Produced by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images generously made available by The
Internet Archive.)
TELEPATHY AND THE SUBLIMINAL SELF
[Illustration: NATHAN EARLY
_Phototype from an Automatic Painting._ (See page 196.)]
TELEPATHY AND THE SUBLIMINAL SELF
AN ACCOUNT OF RECENT INVESTIGATIONS REGARDING
HYPNOTISM, AUTOMATISM, DREAMS, PHANTASMS,
AND RELATED PHENOMENA
BY R. OSGOOD MASON, A.M., M.D.
_Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine_
NEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
1897
Copyright, 1897,
BY
HENRY HOLT & CO.
PREFACE.
To whatever conclusions it may lead us, there is no mistaking the fact
that now more than ever before is the public interested in matters
relating to the "New Psychology." Scarcely a day passes that notice of
some unusual psychical experience or startling phenomenon does not appear
in popular literature. The newspaper, the magazine, and the novel vie with
each other in their efforts to excite interest and attract attention by
the display of these strange incidents, presented sometimes with
intelligence and taste, but oftener with a culpable disregard of both
taste and truth.
The general reader is not yet critical regarding these matters, but he is
at least interested, and desires to know what can be relied upon as
established truth amongst these various reports. There is inquiry
concerning Telepathy or Thought-Transference--is it a fact or is it a
delusion? Has Hypnotism any actual standing either in science or common
sense? What of Clairvoyance, Planchette, Trance and Trance utterances,
Crystal-Gazing and Apparitions?
In the following papers intelligent readers, both in and out of the
medical profession, will find these subjects fairly stated and discussed,
and to some of the questions asked, fair and reasonable answers given. It
is with the hope of aiding somewhat in the efforts now being made to
rescue from an uncertain and unreasoning supernaturalism some of the most
valuable facts in nature, and some of the most interesting and beautiful
psychical phenomena in human experience, that this book is offered to the
public.
To such studies, however, it is objected by some that the principles
involved in these unusual mental actions are too vague and the facts too
new and unsubstantiated to be deserving of serious consideration; but it
should be remembered that all our knowledge, even that which is now
reckoned as science, was once vague and tentative; it is absurd,
therefore, to ignore newly-found facts simply because they are new and
their laws unknown; nevertheless, in psychical matters especially, this is
the tendency of the age.
But even if upon the practical side these studies should be deemed
unsatisfactory, it would not follow that they are without use or
interest. It is a truism that our western civilization is over-intense and
practical; it is materialistic, hard, mechanical; it values nothing, it
believes in nothing that cannot be weighed, measured, analyzed, labelled
and appraised;--feeling, intuition, aspiration, monitions, glimpses of
knowledge that are from within--not external nor distinctly
cognizable,--these are all slighted, despised, trampled upon by a
supercilious dilettanteism on the one hand and an uninstructed
philistinism on the other, and the result has been a development that is
abnormal, unsymmetrical, deformed, and tending to disintegration.
To a few, oriental mysticism, to others the hasty deductions of
spiritualism, and to many more the supernaturalism of the various
religious systems, offer at least a partial, though often exaggerated,
antidote to this inherent vice, because they all contemplate a spiritual
or at least a transcendental aspect of man's nature in contrast to that
which is purely material. But even these partial remedies are not
available to all, and they are unsatisfactory to many.
As a basis to a more symmetrical and permanent development, some generally
recognized facts relative to the constitution and action of these more
subtle forces in our being must be certified; and as an introduction to
that work, it is hoped that these studies in the outlying fields of
psychology will not be found valueless.
A portion of the papers here presented are republished, much revised, by
courtesy of _The New York Times_.
NEW YORK, _October, 1896_.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
Psychical Research--Telepathy or Thought-Transference 1
CHAPTER II.
Mesmerism and Hypnotism--History and Therapeutic Effects 28
CHAPTER III.
Hypnotism--Psychical Aspect 51
CHAPTER IV.
Lucidity or Clairvoyance 74
CHAPTER V.
Double or Multiplex Personality 116
CHAPTER VI.
Natural Somnambulism--Hypnotic Somnambulism--Dreams 129
CHAPTER VII.
Automatism--Planchette 151
CHAPTER VIII.
Automatic Writing, Drawing and Painting 181
CHAPTER IX.
