5-4 THE DESCENT OF MAN. Part I. 



excite in other monkeys similar emotions. 30 The move- 

 ments of the features and gestures of monkeys are un- 

 derstood by us, and they partly understand ours, as 

 Eeno-o-er and others declare. It is a more remark- 



DO 



able fact that the dog, since being domesticated, has 

 learnt to bark 31 in at least four or five distinct tones. 

 Although barking is a new art, no doubt the wild spe- 

 cies, the parents of the dog, expressed their feelings 

 by cries of various kinds. With the domesticated 

 dog we have the bark of eagerness, as in the chase ; 

 that of anger ; the yelping or howling bark of despair, 

 as when shut up ; that of joy, as when starting on a 

 walk with his master ; and the very distinct one of 

 demand or supplication, as when wishing for a door or 

 window to be opened. 



Articulate language is, however, peculiar to man ; 

 but he uses in common with the lower animals inarti- 

 culate cries to express his meaning, aided by gestures 

 and the movements of the muscles of the face. 32 This 

 especially holds good with the more simple and vivid 

 feelings, which are but little connected with our higher 

 intelligence. Our cries of pain, fear, surprise, anger, to- 

 gether with their appropriate actions, and the murmur 

 of a mother to her beloved child, are more expressive 

 than any words. It is not the mere power of articula- 

 tion that distinguishes man from other animals, for as 

 every one knows, parrots can talk ; but it is his large 

 power of connecting definite sounds with definite ideas ; 

 and this obviously depends on the development of the 

 mental faculties. 



30 Kenggcr, ibid. s. 45. 



31 See my ' Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication,' 

 vol. i. p. 27. 



32 See a discussion on this subject in Mr. E. B. Tylor's very interest- 

 ing work, 'Eesearches into the Early History of Mankind,' 1865, chaps, 

 ii. to iv. 



