USELESS HABITS IN TWO BRITISH NEWTS. 165 



was partly indicated by vague motor sensations, by a feeling that 

 it had got up as far as where it had been accustomed to turn, 

 when over on the left side. Sight cannot be entirely left out of 

 consideration, however, although it need not necessarily play 

 any part in helping the Newt to learn the labyrinth. 



At the end of the 15th trial, when it had learnt to go around 

 to the left in b, I transposed the two troughs a and b. The 

 troughs were precisely alike except in length, and the Newt on 

 going to the end of a (in the b position) turned to the left ; then 

 a short pause clearly indicated that it was puzzled by the greater 

 length of the opening into c from the end of a. It went on and 

 entered c, but had not gone far when it turned back. The reason 

 for the turning back may very well have been because it thought it 

 was still back in a (in its original position), and that c was b, for 

 I have already said that it had formed a habit when first entering 

 b of turning back. Such an illusion was caused by the difference 

 in length of b and a. The experiment also shows that the clue 

 which enabled it to know when to turn to the left at the end of a 

 trough, and to expect the mouth of c a little way back from the 

 end, was the sensation of having previously made a turn to the 

 right, i. e. from a into b. The Newt also " felt " when it had 

 gone sufficiently far to meet with the opening into c. 



A great deal of time was always wasted by the Newts through- 

 out the course of the experiments, as they invariably turned 

 round and "nosed " the barrier on being first introduced to the 

 labyrinth. On the surface, this behaviour looked exactly as if 

 they realized that they were being pushed through a hole into 

 a trough, and that they inferred from it the precise position of 

 the hole. Here, again, this would be assuming, I believe, too 

 much mental activity in the Newt, and, as a matter of fact, the 

 explanation lies in the well-marked withdrawing response which 

 the Newt gives when confronted with any unpleasant situation, 

 such as bright light, heat, or, as in this case, salt solution. They 

 instinctively shuffle back, and then make a volte-face. 



II. 

 Fig. 3 shows the next maze which was used — a very simple 

 structure, offering only one choice. Previously it was found that 

 if the labyrinth was fitted with two exits, one in each passage, 



