Approved For Release 2000/08/11 CIA-RDP96-00792ROO0400100001-2 III BEYOND PARAPSYCHOLOGY The following point should be made: Phenomena evoked experih~entally in telepathy and clairvoyance tests, even with subjects who ar! not particularly gifted, have proven e statistically the existence of the psi faculty. We have called these results paranormal, as they draw on latent faculties which have not been previously revealed and which seem to obey certain psychological, physiological and, perhaps, even physical constants. Beyond these phenomena are others even more spectacular but which are apt to be more contested, which we should include in our discussion of the immense dornain open to human investigation. These are the spontaneous, rare and unusual cases which attract our aLtention. They imply extraordinary subjects, commonly known as "mediums." These phenomena surpass the paranormal ones which, as we have seen, run parallel to the normal conditions. Phenomena such as the colors of the aura and ectoplasm seem to be outside of our purpose, as sight can participate directly in perceiving them; but we must stress the fact that they are visible only to certain eyes. It is equally true that their conditions for appearing -in often half-dark rooms can easily lead to fraud and trickery as Robert Tocquet has so well described, and their razity implies that we should mistrust further the testimonies supporting them. Nevertheless, most of the time these testimonies were indisputable, as they came from physiologists and famous physicists who had Approved For Release 2000/08/11 CIA-RDP96-00792RO00400100001[41 studied certain great mediums and had applied strict laboratory C~ techniques. V_ 0 It seerns rather unfair to eliminate, a priori, the testimonies 0 of scientists who are adniired for their discoveries in fields recog- 0 nized by science and to reject their observations derived.from other T_ o experiments made in the same seriousness, under the pretext that 11, these concern phenomena going beyond our present understanding. 0 0 There even more so exists a transition between paranormal 0 phenomena and those that go beyond, just as there exists a transition X C14 between ordinary synesthesias and the paranormal phenomena we r.- have studied. 0 0 Our present investigation will not extend from the vision of c6 invisible colors, as those of the aura, up to the projection of colors 0) which can be materialized IL Starting from sensory transpositions, this brings us to the actual research into dermo-optic. sensitivity in which the scientific explanation underlines the fact that we have passed beyond parapsychology. I. Sensory Transpositions oo Let us say a few words first on sensory transpositions. In dis- cD cussing them, the expression "paroptic perception" is also used, by 0 -,~,hich we understand vision by means of other intermediaries than 0 0 sight, such as the top of the head, the hands, etc." N These transpositions are-and rightly so-considered as far (D U) above the normal. But we can readily see that they can be evoked co 4Q) and even explained, One is able to develop thern in selected subjects. In odier words, in certain privileged cases objective colors could be perceived by means other than by the usual optical channels. 0 Such cases have already been related to us from the 19th century LL and are considered as a transfer of vision from one sense to another: for example, to the sense of touch, which explains the term "sensory > 2 transposition." CL As these phenomena could be evoked especially by hypnosis, CL Jules Romains considered that hypnosis did nothing else but put into < 0 evidence a capacity inherent in all human beings. He advanced the 10. We wish to stress here again the fact that these phenomena occur very rarely and depend on very particular physical and mental conditions. (We shall see later that training can evoke analogous phenomena with ordinary subjects, i.e., without any particular characteristics.) [50] hypothesis that there could well be a veritable paroptic sense which permits seeing without the eyes. Similar observations were made, particularly in the USSR, cm indicating that there could exist not so much a vision proper but an -1L induction of color by impressions comparable to those of touch. For 00 this, the term "dermo-optic sensitivity" was created in the USSR. 0 1 ) Spontaneous Cases in the United States and Britain 14, Now, for further detail, we shall report certain facts whic d 0 have been minutely described by Father Herbert Thurston in his book Physical Phenomena of Mysticism. 04 Miss Mollie Fancher, born in New York in 1848, after baviriia) rs. finished her studies, did not leave her room for thirty y6i ~" An 0 incurable invalid, she became completely blind and s~ffercd from,6 nervous disorders. CD 0 A number of witnesses swore" that she could, just by touchingC1 di tinguish with infallible exactitude, the colors of wool for tapcstrym Is of wax and other items she used in her work. For a period of nine years, her right arm remained up in P rigid position bent in back of her head. She had retained sorne- control of her thumb and index finger and, to be able to do her- 66 work of sewing and making aritficial flowers, she had to raise beP right hand up over her heac~ healthy left arm to the height of her When she selected a skein of wool and wanted to "see" it, sbNQ ber of witnesse6 placed it behind the nape of her neck. A num obscrvcd her and the reports made by judge Abraham H. Daile1% (1) were confirmed by the attending physicians. (1) She was able to analyze all her impressions and her facultiM seemed to be "natural." The attending physicians noted that f08 ed practically no food. LL many years she consum ed her blindness and stated that, day an5 An oculist confirm night, her eyes were wide open without producing any tears secretions. He found that neither her crystalline lens nor pupils rEL CL acted to anesthesia or light tests. , A friend of Miss Fancher, Professor Charles E. West, A director of an important seminary, also believed in the gifts of this "sincere and convinced Christian" whose "double sight" confirmed [51] her faith, rejecting thereby the popular explanation of a demoniac possession. C*4 "She had," he wrote, "but one sense, that of touch. With 11L Q that she could read much faster than with eyesight. This she did by Q 0 C) running her fingers over the printed pages with equal case in light C) V_ or darkness. With her fingers, she could distinguish the photographs Q Q of persons, the faces of callers, etc." V Q As a point of interest, she "saw" and "read" with greater ease. Q Q when the room was dark and the other people present had great X difficulty in distinguishing the characters. C1*4 CD When asked how she was able to see, she always replied that I- Q she saw from the top of her head. The sharpness of her perception, Q however, did vary considerably according to the state of her health, (6 0) the temperature and other factors. But this sensitivity was not unique- IL ly due to hyperesthesia of touch since, according to one observer, all a X she had to do to know the time was to pass her hand over the I crystal of her watch. Dr. Henry Parkhurst, another observer, published in the New V_ York Herald a report of a decisive controlled experiment into check- V_ 00 ing Miss Fancher's faculty to "se 'e." A-printed slip of paper, chosen Q at random without anyone knowing its contents, was handed to her I a in a carefully sealed envelope. She stated that the paper dealt with a a "Court." She then "read" that it contained the numerals "6, 2, 3, 4." C*4 The envelope, the seal of which was intact, contained an extract a) 0 from a legal project. The word "court" was mentioned therein four M a) times, and it contained the numerals 6, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and no others. Z One could then conclude that there may exist a second "seeing X L_ faculty," independent of that of telepathy, the simple reading of 0 minds. LL Miss Fancher's purely paranormal faculties were also found > to be highly developed. At a time when she was most sensitive, she 0 L_ was able to name the colors of objects which were, for example, in CL CL the pocket of another person and which witnesses had not seen (thus definitely excluding any possible telepathic influence). She could even describe precisely events that took place in faraway cities or foresee future events. One day she informed a physician that he was in danger of being burglarized and advised him to be on guard. Sure enough, very shortly thereafter, he was robbed of a kit of very valuable instruments. A similar observation is reported by Father Herbert Thurston in the chapter "Extra-Ocular Vision" of his book. This time it con totally C~ cerns an English woman, Miss Croad, who in 1870 became blind, deaf and dumb, and, in addition, her left arm became Q paralyzed. Her physician, Dr. Davey, submitted her to a number of tests Q It and found her capable of perceiving, by touch alone, a variety Of C:1 C:1 small and large objects on any card or photograph. For example, she V Q placed a postcard or a photo on her chin or around her mouth or Q Q moved it over her forehead, and in doing so examined it thoroughly X with the fingers and palm of her right hand. These various gestuxes CN 0) were generally followed by a moment of intense and silent concie'ntra-l Q tion, after which she drew or described the stimulus. During these experiments, A] carried out before wiinesses, Missco __T 0) Croad's eyes were carefully bandaged with cotton pads which ano assistant pressed on. Results obtained in total darkness were just asP convincing. 