Practical Mind Reading.pdf

PRACTICAL

MIND-

READING

A Course of Lessons on

Thought-Transference, Telepathy,

Mental Currents,

Mental Rapport, &c.,

by William Walker Atkinson

Pdf version by TARKO The GREAT

Originally published in Philadelphia, Pa.,

U.S.A.

by The Lyal book Co. 1907

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Practical Mindreading

William Walker Atkinson

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LESSON I – THE NATURE OF MIND READING

A Plain, practical, scientific explanation of this vast,

Mysterious Subject, explaining the action ofMind upon

Mind, and the Mental Wireless Telegraphy, according to the

latest and best authorities.

LESSON II – THE PROOFS OF MIND READING

The result of the latest scientific experiments

andinvestigations regarding this subject; practical proof and

Indisputable facts.

LESSON III – CONTACT MIND READING

Full instruction regarding the "Nerve Currents" passing

from the human Transmitter to the human Receiver; Stated

so plainly that any one may instantly grasp the theory and

practice.

LESSON IV – DEVELOPMENT EXERCISES

How to develop yourself; how to grow proficient in

practice; how to find locations; how to find objects; how to

perform the necessary elementary feats, and thus prepare for

public work.

LESSON V – SIMPLE DEMONSTRATIONS

Public or parlor Demonstrations. Fourteen Practical

Demonstrations are explained; full directions for performing

them are given, so that the student may reproduce the

experiments and demonstrations.

LESSON VI – DIFFICULT DEMONSTRATIONS

Explanations and instructions gives for their performance.

The Banknote Test; The Blackboard Feats; Drawing

pictures; Telepathic Chess and Checkers, etc., described,

explained, and full instructions given for their reproduction.

LESSON VII – SENSATIONAL FEATS

The Driving Feat; the Combination Lock Feat; and many

other sensational demonstrations explained, together with

an exposure of "Fake Demonstrations."

LESSON VIII – HIGHER PHENOMENA

Demonstrations without contact. Development Directions.

Long Distance Experiments. Automatic Writing. Valuable

Suggestions and Advice.

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Practical Mindreading

William Walker Atkinson

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LESSON I.

THE NATURE OF MIND READING

O NLY a few years ago the general public was in almost

total ignorance of the great truth of Thought Transference,

Thought Projection, Telepathy, or Mind Reading. It is true

that here and there were to be found a few scientists

earnestly investigating and eagerly uncovering the hidden

truths concerning the subjects. But the mass of the people

were either entirely ignorant of the subject or else were

intensely skeptical of anything concerning the matter,

laughing to scorn the daring thinker who ventured to

express his interest or belief in this great scientific

phenomena.

But how different to-day. On all hands we hear of the

wonders of Thought Transference, or Telepathy, as it is

called. Scientific men write and teach of its fascinating

manifestations, and even the general public has heard much

of the new science and believes more or less in it, according

to the degree of intelligence and knowledge concerning the

subject possessed by the individual. Listen to these words

from the lips of some of the greatest scientists of the day.

Prof. William James, the eminent instructor at Harvard

University, says: "When from our present advanced

standpoint we look back upon the past stages of human

thought, whether it be scientific thought or theological

thought, we are amazed that a universe which appears to us

of so vast and mysterious a complication should ever have

seemed to anyone so little and plain a thing. Whether it be

Descarte´s world or Newton´s; whether it be that of the

materialists of the last century, or that of the Bridgewater

treatises of our own, it is always the same to us – incredibly

perspectiveless and short. Even Lyell´s, Faraday´s, Mill´s

and Darwin´s consciousness of there respective subjects are

already beginning to put on an infantile and innocent look."

These remarks are doubly significant by reason of their

having been made by Prof. James as the president of the

"Society for Psychical Research."

