THE COUNTRY HOME [chapter 



to undertake to comprehend their methods of ex- 

 pression. An acute observer tells us that she 

 watched her cat feeding two kittens. Each kitten 

 could understand the call of its mother, when she 

 brought a mouse, and never responded when the 

 other one was summoned. Youatt asserted that two 

 hounds which he possessed understood French; 

 it is more likely that he thoroughly understood dog 

 language. Prof. Evans thinks that an animal 

 language could be constructed, by using which we 

 could communicate with quite a range of the higher 

 mammals. 



Animal language is, at its base, precisely the 

 same as our own; it is only in its evolution that it 

 has differentiated into unlike channels. Bayard 

 Taylor tells us that the Hindoos and Arabs always 

 talk to their elephants and camels as if they were 

 human. Taylor himself found that, by talking to 

 his dromedary, the animal after a few months cer- 

 tainly did understand much that he said. Going 

 to Barnum's Museum, Taylor saw the hippopot- 

 amus looking very dejected; when he spoke to him 

 in Arabic, saying, "I know you; come here to me," 

 the huge animal at once turned his head; and when 

 the words were repeated, it came up to Taylor and 



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