Agilk fib M BACKSTER EFFEM since 1966 (1-4), presented to the lay and scientific Mr. Cleve Backster hasp covmunity claims that a larse variety of living materials (primarily p2lants$ but also including hen's eggs, PGT&Mclum, ameba. mold cultures, scraping$ characteristic Slec- from the roof of a human couth, and ye*st) will product chine. The signals obtaine(so trical signals kten2 connected to a polygraph ma to opinion, closely resemble the outputs seen when human beings in Mr. Backeter not sur- 5, That Such@signals art indeed produced is undergo lie deteztor test 2 tion that they result c is unexpected Is Mr. Bac'keter's conten prising. Who from the perception capabilities of the materials. The processes of life are such that in living systems a large variety of con- ditions exist which give rise to electrical charge separations with attend=t 2 e salt con- electrical potentials. These potentials or* interconnected by th 4 taining fluids of living systems which in turn are cont&ined In materials 1 having diversified electrical properties. The result to an extremely couplicated 5 of a multiplicity of par2allel and ser4.es connected electrical circuit consistln potentials, resistances, capacitances, and reactances. Thus, if current flow in such a system to monitored by connecting it to a psycho-inte-Oror- ter (II* detector) one should not be surprised to see a large variety 2of current changes m=y of which will resemble typical polygraph outputs. A multitude of seemingly r, Insignificant events tan conceivably change t'4e impedance or such a circuit through their Enfluence on the resistance, capacitance, reactance or potential generating characteristics of the system. lot example. a change in the position r or stren2gth of any nearby electrical or magnetic field can Induce a voltage in a critical part of the circuit which will result in a large change in the current flow as read by the attached ammecer. Such changes can be broughc about by the mere repositioning of the observer's body or motiolm of his limbo. Likewise, small changes in the chemical makeup of the system due to such I.hiftgs as ad3sorption of odors or water vapor can appreciably change the resistance or capacitance of the system uhich will change the matching characteristics -4 Ask Adak rise to ixopedance mis- 4 the circuit giviltg betwecn the readout anveter an In additl*n, the internal en, 2 matches and a consequent change in readout. ge due to tell vivorawnt of a living system is constantly underooin- chan Jr division, elongation, and maturation. These changes may also alter the impedance and voltage generating characteristics of t% 2 _a living system and result in a variety of changes in the current readout. ch have been induced at a distance of Figure 1 shows some voltage changes whi meter in a human hair (stretched between tva platinum electrodes and made to be semiconducting by coating it with $12,cerol and a liquid soap) by a vibrating barium titanate crystal. It is evident that the vibrating crystal tndu,ces a voltage in the hair preparation ,which is related to the first deriva- tive of the frequency of the vibration and therefore, it is probably a reflec- tion of the change in the electric field at the barium titanate crystal. Since the hair preparation is derived entirely from materials found in living systems and its structure is due largely to the hair (a former living material) it is reasonable to expect that tblis preparation has an equivalent electrical circuit which resembles, in ftany ways. that found in living tissues. This, if voltage changes can be induced in this preparation, there is reason to exp2ect that they can also be inducea in living systems. There seems to be no reason to doubt Mr. Backster's observations of polygraph readouts from a variety of living materials. On the tther hand, his explann- tion for these observations warrant some c nts. F@@ny of the experiments wbich Mr. Backeter has conducted appear to lack adequa2te controls and almost all of his explanations or implied explanations for the results are at beat impulsive. He conclude$ that his readouts are the result of single cell ac- tivlties and, therefore, possessed by all living systems. However, his expert- ments are of@en designed to show a one to one correspondence between a poly- graph readout and a specific event w6bich is really only one example of a con- stantly occurring phenomenon. For example, in order to show that plants are sensitive co the death of other organisms, even at a distance, he dumps brine shrimp int* boiling water and obser-ves the polygrapk responses of plants 2 located in another room. But if, as he purports, this experimert shows that plants are sensitive to the death of other organisms, -dhy are the plants 3tuned only to the death of thcsa pirticular or&anisms? Certainly, there are millions of microorgantsm3 dying in the same room with the plmits and un- 2 doubtedly a number of household pests such as ants. flies, and the like are also dying in various parts of the bouso not to mention the variety of fresh vegetables and meats being prepared in the neighborhood kitchens. Likewise, teleoloeical a marked tendency to look for Wi*14tfd*l explanations