534- THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



sound, somewhat like that of his own hiccough. A single oath, 

 pronounced in different tones, was sufficient to enable us to com- 

 prehend all the impressions, all the states of mind through which 

 this devotee of Bacchus passed. The oath, at first pronounced 

 slowly and with an accent expressing relief, represented a feeling 

 of satisfaction, with shadings of prolonged exclamation which it 

 would be hard for one to imagine without suggestion. The con- 

 tinued flowing of the fountain made our drunken man impatient, 

 and he wanted it to stop. This state of mind was translated by a 

 new modulation of the same word. In a little while the gurgling 

 of the fountain produced astonishment. Was it possible that he, 

 with all the liquid he had imbibed, could vomit so much and for 

 so long a time ? This mental condition was expressed by a new 

 modulation of the same oath. The first movement of surprise 

 over, resignation follows, and our man decides to wait patiently 

 for the end. A period of half lethargy was easily represented by 

 the slowness and weakness of the man's voice while living up to 

 this decision ; but when he comes out of this sleepy condition and 

 hears the fountain again, ho is possessed with fear : he can not 

 understand the flood he is pouring out — he dares not move — he 

 believes he is lost. Gradually the fumes of the liquor pass away, 

 and, his mistake being recognized, the drunkard is taken with a 

 laughing and a gayety which are indicated by the same oath 

 repeated in tones corresponding with the satisfaction he is then 

 enjoying. This making the series of impressions a man passes 

 through comprehensible by a single word, varied in pronuncia- 

 tion and utterance, is very like the language of animals, which is 

 always the same, and the significance of which is given by vari- 

 ety of intonations corresponding with sensational conditions. 



The mewing of the cat is always the same ; but what a num- 

 ber of mental conditions it expresses ! I had a kitten whose 

 gambols and liveliness entertained me greatly. I understood well, 

 when it came up to me mewing, what the sound meant : some- 

 times the kitten wanted to come up and sleep in my lap ; at other 

 times it was asking me to play with it. When, at my meals, it 

 jumped on my knees, turned round, looked at me, and spoke in a 

 coaxing and flattering way, it was asking for something to eat. 

 When its mother came up with a mouse in her jaws, her mufiled 

 and low-toned mew informed the little one from a distance, and 

 caused it to spring and run up to the game that was brought to 

 it. The cry is always the same, but varied in the strength of the 

 inflections and in its protraction, so as to represent the various 

 states of mind with which my young animal is moved — just as it 

 was with the drunken man in the mimicry scene. These facts 

 are probably well known to all observers of animals. 



We have seen that this tonality of the watch-dog's cries is 



