52 MENTAL DEVELOPMENT IN ANIMALS, BY HON, A. NORTON, M.L.C. 
that they have mental qualities, memory and thoughtful- 
ness, for which they rarely get full credit, and that in 
innumerable instances they exhibit a bright intelligence 
which surpasses that of many human beings. That, under 
natural conditions, they do not display this to a larger 
extent is not surprising. For untold ages, man, with his’ 
higher type of brain, made little advance, and was scarcely 
superior to some of the animals amongst which he lived ; 
and even now the world contains tens of thousands of 
savages who are almost as ignorant as the beasts. Keeping 
in mind. then, the vastness of time which must have elapsed 
before the human race had begun to feel their way through 
the darkness which enshrouded them towards the approach- 
ing dawn of civilization, shall we shut out from our hearts 
the hope that a brighter time may come for what we regard 
as the inferior animals, a time when their advancing mental 
powers will insure for them a larger share of consideration 
from mankind than they now receive. Of one thing I think 
I may speak with some certainty ; it is, that those who 
love animals most will heartily join me in the hope that 
the suggestions I have given voice to to-night may not 
be without some justification, but that the mental develop- 
ment of the lower animals will, in course of time, raise them 
to a higher plane by means of which their enjoyment of life 
will be increased, and their place in nature materially 
advanced. 
