The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-06-17

I TO be revealed and 10 have the cold llsht
| OF science thrown uron II Is the IA
nous old trick OF conjurlng, OF the
Yoeis the ascetic adopts" OF India. Of
planting a seed In a potful OF earth la
/ plain sight Of n curious audience and
causing Il to grow within an hour into
a flourlshiug plant. from which the 1los-
SONS could actually be plueked. Scores
OF people OF yeracily not TO be doubt
ed have seen this feat performed aud
have been ballled at It's wonders.
Some have tried to explain the mys-
terry by claiming extraordinary sleight-
of-hand on the part Of the Yoglg. and
others have insisted that the trick"
was the perfection Of hypnotlsm. No
one who ever witnessed this seemingly
marvellous growth could be induced TO
believe that the plant they finally saw
had actually grown within this short
time from the seed II was either that
they had been hypnotized bound by
the viii Of the operator and had imag-
inod that they had seen the plant grow
from moment TO moment under the thin
cloth thrown over Il. or else that By
some superb skill OF legcrdemain the
pot containing the seed had been cpir-
tied away before their eyes and a row
pot with blossoming plant set down
In It's place at lightning speed
A elcar-headed. cold-blooded scien-
list. however. demolished these theories
a short time ago. proving conclusiyely
that. whatever else Il might be. the
plant-growlug marvel was no fraud. At
a recent Yogi seancc. TO which he went
prepared. the aged magician planted
the seed and covered the spot with a
cloih. and the man with a turn for
science snapped his detective camera
a. a. A moment or two later he took
another snap shot and others at rcgu-
lar intervals Of about three minutes
each until the Yogi showed the flower
ing plant. The shutter OF the camera.
set by clock work, performed It's ddty
faithfully.
With painstaking care he then de-
yeloped each plate. In each the cloth
covering the pot was clearly visible. In
only two. the frst and the last. was
there a sign ofany human figure. These
two plates showed the planting OF the
seed and the throwing of Of the 10th.
exhibiting the already lowered plant.
On all the others there was simply the
image. without a blur. OF the covered
pot. Only. showing amazingly that On
some strange way the plant had betl
really forced TO grow. the cloth. as q
was seen on each succeeding negative.
was raised painly a little higher. In
the series Of plates there was a con-
slant rise
Thus Il was made evident TO an Of
British India that the plant trick" was
no dolusion. but some lncomprchansi-
bic marvel So Ear much was gained.
but u remained for a clever French
sayant, NJ. Rargoncau. to dig out the
secret and TO discover precisely the way
Il was done.
The series of photographs convinced
him that there was no fraud. Asa pre-
llminary 10 his study. be- ret about exc
aiming closely every detail o. this
seeming miracle. There mrtt Do some
science about Il II there Is no trickcry
he reasoned; some hIddca pg.Gclplo Of
nature. or some chcmlcal combination
mixed with the earth. not known Ia
modern science as yet, and locked In the
breasts OF these adopts ior ceatuiies
lie observed, FIRST OF ell. that the
Yosis never attempted the trick" un.
lesa they had brought along carefully
guarded. some special earth or soil. At
once It struck him that the secret might
lay In this peculiar earth. Hut Che
Yogis would no, toll him Ga nature
much as he pleaded o. diyulge tn him
Whole Il came from. More aud nor,
was he convinced that some strange
quality OF this earth was what made an,
miracle possible. Finally by system
Of bribery that looscned. at least. the
tongues Of the corrupt Hindoo servants
OF the Yogls he learned that the "maa.
ter" obtained the earth from ant hills
Puzzled more and moro aaggonoau per.
slstcntly experimental with ani-hil
earth that he collected with great lrou.
bic, ignorant Of what properties u
might reveal, but sure that be was on
the right track.
, A chance that was the result oil
carelessness. pure and simple laid the
whole mystery bare TO him. Wall,
experimenting he got a small quantity
I Of The earth. and several ants at thJ
same time. into his mouth Il was an
, unpleasant moment, but q gave him the
, solution Of the lroblem. lie deteclet
, on the instant. the presence OF an cnor.
nous quantity Of fotmic acid in thi.
earth, ,,orkcd into Il from the tlny
bodies OF thousands OF ants passln,
. over and through A. The soil wa.
, charged with formic acid, In fact. direct
! from the ants.
4 few experiments showed him HAT
tails formio acid was the mysterious
, subtle power. compelling the marvel
oya growths After a little he found
h!mseli perfectly able 20 do the HlndoC
trick. The entire secret proved 10 b,
that formlo acid quickly eats away The
lniegument surrounding a seea. Then