dress, and some of them, such as\nthe giraffe, cannot reach all parts of their bodies. I have seen a young\nguinea pig that had been rescued from a mud puddle being cleaned by both\nof his parents. Water-loving animals, like the beavers, seemingly take\ngreat pride in their toilettes, and in this respect they show more human\ntraits than any other animal.\n\nIt is a general belief that animals are quite care-free, and that when\nthey awake in the morning there is nothing for them to do but play or\nwander about. This is a mistaken belief, for they have to dress\nthemselves, and this not only means a bath in many cases, but a\nsmoothing out of their fur and hair. Some are shy and seek the darkest\nplaces to dress themselves, others, like the dog and cat, seek the\nhearth. Every one has possibly seen a cow and horse licking each other,\nand it is generally believed that this implies special friendship\nbetween the two, but this idea is incorrect; it only implies mutual aid\nin making their toilettes. They have a beauty parlour, and thus aid each\nother. In no way are animals better prepared to teach man than in their\nmethods of personal cleanliness, and this means health. Their\nutilisation of clay, dust, mud, water, and even sunshine to keep their\nhealth, far exceeds that of mankind. In fact, man's first knowledge of\nsimple, natural health remedies came from animals. This wisdom they have\nacquired by ages of instinct and reason, for theirs has been the normal\nlife, whereas man's is often abnormal. Each animal is his own\nspecialist. However, when an animal becomes too ill to doctor himself,\nhe is treated by another. I have seen a horse licking the wound of one\nof his fellows to stop the pain.\n\n[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_\n\nWATER-LOVING ANIMALS, LIKE THE BEAVERS, SEEMINGLY TAKE GREAT PRIDE IN\nTHEIR TOILETTES. THEIR FUR IS ALWAYS SLEEK AND CLEAN.]\n\n[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_\n\nGREAT FOREST PIGS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. LIKE THE COMMON DOMESTICATED HOGS,\nTHEY WILL SEEK A CLAY BATH TO HEAL THEIR WOUNDS.]\n\nAnimals know better than man what kind of food they need, for the simple\nreason that their tastes are natural, while man has allowed his to\nbecome perverted. In times of sickness absurd practices have been\nobserved. Ice-cream and buttermilk, for example, were for ages refused\nto typhoid fever patients, while to-day they are generally used under\nsuch circumstances. But the natural desire for sour and cold things was\nalways in evidence; animals have always depended upon these desires.\n\nAmong them are skilled dietitians, who restrict their diet in case of\nillness, keep quiet, avoid all excitement, seek restful places where\nthere is plenty of fresh air and clean water. If a dog loses his\nappetite, he eats \"dog grass,\" while a sick cat delights in catnip.\nDeer, goats, cows, and sheep, when sick seek various medicinal herbs.\nWhen deer or cattle have rheumatism, they invariably seek a health\nresort where they may bathe in a sulphur spring and drink of the healing\nmineral waters. They also know the full value of lying in the warm sun.\n\nCats are skilled physicians, and have various home remedies, such as\ndipping a feverish foot into cold water, or lying before a warm fire, if\nthey have a cold. Many animals know how to treat a sore eye--by lying in\nthe dark, and repeatedly licking their paws and placing them over the\nafflicted member.\n\nHow wonderful would the human race become, if it had the strength of a\nlion, the power of a bear, the wisdom of an elephant, the cleverness of\na fox, and the health of the wild boar! But these qualities are found\nchiefly among the animals because of the marvellous knowledge of the\nlaws of health and self-preservation.\n\nJohn Wesley claimed, in his directions on the art of keeping well, that\nmany of the medicines which were used among the common people of his\ntime were first discovered by watching animals in their medical\npractices to cure their ills and pains. \"If they heal animals, they will\nalso heal men,\" he claimed. The American Indians learned most of their\ncures from watching animals, especially the cure of such diseases as\nfever, rheumatism, dysentery, and snake-bites. A rheumatic old wolf\nwould bathe in the warm waters of a sulphur spring; a sick and feverish\ndeer would eat the fresh leaves of healing ferns, while a wounded hog or\nbear would always seek a red-clay bath to heal the wounds. Sick dogs\nwill invariably eat certain weeds, and an unwell cat will seek healing\nmints and grasses.\n\nOld hunters tell us that a deer after having been chased for several\nhours by dogs, and after having escaped them by swimming a cold stream,\nwill, upon reaching safety, lie down in the ice and snow. If a man did\nsuch a thing, he would immediately die. But not so with the deer, for he\nwill arise about every hour and move around to exercise himself, and on\nthe morrow he is perfectly well. The same animal, shut up in a warm barn\nfor the night, as has many times been demonstrated with circus animals,\nwill be dead by morning.\n\nFrom this natural method of healing, mankind may learn much, and\nespecially as it pertains to the treatment of extreme heat, cold,\nexhaustion, and paralysis of the muscles, and most especially sores and\nwounds. I have seen a wounded hog that had been badly bitten by a dog,\nwallow in rich red mud to stop the flow of blood.\n\nIt is a common practice for a raccoon actually to amputate a diseased\nleg, or one that has been wounded by a gunshot, and wash the stub in\ncool flowing water. When it is healing, he licks it with his tongue to\nmassage it, and also to stop the pain and reduce the swelling. This\nwisdom is often classed by the unknowing under the term instinct,\nwhereas it displays no less skill and knowledge than that of our modern\nsurgery. The intelligence of the raccoon stands very high in the animal\nworld.\n\nFoxes, when caught in a trap, will very often gnaw off a limb. This\nrequires a special power and a moral energy that few men possess.\n\nWilliam J. Long, in the _Outlook_, tells of an unusual proof of animal\nsurgery in the case of an old muskrat that had cut off both of his\nforelegs, probably at different times, and had grown very wise in\navoiding man-made traps, and when found, had covered the wound with a\nsticky vegetable gum from a pine tree. \"An old Indian who lives and\nhunts on Vancouver Island told me recently,\" said Mr. Long, \"that he had\nseveral times caught beaver that had previously cut their legs off to\nescape from traps, and that two of them had covered the wounds thickly\nwith gum, as the muskrat had done. Last spring the same Indian caught a\nbear in a deadfall. On the animal's side was a long rip from some other\nbear's claw, and the wound had been smeared thickly with soft spruce\nresin. This last experience corresponds closely with one of my own. I\nshot a bear years ago in northern New Brunswick that had received a\ngunshot wound, which had raked him badly and then penetrated the leg. He\nhad plugged the wound carefully with clay, evidently to stop the\nbleeding, and then had covered the broken skin with sticky mud from the\nriver's brink, to keep the flies away from the wound and give it a\nchance to heal undisturbed. It is noteworthy here that the bear uses\neither gum or clay indifferently, while the beaver and muskrat seem to\nknow enough to avoid the clay, which would be quickly washed off in the\nwater.\"\n\nAnimals not only know how to doctor themselves when they are sick, but\nsome of them, such as the fox, have learned how to make artificial heat\nby covering green leaves with dirt. And while they do not make fire,\ntheir homes are often heated in this practical way, and thus sickness\navoided. Domestic horses and dogs wear hats in summer, and possibly in\nthe future they will learn the enormous importance of wearing clothes!\nTrained monkeys already take great delight in dressing up, and dogs\nlike smart suits.\n\nMonkeys show the greatest interest and brotherly love when one of their\nnumber is injured. Watson tells of a female monkey that was shot and\ncarried into a tent. Several of her tribe advanced with frightful\ngestures, and only stopped when met with a gun. The chief of the tribe\nthen came forward, chattering and remonstrating vigorously. But as he\ncame nearer, there was every evidence of grief and supplication for the\nbody. As he was given the body, he affectionately took it in his arms\nand slowly moved to his companions, and like a silent funeral procession\nthey all walked away.\n\nNor does their interest cease with life, for we are told by no less\nauthority than Col. Theodore Roosevelt of a large grizzly bear that was\ndiscovered lying across the trail in the woods. The hunter shot her as\nshe was preparing to charge him, and later he examined the spot where\nshe was lying, and found that it was the newly made grave of her cub.\nEvidently some animal had killed the cub in her absence, and she, in her\ngrief, was determined to avenge the wrong by lying in wait for the\nenemy.\n\nPublic meetings for civic council and religious worship are not confined\nto man alone. In Macgrave's _History of Brazil_ we are told of a\nspecies of South American monkey known as the ouraines, which the\nnatives call preachers of the woods. These highly intelligent creatures\nassemble every morning and evening, when the leader takes a place apart\nfrom the rest and addresses them from his pulpit or platform, Having\ntaken his position, he signals to the others to be seated, after which\nhe speaks to them in a language loud and rapid, with the gestures of a\nBilly Sunday, the audience listening in profound silence. He then\nsignals again with his paws, when all cry out together in apparently\nconfused noises, until another signal for silence comes from their\nleader. Then follows another discourse, at the close of which the\nassembly disperses. Macgrave attempts no explanation as to the object of\nthese addresses; but if his accounts be true, surely they must have as\nmuch meaning for the monkeys as many of our public lectures and church\nservices have for us! No doubt much of the advice imparted concerns the\npersonal and collective welfare of the tribe members.\n\n\n\n\nIX\n\nSELF-DEFENCE AND HOME-GOVERNMENT\n\n  _\"In the days of yore, when the world was young,\n    Sages of asses spoke, and poets sung;\n  In God's own book we find their humble name,\n    Some enrolled upon the scroll of fame.\"_\n\n\nThere is no phase of animal life which is more interesting than that\nthrough which Nature governs and protects her children. Each and every\nspecies of animal possesses the method of self-defence and protection\nbest adapted to it. Most of the larger animals are of themselves so\npowerful that they need no protection other than that afforded by their\nstrength, while most of the weaker and less aggressive animals are\nprovided with some special method of defence.\n\nThe tiger, lion, panther, and wolf have formidable claws and teeth;\nwhile the shark has such immense jaws that he can sever the head of a\ngoat at one bite. And most of them are in reality tyrants. They rule by\ntyranny--the oppression of the weak by the strong, whether that strength\nbe physical or mental,--a trait as common in animals as in man. Among\nthe animals it takes the commonest form, and they not only oppress the\nweak, but actually kill and eat them, even though they oftentimes are\nmembers of the same family. They are exactly like human cannibals, no\nbetter and no worse.\n\nFlight is perhaps the simplest and most natural method of defence. The\nswifter animals, however, such as deer, gazelles, and hares, which may\neasily escape by running their fastest, do not always use this method,\nbut have other means so ingenious as to be real arts. Wolves, when they\nsee that they are outnumbered, will sometimes escape by following the\nexact tracks of a single leader through the snow, and from all\nappearances only one has passed the way over which a hundred may have\ngone. Hares will separate and run in opposite directions, while\ngazelles, if too closely pursued, will jump to one side and lie flat on\nthe earth to escape notice, and as soon as the enemies have passed, run\nin the opposite direction.\n\nIt oftentimes happens that aggressively disposed animals, like cowardly\nmen, are apt to try battle with the unlikeliest adversaries. A\nmissionary from India tells the story of an alligator who was enjoying a\nnoonday sleep on the bank of a river, when an immense tiger emerged\nfrom the jungle, made straight for the sleeping saurian until within\nleaping distance, when he sprang on the alligator's back, and gained a\nstrangle hold before the sleeping monster could awake. At first the\ntiger was master, for the alligator could not bring his huge jaws into\naction, and while lashing viciously at the tiger with his tail, he was\ndragged into the jungle. What happened there no one could see, but in a\nfew moments the tiger dashed out of the jungle and disappeared in the\ncane brakes, and the alligator reappeared and crawled into the water.\n\nThe ape and the baboon are the most skilled of all animals in making\ntheir flight. They use every method known to man, and because of their\nswiftness of action excel man in certain ways. Like man, in the face of\ndanger, they show great bravery and never lose their presence of mind.\nThe ape is fast disappearing before man, but against other animals and\nNature he can well protect himself. He is even braver than the lion, who\nin captivity allows himself to be petted, but rarely is this true of the\nape, and then only when conditions seem insurmountable.\n\nIn making his escape from an enemy, the ape directs his flight in the\nmost self-possessed and human-like way, never losing his head, and\ntaking advantage of the first shelter or protection that he meets; if\nthe young, or females, or aged linger behind, a strong army of males\nbravely returns to rescue them at the danger of losing their own lives.\nMany of their brave deeds, if recorded in history, would compare\nfavourably with those of mankind! Too often has a poor, sickly ape,\nwhich by his very feebleness allowed himself to be captured and placed\nin a zoo, been compared to human beings. Even in spirit and movements he\nhas been considered as a human caricature and heaped with ridicule. We\nhave continually considered his defects, without noticing his better\nqualities. We would have a much higher idea of his great family, if we\nwould take a human derelict and compare him to an ape ruler! This\ncomparison would be more just.\n\nCertain of the baboon tribes which live among the rocks of high\nmountains and cliffs, if pursued by enemies, protect themselves by\ningeniously rolling immense stones down upon their foes. They also hurl\nwith great force small stones about the size of one's hand. As these\ntribes have each from one hundred to three hundred members, they\nconstitute a formidable grenade army!\n\nIn addition to their skilled methods of flight, the baboons, apes, and\nmonkeys come next to certain of the cat tribes as the greatest fighters\nin the animal world. This is astonishing when we remember that these\nanimals are not professional warriors, nor do they have to fight to\nobtain their food. Their greatest defence is their quickness and powers\nof biting. When they are attacked by a dog, they usually bite off a foot\nor an ear, or leave him minus a tail!\n\nOne of the bravest and fiercest of fighters is the bull-dog. Three of\nthese animals together have been known to capture and hold a large bull.\nDeer, when fighting among themselves, often play more than anything, and\nare not serious. Red deer seldom injure one another with their long\nantlers, but they could easily kill a dog or even a man. Stags, however,\noften fight to death, in some instances locking horns and tumbling over\na precipice.\n\nThe most ingenious of all the horned fighters is the sable antelope,\nwhose clever system of self-defence might well be taught in war-schools.\nHis horns are long, sharp-pointed, and bend backwards. When wounded, or\nattacked by wolves or dogs, he lies down, and scientifically covers his\nback by rapid fencing with his pointed horns. He can quickly kill any\ndog that attacks him in this way.\n\nOccasionally great battles take place between a buffalo and a lion, or\nmore often two or three lions attack a buffalo, who rarely escapes them.\nThe strength of a lion is almost beyond our comprehension when we\nremember that one can actually carry a cow over an ordinary-sized fence.\n\n[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_\n\nTHE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT HAS MANY MEANS OF DEFENCE, NOT THE LEAST OF\nWHICH IS HIS AGILITY IN CLIMBING TO INACCESSIBLE PLACES.]\n\n[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_\n\nWILD BOARS ARE AMONG THE MOST FEROCIOUS OF ANIMALS. BY MEANS OF THEIR\nGREAT STRENGTH ALONE THEY ARE WELL ABLE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES.]\n\nA most unique fighter is the giraffe. He has neither claws nor sharp\nteeth with which to defend himself; so, if he gets angry with one of his\nkind, he deliberately uses his long neck like a pile driver would use a\nsledge hammer. Swinging it round and round, he lets his head descend\nupon his adversary like a heavy ax! The two animals use the same kind of\ntactics, and bracing themselves so as to stand the blows, they fight\nuntil one has to give in. Their heads are furnished with two small\nknob-like horns which only protect them from the heavy blows without\nserving as offensive weapons.\n\nMost singular and amusing of all methods of self-defence are those which\nentirely depend for their efficiency upon bluff, or pretence. The\nchameleon, for example, erects his snake-like hood, though he is\nharmless, and at the most could scarcely injure the smallest animal.\nEqually curious are the methods of skunks and polecats, which project\nagainst enemies a highly disagreeable fluid.\n\nPassive modes of defence are as many and varied as are the active; one\nof the strangest and most inexplicable of these is that known as\nspontaneous amputation, technically termed autotomy. The lizard, for\nexample, when captured, will abruptly break loose his tail in order to\nescape; and certain wood rats, when caught, loosen the skin on their\ntails and deliberately slip away. Autotomy not only permits flight, but\nalso defends the animal against the most adverse conditions. Nearest\nakin to this--defence by means of amputation--is the practice of bears\nand raccoons of amputating their limbs when caught in steel traps.\n\nMimicry, which is treated under another chapter, comes under the head of\npassive defence, and form and colour play an important part in it.\nStrangely enough, animals which have never resorted to mimicry as a\nmeans of protection, when associated with others who practice it, take\non the habit themselves. This may possibly be due to the fact that new\nenemies are constantly arising.\n\nAs human sharpshooters dress in garments of the same colour as the woods\nin which they hunt, so many animals use this principle of imitation. The\ncolour of most animals is very similar to their surroundings. This\nenables them to lie in wait for prey, a practice as old as the hillsides\nwith animals. They have learned the extreme value of silence, and that\nthey must remain at times motionless. This is especially noticeable with\ncrocodiles, which wait for whole days without moving, concealed in the\nwater or deep grass, until their prey comes within striking distance,\nwhen they pounce upon it. The same is true of the python snake, which\nhangs from a tree so immovable that he appears like a vine or a branch\nof the tree. If an animal attempts to pass, he drops upon it.\n\nPerhaps the most unique and successful method of passive defence is the\nfeigning of death, or \"playing 'possum\" met with in several animals,\nsuch as the red fox, the opossum, occasionally the elephant, and several\nof the snakes. On many occasions I have been 'possum hunting in the\nSouth and found my dog barking at an apparently dead 'possum. As soon as\nthese animals are approached by larger and stronger enemies, they drop\nabsolutely motionless on the ground and close their eyes as though they\nwere dead. Here they remain until the enemy either destroys them,\ncarries them away, or leaves them alone. If left alone for a few\nmoments, they immediately spring to their feet and make their escape.\n\nElephants often feign death when captured, in order to gain their\nliberty. Animal catchers tell many interesting tales of elephants\nfeigning weakness from which they fall to the earth and later apparently\ndie. In many instances the fastenings are removed from their legs and\nhead and the carcass is abandoned as useless, when to the utter\nastonishment of all--before the captors get out of sight--the animal\nsprings up and dashes away to the forest, screaming with joy at the\ntriumph of its deception.