COMMUNICATION BY MEANS OF CARDS. 270 



" ham," one " bag," and one " brush." I said re- 

 .proacbfally, *' Oh, Van ! bring " food," or " tea ; " on 

 which he looked at me, went very slowly, and brought 

 the ''tea" card. But w^hen I put some tea down as 

 usual, he would not touch it. Generally he greatly 

 enjoyed a cup of tea, and, indeed, this was the only 

 time 1 ever knew him refuse it. 



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. Yan was not pressed to bring cards, but 

 simply left to do as he pleased. 



80 



31 



Thus out of 113 times he brought food 80 times, tea 

 81 times, and the other 10 cards only twice. Moreover, 

 the last time he was wrong he brought a card — namely, 

 "door" — in which three letters out of four were the 

 same as in " food." 



