let us not mistake these simulacra of intelligence in brutish or mechanical behavior for true reason , the province only of man ... . once we have set these aside as insufficient proofs of draconic intelligence , we come to sir edward howe 's most recent essay , which puts forth an argument not so easily dismissed : the ability of dragons to perform advanced mathematical calculations , an achievement which eludes many an otherwise educated man and is not to be found anywhere in the animal world , nor imitated by machinery .