92 THE HORSE OF MR. VON OSTEN 



suddenly be released, and a curious feeling of relaxation 

 would ensue. I have made a series of tests to determine 

 the most favorable degree of tension in expectation. It 

 was possible to distinguish with certainty, three degrees 

 of tension besides the state of utter relaxation, — ^all of 

 which I measured by means of the differences in the sen- 

 sations of tension. In cases of tension of the first degree 

 (greatest concentration) the responses were usually cor- 

 rect, a few, however, were lacking by one unit. There 

 was therefore in the latter instance a premature release 

 of inner tension. In cases of tension of the second de- 

 gree all answers were correct except a very few which 

 were too great by one unit. In cases of tension of the 

 third degree, many answers were wrong, and usually by 

 several units too many. I wished to have the horse tap 

 ID, with the lowest degree of concentration. He tapped 

 13, then in a repetition of the test, 12. I thereupon in- 

 creased the tension, Hans then tapped 8. I decreased the 

 tension once more, but so that it was somewhat greater 

 than at first. Hans tapped 10 correctly. At another time 

 I tried to have him tap the number 5, with a low degree 

 of tension. He tapped 6. I intensified expectation and 

 Hans tapped 4. I again decreased it, and he tapped S, 

 comme il faut. Apparently, therefore, the most favorable 

 degree of tension was one between the first and second, 

 — ^the latter being the least favorable. After some prac- 

 tice a lesser degree than was used in the beginning suf- 

 ficed to evoke adequate reactions. The flow of nervous 

 energy to the motor centers of the brain evidently became 

 facilitated through practice. It will be easy to understand 

 why the first days of experimentation caused intense 

 headaches, which later never occurred. 



Whenever, in the foregoing, we spoke of a certain de- 



