26 COLEMAN R. GRIFFITH 



The behavior of the cats is interesting. None of them was 

 concerned with the rats, save the youngest, which spat and struck 

 when a rat was pushed near her. When placed in the wire cage 

 containing the seven oldest rats, she was entirely indifferent until 

 the anosmic female rat mentioned above essayed to explore too 

 intimately, at which she spat viciously and struck at the rat. 

 From this time on, the female in question evinced more of the 

 behavior of the other rat; but at no tune did she seem to be wholly 

 afraid. Although the cats seemed to be indifferent to the presence 

 of the rats, they all sought, captured, and eagerly ate mice which 

 were provided. One only pursued, captured and ate a young 

 rat. 



3. We come finally to a statement of the relations this behavior 

 has to certain other well-known kinds of behavior. It has al- 

 ready been made clear that there is a total inhibition of the ex- 

 ploratory movements. The rat seems to possess a very definite 

 and rather well-established tendency to explore in a character- 

 istic way every new situation in which it may find itself. 6 There 

 has been a total inhibition of all this activity in almost every 

 case. The one exception has been explained. In other words, 

 the neural organization, whatever it may be, which is excited 

 under the influence of the feline odor is prepotent over the neural 

 organization giving rise to exploratory movements. The other 

 tendencies to be taken advantage of are the feeding tendencies, 

 the specific sex tendencies, and the mothering tendencies. 



Repeatedly the rats have been allowed to go without food for 

 several hours beyond their normal feeding-time. When food 

 cracked corn, oats, sunflower seed, and bits of cheese was 

 finally placed in the nests, the feeding activities were, of course, 

 marked. On these occasions, to put a cat quietly on the cages 

 results uniformly in the inhibition of the feeding activities and 

 in the arousal of the behavior characteristic of the situation. 

 When a male and a female are newly placed together in a cage 

 the usual movements of pursuit and escape are immediately 

 aroused. The introduction of the feline odor results, however, 



Small, op. cit., pp. 99 f. 