Crystal-gazing 198
CHAPTER X.
Phantasms 224
CHAPTER XI.
Phantasms, Continued 262
CHAPTER XII.
Conclusions 307
CHAPTER I.
PSYCHICAL RESEARCH--TELEPATHY OR THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.
The status of the old-fashioned ghost story has, within the past ten
years, perceptibly changed. Formerly, by the credulous generality of
people, it was almost universally accepted without reason and without
critical examination. It was looked upon as supernatural, and supernatural
things were neither to be doubted nor reasoned about, and there the matter
ended.
On the other hand, the more learned and scientific, equally without reason
or critical examination, utterly repudiated and scorned all alleged facts
and occurrences relating to the subject. "We know what the laws of nature
are," they said, "and alleged occurrences which go beyond or contravene
these laws are upon their face illusions and frauds." And so, with them
also, there the matter ended.
In the meantime, while the irreclaimably superstitious and credulous on
the one hand, and the unco-scientific and conservative on the other,
equally without knowledge and equally without reason, have gone on
believing and disbelieving, a large number of people--intelligent,
inquiring, quick-witted, and reasonable, some scientific and some
unscientific--have come to think seriously regarding unusual occurrences
and phenomena, either witnessed or experienced by themselves or related by
others, and whose reality they could not doubt, although their relations
to ordinary conditions of life were mysterious and occult.
In the investigation of these subjects some new and unfamiliar terms have
come into more or less common use. We hear of mind-reading, telepathy,
hypnotism, clairvoyance, and psychical research, some of which terms still
stand for something mysterious, uncanny, perhaps even supernatural, but
they have at least excited interest and inquiry. The subjects which they
represent have even permeated general literature; the novelist has made
use of this widespread interest in occult subjects and has introduced many
of the strange and weird features which they present into his department
of literature. Some have made use of this new material without knowledge
or taste, merely to excite wonder and attract the vulgar, while others
use it philosophically, with knowledge and discrimination, for the purpose
of educating their readers in a new and important department of knowledge
and thought.
Amongst the more scientific, societies have been formed, reports have been
read and published, so that in scientific and literary circles as well as
among the unlearned the subject has become one of interest.
The object of these papers will be briefly to tell in connection with my
own observations, what is known and what is thought by others who have
studied the subject carefully, and especially what has been done by the
English Society for Psychical Research and kindred societies.
When an expedition is sent out for the purpose of exploring new and
unknown regions, it is often necessary to send forward scouts to obtain
some general ideas concerning the nature of the country, its conformation,
water-courses, inhabitants, and food supplies. The scouts return and
report what they have discovered; their reports are listened to with
interest, and upon these reports often depend the movements and success of
the whole expedition. It will easily be seen how important it is that the
scouts should be intelligent, sharp-witted, courageous and truthful; and
it will also be evident that the report of these scouts concerning the new
and unknown country is much more valuable than the preconceived opinions
of geographers and philosophers, no matter how eminent they may be, who
have simply stayed at home, enjoyed their easy-chair, and declared
off-hand that the new country was useless and uninhabitable.
The outlying fields of psychology, which are now the subject of psychical
research, are comparatively a new and unexplored region, and until within
a few years it has been considered a barren and unproductive one, into
which it was silly, disreputable, and even dangerous to enter; the region
was infested with dream-mongers, spiritualists, clairvoyants, mesmerists,
and cranks, and the more vigorously it was shunned the safer would he be
who had a reputation of any kind to lose.
Such substantially was the condition of public sentiment, and especially
of sentiment in strictly scientific circles, fourteen years ago, when the
English Society for Psychical Research came into being. The first movement
in the direction of systematic study and exploration in this new field was
a preliminary meeting called by Prof. W. F. Barrett, Fellow of the Royal
Society of Edinburgh, and a few other gentlemen on Jan. 6, 1882, when the
formation of such a society was proposed; and in the following month the
society was definitely organized and officers were chosen. The first
general meeting for business and listening to reports took place July 17th
of the same year.
The persons associated in this society were of the most staid and
respectable character, noted for solid sense, and a sufficient number of
them for practical work were also trained in scientific methods, and were
already eminent in special departments of science.
Prof. Henry Sidgwick, Trinity College, Cambridge, was President; Prof. W.
