PROGRESS OF GEOLOGY. 



attention, ■will produce suflBcient action to accomplisli tlie expec- 

 ted result. 



In order to demonstrate the true cliaracter of these phenomena, 

 ■vve ourselves performed some e.xperiments, the particulai-s of 

 which are subjoined. 



June 3, 1853. — First Experiment. — Four medical gentlemen 

 sat round a small table, ha\-ing a stem with three legs, but with- 

 out castors. Each pereon placed his fingers lightly on tlie table, 

 the little fingei's of one person touching the little finge;s of the 

 pel-son next him, and the thitmhs separated hij a considerable in- 

 terval. In this experiment, it was determined that no expectant 

 idea snould be entertained, that the attention should not le fixed 

 upon the table, and that ordinaiy conversation should be freely 

 carried on. After sitting for twenty minutes, no effect wh.itever 

 was produced. The experiu.ent was com iienced at 25 minutes 

 past 7, and was continued until 45 minutes past 7. 



2nd Experiment. — The same gentlemen placed themselves 

 round the table, in exactly the same position as in the last experi- 

 ment. In this experiment, however, it was determined, that per- 

 fect silence should be maintained, thnt the thoughts should be 

 concentrated upon some result, whatever it might be, but that 

 no expectant idea should be entertained as to the direciion which 

 the table should take. 'J he experiment was commenced at 12 

 minutes to 8 ; at 6 minutes to S the table begnn to mo\e from 

 right to left. After it had moved for some little time, the ex- 

 pei'iment was abandoned, as it was not tliouglit necessary to fol- 

 low its circumvolutions. Dr. C felt that his 1 f tarm was in a 



state of muscular tension before- the table commenced moving. 



Di-. J felt pressure on his light little finger fron-. Dr. C 's 



left little finger, the pressure appearing to increjise up to Ihe time 



M'hcn the table began to move. Mr. JS' felt a tingling in 



the skin, as, also, a somewhat painful sense of muscular tension 

 before the table began to move. , After it began to mo\ e, his 

 fingei-s and hands unintention:illy, but instinctively, accommoda- 

 ted themselves to the movements of the table, the involuntary 

 muscular actions being di'ected in the axis of movement of the 



table. Dr. S was not conscious of any movement w hatever 



of liis own muscles, or of t ose of the gentlemen to his right and 

 leTt. and his mind w;is wholly inditt'erent as to the direction 

 which the table would take. 



Src/ Experiment. — It was now determined that perfect silence 

 should be maintained, that the though's should be concentrated 

 upon the movement of the table, and that an expectant idea 

 should be entertained of the table moving from left to right. 

 The expevimeut was performed by the same gentlemen as before 

 and in the same positions. It was commenced at 7 minutes past 

 8, and at 15 minutes pnst 8 the table began to turn fi'om left to 

 right, but in two minutes it suddenly reverse.l its direction, and 

 turned from right to left. This latter ]ihenomenon was owing to 



Mr. N , (without mentioning the circumstance to the rest,) 



exerting a distinct vohintar3- force in tlie opposite direction to 

 that in whicn the table was moving. 



4</t Experiment. — The same gentlemen sat down in the same 

 positions as brfore; but on this occasion it was determined that 



Dr. C and Mr. N should anticipate a movement of the 



tible from right t*- left, but that Dr. J an.l Dr. S should 



entertain the conti-ary idea. The experiment was commenced at 

 25 miiiutes past 8, and it was continued till 20 minutes to 9, but 

 no effect whatever was produced. 



June 4th, 1853. — 5th Experiment. — This experiment was 

 made upon a l.nw, round, drawing-room table, moving upon 

 castors. Eight ladies stood round it, with tlu-ii' fingei-s resting 

 upon the table, and their little fingers in ontact with the little 

 fingers of those standing to their right and left. It was deter- 



[l8o3 



mined to will that the table sliould move from left to ri.'-ht. In 

 one minute and a ha^f it moved from left to iii;lit. 



6th Experiment. — A lady placed both her hands flat on the 

 table, which in this case was a small and light one; and it moved 

 in two minutes from left to right. 



1th Experinent. — Four gentlemen and four ladies placed 

 themselves round the large drawing-room table mentioned in the 

 5th expei'iment. They asumei successively the standing, the 

 kneeling, and t e sitting postures; but, afier wailing for twentj-- 

 five minutes, no result whatever w;is produced. The four gentle- 

 men then v.ithi.lrew, and f ur ladies then took their place-;, thus 

 placing eight ladies round the table. It moved in two minutes. 



Tliese exjieriments we consitlcr to ' e so conc!u>i\e-. that com- 

 ment is hardly necessary. The conditions of the bodies to be 

 moved, and of the human forces by which the moveinent is to 

 be accomplished, are precisely those which, n priori, we slu.uld 

 have anticipated. A small table is moved more readily than a 

 large one, and it is moved more easily upon an oil-ilntli than 

 upon a carpet ; it is moved more easily by females than by ma es, 

 because, in the former, the muscles are more mobile, the icill lexs 

 strong, the emotions more acute, the ideas more vivid. It is said 

 that young persons succeed better tha . ])ei-sons advanced in veal's, 

 — a fact which may be readily explained upon the same principles. 



We would especially call attention to the few words in the last 

 sentence but one, which state our opinion, thut it is leeakness^ 

 and not strength of will which readiness t .assume these involun- 

 tary actions testifies. The more jjowertul the higher faculties of 

 the mind, the less quickly do the muscles act on the impulsion 

 of the ideas only. In men, where the intellect is naturally stron- 

 ger, and in adults, where it is strengthene.l by u^e, the maiiifes- 

 tatio'is of ideomotor acts are repressed. And we would call at- 

 tention to this fact for a practical purjiose, viz., with the object of 

 cautioning the public, through our readers, against trying these 

 sort of experiments too often. It is very cei tain, that each trial 

 rendeis the "table mover" more ready at exhibiting tlie required 

 ]ihenomena, more under the dominion of ideas, and less under the 

 dominion of rational will. Each trial then must weaken the in- 

 tellectual powers, must make the experimenter less a man, and 

 more an instinct-governed anim.al. The ];eculiar state of mind 

 induced, is not, perhaps, either hysteiiaor insanity; but it is akin 

 to both. 



The experiment, now so often repeated, of suspending a ring 

 by a thread coiled around the finger, placing the ring within a 

 tumbler, and healing it strike the glass as many times as corres- 

 ]iond to the hour, is a phenomenon analogous to table moving, 

 and very interesting iu a physiological point of view. The per- 

 son who performs the cxjierimeut exercises no voluntary action 

 upon the movements of the ring; but he knows the hour, and, 

 this acting unconsciou ;ly upon the organization, a .«eries of invol- 

 untary muscular vibrations are ])roduced, which result in striking 

 the glass the required number of times. 



The Progress of Geology.* 



Geology is in the ascendant. It counts in its ranks some of 

 the most energetic and able men of science of the day; it claims 

 for its service the only Scientific Society that can bring together 

 a considerable congregation of attentive and intelligent'listeners; 

 it occupies and fills, at the annual gathering of the British As- 

 sociation, the largest meeting hall of all the sections, and wins 

 admiration in the Provinces by a yearly sitting of six almost con- 

 secutive d.ays, distingiiisJH'd for the liveliness ^if the debate and 

 the interest of the subjects discussed; it enforces its importance 



• Westminsler Revinv. 



