He knew nothing. Rather was he to be regarded as a stupid Hans, and
totally dependent upon signs or helps given by his master. Only a very
few believed, however, that such signs--the nature of which was quite
unknown or regarding which only vague unsubstantiated suppositions were
advanced--were given unintentionally. Most of the critics openly averred
that we here had to do with intentional control, in other words, with
tricks. But not only did stupid orthodoxy dispose of the matter in this
way, but also the enlightened, who believe everything unusual to be
contrary to reason. They put the Hans problem on a level with
spiritualism, and were convinced that if the veil were removed a crass
imposition would be revealed. Professional trainers who regarded
themselves as well informed did not hesitate to give expression to this
same view, even though they had observed Hans inadequately or not at
all.

The defenders of this second point of view were not at a loss to point
out the signs supposed to be given to Hans. One of these believed he had
discovered the primary means for giving these signs in the slouch hat of
Mr. von Osten. It was no accident, they said, that Mr. Schillings wore a
slouch hat when he experimented with the horse. It is sufficient to note
that Mr. Schillings was usually bare-headed or wore only a cap when he
tested the horse. Another accused, in like fashion, the long coat of the
experimenter; a third, who "had had opportunity to observe Hans on
several occasions," declared with equal certainty that the cue lay in
the movements of the hand as it was thrust into the pocket filled with
carrots. One circus-star declared, that the trick lay in eye movements,
another such star declared it lay in the movements of the hand. A sixth
discovered that the signs were "manifold" and adds, "to be sure, the
trainer must have a fund of such signs in order to prevent
embarrassment." Such a hypothesis is itself, it would seem, one of
embarrassment. On the other hand, there were many first-class observers
who vainly tried to discover regularly recurring signs; among them the
only professional trainer,--who had devoted any satisfactory length of
time to the horse and had also sought diligently for the signs in
question--said, "I was fully convinced that I would be able to explain
the problem in this way, but I was mistaken." The president of the
"Internationale Artisten Genossenschaft," a person who knew all the
usual means