e momentary excitement,
vaguely appeared to Castell to be 10. To his chagrin he noticed that
Hans continued to tap. Thereupon he intentionally remained motionless
until the horse had stopped tapping spontaneously--as he thought--at 16.
(The newspapers reported that the numbers to be added had been 5, 3, and
2; that the questioner had expected the answer 11, but that Hans had in
three tests always ceased tapping at 10.) In both cases the questioner
regarded the answers of the horse as wrong and recognized his mistake
when his attention was called to it. I, myself, had the same experience.
One time I received in response to the question, "What day of the week
is Monday?", the answer 2, although I had expected the answer 1; at
another time I asked, "How much is 16 less 9?", and the horse responded
with 7 taps, although I had erroneously expected 5. I noticed my mistake
only when my attention was called to it by one of those present. Another
example is related by Mr. Schillings. A row of colored cloths lay
before Hans. Beside them stood an army officer. Pointing to the latter's
red coat Mr. Schillings asked the horse to indicate, by means of
tapping, the place in the row where a piece of the same color lay. Hans
tapped eight times, but Mr. Schillings reprimanded him because the red
piece was, as a matter of fact, second in the row. Upon a repetition of
the test, Hans again tapped 8. (By some, the facts are recounted as
having been the other way round; viz.: Hans tapped 2 instead of 8. This
of course would call for a different explanation.) It was noticed that
at the place which would be indicated by eight taps there was not a red
piece but a carmine colored piece of cloth. A newspaper reports,
somewhat vaguely, a sixth case as follows: Hans was asked to spell the
name "Doenhoff" and began correctly: "Doe". Mr. von Osten, who somehow
began to think of another name, "Dohna", interrupted him and wished to
correct him by suggesting o instead of oe (i. e., 2 taps instead of 3).
Hans, however, continued to spell the entire word with the greatest
equanimity. He had not erred. A similar experience is reported by Mr. H.
von Tepper-Laski, the well known hippologist. Although the details have
slipped from his memory, he reports that in the case in question the
correct answer was thrice refused by the questioner who thought that the
horse's answer was incorrect. Hans, upon being severely reprimanded in a
loud and harsh tone of voice, tur