letter V if not Ph_.

_4th Object._ WATCH, dull silver with filigree. Percipient: _Yellow or dirty ivory. Not very big. Like carving on it._ Watch is opened by agent, and percipient is asked what was done. Percipient says: _You opened it. It is shaped like a_ _butterfly_. Percipient held finger and thumb of each hand making figure much like that of opened watch. Percipient asked to spell it, said: _I get r-i-n-g with a W at first_.

PLAYING CARDS.

KING SPADES.--_Spades. Spot in middle and spots outside. 7 Spades. 9 Spades._

4 CLUBS.--_4 Clubs._

5 SPADES.--_5 Diamonds._

NUMBERS OUT OF NINE DIGITS.

4.--Percipient said: _It stands up straight. 4_.

6.--Percipient said: _Those two are too much alike, only a little gap in one of them. It is either 5 or 6_.

3.--_3._

1.--Percipient said: _Cover up that upper part if it is the 1. It is either 7 or 1_.

2.--_9, 8._

[From acting so much as agent in previous trials, I knew the shapes of these numbers printed on cardboard, and as agent found the 5 and 6 too much alike. After looking hard at one of them I can hardly tell the difference, and always cover the upper projection of the I because it is so much like a 7.

The numbers were printed on separate pieces of cardboard, and there were about a hundred in the box, being made for some game.]

COLOURS, CHOSEN AT RANDOM.

Chosen. 1st Guess. 2nd Guess. BRIGHT RED _Bright Red_ LIGHT GREEN _Light Green_ YELLOW _Dark Blue_ _Yellow_ BRIGHT YELLOW _Bright Yellow_ DARK RED _Blue_ _Dark Red_ DARK BLUE _Orange_ _Dark Blue_ ORANGE _Green_ _Heliotrope_

The percipient himself told the agents to change character of object after each actual failure, thus getting new sensations.

Percipient was told to go into next room and get something.

_1st Object._ SILVER INKSTAND chosen.--Percipient says, _I think of something, but it is too bright and easy. It is the silver inkstand._

Percipient told to get something in next room.

_2nd Object._ A GLASS CANDLESTICK.--Percipient went to right corner of the room and to the cabinet with the object on it, but could not distinguish which object.

Percipient had handkerchief off to be able to walk, but was not followed by agents, and did not see them. Agents found percipient standing with hands over candlestick undecided.

From the percipient's descriptions it would seem that the impression here was of a visual nature, though Dr. Thaw himself says, "I cannot describe my sensation as a visualisation of any kind. It seemed rather to be by some wholly subjective process that I knew what the agents were looking at." It is not always, however, an easy task to analyse one's own sensations; and, on the whole, it seems more probable that there was visualisation, but of a very faint and ideal kind.

No. 5.--By MR. MALCOLM GUTHRIE.

Reference has already been made to the long series of experiments carried on during the years 1883-85 by Mr. Malcolm Guthrie of Liverpool. During a great part of the series he was assisted by Mr. James Birchall, Hon. Sec. of the Liverpool Literary and Philosophical Society. Professor Oliver Lodge, Edmund Gurney, Professor Herdman, and others co-operated from time to time. Throughout there were two percipients only, Miss R. and Miss E. The experiments were conducted and the results recorded with great care and thoroughness; and the whole series, in its length, its variety, and its completeness, forms perhaps the most important single contribution to the records of experimental thought-transference in the normal state.[21] Summing up, in July 1885, the results attained, Mr. Guthrie writes:--

"We have now a record of 713 experiments, and I recently set myself the task of classifying them into the 4 classes of successful, partially successful, misdescriptions, and failures. I endeavoured to work it out in what I thought a reasonable way, but I experienced much difficulty in assigning to its proper column each experiment we made. This, however, is a task which each student of the subject will be able to undertake for himself according to his own judgment. I do not submit my summary as a basis for calculation of probability. A few successful experiments of a certain kind carry greater weight with them than a large number of another kind; for some experiments are practically beyond the region of guesses....

"The following is a summary of the work done, classified to the best of my judgment:--

FIRST SERIES.

Key A. = Nothing perceived. B. = Complete. C. = Partial. D. = Misdescriptions.

