December 3, 1886.] 



SCIENCE. 



50T 



That we have no reason to suspect trickery has 

 already been said. We must also seek some means 

 of communication of which the guides were un- 

 conscious. Mr. Bishop claims that he received his 

 impressions by direct mind-reading, or, as it is now 

 often called, telepathy ; and a certain number of 

 persons appeared inclined to accept that explana- 

 tion. But when Mr. Bishop's arguments are ex- 

 amined, they vanish : and in his replies in the 

 newspapers to his critics he has insidiously and 

 assiduously avoided discussion of any of the real 

 objections to his assertion that bis feats are done 

 by genuine mind-reading ; so that we are com- 

 pelled to think that his real purpose is to make his 

 exhibitions assume a marvellous character in the 

 mind of the public, or else that he really believes 

 in his assertion, which, may we be pardoned for 

 saying frankly, implies a notable ignorance of 

 physiology and psychology, — a degree of igno- 

 rance not rare in itself, though rarely coupled with 

 so much audacity of opinion. 



The only explanation which we can consider 

 tenable is the siniple one of muscle-reading, 

 already advanced by Professor Preyer. As already 

 stated, Mr. Bishop was in every case in contact 

 with his guide, and his feat was to make the 

 motion which the guide knew he ought to make. 

 In accordance with Preyer's view, we think that 

 slight pressures of the guide's hand were exerted, 

 that these were perceived by Mr. Bishop, and 

 sufficed for his guidance. That the explanation is 

 ample is apparently not questioned by any of 

 those who have followed the recent discussions 

 upon mviscle-reading. It is now very properly 

 held by, we believe, all qualified judges, that, when 

 there is contact between the performer and the 

 guide, there is no adequate reason to assume the 

 occurrence of true mind-reading. Mr. Bishop, 

 however, thinks the contrary, and says the im- 

 pressions on his mind are telepathic, and not 

 sensory, in origin. By a common mental flaw, 

 Mr. Bishop, at least in our judgment, assumes a 

 remote and improbable cause, instead of a near 

 and probable one. To our mind it would be a like 

 reasoning which said that love exerts a powerful 

 attraction : stones are not drawn toward the earth 

 by gravity, but by the love they have for the earth. 



We may conclude by saying that we consider 

 Mr. Bishop an exceptionally good muscle-reader, 

 and regret that the mysteries with which he seeks 

 to envelop his exhibitions give an effect of char- 

 latanism, entirely distasteful to an honorable 

 lover of scientific truth. We have therefore ex- 

 pressed ourselves more unreservedly than would 

 have been fitting in the discussion of a subject 

 concerning which an honest divergence of opinion 

 were possible among scientific men. 



A SUBMARINE VOYAGE. 



The submarine torpedo-boat shown in the ac- 

 companying illustration has made frequent trial 

 trips, during the past few months, in the Hudson 

 River, off the foot of 86th Street, this city ; and 

 the degree of success attained has been highly 

 gratifying to her owners, the Submarine monitor 

 company. A brief description and illustration of 

 the boat were given in Science of Aug. 27, but 

 several changes have been made in details of her 

 construction and equipment since that date, so 

 that she now presents a somewhat different ap- 

 pearance. A pair of horizontal rudders has been 

 attached at the bow, so that the boat may be sub- 

 merged ' on an even keel,' that is, in a horizontal 

 position, instead of at an angle, as formerly. 

 The boat can be submerged by means of the rud- 

 ders only when she is in rapid motion, rising im- 

 mediately to the surface if the engine stops, or if 

 the rudders are changed from an inclined position, 

 as in the engraving, to a horizontal position. 

 When not in motion, the boat may be submerged 

 or raised to the surface by taking in or forcing 

 out water-ballast. 



A fin, or vertical projection, has been attached 

 to the upper part of the boat, amidships, extend- 

 ing ' fore and aft,' so as to guard the manhole and 

 conning-dome or pilot-house from collision with 

 the keel of a ship when passing under its bottom. 

 A depression in the fin, between the manhole and 

 the dome, is intended to afford a sort of resting or 

 holding place for the boat when under a ship's 

 keel while releasing torpedoes. A jjair of sleeves 

 or gloves of india-rubber project from the boat 

 abaft the dome, one of which is shown in the 

 picture. By inserting his arm in one of these 

 sleeves, the captain of the boat can release the 

 torpedoes at the proper moment, the torpedoes 

 being attached by tripping devices to the outside 

 of the boat. 



The proposed method of using the boat in actual 

 warfare is as follows : she will be submerged by 

 means of the rudders or water-ballast, or both. 

 When at the proper depth, she will approach the 

 vessel to be destroyed, and, as she passes beneath 

 it, two torpedoes will be released, each attached 

 to one end of a rope. The torpedoes will be 

 lightened by cork or an equivalent, so that they 

 will rest against the bottom of the vessel, one on 

 each side of the keel. The boat will then be run 

 ahead a safe distance, and the torpedoes exploded 

 by electricity through wires leading from the boat, 

 There has been no torpedo practice yet with the 

 Peacemaker, as the new boat is called, but the in- 

 tention of her owners is to make some experiments 

 in that direction soon. 



In the illustration the side of the boat is broken 



