FUNCTION OF VIBRISSAE IN BEHAVIOR OF WHITE RAT 19 



General description of conduct in Experiment II: — The rats 

 were very slow in venturing from A* where they were put upon 

 the maze. Their heads were often over the sides and they 

 tried to get off on the frame below, in which endeavor they 

 occasionally succeeded. They often tried to jump from " K " 

 to the food box and frequently attempted to get from "A" to 

 " S." This latter attempt became more pronounced toward the 

 end of the experiment. In moving off after they were put on 

 the maze, they went, at first, along the very edge of the platform, 

 with their vibrissae dragging and their heads over the edge as if to 

 see the floor. They often raised themselves on their hind legs as if 

 looking but of course both this act and the one^ mentioned before 

 may have been for olfactory puiposes. They curled their toes 

 over the edge of the platfoim as if loath to let go. This was so 

 marked that as the animals increased in speed they sometimes 

 showed a gait like that of a pacing horse. The noses were for 

 the most part held close against the floor, often drawn along 

 the edges and much used in comers. The first trials were cau- 

 tious and there was only an occasional fall but as the newness 

 wore oft" there was more recklessness in movement and more 

 falls. These happened chiefly at the ends of the paths or at 

 turns but frequently also from the sides midway. 



If an animal lost its way all these peculiarities became more 

 noticeable the nosing at edges and corners, the dragging of 

 vibrissae, the rising on hind feet, the curling of toes over edges, 

 the following of edges, etc., as if every available sense quality 

 were being exploited. But as time wore on, the errors dropped 

 out, falls became less frequent, the rats ran more confidently, and 

 finally most of them stepped out daintily with heads up and ran 

 the whole distance in six or seven seconds. (Fig. 15, Plate II.) 



The general behavior thus differed much from that observed in 

 the ordinary maze. The use of nose, vibrissae, feet and appar- 

 ently eyes was most marked. In other mazes one only notices 

 this incidentally. The less confident running was also evident. 

 That this cannot be due entirely to the raised platform and to 

 the dangers from falls later work shows. 



One ad\'^ntage of this maze is that every move and turn of 

 the animals can be seen as they cannot in a maze enclosed by 

 sides. Besides differences in behavior there are also to be 



* See fig. 6. 



