134 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XX. No. 500 



there any other day of the week, though the church bells are rung 

 and numerous services are held nearly every day. 



If on Sunday I go to the post-office, which is on the north-west 

 corner of the street-crossing, where we usually turn south to the 

 church, instead of going from there direct to the office as on other 

 days, he tm-ns to the south and goes to the church. He never 

 willingly goes to the post-office on Sunday, but always stops there 

 on week-days of his own accord, if permitted. Many times I have 

 taken other streets on Sunday and approached the church from 

 other directions; but in all cases, when left tree, he invariably 

 takes the first street leading to the church. I have experimented 

 with him very largely in this respect, vcitli a view to learning 

 how he keeps the run of time, but am unable to satisfactorily 

 account for it. I have also observed and experimented with him 

 in a great many other ways, and have taught him to know the 

 meaning of many words. 



When alarmed at anything, he looks back to me with a fright- 

 ened look, as much as to say, " Will it harm me?" On my say- 

 ing to him, " All right, go on," he moves on. If much frightened, 

 he will repeatedly look back for assurance from me. 



He knows the meaning of many words, such as office, post- 

 office, school-house, mill, farm, cemetery, church, apple, corn, 

 grass, water, and many others. The fact that he knows the mean- 

 ing of these words, or at least attaches a meaning to them, I have 

 tested many times in many ways, the relation of which would 

 make this paper too long. When his corn is about used up, if I 

 speak of it to him and say, " Deck, your corn is out; you must go 

 to the mill," even before starting from home, he turns in at the 

 mill as I go by, and goes up to the ofiice door where I have been in 

 the habit of ordering his food. Sometimes I have forgotten it by 

 the time I come opposite the mill, and would have gone by; but 

 he has not forgotten it. and turns in. If I say to him, " Do you 

 want an apple?" of which he is very fond, he puts on the most 

 wistful look and does all in his power to say that he does ; and if 

 the apple is not produced at once, he begins to explore my pockets 

 and clothing with his nose in search of an apple suspected to be 

 concealed about my person. If I say to him, "Do you want 

 grass ? " he at once shows that he expects to be turned out upon 

 pasture. 



He also knows a number of people by name and where they 

 reside ; and if told to stop at the residence of one of them, naming 

 him, he will do so, without any guiding. 



These are only a few of the many evidences of his intelligence. 

 Hundreds of examples inight be given showing his knowledge and 

 intelligence, and that he gives very close attention to and under- 

 stands what is said to him. 



Do not these facts strongly indicate that the horse has more 

 than mere instinct, that he reasons; that out of the store-house of 

 his knowledge and experience he forms conclusions, thoughts, 

 purposes, and plans? He understands certain symbols, such as 

 words ; he keeps the run of time and knows uniformly when Sun- 

 day comes, for he has not made a mistake in this respect for more 

 than twelve years past; he uses many and diverse means for 

 making his wants known. 



Instinct is supposed to imply inherited knowledge of objects 

 and relations in respect to which it is exercised, and will usually, 

 if not always, operate where there is no experience to guide. But 

 this horse's knowledge, in these respects, has not been inherited, 

 but is acquired. He never was at this church till he was six 

 years old. His mother was probably never there. In instinct 

 there is no necessary knowledge of means and ends implied, 

 though such knowledge may be present, but instinct is always 

 manifested in like manner by all individuals of the same species, 

 under like circumstances, which is certainly not true in this case. 



Hence I infer that this horse does I'eason; that he has a high 

 degree of intelligence, even much more than he is able to make 

 us understand and appreciate. 



