Thought Reading.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXI, Issue 12583, 21 January 1905, Page 1 (Supplement)

Thought Reading.

Thought reading has an importance beyond that which'attaches to its value as a means of entertainnie&t. The transference of knowledge from one mind to another may. become possible under certain conditions, and there is ' no exaggeration in the assumption'that its utiHty in imparting instruction will be rendered apparent. Already. some t encouraging results have been obtained in .this direction. It has been applied'.to .th!&'training of the blind, deaf mute •.with 'a-certain measure of success. Mr W- TEL' Illingworth, the superintendent of a blind asylum at Edinburgh, and subsequently at ! -Manchester, had among his patients a litt'e boy, David Brown M'Lean, whd lost sight and hearing at the age of five/'and -, who, when he entered the asylum tlireevyears and a half later, had forgotten' how; to speak. The mere statement of/these. facts .indicates the enormous difficulty of'. communicating any sense of what was - desired to be conveyed. In teaching [.the 1. vowel sounds Mr- lllingworth • wis obliged to tickle the lad toi get " him to make any noise whatever— David tie .while, says Mr Illingworth, having#. haymg, : .' : !hpt" the slightest idea what I aftjr?';.--The: pupil had, however, in some qasgspeirnt the vowels and some consonants conceived the idea of 'Utilising'the '.'sympathetic influence,'%md secured'the. gervices. of -a smart lad, Robert Brunton,'. aged-' twelve, arid possessed of all his faiMties. % The'procedure followed was very'interesting. - When David came for his inorning lesson in articulation and lip. reading, Robert stood beside him, with strict injunctions to" keep his mind firmly fixed on the work in hand. "If I were teachipg~Dayid a new sound, syllable or word*" says 'Mr Illingworth, "then Robert had to think, intently of that and nothing else, keeping one hand on David's head or shoulder ail the time. And while I used David's-right .-hand on my larynx, his left hand was placed on Robert's lips, who was enunciating the same sound thatI was trying to make David imitatei. The .effect of this -double concentration of effort was, from .tife.first, little short of magical. The. essential ;Boutfds of most of the letters letters of the alphabet were mastered in a few weeks. " Short words of one sylla l ble followed,: then longer words of one syllable, and finally dissyllables." It was necessary that the attention of both Should be concentrated oh the matter in hand, a point;on which'it will be remembered, that Professor Grossi, and, indeed all those professing, thought reading, are very, insistent. If, Robert allowed his thoughts to wander. David's perception became coiTe--spondingly.obscured; and "he would at onco turn on./Rofierf with impatience and give him to understand that- he was failing in his duty. David now reads with ease and fairly correct pronunciation, and thoroughly enjoys a library ; book, writes a passable •letter ,of 'good composition in Braille, and, wcrks exercises :in the four simple rules of arithmetic. - He knits, sews, does bead work and wire work," is quite a passable gym- | nast, -and is -making good headway with type writing. If these results are. attainable with so many hindrances to inter- [ communication,-' it is not unreasonable • to i suppose that tinder normal conditions the [ transference ; of knowledge by thought [ should be among the possibilities of the fuI ture. '