The Washington times., 1920-07-25

University Of Washington, placed sole
mold or electromagnetic cylinder over a
mans head and kept him in absolute dark
ness.
When the electric current was turned on
he reported that he saw lights. The form
OF the light varied with the intensity Of
the current.
From these experiments it has been
reasoned that it may be possible to train
blind men actually to see images with
their brains. II the electric current can
produce various forms Of light in the bre<
it should theoretically be possible to con-
troll these forms so as to represent real
objects.
That the blind possess the power Of
forming images in their brains of objects
touched by their hands is well known
Here then we have the visual cells.
cut off from, actual sight responding to
the vibrations OF touch and forming i'm.
ages in precisely the same manner as
though the eyes were active. But it is a
fact that the images from touch are dir-
ferent from those from the eyes. Pro
fessor c. F. Fraser, LII. D., distinguished
medical scientist Of Nova Scotia, who is
blind himself, details some interesting ex-
periments upon this phase Of the matter.
The professor experimental with eighty
blind pupils and asked them to tell how
many sides OF a cube they could see with
their minds. Those who had lost their
sight at sixteen and upward visualized
correctly. seeing three sides Of cube.
Those who had lost their sight after reach
ing four years OF age visualized imper-
fectly, seeing four or FIVE sides of the cube
at once. Those who we're born blind or
became blind shortly after birth lacked
true visualization - thirty-three declaring
that they saw six sides of the cube at once,
while three Of them saw but one side.
This shows that in educating a blind per-
son the Instructor deals with a different
mind from the normal.
Many blind persons have developed the
sense Of smell to an acuteness that en-
ables them to recognize odors that are
absolutely unnoticed by ordinary persons.
This power is particularly developed in the
deaf and blind. Laura Bridgman. the
famous deaf-mute blind girl, could always
recognize anybody she had met before by
the smell OF his hand or glove. II she met
a stranger she invariably smelt his hand,
ant could invariably recognize him there
ater by the same means.
Blind persons who have once been able
to visualize always see in their dreams
In many cases the blind man secs"
more than one with good eyesight The
seeing man naturally sees only that side
which is turned toward him. The blind
man sees six sides Of box at once If
he can hold 1t in his hand If II is larger
he may see two or three sides at once
In any case, the inspection OF an intell-
gent blind man Is more thorough than
that of a seeing man who judges by ap-
pearance.
II may indeed be true that all our senses
are nothing but results Of different kinds
Of electrical impulses. The nerve current
is unquestionably electric, and II has re-
Gently been pointed out by a European
investigator that the nerves and nerve
fbres are indeed like many electric wires
for several ressons-principally because Il
has been found that these parts Of the
human body are covered throughout with
a fatty insulating covering, and as this
authority has suggested, II would seem ia
show that this insulated covering on the
nerves and other component parts actu.
ally serves TO preserve the electric poten-
tial and natural charge OF the body In
certain diseases these insulations break
down causing the electric charge Of the
bodv IN hecome markedly lowered