36 THE TQUNG 
table, and lo, the table tips or moves off, 
and they declare that they are exerting no 
force! Faraday early detected this cu- 
rious psychological peculiarity, and met 
it by the simple but very scientific pro- 
cess of indicating and measuring the force 
applied. In every case in which motion 
was produced, it was found that the exact 
amount of force required to produce this 
motion was applied, but, strange to say, 
when the indicator was exposed to the 
view of the operator or "medium," so that 
he or she was fully aware of the power 
they exerted, no force was applied and no 
motion resulted. Strange to say, women 
seem to be more liable to the exertion of 
this unconscious effort than men, and 
this both in the case of " mediums " and 
in ordinary life. In our experience we 
have found that girls are far more apt 
than boys to put forth a superabundance 
of strength and "break things." And 
yet they will tell you that they did not 
use much force, and no doubt believe it. 
One of the most singular instances of 
unconscious effort is that long ago de- 
scribed by Sir David Brewster. Writing 
to Sir Walter Scott, he says : 
" One of the most remarkable and inex- 
explicable experiments relative to the 
strength of the human frame is that in 
which a heavy man is raised with the 
greatest facility, when he is lifted up the 
instant that his own lungs and those of 
the persons who raise him are inflated with 
air. This experiment was, I believe, first 
shown in England a few years ago by 
Major H., who saw it performed in a large 
party at Venice under the direction of an 
officer of the American navy. As Major 
H. performed it more than once in my 
presence, I shall describe as nearly as pos- 
sible the method which he prescribed. 
The heaviest person in the party lies 
down upon two chairs, his legs being sup- 
ported by the one and his back by the 
other. Four persons, one at each leg, 
and one at each shoulder, then try to 
raise him, and they find his dead weight 
to be very great, from the difficulty they 
experience in supporting him. When he 
is replaced in the chair, each of the four 
persons takes hold of the body as before, 
and the person to be lifted gives two sig- 
SCIENTIST. 
nals by clapping his hands. At the first 
signal he himself and the tour lifters be- 
gin to draw a long and full breath, and 
when the inhalation is completed, or the 
lungs filled, the second signal is given, for 
raising the person from the chair. To 
his own surprise and that of his bearers, 
he rises with the greatest facility, as if he 
were no heavier than a feather. On 
several occasions I have observed that 
when one of the bearers performs his 
part ill, by making the inhalation out of 
time, the part of the body which he tries 
to raise is left, as it were, behind. As you 
have repeatedly seen this experiment, and 
have performed the part both of the load 
and of the bearer, you can testify how re- 
markable the effects appear to all parties, 
and how complete is the conviction, either 
that the load has been lightened, or the 
bearer strengthened by the prescribed 
process. 
At Venice the experiment was per- 
formed in a much more imposing man- 
ner. The heaviest man in the party was 
raised and sustained upon the points of 
the forefingers of six persons. Major H. 
declared that the experiment would not 
succeed if the person lifted were placed 
upon a board, and the strength of the in- 
dividuals applied to the board. He con- 
ceived it necessary that the bearers 
should communicate directly with the 
body to be raised. I have not had an op- 
portunity of making any experiments rel- 
ative to these curious facts ; but whether 
the general effect is an illusion, or the re- 
sult of known or of new principles, the 
subject merits a careful investigation." 
In an illustration we give another 
method of performing this experiment. 
This method has been recently revived in 
France, and is as follows : Two individ- 
uals place the forefingers of their right 
and left hands under the feet of the 
person to be lifted; two other persons 
place the forefingers of their hands under 
his elbows, and another places the same 
finger under his chin. At the command 
one, two, tlwee ! each person makes a 
vigorous effort upward, and the individual 
under experiment is lifted up with sur- 
prising ease. Although the experiment 
never fails to astonish those who behold 
