Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-01-24
A HORSES BRAIN.
Logical Views of a Horsowomar
 Concerning It's Activity.
Reasons Why the Brain of the Horse Is Capable of as High Develop ment That of
 the Dog.

The h,ese 6, generally believed to have but little activity of the brain. It is stated that four hours sleep out of tho twcnty-four are all that he requires. The fact that he seems to need but little sleep is brought forward to prove that he has little mental activity. He is generally, in point of intelligence. com pared unfavorably with the dog. We must not forget. however. that the dog is the companion of man, received into the house, and accustomed from his earliest years to the society of lntclll- gent people. His mind has been by this means developed, his mental activity in creased. And the cumulative effect Of hcrcdity must not be overlooked. It is an undoubtcd fact that acprtain amount of knowledge is transmitted from gen cration to generation among what we are pleased to call brute animals For | instance. even the calves of the present | day are less afraid of q railroad train | than the COWS were when railroads were | first introluccd
 | The dog has been in an atmosphere of 1 educa tion for thousands of years. but | the horse has been left to the care of ig- norant and brutal mon, whose only idea of enforcing obpdicncc is by means of a loud, harsh word, blow, or q kick. | When he is left in peace, he is fastened generally with his head to a blank | wall. where he can sec nothing to inter- est him. Sometimes hr must stand for long spaces of time in this way. the in tcrminablr colorlcsS day being broken only by the process of cleaning and his three feeds. When his nervous nature under this strain invcntS some way of amusing himself, and making time go d little more rapidly, he is roughly bid den to stand still, or is forced to stop his little play by the lash, and earns the title of a vicious brute. If a dog | were subjected to the same treatment. | how long would it be before he would re- quirc also only four hours sleep by req son of q ''low mental activity?" The l Arabs make companions of their horses. and they get in return tn" services of willing and intelligent friends.
 Most horses have their viciousncss thrust upon them. and even Il vicious horsc may be changed i'll nature by per sistcnt and intelligent kindness. The | horse has always done more reasoning than he has had credit for, and it is usually because he refuses to be a mere machine that he is punished. Ii we do not understand his continual protest against this degradation. it is only be- cause we ourselves are lacking in intel ligcnt perception. When he does not ob feet to a COW or q whole drove of COWS in the country, but shirS and almost re- fuses to pass one in the city, it certainly shows that he has the faculties of mcm- ory, conception, comparison. judgment l ln drcd strcct-cars or wagons drawn by horses without notice, but shows unmis- takable signs of fear on approaching q cablc-car or d wagon moving without visible means of motion, does he not testify to his grasp of the casual rcla- tion, and show that he is as ready as man ever has been to suspect the pres ence of the Prince of Darkness wherever his own intellect was unequal to the problem of explanation"
 Has he not a clear idea of the flight of time when he calls you out to the stable to give him his dinner jlt.t at noon? How does he find his mistress house among a whole street of houses precisely alike, and never miss stopping at the right door? As to intelligence and power of acquiring knowledge, there can be H. doubt, and that implies attcn- ton, and also an appreciation of the laws Of association The horse cer- tainly can distinguish some colors. for he is afraid of q red lantern when he does not mind a white one. l think there is no doubt that he also diStin- guishcs green from rcd. In color knowledge he is not, thrn so far behind the Greeks of ilomrr'S time as judged by Mir. Gladstone He has certainly great power of invention, and of adaD- tation of means to non-C:iiStent ends. And he does not fail in cunning. nor. think, in Il sense of Eumor. The Samc indictments which move us to honorable action stir his nature; the same dis couragcmcnts lower 'is ambition, and precisely tho s;.mc treatment is necessary with Dim with children i'll educating them. No moro valuable normal schoo! exists for the teacher than the Sa0dlc, if she would lc successful with her human pupils, for here, as is true often in schools. the real teacher generally learns quite a; much from the pupil as hc from her.
 The horse shows the capacity for a magnanimOus truthfulnCss over and above all his suspicious nature when he while he is lying down. and so at dis. advantage, and sit down upon him while he eats from her hand. And the
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