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III
BEYOND PARAPSYCHOLOGY
The following point should be made:
Phenomena evoked experimentally in telepathy and clairvoyance
tests, even with subjects who are not particularly gifted, have proven
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 domain open to human investigation.
These are the spontaneous, rare and unusual cases which attract
our attention. 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 rarity 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
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studied certain great mediums and had applied strict laboratory
techniques.
It seems rather unfair to eliminate, a priori, the testimonies
of scientists who are admired for their discoveries in fields recog-
nized by science and to reject their observations derived from other
experiments made in the same seriousness, under the pretext that
these concern phenomena going beyond our present understanding.
There even more so exists a transition between paranormal
phenomena and those that go beyond, just as there exists a transition
between ordinary synesthesias and the paranormal phenomena we
have studied.
Our present investigation will not extend from the vision of
invisible colors, as those of the aura, up to the projection of colors
which can be materialized. 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
Let us say a few words first on sensory transpositions. In dis-
cussing them, the expression "paroptic perception" is also used, by
which we understand vision by means of other intermediaries than
sight, such as the top of the head, the hands, etc.10
These transpositions are-and rightly so-considered as far
above the normal. But we can readily see that they can be evoked
and even explained. One is able to develop them in selected subjects.
In other words, in certain privileged cases objective colors could
be perceived by means other than by the usual optical channels.
Such cases have already been related to us from the 19th century
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
transposition."
As these phenomena could be evoked especially by hypnosis,
Jules Romains considered that hypnosis did nothing else but put into
evidence a capacity inherent in all human beings. He advanced the
hypothesis that there could well be a veritable paroptic sense which
permits seeing without. the eyes.
Similar observations were made, particularly in the USSR,
indicating that there could exist not so much a vision proper but an
induction of color by impressions comparable to those of touch. For
this, the term "dermo-optic sensitivity" was created in the USSR.
1) Spontaneous Cases in the United States and Britain
Now, for further detail, we shall report certain facts which
have been minutely described by Father Herbert Thurston in his
book Physical Phenomena of Mysticism.
Miss Mollie Fancher, born in New York in 1848, after having
finished her studies, did not leave her room for thirty years. An
incurable invalid, she became completely blind and suffered from
nervous disorders.
A number of witnesses swore that she could, just by touching
distinguish with infallible exactitude, the colors of wool for tapestry,
of wax and other items she used in her work.
For a period of nine years, her right arm remained up in a
rigid position bent in back of her head. She had retained some-
control of her thumb and index finger and, to be able to do her
work of sewing and making aritficial flowers, she had to raise he?
healthy left arm to the height of her right hand up over her head
When she selected a skein of wool and wanted to "see" it, sh
placed it behind the nape of her neck. A number of witnessed
observed her and the reports made by Judge Abraham H. Dailey
were confirmed by the attending physicians.
She was able to analyze all her impressions and her faculti
seemed to be "natural." The attending physicians noted that fos
many years she consumed practically no food.
An oculist confirmed her blindness and stated that, day ang
night, her eyes were wide open without producing any tears o
secretions. He found that neither her crystalline lens nor pupils re
acted to anesthesia or light tests. :
A friend of Miss Fancher, Professor Charles E. West, the
director of an important seminary, also believed in the gifts of this
"sincere and convinced Christian" whose "double sight" confirmed
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.)
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her faith, rejecting thereby the popular explanation of a demoniac
possession.
"She had," he wrote, "but one sense, that of touch. With
that she could read much faster than with eyesight. This she did by
running her fingers over the printed pages with equal ease in light
or darkness. With her fingers, she could distinguish the photographs
of persons, the faces of callers, etc."
As a point of interest, she "saw" and "read" with greater ease
when the room was dark and the other people present had great
difficulty in distinguishing the characters.
When asked how she was able to see, she always replied that
she saw from the top of her head. The sharpness of her perception,
however, did vary considerably according to the state of her health,
the temperature and other factors. But this sensitivity was not unique-
ly due to hyperesthesia of touch since, according to one observer, all
she had to do to know the time was to pass her hand over the
crystal of her watch.
Dr. Henry Parkhurst, another observer, published in the New
York Herald a report of a decisive controlled experiment into check-
ing Miss Fancher's faculty to "see." A printed slip of paper, chosen
at random without anyone knowing its contents, was handed to her
in a carefully sealed envelope. She stated that the paper dealt with
"Court." She then "read" that it contained the numerals "6, 2, 3, 4."
