324 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVII. No. 436 



it easily might have, been that of some deceased friend, it is 

 obvious what inference vcbuld have been drawn. I give the 

 next three questions just in the order they followed on the 

 next evening. (2) Why do you write? — A. Because I must. 

 (3) What compels you to write? — A. I do not know. (4) 

 Henry Morton, do you know you are a part of me? — A. 

 Yes, I know. 



The last question, being asked in a tone of conviction, 

 amounted to a suggestion, and was adopted accordingly. 

 This docility was illustrated in other ways. For instance, 

 the planchette, having taken to running straight off the pa- 

 per after completing an answer, was told not to do so again, 

 and at once complied. I should here say that all 'the ques- 

 tions and instructions to the planehette were first dictated by 

 me and then repeated aloud by the operator. 



Some spelling tests followed. C. is not good at spelling, 

 and feels great uncertainty with difficult words. Her vol- 

 untary spelling of such is very hesitating, and does not 

 therefore give any suggestion to the passive consciousness. 

 The two personalities acted, therefore, independently of one 

 another, with some curious results. I will give one instance. 

 (7) Spell psychical. 



A voluntary attempt was first made. Result: "Stcickle." 

 0. was not told whether this was right or wrong, but was 

 told to try planchette. Result: "Cicicle." 



Some questions in mental arithmetic were put, the plan- 

 chette being instructed to write the answers only, without 

 any calculation. I am informed by her governess that C. 

 has but little arithmetical capability, and is backward for 

 her age in this subject. Bearing this in mind, I think the 

 results were noteworthy. Directly the question was put the 

 instrument began to write the answer. (28) Divide 264 by 

 16. 



First of all an attempt was made to work the sum volun- 

 tarily, and, with some delay, the answer given was " 17 odd," 

 which was wrong, but on planchette being appealed to it at 

 once wrote " 16 and 8 over," which was correct. As we had 

 many instances of the passive intelligence thus excelling the 

 primary activities of the mind, I may take this opportunity 

 of saying that it is quite in accordance with what I had ex- 

 pected, and have elsewhere spoken of, but whether this 

 superiority is essential or accidental, whether, that is, it be 

 due to greater power or to greater concentration, cannot at 

 present be determined, at all events evidentially. (12) Divide 

 187,981 by 13.— Answer, 14,463. 



This is wrong by three only, and, considering the normal 

 powers of the operator above-mentioned, I think it a some 

 what remarkable answer. 



I now come to a class of questions designed to test the 

 memory of the passive consciousness. "What happened on 

 the 1st of June ? " This question was asked in the last week 

 of July. I chose the date at hazard, and neither C. nor I 

 had any recollection of it. But planchette answered " Went 

 to church," and we then got an almanac and found that the 

 1st of June was a Sunday. This kind of question was often 

 tried with inconclusive results, but never with incorrect 

 ones, except on one occasion. Being asked in October what 

 happened on the 13th- of July, the answer was "Monday 

 lessons." If planchette thought the day was Monday, it is 

 rather curious that it should not have said simply " lessons." 

 In reality, however, the day was a Sunday, and it would be 

 not impossible that C. had during that Sunday been worry- 

 ing herself about the following day's work. The manner in 

 which the word "lessons" *as written was a curiosity. 

 After writing "Monday," the tail of the y was brought back 



with elaborate flourishes, and the first s in "lessons" was 

 written ; then the e and the I were written backwards ; then 

 the pencil was carried forward with more flourishes and 

 gyrations to the second s, followed by the other letters in 

 their order. So florid was all this scroll work that it took 

 much care to find afterwards what route the pencil had 

 taken, though the word was entirely legible. 



(14) " Who conquered Peru ? " The answer to this was 

 written "Spires," and such an answer being unintelligible, 

 planchette was made to repeat it, with the same result. It 

 then occurred to C.'s governess to fetch the volume of Col- 

 lier's History which C. had been reading three months pre- 

 viously. At the head of one of the chapters was a table of 

 dates which she had (at the time) learnt by heart, among 

 which were the following consecutively: Reformers called 

 Protestants at Spires, 1529; League of Smalcald, 1530; Pizarro 

 conquers Peru, 1533. The name of Pizarro, ^hich C. had 

 forgotten, is placed in print exactly below the word "Spires," 

 and in this way the two words fell together under C.'s eye, 

 and became indelibly associated in what I have elsewhere 

 ventured to call the pictorial memory of the passive con- 

 sciousness. The next experiments I shall describe exhibit 

 memory in another aspect. (11) Tell me something I don't 

 know. — A. Tou have a shot in your eye. 



On examination, I found a small blood-speck on the mar- 

 gin of the iris of one eye. This C. assured me she had no 

 idea existed. It is probable, however, that she had at some 

 time seen it in her looking-glass when her mind was occu- 

 pied with other matters. 



(17) Tell me something more. — No answer but scrawling. 

 (18) You must write (peremptorily). — A. Frank Headley 

 ill. (I have altered the name.) In answer to inquiries, C. 

 said this was the name of a boy she had met at the seaside 

 two years before, but she knew no more about him, not even 

 where he lived. Accordingly, the next question was, (19) 

 What is Frank Headley's address ? — A. Lord Mayor's- 

 walk. 



C, who lived near York, thought there was a street of 

 this name there, but was not sure. It was not till she went 

 home for the holidays that she ascertained, through mutual 

 friends, that Frank Headley went to school in Lord Mayor's- 

 walk, so that planchette was found to have answered cor- 

 rectly. The explanation suggested is, that, when he met her 

 two years previously, he had mentioned this and she had 

 forgotten it. Planchette, however, was unable to give the 

 number in Lord Mayor's-walk, which perhaps he had never 

 told her, and when asked what he was ill with, replied "Cold 

 in head." 



Some experiments were made with the right and left hands 

 consecutively; thus, (27) Give the name of one of the princi- 

 pal Elizabethan statesmen. (Right hand answer) — Walpole. 

 (Left had answer) — Walsingham. 



The last group of questions asked referred to subjects 

 which it was certain C. did not know and never had known. 

 For instance, "What is the price of Egyptian Unified?" 

 "What is the second Christian name of So-and-so?" etc. 

 Invariably these questions produced no reply; the instrument 

 only made scrawls. It may be possible, however, that had 

 an answer been insisted on, one would have been written (as 

 in the case of Frank Headley's alleged cold in the head), and 

 necessarily an incorrect one, because of the writer's ignorance 

 of the facts, combined with the effects of suggestion com- 

 pelling an answer of some kind. This I am inclined to think 

 may be the explanation of Mrs. Newnham's answers under 

 her husband's cross-examination (Proceedings, III., 7-33: 



