Practical Mind-Reading: A Course of Lessons on Thought-Transference, Telepathy, Mental-Currents, Mental Rapport, &c.Atkinson, William Walker
Science
Practical Mind-Reading: A Course of Lessons on Thought-Transference, Telepathy, Mental-Currents, Mental Rapport, &c.
Atkinson, William Walker
Telepathy -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
We will close by mentioning another remarkable series of experiments
conducted by the same Society. The Mind Reader was M.G.A. Smith, of
England. Among other startling feats successfully performed by Mr.
Smith, that of the reproduction of Geometrical Figures was perhaps the
most remarkable. In this feat Mr. Smith sat blindfolded, in a room
belonging to the committee, with a pad of paper before him and a member
of the committee on each side of him. A selected member of the committee
then would go outside of the room, and behind a closed door would draw
some geometrical figure at random. Returning to the room the figure
would be shown to the committee, and also to Mr. Douglas Blackburn, who
acted as the Transmitter for Mr. Smith, the latter being known as the
Receiver. The Transmitter, with closed eyes, now took his position
immediately back of Mr. Smith, but at a distance of two feet from him,
no contact being allowed, this precaution being taken to obviate charges
of confederacy, etc. The Transmitter would then concentrate his mind
intently for a few minutes, and in a short time Mr. Smith would receive
the impression of the mental image in the mind of the Transmitter, and
would begin to attempt to reproduce it on paper. In the series of
experiments running over a period of four days thirty-seven drawings
were made, of which only eight were considered unsuccessful.
_Twenty-nine successes out of a possible thirty-seven, remember._
The committee reports that it took all the precaution to guard against
secret signals, etc., and that confederacy, fraud, collusion, or similar
methods were out of the question. The eight cases of failure consisted
of four cases in which Mr. Smith received no impression, and therefore
could not reproduce the drawing; and four cases in which the drawing was
so vague and imperfect as to be called a total failure. Some of the
figures were grotesque, unusual, and complicated, but all were
reproduced in a more or less perfect manner. The drawing was made
deliberately and without hesitation, and as if Smith had actually seen
the figure shown to the Transmitter a few moments before. On one
occasion, in order to be doubly guarded against collusion, they closed
Mr. Smith's ears with putty, tied a bandage around his eyes and ears,
pulled a bolster-case over his head, and then covered him all over with
a blanket which completely enveloped his body and head. _And under these
extraordinary conditions he reproduced the figures with his usual
success._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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