ANIMAL AND RATIONAL INTELLIGENCE 247 



Vocalisation, like facial expression, is a physical 

 result depending on the action of brain, nerve, and 

 muscle, and, on this account, belongs readily to mere 

 organic life, appearing as it does far down the scale. 

 What is expressed, depends upon what is already 

 within the life. To refer to barking, neighing, chatter 

 ing and whistling, as if they might be the source of 

 human speech, is to expose the argument to ridicule. 

 Examples of vocalisation they certainly are ; so long 

 as we speak of them as precursors of speech, we are 

 within the record; but when we point to them as 

 efficient in evolution of speech, the best that can be 

 said by way of excuse is, that we are confounding 

 vocalisation, mere physical utterance, with the gram 

 matical structure of language. How widely these 

 two things are apart may be readily seen. When 

 Darwin says, I cannot doubt that language owes its 

 origin to the imitation and modification of various 

 natural sounds, the voices of other animals, and 

 man s own instinctive cries, aided by signs and 

 gestures/ l he is speaking of vocalisation, the use of 

 physical structure for emission of sound. Several 

 naturalists have gained singular skill in imitating the 

 calls of animals, finding in this many advantages for 

 observation of their habits. But this is an acquisition 

 difficult for a man, because it is a matter of imitation, 

 not an expression of natural feeling. When Darwin 

 further says, the same language never has two birth 

 places, 2 he is speaking of the history of diverse 

 tongues, as these involve grammatical structure, and 

 use of signs liable to modification, in the history of 

 thought. The first quotation refers to vocalisation as 

 1 Descent, p. 87. 2 Ib. p. 90. 



