CHAPTER III. 



THE PLAY OF ANIMALS. 



The following treatise forms, so far as I know, the 

 first attempt at a systematic treatment of the play of 

 animals, and, in view of the unavoidable difficulties in- 

 herent in the task, I wish to bespeak the reader's indul- 

 gence at the outset. Modern works on the mental life 

 of animals, such as the writings of Carus, Schneider, 

 Wundt, Buchner, Espinas, Romanes, Lloyd Morgan, 

 Flourens, Alix, and Foveau de Courmelles, contain only 

 meagre and general accounts of even the most important 

 plays.* 



Thus Romanes, in his laborious work, Animal In- 

 telligence, which in the edition of 1892 numbers five 

 hundred pages, makes, aside from the play of ants 

 and dolphins, only a few incidental observations on the 

 play of birds, dogs, and monkeys, f 



The great significance of play in physical and men- 

 tal development seems not to have attracted the atten- 

 tion of psychologists as it deserves to do. Therefore I 

 hope that this book, in spite of its imperfections, may 

 contribute to the result that in the future every ani- 



* Among older works, Scheitlin's Thierseelenkunde is famous. 

 f The observations made by this author's sister on a young ape, 

 included in the book, are much more valuable. 

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