THE SUMMIT OF THE YEARS 



of its gift of reason when it amputates its leg in or- 

 der to escape from a trap. I dissent from it for sev- 

 eral reasons. Animals apparently much lower in the 

 scale of intelligence than the beaver, such as the 

 muskrat and the skunk, will do the same thing; and 

 animals much higher, such as the dog, the fox, the 

 wolf, will not do it. Indeed, it has been found that 

 an all but brainless animal, like the starfish, will do 

 a similar thing. In order to get free of a piece of 

 rubber tubing placed over one of its arms, the star- 

 fish has, after exhausting other expedients, been 

 known to amputate the arm. Hence, I infer that the 

 beaver, caught in a trap, does not reason about it, 

 and " reach the conclusion that he must inflict upon 

 himself the pain of amputating his foot." He only 

 shows the promptings of a very old and universal 

 instinct, the instinct of self-preservation. 



Every creature, little and big, that has powers of 

 locomotion, struggles against that which would for- 

 cibly hold it, or which opposes it. A cricket or a 

 grasshopper will leave a leg in your hand in order to 

 escape. Try forcibly to retain the paw of your dog, 

 or your cat, and see how it will struggle to be free. 

 A four-footed animal caught in a trap is filled with 

 rage and pain; it bites at everything within reach 

 the bushes, the logs, the rocks; of course it bites 

 the trap, but upon the steel its teeth make no im- 

 pression. If the animal is small, and the season is 

 winter, the part of the foot that protrudes on the 

 116 



