The nature & development of animal intelligence / by Wesley Mills.

Date:
1898
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The nature & development of animal intelligence / by Wesley Mills. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    fond mother thus addi’ess her infant ? If the reply were—Because she cannot help it, would it not express an uncontrovertible truth ? If you choose, I will put the same in another form and say, because it is natural for her to do so. But these endearing terms are used by the father, the brother, the sister, and even the one who drops in as a casual visitor, and is not in the remotest way allied by blood. While in these instances there may be something in the intellect and feelings of each, not in those of the other, there is much in common—at least such we must assume, if we are to furnish any reasonable explanation of the facts. So that when the mother, the father, the brother, or the sister speak of the squirrel as a “ dear little fellow,” or the cage bird as a “ sweet pet,” they must recognise in him some of those same qualities which render the infant human being attractive. The fact is, we make the world of animal life about us a reflection of ourselves; we spontaneously implant in the bird and the squirrel qualities that are our own. They interest in proportion as they seem to embody the same thoughts and feelings as ourselves. We assume that they have the same pleasures, pains—even the same hopes and fears. Man makes himself the measure of all things when he follows primitive impulses, and this is the real explanation of the interest that the great mass of human beings take in the world of animal life in general, and more especially in these animals with which we are brought into daily contact. It must be clear that this is perfectly natural, as much so as to feel a sympathy with our fellow-men, though in a less complete and perfect way. It is only when certain animals are believed to be disagreeable or dangerous that they become repulsive, and in pro- portion as they seem to approach our ways of viewing things and share our feelings, are we drawn to them.
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