Apparitions and thought-transference: an examination of the evidence for telepathy. Frank Podmore
at the University of Lemberg, described in his book La Suggestion mentale (pp. 69, 75, 76), there are not sufficient indications in most cases to enable a judgment to be formed as to the special form of sense-impression made on the percipient's mind. The percipient was a Madame D., 70 years of age. She had been shown to be amenable to hypnotism, but during these experiments she was in a normal condition. She is described as being of strong constitution and in good health; intelligent above the average, well read, and accustomed to literary work. The first experiments with Madame D. are not quoted here, not having been conducted, as Dr. Ochorowicz explains, under strict conditions. The objects thought of had been selected by the agent, instead of being taken haphazard, and the choice had frequently been directly suggested by his surroundings. It seemed possible, therefore, to explain the results as due to an unconscious association of ideas common to agent and percipient. Dr. Ochorowicz, however, has shown by his careful analysis of the experiments recorded in the earlier chapters of his book that he is fully aware of the risk of error from this and other causes, and in the series of the 2nd May and the following days he tells us that adequate precautions were taken.
| An Object. | |
|---|---|
| 36. A bust of M. N. | Portrait … of a man … a bust. |
| 37. A fan. | Something round. |
| 38. A key. | Something made of lead … of bronze … it is iron. |
| 39. A hand holding a ring. | Something shining, a diamond … a ring. |
| A Taste. | |
| 40. Acid. | Sweet. |
| A Diagram. | |
| 41. A square. | Something irregular. |
| 42. A circle. | A triangle … a circle. |
| A Letter. | |
| 43. M. | M. |
| 44. D. | D. |
| 45. J. | J. |
| 46. B. | A, X, R, B. |
| 47. O. | W, A; no, it is an O. |
| 48. Jan. | J … (go on!) Jan. |
Third Series, May 6th, 1885.—Twenty-five experiments were made, of which, unfortunately, I have kept no record, except of the three following, which impressed me most. (The subject had her back to us, held the pencil and wrote whatever came into her head. We touched her back lightly, keeping our eyes fixed on the letters we had written.)
| 49. Brabant. | Bra … (I made a mental effort to help the subject, without speaking.) Brabant. |
| 50. Paris. | P … aris. |
| 51. Telephone. | T … elephone. |
Fourth Series, May 8th.—Same conditions.
| 52. Z. | L, P, K, J. |
| 53. B. | B. |
| 54. T. | S, T, F. |
| 55. N. | M, N. |
| 56. P. | R, Z, A. |
| 57. Y. | V, Y. |
| 58. E. | E. |
| 59. Gustave. | F, J, Gabriel. |
| 60. Duch. | E, O. |
| 61. Ba. | B, A. |
| 62. No. | F, K, O. |
| A Number. | |
|---|---|
| 63. 44. | 6, 8, 12. |
| 64. 2. | 7, 5, 9. |
(I told my assistant to imagine the look of the number when written, and not its sound.)
| 65. 3. | 8, 3. |
| 66. 7. | 7. |
| 67. 8. | 8; no, 0, 6, 9. |
Then followed thirteen trials with fantastic figures, details of which Dr. Ochorowicz does not record. He tells us, however, that only five of the representations presented even a general resemblance to the originals.
It is to be observed that in this series of experiments contact was not completely excluded in all the trials. But if Dr. Ochorowicz's memory may be relied upon for the statement that the agent looked at the original letters and diagrams, and not at the percipient's attempts at reproducing them, the hypothesis of involuntary muscular guidance must be severely strained to account for the results. At any rate, in the three remaining trials in this series it seems clear that muscle-reading is inadequate as an explanation.
| A person thought of. | |
| Subject. | Answer. |
| 68. The percipient. | M. O——; no, it's myself. |
| 69. M. D——. | M. D——. |
| An Image. | |
| 70. We pictured to ourselves a crescent moon. M. P—— on a background of clouds, I in a clear dark blue sky. | I see passing clouds … a light … (in a satisfied tone)—it is the moon. |
Transference of Visual Images.
NO. 4.—By DR. BLAIR THAW.
The experiments which follow were made by Dr. Blair Thaw, M.D., of New York. The series quoted, which took place on the 28th of April 1892, comprises all the trials in which Dr. Thaw was himself the percipient. Dr. Thaw had his eyes blindfolded and his ears muffled, and the agent, Mrs. Thaw, and Mr. M. H. Wyatt, who was present but took no part in the agency, kept silent, except when it was necessary to state whether an object, card, number, or colour was to be guessed. The objects were in all cases actually looked at by the agent, the "colour" being a coloured disc, and the numbers being printed on separate cards.[20]
1st Object. SILK PINCUSHION, in form of Orange-Red Apple, quite round.—Percipient: A Disc. When asked what colour, said, Red or Orange. When asked what object, named Pincushion.
2nd Object. A SHORT LEAD PENCIL, nearly covered by the nickel cover. Never seen by percipient. Percipient: Something white or light. A card. I thought of Mr. Wyatt's silver pencil.
3rd Object. A DARK VIOLET in Mr. Wyatt's button-hole, but not known to be in the house by percipient. Percipient: Something dark. Not very big. Longish. Narrow.