io8 THE HORSE OF MR. VON OSTEN 



interpretations in a total of 20 tests ; with von A. as sub- 

 ject, 72% in a total of 25 tests. And finally I was able 

 to interpret the signs without any errors at all. It was 

 not absolutely necessary to look directly at the subject's 

 face. Even though I focussed a point quite to one side, 

 so that the image of the subject's face would fall upon a 

 peripheral portion of my retina, I still was able to make 

 89% correct interpretations in a total of 20 tests. — This is 

 not astonishing after all, when we recall that the periphery 

 of the retina possesses a relatively high sensitivity for 

 movement impressions, although its chromatic sensi- 

 tivity is very low.* 



It was assumed, as indicated on page 99, that in the 

 case of Mr. Schillings and myself the movements natur- 

 ally expressive of " zero " and " no " had been displaced 



* The productions of mind-readers, so-called, also, are based upon the 

 perception of involuntary movements, insofar as they are not based 

 upon pre-arranged schemes and trickery. But there we have to do 

 principally with tactual perception, since the reader touches the hand of 

 the subject and is guided by its tremor. Some of the expert mind- 

 readers, however, conduct tests without touching the subject. They 

 depend chiefly upon auditory impressions : the sound of footsteps,'* 

 involuntary whisperings " and the changes in the subject's respiration " 

 and the murmuring of the spectators. To a less degree visual signs also 

 are involved : posture and facial expression of the subject, and move- 

 ments of eyes and lips.'» Even the heat radiating from the person's 

 body is supposed to have some influence.*' And my own experience 

 has taught me that surprising results may be obtained by the utilization 

 of the movements described in the preceding chapter. 



It may be that these truly microscopic movements also play some 

 part in bringing about the success of some of the experiments in telep- 

 athy, so-called, (transference of thought from one person to another, 

 ostensibly without any mediation of the senses known to us.) In spite 

 of the huge mass of " experimental evidence " which has been collected, 

 chiefly in England and in America, it appears to me that telepathy is 

 nothing but an unproven hypothesis based upon experimental errors. 



