Apparitions and thought-transference: an examination of the evidence for telepathy. Frank Podmore
brown. A dirty colour. Asked about smell, said: Not strong, but what you might call pungent; a clean smell.
Percipient had not noticed smell before, though sitting by Mr. Wyatt some time, but when afterwards told of the violet knew that this was the odour noticed in experiment.
Asked to spell name, percipient said: Phrygian, Phrigid, or first 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.
| Experiments and Conditions. | Total. | Nothing perceived. | Complete. | Partial. | Misdes- criptions. |
| 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
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