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- AND WILL PREVA.
“yom, IE).
nuvinw or NEW Boor.
‘Phe Animal Kingdom described*and arranged, in conformity
. with its Organization, by the Baron Cuvier, &c. «With addi-
‘tional descriptions and other original matter. By Edw. Grif-
4 fiths, Fe L. S., and others. Part IX. » London, 1826. Whit-
aker, ue
.
” . ~ .
, Nearly two years ago, the commencement of this work, was
ommendably announced, and the manuer described in which
+ the translator had taken up the subject; adding greatly to the.
famous, Regne Animal of Cuvier from recent discoveries and
* abservations, which tended to set the study of Zoo!
» © broader basis, and render it at the same time: more de!
* “and more instructive, Since that period, the publication has
: proceeded with uninterrupted success, and we have now before
+. ugthe Niath Part, from a review of which, our readers will be
enabled to judge of the chiracter of the whole. Fovbres
¥¢y -© One of the inost important featgres in a production of this
, class is to be found in the execution of the plates; and we have
* ‘pleasure in stating thet neither paigs nor expense seem to have
‘been spared to render these what they ought to be, as accom-
=paniments and illustrations of so valuable a book. / They
os chgrayed in line, and extremely well done, whether we view
xhem as specimens of the mechanical part of the art, or a3 spi-
sited‘and characteristic representations of the various animals.
In either way they merit entire approbatoin. *
With regard to the literary and scientific portion of this fasie
2
&
3
me culus, we have, with some’ slight exception, to speak of it in
zerms equally laudatory, Diligence, research, and care appear
~ “hot to be wanting—indeed there may,’perhaps, be too much of
the last-mentioned quality—the long details of the shooting of
“leur old neighbour the Elephant in Exeter, ‘Change might we
think have been spared without loss, after:they had done so
* sauch towards filling all the newspapers of the day. This is,
however, mere opinion, and Mr. Grifliths may be right in con-
sidering them too curious to be omitted in a Natural History.
-<' This Part concludes the Order Pachydermata, and begins the
* Order Ruminantia, both in the Class Mammalia:—in the’ for-
‘mer, the interesting question of instinct is ably discussed, and
me remarkable stories are told in support of the doctrines
«maintained by the writer,”
- “The real difference (he says) between brute reason and hu-
anan does not appear to us to be in the capability afforded to
‘ghe latter and denied to the former. e elephant that had a
yeasonable knowledge that a current of air would move a comi-
paratively light body, and that a sudden resistance would cause
the same current to turn in a contrary direction from that which
w rst given it, went as far in an intellectual operation,
.‘and availed bimself of as much of past experieuce and associa-
tion, as the human savage could do: but all the experience and
ull the cultivation in the wold would never enable the same
elephant to penetrate the principles of mechanical powers; fo
‘understand the dectrines of avgles; to calculate the extent of
resisting mediums. Not go the savage :—we kuow, if not expe-
=". vimentally, at least by analogy, that his mind is capable in some
directions, of an indefinite extent of improvement: reason in
a
xe the brute is rudimentary, and incapable of progression; in man
it attains a degee of ‘developement, proportioned, as we have
said, to the pains bestowed upon its culture. . And this is per-
‘rectly compatible wich the accountable condition of man, and
the contrary state of lower animals.’ They, in all probability,
‘uave not arrived at what is called a moral sense: their rudimen-
‘tary reason’ has not attained to a comprehension of right apd
wrong; their intellectual restricted gift therefore brings with it
jie reciprocity’ of obligation; they have not eaten the fruit of
‘ihe tree of kuowledye of good and evil; their eyes are not open-
ved. ON ee ee
“\# Duriog our waking moments, as our senses are continually
acted upon by surrounding objects, they are constantly receiv-
ging impressions of various kinds, ‘hese impressions, however,
‘do not necessarily form Ideas; we see objects, we hear sounds,
‘we touch bodies—but all thesé impressions roay be utterly in-
. consequencial in regard to our intelligence, and take place with-
out producing a single idea: but if the stimulus of some want
or desire produce the preparatory act of which we baye bee
ap king, ia other words, it we place ourselves in @ state of at:
. ¢ention, and fix that attention on an abject by which our senses
; are impressed, one or man, ideas are the inmediate resujt.
‘Now this faculty of attention, which follows sensation, and pro-
* “Auces ideas, is certainly possessed by avimals; it is superfluous
» ko offer eny proof of this; were it otherwise, animals could not
be of the smallest utility to man.’ Itis possessed in the highest
degree by the mammiferous animals, whose senses and cerberal
conformation are the’ most perfcet, when compared with our
awn. “It must be'confessed, however, that this faculty, on which
** gil intellect is founded, is obviously possessed, by the most per-
4ect of these animals, in a much inferior degree to thatin which
‘it exists iv mans their senses, like his, receive impressions from
external objects, but to the majority of such impressions or sen-
asations they pay no attention; they only take notice of those
“which ure immediately relative to their habitual wants, and
" 4helr ideas must: fonsequently be few, and very little varied ;
_ NEW-XORH, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1826,
vary their actions, or extend, in any degree, the circle of their
ideas. This takes place among them to the greatest degree we
eyer witness it, under the influeace of man j; under his guidance
they are susceptible of an augmented education; but when they
are left to themselves, their improvability js very bimitsd, . All
objects, except those in which their physical wants ave inter-
ested areto them as nothing; nature presents to their yiew no
object of wonder, of curiosity, of admiratign, or of love; pothing
cau interest them but what ministers to the relief of their wants,
the gratification of their appetites, security from danger, or en-
joyment of repose; all else is seen without attention, and with-
out intelligence. There is, however, a: vast difference. in this
respect, between animals of different species. .