2) Russian Experiments In Russia, at about the same time, Dr. A. N. Khovrin," specialist in mental diseases, discovered that one of his patients, so Q Miss M., was capable of detecting drawings or letters enclosed, is sealed envelopes, and investigated experimentally what he thoug is to be a kind of hyperesthesia and not a Aaranormal or supernormAN faculty. This patient belonged to a family in which psychotic disorde it had been hereditary. Dr. Khovrin treated her by hypnosis wheB she was in her thirties. She was a very cultured and intelligent pew son and extremely capable of analyzing her impressions. She hag even been a school principal for seven years. LL She had studied brilliantly without the need to "memorizea) which most of us generally do with great effort. When questiont by the examining professors, it was sufficient for her to imagine t - CL 11. Ludmila Zielinski: "Dr. A. N. Khovrin and the Tambov Experimenl' Abnormal Hypnotic Phenomena, Vol. III. Mited by Eric J. Dingwall. Lon don: J. and A. Churchill, 1968. Pp. 33-75. [52] [53] page on which the answer was printed-a gift, by the way, possessed by certain audito-colorists. When in a normal state, she could easily distinguish colors although she sometimes confused blue with green. During treatments for neuroses, she became color-blind, and could just distinguish light from dark, but at the same time, she cc saw" colored circles in her field of vision. It was then that Dr. Khovrin discovered that Miss M. could read what was written inside scaled envelopes. She visualized the contents by holding the envelope between her fingers or against her head. Her tactile sensitivity was extraordinary, especially ..the palm and fingers of her right hand, the middle finger being the most sensitive. She was capable of detecting drawings or notes in closed notebooks, and also colors of various objects without seeing them directly. In October 1892, small skeins of differentlv colored silks were placed one after the other into the hands of Miss M., but under a thick blanket in which she was wrapped. It was, therefore, impossible for her to discern the colors, unless by touch. Several observers surrounded her. She concentrated intensely on the object in her hand and tried to visualize its, color on some wall or screen placed in front of her. In the course of the tests, she perceived with increasing clarity each color and, after a moment, named it correctly. There was only one confusion in the course of a multiplicity of tests with various colored materials: confusing orange with yellow. Dr. Khovrin asked himself whether this particular gift was not due to the thermal or chemical properties of colors and whether luminous rays could not influence receptive organs in her fingers without there being any contact with the objects. Thereby, he be- came a precursor of the research carried on in the USSR at the present time. Miss M. was capable of detecting the different colors of luminous rays by using her hands which she placed behind her back; she could do the same by inserting her hand into a long tube into which various colored disks of glass were successively pushed and lighted. Precautions were taken to prevent the subject, as well as the experi- menter, from knowing what color was to be detected. The colors awakened tactile reactions. The sensations most distinctly perceived were heat or cold, and oiliness or stickiness in- duced by yellow and blue respectively, red being in between. When Miss M. tried to recognize the fors of colored sheets c-4 of paper placed under glass into nonlighted test tubes, the results -1L Q were identical. Q Q She was equally capable either of detecting, with her skin, the Q taste of liquids from saturated paper pads placed on the inner surface ('D nfQ of her forearm or of experiencing phenomena inverse to those u It color hearing, the colors awakening in her auditive hallucinations. Q Q The same experimenter determined that this faculty was linked Q W in her with certain physiological conditions, her degree of co 'n, CZ4 centration depending on the blood circulation in her sense organs. I The hyperacuity of her hands, for example, increased when they Q Q were warm; her sensitivity decre *ased with a lowering of.her circula- tion, as her circulatory system Was generally deficient. Durin her attacks, it was observed that only her left side was totally9anesthetized. Her thermal sensitivity was reversed. Cold seemed to her hot and vice versa. In compensation, her right side!5 acquired increased sensitivity. In addition, when her environmento was not congenial, her attention was distracted and her faculty would T_ disappear. 00 These tests were repeated before various medical societies; thep reports were translated into several foreign languages. Of course, thea I Q experimental procedures as well as the theory of hyperesthesia werea C14 strongly contested. At least, these observations had the merit of show- ing what kind of tests were feasible. U) 3) Observations in Italy and France 77D W But besides the sense of touch, there are many organs that can " 0 give rise to such transpositions. LL A female hysteric, aged 14, observed by Professor Cesare Lom--a broso, became blind during her attacks, and-a remarkable feat- 0) upon losing the faculty of eyesight, she saw instead, as clearly as 0 before, with the end of her nose or with her left earlobe. 0L CL By means of these improvised organs, though blindfolded, she< read a letter that had just arrived by mail, and was able to dis- tinguish the numerals on the dial of a dynamometer. [54] [551 Another Italian professor observed identical feats induced by C*4 a state of somnambulism. A young girl could in this state distinguish -1L colors shown to her in spite of the fact that her pupils were completely 0 turned under her eyelids and that only the lower part of the sclera. was visible. She walked with open, outstretched palms and it soon became, evident that her palms served as organs of sight. She could read in darkness with her hands placed one or two centinicters from a book. In France, around 1840, Dr, J. Pigeaire tried, in vain, to interest the Facult6 de M6decine (Faculty of Medicine) in the C*4 performances of his daughter who, when put into a state of som a) nambulism by her mother and blindfolded, could read a book by placing her fingers over a glass plate covering the pages (this -was done to avoid the objection that she might recognize the letters by IL touch). She could also recognize playing cards, and play, for ex- ample, "e'CarM." All objections made to date regarding these observations boil down to discussions, rather ridiculous ones, one must admit, on the opacity of the bandage covering the eyes! CO 11. Ex1ra-Retinal Vision 0 These observations concerning eyeless vision inspired Louis 0 0 Farigoule, who had studied biology and was to become famous C4 under the name of Jules Romains to undertake an experimental study which made him a forerunner in the research, since it was Co only about fifty years later, after the publication of his experiments, that these phenomena were rediscovered and that their study was resumed more systematically in the USSR and in the United States." 