F. Barrett, F. R. S. E., Royal College of Science, Dublin, and Prof.
Balfour Stewart, F. R. S., Owens College, Manchester, were
Vice-Presidents, and among the members were a large number of well-known
names of Fellows of various learned and royal societies, professional men,
and members of Parliament, altogether giving character to the society, as
well as assuring sensible methods in its work. Among the subjects first
taken up for examination and, so far as possible, for experimental study,
were the following:--
(1) Thought-transference, or an examination into the nature and extent of
any influence which may be exerted by one mind upon another, apart from
any generally recognized mode of perception or communication.
(2) The study of hypnotism and the forms of so-called mesmeric trance.
(3) An investigation of well-authenticated reports regarding apparitions
and disturbances in houses reputed to be haunted.
(4) An inquiry into various psychical phenomena commonly called
Spiritualistic.
The first report made to the society was concerning thought-reading, or
thought-transference, and was a description of various experiments
undertaken with a view to determine the question whether one person or one
mind can receive impressions or intelligence from another person or mind
without communication by word, touch, or sign, or by any means whatsoever
apart from the ordinary and recognized methods of perception, or the
ordinary channels of communication.
What is meant by thought-transference is perhaps most simply illustrated
by the common amusement known as the "willing game"; it is played as
follows:--
The person to be influenced or "willed" is sent out of the room; those
remaining then agree upon some act which that person is to be willed to
accomplish; as, for instance, to take some particular piece of bric-a-brac
from a table or cabinet and place it upon the piano, or to find some
article which has been purposely hidden. The person to be willed is then
brought back into the room; the leader of the game places one hand lightly
upon her shoulder or arm, and the whole company think intently upon the
act agreed upon in her absence. If the game is successful, the person so
willed goes, with more or less promptness, takes the piece of bric-a-brac
thought of, and places it upon the piano, as before agreed upon by the
company, or she goes with more or less directness and discovers the hidden
article. Nervous agitation, excitement, even faintness or actual syncope,
are not unusual accompaniments of the effort on the part of the person so
willed, circumstances which at least show the unusual character of the
performance and also the necessity for caution in conducting it.
If the game is played honestly, as it generally is, the person to be
willed, when she returns to the room, is absolutely ignorant of what act
she is expected to perform, and the person with whom she is placed in
contact does not intentionally give her any clue or information during the
progress of the game.
In the more formal experiments the person who is willed is known as the
sensitive, subject, or percipient; the person who conducts the experiment
is known as the agent or operator. The sensitive is presumed to receive,
in some unusual manner, from the minds of the agent and the company, an
impression regarding the action to be performed, without communication
between them in any ordinary manner.
This is one of the simplest forms of thought-transference; it is, of
course, liable to many errors, and is useless as a scientific test.
Bishop, Cumberland, and other mind readers who have exhibited their
remarkable powers all over the world, were doubtless sensitives who
possessed this power of perception or receiving impressions in a high
degree, so that minute objects, such as an ordinary watch-key, hidden in a
barrel of rubbish in a cellar and in a distant part of an unfamiliar city,
is quickly found, the sensitive being connected with the agent by the
slightest contact, or perhaps only by a string or wire.
The question at issue in all these cases is the same, namely, do the
sensitives receive their impressions regarding what they have to do from
the mind of the agent by some process other than the ordinary means of
communication, such as seeing, hearing, or touch; or do they, by the
exceeding delicacy of their perception, receive impressions from slight
indications unintentionally and unconsciously conveyed to them by the
agent through the slight contact which is kept up between them?
The opinion of a majority of scientific persons has been altogether averse
to the theory of thought-transference from one mind to another without the
aid of the senses and the ordinary means of communication; and they have
maintained that intimations of the thing to be done by the sensitive were
conveyed by slight muscular movements unconsciously made by the agent and
perhaps unconsciously received by the sensitive. To explain, or rather to
formulate these cases, Dr. William B. Carpenter, the eminent English
physiologist, proposed the theory of "unconscious muscular action" on the
part of the agent and "unconscious cerebration" on the part of the
sensitive; and his treatment of the whole subject in his "Mental
Physiology," which was published twenty years ago, and also in his book on
"Mesmerism and Spiritualism," was thought by many to be conclusive against
the theory of mind-reading or thought-transference. Especially was this
view entertained by the more conservative portion of the various
scientific bodies interested in the subject, and also by that large class
of people, scientific and otherwise, who save themselves much trouble by
taking their opinions ready made.
