They held that though there might be genuine telepathy
in such cases, nevertheless, there was always the possibility of fraud or
collusion, or of unconscious muscular action on the part of the projector.
They demanded absolute and actual separation of the two persons, in order
that their experiments might be above suspicion. They were wise in this,
for while there is undoubtedly a psychic communication in the cases in
which there is the slight physical connection between the two persons (as
I shall point out to you a little further on), still the element of doubt
or suspicion must be entirely eliminated from a scientific test, in order
to render it valuable and valid.
They, therefore, confined their investigations in Telepathy to the two
following classes, viz.: (1) where actions are performed without physical
contact with the person willing; and (2) where some number, word, or card
is guessed apparently without any of the ordinary means of communication.
The investigators recognized the possibility that in the first of the
above-mentioned two classes of experiments there is a possibility of
suspicion of collusion, fraud, or unconscious suggestion, in the matter of
the motion of the eyes of the party, or some member of it, which might be
seized upon, perhaps unconsciously, by the recipient, and used to guide
him to the object which was being thought of by the projector or the
party.
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