84 THE HORSE OF MR. VON OSTEN 



pass on as long as the calling continued. If he was pick- 

 ing up, or about to pick up, a cloth when the exclamation 

 was made, he would go on to the next ; but if, at the time 

 he was on his way to a certain cloth, he would change his 

 direction in response to the call. If he stood before one 

 of the pieces at the time, but had not lowered his head, he 

 would pass on to the next. In all this he would adhere 

 to a certain routine of procedure. If he was approaching 

 a series from the right, then a call would cause him to 

 turn to the left, if he was coming from the left, he would 

 turn to the right. If he had approached the row of 

 cloths near the center, he would turn, in response to the 

 questioner's calls, to the left, — seldom, very seldom, to the 

 right. Mr. von Osten did not seem to be able to control 

 the responses of the horse, entirely. As a rule, but not 

 always, one call sufficed to make Hans pass on to the next 

 cloth. If too many calls were given, he would often go 

 too far. Loud exclamations were superfluous. 



These statements are not mere assertions, but are 

 founded upon the records of the results. The tests in 

 which calls were made show a larger percentage of correct 

 responses than do those without calls. Of a total of 103 

 tests with colored cloths, which Mr. von Osten performed 

 for us, only 37% brought forth successful responses on 

 the part of the horse when visual signs were the only 

 directives and when there were no directions by means 

 of calls, whereas the total percentage of successful re- 

 sponses was 54%, if we add to the above those in which 

 the vocal exclamations helped to bring about success. 

 The corresponding percentages for the total of 78 tests 

 with the placards were 23% and 50%. In a total of no 

 color tests I myself obtained 31% correct responses under 

 the first head, and 56% under the second head. In a 