---------------------------------------+------+----+-----+----+----+ Experiments and Conditions. |Total.| A. | B. | C. | D. | ---------------------------------------+------+----+-----+----+----+ Visual--Letters, figures, and cards-- | | | | | | Contact | 26 | 2 | 17 | 4 | 3 | Visual--Letters, figures, and cards-- | | | | | | Non-contact | 16 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 5 | Visual--Objects, colours, etc.--Contact| 19 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 2 | Do. do. Non-contact| 38 | 4 | 28 | 6 | 0 | Imagined visual--Non-contact | 18 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 3 | Imagined numbers and names--Contact | | | | | | and Non-contact | 39 | 11 | 12 | 6 | 10 | Pains--Contact | 52 | 10 | 30 | 9 | 3 | Tastes and smells--Contact | 94 | 19 | 42 | 20 | 13 | +------+----+-----+----+----+ | 302 | 57 | 153 | 53 | 39 | Diagrams--Contact | 37 | 7 | 18 | 6 | 6 | Do. Non-contact | 118 | 6 | 66 | 23 | 23 | +------+----+-----+----+----+ | 457 | 70 | 237 | 82 | 68 | ---------------------------------------+------+----+-----+----+----+

"There were also 40 diagrams for experimental evenings with strangers, in series of sixes and sevens, all misdrawn, and not fairly to be reckoned in the above.

457 experiments under proper conditions. 70 nothing perceived. --- 387

319 wholly or partially correct; 68 misdescriptions = 18 per cent."

In the second series there were 123 trials; in 15 cases no impression was received, and in 35 cases, or 32 per cent of the remainder, an incorrect description was given. In the third series, of 133 trials there were 24 in which no impression was received and 40 failures: proportion of failures = 37 per cent. Mr. Guthrie attributes this gradual decline in the proportion of successes to the difficulty experienced by both agents and percipients in maintaining the original lively interest in the proceedings.

No. 6.--By PROFESSOR LODGE, F.R.S.

Subjoined is a detailed description of experiments made on two evenings in 1884, recorded by Professor Lodge,[22] which leaves no room for doubt that the impressions received in this instance by the percipient were of a visual nature. The agent on the first evening was Mr. James Birchall, who held the hand of the percipient, Miss R. The only other person present was Professor Lodge. The object was placed sometimes on a wooden screen between the percipient and the agent, at other times behind the percipient, whose eyes were bandaged. The bandage, it should be observed, was a sufficient precaution against cornea-reading; but for other purposes no reliance was placed upon it. It is believed that the precautions taken were in all cases adequate to conceal the object from the percipient if her eyes had been uncovered. In the account quoted any remarks made by the agent or Professor Lodge are entered between brackets.

_Object_--_a blue square of silk_.--(Now, it's going to be a colour; ready.) "Is it green?" (No.) "It's something between green and blue.... Peacock." (What shape?) She drew a rhombus.

[N.B.--It is not intended to imply that this was a success by any means, and it is to be understood that it was only to make a start on the first experiment that so much help was given as is involved in saying "it's a colour." When they are simply told "an object," or, what is much the same, when nothing is said at all, the field for guessing is practically infinite. When no remark at starting is recorded none was made, except such an one as "Now we are ready," by myself.]

_Next object--a key on a black ground._--(It's an object.) In a few seconds she said, "It's bright.... It looks like a key." Told to draw it, she drew it just inverted.

_Next object--three gold studs in morocco case._--"Is it yellow?... Something gold.... Something round.... A locket or a watch perhaps." (Do you see more than one round?) "Yes, there seem to be more than one.... Are there three rounds?... Three rings?" (What do they seem to be set in?) "Something bright like beads." [Evidently not understanding or attending to the question.] Told to unblindfold herself and draw, she drew the three rounds in a row quite correctly, and then sketched round them absently the outline of the case, which seemed therefore to have been apparent to her though she had not consciously attended to it. It was an interesting and striking experiment.

_Next object--a pair of scissors standing partly often with their points down._--"Is it a bright object?... Something long-ways [indicating verticality].... A pair of scissors standing up.... A little bit open." Time, about a minute altogether. She then drew her impression, and it was correct in every particular. The object in this experiment was on a settee behind her, but its position had to be pointed out to her when, after the experiment, she wanted to see it.

_Next object--a drawing of a right-angled triangle on its side._--(It's a drawing.) She drew an isosceles triangle on its side.

_Next--a circle with a cord across it._--She drew two detached ovals, one with a cutting line across it.

