CHAPTER IV 

 BEHAVIOR: EQUILIBRATION AND DIZZINESS 



QUITE as interesting and important as the general facts 

 of behavior which we have been considering are the results 

 of experimental tests of the dancer's ability to maintain its 

 position under unusual spatial conditions to climb, cross 

 narrow bridges, balance itself on high places. Because of its 

 tendency to circle and whirl, to dart hither and thither rapidly 

 and apparently without control of its movements, the study 

 of the mouse's ability to perform movements which demand 

 accurate and delicate muscular coordination, and to control 

 its expressions of activity, are of peculiar scientific interest. 



That observers do not entirely agree as to the facts in this 

 field is apparent from the following comparison of the state- 

 ments made by Cyon and Zoth (31 p. 174). 



Cyon states that the dancer 



Cannot run in a straight line, 

 Cannot turn in a narrow space, 

 Cannot run backward, 

 Cannot run up an incline, 



Cannot move about safely when above the ground, because of 

 fear and visual dizziness, 

 Can hear certain tones. 



Zoth, on the contrary, maintains that the animal 



Can run in a straight line for at least 20 cm., 

 Can and repeatedly does turn in a narrow space, 

 Can run backward, for he has observed it do so, 



41 



