Worcester daily spy., 1859-07-12
l0loreester Daily Spp.
sPIRIT-RAPPING IN THE FRENCH ACADE-
MY

=, respondence of L'lndependence Beige
M. Jobert de Lambaile has communicated
TO the Academy some curious observations,
the interest OF which is no entirely confined
PHYSIOLOGY His observations may in fact
give very natural explanation to these
strange sounds for the Interpretation of which,
Ill our century as well as in the middle ages,
supernatural causes have been invoked. We
are proud, for the honor of Europe, to say
that the evocations of Spirit RapperS-a rather
lncOngrous name-are of American origin.
Did we not owe to North America the use of
anasthetic agents, we should be tempted to re-
gard it as the classic land of all juggleries,
from those which are under the ban of the
police up to the turning tables But certainly
we ought not be astonished to see such eccen-
tricites charming the leisure of our Parisen-
mes, when we learn from Gozlan that our cold
and positive neghbors Of Brighton indulge in
them, under the name of "Spiritism," with a
seriousness which is as imperturabable as it is
ridiculous
But to the phenomenon of NJ Jobert: in
Mdlle. de x, girl of IA, stout and well built,
the able surgeon has observed regular involun.
tary movements of the minor right laternal
muscle of the shin, bone, taking place every
second, and producing a sound behind the in.
ternal malleola, which is heard with remark
able dlstlnctness to considerable distance
Ibis sound is produced in whatever position
the girl may be-in bed, out of bed, sitting or
lying and at any hour of the day or night
but it may be stopped by extending the foot
and leg. Lately the left laternal muscle of the
shin-bone has been subject to the same mo-
tions.
M. Jobert interprets the phenomenon in this
way he anal Yves each sound into two mo-
tions; in the first, the tendon of the minor lat
eral muscle gets out of its groove, pushing
away the major lateral muscle to the skin In
the second, when the contraction is over, the
tendon relaxes, flies back into the groove, and
by striking against it produces the dry, sonor-
GUS sound which is heard
And so, according to M. Jobert, the affection
of Mdlle. X. shows how, under the influence of
muscular contraction, the displaced tendons
may, in falling back into their bony grooves,
produce the sounds which, to credulous peo-
pie, announce the presence Of Spirit-rapperS.
But M Jobert does not limit himself to the
Interpretation of the fact which he has witness
ed, in his study of the phenomena which have
caused SO much emotion within a few years
past; he recounts with fidelity and analyzes
with exactitude all that the world owes to NJ
ochlii III this respect. He shows us this wise
and sagacious observer, throwing aside all idea
OF supernatural Intervention, commencing by
ascertaining that these strange sounds always
occur at the foot of the bed Of individuals agi-
tated by the spirits and from this first fact ar
gulng that the seat of the raps is not without
The organism OF the person, but within the or
ganlsm Itself; that the sound may be made in
the leg, in the region of the shin, by the ten
dons and the bony surfaces and then, with
this explanation in his head making experi-
ments on himself which left no doubt that the
rap had its origin behind the malleoIa, and in
the groove of the tendon of the muscles of the
oh ToI,, I
Schltf soon became able to perform this at will,
regularly and harmoniously, and that lie can
initiate, sitting or lying, before great number
OF persons fifty at one time the prodigies of
the SpTu-rdpperS; and that while he is execut-
ing these movements spectator, with his
hand on the malleoa can feel the slips of the
tendon forward and backward
There is slight disagreement here between
MN. Jobert and Schit, not in regard to the
main fact, but in one of the details. NJ. Schiff
thinks that the sound is possible only when
the sheath has become thin or disappeared en-
tirely, and that it becomes louder as the foot is
more tense and more firmly fixed. Agreeable
with the German physiologist as to the cause
and seat of the rapping, NJ. Jobert does not
agree with him on all the points of his theory.
lie thinks that the wrap can be produced
without an anomalous condition of the sheath,
that the extension of the foot makes it disap-
pear entirely, that the minor muscle is the
agent, and that this muscle is much superior
in its action to the major.
If, in fact, the sound could not be produced
without an anomalous formation, how could
all the mediums-there are 100000 in Ameri-
ca-produce them? How could M. Schiff do
it himself?
Finally, to leave no doubt with regard to his
opinion, M. Jobert sets forth all the phenome-
ma observed which are evidently due to the
action, whether voluntary or not, Of the minor
muscle, and at last comes to the decisive proof
"a surgical operation which put an end to all
these sounds The able operator made an in
csion into the minor muscles, both right and
left, holding the limbs still by the aid OF an ap-
paratus. When they healed up, the patient
was found to have recovered the use of her
limbs, and there was no trace OF the singular
and rare affection from which she had suffer
ed.
NJ. Velpeau, in giving his complete assent
to everything contained in the interesting
communication Of Nj. Jobert, whose interpre-
taton appeared to him to leave nothing to be
desired, cited some cases in which sounds
have been heard in other regions of the body,
sometimes clear and sharp, and at other times
dull and dead, and expressed the wish that
psychologists would seriously examine these
va, ious sounds, and publish the rational ex-
PLANTATION OF phenomena not understood, or at
tributed to occult and supernatural causes
M. Jules Cloquet in support of the observa-
ton of NJ. Velpeau relative to the sounds
which may be produced by tendons in various
portions of the body, referred to girl of II or
Is, who came to the Hospital Saint-Louis at a
time when MN. Velpeau and Jobert were at
tached to this establishment The father of
this young person, sort Qt charlatan who
called himself Father ofhe Phenomenon, count
ed on making some money by public exhibi-
ton of his child, and proposed to announce
that she had a clock in her stomach. These
abnormal sounds, said NJ Cloquet, could be
heard very distinctly at a distance of more
than twenty-five feet, and resembled the
sound of an old turn-spit. They could be
suspended at will by the girl, and appeared to
have their seat i'll the muscles OF the lumbar
region of the yertebral column.
M. Jobert recognized the fact, with NM
Telpeau and Cloquet, that abnormal sound
might be heard in the hip and the shoulder /;
that certain sounds, in the shoulder especially,
might be made, as M. Velpeau had remarked,
under the influence of the will when the ten
don of the long part of the biceps of the arm
had suffered change of position, or when it
had been luxated. Butaccording to M. Jobert,
there is great difference between these
sounds and those he has mentioned, which show
a regularity in accorance with the inyolutlon-
AIRY contraction of the muscle, the relaxation
OF the tendon and the percussion i'll bony
groove.
Certain anatomic conformatons are indeed
necessary TO produce these effects and no
where can they be found more advantageous
than III the ordinary sheath of the lateral mus
ces Of the shin-bone, and the groove which re-
celves them. These anatomical relations, con
IL.