rue"--one could feel it as
the answer was being given--yet--where the meaning is dubious, as in
some of her replies which followed this one, decision becomes difficult
indeed!

THE CONNEXION OF IDEAS

The ability to definitely connect one idea with another is clearly
apparent in the animal mind, and may be attributed to its excellent
memory and powers of attention. In everyday-life this becomes apparent
as the reflex of their experiences, the impressions of which, having
once impinged on their sensibility have left their mark, so to speak,
and this experience thus practically acquired, shows itself at times as
the shrewdest of wisdom, even though we may now know how their "power
of reasoning" was arrived at--without words. We need only think of the
way in which animals have time and again rescued their masters--going
for assistance in the most intelligent way--this being but one of the
many examples which occur to my mind. Nevertheless, a combination of
thoughts, such as is carried out purely on the _mental_ plane is only
possible in the case of an animal that has been trained. I had a very
pretty example of this on 14 September, 1916. I had taken Lola with me
to a neighbouring estate. The rain was coming down in torrents, and we
sat beneath the sheltering roof of the balcony and gazed out at this
flood. "Where does the rain come from--Lola?" I asked; "uzu," she
replied. "And what does that mean?" I queried. "heaven." "And what is
the water wanted for?" She hesitated and tapped--"ich zu taun!" "What
does _taun_ mean? tell me differently!" (as I thought she was evading a
direct answer). "funo!" "Nonsense!" "yes!" "I want to know what _taun_
means!" "when I don't hear!" "Nonsense! '_when you don't hear!_'--there
is some letter wrong!" "yes." "What should it be?" "b." "Taub?" ( =
deaf). "yes."

A week earlier I had explained "eyes" and "ears" to her, and the
meaning of blindness and deafness, and yet could not make out why she
was now using the word "taub" in this connexion.

"Did you mean that you did not understand me?" "no." "Then why did you
say that?" "ich er (rather reluctantly) ... or ..." "Well----? and what
more?" "I won't say!" "You won't tell me?" "yes!" The next day I
returned to this question, for I could not make out why she gave me
such answers, and made such excuses. She well knew how determined I
could be in the matter of "catechising," and that I will stand no
"nonsense" when she begins her l