72 EVOLUTION OF MIND 



by young English vipers removed by Csesarean section from 

 the abdomen of their mothers, and this though without 

 fangs to carry their threats into execution. 



Of the Lacertilia nothing can be said that has not been 

 said of animals much lower in the zoological scale. Thus 

 the iguana knows its master and his dogs, and answers its 

 master's call (Nichols). But this recognition of the per- 

 sonality or individuality of other animal genera or of man 

 this understanding of and reply to man's signals occur 

 even among the Invertebrata. 



In the class Aves, or birds, we make another marked 

 advance as regards psychical development. A great deal is 

 known of their mental endowments, especially in regard to 

 such birds as the parrot, starling, canary, and other cage 

 or pet birds, the domestic fowl and other barn-yard birds, 

 with various menagerie and game birds. So much, indeed, 

 has been written in illustration of the instinct or intelligence 

 of birds, that it must suffice here to summarise the leading 

 psychical characteristics of birds as a class. Their mental 

 aptitudes or acquirements, then, include 



1. Articulate speech, including conversation, declamation, 

 and the power of appropriate remark and reply. 



2. Language intelligible to man even when not articulate, 

 including that of sound, voice, look, gesture, action all as 

 described in the chapters on ' Language : ' by which lan- 

 guage they make known to each other, or to man, their 

 physical wants or needs, or their other desires. 



3. Fertility of resource, including the trying of means and 

 the selection of the best. 



4. Improvement of dwellings. 



5. Appreciation of domestic comfort (Carpenter). 



6. Capacity for a high degree of education, especially in 

 song and speech. 



7. Imitativeness in a high degree, including ventrilo- 

 quism. 



8. Humanity to and sympathy with each other, in the 

 form of feeding or cheering their captive fellows. 



9. On the other hand, malicious joy sometimes in the 

 sufferings of others. 



