5 20 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



presence. It is often said that animals possess only cries, bnt this 

 statement is too general. The cat says micm, which is a very plain 

 articulation of a labial consonant and three vowels; the word is well 

 formed, and one might suppose it to be Chinese. The cat pronounces 

 this word in many different ways, each having a meaning. If lie 

 wants company, he announces his presence in a strong voice ; if he 

 wants to be fed, or to have a door opened, his voice is soft and 

 gentle ; hei'e is the accent of entreaty. If there is any delay, the tone 

 grows higher, showing impatience. There is a slow, weak miau, 

 which the French translate into " Comme je m'ennuie ! " (" Hoio weary 

 lam / ") and again there is the wheedling miau, full of pretty modula- 

 tions, showing plainly a wish to please. Further, the cat says very 

 distinctly ronron, a genuine word formed of trills and nasals ; here 

 the tongue and the soft palate perform movements which we know 

 from our own experience. This ronron now means " Thank you ; " 

 again, it expresses joy. When moved by a feeling of dislike for an 

 individual of his own race, or of jealousy of a rival, the animal spits 

 and growls, thus giving utterance to threats and imprecations. 



The number of mammals which can articulate syllables is small. 

 Sheep utter no sound but that monotonous ba. Some gibbons of 

 the island of Java, when they wish to inspire fear, cry out with fury 

 ra ra. For most animals guttural sounds appear to be uttered with 

 greatest ease. The dog, though highly gifted as regards memory, 

 the sentiment of affection, and intelligence, has no language, but only 

 cries ; he barks. Short, sudden expirations of air through the glottis 

 produce this well-known voice ; yelping is only a modified form of 

 barking, expressive of joy. Howling is the result of a lengthy ex- 

 piration with great resonance in the pharynx ; it expresses profound 

 grief or pain. Dogs express their wants more frequently by move- 

 ments of the body, by the play of the physiognomy, and by touching 

 with the muzzle than by the voice. They appear to communicate 

 admirably with one another when organizing an expedition ; they in- 

 form one another of the presence of objects that gratify their ap- 

 petite. We once saw in the midst of a meadow, far from any house, 

 the flayed carcass of an ox, which had lain for several days absolutely 

 abandoned. A lonely dog, drawn no doubt by the scent, came to get 

 a meal, and went back to the village to tell his acquaintance of what 

 he had discovered ; in less than an hour the carcass was torn in pieces 

 by the teeth of a great troop of dogs. 



Opportunities of studying the language of animals in the state of 

 freedom are unfrequent ; all animals flee from man, and very wisely. 

 In captivity, and cut oft* from their own kind, they become silent, or 

 merely utter a few cries or murmurs. Were a human being to be 

 held as a prisoner in a family of chimpanzees he would be reduced to 

 the same extremity. Travelers have sometimes observed monkeys 

 when well within range of sight and hearing; they have always ob- 



