The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-03-24

After the exhibition was closeSl it's real character was explained, and the spectators, ho had been for the most part taken In, were lot frankly into the secret, and told that the purpose of doing the trick was merely to illus- trate the facility of cheating and to afford an emphatic proof of the ncces- sity of caution in regard to expert. ments supposed to show the phenom- enon of mind. reading,
 In the experiments so tar reported, the persons conducting them have laid great stress upon the careful watch they have maintained upon performers. Sufficient watching Ia impossible, because sustained attention Is impossible for more than few sec. ondS to most people, IL Is upon momentary inattentions that great deal of eorjuring depends for It's sue cess. Mere watching, therefore, Is not sufficient that there has been no direct communication between two trioksters.
 Now thore arc other ways In which mind reading can-be seemingly pro- duced. or all these the most surpris- ing are perhaps when mcsmerisn Is employed, There arc many persons about one in seven, it Is said-who can bc put temporarily into con dition of hypnotiSm, as it k called, during which the nervous system and tho brain act In many respects differ. ent from what they do in their ordi- nary state.
 In the mesmcretic or hypnotic state person displays several peculiarities, of which two are very marked md directly concern us. One Is the di. minution of the power of independent judgment and the other Is all intrcasc in the minute delioacy and sharpness of vision. Both pcculiarities may bc employed to produce spurious mind reading.
 Persons hypnotiaed adopt, without criticism or judgment, suggestions made to them 1; a slngularity by which they can tc icd into ridiculous per. formances once saw young lady who had been hypnotizcd, taste salt with relish, having been told II was sugar; she adopted the false notion without exercising her judgment
 It Is sometimes possible to give Il hypnotixed person an Ide which he will afterwards retain In his normal state though forgetting It's origin. Hence, by skillfully calling up the idea thus bestowed during the trance, we can say, "You are thinking so and so, are you not2" with the proba- bility of an affirmative answer given with surprise.
 We should appear in such case to have read what was in another's mind, yet what we really do Is to play trick upon the consciousness of the hypnotic.
 The other manner in which mes merism msy be applied to simulate mind reading has been illustrated by some curious experiments made in Paris.
 A lad WAS hypnotizod ; person In front of him opened q book so that he could not sce it the person expert menting looked intcntly at the num- bcr of the page, and presently the lad announced the number of tho page correctly. At first this seemed like mind reading, but more careful tests reveal that the number Of the page was reflected in the eye of the person looking at 1t, as very tiny image, which the boy, however, could read owing to the intensified acutcne~ of sight carried by his Approximation.
 In brief, mind reading can be mim- ickcd 90 variously that we must bc in regard to it more cautious than In ordinary investigations to avoid mis- leading experiments. It may bc added that, AS yet, no tests have been made in which the condition to escape errors have been all fulfilled.
 We have at present no real expert mental proof that genuine mind read ing or thought transfcrence actually occurs. On some future occasion l hope 10 write down my reasons for moi considering the stories current of mind reading to be valid evidence.
 A love of what is strange, novel and unfamiliar is widespread, and Is, l think, one chief cause of the present interest in mind reading. If we had truer appreciation of the natural world we should understand that mere strangeness and novelty do not constitute wonder.
 There are great many things of marvellous character on every side of ,.a vef a ro ua Al blinded hv nttr fa yni l. iarity and long acquaintance with them that we pass them by and Scarcely think Of them. We see water boiling in the kettle and vanishing as steam dissolved by the air in spring, the grass sprouts from the ground. No ore is able to explain why the water has its properties, or what makes the grass grow.
 To thoughtful mind every famiI-