The eminent English scientist, Sir William Crookes, in his

address as president of the Royal Society, at Bristol,

England, a few years ago, said: "Were I now introducing for

the first time these inquiries to the world of science, I

should choose a starting point different from that of old,

where we formerly began. It would be well to begin with

telepathy; with the fundamental law, as I believe it to be,

that thoughts and images may be transferred from one mind

to another without the agency of the recognized organs of

sense – that knowledge may enter the human mind without

being communicated in any hitherto known or recognized

ways. Although the inquiry has elicited important facts with

reference to the mind, it has not yet reached the scientific

stage of certainty which would enable it to be usefully

brought before one of our sections. I will therefore confine

myself to pointing out the direction in which scientific

investigation can legitimately advance. If telepathy takes

place, then we have twp physical facts – the physical

change in the brain of A, the suggestor, and the analogous

physical change in the brain of B, the recipient of the

suggestion. Between these two physical events there must

exist a train of physical causes. Whenever the connecting

sequence of intermediate causes begins to be revealed, the

inquiry will then come within the range of one of the

sections of the British Association. Such a sequence can

only occur through an intervening medium. All the

phenomena of the Universe are presumably in some way

continuous, and it is unscientific to call in the aid of

mysterious agencies when with every fresh advance in

knowledge, it is shown that ether vibrations have powers

and attributes abundantly equal to any demand – even the

transmission of thought."

Prof. Crookes then went on to say: "It is supposed by some

physiologists that the essential cells of nerves do not

actually touch, but are separated by a narrow gap which

widens in sleep while it narrows almost to extinction during

mental activity. This condition is so singularly like that of a

Branly or Lodge coherer ( a device which has led Marconi

to the discovery of wireless telegraphy) as to suggest a

further analogy. The structure of brain and nerve being

similar, it is conceivable that there may be present masses

of such nerve coherers in the brain whose special function it

may be to receive impulses brought from without through

the connecting sequence of ether waves of appropriate order

of magnitude. Roentgen has familiarized us with an order of

vibrations of extreme minuteness compared with the

smallest waves of which we have hitherto been acquainted,

and of dimensions comparable with the distances between

the centers of the atoms of which the material universe is

built up; and there is no reason for believing that we have

here reached the limits of frequency. It is known that the

action of thought is accompanied by certain molecular

movements in the brain, and here we have physical

vibrations capable from their extreme minuteness of acting

direct upon individual molecules, while their rapidity

approaches that of the internal and external movements of

the atoms themselves."

A formidable range of phenomena must be scientifically

sifted before we effectually grasp a faculty so strange, so

bewildering, and for ages so inscrutable, as the direct action

of mind on mind. It has been said that nothing worth the

proving can be proved, nor yet disproved. True this may

have been in the past, it is true no longer. The science of our

century has forged weapons of observation and analysis by

which the veriest tyro may profit. Science has trained and

fashioned the average mind into habits of exactitude and

disciplined perception, and in so doing has fortified itself

for tasks higher, wider and incomparably more wonderful

than even the wisest among our ancestors imagined. Like

the souls in Plato´s myth that follow the chariot of Zeus, it

has ascended to a point of vision far above the earth. It is

henceforth open to science to transcend all we now think we

know of matter, and to gain new glimpses of a profounder

scheme of Cosmic Law. In old Egyptian days a well-known

inscription was carved over the portal of the Temple of Isis:

"I am whatever has been, is, or ever will be; and my veil no

man hath yet lifted." Not thus do modern seekers after truth

confront Nature – the word that stands for the baffling

mysteries of the Universe.

Steadily, unflinchingly, we strive to pierce the inmost heart

of Nature, from what she is, to reconstruct what she has

been, and to prophecy what she yet shall be. Veil after veil

we have lifted, and her face grows more beautiful, august

and wonderful with every barrier that is withdrawn.

