THO UGHT-READING. 



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moment. Before leaving the room the child had been 

 informed of the general nature of the test we intended 

 to select, as ' this will be a card,' or ( this will be a 

 name/ On re-entering she stood sometimes turned 

 by us with her face to the wall, often with her eyes 

 directed towards the ground, and usually close to us, 

 and remote from her family for a period of silence 

 varying from a few seconds to a minute, till she called 

 out to us some number, card, or whatever it might be. 

 . . . The first attempt was to state, without searching, 

 the hiding-place of some small object, the place having 

 been chosen by ourselves, with the full range of the 

 house, and then communicated to the other members 

 of the family. This was effected in one case only 

 out of four. The next attempt was to give the name 

 of some familiar object agreed on in the child's 

 absence, as ' sponge,' ' pepper-caster/ &c. This was 

 successful on a first trial in six cases out of fourteen. 

 We then chose a card from a full pack in the child's 

 absence, and called upon her to name it on her return. 

 This was successful at once in six cases out of thirteen. 

 . ... A harder trial was now introduced. The 

 maid-servant having left the room, one of us wrote 

 down the name ' Michael Davitt/ showed it round, 

 and then put the paper in his pocket. The door was 

 now opened, and the girl recalled from the end of the 

 passage. She stood close to the door amid absolute 

 silence, and with her eyes on the ground all of us 

 meanwhile fixing our attention on the appointed 

 name and gave after a few seconds the name 