\n\nMany animals deliberately assume a frightful, terrifying or grotesque\nappearance. This they do by inflating their bodies, by erecting hair,\nskin, or folds, or by unusual poses. Darwin speaks of the hissing of\ncertain snakes, the rattle of the rattle-snake, the grating of the\nscales of the echis, each of which serves to frighten or terrify the\nenemy.\n\nBluffing is another form of defence that many animals use. The cobra,\nfor example, when disturbed, raises its immense hood in a most\nterrifying attitude! Many of the lizards use the same tactics; while the\nhorned toads of America when disturbed actually eject blood from their\neyes. Every one is familiar with the cat's habit of raising the fur on\nhis back when molested by a dog. All bluffing animals, when in danger,\ntry to assume a pose that will make them look most dangerous and\nimpressive to their enemies, and there is little doubt that in most\ncases they succeed very well, for we have all seen a dog slink away from\na menacing cat.\n\nThe elk or moose, whose home is in the northern part of America and\nEurope, is a powerful and large animal, sometimes seven feet in height,\nand is able to endure much cold. He has many enemies among animals and\nmankind, and during the summer season he is quite able to protect\nhimself, but in winter there is considerable danger from hordes of\nwolves. This is especially true just after a heavy snowstorm, if the\nsnow is wet and melting. When it is dry and frozen, he can travel over\nit with great speed, and this he does by a most unusual trot which\ncarries him along much faster than the trotting gait of a horse. Thus he\nis able to escape the hungry, carnivorous wolves, whose courage\nincreases with appetite. If crowded too close, he is able also to\nprotect himself by the most terrific blows of his fore-feet.\n\nBut when the spring weather sets in, and the snows begin to melt\nunderneath, leaving the upper crust sufficiently strong to support the\nweight of lighter and smaller animals, such as wolves, especially when\nthey travel swiftly, he is in great danger. For with every step he sinks\nto the belly in the snow, while his enemies can walk right up to his\nhead and shoulders without his being able to strike or paw them with his\ndangerous hoofs. The advantage seems to be with the wolves, and if ever\nthey bring the moose to bay in the snow, his life is doomed. For they\ncare little for his arrow-like horns, but boldly jump at his throat and\nkill him. Herein comes the elk's wisdom--he deliberately sets to work,\nbefore the snow melts, and builds for himself and family an elk-yard,\nwhich is nothing more than a large space of ground on which the snow is\nsmoothed or trampled down until it becomes a hard surface on which he\ncan walk; it is also surrounded by a high wall of snow, through which\nare certain exits that allow him to pass out, if he desires. All the\nenclosed space is not smoothed down, but parts of it only are cut up\ninto roads through which he may pass very swiftly. Woe unto the daring\nwolves that enter his snowy fortification--his \"No Man's Land\"--- for\nsure death awaits them!\n\nA sense of law, order, government; the sacredness of family ties--all\nthese aid in the protection of animals. Family life with them originated\njust as it did in the human world. The social instinct and the moral\nsentiments which arise from social relations in man and animal are the\nsame. Moral obligations, especially in relation to family ties and\nconjugal unions of animals, are in many cases sacred binders to such\nties. The bear, for example, is proverbial for his conjugal\nfaithfulness. The married life of most animals is strictly moral, and\nmost of them are monogamists and have reached the highest form of family\nassociation and life.\n\nIn those places where they live promiscuously, it gives them the same\nprotection in herds as it does among our lower savages. Cattle, sheep,\nand horses unite for mutual protection; wolves band together in packs;\nand after they have been domesticated there is still not only a strong\ndesire to band together for social purposes, but also to hold courts of\njustice. It sometimes happens that an angered husband takes the law in\nhis hands, like uncivilised men, and beats his wife.\n\nIn the development and organisation of social and civil life the horse\nand the goat hold the foremost position. It corresponds to that of man\namong the lower animals. They do not believe in monarchies, but strictly\nin republics, or rather, a democracy where all power comes from the\nworking class. The claims of the working class to the exercise of\nsupreme control in all political affairs are practically realised. Among\na herd of wild Arabian horses, the leading stallion, or so-called king,\nis really only the father of the tribe; his functions are paternal\nrather than regal. If he may be said to reign in a certain sense, the\ntrue workers rule, and his scouts and sentinels obey his wishes which\nthe workers have influenced and formulated.\n\nThe existence of but one king leaves no room for dynastic troubles and\nrivalries which disturb, so often, our human countries and empires with\nsuch dreadful results. If two rival kings arise at the same time in a\nherd of horses, instead of forming factions in the state which end in\ncivil war, they fight it out personally until one of them is killed or\ndefeated. Once in a great while the other horses intervene, and drive\nthe less desirable, or the false-claimant of power, away from the herd\nand its grazing territory. In these troubles the real king has little or\nno power, all activities are carried on by the workers.\n\nIf by chance he dies or is captured, another king, chosen by the herd,\nimmediately assumes the kingship. It is a well-known fact that if the\nking of a herd of wild horses is caught, it is not uncommon for his herd\nto remain as near him as possible, and in their attempt to release him\nare often trapped themselves. The king has no heirs, either apparent or\npresumptive, and no right of succession is recognised. Any member of the\nherd, provided the workers choose him, may become the king, as every\nAmerican school boy is a possible president of the United States.\n\nAmong many animals there is a perfect social and industrial organisation\nin which the division of labour is far better adjusted than in many\nhuman organisations. This, of course, is the result of gradual growth\nand evolution just as it is in the human species. This can easily be\nproved among animals by their more primitive and savage habits. Monkeys,\nfor example, in civilised monkey communities, differ very greatly from\nthose of wilder and less trained districts. They are constantly changing\ntheir habits, becoming more and more civilised by improving their\nmethods of work and their moral and religious life as well. In many\ncases they have ceased to kill members of their own tribe for small\noffences for which they used to kill, and the cleanness and beauty of\ntheir home lives seem to increase with the years.\n\nIt oftentimes happens, however, that powerful ape and baboon colonies\nrelapse into barbarism, and roam, plunder, rob and murder, like a pack\nof uncivilised wolves or hyenas. They seem all at once to forget their\npeaceful industries and lose all desire for clean and right living. And\nstrangely enough, when they once turn bad, they seldom reform. Some\nnaturalists believe that they are led astray by a wicked king or ruler\nwho comes into power; the natives believe the evil spirits have suddenly\ntaken possession of them.\n\nThere is unquestionably, in the life of many tribal animals, a definite\nhistorical connection between the mother tribe and its colonies. This\nrelation extends to the tribes of tribes, and thus there is an\ninternational relationship between the various members of a large number\nof tribes. These communities share the same likes, dislikes, hatreds,\nand aspirations. A missionary friend told of his experience with monkey\nfolk, and how once, when hunting, his gun was accidentally discharged,\ninstantly wounding a large semi-tame baboon near his home. He hastened\nto help the injured animal, but saw that the relatives had crowded\naround and were terrorised, as they thought it was intentional. They not\nonly followed him to his home, but returned in the night and actually\ntore his fence down. For months he was afraid to leave his wife alone\nduring the day. And the natives reported that large tribes of monkey\nfolk immediately came into the community from remoter regions and were\ndistinctly on the war path. It was evident that their unjust antipathy\nwas extended to all the kinspeople.\n\nThis is evidence of hereditary enmity, such as is common among families,\ntribes, and clans, and it often takes the form of feuds, which are still\nin vogue in the mountainous counties of the South. The baboons had\nsuffered wrongs and never forgot it, and it was transmitted to their\noffspring.\n\n[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_\n\nBRONTOSAURUS. THE ANIMALS THAT SEEMED BEST EQUIPPED TO DEFEND THEMSELVES\nARE THE ONES THAT, THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, BECAME EXTINCT.]\n\n[Illustration: THIS PREHISTORIC MONSTER WAS EQUIPPED NOT ONLY WITH A\nPAIR OF STRONG HORNS, BUT WITH A SHIELD BACK OF THEM AS WELL.]\n\nThe ability to use weapons, tools, and war instruments is not\nexclusively human. Even fish are capable of reaching their prey at a\nlong distance. The _toxotes jaculator_, which lives in the rivers of\nIndia, and feeds upon insects, cannot afford to wait until the insects\nwhich thrive upon the leaves of aquatic plants fall into the water. So\nas he cannot leap high enough to catch them, he fills his mouth with\nwater and squirts it at an insect with such aim and force that he rarely\nfails to knock the insect into the water where he can easily catch it.\nMany other animals squirt various liquids, occasionally in attack, but\nmost times in defence. The fish makes a veritable squirt-gun of his\nmouth.\n\nBeavers use sticks, chips, and even stones in building their dams; and\ntheir engineering abilities are astounding. They are also capable of\nmeeting emergencies, as shown by the following incident. A farmer in\nMichigan discovered one morning, just after a flood, that all his potato\nsacks, which had been hung on a back fence to dry, had suddenly\ndisappeared. A few days later he found them in a nearby beavers' colony,\nused in rebuilding their dam, which had suddenly overflowed. The beavers\nwasted no time, when they discovered their danger, in meeting the\nemergency by using the sacks to prevent the destruction of their home.\n\nMonkeys make skilled use of clubs and stones in capturing their prey and\nfighting their enemies.\n\nThe skill with which some of them throw pebbles would lead us to believe\nthey have already reached the degree of civilisation that many tribes of\nsavages had reached only a few years ago, when they learned to use the\nboomerang and lasso. Some naturalists claim that monkeys actually set\npitfalls for their enemies and lie in wait for them to be caught, just\nas a hunter would do.\n\nElephants also know the value of clubs in warfare, and will often use a\nbroken limb of a dead tree as a weapon of defence. The story is told and\nvouched for by Mr. William B. Smith that on his farm, near Mount\nLookout, a few years ago a donkey grazed in the same pasture with a\nferocious bull. He was frequently attacked by the bull, and always got\nthe worst of the fight. His feet were no match for the bull's horns, but\none day the mule grabbed a long pole in his mouth, and, whirling it\nabout, almost killed the bull, and henceforth the two lived on the best\nof terms in the same pasture.\n\nI have a friend who owns a cow that knows exactly how to lift an iron\nlatch to the barn door with her tongue and open the door. Innumerable\ntimes she has opened a gate in the same way to permit her calf to go\nfree with her. So skilled is she in the manipulation of doors and\nlatches that we are tempted to believe in some previous state of\nexistence she was a professional lock-picker!\n\nCats and dogs are famed for their ability to open doors by pulling\nlatch-strings. And not a few cats show a strong desire to study music by\nwalking up and down the keyboard of a piano!\n\nMonkeys who live near the seashore show wonderful aptness in opening\noysters and shell-fish with sharp stones, exactly as a man would do.\nMonkeys have already reached the degree of civilization where they\nselect the stones best suited for their work, and from their progress in\nthe past it is reasonable to believe that in the near future they will\nnot only be able to make their own tools--thus placing themselves on a\nmental footing with our flint-chipping ancestors of the early stone\nage,--but will also learn the use of fire and eventually the use of guns\nand ammunition, which marks one of the most important epochs in the\nevolution of the human species.\n\nThe chimpanzees, gorillas, and apes of the African forests have many\ntimes been observed in the act of piling brushwood upon the fires left\nby travellers, and though they do not know how to kindle a fire, they\nhave learned how to keep it burning. The tame ones soon learn how to\nignite matches, and often do great harm by starting forest fires.\n\nBut they show quite as much intelligence about the use of fire as the\naverage small child. In fact, it has been thought by a number of great\nscholars that man had not yet made his appearance upon the earth in the\nmiocene age, and that all the marvellous chipped flints of that age\nbelong to semi-human pithecoid apes of wonderful intelligence. There is\nsurely nothing in the facts of natural history, nor in Darwin's theory\nof evolution, that makes such a supposition unbelievable.\n\nBaboons use poles as levers, stones as hammers, and seem to understand\nthe more simple mechanical devices. Prantl claims that man is the only\nanimal capable of using fire but not a few baboons know how to strike a\nmatch, heap dried leaves over the blaze to make it burn, and then heap\non dead wood to feed the fire. This knowledge with them, exactly as with\nprimitive peoples, is a product of long experience and does not show any\nmathematical truths or principles any more than making a direct cut\nacross a field implies \"knowledge of the relation of a hypothenuse to\nthe two other sides of a right-angled triangle.\" This is what Prantl\ncalls \"spontaneous mathematical thinking.\"\n\nI knew of a tame ape in Chicago that learned to swing from the end of a\nclothes-line and seemed to enjoy it very much. The line was just the\nright length and properly hung so as to allow the ape to swing out from\na kitchen window and touch the ground. Just for fun, some one cut a\npiece from the line so that he could not reach the ground; immediately\nthe ape hunted another piece of cord, tying it to the end of his line so\nas to increase its length, and much to his delight, continued to swing\non the line.\n\nThe distinctive features of animal protection and home government,\nespecially in the higher groups, may compare favourably with any of the\nmethods used by civilised man. This is true both of their offensive and\ndefensive contrivances and for their monarchies and republics. They use\nshells, scales, plates of every kind, with innumerable modifications for\nvarious purposes--spines and allied armaments--all shapes and sizes;\npoisonous secretions, deadly odours, strong claws and teeth wielded by\nstrong muscles, and form colonies that are more than a gregarious\nassociation. In most cases, they have communities composed of\nindividuals living individual lives, yet which act in cases of need as\none unit.\n\n\n\n\nX\n\nANIMAL ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS, AND HOUSE BUILDERS\n\n  _\"The heart is hard that is not pleased\n  With sight of animals enjoying life,\n  Nor feels their happiness augment his own.\"_\n\n\nThe most popular and perhaps the most interesting department of\nnatural-history study is that which treats of the manner in which\nanimals utilise the various materials of the universe for purposes of\nprotection, for war and defence, for raiment, food, and even the\nluxuries of life. Man, by his superior power of adaptation, excels the\nlower animals in providing for the comforts of life; but, on the other\nhand, in such practical arts as engineering and domestic architecture\nman frequently finds himself an amateur in comparison. With all man's\ninventions he has not been able to equal some of the remarkable results\nproduced by some animals. The beaver, for example, shows a more profound\nknowledge of hydraulics than man himself. The power possessed by these\ncraftsmen, not only in felling trees, but in duly selecting the best\nplaces for making homes and in appropriating substances suitable for\ntheir needs, is a never-ending marvel!\n\nNowhere can we find a greater animal-workman than the beaver. He belongs\nto the great burrowing family, and is also extremely graceful in the\nwater. Long ago he learned the advantages of co-operation, and he unites\nwith his fellows in building dams of felled trees, which have been cut\nup into suitable length for use in damming up water places. These are\nskilfully placed, and with the aid of mud, control the level of the\nwater in selected places as efficiently as man could do. As a social\nanimal, the beaver should be ranked among the first; of course, the\nvarious marmots are extremely sociable, but they ordinarily live quite\nindependently of each other, except in cases where they chance to\ncongregate because of favourable conditions. The beavers, on the other\nhand, thoroughly understand the benefits of united labour, and work\ntogether for the good of the community.\n\nBeavers, if their skill were generally known, would have a great\nreputation among their human friends. Recently, at the New York\nZoological Gardens, a visitor was pointing out different animals to his\nlittle son, and when he came to the beaver pond, referred to two of\nthese dam-builders and tree-cutters, which were swimming through the\nwater with large sticks in their mouths, as big rats!\n\nYoung beavers make their appearance in May, and there are usually from\nfour to eight to a family. These kittens, as they are called, are odd\nlooking little fellows, with big heads, large sharp teeth, flat tails,\nlike little fat paddles, and delicate, soft, mouse-like fur, not at all\ncoarse like that of their parents. If taken at an early age they make\nnice pets and are easily domesticated. In the early days of American\nhistory it was not uncommon to see one running around an Indian lodge,\nplaying like a child with the little Indians, and frequently receiving\nwith the papoose nourishment from the mother's breast. Strangely enough,\nthe cry of the young beaver is exactly like that of the baby child. One\nof my friends in Michigan recently stopped at an Indian's house to see a\nreal live baby beaver. \"He cry all same as papoose,\" remarked the squaw,\nas she brought the young beaver out of the house, giving him a little\nslap to start him crying--and cry he did!\n\nThe body of a grown beaver is usually about thirty inches long, and\nsomething over eleven inches wide; it weighs about sixty pounds. The\nfore-paws are quite small in comparison with the rest of the body; the\nhind feet are larger, webbed like a duck's feet, and are the principal\nmotive power in swimming. The most unique feature of the animal's body\nis the famous mud-plastering tail, which is oft-times a foot long, five\ninches in width, and an inch in thickness. The colour of the beaver\nvaries; there are black beavers, white beavers, and brown beavers. The\nblack are the best known.\n\nThe beaver is well equipped for defending himself, and for carrying out\nhis architectural schemes. His jet black tail, which is like a large\npaddle, covered with horny scales, he uses in many ways. With it he\nturns the body in any desired direction while swimming and diving, and,\nin time of danger, employs it as a sound board, or paddle. When alarmed\nat night, he dives into the water, and, by means of his tail, splashes\nso violently as to give warning to all beavers within a half-mile\ndistance. The stroke of the tail sounds not unlike a pistol shot. As\nsoon as a beaver sounds the alarm all others dive underneath the water.\nHis teeth are expressly suited by nature for cutting and chiselling out\ntrees.\n\nThe dam is the beaver's masterpiece. In the alder or birch swamps, where\nhe usually lives, he oft-times builds from six to eight little dams from\nknoll to knoll, and in this way makes a pond sufficiently large for his\npurposes. The average beaver dam is from twenty to thirty feet long; but\nthey differ greatly in size. There is one on a branch of Arnold's River\nin Canada, where the stream is twenty-one feet wide and two feet deep,\nwhich is especially well built. The dam is seven feet high, and rises\nfive to six feet above the pool. It is constructed mainly of alder\npoles, which are arranged side by side, and their length is parallel\nwith the direction of the current. To create a pond for himself and\nprovide against drought is the chief aim of the beaver in building his\ndam.