AN "EDUCATED" HORSE 169 



passing through to the Pacific coast at the time. The train was halted 

 at Miles City, and Dr. Boyd was asked whether he would permit the 

 writer to make a test of King Pharaoh's reputed human intelligence, 

 and he readily consented to this. It was stipulated that the trainer 

 should first exhibit the horse in the presence of a body of twenty-five 

 observers, these to be chosen mainly from the educators in attendance 

 at the convention, after which the writer would take control of King 

 Pharoah, and his trainer and care-takers should leave the building, so 

 that they could not influence the horse in any way during his perform- 

 ances. These conditions were agreed to by Dr. Boyd. 



King Pharaoh is a small pinto stallion. He has an unusually 

 large head for his size. The trainer called special attention to this 

 trait before beginning his performance with the horse. He also dwelt 

 upon the remarkable success which King Pharaoh had had in all of his 

 exhibitions. He mentioned the people of prominence who had 

 " studied " him, and who had commended him, putting special emphasis 

 upon the testimony of Ella Wheeler Wilcox and Governor Eberhardt. 

 Whether the trainer intended it or not, it was apparent that his remarks 

 predisposed the observers in the horse's favor. One could see that they 

 were much interested in King Pharaoh's large head, which indicated, 

 of course, in accord with popular belief, that he must be intelligent. 

 " Large head = superior intelligence " is the simple logic of the un- 

 critical observer; and such a person will be partially convinced before 

 he sees the horse in action at all. Then when great men, no matter in 

 what department they may have achieved distinction, testify in favor 

 of anything, the majority of people no longer maintain a genuinely 

 critical attitude toward it. This is the result which the trainer must 

 have known would issue from his remarks, though he may not have 

 made them for this explicit purpose. 



It should be stated at this point that the trainer had carefully 

 arranged the setting of the stage before King was brought in. He had 

 placed a blackboard on an easel; and at four or five yards to the left 

 there was a rack ten feet long on which could be placed in upright 

 position ten letters or ten numbers printed on blocks that could be 

 easily knocked down. The letters and figures were printed on both 

 sides of the blocks, so that the horse and the trainer could see them, 

 and the audience could also observe them. Throughout the exhibition 

 the trainer stood between the blackboard and the rack so that the horse 

 would always be in front of him, and he could see what was taking 

 place. 



Por the first experiment, the writer put on the blackboard the fol- 

 lowing figures 8 5 7 6 



6 3 9 4 



VOL. LXXXII. — 12. 



