Psychometry is a form of extra-sensory perception in which a psychic is said to be able to obtain information about an individual or events through paranormal means by making physical contact with an object that belongs to them.
The term psychometry was coined by Joseph Rodes Buchanan in 1842.
Buchanan developed the theory that all things give off an "emanation".
To quote Buchanan:
"The past is entombed in the present, the world is its own enduring monument; and that which is true of its physical is likewise true of its mental career. The discoveries of Psychometry will enable us to explore the history of man, as those of geology enable us to explore the history of the earth. There are mental fossils for psychologists as well as mineral fossils for the geologists; and I believe that hereafter the psychologist and the geologist will go hand in hand, the one portraying the earth, its animals and its vegetation, while the other portrays the human beings who have roamed over its surface in the shadows, and the darkness of primeval barbarism. Aye, the mental telescope is now discovered which may pierce the depths of the past and bring us in full view of the grand and tragic passages of ancient history."
Nice quote Mr B.
(This reply intended as an informational but not definitive guide based on current scientific theories).