The Human Side of Animals

t is Natu

dless str

euphony

at

scientific point of view, there is no denying that this music exists. Aviators tell us that when they listen from a distance to the myriads of noises and sounds that arise over a great city, these are all apparently lost in a modulated hum precisely l

dmit that there is much truth in the old saying that "music hath charms to soothe the savage breast." Music is composed of vibrations, which act

rks except a straight line on the cylinder which registers the movements, music will so stimulate the nerves as to cause all fatigue to disappear. And as soon as the fingers again touch the cylinder, they begin to draw lines of various kinds and heights, thus proving that the music had

ry muscles act in the same relation to the music as the heart-that is, that cheerful, happy music affects the excito-motor nerves, sets up a vibratio

luenced by various kinds of music. It is scientifically recognised that music tends to increase the elimination of carbonic acid and increase

m of Natural H

Y CONGREGATE FOR "CONCERTS," AS SOME OF THE TRIBES DO

AND IT HAS BEEN PROVED THAT THEIR MUSIC-SEN

are rarely spoken of by human critics. However, Nature does sometimes produce a Tetrazzini, Alice Neilson, or Caruso, in the form of a cat, which really delights in harmonious combinations of sound. I know, for instance, of a cat called "Nordica" owned by Presson Miller, who a

of their concerts. Five bells were suspended from a hoop, which hung above the stage, and to each bell was attached a small rope. At a given signal, each cat wou

ey give but little milk. The newspapers claim that Charles W. Ward, who owns a ranch near Eureka, California, says

so fascinated with the music that she plunged into the water and waded up to her head trying to reach the boat. As they rowed along, she ran up and down the bank, cutting capers in a most astonishing manner and lowing and bellowing in testimony of her delight in the music. She would leap, ski

usicians, while the performance was going on, went on a strike. At once when the music ceased, the animals returned to their respective seats and no amount of encouragement would induce them to continue their performance. No amount of threats would induce the

ges. When the shepherd plays upon his flute or bagpipe, they gather around him and listen apparently with great satisfactio

that these be played while they are doing their turn. If for any reason the band chan

ass drum, flute, clarinet, trombone, trumpet, violin, and even pipe organ-an animal may be mentioned that owns the fundamental tones in its voice, and which man has imitated. Castanets, for

xpressive of pain or joy, and by means of which he can express certain emotions. Darwin claimed that the voice of the gibbon, while extremely loud, was very m

ls of a friend of his who had a dog with which he often gave performances. The dog would accompany his master, when he sang in falsetto, with howls that were

or not the dog does not in some way accompany it. And Romanes, the great animal authority, thought the same thing. He had a terrier, which accompanied him when he sang, and actually succeeded

his master. Pierquin de Gembloux also speaks of a poodle that could run the scale in tune and sing very agreeably a fine composition of Mozart's My Heart It Sings at E

eady come for the establishment of a school for their education. He would have the courses beginning with a kindergarten and advancing through as many grades as the students required. Prof. Garner furthermore believes that we have little understanding of the go

eresting to note that when a baby is expected in the village, all music ceases until after its birth, when they again resume their periodic musical festivals. Hensel verifies this observation, and tells us of having seen apes come from their shelter in the early morning and congregate for a musical concert. "They repair," he says, "to the shelter of some gigantic monarch of the forest whose limbs offer facilities for walking exercises. The head of the family appropriates one of these branches and advances along it seriously, with elevated tail, while the others group themselves

y demonstrated by the fact that they will obey the calls of the bugle for cavalry evolutions without a moment's hesitation and with no suggestion from outside sources. These bugle c

Mice, one would believe, love church music, for they often build their nests in pipe organs, thus being able to rear their children in both a musical and religi

t all of them sing equally well, but in Arizona the donkey is known as the "desert canary." If you were to spend a few glorious days in the Hopi village of Araibi, you would hear through t

peration create for themselves a symphony with beauties and harmonies of its own, and such as to stand unrivalled in man's musical world. In the great chorus are voices from the lowest bass of the croaking bullfrog, squatting in the marshes, to the myriads of tiny green tree tenors, between which are millions of altos, contraltos, sopranos, coloraturas and other voices not yet in our musical vocabulary. These are accompanied by all the sounds of our orche

olinist began by playing a few most sympathetic chords, first delicate and soft, then sad, then gay, slow or tremulous. Near us, coiled in his immense cage, was a large cobra-the snake which all legend claims is most easily influenced by music. Almost immediately after the music began, the cobra raised himself in a listening at

s, snake-charmers are able to get the snakes to come out from their homes among the old rocks

nters always carry with them some kind of musical instrument, depending upon the kind of snakes they wish to capture. It seems that all are not equally fasci

tter musicians. Evolution has chosen us as its favourites and given us every advantage in the struggle up the ladder of life. Our musical rivals of yesterday are as chorus people compared to Metropolitan Opera stars, with us