0 Right at the beginning of his book, La Vision Extra-R~tinienne LL 12. When La Vision Extra-Ritinienne et 1e Sens Faroptique (Extra-Retinal (D Vision and the Paroptic Sense) was reprinted in 1964, Jules Romains stated > in the preface that it was not without a certain amount of bitterness that he 2 learned that foreign scientists had "trumpeted" (and almost excusing them- CL selves for their audacity) certain results which represented at most a twen- CL tieth of those he had obtained and published in 1920. He added with good reason: "We certainly live in strange times. In certain sectors information is spread with insurpassable rapidity, the arrival of a music-hall singer at an American airport is flashed to us immediately and often shown on television. However, other events of importance to those of our conwmporaries who, because of their special competence, should be first informed, only come to their knowledge with great difficulty." et le Sens Paroptique, Jules Romains reminds us that psychology, after having been descriptive, has reached the stage of being studied correlatively with physiology and now is entering a third phase, that of detection. This detection consists of C~ throwing light onto the work- ing of consciousness (the expression used today is mostly "altered states of consciousness") and to learn about it by experiment. It will suffice to point out that Jules Romains already considered it a lamentable prejudice to burden with 0r pathology an unusual phe- nomenon such as a simple alteration of the state of consciousness capable of making other faculties emerge. According to him, this is even an idle argument since physic' ists, in taking this standpoint, could say: "If C-4 smoke rises rather than falls as do all other bodies, let us not F_ worry, it is pathological." Is i ' ems actually necessary in psychology to look upon everything that "se abnormal" with distrust or to often even negate its existence? Our usual state of conscious4ss is not the 0_ only one; hypnosis, I for instance, is another state and many 0 other mutations are possible which may provoke quite different states, 115 causing the emergence of " " alert with latent faculties in us. The subject then becomes more regard to the outside world than to his "normal" state. Jules Romains does not refer here to the hypnotic state, but to that which he calls "delta," which leaves the subject completely Co awake. And specifically in this delta state,5 training makes it possible for subjects to learn to read blindfolded. 0 Later, we shall discuss the explanation offered by Jules Romains. C14 V 1) Experimental Procedures and Results to Co For now, let us say that he suspected this "paroptic sense" to originate in special epidermic cells reacting to purely luminous stimuli, therefore resulting in true vision. 0 In his book he retraces all the ingenious LL procedures he used to bring about and analyze it, insisting 'a that these were strictly 4) laboratory experiments. > As we are mainly concerned with colors, 2 let us specify that according to Jules Romains, under normal rL lighting, "extra-retinal CL vision" is actually analogous to ordinary < sight. Delicate shades are well perceived and identified with confidence, whatever the material of the colored object or the nature of the tinctorial substance may be. [561 [57] This color perception extends appreciably beyond the lower limits of light valid for normal visual perception. The colors en- 04 during longest are red and yellow. It would even seem that this perception extends beyond the Emits of ultraviolet, but, at the CD opposite end, stops at infrared. a CD Jules Romains observed that when his subject with closed eye- Ir- CD lids placed himself in front of a door, he did not see what was behind Q It the door, but when the door was opened, if his eyes were tightly CD CD blindfolded, he could "see" with the periphery of his face. Therefore, CD properly speaking, there does not exist a true propagation of a radia- W 04 tion through opaque bodies. a) Experimenting on himself, Jules Romains found that he, too, CD CD was capable of recognizing colors in this manner, but le_~s clearly than (6 did the subjects he studied. (D The colors "seen" with most certainty remained about the same in the following order: white, red, brick, yellow-red, azure, off-white, gold, 0 brown, and black Although his subjects were equally successful in electric light as in daylight, the same did not bold true for him since he could manage it only in daylight. co CD One must also note that if the subject turns abruptly toward CD CD the source of light, he experiences what Jules Romains called a kind CD of "black dizziness." We were able to observe this ourselves. 04 (D Not only the sense of touch, but also taste and hearing are left U) out of this extra-retinal vision. As far as smell is concerned, it seems M (D that this sense also can play a certain part in this perception of color. 77D Nasal mucus, in particular, helped in "seeing" colors in a poorly lighted room, it being understood that precautions were of course 0 LL taken to eliminate all odors characteristic of the object or related to its colored chemical nature. In this manner, a subject was able > to distinguish two very close shades of a same color. 0 L_ Jules Romains concluded that "the nasal mucus, too, is sensi- CL CL tive to light and to the different colorations of the spectrum. This function is clearly separate from smelling. It is also of an optical order," even if its optical role is not its essential function. In brief, any area of the body can furnish this vision, and the more it is extended, the more refined it becomes. The peripheral parts of our body most mobile (fingers, hands) seem to possess ipso facto a perceptive superiority, even if there is no contact with the object. Certain areas of the body are better at seeing" nearby objects, and other areas do better with distant objects. 04 -1L The hands, especially the right, would belong to the first category, CD CD and the cheeks and forehead to the second. CD Moreover, Jules Romains observed that a sternal vision (with C? Ir the breast) on himself was also possible- it is even much clearer CD CD than the homocentric vision (the one for which we use our face) 'IT CD and this, no doubt, because the light perceived paroptically is much CD CD brighter. But it is very difficult to direct our attention to this part X of the body, because the habit of seeing with the eyes is so deeply. 04 (D rooted in us. I CD At the same time, he studied the "apprenticeship" of this CD paroptic perception, the localization of objects and letters in space and the involvement of muscular r'a~actions in focusing. 2) Aspects of Training Jules Romains extended his researches to include the blinct, and entrusted to Ren6 Maublanc, professor of philosophy and author of Une Mucalion paroptique (Paroptic Education), the training of 00 Mrs. Leila Heyn, an American, born blind, and who only dis- tinguished light from dark during the first year of her life. A de- CD tailed analysis of the stages of this training is given in the first part CD *4 of Une iducation paroptique. CC) To attempt a reeducation demands a great deal of perseverance subject. m on the part of the experimenter as well as on the part of the U) rairung The inequality of the results is often deceiving. Moreover, t i ' (D must be regularly pursued; the sessions in the case mentioned ex- tended from February to mid-October 1925. other LL Conditions of health, the preoccupations or presence of 0 persons can influence the results, as we have seen. The first time Jules Romains was present during the tests, Mrs. Heyn made 3317o > 0 errors in differentiating between red and yellow, colors which she L_ CL had previously learned not to confuse. . I CL Paroptic education of a person born blind demands from both the subject and the teacher great patience and an imperturbable optimism, because it requires nothing less than proceeding with the [58] [59] construction of a new and enriched space and universe. Here are C14 no revelations, no enlightenments, no miracles. Obscure sensations that are first confused with familiar sensations of temperature and CD pressure slowly emerge from this early confusion and become more C) CD distinct, more precise; it is as necessary to learn to "see" as it is to CD V- learn to play the piano. The beginnings are unkind,,without pleasure, CD without glamour. CD IT C) This same blind woroan, Mrs. Leila Heyn, was also trained CD to "see" with her hands. In this case, sensations