Camille Flamarrion, the eminent French astronomer, is a

believer in Thought Transference and Mind Reading, and

has written the following statement of his convictions on

this subject: "We sum up, therefore, our proceeding

observations by the conclusion that, one mind can act at a

distance upon another, without the habitual medium of

words, or any other visible means of communication. It

appears to us altogether unreasonable to reject this

conclusion if we accept the facts. There is nothing

unscientific, nothing romantic, in admitting that an idea can

influence the brain from a distance. The action of one

human being upon another, from a distance is scientific fact;

it is as certain as the existence of Paris, of Napoleon, of

Oxygen, or of Sirius." The same authority has also said

"There can be no doubt that our psychical force creates a

movement of the ether, which transmits itself afar like all

movements of ether and becomes perceptible to brains in

harmony with our own. The transformation of a psychic

action into an ethereal movement, and the reverse, may be

analogous to what atkes place on a telephone, where the

receptive plate, which is identical with the plate at the other

end, reconstructs the sonorous movement transmitted, not

by means of sound, but by electricity."

We have quoted at length form this eminent authority to

show once and for all that this great science of MIND-

READING is recognized, and approved by the highest

authorities on Modern Science, and also to give our students

the benefit of the current scientific theories on the subject.

In this work we have but very little to say about theory, but

shall confine ourselves to facts, and actual instruction.

Science knows and has proven that thoughts may be and

have been transmitted from one mind to another, in some

cases over thousands of miles of space, but it has not as yet

solved the mystery of the "Why" of the subject, and

contents itself with explaining the "How." The nearest

approach to a correct theory seems to be the onre which

compares the mind with the wireless telegraph," and which

supposes that the vibrations of thought travel through ether,

just as do the waves of this higher order of electricity. The

mind of one person acts like a "transmitter" of the wireless

telegraph, while the mind of the other acts as a "receiver" of

the same set of instruments.

There are undoubtedly vibrations set up in the brain when

one thinks, and there are undoubtedly waves of thought just

as there are waves of electricity. Science informs us that

there is an increase in temperature in the human brain

during periods of thought activity, and also that there are

constant chemical changes in the structure going on when

the brain cells are active. This is akin to the generation of

electricity in a battery, and undoubtedly acts in the same

way producing vibrations, and transmitting them to the

brain of another. Sir William Crookes, in the address just

noted, points out the direction of the scientific theories

concerning the matter. But, this is all that we shall have to

say about the theory of Mind Reading. We shall now pass

on to the actual practical instruction. The student is asked,

however, to always carry in his mind the fact that Mind

travels in waves from one brain to another just as electricity

travels from the transmitter to the receiver. By holding this

picture in your mind, you will have the whole practical

theory, in condensed form, right before you, so that you

may be able to act accordingly.

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Practical Mindreading

William Walker Atkinson

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LESSON II

THE PROOFS OF MIND READING

A S WE have said in the previous chapter, the general

public is gradually awakening to the knowledge of the

reality of Mental Transference, and it is scarcely necessary

to devote the time and space to a proof of the reality of the

phenomena in these days, although a few years ago a work

on the subject would have had to be composed principally

of evidences and proofs. But, nevertheless, it may be well

for us to take a hasty look at the nature of the proof in this

work.

Nearly everyone has had evidence of Mind Reading or

Thought Transference in his or her own life. Nearly

everyone has had experiences of being in a persons

company when one of the two would make a remark and the

other somewhat startled, would exclaim, "Why, that´s just

what I was going to say, " or words to that effect. Nearly

everyone has had experiences of knowing what a second

person was going to say before the person spoke. And,

likewise common is the experience of thinking of a person a

few moments before the person came into sight. Many of us

have suddenly found ourselves thinking of a person who

had been out of our minds for months, or years, when all of

a sudden the person himself would appear. These instances

are so common as to be generally recognized without

question. These occurrences have given rise to the two

common "sayings," viz., "Speak of the devil and his imps

appear," or "Speak of angels and you hear the rustle of their

wings."

Mark Twain, in an article printed several years ago, spoke

of a plan that he had frequently practiced, i.e, that of writing

a letter to a person upon some subject, then addressing the

envelope and inserting the letter, and then tearing the whole

thing into pieces instead of sending it. He stated that in a

large percentage of such cases he would receive within a

short time a letter from the person to whom the destroyed

letter had been addressed, answering the questions asked, or

else speaking along the same lines as those of the destroyed

letter. We have known of this experiment being tried on

people thousands of miles away from the writer, and also in

cases in which the other person had not been heard of for

many years. There is a field open for experiment along

these lines which some of our students might investigate

with profit and satisfaction.

