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188
The Speech of Monkeys
·
R. L. Garner
165
I
know
a
dog,
now
living
near
Leominster,
Mass.,
that
extinguished
an
accidental
fire
which
had
been
caused
by
the
hired
man
carelessly
dropping
a
burning
match
in
some
straw
in
the
barn-yard
after
lighting
his
lantern.
The
dog
had
to
fight
the
fire
with
his
paws,
and
by
the
time
he
had
extinguished
it
they
were
much
singed.
His
loud
barking
was
sufficient
to
warn
the
family
that
something
unusual
was
taking
place.
They
soon
responded
to
his
call,
and
found
that
he
had
the
fire
quite
under
control.
He
had
thus
saved
his
master's
barn
and
house
from
the
flames,
and
since
that
time,
as
I
have
witnessed
myself,
will
not
allow
any
one
to
light
a
cigar
with
a
match
in
his
presence.
The
peculiar
sound
which
he
makes
under
such
circumstances
appeals
to
the
sense
of
fear
or
apprehension,
and
I
have
observed
that
the
significance
of
all
speech
depends
much
upon
intonation.
It
is
less
so
with
man,
perhaps,
than
with
other
animals,
because
of
the
great
number
of
words
which
amplify
and
shade
his
meanings.
But
by
a
single
word
of
human
speech
we
can
express
many
shades
of
meaning
simply
by
modulation;
but
having
at
our
command
so
many
words
to
qualify
our
meaning,
we
lose
sight
of
the
value
and
power
of
intonation.
The
difficulty
of
discerning
the
delicate
shades
of
meaning
imparted
by
intonation,
depends
upon
the
mode
of
thought,
and
the
simpler
this
is
the
keener
the
power
to
interpret
inflections.
One
very
important
fact
is
that
a
dog
only
learns
to
interpret
one
sound
on
one
subject
at
any
one
time.
He
cannot
put
together
in
his
mind
a
great
number
of
sounds,
nor
interpret
complex
ideas
in
detail.
I
know
a
dog
in
Charleston,
South
Carolina,
that
would
fly
into
a
rage
and
bark
fiercely
if
you
say,
"Chad,
where
is
that
big
black
dog
that
whipped
you
so
badly?"
But
repeated
experiments
proved
to
my
mind
that
the
dog
did
not
interpret
any
part
of
the
sentence
except
the
words
"black
dog,"
and
even
this
seemed
to
depend
chiefly
upon
the
sound
"black,"
and
by
saying
this
sound
you
would
get
the
same
results
as
to
use
the
entire
sentence.
He
had
been
whipped
by
a
dog
of
this
description,
and
had
been
so
often
reminded
of
it
that
he
had
associated
the
sound
with
the
incident.
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