associated with color CD W seemed to be predominant. C14 The subject was able to analyze herself without the'knowledge CD of the experimenter, and this analysis pointed up the importance of C) these sensations, whereas Maublanc's analysis was more concerned with the development of the visual "paroptic sense." I'Ve shall discuss here only the results obtained with colors, W although this subject also extended itself to the "visualization" of objects, shapes, and words. i Maublanc started with some exercises to lead the subject into the state called "delta" by Jules Romains, a state which implies a V- kind of detachment vis-à-vis tbe external world while retaining a 00 wide-awake consciousness. C) C) Mrs - Leila Heyn, who had never before seen colors, dreaded CD C) the first tests. Nfaublanc began with making her "see" flowers in a C*4 vase, then inade her classify colored cardboards of identical texture. a) U) Only at the eleventh session did Mrs. Heyn begin to recognize the W a) red and the yellow cardboards, but was unable to "see" blue. The results remained, however, rather uneven. During certain sessions, Mrs. Heyn would see the colors only poorly, as she told 0 LL the experimenter right from the start: "These color sensations are never constant, and when they appear I am always surprised. Extra > retinal vision is not only new, but capricious as well. There are many 0 days when I cannot even distinguish light from dark." CL CL For the experiments of recognizing colors with her hands, -Maublanc placed a screen between her face and the colored objects to be identified. At the be ginning, her fingers did not make her,,"see" colors, but simply induced impressions of heat and thickness. When she finally was able to distinguish yellow from red, she continued making 3317o errors in distinguishing yellow from blue. At the sixteenth session, she passed her fingers over a tricolored cardboard and said: "These are not the colors as I see them at C~ present with my face, but I feel differences, about the same as I felt C) CD the first time with my forehead." CD Making only 14% errors with her face, she continued, however, CD V in making 36% errors in detecting the colors with her hands. CD CD One of the main difficulties of this training is achieving the V CD necessary decentralization of attention. Ren6 Maublanc noted that CD Mrs, Heyn discerned colors more easily with her fingers when he CD tried to distract her with conversation. The reason, no doubt, is" --- (D more psychological then physical. Mrs. Heyn wrote: "I was so, ldngl' CD accustomed to receiving tactile impressions with the fingerg`that IC) ssions(D ental attitude and ask them for impre I cannot yet change my in of another order. There comes a7,,time when touch and sight merge;iL C this is exactly what I now feel."' W It was very difficult for her to recognize letters, in spite of th fact that their black outlines gave her an impression of fullness anqci C15 cold. After several months of exercise, it finally seemed to her that. - she could read a text with only her fingers. Perception of color and perception of letters are mutually exco CD clusive. Mrs. Heyn in any one session could only succeed with one oe; the other of the two types of tests, an observation which was con(D I Q firmed in recent experiments conducted in the USSR. 04 The sessions devoted to the development of her paroptic sens continued and she began to "see" spontaneously without the aid o 9 the experimenter. She saw the color of jonquils and even had esthetrp- impressions completely new to her. W ns ang) One day, she was taken to one of the Paris railway statio LL was able to see its lights. Then, she started to read words and to sC6 colors in illustrated magazines. After four-and-a-half months of exercises, her percentage incorrect responses to colors again went up to 50%c. Later, resulo- improved, and in June her errors reached a low of 7%. In July, CL lirt color vision stabilized itself, and Mrs. Heyn was able to use it to select dresses from her closet. [60] [61] In the presence of Jules Romains, she succeeded in a test of sorting red and blue colors. Then, she went on to three-color tests. Ren6 Maublanc. tried to have her locate a red cardboard placed in different parts of the room, but without much success. She did better at recognizing colors at a distance of about two met than ers colors at a short distance from her face. She saw better by means of her cheekbones and the area around her eyes than with her fore- head, especially when the stimulus was at the level of her ear. She also experienced paroptic sensations with the nape of the neck, which vision is called heterocentric (a vision extending to the back of the neck as opposed to homocentric vision). However, a head cold or some other annoyance was enough to cause a change in the results; in such cases she only made mistakes with the color red. In brief, all results showed that red and yellow are more easily recognized whereas blue and violet tend to become confused. Blue is the least distinguishable color, and Mrs. Heyn was unable to acquire visual images permitting her to bring forth this color independently of sensations originating from another sense. She could not visualize white since for her white represented the usual state of blindness, a kind of nothingness without density. On the other hand, she could "see" black. The stages of this training, described by Maublanc, may be compared with the introspective analyses made by Mrs. Heyn inde- pendently of the experimenter, reported in the second part of the book. She said that at first she confused the impressions she received from colors with those of cenesthesia, i.e., of depth sensitivity. "Blue," she explained, "came to represent the state of my soul when I was at sea or near the sea. Red usually signified heat; yellow was gold and orange. Yellow remained for me the color that made the least sense. Black for me was darkness." At the beginning of her training Mrs. Heyn had no names for the colors; she only realized differences. Before being able to "see" the colors, she had to go through various states to develop this new capacity: "I do not yet see the colors clearly enough to find them beau tiful. I don't even know anymore what I should think of them, I no longer picture them as states of my soul, and the one I like best, blue, is now a spot that I can neither describe nor remember. ~ Yellow, of which I knew the least, has become the light. I find it less vague than the other colors, but I still cannot describe it. Red retains rnor& of its former significance, but is still far off from it." just as Mrs. Heyn differentiated perfectly between "visio CD na through the face and impressions received through the hands, stm differentiated perfectly between perceptions of shape and perce 5 tions of color. These are "two entirely different operations V I do not originate from the same sensation, and which leave absolutell distinct memories. When the objects are taken away, I do not thirs of a blue square or a red circle, but of blue and of a square, and Or ,- C*4 red and a circle." Form perception remains, by the way, analytic in a blih-'d persdo recovering his sight. To identify objects, he must start by runni1% over them with his fingers, trying to synthetize his new visual with his kinesthetic and tactil't space. It is, therefore, underst nN able that it is difficult for him to add yet another "dimension," tlJX of color. The very methodical analysis of this case points up cleao the difficulties of the training and the fact that there exist tW6 modes of perception: -the perception of graphic symbols of black and white and geometric forms; Q -the perception of colors CD CD These two modes of perception correspond to two differft types of training according to the aptitudes of the subjects. d) U) M 111. Our Personal Researches (D 6 Following these numerous investigations, the author person* undertook additional research work on paroptic perception. She pla" as herself at the crossroads of extra-retinal vision and dermo-optic sl!