The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1885-01-09
TALK WITHOUT WORDS.
The Mysterious Investigations of the
Society for Psychic Research.
The Phenomena OF the OceuIt-A
Common and Successful Exper:.
- ment-A Philosopher who
VIII Not Believe.
[Chicago Tribune. ]


Few persons who played with planchette
few years ago, when that conscious toy was
the rage, or who have amused Themselves
with the rather mysterious divinations of the
mind reader, or have frequented the seance,
or have Joined hands to lift tables by the fin
ger-tips, or have benumbed some delicate
friend by amateur mesmerism, had any idea
that they were doing anything SO dignifed
as lowering on the borders of Dark Cont
nent of science. But such seems to be the
case. Scientific men of high position here
and in Europe are making these diversions
of the curious and sports of the superstitious
the subject Of deep study and careful
experiment. A society has been formel in
England to prosecute these studies under the
title of the Society for Psychic Research.
For president it has no less steady a head
than Professor Sidgwick, of Cambridge, and
its vice president is Lord Rayleigh, who pre-
sided over the deliberations of the recent
meeting at Montreal of the Association for
the Advancement of Science.
For the most part the occurrences the in
vestigators Of these psychical phenomena are
turning their attention to may be cassed as
instances of communication between mind
and mind, near or far, without the use of
words or any II cans that could be called
ture of science. There are committees to in
vestigate the influence of mind on mind by
other than the ordinary means Of communi-
cation-the phenomena of mesmerism, trance,
clairvoyance, the study of persons classed as
"sensitives," apparitions at the moment of
death, spiritualism on its physical side, etc
One Of the most common and successful
. experiments of the members of the society is
to place Iehind one Of the persons known as
sensitive" an individual whose mind is
charged with some distinct image, as of
person, or coin, or picture, or other object,
and whose only effort in the experiment is to
stand behnd the sensitive and think as
hard as he can Of the thing in his mind.
The sensitive" will then draw representa-
ton Of what is in the mind of the operator
behind him. This experiment has been de-
veloped to such point that objects selected
at random by any one present and simply
held up behind the sensitive" have been por-
trayed by him In the published proceedings
of the society many fac-similes of the origi-
mails and the copies made by the "sensitives'
under these circumstances are given No
mediums" or professionals take part in these
experiments
The superna tural cast once given to occur
rences of this kind-from the performances of
planchette to the mysteries of Spiritualism-
are dismissed by these scientific men as an &C
cidental color, like the supernatural aspect
which poetry. government, books, fire,
everything took on when men first came to
them. They believe that there is field of
fact there to be investigated; that these
phenomens are glimpses of force which
men have not heretofore developed to the
point Of recognizing, but which it is no more
scientific to reject than it would have been
to refuse to examine the phenomena of com.
bustion because the legends of mythology |
claimed that fire was brought down from |
Heaven by Prometheus
1t is not easy to see how any scientific mind |
could find fault with such inquiry; but |
Helmholtz is quoted by The Nation as hav-
ing lately told an English scientific acquaint.
ance that If all his friends should assert that
the phenomena reported by the Society for
Psychical Research were true, and that IL
then he were to see them all with his own
eyes, and with all the precautions he could
devise, he would not believe them. This l.
more like the ignorant sort of talk which
greeted the first hints Of the wonders of cleo
tricity than the utterances Of a true man of
Silence always ready to open his eyes to
suaorc light"