IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 45 



I think that no injustice is done Dr. Thorndyke when I state 

 candidly that his position, throughout the entire discussion, is 

 not a judicial one That he starts out to prove the thesis that 

 the mentality of animals is much lower than heretofore sup- 

 posed, and that this attitude constantly impairs the reliability 

 of his conclusions. 



After having denied the power of inference and of imitation, 

 the author still further demolishes the work of his predeces- 

 sors by the statemeat that " the ground- work of animal associ- 

 ations is not the association of ideas, but the association of 

 idea or sense impression with impulse. " (Page 71.) 



Impulse is defined as ' ' the consciousness a muscular inner- 

 vation apart from that feeling of the act which comes from 

 seeing one's self move, from feeling one's body in a different 

 position, etc. ' ' Dr. Thorndyke does not believe that an animal 

 can supply that impulse when it thinks of that act. For instance 

 a cat can not go into a box by virtue of the thought of going 

 in. It can not say to itself, "I will!" There must be the 

 muscular innervation, accompanied by the consciousness that 

 makes up the impulse. This matter, however, involves too 

 elaborate a discussion to be followed here, interesting as it 

 might be so to do. 



Finally we CDme to the most astounding statement of all, 

 which is the following: 



" The possibility is that anioaals may have no images or 

 memories at all, no ideas to associate. Perhaps the ent re fact 

 •of association in animals is the presence of sense impressions 

 with which are associated, by result and pleasure, certain 

 impulses, and that therefore, and therefore only, a certain 

 situation brings forth a certain act." (P^ge 73.) 



The author believes that acts of recognition, for inst mce, 

 may not be accompinied by any feeling of recogaitioa at all. 



We here arrive at as bald an automatisai as could well be 

 imagined. The following sentence will best convey Dr. Thorn- 

 dyke's meaning: "A sense impressioa of me gets associated 

 in my dog's miad with the impulses to jump oa me, lick my 

 hand and wag his tail, though he has not and never had any 

 representatioQ of me. " (Page 74.) 



Now it may be claimed that I have not done justice to the 

 author under discussion because I have not given the arguments 

 whereby he supports his theories. This course would, how- 

 ever, be impossible in the scopa of this paper. I have tried to 



