Essays on Life 



communicate without saying what it is that 

 they communicate. I believe this to have 

 been because if he said that the lower animals 

 communicate their ideas, this would be to 

 admit that they have ideas ; if so, and if, as 

 they present every appearance of doing, they 

 can remember, reflect upon, modify these ideas 

 according to modified surroundings, and inter- 

 change them with one another, how is it pos- 

 sible to deny them the germs of thought, 

 language, and reason not to say a good deal 

 more than the germs ? It seems to me that 

 not knowing what else to say that animals 

 communicated if it was not ideas, and not 

 knowing what mess he might not get into if 

 he admitted that they had ideas at all, he 

 thought it safer to omit his accusative case 

 altogether. 



That growling and barking cannot be called 

 a very highly specialised language goes with- 

 out saying ; they are, however, so much diver- 

 sified in character, according to circumstances, 

 that they place a considerable number of 

 symbols at an animal's command, and he 

 invariably attaches the same symbol to the 



