The Speech of MonkeysGarner, R. L. (Richard Lynch)
Science
The Speech of Monkeys
Garner, R. L. (Richard Lynch)
Monkeys; Sound production by animals; Speech
Last summer I stopped at a small town in Northern Virginia. A young man
at the same hotel had two setters and a black-and-tan terrier. I
experimented extensively with these three dogs during my stay, and
deduced therefrom some conclusions which were inevitable. The hotel
verandah opened on the street, and was a place of resort for gentlemen
of leisure about town. There was also a side entrance through a large
yard. I have frequently observed the dogs lying asleep on the verandah,
when the owner would enter the side yard on a flagstone walk, often in
the midst of conversation of a dozen men. The terrier would recognise
the footsteps of his master, would utter a low sound and spring to his
feet, and rush at once in the direction whence he heard the steps. The
setters invariably seemed to know what it meant, would raise their
heads, lash their tails upon the floor, showing evident signs of
understanding the situation. I have seen this terrier recognise the
steps of his master when the latter was accompanied by two or three
other persons. The delicate precision of his hearing was marvellous, and
in no instance, so far as I observed, was he deceived in the approaching
footsteps. I cannot believe that he was guided by the sense of smell, as
it is evident that the setters, whose habits of hunting have developed
in them a much more sensitive olfactory power, would naturally have been
the first to have detected their master's approach, and yet it was
equally evident that the terrier's ears were the first to catch the
sounds.
I have observed among dogs associated with each other that where one
should bark in the distance, as though he had something at bay, his
companion, hearing him from the house, would prick up his ears, listen
for a moment, and then dash off in the direction from whence the sounds
came; whereas the bark of a strange dog, even having something at bay,
would only cause him to listen, utter a low sound or grunt, and lie down
again and take a nap, as much as to say "That's nothing to me!" I have
known many instances where dogs would follow the farm waggon to town,
and faithfully guard the waggon and its contents all day long, with a
fidelity that we seldom see in the most devoted servants. The attachment
of a dog to his master has been a subject of remark from time
immemorial, until the saying has crystallised into a maxim--"As faithful
as a watch-dog." A friend of mine had a little terrier, whose name was
Nicodemus, that had a habit of sitting in the kitchen window to watch
people pass the street. She assures me that on washdays, when the steam
condensed on the window-panes, Nicodemus would lick the moisture from
the glass in order to see through it more clearly. Could instinct be the
guide in such an act?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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