8o6 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



peculiar to humanity, one which either does not exist in animals 

 or has been observed to exist among them only in an infinitesi- 

 mal degree. 



This is one of the most obscure and difficult problems which 

 we meet with in animal psychology. A large number of animals 

 live, it is true, in a state of permanent warfare, killing and de- 

 vouring each other in turns, but how far does this fact imply an- 

 other viz., that this internecine slaughter presupposes in animals 

 a clear idea of death of the extinction of life as the necessary 

 consequence of their actions ? How far are these acts of hostility 

 determined by the intention pf depriving another animal of life ? 

 In other words, have animals a distinct idea of life and death and 

 of the means by which life may be destroyed ? 



Let us examine the animals which are considered to be the 

 most ferocious among the mammals viz., the feline tribe. It is 

 well known that the lion, which attacks another animal in order 

 to make a meal of him, almost always kills his prey by seizing it 

 by the neck and crushing between his teeth the other's cervical 

 vertebrae. Farther, the lion's action in this maneuver is so certain 

 that he generally kills the animal at the first attempt. Are we 

 justified in inferring from this fact that the lion has a clear idea 

 of life and death, and that he crunches between his teeth his ad- 

 versary's vertebrae with the distinct idea of killing him, aware 

 that by so doing he is depriving him of life ? I do not think so. 

 When he treats his prey thus he probably merely remembers 

 from former experience that the animal will offer no further re- 

 sistance and may therefore be devoured in peace a far simpler 

 idea than those complex differentiated notions implied in a per- 

 ception of the difference between life and death. 



That, as a matter of fact, the lion does not possess the afore- 

 said idea of life as distinguished from death, and of the possibility 

 of inflicting the latter, may be seen from his behavior when he 

 springs upon a hunter who has wounded him not to devour the 

 hunter but in self-defense. If he had a distinct idea of life and 

 death and of the means at his disposal of inflicting death, this is 

 surely the occasion in which he should display it. On the con- 

 trary, however, it usually happens that when a lion springs upon 

 a hunter that has wounded him and knocks him down, he bites 

 him two or three times, wherever he can ; and, having thus satis- 

 fied his rage, he goes away, taking no further heed of his enemy, 

 whose ultimate fate depends upon what part of the body the 

 lion has bitten him. If the bite has injured some vital organ, 

 the unfortunate hunter succumbs to his injuries; but if it has 

 been inflicted upon some secondary organ only, he may escape 

 from a most critical position with comparatively little damage. 

 Hence, although the lion's claws are as keen as razors and his 



