Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1895-04-27
. STARTLING ASSERTION.
BY HERBERT TLowERDEw.

The influence that one brain has di-
rectly upon another" said Maj Dem
nett. grandiloquen,ly, at the club one
night. Is immense and undeniable.
lie was a little taken aback when he
saw that DR.. Macpherson had quietly
entered the room a he spoke. for the
great brain specialist generally man
ages 10 take a considerable discount
Of the worth Of the superstitious ma
j0r's scientific assertions On this oe-
casion. however, Macpherson happened
TO agree with him t. some extent.
The direct power Of the brain is a
subirc. which needs investigating,
he said The pity Is that the science
/, "a, present almost entirely in the
hands o; charlatans Now. | met a
man once who could kill a person
simply 10y willing it. his own brain
controlling and paralyzing that Of his
victim; a. any rate that Is the power
- claimed for himself Unfortunately,
he was killed before had an opPor-
tunity Of verifying his claim TO any ex-
tent. Bat am i~nterrupting you, ma
jOr.
bennett was more anxious than any
Of Us To- hear Of a case which seemed 10
illustrate what he had been Saving.
and a very remarkable story the doc
tor told Us.
Il met Prof. Lyas-as he called
him>eli-on board an American liner,
he began. My brother had become
engaged to a New York lady travelling
In Europe, and d, her people were
anxious tina, the wedding should take
place at her home. We were all going
across 10 the states. / had been want
ing a holiday. and Robin, my brother.
was anxious that | should ofiiciate as
his best man. 50 | managed 20 join the
party going across. 1t was on the sec
ond day out that this Lyas began talk
ing a, dinner Of his wonderful power
Of viii, and he offered 10 convince any
skeptical persons by operating upon
them. He would not kin them out
right. he said, kindly. but If the proper
conditions were observed ne would.
by si1ply looking into the sub
ject's eyes. suspend for a moment the
action Of the heart, and take them
as near death as was expedient for an
experiment. | volunteered instantly.
and the professor was making arrange
ments for the public display Of his
power when. TO everybody's surprise, a
lady also expressed her willingness to
undergo the experiment. She was a
qutct-ipoking little woman OF thirty
or 50, who wat travelling alone, | was
told afterwards, to Join her nus
band in the states, and her offer
surprised me all the more when /
observed from her face that she was
evidently Of IA highly excitable and
hysterical nature. The passengers
generally seemed in favor Of the lady
undergoing the test instead OF me.
Finally the professor decided TO try his
will-power upon us both in turn, and
we adjourned TO the deck for the ex-
pertinent. Unfortunately it was de-
cidcd TO take Mrs. Maple. the quiet
little lady, first. The professor sat in
a d%eck-chair facing her. atthe distance
Of a few feet, and fixed his remarkably
piercing little black eyes on her face.
We gathered round in quite a state of
excitement, which became indescrib-
able when IN less than FIVE minutes
the lady turned white and tainted. /
hurried up at once 10 attend 10 her,
and applied the usual restoratives, but
it was quite a long time before she re-
gained consciousness. She seemed 10
be in a state Of catalepsy. and the pas
sengers we're in a fearful state, thsak-
ing that they had helped TO kill her.
They were relieved when | came up
from her cabin, to which the professor
had helped me TO carry her, with the
announcement that she was well on
the way to recovery; but when | ex-
pressed my willingness TO subject my
self to the experiment they rose in a
body to protest against 1t, and the cap
tain put an end to the matter BY abso-
lutely refusing to let another trial OF
the kind take place on his vessel. | was
amused to see how thoroughly the pro.
fessor's feat had impressed everybody
on board, and | noticed a general inclina.
ton among the passengers to give him
a wide berth and avoid his eve. For my
own part | should have been more sat.
isfied with his performance il had
been the subject, and, since there was
no chance Of another public trial OF
his power, ] determined to ask Lyas 70
give me a private M in my cabin. BE.
fore ! had an opportunity Of asking
him, however, my views with re.
gard to the professor underwent a
change. | had been considering him
simply a charlatan. Ny brother in.
formed lie that he was a blackgnard.
1t seemed ,dat he had been prosecuting
Miss Gavin, my sister-in-law elect,
with unpleasant attentions. They had
met casually a year before in New
York, and the fellow was presuming
now upon their slight acquaintance to
make violent love to the lady, in spite
OF her unconcealed dislike for him, and
the fact that she was about TO marry
my brother. Robin was furious, OF
course, and asked me TO be present a,
the interview he vas intending to have
with his %iancee's prosecutor.
II was quite willing.
~ will run up on deck and fetch
him down now, II you will wait here
said, and we can have him all to our.
selves while we give him a bit of our
minds
Il strolled up on deck to look for the
professor, but as it was pretty dark !
had some difficulty In finding him. A,
last, however, caught sight Of him
leaning over the taffrail, talking to a
lady. When l found that the lady war