thousandths place?"--9. It will be
noticed, therefore, that he was able to operate with numbers far
exceeding 100, indeed he could manipulate those of six places. We were
told that this, however, was no longer arithmetical computation in the
true sense of the term; Hans merely knew after the analogy of 10 and 100
that the thousands take the fourth place, the ten-thousands the fifth,
etc. If an error entered into Hans' answer, he could nearly always
correct it immediately upon being asked: "By how many units did you go
wrong?"

[Footnote E: All examples mentioned are cited from extant works of
various observers.]

Hans, furthermore, was able to read the German readily, whether written
or printed. Mr. von Osten, however, taught him only the small letters,
not the capitals. If a series of placards with written words were placed
before the horse, he could step up and point with his nose to any of the
words required of him. He could even spell some of the words. This was
done by the aid of a table devised by Mr. von Osten, in which every
letter of the alphabet, as well as a number of diphthongs had an
appropriate place which the horse could designate by means of a pair of
numbers. Thus in the fifth horizontal row "s" had first place; "sch"
second, "ss," third, etc.; so that the horse would indicate the letter
"s" by treading first 5, then 1, "sch," by 5 and 2, "ss" by 5 and 3.
Upon being asked "What is this woman holding in her hand?" Hans spelled
without hesitation: 3, 2; 4, 6; 3, 7; i. e., "Schirm" (parasol). At
another time a picture of a horse standing at a manger was shown him and
he was asked, "What does this represent?" He promptly spelled "Pferd"
(horse) and then "Krippe" (manger).

He, moreover, gave evidence of an excellent memory. In passing we might
also mention that he knew the value of all the German coins. But most
astonishing of all was the following: Hans carried the entire yearly
calendar in his head; he could give you not only the date for each day
without having been previously taught anew, but he could give you the
date of any day you might mention. He could also answer such inquiries
as this: "If the eighth day of a month comes on Tuesday, what is the
date for the following Friday?" He could tell the time to the minute by
a watch and could answer off-hand the question, "Between what figures is
the small hand of a watch at 5 minutes after half-past seven?" or, "How
many minutes has the large