_Next--a drawing of a Union Jack pattern._--As usual in drawing experiments, Miss R. remained silent for perhaps a minute; then she said, "Now I am ready." I hid the object; she took off the handkerchief, and proceeded to draw on paper placed ready in front of her. She this time drew all the lines of the figure except the horizontal middle one. She was obviously much tempted to draw this, and, indeed, began it two or three times faintly, but ultimately said, "No, I'm not sure," and stopped.

[N.B.--The actual drawings made in all the experiments are preserved intact by Mr. Guthrie.]

[END OF SITTING.]

Experiments with MISS R.--_Continued_.

I will now describe an experiment indicating that one agent may be better than another.

_Object--the Three of Hearts._--Miss E. and Mr. Birchall both present as agents, but Mr. Birchall holding percipient's hands at first. "Is it a black cross ... a white ground with a black cross on it?" Mr. Birchall now let Miss E. hold hands instead of himself, and Miss R. very soon said, "Is it a card?" (Right.) "Are there three spots on it?... Don't know what they are.... I don't think I can get the colour.... They are one above the other, but they seem three round spots.... I think they're red, but am not clear."

_Next object--a playing card with a blue anchor painted on it slantwise instead of pips._--No contact at all this time, but another lady, Miss R----d, who had entered the room, assisted Mr. B. and Miss E. as agents. "Is it an anchor? ... a little on the slant." (Do you see any colour?) "Colour is black.... It's a nicely drawn anchor." When asked to draw she sketched part of it, but had evidently half forgotten it, and not knowing the use of the cross arm, she could only indicate that there was something more there but she couldn't remember what. Her drawing had the right slant exactly.

_Another object--two pairs of coarse lines crossing; drawn in red chalk_, and set up at some distance from agents. No contact. "I only see lines crossing." She saw no colour. She afterwards drew them quite correctly, but very small.

_Double object._--It was now that I arranged the double object between Miss R----d and Miss E., who happened to be sitting nearly facing one another. [See _Nature,_ June 12th, 1884.] The drawing was a square on one side of the paper, a cross on the other. Miss R----d looked at the side with the square on it. Miss E. looked at the side with the cross. Neither knew what the other was looking at--nor did the percipient know that anything unusual was being tried. Mr. Birchall was silently asked to take off his attention and he got up and looked out of window before the drawings were brought in, and during the experiment. There was no contact. Very soon Miss R. said, "I see things moving about.... I seem to see two things.... I see first one up there, and then one down there.... I don't know which to draw.... I can't see either distinctly." (Well, anyhow, draw what you have seen.) She took off the bandage and drew first a square, and then said, "Then there was the other thing as well ... afterwards they seemed to go into one," and she drew a cross inside the square from corner to corner, adding afterwards, "I don't know what made me put it inside."

No. 7.--By HERR MAX DESSOIR.

In June 1885 some successful experiments in thought-transference were made by Herr Dessoir, of Berlin, author of _A Bibliography of Modern Hypnotism_, and other works, with the co-operation of some friends, Herren Weiss, Biltz, and Sachse. There were in all eighteen trials with diagrams in which Herr Dessoir was the percipient. The diagrams which follow--reproduced from the original drawings--were the result of six consecutive trials. They are, as will be seen, not completely successful, but they convey a fair idea of the amount of success attained in the whole series. It should be noted that the impression received by the percipient appears to have been persistent; and that the second attempt at reproduction, in five out of the six cases, was more successful than the first. Herr Dessoir states that he was generally out of the room whilst the figure was being drawn; he returned at the given signal, with eyes closely bandaged; "I set myself at the table, and in many instances placed my hands on the table, and the agent placed his hands on mine; the hands lay quite still on one another. When an image presented itself to my mind, the hands were removed ... and I took off the bandage and drew my figure."

A full account of these experiments, and of others conducted by Herr Dessoir, will be found in _Proc. S.P.R._, vol. iv. pp. 111-126; vol. v. pp. 355-357.

No. 8.--By HERR SCHMOLL and M. MABIRE.