~ 'a sitivity, which we shall discuss later. (D > 0 1) Enviromental Effects The work was started in 1969 with tests of light and co CL of variations in the environment. Mr. Maurice D6rib6r6, the president of the Centre d'Information de la Couleur, himself engaged in im portant statistical work on synesthesia, gave us permission to use the [62] [63] visual testing laboratory of the Centre d'Eclairagisme et d'Informa- tion for these rather unusual tests. This laboratory is well equipped N for the study of the influence of color and light intensity on various I V_ materials. Q Q In this 2t squaxe-meter room, 3 m. 20 high, light intensity may vary from darkness to 5,000 luces." The light, emitted by tubes, can be of the fluorescent type or analogous to that produced by incandescent bulbs. It Q The light can come from the center of the room as well as a from any of the four corners of the grilled celing, behind which is N the source of light. (D By pivoting the walls, various light effects ca I- n be produced: Q gray-white, dark blue-green or salmon-red, Q These "decorative" colors) in the midst of which our first tests (D IL took place, have the same optic density for the same type of illumina In tion. Of course, the subjects must ignore the number and different color shades of these walls. A program of the changes in light intensity or in the color of U the walls, as well as of other tests, is handed over, prior to the Ir- session, to the operator who controls,. by means of a keyboard, the Ir- 00 transformations of all the conditions of the room. a Seventeen subjects were tested until 1972. Eleven of them had 1_~ a been totally blind for a number of years. Ten had characteristic Q C) impressions and only one had no feeling at all; the six others com- CN prised two who were only color-blind, two practically blind and two a) U) with normal vision blindfolded during the experiment but who did a) not succeed with the color tests very well. The light intensity which could vary-to repeat-between dark ness and 5,000 luces, as well as the differences between fluorescent 0 LL and incandescent light, were better "felt" than the colors; however, 3,000 luces were mingled with darkness. Incandescent light seemed > to be darker and hotter than fluorescent light. 0 Twelve subjects identified the colors, expressing the same im 13. , The lux is a unit of illumination. For instance, a 12 square-meter room, 2 m. 60 high, lighted by a 100 watt bulb, receives from 100 to 200 luces. The lighting of a rocrn in which very exact work of designing or embroidery, or the reading of small-printed texts, must be done, will require 300 to 400 luces. pressions for white-gray in 70% of the cases, for blue in 6017c and for red in 50% of the cases. These colors were described by the following impressions, White-Gray: clarity, impression that the room was growingC.4 larger Dark Blue-Green: cold, impression of space Q Salmon-Red: hot, reduced space Q Q I -+~, A congenitally blind subject experienced acoustic impressio-CD dispersed resonance for blue and a soft sound for red. Q In darkness, colors generally induced no impression at all. aig seemed that 1,000 luces and fluorescent light were the best adjuv so that the colors of the room in the center of which the subject V9 seated could be "felt." C*4 On April 23, 1971, Jules Romains and his wife gave us Q honor of assisting at one of our test sessions at the Centre d'Eclairap to isme et d'Information. N He told us how great his disappointment had been when,13Ln 1920, the research he had pursued so methodically was so heaRy criticized that he had finally given it up. He encouraged us to engage in the study of extra-rethial n VIR, and advised us to carry out this research not only with blind persp s but also with subjects whose eyes were bandaged. 00 Q 2) Perception Through the Face Qe- These investigations are difficult to carry on because theycy r frame of mind on the pagof quire a great alertness and a prope the subjects. Nevertheless, with the help of the Parapsychology U) Foundation, this research was initiated. The first observations seemed to show that there is a "viAl" a) ~ perception in the mental field and confirm that there can alsMbe sensations induced by the hands. 0 The exercises were divided into two parts, each preceded a period of relaxation. 1y means o9he The first part included tests of paroptic vision b face, but we have to confess that they seldom gave stable re2lts. n&ns We were, however, able to experiment with some subjects by of objects, black and white cards, geometric designs, vowels and 'ging colors as well, during half an hour at each session. [64] [65] The second part included dermo-optic sensitivity tests, especially C4 color tests, using the hands with or without contact. At first, eight subjects were tested; five had been blind for a number of years, a one was almost blind, but was blindfolded Eke the remaining two a Q others. One of the last two subjects had very bad eyesight, but the Q V- other had normal sight and, of course, they were also blindfolded. Q The first part of the paroptic "vision" exercises took place in a 14, daylight; the subject was sitting with his back toward the window, Q or was lighted sideways. The objects to be detected were placed in C1 X plastic boxes, and the other stimuli, black and white cards or cards 04 printed with geometric forms or letters, were in plastic containers 0) held by the experimenter at a distance of 5 to 30 cria. from the a a face of the subject. Paroptic "vision" beains to be produced in a haze from which formless lines emerge which the subject may try to define. If the subject turns the palms of his hands toward the stimulus, the paroptic Ccvision" emerges stronger. These tests are very fatiguing and require great power of U attention, a great mental alertness and excellent health. Any worries or illnesses make this perception disappear. The paroptic "vision" of colors by means of the face was 00 Q studied during daylight as well as under electric lights. Q Q With natural lighting, differences between contrasting colors Q were first perceived, such as red and white, yellow and green, with- C4 out the subject trying to name the color. The left temple proved to co be the most sensitive. Before being visualized, the colors evoked the following impressions: white-not rougb, fatiguing; blue-fatiguing, weak visualization; green-cold; yellow-visual vibration; red warm, visualization. 0 LL The electric-light tests were carried out sometimes with vertical rows of colored bulbs, sometimes with colored plates lighted from > below," 0 In the first test, a single row of lamps of the same color was lighted and the subject, seated at 1.60 m. from the board on which 14. The tests that we made in 1975 with a laser, show that coherent light causes blind subjects to experience different sensations than those created under ordinary electric light. The cluster of the laser is felt to be thin and con- stricted, and the sensations are more easily detected with. the nape of the neck than with the palm of the hand. they were fixed, indicated the impressions received, especially by his left temple, the center of his forehead being insensitive. The cold colors were indifferently perceived. In the second test, the subject is seated before a table on wWh A" a box is placed, the cover of which consists usually of va " Q Q colored plates. A white plate induced an impression of continuity, but 18th a feeling of unevenness. A yellow plate evoked an impression of IVa t, er differing from the one evoked by red. An orange plate was h and thicker than the yellow one, but blended with red. The redcDne was easily recognized as it induced pulsations. Green and k3ck ct induced no impression and soon blended. With training, the su~YT learned to distinguish green from black, when placing,_ biis~' 1FhdS 20 cm. above the plate, green induced a kind of mot .or sensiDion Q I on the level of his hands. (0 C" 0 3) Perception Through the Hands 0 After a pause, less fatiguing exercises of color detection by Q~nds were taken up again. With some subjects, only these exercisedave results. 