EXPLANATION OF OBSERVATIONS 183 



eye, and Hans never would have come to be regarded as 

 the " clever " Hans. 



After the publication of the December report, Hans 

 acquired a reputation for excellence in thought-reading 

 and thus the discussion of thought-reading among 

 animals in general became once more the order of the 

 day. That is to say that many of our domestic animals 

 are — like the human mind-reader (a la Cumberland), 

 — supposed to have the ability to infer the thoughts of 

 their masters from slight involuntary movements. They 

 are thus aware when the feeding hour approaches, when 

 they may go out in the open, etc. They also appear to 

 be aware that their welfare lies in our hands, and there- 

 fore would seem to have a vital interest in divining our 

 intentions and our wishes. Not only our spoken words, 

 but also numberless movements — usually without our 

 knowing it and often contrary to our desire — speak a 

 clear language. As is well said by the American neuro- 

 pathologist, Beard, °° (who first explained the phenom- 

 enon of thought-reading, on the basis of the perception 

 of very minute muscular jerks, and therefore called it 

 "muscle-reading" or "body-reading"): "Every horse 

 that is good for anything is a muscle-reader; he reads 

 the mind of his driver through the pressure on the bit, — 

 though not a word of command is uttered." We know 

 that in the case of perfectly trained horses the rider's 

 mere thought of the movement which he expects the 

 horse to make, is seemingly sufficient to cause the animal 

 to execute it.* Such cases are of course very much like 



* An aiustration is given by Babinet ^* concerning the horse of an 

 English lord. Mr. Burkhardt-Foottit, also, that excellent trainer, who 

 has been master for more than forty of the most highly-trained horses, 

 tells us that while sitting on a well-managed horse it sometimes hap- 



