St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-03-22
A HORSES BRAIN.
Reasons Why the Brain Of the Horse II
Capable Of - High Develop
nent ~ That u
the Dog.

The horse is generally believed t.
have but little activity Of the brain. 1,
is stated that four hours sleep out oi
the twenty-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 intelli-
gent people. His mind has been by this
means developed, his mental activity in
creased. And the cumulative effect of
heredity must not be overlooked. 1t is
an undoubted fact that acertain amount
of knowledge is transmitted from gen.
Grafton to generation among what We
are pleased to call brute animals. For
instance, even the calves of the present
day are less afraid Of railroad train
than the cows were when railroads were
first introduced.
The dog has been in an atmosphere of
education for thousands Of years, but
the horse has been left to the care of ig-
norant and brutal men, whose only idea
of enforcing obedience is by means OF .
loud. harsh word, . blow, or . kick.
When he is left in peace, he is fastened
generally with his head to . blank
wall, where he can see nothing to inter
est him, Sometimes he must stand for
long spaces of time in this way, the in
terminable, colorless day being broken
only by the process Of cleaning and his
three feeds. When his nervous nature
under this strain invents some way Of
amusing himself, and making time go .
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. II . dog
were subjected to the same treatment,
how long would it be before he would re
quire also only four hours sleep by rea-
son Of ''low mental activity?' the
and they get in return the services of
willing and intelligent friends.
Most horses have their viciousness
thrust upon them, and even . vicious
horse may be changed in nature by per-
sistent 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 = 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
)igcnt perception. When he does not
object to cow or whole drove of cows
In the country, but SHES and almost re-
fuses to pass one in the city, it certainly
shows that he has the faculties of MEM
ory, conception, comparison, Judgment
and reasoning. When he passes . hum
dred street-cars or wagons drawn by
horses without notice, but shows unmis-
taxable signs of fear on approaching .
cable-car or wagon moving without
visible means of motion, does he not
testify to his grasp Of the casual rela-
tion. and show that he is IS ready Is
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 q clear idea of the flight Of
time when he calls you out to the stable |
to give him his dinner Just 1t noon? |
How does he find his mistress house
among whole street Of houses precisely
alike, and never miss stopping 1t the |
right door? As to intelligence and
power OF acquiring knowledge, there |
can Be no doubt, and that implies atten- |
tion, and also an appreciation Of the |
laws OF association. The horse Ger |
tainly can distinguish some colors, for |
he is afraid Of . red lantern when he |
does no. mind = whice one. l think |
there is no doubt that he also distin- |
cuisines green from red. In color |
knowledge he is not, then, so far behind |
the Greeks Of Homer's time Is judged |
BY Mr.. Gladstone. He has certainly
great power Of invention, and Of adap-
tation OF means to non-existent ends. |
And he does not fail in cunning, nor, I |
think, in q sense of humor. The same
indictments which move US to honorable |
action stir his nature; the same dis
couragements lower his ambition.
and precisely the same treatment
is necessary with him as with
children in educating them. No more
valuable normal school exists for the
teacher than the saddle, il she would be /
successful with her human pupils. for
here, as Is true often in schools, the real |
teacher generally learns quite IS much |
from the pupil rs he from her.
The horse shows the capacity for .
magnanimOus truthfulness over and |
above all his suspicious nature when he |
will le. his mistress come into his stall |
while hc is lying down, and SO at dis
advantage, and sit down upon him
while he eats from her hand And the |