0 Let us repeat that per-sons able to experience impressions tbjZugh their faces are found very infrequently. Most of the subjedz we recently observed (since December, 1971) obtain differentiat(~im- prcssions through their hands. Thus we are in the process of staying what Professor A. C. Novomeysky calls "dermo-optic sensitiva. We found that graphic symbols in black and white evoV but 0 - d slight reactions for their detection. Nevertheless, one of ouroplin sub ects learned to recognize vowels represented by small blac'mdisks i 4D . ri pasted on white cardboard, forming symbols similar to nted plate cov ng a vowels. The palm of her band, placed on a glass 9-1 vowel, gave her successive thermal impressions of its contoutQ per- Weak mitting her to name it. (Let us specify that she had a ve w discusse later. tactile sensitivity.) This observation Will be more fully > For the detection of colors by hand two types of trainyo are 9 L- possible: by contact or at a distance. CL aces In the first case, the subject examines by touch various ~~rf of paper, of woods or other materials, or colored books. Colored cards can be put under plastic or under glass after the first tests. [67] [66] Certain subjects start by taking the colored materials fully in hand, recognizing them by impressions of weight, bulk or size of 04 diameter, even if the stimuli are identical. In this case it's green that -1L seems to be either the "heaviest" or the bulkiest, or the lightest for Q CD most of the subjects. One of them learned to recognize red each Q CD time he had the impression of putting his hand on something thick V_ CD like the edge of a book. Q It In the second stage, the subjects learned to distin uish between CD 9 CD colors by running their hands over colored surfaces. Some subjects' CD tactile and thermal impressions of some of these colors ranging from W 04 smooth and cold to rough and hot are: CD -Blue: cool CD -White: fatiguing, rough, mixed with yellow and black Green: cold, very smooth IL -Yellow: less smooth, but smoother and colder than black, with vibrations of light -Red: more rugged, as if the hand stroked an animal against the fur, giving an impression of heat (Two years after recording this very special observation, we were surprised to read an identical note ina work published by the Pedagogical Institute of Sverdlovsk.) c0 CD This is followed by exercises of sorting out two colors distributed CD unevenly: yellow and black, red and white, etc. It appears that CD CD yellow is easier to identify than black, and that the contrast between C*4 green and white, or red and white, is easier to perceive than between U) red and green, while the blue color is M "felt" in contrast with the (D red color. 77D All these impressions of which some are of an affective order res ult in a classification of colors in which blue or green is found 0 at one end of the extreme and yellow or red at the other end, with LL orange most often in between. > In the second case the subject operates at a distance, and he 0 feels the same thermal and tactile impressions as if by contact. A CL blind student located the following impressions on his hands: blue CL on the left palm, green on the back of his left hand, yellow on the right palm and red on the back of his right hand. If colors are said to be "seen," they only appear as if in a haze or in the middle of a group of contrasting spots. Plastic containers give them a brilliant effect which can, according to the subjects, be an aid or an obstacle to their perception. In a recent (1973) treatise, Professor Novomeysky proposed the following explanation: paroptic, vision covers a nonanalyzed per 04 ception; the subject indicates only the results of the sensations fel;~ through his hands, and one falsely concludes that "the hand sees.'CD CD This method of "synthetic notation" does not permit drawing ang conclusion as to whether the subject detects the color or rather CD guesses it. CD On the other hand, the "analytic" method specifies impressioncD similar to those induced by thermal tactile sensitivity, and permilg the subject to obtain results as constant and stable as those obtaine 9 for instance, from learning to read. Thus the proceedi~,gs-`i~Zg results are quite different from the ones of G.E.S.P. CD After having read the works of Professor Noyomeysky, WR to investigated at what height th-~ subject must hold his hands to elm able him to perceive colors at~l a distance. It was ascertained th~ these levels were of a lesser elevation for the color red than fat it( black, yellow and blue, but sometimes without delimitation of heig ' for very light colors, such as white. Moreover, we registered the dynamometric reactions of the tW(5 V_ blind subjects and of the almost-blind subject. The measures of tim taken at the time of the parops dynamometric pressures were perception and compared with the ones taken when the coT2r was named. CD C) most vigorously to yellow aft The first two subjects reacted the almost-blind subject to red at the time of the paroptic perceg tion. But when the color was named by the experimenter, te[L Le strongest reactions made by the three subjects were to red. I It seems from all these investigations that black or white cax, geometric forms, letters, and, above all, colors, can be used 8r paroptic perception. As far as the face is concerned, the left N~e is more sensitive. It seems that, in daylight, differences in saturat'& are perceived, while under electric light green and black are c6- 4- fused and red evokes impressions of pulsations. This faculty requw great concentration, and the subject must be of good health and of worry. When it concerns the development of the sensitivity of the [681 [69] hands, the training is less exhausting. Colors induce impressions of heat and density, red is even apt to attract the hands of the subject, 04 while green for some subjects induces a feeling of thickness. I Ir- This paroptic perception seems to make the subject conscious Q CD of his capacities which are blurred by normal sight. Q Q Ir- Q IV. Dermo-Optic Sensitivity C) It The same phenomena of reading with the fingers have also been Q Q studied in the USSR under the name "dermo-optic sensitivity," but a from quite another perspective than that of Jules Romains. For W 04 Soviet scientists, the perception of colors is not the effect of a.vision CD I- but of reasoning, as we will soon see, C1 Q We present here only the actual facts which formed the object C6 of their research W - The phenomena of color detection without eyes Q- and of reading with fingers have been studied in the USSR since 0 1962, when Dr. I. M. Goldberg, a neurologist, noted the capacities of Rosa Kuleshova. She had excellent sight but, as several members of her family were stricken with blindness, she trained herself with bandaged eyes to develop the capacity for paroptic vision. Physiologists and physicists 00 then submitted her to numerous tests in Moscow laboratories. Q Kuleshova could discern the colors of luminous rays projected Q Q on a screen within the limits of the visible spectrum but could not Q 04 discern infrared rays projected on her fingers. She did not detect (D colors by a tactile hyperesthesia of minimal textural differences due 0 co to the dyes used nor by thermal impressions, since the caloric a) 7a; strength of infrared is much higher than that of other color radiation W of the spectrum. 0 Under red light and in darkness she did not differentiate be- LL tween colors with her fingers, thus eliminating the hypothesis that 'a a) it was thanks to telepathy or clairvoyance that she recognized the > colors. The first observers were intrigued by her a6ilities and a 0 number of researchers became interested in her case. CL CL < 1) Research in the USSR As this faculty could be developed by training, systematic investigations were started. We shall only give a glimpse of those which have been engaged in at the Pedagogical Institute of Sverdlovsk under the direction of Professor A. C. Novomeysky. It was Professor Novomeysky who adopted the term dermo-optic sensitivity for these phenomena, even if, according to him, they are C,4 -1L quite distinct from those of normal sight and touch. Q Nevertheless, the term dermo-optic sensitivity can be justified Q Q since, on the one hand, the phenomena of complementary colors, Q the laws of their mixtures, and optic illusions detected as if by normal I Q sight and, on the other hand, the use of palms seems to imply touch, C1 It as well as the turning of the subjects to the tactile language for the CD e Q xpression of nonhabitual sensations. Q According to Professor Novomeysky, one person out of six W 04 can develop this faculty which, far from being "foreign" to,tlfr- (D normal domain, can be integrated (according to him) witli~ the ci hysical laws. C6 scope of known psychological, physiological and, mainly, p Q At the Pedagogical Institui~, of Sverdlovsk, the students are W trained systematically to identify colors with their fingers, and to eliminate any objection, such as insufficient darkening of the eyes W by a bandage, the subject's head can be covered with a hood and his hands can detect the colors under an opaque screen. a) The Analytical Method The training is based on study of the association between 00 Q tactile thermal and affective impressions, with the colors evoking 8 3 Q them, and, step by step, the subject learns to identify and to name CD N these colors. (D According to advocates of an analogy between dermo-optic (a have light for co sensitivity and normal vision, a physical agent must a) the detection of colors. (Professor D. K. Guylev and associates.) Their first investigations are mainly concerned with an analysis of the impressions felt due to the diverse stimulations found in a 0 LL lighted room. 