New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-03-01
A BUNDLE OF QUEER STORIES.
FACTS GATHERED BY TIE SOCIETY FOR
PSYCNICAL RESEARCH.
STRANGE POWERS or ELECTROMAGNETIC IN
FORMATION By OTHER THAN ORDlNAhf
MEANs-T1lE "sI'D-LIMINAL" SELF

| FORMATION BY OTHER THAN ORDINARY
MEANs-T1lE "srp-LIMrNAL' SELF.
! Coming into a great city by rail at night the
traveller passes through outlying districts almost
| devoid OF dwellings,. but abounding in lights The
| latter seem to be Waiting about In hopeless con-
| fusion owing to the motion OF the train But
| every minute or two some OF them suddenly fall
into two straight lines stretching miles away per-
| haps, and then perceives that ne Is looking
| down long avenue. whose position and existence
had not been previously indicated. some modern
| psychologists suspect that. In a similar manner,
lot OF strange and apparently unrelated phenomena
Will day arrange themselves In one common,
| orderly system.
a person placed under the influence Of ether
sometimes cries out piteously during a surgical
operation An hour later. having entirely resahed
his senses he declares that he was utterly Obvious
| OF the occurrence and felt no pain Whatever
bookkeeper troubled his failure TO balance his
| accounts rises In his sleep. goes to the ONCE
Strengthens out the aid then returns home
On reaching his place Of business next day he Is
completely surprised at the discovery as any one
else connected with the establishment man,
falling from ladder receives severe blow on the
back OF his head. and for SIX weeks cannot speak
does not know his name. fails to recognize his
friends and shows wonderful change OF dspo-
siton. although evidently intelligent and con-
sc.ous ever. In short. he appears 10 be d.f-
ferent person. Then. suddenly. violent head
ache. which has bothered him during this interval.
abates. He looks around like one awakening from
sleep. and asks, Where am I?' He has become
himself again and has no recollection OF anything
that has happened since he lost his footing on the
ladder. A good subject, having been placed In
hypnotic trance, may be made 10 believe himself
a greater actor than Irving n finer singer than
either Of the De Reszkes. or a danter verse
writer than Shelley TIE delusion Is as complete as
that OF the worst lunatic in asylum. But with
Of ,ha hyp0 Yer an
fellow back his normal condition.
THE "THRESHOI.D OF CONSCIOUSNESS"
These and many other unusual and puzzing cases
| resemble. in respect at least. the more IA
miliar experiences OF sleep and dreams tsuch as
perfectly healthy people may have) and OF hysteria
| and insanity. They all suggest that human beings
| possess various faculties which may be active
withou; their being aware OF II. Hence. a few
OF the scientists who have studied the matter care
! fully have acquired the habit of distinguishing in
| their talk between the conscious and unconscious
| self They also call The latter the "sub-limnar
self because. as they say, Il Is that part OF the
mind which Hes below the threshold or conscious
| ness" Whether this part OF a PERSONS nature Is
unit or Is sub-divlded into several personalities Is
a question on which leading psych biologists stll dincr.
but there is now a general disposition 10 con-
! cede 10 the "sut-limnal' self greater dimensions
! and more startling possibilities than would have
| been granted few years ago.
wonderful
| other than the ordinary methods OF communication
| Is among the gifts IN which some OF these cold
/ b.oodcl sccptcll scientists evlnce faith They do
no, believe that every one possesses II. On the
| other hand AZ present they inclined 20 limit
! u 10 n comparatively small class But evidence on
this point - INADEQUATE. The matter is still under
! investigation. II Is suggested on the one hand that
/ IN many II not IN all instances there IL only an
exercise Of usual senslbltcs. exceptionally sharp
erred That sort Of perception Is called hyper
/ ae-,hcsia" But some Of the facts are drought TO
/ point on tn other hand. to the existence OF
/ d.stlnc. faculty. Sill, In rudmentary state. per
hays and found Only here and there; a. II evolution
/ were about 70 add sun further 20 the equipment
/ ID, mans higher nature. However this may be-
dng,,i hunt Ia. been made for years after stories
q ielepaihy. undertaking. second sight clair
v8yaacc. crystal vision and on. by the Society
ilr I.ychical Research. AID great pains have been
/ taken % obtain confederation. II possible
on. = ,ho most experienced and ndetatgable
Investigators ~ that organization. Frederic W H.
/ Myers ,InbOI.,s scores q these narratives IN a
paper priu'I 20 the last report OK the proceedings
/ 20, -, society Or Isychical Research. a Few are
selected for reproduction here to illustrate some
OF the supposed workings OF the mysterious faculty
| IN question.
THE ruANToM OF A GLoVED HAND
l. ] Parsons physician in Sweet Springs.
No Says h. discovered years ago that he was
/ able 10 see things mentally which had happened
! hundreds Of miles away and many years before.
He wrote Ia lssl. While In company with Or.
Trottor. OF Lexington. Mo. could see before and
near 10 him lolir ate hand on which was DARK
rel IA glove Tho hand all the time IN mo-
ton ! called lis attention 20 II. and he was Hiuch
! SURPRISED I told him the hand had a history. and
| If he had no objections would be pleased 10
| know f. H SAID / was travelling IN Canana on
the cars and one day We ran up TO train that
had been wrecked little while before. went
| to the wreck. and about the nrst thing that sa"
! MAS a young lady lying upon the ground dead. one
, hand was naked and one covered with a dark
r-d Kid glove Instantly upon his utterlns the
words the dark red Kid glove and the hand van
| ishcd"
Subsequently, the Or Trotter here mentioned sent
n fun account u the accident and the conversa-
ton with Or Parsons to officer OF the Psychicai
Research Society In reply to Inquiries lie cor
| roborated the foregoing story fully. adding that
| the glovei hand made strong impression Oh n'"''
which has remained 10 this day. hoo"- io'''
years" He was astoundod at Or. Parsonss re-
mark to him nearly thirty years after the event.
and yet cannot understand how that person
should have preached the subject. inasmuch as
| Dr. Trotter had never TO his knowledge mentioned
the sight OF the dead girl TO a living soul
| A well-known member OF the Society for Psychicai
| Research in England. woman VINO Veis "'i
| identity from the general public by tho name OF
Miss X" has had many SUCH experiences r''
instance on meeting for the first time mature
gentleman whom she had every reason 10 esteem
| highly, she perceived near him "A vague pu' per
| sstent Image Of a lad. wearing terror-strche"
| aspect and holding his up III sel-deieii'e'
| Later she learned that IN boyhood AT sChoo'' io'
some misbehavior. he was Obliged 10 ru" '"e
| gantct" Mr. MYERS cited these two stories a.
suggesting the adherence OF phah''S'""' Soe"'' -
living person. /, ..,, .,u.c,,or
occurred almost exactly at the same time Mhci 'o
!pent" received corresponding Ilipicar, ~
Snpwrecks more trlfng accidents the reoonr'; ;ho,
lost dog and the position In which wasch he sr
| had been dropped Ia a bayfield, Few hours oeio.o
sti Law were paraIleled by visions. either in sleep
or hafwakng condition thus on ,nE mann O askes
! him while they we're both dressing and oeiorc
either OF them had left their sleeping room u ne
NJ nio"A - 1'hen she narrated a dream