New-York tribune., 1875-03-05

accuracy coming events raise tiio uo'u' ''0'
He SAYS: IL personally know that calrvoyance Is III
the nature of perpheral nerve-aura OF greater OF
lcss diameter this aura entering INTO intimate noie
cuar relations and contact with surrounu,he oo
ieets.v and his personal knowledge" is derived
fror, ,bo foIIowing circumstance: "In June, 1865
having rooms at Broadway hotel, was'
after some weeks Of overwork, prostra'o
with kind of nervous fever ana Ivy ioi
so1ne days in n state bordering upon delifium MY
rooms were 30 distant from the street that uhuo'
ordinary circumstances its scurry was suDdueu W
continuons roar As came to myself was con-
scious of hearing with analytic dstlnctness tue ee'
of nersons on the ak and of an interviewer ana III
extrcable tangle of separate noises causeu oy S's,
o,a oorriaoes They were not louder than usual,
o,,Iv more distinct. l could tell when stage
stonnod and a Messenger aghted or got in, and lay
ond counted bv the hour the footsteps of pedcstri
ana. often following one person among the mass ior
souares. until he turned into by street or faded
into distance. Properly speaking, this phenom-
euon was not due to the excltatlon OF the
auditory nerves, though there was unusual
acuteness in that direction, but to distinct impulses
transmitted by way of the walls Of the building In
q word. vibrations Of material media, 80 minute as
under ordinary circumstances to DO lmponderaDie'
were appreciated by tho nervous system, ana en-
tered into the impressions of consciousness LII ad
diton to this within circle of moderate periphery
say twenty feet IN diameter, saw with superhuman
distinctness. For example, l saw and knew persons
passing in tho ball possibly ten feet from the bed
with the wall between, bat could not distinguish
them except as they fitted across the disk of circle
to which my vision was limited. / say saw when
should say that knew III manner that was at once
vision and addition yet did not once pass into the
.rance-state, though lying FOR four days just on its
border"
On such evidence rs this we are asked to take as
truth Mr. Fairiields assertion that hc has per
sonal knowledge" Of tho existence OF the nerve
aura, 10 which he attribatos the phenomena of
syritualism. uo does not appear to know that
delirious persons hysterical women, and lunatics
can furnish lust as good evidence for any theory
which they may choose to suggest as an explanation
of their Illusions or hallucinatiOns, aud that many
tolerably healthy individuals who may happen to
got a little too much or too little blood into their
heads can supply him with as good facts for his
hypothesis as any in his book.
For instance, a gentleman, whose case is. person
ally known to the writer one evening sitting at
his library table, busly engaged in writing, when,
happening to raise his eyes from the paper without
however moving his head. he saw immediately in
front Of him the figure of an old woman clothed In
red, who becl,onod toward him, and leered at him
in an inviting Lind OF a way. Somewhat surprised
he threw himself back in his chair and looked
steadily at the a?partiOn, and was additionally as
tonshed to perceive it gradually fade away. Again
he bent forward, and again the figure appeared to
vanish SLOWLY as before on his eevating
his head. Now this gentleman did
not ilorlcaly take refuge in "spirtualsm,"
or "psychic force" OF "ncrvc-aura.o lie was not
g L hat 40
organs and functions of his body. He began q
series of very simple Investigations the result of
which was that he demonstrated by actual expert
rneut that when he bent his head forward, III the
act Of writing, ,,tho high STOCK which he wore com
presaed tie ugular veins in Tho neck ard thus i'm
neded tho return of blood from his head. When he
threw himself bac, in his chair the pressure was al
once taken Off and the figure faded away. He low
e-ed his crayat took a bot lie Of Kssingen wafer,
and had no further return OF the we'll
known case of NcOlai is another striking instance
of hallucinations being duo to cerebral congestion
and of their disappearance after moderate local
blood letting. and the works of HILBERT, De Bois-
man. Ballarger Forricr, and in fact of all physiOlo
gists who have written upon the subject, ab0rd
many other examples. Indeed, there il scarcely q
physician in the exercise Of his profession who has
not had instances of the kind under his charge.
Mr.. Fairfield accepts with all seriousness the re-
sults of Reiehenbach's experiments rea i've to the
influence of magnets hysterical women and the
CONSEQUENT existence of new force which lie called
3D. 1t may be known to our readers that this enthu
siastic German baron assumed to have demonstrated
the existence of this oc force by causing caaeptic
epileptc. hystercal and other morbidiy constituted
individuals to see luminous vapors when large mag
nets were held before them in the dark. and to be
otherwise surprisingly affected In their ner
yous systems Roichenbacli's conclusions have beer
| repeatedly disproyod-it having been shown that
the magnet has no such power, and that person:
like those who formed the subjects of his expert
ments can be made through the action of the princ
pie Of suggestion to experience any sensOria impress
sion which they are led to expect. Among the more
recent of the exposers is NJ. VOpicell of Rome who
in letter addressed to the eminent physicist, II
| Chevreul, writes as follows:
Will vou who have so well exposed tho Illusions rela-
| tive 10 the pendulum divining rod, and moving
tables permit ne to communicate two experiments that
I made Rome TO expose anai0gcal deceptipns
musician OF excellent standing asserts that ii ma
net pe brought INTO cOntac. with nervous subject
magnetism Produces many di,quietng effects and
not think disturbances In due TO the
magnetic influence whose'rea existence however, do
not contest but think the persons Imagination Is the
real cause. l was invited by the learned medi-
| cal professor to experiment upon nervous
subject at the hosOital SAINT Esprit at Rome.
| accepted the courteous Offer but instead
of magnet brought piece OF iron which not IN
the least magnetized The patient had sooner seen
this iron than,he waseizcd with violent commissions;
his Imagination excited that we were able TO OBJ
servo the greatest intensity OF nervous dstur
| made q second experiment. magnet was placed in
the hands person likewise aft cted with nervous
| malady. At tue end Of sew raj seconds he be-
| came so much afiected that l was obliged 10
| remove it. l always Impressed by the con.
ylction that the nervous uneasiness was produced
by the mere sight of tue lOidstOne, and not by any
magnetic action. Several days later able TO CON
vince myself by Of the following process oTne
same person called upon 10 preside al scientific
reunion took powerful nets and placed them
ms chair table drawer and even beneath his feet,
without having the least idea OF any Of my prepara
tiona During the sCince which continued more than