for Psychical Research it did appear to some of us for a time that we had obtained proof of an actual physical effluence from the person of the mesmerist. It was found possible with certain susceptible subjects to influence a particular finger, without the subject's knowledge, so as to paralyse it and make it insensitive even to tolerably severe pain. The subject's arms would be placed through a screen in such a manner that it was impossible for him to know which finger or fingers were selected for the purpose of the experiment, and the hypnotiser would then direct his eyes and hand, at a distance varying from a few inches to a few feet, towards the finger selected. If the experiment was successful—and it generally was so—the desired result would follow in a minute or two.
In explanation of this remarkable result, Mr. Gurney was inclined to assume a direct physical influence from the operator's hand affecting locally the nervous system of the subject: an influence, moreover, which was conditioned by the will, since if no result was willed, no result followed, notwithstanding the presence of the Operator's hand in close proximity to that of the subject.
Later experiments, however, by Mrs. Sidgwick and Miss Johnson have shown that the close proximity of the agent is not an essential condition. The results can be reproduced at a distance of twenty-five feet, or when a thick screen of glass is
