and T., was 617. The correct number was given in 113 cases, the digits being given, however, in reverse order in 14 out of the 113 cases.[1] If the coincidences were due to chance alone the most probable number would have been 8. That is, it is proved beyond all possibility of doubt that in this particular series of experiments the success attained was due to some definite and uniform cause. In other words, if it can be conclusively shown that the percipient could not have obtained knowledge of the numbers by the ordinary processes of sensation, due allowance being made for the hyperaesthesia, especially of hearing, frequently met with in hypnotised subjects, the results point unmistakably to the existence of some hitherto unrecognised mode of communication. It is this hypothetical mode of communication which has been provisionally named Telepathy or Thought Transference.
It seems certain that the percipients, for the reasons already given, could not have seen the figures. It is not in fact difficult in such experiments to exclude the operation of sight. But it is a much more difficult matter to ensure that a hint of the number chosen shall not be given to the percipient by subconscious whispering or even, conceivably, by rhythmical movements of the agent's body. And the fact that when a curtain was interposed between the agent and percipient, or when they were placed
- ↑ Further, 9 of the succesful cases are recorded as having been "to some extent second guesses."
