The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-03-24
TRICKS IN MIND READING
Youths Companion.

ulOIthl dICOuutS Ol tnC CoiiAIiuutN0kiOh of ideas from one person to another, sometimes at great distances asunder and under circumstances which have precluded the use of the ordinary channels for the conveyance oi thought, such as speaking, writing or signalling of any kind. There are in- stances alleged in old histories of news travelling as fast as 1t does nowadays by telegraph.
 Thus recent writer has instanced Plutarch, telling us how this author relates that during certain rebellion i'll the German provinces, Rome was in great consternation, but all on sud- den the people spontaneously gave out a rumor of victory;' and the be- lief was so strong and positive that many magistrates offered up sacrifice.
 "But, again, no author being discov- erable, the belief vanished by degrees, lost i'll the numberless crowd as in the vast ocean, and in short time was thought no more of. But when the emperor marched out to war he met messengers and letters with the news of the victory, and the rumor 1t was found had come the very day the rebellious army had been destroyed, although the distance between the places was more than 2,500 miles,"
 Notice how vague and uncertain is the narration. Such stories, indeed cannot convince any one of their own truth: they have too strong flavor of legend to suit modern, critical taste for verities.
 Our own times furnish us with ac- counts far better attested than these old anecdotes. Many are the relations put in circulation by word of mouth and printed type of ideas, passing from mind to mind in an applicable fashion. Most of us have heard of a dying person appearing to some dear fried or near relative.
 Thus Mir. Robert Rawlinson tells that one morning in December, 1881 as he was dressing, an image of hi' friend x. arose before him, and tho next morning he received letter in- forming him that x. had died about the time of the vision. It has beer supposed that the dying person trans fers the thought of himself to the dis tant friend, and that these visions art not real but only mental impressions brought about through a powerful process analogous to mind reading.
 But besides these startling expert ences there are many less uncommon When two persons hit on exactly the same thought at the same moment it seems as if one had thought first and immediately inspired the other though no word or sign had beer passed.
 By incidents of this kind, which they have known about, many people have become convinced that some of mankind have the mysterious endow- ment of mind reading. On the other hand very worthy persons have scofied at and pooh- -poohed the idea. The majority were puzzled and ready to say, 1t is very queer; can't explain it: but I don't quite like to believe it."
 Let us, however, agree to speak oi the alleged phenomena as mind-read- ing without expressing our judgment just yet.
 It must be confessed that the stories of threading have kept great deal of bad company and have beer associated with frauds and tricks SC much that cautious people long fell there was little use trying to find out anything about them.
 A few years ago, however, several English gentlemen, whose belief fl was that nothing is unworthy ol study, because the progress of knowl. edge requires not only the establish ment of the truth but also the eiimina- tion of error, formed society for tho investigation of mind reading and other similar topics.
 They entitled it the Society foi Psychical Research. It has steadily grown and is now quite large and car ries along a great deal of work. Ii has, so to speak, daughter in the American Society for Psychical Re search, whose headquarters are at Bos- 1 ton.
 The parent society has done a great deal of good in upsetting various cheats, it's most notable achievement being the exposure of the outrageous frauds practiced by Mme. Blavatsky, in India, upon certain members of the Theosophical Society. This good re- suit was brought about through the investigations of MT. Richard Hodg- son, who has recently come to this country to act as secretary to the American Psychical Association. But the English society has received positive results, and also, what inter- ests us particularly, evidence which appears to favor miDd-reading being