EYELESS PERSONS CAN SEE

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5326, 12 February 1947, Page 3

EYELESS PERSONS CAN SEE

PUZZLING PHENOMENON CELLS IX SKIN CAN DISCF.RX LIGHT AND SHADE Anyone who has assoeiated with blind people, and discussed their handieap with them, will have discovered that here and there is one for wliom tho affliction exists in considerably leas de^ree than for liis or her fellows. We find that these people, even if their eyes have been completely removed, insist that they are not in complete darkness — that they are able to distinp'iiish buildings, ^rees, or , vehieles as a shadow or the shape of the partkular objefit concerned. Naturally it does not seem strange that they should lind it nnnecessary to look towards a particular . objeet hi order to "see" it, because they have no eyes with whieh to fix their direction. But the fact that they have any light pereeption at all is very mystifying. It is not, however, ahvays imaginary, and these genuine cases are in possession of a faculity which has puzzled man for a very long time. If there are bodily funetions whieh we do not understand, and also nervepaths or skin-cells to which we cannot attribute a pui-pose, we are at times tempted to link one with the other and manufacLure our explanation for both. Fortunately scientists do not allow themselves this luxury or there would be no certainty in anything. Strangely enough there are a few isolated cells in the skin the funetion of which is uncercain, and which were once given the naine of "ocelli." "Ocellus" is a Latin word suggesting as its meaning an "eye," and these cells were probably so named because of a similarity to ' the light-sensitive cells found in primitive ofgahisms which, altho'J.gh without true eyes, possessed these cells to enable them to distinguish between light and dark, and to detect the sha.low of an enemy falling upon them. You may feel sceptical of assuming any sconnection between these skin ] cells and .the ability of eertain blind people to displav an elementary form of vision, but it is at present beyond anyone's power to suggest an alternaiive apart from clairvoyance,, which can be ruled our in all the cases which have been. puL to a scientific test. Read When Blindfolcled. Talce the case of Kcda Bux, for instanee. This man had for many years demonstrated his ability to read anything or describe any object put j hefore him whilst he was blindfolded. ; His adeptness at this could have been ! matched only hy the scepticism of | some who witnessed his performance. j He was quito sincere, however, and i agreed to undergo the rnost rigid j scientitic lests to prove that he was 1 :iot a ehavlatan. j A world-famuus scientific hody in i 7 ngland underiook to niake the tests | and s'jine very fnnious men wero em- | ployed to cariy them out, comhining j their 'ora 5ns to anticipaie any loop1 he !e or iriri". j They ciosed his eyes, covered them ! wilii sticking-iilaster, and then with j dough, then thovoughly handagrd ! liitin and covered his head with a | ' !;: ■!■: lii'od, so the nossibility of nor1 mai vision playhig any jiart in the j tests was etitiicly oliminated. j He v.as ylatcd in a romn and the | oloect.s or prinusl matter takou in to j him wero covered up so that they were ! invi.-U.ie ;U the jK-rson tahing them in. I _ tn this v.ay. telepnthy was cor.sidl ereil to be ruicd out, but to make sure | of this. otiier reading matter was sc-nt i in in the snme way and ihe ua:rre 1 of it was unl.no A'ii even to the sen.ict r,. In spite of all the jjrecaations taken, Kuda Bux s'nowed amazing accuracy in reading thg print and identifying the objeet s suhmitted to him, so it was quite impossihle to argue against his claim ro possess "eyeless sight." Quite a ncmber of other people have submitted themselves to these tests, and although Kuda Bux showed greater specd and success tnan they d.id, they certainly possessed the faculty to a degreo. nq Clairvoyance. ' Clairvoyance can he ruled out of ihe tests in two ways, by dimming the lights or by covering the objects, hrt when this was done the incidence of successful tests dropped immediately. The mosfc sensitive sites for this "eyeless vision" seem to 1)e the neck and upper chest and the backs of the hands, but the reasons for this can only he conjectured. . A number of blinded war veterans were trained to use. this faeulty in Frauce after 1U1S, and even some of those who showed no ability at the commencement of the training were coached to a small kdegree of "vision." But for some unknovvn reason officialdom clamped down on the doctor in charge of this training and it was slopped. Claims by individuals that they c-an walk or drive a car safely whilst blindfolded are not always idle, for sueh things have been known, and no d'.ubt will be again.