Perhaps the best available evidence of Mind Reading at the

disposal of the public to-day is that found in the records of

the English Society for Psychical Research. The

experiments of the members of this Society and other

investigators have resulted in the piling up of a mass of

facts more than sufficient to fully establish the correctness

of the theory of Mind Reading. Series of carefully managed

experiments have been conducted, the results of which have

conclusively proven that the thought-waves set into motion

by the mind of one person may be consciously received by

the mind of another. We shall quote here from the reports of

those investigators, in order to show you the important

results that have been obtained, and to set at rest forever any

lurking doubts as to the reality of the phenomena which

may still find lodgement in your mind. Remember, please,

that these committees were composed of some of the

leading scientific authorities of England – men whose

standing and reliability, as well as whose judgement, was

beyond question. These cases form a part of the scientific

records of the English Society.

THE CREERY EXPERIMENTS

One of the interesting series of experiments conducted by

members of the English Society was that of the family of

the Rev. A.M. Creery, of Derbyshire. England. This

investigation was made upon hearing the report of the Rev.

Mr. Creery regarding a number of experiments he had

conducted with his four children. He reported that he had

begun by practicing a variation of what is generally known

as the "willing game," in which one of the party leaves the

room, and the company selects some object to be hidden,

after which the person is recalled to the room when the

company concentrates its mind upon the hidden object, and

the seeker eventually finds it by means of Mind Reading.

The reverend gentleman said in his report to the Society:

"We began by selecting the simplest objects in the room;

then chose names of towns, people, dates, cards out of a

pack, lines from different poems, etc., any thing or series of

ideas that those present could keep before the mind steadily.

The children seldom made a mistake. I have seen seventeen

cards chosen by myself, named right in succession without

any mistake. We soon found that a great deal depended

upon the steadiness with which the ideas were kept before

the minds of the thinkers, and upon the energy with which

they willed the ideas to pass. I may say that this faculty is

not confined to the members of one family; it is much more

general than we imagine. To verify this conclusion I invited

two of a neighbour´s children to join us in our experiment,

and very excellent results we secured from them."

The Society then began a series of careful investigations

extending over a period of one year. The utmost care was

taken to obviate the chance of fraud, collusion, mistakes, or

outside influences. The experiments were conducted partly

in Mr. Creery´s house and partly in rooms selected by the

members of the investigation committee. Having selected at

random one of the children, the child would be taken from

the room and accompanied by a member of the committee

would wait out of sight or hearing of the room. The

remainder of the committee would then select a card from

the pack, or else write down a name or number which

occurred to them at the moment. The following verbatim

report of what followed will give you an idea of the results

generally obtained. The report goes on to say:

"On re-entering the room the little girl would usually stand

with her face to the wall, placed thus by us. But sometimes

she would stand with her eyes directed toward the ground

for a period of silence varying from a few seconds to a

minute, till she called out to us some number, card or what

it might be." The report states that in the case of giving the

names of objects chosen, the child scored six cases out of

fourteen. In the case of naming of small objects held in the

hands of members of the committee, she scored five out of

six. In the case of naming cards she scored six out of

thirteen. In the case of stating fictitious names chosen by the

committee she scored, at a first trial, five out of ten.

One of the experiments is reported as follows:

"One of the children was sent into an adjoining room, the

door of which was closed. The committee then thought of

some object in the house and wrote the name down on

paper. The strictest silence was observed. We then all

silently thought of the name of the thing selected. In a few

seconds the door of the adjoining room opened, and the

child would appear generally with the object selected. No

one was allowed to leave the room after the object had been

fixed upon; no communication with the child was

conceivable, as her place was often changed. Further, the

only instructions given to the child were to fetch some

object in the house that we would fix upon and would keep

in mind to the exclusion of all other ideas. In this way we

wrote down, among other things, a hairbrush – it was

brought; an orange – it was brought; a wine-glass – it was

brought; an apple – it was brought," etc., etc.

