﻿ANIMAL 
  BEHAVIOUR 
  177 
  

  

  2. 
  Diverse 
  Views 
  as 
  to 
  Animal 
  Behaviour. 
  

  

  The 
  difficulty 
  of 
  rightly 
  interpreting 
  the 
  observed 
  be- 
  

   haviour 
  of 
  animals 
  is 
  confessedly 
  great. 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  easy 
  for 
  

   us 
  to 
  get 
  mentally 
  near 
  them. 
  In 
  many 
  cases 
  the 
  structure 
  

   of 
  their 
  body 
  in 
  general 
  and 
  of 
  their 
  nervous 
  system 
  in 
  par- 
  

   ticular 
  is 
  very 
  different 
  from 
  ours; 
  their 
  sense-organs 
  are 
  

   often 
  on 
  another 
  plan, 
  and 
  there 
  are 
  some 
  whose 
  functions 
  

   we 
  do 
  not 
  yet 
  know; 
  such 
  words 
  as 
  a 
  few 
  of 
  the 
  higher 
  

   animals 
  have, 
  we 
  can 
  only 
  vaguely 
  understand. 
  How 
  are 
  

   we 
  to 
  get 
  into 
  mental 
  contact 
  with 
  ants 
  and 
  bees? 
  And 
  

   even 
  for 
  more 
  accessible 
  animals, 
  like 
  horse 
  and 
  dog, 
  there 
  

   is 
  a 
  great 
  difficulty 
  involved 
  in 
  the 
  simple 
  fact 
  that 
  all 
  our 
  

   psychological 
  terms 
  are 
  saturated 
  with 
  human 
  meaning. 
  

  

  Some 
  investigators 
  have 
  found 
  a 
  short 
  and 
  easy 
  way 
  out 
  

   of 
  difficulties 
  by 
  dogmatically 
  declaring 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  more 
  

   mind 
  among 
  animals 
  than 
  there 
  is 
  among 
  plants, 
  and 
  that 
  

   the 
  sensible 
  course 
  is 
  to 
  keep 
  to 
  physiological 
  description. 
  

   If 
  that 
  suffices 
  for 
  giving 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  bryony 
  climbing 
  

   up 
  the 
  hedge 
  with 
  its 
  exquisitely 
  tactile 
  and 
  adaptively 
  

   motile 
  tendrils, 
  will 
  it 
  not 
  serve 
  for 
  the 
  sea-urchin 
  climbing 
  

   up 
  the 
  rock, 
  the 
  squirrel 
  climbing 
  up 
  the 
  tree? 
  This 
  is 
  

   the 
  extreme 
  of 
  over-simplicity. 
  It 
  was 
  indeed 
  a 
  wise 
  saying 
  

   of 
  Spinoza 
  : 
  " 
  No 
  one 
  has 
  yet 
  learned 
  from 
  experience 
  what 
  

   the 
  body 
  regarded 
  purely 
  as 
  a 
  body 
  is 
  able 
  to 
  do 
  in 
  accord- 
  

   ance 
  with 
  its 
  own 
  natural 
  laws, 
  or 
  what 
  it 
  cannot 
  do 
  ", 
  but 
  

   it 
  seems 
  to 
  most 
  naturalists 
  to 
  make 
  the 
  behaviour 
  of 
  higher 
  

   animals 
  magical 
  if 
  we 
  do 
  not 
  credit 
  them 
  with 
  an 
  aware- 
  

   ness 
  and 
  pre-awareness 
  of 
  meaning. 
  

  

  There 
  are 
  others 
  who 
  think 
  that 
  we 
  get 
  nearer 
  the 
  truth 
  

   the 
  more 
  anthropomorphic 
  we 
  are, 
  who 
  believe 
  that 
  the 
  

   behaviour 
  of 
  all 
  animals 
  shows 
  evidence 
  of 
  mind. 
  That 
  is 
  

  

  