38 BULLETIN OF WISCONSIN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. VOL. 4, NOS. 1-2. 
It was allowed a few minutes liberty and was again placed in 
the cage at 5 144 when it spent a few moments cleaning its coal, 
then seized one of the bars as before except that it took hold of a 
bar on the side of the gate at which its body was. Upon lifting 
the gate the immovable wires interfered with its placing its paws 
under the gate. It released its hold, seized one of the bars near 
the center, raised the gate, apparently slipping and letting it fail, 
an action which was repeated two or three times before it raised 
it again, placed both feet under it, inserted its nose in the opening 
and escaped at 5 145. 
After a few minutes I again placed it in the cage and it began 
eating a cube of sugar. I busied myself in an adjoining room and 
after some minutes heard the rat's teeth on the wire and within ten 
seconds saw it on the floor. Shortly afterwards I returned it to 
the cage placing the lump of sugar upon the floor outside and 
opened my watch. The rat turned around, seized one of the 
middle wires and as above described made its exit and seized the 
lump of sugar in 8 seconds. 
The family returning, I questioned them as to whether they 
had known of the rat's previously escaping from the cage and was 
assured that it had not done so. To show them what it could do 
I confined it and we waited for a few moments while it drank and 
ate, then it turned its attention to the gate but instead of turning 
its head sideways and seizing one of the vertical bars as I expected 
it would do, it grasped the lower horizontal metal strip connecting 
them, raised the gate at one endeavor and came out. The children 
put it back a number of times and on each occasion it adopted tl is 
latter, more convenient and more certain method of accomplishing 
its object. 
The sudden discovery of a means of release and the rapid 
improvement on this both in time and details seem worthy of note. 
