190 NATURE STUDIES. 



what the narrator seems to have overlooked that the 

 looking-glass was not, as it seemed, transparent, for 

 the paw with which he was feeling about for the 

 other cat was not visible, though the supposed intruder 

 remained in view all the time. The apparent presence 

 of the feline foe, though the feeling paw could not be 

 seen, satisfied Tom fully. " The result of his experi- 

 ment," says the narrator, (: satisfied the cat that he 

 had been the victim of delusion, and never afterwards 

 would he condescend to notice mere reflections, though 

 the trap was more than once laid for him." It would, 

 by the way, have been worth while to try whether a 

 looking-glass without a frame deceived him after he 

 had discovered the meaning of an ordinary mirror, or 

 whether a cat placed on the other side of a transparent 

 framed glass would be at first mistaken for a mere 

 reflection his conduct in either case being carefully 

 watched. A cat which had shown such excellent 

 capacity for reasoning was worth experimenting on. 



Whether we suppose that the cat of the preceding 

 narrative judged of the position of his supposed foe 

 solely by sight, or may partly have been influenced by 

 the sense of sound (very slightly, in any case), it must 

 be admitted that he showed a fitness for original 

 research which some amongst ourselves might be 

 found wanting in, if we may judge from their actions 

 in certain cases. But it is an interesting question 

 how far an animal may really be deceived by the 

 image of another animal, or of some object in which 

 the animal observer takes interest. There are stories 



