CHAPTER V 



EXPLANATION OF THE OBSERVATIONS 



The author having described the observations made 

 upon the horse, and having discussed the activities of the 

 questioner upon the basis of observations made object- 

 ively and upon his own introspections, and having veri- 

 fied the results thus obtained, by means of laboratory 

 tests, — we are now in a position to solve satisfactorily all 

 the problems which this interesting case has presented. 



That which is least difficult to understand is the 

 hors e's se eming knowledge of language and particularly 



TTirability to^answer questions, no matter by whom, or in 

 what dialect, they were put. As a matter of fact, it made 

 no difference who desired an answer, for the only person 

 upon whom the experiment depended was the questioner, 

 that is, the one who asked the horse to tap. We have 

 everywhere designated this person as the experimenter 

 or questioner. It was he who gave the directions, and 

 since all, that were. J^nvoTvBd were _vis.ual signs, the drama 

 in which Hans appeared as the hero, was nothing but a 



-pantomime. All speech was superfluous and, except 

 in so far as the tone of voice in which it was spoken 

 was soothing or reprimanding, it was quite unintel- 

 ligible to the horse. 



From the foregoing, the reader understands without 

 further explanation Hans's ability to count and to make 

 computations. If the number of taps had depended 

 solely upon the length of time and the angle at which 



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