[26] _The Empire of the Hittites._ By WILLIAM WRIGHT, B.A., D.D. James
Nisbet and Co.
[27] A distinguished French _savant_, writing in the _Revue
Philosophique_ for December 1884 has described some ingenious
experiments for detecting the indications of telepathic influence—of
the transference of thought from mind to mind which may be afforded by
the movements communicated to a table by the unconscious pressure of
the sitters. Dr. Richet’s investigations, though apparently suggested,
in part at least, by those of the Society for Psychical Research, have
followed a quite original line, with results of much interest.
[28] In a paper on “The Stages of Hypnotism” in _Mind_ for October
1884, Mr. E. Gurney, describes an experiment where this persistent
influence of an impressed idea could in a certain sense, be detected
in the muscular system. “A boy’s arm being flexed” (and the boy having
been told that he _cannot_ extend it), “he is offered a sovereign to
extend it. He struggles till he is red in the face; but all the while
his triceps is remaining quite flaccid, or if some rigidity appears
in it, the effect is at once counteracted by an equal rigidity in the
biceps. The idea of the impossibility of extension—_i.e._, the idea of
continued flexion—is thus acting itself out, even when wholly rejected
from the mind.”
[29] M. Taine, in the preface to the later editions of his “De
l’Intelligence,” narrates a case of this kind, and adds, “Certainement
on constate ici un dédoublement du moi; la présence simultanée de deux
séries d’idées parallèles et indépendantes, de deux centres d’action,
ou si l’on veut, de deux personnes morales juxtaposées dans le même
cerveau.”
[30] It is obvious that in an argument which has to thread its way amid
so much of controversy and complexity, no terminology whatever can be
safe from objection. In using the word _self_ I do not mean to imply
any theory as to the metaphysical nature of the self or ego.
[31] It is worth noticing in this connection that in one case of
Brown-Séquard’s an aphasic patient _talked in his sleep_.
[32] “Mirror-writing” is not very rare with left-handed children and
imbeciles, and has been observed, in association with aphasia, as a
result of hemiplegia of the right side. If (as Dr. Ireland supposes,
“Brain,” vol. iv. p. 367) this “Spiegel-schrift” is the expression of
an _inverse verbal image_ formed in the _right hemisphere_; we shall
have another indication that the _right hemisphere_ is concerned in
some forms of _automatic_ writing also.
[33] Records of carefully conducted experiments in automatic writing
are earnestly requested, and may be addressed to the Secretary, Society
for Psychical Research, 14 Dean’s Yard, Westminster.