Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1885-04-30
rEEEpArHY.
The Strange Wind Force of the
Indians OF Both Hemispheres.
Toronto Mail

n Aao hhhAAG lfhhNo EVkGp va hhho
Indians OF Esoth Hcmispheres.
Toronto Mail.
Some weeks ago the apparently prefer
natural method of obtaining information
which is common among the Indians of
the great Canadian plains, was discussed
ut length in these columns. The London
Spectator treats of the same subject with
reference to the Hindoos. For 100 years
the ''secret mail' has been a standing
wonder to Anglo Indians. The fact that
the news Of important events, such as
battles, is obtained III some mysterious
way by natives at points fnr distant from
the scene long b.faIe the government
dispatch reaches the English authorities
at those points, is conclusively esti,b-
lished The Hindoos themselves, though
chary about conversing on the matter, shy
that the news is conveyed by system of
thought transmission which is M familiar
to them as the telegraph is to us. In
short they claim thnt they are masters of
the occult method of communication
which modern scientists call telepnthy.
The Spectator rejects this explanation ls
involving the overthrow or suspension of
natural laws, but that mode Of dispensing
of the question is bynu means sttifnctory.
For how does the Spectator know that
telepathy is not in accordance with the
laws of nature? Its theory is that the
Hindoos employ nm elaborate system of
'dawks" or stages for carrying the news,
but here again we must complain of this
as an unsatisfactory key to the mystery.
How is it that no European has ever dis
covered the dawk system, or even found
traces of it And how could the exis-
tence of the swiftest dawks or messengers
account for the fact that our Indians often
become aware Of occurrences before the
telegraphic report arrives?
The Indians in the northwest and else
where say that this telepathy, MS we shall
call ii, is medicine or sorcery. There are
two orders i'll the Indian medicine, the
ioGJdR0Soitoin and the media, of which the
former is held i'll most veneration. The
word todbdnOiOitoin is suggestive one.
II comes from the root nab, see;
whence aoabdR, the dawn, the thing first
seen, and '0abdndAg, the morning star;
.oa6, white, white being regarded by the
savage MS the color of light; and so on.
From thisrootalsu comes acknowledgement,
the nrt of showing or munifesting, and
the next step is the word for great medi-
cine, tcaJdROlOiioin, the process of making
manifest The medicine man is the
, aOdbdaot0iBiai14. He processes to be abl,
not only to charm or appease the multi
, tude of mGRit0oS or spirits which thu
/ savage seeks to propitiate, e. @. the spirit
/ of the forest, of the lake, of the noun
I tain, of the plain, us in the old Greek ant
! Roman cultus; but also to transmit hi
/ thoughts to others and to learn iron
them their thoughts. In brief, the medi
; cine man is n clairvoyant, and the process
q which he employs is, as far MS can be as
certained akin to clairvoyance II
: deems il essential for the exercise of hi
art or power, or Whatever it may be called
8 that he should give himself up to lon
:. fasts. With regard TO their success IL
Il telepathists, Rev. Peter Jones (Kuhkt
i waquonaby), himself IN Ojibwny, suys i
o his well-kuown work on that nation g
g have sometimes been inclined to thin
q thnt, ii wltchcmft still exists in the worlt
!, il is to be found among the nboriginus ,
o America. They seem to possess pow,
It which, il would appear, may be fairly i'll
q puted to the agency of IN evil spirit.
IL MIR. Jones goes ON to give extrlordinai
e instances of successful divinntion /
l. medicine men, their theory being that IL
=, spirit of one mnn is able, under certili
IL conditions snperlnduced by fasting III
7, by creating high tension Of nervousness
Sc to communicate with the spirit of anotht
" ut will. This, as we gather from Il
If Spectator, is the explanation of Il
10 ''secret mail" furnished by the natives
le India. Everybody is struck from time
l. time by the coincidence TINT some persc
If of whom he happens 10 be thinkii
re should suddenly appear. This is Indip
30 telepathy in its crudest form; in i
in highest, the Indian clairvoyant AYERS tn
id he can project his spirit (ornt I'LL even
some spiritual force or essence with
IN him) from himself into communion wi
the spiritual essence or spirit of Nnoth
i person.
1t is difficult to believe that the Hind,
c. "secret mail" and the Indian medicii
is are based upon the operation of pow
ne or force the knowledge of which Il
lg European family of nations has lost
p perhaps never possessed. But tr
ig science rejects nothing, however seei
ut ingly improbable, until its impossible
~ has been demonstrated. A thorough i
,h vestigation of the subject could do
he harm.