At the same time from habit he closely depresses his ears,
so as to protect them from being bitten, as if he were fighting
with another horse.
A horse when eager to start on a journey makes the nearest approach
which he can to the habitual movement of progression by pawing the ground.
Now when horses in their stalls are about to be fed and are eager
for their corn, they paw the pavement or the straw. Two of my horses
thus behave when they see or hear the corn given to their neighbours.
But here we have what may almost be called a true expression, as pawing
the ground is universally recognized as a sign of eagerness.
Cats cover up their excrements of both kinds with earth;
and my grandfather[17]{sic} saw a kitten scraping ashes over
a spoonful of pure water spilt on the hearth; so that here
an habitual or instinctive action was falsely excited, not by
a previous act or by odour, but by eyesight. It is well known
that cats dislike wetting their feet, owing, it is probable,
to their having aboriginally inhabited the dry country of Egypt;
and when they wet their feet they shake them violently.
My daughter poured some water into a glass close to the head
of a kitten; and it immediately shook its feet in the usual manner;
so that here we have an habitual movement falsely excited
by an associated sound instead of by the sense of touch.
Pages:
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90