The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals: A Book of Personal ObservationsHornaday, William T. (William Temple)
Science
The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals: A Book of Personal Observations
Hornaday, William T. (William Temple)
Animal behavior
For observation and study, the whole vast world of living
creatures is ours, throughout all zones and all lands. It is not
ours to flout, to abuse, or to exterminate as we please. While for
practical reasons we do not here address ourselves to the
invertebrates, nor even to the sea-rovers, we can not keep them
out of the background of our thoughts. The living world is so vast
and so varied, so beautiful and so ugly, so delightful and so
terrible, so interesting and so commonplace, that each step we
make through it reveals things different and previously unknown.
The Frame of Mind. To the inquirer who enters the field of animal
thought with an open mind, and free from the trammels of egotism
and fear regarding man's place in nature, this study will prove an
endless succession of surprises and delights. In behalf of the
utmost tale of results, the inquirer should summon to his aid his
rules of evidence, his common sense, his love of fair play, and
the inexorable logic of his youthful geometry.
And now let us clear away a few weeds from the entrance to our
field, and reveal its cornerstones and boundary lines. To a
correct understanding of any subject a correct point of view is
absolutely essential.
In a commonplace and desultory way man has been mildly interested
in the intelligence of animals for at least 30,000 years. The Cro-
Magnons of that far time possessed real artistic talent, and on
the smooth stone walls and ceilings of the caves of France they
drew many wonderful pictures of mammoths, European bison, wild
cattle, rhinoceroses and other animals of their period. Ever since
man took unto himself certain tractable wild animals, and made
perpetual thralls of the horse, the dog, the cat, the cattle,
sheep, goats and swine, he has noted their intelligent ways. Ever
since the first caveman began to hunt wild beasts and slay them
with clubs and stones, the two warring forces have been interested
in each other, but for about 25,000 years I think that the wild
beasts knew about as much of man's intelligence as men knew of
theirs.
I leave to those who are interested in history the task of
revealing the date, or the period, when scholarly men first began
to pay serious attention to the animal mind.
In 1895 when Mr. George J. Romanes, of London, published his
excellent work on "Animal Intelligence," on one of its first pages
he blithely brushed aside as of little account all the
observations, articles and papers on his subject that had been
published previous to that time. Now mark how swiftly history can
repeat itself, and also bring retribution.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account