108 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MAN 



But a special chapter shows that, on the one hand, many 

 races of mankind neither possess nor obey laws, while cer- 

 tain other animals do both. 



13. Yerbal language, or speech. But, as is fully shown in 

 the chapters on Language/ it is not absolutely absent in 

 other animals; nor is it always present in man, whether 

 civilised or savage, healthy or diseased. Max Miiller makes 

 a very artificial and futile distinction of ' rational ' language 

 as limited to man; and his controversial opponent, Pro- 

 fessor Whitney, is no more felicitous in his description of 

 animal language as contrasted with man's ' instinctive ' 

 language. This is simply the old begging of the question 

 as between instinct and reason the prejudiced or ignorant 

 ascription to instinct in other animals of what is unhesitat- 

 ingly assigned to reason in man. It seems almost impos- 

 sible for men, even of the highest culture, to regard man as 

 what he really is, zoologically, morally, and intellectually 

 himself an animal. 



14. The understanding of language is peculiar to man, 

 says Mill, who has made so many other mistakes in his 

 Mental Philosophy. His assertion is sadly contradicted 

 by a whole special chapter of facts showing that certain 

 animals not only understand each other's language but that 

 of man. 



15. Printed or written language. There are no such 

 things as printed or written records among the lower ani- 

 mals, nor are there in numerous races of mankind; but 

 a power of rudimentary writing or drawing is possessed by 

 certain animals, which can draw lines or figures, or make 

 other marks, on the ground with their feet for instance, the 

 elephant (Houzeau) . Certain ' learned ' elephants are trained 

 to tell the age of visitors by making a certain number of 

 simple footmarks undoubtedly a rudimentary kind of nota- 

 tion (Houzeau). Certain other learned animals have been 

 taught to construct words by the arrangement of letters. 

 This points to a kind of 



16. Orthography or spelling. Various learned poodles, 

 and other dogs, have been trained to place together, in 

 various combinations, the printed or painted letters of man's 



