The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-23
PICTURE OF A THOUGHT.
EDISON. JUNIOR, CAUGHT IT WITH
A CAMERA

Guard wei your thoughts when you are
with Edison, Jr. They may be photo
graphed. This warning is given out on
the assertion of Edison Jr., who declares
chat he has photographed a human
thought He maintains that with the aid
of the x-ray, hypnotism a hard-thinking
man and mysterious appliances whose Sc
cret is his alone and carefully guarded,
he. has succeeded in transmitting to a
highly sensitlzed film the outline of an
object on which human beings MIND
was conferred
Describing all this with an air Of ella
ton, the experimenter predicts wonderful
achievements in the near future. He says
ii will be safe for the present to think
anything you like when he is around, be
cause thus far he has been able only 10
photograph the shape of a thought and
would not know what il was unless inter
preted to him. And there he must stop for
the time being while he goes ahead turn
ing out things which promise financial
returns, but these perfected he says, and
his fortune hde, look out for snap shots
Of your thoughts.
1t was told in the Herald a fortnight
ago how Edison, Jr., was sent forth tito
the world by his Illustrious father to gain
knowledge of mankind.
You have been with me-" admonished
the elder, until you know almost as much
in a technical way as l do. You have
ideas, too, Now you want to know men
and the world for yourself" And 10
young man went. That was four months
ago. He established himself at No. 6 Wall
street, and bent his mentality 10 those
IDEAS with which his father had credited
him.
One of these. he explained yesterday,
was photography of the human thought.
Deeply had this competitor for his faith
er's title of wizard been interested in
this subject and long had he pondered
over il. His zeal had been stirred by the
experiments of distinguished scientists at
nome and abroad in this field of endeavor,
and he had closely studied their methods
and results.
The Herald had supplied him with much
information as to the attachments of
those who had been before him in this do
main of research He had read of the
discoveries of that eminent Frenchman
DR.. d. r. Hippolite Baraduc, who had de-
scribed to the scientists of Paris his meas
urement of vital force.
By Photography, the Frenchman said, he
had been enabled to register and measure
the volatile matter Of which every living
thing is constantly Kidding itself. He had
found human Invisible light differing
from all forms of pAs steal energy, having
it's origin in human life itself
Then there was that startling achieve
ment of Inglis Roger of Plymouth, En-
land. He had tried vainly to picture H.
mental impressions with the camera, first
looking at piece of white cardboard on
which a black cross was drawn, then
quickly showing sensitized plate in front
of the cardboard. At length, however. a
circumstance enabled him to get picture
of his wife's brain
AS the Englishmaf describes it, his wife
went to play, and was so impressed with
an actress performance in a shipwreck
scene that she could not rid her thoughts
of IT, For two nights and a day this inn
preston haunted her wildly. Her hus-
band was suddenly struck with an idea.
He ran for his Photographic apparatus put
his wife's head in position and took a pic
ture of it. There on the plate was shown
the shipwreck scene, with the actress in
the center of the stage. Mr. Roger even
mentions the'name of the play and the ac-
tress in relating the wonderful feat. The
cable dispatches have not told what show
has hired him for press agent.
Furthermore, there was Prof. j. ALI
son Hodges of Richmond, Va, who pho
tographed brain cells and their contents
and had to suspend his experiments tenn
porarily until he found colored man who
was willing for hire to have his skull
opened and his gray matter posed for the
camera. Prof Angelo Masso of Turin had
taken hand at looking into the subtleties
of life and had measured emotions and
their variations as indicated by the rush
of blood from the feet to the head. both
asleep and awake.
Thus Edison, Jr., in thinkg about
thoughts, cabinet size or panel. was nc
'u99q peu I7qlo uBql emos9InlueA eIom
With ready frankness, Withholding only
the secrets of his appliances the date an6
place of the experiment, the name of the
subject and the picture itself Edison. Jr
told me yesterday how he photographed q
thought
First of all he made few tests will
human emotions. He constructed for ar
adults head a chemical bandage, whose
properties were of chemical combination
which is a jealousy guarded secret This
bandage closely fitted the head. LEADING
from the temples and the top of the head
at the point where a baby's skull is no.
Joined, were delicate conductors CHARGED
with some secret chemical to carry The
most minute vibration. These were at.
taehed to a graduate of secret properties
and a series of disks which were to regis
ter the vibrations. Then there was ar
X-ray apparatus, but this was of the or.
binary kind, and without secrets.
The next thing was to find the mao
Only one able to concentrate his thought.
for a whole minute on a single object wa!
eligible. This species is as rare, Edison
Jr.. explains. as a man who can thinl
of nothing at all, but at last he foun(
one. This man is also one of the secrets
you see, there are many.
Edison, Jr., had never before tried hyp
notism not even on newspaper men, t
work out his theory, but he had to dC
it on the secret man of thought a min
ute. The plan was to try to photograph
a thought of a quarter of a dollar. TIL,
subject said he knew he could think o
quarter for minute, if not longer, 4
he could only see one, and, thus assur
ed, Edison, Jr., produced the coin.
He placed it on a white plate. and thu
subject fastened his gaze upon it.
"Think of every part of it, commanded
Edison. Jr. Think of the figures on it
the edge, everything"
81 could think of a dollar just as well, >
ventured the gazer, but the words cam
dreamily as from one whose thoughts
we're far away For a minute and a hal
| the man sat thus, and Edison. Jr., knew
| that he was thinking only of the quarter
I