\n\nJust how these dams are built; who plans the job; who sees that it is\ncarried out; whether each works under his own impulse or whether they\nco-operate; when they begin and how they finish; all these things are\nunknown to man. The investigation of such questions is almost\nimpossible. It is generally believed, however, that beavers work in\ngangs under a common \"boss\" or \"overseer,\" and it is a known fact that\nthey work only at night. During a dark, rainy night they accomplish\ntwice as much as on a moonlight night. No doubt the darkness gives them\na sense of security which aids their work. Anyway, in the completed job,\nwe see the evidences of a skilled engineer and architect, and one who\nknew thoroughly what he was about.\n\nThe size of a dam depends entirely upon the wishes of its builders and\nlocation and general conditions of land and water. Sometimes the more\nambitious beavers build a dam a quarter of a mile in length. They employ\nexactly the same principle as is used in making a mill-dam. Beavers,\nhowever, were building dams long before millers came into existence, and\ntheir methods are fully as scientific as those of man. Mill-dams usually\nrun straight across a stream, while beaver-dams are so curved that the\nwater is gently turned to each side. In this way the beaver-dams are\ncapable of resisting immense quantities of water which in its impetuous\nrush would carry away the ordinary mill-dam. Many scientific thinkers\nclaim that the beaver employs this principle of construction without\nknowing it. How absurd! Who can be sure that he doesn't know it?\nScientists of the old school desire proof before they will accept\nanything as a fact, yet they themselves repeatedly make wild statements\nwithout proper substantiation.\n\nIt is not unusual for a beaver family to select a home on the bank of a\npond, lake, or stream whose waters are sufficiently deep and abundant\nfor all their needs. In such a case dams are not needed, and regulation\nbeaver houses are rarely constructed. Instead, apartment houses are\nhollowed out from the banks. But in the ease of a town-site on shallow,\nnarrow waters, dams are absolutely necessary to insure sufficient depth\nto conceal the beavers, and to prevent obstruction by ice. The entrance\nto the beaver's home is almost always under the water. This arrangement\nsafeguards the home from predatory enemies.\n\nDuring the summer months, beavers are inclined to live alone, except\nwhen a new home occupies their attention; but when autumn comes, the\nvarious families of a neighbourhood meet and remain together through the\nfollowing spring. In the latter part of August the busy season begins,\nand each and every beaver, old and young, aids in repairing the dam and\ndwellings, which have been allowed to fall into decay. The cutting and\nfelling of trees is the first important work to be done.\n\nThese interesting \"tree-cutters\" usually work in pairs, and are\nsometimes assisted by younger beavers; thus the family works together in\ncutting and felling the trees, but in other forms of labour it seems\nthat several families work together. If only two are engaged in felling\na tree, they work by turns, and alternately keep guard; this is a\nwell-known practice of many animals both in work and play. As soon as\nthe tree begins to bend and crack, they cease cutting and make sure of\ntheir definite direction of escape, then they continue to gnaw until it\nbegins to fall, whereupon they plunge into the stream, usually, where\nthey remain for some time lest the noise of the falling tree attract the\nattention of enemies.\n\nTheir next work is to cut up the tree into sections which they can\nremove. If the tree is not too large and has already fallen in the\nwater, they take it as it is, otherwise it must be cut up and conveyed\nto the dam. No professional lumberman better understands how to\ntransport lumber to a desired place than beavers. They realise the value\nof water transportation and thoroughly appreciate that trees can only be\nremoved downhill. From tame beavers we have learned that they remove\nsmaller limbs by seizing them with their teeth, throwing the loose end\nover their shoulder, and then dragging them to their destination.\n\nThese water-loving animals rely mainly upon their native element for the\nmovement of lumber and food, and to aid this they employ engineering\nskill that is rivalled only by their feats of tree-cutting and\ndam-building. This constructive faculty is shown largely in their\ncanal-digging. From one small stream to another, or from one lake to\nanother, they excavate canals from three to four feet in width, with a\nwater depth of two feet, and occasionally one hundred and fifty to two\nhundred feet in length. The amount of labour they perform is almost\nunbelievable; every particle of dirt is carried away between their chin\nand fore-paws. This earth is sometimes used in plastering up a nearby\ndam or repairing their winter home. Small and tender twigs are\ntransported to the vicinity of their lodges, and then sunk for winter\nfood.\n\nMr. Morgan has made a close study of these canals, and in speaking of\nthem he says that when he first saw them, and heard them called canals,\nhe doubted their artificial origin; but upon examination he found that\nthey were unquestionably beaver excavations. He considers these\nartificial canals, by means of which the beavers carry their wood to\ntheir lodges, the supreme act of intelligence on the part of these wise\nanimals. Even the dam, remarkable as it is, does not show evidence of\ngreater skill than that displayed in the making of these canals. No one\nwho has ever understood the ways of the beaver can believe that he is\nnot exceedingly intelligent. The banks of these canals soon become\ncovered with growing plants and moss, and they look not unlike slow\nsluggish streams winding through the marshy lands.\n\n[Illustration: THE BEAVER IS THE GREATEST OF ALL ANIMAL ARCHITECTS. HIS\nSKILL IS EQUALLED ONLY BY HIS PATIENCE.]\n\nThe beaver huts, or \"lodges\" as they are usually called, look not unlike\nbeehives, somewhat broader at the base, with thick walls and roof,\nfour to six feet in thickness. They are formed of numbers of poles,\ntwigs, and small branches of trees, woven together and plastered with\nmud, in the same way that the dams are made. Inside the house are\ncircular chambers formed of mud, which have been smoothed and polished\nlike waxed floors by the feet of the occupants. Around the outer border\nof each polished floor is dry grass used for Mrs. Beaver's nursery, and\nhere the young beavers sleep and play.\n\nFrom the outside these beaver huts resemble Esquimaux snow-houses, being\nalmost circular in form, and domed. The walls are quite thick enough to\nkeep out the cold, but with all the beaver's ingenuity, he is helpless\nagainst trappers. Summer and winter they are hunted, until now they are\nfast becoming extinct. How few people seem fully to realise and care\nwhat is being done to wild animals! They do not seem to know that it is\na crime to take the life of a being unnecessarily. Only human life is\nsacred to them! To realize the wonderful work of beavers, and then to\nact as we do toward them is unworthy of our civilisation.\n\nAn interesting cousin of the beaver, the musquash or muskrat, and called\nby the Indians the beaver's \"little brother,\" is also a house-builder\nand engineer of no mean abilities. He is at home throughout the greater\npart of North America, and, like the beaver, frequents the regions of\nslowly flowing streams and large, reed-bordered ponds. Here he mingles\nin groups of his own kin, and together they build houses, work and play,\ndive and swim, with almost as much skill as their big beaver brothers.\n\nThe muskrat is a skilled engineer, and delights in tunnelling. His home\nconsists of a large rounded chamber which is reached by a long burrow\nfrom the side of a stream. From his main living-room are oftentimes\nfound a number of smaller chambers or galleries, and these are used to\nstore food in the form of delicate roots and bits of bark. Some of the\nmore ambitious muskrats build large houses on piles of mud which rise\nout of the water. These houses are usually made of heaps of dead grass\nand weeds which are cemented together with mud and clay; at other times\nthey contain no mud or clay, and seem to be only piles of tender roots\nand swamp grasses to be used for food during the long, cold winters.\n\nFrom his physical appearance, the muskrat is well prepared to do his\nwork: he is stoutly built, with a body about a foot in length, not\nincluding the tail; has small eyes, and tiny ears, partly covered with\nfur. In the winter, as food gets scarce, he begins to eat even the\nwalls of his house, and by the time his home is gone--spring has\narrived!\n\nA most unusual family of skilled house-builders are the brush-tailed\nrat-kangaroos, or Jerboa kangaroos of Australia and Tasmania. They are\nno larger than an ordinary rabbit, but they have cousins who are as\nlarge as a man. These rat-kangaroos have most interesting tails, covered\nwith long hair which forms itself into a crest near the tip. Their homes\nare found among small grassy hills, where there are a few trees and\nbushes. They scratch out a small hole in the ground, near a tuft of tall\ngrass, and so bend the grass as to form a complete roof to the house,\nwhich is rather poorly constructed, and whose chief interest lies in the\nunusual way the kangaroos have of carrying all the building materials,\nlike tiny bundles of hay, held compactly in their tails. There is no\nother workman among the animals that employs quite this method of\ntransporting materials.\n\nThe rat-kangaroos have a dainty little brown cousin that lives in\nAfrica, and who is occasionally seen jumping around on the ground,\nunderneath bushes, and near damp springs. He is very small, not over\nthree inches in length, and is like a miniature kangaroo, except for his\nlong tail. Like their great cousins--the kangaroos--Mrs. Jerboa often\ncarries her babies on her back when she goes out to seek food.\n\nIn the Great Sahara Desert, parched and dry, are found numerous cities\nof these little animals. With the exception of a few birds, reptiles,\njackals and hyenas, they are the only inhabitants of this barren and\ndesolate land. From the Arabs we learn that these little animals have\nextensive and intricate burrows, consisting of innumerable passages\ntunnelled out in the hard, dry soil. And these tunnels are the result of\ncombined labour on the part of the entire community. The least alarm\ncauses them to scuffle away into their underground homes.\n\nOne of the larger species of Central Asia employs a stratagem that is\nremarkable. Like their cousins of Africa, they live in a great\nunderground city which is a perfect network of burrows which end in a\nlarge central chamber. From this chamber a long winding tunnel\nterminates very near the surface of the ground, and it is a long\ndistance from the other burrows. No sign of its existence appears from\nabove the surface of the earth, but if an enemy invades the burrow, away\nthe jerboas rush for this secret exit and break through to the surface\nout of reach of the trouble, and escape.\n\nThese African jerboas are exceedingly odd in appearance, and they are\ntwo-legged in their habits of walk, and never go on all-fours. They walk\nby placing one hind foot alternately before the other; and they run in\nthe same way. They can leap an extraordinary distance.\n\nFrogs and toads, as a class, are not so skilled in house-building as\nsome of their higher relations, but there is one of their number--the\n_Hyla faber_--that is remarkably gifted in building mud houses. He lives\nin Brazil, and the natives call him the _ferreiro_, or smith, and he is\nindeed the master-builder of his family. Mrs. Hyla is really the gifted\nmember of the tribe, and it is during the breeding season that she\ndiligently dives underneath the water, digs up handfuls of mud, and\nbuilds on the bottom a small circular wall, which encloses a space about\nten to fourteen inches in diameter. This wall is continued until it\nreaches about four inches above the surface of the water. It looks not\nunlike a small volcano, and the inside is skilfully smoothed. This has\nbeen done by Mrs. Frog's artistic hands. When the house is entirely\ncompleted, Mrs. Frog lays a great number of eggs, and here they are\nquite safe from enemies both as eggs and baby tadpoles.\n\nMr. Frog seems little concerned in the building of the home, but he does\ntake pleasure in croaking for Mrs. Frog while she works. Perhaps this\nis to her heart genuine music, and his faithful attention to their\nchildren makes up for his love of idleness!\n\nPerhaps the strangest animal engineer in the world is found in\nMadagascar and Australia. It is the duckbill or duckmole, and is\nscientifically known as the _Ornithorhynchus paradoxus_. The natives of\nAustralia call it by several names: _Mallangong_, _Tambreet_, and not a\nfew call it, _Tohunbuck_.\n\nThis odd little aquatic engineer digs long tunnels of great intricacy in\nthe bands of lazy rivers, and because of its paradoxical nature and\nappearance has caused many strange stories to originate about its habits\nand methods of propagation. It has the beak of a duck and waddles not\nunlike this bird, but, like other mammals, it gives birth to its young,\nand does not lay eggs, as is so often claimed for it. When swimming it\nlooks like a bunch of floating weeds or grass.\n\nIts home is always on the banks of a stream, and is always provided with\ntwo entrances: one below the surface of the water, and the other above.\nThis insures escape in case of enemies. The main tunnel or road to the\nhome is sometimes fifty feet in length, and no engineer could devise a\nmore deceptive approach; it winds up and down like a huge serpent, to\nthe right, and to the left, and is so annoyingly variable in its sinuous\ncourse that even the natives have great trouble in digging the duckbill\nout of its nest.\n\nThe nest is oval in form, and is well-carpeted with dry weeds and grass.\nHere the young reside on soft beds until they are large enough to care\nfor themselves. There are from one to four in each nest.\n\nThere are no greater architects in the universe than may be found among\nthe coral-polypes. These interesting little animals of the deep have\nbeen much misunderstood, and have sometimes had the erroneous\ndesignation of \"insect\" bestowed upon them. The word \"insect\" has been\napplied in a very loose and general sense in other days; but naturalists\nand scientists should see to it that the use of this term be corrected\nin reference to these wonderful coral-architects, and that no informed\nperson refer to them except as animals. Even poets have been guilty of\npropagating the most erroneous ideas about the nature and works of these\nsea-builders. Montgomery, in his _Pelican Island_, makes statements that\nare shocking to an intelligent thinker, and which no scientist can\nexcuse on the ground of poetical license. \"The poetry of this excellent\nauthor,\" says Dana, \"is good, but the facts nearly all errors--if\nliterature allows of such an incongruity.\" Think of coral-animals as\nbeing referred to as shapeless worms that \"writhe and shrink their\ntortuous bodies to grotesque dimensions\"! These deep-sea builders\nmanufacture or secrete from their own bodies the coral substance out of\nwhich the great reefs are built. It is a part of their life work and\nnature, as a flower produces its own colours and shapes; it is amusing\nto know that it has only been about one hundred and fifty years since it\nwas discovered not to be a plant but an animal! Even Ovid states the\npopular belief of the classic period when he speaks of the coral as a\nseaweed \"which existed in a soft state as long as it remained in the\nsea, but had the curious property of becoming hard on exposure to the\nair.\"\n\nThese strange coral-producing animals of the deep demand two especially\nimportant conditions only under which they will thrive: namely, a\ncertain depth of water and a certain temperature. Thus it is seen that\nthe warmth of the sea determines the distribution of the corals; the\ngeography of these animals is defined by degrees of temperature. Only in\nequatorial seas may reef-building corals be found; and if we select the\n\"Equator as a natural centre of the globe, and measure off a band of\n1800 miles in breadth on each side of that line,\" we will find that it\nwill include the chief coral regions of the earth.\n\nThe work of the corals is most interesting. Small as are these tiny\nworkmen, each and every one does his bit and, speck by speck, adds his\nminute contribution to the growing mass of coral until entire islands\nare surrounded by extensive reefs. Tahiti, for example, is surrounded by\na barrier reef which is really an immense wall. The large barrier reef\non the northeast coast of Australia extends in a continuous line for\n1,000 miles, and varies from 10 to 90 miles in breadth. Some reefs are\nmere fringes which simply skirt the coast lands, and seem to be mere\nextensions of the beach. Still another variety of reef is known as the\n\"atoll\" or \"lagoon\" reef. This latter form is seen in circular rings of\ncoral of various breadths which enclose a body of still water--the\nlagoon. There are many of these coral islands in the Indian and Pacific\nOceans. Keeling or Cocos Atoll, of the Indian Ocean, is 9-1/2 miles in\nits greatest width; Bow Island is 30 miles in length, and 6 miles wide;\nwhile in the Maldive Archipelago one island measures 88 geographical\nmiles in length, and in some places is 20 miles wide. When one beholds a\nlarge coral ring, covered with rich soil and tropical vegetation, and\n\"protecting a quiet lake-haven from the restless ocean without, it is\nlittle to be wondered at that the earlier voyagers recorded their\nsurprise that the apparently insignificant architects of such an\nerection are able to withstand the force of the waves and to preserve\ntheir works among the continual attacks of the sea.\" As Pyrard de Laval\ntruly said, \"It is a marvel to see each of these atollons surrounded on\nall sides by a great bank of stone--walls such as no human hands could\nbuild on the space of earth allotted to them.... Being in the middle of\nan atollon, you see all around you this great stone bank, which\nsurrounds and protects the island from the waves; but it is a formidable\nattempt, even for the boldest, to approach the bank and watch the waves\nroll in, and break with fury upon the shore.\"\n\nAs to the explanation of the modes of formation of these coral-reefs,\nthe scientists have long been propounding theories which are sometimes\namusing. Strangely enough they have nearly all explained that\ncoral-polypes aggregate themselves in the forms of atolls and\nbarrier-reefs by a mysterious \"instinct,\" mediocrity's only term for\nscreening its ignorance, and which is also given as the cause for their\nsecreting lime. Flinders says that they form a great protecting reef in\norder that they may be protected by its shelter, and that the leeward\naspect of the reef forms a nursery for their infant colonies.\n\nThus we see that these same scientists are accrediting these little\narchitects with the possession of a great intelligence, and they are\nthought to co-operate together in a manner expressive of the greatest\ndegree of efficiency and brotherly feeling. Each of these scientists\ngives a theory that leaves untouched the essential question of the\ncauses for coral-reefs assuming their various shapes; and it is\nreasonable to believe that they work according to a divine wisdom and\nplan, and that mankind does not yet understand their strange ways, which\ngive us a higher conception of the universe than that held by the\nancients. Science has come to the point where it must recognise the\nperfect unity of all life, and that our fellow-architects, engineers,\nand house-builders in the animal world also fill an important place in\nNature's great scheme.\n\n\n\n\nXI\n\nFOOD CONSERVERS\n\n  _\"He prayeth well who loveth well\n  Both man and bird and beast.\n  He prayeth best who loveth best\n  All things both great and small;\n  For the dear God who loveth us,\n  He made and loveth all.\"_\n\n  --COLERIDGE.\n\n\nIt can almost be said that there is no industry or profession of the\nhuman world that is not carried on with equal skill in the animal world.\nThis is especially true of merchandising and store-keeping; animals,\nhowever, have different methods of merchandising than men, although\nthese methods are none the less real. They give and take instead of buy\nand sell and have co-operative shops which they operate with great\nsuccess. They unite for a desired end, and demonstrate their ability to\nwork together in a common enterprise in a way that might teach man a\ngood lesson.