ya E. L. THORNDIKE. 



D answered, "You put figure 2 on blackboard and touch 

 him on leg twice with cane, and so on." 



E answered ambiguously. 



It is noteworthy that even those who think they could teach 

 an animal by putting him through the trick do not use that 

 method, except at first. And what they really do then is 

 probably to stimulate the animal to the reflex act of raising his 

 hoof. The hand simply replaces the cane or whip as the 

 means of stimulus. The answers are especially instructive, be- 

 cause the numerous counting tricks done by trained horses 

 seem, at first, to be incomprehensible, unless the trainer can 

 teach the horse by putting it through the movement the proper 

 number of times. The counting tricks performed by Mascot, 

 Professor Maguire's horse, were quoted to me by a friend as 

 incomprehensible on my theory. The answers given above show 

 how simple the thing really is. All the counting-tricks of all the 

 intelligent horses depend on the fact that a horse raises his hoof 

 when a certain stimulus is given. One simple reaction gives 

 the basis for a multitude of tricks. In the same way other 

 tricks, which at first sight seem to require that the animal should 

 learn by being put through the movement, may depend on some 

 simple reflex or natural impulse. 



Another question was, " How would 3'ou teach a cat to get 

 out of a box, the door of which was closed with a thumb-latch?" 



A answered, "I should use a puff-ball as a plaything for 

 the cat to claw at." This means, I suppose, that he would get 

 the cat to claw at the puff-ball and thus direct its clawings to 

 the vicinity of the thumb-piece. 



B answered, "I would put the cat in and get it good and 

 hungry and then open the door by lifting the latch with my 

 finger. Then put some food that the cat likes outside, and she 

 will soon try to imitate you and so learn the trick." 



C answered, "I would first adjust all things in connection 

 with the surroundings of the cat so they would be applicable 

 to the laws of its nature, and then proceed to teach the trick." 



I suppose this last means that he would fix the box so that 

 some of the cat's instinctive acts would lead it to perform the 

 trick. The answer given by B means apparently that he would 



