The Dawn of Mind 



stone, its so-called anvil. To a young thrush, which she had 

 brought up by hand, Miss Frances Pitt offered some wood-snails, 

 but it took no interest in them until one put out its head and 

 began to move about. The bird then pecked at the snail's horns, 

 but was evidently puzzled when the creature retreated within the 

 shelter of the shell. This happened over and over again, the 

 thrush's inquisitive interest increasing day by day. It pecked 

 at the shell and even picked it up by the lip, but no real progress 

 was made till the sixth day, when the thrush seized the snail and 

 beat it on the ground as it would a big worm. On the same day 

 it picked up a shell and knocked it repeatedly against a stone, 

 trying first one snail and then another. After fifteen minutes' 

 hard work, the thrush managed to break one, and after that it was 

 all easy. A certain predisposition to beat things on the ground was 

 doubtless present, but the experiment showed that the use of an 

 anvil could be arrived at by an untutored bird. After prolonged 

 trying it found out how to deal with a difficult situation. It may 

 be said that in more natural conditions this might be picked up 

 by imitation, but while this is quite possible, it is useful to notice 

 that experiments with animals lead us to doubt whether imitation 

 counts for nearly so much as used to be believed. 



6 

 The Mind of the Mammal 



When we watch a collie at a sheep-driving competition, or 

 an elephant helping the forester, or a horse shunting waggons 

 at a railway siding, we are apt to be too generous to the mam- 

 mal mind. For in the cases we have just mentioned, part of 

 man's mind has, so to speak, got into the animal's. On 

 the other hand, when we study rabbits and guinea-pigs, we are 

 apt to be too stingy, for these rodents are under the average 

 of mammals, and those that live in domestication illustrate the 

 stupefying effect of a too sheltered life. The same applies 

 to domesticated sheep contrasted with wild sheep, or even with 



VOL.1 IS 