\n\nFood and shelter are the first needs of animals. In order to obtain\nthese, they group themselves into foraging parties in the most ingenious\nmanner. Like mankind, they sometimes co-operate for dishonest ends; they\nform \"trusts\" and organise into gangs for purposes of mutual aid.\n\nDeer, monkeys, rabbits, foxes, and numerous others conduct their\ndining-rooms on a co-operative principle. Some watch and wait while\nothers dine. The same is true where they go to watering places to drink\nand bathe.\n\nPerhaps the most unique and clever food conserver is the American\npolecat. He not only provides for himself, but prepares a larder for his\nyoung, so that they will have plenty of food. The nursery is usually\ncomfortably embedded in a cave, and is lined with soft, dry grass.\nAdjoining this nursery is a larder, which often contains from ten to\nfifty large frogs and toads, all alive, but so dexterously bitten\nthrough the brain as to make them incapable of escaping. Mr. and Mrs.\nPole-cat can then visit or hunt as they please, so long as their\nchildren have plenty of fresh meat at home!\n\nAnother interesting food conserver is the chipping squirrel, or\nchipmunk, so named because his cry sounds like the chirp of little\nchickens. His method of dress is most unusual; he is brownish grey in\ncolour, with five stripes of black and two of pale yellow running along\nthe back of his coat; the throat and lower part of his body is snowy\nwhite. These colours occasionally vary, when the grey and yellow are\nsuperseded by black.\n\nHis home is underground, usually under an old wall, near a rock fence,\nor under a tree; his burrow is so long and winding that he can easily\nescape almost any enemy, except the weasel, which is not easily\noutwitted. His nursery and living-room is quite pretentious, but his\nlateral storeroom is a marvel! He is a miser indeed, and stores up every\nacorn and nut he can find, even many times more than he can ever eat.\nHis variety of food is almost unending--he loves buckwheat, beaked nuts,\npecans, various kinds of grass seeds, and Indian corn. In carrying food\nto his home he first fills his pouches to overflowing and then takes\nanother nut in his mouth; he thus reminds the classical reader of\nAlemaeon in the treasury of Croesus.\n\nThe hedgehog is a regular Solomon in her methods of collecting fruit.\nPlutarch had a very high opinion of her. He says that when grapes are\nripe, the mother hedgehog goes under the vines and shakes them until\nsome of the grapes fall; she then literally rolls over them until many\nare attached to her spines, and marches back to her babies in the\ncave. \"One day,\" says Plutarch, \"when we were all together, we had the\nchance of seeing this with our own eyes--it looked as if a bunch of\ngrapes was shuffling along the ground, so thickly covered was the animal\nwith its booty.\"\n\n[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_\n\nTHE SKUNK MOTHER TRIES TO KEEP ON HAND A GOOD SUPPLY OF SUCH DELICACIES\nAS FROGS AND TOADS, SO THAT HER YOUNG MAY NEVER GO HUNGRY.]\n\n[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_\n\nTHE PORCUPINE AND THE HEDGEHOG HAVE A UNIQUE METHOD OF COLLECTING FOOD\nFOR THEIR YOUNG. AFTER SHAKING DOWN BERRIES OR GRAPES, THEY ROLL IN\nTHEM, THEN HURRY HOME WITH THE FOOD ATTACHED TO THEIR QUILLS.]\n\nAlpine mice not only form comfortable winter homes in the earth, but\ncombine into small winter colonies, each colony numbering about ten to\ntwelve inhabitants, all of whom are under the direction of a leader.\nThus organised, they proceed to lay up provisions for the winter. They\nuse their mouths as scythes and their paws as rotary machines. Surely\ntheir wisdom and foresight call forth our greatest admiration. The\njerboas or jumping mice are not only skilled athletes in the art of\njumping, but they are gifted food conservers and producers as well. They\nlay up complete storehouses of food, which they do not consume\naltogether as their appetite may direct; but conserve it carefully for\nthe times when nothing can be obtained from the fields. Then, and then\nonly, do they open the closed magazines. Such acts of intelligence\ncannot be recorded under the head of \"instinct\"! They demonstrate the\nability to plan for the future, and meet all emergencies.\n\nCertain food hoarders and robbers, like the vole, are so very greedy and\nbecome such misers that they often threaten total destruction to large\nareas of grain. They were so plentiful in the classic land of Thessaly,\nthe vale of Tempe, and the Land of Olympus that the old Greeks\nestablished what they called an Apollo Smintheus, the Mouse-destroying\nGod. In the early spring, according to Professor Loeffler, who has made\na special study of their invasions, they begin to come down from their\nhomes in the hills to the cultivated fields. They seem to follow regular\nroads, and often travel along the railroad embankment. They travel very\nslowly, and when at home live somewhat on the order of prairie dogs,\nthat is, in underground dwellings with numerous winding passages and\ntunnels.\n\nThese wise little food conservers are nocturnal in habit, and are rarely\nseen except by careful observers. When they once determine to rob a\nfield, they do it with amazing rapidity and completeness. In a single\nnight hordes of these workers go into a cornfield and by daylight not a\nstalk of corn remains. The field is as empty as if a cyclone had struck\nit. They work with great system, and while a part of their number cut\nthe stalks down, others cut it up into movable sizes, while still others\nsuperintend its systematic removal. Storehouses are usually provided\nbefore the grain is even cut. They make long voyages throughout a\ncountry, storing away tons of grain and food in these various\ngranaries. To these they come for supplies whenever necessary. All\npoverty-stricken voles are also fed from these storehouses, since it is\nthe product of the community as a whole. Aristotle wrote at length about\ntheir wise and destructive ways.\n\nNot the least ingenious of food conservers are the hamsters, members of\nthe great rodent family. They have made their dwellings most comfortable\nand even luxurious in arrangement and furnishings. Like wealthy farmers,\nthey are not satisfied with comfortable dwellings only, but they too\nmust have spacious barns adjoining their homes. Their home, or burrow\nproper, consists of two openings: one, which is used as an entrance, and\nwhich sinks vertically into the ground; the other, which is used as an\nexit, with a winding slope. The central room is beautifully carpeted\nwith straw, moss, and dry leaves, which makes it a very pleasant\nliving-room and bedroom. A third small winding tunnel leads from this\nroom to the barns and storehouse. Thus, Mr. and Mrs. Hamster and the\nchildren have no need to go forth in the cold and wet weather to seek\nfood--they can remain at home perfectly protected and well-fed. They are\nvery liberal, and in case of need or poverty, will always share their\nfood with their neighbours.\n\nI once found the nest of a harvest mouse, which was woven of plaited\nblades of straw of the oats and wheat. It was perfectly round, with the\naperture so ingeniously closed that I could scarcely tell to what part\nof the nest it belonged. It was as round as a marble and would actually\nroll when placed on a table, although within its walls were six tiny\nmice, naked and blind. As they increased in size day by day, the elastic\nwall of their small home expanded, and thus served their need until such\ntime as they were old enough to live independent of this specially\nprovided shelter.\n\nThere is a larger animal, known as a \"rat-hare\" or the harvest rat,\nwhich gathers piles of hay for winter use, sometimes to the height of\nsix or eight feet in diameter. They begin harvesting in the early part\nof August, and after having cut the grass, they carefully spread it out\nto dry before placing it in their barns. These barns are usually located\nin holes or crevices of mountains. They are found in immense numbers in\nthe Altai Mountains.\n\nThe California woodrat is not only a food hoarder but a notable thief\nand robber. A nest was found that was a veritable tool chest and pawn\nshop! It contained fourteen knives, three forks, six small spoons, one\nlarge soup spoon, twenty-seven large nails, hundreds of small tacks, two\nbutcher knives, three pairs of eye-glasses, one purse, one string of\nbeads, one rubber ball, two small cakes of soap, one string of red\npeppers, several boxes of matches, with numerous small buttons, needles,\nand pins. Apparently these woodrats are as ambitious for unnecessary and\nuseless possessions as is man himself. Their big storeroom did, however,\ncontain a larder in which they had some of their favourite food, such as\nseeds and nuts.\n\nSome animals have learned not only to acquire, but also to defend and\nprotect, all their property. We see in the human world how strong is the\nimpulse to collect, and children will invariably collect anything from\npebbles to peach-pits, if they see other children doing the same thing.\n\nMost animals that do not hoard are those that forage for food, or fish,\nand rarely have permanent homes. The orang-outangs, for example, are\nregular gipsies, and go from place to place wherever food is plentiful.\nThey take life easy, and sometimes during their journeys select a\nsuitable spot near the seashore and have a real picnic. A scout has\nalready discovered the right spot for getting big oysters, of which they\nare exceedingly fond, and when they have assembled, certain ones proceed\nto dig up the oysters, which they hand to others on the shore and they,\nin turn, place them on big stones, and proceed to open them for the\nfeast. If one of the fishermen-monkeys discovers an oyster open, he will\nnot insert his hand to remove the meat until first placing a stone\nbetween the valves. This assures him protection against the closing of\nthe oyster. In most cases, they open the oysters by first placing them\non stones and then using another stone as a hammer. These facts are\nvouched for by no less authorities than Gamelli Carreri, Dampier, and\nWafer.\n\nIt is only a matter of time until many animals will understand the use\nof man-made tools. Some have already learned to use such tools as they\nmake and shape for themselves. Monkeys and apes are already gifted in\nthis art. Of course, under domestication, they use knives, forks,\nspoons, and dishes not so much from intelligence as from imitation.\nThis, however, might be said of many human beings. I have seen an\nimmense chimpanzee sit in a chair, set his own dinner table, use his\nknife and fork correctly when eating, and take great delight in the use\nof his napkin, which he always carefully refolded when his meal was\nover.\n\nThe human-like qualities of apes and monkeys, however, need scarcely be\ntold. They are so very similar to man in most ways that there are few\nthings they cannot do. Aelian tells of an ape which learned to drive\nhorses skilfully. He knew just when and how to use the whip, how much\nslack to allow in the reins, and when to tighten them! They greatly\nresent any intrusion on their hunting-grounds, and make use of sticks\nand clubs to protect them. The chief is always armed with a club, and is\nthoroughly skilled in the use of it. It sometimes happens that an\nelephant will come to the same tree to seek food that apes frequent, and\nalthough they have no enmity towards each other, they like the same kind\nof food. As soon as the ape sees the elephant reaching his trunk among\nthe branches, he immediately slips near the elephant, and when an\nopportunity presents itself, he whacks him over the trunk with his club!\nThe infuriated elephant runs away in terror!\n\nA story is told of a party of foraging apes who went into a cornfield\nwith the purpose of robbing it, and discovered two men. They immediately\nrushed upon them and attempted to poke their eyes out with sticks and\nwould have succeeded but for the intervention of two other men who\nchanced to be near. The extreme cleverness of apes in applying their\nreason and judgment is shown in Vosmaer's account of the female\norang-outang, who tried to open the padlock of her chain with a small\nstick. She had seen her master open it with a key, and she exactly\nimitated the motion of his hands in the attempt.\n\nMan shows a disposition to deny animals all traits and characteristics\nwhich are similar to his own. This reminds us of a remark that Cardinal\nNewman once made that men know less of animals than they do of angels.\nWhy should we show such foolish pride and delusion, and try to baffle\none of God's great facts? When men attempt to extinguish the idea of\nanimal intelligence and sentiment by referring to it as instinct, we are\nreminded of the desert ostrich, which buries its head in the sand and\nthinks it cannot be seen. We should proudly acknowledge the wonderful\nhuman-like methods of these food conservers of the animal world, and\nrecognise in all this a guiding Providence who provides for and protects\nall his creatures, be they great or small.\n\n\n\n\nXII\n\nTOURISTS AND SIGHT-SEERS\n\n  _\"Every night we must look, lest the down slope\n  Between us and the woods turn suddenly\n  To a grey onrush full of small green candles,\n  The charging pack with eyes flaming for flesh.\n  And well for us then if there's no more mist\n  Than the white panting of the wolfish hunger.\"_\n\n\nThe desire to travel and see the great world is by no means peculiar to\nthe human race. It is found among animals to such a degree that groups\nof them will often leave their homes in one country and journey to\nanother. These strange wanderlust habits are noticed even by the casual\nobserver, and no special insight is required to see that these wise\ncreatures have their annual tours excellently arranged and marked out.\nTheir route is possibly as definitely arranged before starting, as is\nthe route of a human traveller. They have their selected eating places\narranged, know every danger spot and the enemies they are likely to\nencounter.\n\nThe members of these co-operative tours take life tickets, and each tour\nlasts about one year. One of the most unusual instances of such\nco-operation is that of the lemmings of the Scandinavian countries.\nThese are animals of the mouse tribe, which live in the mountainous\ndistricts. They live upon roots and grasses. They breed very rapidly. At\ncertain times they go from the centre of Norway to the east and west,\ncrossing valley, hill, and river in great masses. Many are destroyed by\nbirds and beasts of prey, but finally the survivors reach the Atlantic\non the Gulf of Bothnia and, for some strange unknown reason, plunge in\nand die. Only enough remain from one season to another to propagate the\nspecies. It is an immense co-operative suicide society.\n\nRivers and valleys are sometimes effectual barriers. On the plains of\nthe Amazon great numbers of animals are found on one side of the river\nonly; these have not been able to cross to the other. On the north side\nof the Rio Negro are two varieties of monkeys, the _brachiurus conxion_\nand the _jacchus bicolor_, which are unknown on the south side. Of\ncourse, water-loving animals, such as seals, whales, and porpoises are\nat home in the water and can swim for days without stopping. Quite a few\nanimals can swim for a short distance, but comparatively few for long\ndistances. In the early days in North America it was not uncommon for\nbuffalo to swim across the Mississippi River. Rats and squirrels often\nmigrate in great numbers. It oftentimes happens that Arctic animals\ntravel from one place to another on floating ice. In the South American\nwaters it is a common sight to see floating islands covered with plants\nand trees upon which there are live animals; and while these animals are\nlikely to perish, they are oftentimes carried safely to land. Eagles\nhave often been instrumental in bringing new species of animals to\nislands where they had previously been unknown, their purpose being to\nprovide food for their own young. Some of these animals would escape and\nhenceforth become citizens of their new habitation.\n\nAn interesting division of migrants is that of the casual travellers,\nlike the men and women who always remain at home except when special\nbusiness calls them away. Sudden climatic changes, or the scarcity of\nfood, often cause stay-at-home animals to make tours into new\nterritories. As a good instance, I might cite the case of three wolves,\nwhich I saw entering Jackson Park in Chicago, during very severe weather\nwhen Lake Michigan was frozen over. The morning papers stated that\nbecause of forest fires in Michigan, and the extreme cold, which not\nonly made food scarce for the wild animals of Michigan, but froze the\nLake, many of them had come across the ice into the great Chicago parks\nseeking food and shelter.\n\nThe subject of animal travel is full of interesting and difficult\nproblems, and not the least interesting nor the least difficult is the\nquestion of just how they find their way to and from various places.\nMany naturalists tell us that these animals are led by inherited\ninstinct along the migration lines followed by their forefathers. But\neven if this were true, what made them originally follow such a course?\n\nWild horses when travelling always have a leader as well as several\nsentinels for each herd. By some unknown code this leader makes known\nhis wishes and directs the movements of the herd. No human army could\nhave greater order or more perfect obedience to commands; and under him\nthere is absolute unity by means of which the carnivorous animals, such\nas the wolf, the jaguar, and the puma, are repelled. Wild deer\ninvariably have a leader, and while we do not know how he obtains his\nposition, nor how he directs his followers, we do know he is highly\nsuccessful in his efforts.\n\nNo act in the animal world bespeaks more intelligence than that of\nplacing sentinels, especially during a journey. Horses show striking\nskill and ingenuity in the choosing and placing of their sentinels. Any\none who has been fortunate enough to have seen them travelling in the\nforests of South America, where the wild horses are gregarious, and\ntravel in herds of five hundred to a thousand, has noticed that\nsentinels are always stationed around the herd. These animals are not\nwell prepared for fighting, and experience has taught them that their\ngreatest safety is in flight, and so, when they graze or sleep,\nsentinels are always on the look-out for enemies. If a man approaches,\nthe sentinel at first walks toward him, as if to make sure what the\nenemy is, and what he desires, if the man goes nearer to the herd, the\nsentinel neighs in a most peculiar tone. Immediately the herd is\naroused, and gallops away, not in confusion, but perfect order, as\nthough its members were human soldiers.\n\nThe same is true of the white-legged peccaries, so plentiful in Guiana.\nThey congregate by the thousands, choose a leader whose position is\nalways at the front, and travel for hundreds of miles through the great\nforests. If they come to a river, the leader halts, as if to make sure\nthat all is well for crossing, then he plunges into the water and is\nfollowed by his immense army. The sureness of the leader would suggest\nthat he has been over the same route many times before--perhaps this is\nwhy he has been chosen! If an enemy appears, or any form of danger is\napproached, they carry on an immense amount of chattering and proceed\nonly when they have talked it out. Any hunter that should be foolish\nenough to attack them, unless he were already up a tree, would be torn\nto pieces with their terrible teeth and tusks. They are as bloodthirsty\nas the wild boars of the Black Forest of Germany, and will sometimes\nactually tear down a tree up which an enemy has escaped, that they may\nkill him.\n\nThe African apes have an interesting way of sending their sentinel to\nthe top of an adjacent rock or tree, that he may look over the\nsurrounding valleys and plantations before they go to plunder a garden\nor field. If he sees any danger, he utters a loud shriek, and the entire\ntroop immediately runs away. The monkeys of Brazil post a guard while\nthey sleep; the same is true of the chamois and other species of wild\nantelope.\n\nA few years ago, many of the sheep in the northern part of Wales had\nbecome quite wild, and they usually grazed in parties of twelve to\ntwenty, always having a sentinel so stationed as to command a prominent\nview of the surrounding territory. If any animal or person came near, he\nwould give a peculiar hiss or whistle, repeating it two or three times,\nat which the whole herd would scamper away to places of safety.