It was a very easy way of disposing of the matter, so thoroughly
scientific, and it did not involve the necessity of studying any new force
or getting into trouble with any new laws of mental action; it was simply
delightful, and the physiologists rubbed their hands gleefully over the
apparent discomfiture of the shallow cranks who imagined they had
discovered something new. There was only one troublesome circumstance
about the whole affair. It was this: that cases were every now and then
making their appearance which absolutely refused to be explained by the
new theory of Dr. Carpenter, and the only way of disposing of these
troublesome cases was to declare that the people who observed them did not
know how to observe, and did not see what they thought they saw.
This was the state of the question, and this the way in which it was
generally regarded, when it was taken up for investigation by the Society
for Psychical Research.
Experiments on the subject of thought-transference fall naturally into
four classes:
(1) Those where some prearranged action is accomplished, personal contact
being maintained between the operator and the sensitive.
(2) Similar performances where there is no contact whatever.
(3) Where a name, number, object, or card is guessed or perceived and
expressed by speech or writing without any perceptible means of obtaining
intelligence by the senses or through any of the ordinary channels of
communication.
(4) Where the same ideas have occurred or the same impressions have been
conveyed at the same moment to the minds of two or more persons widely
separated from each other.
The first and second of these classes are simply examples of the "willing
game" carried on under more strict conditions, but they are not counted as
of special value on account of the possibility of information being
conveyed when contact is permitted, and by means of slight signals, mere
movements of the eye, finger, or lip, which might quickly be seized upon
and interpreted by the sensitive, even when there was no actual contact.
The third and fourth class, however, seem to exclude these and all other
ordinary or recognizable means of communication.
The following are examples of the third class, namely, where some object,
number, name, or card has been guessed or perceived without the aid of the
senses, and without any of the ordinary means of communication between the
operator and the subject.
The first experiments here reported were made in the family of a
clergyman, by himself, together with his five daughters, ranging from ten
to seventeen years of age, all thoroughly healthy persons, and without any
peculiar nervous development. The daughters and sometimes, also, a young
maid-servant, were the sensitives, and the clergyman, when alone with his
family, acted as agent. The test experiments made in this family were
conducted by two competent and well-qualified observers, members of the
society, and no member of the family was permitted to know the word, name,
or object selected, except that the child chosen to act as sensitive was
told to what class the object belonged; for instance, whether it was a
number, card, or name of some person or place.
The child was then sent out of the room and kept under observation while
the test object was agreed upon, and was then recalled by one of the
experimenters; and while giving her answers she "stood near the door with
downcast eyes," and often with her back to the company. The experiments
were conducted in perfect silence excepting the child's answer and the
"right" or "wrong" of the agent.
It has been charged that these children, later, were caught signalling
during the experiments. This is true by their own confession, but it is
also true that there was no signalling during the earlier experiments,
also that the signalling when used did not improve the results, and
furthermore that after they began signalling the effort to keep the mind
consciously active and acute during their trials injured the passive
condition necessary for success, and eventually destroyed their
sensitiveness and thought-reading power altogether.
Besides, most of the tests were made when only the one child was in the
room, and, as will be noticed, many of the tests were of such a nature
that signalling would be out of the question, especially with their little
experience and clumsy code.
The following results were obtained, the name of the object agreed upon
being given in italics:--
_A white-handled penknife._ Was named and color given on the first trial.
_A box of almonds._ Named correctly. _A three-penny piece._ Failed. _A
box of chocolate._ A button box. _A penknife, hidden._ Failed to state
where it was.
Trial with cards, to be named:--
_Two of clubs._ Right. _Seven of diamonds._ Right. _Four of spades._
Failed. _Four of hearts._ Right. _King of hearts._ Right. _Two of
diamonds._ Right. _Ace of hearts._ Right. _Nine of spades._ Right. _Five
of diamonds._ Four of diamonds (wrong); then four of hearts, (wrong); then
five of diamonds, which was right on the third trial. _Two of spades._
Right. _Eight of diamonds._ Wrong. _Ace of diamonds._ Wrong. _Three of
hearts._ Right. _Four of clubs._ Wrong. _Ace of spades._ Wrong.
