Chapter 2

[4] Frau Dr. Moekel told me that she again asked the dog on the following day what the article shown him had been and he answered: "hd sdld bei arm grosfadr grab lib maibliml" (Hat gestehlt bei des armen Grossvaters Grab das liebe Maiblümchen) (Had stolen from dear grandfather's grave the dear little lilies-of-the-valley!). The object shown him had been a lily-of-the-valley, and a few days before, Frau Moekel's mother had told the children that she had taken all the lilies-of-the-valley to their grandfather's grave. Rolf, therefore, seemed to have conceived the idea that the flowers shown him had been pilfered.--ZIEGLER.

"Gradually Rolf became tired and rapped out: 'lol bd' (i.e. Rolf bett = Rolf to bed). A pause was made during which some of Rolf's earlier communications were made public. One was his reply as to why dogs do not like cats;[5] this ran: 'lol imr hd dsorn wn sid kdsl, freigt fon wgn graln. Lol hd lib sis dsi di nid dud grdsn lol, abr, andr hundl, di nid gnn ir.' ( = Lol is always angry when he sees cats, perhaps on account of their claws: Lol loves sweet Daisy, who doesn't scratch Lol--but other dogs who do not know her.)

[5] The hatred of dogs for cats is hereditary; it is an instinct common to all dogs, and, seeing that instinctive sensations do not owe their origin to any deliberate act of reasoning, it is generally difficult to account for them. It is therefore worth drawing attention to the fact that Rolf did, nevertheless, make an attempt at giving a reasonable reply.--ZIEGLER.

"On 20 August, 1914, he rapped out a remark that referred to the war; it had, of course, been difficult to explain the _nature_ of war to him; the only way in which it seemed at all possible to bring this to his understanding was by comparing it to the scuffling and quarrelling of dogs--on which he observed: 'lol grn (i.e. gern = likes to) raufn, mudr frbidn (i.e. Mutter verbieten = Mother forbids) abr franzos raufn mit deidsn (i.e. Deutschen), mudr soln frbidn, (i.e. Mutter soll es verbieten = Mother should forbid it), di nid dirfn (dürfen) raufe, is ganz wirsd fon di ( = They should not be allowed to quarrel--it is very rough of them!).

"When the tests were resumed, Frau Dr. Moekel asked Rolf: 'What was it the man called out in the street yesterday, when you were looking out of the window?' and the dog spelt out: 'egsdrablad 5 hundrd franzos un so weidr' ( = special edition 5 hundred French--and so on!). The laughter elicited by this statement appeared to offend Rolf, for he promptly spelt out the query: 'di lagn warum?' ( = They laugh--why?).

"After this he applied himself to counting the flowers in a bouquet, and he was asked to whom he would like to present it. He replied: "lib adolfin" ( = dear Adolphine), thus distinguishing a particular lady who was present--and he further added "gomn" (i.e. kommen = come), she had therefore to step forward and receive the bouquet in person.

"Little flags were distributed next, and Rolf was told to name the country each stood for. For the yellow and black colours he spelt out: "esdeig" (Austria), for the Turkish--'dirgig'; for the Baden flag: "baadin," while the Württemberg colours he regarded as _German_! On being shown the Bavarian flag he spelt: 'lib mudr sei fei farb!' (i.e. die feine Farbe der lieben Mutter = the brave colours of dear mother)--Frau Dr. Moekel being of Bavarian descent.

"At the close of the meeting Rolf was told to name certain melodies, and a gentleman present whistled the beginning of the song 'O, Deutschland hoch in Ehren'--but the dog did not at once recognize the song and spelt out--'nogmal!' (i.e. noch einmal = once more!). Then the entire song was whistled to him and he spelt: 'heldons sdurm gbraus' (i.e. Heldensturm-gebraus) and, as he liked to hear singing, he added: 'Wagd fon rein singe, bid' ( = Watch on the Rhine sing, please!). The same gentleman then obliged him by whistling the 'Wacht am Rhein,' but he was not quite content, for--as he subsequently observed, 'this was not singing' (dis nid singt).

"At the close of his tests Rolf was rewarded with a cake which he promptly recognised as 'basllegrl' (Basler Leckerle = a Specialité of Bâle).

