Observations on Young Mammals. 1 1 9 



I repeated the experiment. Unfortunately, the cat was 

 there, and I long bore on my lip the mark of her claw. 

 The kittens were much disturbed, and there was ample 

 opportunity for the establishment of an association 

 between this uneasiness, due to the old cat's behaviour, 

 and the smell of a dog. 



I have seen my fox-terrier smell at a young lamb, 

 about a fortnight old, that was lying in a field, and the 

 lamb showed no signs of fear, even when the two animals 

 were nose to nose, till the ewe came up bleating fussily ; 

 then the young thing started up and ran to its dam. I 

 take it that many popular notions concerning instinctive 

 fear are erroneous and exaggerated, and that what Mr. 

 Hudson showed for birds — that the fear is mainly due to 

 experience and tradition — is also true for mammals. With 

 regard to one such popular notion, this is what Mr. Selous 

 says: * " I think it is a mistake to say that oxen and horses 

 have an instinctive fear of the smell of a lion. I have 

 always found that a shooting-horse, trained to carry meat, 

 will allow you to pack a reeking lion-skin upon him with 

 as much indifference as an antelope-hide, so long as he 

 has never been frightened or mauled by one of the former 

 animals ; this, at least, is my experience." 



Still, there may be an instinctive basis in some cases 

 where animals are by nature enemies. And we must 

 remember that what is instinctive often forms merely 

 the foundation upon which what is acquired is built in 

 the course of individual development. Dr. Mills puts this 

 very clearly. " The whole history of the kitten," he says, 

 "is an illustration that, however strong instincts may be 

 in an intelligent animal, its psychic life is determined by 

 experience, i.e. there come to be almost no pure instincts — 

 instincts unmodified by experience, if such a thing is 



* " Travel and Adventure in Africa," p. 126. 



