284 - ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE 
INSTINCT. 
To Tue Epiror oF Scvence.—Having read with con- 
siderable interest the discussions under “ Instinct,’ and 
having noticed the different opinions expressed con- 
cerning the eating and drinking of the chick, I thought 
that perhaps my personal experiments in regard to the 
matter might be of interest. 
About eight years ago I was desirous of studying the 
chick before and after hatching, and for this purpose I 
placed about three hundred eggs in an incubator. I 
shall confine myself to those that were allowed to hatch. 
Those that hatched were divided into two groups,— 
an unhealthy and a healthy group. ‘Those in the first 
group were fed and given water until they became 
strong enough to care for themselves. Those in the 
second group had food and water placed so that they 
could get them, but they were not fed nor given water, 
nor were they taught how to secure food and water. 
No tapping on the dish or on the floor, and no putting 
of the bill in the food or water was practised. They 
were left entirely to themselves. 
By watching these chicks, I noticed that they would 
occasionally run over their food and water, and fre- 
quently they stumbled in them. If the beak became 
wet, up would go the head, and the water was swallowed. 
If food adhered to the beak, some would get on the 
tongue, and it would be swallowed. In time they 
seemed to recognise that the food and water were 
palatable by repeatedly stumbling in them and getting 
them on the beak, and finally, they learned how to 
secure them, 7.¢. how to pick. them up. I noticed that 
at first they did not know how to pick up, but, after 
repeatedly trying, they learned how. The majority of 
these chicks lived and developed. 