The envelope, the seal of which was intact, contained an extract
from a legal project. The word "court" was mentioned therein four
times, and it contained the numerals 6, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and no others.
One could then conclude that there may exist a second "seeing
faculty," independent of that of telepathy, the simple reading of
minds.
Miss Fancher's purely paranormal faculties were also found
to be highly developed. At a time when she was most sensitive, she
was able to name the colors of objects which were, for example, in
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-
cerns an English woman, Miss Croad, who in 1870 became totally
blind, deaf and dumb, and, in addition, her left arm became
paralyzed.
Her physician, Dr. Davey, submitted her to a number of tests
and found her capable of perceiving, by touch alone, a variety of
small and large objects on any card or photograph. For example, she
placed a postcard or a photo on her chin or around her mouth or
moved it over her forehead, and in doing so examined it thoroughly
with the fingers and palm of her right hand. These various gestures
were generally followed by a moment of intense and silent concentra-
tion, after which she drew or described the stimulus.
During these experiments, all carried out before witnesses, Miss
Croad's eyes were carefully bandaged with cotton pads which and
assistant pressed on. Results obtained in total darkness were just as
convincing.
2) Russian Experiments
In Russia, at about the same time, Dr. A. N. Khovrin,11
specialist in mental diseases, discovered that one of his patients,
Miss M., was capable of detecting drawings or letters enclosed
sealed envelopes, and investigated experimentally what he though
to be a kind of hyperesthesia and not a paranormal or supernormal
faculty.
This patient belonged to a family in which psychotic disorders
had been hereditary. Dr. Khovrin treated her by hypnosis when
she was in her thirties. She was a very cultured and intelligent pe&
son and extremely capable of analyzing her impressions. She has
even been a school principal for seven years.
She had studied brilliantly without the need to "memorize
which most of us generally do with great effort. When questioned
by the examining professors, it was sufficient for her to imagine t
11. Ludmila Zielinski: "Dr. A. N. Khovrin and the Tambov Experiment
Abnormal Hypnotic Phenomena, Vol. III. Edited by Eric J. Dingwall. Lon-
don: J. and A. Churchill, 1968. Pp. 33-75.
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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
"saw" colored circles in her field of vision.
It was then that Dr. Khovrin discovered that Miss M. could
read what was written inside sealed 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 differently 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.
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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 colors of colored sheets
of paper placed under glass into nonlighted test tubes, the results
were identical.
She was equally capable either of detecting, with her skin, the
taste of liquids from saturated paper pads placed on the inner surface
of her forearm or of experiencing phenomena inverse to those of
color hearing, the colors awakening in her auditive hallucinations.
The same experimenter determined that this faculty was linked
in her with certain physiological conditions, her degree of con-
centration depending on the blood circulation in her sense organs.
The hyperacuity of her hands, for example, increased when they
were warm; her sensitivity decreased with a lowering of. her circula-
tion, as her circulatory system was generally deficient.
During her attacks, it was observed that only her left side
was totally anesthetized. Her thermal sensitivity was reversed. Cold
seemed to her hot and vice versa. In compensation, her right side
acquired increased sensitivity. In addition, when her environment
was not congenial, her attention was distracted and her faculty would
disappear.
These tests were repeated before various medical societies; the
reports were translated into several foreign languages. Of course, the
experimental procedures as well as the theory of hyperesthesia were
strongly contested. At least, these observations had the merit of show-
ing what kind of tests were feasible.
3) Observations in Italy and France
But besides the sense of touch, there are many organs that can,
give rise to such transpositions.
A female hysteric, aged 14, observed by Professor Cesare Lom-
broso, became blind during her attacks, and-a remarkable feat-
upon losing the faculty of eyesight, she saw instead, as clearly as
before, with the end of her nose or with her left earlobe.
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.
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Another Italian professor observed identical feats induced by
a state of somnambulism. A young girl could in this state distinguish
colors shown to her in spite of the fact that her pupils were completely
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 centimeters from
a book.
In France, around 1840, Dr. J. Pigeaire tried, in vain, to
interest the Faculté de Médecine (Faculty of Medicine) in the
performances of his daughter who, when put into a state of som-
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
touch). She could also recognize playing cards, and play, for ex-
ample, "écarté."
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!
