THE SUMMIT OF THE YEARS 



if any of it bears a doubtful aspect to his mind, it is 

 that large mass which has been furnished by labora- 

 tory inquiry; for, while some of the latter is contro- 

 verted, and all of it must be accepted by most people 

 at second-hand, nearly all the rest is indisputably 

 true, as he will know from his own experience of 

 life." 



IV 



The university psychologist has little confidence 

 in the ability of the field naturalist to interpret cor- 

 rectly "what he supposes himself to have seen," 

 even if it be only the doings of a downy woodpecker 

 excavating his chamber in an old post. What, he 

 asks in substance, does one know about a downy 

 woodpecker, which one has observed from one's 

 front porch, excavating a cavity for a winter home 

 in the top of a chestnut post? What does he know in 

 detail of the bird's past experience, what of its age, 

 what of its various sense-powers, such as its seeing, 

 smelling, and hearing powers, what of the way its 

 various powers have been developed, what of the 

 number of times it has tried the same act and failed, 

 what of the circumstances that may have enabled 

 it to invent a new plan of action, whether it is an 

 average bird of the species, or an unusual one, 

 etc.? What indeed and how better off in this re- 

 spect would the experimentalist be? The naturalist 

 is probably familiar with the life and habits of the 

 188 



