Do animals think?

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DO ANIMALS THINK Pp

By H. RECORDON

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SECOND EDITION

NEW YORK
Broadway Publishing Company
1903

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Copyright, 1g02,
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Do Animals Think?

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PREPAC E.

THIs is not a work on natural history or other
sciences. It does not treat of the origin or pedigree
of animals, but of their observation and penetra-
tion. It tends to show that animals do think,
more or less, according to their capabilities, some
having more and some less. It tries to prove that
much of their prowess is due not to instinct, but
to intelligence, which entitles them to the respect
and sympathy of mankind.

DO ANIMALS THINK?

PART I.

Do they, or do they not? Here we have a
question that is not very simple to answer. The
small minority of men contend that they do,
while the larger majority contradict it, and, this
being the case, we will try and sift the matter
thoroughly. This being the question of the open-
ing of this work, it stands to reason that there
should be a satisfactory answer, and decide per-
‘“manently the different contending points on the
matter.

The word think may be applied to both man
and beast and be interpreted in one or all of the
terms: To compare things or terms in the mind;
to deliberate; to consider; to judge; to conclude;

2 Do Animals Think ?

to determine; to imagine; to fancy; to meditate;
to intend; to design; to conceive; to believe; to
esteem, and to have ideas in general on one or
more subjects.

There are but few of these definitions that can-
not be applied to animals as well as to men.

One characteristic more prominent than all the
others, is fancy, or anger, which is found in the
whole animal kingdom. There one can see the
mind at work, more so on the laws of nature, self-
defense or self-preservation, and the maintenance
of one’s dignity, at any price.

The pleasure of quarreling does not exist in
animals as it does in man. |

Anger is nothing more than an impulsive con-
sideration for the time being, when any member
of the numerous species of the animal kingdom
is annoyed. We have, too, in other animals, those
of the higher order of intelligence, which imagine
a wrong inflicted toward them; then there are
others which are justified in such imagination.

Take for example the elephant, which has the
largest brain of all, even eclipsing man’s. He
therefore has a wonderful and good memory, never
forgetting a good or bad action; especially a bad
one, for he thinks and ponders over a wrong and
bides his time to inflict the punishment and be re-
venged. Let the time be short or long, he waits

Do Animals Think ?P 3

and he will not or in fact never does forget it, and
when he meets the object of his wrath, he will re-
member almost instantly.

A case of this kind happened not long ago at
one of our Zoos, where a crowd was there as usual.
There was one person whom his majesty, the ele-
phant, eyed more than the rest. I watched to see
what would happen. The woman went toward his
cage, when the elephant, with a roar, and the up-
lifting of his trunk, seized the woman by the waist
and was about to dash her to the ground, when
the attendants intervened and saved her from fur-
ther harm. Strangely enough she recalled that
twelve years before she had struck an elephant
over the trunk with her umbrella, for trying to
ransack her satchel. She was not sure, however,
it was the same one, but the guards told her it
must have been, for an elephant never starts a
fight without good cause.

All animals are not of the same turn of mind.
I can recall an incident that happened in one of
our western cities not long ago. It was in this
case a woman also and a king of beasts. She was
_ at the circus, and in the crowd, but when she ap-
proached the lion’s cage, he was lying down, but
at sight. of her he bounded upward and pranced
like a kitten. The woman remembered that she
had sold a pet lion ten years before. She went

4 Do Animals Think P

closer to his cage, whereupon he extended his paw,
which she fondly caressed, and when she departed
he continued his pranks until she was out of the
door.

These two cases would show memory, —
gence and reasoning.

All animals are not so intelligent, but all are
ready for self-defense, if aggrieved or annoyed.

Animals can be divided into two classes, the
brute kind, and the civilized kind. The brute be-
ing the one that roams the forests, and in fact is
his own master, while the civilized animal which
is held in captivity is somewhat domesticated, and
not always a ruler, in spite of which he usually
shows affection and esteem.

This subject being one that has puzzled man
from time immemorial, and no satisfactory an-
swer has ever been given on this point, I will en-
deavor by facts, incidents, and coincidences, to
prove as far as I can, that animals do think, and
if my readers are inclined to doubt any part of
this work, they must draw their own conclusions
on this matter, and make their own deductions on
the subject.

The few writers on such subjects have always
contended that animals had no reasoning powers,
for as they have stated, if they had, why was it
they could not build a house? Such writers are

Do Animals Think ? 5

wrong, for what would they do with it after it was
built?

They even go farther than that: they state that
animals have nothing to do but wash their faces,
go to sleep, eat between times, with an intermix-
ture of playfulness, and an occasional quarrel or
fight, just for the sake of making it up again.

I have asked a question above, what would ani-
mals build houses for? What use would they
make of it? They are not so foolish as to im-
prison themselves like civilized man is doing daily.
Why is this assertion made, and this question
asked! I’m sure I don’t know, and no one else
knows.

Living in houses is contrary to natural laws.
It is merely a habit man has given himself, where-
as animals find their houses already built, through
nature’s work, such as holes in the ground, the bor-
ing of tunnels below the surface, their ruts in
caves, their homes in trees, and in innumerable
ways of housing themselves, provided by nature.
Just as our ancestors, primitive man did, they
were perfectly happy to live in caves and cliffs,
and afterwards to build mounds. What more does
man or beast want? ‘The savages of to-day all
over the globe have huts merely to rest in, and
for a roof in stormy weather. We will admit that
man in the past knew no better than the animals,

6 Do Animals Think ?

but man has enlightened himself since, where ani-
mals have not, at least not the wild ones, but I
cau safely say that the domestic one has made
progress in understanding and intelligence. We
all must admit progress in both man and beast
since primitive man’s time.

We must not lose sight of the fact that there is
a variety of animal which constructs houses if we
can call them such, and they answer the same pur-
poses as those built by the South Sea Islanders,
merely for a roofing over them in case of an
emergency, or for the storing of provisions. They
build for the time being, with but few exceptions,
knowing that the material they employ is not
lasting. They, too, have foresight.

If such animals merely had instinct, could they
plan, and scheme to construct a hovel, bore a tun-
nel, or build a nest? No. When man is bent on a
certain piece of work, look at his industry! Now
look at the other side: when a beaver constructs a
dam, see his intentness, for not only his feet and
tail are at work, but his mind also.

Of course, some of my readers will ask how can
animals reason and construct a house under
water like the otter. He does not draw plans on
paper. Now we have the point, its mental plan-
ning, like the savages, for they, too, with but
very few exceptions, make plans for the construc-

Do Animals Think P 7

tion of their huts. It is planning in both’ cases,
which they have acquired through heredity. With
reasoning and thought for their wants, it be-
comes natural to them to plan and build houses,
such as the muskrat, and many other water ani-
mals, which build under water.

We have also the land animals, such as the
badger, which is content with living in a hole, un-
der the surface; the prairie dog that bores and
tunnels tarough the ground, also other animals,
such as rabbits in the fields and forests. Then
there are others like the mole, the opossum, and
woodchuck, which either bore in the ground, or
live in the opening of rooks. In fact, they nearly
all have the same way of living. It’s all reason-
ing on their part, and not instinct. It’s the same
with the peccary, porcupine, and wild boars, also
the raccoon, but more often the latter would rather
have a tree as an abode.

Before proceeding, just one word on the rea-
soning powers of both man and beast. ‘They
can both adapt themselves to better or worse
conditions. ‘Take the savage, for example. He
ean, and is willing to elevate himself to better his
lot, as strange as it might appear to him at the
start. It is the same with a tramp cat or dog.
They will find their surroundings to their taste,
when combined with a good home, and a good

8 Do Animals Think P

master. How contented it will lay under the
stove, and presently will go to sleep, after its
noonday meal.

But put it out of doors after having made it
comfortable, what will happen? At first the
animal will not know what to make of it, and will
hover about the house, then make off, and go back
to trampdom. This is identical with the savage;
if he too, were to be transported back to his native
land, after once having tasted of civilization, he
would go back to barbarity.

I will make the assertion that man is an animal.
There is but one sort of animal that has no reason-
ing powers, and that is the insane, or paretic.
Kverything to them is a blank, be he man or
animal. We have animals, too, that go insane;
the most intelligent, like the elephant, horse, and
dog. Why? Because they have reasoning
powers, for if they had not they would not go in-
sane. Civilization brings on insanity, where sav-
agery does not. Another thing, if animals had no
reasoning powers, would they have insomnia, the
same as man? I emphatically say no. Only
lately a case of insomnia developed in a tiger in
Madison Square Garden at one of the shows. The
tiger had been ailing for some time. No one
seemed to understand the trouble until a veteri-
nary surgeon was called. He immediately diag-

Do Animals Think P 9

nosed the case as insomnia, that proves again that
animals have more than instinct, 1t proves in a
marked degree that their conscience is troubled,
just as man who suffers with the same ailment;
but only few have ever given themselves the trouble
to penetrate it.

Of course man having been skeptical on such
matters, instead of credulous, it will be difficult
to convince him that animals do think. I admit,
with my readers, it is a deep mystery to fathom,
for we common mortals have only known them by
instinct heretofore, and not by reasoning, which
is a grave error.

I will give another proof of my assertion by
referring to the hen and rooster. If one watches
them in a barnyard which is on an elevation, and
where there are always hawks hovering about, and
one of those hawks comes into sight, how quickly
the hen, or rooster, will warn the rest of the brood.
They scent danger ahead, and it is the same warn-
ing that is sent forth if any other bird of prey
makes its appearance. ‘This is not instinct, but
thought, on their part; for the eye sees, which tele-
graphs to the brain, and then the action through
the voice takes place, and so on with all other
animals.

Man has given this subject but very little
thought, for the main reason that he cannot un-

10 Do Animals Think P

derstand the language of animals, and of course,
it is not a very bad reason. ‘Then, too, we are not
given to thinking much ourselves on such subjects.
We are by far too busy hunting the dollar, but in
spite of all that, we will admit that animals reason
as well as we. Writers in the past have attempted
to solve this problem, but given it up, for the
deeper they would delve into it, the more mys-
terious it would become to them.