The following results were obtained with fictitious names:--
_William Stubbs._ Right. _Eliza Holmes._ Eliza H. _Isaac Harding._ Right.
_Sophia Shaw._ Right. _Hester Willis._ Cassandra--then Hester Wilson.
_John Jones._ Right. _Timothy Taylor._ Tom, then Timothy Taylor. _Esther
Ogle._ Right. _Arthur Higgins._ Right. _Alfred Henderson._ Right. _Amy
Frogmore._ Amy Freemore, then Amy Frogmore. _Albert Snelgrove._ Albert
Singrore, then Albert Grover.
On another occasion the following result was obtained with cards, Mary,
the eldest daughter, being the percipient: In thirty-one successive
trials the first only was an entire failure, six of spades being given in
answer for the eight of spades. Of the remaining thirty consecutive
trials, in seventeen the card was correctly named on the first attempt,
nine on the second, and four on the third.
It should here be observed, that according to the calculus of
probabilities, the chances that an ordinary guesser would be correct in
his guess on the first trial is, in cards, of course, one in fifty-one,
but in these trials, numbering 382 in all, and extending over six days,
the average was one in three, and second and third guesses being allowed
the successes were more than one in two, almost two in three.
The chances against guessing the card correctly five times in succession
are more than 1,000,000 to 1, and against this happening eight times in
succession are more than 142,000,000 to 1, yet the former happened several
times and the latter twice--once with cards and once with fictitious
names, the chances against success in the latter case being almost
incalculable.
The following experiments were also made among many others, Miss Maud
Creery being the percipient:--
"(1) What town have we thought of? A. Buxton: which was correct.
"(2) What town have we thought of? A. Derby. What part did you think of
first? A. Railway station. (So did I.) What next? A. The market-place. (So
did I.)
"(3) What town have we thought of? A. Something commencing with L. (Pause
of a minute.) Lincoln. (Correct.)
"(4) What town have we thought of? A. Fairfield. What part did you think
of first? A. The road to it. (So did I.) What next? A. The triangular
green behind the Bull's Head Inn. (So did I.)"
In seeking an explanation for these remarkable results coincidence and
chance may, it would seem, be utterly excluded. Touch and hearing must
also be excluded, since the guesser did not come in contact with any
person during the experiments, and they were conducted in perfect silence
excepting the answers of the percipient or the "yes" or "no" of the agent.
We have left, then, only the unconscious indications which might possibly
be given by look, movement of a finger, lip, or muscle by persons who were
present especially on account of their desire and ability to detect any
such communication, and on account of their ability to avoid giving
information in any such manner themselves.
It seems, in fact, quite incredible that information thus conveyed could
be sufficient to affect the result in so large a number of experiments,
especially where the experiments included the names of places and
fictitious names of persons. Even where signalling is successfully carried
on, as, for instance, in stage tricks, it is a regular feat of memory
accomplished between two people who have studied and practised it
assiduously for a long time, while here were simply children, brought in
contact, without rehearsal, with strangers, whose object it was to detect
the trick if any were practised among them.
We are forced, then, to the conclusion that the knowledge which these
sensitives exhibited concerning the objects, names, or cards which were
given them as tests, did not come to them by any ordinary sense of
perception obtained either legitimately or by trick, but came to them
directly from the minds of other persons acting as agents and striving to
impress them, and that this knowledge or these impressions were received
by some means other than through the ordinary channels of communication.
Another method of demonstrating thought-transference which should be
mentioned here, is by means of diagrams. The experiment may be made as
follows:--The percipient, being blindfolded, is seated at a table with his
back to the operator, without contact and in perfect silence. A
diagram--for instance, a circle with a cross in the centre--is distinctly
drawn by a third person and so held as to be in full view of the operator,
who looks at it in silence, steadily and with concentrated attention.
The impression made by the diagram upon the mind of the operator is
gradually perceived by the percipient, who, after a time varying from a
few seconds to several minutes, declares himself ready. The bandages are
then removed from his eyes, and to the best of his ability he draws the
impression which came to him while blindfolded. The results have varied in
accuracy, very much as did the results in the experiments with objects and
cards already described.
