Nebraska advertiser., 1868-10-15

.
&c Planehette, an operator viii find
that simple pencil answers his pur-
pose as we'll. He holds it out with
upFalsed arm-it writes easily, and at
once. he may rest his entire arm and
hand heavily upon the table, to con-
vince himself he is not cheating-but
the arm slides, the hand moves, the
pencil intelligently follows his spoken
or unspoken thought. Nervous or su-
perstitious people, however, are here
by advised to let this experiment
alone. 1t is not in all respects desira-
bic to be in the condition Of the Young
lady whose needle-bOOk deliberately
walked out of her work-basket one
evening after she had been devoting
herself to Planchette. That story. by
the way, comes on Every good author
ity." did not see that needle-book
l never saw King Theodore. Do
believe it? Ask Planchette.
What is this mysterious pIaything
Ask it. 1t will tell you, Lucifer. But
waving the pleasant hypothesis fol
the present; what is the power which
makes a piece of wood fly under yOul
passive hands, and carry on intelli.
gent conversations without your vol.
untary influence?
'Animal magnetism, - says the gen
tleman who knows. Electricity, u
prOnOunces the professor in spectacles
"Humbug" sneers the d. D., who is
too busy to test the matter. "Spirits, y
falters theyoung lady with the needle
book.
Magnetism it may be, but who is the
wiser for that? What do we know oi
magnetism that should explain a lead
pencils reading the mind of a person
at rooms width? Electricity it may
be, but how can electricity move a
solid and very heavy glass machine
What has electricity to do with the
insulated Planchette or non-cOnduc-
ting glass pegs? Humbug it may be,
but what then of the ''value of testi-
mOny," reverend sir? Spirits itmay
be, but we lack 'the evidence on it. :"
Theories fall before this simple toy,
opinions baulk, experience defies
itself. One expert never controls
Planchette till he is weary. Another
loses his power with his freshness.
An amature likes wet weather for
Planchette. The next is pOWerless in
a storm. Children operate most sue
cessfully," says one dealer; "the pow
er does not lie in the soul or nerve" !"
1.-The best mediums" you hear across
the street, ''are highly nervous peO-
pie" Watch the next party which
you see around Planchette. A man
without fancy, stout, strong, well,
calm, and his sick, nervous, emacia-
ted, morbid wife, are equally sue
cessful.
One thing, however, seems to be
certain. The power which possesses
Planchette is identical with the power
of table-tipping. Another thing is
probable, that it is akin to the power
of the spiritualistic medium.
Mrs. Smith, clairvOyant, anywhere
on Washington street-an absolute
stranger to you, and yOurs-will, for
the sum of one dollar, write for you
with the finger of one hand upon the
palm of another, your own name,
business, age, past history and future
prospects,, the names of your dead
friends, the diseases of which they
died, together with as many aimless,
uncharacteriStic messages from them
as you choose to sit and listen to.
Does she, under a law of physical
condition which we have not fathOm-
ed, read your mind? Does Planchette,
under the same law, interpret your
thought or your neighbours? Have
we not here the hints of a problem
which belongs not to superstition, but
to science? Is not the time coming,
and now at hand, when this whole
series of phenomena will awaken no
more surprise than the transmission
of this sentence from my brain to the
Watchman and Reflector?
Then the devil has nothing to do
with it? He would be a bold theOri-
ger who should assert that. The devil
has to do with most things in this
world. How far he is allowed to
wrench any simple law from its sys-
tenn we cannot tell. Whether Plan
chette and Mrs. Smith are peculiarly
open to his influence remains to be
proved Wutchndn and Reflector.