248 



THE LOG OF THE SUN 



intentional act, other nearly related species of 

 lizards would imitate it, as soon as they perceived 

 the success which attended it. 



That many animals have a kind of language is 

 nowadays admitted to be a truism, but this is more 

 evident among mammals and birds, and, review- 

 ing the classes of the former, w T e find a more or 

 less defined ascending complexity and increased 

 number of varying sounds as w r e pass from the 

 lower forms — kangaroos and moles — to the higher 

 herb-and-flesh-eaters, and particularly monkeys. 



Squeaks and grunts constitute the vocabulary, 

 if w 7 e dignify it by that name, of the mammals. 

 The sloths, those curious animals whose entire 

 life is spent clinging to the underside of branches, 

 on whose leaves they feed, may be said almost to 

 be voiceless, so seldom do they give utterance to 

 the nameless wail which constitutes their only 

 utterance. Even w T hen being torn to pieces by an 

 enemy, they offer no resistance and emit no sound, 

 but fold their claws around their body and sub- 

 mit to the inevitable as silently and as stoically 

 as did ever an ancient Spartan. 



Great fear of death will often cause an animal 

 to utter sounds which are different from those 

 produced under any other conditions. When an 

 elephant is angry or excited, his trumpeting is 

 terribly loud and shrill; but when a mother ele- 

 phant is "talking" to her child, while the same 

 sonorous, metallic quality is present, yet it is 