\n\nOne of the most striking facts about migration is its never-failing\nregularity and success. Most animals migrate at the recurrence of the\nbreeding season. Of these, the great sea-turtle, which seeks the shallow\nwater and deep sandy hills when ready to lay her eggs, is well known.\nNotwithstanding the great risks that practically all travelling animals\nassume, they are successful as a whole in their travels, and many return\nto bear testimony to a successful trip even across continents and\nsometimes the ocean. They migrate, for a variety of reasons. When it is\nnot for a more desirable climate, nor more food, nor even better\nbreeding grounds, we must either believe it is because of the natural\ndesire to travel, or frankly admit that we do not understand it.\n\nThe Icelandic mice have probably the most curious methods of travelling\nof all migratory animals. Dr. Henderson, an authority on Iceland, not\nonly verifies the fact himself, but gives the names of many prominent\ninvestigators who have seen the mice crossing small rivers and streams\non thin pieces of dry board, dragging them to the water, launching them,\nand then going aboard their little rafts. They then turn their heads to\nthe centre, and their tails, which hang in the water, are used as\npaddles and rudders until they reach the destined shore.\n\nAmong travellers none are more famed than the camels. In their sphere\nand use they are supreme, and Nature has prepared them especially for\ntravelling on the dry, hot, and barren deserts. They are truly the\n\"ships of the desert\" for they travel on a sea of sand, and their\npad-like feet, so poorly adapted for travel on moist soil, is admirably\nsuited to the desert sands. They are capable of travelling many days\nwithout food or water, and are used extensively in the desert regions of\nthe East not only as beasts of burden but for their milk, which is an\nimportant article of diet in those countries where the camel is at home.\n\nAnimals that do not migrate, especially those living in cold climates,\nchange their clothing at regular intervals. Their hair or fur increases\nin thickness in winter. If we compare the Indian and African elephants\nof to-day, whose delicate thin hair is scarcely noticeable, with the\ngreat extinct mammoth, which had an enormous amount of woolly fur, we\nreadily see the great difference in their clothing. Yet these animals\nare members of the same great family. The same difference may be\nnoted with horses: the Arabian horse, for example, has short,\nglistening fur, while those of Iceland and Norway have very thick fur;\nthe same is true of Northern and Southern sheep. Animals which live in\ntemperate regions, put on much thicker coats in winter, and shed them as\nsummer approaches.\n\n[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_\n\nTHE BLACK BEAR IS NOT ONE OF THE GREAT MIGRATING ANIMALS. THE THICKNESS\nOF HIS COAT MUST THEREFORE CHANGE WITH THE SEASONS.]\n\n[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_\n\nRABBITS SEEM TO HAVE A WELL-DEVISED SYSTEM IN THEIR ROAD-BUILDING,\nRUNNING THEIR PATHS IN AND OUT OF UNDERBRUSH IN A TRULY INGENIOUS\nMANNER.]\n\nThe love of their original homes is one of the most striking features of\ncertain animal travellers. The fierce struggle for existence and the\nterritory required for an animal's home largely determine the amount of\neffort they make to seize and hold certain possessions. A pair of\nwildcats, for example, require a comparatively small hunting ground. But\nthis they will defend against invasion even to the point of death. There\nare many more evidences showing the animals' love of home, and that they\nalso know the meaning of home-sickness.\n\nNot a few animals have learned definitely to lay out and obtain\nrecognition for the boundaries of their respective ranging-grounds. This\nis amply proven by their respect and recognition of rights of way.\nAnimals of certain farms seem to know the exact boundaries of their\ngrazing lands and pastures, and to teach this knowledge to their young.\nIn addition they often police their lands and pastures against\nintruders. Woe unto any traveller found on the wrong highway! It is not\nuncommon for the transgressor to be pushed from a right of way to the\nrocks below. More than once a court's decision regarding disputable\nterritory has been based on the sheep's recognition of boundary; those\nsheep slain in battle or otherwise injured while trying to invade the\nquestionable territory have been paid for by the owner of the\ntransgressing sheep.\n\nIt is easy to understand how sheep can recognise their rights of way,\nbut somewhat difficult to account for their knowledge of boundaries.\nSheep and goats have for ages been the greatest mountain-path and\nroad-makers. Whether or not they have engineers, we are not sure, but\nthey seem to select the shortest, easiest, and best route across the\ntrackless hills, and never seem to change the way. In these localities,\nthe sheep are almost in a primitive condition, and \"not the least\ninteresting feature of their conduct in this relapse to the wild life is\nthat, in spite of the highly artificial condition in which they live\nto-day, they retain the primitive instincts of their race.\"\n\nThat this \"peremptory and path-keeping\" instinct is shown by the habits\nof the musk-ox, is clear. He is as much akin to the sheep as to cattle,\nand in habits more like those of the great prehistoric sheep as we\nimagine these to have been. The musk-ox naturally assembles in large\nflocks, and is migratory, just as the domesticated flocks of Spain are,\nand those of Thrace and the Caspian steppe. These flocks always return\nfrom the barren lands in the far north by the same road, and cross\nrivers by the same fords. Nothing but too persistent slaughter at these\npoints by the enemies who beset them, induces them to desert their\nancient highways. Pictures and anecdotes of the migrations of these\nanimals, and of the bison in former days, represent them as moving on a\nbroad front across the prairie or tundra. The examples of all moving\nmultitudes suggest that this was not their usual formation on the march,\nand their roads prove that they moved on a narrow front or in file. On\nthe North American prairie, though the bison are extinct, their great\nroads still remain as evidence of their former habits. These trails are\npaths worn on the prairie, nearly all running due north and south (the\nline of the old migration of the herds), like gigantic rabbit tracks.\nThey are hard, the grass on them is green and short, and, if followed,\nthey generally lead near water, to which a diverging track runs from the\nhighway.\n\nHow interesting must have been the life on this great animal highway,\nbefore the Indian made the deadly arrow to destroy these nature-loving\ntravellers! There is no doubt but that, in their own way, these animals\nfelt all the emotions known to a human traveller; that they enjoyed the\nflowery road, rested and played when weary, looked forward with joy to\ntheir favourite watering and bathing places, and recognised old watering\nplaces that they had visited for years.\n\nThe great roads and highways made by graminivorous animals, from those\nwhich the hippopotamus cuts through the mammoth canes and reeds of the\nAfrican streams, to the smaller rabbit highways of England and America,\nall tell their own story of how these animals live and travel. The\nprincipal roads of rabbits over hills are as permanent as sheep and\nbuffalo roads. These roads, however, should not be confused with the\nlittle trails that lead to their play and feeding grounds.\n\nMy friend and fellow-naturalist, Ralph Stuart Murray, in writing to me\nfrom Quebec, says: \"In speaking of animal road builders, I might say\nthat the rabbit or hare of the north woods deserves much attention, for\ngreatly interesting are his highways. The life of the north woods brings\none constantly in touch with these roads, which, after generations upon\ngenerations of constant use, are worn deep and smooth into the moose\ngrass and muskeg through which they run. At places, several distinct\npaths intersect, and it is curious to note that while these roads wind\nin and out underneath the low hanging evergreens, the 'cross-roads' will\ninvariably be located in a clear open space, often on the top of some\nsmall hillock.\n\n\"The great age of these roads is very evident when compared with the\nnewer, shallower paths of more recent years. So deep are the old ones,\nin fact, that the quiet watcher in the woods will occasionally see two\nlarge, upright ears--unmistakably those of a rabbit, seemingly sticking\nout of a hole in the ground--yet moving at a rapid pace, and all the\nwhile no rabbit in view. For all the world these vertical ears belonging\nto an unseen owner resemble in use and appearance the periscope of a\nsubmarine--the difference being that the rabbit uses his 'periscopes'\nfor hearing, in order to locate and avoid his foe, the submarine its\nperiscope to locate and attack its enemy.\"\n\nThe sheep terraces, which are so common on the sides of hills, though\nmade by sheep, are not roads, but feeding grounds. Sheep, when walking\non a hillside, invariably graze on the upper side, as they cannot reach\nthe lower grass. Therefore they walk backwards and forwards on the\nslope, just as a reaping machine is driven over a hillside wheat-field.\nAs the sheep takes a \"neck's length\" each time, the little ridges or\nroads correspond exactly with the measurements of the sheep's neck.\n\nThere are as many kinds of roads and terminals in the animal world as\nthere are in the human, and lest our pride make us forget, we should\nremember that even the Panama Canal is dug according to the plan of a\ncrawfish's canal, such as may be seen near any muddy stream. It is\nstrange that no animal has learned to build elevated roads, though\nanimals that live in trees, like flying squirrels, monkeys, and flying\nfoxes, are very skilled in going from one tree to another. They have\nregular aerial highways, and some of the tree frogs are veritable\nwonders in the accuracy of their leaps from tree to tree. Even more\nskilled than these are the agamid lizards of India, whose chief means of\ntravel is a folding parachute, which at a moment's notice can be erected\nand carry to another tree its lucky possessor. In Borneo is an aviator\ntree-snake which is able to so spread his ribs and inflate his body that\nhe can actually sail from branch to branch in the tree-tops.\n\nThere are night travellers as well as day travellers; in fact, there are\nmore animals that roam around in a great forest at night than in the\ndaytime. They sleep during the day, when the day animals are roaming\nabout, and go forth to roam when it is night. It is then they seek for\nprey, and are much feared by day animals. They see well in the dark, and\ntravel so lightly that their footsteps cannot be heard.\n\nOn the Island of Java are found a family of strange, dwarfish little\nbeings, which are called by the natives malmags, or hobgoblins. And they\nare well named, for they look like creatures of a distorted imagination\nmore than real, living animals. They travel only at night, and so\nsuperstitious are the natives of their evil influence that if one of\nthese uncanny little creatures appears near their rice fields, the\nplantation is immediately abandoned. However, these small creatures are\nno larger than squirrels, and are perfectly harmless. They are very rare\neven in their native lands--the Oriental Archipelago and the Philippine\nIslands. They rear their young in the hollow roots of bamboo trees, and\nto disturb their nests means to incur the evil of all the land.\n\nNight animals do not go forth to travel and seek prey until the night is\nfar advanced, and their prey is soundly sleeping. They seem to know the\nexact time of the night, as if they had watches or clocks, and they\nusually go forth to hunt about midnight and return to their homes about\nfour o'clock. Only in cases of extreme hunger do they vary from this\nrule.\n\nHow marvellously skilled are they in finding their way! They pass\nthrough a crowded forest as though it were daytime, and strangely enough\nknow just how to return to their lairs. This special sense or gift is\nnot possessed by man; he must have marks and signs to return to a\ndefinite place.\n\nThese night-travellers number among their lot bats, flying squirrels,\nleopards, and prowling snakes.\n\nBats are not only the most interesting of the night-travellers, but by\nfar the most curious and wonderful animals in the world. They are\nhideously ugly, reminding one more of a miniature, closed-up umbrella\nthan an animal! They are coarse, awkward, when not in flight, and\nrepellent; yet they have such highly developed senses that they have no\nrivals in the animal world. They excel most birds in flight, are able to\nmake long nightly journeys, in which they use their wings not only for\nflight, but as air-bags in which they catch all kinds of flying insects.\nTheir sense of touch as we know it is really a combination of touch,\nsight, and hearing.\n\nA bat is a paradox par excellence! Nature seems to have started to make\na little bear or fox, and suddenly forgot how and changed it into a\nwinged freak, with tail, claws, fur, sharp teeth, small ears that stand\nup, and tiny, half-buried eyes. Its queer angular-edged wings look like\nan umbrella, with the cloth stretched over steel ribs; but in the case\nof the bat, this framework is made of delicate bones which are covered\nwith a thin skin. The skin contains numerous little sense organs dotted\nover its surface, which give the bat his strange power.\n\nBats look more like mice than they do like birds, and they are sometimes\ncalled flittermice. But they are mammals, and the young are fed with\nmilk by the mother, just as a cow feeds her calf. There is no danger\nthat a bat will ever fly against you in the dark; for they can avoid all\nmishap even when their eyes are put out. They have special sense organs\nthat tell them when they are nearing an object, and can fly at headlong\nspeed with the accuracy of a rifle bullet directly into a small opening.\nThis power is all due to the mysterious sense located in their wings and\nears, which causes even man to consider his senses weak in comparison.\n\nBats are sociable creatures and huddle together and sleep in vast\nnumbers during the day, but when night comes on they come forth for\ntheir nocturnal travels and sport by the millions. I have seen them\nleaving caves just at dusk in such numbers as to look like one immense\nvolume of smoke, twenty to thirty feet wide, and lasting for more than\nfive minutes. Mrs. Bat often takes her babies with her on these nightly\ntravels. I found one with two young clinging to her breast. How they\nmust enjoy these lovely trips!\n\nThere are many kinds and varieties of bats, ranging in size from the\nflying foxes of the tropical world, with wings five feet in length, to\nthe wood bat of North America, which is not over six inches long. These\ninteresting friends of man are his greatest scavengers of the air. They\nare doing much to check the mosquitoes throughout the regions of the\nworld, and in more civilized communities man makes shelters for them,\nthat they may eradicate mosquitoes.\n\n\n\n\nXIII\n\nANIMAL SCAVENGERS AND CRIMINALS\n\n  _\"A warning from these pages take,\n     And know this truth sublime--\n   Each creature is a criminal\n     When he commits a crime.\"_\n\n\nNo more remarkable creatures exist in the animal world than those that\nplay the role of Nature's scavengers and criminals. They are as numerous\nand varied in their methods of working as they are interesting. The only\nthings they have in common are their profession and their appetites. As\nindividuals they are ugly, unattractive and apparently void of\npersonality and charm. Nevertheless, they have an important part to play\nin the scheme of things.\n\nOne of the most noted of these scavengers is the jackal--the Bohemian of\nthe desert--whose territory extends from the Gulf of Persia to the\nStrait of Gibraltar. He is equally at home in Arabia, Persia, Babylonia,\nSyria, Egypt, and the entire North Coast of Africa, and no country from\nBarbary to the Cape of Good Hope is ever out of reach of his ghostly\nand uncouth howls. He travels only by night, and very rapidly.\n\nWhen suffering with extreme hunger, he will attack man, but this he will\ndo only in very rare cases. As he lives entirely upon dead animals, he\nis more of a thief and glutton than a robber and murderer. He depends\nmostly upon flight and darkness for his protection, and rarely ventures\na direct attack. With all his unlikable habits he is truly valuable as\nan agent of public salubrity, and an important officer of the desert\n\"commission of highways.\"\n\nThese public scavengers, while especially fond of carcasses and putrid\nflesh, are not averse to a little fresh meat occasionally. The jackal is\ntruly the follower or purveyor for the lion, and oftentimes they work\ntogether. Jackals will gather in large numbers near a lion's den and\nhowl and scream until the lions come forth to disperse them. As soon as\na lion appears they stop their noise, but when he is out of sight, they\nimmediately begin again. This is done because game is near, and the wise\njackals wish the lion to kill the game. When this is done, and the lions\nhave eaten all except the bones, the jackals have their small feast of\nscraps.\n\nThese weird night prowlers have ways all their own, as any one who has\nspent a night in a tropical desert can attest. Imagine yourself on the\nSyrian plains between Bagdad and Damascus; a small white tent, and a\nstarry sky: the silence is appalling, and you are just about to have\nyour first sleep in the desert. Away, away from the distance comes a\nmournful, ghostly cry. Suddenly it ceases and like myriads of echoes it\nis repeated in hideous intensity--a babel of cries weird beyond\ndescription--so fierce and screeching as to be almost blood-curdling. It\nseems to come from all directions and distance out of measure! Vibrating\nover the sands and through the rocks, filling the immense void, crying\nout as it were for the sphinx, a veritable _de profundis_ of the wastes.\nThe vultures, who hold the fort during the day have given way to the\nnight shift, the jackals. These come from all directions; from the caves\nin the earth, from among the rocks, from here, there, and from\neverywhere to take up their hygienic services where it has been left off\nby the day scavengers.\n\nIf you were near an oasis in the desert at the close of day, you would\nsuddenly hear from the hot, barren sands a deep and peculiar sound. It\nswells and grows as an approaching wind, growing louder and louder as it\ncomes nearer. Suddenly by the light of the camp fire, you see myriads of\nhorrid green eyes, like ghost torches in a graveyard, and hear gnashing\nteeth, greedy in anticipation of the garbage you have thrown away.\n\nThese hyena hordes are frightfully ugly, but rarely dangerous to man.\nThey visit every oasis settlement in immense numbers, howling, yelping,\nand fighting for any bit of offal they may find. Not a particle of\ngarbage remains. At the first sign of dawn, they disappear like rats\nfrom a burning building, and seek their caves to digest their ignoble\nbanquets.\n\nNo human street-cleaner could ever excel their work. No matter how large\nthe garbage pile, no matter how many dead dogs, cats, and donkeys in a\nvillage street, no matter how unspeakable the offal, it all vanishes as\ncompletely as though it had been burned. Not a piece of bone, not a\nsingle chicken feather remains. The natives have no fear of the hyena; a\nsmall child armed with a stick can put to flight a dozen of them. They\nare the lowest of cowards, and will flee from their own shadows.\n\n[Illustration: THE MONGOOSE IS A SCAVENGER OF THE WORST TYPE, FEEDING ON\nRATS AND MICE AND SNAKES, AND EVEN POULTRY.]\n\n[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_\n\nDIPLODOCUS. THE PREHISTORIC ANIMALS, ALSO, UNDOUBTEDLY HAD THEIR\nSCAVENGERS AND CRIMINALS.]\n\nIn spite of their valuable services, mankind hates the hyenas. This is\nprobably because of their absolute cowardice, for they will never attack\na living creature unless it is weak from illness. Sometimes they steal a\nbaby, never killing it outright, but carrying it away to their dens to\nstarve it to death before mutilating its body. If the courage of this\nbeast equalled his strength, he would be the despot of the desert. But\nhe is like his fellow workman, the jackal, cowardly to the last degree.\n\nNeither of them ever attempts to put an enemy to flight by legitimate\nmeans. They resort to fakery: one howls, and the other wrinkles his face\nin great anger. The jackal's greatest asset and protection, when he\nmeets with an enemy, is bluff. He raises his ugly mane, lifts his\nungainly shoulders and assumes the look of a Jason, while in reality he\nis as harmless as a mouse, and the smallest child could drive him away\nwith a twig. His bravery is all pose--a make-believe game--which he\nplays over and over again with every one he meets.