gesture language is commonly used by many of the tribes of Southern
Africa, and some of the Bushmen are unable to converse freely after
dark, because their visible gestures are needed as an aid to their
spoken words. Only a few years ago there were almost as many different
languages among the North American Indians as there were different
tribes, and yet each tribe had a sign-language which any Indian in any
part of the world might understand. In fact it was so simple that it
might be practically mastered in a few hours, and through it one might
converse with the Indians of the world without knowing a single word of
their spoken language. And this is exactly what the animals do with
their universal language.

Who does not understand the meaning of a dog when he approaches his
master, after receiving a reprimand for some misdemeanor, with downcast
head and lowered tail? Or who could fail to interpret the glee when he
has done a noble deed and been praised by his master? His is the
language of gesture and look, and is very similar to that in use by our
deaf-and-dumb men throughout the world.

The Hindoos invariably talk to their elephants, and it is astonishing
how they understand. Bayard Taylor says that "the Arabs govern their
camels with a few cries, and my associates in the African deserts were
always amused whenever I addressed a remark to the dromedary who was my
property for two months; yet at the end of that time the beast evidently
knew the meaning of a number of simple sentences. Some years ago, seeing
the hippopotamus in Barnum's museum looking very stolid and dejected, I
spoke to him in English, but he did not even open his eyes. Then I went
to the opposite corner of the cage, and said in Arabic, 'I know you;
come here to me.' I repeated the words, and thereupon he came to the
corner where I was standing, pressed his huge, ungainly head against the
bars of the cage, and looked in my face with a touch of delight while I
stroked his muzzle. I have two or three times found a lion who
recognised the same language, and the expression of his eyes, for an
instant, seemed positively human."

Every one familiar with the habits of dogs believes that they have a
language. Certain shepherds are quite particular about the company their
dogs keep. This story is told of a couple of shepherds meeting in a
market-place in Scotland, each accompanied by his dog, one of which was
a sheep-murderer, the other a faithful and resp