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
22 24th Nov. 2.30 P.M. F.
23 3rd Dec. 4.10 P.M. F.
24 5th Dec. 4.10 P.M. F.
25 6th Dec. 4.10 P.M. Found awake, washing her
hands ?
26 7th Dec. 2.30 P.M. Found asleep at 3.5 ?
27 10th Dec. 4.20 P.M. She was out walking F.
28 11th Dec. 3.15 P.M. ?
29 13th Dec. 4.5 P.M. Found asleep at 4.25. Had
been seen awake a few
minutes after 4 P.M. S.
30 14th Dec. 11.30 A.M. F.
31 18th Dec. F.
32 21st Dec. F.
33 22nd Dec. F.
34 23rd Dec. 3 P.M. Found asleep at 3.40 ?
35 25th Dec. 3.15 P.M. She was out walking. Bad
headache came on at 3.20.
Returned hurriedly, and at
once fell asleep in the
_salon_. S.
Throughout the series, except in case 10, M. Janet was the operator.
It will be seen that in the 35 trials there were nine cases in which
Madame B. was found asleep within half-an-hour of the attempt being
made to entrance her. In six other cases she was found asleep after a
longer interval, but there is nothing to indicate that the sleep did
not actually supervene at the right time. In one case she was found
awake within fifteen minutes of the trial, but stated that she had
been awakened by the ringing of the bell which announced M. Janet's
arrival. In one other case she was found washing her hands to ward off
the trance. Of the 17 failures Madame B. was out walking in four cases
at the time of the trial, a circumstance which no doubt diminished the
chances of success. In two cases headache or disturbance were produced;
of the remaining 11 trials no details are given, and it is presumed
that no unusual effect was observed, and that there was no apparent
cause for the failure. Of course, experiments carried on under these
conditions, the trials being confined for the most part within a narrow
range of hours, and the subject liable to spontaneous trance, offer
some scope for chance coincidence. But as Madame B. actually fell
asleep spontaneously on only four occasions during the period over
which the trials extended, it will probably be considered that the
number of coincidences, imperfect as they were, was considerably more
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