One remarkable thing is that he
should take so much trouble to do that which is no material
benefit to him. The desire to accomplish a chosen task seems a
sufficient inducement to lead him to take any amount of trouble.
This seems a very human feeling, such as is not shown, I believe,
by any other animal. It is not the desire of praise, as he never
notices people looking on; it is simply the desire to achieve an
object for the sake of achieving an object, and he never rests
nor allows his attention to be distracted until it is done....
"As my sister once observed while we were watching him conducting
some of his researches, in oblivion to his food and all his other
surroundings--'When a monkey behaves like this it is no wonder
that man is a scientific animal!'"[A]
[Footnote A: Romanes: Animal Intelligence, pp. 490, 498.]
In the highest mammals we find also different degrees of attention
and concentration of thought and observation. This difference can
easily be noticed in young hunting dogs. A trainer of monkeys said
that he could easily select those which could most easily be taught,
by noticing in the first lesson whether he could easily gain and
hold their attention. This was easy with some, while others were
diverted by every passing fly; and the latter, like heedless
students, made but slow progress.
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