The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-12-16
Thought Measurement.

new machine can also be used for esti-
mating the degree of emotion caused by
a sudden shock to the nervous system.
1t is recommended as affordng a useful
corrective to the judgments now formed
exclusively as the basis of examination
papers which may or may not have been
executed with great labor, and which in
in many cases are no sure index to the
mental power enjoyed by the person
who has written them. 1t has been cal
culated that the seventh part of a second
passes between the moment when the
%ill commands and the moment
when the hand Obeys. A sound
which strikes the ear can only be
indicated by the hand one-sxth of a
second aftcrward. When raw of light
falls upon the retina one-lifth of a second
must elapsc before the hand can be
raised in token thereof; for to reach the
! hand the external impression has to
pass through a whole series of organs;
and the degree of rapiditY with which
this transmission takes place is said to be
accurately measured by the new machine
The average human being requires the
twenty-third part of second for a
simple thought, rs for comparing two
different impressions; and he takes more
| time to get at the meaning OF = word by
reading it than by hearing it spoken.
| The apparatus by which the rapiditv
of the thinking process may be measured
in each individual is the invention of Dr.
| Mosso, of Turin; and it was presented to
the French Academic dies Sciences by the
late Claude Bernard Not only does Dr.
Mosso s apparatus reflect faithfully the
amount of energycOnsumed by a man in
the act of thinking; it also takes note of
the degree of vigor with which he dreams.
The observer can see by the results which
it registers whether the thought dealt
with is simple or complex; but it is above
all useful as showing whether y man
thinks with difficulty or with ease; and
it is suggested that by properuse of the
mechanical thought-maaSurer it will be
easy to find out, not indeed what man
knows or what he thinks, but the degree
of QuickncSs with which he can think
and the amount OF mental disturbance
caused to him by thinking. The arm of
the thinker about to be measured is, ac-
cording to DIR. Mos3O's rules for self
measurement, put into ''sOrt of muf,"
which in more scientific language is de
scribed as a cylinder of glass filled with
water, and closed at ca III OF its Orilices
with collar of india-rubber which adj
Iuits the arm of the patient and after
ward shuts upon it so that not n drop
of water can escape. When the arm is
thus immersed in the water, the hand is
placed in communication with an indi-
Gator that notes down the degree of aGi.
tation caused TO the patient by the rush
of blood to the head which must accom-
pany even the simplest mental Op ration,
such, for instance, as the determination
of the result obtained BY adding two to
two. A person well trained in the multi
plication table suffers but little until the
limit of twelve times twelve is passed.
Then he begins to show signs of trepida-
ton, and lis only with considerable pain
and high scoring on the part of the in
dictator that the ordinary man can solve
such an abstruse problem as thirteen
times thirteen. One can conceive. how
ever. a great thinker being staggered by
areqUest to multiply thirteen by thirteen
- in his haa y" an Il quick s:hool-boy
or schoolgirl being able to answer such
question almost before it had been pro-
posed. At this sort of work bankers
clerk would beyond doubt beat the in
vcntOr of the thought measuring machine
himself. But DR.. MOsSo does not pre-.
tend to take account of anything in re-
gard to thought except its rapidity an
the amount OF labor with which it is per
formed. 1t is interesting to know that
when student from University, after
having his arm placed in the glass cylin-
der and his hand connected with the in
dicator, was asked to read Latin book,
the indicator marked comparatively but
few points, whereas the points became
numerous upon n Greek book being put
into his hand. On inquiry it tur led out,
as any one placing trust in the thought
measuring machine must already have
known, that the student read Latin more
easily than Greek Dr. MosSo' apparat-
Us would be found valuable for discover
ing the raoidity with which men of diff
ferent kin Is and calings could answer
conundrums. But for the higher opera
tons of the mind it will seem to many
unsclentilic persons sadly detective.
In some cases the persons expert
mented upon with the thought measurer
"Nto Ut tuC itSJ pa ~ pun W SltbDs NllcU
the indicator recorded faithfully the de-
gree ofenergy displayed by them in their
dreams. Some, however, did not dream
at all. Others, again, dreamed with
remarkable liyelineSs, keeping the indi-
Gator perpetually at play. Occasionally
man who had gone to sleep, and on
waking felt sure that he had not dreamt,
was proved by the unerring evidence of
the indicator to have been dreaming in
very active manner. Such pleasant
dreams as are habituallv associated with
''sweet repose' donot give the indicator
much employment; and it is only when
dreams assume hideous character that
the hand of the thought-measurer takes
serious action.
Apart from thought as purely mental
operation, the thought.measure marks
the degree Of disturbance caused in the
human system by surprises Of all kinds,
and in particular by the sudden reception
OF painful news. There is something
inhuman in the idea Of Selling man
WHO'S about to be told that q friend has
deceived him, that he is utterly ruined,
or that the doctor says he cannot live,
and, when his arm has been fastened in
the thought-mcasuring apparatus, tell
ing him to hold on to the indicator,
so that the effect of the news which is