Yet animals could never acquire the building
of machinery, or design habitations for man, for
their intelligence is not developed to that extent.
The main point is they are not endowed with
cifts, as man is, for it is unnecessary in them,
while with man it is very essential. They simply
have enough intelligence for their wants, and
what more can be expected of them? Still man
has trained and instructed them for public per-
formances, circuses, stage and the like, in other
words, transplanted some of his own intelligence
into them. That shows again the reasoning which
animals have. They are willing to learn, but
some are less adaptable than others, all not having
an equal amount of gray matter in their brains or
perception.

Then, too, the more a man knows of civiliza-
tion the more his wants increase. It is but nat-
ural in him, as he is constructed so differently

Do Animals Think P {11

from amimals. They need no clothing as we do,
for nature has provided covering for them from
the time of their birth to death, according to the
change of the seasons. They need not bother
about cooking either, their tastes being so different
from man, who in time will go back to the stage
of raw food, where he will eat as animal does
to-day. | :

The animal has probably the better part of
the argument on the food question, but there are
a great many men who believe in a raw diet, and
I don’t see why it would not be better for him to
adopt it, provided he has not the national ailment
—dyspepsia. If we consider the abstainers of all
fresh meats, they do not know what dyspepsia is,
no more than do animals, for their food consists
principally of grains, leaves, fruit, vegetables and
nuts.

I do not intend to comment on this matter any
further, for we all have our individual tastes, but
if man were to eat food more in its raw state, as
do the animals (outside of meats), man would
feel better in mind and body, and not forgetting
the cost of cooking either.

When the animal is hungry, if he is in the wild
state, he simply searches the woods, forest, glen
or ravine, in search of a morsel. ‘The bird hovers
around the tree, while the insect glides along the

12 Do Animals Think?

ground, like the reptile; fish and mammal roam
around the deep in search of food, but when they
have found it they eat it. Not like man, who has
to prepare it first, and then cook it. There are
other animals that look ahead of them, just as man
does, to lay away stores for a cold day. ‘These
animals, too, have reasoning powers, and not in-
stinct. In such cases we, being all of the same
family, all have the same traits, more or less.
The monkey, according to Darwin, being our
ancestor, makes us all of the same huge family.
Man and animals act much alike—each hoards
their surplus, let it be money, garden truck or pro-
visions. So what difference is there between
them? ‘There is a striking resemblance in a good -
many points.

I have often noticed in one of our large parks,
toward the autumn months, the squirrels being
fed, and have observed their intentness when one
would hand them a nut. If they were not hungry
they would run off with their prize and bury it in
the ground, and deposit it in the hollow of a tree
with the others they might have and come down
to the same person for more, or to another, and
so on, for they will take all that is given them.
They always have an eye open to business, not
knowing how long the winter will last, so they
would rather take no chances. The next day they

Do Animals Think P 13

are ready for all that is given them. How well
they reason that if they did not provide them-
selves with provisions they would starve. Know-
ing that during the winter months, especially a
hard winter, there is no food to be had.

14 Do Animals Think?

PART IL.

THE more intelligence and reasoning an animal
has the more he bothers about the future in his
house building, and laying away the stores. The
same animal reasons but little on that score if in
captivity, for he then knows food will always be
forthcoming.

He has another worry, however, and that is
being held like a prisoner. We all know that
captivity shortens their lives because of worry, be
it in a small cage of a bird, or a large one of the
lion. But if let loose again they recuperate very
quickly, if they have not been too long confined.

Why is it that we do not want to admit of
that word reasoning or thought in animals? We
observe their actions, their habits, their appealing,
or angry looks, their amiability or kind looks,
their affections, their feelings, their sadness, their
hate, and their mortifications.

Why then as these traits exist in them as in
man, it is merely the mind that speaks? I might
go further, I might ask the question, What is the

Do Animals Think P 15

mind if it is not the soul? I don’t see why man
has a hereafter and not animals, it’s as simple as
daylight.

We can more readily make observations in the
larger animals than in the smaller ones, for the
larger ones we domesticate, while the smaller ones,
such as the insects, we do not. |

I will demonstrate here an incident that came
under my observation concerning the reasoning
of insects. I was stopping some time ago at a
house in Sullivan County, New York, and fell
into conversation with an acquaintance about the
reasoning of all living creatures. He scoffed at
the idea on the spot. At the same moment a
hornet entered the room in search of flies, which
are his food. My friend jumped up and was
ready to depart. He was afraid of being stung.
I told him to sit down, that the bee was not after
him, but if he chose he could try with the broom
to chase or kill it, which he decided to do.

I told him to be careful not to miss his aim or
the hornet would retaliate. Of course he laughed,
but he made a dash for it with uplifted broom
and missed it. The hornet cowed in the upper
corner of the ceiling, waiting for an opportunity
to put in its deadly work. Suddenly it darted
from its corner as straight as an arrow and lighted
on the man’s nose, which soon began to swell. I

16 Do Animals Think?

immediately ran out for some mud, and applied
it to the swollen member. This is the best remedy
for a bite of this insect to reduce the pain and
suffering.

Afterwards the man admitted that I was right,
that insects did reason after all.

It’s the same with everything. One has to go
through the mill to believe. They have to pay
with their hide, then they are convinced, otherwise
they are skeptical =

The following story I heard some time ago
through a hunter who had been searching in the
wilds of Wyoming for wild cats, whose skins he
wanted. He and another companion were fol-:
_lowing a trail, when they perceived in the dis-
tance what looked to them as a strange animal, so
one of them fired, the other being ready to fire in
an emergency. This man missed his aim, not
even wounding him, but like a flash a mountain
lion was upon them. Just the noise of the shot
was enough to challenge him to a rough and
tumble fight. Of course the hunters were power-
less, for a moment, their rifles being knocked out
of their° hands, but they quickly recovered their
presence of mind, as all hunters of the west in a
tight place will do, and they despatched his maj-
esty with knives, the moral being that the lion did
not want to be disturbed from his repose. If he —

Do Animals Think P 17

only had instinct he would not have minded it,
but with reasoning it was too much for his blood.

There is also a little pet that I must not forget
to mention, called “humanity’s delight,’ I mean
pest—it is a housewife’s nightmare.

It’s that little creature, the bedbug, which one
is always waging war against. Still if bedbug
hunters were to understand their mission on this
earth of ours, they would not be so irreverent
toward them, for they will only bite those who
have acid in their blood. ‘They extract it to pre-
vent the human being from getting rheumatism.
A person sleeping in the same bed who has no acid
in his system will not be bitten. They do not
feed on human blood, but human acid, or uric
acid, which is the proper term.

_ All animals have their mission to perform, but
we do not all know it.

In scanning the daily papers some time ago I
came across an article of a suicide, not of a human
being, but of a monkey. ‘This monkey had been
mischievous. While his mistress was out shop-
ping he put the house pretty well out of order, so
when she returned she started in by chastising her
pet, which was very much against his liking, for he
sulked in a corner at the farther end of the room.
When the mistress was through with him she as-
cended the stairs, and when she repaired in the

18 Do Animals Think ?

lower part of the house, where the monkey had
been left, it was nowhere to be found, having
vanished as if the floor had swallowed him up.
She remembered that she had left the cellar door
open in the morning, so down she went. There
hanging by a rope was the monkey—a case of sul-
cide through mortification ‘and a broken heart.
Now, one with instinct, as they would want us to
believe, would not have committed suicide; it is
only reasoning that brings on suicide, or thinking,
which is one and the same thing.

The word instinct, according to the dictionaries,
means “urged from within; moved; animated;
excited; a natural desire or aversion arising in the
mind without forethought or deliberation ; dictate
or prompting of natural feeling, especially the
power which determines the will and action of
animals; natural perception of, and appetency for
that which will preserve the individual, or prop-
agate the species.”

Instinct can properly be termed in an animal to
a certain degree, if we have to use that word, such
as a case of a bloodhound on the scent, but there
is reasoning there, too, and that other or extra
sense which animals have and man has not, which
is called “locality,” all that would help out the
dog to find the fugitive.

We call animals inferior to man. It is probably

Do Animals Think ? 19

true they are as far as being mechanics, for
animals make no improvements. He does not
need to worry his brain as men do continually, in
rectifying his mistakes. Animals are endowed
with the gift of a certain construction for a roof,
true there is no change, and true he makes no
mistakes like man in anything they might under-
take to do.

Now, a simple question! Would it not have
been better if man had been born as the animal in
the construction of habitations? Let us look
where we may, man breaks his brain trying to
eclipse his neighbor in the putting up of a build-
ing. Then another one comes along, when the
building is up for a while, and knocks it down,
and it is the same story continually; whereas
animal builds and it stays built; he might aban-
don his hovel, but he does not destroy it.

We do not want to mix things up. I spoke about
animals having made progress in intelligence, and
understanding, meaning, of course, domestic ani-
mals. JI don’t mean by that, that they are better
builders than in the time of Noah, but I do con-
tend that at every succeeding generation they un-
derstand more, and more, their masters and mis-
tresses.

When animals are ailing, or out of sorts, how
well they know the herbs, and the different

20 Do Animals Think P

grasses, leaves, or things that will do them good,
or in fact cure them altogether. If they are in
the country, they have little trouble to find these
medicinal herbs. Animals do not ponder over the
kind of medicine to take to know its value, and
study them for years as man does. This, then,
cannot exactly be ealled instinct, or reasoning,
either, it would be better termed intelligence, or
endowed with that gift which man has not.

Just a few words in reference to a word,
adapted by the human race and especially to our
young girls that they make use of quite exten-
sively, in their teens, and that is “blushing.” Ani-
mals do not blush, for even if they did, we would
not know of it, on account of their fur and hair
coverings, second, blushing can only be found and
seen in the human race, in the order of a higher
intelligence, and is only an emiently human at-
tribute, and according to Darwin, it would re- —
quire an overwhelming amount of evidence to
make us believe that animals do blush. Darwin
is right, there being no proof one way or the
other.

Idiots and insane people very rarely blush, for
blushing is an effort on the nerves, through the
circulation of the blood, and the very pulse at our
wrists is not due only to the heart throbs, but to
an organism called the vaso-motor system, being

Do Animals Think P Zi

thread-like nerves, distributed to the walls of the
blood vessels, and making a regular pulsing mo-
tion as they force the blood along.

Then these blood vessels are related closely to
the cerebro-spinal and the sympathetic system.
Hence the reason for sudden shock or the pallor
of fear, the crimson of shame, and the flush of
rage, which are all feelings of the mind that
speaks.

