The Series of January 28–29, 1929
This series also has to do with drawings made by Mr. Sinclair’s secretary.
1. Agent’s drawing, a diamond or rhombus (Fig. [32]); Percipient’s drawing, the two halves of a rhombus, “wandering about,” as Mr. Sinclair says (Fig. [32a]); if connected they would make a rhombus closely similar to the original.
2. Agt., a script capital Y; Per., a print capital Y. (Figs. 33 and 33a.)
3. The Agent’s drawing, a bottle of milk with “certified” written on it, was suggested by his knowledge that Mrs. Sinclair to a considerable extent lives on milk and is particular about its quality; Per., an ellipse much like the top of the bottle, a straight line depending therefrom, and the script “Round white foamy stuff on top like soapsuds or froth.” And foam is characteristic of her milk, as she drinks it sour and whipped (Figs. 34 and 34a). Here the percipient failed to get much as to shape, but got considerable in the way of associated ideas.
4. Agt., an oil derrick (Fig. [35]); Per., got what will be seen in Figure 35a. There are long lines diverging like the long lines of the oil derrick, but at a slant, and with a 5 or perhaps a 9 at the top which has no counterpart in the original. This is not a very satisfactory reproduction, but the general shape and long downward lines are suggestive.
5. Agt., something like a poplar leaf; Per., three scrawls like letters or parts of letters. A failure.
6. Agt., three small ellipses attached to a stem; Per., script “See what looks like spider’s web,” but drawing shows a bunch of elliptic figures.
7. Agt., apparently an apple with stem; Per., (1) what looks like a tall script V, (2) the same less tall, (3) one so low and broad that it is nearly equivalent to the top of the apple minus the stem.
8. Agt., a house from whose chimney proceeds smoke represented by a spiral line (Fig. [36]). Per., (1) a double spiral cut by a straight line, same slant as in the original, (2) single spiral of nearly the same slant, (3) what looks like a battlement, the crenels or openings of which are like the windows of the house minus the upper sides (Fig. [36a]). The rectangular openings are three in number, the rectangular openings in the house (two windows and a door) are also there.
9. Agt., an open fan (Fig. [102]); Per., a drawing represented by Figure 102a, accompanied by the script, “Inside seems irregular, as if cloth draped or crumpled.” Two words, “cloth,” and “draped,” suggest what takes place as one begins to shut a fan, though the drawing is an incorrect representation.
10. Agt., the figures 13 (Fig. [103]); Per., (1) what would be a 3 but for a supernumerary curve, (2) a 3 (Fig. [103a]).
11. Agt., a conventional heart (Fig. [105]); Per., practically the upper part of such a heart, with three spots which may or may not represent blood-drops, according to Mr. Sinclair’s conjecture (Fig. [105a]). We can hardly contend, as an evidential point, that this is the meaning of the round spots. Some obscure subconscious recollection of expressions like “My heart bleeds,” expressing suffering, may have come out in the drawing, though in that case one wonders why the whole heart was not drawn. But it may be that the three marks proceeding in the direction of the right side of the original came from a feeling that something should line in that direction.
12. Agt., a broom (Fig. [104]); Per., several attempts all more or less resembling the original (Figs. [104a], [104b]), and a valuable script: “All I’m sure of is a straight line with something curved at the end of it [and this description, all that she was sure of, is so far correct]; once it came [here see the drawing at the left]—then it doubled, or reappeared, I don’t know which [referring to the upper right drawing] (am not sure of the curly edges) [and she was justified in her doubt. Probably the curly edges resulted from the intermingling of her surmise that the curved something at the end of a line might be a flower]. Then it was upside down.”