SCIENTIFIC TELEPATHY.


The investigators of the Society for Psychical Research, of England,
started by giving a broad definition of Telepathy, as follows: "Telepathy
is the communication of impressions of any kind from one mind to another,
independently of the recognized channels of sense." They took the rational
position that the actual distance between the projector and the recipient
of the telepathic message is not material; and that all that is required
is such a separation of the two persons that no known operation of the
senses can bridge the space between them. They wisely held that telepathy
between two persons in the same room is as much telepathy as when the two
persons are located at opposite sides of the world.

The investigators then ruled out all instances of thought-transmission in
which there was even the slightest muscular contact between the projector
and the recipient. They held that though there might be genuine telepathy
in such cases, nevertheless, there was always the possibility of fraud or
collusion, or of unconscious muscular action on the part of the projector.
They demanded absolute and actual separation of the two persons, in order
that their experiments might be above suspicion. They were wise in this,
for while there is undoubtedly a psychic communication in the cases in
which there is the slight physical connection between the two persons (as
I shall point out to you a little further on), still the element of doubt
or suspicion must be entirely eliminated from a scientific test, in order
to render it valuable and valid.

They, therefore, confined their investigations in Telepathy to the two
following classes, viz.: (1) where actions are performed without physical
contact with the person willing; and (2) where some number, word, or card