But does the fact of his observing Sunday imply a moral 

 sense ? Why does he seek to go to the church on that day ? It 

 has been said that animals do reasonable things without having 

 the gift of reason; that they do things involving distant foresight 

 without having any knowledge of the future ; that they work for 

 that which is to be without seeing or feelingj.anything beyond 



what is ; that they enjoy, but do not understand ; that reason works 

 upon and through them, but is not in them. The facts that I 

 have related and observed make me greatly doubt many of these 

 statements. I find it hard to sharply define the limits between 

 instinct and reason. The facts that I have related indicate rea- 

 son, intelligence, motives, and the formulation of plans, methods, 

 and schemes for carrying out preconceived purposes. Some of 

 the acts, at least, indicate pure reason based upon former and re- 

 membered sensations, perceptions, and knowledge, and the purpose 

 to gratify merely mental desires. 



What motive does this horse have for going to church every 

 Sunday, even at a sacrifice sometimes? It is not for rest, it is not 

 shelter, it is not feed, it is not company, it is not to gratify any 

 merely physical want, for all these things he has elsewhere every 

 day. Is it not purely an intellectual or moral want that he seeks 

 to gratify? He stands near the church door, hears much of the 

 exercises, especially the singing, and will remain, almost without 

 motion, whether tied or not, till the services are over, and I am 

 ready to go home. But it cannot be for the mere speaking and 

 singing that he hears there, for he often hears speaking, singing, 

 concerts, the Salvation Army, and music of various kinds while 

 he stands tied at the office on the public square; but none of these 

 take the place of his church-going. 



These facts I have given as tending to illustrate and explain 

 animal intelligence. I have given only such as I have verified 

 many times. T. B. Redding. 



Newcastle, Ind., Aug. 2'2. 



The English Sparrow and our Native Biids. 



I AM obliged to send a different report regarding the influence 

 of the English sparrow on the presence of native wild birds in a 

 country village. 



In 1874-5 there were not more than one or two pairs of these 

 foreigners in the village of Fort Edward. In less than ten years 

 they numbered hundreds, and long since seemed to have reached 

 the limit of the winter-food capacity of the district, being dis- 

 tributed among the farmers' barns as well as in the village. 



Before their arrival the chipping sparrow was plentiful ; now it 

 is seldom seen. The song-sparrow nested frequently; I have not 

 seen them in the village as residents for several years. Catbirds 

 were not infrequent; now they come in the early spring for a few- 

 days, then disappear, though thickets on the riVer-bank near the 

 town are especially favorable. Summer yellow-birds built often 

 in the low trees ; I have not seen a single resident this summer. 

 Wilson's thrush also was an occasional resident; none have been 

 here for four or five years. The vireo used to build and sing in 

 the elms and apple-trees; theyare very rare indeed now. The 

 wood-phoebes, though their early morning song is still heard, are 

 few in number where they were once abundant. The robin is 

 almost the sole bird, in so far as I have observed, that holds his 

 own regardless. I will except also the black martin, or house 

 martin, who manages to turn out about four-fifths of the spar- 

 rows. The other fifth so blockade the entrance to the holes with 

 their nests that the martin is effectually shut out. Bluebirds too 

 have left us, they are too weak, and too refined in their tastes to 

 long live neighbors to such low-lived little beasts as the filth-lov- 

 ing, quarrelsome, meddlesome sparrows. 



I have a box in my garden which the sparrows do not dare to 

 occupy, for they know me. But the bluebirds, who formerly 

 nested there, come occasionally in the spring, have a tilt or two 

 in the trees with the sparrows, then leave in disgust. Probably 

 no native wild bird begins to have the mental development and 

 quick wit possessed by the English sparrow. But all his wit runs 

 to saving his precious self from danger and from exertion ; hence 

 he will, withoutdoubt, persist. See, for example, how little strength 

 he uses in avoiding danger. He just gets beyond range of whip 

 or stone, and sits and calmly looks you over. He avoids poison 

 with as much foresight as you could, and will starve rather than 

 eat suspected food. He rolls in mud and dirt, oblivious of all 

 else, just for the fun of having a lively squabble with some fellow, 

 and when it is over is pecking about in the next ten seconds as if 

 nothing had happened. 



