The Dominion. TUESDAY, MAY 19, 1914. "FEELING AT A DISTANCE"

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2152, 19 May 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, MAY 19, 1914. "FEELING AT A DISTANCE"

Telepathy cannofc yet be regarded as a generally accepted or definitely established fact of science. There is much difference of opinion cm the subject, but the extraordinary pheno- j mena on ' which the belief in! telepathy' is based can no longer bo contemptuously brushed aside as unworthy of serious attention. The more conservatfvc school of scientists still look askance at the investigation of such phenomena, the acceptance of which would certainly necessitate, a very considerable revision of the scheme of things which the nineteenth century regarded as more oi , less finally established. But there is a steadily increasing group of distinguished modem thinkers staking to prubi: human personality to its deepest depths, and who declare that if «soortaiuecl facts; however astonishing, clash with prevailing theories, .so much the worse for the theories. One of the pioneers of this new world of thought; is But AVhxiam Barrett, who, according to a cablegram which appeared in Saturday's issue, lias expressed the opinion that tekpathy is indisputable, and that _the world of sense and outward things is. a shadow of the ri-iil wui'ld which lies beyond the reach of sense. One gels a good idea of the groat change that has come over the scientific world when it is borne in mind that Sir William Barrett, who w« Professor of Experimental Physiea in the Royal College of Science for Ireland

from -187; V to'l9lo,' had'the, lionour.'-.in ! his younger .days of.licing assistant! ttrPnoFiissoii Tyndall,*/.- one .0f ,,, " the most■ brilliant)of tlw-bnliiant , band uf ''scientists who- lent'.'distinction to the .is quite i in possible "nowadays, to laugh telepathy put.of court or to dismiss psyciiieaKresearciiiwilh "a'sneer-' but it is also I .well t.0.-ehrcfully distinguish between,theories- and established facts, aud'to. remember-that the reality of 'much-of-the so-called psychical phenomena is still in dispute, and that there-is" groat difference of. opinion as to' the interpretation of what is admitted.; : : ; It is, however, now recognised that psychical research hns a p!-opcr-..p!ace. within .the' sphere of legitimate scientific ■■■inquiry, nnd some .; interesting possibilities ■'■ have already ' been opened " up. The , Psychical Research ' ' Society includes among its list of presidents such names as Hexpa' SmowiCK, Balfoue Stewart, A. J.' Balfouh, W. James, Sir- Oliver Lodge, . Sir W. F. Bahkett, Andrew Lakg, and Henri Bsrosos ; and it is , quite ridiculous to suppose that such men would countenance anything in the nature of scientific quackery. It is only fair to state, however, in the words of Mr. Axmmw Lang, that "the society, as auclt, has no views, no beliefs, no hypotheses, except" perhaps the opinion that there is an open field of inquiry; that not all the faculties'and potentialities of man have been 'studied and explained up to date in terms of nerve and brain."

■ Telepathy, which means ''fooling at a distance," has been defined as "the communication of impressions of any kind from one mind to another independently of the recognised channels of sense. Mn. G, W. BalfouJl, like Sin W._ F. Barrett, is of opinion, that in this broad sense ' the case which can be 'made out- for it is overwhelming, but opinions differ very, strongly as to its precise significance nnd interpretation. If s, ' physical explanation is possible—if. for instance, an idea could be-transmitted from mind to mind by ether waves, as has been suggested—such a possibility, thowjrh extremely interesting, could be brought within the accepted scientific scheme of thinss; but if the direct apprehension "by one mind of the'contents of another is involved, then, in Mb. Balfous's opinion, "we arc in the nresence of a far-reaching discovery." H-e personally is unable to accept as even plausible any susnrcetion of a physical explanation that has yet been put forward, and in this ho claijns the powerful support of MR. M'tMucuix, the well-knwn authority on psychology, who thinks that the strain on the- mechanistic assumption becomes insupportable when,all the facts are considered. Among other illustrations of telepathic impressions to be found in Sin W. F. Barrett's little book'on "Psychical Research" details arc given of certain experiments made, after consultation with him, by Miss H, JUsisdkn and Miss 0. Miles. Tho following is given as a singularly i successful experiment: —-Miss' Miles was attending a meeting of the Society for Psychical Beaarch ia London, and noticed tho curious spectacles worn by a gc-Htlo man neat- her. This, she thought, would bo a good subject for ati 'experiment with Miss JLuiSD-teN, aud on returning home she.wrote down: "October 37. Spectacles..—CM." Miss Bamsdisn, -who was in -'Buckinghamshire at the time, wrote: "OetS- ■ her 27. 7 p.m. Spectacles.' This j was the only idea that came to me i after waiting a long time.—H.R." It is difficult to imagine, says Sir J W. F. Bakkktt, that this was merely j a lucky guess, for Miss Miles doe's not wear spectacles. He contends that if telepathy be denied, the objector (.Tin only explain the matter' by collusion. This incident, is given as an example of the kind of evidence— and there is a great deal of it on record—on which tho theory of telepathy is based. Some people think that all tho clearly-proved facts of this nature can be accounted for by known la.ws; but, as Mr. M'Douoa&l ■ states, tho facts cannot bo explained away by uttering tho "blessed" word "brain-waves," and no physical agency at present known appears to bo able to indicate how the thing is done. If tho possibility of the direct communication of mind with mind, independently of tho recognised channels of sense, should be conclusively proved, some very interesting problems would suggest themselves. Human personality is perhaps the most wonderful thiftg in an altogether wonderful world, and the move we know about, it the more mysterious it seems to become. We may be on the verge of some startling revelations, which may open a, new world for our exploration; but it. is just possible that these dim afttl uncertain glimpses into the unknown are the most that the human mind is capable of—at any rate, on this side of _ the grave. _ Psychical research is a fascinating occupation, but its finally established results are tantalisingly few and their interpretation extremely uncertain.