[MILLs] PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG ANIMALS 227 
study has been noting the way in which higher mental states and better 
qualities prevailed in the end in this kitten under good treatment. Ithad 
finally become social and affectionate, discriminating in favour of the one 
who had really done the most for its comfort. But of self-denying, purely 
unselfish devotion to a master, as in the case of the dog, there seems to be 
little—very little in the cat. But puss is no flatterer, and her readiness to 
resent ill-treatment may have had much to do with her not occupying a 
higher position in man’s esteem. 
I have myself raised a cat from the depths of degradation, so to 
speak, to self-respect and the respect of others by patient and persevering 
good treatment, and I am anxious to record the fact, as I believe the cat 
to be much misunderstood and its intelligence greatly under-rated. 
If the term intelligence be employed in a wide sense and be made to 
cover the power an animal has to adapt means to ends in a more or less 
conscious way, including the adaption of its own organization to the 
environment, then the diary of the cat will furnish an interesting record 
bearing on this subject. In fact, from this point of view, the cat during 
the first three months of its life is decidedly in advance of the dog. 
In the mature cat instinct in securing prey plays so prominent a part 
that we are apt to overlook a great deal in the mental experience of the 
cat. Her psychic life is withdrawn from us to a greater extent than that 
of most of our domestic animals. I do not know of a single good history 
of the complete development of the cat from birth to maturity, so that I 
regret the more the loss of my kitten before she had reached the age of 
at least one year. 
The diary also shows that the cat hasa good memory, though whether 
equal to or better than that of the dog I am not prepared to say—the 
evidence is insufficient for the purpose, 
On the question of will-power, there is, however, ample evidence for 
making comparisons. 
If the quivering movements of the ears were imperfect voluntary 
movements these may be considered about the first manifestation of will 
in the kitten, and there is nothing to correspond to this in the dog at so 
early a state. 
While attempts to get from the original nest or home took place at 
an early period in both the dog and the cat, they were more persistent in 
the latter. 
I have given in considerable detail the history of the kitten’s attempts 
to get into my book shelves, etc., and 1 must repeat that this furnishes to 
me the most impressive evidence of the existence of a strong will-power 
intelligently expressed that has ever come under my observation in so 
young an animal of any kind. While I think that the kitten whose 
history I have recorded was above the average in strength of character, 
if I may so express it, yet in making all allowance for this there is still a 
