Abstract
DR. HILL has recently asked the question, “Can dogs reason?” The following analogy has always appeared to me to be a sufficient reply. In ordinary circumstances, few human beings make use of their sense of smell; to excite it, the odour must be fairly strong, and also unusual. It may be regarded as probable that few dogs make habitual use of any power of inference, but have only vague sensory impressions, to which an almost automatic response is given. Yet under sufficient stimulus, they may perform acts involving an exertion of a considerable amount of “thought.” Whereas, then, dogs rarely “think,” but frequently make use of their delicate sense of smell, human beings seldom make use of that sense, but constantly exercise their reasoning faculties.
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RAMSAY, W. Can Dogs Reason?. Nature 67, 609 (1903). https://doi.org/10.1038/067609d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/067609d0
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