The Hawaiian gazette., 1868-10-21
An Acquaintance with Plan-
Ghetto.

chette.
There is an innocent little mystery which
goes upon three legs and is called e Plan
Ghetto" Who invented II nobody can tell.
and opinion is divided as TO whether it Is
or is not = hanlb1g. One is very sure
that it moves with alarming readiness.
The heart shaped bit Of wood sways TO
every motion; the casters turn with the
slightest breath Of influence; the pencil
point marks lines and words on the slight
est proyOcatiOn.
II is natural for Us to think that motion
has always an intelligent cause, and that
so light an object as this will be depend
ant upon something more real than mag
netism.
Now, l have had my own experience
with Plsnchetts. and have reached my own
conclusions, agreeing doubtless with those
of other observers and experimenters.
To NE, just at present, there is little
mystery in the matter, but in its place has
arisen a strong interest. For | verify be-
lleve that this curious toy, if rightly hand
led. will inform Us Of certain laws which
the turning tables were too clumsy to tell.
And as all truth is best in the concrete,
| have decided to write down exactly
what think, and how | came to my con-
elusiors, asking no pardon of anybody
but myself for the frequent use Of the per-
sonal pronOun.
So far as | am aware, the earliest men,
ton of Planchette is in an anonymous
novel, " Who Breaks, Pays" re-pnblished
among the Tauehnitz volumes in 1861, as
a standard book. The description is ac-
eurate, though short. The little heart
shaped table. with its two peatagraph
wheels and its pencil-leg. is just like our
own familiar friend. 1t writes +" now I"
and Lillian and adds a cross at the end
Of the name-a thing let me say, which
shakes my faith in the AUTHORS knowledge,
since / never knew Planehetts TO make a
cross, for the simple reason that IL cannot
take up is pencil point and must always
write running hand.
The latter literature of the subject con-
sists of two articles, one entitled Plan
Ghetto" and the other a Three-Legged
Impostor," and both republished in Erery
S1tlB1d1y during the psst winter. The
first of these two accounts piqued my
curiosity, and, as it contained an engrav-
ing Of the proper character to work from, |
very soon had possession of ample means
for experiment. This original Planchette
lies before me as | write, Just as it often
lies to me and Others 1t is precisely
eight inches long by seven wide, and not
quite third of an inch thick. 1t has two
brass pentegraph wheels, which are an inch
and three quarters in height, and whose
rollers are HdgT0p and very sensitive.
With this | have conducted. at one time
and at another, number Of tests, whose
results am about to condense in this
paper.
When enc sits with his fingers resting
lightly on the wood. lin this case seasoned
ash, unvarnished,l there runs through his
arms and those Of his partner, if they are
proper mediums, a sense of electrical force
The tingling extends from the finger ends
up the arms. meeting at last through the
shoulders or prieking its way across the
forehead and after such sensations Plan
Ghetto is usually very active The hands
are drawn hither and thither By the mag
netic force and although they barely touch
the wood. it follows their direction and
writes inteIiigibIy.
A lady who Is q fine medium" but
who was then ignorant Of the fact. placed
her hands on Panehette with me one eve
ming, and without a moments hesitation
it wrote q Ellie" and afterEard the name
Of another friend. When charged with
the fact, she admitted that these persons
we're in her mind. On another occasion
the question was asked, What is the
name Of those nuts on the sideboard r and
the answer was most singular. One part
ner thought HShellbarks = the other
- HIckorJ-nuts-" For several letters there
could be seen the effort to write both, but,
at last, when this was impossible, il follow
ed the stronger viii and wrote . Hickory
nuts" And, until the whole word vas
written, neither knew how much the
thought had effected the language.
A gentleman, q great skeptic, having
his hands touching mine. inquired " Did |
settle at the bank to-nightf For my
part did not know, and so remained pas
sire and, a. be did the answer was cor
rect, much 10 his establishment
By placing NY hand above those Of two
tyres, have made Planehstte seribble of
whatever 1 wished; and, By taking their
hands, while their other hands rested upon
the instrument, | have drawn it to me or
sent it from me. 1t viii occasionally do
tolerably well for q single person, but l
have found that, without any muscular &C
ton. can invariably compel it to write
trha wish, and as ! wish it-even if /
choose to mis-spelL
Such knosIedge destroys the romance,
it is trss, bat it Only heightens the charm
Of the reality; for it Is competent in
skilled hands to draw from al unsophis-
ticated person answers which are the
property Of that one only Yet have