Of more recent experiments with diagrams, those recorded by Herr Anton Schmoll and M. Etienne Mabire are perhaps the most important.[23] The experiments took place at Herr Schmoll's house, 111 Avenue de Villiers, Paris. In addition to Herr Schmoll and M. Mabire, Frau Schmoll and four or five other persons assisted at one time or another. Mr. F. W. H. Myers was also present on three occasions. In all about 100 trials were made with diagrams and real objects (the actual number of experiments of all kinds was 148), full details of which will be found in the original papers. The experiments were made in the evenings, in a room lighted by a hanging lamp. The agents, usually three or four in number, sat at a round table immediately under the lamp, and fixed their eyes on the diagram or object, which was placed on the table before them. The percipient, with his eyes bandaged, sat in full view of the agents with his back to them in a corner of the room at a distance of about ten feet from the object. Silence was maintained during the experiments, except where otherwise expressly stated. The object or diagram was carefully hidden before the handkerchief was removed from the eyes of the percipient to enable him to draw his impression. In the first nineteen experiments the figure was drawn with the end of a match dipped in ink, whilst the percipient was in the room. It was not likely, under the circumstances, as the match moved almost noiselessly over the paper, that any indication of the figure drawn could by this means have been given to the percipient. Nevertheless, in the later experiments quoted the precaution was taken to draw the figure whilst the percipient was in another room, and a soft brush was substituted for the match. The following is a record, by Herr Schmoll, of the last two evenings of the first series:--

18.--_August 24th, 1886._

_Agents_--Mdlle. Louise, Frau Schmoll, Schmoll.

_Percipient_--M. Mabire.

_Object_ (drawn)--

_Result_--M. Mabire saw "a sort of semicircle like the tail of a comet, but of spiral construction, like some of the nebulæ." What he saw he reproduced in the following manner:--

19.--_The same evening._

_Agents_--Mdlle. Louise, M. Mabire, Frau Schmoll.

_Percipient_--Schmoll.

_Object_ (drawn)--

_Result_--"I see two double lines, that cross each other at about right angles." (Pause.) "The two double lines now appear single, but like rays of light, and in the form of an =X=." (Another pause.) "Now I see the upper part of the =X= separated from the lower by a vertical line." I draw:--

20.--_The same evening._

_Agents_--Mdlle. Louise, M. Mabire, Schmoll.

_Percipient_--Frau Schmoll.

_Object_--A brass weight of 500 grms. was placed on the table.

_Result_--"What I see looks like a short piece of candle, without a candlestick. It must be burning, for at the upper end I see it glitter."

_Remark_--At the upper part of the object, indicated by the arrow, bright reflections, caused by the oblique lighting, were seen by all the agents (the weight was rubbed bright). The form seen decidedly resembles the original, especially the outline.

21.--_The same evening._

_Agents_--M. Mabire, Frau Schmoll, Schmoll.

_Percipient_--Mdlle. Louise.

_Object_--My gold watch (without the chain) was noiselessly placed before us, the back turned towards us; on the face are Roman numbers.

_Result_--After five minutes: "I see a round object, but I cannot describe it more particularly." (During the pause that followed, without causing the slightest noise, I turned the watch round, so that we saw the face.) Soon Mdlle. Louise called out: "You are certainly looking at the clock over the piano, for now I quite clearly see a clock face with Roman numbers."

[The watch, as was ascertained after the experiment, was not going at the time.]

22.--_September 10th, 1886._

_Agents_--Mdlle. Louise, M. Mabire, Frau Schmoll.

_Percipient_--Schmoll.

_Object_--A pamphlet (in 8vo) was slantingly placed on the table.

_Result_--Completely failed. I saw nothing whatever.

_Remark_--At the beginning of our trials to-day we had neglected to clear the table. The book was surrounded by other objects, and also badly lighted.

23.--_The same evening._

_Agents_--Mdlle. Louise, M. Mabire, Schmoll.

_Percipient_--Frau Schmoll.

_Object_--A piece of candle, 20 centimetres long, was placed on the table.

_Result_--After eight minutes: "I see it well, but not clearly enough to say what it is. It is a thin, long object."

"How long?" asked M. Mabire.

Frau Schmoll tried by separating her hands to give a measurement, but could not do it with certainty, and said, "A full hand's length, about 20 centimetres." Begged for a further description, she said, "I see something like a walking-stick, but at one end there must be gold, for something shines there." (The candle was _not_ burning.)

24.--_The same evening._

_Agents_--M. Mabire, Frau Schmoll, Schmoll.

_Percipient_--Mdlle. Louise.

_Object_--A Faience tea-pot was placed on the table:--

_Result_--After five minutes: "It is not a drawing, but a real object. I see very clearly a little vase, a little pot or pan."

25.--_The same evening._

_Agents_--Mdlle. Louise, Frau Schmoll, Schmoll.

_Percipient_--M. Mabire.

