io THE MINDS AND MANNERS 



take to assume that because an organism is small it neces- 

 sarily has no "mind," and none of the propelling impulse that 

 we call thought. The largest whale may have less intelligence 

 and constructive reasoning than a trap-door spider, a bee or 

 an ant. To deny this is to deny the evidence of one's senses. 

 A Measure for Animal Intelligence. The intelligence 

 of an animal may be estimated by taking into account, sep- 

 arately, its mental qualities, about as follows: 



1. General knowledge of surrounding conditions. 



2. Powers of independent observation and reasoning. 



3. Memory. 



4. Comprehension under tuition. 



5. Accuracy in the execution of man's orders. 



Closely allied to these are the moral qualities which go to 

 make up an animal's temperament and disposition, about as 

 follows: 



1. Amiability, which guarantees security to its associates. 



2. Patience, or submission to discipline and training. 



3. Courage, which gives self-confidence and steadiness. 



4. A disposition to obedience, with cheerfulness. 



All normal vertebrate animals exercise their intelligence in 

 accordance with their own rules of logic. Had they not been 

 able to do so, it is reasonable to suppose that they could never 

 have developed into vertebrates, reaching even up to man 

 himself. 



According to the laws of logic, this proposition is no more 

 open to doubt or dispute than is the existence of the Grand 

 Canyon of the Colorado. But few persons have seen the 

 Canyon, and far fewer ever have proven its existence by de- 

 scending to its bottom; but none the less Reason admonishes 

 all of us that the great chasm exists, and is not a debatable 

 question. 



To men and women who really know the vertebrate animals 

 by contact with some of them upon their own levels, the reason- 

 ing power of the latter is not a debatable question. The only 



