DOI article:
J. [John] B. [Barrett] Kerfoot, The Tragedy of the Psycho-Kodak
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.30574#0034
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Nevertheless, having let myself in for a fat fee, I felt that I might as
well get all that I could for it.
“What would you prescribe?” I asked.
“I should advise you,” he said, and I remember thinking that his gram-
mar was as superficial as his psychology, “I should advise you to undertake
the solution of some really useful and important problem. The more you
succeed the more relief you will get from your trouble, and once you are
thoroughly entitled to be proud of yourself the disease will disappear.”
At the time I gave little attention to what the man had said, but, what
with my increasing disquietude and the consequent distaste for my habitual
occupations, I found myself coming back to the matter with less and less
disdain. At the moment it happened that I was much occupied with some
matters of scientific interest. Von Plantzof was then publishing the results
of his investigations into the absorption lines in mental spectra, and Schnaegel,
of Jena, had recently discovered and announced his telepathic rays. I had,
of course, followed both subjects in the current reviews, and had enjoyed
pointing out fallacies in the deductions made by the discoverers, and now
the matter suddenly presented itself to me in a new light. “ Here,” I said
to myself, “is the opportunity to put Ströler'sorders to the test. I will take
up and extend these German investigations for myself.”
I therefore fitted up a laboratory and went to work. For weeks I gave
myself up to my occupation with an enthusiasm that was as pleasant as it was
engrossing. Yet I made little enough headway, and when by chance I met
any of my former friends I failed to notice any change in the conditions that
had driven me to the undertaking. At last, disheartened, I again called on
Dr. Ströler.
“Well,” he said, “what progress?”
“ Progress?” I replied, “ None, absolutely none ! Why, I met young
Fevershaw just now, and he positively grinned in my face.”
“Ah,” said the doctor, “ I see that you have not been following my
instructions. I advised you to interest yourself in some work, and I see that
your chief attention is still centered in yourself.”
I left the office in disgust, and went back to my laboratory determined
to dismantle it and abandon the absurd experiment. So angry was I indeed
that I may fairly say I was beside myself, and I did things that no sensible
man would think of doing with delicate apparatus.
The next morning, inclined to repent my hasty temper, I entered my
work-room and looked at the havoc I had created. The destruction seemed
complete. Cameras and sensitodes, Schnaegel bulbs and astraradiometers
were piled one upon another in hopeless confusion. Yet, on top of the heap
I found something that astonished and mystified me. The discretion to
which I have referred, and the necessity for which the reader will soon
acknowledge, forbids my going into detail. A word, a hint even, might put
some unscrupulous person on the trail and bring about the catastrophe which
I have sacrificed my career and my reputation to forestal. I must therefore
content myself with saying that I was aroused as I had never been before.
30
well get all that I could for it.
“What would you prescribe?” I asked.
“I should advise you,” he said, and I remember thinking that his gram-
mar was as superficial as his psychology, “I should advise you to undertake
the solution of some really useful and important problem. The more you
succeed the more relief you will get from your trouble, and once you are
thoroughly entitled to be proud of yourself the disease will disappear.”
At the time I gave little attention to what the man had said, but, what
with my increasing disquietude and the consequent distaste for my habitual
occupations, I found myself coming back to the matter with less and less
disdain. At the moment it happened that I was much occupied with some
matters of scientific interest. Von Plantzof was then publishing the results
of his investigations into the absorption lines in mental spectra, and Schnaegel,
of Jena, had recently discovered and announced his telepathic rays. I had,
of course, followed both subjects in the current reviews, and had enjoyed
pointing out fallacies in the deductions made by the discoverers, and now
the matter suddenly presented itself to me in a new light. “ Here,” I said
to myself, “is the opportunity to put Ströler'sorders to the test. I will take
up and extend these German investigations for myself.”
I therefore fitted up a laboratory and went to work. For weeks I gave
myself up to my occupation with an enthusiasm that was as pleasant as it was
engrossing. Yet I made little enough headway, and when by chance I met
any of my former friends I failed to notice any change in the conditions that
had driven me to the undertaking. At last, disheartened, I again called on
Dr. Ströler.
“Well,” he said, “what progress?”
“ Progress?” I replied, “ None, absolutely none ! Why, I met young
Fevershaw just now, and he positively grinned in my face.”
“Ah,” said the doctor, “ I see that you have not been following my
instructions. I advised you to interest yourself in some work, and I see that
your chief attention is still centered in yourself.”
I left the office in disgust, and went back to my laboratory determined
to dismantle it and abandon the absurd experiment. So angry was I indeed
that I may fairly say I was beside myself, and I did things that no sensible
man would think of doing with delicate apparatus.
The next morning, inclined to repent my hasty temper, I entered my
work-room and looked at the havoc I had created. The destruction seemed
complete. Cameras and sensitodes, Schnaegel bulbs and astraradiometers
were piled one upon another in hopeless confusion. Yet, on top of the heap
I found something that astonished and mystified me. The discretion to
which I have referred, and the necessity for which the reader will soon
acknowledge, forbids my going into detail. A word, a hint even, might put
some unscrupulous person on the trail and bring about the catastrophe which
I have sacrificed my career and my reputation to forestal. I must therefore
content myself with saying that I was aroused as I had never been before.
30
