The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals: A Book of Personal ObservationsHornaday, William T. (William Temple)
Science
The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals: A Book of Personal Observations
Hornaday, William T. (William Temple)
Animal behavior
Five bottles were set in a figure 8, and he rode between them
several times. At last he took up a bottle and drank out of it.
Then he drank out of a tumbler, all while riding. After much flag-
waving and swift riding, Peter stopped at the center of the stage,
dismounted, bowed, clapped his hands vigorously and retired.
Peter's performance was remarkable because of the great length of
it, the absolute skill and precision of it, and the animal's easy
mastery of every situation. There was a notable absence of
hesitations and mistakes, and of visible direction. The trainer
seemed to do nothing save to assist with the stage properties,
just as an assistant helps any acrobat through the property
business of his act. If any commands or signs were given, the
audience was not aware of it. Later on I learned that sometimes
Peter did not perform with such spirit, and required some urging
to be prompt. The trainer was kept hustling to keep up with his
own duties. The animal seemed to remember, and I believe he did
remember, the sequence of a performance of _fifty-six separate
acts!_
When I witnessed Peter's performance in New York, saw the length
of it and noted the immense amount of nervous energy that each
performance used up, I made the prediction that he could not for
one year endure such a strain. It was reported to me that he died
nine months from that time.
In October, 1909, when Peter went to Philadelphia, he was
frequently and closely studied and observed by Dr. Lightner
Witmer, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania,
and his mentality was tested at the laboratory of the University.
Dr. Witmer's conclusions, as set forth in a paper in the December
(1909) issue of the _Psychological Clinic,_ are of very great
interest. He approached Peter's first performance in a skeptical
frame of mind. I gladly waive the opportunity to express my own
views regarding Peter in order to put upon the stand a more
competent witness. Hear Dr. Witmer:
"As I entered the theatre," he says, "my feelings were commingled
interest and doubt. My doubts were bred from knowledge of the
difficulty of judging the intelligence of an animal from a stage
performance. So-called educated horses and even educated seals and
fleas have made their appeal in large number to the credulity of
the public. Can any animal below man be educated in the proper
sense of the word? Or is the animal mind susceptible of nothing
more than a mechanical training, and only given the specious
counterfeit of an educated intelligence when under the direct
control of the trainer?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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