348 



SGIUNGE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIV. No. 872 



which this rod passes, so that when a towel 

 has been used it is slipped over the rod and 



allowed to drop into the basket. This rod is 

 ordinarily held in place by a nut, but it might 

 be provided with a lock. It would thus be 

 impossible to remove the towels by any one 

 not provided with a key without tearing 

 them. 



This rack has been used at the university, 

 in its various toilet rooms, for some months 

 with much satisfaction. 



W. D. Frost 



XJniveesity or Wisconsin 



QUOTATIONS 



THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE 



A CURIOUS offer, or challenge, has been ap- 

 pearing recently in our columns. An un- 

 named inquirer asks for " satisfactory proofs 

 of so-called thought-transference"; and, as 

 such proofs have not been forthcoming in re- 

 sponse to applications to " the leading au- 

 thorities and writers of repute on the subject," 

 a reward of £1,000 is now offered to any one 

 who will furnish them. We understand those 

 who use the expression "thought-transfer- 

 ence " to mean by it that, under conditions at 

 present undetermined, the physical changes 

 underlying the thought processes of a human 

 brain may be brought into such relations with 

 some unknown medium of communication as 



to be conducted through its agency to another 

 human brain, and to produce in the latter 

 changes, and consequently thoughts, anal- 

 ogous to or identical with those preexisting 

 in the former; the process being somewhat 

 analogous to the communication of Hertzian 

 waves from their source to a suitable receiver 

 at a distance. The foundations of any such 

 belief must manifestly rest upon the instances 

 in which it is said that human beings, sepa- 

 rated by distance, have been simultaneously 

 the subjects of thought impressions of a simi- 

 lar or identical character, on matters impor- 

 tant or interesting to both; and it is equally 

 manifest that no " proof " of " transference " 

 in such cases could possibly be given. The in- 

 stances, or supposed instances, have never 

 been examined with sufficient care by com- 

 petent persons to exclude the innumerable 

 possibilities of coincidence, and it is even 

 doubtful whether any care which could be 

 taken, after the alleged event, would be suffi- 

 cient for the purpose, or could avoid the 

 operation of " the myriad shafts of chance." 

 The only conclusive proof would be by the in- 

 tentional reproduction of the occurrence; and 

 in order to accomplish this it would first be 

 necessary to determine with scientific pre- 

 cision what were the conditions of success. 

 If there can be a transference of the kind 

 alleged, it must occur as a result of a state of 

 things which, if its nature were precisely 

 known, could be reproduced with certainty; 

 but which, so long as it is uncertain or unde- 

 fined miist continue to elude observation and 

 to baffle experiment. If " proof " be desired, 

 it should be sought by endeavors to reproduce 

 in a physical laboratory the circumstances 

 which hav6 given rise to the stories about 

 thought-transference. — The London Times. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



Quantitative Mineralogical and Chemical 



Composition of Granites and Gneisses. 



By Professor T. Tchirwinsky. Moscow. 



1911. 8vo. Pp. vii + 659, 4 plates. 



An important work by Professor T. Tchir- 

 winsky on the quantitative chemical and 