_Object_--The stamp of the firm was placed on the table:--

_Result_--After twenty minutes: "The picture appears to be rather confused. But I believe that I see the lower part of a drinking glass." (Pause.) "Now it has gone again." (A pause of five minutes.) "Now I see another form, like two symmetrical S-shaped double curves, placed side by side." Then M. Mabire drew:--

_Remark_--Apparently the lower part was seen first, and then the upper.

26.--_The same evening._

_Agents_--M. Mabire, Frau Schmoll, Schmoll.

_Percipient_--Mdlle. Louise.

_Object_--The double eye-glasses (pince-nez) belonging to M. Mabire were laid on the table.

_Result_--After five minutes: "I see two curves, open above, that do not touch each other." Then Mdlle. Louise drew:--

Unfortunately, the original drawings and reproductions in this series were not preserved. The figures given are facsimile reproductions of those in Herr Schmoll's MS. record, which were copied at the time on a reduced scale from the actual drawings made by the agent and the percipient respectively. In the second series the actual drawings have been preserved. In the experiments quoted below, as already stated, the figure was drawn whilst the percipient was out of the room, and (with the exception of No. 58) several copies were made of the drawing, "in order that each agent might be able to see the drawing in an upright position, and that he might be able to place it at the most favourable point of view." The percipient when ready withdrew the bandage from his eyes and, still seated in the chair with his back to the agents, executed the reproduction.

_April 5th, 1887._

-------+------------+--------------+---------------+------------------ No. of | Percipient.| Agents. | Original | Result. Trial. | | | Drawing. | -------+------------+--------------+---------------+------------------ | | | | 51 | Mdlle. | 4. |[Illustration] | [Illustration] | Louise M. | Mme. D. | | | | Mdlle. Jane. | | | | Mme. Schmoll | | | | M. Schmoll. | | | | | Each agent |Before drawing | | | had a copy | the above figure, | | | of the | Mdlle. Louise | | | original. | said, "a | | | | terrestrial globe | | | | on a support." | | | | 10 minutes. | | | | 52 |Mdlle. Jane.| 4. |[Illustration] | [Illustration] | |Mdlle. Louise | | | | in place of | | | | Mdlle. Jane.| | | | |Four copies of | 10 minutes. | | | the original | | | | were used by | | | | the agents. | | | | | 53 |Mme. Schmoll| 3. |[Illustration] | [Illustration] | | | | | | | Three copies |During the | | | used. | experiment | | | | Mme. Schmoll said | | | | that she saw "a | | | | little roof." | | | | 10 minutes. 54 |Mdlle. Jane.| 3. |[Illustration] | [Illustration] | | Mme. Schmoll | | 15 minutes. | | in place of | | | | Mdlle. Jane.| | | | | Three copies | | | | used. | -------+------------+--------------+---------------+------------------

Mdlle. Jane, _after having seen the original_, said that her first idea had been that of a glass.

_April 5th, 1887_ (_continued_).

-------+------------+-----------+--------------+---------------------- No. of | Percipient.| Agents. | Original | Result. Trial. | | | Drawing. | -------+------------+-----------+--------------+---------------------- | | | | 55 | Mme. D. | 4. |[Illustration]| [Illustration] | | | | | | | Four copies | 10 minutes. | | | used. | | | | | 56 | M. Schmoll.| 4. |[Illustration]| [Illustration] | | Mme. D. | | | | in place | | [Illustration] | | of M. | | | | Schmoll. | | | | | Four copies | 10 minutes. | | | used. | | | | | 57 | A Failure. | | | | | | | 58 |Mdlle. Jane.| 6. |[Illustration]| After five minutes | | | | Mdlle. Jane said, | | | | "I see a cat's head." | | | | On being asked to | | | | draw what she saw, | | | | she produced the | | | | following figure:-- | | | | | | | This was the | [Illustration] | | | first time | | | | that an | | | | animal had | | | | been drawn. | | | | | 59 |Mdlle. Jane.| 6. |[Illustration]| At the end of five | | | | minutes, Mdlle. Jane | | | | having said, "_it | | | | is a head in | | | | profile_," a cry | | | | of joy unfortunately | | | | escaped one of those | | | | present. This cry | | | | having betrayed to | | | This was the | Mdlle. Jane that she | | | first time | had guessed rightly, | | | that a head | no drawing was made. | | | had been | In order to repair | | | drawn. | the wrong as much | | | | as possible, Mdlle. | | | | Jane was asked | | | | which way the head | | | | was turned. "To | | | | the left," she | | | | replied. -------+------------+-----------+--------------+----------------------

Experiments 60, 61, 62, 63, 64 were failures. No. 65 was not an experiment with a diagram.

