CHAPTER XXI. 



SENSITIVENESS. 



WHAT is called sensitiveness in man occurs equally in other 

 animals, and in them it is a subject of the highest impor- 

 tance in relation to man's treatment of them. Many of 

 man's errors of treatment, much of his ill-usage of subject 

 animals, unquestionably depend on his belief that other 

 animals have not the sensitiveness of man, that they do not 

 even feel physical pain. It is, therefore, of the utmost 

 importance to show that the lower animals, like man him- 

 self, are sensitive frequently highly or morbidly so to 

 impressions or influences that are either 



1. Simply physical. 



2. Purely moral or mental ; or 



3. Conjointly physical and psychical. 



Of such influences, the most important in reference to 

 our present subject are those that are mainly or exclusively 

 psychical. They include, however, so long and varied a cate- 

 gory that it is only possible and proper to give illustrations 

 of their character and of their modus operandi. 



Sensitiveness to mental or moral influences occurs in 

 many animals in whom it would certainly not be looked for 

 by those ignorant of the true characters or capabilities of 

 the lower animals. Thus Pierquin mentions a tame wolf 

 that felt much its mistress's absence to such a degree, indeed, 

 that it refused food, while at or on her return it exhibited an 

 ecstasy of joy so intense that it proved fatal. Houzeau, too, 

 has cited a case of the death of the wolf from grief. 



In the dog and elephant especially, all sorts of ridicule, 

 including sarcasm or satire, are keenly felt and often clan- 



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