82 LOLA 



her the weights, placing them in a row before her, 

 naming them again and saying : " Which is the 

 heaviest ? " She answered "4." As a matter of 

 fact, the heaviest of these weights, the two-pound 

 one, was actually standing fourth. I continued : 

 " And now ? " (I had for this question transposed 

 the weights unseen by Lola.) Answer : " i." 

 Which was quite right I Then " Where is the 100 

 grammes ? " " 3." " Where is 50 grammes ? " 

 " 2," and " Where is one pound ? " " 5." Her 

 answers, as will be seen, were perfect ; she had learnt 

 to understand what was expected of her in this test 

 with great rapidity. 



Indeed, more elaborate tests might have been under- 

 taken but, unfortunately, I had little leisure at the 

 time, and was without the assistance of any educated 

 person who might have helped me in the work. As, 

 however, the " spade-work " in this particular field 

 of experiment seems now to have been accomplished, 

 many additional and interesting details might result 

 given the right opportunity. 



It may, perhaps, be a matter of surprise, that I 

 should have undertaken these three separate tests, 

 and left them in their initial stages, instead of working 

 persistently at one in particular, and thus, maybe, 

 putting the time to better use. The reason was the 

 old and troublesome one which was always cropping 

 up and causing me no little worry : Lola's interest 

 must not be allowed to flag. In the course of a fortnight 

 or three weeks, for instance, I have not dared to 

 embark on more than one test, not even continuing 

 that one for as many as five consecutive days. This 

 is why the three tests, above narrated, followed close 

 one upon the other, while I took care to turn Lola's 

 attention from them in between, making her go over all 



