The Irish standard., 1886-08-07
MIND MYSTERIES.
Strange Problems of the Brain for Science
to Puzzle Over.

MIND MYSTERIES.
Strange Problems of the Brain for Science
to Puzzle Over.
There is in Great Britain a 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
iciety was the examination and expos
ure 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
remarkable extent. Therefore, these
gentlemen tested the matter among
themselves. to ascertain just how far
one mind could impress itself upon
another. Ons of them, being blind
folded, was SEATED on a chair and sup
piled with sheet of paper and 8 lead
pencil. Another left the room and
drew on another sheet of paper what
figure he pleased. Returning to the
room, holding this drawing before him;
and fixing his mind inte1ltly upon it,
he stood behind the blindfolded man
on the chair. The man on the chair in
a few moments began to draw, and re.
peated on his paper the figure his friend
had sketched in the hall.
l. An accomplished botanist, a member
of the society, was selected to fix his
mind intent}y on botanical term and
to the blindfolded 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 a professor I'M
til within short time in an Important
institution, he described 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, a lady was chosen, was blindfold-
nished with pencil and paper. The
professor left the room and in the hall
drew zig-zag, nondescript figure on
paper he held. Returning and stand
ing behind the lady on the chair and
fastening his mind intently on his draw
ings, she began in few moments to
draw slowly the irregular lines he had
put on his paper.
To test the matter still further he
again lett the room and drew as per-
feet circle as he could on a fresh pa
per. Returning, and under the same
conditions, the Lady drew a similar
circle, then lcsitated q moment, and,
to the surprise of all, drew a
straight line from above the circle
down into it. In a moment he remem-
bered that on going out the second
time his first intention had been to
draw as perfect arcctangle 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, and
Inadvertently left this line On the side
of the paper when he changed his mind
in favor of the circle. The lady mad
followed reversed order of Che pro-
cesses of his mind, and, the first inten-
ton being jndistinct in him, had in a
hesitating way repeated the straight
line and carried it into the circle, in
stead of keeping it outside of it.
PHILADELPHIA Call.