RECENT LITERATURE 
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tribe by tribe, quite as it does among the races and tribes of men.” In his dis- 
cussion of “The Most Intelligent Animals,” Hornaday concludes that “the 
Chimpanzee is the most intelligent of all animals below man,” though his account 
of the famous gorilla, John Daniel, leaves the reviewer in doubt as to whether, 
at least in that individual case, the palm should not have been awarded to the 
gorilla. The orang is put second and the elephant third. The remarkable mani- 
festations of intelligence in the horse and dog are ascribed to their long asso- 
ciation with man. “The Beaver manifests, in domestic economy, more intel- 
ligence, mechanical skill, and reasoning power than any other wild animal.” 
The chapter on “The Rights of Wild Animals” sounds the note so often and 
so forcibly presented in the previous works of the author. He pleads that 
“toward wild life, our highest duty is to be sane and sensible, in order to be 
just, and to promote the greatest good for the greatest number.” The chapter 
concludes with twenty-six articles of “The Wild Animals’ Bill of Rights.” 
The second section of the book is entitled “Mental Traits of Wild Animals,” 
and includes discussions of “The Brightest Minds among American Animals,” 
wherein “the prize for greatest cunning and foresight in self-preservation” is 
awarded to the common brown rat. “The championship for keen strategy in 
self-preservation belongs to the musk-oxen for their wolf-proof circle of heads 
and horns.” The wolverine is considered to display the greatest cunning, with 
the gray wolf and the grizzly bear not far behind. “Among the hoofed and 
homed animals of North America the white- tailed deer is the shrewdest in the 
recognition of its enemies, the wisest in the choice of cover, and in measures for 
self-preservation . ’ ’ 
“Keen Birds and Dull Men” is an interesting comparison of the brightest of 
the feathered tribes with three of the lowest tribes of mankind. The conclusion 
is reached that “the highest animals intellectually are higher than the lowest 
men.” .... “If the whole truth could be known, I believe it would be 
found that the stock of ideas possessed and used by the groups of highly-endowed 
birds would fully equal the ideas of such tribes of simple-minded men as those 
mentioned.” The chapters on the mental status of the orang-utan, chimpanzee, 
gorilla, and elephant are among the most valuable and interesting of the book. 
Space forbids a detailed account of their contents, and in fact they must be read 
in their entirety to be fully appreciated. The reader will emerge quite in sym- 
pathy with the conclusion that “the study of this ape’s mind (Peter, a chimpan- 
zee) is a subject fit, not for the animal psychologist, but for the child psycholo- 
gist.” “The Wisdom of the Serpent” is a chapter to be most highly commended. 
Certain aphorisms are worthy of quotation. “A fool and his snake are soon 
parted.” “If your police record is clear, you can sleep safely in the sage-brush.” 
“The largest snakes of the world exist only in the human mind.” “Men do far 
more fighting per capita than any snakes yet discovered.” 
By no means the least valuable chapter is that on “The Training of Wild 
Animals.” “It is incontestably true that dull and stupid animals can learn 
little, and perform less Really, the brain, the memory and reason 
must enter into every animal performance that amounts to anything worth 
while.” 
The author’s point of view in the last two sections on the higher- and lower 
passions of wild animals is set forth in such words as these, “Wild animals have 
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