nanimity, and sympathy in distress, or something that works very much like them, may be seen in different degrees of development in certain animals. A story of a doctor at Long Branch, who had a hen that took a kitten as one of her chickens, is offset by one of a cat in the old country, which, being given a chick partly emerged from the shell, "began at once removing the shell in the most tender way; and this done, she put the callow thing by the side of her kitten and nestled them together"; and was grieved when the attempt was made to take the chick from her. Intelligence and a kind of scientific scrutiny were shown by the turkey that swallowed grasshoppers, which it knew all about, "without stopping to think," but when given a large black beetle, "very deliberately put down his head and inspected the insect; then stepped back quite cautiously, then approached, and, stooping as before, again gazed at it intently. Not yet satisfied, he now walked around it with a curiously cautious strut, keeping his eyes all this time upon the dubious morsel. Now his movement is quicker, and, becoming assured, he seizes the insect and it is swallowed at once." The opening chapters exhibit in various ways what is styled "the exuberance or overflow of 'animal mind,'" in the hope of awakening in the reader the faculty of insight, "so that he may be to the animal what it so often is to him—'a discerner of spirit.' For, is it not too apparent that in this respect the 'dumb beasts which perish ' are often our superiors? In divining the mind of his master the dog rarely errs; and how subtle his discrimination of 'the stranger at the gate'! These mental manifestations indicate the one maker of animals and men. . . . No pessimist ever made much in the study of the life-histories of animals. The student of such had better be optimist out and out." With these animals "are all kinds of mental manifestation—the gleesome and the serious, the pathetic and the sympathetic, the jocose and the morose." The first story illustrating "animal humor" is of a monkey in a basket-shop, which was the pet of the men and boys, and afforded them all manner of sport until they became tired of it and began to play malicious tricks upon it, when "it broke down, as if it had concluded to drop all sport forever. Not at all vicious, still gentle, but joyless, it became chronically sad"—but recognized a sympathetic voice when "the minister" called upon it, and reposed in him all the confidence and affection it had lost toward other men. Another monkey, which was kept in a cage, was suspicious and even vicious toward strangers, but became friends at sight with this same "minister," greatly to the surprise of its owner—"taking his measure at a glance." Another trait was exhibited by Frank Buckland's monkeys, which would care nothing for a carrot when given to them, but would eagerly avail themselves of an opportunity to steal it. We are not willing to say that this is a human trait, though some men seem ready to illustrate it. The stories of dogs afford displays of intelligence which must appear wonderful and almost incredible to all except those who are well acquainted with dogs, to whom they will have an air that is less novel. They show most remarkable perceptions of what is going on, of what the family and persons around wish, of what is intended to be done, and apparent understanding of language. These stories—of "animal humor"—are largely of animals within the author's own acquaintance. Those that follow—of sledge-dog antics (arctic), the onithorhynchus and its eggs, the kangaroos, coons, the coati mundi (concerning which Prof. Lockwood has contributed an article to the "Monthly"), the kinkajou, rabbits, and mice—are drawn largely from the observations of other writers. In the cases of the stranger animals the differences in their structure from that of the ordinarily mammalian type are duly explained, the technical terms being translated into intelligible English; and the final chapter is on "Classifying Animals."
Numbers Symbolized: An Elementary Algebra. By David M. Sensenig. New York, Boston, and Chicago. D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 315. Price, $1.26.
This volume is introductory to a more extensive and philosophical treatise with which the author designs to follow it. In scope it includes all subjects essential to a study of higher arithmetic, elementary geometry, and the elements of physics. All topics are treated in an elementary manner, with broad generalizations and discussions of general problems purposely excluded. In the earlier
