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sidled up to a gate on the roadside , which opened into a narrow lane . The owner of the mare knew that she had never been through that gate , for twelve years , and then only on one occasion , when he had driven her through it to a farm-house , where she got a feed of corn . Here was not only memory at work , but an inference was drawn by the animal from the remembered fact .
An old monkey was once to be seen at Exeter Change , who , having lost his teeth , when nuts were given him , would take a stone and crack them one by one , thus using tools to effect his purpose . The whole race of monkeys are observant animals , and are equally capable of selecting special means to accomplish a special end . Instinct teaches no such lesson . It requires a process of reason , and implies observation , inference , and design .
Birds of some species are equally sagacious and ingenious . A friend of Dr . Darwin saw , on the Northern Coast of Ireland , above a hundred crows preying upon mussels , which is not their natural food . Each crow took a mussel up into the air twenty or forty yards high , and let it fall on the stones , and thus , by breaking the shell , got possession of the fish . Havens often resort to the same contrivance ; and a little bird has been seen to hop upon a dry poppy-stem , and
shake the head with its bill till the seeds were scattered , when , lighting on the ground , it pecked them up . Lord Bacon tells us of a raven " which , in a drought , threw pebbles into a hollow tree wherein she espied water , that the water might rise within her reach . " The sparrow frequently takes possession of the nest of the martin under the eaves of houses . The intruder cannot be
dislodged , but he can be punished . The marten convokes his companions , and they hold a council of war . There is no waste of time or materials ; they proceed to plaster up the entrance of the nest , and thus leave the sparrow to be suffocated or starved in the very
contracted sphere of his ill-acquired dominions . In-this case , as in that of the well-known Newfoundland dog , who mercifully rebuked a troublesome cur , by dipping him into the water without actually drowning him , there is exhibited not only reason , but a kind of moral sense . Indeed the moral virtues of animals have sometimes been
exhibited in strange contrast with the vices of man . There is a story of two cabmen , who , meeting in a narrow street , came to a stand ' . Neither of them would back his vehicle an inch . One of them took out a newspaper to beguile the time ; the other requested the loan of it whenever it should be at liberty . Compare this with the following : —Two goats grazing about the ramparts of Plymouth citadel , got down upon a narrow ledge of the rock ; and one of them
advancing before the other until it came to an angle , was enabled to return ; but on its way back , met its companion , which placed both the animals in a most perplexing dilemma , as it was impossible for them either to pass each other , or to retrace their steps without great danger in attempting to walk backwards ; and there # as not room for them to turn round . Many persons saw their danger , but could not assist them . After a time , one of the goats cautiously
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
sidled up to a gate on the roadside , which opened into a narrow lane . The owner of the mare knew that she had never been through that gate , for twelve years , and then only on one occasion , when he had driven her through it to a farm-house , where she got a feed of corn . Here was not only memory at work , but an inference was drawn by the animal from the remembered fact .
An old monkey was once to be seen at Exeter Change , who , having lost his teeth , when nuts were given him , would take a stone and crack them one by one , thus using tools to effect his purpose . The whole race of monkeys are observant animals , and are equally capable of selecting special means to accomplish a special end . Instinct teaches no such lesson . It requires a process of reason , and implies observation , inference , and design .
Birds of some species are equally sagacious and ingenious . A friend of Dr . Darwin saw , on the Northern Coast of Ireland , above a hundred crows preying upon mussels , which is not their natural food . Each crow took a mussel up into the air twenty or forty yards high , and let it fall on the stones , and thus , by breaking the shell , got possession of the fish . Havens often resort to the same contrivance ; and a little bird has been seen to hop upon a dry poppy-stem , and
shake the head with its bill till the seeds were scattered , when , lighting on the ground , it pecked them up . Lord Bacon tells us of a raven " which , in a drought , threw pebbles into a hollow tree wherein she espied water , that the water might rise within her reach . " The sparrow frequently takes possession of the nest of the martin under the eaves of houses . The intruder cannot be
dislodged , but he can be punished . The marten convokes his companions , and they hold a council of war . There is no waste of time or materials ; they proceed to plaster up the entrance of the nest , and thus leave the sparrow to be suffocated or starved in the very
contracted sphere of his ill-acquired dominions . In-this case , as in that of the well-known Newfoundland dog , who mercifully rebuked a troublesome cur , by dipping him into the water without actually drowning him , there is exhibited not only reason , but a kind of moral sense . Indeed the moral virtues of animals have sometimes been
exhibited in strange contrast with the vices of man . There is a story of two cabmen , who , meeting in a narrow street , came to a stand ' . Neither of them would back his vehicle an inch . One of them took out a newspaper to beguile the time ; the other requested the loan of it whenever it should be at liberty . Compare this with the following : —Two goats grazing about the ramparts of Plymouth citadel , got down upon a narrow ledge of the rock ; and one of them
advancing before the other until it came to an angle , was enabled to return ; but on its way back , met its companion , which placed both the animals in a most perplexing dilemma , as it was impossible for them either to pass each other , or to retrace their steps without great danger in attempting to walk backwards ; and there # as not room for them to turn round . Many persons saw their danger , but could not assist them . After a time , one of the goats cautiously