THE PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG ANIMALS 205 
—not excepting the child. It seemed that the greater 
the obstacles, the greater the efforts the kitten put forth 
to overcome them—behaviour that we usually consider 
especially human, and ever an evidence of unusual 
strength of character. 
That this kitten was not an ordinary one in many 
respects I am quite prepared to believe, but still the 
animal was a cat, and a cat only, and that such 
“character” should have been shown was a surprise to 
one who has been a long and close observer of animals. 
I have seen something akin to this in that remark- 
able bird the parrot, but not in a parrot so young as 
this kitten. 
One of the remarkable features in the whole group 
of the felide was illustrated in this kitten, viz. the 
slowness with which they learn to eat and drink, and 
the length of time before difficulties are fully over- 
come. 
A comparison of the kitten’s behaviour towards the 
parrot and the canary furnishes food for reflection, and 
in this, as in all such cases, all narrow explanations 
prove inadequate; and while the laws of association 
etc. may explain much, they do not seem to me to 
explain all in the case of the lower animals, any more 
than in the case of the child or the man. 
Conclusions. 
While there can be no doubt that cats are born deaf 
and blind, the question of smell and taste is more 
difficult to settle. Up to the third day, and even then, 
there is no clear evidence of smell and taste, though, on 
the whole, it would appear that the facts in favour of 
the existence of smell are more certain than in the case 
of taste. 
There is evidence, on the 3rd day, of reflex action, 
