This project postulates the question: is it possible to trace the origins of some methods of current ethology back to the debate around the Cartesian postulate of the animal-machine? An important element of this debate, the text Amusement philosophique sur la langage des bêtes, by the French Jesuit, Guillaume-Hyacinthe Bougeant, appeals indirectly to knowledge and understanding of animals, some of which can be seen in the methodology of some contemporary ethologists. In addition, I highlight the impact of this book in New Spain, by investigating an inquisitorial complaint against the possession of a Spanish translation of the original. In studying this inquisitorial complaint, I show the reception of Cartesian ideas in New Spain during the eighteenth century.
![The Canard Digérateur of Jaques de Vaucanson.](/sites/default/files/styles/content_central_image/public/2019-09/vaucanson_duck.jpg?itok=WogWmf2K)
The Canard Digérateur of Jaques de Vaucanson. Scientific American, Volume 80, Number 03, January 1899: 43.