II. Extra-Retinal Vision
These observations concerning eyeless vision inspired Louis
Farigoule, who had studied biology and was to become famous
under the name of Jules Romains, to undertake an experimental
study which made him a forerunner in the research, since it was
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.12
Right at the beginning of his book, La Vision Extra-Rétinienne
12. When La Vision Extra-Rétinienne et le Sens Paroptique (Extra-Retinal
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
learned that foreign scientists had "trumpeted" (and almost excusing them-
selves for their audacity) certain results which represented at most a twen-
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 contemporaries who,
because of their special competence, should be first informed, only come
to their knowledge with great difficulty."
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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 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 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 physicists,
in taking this standpoint, could say: "If smoke rises rather than
falls as do all other bodies, let us not worry, it is pathological." Is it
actually necessary in psychology to look upon everything that seems
"abnormal" with distrust or to often even negate its existence?
Our usual state of consciousness is not the only one; hypnosis,
for instance, is another state and many other mutations are possible
which may provoke quite different states, causing the emergence of
latent faculties in us. The subject then becomes more "alert" with
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
awake. And specifically in this delta state, training makes it possible
for subjects to learn to read blindfolded. Later, we shall discuss the
explanation offered by Jules Romains.
1) Experimental Procedures and Results
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.
In his book he retraces all the ingenious procedures he used
to bring about and analyze it, insisting that these were strictly
laboratory experiments.
As we are mainly concerned with colors, let us specify that
according to Jules Romains, under normal lighting, "extra-retinal
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.
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This color perception extends appreciably beyond the lower
limits of light valid for normal visual perception. The colors en-
during longest are red and yellow. It would even seem that this
perception extends beyond the limits of ultraviolet, but, at the
opposite end, stops at infrared.
Jules Romains observed that when his subject with closed eye-
lids placed himself in front of a door, he did not see what was behind
the door, but when the door was opened, if his eyes were tightly
blindfolded, he could "sce" with the periphery of his face. Therefore,
properly speaking, there does not exist a true propagation of a radia-
tion through opaque bodies.
Experimenting on himself, Jules Romains found that he, too,
was capable of recognizing colors in this manner, but less clearly than
did the subjects he studied.
The colors "seen" with most certainty remained about the same
in the following order:
white, red, brick, yellow-red, azure, off-white, gold,
brown, and black
Although his subjects were equally successful in electric light
as in daylight, the same did not hold true for him since he could
manage it only in daylight.
One must also note that if the subject turns abruptly toward
the source of light, he experiences what Jules Romains called a kind
of "black dizziness." We were able to observe this ourselves.
Not only the sense of touch, but also taste and hearing are left
out of this extra-retinal vision. As far as smell is concerned, it seems
that this sense also can play a certain part in this perception of color.
Nasal mucus, in particular, helped in "seeing" colors in a poorly
lighted room, it being understood that precautions were of course
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.
Jules Romains concluded that "the nasal mucus, too, is sensi-
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.
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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.
The hands, especially the right, would belong to the first category,
and the cheeks and forehead to the second.
Moreover, Jules Romains observed that a sternal vision (with
the breast) on himself was also possible; it is even much clearer
than the homocentric vision (the one for which we use our face)
and this, no doubt, because the light perceived paroptically is much
brighter. But it is very difficult to direct our attention to this part
of the body, because the habit of seeing with the eyes is so deeply
rooted in us.
At the same time, he studied the "apprenticeship" of this
paroptic perception, the localization of objects and letters in space
and the involvement of muscular reactions in focusing.
2) Aspects of Training
Jules Romains extended his researches to include the blind, and
entrusted to René Maublanc, professor of philosophy and author of
Une éducation paroptique (Paroptic Education), the training of
Mrs. Leila Heyn, an American, born blind, and who only dis-
tinguished light from dark during the first year of her life. A de-
tailed analysis of the stages of this training is given in the first part
of Une éducation paroptique.
To attempt a reeducation demands a great deal of perseverance
on the part of the experimenter as well as on the part of the subject.
The inequality of the results is often deceiving. Moreover, training
must be regularly pursued; the sessions in the case mentioned ex-
tended from February to mid-October 1925.
Conditions of health, the preoccupations or presence of other
persons can influence the results, as we have seen. The first time
Jules Romains was present during the tests, Mrs. Heyn made 33%
errors in differentiating between red and yellow, colors which she
had previously learned not to confuse.
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
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construction of a new and enriched space and universe. Here are
no revelations, no enlightenments, no miracles. Obscure sensations
that are first confused with familiar sensations of temperature and
pressure slowly emerge from this early confusion and become more
distinct, more precise; it is as necessary to learn to "see" as it is to
learn to play the piano. The beginnings are unkind, without pleasure,
without glamour.