"'The Heidelberger Zeitung' commented on the performance as follows:

"'The astonishment of the audience increased with every moment, while their delight and enthusiasm at the close of this remarkable and interesting evening found vent in a storm of applause.'

"Another journal, the 'Badische General Anzeige' wrote:

"'The evening's performance must have converted many who before had been sceptical.'"

* * * * *

Even as there are numerous horses capable of exercising similar abilities, so too, is Rolf not a solitary example among dogs of his kind to profit by instruction. Indeed, many of his descendants are receiving tuition under the guidance of different instructors, and are giving a good account of themselves.

I will here add Professor Ziegler's Report:

"NEW REPORTS CONCERNING THE CALCULATING AND SPELLING DOG[6]

"_By Professor Ziegler_

"The descendants of the dog Rolf that have been trained by Frau Dr. Moekel,[7] are now full grown, and several of them have acquitted themselves with success. These are the bitch Ilse, the two males, Heinz and Harras, and the bitch Lola, and I here purpose to set down the latest information about these animals. It is of great importance that the various persons under whose care these dogs were trained should--though independently of each other--have made similar observations. All investigators have reported the same astonishing memory, this affording the foundation for the dogs' feats in reckoning and spelling.

[6] Taken from the "Communications of The Society for Animal Psychology," 1916. pp. 6-9.

"As these reports come from persons resident at different places, who neither know, nor are in communication with each other, we here have the surest proof there is no secret or trick involved in the matter."

"A. REPORT ON THE BITCH ILSE

"Concerning Ilse, of whom a clergyman is the owner, Dr. Oelhausen has already given us some details in earlier numbers of our 'Communications'.[7] He now sends me the following, which he received from Frau Dr. Moekel in the summer of last year. The reverend gentleman had left Ilse for a few hours at Frau Dr. Moekel's--as he had often done before--while he went into town to make some purchases. On this particular occasion Frau Dr. Moekel noticed that Ilse looked particularly depressed, and her little daughter, Carla, being disturbed about the dog's woe-begone air, said: 'Mummy, Ilse must be in trouble! Only see how serious she is!' So Frau Dr. Moekel asked the dog: 'Ilse, are you really sorrowful?' To which Ilse responded: 'Ja, hr hib.' ( = yes, Master beating!). Frau Dr. Moekel: 'But Ilse, I am sure your master is kind to you; you are imagining!'

[7] These dogs were born on 26 and 27 January, 1914. Compare the letter of Rolf in the "Communications of the Society for Animal Psychology," 1914, p. 28; and "The Soul of the Animal," p. 111.

"Ilse: 'bd'.

"Frau Dr. Moekel: 'Bed? Ilse--have you a bed?'

"Ilse: 'Nein.'

"Frau Dr. Moekel: 'But where do you sleep?'

"Ilse: 'hols.'

"Frau Dr. Moekel: 'Ilse, you poor little dog! Have you to sleep on the wood behind the stove?'

"Ilse: 'Ja!'

"Frau Dr. Moekel: 'Then I'll tell you what to do, Ilse: you just get up on to your master's bed--he needn't have it all to himself.'

"Frau Dr. Moekel said later that she had not made this suggestion seriously, that, in fact, she had said it more to quiet Carla, and had soon forgotten all about it. But the next day the dog's master called again and complained of Ilse, saying: 'What do you think of this? Ilse is really getting unbearable--the beast got into my bed last night: there she was this morning--stretched her whole length!' And Frau Dr. Moekel had now to confess that she herself had instigated this lapse on Ilse's part.

"To this account Dr. Oelhausen has added: 'This statement has several points of interest. There is firstly the complaint about 'beatings,' and secondly the comparison drawn between her own nocturnal quarters and those of Rolf. It may also be noticed that she was very sparing of her words, using, indeed, no more than the merest 'essentials'! Then, observe the careful way in which she followed 'Mother's' advice--only getting into her master's bed after he was well asleep!'

