As we have said in the previous chapter, the general public is gradually
awakening to the knowledge of the reality of Mental Transference, and it
is scarcely necessary to devote the time and space to a proof of the
reality of the phenomena in these days, although a few years ago a work
on the subject would have had to be composed principally of evidences
and proofs. But, nevertheless, it may be well for us to take a hasty
look at the nature of the proof in this work.
Nearly everyone has had evidences of Mind Reading or Thought
Transference in his or her own life. Nearly every one has had
experiences of being in a person's company when one of the two would
make a remark and the other, somewhat startled, would exclaim, "Why,
that's just what I was going to say," or words to that effect. Nearly
every one has had experiences of knowing what a second person was going
to say before the person spoke. And, likewise common is the experience
of thinking of a person a few moments before the person came into sight.
Many of us have suddenly found ourselves thinking of a person who had
been out of our minds for months, or years, when all of a sudden the
person himself would appear. These instances are so common as to be
generally recognized, without question. These occurrences have given
rise to the two common "sayings," viz., "Speak of the devil and his imps
appear," or "Speak of angels and you hear the rustle of their wings."
Mark Twain, in an article printed several years ago, spoke of a plan
that he had frequently practiced, i.e., that of writing a letter to a
person upon some subject, then addressing the envelope and inserting the
letter, and then tearing the whole thing into pieces instead of sending
it. He stated that in a large percentage of such cases he would receive
within a short time a letter from the person to whom the destroyed
letter had been addressed, answering the questions asked, or else
speaking along the same lines as those of the destroyed letter. We have
known of this experiment being tried on people thousands of miles away
from the writer, and also in cases in which the other person had not
been heard of for many years. There is a field open for experiment along
these lines which some of our students might investigate with profit and
satisfaction.
Perhaps the best available evidence of Mind Reading at the disposal of
the public to-day is that found in the records of the English Society
for Psychical Research. The experiments of the members of this Society
and other investigators have resulted in the piling up of a mass of
facts more than sufficient to fully establish the correctness of the
theory of Mind Reading. Series of carefully managed experiments have
been conducted, the results of which have conclusively proven that the
thought-waves set into motion by the mind of one person may be
consciously received by the mind of another. We shall quote here from
the reports of those investigators, in order to show you the important
results that have been obtained, and to set at rest forever any lurking
doubts as to the reality of the phenomena which may still find lodgment
in your mind. Remember, please, that these committees were composed of
some of the leading scientific authorities of England--men whose
standing and reliability, as well as whose judgment, was beyond
question. These cases form a part of the scientific records of the
English Society.