The report to the Society sums up the following results:

Three hundred and eighty-two trials were made in the

series. In the test of naming the chosen letters of the

alphabet, cards, and numbers of two figures, the chances

against the girl were 21 to 1, 51 to 1, and 89 to 1,

respectively. In the case of stating chosen surnames the

odds against her were very much in excess of the figures

just named. In the cases of the experiments of naming

chosen cards it was calculated that a mere "guesser,"

according to the law of probability, would be able to

correctly name but seven and one-third out of a total of the

three hundred and eighty-two trials. The actual results

obtained by the child were as follows: On the first attempt,

one hundred and twenty-seven; on the second attempt, fifty-

six additional, and on the third attempt, nineteen additional

– making a grand total of two hundred and two successes

out of a possible three hundred and eighty-two! On one

occasion five cards straight running were successfully

named on a first trial. The mathematical chances of a mere

"guess" doing this feat, under the Law of Average, or

Probabilities, are estimated at over a million to one against

the chance. And this was not merely an isolated, exceptional

case, for there were other "long runs"; for instance, there

were two cases in which runs of eight straight consecutive

successes were scored once with names, and once with

cards. In the case of the eight consecutive cards it ha been

figured that the chances against the girl would figure up at

least 140,000,000 to 1, according to the Law of Average

and Probabilities. To understand just what this means it may

help you if you will think that the feat was like picking out

one chosen man in a population of one hundred and forty

millions, nearly double the population of the United States.

And yet there are people who would dismiss matters like

this with the remark, "mere coincidence"!

the interest in the Creery children attracted the notice of

Prof. Balfour Stewart, LL.D., and Fellow of the Royal

Society. This distinguished gentleman testifies as follows:

"In the first instance, when I was present, the thought-reader

was outside a door. The object or thing thought of was

written on paper and silently handed to the company in the

room. The thought reader was then called in, and in the

course of perhaps a minute the answer was given. Definite

objects in the room, for instance, were first thought of, and

in the majority of cases the answers were correct. These

numbers were thought of and the answers were generally

right, but, of course, there were some cases of error. The

names of towns were thought of, and a good many of these

were right. Then fancy names were thought of. I was asked

to think of certain fancy names and mark them down and

hand them around to the company. I then thought of, and

wrote on paper, "Bluebeard," "Tom Thumb," "Cinderella,"

and the answers were all correct."

Subsequent experiments with the Creery children, at the

house of the well known investigator, Mr. F.W.H. Myers, at

Cambridge, England, proved equally successful. The

children, and their ages, were as follows: Mary, 17; Alice,

15; Maud, 13. the percentage of successes obtained at Mr.

Myers house tallied very well with those obtained

elsewhere. One remarkable result was obtained, though, that

had not been obtained before. On one occasion the child

was asked to name the "suit" of cards chosen one after

another. That is, of course, the child was asked to name

which suit, "hearts," "diamonds," "clubs," or "spades," were

shown of the card drawn and seen by the committee, and

then thought of. On this occasion the child scored a run of

fourteen straight running, consecutive successes. The

chances against this success were 4,782, 969 to 1.

We will close by mentioning another remarkable series of

experiments conducted by the same Society. The Mind

Reader was Mr. G.A Smith, of England. Among other

startling feats successfully performed by Mr. Smith, that of

the reproduction of Geometrical Figures was perhaps the

most remarkable. In this feat Mr. Smith sat blindfolded, in a

room belonging to the committee, with a pad of paper

before him and a member of the committee on each side of

him. A selected member of the committee then would go

outside of the room, and behind a closed door would draw

some geometrical figure at random. Returning to the room

the figure would be shown to the committee, and also to Mr.

Douglas Blackburn, who acted as the transmitter for Mr.

