Spiritualism 



most prominent in one mind or other, and the result is con- 

 fusion to the thought reader. This is shown in the experi- 

 ments by the number of pips or the suit alone being often 

 right. 



It must also be remembered that children have not the 

 same thorough knowledge of the names of the cards that 

 we have, nor can they so rapidly and certainly count their 

 numbers. This introduces another source of uncertainty 

 which should be avoided in such experiments as these. 



The same thing is still more clearly shown by the way 

 in which objects are guessed by some prominent quality 

 or resemblance, not by any likeness of name — as poker 

 guessed for walking-stick, fork for pipe, something iron 

 for knife, etc. And the total failure in the case of names 

 of towns is clearly explained by the fact that these would 

 convey no distinct idea or concrete image that could be 

 easily described. These last failures really give an impor- 

 tant clue to the nature of the faculty that is being investi- 

 gated, since they show that it is not words or names that 

 are read but thoughts or images that are perceived, and 

 the certainty of the perception will depend upon the simple 

 character of these images and the clearness and identity of 

 the perception of them by the different persons present. 



If these considerations are always kept in view, I feel 

 sure that the experiments will be far more successful. 



Alfred K. Wallace. 

 Sept. 6, 1881. 



Wallace's remarkable gifts as a lecturer are less widely 

 known than his lucid and admirable style as a writer. 

 Though Sir Wm. Barrett has heard a great number of eminent 

 scientific men lecture, he considers that few could approach 

 him for the simplicity, clearness and vigour of his exposi- 

 tion, which commanded the unflagging attention of every 

 one of his hearers. Mr. Frederic Myers, no mean judge 



m 