\n\nA noted American scavenger is the peccary, a species of wild hog, whose\nhome ranges from Texas to the Pampas of South America. He is a devourer\nof creatures more obnoxious than himself. He moves with great rapidity,\nis always on the alert, and stops at nothing from mountains to a flowing\nriver. When he attacks an enemy he makes short work of him.\n\nBands of these hogs are led by a chief, who is the swiftest and fiercest\nof the herd. This aggressive leader is followed by successive lines of\nmales, behind which come the strong females, while the rear is brought\nup by the old, the sick, and the young. In marching, they have the\ndiscipline of a trained army, and turn neither to the right nor to the\nleft but go straight ahead. If the leader, for any cause, decides to\nchange his route, the fact is quickly made known in some way to his\nfollowers, and the turn is made at a direct angle, with the accuracy of\na surveyor, and the peccaries go forward again directly toward their new\ndestination. This is another evidence of a special sense unknown to man.\n\nBut whenever a stop is made, or wherever they go, they do their work as\nscavengers. Fallen fruits, dead animals, insects, snakes, and worms are\ntheir prey. Thus they are valuable forest sweepers.\n\nStrangely enough, in the animal world, as in the human, the lower\nprofessions are filled with those of less mentality than the higher, and\nas a result we find scavengers are nearest allied to criminals. The idea\nof one creature killing and eating another seems terrible. Yet they do,\nand most often do human beings commit the same crime. Cannibalism among\nwild animals is a common occurrence. The demand for food usually causes\none animal to kill and devour another. But in captivity there are other\ncauses for cannibalism: fear and excitement will oftentimes cause a\nmother to destroy her offspring.\n\nIt is a case of dog eat dog! Badgers often kill and devour their young.\nWolves, in cases of extreme hunger, will eat their puppies; and Arctic\ntravellers, when food for their dogs is scarce, have to guard constantly\nagainst the stronger eating the weaker. I once caught a mother field\nmouse with her two young and placed them in a cage; the next day the\nyoung had strangely disappeared, but I am not sure that the mother had\neaten them. Hogs, cats, and rabbits will sometimes kill and eat their\nyoung even when food is plentiful. Crocodiles show an occasional\ncannibalistic tendency, while water-shrews are very pugnacious and\noftentimes fight until one is killed. The victorious one eats his enemy!\nThus it appears that Nature does not entirely disapprove of cannibalism,\nor she would not allow so many of her creatures to practise it.\n\nTheft is a common vice among these various criminals. Monkeys and\nbaboons form regular bands to rob and plunder. They have a chief who\nsees that a sentinel is posted at each dangerous post. The plunderers\nthen line up in a long row, and the leader gets the booty and passes it\nalong the line until it reaches the last of the band--the receiver. He\ndeposits it in a safe place. If the sentry sounds an alarm, they all\nflee away, each with as much booty as he can grab. If the enemy presses\ntoo close, all booty is thrown away.\n\nPassion, especially of love, causes much crime among animals as it does\namong men. Jealousy burns fiercely even in the breast of a beast. It is\na common heritage of the fiercest lion and the gentle gazelle alike, and\nis capable of perpetrating the most dreadful crimes.\n\nThere are types of ugly dispositioned animals, who are always in a\nferocious mood, just like certain ill-tempered human beings, who believe\neverything and everybody is trying to injure them. The common shrew, for\nexample, is noisy, bold and fussy. He seems to delight in calling\nattention to himself by his grunty, squeaky voice. He advertises himself\nas a bad animal; and bad he is, for his terrible odour prevents other\nanimals from coming near. Horses and mules are at times quite ferocious,\nand kick and bite, with no idea of obedience or kindness. They, of\ncourse, like our human criminals, are mentally unbalanced. Skilled horse\ntrainers can detect at a glance a criminally inclined horse.\n\nRogue elephants are common in India. Even their trumpeting shows a\nferocity and unbalance that terrifies the natives. Often these criminal\nelephants are sufferers of mental ailments. A respectable, law-abiding\nelephant herd will not allow a thug or rogue to live in their midst.\nThey recognise him as dangerous for their society, and combine to force\nhim entirely away from their homes.\n\nCertain criminal animals have a strange antipathy for members of their\nown tribe, or for other kinds of animals. Such is common among monkeys,\ncats, horses, and dogs, and many terrible crimes are committed because\nof these antipathies. Every one has witnessed the terror of a dog that\nhas been insulted, and elephants will carry an old grudge for fifty\nyears and finally seek the most terrible revenge.\n\nOften violent outbursts of temper on the part of a tame animal are\ncaused by a change in the temperature or atmosphere. Even animals have\ndays when they feel ugly and grouchy. Those that live in very hot\nclimates are especially subject to fits of rage and anger. The approach\nof an electrical storm causes many of them to lose their self-control:\nherds of cattle often stampede just preceding a cyclone. They, like\nhuman savages, seem terrorised at the unknown. Not a few wild animals\nhave actually run in the way of an automobile or passing train to\nattempt to stop it. Fear and rage are often caused by the appearance of\na curious object. A bull, for example, when he sees a red rag, will\nmadly rush at it, seemingly altogether oblivious of the man holding it.\nThe matadors are safe only because the bull is insane from rage.\n\nMany scientists of fame, like Lombroso, have demonstrated that strong\ndrink is the cause of much crime among animals, the same as it is among\nmen. In the pastures of Abyssinia the sheep and goats get on regular\n\"drunks\" by eating the beans of the coffee plants. They fight and\ncarouse at such times like regular topers. Elephants are incorrigible\nwhen drunk, while dogs and horses have to be put in strait-jackets to\nprevent them from killing themselves.\n\nWicked animals always seek their own kind, and often band together for\nevil purposes. Figuier tells of three beavers that built for themselves\na nice little home near a stream, and they had as a neighbour a\nrespectable hermit beaver. The three called on their neighbour one day,\nand he received them cordially, and hastened to return their visit, when\nthey pounced upon him and slew him, like human murderers, who had\ntrapped their victim.\n\nFrom all these we learn that Nature is filled with life-saving and\nlife-furthering adaptations. Just as in the human drama we find deceit,\ndisguise, mask, trickery, bunco and bluff, all forms of cheating and\nclever deceptions, so it is precisely the same in the animal world,\nthough man is little informed on Nature's real ways.\n\n\n\n\nXIV\n\nAS THE ALLIES OF MAN\n\n  _\"Who, after this, will dare gainsay\n  That beasts have sense as well as they?\n  For me--could I the ruler be--\n  They should have just as much as we,\n  In youth, at least. In early years,\n  Who thinks, reflects, or even fears?\n  Or if we do--unmeaning elves--\n  'Tis scarcely known e'en to ourselves.\n  Thus by example clear and plain,\n  We for these poor creatures claim\n  Sure sense to think, reflect, and plan,\n  And in this action rival man:\n  Their guide--not instinct blind alone,\n  But reason, somewhat like our own!\"_\n\n\nThe wonderful world in which we live is full of animal life. In the\ngreat forests, under the ground, on the steep mountainsides, in the\ndepths of the oceans, rivers, streams, from the frigid north to the\ntorrid south, in the parched deserts, are animals of every size, colour,\nand form, all of which are, in their general form, adapted to their\npeculiar places in nature. Their lives and habits undeniably demonstrate\nproofs of divine wisdom, intelligence, and beneficence. In fact they\nshow an aptitude in many arts and sciences second only to that shown in\nman.\n\nThe reason that animals are often held in such low esteem by the world\nof science, is because people are apt to look upon them as natural\nmechanisms and overlook what they are doing and feeling. The propounders\nof false statements which attribute every act of an intelligent\nanimal--second only to man and his faithful ally--as due to instinct\nonly, deal with metaphysical reasoning. They have never considered the\ninnumerable and irrefutable facts of animal life which no acuteness of\nanalysis and pure thinking can ever explain. Most of these narrow,\nbookish men deny to animals capabilities which every country schoolboy\nknows they possess. It is no exaggeration to say that animals exist\nwhich sing, dance, play, speak a language, build homes, go to school and\nlearn, wage warfare, protect their homes and property, marry, make laws,\nbuild moral codes, in fact, do everything that is generally attributed\nto man.\n\nIn comparing man and animals scientists are prone to ascribe to man as a\nwhole the faculties which only the best trained and most talented\npossess. They fail to consider our cannibal brethren, such as are found\namong the Dyaks on the Island of Borneo, whose chief articles of\nadornment in the house are heads of murdered men, and whose savage and\nfiendish ways would put to shame a civilised animal. They forget how\nlong man lived on this earth before he even learned to make fire by\nchipping flints.\n\nSince the beginning of time animals have been the friends and allies of\nman. From the very earliest ages they have in innumerable ways been\nassociated with historical events, and with the laws, customs,\nsuperstitions, and religions of all nations of the universe. Love,\ndevotion, gratitude, the sense of duty, as well as all the lower\npassions of hatred, revenge, distrust and cunning are their heritage.\nOnly an egotist who has known them in books only, and knows nothing of\ntheir mentality and brain power, would dare say that they are governed\nsolely by instinct. Cases of animal suicide, following some deep\ndisgrace among them, are not uncommon.\n\nFrom the Bible we learn that God frequently employed animals as agents\nto dispense His providence. Bullocks, sheep, goats were used by the Jews\nin their religious services, while a disobedient prophet was killed by a\nlion. Balaam was rebuked for his cruelty by an ass; and David even\ncalled upon the animals to aid in praising Jehovah! That we may learn\nreal gratitude for common mercies Isaiah says: \"The ox knoweth his\nowner, and the ass his master's crib,\" etc. When the city of Nineveh was\nthreatened, God had pity on it, because there were many cattle there.\nThe Saviour compared his own earthly condition with that of certain\nanimals: \"The foxes have holes,\" etc. He called himself the 'Good\nShepherd,' and his followers were sheep who knew his voice. John the\nBaptist referred to Him as the 'Lamb of God'; while John, the beloved\ndisciple, when on the Isle of Patmos, saw the \"throne of God in heaven,\nand before it a lion, a calf, a man, and a flying eagle.\"\n\nThe first beginnings of co-operation between men and animals must have\nbegun by the approach of certain less timid animals, which felt that\nbetter conditions for them and more food could be obtained near human\nhabitations, and perhaps, more protection from dangerous animals. Or it\nmay have begun through the stupidity of certain animals who failed to\nrealize the danger of man's proximity.\n\nIt seems that the secret ambition of all animals is to become the allies\nof man. This is demonstrated by the fact that most of them have gone\nnear the villages and towns, and, consequently, there are comparatively\nfew remaining in the heart of the big forests. Under the true state of\nconditions man should live in harmony with these animal brothers, with\nmutual trust and respect existing between them. That would mean, of\ncourse, that man would have to show a little more kindness to them. For\nwhile he is their true sovereign, he abuses the privileges of his\nsovereignty in untold ways, and up to the present time only a few\nanimals, like the dog and horse, have been fully recognized as his\nallies.\n\nAll the others, with few exceptions, have shown a desire to become more\nclosely united with man, and yet during the thousands of years of man's\nrulership over the beasts, he has been able to make allies of only about\nsixty. This regrettable fact speaks for itself--showing that man has\nlong abused his trust.\n\nWarfare, as it is waged to-day, demonstrates that notwithstanding man's\nvast number of scientific aids, animals are still invaluable. The\ninnumerable mechanical and electrical devices unknown ten years ago,\nsuch as enormous rapid-firing guns, walking \"Willies,\" wireless\nmachines, traction engines, smokeless and noiseless powder,\nsilent-sleepers and tear-bombs, all of these have greatly increased\nman's power of offence and defence, yet with all these ultra-modern\nimprovements, animals are absolutely essential in waging a successful\nwar.\n\nIn military circles there is an ever-increasing demand for well-trained\narmy horses, sound in mind and body and educated in modern campaigning.\nAbove all, an army horse must be dependable, must love his\nsoldier-master and must know absolute obedience to orders. Every army\nhorse has to pass an examination and prove his worth before he is\nenlisted into the service.\n\nThe largest of the mountain guns used in Italy against the Austrians\nwere drawn up the steep mountains by mules. Another 75-millimetre gun\nfor mountain warfare is taken to pieces, into four parts, and each piece\nis separately packed on a mule.\n\nThe United States cavalry has the best trained war horses in the world;\nmany of them actually understand the complicated commands of their\nmasters. These horse soldiers have the insignia, U. S., branded on the\nhoof of the left forefoot, and the other animals in camp, on the\nshoulder.\n\nWhen a horse arrives at a regiment he is assigned to a troop according\nto colour, size, weight and mental efficiency, and later he is\npermanently assigned to a man. Under no conditions is he interchanged or\neven ridden by another than his master, and it is astonishing the\ntremendous affection that oft-times springs up between the two; in many\ninstances horses have been known to seek out their masters among\nhundreds of soldiers.\n\nOn the European battlefields, near which there are few or no railroads,\nanimals have been the principal means of transportation, elephants,\ncamels, horses, mules and oxen being chiefly used for this purpose. The\nItalian armies have used numerous teams of mountain-trained bullocks to\ndraw loads up the mountains, and, while they cannot ascend roads as\nsteep as those which the mules climb, they are very valuable for heavy\nloads. These bullocks work faster than an army mule, for a mule will\nnever hurry. As the old darkey once said, \"De mule warn't born fer to\nhurry; not even a torpedo would make him move one step farster!\"\n\nElephants have been used to a small degree in the armies of Europe.\nWhile they are splendid workmen, they are dangerously subject to\nstampede, and one stampeding elephant can do much harm in an army.\n\nThe British army has used quite a few trained elephants from India in\ntheir ranks. They are especially employed to rout the enemy from small\nforests. Breaking through bushes, crushing underbrush, and pulling up\nsmall trees is their specialty. They make splendid bulwarks for\nsoldiers, and when an army is marching through a forest, are invaluable\nin clearing the way. A British officer declared that one trained\nelephant is more valuable than a half-dozen traction engines.\n\nFar the most interesting and curious use to which an animal is subjected\nis the use of camels chosen and trained because of their strange\ncolouring and height. Small groups of them have been stationed among\nclumps of acacia trees with a spy mounted on the animal's neck. This is\nthe safest place a person could be, for the camel or, in like manner,\nthe giraffe, standing with only his head above the small trees, looks\nprecisely like a bit of the foliage in the distance.\n\nCamels are especially good for desert warfare, because they can go\nwithout water so long and can easily carry loads weighing from 400 to\n500 pounds. In the last Afghan campaign the British lost over 50,000\ncamels and in the Great War they have had more than 60,000 in army\nservice in Egypt. Camels are especially used for transportation\npurposes. The British capture of Jerusalem was greatly aided by these\ndesert allies. Large numbers of oxen have been used in the French army.\nThey do not balk at autos and know no fear of shells.\n\nOne of the greatest allies of the animal kingdom in warfare is the dog.\nThese allies are trained to aid relief parties on the battlefields, and\nmany of the ambulance men have their splendidly trained dogs for seeking\nout wounded soldiers among the dead. They are also trained as guards and\nwatch-dogs and they become marvellously clever when used near the firing\nlines. They carry water in the trenches and are trained in packs to\ndismount enemy motorcyclists by pulling them from their machines. Dogs\nalso make splendid scouts, and excellent and reliable messengers when\nnot required to go too far.\n\nThese faithful friends of man, according to Buffon, are far more easily\ntaught than man, and more easily led \"than any of the other animals, for\nnot only does the dog become educated in a short time, but even adapts\nhimself to the habits of those who control him.\" According to\ncircumstances, a dog may become a soldier, messenger, water-carrier, or\nguard.\n\n[Illustration: THE ESQUIMO-DOG IS MAN'S GREATEST FRIEND IN THE FAR\nNORTH.]\n\n[Illustration: American Museum of Natural History, New York\n\nCHIPMUNKS ARE AMONG THE MOST EASILY TAMED OF MAN'S WILD FRIENDS, AND\nTHEY EVEN SEEM FOND OF HUMAN COMPANIONSHIP.]\n\nNot the least among the uses of war dogs is the curious practice of\nsending them into the enemies' lines of cavalry to convey fire in order\nto terrorise the horses and throw them into confusion. This practice has\nbeen quite common in the past. Each dog is dressed in a cuirass of\nleather and on his back is carefully strapped a pot of boiling, blazing\ntar. Nothing so terrorises horses as the sight of approaching fire.\n\nA small but valuable ally to man is the ferret. This little creature has\ncome into prominence more particularly during recent years, when the rat\ninfested trenches have made his services invaluable. These Hun-like\nrats, devouring and devastating in their thirst for human blood, would\nhave forced the abandonment of many a front line trench but for the aid\nof these trained ferrets, thousands of which have been daily employed on\nthe battle fronts.\n\nThe immense services rendered by carrier pigeons in the battle of the\nMarne, not only to the military authorities, but also to the public at\nlarge, will cause the civilised world to pay more attention to the\nimportance of these birds in the future. They carried all kinds of\nmessages to and from Paris during this memorable battle; in fact, they\nhave been used in all the battles as invaluable messengers.\n\nSmall animals, such as mice, canary birds, guinea pigs and rabbits are\nused in trench warfare, because they are more sensitive than man to\npoisonous gases. It sometimes happens that hundreds of men must be\nrescued from a trench by three or four men. Each rescuer carries with\nhim a canary bird in a small cage attached to his shoulder. And as long\nas these birds show no signs of distress the men are safe from gas\npoison. The birds soon become attached to their masters and seem to like\nthe adventure of the trenches.\n\nAs time goes on, it is to be hoped that we will understand our animal\nbrothers better, and that our old attitude toward the so-called \"brutes\"\nwill be entirely changed. Heretofore we have greatly abused the zebra,\nfor example, because of his wild disposition, ferocious humour, distrust\nof all power except that in his own legs, and his pronounced aversion to\nwork.\n\nWhy should we reproach him for his wildwood philosophy? It is perfectly\nnatural that any animal of his experience with man, and with sufficient\nbrains, would have only contempt for all mankind. His native home is in\nAfrica, and his human associates, if they are human, have been the\nHottentots, the Namaquois or the Amazoulons--the most impossible and\nhideous people on the earth. Since his babyhood days he has seen nothing\nbut cannibalism and carnage among the savages; and since his\ntransportation to Europe by a strange occurrence of horrible\ncircumstances, he has been the subject for all kinds of barbarous\npunishments which man has seen well to heap upon him. The zebra is not\nof the mental calibre to be suddenly seized with love for the human\nspecies and its civilisations! And the human species is astounded and\nthinks the zebra stupid and wicked. He may be both, but his wisdom is\nundeniable when it comes to trusting humanity, and his wickedness is\nsmall in comparison to man's terrible cruelties. He should be awarded a\nmedal for wisdom! For man is far the greater ass of the two!