Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-16
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

The strange physico-psychic phe-
nomenon of the eidetic image may ex-
tend to other senses than sight,
This possibility, with far-reaching
educational and philosophical implica-
tons, appears from preliminary expert
mentS of Catholic University psycholo-
gists among the 750 boys at st. Marys
Industrial School in Baltimore, alma
mater of Babe" Ruth. There may be
children who actually can taste candy
eaten a long time ago or hear music
long after the actual sounds have
ceased.
Boy Subject Locates Taste.
At least this is what happened in the
case of one bright-eyed youngster ex-
amined the other day by DR.. j. Edward
Rauth, assistant professor of psychology
at Catholic University:
Dr. Rauth TRY to imagine you are
eating a big piece Of chocolate candy.
Try hard. Can you taste it?"
Boy (sfter a moment of intense con-
centration): "Yes."
DR.. Rauth: NOW open your mouth
and put your finger on the spot that
actually tasted sweet
The boy placed his finger on the
middle of his tongue and the nsldes OF
both cheeks.
Points Out Exact Spots.
Then the boy was asked to imagine
that he was eating a sour pickle. The
same procedure was followed, only, in
this case, he put his finger on the tip
of his tongue. Then he imagined in
turn that he was taking dose of very
bitter medicine and that some salt was
placed in his mouth. In each case he
pointed to the exact spots where, he
tasted these substances.
There was something queer about 1t
all. Most persons probably could mag
inc the tastes of sweet, sour, salt and
bitter, but comparatively few know that
these taste sensations do not come from
the tongue and cheeks in general, but
that each one is localized in a particu-
lar place. Certainly this 10-year-old
boy didn't know such an advanced bit
of physiology. Yet in each instance he
put his finger on the place where theo-
retically that particular taste should
have been.
Hearing Test Carried Out.
The implication is that the child
didn't imagine that he tasted the
candy, but actually tasted it. just as if
the sweet itself actually had been put
in his mouth. 1t was as if some quality
of his mind was able to create real
candy out of memories. Perhaps it
would be quality worth developing for
parents whose children have an inordi-
nate appetite for sweets.
The hearing experiment was not
quite so promising. A boy was asked to
listen to a passing street car. After the
noise had subsidized completely, he was
asked to imagine that the car was right
under the window again. He said he
heard it.
where do you hear it?" DR.. Rauth
asked. "Is it in your head or is it out
on the street?"
Some of it's in my head and some of
it's out the window" replied the young
ster.
Eidetic Sight Images Shown.
This, DR.. Rauth points out, may or
may not indicate a real physical hear
ing of a remembered sound. The boy
unconsciously may have been classifying,
giving the reply he thought the exam
cal test of the reality of hearing, such
as was applied in the case Of taste.
Among the st. Mary's boys the
eidetic image has been conclusively
demonstrated for the sense of sight
About half the boys thus far examined
actually can see, as physical realities,
previously witnessed scenes. They don't
merely imagine that they see them.
Now, DR.. Rauth points out, both sight
and taste are chemical senses, operat-
ing because of chemical reactions at the
ends of the senSory nerves, which set up
nerve impulses to the brain. Smell Is
another chemical sense. The chemical
senses may act similarly, so far as the
eidetic image Is concerned. On the
other hand. DR.. Rauth points out, hear
ing is purely physical sense, the nerve
impulses to the brain being set up by
the impact of sound waves on the COM
plicated mechanism of the ear. 1t is
not so likely that the same laws would
be effective.
Boys Separated by Eye Sizes.
The boys with big, bright, somewhat
protruding eyes are being separated
from those with dull, fiattened, rather
small eyes in these experiments because
some notable differences have been
found. While the eyes always have
been supposed to reflect personality,
nobody hitherto has hit upon any OBJ
jective basis for such belief. But, DIR.
TOMORRoW'S THE DAY
II You will feel a whole lot better tOmOr-