Smith, the latter being known as the Receiver. The

Transmitter, with closed eyes, now took his position

immediately back of Mr. Smith, but at a distance of two feet

from him, no contact being allowed, this precaution being

taken to obviate charges of confederacy, etc. The

Transmitter would then concentrate his mind intently for a

few minutes, and in a short time Mr. Smith would receive

the impression of the mental image in the mind of the

Transmitter, and would begin to attempt to reproduce it on

paper. In the series of experiments running over a period of

four days thirty-seven drawings were made, of which only

eight were considered unsuccessful. Twenty-nine successes

out of a possible thirty-seven, remember.

The committee reports that it took all the precaution to

guard against secret signals, etc., and that confederacy,

fraud, collusion, or similar methods were out of the

question. The eight cases of failure consisted of four cases

in which Mr. Smith received no impression, and therefore

could not reproduce the drawing; and four cases in which

the drawing was so vague and imperfect as to be called a

total failure. Some of the figures were grotesque, unusual,

and complicated, but all were reproduced in a more or less

perfect manner. The drawing was made deliberately and

without deliberation, and as if Smith had actually seen the

figure shown to the Transmitter a few moments before. On

one occasion, in order to be doubly guarded against

collusion, they closed Mr. Smith´s ears with putty, tied a

bandage around his eyes and ears, pulled a bolster-case over

his head, and then covered him all over with a blanket

which completely enveloped his body and head. And under

these extraordinary conditions he reproduced the figures

with his usual success.

We could proceed relating case after case, experiment after

experiment, conducted by these scientific bodies of learned

and careful men. But the story would be no more

convincing than that related above. And, after all, there is a

method of satisfying yourself that is far more conclusive

than the reading of any results of experiments of others –

and that is to learn to perform the feats of Mind reading

yourself. By means of a very little practice you will be able

to reproduce many of the demonstrations of the public

performers, as well as the experiments of the scientific

societies, and then when you have realized that you can do

these things you will need no further proof of the reality of

the science of Mind Reading.

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Practical Mindreading

William Walker Atkinson

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LESSON III.

"CONTACT" MIND READING.

M IND READING is divided by the authorities into two

general classes, viz., "Contact" Mind Reading and

"Telepathic" Mind Reading.

The first of these classes, "Contact" Mind Reading, is

demonstrated by physical contact between the Transmitter

(or active agent) and the Receiver (or passive agent) in

order to afford an easy channel for the passage of the

vibrations, thought-waves, nerve-currents, or magnetism of

the Transmitter (according to the several theories favored by

scientists). The second class, "Telepathic" Mind Reading, is

demonstrated by the transferral of the "waves," "vibrations,"

"currents," or "magnetism" of the Transmitter to the

Receiver over the ether, through space (often for thousands

of miles) without the more convenient "wires" of the nerves

of the two agents.

You will readily see that two classes of phenomena closely

resemble the two classes of telegraphic phenomena, i.e., the

"wire" system and the "wireless" system. There is a striking

analogy between electric phenomena and mental force

phenomena all the way through the subject, and this subject

of Mind Reading is simply one of the many forms of the

resemblance.

We shall begin by giving you instructions in the first form –

Contact Mind Reading, as it is the simplest and most easy of

accomplishment and demonstration. And besides, the best

Telepathists have been trained by means of the practice of

Contact Mind Reading at the start. One leads to the other,

just as the ordinary wire telegraph naturally led to the

"wireless" system, which is even now but in its infancy.

At this point we wish to point out to you a most grievous

error, and unjust judgement, that certain so-called scientists

and investigators have fallen into regarding this matter of

Contact Mind Reading. In order to give you a clearer idea of

the nature of this error, we must call your attention to the

fact that Contact Mind Reading has been given much

publicity through the advertisements and performances of

several celebrated public performers, and their lesser-light

imitators.

These performers, like many others, have sought to give an

attractive public entertainment rather than a scientific

demonstration, and some of them have found it much easier

to "fake" some of the demonstrations rather than to perform

them according to scientific principals. And the careful

investigators soon discovered that in certain cases there was

no Mind Reading at all, but only a clever imitation which

was styled "Muscle Reading." In other words, instead of the

performer receiving his mental impressions from the mind

of the Transmitter, over the nervous system of other

persons, he would push up against him, and by a clever

system of pushing, pulling, leading, and leaning would

detect the muscular movements of the Transmitter, and by

careful practice would learn to interpret these movements so

as to get an indication of the location of the hidden objects

and practically be led or pushed towards the spot. But even

in these cases, the performer would of necessity have to

employ more or less genuine Contact Mind Reading to

finish the feats. The only advantage the performer gained by

resorting to these unfair methods was that it was less

fatiguing to his mind and enabled him to "fake" through the

performance with less mental wear and tear.

