Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-01-26

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terial of which skeptical outsider can SCI
no earthly-or unearthly-value, and fol
aught I know to the contrary, the member
may pass uncounted hours brooding ovel
this accumulation of matter.
The only amusing thing about this is thai
they have got together lot of tales of the
supernatural, or what passes as such, which
it would be worth the while of some enter
prising publisher to secure and publish
They are seldom authenticated, of course
and when they are, the authentifcation il
not infrequently more doubtful than its alb.
sence would be; but they are often very en-.
tertaining, and in an age so fond of stories
of this sort as is the present they might be
made to yield money enough, if properly
handled, 10 set the impoverished Psychical
Society upon its shaky pins once more.
POOLING WITH HYPNoTIsM.
The thing which is being pushed by some
of the physicians who are members of the
society is hypnotism. There has been some
attempt to hypnotic patients, but thus far
the success attending the experiment has not
been brilliant.
''Dr. Blank puts me in a chair" one of
the subjects said to me, "and then he sits
down before me and says: Now look at me
for three-quarters of an hour So 1 try not
to laugh, and look at him for 10 minutes,
and then he tells me to shut my eyes, and
he rests little while, and then L look at
him for Is minutes more, and sometimes he
makes passes over me, and then he says:
You cannot open your eyes And say:
Yes, can; and do; and then he says
take the matter too f;ppantly."
1t seems not impossible that she does, but
those subjects with whom experiment has
been more successful are rather more than
suspected of having decided to humbug the
doctors. To one patient who is troubled
with nervous exhaustion, loss of appetite
and with sleeplessness the doctor said, after
having apparently hVpnotized her: "When
you wake you will be hungry and sleepy"
He repeated this several times, until the
subject, seemingl tired of it for the mo-
ment, confused into supposing that he
wished reply, opened her eyes and an
swered; "Why, no, shan't, either"
The experiment was naturally not consid-
cred a success in this instance.
THE BROWNING MEMORIAL SERVICE.
The event OF the week in literary circles
has been the Browning memorial services
held in Kings Chapel on Tuesday after
noon. The exercises were held under the
auspices of the Browning Club, of which
Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson is
President and the opening address was
eral speakers, but the event of the day was
the eloquent address by Prof. G. Carroll
Everett, of Harvard. The music was made
up of elegiac compositions and selections
from songs from Browning's works. The
lyrics of Browning do not as a rule lend
themselves to music with sufficient fexibil-
ity, but the selection was so well made BY
Mr.. B. J. Lang, who had this portion of the
programme in charge, that this defect was
not apparent.
Kings Chapel is coming to be associated
in the minds of many with those solemn oc-
casions when the last rites of respect are
paid to the dead who have in life been in
one way or another illustrious; and it is a
purpose to which it is peculiarly adapted.
The solemn and antiquated dignity of its
interior, the associations which cluster so
tkickly here and the dimness of the place
combine to harmoniZe with the feelings of
those who come together to mourn for the
dead; and on Tuesday this fact added to the
feeling natural in a memorial service for
one who has been honored, a sentiment of
tender and, as 1t were, personal regret which
was very touching.
PRAISES FOR CARLYLE.
Another dead author is this week honored
in different way here. We have with us
always, like the poor in scripture, some
Englishman or other who lectures. In the
present instance the lecturer is Mr.. Robert
Niven, of London, who is really an admira-
BILE man. albeit the fact that he is endeavor-
ing to lead us up to higher admiration of
Carlyle might throw serious doubts upon
that statement. He speaks under the
auspices of the Rev. Phillips Brooks,
ward Hale and so on; so
that it may be seen that he
does not lack hackers. For the rest he is an
extraordinarily nervous and demonstrative
body, rather more like Frenchman than an
Englishman, and, of course, he is being
ionized. 1 have nothing to say of his ad-
dress. for 1 hate Carlyle, and 1 detest
lectures so that 1 never willingly expose
myself to a dose of either.
The New Yorkers are taking on airs over
the Ladies' Athletic Club and making a
good deal of point of It's being the first of
its kind ever established in the country.
Nominally it may be so, but the ladies'
gymnasium has been so long a recognized
thing here that the mere difference of name
does not seem to make novelty of the
thing. There is, moreover, the ladies'
fencing class, and one would think that
upon the strength of the two together Boston
could hold up her head even though she has
no club for the fair sex, technically called
athletic.
A LoNG-NAMED SOCIETY.
1t should be considered, moreover, that
there is the Massachusetts Society for the
Universal Education of Women which held
its annual meeting this week, and what is a
mere worldly athletic club beside length
of name like that? 1 am so much under
cloud with the women's rights advocates
because venture to believe that it would
not be an advantage to them or the country
if women were allowed to vote, that it is
with fear and trembling mention this
long-named society, since 1 cannot but
think its deliberations are very droll The
members take it 80 seriously, and they
listen with faces of so much primness and
carefully simulated delight to papers upon
Educational Progress" and the like in
which woman is never mentioned without a
very large and very black capital, that it
seems unfeeling to do otherwise than take