x SOME EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS 209 



could not get at it, but he accidentally knocks it in ; then deliber- 

 ately pulls skewer out and opens. Time i' 20". 



16. Barks, slowly pulls out, skewer sticks a good deal, opens. 

 Time, i' 5". 



Next day, I alternated the loop and spike experiments. 

 Result: 



Loop. 



1. 12". Pushes from beginning with nose. 



2. 7". Does it at once. 



Skewer immediately afterwards substituted. 



1. i' u". Gets it out gradually, pulling at it practically 

 whole of time ; some difficulty in grasping, as skewer pushed in 

 up to head. Began at skewer at once. 



2. 1 6". Skewer a little further out, more easily grasped. 



The cat, oddly enough, pulled out the skewer at sight 

 as he had done with the loop, but in a casual fashion. In 

 this case the random success left no impression. The cat 

 had three more trials, in which he utterly failed, never 

 even trying the skewer again, though I showed him each 

 time, and finally used suggestion, pulling the skewer 

 half out. 



A comparison of the two experiments of the loop and 

 skewer is instructive. They show, first, how much a young 

 cat may do as the result of random exploration. In this 

 respect the elephant, monkey, and cat resemble each other 

 for experimental purposes. All fiddle with things, espe- 

 cially new things, examine them and pull them about. In 

 this, they differ, if not from puppies, at any rate from 

 older dogs, which investigate things, not by picking them 

 to pieces, but by smelling at them. To avoid accidental 

 success with a dog, he must be given something that he 

 will not effect either by smelling about in the neighbour- 

 hood or by random scratching. For this reason, notwith- 

 standing the case of the cat, I cannot think Jack's success 

 with the skewer was in any way accidental. The act was 

 for him a very awkward one, and at best he had a great 

 struggle with it. 1 In some cases he had to make more 



1 I believe that I spoke encouragingly once or twice during these 

 struggles. The adjustment of the skewer might also have been sugges- 

 tive as a reminder in some of the later trials. I mention these as the only 

 possible aids to him, other than perception and his own efforts. 



