OF WILD ANIMALS 5 



gists who set up the study of "animal behavior." They did 

 this so seriously, and so determinedly, that one of the first 

 acts of two of them consisted in joyously brushing aside as of 

 no account whatever, and quite beneath serious considera- 

 tion, everything that had been seen, done and said previous 

 to the rise of their group, and the laboratory Problem Box. 

 In view of what this group has accomplished since 1910, with 

 their "problem boxes," their "mazes" and their millions of 

 "trials by error," expressed in solid pages of figures, the world 

 of animal lovers is entitled to smile tolerantly upon the cheer- 

 ful assumptions of ten years ago. 



But let it not at any time be assumed that we are destitute 

 of problem boxes; for the author has two of his own! One is 

 called the Great Outdoors, and the other is named the New 

 York Zoological Park. The first has been in use sixty years, 

 the latter twenty-two years. Both are today in good working 

 order, but the former is not quite as good as new. 



A Preachment to the Student. In studying the wild- 

 animal mind, the boundary line between Reality and Dream- 

 land is mighty easy to cross. He who easily yields to seduc- 

 tive reasoning, and the call of the wild imagination, soon will 

 become a dreamer of dreams and a seer of visions of things 

 that never occurred. The temptation to place upon the sim- 

 ple acts of animals the most complex and far-fetched interpre- 

 tations is a trap ever ready for the feet of the unwary. It is 

 better to see nothing than to see a lot of things that are not true. 



In the study of animals, we have long insisted that to the 

 open eye and the thinking brain, truth is stranger than fiction. 

 But Truth does not always wear her heart upon her sleeve for 

 zanies to peck at. Unfortunately there are millions of men 

 who go through the world looking at animals, but not seeing 

 them. 



Beware of setting up for wild animals impossible mental 

 and moral standards. The student must not deceive himself 

 by overestimating mental values. If an estimate must be 



