The Daily clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1866-1888, 1886-03-04
DAILY CLARION.
TEAcmNG \ DO lYoRDs.
Ne Easify Learn a. ~ tiagal.h Thorn
flmii. Of fnfciiiveBee.

iluiiie Of tnfciliFfu"f'
III occurred 10 no whether some sncl
.<s,sieu, q that followed with drti umtos
and especially 81 ~ Howe WIih Laura
Isrldeman. might not prove very In
sirueAee Il adapted % tiic case If dogs
Ihage tried lhls .n small way with d
black p018N. namel IVAN. took
two piecps of cardboard about tan inches
by ffrsp. and Dn one Of theu printed IN
laree lti'cfs the word food leaving
the other blank. ! lhcn placed two
cards over two .Mtifs. and ID the ono
nnder ,hc food pui o little bread and
milk. which Van after having his At
tcntion called 10 the card WIS allowed
10 eat, This was repeated over and
over again until hc had bad enough
In about ten days hr began 10 disiln.
guish between The two cards ihen
put lhom on the 1oor and made him
bring them 20 me, which be did readily
enough. When be brought the plain
card simply threw II back, while, when
he brought The food card, gave him "a
piece Of bread. ANA IN about month be
had pretty well learned 10 rrilizc the
difference ! then had some other
cards printed with ihe words "out.
''tea. f"bonc. water, spelled phoncti-
cally. so ~ not to trouble him by our
intricate spelling. and certain number
also with words 70 which did not in
tend him 10 attach any Significance
such rs nougfi. plain, ball. etc
Van soon learned that bringing u
card was n request, and soon learned to
distinguish between the plain and print
cd cards; il took him longer to realize
the difference between words, but ho
gradually got 70 recognize several, sdch
NJ food. tout. tea. etc. II no was
asked whether he would like 60 90 out
for walk, he would ioyiully pick up
the ''out' card, choosing II from several
others, and bring Il TO ms or run with
IL In evident triumph 70 the door
need hardly say that The cards were not
always put IN The same places They
were varied quite indscriminately and
in great variety Of positions. Nor
could tho dog recognize them By scent.
They were al alike and continually
handled by ns Still did not trust TO
that alone, but had number printed
for each word When for instance. he
did not put down the same identical
card. but another bearing the same
word. when he had brought that a third,
then a fourth. and 50 on. For single
meal, therefore, eighteen or twenty cards
will be used. so that be evidently Is not
guided by scent No ono who has seen
him look down row OF cards and pick
mp the one he wanted. could. think.
doubt that in bringing card up that
he Is making q request and chat he can
not only distinguish one card from an
other, but also associate the word and
the object This y. Of course. only
hcginning. hut u M vrsifurr IS think.
sg1gGpsGiye. and might he enlriod
furthrf. though llie infshd wants and
aeplitlNius - be ailhsiai sYn silBe
ereat difficulty III Nie has efY
,rfffld Ad lIaFllng eulIiH. pa
once. ~ Wlilth ~ III frsrsli tisse1ed.
This d0e wins often ii ilio lotAs when
wan bs'euglH the food cAisi md was
rewarded with q piece Of bread She
must have seen this thousands IT times,
and she begged in the usual manner.
but never oncr did II occur tu her to
bring card. She did not touch, or IN
deed take the slightest notice OF them.
| then tried the following experiment
prepared Six cards about ton inches by
three, and col0rcd Ia pairs two yellow.
Two blue and two Orange, put three
of them on the lloor, and then holding
mp one of the oihnrs, underworld to
teach "}an To bring me the ,lnplicatc.
| certainly thought that he would soon
have grasped what was expected Of him.
Rut no We continued the lesson for
nearly thrcc months. but Us a few days
Were nissrd. we may say Tor ten weeks,
and yet II tho end Of the time can not
say that "Nnn" appeared TO have Tho
least idea Of what was expected Of him.
II seemed matter oi purn accident
which card be brought There is, be.
lieVe, no reason to doubt that dogs can
distinguish colors, hut Il was just possible
that ''Yan" might be color.hlind. we
then repeated the same experiment., on
" substituting for the colored cards
Others marked respectively l.. H. and
III. Antn we tuhllhutu LOT annNttI
three months. or say, allowing for inter
missions ten weeks, but, TO my surprise,
entirely without success. Leroy. who.
though he expressed the opinion that
''the nature Of the soul Of animals Is un-
important, was an excellent observer,
mentions a case IN which y man was
anxious TO shoot crow To deceive
This suspicious bird. the plan was hit
upon Of sending two men to the watch
house, one Of whom passed on while the
other remained; but the crow counted
and kept her distance The next day
three went. aud She perceived that only
two retired, In fine. il was found neces-
sary TO send liyeor six men 10 the watch
house to put her out in her calculation,
The crow, thinking that this number
Of men had passed BY, lost no time in
returning. From this he inferred that
crows could count up 10 four, Litchen-
berg mentions a nightingale which was
said to count up 10 three Every day he
gave il three meal-worms, one ut time.
when it had finished one il returned for
another. but after the third il knew that
the feat was over From NdiRre.