Blushing, then, is a sort of nents paral-
ysis of the vaso-motor, or nerve influence for the
time being, and the opposite emotion of fear either
stimulates the contractors of the small capillary
vessels, or sometimes permits the action by sus-
pending the cerebral influence.

We will now take up the subject of worms and
their work. They are quiet, expert architects, and
of an engineering turn of mind. We can then
realize that they, too, not only use intelligence,
but a vast amount of reasoning.

Who of us has not seen their borings in a sec-
tion of wood at some museum or another.

They are good borers and tunnelers, for their
work goes through any kind of wood.

The worst havoc they make is at piers, wharves,
and bulkheads, along the water front.

It is only recently that the New York Dock De-
partment has learned of their havoc in the bulk-

22 Do Animals Think ?

_ heads at the Battery. Their discovery led them to
spiles bored through and through by the ship
worm, or the persistent teredo.

There being, too, a large variety of beetles that
are borers and tunnelers, either in logs, barks, or
decayed trees.

Then evew one of these borers, be it worm,
beetle or amy other kind of an insect, have their
own special work laid out for them, one borer not
interfering with the work of another borer.

They, then, are all gifted at birth with some
duty to perform, just as we are, but the difference
is that they go ahead to do what is set before
them to do, and succeed, while we, very often,
make failure of what we undertake, and spend
years trying to find out what we are actually born
for, and usually never find out.

With insects it is different. They seem to grasp
the idea at the start, and stick to it. Proof? How
many spiles have been so weakened by their work
that they have snapped in twain?

Consider the intelligence of these tunnel
borers? First they had bored by means of a stiff
visor, and a corresponding lower nipper, and
its tunnels with chalk to save friction, and sec-
tions of these spiles have been sent to the Aquari-
um, where they are to be kept in salt water.

How many times we have read of the sagacity

Do Animals Think P 23

of the dog, his intelligence and reasoning in all
his doings, movements and actions. Like all good-
ly sized animals, we have noticed when they are
asleep a sudden twitch of the eyelids, nose or
mouth, and slight raise of the head, or probably
a bark of fear, or anger. Now, why is this, and
what is it that makes him do this?

I have noticed it, after their meals, be it heavy
or light. This question I have studied in all its
phases, and come to but one conclusion. He is
either dreaming, or he has the nightmare, as the
case might be. If dreaming, this is a proof that
animals reason, for one that does not reason, like
the insane (only visions that they have), do not
dream, like sane beings. Then if reasoning they
have, we can more readily understand their ac-
tions, provided we are as intelligent as they. As
when a master and his dog go out, either for a
walk, or a hunt, and the dog comes back alone to
tell a sad tale at home. By his jumping in at the
doorway, his barking, whining and seeking to
have others follow him, he repeats his antics un-
til some one goes out with him, and he shows
them his master lying prone on the ground, dead
from accident. See what good care he takes of
that body! He allows no stranger to approach.
There are other dogs, too, that are possessed of
the devil, like those on farms, or estates, border-

24 Do Animals Think ?

ing on the main roads. They actually do not
know what to do with their four legs, and they
are therefore in all sorts of mischief, for one can
not pass by, either on foot, horseback, buggy, auto-
mobile, or bicycle, without having one or more
dogs after him, and very often a pack of them.
They are, in fact, not the very best behaved of the
canine family. They are like some children who
are so full of mischief that any sort of diversion
is good enough for them.

The well behaved dog must not be forgotten.
One that sits contentedly on the window sill, or on
the porch, that minds his own business and stays
inside the grounds and does not encroach on the
public domain, and lies content on the front door
mat and reasons. For if one was to study them as
they should they would find him very amiable,
but must be restrained.

He must not have his own way, like one will
observe in a pack, when they are not at the hunt.
A dog like any other animal, if not checked, when
in captivity, will become more vicious than the
tramp ones, because there is too much overfeeding
and petting. |

Who of us hag not iste the intelligence of
the fly, especially when they have about finished
their time for the summer (they having ten gen-
erations in one summer), and on the arrival of

Do Animals Think P 25

the first cold weather, in the evening when one
is sitting quietly at the able, writing, reading, or
sewing, they will see hovering around their paper
some company, either one fly, or two, and when
they are chased away, how they will return, for
curiosity’s sake. It is simply that they are in need
of company, feeling lonely themselves.

There was an article I read some time ago which
proved again the reasoning in an animal.

A fire broke out in the summer months in one
of the large breweries in Philadelphia, where
there were stabled one hundred horses. In order
to save them, they had to turn them loose into the
streets, the horse then centered about in wonder-
ment. Then each animal found his team mate,
and off they started to do business, for as calmly
as if they were attached to a brewery wagon, the
teams trotted off upon their various routes.

And at a tavern two miles away from the stable
one team came to a stop at a watering trough
where they daily stopped, and after waiting the
usual length of time, they started to resume their _
route.

Another team was last seen trotting content-
edly side by side out of the Bustleton Pike, bound
for a farm where they were at pasture the week
before.

Most of the horses were not recovered until

26 Do Animals Think?

they returned to the brewery, after having gone
entirely over their routes.

A whaler once related an adventure he had with
a swordfish off the New England coast. He was
aboard a schooner when his eye caught sight of the
monster fish. He immediately ran for his har-
poon, and speared it from the bowsprit. He then
was sent off in a dory to bring it in, but on ap-
proaching, he found the fish, to his surprise
wounded, but not dead. Imagine his surprise,
when his highness showed fight by plunging his
sword through the dory, which had to be immedi-
ately hoisted to the deck of the schooner in order
to release the fish, which in the meantime had
died. The whaler by mere chance escaped un- —
hurt. This incident shows the intelligence of
the swordfish in his death struggle, for he, see-
ing it was all up with him, gave the final blow
just as our western desperadoes do when they are
cornered.

An article appeared in the press recently of a
battle royal between a man bathing in the surf
and a shark off Atlantic City, New Jersey. This
bather being in the water about a quarter of a
mile from shore, saw what he supposed the body of
a man floating near the surface. So he swam to-
ward the object, which was slowly sinking, and

Do ‘Aiviciale Think P 27

dived down after it, clutching at the supposed
body.

But to his amazement he found that he had
grasped a lively eight-foot shark by the tail.

The fish resented the interference and turned
to attack the supposed rescuer, who struck out
lustily for the shore with the shark after him.

Fortunately the jaws closed with the bather out-
side by a narrow margin, and he then shouted for
assistance and swam for his life.

The fighting blood of the shark was up, and
its appetite was keen. It made another rush for
the bather, who was helpless, having no weapon
but his hands to fight with.

Some of the affrighted spectators on the pier
and the beach ran to the life guards and told them
of the fierce combat being fought in the surf.

They put out in the life boat to the bather’s
assistance, and they were none too soon. The
bather had received, meanwhile, several stagger-
ing blows from the shark’s tail, and was so weak
that he was keeping afloat with difficulty.

The shark made a final rush at the bather,
turned on its back, like a flash, and this time
caught him, the big jaws closing on his left arm,
and the water above them was saturated with
blood.

The bather was sinking, faint from pain and

28 Do Animals Think ?P

loss of blood, as one of the life savers leaned over
the side of the boat, and caught him by the hair.

He was dragged into the boat, and as the shark
came on after him, one of the life savers stood
with a heavy boat-hook poised and skillfully har-
pooned the monster just as he half turned on his
side to make a snap for the boat.

The bather was then rowed to the shore and
received medical attention.

The life guards went out again with a towing
rope and span the body of the shark to the
beach.

Can we not see this shark’s Be sagac-
ity and reasoning? For what one, be he man or
beast, would stand such interference on the part
of another? ‘The shark did not take into consid-
eration whether it was a man or any other animal.
He had to take his punishment just the same.

Do Animals Think P 29

PART ITT.

ALMOST every summer we are infested with a
pest of caterpillars and other insects in our pub-
lic parks, in the large cities, and still the most ex-
pert insect destroyers have not found a satisfactory
remedy to exterminate them.

Birds of all kinds could exterminate them if we
would only give them a chance, then and only then
would we have effective work done. But people
are generally given over to kindliness toward them,
so the feeding precess goes on without check or
hindrance, and when this habit is stopped, and
only then can we hope to have relief, for when
birds will find nothing but insects they'll eat in-
sects.

The feeding of birds is all very well in the
spring, autumn and winter, but not in summer,
as I have seen scores of people doing in the parks
daily ; then they complain, when walking through
the parks, that these insects fall all over them.

A bird when he has acquired the habit of feed-
ing on bread, cake and sweets will not eat anything

30 De Animals ‘Phase

else, only when in a starving condition. Just asa
human being who is accustomed to eat mush all
the while, and if he acquires the eating of steaks
afterward he would not take mush again. It’s the
same with birds, or any other animal, for once
they have acquired a habit it’s hard to break them
of it.

Here then is a mass of thinking on their part,
and like ourselves, situated the same way. I have
not mentioned reptiles yet, but I have in mind two
incidents I have met with in the past concerning
them, just merely to show, too, that they are
neither exempt from intelligence nor reasoning.

Some years ago while walking through the wilds
of Pike County, Pennsylvania, in crossing a ravine
with the running brook slowly ebbing by, my at-
tention was directed to a rustling in the brush,
and on turning around I was confronted face to
face with a moccasin. He was in the act of spring-
ing toward me, being already coiled for the dash,
but as the phrase goes, he had the tip on me, so
what was I to do. I was paralyzed, not with fear,
but what we call charmed. He had caught my eye
first on turning round, and there I stood for a
moment, as if in a nightmare. But in a night-
mare one gives a final blow, and so it was the same
in this case. I came to my senses, and stooped
over as the snake sprang over my head.

Do Animals Think P 31

Then I was ready for the fray, for I immediately
picked up a stick, turned, saw the reptile getting
ready for me again. I was too quick for him this
time. It was now my turn to have the tip on him,
or catch his eye first. I slowly approached, and
struck him a blow over the head, which stunned
him, but not for long, as he was ready to face
me again, when [I finally dispatched him with an-
other blow.

At another time in passing through a forest in
Monticello, Sullivan County, New York, a rattle-
snake made his presence known. He introduced
himself by rattling furiously, and I, having passed
a good many months in the wilds, knew the mean-
ing of it. So I stepped to the further end of the
road, for if I had lingered near, at that moment,
it would have been all up with me.

