SENSITIVENESS. 307 



It is one of man's popular and serious errors regarding 

 other animals that they are either insensible to ordinary 

 physical pain, or at least that they are much less sensitive 

 to it than man is. In other words, by man the sufferings 

 of other animals from pain are either unknown, misunder- 

 stood, ignored, or underrated. The fact, however, is that 

 other animals in proportion probably to the elaborateness 

 and delicacy of their nervous organisation suffer pain in 

 the same way that man does, and express their suffering, 

 as well as their fear or dread of it, in many of the same 

 ways. The dog does so, for instance, in rheumatic fever 

 (Cobbe). 



2. Weather changes of all kinds ; but especially those 

 connected with 



a. Humidity as to rain and thaw. 

 Z>. Temperature as to cold and heat, 

 c. Electricity or electrical tension. 



3. Sensorial impressions, including especially 



a. Sound particularly that which is musical. 



&. Colour and form involving what is called in 



man sesthetic taste. 



Such influences, however, can scarcely be considered purely 

 physical, because sensation is intimately connected with both 

 thought and feeling ; and even in man the perception or 

 appreciation of -beauty, of form, colour, sound, is generally 

 regarded among the intellectual tastes. 



Many animals are so susceptible to atmospheric influences 

 that they are sometimes supposed to be gifted with a sort of 

 prescience of coming weather changes such as rain, wind, 

 cold, heat, or thunder. They are popularly regarded as a 

 kind of weather-prophets, forecasters or prognosticates, 

 superior in some cases, it is averred, to the barometer itself. 

 Among sensitive animals of this kind are to be mentioned 

 the common crow (Baird and Houzeau) ; robin of England 

 and Canada, and the blackbird of England (Adams); the 

 porcupine (Adams) ; South American cattle, dolphins, and 

 spiders ( c Percy Anecdotes ') ; the swallow, duck, seamaw, 

 heron, common fowl (cock), and other birds (Houzeau) ; the 



x 2 



