DECEPTION. 535 



Deception by man, though generally, is not necessarily in- 

 tentional. It is intentional where his object is to 



1. Capture animals, for whatever purpose. 



2. Torment them, as in his practical jokes. 



3. Artificially to create fear, surprise, or other emotions 

 or passions. 



4. Study experimentally their mental aptitudes. 



But it is unintentional where, for instance, he merely 

 changes his dress, and the result is, in the dog, an error in 

 distinguishing even his own master's identity. 



The successful impostures of man include various decep- 

 tions of the maternal instinct. For instance, Romanes made 

 a hen foster-mother to three orphaned ferrets ; and he says 

 he has heard that ' even such an intelligent animal as the 

 bitch may be deceived into rearing a cat, and vice versa, 7 if 

 only the two mothers have littered on the same day. The 

 success of man's deception depends on the liability to error 

 that characterises the lower animal. 



A doe-rabbit, to which was given, experimentally, a new- 

 born ferret to suckle, * perceived the imposture at once, and 

 attacked the young ferret so savagely that she broke two of 

 its legs before I could remove it ' (Romanes). 



Perhaps the most interesting feature in these attempts of 

 man to outwit or cheat other animals is their frequent failure 

 by reason of the intelligence, wariness, watchfulness, or in- 

 genuity of the latter, which enables them so frequently to 

 baffle or circumvent his powerful influence, sometimes even 

 to turn the tables upon him. In the first place they fre- 

 quently detect see through man's pretence ; they know 

 when he is in fun or jest, when in earnest. In an actioned 

 or acted threat by man, their conduct is guided by their be- 

 lief as to whether he means what he threatens, as well as by 

 their knowledge occasionally as to whether he has the power 

 of doing what he threatens. Thus there is no pantomimic 

 threat more common than a man pretending to be about to 

 throw a stone at a dog. 



Many, perhaps most, dogs confound the resemblance with 

 the reality ; they jump too hastily to the conclusion that 

 what he threatens he intends and can fulfil ; and they accord- 



