July 11, 1884.] 



SCIENCE. 



41 



William Stubbs. 

 Sophia Shaw. 

 Timothy Taylor. 



Isaac Harding. 

 Albert Snelgrove. 



Tom Thumb. 



Cinderella. 



Chester. 



Pipe. 

 Fork. 



Corkscrew. 

 Tongs. 



' William Stubbs.' 

 ' Sophia Shaw.' 

 ' Tom Taylor — 



Timothy Taylor.' 

 ' Isaac Harding.' 

 ' Albert Singrore — 



Albert Grover.' 

 ' Tom Thumb.' 

 ' Cinderella.' 

 ' Manchester — 



Chester.' 

 ' Plate — paper — pipe.' 

 1 Fork.' 

 ' Corkscrew.' 

 ' Fire-irons — poker.' 



drawing is conve}'ed from one mind to another, 

 without contact, or any conceivable use of the 

 ordinary means of communication. In these 



From the summary of results, it ap- 

 pears, that, out of every 610 trials with 

 playing-cards, there were 118 correct 

 guesses on the first trial, and 76 on the 

 second ; or that, counting the first trial 

 only, there was 1 correct guess out of every 

 5.17, instead of 1 out of every 52, as would 

 be given by chance alone. Of 260 numbers, 

 68 were guessed correctly the first time, and 

 35 the second time, or, on the first trial, 1 

 out of every 3.82 ; whereas from chance would 

 have given only 1 out of every 90. Where 

 the trial is counted as a failure, it frequently 

 happened that the suit, or the number of pips 

 of the card, or one figure of the number, was 

 guessed correctly. The partial successes, as 

 in the guesses for ' pipe ' and ' tongs,' given 

 above, strike us as even more remarkable, 

 and more likely to throw light upon the sub- 

 ject, than the complete ones. The children, 

 when questioned, agree in saying that two or 

 three ideas of similar objects come before their 

 minds, and that, after a moment's reflection, 

 they select that which stands out with the 

 greatest vividness. Their power, instead of 

 improving with use, has been gradually dimin- 

 ishing. At first, especially 

 when they were in good humor, 

 and excited hy the wonderful 

 nature of their guessing, they 

 seldom made a mistake. They 

 have been known to name sev- 

 enteen cards right in succes- 

 sion. 1 Their gradual decline 

 of power somewhat suggests 

 the disappearance of a transi- 

 tory pathological condition. On 

 the other hand, a larger num- UK1U1 * 



ber of good subjects has been 

 found than there was reason at first to look for. 



Much more remarkable than experiments 

 with cards or numbers, where there is at least 

 an appreciable chance of getting right hy ac- 

 cident, are those in which an impression of a 



1 The chance of doing, which, hy accident, is as 1 to 52 17 . 



REPRODUCTION". 



Inner circle hegun at point marked +, and then carried round 

 tinuous line from left to right. 



n one con- 



experiments, Mr. Blackburn, an associate of 

 the society, who is described as a very pains- 

 taking and accurate observer, is the operator ; 

 and Mr. Smith, a young mesmerist of Brighton. 



ORIGINAL. REPRODUCTION (THREE ATTEMPTS). 



is the subject. Mr. Smith is seated, blind- 

 folded, at a table in one of the rooms of the 

 society ; paper and pencil are within his reach, 

 and a member of the committee is seated by 

 his side. Another member of the committee 

 leaves the room, and outside the 

 closed door draws some figure at 

 random. Mr. Blackburn is now 

 called out, the door is closed, and 



REPRODUCTION. 



ORIGINAL AS MR. BLACK- 

 BURN REMEMBERED IT. 



the drawing is held before his eyes for a few 

 seconds. Closing his e3^es, Mr. Blackburn is 

 led back into the room, and placed, standing or 

 sitting, behind Mr. Smith, at a distance of 

 some two feet from him. After a brief period 

 of intense mental concentration on Mr. Black- 



