THE PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG ANIMALS 229 



favour of the cat. I doubt if the dog does at any period 

 of his life possess this persistence to the same extent 

 as the cat, and, as in many human beings, this character- 

 istic is associated with unusual physical stamina. The 

 cat's power to live, in spite of its unfavourable sur- 

 roundings, and her power to resist disease and recover 

 from injury, are undoubtedly greater than in the dog. 



The cat is notoriously an independent creature, and 

 in common estimation devoid, or nearly so, of docility ; 

 but this very independence and readiness to resent 

 tends, as I have before explained, to cause the cat to be 

 misunderstood. I have, with set purpose, given in great 

 detail my kitten's history, with reference to education 

 in cleanliness, and growing out of this subject alone, a 

 long, and I venture to think, valuable paper might be 

 written on the subject of the education of animals and 

 human beings. 



It will be observed that the kitten's instincts were 

 met by placing a sand-pan directly in its path from a 

 box in which it slept to the book-shelves, which it was 

 determined to visit. 



From the first moment that its foot was placed in the 

 sand, I noticed that a powerful appeal had been made 

 to the creature's psychic nature, a new experience 

 engendered a new psychic life, awakened dormant 

 emotions, tendencies, etc., and these were fundamental. 

 To my mind, this is at the very root of all sound 

 education. 



At times, it is true, a little gentle restraint had to 

 be used to prevent the chain of psychic connections 

 forged by these experiences from being broken. But 

 how different the result in this case from that which 

 followed opposition to the kitten's going among the 

 book-shelves. The latter was an instructive thing, the 

 expression of the feline nature to seek retirement in 

 the day-time, and so strong was it, and so supported by 



