PSYCHOMETRIC FACTS. 773 



seize upon those ideas before thej had faded, and to record them exact- 

 ly as they were at the moment when thej* were surprised and grappled 

 with. It was an attempt like that of Menelaus, in the " Odyssey," to 

 constrain the elusive form of Proteus. The experiment admits of being 

 conducted with perfect fairness. The mind can be brought into a qui- 

 escent state, blank, but intent ; the word can be displayed without 

 disturbing that state ; the ideas will then present themselves naturally, 

 and the sudden revulsion follows almost automatically. Though I say 

 it is perfectly possible to do all this, I must in fairness add that it is 

 the most fatiguing and distasteful mental experience that I have ever 

 undergone. Its irksomeness arises from several independent causes. 

 The chief of these is the endeavor to vivify an impression that is only 

 just felt, and to drag it out from obscui-ity into the full light of con- 

 sciousness. The exertion is akin to tbat of trying to recall a name 

 that just, and only just, escapes us ; it sometimes seems as though the 

 brain would break down if the eflFort w^ere persevered in, and there is a 

 sense of immense relief when we are content to abandon the search, 

 and to await the chance of the name occurring to us of its own accord 

 through some accidental association. Additional exertion and much 

 resolution are required, in carrying on the experiments, to maintain the 

 form of the ideas strictly unaltered while they are vivified, as they have 

 a strong tendency to a rapid growth, both in definition and comjolete- 

 ness. 



It is important, in this as in all similar cases, to describe in detail 

 the way in which the experiments were conducted. I procured a short 

 vocabulary of words, and laid it open by my side. I then put a book 

 upon it in such a way that it did not cover the word that was about to 

 be displayed, though its edge hid it from vay view when I sat a little 

 backward in my chair. By leaning forward the w^ord came into sight. 

 I also took many petty precautions, not worth describing, to prevent 

 any other object besides the word catching my attention and distracting 

 the thoughts. Before I began the experiment, I put myseK into an 

 easy position, with a pen in my right hand resting on a memorandum- 

 book, and wdth a watch that marked quarter seconds in my left hand, 

 which was started by pressing on a stop, and continued going tmtil the 

 pressure was released. This was a little contrivance of my owui append- 

 ed to one of Benson's common chronographs. When I felt myself per- 

 fectly in repose, with my mind blank, but intent, I gently leaned for- 

 Avard and read the word, simultaneously pressing the stop of the watch. 

 Then I allowed about a couple of ideas to present themselves, and 

 immediately afterward released the stop and gave my utmost power of 

 attention to appreciate with accuracy what had taken place, and this I 

 recorded at once. Lastlv, I wrote down at leisure the word that had 

 been displayed, and the time shown by the chronograph to have been 

 occupied by the experiment. 



The number of words used in the experiments I am about to de- 



