The Speech of Monkeys

I know a little dog in New York that understands the same sound in a similar way and for similar reasons. She also recognises the name of the lady who owns the black dog. A family, with whom I am on close terms of friendship, owns an ugly little mongrel, to which two of the daughters are very devoted. They have reared her with great care, and lavished upon her many luxuries, far better than most human beings enjoy. The young ladies declared to me that Eunice (which is the dog's name) could understand every word they said on any subject that she had been accustomed to hear. Mattie would say to her, "Eunice, go tell Miss Kate to get on her hat and let us go take a walk." The little dog would run to Miss Kate's room and bark and jump until the young lady would comply. I found that the dog associated the sounds "hat" and "walk" with the act of taking a stroll in the company of the young ladies; but she would act just the same when either one of these words were said to her as she would if one were to repeat a whole canto of Milton; and I think the young ladies have never quite forgiven me for trying to prove to them that Eunice was not a fine English scholar. I find, by means of many experiments, that much depends upon the manner of delivering these sounds; but that the animal is largely guided by the sound alone is proven by the fact that some dogs understand English, others French, German, or some other language, and they do not really understand unless addressed in the speech with which they are familiar.