The text called ‘Comparison of the Mental Powers of man and the Lower Animals’ was written to disseminate invaluable information obtained over the years by writer. Two questions: Did man evolve from other lower forms (animals/aps)? Do animals also posses equal mental power to that of humans? The two questions intrigued and teased the scientist to find answer. He spent several years in study collecting evidences. The years of study provided him with knowledge. So he let himself to write books to share his knowledge with us. He wrote two books ‘The Origin of Species’ and ‘The Decent of Man’. The present discussion is a small discourse on the comparison of mental power between humans and animals. This discussion entails several other questions.

The text interests us because it raises the fundamental question and seeks to give answer. It is surprising to know that human beings and other species started the journey of evolution with some kind of modification in their looks, size and character simultaneously. It is really a matter of surprise to see how come humans have certain looks and characters so in contrast with those of animals. Our surprise surpasses even further and we see humans speak language can express their needs and feelings but animals are dumb without similarity of expressive quality of humans. Several questions take birth in our mind: Do animals also feel and experience emotion? Do they also feel happy and sad? How do they recall and respond at sorrow and joy? Do they love their young ones? Do they share food or eat alone? These questions swarm in our mind.

By now it is clear that human beings and other species started the journey of evolution more or less the same time. Through the years in the evolution process modification appeared in their looks and size. Human beings developed their mental faculty more than the other species. They think, reason, argue, imagine and play their mind for advanced thinking. Humans developed language and they use it to express their feelings desires and emotions. In comparison to the rate of development of mental faculty of human beings animals remained far behind in the race. It is really a surprise how come the companions, who started the process of change, growth and development, humans reached far ahead and other species remained far behind. If we look the process of evolution from close we are mate by surprise. It is so because we find many examples and evidences that falsify the notion (feelings) that animal are mindless and they are too weak in their mental faculty. The writer has collected a couple of infallible evidence.

Just as we feel happy and express our joy, kittens and puppies play together to express happiness just like human beings animals also have sense of joy. Just as human beings gather and share food in the family, many animals share food among themselves. Just as the human parents love their young ones, animal also love, care, nurture and train their babies. Only human beings do not have a sense of revenge and challenge. Animals also practice it. The writer has said that at one time an army officer flogged a monkey which sat blocking the way. The monkey felt angry, insulted and stored a sense of revenge in a corner of his mind, and waited for a opportunity to settle the account. The monkey one day saw that his opponent was going on his way. The monkey thought that no other opportunity would be as good as the present moment to take revenge on the man. In haste the monkey put some water in a puddle and made a lot of mud. The monkey climbed up the tree and watched the man go. The man stepped into the puddle, fell down and splashed mud on his well washed and ironed dress. The monkey in the tree rejoiced at the man’s plight. This example proves that animals are not less than humans in any respect.

Let us cite another example of a kind and generous mother monkey who adapted the orphan baby monkey. Even a human would not be so kind as to adopt others babies in the name of social service. One day the mother monkey knowingly or unknowingly fed her own babies first, but the adopted baby felt very bad at this disparity and discrimination. The adopted baby cried and scratched his own body at being discriminated.

There is yet another example of sense of love and concern of a dog for his master or mistress. If the master or mistress falls sick the dog will never ever leave him/her until he/she recovers. The dog stays with the master and licks his feet and caresses him. That shows extreme love, duty, concern and responsibility of a true friend. Even a husband or a wife or a child or a mother would not show much care to his/her kin.

There is a burning example of how monkeys display a sense of fear and fright. In a geological park as an experiment someone placed a coiled up snake in the living place of the monkeys. On seeing the snake the monkeys let out cries of fright. The monkeys stood at a safer distance and examine the snake they looked frightened and frantic. They alarmed other monkeys not to go too close.

In brief we can say for sure that animals also grow their mental powers. Just like humans they can sense joy, sorrow, sympathy, danger and need of help. The examples cited above make it crystal clear that along with human beings the mental faculty of animals is also growing.