Alexandre Lacassagne

“ With men, certain crimes tend to diminish or disappear under the influence of civilization. It is the same with animals. The more the domestication of a race is perfected, the less violent do its passions become, and, consequently, such crimes as we have discussed grow more rare. Not being troubled about their food, which is put before them in abundance and good order every day, they are not subject to the struggle for existence, and their character is mollified. ”

“ The inhabitants of Smyrna, who are well acquainted with the conjugal susceptibility of the male stork, amuse themselves by putting hens' eggs into the nests of these birds. The male becomes very angry at the sight of this unusual product, and, with the aid of other storks, tears his companion to pieces. There is certainly no need of calling up the numerous facts that show that domestication has, in certain animals, dogs, for example, developed these social instincts into a most touching devotion. ”

“ When hunger makes itself felt, all animals exhibit, in different and varied degrees, according to their nature, the spectacle of the "struggle for existence." The fact is so well known that it does not require any great elaboration. ”

“ We may call a specific malignity that which one species shows toward another species that hunts it or is its rival in the struggle for existence. The instinctive repulsion of dogs and cats is proverbial. ”

“ Animals with such passion become murderers for revenge. They say that the mule always keeps a kick in store for the master who maltreats it; and examples are frequent of asses, mules, and horses, that were very gentle till they were chastised, remembering the blows they had received, and avenging themselves on the drivers who inflicted them. There are also murderers for rivalry. A bull that has been gentle enough as long as he has had his cows to himself will become vicious as soon as a rival is brought into the field, and will try to kill him or drive him away, and always keep watch over him. ”

“ By way of an historical introduction to our study, we will cast a glance at the relations which the human laws of different societies have established between men and animals. The primitive peoples, fetichistic in their feelings and habits, and not yet capable of metaphysical subtilties, instinctively put animals and men upon a footing of perfect equality as respected the penalties to be attached to their crimes. ”

“ The other cause, and the most influential one, has been the difficulty most authors have had in disembarrassing themselves of the scholastic ideas which have promoted the belief in a great chasm between the moral condition of animals and of men. As Gall has well said, the greatest obstacle that it has ever been possible to oppose to the knowledge of human nature consists in the fact that theorists have isolated it from that of other beings, and endeavored to subject it to laws of its own, different from those of their nature. ”

“ We believe that we have shown in this study that, if the acts, the thoughts, and the feelings of animals are similar to ours, the same is the case with their offenses and their crimes, so far as the same are related to their interests and their passions. As in our own species, the criminal animal is generally a type appearing sporadically, with passions, desires, and instincts that are not those of its race. ”

“ It appears to us that the time has come for a scientific study of certain criminal acts of animals, for the purpose of comparing them with similar acts committed by men and punishable by our laws. It is a study in comparative criminal psychology. We believe that such a work may have a higher bearing than that of a mere effort of scientific curiosity; and it seems to us, with Georges Leroy, that the moral condition of wolves may throw light upon that of men. ”

“ Gradually, under the domination of the metaphysical spirit, the conviction arose that animals were brutes, that it was difficult to appreciate their moral state, and that this moral state was after all separated, if it had any existence, by an immense distance from that of man. So the law protecting animals was quite forgotten in the framing of our codes. ”

“ All who have had to do with domestic animals, says M. Cornevin, have observed that there appear among our subdued species, horses and cattle, individuals, both male and female, which are intractable, vicious, and absolutely useless; just as individuals of a similar character sometimes appear in human society. ”

“ We have furthermore learned that, until our epoch, an erroneous idea prevailed regarding the offenses or crimes committed by animals. The actions of animals toward other animals had passed almost unperceived, and did not seem worthy of being noticed. It could not, therefore, enter the head of any person to investigate their moral bearing. The animal was adjudged and punished only when his offense bore upon man or society. ”

“ In ancient Egypt, when a cat died in the house, the inhabitants shaved their eyebrows; if a dog died, they shaved their whole body. In Athens, one of the laws of Triptolemus declared that no one had a right to inflict a wrong upon a living creature. The Greeks were aware of the tender and affectionate care which the young of the stork exhibited for their old parents, and recorded that, when the latter lost their feathers from age, the young stripped themselves of their down for them and fed them with the food they collected. ”

“ Then, by one of the sudden contradictions which frequently appear in the history of mankind, a distinction between the actions of men and of animals was clearly defined. The powerful influence of Descartes, the encyclopedists, and the scientific men of the last century, who were more frequently demolishers than constructors, affords the explanation of the change, which, it is proper to say, was due rather to bad than to generous sentiments. ”

“ The animals longest and most completely domesticated continue at feeding-time to steal food from each other, and to quarrel about it. The use of separate mangers, racks, boxes, and stalls, is based upon the knowledge of this fact. The object of the most important features of the interior arrangements of stables is to prevent the stealing of food and the trampling of the weaker by the stronger. It is well known that among the species which we see daily are individuals manifesting clearly the disposition to theft. ”

