474 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ing the volume of the brain ; and if chimpanzees, orang-outangs, 

 and sokos had enjoyed the thousands of years of domestication 

 and thorough breeding and training, from which dogs have so 

 immensely profited, there is no knowing what advances in knowl- 

 edge and acquisitions of intellectual culture they might not have 

 made. It is wonderful how much they learn through observation 

 and very slight instruction during a few months' intercourse with 

 human beings, discharging with evident pleasure the duties of 

 body servant or waiter, answering the door bell, showing visitors 

 into the parlor, fetching water, kindling the fire, washing dishes, 

 turning the spit, and doing all sorts of chores in and about the 

 house. " Such an ape," said Brehm, " one can not treat as a beast, 

 but must associate with as a man. Notwithstanding all the pecul- 

 iarities it exhibits, it reveals in its nature and conduct so very 

 much that is human, that one quite forgets the animal. Its body 

 is that of a brute, but its intelligence is almost on a level with 

 that of a common boor. It is absurd to attribute the actions of 

 such a creature to unthinking imitation ; it imitates, to be sure, 

 but as a child imitates an adult, with understanding and judg- 

 ment." 



That the plastic and progressive period of the monkey's indi- 

 vidual development is short, and that its faculties become set and 

 stationary at a comparatively early age, is undeniable; but the 

 same holds true of the negro, who loses his educability and ceases 

 his mental growth much earlier than the Caucasian. The longer 

 or shorter duration of this formative season in the mental life of 

 man is, to some extent, a matter of race, but in a still greater de- 

 gree the resultant of civilization. 



The hand is also a valuable instrument for the cultivation of 

 the aBsthetic sense, and the more flexible and sensitive this instru- 

 ment becomes, the greater are the results achieved by it in this 

 direction. But there are animals without hands that show an 

 appreciation of the beautiful. Mr. Darwin has proved conclusive- 

 ly that birds take pleasure in sweet sounds and in brilliant colors, 

 and that the sentiment thus awakened and appealed to plays an 

 important part in the preservation and perfection of the species 

 through natural selection. The struggle for existence is not al- 

 ways carried on by fierce combat and the triumph of brute force, 

 but quite as frequently takes the form of competition in beauty, 

 addressing itself either to the ear as alluring song or to the eye as 

 attractive plumage ; and the bird that possesses these character- 

 istics in the highest degree carries off the prize in the tournament 

 of love, and propagates its kind. 



There is no doubt that birds take delight in the gorgeousness 

 of their own feathers, and the more brilliant their hues the greater 

 the vanity they display. Conspicuous examples of this love of 



