Masterman Ready; Or, The Wreck of the Pacific
Page 54
CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR.
The following day, being Sunday, was devoted to the usual religiousexercises. Tommy stole away out of the tent, while Mr Seagrave wasreading a sermon, to have a peep at the turtle-soup, which was boilingon the fire; however, Juno suspected him, and had hold of him just as hewas taking the lid off the pot. He was well scolded, and very muchfrightened lest he should have no soup for his dinner; however, as itwas not a very heavy offence, he was forgiven.
In the evening, William requested his father to renew the conversationabout the reasoning powers of animals.
"With pleasure, William," replied Mr Seagrave; "it is a fit discoursefor a Sunday evening. Let us, however, first examine the various mentalfaculties discoverable in animals. In the first place, they havememory, especially memory of persons and places, quite as tenacious asour own. A dog will recognise an old master after many years absence.An elephant, who had again escaped into the woods, after twenty yearsremaining in a wild state, recognised his old mahoot, or driver. A dogwill find his way back when taken more than a hundred miles from hismaster's residence. Another proof of memory in animals, were itrequired, is that they dream. Now, a dream is a confused recollectionof past events; and how often do you not hear Romulus and Remusgrowling, barking, and whining in their sleep!"
"Very true, papa."
"Well, then, they have attention. See how patiently a cat will remainfor hours before a hole, in watch for the mouse to come out. A spiderwill remain for months watching for the fly to enter its web; but thisquality is to be observed in every animal in the pursuit of its prey.They have also association of ideas, which is, in fact, reasoning. Adog proves that; he will allow a gentleman to come up to the door, butfly at a beggar. When he is in charge of any property he will take nonotice of a passer-by; but if a man stops, he barks immediately. In theelephant this association of ideas is even more remarkable; indeed, heunderstands what is said to him better than any other animal; hisreasoning powers are most extraordinary. Promise him rewards, and hewill make wonderful exertion. He is also extremely alive to a sense ofshame. The elephants were employed to transport the heavy artillery inIndia. One of the finest attempted in vain to force a gun through aswamp. `Take away that lazy beast,' said the director `and bringanother.' The animal was so stung with the reproach, that it used somuch exertion to force the gun on with its head, as to fracture itsskull, and it fell dead. When Chunee, the elephant which was so long inExeter Change, was ordered as usual to take up a sixpence with histrunk, it happened one day that the sixpence rolled against theskirting-board, out of his reach. Chunee stopped, and reflected alittle while, and then, drawing the air into his trunk, he threw it outwith all his force against the skirting-board; the rebound of the airfrom the skirting-board blew the sixpence towards him, and he wasenabled to reach it."
"That was very clever of him," replied William.
"Yes; it was a proof of thought, with a knowledge of cause and effect.There was a curious instance of a horse, which, by the bye, I considerthe most noble animal of creation, which was ridden round by his master,to deliver newspapers. He invariably stopped at the doors where paperswere to be left; but it happened that two people, living at differenthouses, took in a weekly newspaper between them; and it was agreed, thatone should have the first reading of it on one week, and the other onthe following. After a short time the horse became accustomed to thisarrangement, and stopped at the one house on the one week, and at theother house on the following, never making a mistake."
"That was very curious; what a sagacious animal he must have been!"observed William.
"Animals also are, as you know, capable of receiving instruction, whichis another proof of reasoning powers. The elephant, the horse, the dog,the pig, even birds may be taught a great deal."
"But then, papa, I still wish to know where the line is to be drawnbetween reason and instinct."
"I was about to come to that very point, William. When animals followtheir instinct in providing their food, bringing up their young, and intheir precautions against danger, they follow certain fixed rules, fromwhich they never deviate. But circumstances may occur against whichtheir instinct can afford them no regular provision; then it is thattheir reasoning powers are called into action. I will explain this bystating a fact relative to the bee, one of the animals upon whichinstinct is most powerful in its action. There is a certain large moth,called the Death's-head moth, which is very fond of honey. It sometimescontrives to force its way through the aperture of the hive, and gain anentrance. The bees immediately attack it, and it is soon destroyed bytheir stings; but the carcass is so large, that they cannot carry it outof the hive, as they invariably do the bodies of the smaller insectswhich may have intruded, and it appears that their sense of smell isvery acute. What, then, do they do to avoid the stench arising from thedead body of this large moth? Why, they embalm it, covering it entirelywith wax, by which it no longer becomes offensive to them."
"But, papa, might not their instinct have provided for such an event?"observed William.
"If such an event could have occurred to the bees in their wild state,you certainly might have raised the question; but recollect, William,that bees in their wild state live in the hollows of trees, and that thehole by which they enter is never more than sufficiently large to admitone bee at a time; consequently, no animal larger than a bee could gainentrance, and if it did, could of course have been easily removed fromthe hive; but the bees were here in a new position, in an artificialstate, in a hive of straw with a large aperture, and therefore met withan exigence they were not prepared for, and acted accordingly."
"Yes, papa, I perceive the difference."
"I will conclude my observations with one remark. It appears to me,that although the Almighty has thought proper to vary the intellectualand the reasoning powers of animals in the same way that he has variedthe species and the forms, yet even in this arrangement he has not beenunmindful of the interest and welfare of man. For you will observe,that the reasoning powers are chiefly, if not wholly, given to thoseanimals which man subjects to his service and for his use--the elephant,the horse, and the dog; thereby making these animals of more value, asthe powers given to them are at the service and under the control ofman."