THE PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG ANIMALS 243 



There seemed to be little more to record though they 

 were kept to maturity. Other litters were also studied 

 with the same result. 



Remarks on the Diary of the Babbit. 



By a comparison of the records for the common and 

 the pure-bred rabbits, it might appear that the latter 

 were, in some respects, in advance of the former, but 

 this is apparent rather than real, I think, as in the 

 common rabbit observations were probably not made 

 quite early enough in some instances. v 



The marked development of tactile sensibility at so \ 

 early an age in the rabbit is very noteworthy. The ] 

 creature also responds unusually well, as compared with / 

 other animals, as the dog and cat, to pain-producing 

 stimuli. 



While there is the same uncertainty as to taste and 

 smell at birth, and for a day or two, upon the whole, the 

 evidence is in favour of the rabbit being in advance 

 somewhat of the dog and the cat in these respects. 



The total absence of voice in the young is in harmony 

 with the sparing production of sounds by the adult. 



The movements of the ears, while more marked, are 

 more akin to those of the dog than of the cat. 



Movements are developed sooner in the rabbit, and 

 more rapidly become of the kind characteristic of the 

 animal group than in the dog or cat. 



The very early date (2nd day) on which scratching 

 was observed, illustrates the rapidity with which co- 

 ordinated movements reach a considerable degree of 

 complexity. 



The very early date at which jerky movements are 

 manifest, and which are later represented by that rapid 

 scurrying toward a burrow, etc., is noteworthy. Few 

 animals equal the rabbit in this, and the early develop- 

 ment of these movements affords another instance of 



