VI ANIMAL TRAINING AND INTELLIGENCE 183 



the circus. A series of illustrations shows a rab- 

 bit sitting on top of a long paper cylinder or 

 tunnel, supported upon a stick, while a procession 

 of bunnies bolts incontinently through it. Just 

 below, a clown-rabbit is seen jumping through 

 a paper drum, while another circus rabbit fires 

 a pistol, and still a third drags a miniature chariot 

 around the arena. While a dissipated little creat- 

 ure stands on his head and shows other signs 

 of over-indulgence, another pet rocks gently to 

 and fro in a little swing. Others of Mademoi- 

 selle Claire's performers scamper under burning 

 wickets, and vault between blazing candles over 

 a succession of candelabra arranged as hurdles. 



This is much prettier than the trained rats and 

 mice which have been shown in the same city of 

 clever people, for all our associations with the 

 rabbit are endearing; and the success that has 

 followed the training of these pets, which do not 

 stand high in brain power, goes to show what I 

 have suggested hitherto, that if its disposition is 

 favorable, a weak-minded animal learns tricks 

 more satisfactorily than a strong-minded one. 



With some account of a most interesting troupe 

 of trained cats this essay must come to a close ; 

 and this account has been left until the last be- 

 cause it is perhaps the most recent, and one of 

 the most striking of the trainer's triumphs. This 

 troupe is that of the young Dutchman Bonnetty, 

 which formed one of the main attractions of the 