I then recalled my previous encounter, and as I
did not want to go through the same ordeal again,
I thought the best thing I could do under the cir-
cumstances, was to give him a wide berth. This
warning on the part of the rattler only shows his
perception and reasoning. His rattles are not for
ornament, or for man to count them when he is
slain to see how old he is. It is simply to warn one
of approaching danger. One may take heed or not.

T¢ is like a man guarding a certain spot of
danger, he shouts, or waves his hand, to keep off.

32 Do Animals Think P

How many times it is recorded in the press the
knowledge of dogs in making known to the in-
mates of buildings that the house is on fire? How
often have I watched them catching sticks, bread,
cakes or candy in their mouths at the sign of the
giver? Others bringing back a ball when thrown
to them, or getting a stick thrown into the water,
or fetching the ball for the boys when they are
playing that game; dogs stopping runaway horses,
and others barking and jumping at the head of
horses, more in a friendly spirit than in anger;
dogs attached to fire companies, running ahead of
engine or truck, and making the people scatter in
all directions, and warning wagons, or trucks to be
careful and for them to clear the way; also cats
and dogs at play (but these are only minor cases),
for the greater part of the felines and canines are
continually at war with one another.

Dogs that dread a certain kind of punishment,
and others that dislike a certain sort of uniform,
and like others; cats that bring back a ball as a
dog would, and others that make friends with
squirrels, rabbits and chickens; does all this not go
to prove the reasoning in such animals?

I have in mind a tale of a wise cat, that a
neighbor once owned.

To begin with, the cat was a splendid ratter. It
would kill every rat in the building that made its

Do Animals Think P 33

appearance, and bring it up two flights of stairs
to where it lived with its mistress, and then lay
the rat on the kitchen floor and begin mewing to
attract the attention of its mistress, and to show
her prize she kept on mewing until she was petted,
which, of course, her mistress would do, and say:

“Oh! You are such a nice, Minnie.”

Then the cat, having received her acknowledg-
ment, would pick up the rat and go down to the
back yard and there it would stay. She would re-
peat this every time she caught a rat.

Why! a human being could eats show more
intelligence.

Another interesting case was that of a cat which
was the only feline living in the building.

It would not allow another cat to enter that
building either by the front or back way without
there being a fight over the right of way.

While in a store recently I noticed a large tiger
cat, asleep on the counter. Shortly after a woman
and a bulldog came in. The dog sniffed about the
store, making his presence known by the nails on
his feet.. This wakened the cat, which rose from
his position and made ready for coming events,
keeping perfectly quiet, but never losing sight of
the dog, which wandered about the front part of
the store. When he approached the back part,
toward the private apartments, the cat stood ready

34 Do Animals Think ?

to spring, but on seeing the dog retrace his steps
the cat relaxed his menacing position.

This only shows that if the dog had put his nose
inside of that apartment the fur would have flown
at a lively rate, but seeing the dog retrace its steps
the knowing cat kept quiet, for the store was pub-
lic, and not private, as was the apartment in its
rear.

There is one thing above all others I must say
about cats, and that is they are the nearest animals
to man, on one point. ‘They are very scientific
boxers for points. It is about as when Greek meets
Greek. They quarrel very easily when they first
meet, as they slowly approach one another and call
one another names; then the dodging takes place.
An upper left between the eyes, their backing and
advancing positions; time is finally called, and in-
stead of being sponged down they keep up their hot
words to one another.

The next round then takes place, with a right
swing on the adversary’s nose, after which both
sulk a bit, but never losing sight of one another.

At the third round they generally have had
enough, when it has been a square fight. Their
mouths shiver with anger, and they fight fiercely
till one masters the other, and each goes about his
business to nurse his sores.

Do Animals Think ? 35

One must not forget, if cats are treacherous
they are also good prize fighters.

They equal, if not excel, any known animal as
boxers, and it is generally to patch up some old
sores or to get even from a previous encounter.

The Bronx Zoo offers mary an attraction in the
study of animal life. Not long ago, while near
the monkey house, I, with the others about, was at-
tracted by a commotion, and looking, could dis-
cern in the distant part of the cage a mosquito on
the wall. With monkeys when they see one of
these insects it’s time to call all hands around,
and at one given signal make a dash to see who
will catch it first. -

Of course if I was asked what they did with
it after having caught it, that I could not answer,
still I have an idea it’s a treat for them, being a
change from fleas.

Some years ago there was a dinner given in
honor of a pet monkey. ‘This happened in one of
the large cities of Europe. +

Quite a fashionable set of people attended it,
and passed a few remarks on the pedigree of the
animal, never having in mind the mischievous way
that monkeys have, and not thinking of them as
imitators.

Everything was running smoothly when the
simian started his pranks. ‘They were a sorry

36 Do Animals Think?

looking lot when they left the building, for their
hats were lost, or hidden, their wraps and coats
likewise. While at the table, he imitated the
guests and made faces at them and on how they
were behaving themselves. At first they thought
it laughable, but not for long, for the monkey
landed on a lady’s lap, climbed to her shoulders
and started to take the hairpins out of her hair.
‘The simian kept up his tricks all the evening, but
the guests had nearly all departed early, vowing
never to attend such another feast, for simians are
hike children, they are imitators.

A great many have wondered if wolves have any
intelligence. I will give you an instance which
proves they are thinkers, for when travelers are
going through the open country bordering the
forests in Siberia, and everything looks clear, the
wolves make their appearance. Not many at first,
but one, or two, for there is always a leader to-take
in the situation and look over the ground.

The leader then turns toward the forest and
utters a howl, which is a signal, meaning:

“Come on, boys.” |

Then the whole pack appears and proceeds to
attack the travelers. Here is thinking and reason-
ing. While traveling through the southwest I
came across tracks over the plains, about six feet
wide. They were straight, and on either side were

Do Animals Think? 37

grass tracks, about eight feet wide. In nearly all
cases it led to some pond or river.

Being interested, I inquired from the ranchmen
the meaning of it, for they did not look like the
work of nature, but of some animal.

They responded by telling me they were buffalo
tracks of the past. When they started a new bit
of grazing they would always eat an equal width
un either side, which had been untouched for years.
The grass was then fully grown, for it takes two
seasons to have it up to the standard for buffaloes,
as they eat it down to the roots. Buffaloes must
have had an eye to the future, or was it an hered-
itary trait? When drinking they would never
stir up the water as cattle do, and when caught un-
expectedly in a cyclone, or blizzard, how they
would turn themselves, facing the storm, so to pro-
tect the rest of their bodies. There is a vast
amount of intelligence in these things.

The alligators in the Bronx Zoo have given
their keepers any amount of trouble, particularly
the larger ones, when they wanted to clean their
tanks, or change them to another tank. Last sum-
mer I witnessed an operation on a large alligator.
He was about to have his corns extracted, but be-
fore beginning the operation they strapped him
down with iron hooping, after having filled the
tank with water. The first attempt to keep it in

28 Do Animals Think P

that position was a failure, for when the keepers
thought everything was all right (and the alliga-
tor playing *possum meanwhile), with a swing of
its tail it fanned the keepers over. After that they
had to secure him tighter; then the operation was
a SUCCESS.

In their native haunts alligators have an afflic-
tion on their tongues. A mass of insects gather
on their tongues, and when a plover is near the
poor creatures open their mouths wide for the bird
to come inside their jaws, and pick them out.

See then the communication of interests there
and the understanding, the knowledge, and the
reasoning between both of them.

The rat, too, shows great intelligence in steal-
ing. Their egg snatching is very clever. One will
get on its back and roll an egg onto his stomach,
and hold it there with its four paws, while another
rat will hold his tail in his mouth and pull him
to their hole or nest, then deposit it and run off
to get another one. They will repeat this until
they cannot store away any more. There, too, is
reasoning and thinking in such actions as this.

Why is it that the broncho buster of the plains
is such a difficult animal to get along with, and so
hard to mount and ride?

They have a vicious and ugly temper when one

Do Animals Think? 39

is about to approach them, for they always suspect
coming danger.

They have inherited that wildness from their
ancesters, who had to fight the wild animals of
their time, such as the ia grizzly, coyote and
wolves.

Their never ceasing ‘litte and neighing and
balking when they scent man or beast near by is
an inborn trait.

I have always noticed that where a herd of
horses, especially on the plains, are happily graz-
ing, and danger approaches, such as a storm, or a
prairie fire, the leader, which is the stallion, gets
out of the herd and neighs. This is a signal to the
others to follow him, and they all make off in an-
other direction. It is the habit of cattle and nearly
all of the animal kingdom in the open.

IT have noticed the horses attached to a street
car. Their lifelessness at the start and until the
car was well in motion again, was very apparent.
The pulling is not what they dread when on the
trot, but they worry at having to stop before get-
ting back to the stables.

It is this worry that kills them batons their time,
rather than work. They continually have it on
their mind, notwithstanding all the care which the
street car company give their live stock.

40 Do Animals Think P

PARTY. Py.

We all know that animals understand one an-
other. It is a foregone conclusion, so there is no
need of commenting on this point.

A farmer of Ontario County, New York, some
years ago, sold a young colt to another farmer, one
hundred and fifty-six miles away, he keeping the
older horse for himself. The day after the sale,
on arising, he went to the stable to attend to his
horses and cattle, and there he found his horse
gone. He made inquiries about his horse through
the neighboring farmers, but to no avail. The
horse was gone, and never to return, thought the
farmer, but after about a week he received word
from the buyer of the younger horse, that his horse
was there. He could scarcely make it seem pos-
sible that the mother horse had gone off after the
colt.

This then, can only be explained that motherly
love was the most prominent feature of her action.
The sense of locality, which animals have, and

Do Animals Think P 41

somewhat of scent, in a case of this kind, aided
the horse to locate her colt.

Animals are often very stubborn, for like man,
why would they not be? We are all members of the
same family, so why in one part and not in the
other one?

A horse once came under my notice which was
unusually stubborn. When he was out on his regu-
lar route he persisted in coming home after the
first order was delivered, till finally the owner had
to go on the very last order, and deliver that first,
and then follow on the way home, for if he de-
livered his first order first he would take all day
to do his route, for the horse was bound to come
back every time, and it was only when the grocery
man hit on the idea of going to the last order first
that he could get him to do the work.

