THE WHITE RAT AND THE MAZE PROBLEM 153 



either one indifferently so there was usually a momentary hesi- 

 tation at the entrances and then a dash into one or the other. 

 Sometimes the head was put in tentatively and then came the 

 sudden run through or the withdrawal. The experiment showed, 

 conclusively, that the olfactory experience had been retained 

 and that it could be utilized again. It also showed that the 

 reaction to the original problem had become a matter of habit 

 and that so strong and powerful was kinaesthesis that the removal 

 of the sensory factors which helped to establish it had no effect 

 upon its control. When later the animals were confronted with 

 a problem where turning to the right or to the left was possible 

 the response was in kinaesthetic, or tactual-motor terms. But 

 when the possibility of runs and turns were cut out the effects 

 of the olfactory learning and experience were asserted in a per- 

 fectly effectual way. That this was not due to any attractiveness 

 of the trail in itself is shown by Experiment IV. 



EXPERIMENT IV. ANOTHER TRANSFER 

 This was the discrimination test for Experiment II. The same 

 box and the same method was used as in Experiment III. Under 

 these conditions the animals had to choose the path where 

 there was no trail. They did this just as consistently as the others 

 making just as good a record and confirmed in all points the 

 conclusions drawn from Experiment III. The details are not 

 needed here. 



DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 



Whatever may be true of rats in their native environment, 

 we agree with Small, 8 that these animals do not usually follow 

 a path in the maze by means of scent; yet, as these results show, 

 they can do so. The evidence here is also against Professor 

 Watson's statement that. "Olfactory sensations have no role 

 in the selection of the proper turns in the maze. 9 " This assertion 

 may be quite true of work on the maze as he used it, but certainly 

 olfaction, in the experiments reported in this paper, helped to 

 cut out the errors. Although we have seen no signs of instinctive 

 tracking, these animals will follow an odor trail on first trial 

 and can learn to follow an olfactory trail or to avoid such a trail. 

 If a maze problem presents such a trail the result is an initial 



8 Op. cit., p. 232. 



9 Kinaesthetic and organic sensations, etc., p. 91. 



