6 
‘‘ Williams, the foreign missionary, had one day forgotten 
his square, and taking up a shaving he wrote a request 
to his wife to give it to the bearer. He gave this to a 
native chief, telling him to take it to Mrs. Williams 
and return quickly to him. On his delivering the 
written message to the missionary’s wife, the native 
was much surprised at receiving the square, and on his 
return to Mr. Williams expressed his astonishment at a 
shaving producing the instrument. The missionary 
tried in vain to explain the simple way in which a 
thought could be communicated. So mystified was the 
chief that he wore the wonderful shaving round his 
neck and showed it to his followers as a marvellous 
charm.” 
‘Recently during a voyage across the Atlantic ocean, copies 
of a daily paper were circulated among the passengers 
containing the news communicated by the Marconi 
wireless telegraphy.”’ 
These three statements so impressed me that I decided to 
make them the basis of the short address which falls to my lot 
as your President. I shall call it—“ The Communication of 
Thought.” 
To what extent the lower orders of creation are capable of 
communicating their desires we are unable to decide; but that 
they do possess such power we know. Nor is it confined to their 
intercommunication, for dogs, at least, have been known to 
communicate their wishes to man when their masters have been 
in danger, &c Ants, too, and some other small creatures, have 
this power of communication, as those who study their habits 
know. 
It is possible to conceive of the communication of thought 
through any of the chanuels of the senses. Taste and smell 
might have become the means of conveying an idea, and to the 
_ lower orders of creation it is undoubtedly so; but with man we 
must confine our attention to three of our senses—Touch, Sight, 
Hearing. 
Tactile language has been observed in bees ; I may mention 
the well-known instance of their communicating to each other 
the death of a queen by a rapid interlacing and striking of their 
antenne. Mankind makes but a limited use of this sense for 
communicating his wishes but under circumstances when an 
appeal cannot be made to the ear or the eye it satisfies the 
condition. A nudge is at times quite significant of an intention. 
To what extent thought-readers take advantage of touch, I am 
not able to say; but I do think that they can ascertain to some 
extent the thought in their companion, in such instances as 
searching for something hidden by the person, whose hand the 
reader of thought detains during his search. 
