324 " THE HANDKERCHIEF." 



as it is well known a dying horse will frequently eat 

 up to the last moment. 



It may be said, that a person stationed before the 

 object at which we wish the horse to stop with a whip 

 in his hand would deter him from passing it, or 

 flogging him back might teach him not to do so in 

 future: no doubt it would, and if simply stopping 

 was all we wanted, this summary process would do ; 

 but we want the horse not only to stop, but to eat 

 for a purpose that will shortly appear, and flogging 

 will not make him do that. 



We want the horse to eat because we want him to 

 pick up the handkerchief; and it is only by his 

 desire to eat that we can effect this. 



He has now learned that where he sees a white 

 cloth there he may expect to find corn. We will 

 now double over the ends of the cloth so as to cover 

 the grain ; but as his not seeing it is not now enough to 

 do away with his expectation of finding it, he will 

 very soon twist the cloth about so as to get at the 

 corn. We now tie the cloth up so that he cannot get 

 at it : he well knows, both from habit and his sense 

 of smell, that corn is there, and from the common 

 instinct of nature he does just what we want him to 

 do ; he lays hold of the cloth with his teeth, and lifts 

 it up. Our business is now more than half done 

 we have taught or induced him to lift up the hand- 

 kerchief. 



To show that he will do this, we have only to 

 observe a cow : if she gets hold of a hay-band, she 

 knows she cannot swallow the whole ; so, after chew- 

 ing as much as she can swallow, she will be seen to 

 lift it from the ground, and shake it to get rid of the 



