Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1886-07-01
MIND MYSTERIES.
Strange Problems of the Brain for Science
to Puzzle Over.

to Puzzle Over.
There is in Great Britain Society of
Psychical Research, which is occupied
with scientific examination of mesmer-
ism, clairvoyance, mind-reading,
ghost-seeing, spiritualism and all SINH
lar phenomena. 1t is composed of
gentlemen of various occupations, and
various religious beliefs, who carefully
examine the singular psychical phe-
nomena reported by spiritualists and
others, to find out just what there is in
them. One important service rem
dered to the cause OF truth by the So
ciety was the examination and expos
IRE of the tricks by which Madame
Blavatsky, the theos ophist, was delud-
ing even shrewd and well-informed
men in India. But the purpose of this
notice of the society is to describe
briefly one class of experiments made
by it. 1t was found that the mesmer-
lists and other persons akin to them
were able to impress their own thoughts
upon the minds of mediums and to
a remarkable extent. Therefore, these
gentlemen tested the matter among
| themselves, to ascertain just how far
one mind could impress itself upon
another. One of them, being blind
| folded, was seated on chair and sup
piled with sheet of paper and lead
| on,1 1nft hA and
drew on another sheet of paper what
figure he pleased. Returning to the
room, holding this drawing before him
and fixing his mind intently upon it,
he stood behind the blindfolded man
on the chair. The man on the chair in
few moments began to draw, and re
peated on his paper the figure his friend
had sketched in the hall.
An accomplished botanist, member
of the society, was selected to fix his
mind intently on botanical term and
see whether it would be communicated
to the bindfolded man. He chose the
name of a rare East India plant, re-
Gently discovered, the name being a
very unusual one and of six or eight
syllables. The man on the chair wrote
it at once. Other experiments were
made to ascertain the distance from
which one mind could so impress itself
upon another, with very interesting re-
suits. In one case, very carefully in
vestigated, it was found that the
thoughts of dying mother in England,
which she expressed in words to those
around her, were impressed upon the
mind of her son in India. 1t was also
found, as would be expected, that some
minds would convey their thoughts and
strong emotions more readily and dis
tinctly than others, and that some
would receive impressions with special
distinctness and facility.
Talking of these tests recently with
friend, who has been professor UNI
til within short time in an important
institution, he described a trial made
at his residence by company of ac-
quaintances who were spending an
evening with his family. AT his sug-
gestion and as an experiment which
might afford amusement and instruc.
ton, lady was chosen, was blindfold
ed and seated on chair, and was fur.
nished with pencil and paper. The
professor left the room and in the hal
. drew zig-zag, nondescript figure OF
paper he held. Returning and stand
ing behind the lady on the chair anc
fastening his mind intently on his draw
ings, she began in a few moments tc
draw slowly the irregular lines he haC
put on his paper.
To test the matter still further hi
again left the room and drew as per
feet circle rs he could on fresh pa
per. Returning, and under the sam,
conditions, the lady drew similar
circle, then hesitated a moment, and
to the surprise of all, drew
straight line from above the circl,
down into it. In moment he remem
bered that on going out the secont
time his first intention had been t,
draw as perfect arectangle as he could
and that he had carried out this inten
ton so far as to draw the perpendicu
lar line of one side of the figure, an,
inadvertently left this line on the sid
,, of the paper when he changed his min,
in favor of the circle. The lady ha,
,, followed a reversed order of the pro
cesses of his mind, and, the first inten
: ton being indistinct in him, had in
, hesitating way repeated the straigh
line and carried it into the circle, in
stead of keeping it outside of it,
Philadelphia Call.