161 



The ability to descend to the level of the mental constitution 

 (ipvxv) of animals, to understand their feelings, thoughts, and 

 desires, seems to have diminished in proportion to the progress 

 of civilization ; or, at least, in proportion as cultivated minds of 

 civilized nations have secluded themselves from free nature in 

 cities and students' closets. Still, we think the psychology of 

 animals is by no means the least interesting subject of human 

 thought. It is acknowledged that man is the crowning work of 

 creation, and this has been proved and illustrated often enough 

 by comparison of the structure of his body with that of other ver- 

 tebrates ; by showing that there exists an ideal series of develop- 

 ment from the horizontally moving fish to the erect man. Now, 

 may not this truth be as clearly, or more clearly traced, in fol- 

 lowing out the degrees of development of the psychical element, 

 from the low, feeding, and propagating fish, to man as made 

 in the image of God — that is, thinking in the same categories 

 with him. Undoubtedly such a series of psychical development 

 exists, but its steps have never been marked out, though many 

 materials have been collected in regard to the subject. In the 

 effort to attain a method of studying this part of the science of 

 nature, the following considerations have occurred to me. 



We know the condition of a man's soul, or of its representative 

 in an animal, only by external manifestations. Thus, in order to 

 have a standard of comparison for the difl^erent degrees of psy- 

 chical development of animals, we may start from an analysis of 

 what is called the characteristic of animals, in opposition to plants, 

 namely, voluntary motion. 



In considering closely the motions of a dog, we recognize in 

 them two entirely different kinds. One, and that by far the 

 most common, serves only and immediately the animal itself as 

 the means by which to obtain whatever it desires and enjoys, 

 (food, for instance,) and to shun whatever it dislikes. This kind 

 of motions we may call subjective ; that is, selfish motions ; be- 

 cause they serve only the subject itself. But again, we see an- 

 other kind of motions. Thus, the dog plays with other dogs, with 

 other animals, and with man. It makes many movements with 

 the head, eyes, ears, and tail, which serve no other purpose than 

 to show to other animals, or to man, the present condition of its 

 inner nature ; to show them what it feels, what it thinks, and what it 



PROCEEDINGS B. S.N. H. VOL. VI. 11 MAY, 1857. 



