1 9 o MIND IN EVOLUTION CHAP. 



much even for fish, and five or six mouthfuls seem always to 

 take the edge off his appetite. Jack, on the other hand my 

 dog, who may be introduced at the same time has two great 

 merits. He is always anxious to oblige, and he is quite unfail- 

 ingly ready to eat. In other respects, I should not have regarded 

 Jack as a favourable subject for experiments designed to test the 

 higher limits of animal intelligence. His moral qualities if 

 psychologists will allow me to speak of such a thing in connection 

 with a dog have endeared him to a large circle of friends, but 

 his stoutest champions have admitted that his virtues were of the 

 heart rather than the head. At the same time, after comparing 

 his performances with those of other dogs, I think we underrated 

 Jack. It remains, however, that his manners are rough and 

 boisterous. He is very strong, and claws things to pieces if he 

 does not get what he wants. 1 But, as I soon found out, the 

 essential difference between Jack and the cat is that Jack's atten- 

 tion is concentrated, and Tim's dissipated. The cat is the finer 

 workman, doing things scientifically if he does them at all, but 

 he seldom makes a real effort to overcome a difficulty. Jack 

 bounces and blunders into everything, is apt, if the right method 

 fails, to get excited and try his strength, yet by continuity of 

 effort learns more rapidly and learns more. 



In this particular experiment, Jack showed to great 

 advantage as compared with Tim, and indeed, with all 

 other animals on whom I have tried it, except the elephant 

 and the monkeys. A piece of meat was placed on a card 

 to which a string was tied, and then placed on a shelf 

 beyond reach of the animal with the string dangling down. 

 After long delay the trick seemed to " come " to the cat 

 almost on a sudden. 



I first tried this with Tim, thinking that a young cat would 

 very likely pull the string in play. I was surprised to find that 

 he took no notice of it. I showed him seven times, pulling the 

 string down before his eyes, and letting him get the meat. 

 Neither this, nor a series of trials in which the card was placed 

 on the table barely out of the cat's reach, had the slightest effect. 

 The kitten once grabbed at the string as I was arranging the 

 card, probably in play, and brought the card down without 

 the meat. For the rest, he either made no attempt at all, 



1 In this connection it would be natural to mention Jack's breed, but 

 this is a point on which I hope nobody will inquire. I could not bring 

 myself to call Jack a mongrel. I may say that some have thought him 

 more of a fox-terrier than anything else. If so, he is on an unusually 

 large scale with broad brawny chest, and mighty claws. 



