FROM THE "SPECTATOR." 79 



cards. This might, no doubt, render the 

 first steps rather more easy, but, on the other 

 hand, any temporary advantage gained would 

 be at the expense of subsequent difficulty, 

 since the pupil would very likely begin by 

 associating the object with the colour, rather 

 than with the letters. He would, therefore, 

 as is too often the case with our own children, 

 have the unnecessary labour of unlearning 

 some of his first lessons. At the same time, 

 the experiment would have an interest as a 

 test of the colour-sense in dogs. 



Another suggestion has been that, instead 

 of words, pictorial representations should be 

 placed on the cards. This, however, could 

 only be done with material objects, such as 

 "food," "bone," "water," &c., and would not 

 be applicable to such words as " out," " pet 

 me," &c. ; nor even as regards the former 

 class do I see that it would present any 

 substantial advantage. 



Again, it has been suggested that Van is 

 led by scent rather than by sight. He has, 

 no doubt, an excellent nose, but in this case 

 he is certainly guided by the eye. The cards 



