148 ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE 



perfect at first ; that, like the lapping of milk, swallow- 

 ing, etc., but much less so, it is improved by practice, 

 and that it is subject to modification with the increas- 

 ing experience of the animal. It is true the mechanism 

 of sucking, both muscular and nervous, in consequence 

 of countless ancestral experiences, is like perfectly 

 made machinery in good order, it will work on the 

 slightest stimulus, but later this machinery is better 

 oiled; it works better. That there is but imperfect 

 discrimination as to what is sucked is well shown by 

 my diary, and that the act only continues a certain 

 time, when milk is not obtained, proves that the 

 instinct is fairly perfect. However, as the notes show, 

 the older the puppy the more perfectly does it utilise 

 the sucking mechanism, the less energy does it waste, 

 e.g. the feet are used to much greater advantage in 

 pressing the mammary glands after a couple of weeks 

 than in the first days. 



Does the puppy find the teats shortly after its birth 

 by smell ? I am convinced that it plays no great part 

 in the matter for some days, as far as dogs are con- 

 cerned. After birth they crawl towards the mother's 

 abdomen to get warmth ; they tend to suck almost any 

 fleshy object that comes in their way that is not cold ; 

 they meet the teats, which are the objects best adapted 

 to seize and suck ; getting satisfaction, this is continued. 

 No doubt, later, smell, the tactile sense, still later vision, 

 and a whole host of stored experiences guide in this, 

 as in other cases, in which instinct is essential and 

 most prominent in the result. But that smell is 

 essential that a puppy may reach its dam's teats soon 

 after birth I cannot believe, from the many observations 

 I have made. 



PAIN. That a puppy, in the first hour of its exist- 

 ence, feels discomfort cannot be doubted, but I regret 

 ihat I did not make some definite experiments on the 



