in that class of phenomena in which we
intently wish that a certain person shall do a certain thing, and lo! we
soon learn that that certain person has done it. A number of years ago, a
popular writer wrote an article in which he mentioned what seemed to him
to be a curious instance of some form of mental influence or telepathy. He
said that he had found out that if he would sit down and carefully write a
letter to some person from whom he had not heard for a long time, and then
destroy the letter instead of sending it, he would be almost certain to
receive a letter from that person within a few days. He did not attempt to
account for the phenomenon, he merely called the attention of his readers
to it. Many persons have followed the suggestion, often with very
wonderful results. There is nothing miraculous, or supernatural about such
occurrences. It is merely one phase of telepathy. The concentrated thought
of the writer of the letter is directed toward the other person, and that
person begins to think of the first one; then he thinks he will write to
him; then he actually does write. Distance, space, and direction have no
importance in this experiment--it is not necessary to even know where the
second person is, in fact.

There are often found persons so closely in psychic harmony with each
other that they very often are able to ask questions and receive answers
from each other, even though great distances separate them. Some
particular times there is a better psychic harmony existing between the
same persons than is found at other times. All this, of course, affects
the success of the experiment. It is surprising what wonderful results
along these lines may be obtained by almost any person of average
intelligence, after a little careful, patient, conscientious practice.

But there have been phenomena obtained as the result of long series of
careful experiments which are, in a way, even more wonderful than these
somewhat less deliberate experiments just mentioned. I allude to the
experiments of a number of earnest, careful scientific students, who
surrounded themselves with every precaution against over-enthusiasm,
fraud, and coincidence. Prominent among this class of investigations we
find those conducted by the Society for Psychical Research, of England,
which really established a firm basis for the work of other investigators
who followed the general methods of the said society. In the following
chapter, I shall gi