for 2 W. Backater haa his work. He always relates his polygraph patterns to. psychic or physical phenotwna seen in human beings; i.e., emotional stimulation, "fainting heartbeat, nervousness, even prayer. This is a basic error which can mask and distort the p*ssibility that the observed phenomen-a can be used for useful and perhaps unique purposes. It is -.tot2 necessary to resort co explanations which transcend the physical laws we know now. An approach which seeks to Interpret the results within tie framework of known phenomena will be far more useful. Consider the possibility that the house plant, for example, acts not only as a biased electrical circuit, but alsa functions as a high impedance antenna. Such a system can be disturbed by changes in 2small elee- cal fields, perhaps even of the magnitude produced by brain waves and blood tri c circulation. After all devi es are available that can detect at a distance magnetic fields generated by blood circulation and brain waves (5-6). Also, the surface area of a plant Is qui2te large and well adapted to gas exchange reactions so that trace amunt-i of chemicals emitced from anir@als can be absorbed.by the plant and lead to pronounced changes In plants and their elec- trical circuitry. For example, plants change their metabolis= and undergo leaf epinasty in response to a concentration of ethylene of as little as 0.002 uicroliters per liter o2f air (7-8). The events triggered by conscious or un- conscious nervous reactions (odor emission, increase in heart rate, change in brain wave pattern, etc.) on the part of an observer, which go undetected by him, could conceivably cause changes in delicately balanced electrical circuits including those existing in living systems. Under these circumstances, the electrical readout from an instrumented 5plant could change in response 3 to the e=tional or physical state of an observer. However. the response would in no way be a case of the plant reading the individual's mind. Rather, it would be due to changes In the plants environment brought about by the ob- server and resulting in a change in the electrical characteristics of a delicately balanced system. 2 The poesibiltty that very subtle changes In the environment alter the elec- trical properties of plant tissues is not unreasonable. Such changes aze everyday pheiomena In animal sensory organs and the strmctures and electrical status of plant cells have many features In co=on wi,.h nervous tissue. The -Z most essential difference may actually be in the organization of tne cells. In the animal, the cells are arranged to provide quic'4 reaction times, centralized Information depositor-y &,ad specialized Information sorting to- ther with feedback and compensatory reactions. In the plant, on the other h=d, the cells are not organized In this mariner and although their electrical 2properties may chainge with the@-,environment, the phenomenon is of I.Udtad use to the plant. However, if man monitors these ele4:trical changeb, he may be able to correlate them with subtle changes in e-nvironmencal factors which are of intezest to him much in the same way that the receptor potentials of various nervous tiss-aes2 (visual, olfactory, tactLIe, etc.) caa be used to supply in- formation on. for example, odor concentration, light intensity, and pressure. It Is suggested zhat a program be carried out to investigate the possibility that changes inthe electrical properties of plants are induced by subtle changes In tie environment, Necnodologieg which are similar to those now 5 d to expl:Dre receptor potentials in nervous tissues orild be employed and the character.'Lstics of any signals observed correlated with such things as trace amounts of adors itittoduced into the enviror@nent or uiinuce chaiiges in electrical and magnetic fields. 4 oped with Liquid potassium Soap and D FIG= Response of Huma@'Hair Coated with Octanot. In each case, trac'e A is the response f-roin the hair and traca 3 is 8 The a record of the signal driving the barium ticanate transducer nuvbers.indicate the frequency of the driving signal. TracesA and B were made simultaneously with a dual be@-in oscilloscope. AIKC A *.IC z A10KC AIC la A SOKC Aioc r r r r r A IOOKC 8 AIOOC 7 1. Backster, C. The Man Who Read Naturets Secret Sipals. National Wildlife. February-i%iarch, 1969. Do Plant,% Think7 Science of Mind. 'June, 1969. 2. Backster. C. 3. Backster, C. Evidence of a Prima" Perception In Plant Life. International 2 Journal of Parapsychology. Vinter, 1968. Backster, C Be Kind to Your PlaLuts - Else You Could Cause a Violet to 4. Shrink. Wall Street Journal. About January, 1912. S. Rosen, A., et al. Magnetic Ratording of the Eeart's Electrical Acitivity with a Cryogenic liagnetometer. TRW System Group, Redondo Beach, California. NIH Report No. 69-2243, June 26, 1970. 6. Cohen, D. E. A. Edelsack and J. E. Zink rman. Applied Physics Letters 16:278, 1970. 7. Leather, C. R., L. E. Fo'"ence, P. 0. Abeles. Increased Ethylene Production during Chemostat Ex-peri1ments May Cause I"eaf Epinasty. Plant Pbystology 49:183-186. 1972. 8. Reid, M. S. and H. K. Prate. Effects of Ethylene on Potato Tuber Respiration. Plant P4'ysiology A9:252-255. 1972.