Mind in Animals, 355 
kept it up so long, and to his sore discomfort and detri- 
ment. Examples of animals making their language intelligi- 
ble to man could be multiplied ad znfinitum, but we must 
pass on to say something about their capability of under- 
standing the language of man. 
That many of the lower animals understand something of 
human language is a familiar fact. All the domesticated ani- 
mals, notably the dog and the horse, can comprehend an order 
that is given to them, though, perhaps, they may not be able 
in all instances to understand the precise words which are 
used. There are many occasions, however, when it is evident 
that the knowledge of human language does extend to the 
signification of particular words. Parrots, as is well known, 
are well acquainted with the meanings of the words which 
they speak. Examples have been known to the writer of 
parrots that were able to speak in two languages, and, when 
addressed, always replied in the language used by their 
interlocutors, speaking English or Spanish, as the case might 
be. “Go, bring up the cows,” was an order that was daily 
given to Lion, a large black dog, with a shaggy head, that 
belonged to my maternal grandfather, an old-time farmer 
who lived way back in the fifties. So well did he understand 
the significance of these words, and the labor, worry and 
responsibility which they implied, that he did not have to be 
told a second time, nor have to have their import conveyed 
to him by sign or by action of the farm lad whose business 
it was to see that the animals were brought to the barn-yard 
at milking time. Obedient to orders, he would trot to the 
pasture-ground, nearly a quarter-mile distant, open the bars 
between the lane and the field with his mouth, and then start 
on his business with a full sense of its requirements. His 
coming was well known to the cattle. While the most of 
them would take their way in a quiet, orderly manner to the 
lane, yet there were some unruly ones among them who 
gave Lion a great deal of trouble, but he always succeeded 
in overruling their contrary tendencies. When there was a 
