270 PSYCHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION. [PART II. 



but by the influence of man, that they leave the natural state 

 and reach a higher degree of mental culture. To convince 

 ourselves that these animals are really capable of such a mental 

 improvement, we need only compare the Arabian horse with 

 its wild parent stock. Constantly in intercourse with its 

 master and his family, it is cared for like a member of the 

 family, and, like a near relation, the animal takes an interest in 

 all that concerns the family : it learns to understand human 

 actions and occurrences; and that it sometimes acts spon- 

 taneously and seemingly sympathizes with the misfortunes and 

 joys of the family, has been supported by many examples. 

 Can we, then, deny perfectibility to these animals, or doubt 

 that their sphere of thought is capable of enlargement beyond 

 what appears its natural limits ? 



We must, then, search for more decided differences between 

 man and the brute than such as are designated by the term 

 ' ( perfectibility," and we must look for them in the perform- 

 ances peculiar to mankind. This investigation will, at the 

 same time, teach us the circumstances and relations upon 

 which the character of perfectibility, exclusively attributed to 

 man, rests. 



That man learns from experience, is one of the most im- 

 portant but not a specific peculiarity. Common observation 

 of our domestic animals sufficiently shows that they also profit 

 by experience, frequently in a very short time, and the lesson 

 thus acquired lasts for life. Elephants, who have once and 

 decisively experienced the superiority of man, are usually 

 docile afterwards. Wild horses, caught with the lasso, use 

 every effort to set themselves free, but once tamed they prove 

 docile for ever. Monkeys who have once burned their lips in 

 swallowing hot liquids, afterwards wait with patience until 

 they are cooled j 1 but this profiting of former experiences does 

 not seemingly pass beyond a certain point. Thus monkeys 

 are frequently caught by means of pots placed into the earth, 

 filled with maize, through the narrow neck of which they are 

 able to introduce the empty hand, but unable to withdraw it 



1 Bennet, " Wanderings in New South Wales," ii, p. 158, 1834. 



