Chapter I: Front Matter

_THE CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE SERIES._

EDITED BY HAVELOCK ELLIS.

APPARITIONS
AND THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE.

APPARITIONS

AND

THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE:

_AN EXAMINATION OF THE EVIDENCE
FOR TELEPATHY_.

BY

FRANK PODMORE, M.A.

_WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS._

LONDON:
WALTER SCOTT, LTD.,
24 WARWICK LANE, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1894.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
PAGE

INTRODUCTORY 1

Position of the subject--Founding of the Society for
Psychical Research--Definition of telepathy--General
difficulties of the inquiry--Special sources of
error--Fraud--Hyperæsthesia--Muscle-reading--Thought-forms and
number-habit.

CHAPTER II.

EXPERIMENTAL TRANSFERENCE OF SIMPLE SENSATIONS
IN THE NORMAL STATE 18

Transference of Tastes--Of pain, by Mr. M. Guthrie and
others--Of sounds--Of ideas not definitely classed, by Professor
Richet, the American Society for Psychical Research, Dr.
Ochorowicz--Transference of visual images, by Dr. Blair Thaw, Mr.
Guthrie, Professor Oliver Lodge, Herr Max Dessoir, Herr Schmoll,
Dr. von Schrenck-Notzing, and others.

CHAPTER III.

EXPERIMENTAL TRANSFERENCE OF SIMPLE SENSATIONS
WITH HYPNOTISED PERCIPIENTS 58

Transference of tastes, by Dr. Azam--Of pain, by Edmund Gurney--Of
visual images, by Dr. Liébeault, Professor and Mrs. Henry Sidgwick,
Dr. Gibotteau, Dr. Blair Thaw.

CHAPTER IV.

EXPERIMENTAL PRODUCTION OF MOVEMENTS AND
OTHER EFFECTS 82

Inhibition of action by silent willing, by Edmund Gurney, Professor
Barrett, and others--Origination of action by silent willing, by
Dr. Blair Thaw, M. J. H. P., and others--Planchette-writing, by
Rev. P. H. Newnham, Mr. R. H. Buttemer--Table-tilting, by the
Author, by Professor Richet--Production of local anæsthesia, by
Edmund Gurney, Mrs. H. Sidgwick.

CHAPTER V.

EXPERIMENTAL PRODUCTION OF TELEPATHIC EFFECTS
AT A DISTANCE 105

Induction of sleep, by Dr. Gibert and Professor Janet, Professor
Richet, Dr. Dufay--Of hysteria and other effects, by Dr.
Tolosa-Latour, M. J. H. P.--Transference of ideas of sound, by Miss
X., M. J. Ch. Roux--Of visual images, by Miss Campbell, M. Léon
Hennique, Mr. Kirk, Dr. Gibotteau.

CHAPTER VI.

GENERAL CRITICISM OF THE EVIDENCE FOR SPONTANEOUS
THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE 143

On chance coincidence--Misrepresentation--Errors of
observation--Errors of inference--Errors of narration--Errors of
memory--"Pseudo-presentiment"--Precautions against error--"Where
are the letters?"--The spontaneous cases as a true natural group.

CHAPTER VII.

TRANSFERENCE OF IDEAS AND EMOTIONS 161

Transference of pain, Mr. Arthur Severn--Of smell, Miss X.--Of
ideas, Miss X., Mrs. Barber--Of visual images, Mr. Haynes,
Professor Richet, Dr. Dupré--Of emotion, Mr. F. H. Krebs, Dr. N.,
Miss Y.--Of motor impulses, Archdeacon Bruce, Professor Venturi.

CHAPTER VIII.

COINCIDENT DREAMS 185

Discussion of the evidence for telepathy derivable from
dreams--Chance-coincidence--Simultaneous dreams, the Misses
Bidder--Transference of sensation in dreams, Professor Royce, Mrs.
Harrison--Dreams conveying news of death, etc., Mr. J. T., Mr.
R. V. Boyle, Captain Campbell, Mr. E. W. Hamilton, Mr. Edward A.
Goodall--Clairvoyant dream, Mrs. E. J.