_April 8th, 1887._

-------+-------------+----------+--------------+---------------------- No. of | Percipient. | Agents. | Original | Result. Trial. | | | Drawing. | -------+-------------+----------+--------------+---------------------- | | | | 66 | Mdlle. | 5. |[Illustration]| At the end of a few | Louise. |(plus Mr. | | minutes, Mdlle. | | Myers) | | Louise said, "I see | | | | three fish on a | | | | skewer." Not being | | | | well understood, she | | | | explained, "Three | | | | fish held by a | | | | skewer, that is as | | | | they are sold in the | | | | fish markets; but | | | | everybody | | | | knows that!" | | | | Then she took off | | | | her bandage and | | | | drew-- | | | | | | | This figure | [Illustration] | | | was drawn by | | | | Mr. Myers. | 67 | Failure. | | | | | | | 68 | Failure. | | | | | | | 69 | Mdlle. | 5. |[Illustration]| [Illustration] | Louise. |(plus Mr. | | | | Myers) | | -------+-------------+----------+--------------+----------------------

Appended is a statement from Mdlle. Jane D., a young lady of 20, who appears to have been one of the most successful percipients in this series:--

"Whenever I have taken part in the experiments as percipient, I have endeavoured to expel from my mind all thoughts and images, and have remained inactive, with my hands over my eyes, waiting for the production of an impression; sometimes I have tied up my eyes, but this plan has not always been successful. At other times the _idea_ of an object has presented itself to me before I have seized its form, but most frequently I seemed to see the picture either black on a white ground, or white on a black ground. In general, the objects present themselves in an undecided manner, and pass away very rapidly; usually I only grasp a portion of them.

"Whenever I have been most successful, I have remarked that the picture has presented itself to my imagination almost instantaneously. Sometimes also I have been led to draw an object of which the name was forced on me, as if by some external influence.

"JANE D. "Paris, _February 17th, 1888_."

Appended are a few facsimiles of the most successful of the above results, reproduced in the original size.

No. 9.--By DR. VON SCHRENK-NOTZING.

Baron von Schrenk-Notzing, M.D., of Munich, whose work in hypnotism is well known, carried on a series of experiments with diagrams and numbers, etc., in the course of the year 1890.[24] Space will not permit of our quoting these results in full. The following experiments are selected as being the only three in which the agent and percipient were in different rooms. The percipient, Fräulein A., was a patient of Dr. von Schrenk-Notzing's, of rather hysterical temperament; throughout the experiments she was in a normal condition and fully awake. In these three trials, which took place between 10.12 P.M. and 10.23 P.M. on the 15th October 1890, Fräulein A. sat on a chair in the agent's study about a yard from the door leading into the adjoining room, and with her back towards it; paper and pencil were on the table before her. In the adjoining room, about 12 feet in a direct line from the percipient, with the door of communication closed, Dr. von Schrenk-Notzing stood, beside a small table, and drew a rough diagram representing the staff of Æsculapius and the Serpent. When the drawing was complete, to quote Dr. Schrenk-Notzing,

"I call 'Ready?' The percipient says, 'Yes.' We have been drawing at the same time in different rooms. On returning to the study I compare the drawings and see with astonishment that Fräulein A. has drawn a serpent. Even the open mouth and the thickened end of the tail in the reproduction agree with the original. The experiment has succeeded in its essential part, and as regards strictness of conditions I think it quite unassailable. Unconscious suggestion is absolutely excluded, when agent and percipient are in different rooms. Any corresponding association of ideas seems to me also impossible, for the idea of the staff of Æsculapius first occurred to me in the other room. In the study there is no object which could have led up to the idea--no indication which could have pointed out the way."

The percipient had, in fact, drawn a spiral figure apparently intended to represent a serpent.

The two other experiments here referred to were performed in immediate succession, and under precisely similar conditions, the time allowed in each case being about two minutes.

In the second experiment the agent drew an arrow; the percipient drew another spiral, with intersecting loops. In this case, as the agent points out, the original idea of the serpent appears to have persisted in the percipient's mind.