This same blind woman, Mrs. Leila Heyn, was also trained
to "see" with her hands. In this case, sensations associated with color
seemed to be predominant.
The subject was able to analyze herself without the knowledge
of the experimenter, and this analysis pointed up the importance of
these sensations, whereas Maublanc's analysis was more concerned
with the development of the visual "paroptic sense."
We shall discuss here only the results obtained with colors,
although this subject also extended itself to the "visualization" of
objects, shapes, and words.
Maublanc started with some exercises to lead the subject into
the state called "delta" by Jules Romains, a state which implies a
kind of detachment vis-à-vis the external world while retaining a
wide-awake consciousness.
Mrs. Leila Heyn, who had never before seen colors, dreaded
the first tests. Maublanc began with making her "sce" flowers in a
vase, then made her classify colored cardboards of identical texture.
Only at the eleventh session did Mrs. Heyn begin to recognize the
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
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
days when I cannot even distinguish light from dark."
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 beginning, her fingers did not make her "see" colors,
but simply induced impressions of heat and thickness. When she
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finally was able to distinguish yellow from red, she continued making
33% 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
present with my face, but I feel differences, about the same as I felt
the first time with my forehead."
Making only 14% errors with her face, she continued, however,
in making 36% errors in detecting the colors with her hands.
One of the main difficulties of this training is achieving the
necessary decentralization of attention. René Maublanc noted that
Mrs. Heyn discerned colors more easily with her fingers when he
tried to distract her with conversation. The reason, no doubt, is
more psychological then physical. Mrs. Heyn wrote: "I was so long
accustomed to receiving tactile impressions with the fingers that I
cannot yet change my mental attitude and ask them for impressions
of another order. There comes a time when touch and sight merge;
this is exactly what I now feel."
It was very difficult for her to recognize letters, in spite of the
fact that their black outlines gave her an impression of fullness and
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 ex
clusive. Mrs. Heyn in any one session could only succeed with one o
the other of the two types of tests, an observation which was con
firmed in recent experiments conducted in the USSR.
The sessions devoted to the development of her paroptic sense
continued and she began to "see" spontaneously without the aid of
the experimenter. She saw the color of jonquils and even had esthetia
impressions completely new to her.
One day, she was taken to one of the Paris railway stations an
was able to see its lights. Then, she started to read words and to see
colors in illustrated magazines.
After four-and-a-half months of exercises, her percentage
incorrect responses to colors again went up to 50%. Later, resul@
improved, and in June her errors reached a low of 7%. In July, }
color vision stabilized itself, and Mrs. Heyn was able to use it to
select dresses from her closet.
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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.
René 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 meters than
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 more
of its former significance, but is still far off from it."
Just as Mrs. Heyn differentiated perfectly between "vision
through the face and impressions received through the hands, sh
differentiated perfectly between perceptions of shape and percej
tions of color. These are "two entirely different operations which
do not originate from the same sensation, and which leave absolutel
distinct memories. When the objects are taken away, I do not thing
of a blue square or a red circle, but of blue and of a square, and &
red and a circle."
Form perception remains, by the way, analytic in a blind person
recovering his sight. To identify objects, he must start by running
over them with his fingers, trying to synthetize his new visual spac
with his kinesthetic and tactile space. It is, therefore, understand
able that it is difficult for him to add yet another "dimension," the
of color.
The very methodical analysis of this case points up clearly
the difficulties of the training and the fact that there exist two
modes of perception :
These two modes of perception correspond to two differ@
types of training according to the aptitudes of the subjects.
III. Our Personal Researches
Following these numerous investigations, the author personafy
undertook additional research work on paroptic perception. She plads
herself at the crossroads of extra-retinal vision and dermo-optic s
sitivity, which we shall discuss later.
The work was started in 1969 with tests of light and cof
variations in the environment. Mr. Maurice Déribéré, 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
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geometric forms;
1) Enviromental Effects
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visual testing laboratory of the Centre d'Eclairagisme et d'Informa-
tion for these rather unusual tests. This laboratory is well equipped
for the study of the influence of color and light intensity on various
materials.
In this 21 square-meter room, 3 m. 20 high, light intensity
may vary from darkness to 5,000 luces.13 The light, emitted by tubes,
can be of the fluorescent type or analogous to that produced by
incandescent bulbs.
The light can come from the center of the room as well as
from any of the four corners of the grilled ceiling, behind which is
the source of light.
