INTELLIGENCE IN ANIMALS. 181 



then made of a scientific ' rat-tat ' that would not 

 disgrace a west-end footman. I should say that 

 ' Minnie ' holds the knocker in his paw as we should 

 hold it in our fingers, and not by simply tipping it up. 

 How far this practice involves ' abstract reasoning/ 

 I will not say, but something like an approach to it is 

 suggested, for he was never taught to knock at the 

 door, and adopted the habit some three years ago, 

 evidently to gain admittance, very often to the annoy- 

 ance of my sister's family, who have occasionally been 

 disturbed in this way at unseemly hours." The rest 

 of the letter has no bearing on the subject we are 

 upon, but it is too amusing to be omitted. ' ' I should 

 be sorry/' says the writer, " in thus referring to the 

 sagacity of poor pussy (who is now also somewhat 

 feeble), to reflect upon him by noticing some other of 

 his peculiarities, one of which is his fondness for a 

 little brandy-and-water, and other alcoholic stimu- 

 lants/' It would be, perhaps, to inquire somewhat 

 too curiously to ask whether this story shows that the 

 fondness for stimulants is associated with an advance 

 in reasoning power, or whether, perhaps, Minnie's 

 brain was aroused to abnormal activity by the tippling 

 in which alone (we may assume) he was indulged by 

 his mistress. The point established by the story is 

 that in some cases at any rate, as in animals so low 

 in cerebral development as cats the consequences 

 of a certain action are observed and remembered, 

 the action being repeated by the animal when he 

 wants those particular consequences to follow. 



