78 Animal Intelligence 



hen. Care in other cases, then, need not mean instruction 

 through imitation. 



These considerations may prevent an unreserved accept- 

 ance of the common view that young animals get a great 

 number of their useful habits from imitation, but I do not 

 expect or desire them to lead to its summary rejection. 

 I should not now myself reject it, though I think it quite 

 possible that more investigation and experiment may 

 finally reduce all the phenomena of so-called imitation of 

 parents by young to the level of indirect results of instinctive 

 acts. 



Another special department of imitation may be at least 

 vaguely marked off : namely, apparent imitation of certain 

 limited sorts of acts which are somewhat frequent in the 

 animal's life. An example will do better than further 

 definition. 



Some sheep were being driven on board ship one at a time. 

 In the course of their progress they had to jump over a 

 hurdle. On this being removed before all had passed it, 

 the next sheep was seen to jump as if to get over a hurdle, 

 and so on for five or six, apparently sure evidence that they 

 imitated the action, each of the one in front. Now, it is 

 again possible that among gregarious animals there may be 

 elaborate connections in the nervous system which allow 

 the sight of certain particular acts in another animal to 

 arouse the innervation leading to those acts, but that these 

 connections are limited. The reactions on this view are 

 specific responses to definite signals, comparable to any 

 other instinctive or associational reaction. The sheep 

 jumps when he sees the other sheep jump, not because of 

 a general ability to do what he sees done, but because he is 

 furnished with the instinct to jump at such a sight, or 

 because his experience of following the flock over boulders 



