HORSES AND PANIC IN HUMAN CROWD 115 

 halt, partially facing the direction whence 

 they came. Again they start off at a tangent ; 

 but this time a small ditch or bank obstructs 

 their passage, whereat the foremost animals 

 jump ; at the same time the rest are seen to 

 " buck " off the ground, though the obstacle 

 has not been reached or even seen by those in 

 the rear. " The fact has been telepathed? " 

 Yes, but not by a leader, for were the sheep 

 to face about and charge in an opposite 

 direction, as often happens, so that the rear- 

 most are now to the front, the same perform- 

 ance is repeated. Once massed, the units 

 composing the troop are no longer independ- 

 ent members, but the whole is governed by 

 one mind and one eye : not the eye of a 

 leader, but the eyes which first perceive the 

 danger or obstacle of which notice must be 

 taken. 



Though this faculty is a scheme for protec- 

 tion, it is sometimes, in the case of sheep, the 

 cause of their complete destruction. For if 

 during a stampede one or more chance to 

 overstep the brink of a quarry-pit, the rest 

 inevitably follow. 



The cause of stampede of horses and panic 

 in a human crowd is, I beheve, due to the 

 blending and prompt action of the subcon- 

 scious mind. Man, like the animals, is affected 



