Do Animals "Commit Suicide"? 



A STUDY OF BRUTE LIMITATIONS 



I ' r 



IN that fascinating book, "Wild Animals 

 I Have Known," no chapter is more allur- 

 ing in its mixture of plain fact and fanci- 

 ful interpretation than the one which chronicles 

 the doings of the Springfield fox and its dra- 

 matic end. This story, which purports to be 

 that of the real field-life of an actual American 

 red fox, is made vivid by the human perceptions 

 and sentiments attributed to the animal as its 

 own, among which is a perfect comprehension 

 of death. This fox, it appears, knew thor- 

 oughly the use and efficacy of poison. That 

 such an animal may learn and teach its young 

 to detect by smell the taint of poison in a piece 

 of meat, and so refuse to eat the morsel on the 

 broad ground that it is unsafe, or on the nar- 

 rower ground that it has something to do with 