Another horse which was employed on a milk
route was gentle, good and faithful, but woe to
the wagon, driver and milk cans if he heard an
engine or fire truck. He would run until he
reached the fire, as if the devil was after him, up-
setting the driver and cans. Then he was satisfied,
and when the owner would come after him he was
perfectly cooled off, but the driver could not get
him to move until the last engine or truck had
gone. The bell seemed to have a great fascination
for him. ?

42 Do Animals Think ?

This shows again that an animal can acquire a
habit, as well as we, and it is often hard to break
it, just as in a person who has acquired a habit of
some kind. For what is natural in one is natural
in the other—it is animal nature. :

The spider, too, is another insect that has great
knowledge and foresight. I have watched them
in the woods spinning their webs and entangling
flies.

Flies, in the first place, are not as numerous in
the woods as in houses, and when they catch a fly
they prize it very highly. The care they take of
them is wonderful. They bring them as far as the
main body of the web, and weave around them
once or twice, seeing that their feet are so tied that
there is no possible escape on their part. Then off
the spider goes to the further end of the web, never
taking her eye off the fly for a moment, and if she
sees, In spite of all her tying, that the fly moves
still, she comes back and puts another web around
its body, and keeps it up for two or three times,
until she is perfectly satisfied that there is no es-
cape for the fly.

There is in the east end of London one who
deals in spiders and knows the value of them. He
disposes of them to.the small wine merchants, at
three shillings a hundred. These merchants stock
their cellars with new, freshly labelled wine and

Do Animals Think? 43

admit the spiders. The dust having previously
been laid on the bottles, the spiders begin their
work, as if they knew what was required of them,
by weaving their webs from cork to cork.

These insects are collected from all parts, but
the garden variety are prized more than others;
for they weave a larger and stronger web than do
the smaller ones.

While out walking one evening, my attention
was attracted by a large dog and a crow in front
of a saloon. The two belonged to the proprietor.
I then stood watching them, and it was laughable
to see the dog, who would not allow the crow to
go on the walk. He looked very serious, and
watched it constantly. Finally, a smaller dog ap-
peared, but the larger dog was keeping an outlook
that no harm should befall the crow. The smaller
dog was approaching slowly toward the bird, when,
with a bound, the larger one was upon him, but
without hurting him. It was merely a friendly
warning, but it was enough for the smaller dog.
He skipped pretty lively, but by that time the big
dog was tired of watching the crow, and chased it
into the saloon, where it went back into its cage
for the night. The dog then came out at the side
of the door and lay down to rest after its work. If
this is not reasoning on the part of this dog, I
don’t know what is.

44 Do Animals Think P

I was a witness to quite an amusing incident on
Staten Island toward evening, as I was passing one
of the principal streets in Stapleton. I stopped to
watch a calf at play with a robin in the field. How
friendly they were together, cavorting around and
dodging one another, just like two dogs at play.
As one would approach the other would go off a
few paces, only to come back and chase the other
again, in a friendly way, and they kept up their
pranks until dark, when the robin flew off to roost.

On one of the farms in Westchester County,
New York, after luncheon, I used to sit on the
porch and watch the chickens following a horse
grazing, and helping him to get rid of the flies and
insects flying about his legs, by devouring them.
That, too, showed the friendliness of animals —
toward each other.

While on Broadway one day my attention was
called to a crowd standing around a truck loaded
with hay. After inquiring I found that one of the
horses refused to help pull the truck, either by the
aid of the whip or through coaxing. The driver
unharnessed the horse, and took it back to the
stable, and brought another, which was the mate
of the one left standing in the street. The green
horse refused to help another, but when the driver
placed the fresh horse beside his mate he pricked
up his ears in recognition and when harnessed the

Do Animals Think ?P 45

driver mounted his seat and drove off just as if
there had been no trouble.

It only goes to show again when a horse 1s accus-
tomed to one mate it will not draw with another,
or if so; it is only after having them together for
a while. Still some horses would not have minded
it so much. It’s the same as with people, they
have notions, and are cranky.

A housewife once related a story about the in-
telligence of rats. At the time she kept her provis-
ions in the pantry, in glass and earthen jars, cov-
ered over with tin.

The house was infested at the time with rats,
which made such a noise at night that one could
scarcely rest, much less sleep. But one morning,
about sunrise, the mistress was horrified to find all
_ her tin covers on the floor of the pantry, all her
sweetmeats eaten, or toppled over, but the other
jars were left standing and intact. These rats
then, could be called the knowing or wise rats.

_ But how well they knew the difference between
the good things and those that were not so pala-
table.

A hunter being on the outskirts of the jungles
in India, was suddenly overtaken in a fierce
thunder storm on a day that had been excessively
hot. As it was toward evening he knew not how to
retrace his steps toward his hotel, so he decided to

46 Do Animals Think?

seek shelter under some tree until therstorm should
pass, thinking that it would be of short duration.
But the storm showed no signs of abating. Hour
after hour went by. An occasional roar of some
wild beast could be heard, but he concluded to wali
until it cleared.

There was a sign of the storm letting up toward
midnight, and he was making ready to depart,
when a sharp zigzagged streak of hghtning lighted
the whole forest, and there, to his amazement, he
could see all the wild beasts, from the elephant
down to the boa constrictor, all terror-stricken.
With an occasional howl here and there, and moan-
ings of fear, they were immovable, so frightened
were they. The hunter left the jungle at sunrise
with the storm still raging in all its fury, without
having been harmed in the least by any of the fero-
clous animals. | |

What better proof does one want than this, that
animals do think, and think a great deal—espe-
cially in a case of this kind, for is not the mind at
work in uneducated people, or educated ones, as it
is in wild beasts?

The more we understand such things the less
fear we apprehend, but in the savages, who have
no education, like the animals, the mind works
just the same, but sees things in another light.

Do Animals Think P 47

This can be termed superstition, for want of a
better term.

The spider always makes friends with the pris-
oners. We all understand that every one living
in a prison, be he man or beast, is very lonely at
best. But the spider, being an animal with more
intelligence than a good many insects, understands
as well as the prisoner his fate, and each of them
thinks his lot is not a happy one.

Animals and man are, therefore, identical on
one point—it is on loneliness.

To-day prisoners are not as lonely as in the past,
for they are put to work, but it was different in the
days gone by, especially in the European and Asi-
atic prisons. Then the poor wretches were merely
cooped in to mete out their terms, and conse-
quently in time they would go mad. This was the
reason they made friends with spiders, mice and
rats, and a new friend, outside of their kind.

A church was being torn down in Newark, New
Jersey, to make room for a larger edifice. It was
infested with thousands of bats, which made their
homes in the neighboring houses, until they could
find space in the roofs of buildings. One would
have thought that, naturally, they would willingly
have flown to the trees around the city, where it
is quiet, and at a higher elevation than in the
eaves of a small building. No, they would rather

48 Do Animals Think?

keep to their heredity ways, and live under the
roofs to keep out of the wet, and with less chance
of molestation than in trees.

A large red ant is found in Texas a is very
destructive to crops.

There are two kinds, the country ant and the
city ant, and are distinguished by the hillocks they
build. The former ant builds a single hillock in a
place, while the other builds in groups. The coun-
try ants can be observed carrying into their nests
ereen leaves and grass, for they make use of this
verdure to raise their young in. Each one has a
special work to perform, for some gather the leaves
and carry them to the hill, and others place them.
They have regular routes. Those going from the
hill always give the road to those that are loaded.
They can carry very heavy loads, two of them
sometimes carrying a pecan. The sting of these
ants is very painful. They generally come in great
numbers about the middle of July, with all hav-
ing wings: The city ants are very different from
the country ants in their habits, for they never
work by daylight, unless it is very cloudy; like
bedbugs, they both come out at dusk and work un-
til daylight.

Their work then is so managed as to resemble
a huge enterprise. Every one, from the manager
down to the apprentice, has his own individual

Do Animals Think ?P 49

work to perform. System, then, is the keynote of
success In animals ag well as man.

In the upper part of the State of New York
this summer, the bees were starving for want of
nectar and pollen from the flowers. The sum-
mer having been excessively wet, with frost and
cold winds, it had actually destroyed the food of
the bees, and being aided by prolonged cold, made
it disastrous for the honey bees, and millions of
them starved to death.

The apiarists said that the hives had been
stripped of honey, and even then the bees had not
enough to sustain life. The bees pondered over the
situation, and came to the conclusion that it was
useless to wait any longer for some good fortune
to come to them. So they then decided to kill all
_the drones, and even destroyed the queen cells,
thereby preventing an increase in numbers.

The moral of the bees was probably good in such
a desperate case as this. They reasoned, if they
let the drones live it would mean a lingering deat
by starvation. Still, with all of their reasoning
in such a desperate case, I do not agree with them
on, assassination.

A story appeared in the Herald a year ago, per-
taining to a horse that points birds, and, if true,
it would show once more the intelligence of that
animal and his reasoning.

50 Do Animals Think ?P

It referred to a hunter in Illinois who always
hunted quail, prairie chickens and other birds
without the use of a dog, and on horseback. His
horse is a most intelligent animal and endowed
with peculiar gifts, according to its owner (which
looks plausible), for he acts both as horse and dog
in locating game quickly, and with as much cer--
tainty as the best trained dog.

The horse carries him unerringly within easy
shooting distance of game, then stands still with
his left foot raised, as rigid as any hunting dog.
Then a little urging starts him ahead, and when
the birds start to rise he again stands, to allow
his master to take aim and shoot. When the game
falls he proves himself as good a retriever as any
setter, and if necessary, will go into the woods, or
water, after the quarry, and does all this without
his master dismounting.

This is then an example of a domesticated ani-
mal. JI have said before that domestic animals
have made progress in intelligence, when in cap-
tivity, and it has proven too, that the dog is not the
only animal that has scent.

Probably his master had a dog at one time,
which accompanied him and the horse in hunting,
and it is probable at those times that the horse had
taken notes mentally, and when the dog could not
be had on such an occasion, merely stepped into

.-

Do Animals Think P 51

his boots; and if this horse only had instinct, he
could not have copied the dog’s ways.

An article appeared in the daily papers this
summer relating to a “Cat That Brings Food to
Its Mistress,’ and her husband vouches for the
story.

