Apparitions and thought-transference: an examination of the evidence for telepathyPodmore, Frank
Philosophy
Apparitions and thought-transference: an examination of the evidence for telepathy
Podmore, Frank
Apparitions; Telepathy
However, the later experiments by the same observers, recorded below,
in which a marked degree of success was obtained with agent and
percipient in different rooms, will no doubt be considered to render
untenable any explanation of the kind above indicated. This further
series was carried on through the years 1890-1-2. Mrs. Sidgwick,
aided by Miss Johnson, conducted the experiments throughout, with
the occasional assistance of Professor Sidgwick, Dr. A. T. Myers,
and others. The percipients were P., T., Miss B., and three others,
and Mr. G. A. Smith was in nearly all cases the agent. Some of these
experiments, as in the last series, were with numbers of two digits;
but the percipient was now in a different room from the agent. At first
the trials were carried on in an arch, fitted up with two floors,
under the Parade at Brighton. On the ground-floor was a little lobby,
kitchen, etc.; on the upper floor a sitting-room about 15 feet square.
The staircase, which, as shown in the plan subjoined, led directly out
of the upper room, was not enclosed above, but had a door below, which
was kept shut during the experiments. The floor of the room above was
covered with a thick Axminster carpet. Even so the sound-insulation
was not perfect; but it was found that words spoken in ordinary
conversation on one floor were indistinguishable on the other unless
the ear was pressed against the door or wall of the staircase. In the
experiments carried on at Mrs. Sidgwick's lodgings in Brighton the
percipient sat in the room at a distance from the door, which was
closed, varying from 9 to 13 feet, and Mr. Smith was in the passage
outside, Miss Johnson sitting between him and the door. Of course
strict silence was observed by the agent. One of the experimenters, in
most cases Miss Johnson, accompanied the agent, drew the number from
the bag, and noted each as it was drawn. Mrs. Sidgwick, of course in
ignorance of the number drawn, sat by the percipient and took notes of
his remarks. As in the previous series, the impressions received by the
percipient, who in the first experiments was Miss B., appear generally
to have been of a visual nature. Details of all the trials with Miss B.
as percipient and Mr. Smith as sole agent are given in the following
table:--
No. 14.--By MRS. SIDGWICK AND OTHERS.
(1) PLACE, THE ARCH. PERCIPIENT UPSTAIRS; AGENT DOWNSTAIRS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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