MENTAL POWERS. 67 



a spider its wonderful web, quite as well," the first time it tries, 

 as when old and experienced. 



To return to our immediate subject: the lower animals, like 

 man, manifestly feel pleasure and pain, happiness and misery. - 

 Happiness is never better exhibited than by young animals, such ' 

 as puppies, kittens, lambs, &c., when playing together, like our 

 own children. Even insects play together, as has been described 

 by that excellent observer, P. Huber,' who saw ants chasing and. 

 pretending to bite each other, like so many puppies. 



The fact that the lower animals are excited by the same 

 emotions as ourselves is so well established, that it will not be 

 necessary to weary the reader by many details. Terror acts in 

 the same manner on them as on us, causing the muscles to 

 tremble, the heart to palpitate, the sphincters to be relaxed, and 

 the hair to stand on end. Suspicion, the offspring of fear, is 

 eminently characteristic of most wild animals. It is, I think, 

 impossible to read the account given by Sir E. Tennent, of the 

 behavior of the female elephants, used as decoys, without ad- 

 mitting that they intentionally practice deceit, and well know 

 what they are about. Courage and timidity are extremely variable 

 qualities in the individuals of the same species, as is plainly seen 

 in our dogs. Some dogs and horses are ill-tempered, and easily 

 turn sulky; others are good-tempered; and these qualities are 

 certainly inherited. Every one knows how liable animals are 

 to furious rage, and how plainly they show it. Many, and prob- 

 ably true, anecdotes have been published on the long-delayed and 

 artful revenge of various animals. The accurate Rengger, and 

 Brehm* state that the American and African monkeys which 

 they kept tame, certainly revenged themselves. Sir Andrew 

 Smith, a zoologist whose scrupulous accuracy was known to many 

 persons, told me the following story of which he was himself an 

 eye-witness; at the Cape of Good Hope an offlcer had often 

 plagued a certain baboon, and the animal, seeing him approaching 

 one Sunday for parade, poured water into a hole and hastily 

 made some thick mud, which he skillfully dashed over the officer 

 as he passed by, to the amusement of many bystanders. For 

 long afterwards the baboon rejoiced and triumphed whenever he 

 saw his victim. 



The love of a dog for his master is notorious; as an old 



» For the evidence on this head, see Mr. J. Traherne Moggridge's 

 most interesting work, 'Harvesting Ants and Trap-door Spiders,' 1873, 

 pp. 126, 128. 



' 'Ilecherches sur les Moeurs 'des Pourmis,' 1810, p. 173. 



» All the following statements, given on the authority of these iwo 

 naturalists, are taken from Rengger's 'Naturgesch, der Saugcthiere 

 von Paraguay,' 1830, h. 41-57, and from Brehm's 'Thjerleben,' E. i. s, 

 10-87. 



