102 THE HUMANIZING OF THE BRUTE. 



us see. The following is the ingenious method 

 of experimentation he adopted. He took a good num- 

 ber of dogs, cats, and chicks, and having deprived 

 them of food for some time, put them in enclosures 

 from which they could escape by some simple act, 

 such as pulling at the loop of a cord, pressing a lever, 

 or stepping on a platform. A model of a box used in 

 the experiments is given in the accompanying draw- 

 ing (Plate V). Food was left outside in sight of the 

 animal. The animal \ then, had to form in each case 

 some few simple associations between the representation 

 of the interior of the box and the various movements 

 which would enable it to satisfy its hunger. The ob- 

 server made sure that the animal was free from his 

 influence and had never been subjected to the same or 

 a similar experiment. Moreover, the animals were 

 healthy, the main data of their life-history were known, 

 and they all were in the same state of absolute hunger 

 when subjected to the experiment. 



Now, what are the results of Thorndike's experi- 

 ments? As far as they pertain to the present subject, 

 they prove, in the first place, that dogs and cats are un- 

 able of themselves to form associations which imply the 

 understanding of the finality of actions. For if they 

 succeeded in opening the door of their cage, they suc- 

 ceeded BY ACCIDENT, not by intellectual inference. 



L,et us give one typical example. The successes 

 and failures of two cats, No. 1 and No. 6, are ex- 

 pressed in the following table: i) 



.') 1. c., p. 45. 



