Abstract
I BEG to thank Mr. Nicols for his courtesy in supplying the missing links of evidence in the rat cases (NATURE, vol. xix. p. 433), cases which may, I think, be applied with reference to Mr. Henslow's difficulty concerning “abstract mental reflection;” for it seems to me now that the most probable supposition is that the rat-community had learned through experience (likely got accidentally in cutting pipes which obstructed their operations) that such-like pipes at times contain water, and by exercise of reason came to the conclusion that it was worth while to make the exploration in the instances given.
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MUIRHEAD, H. [Letters to Editor]. Nature 19, 459–460 (1879). https://doi.org/10.1038/019459e0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/019459e0
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