Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1886-02-11
ANIMAL LOGIC.

Every Jay, httcr UTchhihst,
made il rule TO throw q bit OF
bread into an adjoining room as far
as | could, 40 as to induce my cat TO
run after 1t Is 1t rolled away. This
custom / kept up for several months,
the cat regarding that piece of bread
as the tit bit of its desert Even
after il had eaten meat, 1t would
await with attentive interest the
minute when IL was TO start In pur-
suit OF the morsel of soft bread
One day / held the coveted scrap in
my hand, and swung 1t about for a
long time, The cat eying 1t with a
kind Of patient eagerness, and then
instead Of throwing 1t into the next
room, threw it behind the upper
corner Of picture. which was
slightly inclined forward from the
wall. The surprise Of the cat. who.
closely following my movements.
had observed the direction in which
| threw the bread, and its disappear.
ance was extreme. The uneasy look
of the cat indicated its conscious
ness that q material object travelling
through space could not be annihi
lated. For some time the cat con
sidered the matter, then it started oh
Into the next room, evidently guided
BY the reflection that the piece Of
bread having disappeared. il must
have gone In through the wall The
bread had not goue through the
wall and the cat returned disappoint
ed. The cats logic was at fault
I az ain attracted its attention by my
gestures, and sent second piece OF
bread to Join the first behind the
picture. This time the Cat jumped
upon a divsn and went straight &c
the hiding place. Having inspect
ed the frame on both sides 1t begsu
TO maueuvre 30 dexIously with IN
paw that IL shifted the lower edge oil
the picture away frem the wall
and thus got at the two pieces Of
bread.
A German diplomat Of the last
century has recorded q similar Oh
servation respecting q fsvoriie fe
male cat, and advances IL ~ a proof
Of consecutive and conclusive rea
soning on the part OF the animal.
II noticed" said Baron Won Giei
chen, that she was always looking
at herself in the glass, retreatine
from her own image and running
back TO il again. and especially
scratching Q, the frames. for all oi
NV glasses we're inserted 10 panels
This suggested 10 me the idea oil
placing . toilet mirror in the middle
Of the room 20 that the cat might
examine IL all around. She began
by making sure tby approaching and
Withdrawing as usual that she was
dealing with Q glass ike the others
She passed behind IL several times,
more quickly each time; bat. seeing
that she could not get ct the cat,
which was always too quick for her,
she placed herself at the edge Of the
mirror, and looking alternately on
one side and the other. she made
quite sure that the cat which she
had lust seen neither vas nor had
been behind the mirror. Then she
arrived at the conclusion that the
cat Vas inside OF H. But how did
she proceed to test this conclusion,
the last that remained 70 her. Keep
ing her place 81 the edge OF the mir
rer, size rose on her hind feet and
stretched out her forepaws TO fee
the thickness OF the glass; then
aware that it did not afford sufn
cieas space to ccotain q cat. sh,
withdrew dejectedly. Being con
WINGED that the matter In questios
was . phenomenon impossible fot
her to discover. because 10 Was out
side the circle OF her ideas. sh'
never again Hooked In any glass. bu
a once renoanced al object tia
had vsiniy excited her curiosity.