848 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



homoeopathy, should not go unnoticed. The 

 very fact of homoeopathy being classed with 

 quackeries is an insult to the nearly nine 

 thousand physicians of that school in the 

 United States, and their hundreds of thou- 

 sands of patrons from the most intelligent 

 and enlightened portion of the community. 

 The writer of the article makes an utterly un- 

 fair and garbled presentation of our system 

 of medicine, and some of his statements are 

 absolutely false ; as, for instance, he pre- 

 tends to quote from an address delivered at 

 the meeting of the American Institute of 

 Homoeopathy, held in Milwaukee in 1880. 

 I have before me the proceedings of that 

 meeting, and there is absolutely nothing, 

 from the first page to the last, that could 

 be even willfully distorted into such a state- 

 ment as he makes regarding the progress of 

 homoeopathy. As for the legal recognition 

 of homoeopathy, let our fifty-four hospi- 

 tals, our twelve fully-equipped colleges, our 

 forty dispensaries, our medical departments 

 in State universities, our insane asylums 

 and hospitals under State and city patron- 

 age, speak for themselves. 



As a reader of your excellent journal 

 for many years, I protest against such treat- 

 ment of a recognized system of medicine, 

 and trust that you will permit a fair and 

 just presentation of homoeopathy to be 

 made in the journal. 



Respectfully yours, 



H. R. Stout, M. D. 

 Jacksonville, Fla., July 2, 1S83. 



INTELLIGENCE SHOWN BY ELEPHANTS. 

 Messrs. Editors : 



The article on the " Mental Capacity of 

 the Elephant," in the August number of 

 " The Popular Science Monthly " was of 

 much interest, and I beg to add a few more 

 instances of the intelligence shown by these 

 animals. . In my childhood, when circuses 

 or menageries exhibited near my home, it 

 was my custom to rise early the next morn- 

 ing and feed the elephants with biscuit and 

 grass. On one occasion, an elephant seemed 

 to be trying to attract my attention, and 

 when I approached he began moving the 

 end of his trunk over the surface of his 

 body, as if to rub himself, but not touching 

 it. It was his method of begging in panto- 

 mime for a piece of wood. I picked up a 

 piece of the thin end of a shingle, about 

 the size of a page of " The Popular Sci- 

 ence Monthly," and gave it to the elephant, 

 eo that he would be obliged to take it on the 

 side, thinking that he would break it when 

 it was put to use. To my surprise, after 

 looking at the piece of shingle, he dropped 

 it and picked it up by the end, and scratched 

 himself, without breaking it. It has always 

 seemed to me that this act of pantomime, 

 and subsequent use of a piece of wood in 



the direction of maximum strength, involved 

 a higher degree of animal intelligence than 

 I ever saw exhibited elsewhere. 



I attended Forepaugh's circus at Brock- 

 ton, Massachusetts, on the 8th of last June, 

 and I recollect seeing other feats than 

 those cited by Mr. Homaday, such as tilt- 

 ing on a see-saw, sitting with the fore-legs 

 straight, " like a cat," and then saluting 

 with the trunk ; also dancing in various 

 steps. But, shortly after the afternoon per- 

 formance, two of the elephants were called 

 upon to perform a task requiring more intelli- 

 gence than any of the conventional ring 

 feats. The facts are given in the following 

 extract from the Boston " Herald " of June 

 10th: 



The incident referred to took place on the fair- 

 grounds at Brockton, where Mr. Forepaugh's show 

 was exhibiting. Shortly after the mutinee per- 

 formance had concluded, a one-story frame build- 

 ing, used as a police-station, caught fire, and in a 

 few moments tbe entire building was enveloped in 

 flames. Attached to the station-house was a row 

 of horse-sheds, and connecting with the latter was 

 the grand stand, in close proximity to which were 

 Mr. Forepaugh's tents. There being no fire appli- 

 ances on the grounds, it may well be assumed that 

 the burning building gave serious alarm to the 

 circus-people, as] well as to the citizens, many of 

 whom had not yet left the grounds. At this junc- 

 ture, Mr. Forepaugh and his general manager, C. 

 W. Fuller, appeared on the scene. It was plainly 

 apparent that,;; unless the horse-sheds were torn 

 down, tho grand stand would burn, and, in that 

 event, the destruction of the circus-tents was inevi- 

 table. While all were excited and making futile at- 

 tempts to pull down the building with their hands, 

 Adam Forepaugh, Jr., came running up, and, taking 

 in the situation at a glance, called his colored as- 

 sistant and hastened to the elephant quarters, soon 

 after appearing with Bolivar and Basil, the latter 

 being next to the former in point of size. The two 

 huge beasts were hurried over to the fire, and, 

 much to the surprise of the spectators, began pull- 

 ing down the hor6e-sheds, in obedience to the direc- 

 tion of the junior Forepaugh. The by-standers re- 

 moved the debris as fast as it accumulated under 

 the mighty blows of the elephantine firemen, who 

 seemingly looked upon the affair as a matter of little 

 moment. In an incredibly short space of time the 

 horse-sheds were demolished, the grand stand was 

 saved, and the circus-tents loomed up as proudly 

 as ever. 



C. J. H. W. 



Bobton, August 1, 1S83. 



ASSOCIATION OF COLORS WITH SOUNDS. 

 Messrs. Editors : 



In the August number of your " Monthly" 

 you present a translation of a notice on the 

 " Association of Colors with Sounds." The 

 phenomena in question occur also in the 

 sphere of other senses. Two Zurich stu- 

 dents * notice association of sounds with 

 lights : c. g., to one subject the full moon 

 looked at through a red glass brings up the 

 sound of an / joined to an 0. Tastes, smells, 

 even the shapes of bodies, pains, warmth, 

 and cold arouse color visualizations in some 

 subjects. All these are far less common 



* Bleuler and Lehmann, " Zwangsmiissige 

 Lichtempnndung durch Schall," etc., Leipsic, 18S1. 



