e
thing to do in case he knew the stranger's address. Here is a case of a
bird and a stranger as related by a naturalist. An Englishman saw a bird
flying around about his dog's head, down in the grounds, and uttering
cries of distress. He went there to see about it. The dog had a young
bird in his mouth--unhurt. The gentleman rescued it and put it on a bush
and brought the dog away. Early the next morning the mother bird came
for the gentleman, who was sitting on his veranda, and by its maneuvers
persuaded him to follow it to a distant part of the grounds--flying a
little way in front of him and waiting for him to catch up, and so on;
and keeping to the winding path, too, instead of flying the near way
across lots. The distance covered was four hundred yards. The same dog
was the culprit; he had the young bird again, and once more he had
to give it up. Now the mother bird had reasoned it all out: since the
stranger had helped her once, she inferred that he would do it
again; she knew where to find him, and she went upon her errand with
confidence. Her mental processes were what Edison's would have been. She
put this and that together--and that is all that thought IS--and out of
them built her logical arrangement of inferences. Edison couldn't have
done it any better himself.

Y.M. Do you believe that many of the dumb animals can think?

O.M. Yes--the elephant, the monkey, the horse, the dog, the parrot, the
macaw, the mocking-bird, and many others. The elephant whose mate fell
into a pit, and who dumped dirt and rubbish into the pit till bottom was
raised high enough to enable the captive to step out, was equipped with
the reasoning quality. I conceive that all animals that can learn things
through teaching and drilling have to know how to observe, and put this
and that together and draw an inference--the process of thinking. Could
you teach an idiot of manuals of arms, and to advance, retreat, and go
through complex field maneuvers at the word of command?

Y.M. Not if he were a thorough idiot.

O.M. Well, canary-birds can learn all that; dogs and elephants learn all
sorts of wonderful things. They must surely be able to notice, and to
put things together, and say to themselves, "I get the idea, now: when I
do so and so, as per order, I am praised and fed; when I do differently
I am punished." Fleas can be taught nearly anything that a Congressman
can.

Y.M. Granting, then, that dumb animals are able to think upon