The mistress had been ailing and in poor health
for a long time, and had very little appetite. The
members of the family were at their wits’ ends, for
try as they might, in the preparation of food, noth-
ing would tempt her, in spite of being palatable
and well prepared. But pussy, being near her
night and day, had a chance of understanding her
condition. In his wakeful hours he probably took
in the situation, and wondered what he could do to
put her on her feet once more, for as he evidently

__ knew, something had to be done, and that quickly,

for his intelligence and reasoning were keen, in this
emergency, and he understood that his mistress
was failing very rapidly. So the cat thought that
perhaps his mistress would like some game to
tempt her appetite, which was of primary import-
ance to him. For what would he do if his mistress
should die? Almost every day, afterward, he
brought his mistress a partridge, young rabbit or
bird of some kind, and laid it at her feet. The
members of the family did not know what to make
of it at first, but soon realized it was for the

Be, Do Animals Think P

patient. The mistress was delighted at the cat’s
thoughtfulness, and every time the game was ready
she would partake of it, much to the cat’s satisfac-
tion. The patient was not long in getting well, for
it had been a great change in her diet, and just
what she wanted. When the cat saw his mistress
was almost well it stopped bringing the game. |

The family was much puzzled at pussy’s actions,
for the cat had never brought in any game before.
It was still more puzzling when the cat stopped
bringing in game. They then decided that the cat
had reasoning, which was more than instinct, and
they were correct in their surmise. This is about
as good proof that animals think as has ever come
under my notice. |

This incident happened in Virginia: This is
a case of a parrot grieving for his dead master,
and continually calling, “Hello, Captain.”

This parrot having been the constant companion
of his master for years, knew one morning that all
was not well, for his master, who was a police
captain, did not appear at the station-house, as
usual, at the appointed hour for duty. He imme-
diately looked morose, and declined to touch his
breakfast, which lay before him, and it has grieved
him so ever since that he is letting himself slowly
starve to death.

He still keeps up his greetings every morning,

Do Animals Think? 53

of “Hello, Captain,’ but as morning after morn-
ing goes by without the captain making his appear-
ance, it makes him so unhappy that he refuses to
take food. He is now so weak that he can scarcely
stand on his perch without tottering. [For years
past the captain had always greeted his pet every
morning, and Polly always answered him with
“Hello, Cap.,” as he went off to his desk. He keeps
up that same greeting hourly, and the strain of not
seeing his master has so weakened his constitution
that he falls and goes to sleep.

Way into the night he keeps up his call. It is
only a question of time when all will be over, for
he cannot stand this ordeal much longer.

The sergeants have done everything to cheer the
bird thus far, but find it of no avail, for he refuses
_to be comforted. The grieving of this kind only
proves once more that his mind is at work, being
like a premonition, that something has befallen his
master.

This case being no different from any other one
who is bereft of relative or friend, dies of a broken
heart. A broken heart can rarely come except
from worry, and worry through thinking, and
there you have the case of the parrot’s grief in a
nutshell. For if this parrot could not think, he
would not worry, and if he did not worry, he

54 Do Animals Think?

would not die of a broken heart, as he will do. For
if ever animal reasoned this one did.

a case I read of not long ago, in the New York
World, shows again the devotion of an animal to
his charges, when once he had acquired the habit
of taking care of small children, and how it grieves
him to leave such a place. This dog was crying
for his babes in the asylum for infants, in Mount
Vernon, New York City.

This institution for the care of infants has ex-
isted for nearly a quarter of century, but it had to
change its location for several reasons. It was an-
nounced that they must close the grounds, and the
mothers came and took away their offsprings. |

When the last nurse and child were gone, the
matron did not know what to do with the big
watch dog that had so well protected the grounds
for years. He well knew what was going on, for
the night before the dog acted strangely, by moan-
ing, whining and wandering about continually.
This dog was very lonely for his charges. He had
cared for the babies, and seen that they should not
stray too far from the grounds, and watched that
no harm should befall them. Now that every-
thing was over, he bemoaned the day that he had to
give up the task which he had had so long. He did
not know what next was in store for him, for he,

Do Animals Think P ‘eS

having almost grown up with the place, dreaded to
leave it, just as a human being, after once having
lived many years in the same house or neighbor-
hood, shuns a change.

56 | Do Animals Think?

PART V.

Tuts is another instance of a dog on Long Island

dying of a broken heart. A lady hiring a place for
the summer had not made any provision for her

pet dog, and she had to leave him in the city in
charge of a dog fancier, who gave him a comfort-
able place to stay.

The mistress inquired about him every day. At
first everything went well, and he seemed to enjoy
the company of other dogs. This did not last
long, for one day he refused his food. The fancier
did not pay much attention to this, for he thought
it was only a whim on the dog’s part. The fancier
soon found out, however, that it was loneliness and
grief. The dog grew worse every day, and still de-
clined to eat. He had grown so feeble that he
barely had the strength to whine after his mis-
tress, and at the last moments he jut moaned a
little and passed away.

This would prove again, not only the affection of
animals toward their masters, but their thoughts

Do Animals Think? 57

of them, when not near them. I am sorry to say
the mistresses and masters do not quite understand
this, for if they did they would take their pets with
them on their vacations.

An animal is little different from a person. It
has the same attachment for those who take good
care of them. Everything that walks, crawls,
creeps, flies or swims, thinks probably not all of
the time, as man is supposed to do, but part of the
time, at least, and especially when they find them-
selves abandoned, for human and animal nature
are the same.

How can we expect anything different? A brain
is a brain. It is life, it is thought, it is the mind,
be it in man or beast. Brains are to guide our
actions, be they good or evil.

Noises trouble animals, as well as man, but we
are not affected in the same way. What troubles
one does not bother the other. Take music, for in-
stance. Man and animals, almost without excep-
tion, like to hear its strains. Some it charms, like
the snake, others it puts to sleep, for it is quieting
to the nerves. Others it makes sad, and some ani-
mals whine and howl. Almost all dogs make them-
selves heard at the sound of a flute, cornet or bugle.
Cats rather enjoy music, especially the piano and
mandolin. Whistling affects them like the flute
does a snake. They act strangely and almost

58 Do Animals Think P

charmed, somewhat as a cat charms a fly, when it is
out of his reach; merely, I presume, to make it
come down from its quiet place. Watch and see how
their mouth quivers in the same way when under
like circumstances, they try to charm a bird. Like-
wise when they see a dog approach, do they not
try to charm him and make themselvers look larger
by expanding their fur? More for a bluff than
anything else, perhaps, but similar actions in the
feathered tribe are more to show their ferocity.
How often do the daily papers tell of animals
taking their lives, or committing suicide, like
man? I do not see why this should not be? They
think as we do; why would they not do as we do?
I am cetrain if one is dissatisfied with this life, be
he man or beast, he will take his life in his own
hands.

Here is a case: “Rat Electrocuted Itself,” in one
of the large electric company’s works in Brooklyn.

This rat had placed its tail on a wire, and his
nose on another wire, fully charged; it therefore
made a complete circuit, which sent sixty thou-
sand volts of electricity through its body. This rat
could not have-been in such a position accidentally,
besides, the noise of the machinery would be too
much for him, and the lights would be too glaring,
if he was in a normal condition. So it can only be
a case of self-destruction. Probably his wife scolded

Do Animals Think? » 59

him, and brooding over it, and being more or less
weak-minded, thought he would end it all. If ani-
mals had no thought or reasoning, this following
fight between two elephants would not have taken
place.

One was larger than the other, and the keepers
allowed him an extra amount of hay. Being in
one enclosure they had a chance of settling their
grievances quickly. One morning the smaller ele-
phant, for some cause, probably the bracing air,
made a grab for the larger elephant’s share, and
was about to put it into his mouth, when the larger
one made for him. The keeper seeing what was
going on, stepped right into the fray, and parted
them, at the risk of his life, but escaped un-
scratched. This incident happened in the Phila-
delphia Zoological Gardens.

Another case of curiosity on the part of a dog,
in Louisville, Kentucky, at a balloon ascension.
The aéronaut was about to ascend; much to his sur-
prise and displeasure, a fox terrier jumped into the
car. The balloon’s ropes were already loosened,
and he dare not throw the dog out. The balloon
went higher and higher, and finally made over the
border,*into Indiana, and dropped just thirty-
eight miles from where it had started. Before the
balloon touched the ground the dog had jumped
out as quickly as he had jumped in. In less than

60 Do Animals Think P

a week afterward, to the amazement of its owner
the dog appeared at his home. :

The inhabitants are wondering to this day how
he ever could have found his way back in a sec-
tion of country where the dog had never been be-
fore. They imagine it is the dog’s secret, and he
will never tell. Of course it is, and he will keep it
to himself until they shall be able to converse with
him, whenever that will be.

I do not see why people cannot understand his
coming back alone. Most of us know that animals
have a sense which we have not. That is the sense
of locality; therefore, an animal cannot get lost,
if he has once his liberty, for they will return,
and when they do not return, it is because they are
held in captivity or have met death in one way or
another.

While in Sussex County, on a vacation recently,
the mistress of the boarding house where I was
stopping, had a fine maltese cat. It was quite
friendly and affectionate, but was, too, a good
hunter. When he was away from the house every-
one knew that the cat was at his favorite sport,
hunting, but never tarried much around the prem-
ises, like very few small domestic animals do, when
out in such open space as the country.

This cat would bring in game, such as birds and

Do Animals Think ? 61

rabbits, quite frequently. There were some months
when no one would see him.

One afternoon I decided to do a little hunting
myself, for I did not think it proper to have the
cat do all the hunting, in season, or out of season,
game laws or no game laws. So off I trotted to an
immense woodland about seven miles from the
house. I thought it was about time to light a
pipe, for it sometimes brings one luck, and it is
company, if nothing else. At the same moment I
heard the unearthly yell of a cat in the distance,
and thinking it was a wild cat, I grasped my gun
all the tighter, and waited events.