The following diagrams are from drawings and reproductions made in the
manner just described. They are from the proceedings of the Society for
Psychical Research, and were the result of experiments made by Mr. Malcolm
Guthrie and Mr. James Birchall, two prominent and cultivated citizens of
Liverpool, together with three or four ladies, personal friends of
theirs, all of whom undertook the experiments with the definite purpose of
testing the truth or falsity of thought-transference.
[Illustration:
I. Original Drawing.
I. Reproduction.
II. Original Drawing.
II. Reproduction.
III. Original Drawing.
III. Reproduction.
IV. Original Drawing.
IV. Reproduction.
]
I will also quote another experiment, which is only a fair example of a
very large number, carefully carried out from April to November, 1883. In
many of the experiments members of the Committee on Thought-transference
from the S. P. R. were present.
APRIL 20th, 1883.--Present, Mr. Guthrie, Mr. Birchall, Mr. Steel, and four
ladies:--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
AGENT. |PERCIPIENT.| OBJECT. | RESULT.
--------|-----------|-----------------------|--------------------------
Mrs. E. | Miss R. | A square of pink silk | "Pink ... Square."
| | on black satin. | Answered almost
| | | instantly.
| | |
do. | do. | A ring of white silk | "Can't see it."
| | on black satin. |
| | |
Miss R. | Miss E. | Word R E S, letter by | Each letter was named
| | letter. | correctly by Miss E. as
| | | it was placed before
| | | Miss R.
| | |
do. | do. | Letter Q. | "Q." First answer.
| | |
do. | do. | Letter F. | "F." First answer.
| | |
All | | |
present.| Miss R. | A gilt cross held by | "It is a cross." Asked,
| | Mr. G. behind the | which way is it held,
| | percipient. | percipient replied,
| | | "The right way." Correct.
| | |
do. | do. | A yellow paper knife. | "Yellow ... is it a
| | | feather?... It looks
| | | like a knife with a
| | | thin handle."
| | |
do. | do. | A pair of scissors | "It is silver ... No, it
| | standing open and | is steel ... It is a pair
| | upright. | of scissors standing
| | | upright."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Success was different on different occasions, but this represents an
ordinary series of experiments at one sitting. In these experiments with
objects, the percipient was blindfolded and the object moreover was kept
out of range of vision. In some experiments slight contact was permitted,
and in some it was not, but it was found that contact had little if any
effect upon the result.
Remarkable success was also obtained in the transference of sensation,
such as taste, smell, or pain, while the percipient was in a normal
condition, that is, not hypnotized.
The following is an average example of the transference of taste:--
The tasters, Mr. Guthrie (M. G.), Mr. Gurney (E. G.), and Mr. Myers (M.).
The percipients were two young ladies in Mr. Guthrie's employ.
SEPT. 3, 1883.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
TASTERS. |PERCIPIENT.| SUBSTANCE. | ANSWER GIVEN.
----------|-----------|----------------|-----------------------------
E. G. & M.| E. | Worcestershire |
| | Sauce. | "Worcestershire Sauce."
| | |
M. G. | R. | " | "Vinegar."
| | |
E. G. & M.| E. | Port wine. | "Between eau de Cologne
| | | and beer."
| | |
M. G. | R. | " | "Raspberry Vinegar."
| | |
E. G. & M.| E. | Bitter aloes. | "Horrible and bitter."
| | |
M. G. | R. | Alum. | "A taste of ink--of iron--of
| | | vinegar. I feel it on my
| | | lips--it is as though I had
| | | been eating alum."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Some very striking experiments were made by Mr. J. W. Smith of Brunswick
Place, Leeds, as agent, and his sister Kate as percipient. Their success
with diagrams fully equalled those already given, and with objects the
results have seldom been equalled. The following trials were made March
11th, 1884. The intelligence and good faith of the participants is
undoubted.
Agent: J. W. Smith. Percipient: Kate Smith.
OBJECT SELECTED. NAMED.
Figure 8 Correct first time.
Figure 5 " " "
Black cross on white ground " " "
Color blue " " "
Cipher (0) " " "
Pair of Scissors.--Percipient was not told what (i. e. what form of
experiment, figure, color or object) was to be next--but carefully and
without noise a pair of scissors was placed on white ground, and in
about one minute and a half she exclaimed: "Scissors!"
