il the
entire season for hunters by spreading the alarm among his people.

[Illustration: _American Museum of Natural History, New York_

ROOSEVELT'S COLOBUS. THESE HORSE-TAILED MONKEYS CHATTER TOGETHER IN A
LANGUAGE EXCLUSIVELY THEIR OWN, YET THEY SEEM TO HAVE NO DIFFICULTY IN
MAKING THEMSELVES UNDERSTOOD BY OTHER MONKEY-TRIBES.]

[Illustration: A TAMED DEER OF TEXAS, WHOSE CONSTANT COMPANION AND
PLAYMATE WAS A RABBIT DOG. BETWEEN THE TWO THERE DEVELOPED, NECESSARILY,
A COMMON LANGUAGE.]

Near our country home in Texas my sister found a very young red deer one
morning just outside the garden, and bringing it into the yard, soon had
a wonderful pet in this dainty spotted child of the woods. We knew that
its mother was not far away, and so we placed salt and food just where
the baby was found, to attract the mother's attention. In a few days,
we saw the mother, and shortly afterwards five grown deer were seen
eating the food we had placed for the mother. Evidently the news had
been carried through the pine forests that it was safe for deer to come
near our home. My sister's pet grew rapidly, and became a great friend
of our yard dog. They often played by running races together, the deer
would leap over the fence and the dog would chase him with great
delight. Surely, they must have had a spoken common language!

No one claims that in the language of animals there are principles of
construction such as we find in the human languages. The term Barbarian
means those whose language is only a "bar-bar," and this is really all
that the sound of an unknown tongue implied to the cultured Athenians.
The neighing of horses, the howling of dogs and wolves, the mewing of
cats, the bleating of sheep, the lowing of cows, the chattering of
monkeys and baboons is nothing more nor less than their language. And it
is quite as intelligible to us as is the chattering of the Hottentots of
Africa. Because we do not speak the languages of our animal friends does
not take away from the genuineness of the languages; we might as well
claim that because our horse does not comprehend what we are saying,
that we are not speaking a language!

Animals and men, under normal conditions, have been friends and
companions since the beginning of time; and in order that they may
convey ideas to each other, it is necessary for them to have some sort
of means of communication.

As a matter of fact, animal language is quite often intelligible to man.
Th