MISCELLANOEUS NOTES. 499 



harmony. They love society, and not the least marked difference between the 

 temperament of animals and men, is that animals do not by mere contact irritate 

 each other, — a positive and not unimportant compensation for the absence of 

 the gift of speech. 



Since occasions of difference are so few, nothing but the assumption of an 

 ancient and inbred malignity in animal minds, such as the author of "Three 

 Men in a Boat " supposes in the case of fox-terriers to have been due to a 

 double dose of original sin, could justify the view so generally held that 

 animals are, as a rule, ferocious and ill-tempered. The exact contrary would 

 be nearer the truth. Animal temper is naturally pacific, equable, and mdd- 

 Bad temper is the privilege of more highly organised natures ; and the Tirild 

 resentment of the placable tiger finds its development in the apoplectic fury of 

 the mandril and the measured malice of mankind. Horace's suggestion, that 

 Prometheus added to the ill temper of man the strength of a mad lion, must be- 

 taken literally. The general law of good-nature in the animal world makes 

 the exceptions all the more remarkable. Quarrelsome species appear among a- 

 friendly tribe, just as an ill-tempered individual does in a kindly species. The 

 ruminants are a most peaceful race, yet deer are savage, and so is that hand- 

 some Indian antelope the nylghau. A tame stag is a very dangerous pet, and 

 even the beautiful roebuck has been known to kill a boy in a wild fit of rage. 

 But the fiercest and most vindictive of all, with the exception of the Cape 

 buffalo, is the South African gnu, which never loses its ill-temper when tamed, 

 and always remains among the few dangerous animals which the keepers at 

 the Zoo have to deal with. Hardly less ill-tempered are the zebras and the 

 wild asses, which suggests that human mismanagement is not entirely to 

 blame for the occasional ill-temper and obstinacy of mules and donkeys. To 

 the ill-tempered species we may add the camel and the two-horned black 

 rhinoceros. The last is really ferocious, charging down on any creature, man 

 or beast, without provocation, and capable of inflicting mortal wounds even 

 on the lion, the elephant, or its own kind. But among all the larger creatures 

 of the animal kingdom, it is difficult to find more than a dozen species which 

 are, as a class, ill-tempered, unless we include all those carnivorous animals- 

 which exhibit a certain ferocity in the capture of their prey. But it will be 

 found that, apart from this law of their being, such animals are not, as a rule, 

 either ill-tempered or malicious. On the contrary, their natural bias is 

 towards good-nature, and it may be inferred that the fierceness exhibited by 

 them when actually striking their prey, is rather a gradual development from 

 a particular necessity than an essential part of their nature. The good-humour 

 of the lions and other Felidce was well illustrated by a scene at the Zoo a few 

 weeks ago. The young lion from Sokoto was much intent on breaking in the 

 iron shutter which separates the house it now occupies from its former 

 quarters next door. Apart from the very proper wish to assert a right to its 

 former domicile, it had the irritating stimulus supplied by an ill- tempered and 



