less enthusiastic on this point, know how to transform the common mouse
into a really admirable animal. The Japanese dancing mice, which perfectly
justify their appellation, also occur in all the described colors. But
what distinguishes them most is their innate habit of running around,
describing greater or smaller circles or more frequently whirling around
on the same spot with incredible rapidity. Sometimes two or, more rarely,
three mice join in such a dance, which usually begins at dusk and is at
intervals resumed during the night, but it is usually executed by a single
individual."

[Footnote 1: The reference numbers, of which 7 is an example, refer to the
numbers in the bibliographic list which precedes this chapter.]

As a rule the dancing mouse is considerably smaller than the common mouse,
and observers agree that there are also certain characteristic
peculiarities in the shape of the head. One of the earliest accounts of
the animal which I have found, that of Landois (22 p. 62), states,
however, that the peculiarities of external form are not remarkable.
Landois further remarks, with reason, that the name dancing mouse is ill
chosen, since the human dance movement is rather a rhythmic hopping motion
than regular movement in a circle. As he suggests, they might more
appropriately be called "circus course mice" (22 p. 63).

Since 1903 I have had under observation constantly from two to one hundred
dancing mice. The original pair was presented to the Harvard Psychological
Laboratory by Doctor A.G. Cleghorn of Cambridge. I have obtained
specimens, all strikingly alike in markings, size, and general behavior,
from animal dealers in Washington, Philadelphia, and Boston. Almost all of
the dancers which I have had, and they now number about four hundred, were
white with patches, streaks, or spots of black. The black markings