254 SELF-EDUCATION: THE ACQUISITION OF 



7. Materials of construction. 



In their regular search for water supply the dog, horse, 

 mule, ox, goat, and other animals explore new or unvisited 

 localities (Houzeau). The theftuous monkey ransacks man's 

 pockets in pocket-picking. The bereaved bitch or cat makes 

 the most anxious and unwearied search for her lost young, 

 and female birds for their abstracted eggs. Hounds or 

 other sporting dogs seek carefully for the track of game 

 for instance, the foxhound for that of the elk in Ceylon 

 (Baker) such a search including the fording or swimming 

 of lakes and rivers. 



Rat-catching terriers explore houses in search of their 

 prey. Both cats and dogs sometimes seeTc for their masters 

 at the houses of their friends, or even in large assemblies, 

 such as balls or public meetings (Watson, 'Percy Anec- 

 dotes'). Both cats and dogs, too, search enquiringly and 

 anxiously in a master's or an enemy's eye or features for 

 his or its intention towards them. Monkeys make the closest 

 examination of bark and leaves in their search for insects, 

 of the hair and skin of the dog in looking for vermin (Belt). 



Examination sometimes includes also researches or en- 

 quiries reconnoitring and surveys with corresponding 

 reports by commissioners, pioneers, delegates, spies, scouts, 

 sentinels in war, foraging, marauding, slave-capturing, or 

 colonisation. Horses and cows frequently make surveys of 

 fences, in order to the detection of their weak points, as offer- 

 ing a means of escape or of access to some coveted pasture. 

 Macaulay, for instance, mentions an old mare making a regular 

 tour of inspection of such a kind round an enclosure. The 

 avant-couriers of swallows in migrating appear to make 

 both surveys and reports. Certain Californian ants recon- 

 noitre as to the presence or absence of danger (Hague), which 

 is also done by a great variety of higher animals, including 

 the wild horse and elephant (Watson) and the spider-monkey 

 (Cassell). 



Much of the knowledge acquired by the lower animals is 

 the result of direct experimentation by themselves. They test 

 or try in various ways 



1. The mechanical properties of bodies. 



