Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 April 1883 — Do Animals Think? [ARTICLE]

Do Animals Think?

The anestion whether animals have yeaning of the term “soul* has never b ' ® Z upon Animal Intelligence to confirm it Stfll, the differences in animal intelligence are very m&ked, And higher traits orop out in the least-expected Quarters. Mr. Romanes tells, for instance, of a python who had been tamed by a lady and made a pet of. The snake would twine about her neck in the gentlest manner, although . nothing would have been easier for/the powerful serpent than to have crushed her like an egg-shell. Infusoria have intelligence enough to avoid collisions. Rqtifera will seize each other with their tail forceps, and fights take place which seem to interest them as much as dog; fights do some of the higher vertebrates. fTwo snails lived in a garden, where their favorite food was very scarce. The larger went off on a tour of observation. Finding in the next garden a pupply of the food he sought, he returned like a little gentleman, and induced his companion to go with him. Here were .thought and kindness illustrated ; nor can these qualities be eliminated from the case except by the violent and wholly unwarranted supposition that when he arrived in the good garden he discovered that he had left his jack-knife or something with his companion and went back after it; observing his sleepy conditions* 1 !or snails travel slowly, his companion appreciated the point and . *°PjMNgi§||§ even here there is mind 'WtxmHHm

Of the higher animals thb most intelligent are dogs, elephants and mon- J keys. The monkey has th# scientific spirit. He takes notikiiMMfei 1 trust, but samples, investigates andd Btndies over difficult questions for (Bys! together, going without food and hfe domestic associations meanwhjje, When jhe has finally got it he is as hajppy as if fie knew how to say “Eureka.” Elephants are quick to learn, and seem to take pleasure in perfecting themselves in the tricks that showmen teach them. They have a great deal of imagination, also, as is shown by the avidity with which they swallow so small an objeot as a peanut under the impression that they taste something, which, it is evident, must be impossible. For what is a peanut in such an immense animal ? The pig, that pattern of business concentration, is a much more intelligent animal than he is commonly reputed. His weakness is his lack of moral qualities and his disposition to “squeal” upon his companions in mischief. Animals like a joke, too. Mr. Romanes tells of a lady who awoke her pet collie dog by shouting in his ear. Some time afterward the dog eame in one day and discovered his mistress asleep in her chair. Carefully climbing up with his paws on the arm of theebair, he put his nose by her ear and awoke her with a single loud bark and capered off in a broad' grin. The real question is, not whether animals think, but whether men do, and whether they also possess the higher moral qualities. Such, at least, might well be the subject of study in the next world by the surgeon’s dog, who died under vivesfection while licking his master’s hand. If the poor animal did think, what must have been his thoughts ? Chicago Herald. Jy