"Another incident, the details of which were supplied to him by Ilse's master, has also been communicated to us by Dr. Oelhausen:

"'The clergyman had taken several of his village school-children for a walk, during the course of which he asked them the names of the various trees. Among these was one of which no child could tell the name. Ilse, his constant companion, was also of the party, and she now pressed forward with such marked interest that her master put the question to her too. At this Ilse started rapping and spelt out the correct name--the tree was a larch. Her master was greatly surprised at this, suggested, however, that it was probably less a matter of knowledge than of thought-transference, yet Dr. Oelhausen queries whether the dog might not have heard the name mentioned on some previous outing, and her master admits that this might have been the case.'

"We know the unfaltering tenacity with which the Mannheim dog, Rolf, remembers names, so that it would seem more reasonable to ascribe the spelling of the name to her excellent memory than to thought-transference, which would be quite as inexplicable and incomprehensible.

"To the above I may add one more incident touching Ilse, which I received from Frau Dr. Moekel on 25 May, 1915:

"'Ilse will prove valuable to us, for--though I have given her no instruction--her master has achieved the very same results with her as I have with Rolf.[8] This is what took place the other day: My dear husband went to see our reverend friend and having arrived too early for Divine Service, seated himself on a high stone in the neighbourhood of the little church and not far from the parsonage. Our friend saw my husband and came out, accompanied by Ilse, to fetch him into the house. Ilse jumped up against my husband, wagged her tail, licked him--and showed so much exuberant affection that her master was quite surprised, and asked her:

[8] Ilse was barely two months old when she came into the possession of her master, on 20 April, 1914.

"'Do you know this gentleman?' To which Ilse replied: 'No!' adding, as though as an after-thought--'Rolf!' She had evidently scented Rolf (who is her father and of whom she is very fond) about my husband's clothes'"

"B. REPORT ON THE DOG HEINZ

"A second dog, by name Heinz, who came into the possession of Mr. Justice Leser in Mannheim, has proved himself to be an excellent arithmetician, and this without ever having been worried with instruction. In the same way as Rolf he gives two raps for 'yes' and three for 'no,' while four express that he is 'tired.'

"Mr. Justice Leser reports:

"If I ask Heinz whether he will do arithmetic he invariably raps "2," even though sometimes accompanying his assent with a yawn. I am generally obliged to hold out the prospect of some reward as an inducement to do his sums. I should have preferred his rapping against some article one could hold in one's hand, or that he could be induced to "rap out" on a board setting forth the numbers, and which might be placed on the floor before him; but to neither of these alternatives will he agree, having since his earliest youth learnt to rap in the same way as Rolf does. He will, however, not only rap for me, but for any person he knows well, solving such problems as: 3 + 4 - 6, or [121rt] + 3, or 14/2 + 4, or 3^2, and he seldom makes a mistake, even when the sum he may be asked merely resembles the form of arithmetic he has learnt. But he generally gives up after two or three sums and is generally distracted. He can read the figures too, and generally gives a correct solution to sums which have been written down for him and which I myself have not read. Like Rolf, he only looks at the paper sideways. He reads very reluctantly. His memory is excellent; especially quick is he at recognizing those persons again who have at any time had to do with him.'

"When I was in Mannheim on 22 March, 1916, Mr. Justice Leser was kind enough to show me the dog. I put some problems to it verbally and was able to satisfy myself as to its abilities in the matter of arithmetic. Of those then put by me I still call to mind the following: '24 ÷ 3 - 3?' Answer: '5,' and '[10,000rt] - 87?' Answer: '13.'[9]

[9] The dog had become familiar with square roots in the course of earlier attempts."

"C. REPORT ON THE DOG HARRAS

"The third dog, Harras, came into the possession of Fräulein Eva Hoffmann, of Schloss Berwartstein, near Bergzabern, and was instructed by her in spelling and arithmetic with excellent results. This lady sends the following report:

"'From the very beginning his gift for arithmetic was quite remarkable. It was enough to give him an idea of how to reckon, explaining to him the different forms of arithmetic, for the dog to learn to give the right answers to easy sums immediately.

