Year: 1874

Detn communicated 10 US III reply 10 Oul
letter of inquiry, by an eminent citizen o.


New England, man of clear head, as lie


tie likely 10 be deluded as any other. He


has consented to its publication on the


single condition that his name and thu


placeof his residence should not be men,


toned.


sit was in the month of March, in the


year 1855, a cold night, when we had a


bright coal fire man open CRATE in the par


Tor. Unexpectedly Mr.. Home, who was


not as famous then as he has since become,
came in, and, at my request, he assented


to a sitting. We sat at little card-table.


only about eight feet from the blazing


CRATE of Goals, which made the room light


after all other artificial light had been
shut off. Nobody was present but my
! self, my wife and Home, a lady visitor


who was in the house having retired to


bed in distant room. up stairs. He sat


opposite me with his right shoulder to-


war the fire, his feet perhaps an iRch
| from mine, small card-table between us,


and my wife at the further end. Home


soon began to 90 off into a trance, and, as
an experiment, | laid upon the floor aquire


of foolscap, and put lead pencil on il.


The quire of paper was first gently lifted
without any apparent agency and placed
upon the table near my hand. The light
from the CRATE seven or eight feet from the
table, enabled me to see every thing that


was going on. Home was mOtionlesS as a
log, leaning back in his chair.


"FOllowing the quire of paper came
the pencil. 1t was dipped up from the
floor without any visible person touching
it, and fell upon the paper. Then it slow
ly lifted itself, the point resting on the pa
per. Iplaced my face within foot of it,
but could see no hand, though the light
was sufficient, if the hand had been flesh
and blood, to have shown it at a distance
of many feet. The pencil began to write
slowly, Home being still perfectly notion
less on the other side of the table. Hay
ing finished its writing the pencil
dropped. Narrowly watching Home, |
looked at him from his head to his feet,a
cast my eye along his legs, which were
under the table. From near his feet
at that instant there came up human
hand. 1t moved some distance, and reach
ed out to me from point too far away
from Home for him to have reached it
without sitting up and bending forward,
which he did not do, for he continued lean
ing back as inert as a dead man. The
hand grasped mine and shook it as cordial
ly as if it had been moved by an old friend.
Then it sought TO withdraw. | held it
firmly, but it pulled with a force like that
which a person would use who wanted to
draw his hand away. was thoroughly
aroused now, and resolved that whatever
else occurred that hand should not get
away from me. | held it with grip of
iron. Finding it impossible to get away,
it then yielded itself to my inspection. /
could see it was wOman's hand, almost
preternaturally. long, peculiar in shape,
but symmetrical and perfect, and as white
as if it were made of plaster or hour.
could see that it ended at the wrist; but
wishing to substantiate this astounding
fact by other proof than that of the eyes,
passed my left hand up and down where
the arm should be, and there was nothing
there.


"Then examined the hand. 1t would
open and shut as it lay in my hand, TO
show me, as | suppose, that it was gov
erned by an intelligent guiding power;
and it even turned over, as if to afford me
every facility for making the examination.
1t had perfect finger-nails, perfect articula-
tiOHs, even the wrinkles on the middle
Joints, like any other hand, but all was
dead white. Its feeling was neither cold
nor warm, but soft, like that of lady's
hand envelOped in a KID glove. Taking
hold of it with my left hand and holding
it firmly, gradually wOrmed my right
fOrefinger entirely through the palm, so
that it stuck out on the back side of the |
hand The resistance was about like that
of putty-rather soft putty. palled out
my finger and the wound Instantly closed /
up, leaving sort of cicatrix like the hol /
low left by an abscess. Then the hand !
shut up again and opened, and 10! as it |
was doing this once more, it all vanished, |
evaporated, disappeared, leaving nothing 1
whatever in my hand.


Il am telling you the sober truth. I
These things were written down soon af- .
ter they occurred, and have my own and /
my wite's senses to cOrrOborate the fact.


~ locked again at the floor near Homes /
feet. He had sat from the first in such
position that the direct light from the
crate did not strike his feet, but | could |
see every thing that was going on. There
appeared the fore part of hand-a hand |
only half formed. 1t had fingers and no 1
more. These fingers would strike for
ward and peck at Homes leg, apparently
as if to draw from Home the substance by
which the hand might again build itself.
Apparently unconscious ofOutward things,
he would break out in a querulous way
with Don't! don't do that = at the same
time feebly kicking at whatever was under
v.
That remained motiOnless, leaning back
like dead body. No attention was paid
to this remOnstrance. but the fingers kept .
pecking and dabbing at his legs till the
whole hand was again built out to the
wrist-a matter of perhaps one or two min
utes. Then the haEd came up again, and
expected another greeting, but was sur
prised 10 see it pass around me, go behind
me, and, going to my wife, reach out and
shake hands with her, after which it dis
appeared again.


directly afterward Homes large guitar
and it was pretty heavy one-that had I
been .ft in a corner of the room, lifted it
self up to the ceiling, and, turning over,
went circling visibly about the room close
to the ceiling, often directly over our
heads and it was continually played upon
by invisible fingers-a very pretty piece OF
music. Occasionally it would descend and
touch each of us on the head, rising each
time to the ceiling, doing it all in perfect
time, the touch being sort of emphasis
to particular notes. Then it clrcled all
about the room near the ceiling, the music
just as if some actual person
were playing on its chords.


Next the mahogany chairs were all
taken up and sent whirling across the
room back and forth, all together, il | Ie-
member Alright, going through the air at a
height of about three of four feet from the
floor. None of them touched us. Then
there came a sound precisely like that
which flock of sheep would make scamp
ering over the carpet, some seventy or
hundred of them and that ended the
Home awOke and was
surprised to hear all that had happened.
We then took the paper TO the light, and 4
there read on it, in her own proper hand I
writing, the name of my wife's cousin, a |
near and dear friend Of hers. | had /
never met her. 1t was year or two later
however, that | saw daguerr1otype of a |
picture of her as she lay on her death-bed,
and her hands were crossed over the bosom |
at rest; and as soon as / saw the picture /
There is the very hand that |
shook hands with me that night we sat
with Home have the picture now.
The hands are peculiar.


sNOw for the conclusion. The lady
who had retired early to bed, on coming
down TO breakfast next morning, said to
me: Whom have you in the house that
plays the guitar so beautifully? did not