PRACTICAL JOKES. 539 



or amount of pain, bodily or mental, that a victim is under- 

 going. Thus an American correspondent of ' Nature ' 

 describes a playful kitten as amusing itself by teasing a frog, 

 ' seemingly for the purpose of hearing him cry.' Here there 

 is a selfish amusement at the expense of suffering in another. 

 But it is not at all likely that the kitten had any idea that it 

 was inflicting pain, and that a cry was the natural expres- 

 sion of pain. Indeed, the simple teasing, or tormenting of 

 animals by each other, though provocative of displays of 

 temper, combativeness, retaliation, seldom involve the idea 

 that pain is being inflicted and suffered. 



Lady Verney writes of apes and monkeys, as seen at the 

 Zoological Gardens, London: <An ape will push a bit of 

 apple or bun through his bars, just within reach of his 

 neighbour, and draw it back again before he can get at it 

 going on for an hour at a time, for the mere delight of seeing 

 the anger and distress and longing of the poor little victim. 

 No other beast seems to have the wit, or the desire, to enjoy 

 evil in this manner.' Here the pain inflicted is necessarily 

 mental; but it is no less keen on that account. Pain of 

 a purely bodily kind is produced, on the other hand, by a 

 monkey driving a stick into the eye of a crocodile. ' He 

 went to work with all the caution and seriousness of an old 

 lawyer ; and when he had inflicted the joke, he hauled him- 

 self aloft with an alacrity that showed he could form a very 

 good estimation of the danger which he ran ' (Lawson). 



The success of practical jokes implies deception of, and error 

 in the victims or dupes. Triumph, exultation, or delight, 

 which is sometimes so evident, and is expressed in various 

 ways, involves a clear perception of the nature of the trick 

 or joke, and a consciousness of its success. Miss Cobbe de- 

 scribes the pseans in chorus of a flock of geese at the success 

 of a practical joke of theirs on a number of pigs. The 

 Rhesus monkey shows its triumph by chattering and grin- 

 ning (Cassell). The parrot appreciates its own jokes, shows 

 joy at least at its success in mischief (Houzeau, Watson). 

 The elephant also enjoys its practical joking, that is, witness- 

 ing the effects thereof (Lee). The raven exhibits, as so many 

 other birds do, delight at the success of its mimicry (Low). 



