XXIX. THE INTELLIGENCE OF MAMMALS 



Probably no question relating to mammals has received 

 more attention than that regarding their intelligence. It 

 is very natural to ascribe to the lower animals the intelli- 

 gence of human beings, particularly when they apparently 

 perform certain acts which are "almost human"; but to 

 the writer, at least, there is a wide gap between the mental 

 point of view of the elephant and the man, even when 

 both are doing the same thing. It is manifestly impossible 

 to ascertain exactly what the elephant is thinking about, 

 and this applies to all mammals, and the remarkable stories 

 about the marvelous and human intelligence displayed by 

 many animals should be taken with a grain of salt, or not 

 accepted without close investigation by a sane, unemotional, 

 trained observer. 



That many animals are very inteUigent from our own 

 standpoint is evident, but their point of view is doubtless 

 different, and that any of the lower animals can think out 

 a proposition or carry out any difficult line of thought 

 leading up to a logical conclusion is very doubtful. Thus 

 we hear of mammals committing suicide to escape an 

 enemy ; of marvelous examples of skill and cleverness, and 

 if these stories are thoroughly investigated, it will be found 

 that the observer was an " emotional " investigator : he 

 thought he saw certain acts or purposes carried out, but 

 was mistaken. Animals are intelligent, but they have not 

 the perfect intelligence of man. 



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