Psychic Science 573 



And another, an ambitious and rather remarkably success- 

 ful and dramatic attempt, may also be here cited. 



Subject set by Agent: 



"A scene in a story by Strindberg. A man and woman in a lighthouse, 

 the man lying fallen on the floor, and the woman bending over him, looking 

 at him and hoping that he is dead." 



Percipient's guess: 



"A horrid atmosphere, full of hatred and discomfort. A book, not real 

 life. A book I have not read. Not Russian, not Italian, but foreign. I ran- 

 not get it. ... There is a round tower, a man and woman in a round tower: 

 but it is not Maeterlinck. Not like him. I should guess it was Strindberg. 

 The woman is bending over the man and hating him, hoping he is dead." 



Assuming that the experiments were fairly conducted, we 

 are driven to suppose either that one brain acts on another brain, 

 through the interaction perhaps of some hypothetical and un- 

 known ether waves; or else that the phenomenon is a purely 

 psychic one, and that the impression is transmitted direct from 

 mind to mind without any necessary connection of a physical 

 nature between brain and brain. Or, indeed, a third hypothesis, 

 which possibly may be gaining adherents, viz. that a third intelli- 

 gence, not one generally recognised, is in operation, and is con- 

 veying information from the mind of A, or agent, to the mind 

 of B, or percipient; in fact, that the connection is not direct be- 

 tween A and B at all, but is managed by an invisible and intan- 

 gible operator C. 



This may sound an absurd surmise, and one that need not 

 be made in connection with such instances as these. But it is not 

 an easy matter, anyhow, to explain the conveyance of an idea 

 by purely psychic means, or even to attempt clearly to formulate 

 such an operation; hence any working hypothesis which can be 

 suggested may have to be tested and tried to see if it will work. 