\n\nHe roams the wild prairies where the fields need no ploughing. There he\nfinds an abundance of grass and fresh water along the streams. No loud\ncursing and swearing ever greets his ears, nothing but the sweet song of\nthe wild birds. And his children romp and play with him, free as the\nwinds that blow. Of course, he has enemies even there, and so he uses\ncamouflage by painting himself in attractive stripes, so no one can see\nhim at a distance. Even Solomon should have praised his wisdom!\n\nIn the beginning God created man, and not long after gave him as his\npoliceman, the dog. And the obedience, friendship and devotion of the\ndog to his master has been unending. The dog discusses no questions of\nright or wrong, his only duty is to obey. This he does without a murmur.\nHe is the greatest testimony to man's civilisation, the first and the\ngreatest element of human progress. Through his co-operation man was\nelevated from the savage to the state of the civilised. He made the\nherd possible. Without him there could have been no herd, no assured\nsubsistence of food and clothing, no time to study and improve the mind,\nno astronomical observations, no science, no arts, no automobiles, no\nairships, no wireless telegraphy--nothing. The East is the home of\ncivilisation, because the East is the home of the dog.\n\nA young hound knows more about tracking game or scenting the enemy after\nsix months' practice than the most skilled savage after fifty years of\nstudy. The dog has so aided mankind as to give him more time for study\nand self-improvement. Thus began the arts and sciences. An interesting,\nand we believe original observation, of the influence of the dog on\npeoples is that wherever the dog is found, especially among the shepherd\npeoples, such as the Chaldeans, Egyptians, Arabs, Tartars, and Mongols,\ncannibalism is unknown. This is due to the fact that the dog enables\nthem to maintain the herds which supply them with milk, food, and\nclothing, thus preserving them from the criminal temptation of hunger.\n\nThe Indians of North America never refrained from roasting their enemies\nuntil they made allies of the horse and dog. Humboldt proves the lively\nregret held by one of the last surviving chief lieutenants of the\nwar-like Tecumseh whom he asked about a certain American officer who\ntook part in the fight. \"Uh!\" replied the Indian, \"I eat some of him.\"\n\"Do you still eat your enemies?\" asked Humboldt. \"No,\" replied the\nIndian. \"Big dog catch heap meat for me!\"\n\nSurely no animal could be more uncivilised or cannibalistic in its\ndesires than man! Spinoza believed, however, that benevolence in animals\nconsisted only in their kindliness and friendly feeling for each other\nand that we should expect nothing more of them. A good cow, so he\nthought, was one that was kind to her calf, however ferocious she might\nbe toward human children. But we do not accept this standard of\ngoodness, nor believe that animals' kindness extends only to their own\ntribes. Their lowest standard of life is no worse than the cannibalism\nexisting among the lower tribes of uncivilised man, which is one of the\nhighest ideals of tribal life. The greatest hero among our savages is\nthe one that can put the most enemies to death.\n\nMany animals seem to have a social instinct and a moral sentiment toward\nman. They try to break the old bonds of distrust between their master\nand themselves. This is especially true of the puma, second to the\nlargest of the big cats of the Americas, which seems to love the society\nof man, and seeks not only to be near him, but to protect him from the\nattacks of the much-dreaded jaguar. A civil engineer tells the story of\nan experience he had while journeying up one of the big South American\nrivers by boat. At their nightly encampments one of the passengers on\nboard was an old miner who insisted on sleeping in a hammock suspended\nbetween two small trees. His weight was sufficient to bring the hammock\nalmost to the ground at its lowest curve. One morning, his friends\ninquired how he had slept, and he complained that \"the frogs and small\nanimals had made so much noise under the hammock that he could not\nsleep.\" One of the Indian servants roared with laughter, as he said,\n\"Uh, 'tiger' sleep with old man last night. He watch him!\"--tiger being\nthe Indian term for the puma. Careful searching revealed the footprints\nof an immense puma, and that he had evidently lain directly under the\nhammock. The noise which had kept the old man from sleeping was the\npurring of the animal, pleased over the privilege of sleeping so near a\nman. These Guiana Indians know the ways of the forests, and have a\nspecial liking for wild animals. This entire absence of fear in the puma\nis the same as exhibited by the tame house cat.\n\nMany animals seem fond of human companionship, and are easily tamed. My\nsister raised a small red deer in Texas, and he became so perfectly\ntame that he would follow her wherever she went, and would even take\nfood from her hand. In Yellowstone Park the deer are so tame they will\ncome into the yards to get food, while the brown bears approach the\nhotels like tramps, and many of the smaller animals are perfectly\nfearless. At the Bronx Zoological Gardens, and the London Zoo, the\nanimals have lost all fear. They seem to realise that they have no power\nto escape and depend entirely upon man for their daily food. But, of\ncourse, their conditions are artificial, hence such conclusions as we\nmay draw as to their normal attitude toward man do not necessarily\nindicate the innate character of their wild kinsmen. We occasionally\nfind, for instance, that in unsettled regions like parts of Mexico and\nSouth America, where animals are plentiful and man's influence largely\nabsent, they are found to be particularly ferocious, yet even then lions\nand leopards rarely attack men unless disturbed in some unusual way.\n\nQuite a few naturalists and scientists believe that the animals' love\nfor man was acquired and not natural. But if this be true, how did the\nvery early tribes of men escape destruction at the hands of the wild\nbeasts which were far more numerous than at present? The animal kingdom\nwas evidently impressed by the power of man at a very early stage of\nits development, but in just what manner or what period of time this\ncame to pass is not known.\n\nIf we regard the conflict as merely between two great groups of animals,\nsurely the animals should have won, and man would have disappeared from\nthe face of the earth. The fact that he did not, and that he became\nmaster of the animals, is presumptive evidence that man exceeded the\nanimals in intelligence.\n\nPrimitive man could have lived in no other way than by \"his wits.\" For\nhe was not nearly so well equipped for defence as are the monkeys of\nto-day. Their greatest power is in the ability to use their arms and\nhands in swinging rapidly from branch to branch. This gives them an\nadvantage over all tree-climbing cats. They are very proficient in\nthrowing stones and other missiles. This is dumbfounding to other\nanimals. Of course, their intelligent and quick-witted methods of\ndefence, menace, guard-duty, and loyalty to tribe makes them great\nwarriors, and enables them to survive even the onslaughts of their\ngreatest enemy and nightmare of every non-carnivorous animal--the harpy\neagle!\n\nThrough the necessary adjustments growing out of the close relationships\nof men to animals, the mental faculties of both have been greatly\nstimulated and advanced. The least developed races seem to be in such\nplaces as Tierra del Fuego, where there are no savage animals, and,\ntherefore, no inducement for man to arm and defend himself. The Pygmies\nof Central Africa are mighty hunters, otherwise they could not survive.\nEven the Esquimaux are masters of the great polar bears and other\nnorthern animals.\n\nIn the wilds of Africa, where animals have had a terrible struggle for\nexistence, not only against disagreeable climatic conditions, but all\nkinds of fellow-foes as well, we find the nkengos have attained a\ncivilisation that almost equals that of our savage brothers. And these\npale-faced little beings, with their wrinkled, care-worn, parchment-like\nskins, remind one of ill-treated, white, human-dwarfs. Their name,\nnkengo, means wild animal-men, and when tamed they actually make\nexcellent family servants for men.\n\nThese closest allies of man live in tall bamboo trees, and are so\ncuriously human that when seen walking around hunting berries, nuts, and\nfruits, talking in guttural, chattering tones, like old fisher-women, no\none could doubt even their kinship to man.\n\nTheir children assemble in groups to romp and play under the\nguardianship of either one of their mothers or grandmothers; while the\nmen forage for food, and watch for enemies. It is not uncommon to see\nan aged, half-decrepit nkengo lying on a bed of sticks in a tall tree.\nHere he eats only green leaves and bits of fruit brought him by some\nkind friend, being far too weak to hunt for food himself, and\nfurthermore, fearing an attack from his mortal enemy, the leopard.\n\nIf the colony decides to move to other territory, either because of\nenemies or the scarcity of food, they all assemble and hold a farewell\ngathering in which there is much mourning and apparent grief at forever\nleaving their aged kin to the fate of the wilds. If they are possibly\nable to walk, they are given patient assistance in travelling along.\nSometimes, when they are deserted, sympathetic friends return for days\nwith berries and koola nuts, until at last the colony has gone so far\naway that none dare return alone, in which event these helpless\nsuperannuated members are left to die in their lone tree-top beds.\n\nMany of these beds are as well made as the tree-beds of human beings,\nand even better than the beds of the savage Dyaks of Borneo. They are\nusually located in tall trees, inaccessible to leopards and out of reach\nof their most dreaded of all enemies, the terrible hordes of war-ants.\nFrom these nothing escapes--not even elephants and tigers.\n\nThe arrival of a baby to these nkengos is of far more importance in\ntheir tree-top village, than in a human city. Each of the female\nrelatives, and also the aged males, takes special interest in the\nnew-comer, and they chatter around his little grape-vine cradle with\nmuch enthusiasm, shaking their heads and delicately handling his tiny\nhands and toes as though he were the baby of a king.\n\nThis baby is much stronger and quicker to learn than human babies; for\nwhen he is only two days old he is able to cling to his mother, so that\nshe can carry him with her on her hunting trips. If he becomes too noisy\nfrom sheer delight when she is travelling through the forest with him,\nshe slaps him, in an attempt to quiet him, lest the leopards get him.\n\nAt night he sleeps snugly by his mother's side in the great tree-bed,\nand she never allows him to crawl out of her arms for fear that he fall\nto the depths below. She loves him dearly, and watches with human\neagerness for his first tooth. He loves his mother and will stand for\nhours while she dresses his hair; or lie on her breast as she rubs his\nlittle back.\n\nThese wild-children are always ill-tempered and self-willed. No human\nmother has to show more patience and love than does the nkengo mother.\nShe takes the greatest delight in his first efforts at climbing and\nhunting, and for hours she and his admiring relatives will watch him\nattempting to climb a cocoanut tree. Sometimes she will climb just\nbehind him to catch him if he falls or becomes frightened.\n\nHis arms soon become very powerful, for he is constantly swinging,\nclimbing, and exercising by hanging from a bough with one hand while he\npulls himself up with the great power of his muscles. He is able to\ngather koola nuts long before his jaws are strong enough to crack them;\nso his fond mother cracks them for him until his hands and mouth are\nstronger. Like all babies, his ambition is to be big and strong like his\nfather.\n\nSome of the apes are most intelligent and human, and, as allies to man,\nare more desirable than certain of the human savages. Dr. Livingstone,\nin his _Last Journals_, describes one he first discovered. \"Their\nteeth,\" he says, \"are slightly human, but their canines show the beast\nby their large development. The hands, or rather the fingers, are like\nthose of the natives. They live in communities consisting of about a\ndozen individuals, and are strictly monogamous in their conjugal\nrelations, and vegetarian, or rather frugivorous, in their diet, their\nfavourite food being bananas.\" The natives where these apes live are\ncannibals, and Dr. Livingstone says, \"they are the lowest of the low.\"\nOne of their number, who had committed a great murder, offered his\ngrandmother \"to be killed in expiation of his offence, and this\nvicarious punishment was accepted as satisfactory.\"\n\nThus it is evident that certain of these wild-creatures--like the\nsokos--have a more correct conception of justice than their human\nassociates, the savages. At least the animals do not make the innocent\nsuffer for the guilty, and give their lives unjustly. Should a soko try\nto take another's wife he is publicly punished by the tribe. These\nanimals have a great sense of humour and fully enjoy a practical joke.\nStrangely enough, they never attack women and children, but if any man\napproaches them with a spear or gun, they try to rush upon him, often at\nthe expense of their own life, and wrest the weapon from him. Most of\nthem are exceedingly kind and civilised in their actions, and natives\nalways say, \"Soko is a man, and nothing bad in him.\"\n\nOften they kidnap babies and carry them up into trees. But these are\nnever harmed and the apes are ever ready to exchange them for bananas.\nThe robbery is, no doubt, for the purpose of extortion. If perchance one\nof their children is stolen, the entire forest sets up a scream and\nwail until it is returned. Old hunters and travellers say that they\nwould rather steal the child of a native savage than to take one of the\nsokos. If one of the soko children disappears, and they do not know what\nbecame of it, they immediately send out detectives throughout the\ncountry to seek for it. And woe be the home where a stolen soko baby is\nfound!\n\nBut man has one great power--a far more potent ally than he has in his\nanimal friends--the use of fire. Unquestionably to the minds of animals\nit is a supernatural power. They cannot create it, understand it, and it\nis very doubtful if they can yet use it to advantage. How marvellous is\nthis thing--fire! That great blazing pillar of cloud that destroys all,\nand leaves nothing to show where it has taken its enemies! To animals it\nsprings up wherever man rests his head, and protects him while he\nsleeps. It is always with him, and its presence for untold ages has\nbrought terror to all of them.\n\nNot a few reports tell us that certain of our animal allies among the\nmonkeyfolk of South Africa use fire. This may not be true; but it is\nprobable that the time is near at hand when the wild baboon-men of the\nwoods will learn to make and use fire just as we have done.\n\nEnough instances could be shown illustrating animals as man's allies to\nfill an entire book, but a sufficient number have been adduced to show\nhow truly they are our allies, helpers, and protectors just as we are\ntheirs, only their mode of manifesting it is different. We have shown\nthe absolute fallacy of the old belief that animals lack mentality, and\nthat all their acts of kindness are based upon self-love and personal\ngain, and have seen that in proportion to their opportunities in life,\nthey have quite as much mentality and brotherly love for each other and\nmankind as is found among our lower savages. We have seen that among\nanimals as among men, individuals will give their lives for their\nfellows, serve the weak and timid, and demonstrate the highest and\nholiest feelings of which true souls can be capable, and always share\nequally with man the burdens that fall upon themselves and their human\nallies. And the time is already here when man should protect his animal\nfriends more, and teach them through human kindness not to fear him. But\nthis can only be done when he is willing to treat them as fellow beings\nonly a little below him in the scale of existence.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV\n\nTHE FUTURE LIFE OF ANIMALS\n\n  _\"Ah, poor companion! when thou followedst last\n  Thy master's parting footsteps to the gate\n  Which closed forever on him, thou didst lose\n  Thy best friend, and none was left to plead\n  For the old age of brute fidelity.\n  But fare thee well. Mine is no narrowed creed;\n  And He who gave thee being did not frame\n  The mystery of Life to be the sport\n  Of merciless man. There is another world\n  For all that live and move--a better one!\n  Where the proud bipeds, who would fain confine\n  Of their own charity, may envy thee.\"_\n\n  --SOUTHEY (on the death of his dog).\n\n\nThe old belief is still prevalent that the Bible teaches that of all\nliving creatures man alone is immortal. This erroneous belief springs\nout of man's egotism, however, and is not substantiated by the\nScriptures. Among many of the Old Testament writers we find that\nimmortality was assured for neither man nor animals; whereas, with the\nlarger revelation of the New Testament, immortality is no longer\nquestioned for any living creature.\n\nThere are, of course, many supposedly intelligent people who deny to\nanimals the power of reason, and attribute all their marvellous powers\nand abilities to blind instinct. It is, therefore, not the least bit\nsurprising that the vast majority of people believe that when an animal\ndies, its life principle dies also. The animating power, they believe,\nis destroyed, and the body returns to the dust.\n\nThese mistaken conclusions are largely, if not wholly, due to two\npassages of Scripture, one of which is in the Psalms and the other in\nEcclesiastes. The one most often quoted, from the Psalms, runs in the\nauthorised version: \"Nevertheless, man being in honor, abideth not; he\nis like the beasts that perish.\" This verse is frequently quoted as\ndecisive of the whole question. The other passage, which is found in\nEcclesiastes, reads: \"Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward,\nand the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?\"\n\nIt is upon the authority of these two passages that we are supposed to\nbelieve that when an animal dies, its life has gone forever, departed,\nexpired. In this new age of thought and discovery, we do not attempt to\nexplain a passage of Scripture, no matter how simple it may appear to\nbe, without referring to the original text, that we may see if the\ntranslator has kept the true sense of the words and adequately expressed\ntheir significance, remembering that words often change their meaning,\nand that the original use of a word may have conveyed exactly the\nopposite meaning to that which we at present attach to it.\n\nBut if we accept the passage just as it stands, with the literal meaning\nof the words as is usually understood, there is but one\nconclusion--animals have no future life. Death ends all for them. But,\non the other hand, if we are to take the literal interpretation of the\nBible only, we are forced to believe that man, as well as the animals,\nhas no life after death. Surely the book of Psalms is full of examples\nto support this literal interpretation. For example, \"In death there is\nno remembrance of thee: in the grave, who shall give thee thanks?\"\nAgain, \"The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into\nsilence.\" Or, \"His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in\nthat very day his thoughts perish.\" These quotations could be greatly\nadded to, and if taken in their literal sense, we would reach but one\nconclusion--death ends all for every living creature! Nothing in all the\nliterature of the earth could be more gloomy and discouraging than\nthese quotations with numerous others that contemplate death. Yet, vain\nman takes one little passage that seemingly denies a future life to\nanimals from the same book that many times over denies a future life to\nmankind; in fact, there are five times as many Scripture passages\nclaiming for man that all ends in death as there are for animals. Over\nand over we are told that those who have died have no remembrance of\nGod, and cannot praise Him. The Bible speaks of death as the \"land of\nforgetfulness,\"--the place of darkness, where all man's thoughts perish.