THE ANIMAL MIND 



inside of the jaws of the trap soon becomes numb 

 and dead or frozen, and is gnawed off. The leg 

 above the trap may become frozen and senseless, 

 and the amputation of it give little pain. 



Trappers tell us that bears often resort to all man- 

 ner of devices to get rid of the trap, some of which 

 seem very intelligent, as, for instance, when they 

 climb a tree, and, getting the trap fast amid the 

 branches, bring their weight to bear upon it, thus 

 calling in the aid of gravity. But I would as soon 

 think that such behavior on the part of the bear was 

 the result of a reasoning process — a knowledge of 

 the force of gravity — as I would attribute reason 

 to a tree because it tries to assume the perpendicu- 

 lar, or to clouds, because they soar aloft in order to 

 let down the rain. The bear is doing his best to get 

 his paw out of the jaws of the trap, and in his blind 

 fury and desperation he climbs a tree and tries to 

 detach the trap there, but only succeeds in getting it 

 fast, when, as a matter of course, he drops down 

 and pulls out. He could have pulled his own weight 

 and more upon the ground had he got the trap fast. 

 The trapper's hope is that he will not get it fast. 



We reason for the brute when we interpret its ac- 

 tion in this way. I do not suppose that with the 

 anger, or joy, or fear, or love-making, of our brute 

 neighbors there goes any idea, or mental process, or 

 image whatever; only involuntary impulses stimu- 

 lated by outward conditions. We ourselves are often 

 117 