The investigators, easily discovering the above mentioned

"faking" performances, came to the conclusion that the

whole thing was a "fake," and could be explained by the

"muscle reading" theory entirely. And so the news was

spread broadcast, and you will find a number of books

written explaining Contact Mind Reading on this

hypothesis. Of course some of the public may prefer to

accept this erroneous theory, but we wish to say here

positively that if any person will honestly investigate for

himself, and will learn to make the demonstrations

personally, he or she will soon discover that "muscle

reading" has nothing to do with the genuine phenomena.

The proof of the thing is in the doing of it, and you may

learn the truth for yourself if you will but try the feats and

demonstrations, herein given, just as we teach them. The

result of such practice will cause you to feel with us the

indignation arising from the attempts to belittle a noble

scientific principle, and practice, by an explanation arising

from the witnessing of "fake" imitations of the real thing.

The truth is that the muscles have nothing to do with the

passage of mental currents or waves from the Transmitter to

the Receiver any more than they have to do with the

transmission of nervous sensations from body to brain, or

the motor impulses from brain to body. When you wish to

close your hand you send a nervous current from your brain

to the muscles controlling your hand. The current travels

along the nervous system, and is by it distributed over the

muscles causing them to contract. A current from a galvanic

battery will cause the muscles to act in the same way. But

the muscle is the machinery affected and set into motion,

and the nerves are the delicate telegraphic wires leading to

the parts.

And so it is with this transmission of the mental waves and

currents. The brain of the Transmitter, aroused by his active

will, sends a powerful current or wave through his nervous

system. When it reaches the extremity of his fingers it leaps

over the tiny space separating his nerves from the nerves of

the Receiver, and enters the nervous system of the latter,

and influences his actions. The Receiver being in a passive

condition, and his brain sending practically no impulses

over his nerves, he is in a receptive condition to the

imparted nervous current, which acts upon him something

like an impulse from his own brain, only weaker. That is the

whole secret of Contact Mind Reading. It is "Nerve

Reading" if you like, but certainly not Muscle Reading.

The tips of the fingers of a person of fine sensibilities, and

delicate touch, are known by anatomists to be filled with

masses of nerve-matter similar to that forming parts of the

brain. In fact they are tiny finger-brains, and they will send

out, convey, and receive delicate impulses from one mind to

another. Those of you who have experienced the peculiar

touch of some persons of this kind, can bear witness to the

fact that a subtle "magnetism" or current passed from them

to you.

This is a fact well known to investigators of psychic

phenomena, and such people laugh at the crude "muscle

reading" theories, for they have disproved them repeatedly

in actual careful experiments. And you may do the same, if

you will practice the demonstrations given in this book. The

fact that the developed Contact Mind Reader usually walks

ahead of his Transmitter, instead of being led by him; and

that he usually allows the latter´s arm to hang limp, instead

of muscularly contracted, is another proof of the absurdity

of the theory above mentioned. Besides this, wires may be

used between the two persons, or even a third person may

be placed between them. But, as we have said, after all the

best and only real test is to try the experiments yourself and

learn that "muscle reading" has nothing to do with the real

phenomena.

The experimenter will soon find that when he gets into the

work and is engaged in a search for a hidden object, by

means of Mind Reading, he will forget all about the

Transmitter. He will almost forget where he is, and will feel

himself floating and gliding over the floor and scarcely

touching it with his toes. He will find himself drawn or

impelled irresistibly toward the hidden object, as if by some

outside energy or fine force. He will feel the hidden object

drawing him like a magnet, and attracting him to the spot.