\nNothing more than this could be said of the \"animals that perish!\"\n\nOther Biblical writers referred to mankind as those who \"dwell in houses\nof clay,\" and Job says: \"They are destroyed from morning to evening;\nthey perish forever, without any regarding it.\" In another place he\nsays: \"As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away, so he that goeth\ndown to the grave shall come up no more.\" Again he speaks of \"the land\nof darkness and the shadow of death,\" and says: \"Man dieth, and wasteth\naway: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail\nfrom the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: so man lieth down,\nand riseth not.\" Job laments the pitiable conditions of his life, and\ncomplains that life was ever granted to him, and that even death can\nbring nothing to him except extinction.\n\nYet, if we examine Ecclesiastes, the book in which we find the single\npassage upon which many people base a belief in the non-future existence\nof animals, there are passages which are really no more positive as to\nthe future of mankind. For example, \"I said in my heart concerning the\nestate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they\nmight see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the\nsons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them. As the one\ndieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath, so that a man\nhas no pre-eminence over a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one\nplace; all are of the dust, and all turn to the dust again.\" Again it is\nsaid: \"For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know not\nanything, neither have they any more a reward, for the memory of them is\nforgotten;\" and \"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy\nmight; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in\nthe grave whither thou goest.\"\n\nBy interpreting these words literally, there is but one conclusion\nrelative to a future spiritual life, namely, that there is absolutely\nno distinction between man and his \"lower brother\" animals, and that\nwhen they die they all go to the same place. It is emphatically said\nthat after death man knows nothing, receives no reward, and can do no\nwork. Job has the same gloomy strain running through his writings, and\nEcclesiastes gives a most morbid and gloomy view of death.\n\nHowever, no modern Biblical scholar accepts these passages in this\nliteral light, for it is known that they were written symbolically, or\nas parables, and were not intended to be literally interpreted. They\nhave a spiritual significance. We are, however, not interested here so\nmuch with this spiritual sense as we are with the literal implication of\nthe translation. Therefore, according to this literal meaning of the two\ntexts, if we accept them to prove that animals have no future life, we\nare forced to believe by at least fourteen passages, of equal if not\ngreater power, that man shares their same fate after death. No man has a\nright to select certain passages from the same book of the Bible and say\nthat they shall be accepted literally, and that other passages of equal\nmerit shall be interpreted otherwise. They must all be treated the same.\n\nAll scholars are familiar with that remarkable eleventh book of Homer's\nOdyssey, known as the Necromanteia, or Invocation of the Dead, and in it\nUlysses descends into the regions of the departed spirits to invoke them\nand obtain advice as to his future adventures. One commentator says: \"He\nsails to the boundaries of the ocean, and lands in the country of the\nCimmerians, who dwell in perpetual cloud and darkness, and in whose\ncountry are the gates leading to the regions of the dead.\" All is\ndarkness, discontent, hunger; nothing is said of virtue, wisdom, beauty,\nhappiness. Only bitter gloom! No wonder this heathen poet considered,\nwith such views of a future life, sensual pleasures as the chief object\nof this life.\n\nThe following dialogue between the inhabitants of the earth and the\ndweller in the regions of the dead--between Ulysses and Achilles--is\nremarkable for its horrible depiction of the future life:\n\n  \"Through the thick gloom his friend Achilles knew,\n  As he speaks the tears dissolve in dew.\n  'Comest thou alive to view the Stygian bounds,\n  Where the wan spectres walk eternal rounds;\n  Nor fear'st the dark and dismal waste to tread,\n  Thronged with pale ghosts familiar with the dead?'\n  To whom with sighs, 'I pass these dreadful gates\n  To seek the Theban, and consult the Fates;\n  For still distressed I roam from coast to coast,\n  Lost to my friends and to my country lost.\n  But sure the eye of Time beholds no name\n  So blessed as thine in all the rolls of fame;\n  Alive we hailed thee with our guardian gods,\n  And, dead thou rulest a king in these abodes.'\n  'Talk not of ruling in this dolorous gloom,\n  Nor think vain words (he cried) can ease my doom.\n  Rather I'd choose laboriously to bear\n  A weight of woes and breathe the vital air,\n  A slave for some poor hind that toils for bread,\n  Than reign the sceptered monarch of the dead.'\"\n\nYet, even this outpouring of hopeless words by the heathen poet is\nencouraging when compared to the writings of the Psalmist, of Solomon or\nJob, for those who have gone beyond the grave still have memory, an\ninterest in their friends on earth, love and desire. But no such hope\nexists for man, if we are to accept literally all the passages of\nScripture which have been quoted. By such interpretation, man passes\nafter death into eternal darkness, forgetfulness, silence, \"where there\nis no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom--where even his very\nthoughts perish.\" If these particular passages are to be accepted as\nfinal on the subject, there is no future life for either man or animal.\nThey are too definite to admit of any interpretation that might soften\nor alter their meaning.\n\nIt may be shocking to some to compare the belief of an ancient Greek and\nthe teachings of a Latin Epicurean with the sacred writings of the\nBible. Yet, it may be even more startling to point out that some of the\nteachings of the Epicurean sensualist are quite as good as some of those\nof the writers of the sacred texts, and that those of the Greek poet are\nfar better and more spiritual! There is no denying that these are the\nfacts, if we are to be bound by literal interpretation, unless we throw\nto the winds all reason and common-sense.\n\nThis leads us back to the point previously mentioned; and we must\ndetermine if the authorised version gives a full and truthful\ninterpretation of the Hebrew original. Even a man who does not pretend\nto scholarship knows that it does not. The word \"perish,\" for example,\nis not found at all in the Hebrew text, nor is the idea expressed; the\nwords which our translation twice renders as \"beasts that perish,\" is,\nin the original Hebrew, \"dumb beasts.\" By comparing a number of the\ntranslations of the Psalms, into various languages--Psalm XLIX, for\nexample--we find that few, if any, of them suggest the idea of\n\"perishing\" in the sense of annihilation. First, let us consider the\nJewish Bible, which is acknowledged to be the most accurate translation\nin the English language, and carefully read it. In verses 12 and 20 of\nthe above Psalm, where the passage is found, the translation reads:\n\"Man that is in honour, and understandeth this not, is like the beasts\nthat are irrational.\" In a footnote the word \"dumb\" is offered as an\nalternative for \"irrational.\" Brunton's translation of the Septuagint is\nsimilar, and reads: \"Man that is in honour understands not, he is\ncompared to the senseless cattle, and is like them.\" Wycliffe's Bible,\nwhich is translated from the Vulgate, reads thus: \"A man whanne he was\nin honour understood it not; he is compared to unwise beestis, and is\nmaad lijk to tho.\" The \"Douay\" Bible, put forth by the English Catholic\nCollege of Douay and which is received by the Catholic Church in\nEngland, gives the passage: \"Man, when he was in honour, did not\nunderstand; he hath been compared to senseless beasts, and made like to\nthem.\" Many other versions might be cited, and very few of them even\nsuggest the idea of annihilation. If, for argument's sake, we suppose\nthat the word \"perish\" has been correctly translated, it by no means\nfollows that annihilation is signified. Read, for example, the tenth\nverse of the same Psalm in our authorised translation: \"For he seeth\nthat wise men die, and likewise the fool and the brutish person perish,\nand leave their wealth to others.\" Certainly no intelligent person would\ninterpret this passage as declaring that the wise and the foolish and\nthe brutish have no life after the body dies.\n\nIt is plain, therefore, that we may dismiss forever the idea that the\nPsalmist believed the beasts had no future life, and the citation may be\nrejected as absolutely irrelevant to the subject, and the only one that\nappears to make any definite statements as to the future life of the\nlower animals. Every student of the Bible will at once recognise how\nnecessary it is that the original meaning of the Hebrew text should be\nknown, and that the Psalmist should not be accused of setting forth a\ndoctrine of such great importance, whether true or false, when he may\nnever even have thought or suggested it.\n\n[Illustration: MEN CRUELLY TAKE THE LIVES OF THESE DENIZENS OF THE\nWILDWOOD, REJOICING IN THEIR SLAUGHTER, BUT THE ANIMAL SOUL THEY CANNOT\nKILL.]\n\n[Illustration: TWO PALS. THERE IS BETWEEN MAN AND DOG A KINSHIP OF\nSPIRIT THAT CANNOT BE DENIED.]\n\nHaving disposed of the possibility of a misunderstanding of the real\nmeaning of the \"beasts that perish,\" let us consider the quotation from\nEcclesiastes, the only one that refers to the future state of animals.\n\"Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the\nbeast that goeth downward to the earth?\" We find an admission here that,\nwhether the spirit ascends or descends, man and beasts alike have the\nimmortal spark. The Hebrew version is precisely the same as our\nauthorised translation. Read, not an isolated verse, but the entire\npassage:\n\n\"I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of man, that God\nmight manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are\nbeasts.\n\n\"For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even the one\nthing befalleth them; as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they\nhave all one breath; so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast:\nfor all is vanity.\n\n\"All go to one place; all are of the same dust, and all turn to dust\nagain.\n\n\"Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the\nbeast that goeth downward to the earth?\n\n\"Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man\nshould rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion; for who shall\nbring him to see what shall be after him?\"\n\nThese verses tell their own story. It matters little whether Solomon\nwrote this book in his later years; it is, in any event, the confession\nof one who has had all the good things of this world, and who saw the\nemptiness of them all, and who sums up life with the words \"Vanity of\nvanities, all is vanity.\" Finally the author ironically advises his\nreaders to trust only in the good of their labour.\n\nThus it is shown that the quotation from the Psalms in no way justifies\nthe belief in the annihilation of beasts, and that the one from\nEcclesiastes has been entirely and wrongfully misunderstood and\ninterpreted. In no way do the Scriptures deny future life to the lower\nanimals, but in all ways, if intelligently understood, imply that man\nand beasts have, equally, a share in a future life beyond the grave.\n\nAs we have found out that the Scriptures, contrary to the popular\nbelief, do not deny a future life to our lower brethren, the animals,\nlet us see if they actually declare a future world for them in the same\nway that they do for man. Man's immortality, as we know, is taught in\nthe Old Testament rather by inference than by direct affirmation. This\nis possibly due to the fact that the writers of the manifold books,\nwhich were at a late date selected from a large number and made into one\nbig volume which forms our Bible, thought as a matter of course that man\nlived on after death, and never thought it necessary to assert that\nwhich every one knew.\n\nBut if we accept the teachings of the Old Testament, inference gives\nmuch stronger testimony to the immortality of animals than it does to\nthe immortality of man, for while in neither case is there a direct\nassertion of a future life, yet there is no direct denial of future life\nto the animals, as has been shown to be the case with man.\n\nAll Divine Law includes a protection for the beasts, and the laws of\nthe Sabbath were in essence a spiritual and not only a physical\nordinance. The ancient Scriptures have innumerable provisions against\nmistreating or giving unnecessary pain to the lower animals; and these\nprovisions stand side by side in the Divine Law with those which speak\nof man. Note, for example, the prohibition of \"seething a kid in its\nmother's milk.\" Again, there is a statement that the ox in treading out\nthe corn is not to be muzzled, lest he suffer hunger in the presence of\nfood which he may not eat.\n\nIn the following sentences from the Book of Jonah, it is plainly seen\nthat the Deity has not failed to take notice of the animals: \"And should\nI not spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six score\nthousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their\nleft hand; and also much cattle?\" Again, in the Psalms, \"Every beast of\nthe forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the\nfowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.\"\nOther passages that proclaim God as the protector of beasts, as well as\nman, might be cited, for the Bible makes frequent mention of them. Each\nof these Scriptures unquestionably proves that God has an interest in\nall His creatures, and that each shares His universal love.\n\nNo one can deny that Genesis, ninth chapter and fifth verse, refers to a\nfuture life for beasts as well as man; it is a part of the law which was\ngiven to Noah and which was the forerunner of the fuller law handed down\nthrough Moses: \"Surely, your blood of your lives will I require; at the\nhand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of every man; at\nthe hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man.\"\nAccording to the Mosaic law, an ox which kills a man is subject to\ndeath, exactly as a human murderer. Why should the animal be punished by\ndeath, if he has no soul to be forfeited?\n\nIt should be remembered that while there are no Scriptural passages that\ndefinitely promise immortality to animals, there are many which infer\nit. Moreover, we should not expect to gain definite information on the\nsubject from the Bible, for it was written for human beings and not for\nanimals. If there are few direct references to the future life of man,\nsurely there must be still fewer to that of animals!\n\nBut just as man has for countless ages had within himself an everlasting\nwitness to his own immortality, so do we find that all who have really\nbecome acquainted with the lower animals, with their unselfishness,\nparental love, devotion to duty, generosity, wonderful mentality, and\nself-sacrifice--all those who know them realise that they are subject to\nthe same moral law as man and share with him a future life.\n\nLamartine beautifully expresses a future hope for his faithful dog:\n\n  \"I cannot, will not, deem thee a deceiving,\n  Illusive mockery of human feeling,\n  A body organized, by fond caress\n  Warmed into seeming tenderness;\n  A mere automaton, on which our love\n  Plays, as on puppets, when their wires we move.\n  No! when that feeling quits thy glazing eye,\n  'Twill live in some blest world beyond the sky.\"\n\nWho can say that from the depths of the wide ocean, from regions\nunknown, and lands unexplored by man; from the remotest islands of the\nsea, and even from the far icy North, there are not animal voices ever\nrising in praise of our common Creator? The Bible says: \"The Lord is\ngood to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works,\" and, \"All\nThy works shall praise thee, O Lord,\"--surely these endorse the above\nstatements. And why should man define the limit of God's goodness, His\nlove, care, and attention to the wants and needs of all His creatures?\n\nThe distinguished animal authority, Dr. Abercrombie, admitted that\nanimals have an \"immaterial principle\" in them, which is distinct from\nmatter. But he does not say that this principle, or soul, will live\nafter death, as it is supposed to in man. However, many scholars both of\nancient and modern times hold this opinion. Broderip, in his _Zoological\nRecreations_ devotes much space in referring to ancient philosophers and\npoets, Christian Fathers, and Jewish Rabbis that have believed in the\nimmortality of animals. The heroes of Virgil have horses to drive in the\nElysian fields; the Greek poets gave to Orion dogs. Rabbi Manesseh,\nspeaking of the resurrection, says, \"brutes will then enjoy a much\nhappier state of being than they experienced here,\" and a number of\nscholars, like Philo Judaeus, believe that ferocious beasts will in a\nfuture state lose their ferociousness. Among more recent scholars who\nhold this belief is Dr. John Brown, who boldly says: \"I am one of those\nwho believe that dogs have a next world; and why not?\" The Rev. J. G.\nWood said: \"Much of the present heedlessness respecting animals is\ncaused by the popular idea that they have no souls, and that when they\ndie they entirely perish. Whence came that most preposterous idea?\nSurely not from the only source where we might expect to learn about\nsouls--not from the Bible, for there we distinctly read of 'the spirit\nof the sons of man,' and immediately afterwards of 'the spirit of the\nbeasts,' one aspiring, the other not so. And a necessary consequence of\nthe spirit is a life after the death of the body. Let any one wait in a\nfrequented thoroughfare for one short hour, and watch the sufferings of\nthe poor brutes that pass by. Then, unless he denies the Divine\nProvidence, he will see clearly that unless these poor creatures were\ncompensated in a future life, there is no such quality as justice.\"\n\nEugene T. Zimmerman says: \"I cannot help but think that my faithful dog,\nand playmate of my younger days, will have some form of a future life.\"\n\nWe do not recognise an absolute spiritual barrier of separation between\nman and animals. Man is an animal--the first of animals; but it does not\nof necessity follow that he will always continue to be so. By what right\ndoes he presume to deny a soul and a continued spiritual existence to\nlower animals? Are we not all of us fellows and co-workers, partakers of\nthe same universal life, sharing alike a common source and destiny? This\nhas always been the faith and insight of the child, whose simple wisdom\nwe ever turn to for truth and guidance. And in our clearer realisation\nof the oneness of all life, we will extend to all creatures the Golden\nRule, showing them the love and consideration we would have shown to\nus.\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nThe HUMAN SIDE of BIRDS.\n\nBy ROYAL DIXON With 4 illustrations in color and 32 in black-and-white.\nCloth, 8vo.\n\nWith every statement based on fact, and every fact of unusual interest,\nthe author shows that many qualities of and occupations in the human\nworld have their parallels in the bird world.\n\n     _Here is bird study from a new angle--instead of treating our bird\n     neighbors as labeled specimens to be described in scientific terms,\n     they are treated as friends, and a careful study is made of their\n     disposition, character, emotions and \"thought processes.\"_\n\nMr. Dixon tells of birds who are policemen, athletes, divers, bakers;\nbirds who maintain courts of justice and military organizations and many\nother curious types.\n\nBUY FROM YOUR BOOKSELLER\n\nbut let us send you the news about books\n\nTo the readers of this book who furnish name and address (a postal card\nwill do), we will gladly send, free of charge, announcements of our new\npublications. Our illustrated holiday pamphlets with colored picture\ncovers are unusually attractive. Books may then be ordered through your\nlocal bookshop.\n\nWe employ no agents or canvassers\n\nFREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY\n\n447-448 Fourth Avenue, New York, N. Y.\n\n\nPublishers FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY New York","title":"The Human Side of Animals","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":58326}