In the third experiment the agent drew a triangle inscribed in a circle; also two diameters to the circle, crossing each other at right angles, the vertical diameter bisecting the upper angle of the triangle. The agent writes:--

"The drawing was done in the following way. I began with the triangle, and then drew the perpendicular on the base. The idea that thereupon occurred to me, that the figure was too simple, induced me to add a circle and to prolong the perpendicular to the circumference; finally I added the horizontal diameter. The percipient was drawing at the same time at table _b_, sitting on chair 5, with her back to the closed door of communication. Question from the next room, 'Are you ready?' Answer, 'Stop,' as I am about to open the door. Then, 'Now.' I open the door and enter the room. The two drawings agree except that the circle and the horizontal diameter are wanting. Even the perpendicular of the triangle, which has become obtuse angled, is prolonged beyond the base, just as in the original. This prolongation and addition of the perpendicular cannot be explained by any tendency of ideas to recur (diagram-habit). Only the fact that a triangle was drawn might, taken alone, be explained in some such way."

Figures of the original diagrams in this case are given in the _Proceedings of the S.P.R._

Some experiments with diagrams, conducted in July 1890 by Drs. Grimaldi and Fronda, have been published by Lombroso.[25] The subject was a young man of twenty, subject to hysterical attacks and spontaneous somnambulism. The first experiments were made in the hypnotic state, with numbers, and met with only moderate success. Later, however, the trials were made in the normal state. At the first sitting diagrams were tried. The subject had his eyes firmly bandaged and his ears plugged with cotton wool. The diagrams were drawn at a certain distance (_ad una certa distanza_) from the subject, and behind him. Under these conditions the first five experiments were completely successful; the subject reproduced in turn a rhomb, a circle, a triangle, an irregular pentagon, shaped something like the profile of a barn, and a cone. The next experiment failed, only a formless scribble being obtained. The subject was much exhausted, and fell into a semi-cataleptic state as soon as the bandage was removed.

Some success was obtained in later sittings, in the guessing of names and in the execution of mental commands. But the experiments had soon to be abandoned, on account of the health of the percipient.

Other experiments with diagrams, in addition to those above referred to, will be found in the _Proceedings of the S.P.R._, vol. i. pp. 161-215, by Mr. Gurney, the writer, and others; vol. ii. pp. 207-216, by Mr. W. J. Smith. The paper on Thought-transference, etc., by Professor C. Richet, _Proceedings_, vol. v. pp. 18-168, should also be consulted in this connection.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 15: See, for instance, Puységur, _Memoires pour servir à l'établissement du magnétisme_, pp. 22, 29 _et seq._, and Pététin, _Electricité Animale_, p. 127, etc. (quoted by Dr. Ochorowicz, _De la Suggestion mentale_).]

[Footnote 16: Some trials were made by Mr. Guthrie with imagined tunes. But they were in no instance successful without contact; and as obviously the chances of unconscious indications being given, in any case considerable where tunes are in question, are much increased by contact, we should not be justified in regarding successful results, under such conditions, as even _prima facie_ due to Thought-transference. (See _Proc. S.P.R._, vol. iii. pp. 426, 447, 448.)]

[Footnote 17: See below, Chapter III.--Mrs. Sidgwick's experiments.]

[Footnote 18: The calculation is by Professor F. Y. Edgeworth. (See _Proc. S.P.R._, vol. iii. p. 190.) Of course the statement in the text must not be taken as indicating the belief of Mr. Edgeworth or the writer or any one else that the above figures demonstrate Thought-transference as the cause of the results attained. The results may conceivably have been due to some error of observation or of reporting. But the figures are sufficient to prove, what is here claimed for them, that _some_ cause must be sought for the results other than chance.]

[Footnote 19: _Proc. American S.P.R._, pp. 17 _et seq._]

[Footnote 20: See Dr. Thaw's paper, _Proc. Soc. Psych. Research_, vol. viii. pp. 422 _et seq._]

[Footnote 21: Records of these experiments will be found in the _Proc. of the Soc. Psych. Research_, vol. i. pp. 263-283; vol. ii. pp. 1-5, 24-42, 189-200; vol. iii. pp. 424-452.]

[Footnote 22: _Proc. Soc. Psych. Research_, vol. ii. pp. 194-196.]

[Footnote 23: _Proc. Soc. Psych. Research_, vol. iv. pp. 324 _et seq._; vol. v. pp. 169 _et seq._]

[Footnote 24: _Proc. S.P.R._, vol. vii. pp. 3-22.]

[Footnote 25: _Trasmissione del Pensiero_, etc., Naples, 1891.]