284 LANGUAGE IN LOWER MAN. 



language, of intellectual expression which merely means 

 the capability of giving expression in words to thought or 

 emotion in certain forms of organic disease of the brain, 

 especially in those recently described as aphasia and amnesia. 



Houzeau points out that in pre-historic man there was 

 probably either no articulate language, or it was confined to 

 mere interjections or cries, which form part of the vocal 

 language of other animals. The earliest form of language 

 in man is probably the expression of pleasure and pain, of 

 joy and grief, of surprise and satisfaction. But the same 

 emotion is frequently differently expressed by different races 

 or individuals (Houzeau). The cries wrung from man under 

 agony or distress are involuntary, spontaneous, and natural. 

 They may be referred to what is called animal language, or 

 emotional language, or imitative language, in contradistinc- 

 tion to that which has been denominated by Max Miiller, 

 Carpenter, Tylor, and others ' rational ' or ' intellectual.' 

 But this emotional language is at least as eloquent and as 

 intelligible as rational language can possibly be. 



The distinction between emotional and rational language 

 is purely artificial. The one passes into the other, and both, 

 in different degrees, are possessed by other animals as well 

 as man. Tennyson describes the human infant, ' crying in 

 the night' and 6 crying for the light,' as having ' no language 

 but a cry. 9 The language of the infant unquestionably con- 

 sists at first of mere cries or calls, like those of many other 

 young animals. 



The savage, if he possess and express any sense of bereave- 

 ment, does so by cries or ivails (Houzeau) . He employs noise, 

 including cries, to terrify certain animals e.g. the shark 

 just as the lower animals intimidate their enemies (Houzeau). 



Various authors regard this simple animal cry as the 

 rudiment of speech the root of all verbal language. 



Even in civilised man grunting occurs from surliness, 

 and growling from dissatisfaction, anger, or resentment. 



There are many peoples destitute of ivritten and printed 

 language, and not a few savage races that can scarcely be 

 said to possess a spoken language, or even distinctly articulate 

 speech. In certain cases their language of whatever 