By pivoting the walls, various light effects can be produced:
gray-white, dark blue-green or salmon-red.
These "decorative" colors, in the midst of which our first tests
took place, have the same optic density for the same type of illumina-
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
the walls, as well as of other tests, is handed over, prior to the
session, to the operator who controls, by means of a keyboard, the
transformations of all the conditions of the room.
Seventeen subjects were tested until 1972. Eleven of them had
been totally blind for a number of years. Ten had characteristic
impressions and only one had no feeling at all; the six others com-
prised two who were only color-blind, two practically blind and two
with normal vision blindfolded during the experiment but who did
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
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.
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 room 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.
[64]
pressions for white-gray in 70% of the cases, for blue in 60% and for
red in 50% of the cases.
These colors were described by the following impressions:
White-Gray:
clarity, impression that the room was growing
larger
Dark Blue-Green:
cold, impression of space
Salmon-Red:
hot, reduced space
A congenitally blind subject experienced acoustic impression
dispersed resonance for blue and a soft sound for red.
In darkness, colors generally induced no impression at all.
seemed that 1,000 luces and fluorescent light were the best adjuvar
so that the colors of the room in the center of which the subject
seated could be "felt."
On April 23, 1971, Jules Romains and his wife gave us
honor of assisting at one of our test sessions at the Centre d'Eclaira
isme et d'Information.
He told us how great his disappointment had been when, omn
1920, the research he had pursued so methodically was so hea
ly
criticized that he had finally given it up.
He encouraged us to engage in the study of extra-retinal vision
and advised us to carry out this research not only with blind persons
but also with subjects whose eyes were bandaged.
2) Perception Through the Face
These investigations are difficult to carry on because theyare-
quire a great alertness and a proper frame of mind on the par of
the subjects. Nevertheless, with the help of the Parapsychology
Foundation, this research was initiated.
The first observations seemed to show that there is a "vis
perception in the mental field and confirm that there can also be
sensations induced by the hands.
The exercises were divided into two parts, each preceded
y a
period of relaxation.
The first part included tests of paroptic vision by means of the
face, but we have to confess that they seldom gave stable results.
We were, however, able to experiment with some subjects by moans
of objects, black and white cards, geometric designs, vowels and sing
colors as well, during half an hour at each session.
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The second part included dermo-optic sensitivity tests, especially
color tests, using the hands with or without contact. At first, eight
subjects were tested; five had been blind for a number of years,
one was almost blind, but was blindfolded like the remaining two
others. One of the last two subjects had very bad eyesight, but the
other had normal sight and, of course, they were also blindfolded.
The first part of the paroptic "vision" exercises took place in
daylight; the subject was sitting with his back toward the window,
or was lighted sideways. The objects to be detected were placed in
plastic boxes, and the other stimuli, black and white cards or cards
printed with geometric forms or letters, were in plastic containers
held by the experimenter at a distance of 5 to 30 cm. from the
face of the subject.
Paroptic "vision" begins 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
"vision" emerges stronger.
These tests are very fatiguing and require great power of
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
studied during daylight as well as under electric lights.
With natural lighting, differences between contrasting colors
were first perceived, such as red and white, yellow and green, with-
out the subject trying to name the color. The left temple proved to
be the most sensitive. Before being visualized, the colors evoked the
following impressions: white-not rough, fatiguing; blue-fatiguing,
weak visualization; green-cold; yellow-visual vibration; red --
warm, visualization.
The electric-light tests were carried out sometimes with vertical
rows of colored bulbs, sometimes with colored plates lighted from
below.14
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.
[66]
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 which
a box is placed, the cover of which consists usually of various
colored plates.
100400100004-2
A white plate induced an impression of continuity, but Sth
a feeling of unevenness. A yellow plate evoked an impression of bigat,
differing from the one evoked by red. An orange plate was hSpter
and thicker than the yellow one, but blended with red. The redcone
was easily recognized as it induced pulsations. Green and back
induced no impression and soon blended. With training, the subject
learned to distinguish green from black, when placing his Hands
20 cm. above the plate, green induced a kind of motor sens Dion
on the level of his hands.
3) Perception Through the Hands
After a pause, less fatiguing exercises of color detection by Wands
were taken up again. With some subjects, only these exercises gave
results.
Let us repeat that persons able to experience impressions through
their faces are found very infrequently. Most of the subjeds we
recently observed (since December, 1971) obtain differentiates im-
pressions through their hands. Thus we are in the process of studying
what Professor A. C. Novomeysky calls "dermo-optic sensitivi."
