58 THE HORSE OF MR. VON OSTEN 



time which elapsed between the last tap and the signal 

 for stopping. These modifications, which had hitherto 

 been paraded as expressions of the horse's psychical power 

 may be illustrated by the following schematic figures 

 '(Figures i — 4). In all of them the dotted line c-d rep- 

 resents the ground level ; d shows where the horse's right 

 forefoot was located before he began tapping; a and c, 

 respectively, indicate the place to "which the foot is lowered 

 during the process of tapping. The unbroken line gives 

 the direction of the back-step. 



If Hans, having raised his foot from a to b — prepara- 



FlG. 2. 



tory to tapping, — receives the signal at or just before the 

 moment he lowers the foot, he immediately swings it in a 

 wide circle from c back to its original position at d, 

 (Fig. i). As a matter of fact a and c coincide, but are 

 juxtaposed in the diagram for the sake of schematic 

 utility.) This was the usual form of the back-step. 



If the signal for stopping is given a little after the 

 last tap (Fig. 2), i. e., at the time that the foot is already 

 being raised for another tap, then the back-step occurs 

 as a-b-d. The horse thus gives, at the moment it receives 

 the signal for stopping, a changed impulse to the moving 



