TELEPATHY-FACT OR FICTION

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 154, 1 July 1924, Page 13

TELEPATHY-FACT OR FICTION

(To the Editor.) I Sir,—ln Berlin, in 1900, an eccentric ' old gentleman named Yon Osten, became possessed of a-Russian stallion, Hans (not the Hans previously referred to). Hans was remarkably intelligent and teachable. Yon Osten's method of edu- i eating him was this: He was brought to ! a table on which was placed first one, | then two, and then .several small skittles. Yon Osten knelt beside Hans, spoke the corresponding nun.bers, at the same time making him str.'ke as many blows with his foot as there were skittles on ' the table. The skitties were after- ; wards replaced by figures written on a blackboard. Results were astonishing. Hans was soon able to count, strike as many blows as he was asked, and do little sums. He progressed further, ' could tell musical notes, discords, colours, i the day of the week, and so on. In 1904 a scientific committee investigated the marvel. It consisted of professors of psychology and physiology, a director of a zoological garden, of a circus, veterinary surgeons, and cavalry officers. No explanation was given except that nothing suspicious was discovered. A j second committee was appointed. A learned psychologist, one of its number, reported that the horse obeyed the imperceptible, infinitesimal, and unconscious signs which escaped from Yon Osten during the tests. Yon Osten was broken-hearted at this, knowing better. He died in 1909, leaving Hans to a wealthy jeweller, Herr Krafl, in Elberfeld, Rhenish Prussia. He had plenty of time to continue the experiments. Krall bought two other horses, Arab stallions, Muhamed and Zarif, whose powers soon surpassed those of Hans. He improved on Yon Osten's educational methods. Within a fortnight of the first lesson Muhamed did simple addition and subtraction sums. He had learnt to distingnish the tens from the units, striking the units with his right foot and tens with his left. In four months he could extract square and cube roots, and soon after learnt to spell by means ; of an alphabet Krall .invented. The letter "E" was shown Muhamed, and at the same time pronounced, and he was made to strike one blow with his right foot and one with his left. Por "L" two blows with his left foot and three with Ms right, and so on. Muhamed and Zarif in this way reproeitrced words spoken in their presence. Other committees now investigated these st nge occurrences. ! The committee composing a large body of doctors, professors, and others, reported that the facts were as stated and that the experiments were conducted with absolute fairness. One of the numerous members, Dr. Charaf ede, of j Geneva, wrote that the' manifestations • were "the most sensational,events that' had ever happened in the psyeiological I world." Maeterlinck, the Belgian ! author, most charming of essayists, who . can take such well-worn themes as the dog, the bee, and, by his skill, turn them i into literary gems, with new beauties, | spent some time at Elberfeld, and con- I vinced himself of the genuineness of these performances. At first Maeterlinck . thought the whole thing was due to telepathy ..r some invisible intelligence not connected vlth either the horse or the tester. Later, as the marvels became greater and greater, he became con- i vinced that horses, in some cases at least, possessed an intelugence, hitherto un- j suspected, that in some respects sur- i passed his own. • He regards the tapping ' of this hitherto unknown reservoir of intelligence by Yon Osten and Krall as one of the most 'wonderful discoveries ever n.ade, and is thoroughly mystified as to how such faculties could be developed in the horse. It appears to the writer that most of the marvels vouched for may be due to telepathy—not by the ordinary mind, as with the blind dog Darkie, but, in addition, througu the operation of the subconscious or "subliminal" mind, as it is soi times called. It manifests someti: es in dreams, in hypnotic states, and in delirium. It appears to be a phase of mentality showing exaltation of certain faculties, as memory, music, calculation, etc. Maeterlinck admits his intense excitement at tlie uncanny things he evoked, and this may have stirred up his subliminal .memories and exalted his power of calculation. If this impressed the horse's mind the astonishing answers he received would be accounted for. Of course, the easiest way to explain these marvels is to deny them; to persuade ourselves that they never occurred; that the narrator is a liar or dupe; but such an attitude is untenable. It reminds mc of a man who was charged with horse stealing. He pleaded guilty, but a barrister, hastily engaged by his friends, with the judge's permission, withdrew the plea. After a long and laborious oration in defence, the judge summed up briefly: "Gentlemen of the jury, you have heard two verrons of this transaction. The prisoner, who was there when the horse was stolen, said he stole it, his counsel who was not there said lie didn't. It is for you to say which you believe." The great Belgian was there— the scoffers were not. The writer believes Maeterlinck.—l am, etc., J. W. POYNTON.