346 Animal Life and Intelligence. 



of them printed in large letters the word ' FOOD,' leaving 

 the other blank. I then placed the two cards over two 

 saucers, and in the one under the ' Food ' card put a little 

 bread-and-milk, which Van, after having his attention 

 called to the card, was allowed to eat. This was repeated 

 over and over again till he had had enough. In about ten 

 days he began to distinguish between the two cards. I 

 then put them on the floor, and made him bring them to 

 me, which he did readily enough. When he brought the 

 plain card, I simply threw it back ; while, when he brought 

 the ' Food ' card, I gave him a piece of bread, and in about 

 a month he had pretty well learned to realize the difference. 

 I then had some other cards printed with the words * Out/ 

 ' Tea,' ' Bone,' ' Water,' and a certain number also with 

 words to which I did not intend him to attach any sig- 

 nificance, such as ' Nought,' ' Plain,' ' Ball,' etc. Van soon 

 learned that bringing a card was a request, and soon 

 learned to distinguish between the plain and printed cards ; 

 it took him longer to realize the difference between words, 

 but he gradually got to recognize several, such as ' Food,' 

 'Out,' 'Bone,' 'Tea,' etc. If he was asked whether he 

 would like to go out for a walk, he would joyfully fish 

 up the ' Out ' card, choosing it from several others, and 

 bring it to me or run with it in evident triumph to the 

 door. 



"A definite numerical statement always seems to me 

 clearer and more satisfactory than a mere general assertion. 

 I will, therefore, give the actual particulars of certain days. 

 Twelve cards were put on the floor, one marked ' Food ' 

 and one ' Tea.' The others had more or less similar 

 words. I may again add that every time a card was 

 brought, another similarly marked was put in its place. 

 Van was not pressed to bring cards, but simply left to do 

 as he pleased.* 



* As I understand the observations here tabulated, the twelve cards lay 

 always within Van's reach and sight. An ordinary untrained dog would have 

 taken no notice of them. But Van, when he wanted food or tea, went and 

 fetched the appropriate card, and got what he wanted in exchange. In twelve 

 days he only made two mistakes, bringing " Nought " once and " Door " once. 





