THE ''JUMPERS'' OF MAINE. 171 



Croffut introduced me to D. W. Craig, Esq., a gentleman who had 

 spent much time in that portion of Maine, and who had amused him- 

 self with watching and playing with these unfortunates. 



In accordance with the request of Mr. Croffut and Mr. Craig, I 

 began at that time an investigation of the subject through all acces- 

 sible sources, and this year I visited Moosehead Lake in company with 

 my friend Dr. Edward Steese, and made the investigations herein re- 

 corded. 



I found two of the Jumpers employed about the hotel. With one 

 of them, a young man twenty-seven years of age, I made the follow- 

 ing experiments : 



1. While sitting in a chair, with a knife in his hand, with which 

 he was about to cut his tobacco, he was struck sharply on the shoulder, 

 and told to " throw it." Almost as quick as the explosion of a pistol, 

 he threw the knife, and it stuck in a beam opposite ; at the same time he 

 repeated the order " throw it " with a certain cry as of terror or alarm. 



2. A moment after, while filling his pipe with tobacco, he was 

 again slapped on the shoulder and told to " throw it." He threw the 

 tobacco and the pipe on the grass, at least a rod away, with the same 

 cry and the same suddenness and explosiveness of movement. 



3. When standing near one of the employees of the house, he was 

 told to " strike," and he struck him violently on the cheek. I took 

 this person into the quiet of my own room, only my friend being with 

 me, in order that the experiments might be made without interrui^tion 

 or disturbance. I sat down by him, explained to him the object of my 

 visit, conversed with him in regard to his family history and his own 

 personal experience and observation of his peculiarity, and every now 

 and then, during the conversation, I struck him without warning on the 

 shoulder or on the back, or mildly kicked him ; and every time he was 

 so struck he moved his shoulders upward slightly, sometimes moving 

 both the shoulders and the arms, with or without the peculiar cry. 

 He knew that I was studying his case ; he knew that the kicks and 

 strokes came from me, and yet he could not avoid making a slight 

 jump or motion, as though startled. 



4. While holding a tumbler in his hand, standing near to him, I 

 told him to " throw it." He dashed the tumbler with great violence 

 to the floor, and then began deliberately picking up the pieces in a 

 very quiet and patient way. Whenever I struck him quietly, easily, 

 and in such a way that he could see I was to strike him, he made only 

 a slight jump or movement ; but when the strike or kick was unex- 

 pected, though very mild in character, he could not restrain the jump- 

 ing or jerking motion ; but the cry did not always appear. 



5. A handkerchief was suddenly thrown before his eyes by a per- 

 son walking stealthily from behind. He jumped, just as though he 

 had been struck. 



Another case in the house, a lad sixteen years of age, was not so 



