Year: 1879

apply to nearly the entire population of this country. my friend was not specially enhght- ened. Then followed string of generaliza- tions, such as that there was congestion" and ''quiet was needed" and so forth, ,-state- ments that would apply to about every bed amused at the awkwardness of the imposition that he laughed aloud, at which the entranced medium instantly opened his eyes. l And yet the majority of the dupes of clair voyants would have called such an interview satisfactory, and would have gone away de- | claring that they had been told just what was the matter with the patient. .. . One time in company with the same friend, 1 I visited Mrs. Chase, noted clairvoyant, a stately and graceful lady, famous both for her cures and as finder of lost property. Judg- ing from our looks, perhaps, that we were not l sufficiently credulous, she was at first indis- posed to grant an interview, but finally con- 1 sented. Lowering the gas somewhat, she passed her hand over her face, and professed to go into trance in style quite artistic. l had in my mind patient with a goiter, or 1 tunlor of the neck, who at that time chanced to be under my care. In all other respects the patient was perfectly well. There were no l general symptoms upon which a clairvoyant could seize The disease was special and To- cal, and was disappearing under treatment. l l uc case was Gn6feIOfe CO 1 test the alleged powers of clear seeing. The woman began by quiet questioning to find out the particulars of the case, but gave her little assistance beyond informing her that | the sick person was a young man, and my 1 friend. 1 need not go into the full details of sea1,ce that was protracted for nearly two 1 hours, all of which time was occupied on the | part of the clairvoyant in the hopeless endeav- l or to devise generalizations that would cover the case for which she was consulted. She informed me that my patient was confined to | his bed in the basement of house in New | York, that he had been badly treated by some one and that he would probably continue to be sufferer, in spite of all that l could do.

 ''Is there no hope?" inquired I. Cannot you do something for him? 1 can't bear the thought of losing my friend"

 We may help him." she replied.

 "Who is aoe!"' inquired.

 Myself" she replied. "When am in this state say we."

 What she meant by this did not fully un- derstand, but it may be supposed that in the and her personality another, making two in all thus justifying the editorial i've"

 ''Our tonic Mo- A." she continued twill help him."

 ''Do you see him as you talk to me?" I asked

 'Yes: see the room. and his friends about his bed he is suffering terribly; It is all before l us

 'Wonderful, wonderful p ejaculated as 1 thought of my patient in perfect health, (save | a slight tnmor) attending to his daily duties. promised to get bottle of tonic Mo- AZ the next day. and further askc:l whether it would not be well to remove the patient to one of the upper stories of the house, where the air would be better. She thought he was too weak to be moved, whereupon 1 suggested that the whole floor over his head might be removed and the bed raised by ropes. Even this horrible ab- surdity disturbed her but slightly. for she went on manufacturing falsehood after false hood with a cool and calm countenance and perfectly unirritated manner. The equanimi- 1 tyrof this woman excited our amazement and 1 admiration. Every word that she uttered | during that long interview was lie. She ] knew that she was lying and that her trance l was a sham, and she suspected that we knew it; and yet there was nothing in her manner to suggest anything but entire confidence in the truth of her revelations. In the early part of the interview I induced her to say that my patient was of good charac- ter In the latter part of the interview, lead ing her along by various suggestions, saying yes to all her guesses and raising little queries now and then, induced her to give directly | opposite opinion that he was harum- -scarum young fellow. After some further trifing sug- 1 positions we closed the interview. AS paid my fee 1 asked her with the sincerest possible expression:

 "Do you always get your cases as accurate | ly in all their details as this?"

 "Yes, almost always"

 'Then you must be inspired" replied, and left her, with the final assurance from her l that if my friend bad as he was, would take 1 her tonic Mo- 47 there was perhaps one chance in ten that he would get well. And yet this 1 clairvoyant did as we'll as any one ever did or ever could with such test case as gave her. I have seen many of the best clairveyants ill the country and she succeeded as well as any other.

 In order to test the power of very cele- brated woman in New York who was every week doing wonderful things in medicine, and in the discovery of lost property, used as test case medical instrument that had strangely disappeared. This was an instru- ment that was then comparatively new and would not be familiar to the majority of peo- pie, even to clairvoyants. The test seemed to me almost crucial one and the chance of her guessing it one in many millions. This was my first experience with clairvoyants. Although I was there to investigate her pro- fessed powers, or rather to find out how it was | that SO many of my friends were deiuded by l her, yet allowed myself to tell her where 1 lived, and was beginning to give her other in- formation when my reason came to the front and took command. Up to that moment she had astonished me by the general accuracy of he guesses; after that monet all was confu- sion; l no longer gave my dissent from or as sent to her leading questions by any audible | sound whatever, or by expression of the face, | but compelled her to cOntne herself to her l legitimate business of mind reading. She in- l formed me that the article Ihad lost was small as is indeed almost all lost property and that 1 it was of bright color, which is true of all 1 jewelry and metals.* #

 I have been speaking thus far of public l clairvoyants, those who make business of l pretending to go into the trance, and, while in that state, of finding lost persons and property diagnosing and curing disease; while there are some persons who can at will put themselves l into trance, yet these public clairv0yants 1 rarely, if ever, go into that state. There is no reason why they should do so even if they | had the power, for the trance, in any of it's l stages, confers no new or special gifts, but only exaltation of those faculties that in great | CT or less degree are common to all persons out l of the trance. at7t r. l Trance is disease of the nervous system in | which the cerebral activity is concentrated in 1 some limited region of the brain, the activity of the rest of the brain being for the time l suspended. 1t is not so very infrequent, is, l indeed, quite, common; very many cases rep resenting various phases have been brought to my attention; some of them have had the op- portunity to study at every possible advantage. Among the genuine and interesting symptoms of trance are signing respiration, excited pulse, exaltation of the special senses, giving rise to I the belief that there is transference of sense or a sixth sense, coldness of the extremities, darting, shooting, thrilling sensations resem- | bling electrical shocks, muscular twitchings, convulsions, closing of the eyes and fxity of position, illusions and hallucinations, son. nambulism, and. in rare cases, double con- sciousness. All of these phenomena are of the highest interest and they are verifable, but they are not supernatural, nor unnatural; they | 3 Those who would learn the secret of the sue. of cairvoyants would do well to study in detail the performances of that wonderful ad who recently convinced the residents of St. Abans. Vermont that he Charley Ross. Even citizen of Philadelphia was for the time convinced by his general replies to