as it was conceived by the
subject.

Reviewing the experiments discussed in this chapter, we find that the
same kind of movements and postures, which had been noted in persons
experimenting with the horse, tended to recur in the laboratory, in so
far as the mental attitude of the subjects, given in their introspective
accounts, corresponded with that of the questioners of the horse.

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 objectively and upon his own introspections, and
having verified 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 horse's seeming
knowledge of language and particularly his ability 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 involved were visual 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 unintelligible 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 the
questioner bent forward, the horse would have been able to tap any
number desired. Since, however, only the right foot was employed, the
left one being used at most for making a final tap, the number of taps
had an upper limit which was due to the fatigue of the animal. This
limit was about 100. That it was possible to ask such questions as: "How
many times is 100,000 contained in 654321?", and thus to give problems
involving millions, is perfectly clear.

All wonderful feats of counting and computation which were accomplished
while thus experimenting with the horse are to be accredited, not to the
horse, but to the ques