The record-union., 1896-08-09
CAN THOUGHT BE PHOTO
GRAPHEDs

The London STANDARD" treats Of DR..
Baraduc's alleged discovery Of the pho
tography OF thought. The doctor re-
ported his discovery to the Society of
Medicine Of Paris, and it has occupied
the attention of that learned body for
some time. The STANDARD" neither de-
MES nor holds for the possibility of the
discovery, but says that those who have
seen the photographs find most of them
very cloudy, while a few show dimly
the outlines of face or Of an article
One method Of the Roumanian doctor
is to have a person place his hand upon
or over a Photographic sensitized plate
and think intently of some person or
article. and after a time dim image of
the thing or face thought of is found
upon the plate From another source
further particulars are had concerning
the discovery" the integrity Of which
the Record Union" very much doubts, for
the reason that thought is of the imrna-
terial, while an impression upon pho
tographic plate is material and tangi-
bic, and there is no reason whatever to
believe that the immateriaI can thus be
reduced to the visible and tangible.
However, the second account is
interesting and says that in two in
stances the doctor succeeded in produc-
ing two good pictures, one the face of a
baby, and the other the bust and head
of an Oriental In the first case the doctor
was the subject, fixing his mind intently
upon the features of a child to which
he was attached. The result was an
indistinct, shadowy impression Of a
baby's face, quite too indefinite, judg-
ing from the engraving accompanying
the story. to be recognized, however,
had the observer no knowledge of what
the doctor thought Of.
In the next case a spiritualistic
medium placed hand upon photo
graphic plate and thought of an ORR
entail friend with the result that a very
well defined picture of a bearded face
and q head crowned with turban was
produced. The doctor. however. Is en-
phatic in saying that spiritualism has
nothing to do with the matter. only that
ne has found believers in spiritualism
to be better able to abnormally express
their thoughts exteriorly than others,
but tust what the doctor means by that
is not very clear.
In this case 1t was impossible for the
subject to tamper with the plate; he
was closely watched and was under the
immediate observation Of a skeptical
man of science who would not allow any
riokery to be played.
In other experiments Doctor Baraduc
gets impressions which have to be
translated, as reading love, hate and
representing some abstract thought or
emotion. A scientist who investigated
Baraduc's method says that he found on
a table in his laboratory two magnetic
metres, or small dials marked off with
360 degrees with a fine needle swinging
delicateIy over the surface. and pro-
tected from even q breath of air or
other disturbance by a close fitting
glass globe. He stretched his hands,
his temperature being normal, towards
the dials, and after some time that
nearest his left hand was repelled five
degrees, while the needle on the right
was attracted fifteen degrees from zero.
He was satisfied that some force with
which he was unacquainted. affected
the needles, and that this force emf
mated from his body.
In the next experiment the investi-
gator had the room darkened and
Photographic plate was placed between
his hands and the needle dials. When
the plates were developed. that nearest
the left hand showed impressions re-
ceived Of peculiar character, while that
on the right developed impressions of a
distinctly different order. This led him
to conclude that what Baraduc calls the
vital force" this intangible, impalp
able force first referred to. penetrated
the glass. and was. besides, luminous.
These experiments. we are told, have
been repeated three hundred times and
always with the same results, namely
that the impressions on the left plate