80 PROF. J. ARTHUR THOMSON ON 
with a heavy marble-top, which he has upset several times, 
and always without hurting himself. One day he played 
for a long time with a hearth-brush, learning to unscrew the 
handle, and, what was much more difficult, putting it to- 
gether again. When he had become by practice tolerably 
perfect in screwing and unscrewing, he gave it up and took 
to some other amusement. One remarkable thing is that he 
should take so much trouble to do that which is of no 
material benefit to him.” This last sentence is interesting 
though it should not have been so expressed. It is part of 
the essence of play that it is not of direct material benefit. 
Sham-Hunting. 
A number of games may be summed up under the title 
sham-hunt. Into this there enters the psychological element 
of self-illusion. The booty may be real, as when the cat 
plays with the mouse, or both the booty and the chasing of 
it may be fictitious. The sham booty may be living, as 
when the dog plays with a beetle; or, more commonly, dead 
as when the kitten plays with a ball of twine. 
Many naturalists have written concerning the play of the 
cat with the mouse. It has been interpreted as a whetting 
of the cat’s appetite, as a means of improving the taste of 
the mouse, and as elaborate cruelty. Romanes—though a 
man of keen insight—committed himself to the view that 
it illustrated the delight in torture for torture’s sake. 
Probably these suggestions are all unnecessary. Surely, 
what we see is just a little game, justified in the present by 
the repetition of pleasant excitement, justified in the race by 
the increased dexterity which it develops. 
I need hardly say that a great many carnivores play 
just as the cat does. Their play is a practice for their work. 
? 
Sham-Fight. 
Another type of play is the sham-fight, as we may so 
often see it between puppies or kittens. It has been de- 
scribed among lions, tigers, hyzenas, wolves, foxes, bears, and 
other carnivores ; among kids, lambs, calves, foals, and other 
hoofed animals; it is also very common among birds. Of 
