348 UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN LANGUAGE. 



That domestic animals know the meaning of the words, 

 or combinations thereof, embodied in man's orders is familiar, 

 as a matter of daily experience, to every master or mistress 

 of household pets, to every farmer and farm servant, ostler 

 and jockey, sportsman or huntsman, shepherd or ploughman, 

 carter or waggoner, cabdriver, coachman, or postilion, dog- 

 breaker and horse-trainer. Illustrations are abundant in 

 every farmyard, stable, or byre, on every country road, in 

 every town street, and in the homes, rich and poor, of the 

 great majority of the population of all civilised countries. 

 But notwithstanding the familiarity of the fact that the dog, 

 horse, ass, elephant, fowl, cattle, parrot, and hosts of other 

 animals understand, so as to obey, man's verbal commands, 

 there is reason to believe that little or no consideration is 

 given to the number and variety of the words and phrases 

 that are embodied in man's commonest orders to servant 

 animals. 



In certain cases there may be a knowledge of the 

 meaning of each individual word used in man's conversa- 

 tion, but, more generally and probably, his dog gathers 

 only the general purport or scope of his remarks. 



In either case not only is there a correct interpretation 

 of man's meaning, but the animal acts appropriately upon 

 its interpretation by obeying his commands, complying 

 with his requests, answering his queries, avoiding danger, 

 attending at meals, showing sympathy, or fear, or other 

 responsive emotions, supplying his wants, accepting his 

 invitations or promises, adopting his suggestions, and so on. 



Nor is the dog the only animal which thus understands 

 man's language and is guided by it. The horse, cat, rein- 

 deer, elephant, sheep, cattle and goats, beaver, Barbary and 

 other apes, trained and other monkeys, orang and chim- 

 panzee, common seal, hedgehog, mouse, sea bear, dolphin, 

 various fish, falcon, Chinese ducks, Chinese fishing cormorants, 

 parrots, and other birds, and in general all tamed and 

 domestic animals, understand one or more of the modes by 

 which man expresses his ideas, wishes, or commands, as 

 well as these ideas, wishes or commands themselves, how- 

 ever expressed. All of them, for instance, understand his 



