266 NEW BOOKS. condition. The chapter on Paranoia, particularly, is somewhat vague. The chapter on Dementia Paralytica, with its varying types and stages, is well done. Short sections are given to hysteria, neurasthenia, psych- asthenia and the senile psychoses. There is an excellent index. The references are copious and fully given at the foot of the pages. Apart from the somewhat vague sections referred to, the book forms an in- teresting introduction to a vast department of study. There are some excellent micro-photographs of cortical sections. W. LESLIE MACKENZIE. Thought Transference : A Critical and Historical Review of the Evidence for Telepathy, with a Record of New Experiments, 1902-3. By NORTHCOTE W. THOMAS, M.A. London : De La More Press, 1905. Pp. viii, 214. Crystal Gazing, Its History and Practice, with a Discussion of the Evi- dence for Telepathic Scrying. By the same. With an Introduction hy ANDREW LANG, M.A., LL.D. Pp. xlvii, 162. These are the first two of a series of small volumes in which Mr. Thomas proposes to sum up in an easily available form the evidence collected since the foundation of the Society for Psychical Kesearch in regard to such subjects as thought-transference, crystal-gazing, ghosts, etc. The volumes will deal with the evidence " critically but sympa- thetically," and their main purpose will be " to show what a reason- able man without bias in either direction may regard as proved " (Preface). The two before us are arranged on the same plan. An attempt is first made to combat prejudices (or what the author re- gards as such) which would largely discount the value of the whole inquiry beforehand. Next an explanation is given of the subject of inquiry and the relevant technical terms of " psychical research," such as subliminal, hallucination, illusion, etc. Finally the greater part of the volume is devoted to a statement of the evidence, historical and ex- perimental, for the phenomena under discussion. Of the two volumes, that on Thought Transference is the more important. As regards crystal- gazing the lack of exact experimental evidence has apparently con- strained the author to fill up with more loosely recorded experiences, which are of disputable value, and a collection of historical notices, which are of little interest to the general reader. In fact, unlike Mr. Lang, whose interesting Introduction to the volume concerns itself with crystal gazing proper, Mr. Thomas seems to attach more im- portance to its telepathic aspect. As regards thought transference, on the other hand, there is much more experimental material to report and discuss. And yet here, too, even the prejudiced reader, who expects little, can hardly but be surprised by the very meagre quantity and poor quality of the evidence offered. Mr. Thomas's own " sympathetic " treatment of the evidence does not carry him beyond the conclusion that " much more effort, and, in particular, much more systematic effort, is needed before we can safely assert that telepathy is a proved fact " (p. 176). And in view of this one cannot but think that he does less than justice to the reasonableness of the ordinary unbeliever's atti- tude in the matter. Apart altogether from a priori considerations of a metaphysical nature, we must at any rate try to maintain some sense of proportion. And when we are told that "we cannot demand more evidence for thought transference than we do for ordinary transmission of thought [by speech] " (p. 203), it is difficult to take the comparison seriously. By more evidence the author doubtless means evidence of a different kind. But even so the warning seems rather uncalled for.
