MENTAL POWERS. 83 



surprise, anger, together with their appropriate actions, and the 

 murmur of a mother to her beloved child, are more expressive 

 than any words. That which distinguishes man from the lower 

 animals is not the understanding of articulate sounds, for, as 

 every one knows, dogs understand many words and sentences. 

 In this respect they are at the same stage of development as 

 infants, between the ages of ten and twelve months, who under- 

 stand many words and short sentences, but cannot yet utter a 

 single word. It is not the mere articulation which is our dis- 

 tinguishing character, for parrots and other birds possess this 

 power. Nor is it the mere capacity of connecting definite sounds 

 with definite ideas; for it is certain that some parrots, which have 

 been taught to speak, connect unerringly words with things, and 

 persons with events.^^ The lower animals differ from man solely 

 in his almost infinitely larger power of associating together the 

 most diversified sounds and ideas; and this obviously depends on 

 the high development of his mental powers. 



As Home Took, one of the founders of the noble science of 

 philology, observes, language is an art, like brewing or baking; 

 but writing would have been a better simile. It certainly is not 

 a true instinct, for every language has to be learnt. It differs, 

 however, widely from all ordinary arts, for man has an instinctive 

 tendency to speak, as we see in the babble of our young children; 

 whilst no child has an instinctive tendency to brew, bake, or 

 write. Moreover, no philologist now supposes that any language 

 has been deliberately invented; it has been slowly and uncon- 

 sciously developed by many steps.'^ The sounds uttered by birds 



52 I have received several detailed accounts to this effect. Admiral 

 Sir J. Sullivan, whom I know to be a careful observer, assuies me that 

 an African parrot, long kept in his father's house, invariably called 

 certain persons of the household, as well as visitors, by their names. 

 He said "good morning" to every one at breakfast, and "gcod night" 

 to each as they left the room at night, and never reversed these salu- 

 tations. To Sir J. Sullivan's father he used to add to the "good morn- 

 ing" a short sentence, which was never once repeated after his father's 

 death. He scolded violently a strange dog which came into the room 

 through the open window; and he scolded another parrot (saying 

 "you naughty poUy") which had got out of its cage, and was eating 

 apples on the kitchen table. See also, to the same effect, Houzeau on 

 parrots, 'Facultes Mentales,' tom. ii. p. 309. Dr. A. Moschkan informs 

 me that he knew a starling which never made a mistake in saying in 

 German "good morning" to persons arriving, and "good-bye, old fel- 

 low," to those departing. I could add several other such cases. 



=s See some good remarks on this head by Prof. Whitney, in his 

 ■Oriental and Linguistic Studies,' 1873, p. 354. He observes that the 

 desire of communication between man is the living force, which, in 

 the development of language, "works both consciously and uncon- 