“Look, for instance, at the attestion and apparent curiosity
with which a monkey examines every object before it, compar-
ed with the apathy of the swine! But it must be questioned
whether all this sagacious attention be not finally referrible to
is physical wants. He appears, indeed to examine bodies with
the eye of a philosopher; but itis more than probable that a dis-
covery-of their esculent properties, if they have any, is all he
has in view. Animals then possess, in a, certain degree, the
power’ of attention, and consequently forming ideas, That
these ideas remain impressed on their sensoria, and frequently
recur, is quite evident; in other words, that they have memory.
lt is equally evident that numerous and varied assdciations are
formed between these ideas, and that animals deduce thence,
many judgments; which judgments, like our own, are trae or
tglse, according to the premises on which they rest, and the ac-
curacy with which they are deduced ; jn short, that they are as
unlike the deductipns of instinct, and, as fur as they go, as like
those of human intelligence, as sufliciently to infer identity. ~ '
“It is sel€evident that the intelligence of every being must
be limited by the number and. variety of its ideas. ‘These, as
we have seen, depend upon the degree of attention, There ist
kind of successive dependence in tie intellectual faculties, each
one being proportioned to the(s{vengih of its precursor. We
allow that animals possess aticntion, memory, association, and
judgmeut, or the power of deducing inferences from-omparison
of ideas, But if the attention be limited, so is the number of |
ideas, so is the memory ; the éssociatins ae consequently an-
varied, the judgments few, and resulting from very simple pro-
cesses of comparison, That this conclusion is warranted by
the observation of the action of animals, cannot be denied; ex-
cept in the case of those instinctive operjtions whieh have no-
thing to do with the present question. . That animals can com-
are two or more objects present to their senses, discern some
of their relations, and execute an act of judgment thereupon, is
lear.” oe . ‘
tes,
years ago belonged to Mr. Cross,
at Exerter Change, attained to the practice of a curious trick,
which by repetition might be said to have acquired, it indeed
instinct could be acquired, something of an instinctive charac-
ter: but which, the first time it occurred atleast, seems attribu-
table to nothing short of reason. Itis the usual part of the
performances of an elephant at a publie exhibition, to pick u
a piece of coin, thrown within his reach for the purpose, with
the finger-like appendage ut the extremity of the. trunk; on
one o¢casion a sixpence was throwa down, which -happened to
rolla little out of the reach of the animal, not far from the
wall; being desired to pick it up, he stretched out his proboscis
several times to reach it; lid then stood motionless for a few
seconds, evidently considering, we haye no hesitation in saying
evidently considering, how! to act; he then stretched his pro-
oscis in a strait Jine as far ws he could, @ little distance above
the coin, and blew with great force agaiust the wall; the angle
produced by the opposition'of the wal], made the current of air
act under the coin as he evidently intended and ajticipated it
would, ‘and it was curious t0 observe the sixpence travelling by
these means towards the animal, .tillit came within. his reach,
and he pi
be ¢ deres a‘lucky thonght, a clever expedient,
under sirgilar circumstances jn any map. t was an action per-
: HO. 45,
pesled to by bis mahant tq remove a branch frow a tree which®
hung too low to Taise the tent pole; the animal looked at the
pole as if measuring it with his eye, then at the tiee and im-
pending branch; ke then turned his ramp towards the trunk of *
the tree, stepped a couple of paces forward, took the bianch iri,
his trunk, and felt as if examining where it would split off; find-
ing it easy atthis place, he moved a Jittle back to where it was
thicker; then taking a tirm hold, he gave it three or four succes-
sive swings, increasing his force, till with one very powerful
effort it tore aid fell on the ground. Being appealed to, tore-
moye another branch still higher, he looked up, stretched his ?
proboscis, and caughtouly a. twig or twoand sqme leaves; he
was urged again, he shook his ears and gaye a piping sound of
displeasure ; but the mohat insisting, after another vain attempt,,
he caught the bearing pole of a dooly (a kind of palanqnin,)
and shook it with violence, making a poor sick soldier immedi-
ately start out of it; the hint was syilicient—he would not be?
tified with, “0 * : : :
‘(At the seige of Bhurtpore, in the year 1805, aa affair oc
curred between two clephants, which displays at once the chav
racter and mental capability, the passions, cunning, and re-*
sources of these curious animals.
