The Play of Animals By Karl Groos. Translated by Elizabeth
L. Baldwin. (Chapman and Hall. 102. 6d.)—The author of this book, who is Professor of Philosophy in the University of Basle, laments the fact that animal psychology is regarded by many, somewhat contemptuously, as an amusement which contributes little to the advancement of science. With the object of studying the habits of animals, and more particularly what he calls the play of animals—a very inclusive expression— he has collected a great number of observations on animals both in captivity and at liberty. The subject is treated seriously and thoroughly, with the result that we are invited to say that a young animal does not begin to play when he feels particularly cheerful, but that the play of young animals serves to fit them for the tasks of later life. We all know that kittens run after their tails, and that puppies like to roll each other on the floor ; and our author's chapter on the psychology of animal-play is a painstaking attempt to examine the causes which underlie those well-known things. Space does not allow us to consider Professor Groos's theories more fully; but we must add that the book is fairly well translated, though the reader usually remembers that he is reading a translation.
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