2 Speech in Animals . [January, 
those parts of the brain which control and regulate the 
action of the vocal organs. This development, it is scarcely 
needful to say, is most likely to be met with among grega- 
rious species which require and possess a tolerably complete 
language of their own. 
But there is still a further condition : an animal before it 
can be expected to learn human speech must be brought 
into close and friendly intercourse with man. The impossi- 
bility, or at least the difficulty, of such intercourse, espe- 
cially in those countries where experiments of this kind 
have been generally attempted, is a most serious obstacle. 
Another kindred drawback is that many of the most pro- 
mising animals do not — in Europe at least— breed in 
captivity, and are thus withdrawn from hereditary influence 
and from a selective development carried on through a 
number of generations. 
As regards the birds which have hitherto acquired some 
knowledge and command of human speech, there prevails a 
difference of opinion. The question arises, Do they under- 
stand the sounds they remember and repeat, and use them 
with a due regard to their meaning ; or do they reproduce 
words in the same manner as does a human mimic when 
imitating the squeak of a pig or the quack of a duck, with- 
out any knowledge of or care for signification ? The latter is 
the current opinion. It is maintained that every appro- 
priate, and especially every witty, thing said by a parrot is 
a mere coincidence. But this view admits of an easy and 
complete refutation. We ask, Is the bird in the habit of 
repeating the happy phrases which figure in popular anec- 
dotes, in season and out of season ? If so, we might admit 
that “ Polly ” speaks merely by rote, and without under- 
standing. But there is good evidence to show that parrots 
can and do connedt their utterances with certain objedts, 
events, times, and other circumstances, and do not therefore 
speak simply at random. Of this the following cases, for 
which we can personally vouch, will serve as proof : — A 
parrot whenever she saw any food being prepared or con- 
sumed invariably cried “ Give Polly a bit, if you please ! ” — 
an exclamation which she was never known to utter on any 
other occasion. Another was accustomed to have her cage 
covered over with a shawl at roosting-time, in order to shut 
out the gaslight : if this was forgotten the parrot cried out 
very emphatically “ Polly wants to go to bed 1 ” This 
speech she was never known to utter at any other time. A 
magpie, which belonged to a neighbour of ours at Stow- 
market, learnt, without any instrudtion, the names of several 
