oice.

In the exhibition about to be described there were but three persons
present, myself, another spectator, and the showman. A score of cards
were placed upon the ground, each bearing a numeral or the name of
some distinguished person. These cards were in perfect disorder. I was
allowed, indeed, repeatedly to change their position and to mix them
up as I pleased. The pig was then told to pick out the name of Abraham
Lincoln and bring it to his master. This he readily did. He was asked
in what year Lincoln was assassinated. He slowly but without
correction brought one by one the appropriate numerals and put them on
the ground in due order. Half a dozen other questions concerning names
and dates were answered in a similar way. Each success was rewarded
with a grain of corn, and for his failures the creature received a
reasonable drubbing. It was evident that the animal had to consider in
making his choice of the cards. At times he was evidently much puzzled
and would indicate his perplexity by squealing.

It seemed clear that the master of this learned pig did not guide the
movements of the animal by other indications than words. The questions,
in some cases, had to be reiterated in a loud voice in order to insure
attention. Several times during the performance the pig rebelled, broke
from the tent, and was with difficulty recaptured. The creature
disliked this task in the manner of a lazy school-boy, and at the end
of an hour of exercises seemed utterly overcome by his labor. He ran
into the box where he was ordinarily confined, and when dragged forth,
neither rewards nor punishments would quicken him to further work.

The above-described exhibition made it plain to me that the pig can be
taught to understand a certain amount of human speech and to associate
memories with phrases substantially as we do ourselves. It is perfectly
clear that the performance which I witnessed was not a mere routine
action, for I had a number of questions asked over again so as to make
it sure that the creature acted with reference to each separate inquiry.
The behavior of the animal during the performance seemed clearly to
indicate mental effort and not mere automatic memory. His attitude when
trying to determine which of two cards to take distinctly showed that he
was intently viewing the figures and endeavoring to come to a decision.
I am aware it has been suggested that learned pigs discriminate between
the cards by peculiarities o