166 LOLA 



his horses, especially when they were separated from 

 him). I maintain, in fact, that in principle, even 

 without any contact by hand, we may still presume 

 that all the " wonders " obtained by Miss Kindermann 

 are obtainable, taking, of course, into account the 

 peculiar endowments of the animal we are dealing with. 

 For if there be any automatism (and there is surely 

 a good dose of it), it is certainly not a question of a 

 mechanical automatism (of the type of Neumann's), 

 but quite certainly of a true and proper psychic auto- 

 matism ; a very different thing, and without doubt 

 much more complex. 



In all probability the first condition for the occur- 

 rence of genuine phenomena similar to those attributed 

 to " thinking " animals must be a very particular 

 psychic relationship between the animal and his master. 

 And such a relation, although with reluctance, I am 

 compelled to call of the mediumistic type. 



My reluctance is due in part to the very unhappy 

 etymology of the term, derived from the famous word 

 " medium," so unscientific both in its origin and in 

 the meaning which some even now wish to associate 

 with it. But even after having freed it from any 

 " spiritistic " meaning, the term still leaves me re- 

 luctant ; for I cannot hide from myself the weakness 

 of a hypothesis which, in order to explain (only in 

 part) one enigmatical fact (in this case, that of " think- 

 ing animals "), must have recourse to another unsolved 

 enigma (in this case that of the " mediumistic 

 phenomena "). 



However, it will already be something if the two 

 problems are eventually merged together and so 

 become a single problem ; but it is not my object 

 to explain any psychical facts themselves, whatever 

 they may be, under which the phenomena of Lola and 



