24 THE HORSE OF MR. VON OSTEN 



he was ready to admit. Finally, he was familiar with not 

 less than thirteen melodies and their time. 



Not only in the high degree of development of the 

 senses and the intellect, but also in that of the feeling and 

 the will, did Hans possess a decided individuality. Being 

 of a high-strung and nervous temperament and governed 

 by moods, he evinced strong likes and dislikes, and fre- 

 quently displayed an annoying stubbornness, — a fact often 

 dwelt upon by Mr. von Osten. He had never felt the 

 whip, and therefore often persisted in wilfully answering; 

 the simplest questions incorrectly and a moment later 

 would solve, with the greatest ease, some of the most 

 difficult problems. Whenever any one asked a question 

 without himself knowing the answer, Hans would in- 

 dulge in all sorts of sport at the questioner's expense. 

 We were told that the sensitive animal could easily per- 

 ceive the questioner's ignorance and would therefore 

 lose confidence in, and respect for, him. It was felt to 

 be desirable, however, to have just such cases with cor- 

 rect responses. Often, too, Hans would persist in giving 

 what seemed an incorrect reply, but which was later dis-. 

 covered to be correct. On the other hand it was useless 

 to try to get answers upon topics of which he knew 

 nothing. Thus he ignored questions put in French or 

 Latin and became fidgety, thereby showing the genuine- 

 ness of his achievements ; but upon topics with which 

 he was familiar he could not be led astray. Indeed, 

 there was nothing but language lacking to make him 

 almost human and the intelligent animal was declared 

 by experienced educators to be at about the stage of 

 development of a child of 13 or 14 years. 



This wonderful horse, which in the opinion of its 

 friends was the means of deciding in the affirmative the 