We found that graphic symbols in black and white evoke but
slight reactions for their detection. Nevertheless, one of our oplind
subjects learned to recognize vowels represented by small blackdisks
pasted on white cardboard, forming symbols similar to pointed
vowels. The palm of her hand, placed on a glass plate covering a
vowel, gave her successive thermal impressions of its contour? per-
mitting her to name it. (Let us specify that she had a very weak
tactile sensitivity. ) This observation will be more fully discussed later.
For the detection of colors by hand two types of training are
possible: by contact or at a distance.
In the first case, the subject examines by touch various surfaces
of paper, of wood, or other materials, or colored books. Colored
cards can be put under plastic or under glass after the first tests.
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Certain subjects start by taking the colored materials fully in
hand, recognizing them by impressions of weight, bulk or size of
diameter, even if the stimuli are identical. In this case it's green that
seems to be either the "heaviest" or the bulkiest, or the lightest for
most of the subjects. One of them learned to recognize red each
time he had the impression of putting his hand on something thick
like the edge of a book.
In the second stage, the subjects learned to distinguish between
colors by running their hands over colored surfaces. Some subjects'
tactile and thermal impressions of some of these colors ranging from
smooth and cold to rough and hot are:
-Blue:
cool
-White:
fatiguing, rough, mixed with yellow and black
Green:
cold, very smooth
-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 in a work published by the
Pedagogical Institute of Sverdlovsk. )
This is followed by exercises of sorting out two colors distributed
unevenly: yellow and black, red and white, etc. It appears that
yellow is easier to identify than black, and that the contrast between
green and white, or red and white, is easier to perceive than between
red and green, while the blue color is "felt" in contrast with the
red color.
All these impressions of which some are of an affective order
result in a classification of colors in which blue or green is found
at one end of the extreme and yellow or red at the other end, with
orange most often in between.
In the second case the subject operates at a distance, and he
feels the same thermal and tactile impressions as if by contact. A
blind student located the following impressions on his hands: blue
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
[68]
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-
ception; the subject indicates only the results of the sensations felt
through his hands, and one falsely concludes that "the hand sees."
This method of "synthetic notation" does not permit drawing ant
conclusion as to whether the subject detects the color or rather
guesses it.
On the other hand, the "analytic" method specifies impressione
similar to those induced by thermal tactile sensitivity, and permit
the subject to obtain results as constant and stable as those obtained
for instance, from learning to read. Thus the proceedings and
results are quite different from the ones of G.E.S.P.
After having read the works of Professor Noyomeysky,
investigated at what height the subject must hold his hands to en
able him to perceive colors at a distance. It was ascertained th
these levels were of a lesser elevation for the color red than f
black, yellow and blue, but sometimes without delimitation of heigkr
for very light colors, such as white.
Moreover, we registered the dynamometric reactions of the two
blind subjects and of the almost-blind subject. The measures of the
dynamometric pressures were taken at the time of the parope
perception and compared with the ones taken when the cole
was named.
The first two subjects reacted most vigorously to yellow
the almost-blind subject to red at the time of the paroptic perce
tion. But when the color was named by the experimenter,
strongest reactions made by the three subjects were to red.
It seems from all these investigations that black or white cards,
geometric forms, letters, and, above all, colors, can be used or
paroptic perception. As far as the face is concerned, the left side
is more sensitive. It seems that, in daylight, differences in saturatin
are perceived, while under electric light green and black are con-
fused and red evokes impressions of pulsations. This faculty requises
great concentration, and the subject must be of good health and f&e
of worry.
A
When it concerns the development of the sensitivity of the
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hands, the training is less exhausting. Colors induce impressions of
heat and density, red is even apt to attract the hands of the subject,
while green for some subjects induces a feeling of thickness.
This paroptic perception seems to make the subject conscious
of his capacities which are blurred by normal sight.
IV. Dermo-Optic Sensitivity
The same phenomena of reading with the fingers have also been
studied in the USSR under the name "dermo-optic sensitivity," but
from quite another perspective than that of Jules Romains. For
Soviet scientists, the perception of colors is not the effect of a' vision
but of reasoning, as we will soon see.
We present here only the actual facts which formed the object
of their research. The phenomena of color detection without eyes
and of reading with fingers have been studied in the USSR since
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
then submitted her to numerous tests in Moscow laboratories.
