CONCLUSION 155 



or may not be, found possible within this new domain. 

 Careful examination of all evidence put forward is 

 desirable, yet can this be undertaken only by such 

 persons as are themselves in the possession of an 

 intelligent dog, one to which they can apply the test 

 of similar instruction. It should be needless to say 

 that the experimenter must abstain from anything 

 in the nature of a sign given to the animal. It is a 

 far easier matter to train an animal in that way than 

 to bring out the latent possibilities attaching to its 

 understanding by training it so as to state its own 

 thoughts. The proof of the genuineness of such 

 " utterances " on the part of the dog lies in the fact 

 that it so often gives an entirely different reply to that 

 which is expected of it it may even say something 

 that is quite unknown to the person carrying out the 

 experiment. Many such examples will be found in this 

 book, as well as in that of Frau Dr. Moekel, while many 

 more could be furnished by the owners of other 

 " Spelling Dogs." Indeed, the more reckoning and 

 spelling dogs there are the sooner will the value of 

 this new method become generally recognized and 

 the easier will it be to rid the truth of any errors 

 that may still obscure it. Here in Stuttgart my 

 Lectures delivered on the subject have so far led to 

 the training of four dogs in counting as well as spelling, 

 this having been done with best results. In addition 

 to these, I myself have a dog, " Ava," by name a 

 daughter of Lola, who is already proficient in both 

 accomplishments. There is nothing mysterious about 

 this new animal psychology that has been brought 

 into evidence by the method here explained, it is no 

 secret, but at the service of all who care to explore 

 what is entirely free ground not reserved for the 

 learned alone, but at the disposal of any animal- 