"'Fractions, decimals, cubes and the easier forms of equation, have been set him by a stranger. With some coaching he was also able to master textual problems in this way, giving eager and glad response in the form of "yes" and "no" when it came to questioning him as to his having understood or not understood--liked or not liked the subject. He usually did his sums with evident pleasure and with amazing celerity. Spelling gave him more trouble. He could not even remember an alphabet he had himself put together, and one I invented for him he only memorized after going over it many times. He took no pleasure in putting words together and got tired very soon. Some of his original remarks are that he recognized Sunday by the "dress" I had on; also that he had dreamt of a "cow" (this after having seen one when we were out walking), and so on.

"'Remarkable is his love of truth; should he have done anything that deserves punishment, he approaches me with his head hanging down and a very dejected tail--replying to the question as to whether he deserves a whipping with a reluctant "yes," and to a further enquiry as to whether he is ashamed of himself, he responds with an emphatic "yes--yes--yes!"

"'But as is the case with children, example and precept are of far greater use than corporeal punishment, although this cannot be neglected altogether. The axiom that we evolve in accordance with the treatment meted out to us is as true in the case of an animal as it is with that of a human being, and the more this is recognized and laid to heart the shorter will be the martyrdom still inflicted upon the animal kingdom.'

"In the March of this year Fräulein Hoffmann was kind enough to communicate the following incident to me; it corroborates an earlier observation made by Frau Dr. Moekel (compare 'Communications of the Society for Animal Psychology,' 1914, p. 6, or 'The Soul of an Animal,' 1916, p. 81).

"'I was sitting in the garden reading, when I heard the sound of birds twittering over their food in a tree hard by. Harras watched them attentively for some time and I told him the names of the birds--they were jays and wood-peckers. The next morning he did not come up to my room a second time with the maid, although he can generally hardly contain himself until he has had his breakfast given him. At length, when he did appear, I asked him if he had seen the birds again, and he answered "yes"; then to my question as to their names he gave "her" and "spct" (i.e. "Häher" and "Specht" = jay and woodpecker).'"

"D. REPORT ON THE DOG ROLAND

"Little Roland, who received his first tuition from Frau Dr. Moekel, unfortunately came to an untimely end--owing to an accident.[10] Concerning this, Frau Dr. Moekel wrote to me in March, 1915, as follows:

[10] Frau Dr. Moekel taught another young dog, called Lux, as well as Roland, the former being taken over by a gentleman in Mannheim. In a protocol dated 14 June, 1914, I stated that Lux was able to do a certain amount of arithmetic at the age of four and a half months.

"'My dear little Roland--whom we called "Guckerl" ( = Peep-eyes), because of his wonderful eyes, has been run over by a motor-car. He suffered terribly for two days and died on 19 March. His death is not only a sorrow to me, but a loss to the interests of the cause we have at heart, for Roland had begun to make the most delightful remarks quite spontaneously. On the last evening before the accident, he came to me and--without having been questioned--rapped out: "Rolf ark bei (s) d arm roland" ( = Rolf has badly bitten poor Roland). I was not able at the time to translate his little utterance, and it was only after his death that I remembered my notes. Then, on putting them together it transpired that Roland had been bitten by Rolf because he had chased Daisy, our kitten.

"'Roland could recognize money, stamps and bank-notes; he could count flowers and bricks, and knew all the various colours and scents as well as count tones, recognize melodies and tell the time.'

"I have not added my report made with reference to Lola to the above, the object of my book being to make the reader acquainted with this dog."

MY PREVIOUS ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE SUBJECT

I cannot remember whether it was in 1912, or earlier, or possibly even later, that I heard for the first time of Karl Krall's horses at Elberfeld. No details then reached me; only just the generalities relative to their ability to count and spell. Of their fore-runner, "der kluge Hans," I had as yet heard nothing. I had been a child when Hans had made his début, so to speak; he had then vanished and the odium which had later attached to his name was, therefore, unknown to me. I may say that I was totally unprejudiced when the news of these horses reached and, indeed, as there was but little information I did not interest myself further about the subject, although it had made a momentary impression on me. A year or two later Professor Kraemer of Hohenheim arrested public attention by his investigations respecting animals, and it was there that I heard him deliver a lecture on the horses and also the dog Rolf of Mannheim, hearing further details from him in conversation with my father[11] and myself. What I then heard interested me immensely.