CHAPTER IX.

ON HALLUCINATION IN GENERAL 207

Common misconceptions--Hypnotic hallucinations, experiments by
MM. Binet and Féré, Mr. Myers--_Point de repère_--Post-hypnotic
hallucinations, Professor Liégeois, Edmund Gurney--Spontaneous
hallucinations, Professor Sidgwick's census--Table showing
classification of spontaneous hallucinations--Origin of
hallucinations, sometimes telepathic--Proof of this, calculation of
chance-coincidence, allowance for defects of memory--Conclusion.

CHAPTER X.

INDUCED TELEPATHIC HALLUCINATIONS 226

Possible misconceptions--Accounts of experiments, by Rev. Clarence
Godfrey, Herr Wesermann, Mr. H. P. Sparks, and A. H. W. Cleave, Mrs
B----, Dr. von Schrenck-Notzing, Dr. Wiltse, Mr. Kirk.

CHAPTER XI.

SPONTANEOUS TELEPATHIC HALLUCINATIONS 247

Auditory hallucinations, Miss Clark, Mr. William Tudor--Visual
hallucinations--Incompletely developed, Countess Eugenie Kapnist,
Miss L. Caldecott, Dr. Carat--Completely developed, Miss Berta
Hurly, Mrs. McAlpine, Miss Mabel Gore Booth--Hallucinations
affecting two senses, Rev. Matthew Frost, M. A----.

CHAPTER XII.

COLLECTIVE HALLUCINATIONS 268

Illusions, epidemic hallucinations, illusions of
memory--Explanations of collective hallucination--Auditory
hallucinations, Mr. C. H. Cary, Miss Newbold--Visual
hallucinations, Mrs. Greiffenberg, Mrs. Milman and Miss Campbell,
Mr. and Mrs. C----, Mr. Falkinburg, Dr. W. O. S., Rev. C. H.
Jupp--Collective hallucinations with percipients apart, Sister
Martha and Madame Houdaille, Sir Lawrence Jones and Mr. Herbert
Jones.

CHAPTER XIII.

SOME LESS COMMON TYPES OF TELEPATHIC HALLUCINATION 297

Reciprocal cases, Rev. C. L. Evans and Miss ---- --A misinterpreted
message, Miss C. L. Hawkins-Dempster--Heteroplastic hallucination,
Mrs. G----, Frances Reddell, Mr. John Husbands, Mr. J----
--"Haunted houses," Mrs. Knott and others, Surgeon-Major W. and
others.

CHAPTER XIV.

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN TRANCE 326

Definition of clairvoyance--Accounts of phenomena observed
with Mrs. Piper, by Professor Lodge, Professor W. James, and
others--Accounts of experiments by Mr. A. W. Dobbie, Dr. Wiltse,
Mr. W. Boyd, Dr. F----, Dr. Backman.

CHAPTER XV.

ON CLAIRVOYANCE IN THE NORMAL STATE 351

Observations of M. Keulemans--Crystal-visions, Miss X., Dr.
Backman, Miss A. and Sir Joseph Barnby--Spontaneous clairvoyance,
Mrs. Paquet, Mr. F. A. Marks, Mrs. L. Z.--Clairvoyance in dream,
Mrs. Freese--Clairvoyant perceptivity in an experiment, Dr.
Gibotteau.

CHAPTER XVI.

THEORIES AND CONCLUSIONS 371

_Resumé_, the proof apparent--The proof presumptive--The
alleged influence of magnets and metals--The alleged marvels of
spiritualism--Usage of the word telepathy--On various theories
of telepathy--Difficulties of a physical explanation--Value of
theory as a guide to investigation--Is telepathy a rudimentary or a
vestigial faculty?--Our ignorance stands in the way of a conclusive
answer--Imperative need for more facts.