1 92 MIND IN EVOLUTION CHAP. 



being moved about. On the other hand. Miss M. V. 

 Vernon, who also kindly made some observations for me, 

 found that her cat Balbus pulled the string without being 

 shown at all. 1 The individual differences among dogs in 

 this experiment are not less striking. Two collies and a 

 fox-terrier which I tried failed to learn it in several trials. 

 One collie brushed the string down four times in roaming 

 about, and still showed no sign of learning the trick. Jack, 

 on the other hand, was present while I was teaching the 

 kitten one day. He saw me pull it down once, and the 

 next time took the string neatly in his teeth and pulled it 

 down. Oddly enough, he did not repeat this success at 

 once, but for several trials would stand and bark stupidly 

 for two or three minutes until I pointed towards the string, 

 or lightly touched it. 



Sometimes I had to point two or three times. He began in the 

 same way next day, so at the second trial I changed my tactics, 

 pointing to the card. Jack then jumped up towards it and 

 scrambled it down. At his next trial the eighth all told from 

 the beginning he pulled the string without being shown, and 

 never failed again. As soon as he was perfect in it, I stretched 

 the string across from the chimney-piece to a chair-back, and 

 found that Jack jumped at it at once. He began by aiming too 

 high, and while still on his hind legs, edged away sideways till he 

 came to a point which he could reach. 



In this experiment, anything like accident seems ruled 

 out. The very first success was a quite definite act, with 

 every appearance of deliberateness,and opposed in character 

 to the jumping up and " scrabbling " which occurred at 

 his first trial. Jack saw the thing done, and then did it. 

 He was not, however, established in the trick by the 

 success, but needed "suggestion." Now, it is possible that 

 the mere pointing to the string might induce a dog to 

 seize and pull it independently of any special association, 



1 The card was placed on a table, and the string tied to a chair. The 

 experimenter prevented the cat from jumping at the table, and pointed 

 to the string, which he then pawed. The card was then moved to a 

 (higher) sideboard, and the string left to dangle. After a long delay, 

 Balbus's attention was attracted to the string, and he pawed it. Next 

 day he failed in this once, and was shown. He also failed several 

 times when the food was placed still higher, and this notwithstanding 

 two successes. 



