In the four cases which follow the impression was of a well-marked visual character; reaching, indeed, in the two last to the level of actual hallucination. It should be observed that in none of these four cases is the possibility of chance coincidence so entirely precluded as in many of the experiments at close quarters already cited. In the first of the cases recorded by Dr. Gibotteau (No. 40), and in some of Mr. Kirk's experiments (No. 37), the luminous patches seen by the percipients are not unlike rudimentary hallucinations of a sufficiently common type, and their resemblance in these instances to the objects actually looked at or thought of by the agents should not therefore be pressed very far. In the other cases, however, the percipient received a well-marked impression of a definite object. But here there is a flaw of another kind. The coincidences may have been due, as indeed Miss Campbell (No. 35) is careful to suggest, to a lucky shot on the part of the percipient at the object the agent would be likely to choose. The very distinct nature of the impression produced in each case upon the percipient, as contrasted with the vague images called up, e.g. in Miss Campbell's case, by more or less conscious conjecture, is, however, against this interpretation; and the fact that in the first narrative the experiments quoted were the culmination of a successful series of experiments at close quarters tells in favour of a telepathic explanation for these also.
No. 35.—By MISS CAMPBELL and MISS DESPARD.
A series of experiments in thought-transference at close quarters had been carried on by the narrators at intervals from November 1891 to October 1892. In sending the account of these experiments at a distance, Miss Campbell explains that in the trial on October 25th, "there was first an auditory impression, as if some one had said the word 'gloves,' and then the gloves themselves were visualised."
(No. 1.) "June 22nd, 1892.
"Arranged that R. C. Despard should, when at the School of Medicine in Handel Street, W.C., between 11.50 and 11.55, fix her attention upon some object which C. M. Campbell, at 77 Chesterton Road, W., is by thought-transference to discover."
PERCIPIENT'S ACCOUNT.
"Owing to an unexpected delay, instead of being quietly at home at 11.50 A.M., I was waiting for my train at Baker Street, and as just at that time trains were moving away from both platforms, and there was the usual bustle going on, I thought it hopeless to try on my part; but just while I was thinking this I felt a sort of mental pull-up, which made me feel sure that Miss Despard was fixing her attention, and directly after I felt 'my—compasses—no, scalpel,' seemed to see a flash of light as if on bright steel, and I thought of two scalpels, first with their points together, and then folding together into one; just then my train came up.
"I write this down before having seen Miss Despard, so am still in ignorance whether I am correct in my surmise, but as I know what Miss Despard would probably be doing at ten minutes to twelve, I feel that that knowledge may have suggested the thought to me—though this idea did not occur to me until just this minute, as I have written it down.
"C. M. CAMPBELL.
"77 Chesterton Road, W."
AGENT'S ACCOUNT.
"At ten minutes to twelve I concentrated my mind on an object that happened to be in front of me at the time—two scalpels, crossed with their points together—but in about five minutes, as it occurred to me that the knowledge that I was then at the School of Medicine might suggest a similar idea to Miss Campbell, I tried to bring up a country scene, of a brook running through a field, with a patch of yellow marsh marigolds in the foreground. This second idea made no impression on Miss Campbell—perhaps owing to the bustle around her at the time.
"R. C. DESPARD."
(No. 2.) "October 25th, 1892.
"At 3.30 P.M. R. C. Despard is to fix her attention on some object, and C. M. Campbell, being in a different part of London, is by thought-transference to find out what that object is."
PERCIPIENT'S ACCOUNT.
"At 3.30 I was at home at 77 Chesterton Road, North Kensington, alone in the room.
"First my attention seemed to flit from one object to another while nothing definite stood out, but soon I saw a pair of gloves, which became more distinct till they appeared as a pair of baggy tan-coloured kid gloves, certainly a size larger than worn by either R. C. D. or myself, and not quite like any of ours in colour. After this I saw a train going out of a station (I had just returned from seeing some one off at Victoria), almost immediately obliterated by a picture of a bridge over a small river, but I felt that I was consciously thinking and left off the experiment, being unable to clear my mind sufficiently of outside things."
AGENT'S ACCOUNT.
"At 3.30 on October 25th I was at 30 Handel Street, Brunswick Square, W.C. C. M. C. and myself had arranged beforehand to make an experiment in thought-transference at that hour, I to try to transfer some object to her mind, the nature of which was entirely unspecified. I picked up a pair of rather old tan-coloured gloves—purposely not taking a pair of my own—and tried for about five minutes to concentrate my attention on them and the wish to transfer an impression of them to C. M. C.'s mind. After this I fixed my attention on a window, but felt my mind getting tired and therefore rather disturbed by the constant sound of omnibuses and waggons passing the open window.
"R. C. DESPARD.
"October 25th, 1892."
Miss Campbell writes later:—
"77 CHESTERTON ROAD, NORTH KENSINGTON, W.,
November 24th, 1892."With regard to the distant experiments, the notes sent to you were the only ones made. In the first experiment (scalpels) I wrote my account before Miss Despard's return, and when Miss Despard returned, before seeing what I had written [she] told me what she had thought of, and almost directly wrote it down.
"In the second experiment (gloves), I was just going to write my account when Miss Despard returned home, and she asked me at once, 'Well, what did I think of?' and I told her a pair of tan gloves—then sat down and wrote my account, and, when she read it through, she said, 'Yes, you have exactly described Miss M.'s gloves, which I was holding while I fixed my attention on them,' and then she wrote her account."
The next account is taken from the Annales des Sciences Psychiques, vol. iii. pp. 114-116. M. Hennique, the agent, had acted as agent in four experiments at a distance with another percipient in the previous year (Annales, vol. i. pp. 262-265). In the first the percipient saw vague lights, and finally a vase of flowers (very clear); the agent was looking at a lamp covered by a transparent shade, with a vase of flowers painted on it. In the second the percipient again saw vague lights, and then a luminous sphere; the agent was looking at the lamp globe placed on the table in full light. In the third, the percipient only saw brilliant lights, like stars or jewels; the agent was looking at the word Dieu, in big letters. In the fourth the percipient, to his astonishment, saw nothing; the agent had willed him to see nothing. In each case the percipient's impression was recorded in writing before any communication was received from the agent. In the present case, it will be seen, the percipient received, not the impression which the agent wished to transfer, but the image of another object within the agent's field of vision, and which had entered his thoughts in connection with this very experiment.
No. 36.—From M. LEON HENNIQUE and M. D.
"On Friday, the 8th of July last, my friend Hennique and I made a further experiment in telepathy. Hennique was away from Paris, and separated from me by a distance of 171 kilomètres. At midnight I wrote to Hennique the following letter:—