I could constantly hear that cat’s voice. It grew
more distinct, as if getting nearer all the time. It
was a misty day and no breeze was stirring. I
could hear the shrubbury and underbrush in mo-
tion, and as [I listened the sound grew louder. I
thought I had bargained for more than I had ex-
pected, especially if it was a wild cat. I was ready
with my gun at my shoulder, ready to fire, when
what should make its appearance before my eyes
but the long lost maltese cat? The cat recognized
me instantly, and mewed piteously. I picked it
up and caressed it, then put it on the ground
again. It rubbed itself against my legs, and could
scarcely walk. After a time I started back, with
the cat following me just like a dog. See the

62 Do Animals Think P

knowledge of this cat. Such a distance from home
it recognized one whom it had seen casually at a
boarding house. It had probably seen me from
a tree, or heard my footsteps, their hearing being
very keen. This episode shows memory, intelli-
gence, and thinking on the part of this cat, for
how else would he have remembered me? Hu-
manity has always contended that cats are treach-
erous, and I shall not dispute this. It is prob-
ably so with a great many cases, and many of
them are, as dogs, often vicious; but the cases
are few and far between.

I will cite a case of a vicious and treacherous
dog, in Westchester County, which I had to deal
with, to the dog’s sorrow.

One morning while passing down one of the
main roads leading into White Plains, there lay
crouched in the middle of the road, apparently
asleep, a large bull dog belonging to the residence
near by.

I thought it was very strange for a dog to lay
so, when a stranger was passing. I had my doubts
about him, for I thought he was playing ’possum.
Not wishing to take any chances, I firmly held my
blackthorn stick, and as I neared him, he simply
opened an eye, and kept motionless.
~ But when I had passed, I thought I would look
back, for things did not look at all reassuring to

Do Animals Think ? 63

me, and none too soon, for he was already at my
legs, and quick as a flash, my stick came down over
his head, which stunned him for a while, but not
for long. When he came to, he went at me again.
I gave him another stunning blow which finished
him and his viciousness forever.

This would show that one cannot pe too careful
in traveling on a public road, for there are dogs
which are allowed their own way too much in our
principal thoroughfares. |

A fierce fight happened in a freight train in New
Jersey between a tiger and horses. A circus,
having finished its work in one town, was being
transported to the next. In one car was a tiger,
partitioned off from the horses, which were being
quartered at the further end of the car.

In some way the tiger managed to slip
through. He was looking for a fight, and was not
disappointed. He made straight for the back of
the nearest horse. The horses were tied in their
stalls, but it made no difference, for this horse,
by a move of the hind quarter, managed to throw.
him off, and gave him a kick which sent him
sprawling to the other end of the car.

The tiger was not long recovering, for he made
for the next nearest horse, which, however, was too
quick for him, and a well landed blow of his hind
hoof landed him against the partition, and almost

64 Do Animals Think?

knocked the tiger through the car. While laying
there motionless, the next horse finished him,
with a few more kicks, which despatched him for
all time.

This fight would tend to show the superior abil-
ity, mind and judgment of the horse over the
tiger, in inflicting such mortal blows. It shows
too, that carnivorous animals are no match for
herbivorous animals in a square fight.

An animal which looks very innocent when
cooped up behind the bars is the bear, be he white,
erizzly, black, cinnamon, or any other species.

Those in Central Park, especially the grizzly
and polar, seem particularly harmless, with their
heads swinging to and fro. See how contented
and lazy they appear, when some one throws them
peanuts or sweetmeats. With their enormous paws
they roll it to their mouths with as little trouble
on their part as possible, or open their jaws to
catch some sweet morsel,

A few summers ago their cage was being
painted. The painters had finished the outside
without much trouble.

But they found the inside of the cage was an-
other story.

They had no trouble until they were well in
the cage, which was fastened on the inside, smok-
ing their pipes contentedly.

Do Animals Think ? 65

This was on a St. Patrick’s day, and the color
they were using was green, to fit the day.

The painters were near the top of the cage,
when turning round they saw one of the bears
after them. They made for the door, which was
locked. The paint pot fell down over painters
and bears alike. Finally the painters escaped,
none the worse except for a coat of green, which
the bears shared too, in honor of the day. They
had put their noses into the paint pot, which gave
them a very bizarre appearance. A short while
after this there was a rumpus in the eagle’s cage,
which proved a fight to a finish.

The day before a new comer, a bald eagle, had
been put in the cage. He evidently wanted to
rearrange things somewhat according to his tastes.
But there was already a boss installed there, and
when the other bird made himself too obnoxious,
the old boss thought things had gone far enough.
He therefore took a hand in the settlement. They
battled by biting and clawing, until the new one
was almost killed, when the keepers intervened.

This proves that it is not only in a political or-
ganization that bosses appear. It is always the
same domineering way which wishes to rule and be
the master.

A large black cat appeared on the window sill
of a basement of a fashionable house last spring.

66 Do Animals Think P

It mewed piteously and the cook opened the win-
dow and let the cat into the kitchen. The peor
creature looked starved, his ribs could be counted
through its fur, but they brought a dish of milk,
and the cat started to lick it up, when suddenly,
without warning, the cat flew at the cook, biting
and clawing her fearfully. This brought down
the lady of the house, and her husband, who
knocked the cat senseless.

This cat was simply out of its mind for want
of food, and had gone mad. Just as a person
placed in the same way. Starvation affects the
mind very often, but more frequently animals
than human beings. |

A lioness in the Central Park Zoo, which had
been an inhabitant of the menagerie for seven-
teen years, died recently. She would probably
have lived much longer had she not been blind
for a number of years. .

To be able to hear and not see as she had once
done seemed hard to her, for she worried and
fretted constantly.

We must not forget that animals have anxieties
as well as we, and especially in a case like this.
It is like a blasted life, a living nightmare.

We only realize this when it comes to our-
selves.

The floods in Iowa this summer made many cu-

Do Animals Think? 67

rious sights, but they were not such as one would
lke to witness daily. I will only mention one
here.

When the waters encroached upon the prairies
it drove the jack rabbits and cotton tails to cover.
Every log or timber from fallen houses was lit-
erally covered with them. Thousands had fol-
lowed the natural law of self-preservation, which
is primary in the animal kingdom.

An old farmer, while returning home in his
buggy through a road little traversed, was stung
frightfully by bees, and died a short while after-
wards. His horse had stepped into their nest.

The onslaught, therefore, was very sudden, for
the bees, not knowing what had happened, after re-
gaining their senses, began their deadly revenge
against the farmer and horse.

The farmer having rolled out of the carriage,
the horse made for home, so did not meet the fate
of his master. |

Who of us having been placed as the bees were,
would not have retaliated ?

On my way uptown each morning, I used to
watch a dog waiting for the garbage wagon to
pass. He was looking for a bone from the driver,
and when he got it, was as happy as he could be.
He would go off and munch it all by himself.
This was repeated each day. Sometimes there

68 Do Animals Think?

was none to give him, so he quietly went away, af-
ter being patted on the head, thinking he might
have better luck at another time.

Those actions on the part of the dog only show
that the dog had something on his mind, for every
morning he expected a bone of some kind.

Then a habit can be quickly acquired in ani-
mals just as in man.

This dog had a comfortable home, but he
wanted something extra.

A horse being led by the bridle suddenly took
fright at a flying piece of paper, and ran off like
a flash. He finally stopped at a market, where,
before his gaze, lay all the vegetables of the season,
so he began to devour a barrel of cabbages.

Perhaps if this display had not met his eyes he
might be running yet.

Another horse took fright two months after in
about the same place, but did not venture very far,
for being always crowded around a market, it
has not much chance. Right before him lay a
child which had fallen in attempting to cross the
street. The horse realized the child’s peril, and
pranced on his hind feet to avoid hurting the
little one. This gave it a chance to be rescued,
and the child escaped uninjured.

Here was forethought on the part of the horse.

An orang-outang having been brought from a

Do Animals Think ? 69

far distant land, Borneo, into the Bronx Zoo, with
her young one, became homesick after a few weeks.

The keepers tried in vain to make her eat, but to
no avail. She only fondled her baby, and became
morose; not even wanting to make friends with
her keepers.

She, therefore, knew the difference of her sur-
roundings, they being so unlike her native land.
Loneliness comes through worry, as we are all
aware. Worry exists in this case, just as with
our soldiers in the Philippines. Very often it
brings on suicide in both man and beast, under
similar conditions.

Here is a singular case of suicide on the part of
a horse in Paterson, New Jersey. A big bay
horse was attached to an engine company for a
number of years. He took his life by hanging
himself by his halter. His foot was caught in it,
and the firemen said that it was perfectly plain
that the horse fastened his shoe in the slack of
the halter, then deliberately pulled on the strap
until life was extinct. This horse had a quick
temper, and used to make a great disturbance in
his stall, especially at night, which made life a
burden in the engine house.

He kicked all the time, so the chief transferred
him to headquarters, thinking that he would
change his habit, but to no avail,

70 Do Animals Think? -

The chief decided to pay no attention to him,
for, he contended, a kicking horse was similar to a
crying child. If no attention was paid to him, it
would soon stop.

But instead the horse made all the more noise,
which became almost unbearable, but the firemen
obeyed orders, nolse or no noise.

The day after, when the firemen went to feed
him, they found him dead.

This would show the reasoning in this horse,
for as quick a temper as it might have had, it
wanted attention from the firemen, and if he did
not get it, and if he thought he was abandoned, it -
would surely kill him. !

The result was that melancholy set in and his
brooding made him decide on self-destruction.
His mind was already giving way under those
conditions, for he wanted to be “the whole thing.”

It is just the same story in man or woman with
an uncontrollable temper. They wish to be “the
only pebble on the beach.”

Such people, and animals, very often have
plenty of time to nurse their folly when it is too
late. If they had learned to give and take, or
leave well enough alone, all would have gone more ©
smoothly, but no, it is always the same domineer-
ing spirit which brings them to grief. Self-de-
struction occurs more frequently in domesticated

Do Animals Think? 71

animals or those in captivity, than ones which have
their liberty, such as beasts of the forests, prairie,
mountain, stream, river, or sea.

An article appeared in a local paper some time
ago in reference to pigeons making a record by
flying one thousand miles in a week.

One can imagine the strain, and the anxiety of
the birds trying to get back home as quickly as
possible. The effort must be very great, and one
need not wonder that on arriving home, they fall
limp from exhaustion. I hardly believe they
could have taken much sleep in covering that dis-
tance in such a short space of time, and they prob-
ably had taken httle food.

However, carrier pigeons are credited with fifty
to one hundred miles an hour in their flight.