Kuleshova could discern the colors of luminous rays projected
on a screen within the limits of the visible spectrum but could not
discern infrared rays projected on her fingers. She did not detect
colors by a tactile hyperesthesia of minimal textural differences due
to the dyes used nor by thermal impressions, since the caloric
strength of infrared is much higher than that of other color radiation
of the spectrum.
Under red light and in darkness she did not differentiate be-
tween colors with her fingers, thus eliminating the hypothesis that
it was thanks to telepathy or clairvoyance that she recognized the
colors. The first observers were intrigued by her abilities and a
number of researchers became interested in her case.
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
[70]
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
quite distinct from those of normal sight and touch.
Nevertheless, the term dermo-optic sensitivity can be justified
since, on the one hand, the phenomena of complementary colors,
the laws of their mixtures, and optic illusions detected as if by normal
sight and, on the other hand, the use of palms seems to imply touch,
as well as the turning of the subjects to the tactile language for the
expression of nonhabitual sensations.
According to Professor Novomeysky, one person out of six
can develop this faculty which, far from being "foreign" to the
normal domain, can be integrated (according to him) within the
scope of known psychological, physiological and, mainly, physical laws.
At the Pedagogical Institute of Sverdlovsk, the students are
trained systematically to identify colors with their fingers, and to
eliminate any objection, such as insufficient darkening of the eyes
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
tactile, thermal and affective impressions, with the colors evoking
them, and, step by step, the subject learns to identify and to name
these colors.
According to advocates of an analogy between dermo-optic
sensitivity and normal vision, a physical agent must have light for
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
lighted room.
According to Professor Novomeysky's theory (which we shall
consider in more detail later) dermo-optic sensitivity, in spite of
being analogous to normal sight, differs greatly from it, as evidenced
by the results obtained with certain subjects capable of detecting
colors in complete darkness and other still more unusual results.
The booths in which the subjects are isolated, the screens
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separating their blindfolded eyes from stimuli and the multitude of
precautions taken to avoid all interference with the experimenter
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
the color red from blue, then yellow from orange and the other
colors of the spectrum, and finally the color black from white and
gray. The greatest differences felt were those between red and green,
and white and black. The tactile impressions induced by the colors
can be classified in the order of the prism.
Warm colors: red-clinging, rough, gluey; orange-rough; yel-
low-smooth, slightly rough, not gluey.
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 rough,
very definitely rough and warm; white is much less rough and less
warm; gray is cold, hard and very smooth.
Among a great number of other tests, those of Professor
Dobronavrov show that the subjects most sensitive to pain are the
ones most able to detect colors.
Other tests indicate that dermo-optic sensitivity diminishes with
low temperature in a dimly lit room. The diminution of this faculty
corresponds also to a general weakening of the entire organism.
Only one quarter of the students obtained results with daily
training.
b) The Barriers of Color
The research work of Professor Novomeysky is more strongly
based on the physical rather than the psychological conditions of
dermo-optic sensitivity.
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.
Having thus learned to apply different recognition indices to
colors, the students trained themselves to differentiate between them
and to name them according to the levels of these barriers. This test
permits all kinds of analyses, for instance, that of their relationship
to the acuity of the dermo-optic sensitivity.
The highest barriers are those of the dark colors which are
situated at the extremities of the spectrum: red and violet.
At the center of this incurvated curve we find the neuter bar-
rier of green; the curves of yellow, orange and red arise on the one
side of it and the curves of light blue, dark blue and violet" on the
other side. The levels are higher for red than for violet, and for
light blue than for yellow.
Here too-and this is just our personal observation-the curve
is inverted in comparison with the curve of retinal sensitivity0
(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 the
following: red: 115 cm .; violet: 109 cm .; dark blue: 107 cm .; light
red: 99 cm .; light blue: 96 cm .; orange: 89 cm .; yellow: 87 cm.8
light yellow: 82 cm .; green: 77 cm.
The intensity of the detected symbols increases in proportion
to the height of the barriers, i.e., they are more intense for red and
violet.
Furthermore, the higher they are, the more stable they are
Professor Novomeysky observed that # the art students who wer
experimenting were good athletes, the barriers were high and stable
Aren't the athletes trained to coordinate their movements? Thus, they
stop their hands at the exact position at which the threshold related
to specific color is felt.
c) Variations in Physical Conditions
The relationships of these barriers are the same in daylight and
under electric light, but at twilight, strangely enough, the dark
blue barrier is higher than the red one.