“ We shall study particularly the exaggerations of these instincts, which are injurious to other animals of the same species, and which result in such specific acts as are regarded as crimes or offenses in human societies. "The animal and man," says Gall, "are organized for anger, hatred, sorrow, fear, and jealousy, because there are things and events which, according to their nature, deserve to be detested or loved, desired or feared."
1. Acts of Offense committed by Animals under the Influence of the Nutritive Instinct.—No distinctions are observed with regard to sex. ”

“ There are isolated individuals which are addicted to theft, and endeavor to slip, without being perceived, into a strange hive; their sly tricks demonstrate that they are forced to concealment, and are conscious that they are transgressors. If they succeed in their attempt, they afterward bring other bees to their hive to tempt them to similar thefts, and thus form a society of thieves. Büchner adds that bees may be artificially made thieves by feeding them a special food consisting of honey mixed with brandy. ”

“ Other authors, among them Gall and August Comte, have endeavored to frame a classification of the cerebral faculties. Without discussing here these different systems which have been proposed chiefly to fix the number of man's elementary faculties, we believe that it will be convenient for the exposition of our subject to recognize among animals such instincts or elementary faculties as the nutritive, the genetic, the maternal, and the destructive instincts; and, as among those easier to establish with man than with animals, the instinct of vanity and the social instincts. ”

“ Pigeons generally, male as well as female, appear indifferent to their broods, while the rail and the corn-crake are so devoted to them that their heads are frequently cut off by the reaper's sickle. When a house in which storks have a nest takes fire, the father and the mother stork will fall into the flames rather than abandon their young. Boerhaave has made the same observation with respect to the chimney-swallow. The female partridge loves her own young with a strong affection, but she chases away and kills the young of other partridges. ”

“ The pheasant, on the other hand, shows much less affection for her own young, and does not mind the loss of those which stray from her, while she receives joyfully and takes under her protection little pheasants that are strangers to her. ”

“ Without going into details on this subject, it may be considered sufficient here to remark that most of the sexual offenses which have been defined by the law or put under the ban of human societies may be observed among animals in their intercourse with each other; and instances are on record in ancient and modern history, though rare and not always well authenticated, of attempts by animals against human beings. ”

“ Pierquin adds that baffled love often leads man as well as animals into a murderous monomania. Buffon cites examples of animals which were frequently subject to a murderous passion. He speaks of canary-birds which were so wicked as to kill the female that was given them, and which could not be broken of the practice except by giving them two. Others are so barbarous in their inclinations as to break and eat the eggs as soon as they have been laid; and, even if the unnatural father allows the eggs to be sat upon, he will kill the young as soon as they are hatched. ”

“ So, when several couples or families have a common habitation, elevated social bonds are produced, quite comparable to those which are established in human societies. Examples will not be wanting, if we look at the bees and the ants, or at the republic of the rabbits. The idea of property, says Georges Leroy, certainly exists among rabbits; old age and fraternity are much respected by them. ”

“ If animals are liable to the greater proportion of the organic maladies to which we are subject, if they are liable to epidemic or contagious diseases, there appears to be no reason why they should be exempt from mental diseases. Just as we recognize that there occur among men malformed individuals, organically defective and furnishing proofs of their organic faults in their acts, feelings, or thoughts, so we should expect to find similar individuals among animals, or at least among those species which stand constitutionally nearer to man. ”

“ We will begin by showing how the human societies that have preceded ours have manifested their feelings with regard to certain acts of animals. Among fetich-worshiping peoples, the animal is considered as a man, and a member of the human family to the same extent as a slave. ”

“ It seems to us that the review we have just made embraces a sufficiently large number of facts to permit us to establish an almost complete parallel between the criminal actions of men and those of animals. ”

“ The authors who are cited by Gall have furnished important data for the comparison of animal species, and have laid the foundation of a scientific comparative physiology. Buff on had already asserted that, if no animals existed, the nature of man would be still more incomprehensible than it is. The observations of Georges Leroy and Gall have shown that the elementary functions of the brain must be investigated in the study of animals. ”

“ It is comprehensible that, under the influence of this instinct, and the jealousy that often results from it, animals may become malicious and quarrelsome, and attack and even kill their companions. It has been remarked that these vain animals more readily attack ragged creatures, especially if they dwell where they are unaccustomed to the sight of misery. ”

“ Other animals, as with ants and bees, do not exercise the act of propagation at all, yet they very assiduously take care of the eggs and larvæ. The same author insists upon individual differences, and cites cases, the counterparts of which would be called in human societies abandonment of children, abduction of minors, seduction, infanticide, etc.
Some cows, mares, and dogs bear the loss of their young with a degree of indifference; others even abandon them regularly. ”

“ Only a few scientific men or observers made approaches to the admission of evolution and transformation. These ideas have become common now, and nearly every one has adopted them theoretically, but few admit them in practice, and it will not be surprising to us if the title of our essay raises a smile on the face of many of its readers. ”

“ We must also take notice of that inexplicable aberration that leads many females among our domestic animals to suffer their progeny to die, or kill them; while other animals, dogs, for example, become thieves during the whole time that they are taking care of their young. ”