'a ccording to Professor Novomeysky's theory (which we shall a) A > dermo-optic sensitivity, in spite of 0 consider in more detail later) greatly from it, as evidenced being analogous to normal sight, differs CL by the results obtained with certain subjects capable of detecti CL mg-;~ colors in complete darkness and other still more unusual results. The booths in which the subjects are isolated, the screens [70] [71] separating their blindfolded eyes from stimuli and the multitude of 04 precautions taken to avoid all interference with the experimenter .4 are described in detail in the publications of the Pedagogical Institute of Sverdlovsk, comprising the work of various researchers. Professor Guylev requires his students, who are blindfolded, to analyze the tactile impressions induced by sheets of colored paper and then to compare them. In this way they learn to differentiate 0 the color red from blue, then yellow from orange and the other 0 0 colors of the spectrum, and finally the color black from white and W N gray. The greatest differences felt were those between red and green, CY) and white and black. The tactile impressions induced by the colors I- can be classified in the order of the prism. Warm colors: red-clinging, rough, gluey; orange-rough; yel- C6 CY) low-smooth, slightly rough, not gluey. (L Cold colors: violet-very rough; dark blue-gluey, slippery; light blue-smooth, not too rough, not gluey. The thermal impressions are about the same for blue and yellow as for violet and orange. Green is neuter. Black is rou h, 9 very definitely rough and warm; white is much less rough and less warm; gray is cold, hard and very smooth. oo 0 Among a great number' of other tests, those of Professor 0 Dobronavrov show that the subjects most sensitive to pain are the 0 0 ones most able to detect colors. N a) Other tests indicate that dermo-optic sensitivity diminishes with U) low temperature in a dimly lit room. The diminution of this faculty co a) corresponds also to a general weakening of the entire organism. 75 Only one quarter of the students obtained results with daily training. 0 LL b) The Barriers of Color 'a (V The research work of Professor Novomevsky is more strongly > I 2 based on the physical rather than the psychological conditions of CL dermo-optic sensitivity, CL < The experiments without any hand contacts with the colored surfaces show that the students can push themselves up to certain thresholds called "color barriers." Their heights are measured with a calibrated instrument. These indices of recognition without contact, i.e., evaluated [72] according to the different levels to which the hand must be lifted "to feel" the color, permit a very interesting research on the rela- tionship of these barriers to the colors of the prism. N Having thus learned to apply different recognition indices to .4 colors, the students trained themselves to differentiate between them 2) Q and to name them according to the levels of these barriers. This test Q Ir permits all kinds of analyses, for instance, that of their relationship Q Q to the acuity of the dermo-optic sensitivity. Q 10, The highest barriers are those of the dark colors which are cD Q situated at the extremities of the spectrum: red and violet. Q At the center of this incurvated curve we find the neuter bar- N rier of green; the curves of yellow, orange and red arise on the,onecD I*-. side of it and the curves of light blue, dark blue and violet'_& thec) other side. The levels are higher for red than for violet, and for9 to light blue than for yellow. CY) Here too-and this is just our personal observation-t c curvea is inverted in comparison with the curve of retinal sensitivityx. 1 (Purkinje curve) which, let us remember, rises from red to yellow< and green, to descend to dark blue and violet. Classified by height, in daylight, the decreasing order is th q~ following: red: 115 cm.; violet: 109 cm.; dark blue: 107 cm.; lighlZ red: 99 cm.; light blue: 96 cm.; orange: 89 cm.; yellow: 87 cm-2 light yellow: 82 cm.; green: 77 cm.. CD 10 The intensity of the detected symbols increases in proportiocD to the height of the barriers, i.e., they are more intense for red an 9 violet. Furthermore, the higher they are, the more stable they arc2 Professor Novorneysky observed that If the art students who wq? experimenting were good athletes, the barriers were high and stablo- 0 Aren't the athletes trained to coordinate their movements? Thus, th(ff stop their hands at the exact position at which the threshold relatc6 (D to specific color is felt. > 0 c) Variations in Physical Conditions CL CL The relationships of these barriers are the same in daylight A under electric light, but at twilight, strangely enough, the dark blue barrier is higher than the red one. [73] C*4 -1L Q C) Q Q T_ Q Q 't Q Q Q W C*4 Q Q CID Q Q Q C) C*4 (D U) 7a') 0 LL (D > 0 L_ CL CL Very thorough investigations have been made on the relation- ships of the barriers to various other environments. The color intensity of the stimuli, their fixed or mobile pre- sentation and the time required for detecting the color are also characteristic elements of this sensitivity. The influence of the color of the lighting-white, blue or red- was studied. The reactions of the dermo-optic sensitivity to ultra- 4460 10C 80 60 0 >1 J 40 :a > 20 4(- 5750 F900 VIOLET 6 UE GREEN YELLOW RED 1 - % % 0UVU 7000 Angstroms Fig. 4 Visibility curves as a function of the wavelength of the visible radiations. The unbroken line indicates the photopic vision; the eye is adapted to light; sensitivity of the cones. The broken line indicates the curve of scotopic vision; the eye is adapted to darkness; sensitivity of the rods. In daylight, the maximum sensitivity is equal to 100 and situated in the yellow-green; in twilight, it is situated in t e bl e h green. (Purkinje phenomenon.) -Pricis de Physiologie (Physiological Abstracts) Hermann and J. Cies, Professors of Physiology at the Facult6 de M6decinc (Masson & Co., Paris, 1970). violet or infrared rays, to which the hands were exposed for a few moments before the experiments, were also analyzed. All the variations of the surrounding physical conditions were expressed by comparisons between the heights of these barriers. [74] Experiments were carried out with standard electric light, with varied intensities, and, proving Professor Novomeysky's theories, cer- tain subjects were able to detect colors in darkness. The light colors were then found to be more predominant than those at the exlc~ f -: V_ tremities of the spectrum. Q This is when we see the difference between the possibilitieg in dermo-optic sensitivity and those of normal sight. But some mortO V disconcerting effects seem to manifest themselves when opaque platec Q were placed over the colors. MIT Preceding tests were made with transparent media such ag benzine, water, and glass, placed on top of the colored plates f 011~ the purpose of studying the influence of their thickness or stru on the dermo-optic sense. For example: the thicker the glass 'Pane the more difficult is the perception; or if an ordinary glass plate h9 the same thickness as an organic glass plate, the perception is bettqb '% (D with the latter. 