80 Animal Life 
for all sorts of jobs, 
are generally much 
brighter and cleverer 
than draught horses. 
Birds are highly in- 
telligent, but their 
services to man are 
necessarily so limited 
that 1t is not easy to 
develop their allow- 
ance of brains. 
There remain two 
other classes of crea- 
ture, the apes and 
baboons and those 
wonderful engineers, 
the beavers. Capacity 
of a kind the big 
apes have. They can learn to count and to understand much. But they never do 
anything useful, and their life in the great forests is stupid, unintelligent, and dull. 
The baboons are far different. They have almost the highest social organization among 
mammals. They post sentries, organize for raids and mutual defence, and are individually 
most intelligent. But as they are uncertain in temper and dangerous beasts from the 
size and strength of thew jaws, they, again, do not get much chance of development. 
The beavers, which make dams across rivers to keep the water at a constant 
height all the year round, and so to secure a deep pool to swim in and to cover the 
entrances to their holes, are undoubtedly the cleverest of all the higher animals as 
builders and engineers. In most respects they are not particularly bright. Like other 
great specialists, their brains have grown lop-sided. 
To sum up, probably the elephant is the cleverest of all animals, both in original 
capacity and the faculty for its development by education. The dog has most sympathy 
and occasionally very great intelligence, readily improved by teaching. The beaver is 
the greatest of conscious animal specialists. (How far ants and insects work by thought 
is not known; but the beaver evidently does think.) The apes and monkeys are too 
like clever lunatics, and good for little either to themselves or others. 
Co) Cra 
THE BEAVER. 
A great animal specialist; his forte is engineering. 
NOTICE. 
Readers are invited to send in for publication any authenticated (and hitherto unpublished) 
instance of animal intelligence which may have come under their notice—if accompanied with a 
photograph so much the better. Other contributions, literary and photographic, are cordially 
invited. Intending contributors are requested to refer to page 5 for information regarding 
MSS., ete. 
Owing to the pressure on our space the monthly Notes and Comments have been 
unavoidably held over from this issue. 
