PSYCHICAL RESEARCH. 319 



that the hypnotic state is one of anaesthesia or absence of sensa- 

 tion ; and secondly, to the fact tliat the suggestion given by the 

 operator liberates the subconscious, recuperative, and formative 

 forces within the organism of the patient. It is simply a case 

 of making conscious and purposive use of conditions that are 

 ever present, although hidden and inoperative until they can 

 be got to work etfectively. But such thought-transference or 

 suggestion is independent of hypnotic conditions. Given a suffi- 

 ciently sensitive subject, it is equally possible in the normal 

 state of the percipient. Cases of this kind have been investi- 

 gated, under test conditions, absolutely excluding chance or col- 

 lusion, leaving no alternative to the conclusion that by some 

 individuals, at least, mental impressions can be received by other 

 than the ordinary avenues of sense. In dealing with this class 

 of phenomena the great difHculty is to be sure that they may 

 not be the result of hyper?esthesia, i.e., a heightened or enlivened 

 exercise of the senses of touch, sight, or hearing, which is 

 especially characteristic of the hypnotic state — in particular, to 

 the perception of unconscious and almost imperceptible indica- 

 tions given by the voice, look, gestures, or breathing of the experi- 

 menter or agent. But, when due allowance is made for this, 

 there still remains evidence for a mode of communication other 

 than the recognized sensory channels. This does not mean that 

 there is nothing of a sensory or impressional character in the 

 reception of the suggestion — all analogy points to the opposite 

 conclusion — but only that hyper3esthesia of the ordinary senses 

 does not explain all the facts. Some other mode of impression 

 has to be postulated. 



It is again but a step, therefore, from thought-transference 

 of this kind to telepathy as ordinarily understood, i.e., literally, 

 feeling or impression at a distance. This term was suggested 

 by Frederic Myers to cover all cases of thought-transference 

 where there is no contact of the percipient with the agent ; bur 

 it is more commonly confined to thought-transference over 

 longer distances. There is an abundance of data which suggest 

 tiiat the occurrence of some idea or of some event to one person 

 may be transmitted, either spontaneously or intentionally, as a 

 thought or impression to another person at a greater or less 

 distance away. Here again a passive state in the percipient 

 is specially favourable to the reception of a communication or 

 impression ; and in the case of intentional or experimental com- 

 munication, it is found that the best results are obtained when 

 no special effort is made by the transmittor to communicate an 

 idea, but the underlying intention is allowed simply to operate, 

 so to say, at its own time and in its own way. 



Two points require to be specially noted in this connection. 

 In the first place, no single illustration will ever be found that 

 affords, by itself, conclusive evidence of the existence of tele- 

 pathy. Any single occurrence may be a chance coincidence ; 