0 The opaque screens can also consist of snow, wood, vario93 metals, lead. According to Professor Novomeysky's theory, derm% optic sensitivity is strengthened when the colors are under an alung num plate; sensitivity is further improved when the subject as A as the stimulus are insulated from the ground. This sensitivity ~5 modified by the degree of conductivity of the metals used-whetlM they are good or bad conductors of clectricity~-and, based on recqT research, by the degree of their permeability to infrared rays of tM . Q colored surfaces they cover. Q C14 Some more surprising results, bordering on the fantastic, w(U produced when some subjects were asked to name the colors-alw in search of the barriers of sensitivity-when, unknown to them, re colored plate had just been removed from under the lead pl,61- - where it was a few moments before the test. The colors were recQ nized with accuracy, according to scales of heights comparable go LL those used in other tests. "a a) > d) Experiments with the Blind 0 All these investigations conducted with not especially gifted sa- jects were later extended to blind persons whom Professor NovorP4- sky submitted to the same tests. These subjects were not born blind. They proved themselves [75] CD C) CD CD V_ CD CD CD CD X C14 CD C) L) V_ 00 CD CD CD CO C4 a) U) W a) Z W 0 LL 0 L_ CL CL more apt than the others for this dermo-optic detection, although it was necessary to place the stimuli on a glass pane resting on porcelain insulators. Their perception depended more on the in- tensity of the lighting and the extent of the colored surface than did the perception of seeing people. Their training, however, was identi- cal. They, too, learned to associate the different colors with the impression felt in their palms. They evaluated the different heights of thresholds of perception of the colored surfaces, whatever the materials used or the nature of the color-aniline, gouache, etc. After two months of training, they were able to distinguish the so-called achromatic colors: white, black, gray. Moreover, they were able to detect the colors of different crayons (whereas the non-blind subjects never got that far) as well as various colored surfaces independently of the background colors from which they stood out. When the stimuli were placed on metal plates, the dermo-optic sensitivity became stronger, so that red produced a feeling of near burning on the hand; but when the metal plate covered the color, the perception weakened, especially for mixed-color tones. It was observed that moving the-colored stimuli intensified sensi- tivity in detecting colors resulting from a mixture. After having learned previously to name a color resulting from a mixture of two or three others through impressions received from the contact of colored papers, the blind subjects were able to detect on a rotating disk: orange resulting from red and yellow; gray resulting from dark blue and yellow, etc. Thus for so-called accidentally blind persons, the laws of color mixtures were analogous to those with ocular vision. Professor Novomeysky stresses, however, the importance of optic experience the accidentally blind has had before becoming blind. Identical experiments were carried out with persons born blind, but they were only able to discern red from blue. The blind were also trained to recognize graphic signs, geo- metric figures, numerals and letters, without any direct contact, The height of the signs was 6Y2 cm. For this detection, the kinesthetic sensations of the fingers and hands are indispensable. Thereby the subject outlines with one hand the contours of the shape to be detected, placed 2 to 3 cm. below. If the sheet to be "deciphered" has been placed on a metal [76] frame, the reading process is faster and the hand can be held higher with weaker lighting. Even if the subject is able to detect numerals under an alu- minum plate, it is very difficult for him to detect these numerals C~ when they are under a glass plate 4 mm. thick. CD As Ren6 Maublanc, and we ourselves have observed, the train- a CD ing for the detection of graphic shapes lowers the results obtained V_ for colors. CD g exer- V At the same time during two weeks of numeral readin CD CD cises, Professor Novomeysky found out rather quickly that troubles CD in connecting impressions and colors which hindered CD were arising thew subject in naming them. Also, any interruption of the exercises also " resulted in a decline and disappearance of the faculty. 2- C) CD 2) Research in the United states The work done in the 'USSR quite- naturally attracted the(L 0 attention of other researchers. In the United States, Professor Richardj~ P. Youtz' who teaches psychology at Barnard College in New York had tested, as early as 1963, a woman student, who had acquired spontaneously, this capacity of detecting colors with her fingers. He. put stimuli into a box, lit from the inside, and took all kinds of"" V_ experimental precautions. He used various colored materials. ShJO- was able to detect quite well the colors of sheets of paper or plastic4R but she could not discern the colors of stimuli made of wood..08 Q soft rubber. Professor Youtz had her do statistical experiments with cOMO binations of colored cards, for instance red and blue, placed undeg various filters. He ascertained that, when the filter intercepted onl It 137, of the wavelengths, his subject succeeded in the proportiow of 85 to 957c; but with filters intercepting more than 87% of th visible wavelengths, results were those of simple Probability. He aliZ noted the importance of the effect of the thickness of the panV 8 covering the stimuli, as well as that of the room temperature and 0 the temperature of the hands of the subject. CL But when he tested the same subject the following year, 175: found that she had lost these faculties; she probably was too a9 sorbed in her family life. He made other experiments with his college students, and, as [771 It 04 1~ Q Q Q Q V_ Q Q lit Q Q Q W 04 M Q (b 0) (L W 00 Q Q Q Q 04 U) cu 6 W 0 LL V M > 0 CL CL one of the women students distinguished blue from white much bet- ter than from red, he assumed that the heat from the subject's hand reflected differently depending on the color of the stimuli, and that it was these differences in reflection that were perceived. To verify this hypothesis, Which states that the skin could be sensitive to reflected heat, Dr. Youtz made experiments with blind subjects which showed that they detected lighted color cards with greater success if lit at a short distance by a fluorescent light. Here again, the observation points to a detection made in objective conditions. The emergence of impressions, the existence of which has been generally denied up to date, opens the door to pos- sibilities which no longer seem to be attributed to a few rare 8ubjects. Starting from phenomena considered to be fantastic and most often fruits of our own imagination, we have been guided toward invisible aspects of energy Which only laboratory apparatus can detect, arriving at phenomena that were strongly contested and could be, perhaps, expressions of the dynamism of life. In short, we arrive at this double finding - -Parapsychology implies a wide range of multidisciplinary knowledge and much delving into the sciences (be they social or natural). -Parapsychology, far from easily integrating with them, raises again the question of their pivotal point center of gravity. [781 We believe w~ have t of the phenomena, 'th en color (or colors) when he ,2h ~he touched directly. Two qu wo qu to our conclusions: L final ti e, t Going over, a final ti e, the 011_as scie tifi plausible explanation-as sci these phenomena? d 've_hope Can we-could we-hope usefully be applied to our daily I knowledge must always be followed 1. The Theories (-.0KM.T TS IONS sufficiently established cif"' ted /te a" one and only proble nd 0 e a i, 'lc it 0 specific sense, that of spe t tions come readil to t1ons c( C*4 C) Q Q Q V_ Q t e existence of mostcD t lit . the appearance ofQ ap ~h C) sight, has not beenc) sight ,h eadW mind at mind and will 1. ~. 04 0 thre~lcvels considered: whabo ssible-shall we give f0 Q as /0 CL er/Vc from them data that cara /~ if it be true that all scientifi& a technique? of therr_ Concerning an explanation have been mentioned in passi simplification, only those which i interest as well as substantiali . simple "beliefs" in the sens example, belief in a world b ond, reincarnation. In doing so, we sho d bear formerly considered as wJ hin the give rise to increasingly ational versible separation mad in our religion, ience eliminating science and and purifying the real of faith. f these henomena, many , but w shall consider here, fc~ in our opim n, represent the greate8 We shall ex ude those referring postulates as, fp of comprehens e fter a) in lif e after ath or in- a possibF) cu a) in mind that ese phenomena) continue realm of the sac d, explanations, in spi of the irro time-since Kant-be cen that 'ot .V superstition f m religi(w > 0 CL 1) At the Psyc ological Level CL The phenorne a of synesthesia, especially that of color hearing, [79]