376 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



complacency. At the same time he was keenly sensitive to ridi- 

 cule, and, if laughed at, would walk off with every manifestation 

 of offended dignity. 



Lindsay names the cat as one of the animals that perpetrate 

 practical jokes on each other or on man ; that enter thoroughly 

 into the spirit of the joke or fun, and enjoy and exult in its suc- 

 cess ; and cites in illustration of his principle an instance of a cat 

 teasing a frog, seemingly to hear it cry. Tad, of Burnham, Maine, 

 seems to have had the humorous sense in a more refined degree. 

 He would sit in the yard, and, calling the neighboring cats to- 

 gether, would manoeuvre as though giving them orders, till he 

 got them to fighting ; then would withdraw to one side, or to his 

 seat upon the window-sill, and look on in evident amusement, 

 swinging his large, bushy tail forcibly against the window-pane ; 

 but, when called into the house by his mistress, he always obeyed. 



Knowledge of the ways in which certain common things are 

 done and the capacity to apply it are so frequently shown by do- 

 mestic cats that it is almost superfluous to mention particular 

 instances of its exhibition. Most cats know how doors are opened, 

 and can open them for themselves if the method of handling the 

 latch comes within the compass of their powers of manipulation. 

 Romanes asserts that, in the understanding of mechanical ap- 

 pliances of this character, they reach a higher level of intelli- 

 gence than any other animals, except monkeys, and perhaps ele- 

 phants. He thinks that the skill of these animals may be due to 

 their having, in their flexible limbs and trunks, instruments adapt- 

 ed to manipulation, which they learn to use. This may be so, but 

 it should be remembered that horses can open doors and gates 

 with their teeth and noses, and cows with their horns. The 

 behavior of cats before a looking-glass, when, failing to find the 

 image palpable in the face of the mirror, they look or feel around 

 behind it, is familiar. Having once satisfied themselves that 

 there is nothing there, they recognize the fact, and cease "to take 

 any further interest in the phenomenon. So they and other ani- 

 mals know that they can go round a wall and reach a point on 

 the other side of it ; or can go round after the mouse which they 

 have heard rustling behind the door. A noteworthy feat of door- 

 opening is recorded by Mr. Romanes of his coachman's cat, which, 

 having an old-fashioned thumb-latch to deal with, sprang at the 

 half -hoop handle below the thumb-piece, hanging to it with one 

 paw, depressed the thumb-piece with the other paw, and with her 

 hind legs pushed at the door-posts till the door flew open. Mr. 

 Romanes interprets this and another similar action which he 

 records as involving a deliberate purpose, combined with a mental 

 process which he treats as complex and very near akin to reason- 

 ing, and as involving definite ideas respecting the mechanical prop- 



