344 PRESENT-DAY RATIONALISM 



but that if he removed his hand further away the " cords " 

 on the circumference began to " snap ". 



His failures were as interesting as his successes ; 

 because they were always the fault of the transmitter 

 in consequence of his not following the direction, which 

 was that the transmitter should always imagine himself 

 doing whatever he wished the revealer to do ; so that he 

 thereby formed a mental picture of the act in his own 

 mind which the revealer then reproduced by doing it. 

 A few examples will illustrate some failures. 



A scarf-pin was placed in the breast-pocket of a 

 gentleman's coat, the pocket being in the inside of the 

 coat, which was buttoned up. The revealer felt over the 

 spot, but outside the coat. His failure in extracting the 

 pin arose from the fact, elicited by questioning the trans- 

 mitter, that the latter forgot that he would have in 

 imagination to unbutton his coat and feel in the inside 

 pocket to get it, so that the revealer, of course, omitted 

 this part of the performance. 



As another example : A gentleman having arranged 

 to think of something, stared at the wall. The trans- 

 mitter (being always blindfolded) at once began stroking 

 the wall at the spot. The experiment was abandoned, 

 as the transmitter said the action was incorrect. On 

 subsequently asking him what it was he wished the 

 revealer to do, he replied that it was to stroke the head 

 of a little dog which was in the arms of a lady standing 

 by. The transmitter had, therefore, failed to comply 

 with the revealer's primary condition, which was that he 

 should imagine himself looking at and stroking the dog's 

 head. Instead of that, by gazing hard at the wall instead 

 of at the dog, he introduced a disturbing element into 

 his own mind. The result was a combination of trans- 

 missions, for the revealer stroked the wall. 