countless host of followers and attendants, and thousands of
cattle, had been for a long time before the city, whem on the*,
approach of the hot season, and of the dry hot winds, the sup»
ply of water in the neighbourhood of the camp necessary for
the supply of so many beings began to fail; the ponds or tanks
bad dried up, aid no more water was left in the iminensé wells
ot the country would furnish. The multitude of men and cat-
tle that were unceasing!y at the wells, particularly the largest,
occasioned no inconsiderable straggle for the priority in procu- 5
ting the supply for which each were. to seek, pnd the conse-
quent confusion on the spot was frequently very considerable. *
On one occasion, two elephant drivers, each with his elephant,
the one’ remarkably large and strong, and the other compara,
tively small and weak, were at the well together; the small ele-
phant had been provided by nis magter with a bucket forthe ®:
occasion, which he carried at the end of his proboscis ;. but the
larger animal, being. destitute. of this necrssary vessel, either
spontaneously or by desire of his keeper cized the bucket, and 4
easily wrested it away ‘from his less powerful fellow-seryant;
the latter was too sensible of his inferiority, openly > resent
the insult, though it was obsious that he felt it; but great squab.
bling andabuse ensued between the keepers, At Ipngth the
weaker animal, watching hij oppottanity when the other was
standing with his side to the well, retired backwards a few paces,
in a very quiet unsuspicious matner, and then rushing forward
with all his might, drove his head against the side of the other,
and fairly pushed him into the well. An inquiry might naturally
be made here, whether these animal were in the case in question,
possessed of any thing like a moral sense? We should certain-
ly have no inclination to refer a moral sense strictly speaking,
ia any case to the. lower animals; its existence, independently
of eduéation and habit in man, may be problematical ; put there |
seems little doubt that the animals in question had acguired a
principle not far, if at all, removed from a partial knowledge
of rightand wrong: being constantly fed by portions or mes-
ses, it nay Le easily supposed that it attained & knowledge of
meum and (uum, and such a knowledge, however limited in its
beginning, might, from the constant intercourse of thee crea-* *
tures with man, be in some degree improved, (of which instinct
is altogether incapable,) and more largely applied. This no-
tion, however, presuppoes a limited degree of reason in the -
animal, It may easily be imagined that great inconvenience ,
was immediately experienced, and serious apprehensions quick-
ly followed, and the water in the well, on which the existence;
of so many seemed in agreat measure to dépend, would be
spoiled, or at leastinjured, by the unwieldy brute which was
>
twenty feet below the common level, there did notappear to be
any means that coutd be adopted to get the animal out. by main
force, at least without ixjuring him: there were many feet of ,
water below the elephant, who floated with ease on its surface,
and, experiencing considerable pleasure from his cool retreat,
evinced but little inclination even to exert what means he might
possess in hithself of escape, A vast number of fascines had
been employed by the army in conducting the siege, and at
fectly indifferent, Lad no relation either to self preservation or
to propagation, ~ * ; [Tee Meta ® os
“Some young camels belonging to a much respected friend
of the editor, and brother of a very‘yaluable contributor tg this
work, were travelling with the army, when they had occasion
to cross the Jumna iva flat-bottomed boat; the novelty of the
thing excited their fears to such a degree that it seemed impos-
sible to drive or induce them to enter the host spontaneously ;
upon which one of the mohants, or elephant-keepers, called to
his elephant, and desired hin to drive them in} the animal im-
mediately put on a furtous appearance, trumpeted with his pro-
boscis, shook his ears, roared, struck the ground to the right
And left, and blew the dust jn clonds ‘towards
fectually subdued one great fear in the refractory camels by ex-
citing a greater, that they bolted into the boat in ‘the greatest
length it occurred to the elephant-keeper, that a sufficient num. | -
ber of these (which may be compared to bundles of wood) might *
be lowered into the well to makea pile, which might be raised >
to the top, if the animal could be ii structed aste the necessary: .
means of laying them in regular succession under his feet. Per J .
mission having been obtained from the engineer d£jcers to use, *
the fascines, which were atthe time put away in’ several piles’ ~
of very considerable height, the keeper had to teach this ele«
phant the lesson, which by means of that extraordinary ascen
tellectual resources of the animal ijself, he was sqon enable ta .”
do; and the elephant began quickly to place ench fascine as it.
was lowered to him, successively. under him, uuti! in a lithe
time he was enabled to stand upon them: by this time, however, . ©
hurry,—-when the elephant tp-assumed his composure, and de-
yey extragrdinary gircuinstances are necessary tg make then
‘ a ’ . w . oy t
‘ :
nae . s
liberately walked back ta bis post, * The same cleptiagt was ap-
‘ ‘ <
Lo t
‘ % !
the cunning brute, enjoying the cool pleasure of his situatio aa
after the beat and partial Prvation of water to which he nig .
: . M
been fately exposed, (they are observed
ig their natural stats
“awe
The British army, with its ’ .
precipitated into it; andas the surface of the water was nearly ,* , _
dency these men attain over the elephants, joined with the ine \
abe costars
2 oaeeem +
eo edn
: ence tne anaes. ay MO tae at Se ema tere
o