Mind in A nimals. 355 



kept it up so long, and to his sore discomfort and detri- 

 ment. Examples of animals making their language intelligi- 

 ble to man could be multiplied ad infinitum, but we must 

 pass on to say something about their capability of under- 

 standing the language of man. 



That many of the lower animals understand something of 

 human language is a familiar fact. All the domesticated ani- 

 mals, notably the dog and the horse, can comprehend an order 

 that is given to them, though, perhaps, they may not be able 

 in all instances to understand the precise words which are 

 used. There are many occasions, however, when it is evident 

 that the knowledge of human language does extend to the 

 signification of particular words. Parrots, as is well known, 

 are well acquainted with the meanings of the words which 

 they speak. Examples have been known to the writer of 

 parrots that were able to speak in two languages, and, when 

 addressed, always replied in the language used by their 

 interlocutors, speaking English or Spanish, as the case might 

 be. " Go, bring up the cows," was an order that was daily 

 given to Lion, a large black dog, with a shaggy head, that 

 belonged to my maternal grandfather, an old-time farmer 

 who lived way back in the fifties. So well did he understand 

 the significance of these words, and the labor, worry and 

 responsibility which they implied, that he did not have to be 

 told a second time, nor have to have their import conveyed 

 to him by sign or by action of the farm lad whose business 

 it was to see that the animals were brought to the barn-yard 

 at milking time. Obedient to orders, he would trot to the 

 pasture-ground, nearly a quarter-mile distant, open the bars 

 between the lane and the field with his mouth, and then start 

 on his business with a full sense of its requirements. His 

 coming was well known to the cattle. While the most of 

 them would take their way in a quiet, orderly manner to the 

 lane, yet there were some unruly ones among them who 

 gave Lion a great deal of trouble, but he always succeeded 

 in overruling their contrary tendencies. When there was a 



