THE COXDITIOXS OF LIFE AV ANIMATED BEIXGS. 



433 



was misled by a notion of that sort, when he re- 

 fused to recognize any thing more than mechanical 



instinct in the beaver, because that animal has 

 not the sense of the dog or the fox. The beaver 

 possesses tools fit for cutting wood in its power- 

 ful incisor-teeth, a true trowel in its tail, and 

 h;uuls almost in its fore-paws. It has everything 

 needed for building, and the instinct of construc- 

 tion, too, and its intelligence is admirably dis- 

 played in the series of acts required by its labors. 

 Beavers choose the most suitable place for their 

 establishment : on a river subject to floods they 

 raise a dam before building their habitation ; 

 they dispense with that labor on a lake where 

 the level varies but little ; they fell a tree so as 

 to make it drop toward the waters, that is, on 

 the proper side ; they cut it up as they need ; 

 individuals divide the task, one driving the stakes, 

 another plastering the mortar ; they guard against 

 accidents and inundations. What a series of ob- 

 servations and reflections is necessary here ! The 

 beaver has a specialty, and in that specialty he 

 possesses wonderful intelligence ; apart from that, 

 he is commonplace enough, and certainly, as Buf- 

 fon remarks, has not the sense of the dog. 



It is impossible to think without a kind of 

 terror of what would become of the intelligence 

 of a man deprived of all his senses. All our ideas 

 of the outer world come to us by their interven- 

 tion. The same senses, in very varying degrees 

 of development, exist in animals ; but researches 

 of vast range are indispensable before we can es- 

 timate with complete exactness the shades in the 

 impressions which the organs may transmit ; such 

 researches will be made, and the result cannot 

 fail to enlighten us as to phenomena of the intel- 

 lectual order. The possibility of attaining an ex- 

 planation of all the perceptions of beings by a 

 comparative study of the organs of the senses 

 seems manifest. We cannot as clearly discern 

 how much light the anatomical investigation of 

 the brain will throw upon the actions of the 

 mind ; at present these actions are only recog- 

 nizable by the manifestations that strike us. We 

 merely note in a general way that the relative 

 volume of the brain and the degree of centraliza- 

 tion of the nervous masses have a relation to the 

 extent of the instincts and intelligence. But, as 

 soon as we shall have gained a precise idea of the 

 organs of sense and the faculties in each species, 

 being then able to determine the range of percep- 

 tions in each animal in the most exact way, we 

 may be allowed to entertain the hope of reaching 

 an important result by studying the brain in a 

 comparative manner in those species that are 



28 



known to be susceptible of the same perceptions, 

 and in those species that have perceptions of a 

 different kind. By proceeding in this way, sci- 

 ence, which rejects any belief derived from im- 

 agination, will not desert the paths of observa- 

 tion and experiment. 



Well-organized beings have an astonishing 

 memory, constantly observed by persons who love 

 the company of animals : they remember a ben- 

 efit, and particularly an injury. A dog recognizes 

 the friend of the house alter many years, and the 

 places he sees again after long absence. The 

 faculty of reasoning, comparing, understanding 

 situations, is inseparable from memory. Wild 

 animals show themselves trustful in localities 

 where man lets them live in peace, and full of 

 distrust in places where his presence has become 

 formidable to them. The testimony of travelers 

 who have explored uninhabited countries is valu- 

 able to refer to. "It is a singular thing," says 

 Livingstone, " to notice the intelligence of wild 

 animals. In countries where they are hunted 

 with firearms, they keep themselves in the most 

 open parts of the region, so as to see the hunter 

 at the greatest possible distance. It has so often 

 happened to me when I had no weapons to get 

 near to animals without disturbing them, which 

 took flight as soon as I came in sight armed with 

 a gun, that I am satisfied they perfectly under- 

 stand the danger they run in the latter case, and 

 the security they may feel in presence of an un- 

 armed man. Here, where they have only the ar- 

 rows of the Balondas to fear, they remain during 

 the day in the depths of the thickest forests, 

 where the use of the bow is much more difficult." 



It is curious to watch the efforts of an animal 

 endeavoring to get an understanding of some- 

 thing. A glass is put on the ground, and a cat, 

 coming up to it, shows great surprise and curi- 

 osity at the sight of her reflection. She ap- 

 proaches, supposing it to be another animal of 

 her own species, and, not being able to touch it 

 with her nose, strikes at the glass with her 

 claws. Meeting an obstacle, she goes to look be- 

 hind the frame, and finding no one there, comes 

 back- and begins the same actions over again, 

 still in vain ; then, as if seized by a bright idea, 

 her body quivering, her hair erect, she stands 

 upright against the frame, striking it on both 

 sides at once with her paws, as if to be sure not 

 to fail in catching the puzzling presence. But 

 after satisfying herself of the uselessness of her 

 manoeuvres, she leaves the place, resigned to do 

 without understanding, very much like an Arab 

 to whom one had attempted to explain the system 



