Smyrna times., 1900-05-23
THE "UNKNOWN." /"
What a French Scientist lmagines as to
the Future.

distinguished French SclentlSt, VINO
holds and attempts to prove that the
soul exists as an individual entity, and
must be immortal. M. Flammarion
submits great mass of evidence" re-
lating to phenomena which he has been
investigating. He published in the An-
nGiS POLitiQueS ct LitterGireS of Paris
a request that the readers of that pub
lication should tell him of any super
natural experiences with which they
were personally acquainted. He re-
cieved many letters in reply, which
constitute the bulk of the "evidence"
presented in this volume. Some of
the most remarkable cases are COM
mented upon by the author, as for in
stance, the following:
ga young woman adored by her hus-
band died at Moscow. Her father-in-
law, near St. Petersburg, saw her that
same hour by his side. She walked
with him along the street and then dis
appered. Surprised and terrified, he
telegraphed to his son and learned of
both the sickness and the death of his
daughter-in-law.
NJ. Flammarion contends that
something emenated from the dying
woman and touched her father-in-law. I"
This unknown" thing may have been
an ethereal movement, as in the case
of light, and may have been only an
effect or product, but this effect may
have cause, and this cause evidently
proceeded from the brain of the woman
who was dying. "Can the constitu-
ton of the brain explain this projec-
tion?" asks NJ. Flammarion, and an
swers: 81 don't think anv anatomist
or Psychologist will answer in the af-
firmative to this question. One feels
that there is a force unknown, pro-
ceeding not from our physical organi-
zation, but from that in us which can
think"
Other examples are as follows. ga
lady in her own house hears a voice
singing. 1t is the voice of friend in
a convent, and she faints because she
is sure it is the voice of the dead At
the same moment that friend really
does die 20 miles away from her." ga
young girl at bali stops short in the
middle of a dance, bursts into tears
and exclaims, My father is dead! 1
have just seen him. At that moment
her father died. She did not even
know he was i'll"
Such things as these, NJ. Flammar-
ion says, 'present themselves to us as
indicating not physiological operations
of one brain acting on another, but
psychic actions of spirits on spirits.
We fear that they indicate some power
unknown.
NJ. Flammarion's "evidence" relates
to telepythy, the transmission of
| thought, dreams, somnambulism, pre-
science or premonition of an approach
ing event; warnings, presentments,
magnetism, the raising or uplifting of
bodies contrary to the laws of gravita-
ton, spiritual manifestation and many
other phenomena. "We can only let
ourselves be guided in our judgement
and appropriations" he says, "by the
same feeling that is created in us by
the discussion of Phenomena. This il
how all sciences have been started
Does not every one feel that we have
here to do with manifestations from
being capable of thought, and not onl.
with material physiological facts.
positive observation, he concludes
''proves the existence of a psychic
world as real as the world know
to our physical senses. Becaus
the soul acts at a distance b.
some power that belongs to it, are W
authorized to conclude that it exists a
something real, and that it is not tn
result of functions of the brain? Doe
light really exist? Does heat exist
Does sound exist? No. They ar
only manifestations produced by move
a ment. What we call light is a senss
ton produced upon our optic nerve b
the vibrations of ether comprised b
( tween 400 and 756 trillions per second
q undulations that are themselves yer
S obscure. What we call heat is sci
. sation produced by vibrations betwee
e $50 and 600 trillions. The sun ligb
l up space as much at midnight as
: midday. What we call sound is sci
|, sation produced upon our auditor
}, nerve by silent vibrations of the al
}. themselves compressed between 1870
e and $4,000 a second. Does electricit
d exist, or is it also another mode
n movement? Science must discover tn
'r in the future. 1t is probable that
|, exists as real entity. Vel
ie many scientific terms represent on
?, results, not causes. The soul may
in the same case"