He will forget his audience, and everything else, in his

desire to reach the Centre of Attraction. These experiences

cannot well be explained in print, but the investigator will

soon learn to know them for himself, and he will be amazed

and filled with wonder at the strange psychical phenomena

in which he is taking a principal part.

And, then, and then only will he be able to intelligently

reject the absurd and unjust theories of "muscle reading,"

and to see the crudeness of the attempted explanation. He

will see that the foolish theory is as far out of the way as the

ignorant person´s idea that the telegraph messages are sent

by the wires being "pulled" or "jerked," instead of being just

channels for the passage of the electric fluid, or magnetic

waves. He will class such pretending scientists with those

"doubting Thomases" who, when gas was first introduced in

the British House of Parliament, insisted that the pipes

rendered the building unsafe, because they would become

heated by the passage of the light; and who when the system

was first seen in operation, would gently feel the pipe with

their gloved fingers, wondering why they felt no heat. We

trust that we have said enough to convince you of the

ridiculousness of the "muscle reading" theory, and to give

you sufficient interest to demonstrate the matter for

yourself.

Many of our readers have witnessed the public

performances of the several well-known "Contact" Mind

Readers who have visited the leading cities of this country

and other lands. Of course, the average public performer

soon discovers that the average patron of his performance

attends principally to be amused, and entertained, rather

than to be instructed. And he is apt to gradually add

sensational features to the performance, for the purpose of

thrilling and mystifying the audience, knowing that by so

doing he will better please his patrons than if he were to

give them a strictly scientific demonstration of the science

of Contact Mind Reading as produced in the psychological

laboratories of the great investigators of the subject. Some

of these public performers have even gone so far as to add

"fake" features to their performance, employing

confederates, and in other ways introducing unscientific

methods in order to intensify the interest and satisfaction of

their audiences.

But notwithstanding this fact, the average public Mind

Reader, in spite of his sensational additions, generally gives

his audience enough of the "real thing" to render his

performance of sufficient scientific interest to make it

worthy of attendance by the earnest student of the subject

and we believe that the time is approaching when a strictly

scientific performance will prove of sufficient interest to the

public to render it worth while for a new class of

entertainers and lecturers to arise and take the field,

instructing the public regarding their great subject and

illustrating their theories by striking experiments along

scientific lines. And we think that this little book will do its

part in the direction of educating the public mind to

appreciate such an entertainment, as well as serving to

educate future entertainers for their life work.

However, in this little book, we shall treat the subject as if a

parlor demonstration was all that is desired, and our

instructions and directions shall be chiefly toward that end,

although we wish to say that any man or woman who will

carefully study these instructions and directions, and who

will carefully practice the feats and exercises, will be able to

gradually develop sufficient ability and skill to give a

successful public performance, and perhaps reap a goodly

share of fame and financial reward. The principles of the

parlor demonstration, and the public performance are the

same. These same instructions and directions have been

studied and applied by some of the best performers now

before the public, illustrating the wonders of Contact Mind

Reading. So that if any of the students of this work have

ambitions in the direction of public performance, they will

find herein the methods calculated to develop them into a

successful public entertainer and demonstrator.

Anyone may develop himself, or herself, into a good

Contact Mind Reader by practice, and perseverance. As in

everything else in life, some will succeed better than others;

and some will find the work easier than do others, but all

may develop quite a respectable degree of proficiency in a

short time. A little careful, conscientious practice and

experiment will accomplish wonders.

Mind Reading feats depend upon the Will and

Concentration on the part of the Transmitter, and upon the

degree of Receptivity and Passivity of the Receiver. We are

taking it for granted that the student will wish to act as a

Receiver (or Performer of the feat of Mind Reading) rather

than as the Transmitter (or person called upon to have his

mind read). And so we shall address him as such, with this

understanding. But we shall also give herein full directions

for the Transmitter, as well, in order to give the student the

methods necessary to act in either capacity, and to also

enable him to instruct the Transmitter in his work. The

Receiver should understand the duties of the Transmitter, in

order that the best possible results be obtained, and the

proper harmony and rapport conditions may be established.

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