, and, moreover, she
always came alone. When the dog was present she could never take me by
surprise.

My next ventures were of a musical nature, as I thought it might be
easiest to achieve something in this direction. Lola knew the letters
that are associated with the different tones (_c_, _d_, _e_, _f_, _g_,
_a_, _h_[15], _e_), having learnt these in her alphabet, so I only had
to strike the keys (and I confined myself to the _white_ ones, as
involving fewer difficulties), telling her their names. I began by
saying: "Lola, you are going to learn something quite new and very
beautiful; you must listen to these sounds and tell me the names of
each." Then I played the notes over several times from c to c, saying
clearly and slowly: "c, d, e, f, g, a, h." Then I paused and played
them over again--both the ascending and descending scale.

[15] _h_ is the term used in Germany for the note we call _b_.

Then I struck "c," saying, "What note is that?" She answered "c." I
struck "e," but she rapped "no." I therefore played from c to e,
accentuating e in particular. "Do you know now?" I asked, and she
replied, "yes: e." I struck "a," and the answer came at once, "a." This
seemed enough for one day, for I wished to keep her interest fresh. So
we then went over some arithmetic. The next day I played only _once_
from c to c, asking the names of the notes out of their order, and Lola
was right in all her replies with the exception of "h," and this she
soon identified after a comparison with the other notes. I tried
whether she could recognize the number of notes in a chord. First I
struck two, asking her the number; she replied "2." I then struck
four--and she replied "4" without any hesitation. Then I struck five
together, _c_ being associated with them twice. At this Lola rapped
"4," so I said: "You are to tell me _every_ note I strike," at the same
time putting down the chord again, after which she replied "5." This
had been an experiment for which I had made few preparations and I
marvelled at such obvious evidences of musical comprehension. But I
felt that I should nevertheless test her more closely still, and so I
told my experiences to a friend, a woman composer of great professional
distinction. This lady was both interested and surprised, and seating
herself at the piano, she struck some notes. I placed myself so as not
to see the keyboard and tried to guess their pitch, yet I have no "ear"
in this way. I had in 1