The swallow and marten too, are, considered
very rapid flyers, going at the rate of seventy-five
miles an hour.
he teal duck has a velocity of fifty miles an

hour, while the mallard is five miles slower. The
canvas back is credited with from forty to fifty
miles an hour, and the wild goose and eider duck
travel at the rate of forty miles.

The pheasant, quail and prairie chicken make
from thirty to forty miles an hour, while the crow
flies but twenty miles in that time. The smaller
birds are not such fast flyers as they would appear.

a2 Do Animals Think P

All this shows the thinking in birds, for they
usually know where they want to go, and plan
to cover the distance in the allotted time.

A man was once asked if he knew the best rem-
edy of stopping mice from eating and destroying
underwear which had been put in a chiffonier.
The man asked if traps had been set to catch
them, and found there had been, but with little
success. Mice are too wise to be caught in that
way. He then suggested closing all the openings
with tin, and if they persisted in coming to try
putting some crumbs in a plate before retiring.
They could eat them. He explained that when
mice make their appearance at meal time and
find no food about, as this was in an apartment,
out of spite they destroy clothes. If they could
find something to eat, they would retire and go
to sleep, as the majority of animals do when their
hunger is appeased.

This. was done for about a week, with very
good results.

Another case of hunger driving dogs mad to
the extent of killing their benefactress: These
dogs were bought for the sole purpose of protect-
ing a newly acquired country place from burglars
and marauders.

The new owner had been told to be careful of
them, and not to feed them too much, especially

Do Animals Think P 73

on raw meat, as they were already ferocious.
Others told them not to feed them at all for a
few days, so to starve them into submission. They
already looked very sullen, and no one would ap-
proach them. The owner thought by starving
_ them they would remember their benefactress.

They did, too, by putting one out of the world.
The mistress in passing them in the yard one
morning took pity on them and said it was a
shame to let dumb animals starve like that. They
looked quite harmless, and she determined to feed
them.

She ordered the cook to prepare a bowl of meat
and carry it to the kennel, the mistress accompany-
ing her, of course.

The instant the woman entered the enclosure the
dogs leaped and bounded so that their chains
broke, and they made for their mistress. They
threw her to the ground like wild beasts. It
seemed as if they had reserved their pent-up rage
for this occasion. The more the woman tried to
defend herself, the more the dogs bit her on the
limbs and body. The neighbors finally drove the
dogs away with clubs.

As she was being brought to the house she pre-
sented a sad spectacle, for her face and hands,
which had been exposed to the full force of the on-
slaught, were a mass of shreds. Her clothes were

74 Do Animals Think P

literally torn from her, and her body was a mass
of bites. She lived a few hours, then died from
doing a supposed kindness to starving dogs.

The dogs knew very well the difference between
their mistress and her cook, even if they only had
been there a few days, and evidently thought her
the cause of their starved condition.

Moral! It is not what man wants to do, it
is what he ought to do toward dumb animals,
ferociousness or not.

There are almost daily reports of dicate large
turtles, and other queer looking fish caught by the
se in their nets. Others tell of seeing those
creatures off the beaches, or from the deck of pass-
ing vessels. This would lead one to suspect that
everything was not as it should be down below
the sea’s surface with the animals of the deep.

There being a cause for all strange phenomena
of this kind, we all know that these monsters, as
strange as they are in these waters, do not be-
long here, but in the tropics, around the equator,
like the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.

Many theories have been advanced on the phe-
nomenon, but, thus far, none have been very
satisfactory. We will try to answer this strange
coincidence, if possible, or advance somewhat of
an explanation.

Yes, it can be called such, for when before

Do Animals Think P 75

have such strange monsters appeared off our coasts,
and to such an extent as this season?

Undoubtedly we have had seasons when there
were sharks and turtles seen and captured, but
never so large as those seen during the last six
months.

What is the reason of all this turmoil in the
deep? Hunger, I presume; sharks living princi-
pally on corpses, and these not being very plenti-
ful at present in their home waters, they strike
north.

Perhaps things got too hot down south on ac-
count of the volcanic eruptions, such as Mont
Pelee and la Soufliere, which have been in ac-
tivity for a long time. It being winter on the
other side of the equator, there was but one
place for them to go, and that was to pay us a
visit, to our sorrow. It is only a friendly visit on
their part to look over the ground before making
up their minds what they will do. It is only tem-
porary, for they will not linger here during the
winter months. They will take a roundabout
course to the equator, for there it will be summer.

Then one might ask why did they not stay
around the south Atlantic coast? We see by their
actions that their head is level. They may be
more prophetic than our most scientific men. The
eruptions in the Caribbean Sea may not be over

76 Do Animals Think P

in a hurry, and their reasoning tells them it is bet-
ter to be sure than be sorry—that is the law of
self-preservation. ‘They had one of two things to
choose from, stay in their home waters and be
boiled, or come up and see us, and they, being of
a friendly turn of mind, chose the latter for the
rest of the season. Do you blame them?

They may return next season as numerous as
before. We may see them for a good many more
summers, but when winter strikes this zone it will
be summer on the other side of the equator. They
will keep coming here till things have quieted down
in the Antilles.

Sharks are like other animals, they like com-
pany, and they know that our beaches hold many
a tender morsel.

Rats on board ship are considered a valuable
asset in case of danger, for they scent a coming
disaster. Sailors know when they see rats scat-
ter that there is danger of some kind aboard ship.

It is in the mines, under like conditions,
In that way they can warn the miners to flee.

An article appeared in the Magazine section of
the Sunday Herald, of January 6th, 1901, en-
titled “Svengali of the Zoo,” written by Mr. Rene
Bache.

This article treated on hypnotism of animals, by

Do Animals Think P 77

Professor Max Verworn. It is undoubtedly one
of the newest wonders.

He has hypnotized mammals, birds and reptiles
and states that there is not an animal which is
not susceptible to “mesmeric” influence, provided
it is properly done. My opinion on this last
phrase is that he is right.

He goes further and states that not only guinea
pigs, and rabbits, but frogs and venomous ser-
pents have been successfully treated in that way.

He says that since early times, and certainly for
hundreds of years, it has been known that some
animals, if held in abnormal positions, would be-
have queerly.

The most familiar instance is that of the hen.
By holding her beak to the ground and drawing
from the end of it a straight line of chalk for a
few feet, the hen imagines she is being held by a
string, and so makes no attempt to move. This
notion, according to the professor, is a mistake.
He is able to hypnotize the fowl without using any
chalk line. He accomplished the purpose by sim-
ply laying the hen in a certain position upon the
table.

Professor Verworn has found that his experi-
ment with the hen may be successfully repro-
duced with many animals.

Occasionally a guinea pig will be so susceptible

L of C.:

78 Do Animals Think P.

to this peculiar sort of hypnotic influence, as to
lose consciousness instantly when turned over on
its back.

The recovery is always very sudden, the crea-
ture jumping upon its feet, and becoming once
again its own guinea pig, so to speak, except for a
stiffness in the hind legs, which is apt to remain
for a little while,—a vestige, evidently, of the ab-
normal concition.

In speaking of crocodiles and alligators, he
says they prove excellent subjects, responding read-
ily to the hypnotic influence, when placed on their
backs, and becoming for a while like dead
saurlans.

An ordinary green European lizard used by the
professor was turned over and prevented from
squirming by holding its jaws between two fingers,
and its tail with the other hand. The recovery in
this case was as sudden as in the guinea pig.

A frog was not affected so easily, though it
succumbed after a time, when held upon its back,
its movements being hindered.

The common edible frog would become per-
fectly quiet after five or ten minutes, its efforts
to rise growing more feeble, until finally it would
become motionless, remaining so for twenty or
thirty minutes thereafter.

Lobsters, it seems, are subject to influence in the

Do Animals Think P 79

same way, remaining perfectly rigid in grotesque
positions for a long time, after being held for five
or ten minutes.

Snakes are by no means exempt.

The professor made a series of most interesting
experiments with the venomous serpent known as
the naji-haje, two specimens of which were ob-
tained for him from Egypt by the hereditary Prin-
cess of Saxony.

For so dangerous were these reptiles that their
poison fangs were removed as a preliminary to
the trial. :

Their dispositions were very ferocious. They
would coil themselves on the floor and keep their
heads always turned toward the professor, as he
walked around them, ready to strike him if they
found a chance.

They would try to bite him again and again,
but with a quick action he would step forward and
catch one of the reptiles behind the neck. Its ex-
citement instantly disappeared, and it became per-
fectly harmless and limp, and could be put in any
position desired.

It is with this kind of snake that the serpent
charmers of Egypt have always worked, even as
far back as the day of Moses.

From his experiments Professor Verworn draws
the conclusion that really all kinds of animals, no

80 Do. Animals Think P

matter how wild, if skillfully treated after the
method here indicated, may be rendered uncon-
scious and unable to move.

He truly says that such phenomena in the past
have been misunderstood. In the case of the hen,
her imagination was supposed to be at work. The
bird mistaking the chaik mark for a string, and in
other instances the trembling of the animal’s
limbs, was attributed to fright, which when severe
enough, will paralyze the muscles temporarily.

There is apparently a suspension of will power
in the hen and guinea pig, the condition being one
of unconsciousness, but not of sleep, and when the
influence ceases to operate, recovery is immediate
and sudden.

Certain kinds of animals resist the influence
much more than others. It seems to be almost im-
possible to hypnotize the dog or cat.

I ask, why? For the simple reason that their
minds are more active in thought, the same being
the case in a human being.

Some can undergo hypnotic influence quicker
than others. It all depends on the activity of the
brain at the moment.

Professor Verworn also states that young ani-
mals are less easily affected than old ones. That
comes from too much activity. The younger ani-
mals, just as with people, for as one advances in

Do Animals Think P 81

years, one’s activity, with but few exceptions, de-
clines.

Fishes, too, says Professor Verworn, succumb
to the influence. He also has made successful tests
with an octopus.

These experiments of Professor Verworn prove
very conclusively more than anything I could
possibly demonstrate, that animals do think, for
without thought or reason, like the paretic and
madman, there is no hypnotizing them. One
might as well try to hypnotize plants as animals
which have lost their reason. It is about the
same.

I hope now that my readers will no longer be
skeptical on the reasoning of animals, for I have
stated facts and incidents to prove that animals
to a great extent do think.

THE END.

8 ii