The Wilmingtonian. (Wilmington, Del.) 1882-188?, 1884-07-05

instances of new ideas, there was small
substratum of truth. Faraday had pre-
viously admitted that such phenomenon as
was possible, but he clearly
showed that it was producible by definite
and natural causes. When the operators
stood round small circular table with their
hands in contact with the liable and with
tary muscular action accompanying the will
that the table should turn in a particular
direction produced an aggregate force iully
equal to accomplish the result, But here it
was demonstrable that muscular power,
slight in the individual but still apprecia-
Bile, was exerted. As to the rapping and
spirit manifestations, it is only necessary to
observe that they utterly failed under rigid
scientific tests. CrOokes, the discoysrcr of
Thallium and the Radiometer held seanccs
and obtained spirit photographs. But he,
like Robert Owen, cooled down rapidly in
spiritual ardor when conjurcrs like Mr.
Maskeyne produced spirits by the carload,
under conditions much more stringent than
the mediums and their friends We're willing
to submit to.
III this connection ii may be proper to
state that Miss llurst's friends claim for her
all the powers assigned j mediums i'll gen
eral, except that Of clarvoyance. They
allegc that raps and Ineligible messages
have been produced through her agency and
without her cognizance, under conditions
which abolish the presumption Of fraud.
These manilestati MS are, however, trivial
atails beside the force Of which She is the
evident controller, ard which was SO start
| lingly demonstrated in the performance at
the Opera House,
| We thus find our scope OF inquiry mar
| rowed down to certain limits within which
they may be proftaby exercised. We may
safely assume that spiritullism has been put
on its trial with 10 other result than the
finding of small substratum OF truth and II
large super-structure Of imposture. We
need not regard the views Of those who CON
denim all inquiry us unholY, and speak Of
science, witchcraft and the devil in the same
terms. We may accept or reject the prem
Uses from which Mr.. Parmalee draws his
perfectly logical deductions. We may safely
assume that magnetism, us vulgarly under
stood, has nothing to do with the phcnom-
ena. We may go further and say that the
resources of electricity, rs we understand
them, cannot produce corresponding effects
under similar conditions. LASTLY we have
visible evidence that there is no application
Of any known mechanical power,or muscular
,,f,.,,
We come then TO the question of a
new force-ncw, that is, in the sense Of
explanation, not Of manifestation. We can
not even say new, in the sense of eXpluna.
ton, if we take the labors Of lteichenbacl
into consideration. The writer leans
strongly to the view thar Miss llurst's
powers are practical demonstration 81
what RcichcnbAoh termed the oil or oil,
force. He did not claim to have discovered
the force; he Simply described it, and gave il
il name.
Like most other philosophers Rechenbacl
was carried away by his subject. lis
imagination played him pranks and hi,
original ideas We're soon lost in maze Of
gencralities. When he died in 1863 lii
death was almost unnoticcd and his life
work forgotten. Although Rechcnbacl
enjoyed the friendship and recognition b
men like TyndaIl and Famday, there are no
ten men in the Thousand to-day who hay,
even heard Of the Cd force, or the grca
biologists name.
Reichenbach held that life was the sum 0
The forces which resist dcath--an apt anC
beautiful definition. Among these force
he recognized and described one callcd"Od, :
allied in character to electricity and possbl.
electricity is Il mere minor manifestation
as magnetism is Of electricity, and the mari
ner's compass Of magnetism. lie distin
guished a positive and negative form Of o,
] and recognised that either form could b
produced by induction, inst as the positiyel.
, charged thunder-cloud develops negativ
electricity in the earth over which it passes
Persons in whom this Cd force was strongl
, manifested were called ''Sensitives" and t.
4 them We're permitted powers which abolished
a grayitation, to a limited extent, by til
5 mere operation of their i'll. lie neve
a claimed that such powers were supernatural
y nor did he.assign to them any greater potenc
i than the exercise ola corresponding quantit
Y Of electricity or mechanical force could pro
c duee. lie did not use jugglery like Mesme
. or seek dupes like Cagliostro. lie recognise
h moreover that this Cd force was curiou
S rather than useful. Viewed from his stanc
y point what is vugularly called persona
magnetism and That peculiar operation Of til
! will by which a few gifted men can carr
i their fellows by the Thousand up to the gat
!. way Of death, were simply different mantle.
$ tations of the Cd force. Ills trratiSes on til
il subject published i'll 1872 aud lS5i lnv
d been translated into many languages.
# Such force as Rcchenbach describe
5 would not only account for the phcuomcn
II presented in Miss lIdrsts case but wouI
II simplify many mysteries in the valiou
j departments Of sciGucc--notably in Chrmi,
5 istry. Catalysis; slaty cleavage; tile meraili
, properties Of hydrogen, the allohopic cond
IS ton OF sulphur and phosphorus; the plobIcl
If of iluoresccmcc would probably all resulS
d themselves into mere applications Of a IA
s. ent force.
The curious element in Miss lIurst's cas
/ is the absence of the usual element cntprin
le into what is called the Conservation i
le En@rgy.The effect is produced but the rua
y ton on the cause is wanting ii We luy 4 Ne
= iron on ice, the ice mels but tile iron is als
+ cooled. A fit Of anger affects both Suhjc,
= and object. A blow on the table react