78 Animal Intelligence 
hen. Care in other cases, then, need not mean instruction 
through imitation. 
These considerations may prevent an unreserved accept- 
ance of the common view that young animals get a great 
’ number of their useful habits from imitation, but I do not 
expect or desire them to lead to its summary rejection. 
T should not now myself reject it, though I think it quite 
pee that more investigation and experiment may 
finally reduce all the phenomena of so-called imitation of 
acts. 
Another special department of imitation may be at least 
vaguely marked off: namely, apparent imitation of certain 
limited sorts of acts which are somewhat frequent in the 
animal’s life. An example will do better than further 
definition. 
Some sheep were being driven on board ship one at a time. 
In the course of their progress they had to jump over a 
hurdle. On this being removed before all had passed it, 
the next sheep was seen to jump as if to get over a hurdle, 
and so on for five or six, apparently sure evidence that they 
imitated the action, each of the one in front. Now, it is 
..again possible that among gregarious animals there may be 
‘elaborate connections in the nervous system which allow 
the sight of certain particular acts in another animal to 
arouse the innervation leading to those acts, but that these 
connections are limited. The reactions on this view are 
specific responses to definite signals, comparable to any 
other instinctive or associational reaction. The sheep 
jumps when he sees the other sheep jump, not because of 
a general ability to do what he sees done, but because he is 
furnished with the instinct to jump at such a sight, or 
because his experience of following the flock over boulders 
