REACTION OF THE HORSE 239 



which promised no results whatever. " The animal's stub- 

 bornness must be broken," he commented. On the other 

 hand, he regarded every criticism as a form of personal 

 insult. And once he showed a member of the committee 

 of the Society for the Protection of Animals the door, be- 

 cause the man, without having looked at his watch, wanted 

 to show it to Hans and ask him the time. Many other 

 critics had similar experiences. 



Summarizing the remarks of this chapter, our judg- 

 mpnt must be as follows : It is in the highest degree im- 

 probable that Mr. von Osten purposely trained the horse 

 to respond to certain cues. It is also improbable that he 

 knew that in every test he was giving signals, (although 

 I can form no judgment concerning what happened after 

 the publication of the latest report). To assume the 

 contrary would land us in the midst of insoluble contra- 

 dictions of the many ascertained facts in the case. The 

 explanation here essayed, however, should prevent that. 

 To be sure, we, must then reckon with curious inner 

 contradictions in Mr. von Osten's character. But such 

 contradictions are to be found, upon earnest analysis, in 

 nearly every human character. And Mr. von Osten may 

 say with the poet : " Ich bin kein ausgekliigelt Buch. 

 Ich bin ein Mensch mit seinem Widerspruch." 



