OCR Text |
Show ? LATEST SCIENTIFIC MARVEL I i Machines That Weigh Thoughts and j J Measure Senses. c &w l"f W""Tf "f ("w Amongst tho wonders of modern science must surely ho Included certain cer-tain Instruments and machines lately Invented, by means ot which senses and thoughts can bo measured and weighed, nnd hitherto mysterious secrets se-crets connected with tho humnn brain revealed. In fact, so remnrkablo hnvo been tho results of uxporlmonts with those machines that doctors and scientists of both thu European nnd American continents havo united ln declnrlng them to bo tho most Impor tant discoveries of tho nge. Perhaps tho most Interesting ot these Instruments Is ono by which tho f This Machine Will Weigh the Thoughts of the Subject Who Lies Flat on His Back, speed and duration of thought can ho determined. Tho subject sits with his hand on an electric switch, connected with nn electric clock, which measures tho smallest fraction of n second. Immediately Im-mediately in front Is nn upright metal tube, Inside of which runs a slender rod of steel, whllo directly opposite the eyes of tho subject Is nn opening In tho tube. As tho rod slides down tho Interior of tho tube a whlto disc appears at tho orlllco. Tho exact second sec-ond this appears tho rod touches a spring nt the bottom of tho tube nnd the clock Is set In motion. The subject sub-ject Is Instructed to stop tho clock Just ns soon as tho whlto disc nppears. This ho does for thirty times. Tho length ot tlmo reuulred for him to do this Is noted, and nn nvcrago struck. This average Is called his physiological physiolog-ical time. Tho subject is then told thnt tho disc appearing may ho a colored one. If so, lie Is to stop tho clock. Should It bo white, however, ho Is to pay no attention to it. Tho time required to stop tho clock nt tho appearance of n colored disc Is always longer, and when the physiological tlmo Is subtracted sub-tracted from tho longer tlmo tho remainder re-mainder Is called tho mental tlmo or, In other words, It represents tho tlmo of tho object fixing Itself on the eye, Its passage along tho optic nerve to tho brain, and tho action of tho brain aod Impulse of the will directing, through the nerves, tho finger to net. In addition to measuring tho speed , By the Use of This Instrument the Speed and Duration of Thought Can Be Measured, and duration of thought, howover, It Is qulto possible, with tho aid of another an-other wonderful scientific Invention, to actually weigh thu thoughts. This machine might bo best described as a shallow coin n, exactly balanced on knlfo-blndes so us to gently rock llko n perfectly poised sou-saw. Tho subject sub-ject Is placed stiplno within tho shallow shal-low tray, and nfter his body has como to rest weights arc shifted until an even balance Is maintained. Graduated Gradu-ated scales, spirit-levels, nnd Indicators Indicat-ors betray tho slightest dlsturbanco of tho subject's equilibrium. To havo your thoughts weighed by this machine, you lie flat upon tho shallow coinn with your hands nt your sides. Tho operator will then ask you to think of love, hate, Jealousy, or any other of the humnn passions. As you do so you will llnd your head falling, fall-ing, your feet rising, nnd tho piano of your equilibrium so altered that, wero It not for tho stop catch on tho scale, you would find yourself turning a somersault. The opposite result follows fol-lows when the operntor asks you to think of running,. Jumping or kicking. In this enso you feet will sink and your bond rlso ln proportion to tho Intensity In-tensity of your thoughts. This effect Is brought about by tha action of thought on the blood ot tha body. Tho mnchino Is, In fact, a keyboard key-board to thu brain, enabling tho operator oper-ator to follow tho course and speed of tho ncrvo telegrams sent by tha brain to the henrt, ond then to follow whnt havo been described ns tho "hur ry up" orders of thu heart for a new supply of blood corpuscles In whatever what-ever part of tho body they may bo needed. It Is also qulto posslblo with this unlquo Instrument to compare mental processes. It may bo made to show. This Strange-Looking Contrivance Registers the Sense of Touch, for Instance, whether multiplying 789 by 5C brings moro blood to tho brain than multiplying tho samo number by 20; whether the brain which Is working work-ing out n problem in trigonometry weighs moro than one which Is following fol-lowing tho lines of a puzzle In geom-etiy; geom-etiy; whether happy thoughts weigh moro or less than unhappy ones, and, perchance, whether bad thoughts are wolghtlor than thoso which nro puro and virtuous. Almost us remnrkablo as cither ot tho afore-mentioned Instruments Is one which has been Invented for measuring meas-uring tho sens'o of touch. This Instrument Instru-ment consists of Uttlo discs, each thrco millimetres ln diameter, suspended sus-pended by lino, delicnto thread from wooden handles, which aro stuck Into holes round a block. Tho lightest disc Is taken out and touched on the skin, tho subject having his eyes closed. If nothing Is felt, tho next heavier disc is used, and so on until tho pressure pres-sure Is noticeable. Tho discs weigh from ono to twenty milligrams, and with their aid It has been proved that tho senso of touch In an nverage person per-son Is conveyed by two mlllgrams on the forehead, temple and back of forearm; fore-arm; five for nosu nnd chin, nnd fifteen fif-teen for tho Inner surface of the lingers. lin-gers. London Tlt-Dlts. |