P. 199 [41,] [90]. It is not necessary to enunciate the questions aloud ("On est convenu que celui qui commanderait ne prononcerait pas à haute voix le nombre de coups, mais se contenterait de les penser, après les avoir communiqués à l'oreille de son voisin. Eh bien! la table a obéi. Il n'y a jamais eu la moindre erreur.")
P. 199 [64 ff.]. The large numbers are tapped more rapidly than the small ones ("la table a indiqué notre âge tel qu'il était dans notre esprit, se hâtant même de la manière la plus comique lorsque le nombre des coups à frapper était un peu considérable.")
P. 210 [35 ff.]. Tests in which "procedure was without knowledge" failed completely ("Les tables ne révèlent pas ce qui n'est pas dans la pensée et dans la volonté de l'expérimentateur; quand on veut les charger d'autre chose que d'obéir comme des membres, on arrive à des erreurs continuelles.")
P. 28, 29, 217 [72]. When of two experimenters each tries to get the horse to tap a different number, then that one who is the better able to compel the animal's attention, will be the successful one. ("L'un veut faire prévaloire un chiffre pensé plus considérable, l'autre un chiffre pensé moins considérable.... Eh bien: l'opérateur le plus puissant l'emporte." "Ainsi A est chargé secrètement de faire frapper 25 coups, B est chargé secrètement de l'arrêter à 18; A l'emporte, et les 25 coups s'achèvent.... On fait maintenant l'inverse: B est chargé secrètement de faire frapper 13 coups; A est chargé secrètement de l'arrêter à 7; A l'emporte encore et le chiffre 7 ne peut être dépassé.")
CHAPTER VI
GENESIS OF THE REACTION OF THE HORSE
In the preceding discussion we have regarded the achievements of the horse as well as Mr. von Osten's explanation of them, as matters of fact. Let us now consider the question: How did the horse come by these achievements, and how did its master arrive at his curious theory in explanation of them? Did he indeed seek to instill in the horse's mind the rudiments of human culture through long years of painstaking instruction in accordance with the method described in [Supplement I (page 245)]? If that is the case, then, of course his hoped-for success was only seeming, not real. Or did he, as so many critics aver, systematically train the horse to respond automatically to certain cues, and propound his theory merely for the purpose of misleading the public? There might possibly be another alternative, viz.: was there a mixture of instruction and of training to respond to cues?
The production of the horse's achievements would not require a great deal of explanation, if it were a case of mere training for the purpose of establishing certain responses to certain cues. It might be desirable, however, before deciding in favor of one of these possibilities, to indicate briefly the process of development, as it might occur, if the point of view is taken that bona fide instruction was given.