222 THE HORSE OF MR. VON OSTEN 



these results appear to be rational, the tendency is to 

 seek their cause in some extraneous intelligence, not his 

 own. Just as the spiritualists ascribe the " messages " 

 which are revealed to them through table-rapping, to cer- 

 tain rational spirits, so Mr. von Osten credited the intelll- 1 

 gence of the horse with the result produced by his own/ 

 involuntary signs — i. e., with the proper solution of prob-/ 

 lems. 



Two other phenomena may have tended to strengthen 

 Mr. Ton"Osten's belief in Hans's intelligenceJ^'One was 

 the misleading similarity with which the horse'^s supposed 



without any agency in the person who is holding it. The untenability of 

 this theory comes home to us most forcibly when we recall how various 

 are the kinds of things which have been discovered by means of the 

 branch. First there is gold and water, which are the only ones men- 

 tioned by Mr. Franzius. The water can be thus discovered only when 

 it flows below ground, say that which is passing through the mains of a 

 city, whereas the water of the Rhine or the Elbe would have no effect 

 on the branch. Besides gold, every other kind of metal has been sup- 

 posedly located by the branch, — as well as coal, gypsum, ochre, red-chalk 

 sulphur and petroleum, — according to the desire of the one searching. 

 Thus, the very same branch that just a moment ago was influenced by 

 the least bit of underground water, may remain unaffected by the presence 

 of a large body of water, if in the meantime I have changed my plan 

 and decide to search for coal or for gold. But that is not all. The 

 branch will point out a murderer or the place where a murder has been 

 committed, it will discover the thief or his trail, as well as the things 

 stolen or merely touched by him. It will indicate where the boundary- 

 stone that has been moved, ought to stand. The branch further dis- 

 closes the sins of the persons concerning whom it is consulted, as well 

 as their talents and abilities, the journeys they have made and the wounds 

 they have received. It will indicate whether or not a person has money 

 and how much. It can announce what absent persons are doing and 

 what apparel they are wearing, and of what color it is. It will give in- 

 formation on theological, medical, zoological, and botanical questions. 

 In fine, no matter what the question, it will never fail of an answer."", '"1 

 The impossibility of explaining the phenomena in a purely physical 

 way was recognized at a very early date. For a long time the activity 