The number of facts and experiments bearing upon this division of our
subject is well-nigh inexhaustible; those already presented will serve as
illustrations and will also show upon what sort of evidence is founded the
probability that perceptions and impressions are really conveyed from one
mind to another in some other manner than by the ordinary and recognized
methods of communication.
It remains to give one or two illustrations of the fourth division of the
subject, namely, where similar thoughts have simultaneously occurred, or
similar impressions have been made upon the minds of persons at a distance
from each other without any known method of communication between them.
The first case was received and examined by the society in the summer of
1885. One of the percipients writes as follows:--
"My sister-in-law, Sarah Eustance, of Stretton, was lying sick unto death,
and my wife had gone over there from Lawton Chapel (twelve or thirteen
miles off) to see and tend her in her last moments. On the night before
her death I was sleeping at home alone, and, awaking, I heard a voice
distinctly call me.
"Thinking it was my niece Rosanna, the only other occupant of the house, I
went to her room and found her awake and nervous. I asked her whether she
had called me. She answered: 'No; but something awoke me, when I heard
some one calling.' On my wife returning home after her sister's death she
told me how anxious her sister had been to see me, craving for me to be
sent for, and saying, 'Oh, how I want to see Done once more!' and soon
after became speechless. But the curious part was that, about the same
time that she was 'craving,' I and my niece heard the call."
In answer to a letter of inquiry he further writes:--
"My wife, who went from Lawton that particular Sunday to see her sister,
will testify, that as she attended upon her (after the departure of the
minister) during the night, she was asking and craving for me, repeatedly
saying, 'Oh, I wish I could see Uncle Done and Rosie once more before I
go!' and soon after she became unconscious, or at least ceased speaking,
and died the next day, of which fact I was not aware until my wife
returned on the evening of the Fourth of July."
Mrs. Sewill, the Rosie referred to, writes as follows:--
"I was awakened suddenly, without apparent cause, and heard a voice
calling me distinctly, thus: 'Rosie, Rosie, Rosie.' We (my uncle and
myself) were the only occupants of the house that night, aunt being away
attending upon her sister. I never was called before or since."
The second case is reported by a medical man of excellent reputation to
whom the incident was related by both Lady G. and her sister, the
percipients in the case. It is as follows:--
"Lady G. and her sister had been spending the evening with their mother,
who was in her usual health and spirits when they left her. In the middle
of the night the sister awoke in a fright and said to her husband: 'I must
go to my mother at once; do order the carriage. I am sure she is taken
ill.' The husband, after trying in vain to convince his wife that it was
only a fancy, ordered the carriage. As she was approaching her mother's
house, where two roads meet, she saw Lady G.'s carriage approaching. As
soon as they met, each asked the other why she was there at that
unseasonable hour, and both made the same reply:--
"'I could not sleep, feeling sure my mother was ill, and so I came to
see.' As they came in sight of the house they saw their mother's
confidential maid at the door, who told them, when they arrived, that
their mother had been taken suddenly ill and was dying, and that she had
expressed an earnest wish to see her daughters."
The reporter adds:--
"The mother was a lady of strong will and always had a great influence
over her daughters."
Many well-authenticated instances of a similar character could be cited,
but the above are sufficient for illustration, which is the object here
chiefly in view, and other facts still further illustrating this division
of the subject will appear in other relations.
The foregoing facts and experiments are sufficient to indicate what is
understood by thought-transference, or telepathy, and also to indicate
what might be called the skirmishing ground between the class of
psychologists represented by the active workers in the Society for
Psychical Research and kindred societies on the one hand, and the
conservative scientists, mostly physiologists, who are incredulous of any
action of the mind for which they cannot find an appropriate organ and a
proper method, on the other.
It is not claimed that thought-transference as here set forth is
established beyond all possibility of doubt or cavil, especially from
those who choose to remain ignorant of the facts, but only that its facts
are solid and their interpretation reasonable, and that
thought-transference has now the same claim to acceptance by well-informed
people that many of the now accepted facts in physical science had in its
early days of growth and development.
The reality of thought-transference being once established, a vast field
for investigation is opened up; a new law, as it were, is discovered; and
how far-reaching and important its influence and bearing may be upon
alleged facts and phenomena which heretofore have been disbelieved, or set
down as chance occurrences, or explained away as hallucinations, is at
present the interesting study of the experimental psychologist.