The record-union., 1896-08-23

/
beings and animals, but vegetables and
minerals. The secret of the growth ]
| gladly give the Sahib. 1t is his. The
Sahib has only to learn to govern his
will power as I do and he will be a bale
to do that which / do
THE Yogis own translated words ]
have thus given as nearly as memory
permits. The exercise of will power on
| a seed was novelty, and, however
| off, possible, for anything 1 could tell
The slightly sarcastic smile with which
the words: The Sahib has only to learn
to govern his will power as 1 do and
he will be able to do what I do was
not lost upon me. 1t was as much as
to say the Sahib will be a good while
before he learns to govern his will pow
err AS l pondered my eyes fell upon
the cloth containing the earth. In
stinctively l asked to examine it. The
man, willingly enough, it seemed, put
two or three handsful on a newspaper
] provided and gave it to me. Its
cursory examination optically and
nasally revealed nothing. But I di-
verted his attention and caused him to
take his departure, leaving me in pos
session of the earth. 1t had struck me
that the secret lay there.
1T is not necessary to detail the elab-
crate steps / took to ascertain that it
was ant-hill earth, which is, as all
chemists know, heavily charged with
formic acid, 1 believe the greatest veg
etable stimulent known. Without any
particular difficulty l procured a neces-
sary quantity of this earth and a mango
seed. Following closely the methods of
4lO 7 Lo1 ,i,,;o ot,,,aa f,.no
growing on my veranda, just as he had
No fruit grew on my tree nor, l am con-
vinced, grew on his = legitimately.
"Once in the summer in New York
City l remember idly sticking piece of
trailing Virginia creeper into flower
pot 1t continued growing for some
days, throwing out a shoot and two
healthy looking leaves. Surprised ]
pulled it up There was no trace of
root; the new leaves were evidently
| formed by the sap remaining in the
piece of creeper Procuring piece
tried this with the ant earth. The
action of the acid caused a shoot to be
propelled forth, seven healthy looking
leaves were formed, and then the
branch withered and died-all in few
| minutes.
! MY present lHeOTy VI the uldHSo pei
formance is this, that the formic acid
quickly eats away the integument sur
rounding the seed. Then, coming in di-
rect contact with the germ itself, it
stimulates, beyond all credence, its
growth bringing about in few mo-
ments what unassisted nature would re-
quire weeks for. Whether the Yogi
assisted this process with his personal
magnetism further experiments will
alone enable me to determine"
The fact that Handel alone wrote a
hundred volumes of music suggests an
other reason why modern composers
| have such a hard struggle for recog-
nition-the excessive productivity of
their predecessors. A further and still
more important factor is the insane
tendency among pianists and singers to
harp eternally on the same pieces, till
the public refuses to attend any more
recitals and the irritated critics can be
dragged to them only by a painful
sense of duty. Philip Hale discourses
very sensibly on this topic in the 'Mu-
sical Courier:
rs this apparent Indifference to nov
| elties-and many old and delightful
pieces are the first of novelties-due to
laziness, fear or ignorance? Why should
the names of Frescobaldi, Domenico
Scarlatti Couperin, Rameau, Henselt,
Hermann Scholtz, Heller, Stcherbat-
chef, Moussorgsky so seldom or never
appear on pianists programme? Why
should a pianist insist on playing the
whole of a sonata? Why should Bach
be known chiefly through the medium
of piano by some Gargantuan disar-
rangement? Chopin wrote many pieces
why play only those that are hack
neyed? Did Henselt write only 81
j'etais un oiseau'? Why is Heller, one
of the most romantic and at the same
time exquisitely polished of all compos-
ers for the piano, so shamefully neg
lected?"
The Swedish composer, Ivar Hall
strom, received the congratulations of
Carmen Sylvia at his recent celebration
of his SEVENTEEN birthday. His Duke
and Mermaid" was the first Swedish
national opera. His Mountain Sprite''
was performed in Munich in 1876
Sir Henry Irving, Miss Ellen Terry
and their associates have returned to
London at the close of their very sue
cessful provincial tour. Preparations
are already well under way for the
! autumn production at Irving's theater,
the Royal Lyceum, of Shakespeare s
| "Cymbeline." Alma Tadema is design
ing the scenery, costumes and appoint
ments for the production. "Cymbeline''
has not been given in London for some
years. 1t was noted production at the
Drury Lane or at the Covent Garden
Theaters on several occasions-in 1923,
with Edmund Kean and Charles Young
! in 1927, with Charles Kemble and
Young; in 1893, with Macready and the
! famous Helen Faucit (as Imogen), and
coming down to later days, in 1864, with
Phelps. Creswick, Walter Lacy, etc. In
1857 Helen Faucit played Imogen at the
Theater Royal, Edinburgh, and a
young man who had lately joined the
company" pale and anxious" played
the devoted character of Pisanio. That
was Henry Irving. Forty years later
he will play the stronger role, the most
trying of it's kind in the Shakespear-
can gallery, Tachimo, and Miss Ellen
Terry will appear as Imogen in what
! IA ohiiScS ~ DC Tie SlCdtcSl
ever made of "Cymbeline Some sea-
sons hence America will witness this
production by Irving.
The Actors Society of America, which
was organized last spring, already has
nearly one thousand members. 1t in
cludes the women of the profession as
we'll as men. One of the purposes of
the society is to protect its members
from engagements with financially ire