The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1868-10-02
WHIT IS PLANCHRTTE2

Hard heads, and men Of the most
materialistic tendencies have been puZ-
lied and nonplussed by the maneuvers
of plsnchette. The name is of French
origin, and signifies literally little
board. We have seen several styles,
differing from each other only in trivial
details, the general form being the
same in each.
1t is heart-shaped piece of board,
mounted upon three supports. 1t is
seven inches from the depression in the
base of the heart to its apex, and seven
inches measured across its widest part.
Two of the supports are legs of wood
or brass, terminating in pentagraph
wheels or casters, usually of iron, bone
or hard rubber. The third support is
pencil thrust through socket at the
apex of the heart. Makers claim that
the wood used is peculiar, whether art
ificially rendered so or otherwise we
are not informed: but we have been
unable to detect any popularity in the
appearance of the wood in any that we
have seen. Those that we have met
with look as though they were made of
mahogany or black walnut lightly var
nished, and with little attempt at
ladornment. In the centre of the board
we have occasionally seen a disc of
metal. having the appearance of Ger
man silver, but whether it was for use
or ornament, we are unable to say.
The instrument is usually operated
by two persons, or perhaps we should
say, it generally operates when two
persons lay the tips of their fingers up
on if. Occasionally it operates with
less force, when only one places his
hands upon it, and it has been asserted
in some of the English journals that
there has been instances of its working
when string was attached to one of
| its legs, the remote end being held in
| the hand of powerful medium, at
| some distance from the machine.
| The phenomena attributed to the plan
chettee are various, but they consist es-
| sentially in writing and drawing. The
/ latter we have never witnessed, but we
state it on good authority. In fact, the
wonders of planchette are backed by the
statments OF the most reliable people
| statements which constitute such mass
| of evidence that we should feel bound
to accept the facts stated, even though
we had not witnessed them ourselves
| You may hold a conversation with plan
Ghetto, provided your own part Of it is
interrogations. Its replies, so far as VIC
have seen are sometimes true and some
times false. So are the replies given by
human respondents. 1t sometimes re.
fuses to write at all, and plays the mos
fantastic tricks, in apparently willful di
iregard of the feelings of those who ar.
anxious that it should do its best. WheI
however, 1t chooses to be good, it moves
gently and steadily over the paper upoI
which it is placed, the pencil point trac
ing letter after letter until the reply i
written, when with a rapid swee pit an
Inouncesits conclusion by rushing swiftl,
backto the left, and stopping suddenl,
at the edge Of the paper. These motion
lseem, to those whose fingers rest upoI
the board, to be entirely independent o
their own wills, their only care being t.
avoid any resistance to its motions. III,
fact that it is impossible to suppose tina
the wills of two persons could be b,
their own desire mutually coincident
without previous agreement, forms on
of the most pulling features of TIN
subject, as the nature of the question
asked and answered precludes the pos
fsIbllity of COLLISION.
We have thus stated the facts relatins
: to this mysterious little machine, care
fully avoiding the expression of opin
ion pro or con, in the hope of accumu
lating more data in regard to it, and be
, cause we believe that the key to solu
ton of the phenomena to which w
think it undoubtedly belongs, may b.
, discovered in the investigation of th
cause OF its enthusiastically
american.