Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1909-02-21

Both the mind reader at ten. twenty
thirty.per, and the spirit medium at
something more perhaps. are to be
cruelty and permanently relegated to
the shelf Of the not quites, all because
a wonderful little machine called the
electric psychometer has been invent
ed for the purpose of invading the
soothsaying trade This device. the
invention of New Yorker. DR.. Fred,
erick Peterson. who we are assured
can safely class with such psychology
ca, entries as Oppenheim of Berlin
and Kraepeln of Munich, is supposed
ruthlessly to pluck mans hidden
places. This with neatness and dis
patch With such a weapon once
in the hands of the irate mater fam
lilies of inquiring mind, the halyon
nights at lodge" will be no more !:
even false curls. complexion balms and
the most potent age eradicators will
be at sight immense profits 10
agents.. but will in time become a
household necessity.
OF the psychometer. Frank Mar
shall White writes in Harper's Week
ly.
ut might h. called the soul ma
chine 1t is a guage of truth: in
contact with it one cannot speak.
even think. falsely without detection.
This instrument makes its records by
means OF a lamp. a mirror and
glass scale The lamp shines into
the mirror and IS reflected back up
on the scale. beam OF light that
probes. like an index finger. into the
human soul, attesting the least trem-
or in its most secret places.
Recent experiments have proved
that the electric psychometer. which
is already in practical use by neurolo-
gists. is possessed of limitless pos
sibilities in the detection of crime
and of false evidence on the witness
stand. Bv it's means the hidden
thoughts of the subject may be reach
ed. the secrets most carefully guaru-
ed in his innermost consciousness
wrcsted from him. and his emotions
measured automatically. 1t is al
ready in use to detec. the lie the pa
ticnt tells his physician. and 1t Will
doubtless be employed to detect the
lie the criminal tells the police. the
lie uttered by the perjurer in court
Detective bureaus might today abolish
the coarse, brutal and generally in.
conclusive and unsatisfacto methods
of the third degree and obtain
scientifically accurate results by
means of the more refined torture OF
the veriest blockhead Of lawyer
might discount the abilities of the
most skillful cross-examiDer.
The psychometer is galvanome-
ter plus an apparatus for measuring
and recording the fluctuations in the
human organism that are produced by
the emotions which ordinarily would
impel the subject to speech. DR.. Pet
erson uses both the revolving drum
and scale Invented by DR.. c. q.
Jung Of the University Of Zurich one
of the foremost psychologists OF Eu-
rope. with whom he made experiments
in that institution which brought the
psychometer to its present state OF
perfection) to record the depth 20
which the subconscious mind is agi-
tated. and also a measured screen up
on which a beam of light marks the
play OF the emotions
Just how the agitation OF the sub
conscious mind is gagged is told in
the story of an experiment with one
A." a paroled man.
THE system adopted BY DR.. Peter
son in examining subject by means OF
the psychometer." continues the mar
rative. SIS that of word association-in
which the emotional value of retarded
reaction time. by the way. was first
discovered four or FIVE years ago by
the same DR.. Jung, with whom he was
associated in experiments at Zurich.
In using the word-association system
the experimenter asks the SUBJECT.
whose hands are resting on the cop
pcr plates. to respond as quickly as
possible. The moment that he 1.-THE
experimental, pronounces word.
with the word that first comes into
the subjects's mind. Thus. IL the ex-
pcrimenter saws black. the subject
might answer white or hat. or any
other word with which black, has
mental association for him. The
next word might be needle TO which
the response might be thread and
so on. But a number of significant
words. words calculated to touch
some emotion-to reach what the
PSYCHOLOGISTS term an emotional
conplex-aTc scattered through a
list Of Indifferent words. For, in
stance. il the subject had recently
stolen watch. and the word watch
was Suddenly pronounced among ten
non-sisnifcant words he was respond
ing to in % cases out Of 100 II would
register itself on the psyckometer. no
matter how perfectly the subject
might have been able to control the
muscles OF his face or the tone Of his
voice.
a was brought to DR.. Peterson's
oficc bv Chief Parole Oficer Fred c.
HcIbing Of the House Of Refuge Sup