280 ATTEMPTS TO CONVEY IDEAS. 



This is, of course, only a beginning, but it is, I 

 venture to think, suggestive, and might be carried 

 further, tliough the limited wants and aspirations of 

 the animal constitute a great difi&culty. My wife has 

 a beautiful and charming collie. Patience, to whom we 

 are much attached. This dog was often in the room 

 when Van brought the " food " card and was rewarded 

 with a piece of bread. She must have seen this thou- 

 sands of times, and she begged in the usual manner, 

 but never once did it occur to her to bring a card* 

 She did not touch, or, indeed, even take the slightest 

 notice of them. 



I then tried the following experiment : — I prepared 

 six cards about ten inches by three, and coloured in 

 pairs — two yellow, two blue, and two orange. I put one 

 card of each colour on the floor, and then, holding up one 

 of the others, endeavoured to teach Van to bring me 

 the duplicate. That is to say, that if the blue was 

 held up, he should fetch the corresponding colour from 

 the floor ; if yellow, he should fetch the yellow, and 

 so on. When he brought the wrong card he was made 

 to drop it and return for another, until he brought the 

 right one, when he was rewarded with a little food. 



We continued the lessons for nearly three months, 

 but as a few days were missed, we may say for ten 

 weeks, and yet at the end of the time I cannot say that 

 Van appeared to have the least idea what was expected 

 of him. It seemed a matter of pure accident which 

 card he brought. There is, I believe, no reason to 

 doubt that dogs can distinguish colours ; but as it was 

 just possible that Van might be colour-blind, we then 

 repeated the same experiment, only substituting for the 

 coloured cards others marked respectively with one, 



