The Descent of Man

that an old dog of his howls when B flat is
sounded on the flute, and to no other note. I
may add another instance of a dog always whining,
when one note on a concertina, which
was out of tune, was played.) Seals apparently
appreciate music, and their fondness for it "was
well known to the ancients, and is often taken
advantage of by the hunters at the present day."
(34. Mr. R. Brown, in 'Proc. Zool. Soc.' 1868, p.
410.)
Therefore, as far as the mere perception of musical
notes is concerned, there seems no special
difficulty in the case of man or of any other
animal. Helmholtz has explained on physiological
principles why concords are agreeable,
and discords disagreeable to the human ear;
but we are little concerned with these, as music
in harmony is a late invention. We are more
concerned with melody, and here again, according
to Helmholtz, it is intelligible why the
notes of our musical scale are used. The ear