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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
5750
6200
VIOLET
BLUE
GREEN
YELLOW
RED
100
80
Visibility Coefficient
60
40
20
4000
5000
6000
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 the blue-
green. (Purkinje phenomenon.)
-Précis de Physiologie (Physiological Abstracts)
Hermann and J. Cies, Professors of
Physiology at the Faculté de Médecine
(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 ex-
tremities of the spectrum.
This is when we see the difference between the possibilities
in dermo-optic sensitivity and those of normal sight. But some mor
disconcerting effects seem to manifest themselves when opaque plate
were placed over the colors.
Preceding tests were made with transparent media such a
benzine, water, and glass, placed on top of the colored plates fo
the purpose of studying the influence of their thickness or structure
on the dermo-optic sense. For example: the thicker the glass pan
the more difficult is the perception; or if an ordinary glass plate ha
the same thickness as an organic glass plate, the perception is better
with the latter.
The opaque screens can also consist of snow, wood, varion
metals, lead. According to Professor Novomeysky's theory, dermer
optic sensitivity is strengthened when the colors are under an alum!
num plate; sensitivity is further improved when the subject as well
as the stimulus are insulated from the ground. This sensitivity is
modified by the degree of conductivity of the metals used-whether
they are good or bad conductors of electricity-and, based on reces
research, by the degree of their permeability to infrared rays of ter
colored surfaces they cover.
Some more surprising results, bordering on the fantastic, wer
produced when some subjects were asked to name the colors-alwates
in search of the barriers of sensitivity-when, unknown to them, tobe
colored plate had just been removed from under the lead ple
where it was a few moments before the test. The colors were recog-
nized with accuracy, according to scales of heights comparable Q0
those used in other tests.
d) Experiments with the Blind
All these investigations conducted with not especially gifted s
jects were later extended to blind persons whom Professor Novons
sky submitted to the same tests.
These subjects were not born blind. They proved themselves
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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 61/2 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
when they are under a glass plate 4 mm. thick.
As René Maublanc and we ourselves have observed, the train-
ing for the detection of graphic shapes lowers the results obtained
for colors.
At the same time, during two weeks of numeral reading exer-
cises, Professor Novomeysky found out rather quickly that troubles
were arising in connecting impressions and colors which hindered the
subject in naming them. Also, any interruption of the exercises also
resulted in a decline and disappearance of the faculty.
2) Research in the United States
The work done in the USSR quite naturally attracted the
attention of other researchers. In the United States, Professor Richard
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
experimental precautions. He used various colored materials. Sheo
was able to detect quite well the colors of sheets of paper or plastics
but she could not discern the colors of stimuli made of wood .og
soft rubber.
Professor Youtz had her do statistical experiments with com@
binations of colored cards, for instance red and blue, placed under
various filters. He ascertained that, when the filter intercepted only
13% of the wavelengths, his subject succeeded in the proportion
of 85 to 95%; but with filters intercepting more than 87% of the
visible wavelengths, results were those of simple probability. He also
noted the importance of the effect of the thickness of the pane
covering the stimuli, as well as that of the room temperature and d
the temperature of the hands of the subject.
But when he tested the same subject the following year,
found that she had lost these faculties; she probably was too als
sorbed in her family life.
He made other experiments with his college students, and, as
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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 subjects.
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.
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CONCLUSIONS
We believe we have sufficiently established the existence of most
of the phenomena, with one and only problem: the appearance of
color (or colors) when the specific sense, that of sight, has not been
touched directly. Two questions come readily to mind and will lead
to our conclusions:
Going over, a final time, the three levels considered: what
plausible explanation-as scientific as possible-shall we give for
these phenomena?
Can we-could we-hope to derive from them data that can
usefully be applied to our daily life, if it be true that all scientific
knowledge must always be followed by a technique?
I.
£
The Theories
Concerning an explanation of these phenomena, many of thent
have been mentioned in passing, but we shall consider here,
simplification, only those which, in our opinion, represent the greater
interest as well as substantiality. We shall exclude those referring
simple "beliefs" in the sense of comprehensive postulates as, for
example, belief in a world beyond, in life after death or in a possible
reincarnation.
In doing so, we should bear in mind that these phenomena
formerly considered as within the realm of the sacred, continue
give rise to increasingly rational explanations, in spite of the irr
versible separation made in our time-since Kant-between that
science and religion, science eliminating superstition from religico
and purifying the realm of faith.
1) At the Psychological Level
The phenomena of synesthesia, especially that of color hearing,
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