CAT— GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. 425 



lished. After describing the case of a cat opening a 

 thumb-latch in the same way as those already mentioned, 

 this writer proceeds : — 



At Parara, the residence of Parker Bowman, Esq., a full- 

 grown cat was one day accidentally locked up in a room with- 

 out any other outlet than a small window, moving on hinges, 

 and kept shut by means of a swivel. Not long afterwards the 

 window was found open and the cat gone. This having 

 happened several times, it was at last found that the cat jumped 

 upon the window-sill, placed her fore-paws as high as she could 

 reach against the side, deliberately reached with one over to 

 the swivel, moved it from its horizontal to a perpendicular posi- 

 tion, and then, leaning with her whole weight against the 

 window, swung it open and escaped. 



To give only one other instance of high reasoning power 

 in this animal, Mr. W. Brown, writing from Greenock to 

 * Nature ' (vol. xxi., p. 397), gives a remarkable story of a 

 cat, the facts in which do not seem to have adfnitted of 

 mal-observation. While a paraffine lamp was being 

 trimmed, some of the oil fell upon the back of the cat, 

 and was afterwards ignited by a cinder falling upon it 

 from the fire. The cat with her back ' in a blaze, in an 

 instant made for the door (which happened to be open) 

 and sped up the street about 100 yards,' where she plunged 

 into the village watering-trough, and extinguished the 

 flame. * The trough had eight or nine inches of water, 

 and puss was in the habit of seeing the fire put out with 

 water every night.' The latter point is important, as it 

 shows the data of observation on which the animal rea- 

 soned. 