[11] Professor Karl Kindermann, of Hohenheim.

Professor Kraemer was a keen advocate of this subject, but I was chary of forming any opinion without deeper investigations. The possibility of "self-expression" on the part of animals did not seem to me to be beyond the bounds of belief, even though some examples which were supposed to attest to high intelligence seemed to me a little doubtful. I tried to get more information, but was hindered at the time owing to the three years' course of studies I was then pursuing at the Hohenheim School of Agriculture, so that I was neither able to try any experiments on my own part, nor even to read Krall's great work on the subject. The entire question, therefore, remained an open one--as far as I was concerned, although my father had been to Elberfeld to see the horses, and had,--after making personal tests--come to the conclusion that everything was above-board and in accordance with what it claimed to be and that the animals really did give answers which were the outcome of their own independent thinking. In addition to this I read the public communications made by Professor Ziegler at Stuttgart, as well as also his own personal opinions.

Both these gentlemen, Professor Ziegler, as well as Professor Kraemer, were known to me only in their capacity of serious and conscientious investigators, men upon whose judgment I might safely rely, so long as my own experience did not oblige me to take up a different standpoint. And further, I skimmed over everything that the Press brought forward of an opposing nature, so that I might know _their_ point of view as well.

After I had passed my Academic Examination, and taken my Diploma, I took over, some six months later, the independent management of a big estate in the Rheinland, which consisted of three hundred acres. (I was able to do this on the strength of some practical experience I had had previously in Thüringen apart from my studies.)

After a year and a half I felt sufficiently at home at the work to be able to turn my attention to such matters of interest as lay outside that of my daily work, and I now called to mind the subject of the "Thinking Horses," deciding to attempt some experiments. The approach of such a solitary season as winter seemed to me particularly suited to this attempt and I placed myself in communication with Professor Ziegler so as to hear of a likely animal. It was to be a dog, and--for preference--a relation of Rolf. Indeed, I felt sure of excellent results, should my quest meet with success. A dog is of all animals _the_ one that has for generations associated most with man; its attachment is of the most intimate and the most faithful nature, so that by inheritance, as it were, it would seem to be in a greater state of "preparedness" for fulfilling man's behests. Horses, oxen, asses, pigs, and poultry, etc., are each and all, of course, accustomed to the guidance of man's hand, but--here in Europe, at all events--they live their lives apart and are not so domesticated; they cannot, therefore, form so intimate an acquaintance with man, by means of eye and ear, as can enable them to comprehend both language and gestures. For practical purposes horses would seem to come next to dogs in the matter of intelligence--more particularly Arab horses. An Arab talks to his horse as he would to a friend, and the sparkle in the eye of this animal denotes its intelligence. In the matter of actual sensibility, the ox, the ass, and other creatures have practically nothing in common with us, showing an utterly foreign type of intelligence, and one, moreover, which has--owing to the existent century-old customs of keeping them isolated in their stalls--depressed even such intelligence as was originally theirs. Creatures of the wild seem only in exceptional cases to prove amenable to training, however great their intelligence may be they cannot adapt themselves to man's control, and can as a rule only imitate, seldom revealing to us any gleam of mental alertness.

Professor Ziegler recommended a bitch which was a descendant of Rolf's and advised me to pay a visit to Mannheim. I did so, and our interview was most satisfactory. It lasted three-quarters of an hour, by which time I had assured myself that the dog could answer, even though he did not tap my hand, but rapped out his remarks on a piece of cardboard held by Fräulein Moekel. Here is the account of my visit:

"REPORT OF FRÄULEIN KINDERMANN OF HER VISIT TO THE FAMILY OF DR. MOEKEL, IN MANNHEIM, 11 JANUARY, 1916.

"After hearing much about the 'thinking animals,' more particularly about the dog Rolf, and having also with great enthusiasm read everything I could find on the subject, I became obsessed with the desire to embark on this study, forming my opinion by tests carried out myself, thus personally being in a position to approach the subject with the requisite scientific accuracy.

"The Moekels assisted my desire with kindly and ready response, placing a descendant of Rolf at my disposal, and allowing me to acquire some insight into their 'spelling-method' by watching Rolf at work. Here is the account of my visit: