ASPR Journal, V14 - Iapsop.com

Experiments in Psychometry. 103
universally liked, and his influence is charming. He is a college
professor, learned and polished, and gives a great deal of his instruction
by lectures. She was strikingly correct in speaking of
his confidence in me, of his sterling worth, and his strong character.
He is a few months my junior; but I have always recognized his
earlier development, his far greater maturity in every way. Her
discrimination of this ·point strikes me as peculiarly interesting. If
she had read the letter, she could not have extracted any such idea.
Knowing the man's judicial cast of mind and his discretion in
speech, I was much impressed with the dumb show of balancing
the letter and the placing of the finger on the lips.
IV. I next gave Mrs. C. the letter on which she had made the
second experiment of the day before. She almost immediately began
to report her impressions. " Oh, this is a delightful influence.
This letter comes from a very spiritual-minded person. She prays
a great deal, and tries to live the highest, purest, sweetest life. She
lives in close communion with God-or thinks that she does. She
has some peculiar attitude towards you. She has the greatest, the
highest respect for you, with a sweet and tender affection. I feel
no impulse to touch you, as I did when I held the other letter,no
liberty to touch you. This woman is in frail health."
This test was the most satisfactory of all in its results; for, if
I understand the writer of the letter, (and I ought to, after an
intimate acquaintance of many years) there was no mistake in
the description. She is a frequent and always most welcome guest
at my house, and I am perfectly at home in hers, as she is the wife
of the writer of the letter with which the third test was made-my
most intimate friend.
I have written these pages in the midst of the distraction of
practice, but I think that I have given the essential facts. If I
have any other experiences, I will let you know.
I am interested to observe that Mrs. C's capacity for receiving
impressions seemed to increase with practice. The first and second
attempts were total failures, or appeared to me to be so; the third
was largely a success; the fourth was brilliantly accurate.
With kind regards, I remain
Very sincerely yours,
FREDERIC H. GERRISH.
Digitized by Coogle