Apparitions and thought-transference: an examination of the evidence for telepathy. Frank Podmore
"You've only put a 4 up. I see 7." S.: "What's the other figure?" P.: "4 … the 4's gone." S.: "Have a look again." P.: "I see 1 now." S.: "Which way are they arranged?" P.: "The 1 first and the 7 second."
It will be observed that P. always speaks of "seeing" the figures, but as a matter of fact his eyes were closed, or appeared to be closed, throughout the experiments, and the pupils, as already stated, were introverted, at least at the commencement of the trance. That the impression was of a visual nature there can be no reasonable doubt. This may have been due to Mrs. Sidgwick's suggestion to the percipient that he would see the figures: though it seems equally probable that it was owing to the fact that Mr. Smith's impression was a visual one. That the vision in most cases was perfectly distinct seems equally clear. It is difficult to decide whether impressions received under such circumstances, with the eyes closed, are properly to be classed as hallucinations.[31] That under appropriate conditions the percept was capable of rising to the level of an externalised sensory hallucination, the following experiments, which took place later on the same day, July 6th, seem to show:—A blank sheet of paper was spread out on the table. P. was told that he would see numbers on it, and was then partially awakened and his eyes opened. He was at once told to look at the paper and see what came, but saw nothing for some time. Different stages of the hypnotic trance frequently exhibit different and mutually exclusive memories, and P. now had evidently forgotten all about the previous state in which he had been guessing numbers, and appeared so wide awake that it was hard to believe that he was not in a completely normal condition. Mr. Smith stood behind him.
| NUMBER DRAWN. | NUMBER SEEN ON THE PAPER, AND REMARKS. |
|---|---|
| 18 … P.: | "23." S.: "Is that what you can see?" P.: "Yes" (but he added later that he did not see it properly). |
| 87 … P.: | "A 7, o. Oh, no, 8, 78. Funny! I saw a 7 and a little o, and then another came on the top of it, and made an 8." |
| 37 … P.: | "There's a 4, 7." Asked where, he offered to trace it,[32] and drew 47 in figures 1½ inches long. |
| 44 … P.: | "No. I see 5, 4; it's gone again." S.: "All right, look at it." P.: "45." S.: "Sure?" P.: "There's a 4;—the other's not so clear." (Then quickly:) "Two fours; 44." |
As he looked one of them disappeared, and he turned the paper over to look for it on the other side; then looked back at the place where he saw it before and said, "That's funny! while I was looking for that the other one's gone." When looking under the paper he noticed some scribbling on the sheet below and said, "Has that writing anything to do with it?" He seemed puzzled by the figures, which were apparently genuine externalised hallucinations. He could not make out why they came, nor why they disappeared.
37 … P.(after long gazing): "37." S.: "Is that what you see?" P.: "It's gone. I'm pretty sure I saw 37."
Mr. Smith then looked at the 37 again, and we told P. to watch whether it came back, but after a little while he said he thought he saw 29.
Similar trials were made with three other subjects, Miss B., T., and W. In all 644 trials were made with the agent in the same room with the percipient, of which 131 were successful, that is, both digits were given correctly, though in 14 out of the 131 cases in reverse order. The chance of success was of course 1 in 81, and the most probable number of complete successes was therefore 8. 218 trials were also made with Mr. Smith in a different room from the percipient, but of these only 9 succeeded, one having its digits reversed; 8 of these successes, however, occurred in the course of 139 trials with P., whilst 79 trials with T. yielded only one success. (Proc. S.P.R., vol. vi. pp. 123–170.)
As regards the possibility of unconscious indications of the number thought of being given by the agent, it seems certain that no such clue could have been perceived through the sense of sight or touch, contact between agent and percipient having been absolutely excluded throughout the experiments. It remains to consider whether any indication could have been given by means of sounds. In the presence of two or more attentive and vigilant witnesses any indications by sounds—e.g., an unconscious whispering of the number by Mr. Smith—could only have been perceived by persons of abnormal susceptibility. We know, indeed, of no precise limit which can be set to the hyperæsthesia of hypnotised subjects. But, on the other hand, hyperæsthesia of any sense in such subjects is generally the result of suggestion, direct or indirect, on the part of the operator; and in these experiments the only suggestion given—a suggestion apparently acted on throughout—was that they should see the result. Since, indeed, hypnotised persons are apparently not necessarily aware of the channel by which information reaches them, this circumstance is not in itself conclusive; but taken with the fact that no direct suggestion to hear was given, it tends to make auditory hyperæsthesia less probable. It is perhaps more important to note that the experimenters, including Mr. Smith himself, were fully aware of this source of error, and on their guard against it; that no movements of Mr. Smith's lips, such as must have occurred if he had whispered the number, were observed; and that a careful analysis of the failures shows no tendency to mistake one number for another similar in sound—e.g., four for five, six for seven, or five for nine.
Experiments with Agent and Percipient in different Rooms.
However, the later experiments by the same observers, recorded below, in which a marked degree of success was obtained with agent and percipient in different rooms, will no doubt be considered to render untenable any explanation of the kind above indicated. This further series was carried on through the years 1890–1-2. Mrs. Sidgwick, aided by Miss Johnson, conducted the experiments throughout, with the occasional assistance of Professor Sidgwick, Dr. A. T. Myers, and others. The percipients were P., T., Miss B., and three others, and Mr. G. A. Smith was in nearly all cases the agent. Some of these experiments, as in the last series, were with numbers of two digits; but the percipient was now in a different room from the agent. At first the trials were carried on in an arch, fitted up with two floors, under the Parade at Brighton. On the ground-floor was a little lobby, kitchen, etc.; on the upper floor a sitting-room about 15 feet square. The staircase, which, as shown in the plan subjoined, led directly out of the upper room, was not enclosed above, but had a door below, which was kept shut during the experiments. The floor of the room above was covered with a thick Axminster carpet. Even so the sound-insulation was not perfect; but it was found that words spoken in ordinary conversation on one floor were indistinguishable on the other unless the ear was pressed against the door or wall of the staircase. In the experiments carried on at Mrs. Sidgwick's lodgings in Brighton the percipient sat in the room at a distance from the door, which was closed, varying from 9 to 13 feet, and Mr. Smith was in the passage outside, Miss Johnson sitting between him and the door. Of course strict silence was observed by the agent. One of the experimenters, in most cases Miss Johnson, accompanied the agent, drew the number from the bag, and noted each as it was drawn. Mrs. Sidgwick, of course in ignorance of the number drawn, sat by the percipient and took notes of his remarks. As in the previous series, the impressions received by the percipient, who in the first experiments was Miss B., appear generally to have been of a visual nature. Details of all the trials with Miss B. as percipient and Mr. Smith as sole agent are given in the following table:—
No. 14.—By MRS. SIDGWICK AND OTHERS.
| (1) PLACE, THE ARCH. PERCIPIENT UPSTAIRS; AGENT DOWNSTAIRS. | |||||||
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