"_First._ It is the left side of the body which appears to acquire

this sometimes attractive, but more frequently repulsive, property. A

sheet of paper, a pen, or any other light body, being placed upon a

table, if the young girl approaches her left hand, even before she

touches it, the object is driven to a distance as by a gust of wind.

The table itself is overthrown the moment it is touched by her hand, or

even by a thread which she may hold in it.

"_Second._ This causes instantaneously a strong commotion in her side,

which draws her towards the table; but it is in the region of the

pelvis that this singular repulsive force appears to concentrate

itself.

"_Third._ As had been observed the first day, if she attempted to sit,

the seat was thrown far from her, with such force that any other person

occupying it was carried away with it.

"_Fourth._ One day a chest upon which three men were seated was moved

in the same manner. Another day, although the chair was held by two

very strong men, it was broken between their hands.

"_Fifth._ These phenomena are not produced in a continued manner. They

manifest themselves in a greater or less degree, and from time to time

during the day; but they show themselves in their intensity in the

evening, from seven to nine o'clock.

"_Sixth._ Then the girl is obliged to continue standing, and is in

great agitation.

"_Seventh._ She can touch no object without breaking it or throwing it

upon the ground.

"_Eighth._ All the articles of furniture which her garments touch are

displaced and overthrown.

"_Ninth._ At that moment many persons have felt, by coming in contact

with her, a true electrical shock.

"_Tenth._ During the entire duration of the paroxysms, the left side of

the body is warmer than the right side.

"_Eleventh._ It is affected by jerks, unusual movements, and a kind of

trembling which seems to communicate itself to the hand which touches

it.

"_Twelfth._ This young person presents, moreover, a peculiar

sensibility to the action of the magnet. When she approaches the north

pole of the magnet she feels a violent shock, while the south pole

produces no effect; so that if the experimenter changes the poles, but

without her knowledge, she always discovers it by the difference of

sensations which she experiences.

"_Thirteenth._ The general health of Angelique is very good. The

extraordinary movements, however, and the paroxysms observed every

evening, resemble what one observes in some nervous maladies."

"The great fact demonstrated in this case," says E. C. Rogers, "is,

that, under _peculiar conditions_, the human organism gives forth

a physical power which, _without visible instruments_, lifts heavy

bodies, attracts or repels them according to a law of polarity,

overturns them, and produces the phenomena of sound. So far as the mere

movement of objects, even of great weight, in connection with certain

persons, is concerned, whether in the phenomena of the so called

'spiritual manifestations,' or out of them, the immediate agent is a

physical one, and is identical throughout. None but the most ignorant

can deny this." For a further delineation of the facts in this case,

and deductions therefrom, we refer the reader to the work of Mr.

Rogers, on the Dynamic Laws and Relations of Man.

"The next case we shall refer to is that of Frederica Hauffe, of the

town of Prevorst, in the mountainous parts of Germany. It was found

that in her hands, at a very early age, the hazel wand pointed out

metals and water. It was also found that, in certain localities, the

influences from the earth had a very powerful effect upon her

susceptible nerves. It was frequently observed by the one she often

accompanied in his walks through solitary places, that though she was

skipping ever so gayly by his side, at certain spots a kind of

seriousness and shuddering came over her, which for a long time he

could not comprehend. He also observed that she experienced the same

sensations in churchyards, and in churches where there were graves; and

that, in such churches, she never could remain below, but was obliged

to repair to the galleries. Superstition, it is true, has always

claimed such facts as parts of her ghostly superstructure; but they are

too material for this.

Frederica was almost constantly in a magnetic state, and in this

condition frequently communicated what was taking place at a distance,

and was aware of producing sounds in space, and some ways off; but this

being found to materially injure her, the habit was abandoned. She had

a very high degree of susceptibility to mundane influences, and the

effect was, that mineral loads and subterranean currents acted through

her upon a simple stick held in her hand.

At one time she was attacked with nervous fever, which continued

fourteen days with great violence. This was followed by _seven years

of_ MAGNETIC LIFE, interrupted only by very short and merely apparent

intervals. After the fever, she was attacked with spasms in the breast,

which continued three days. On the second day, a peasant's wife came

from the village, and seating herself beside her, said, "She needs no

physicians; they cannot help her;" and laid her hands on her forehead.

Immediately she was seized with the most direful spasms, and her

forehead was as cold as if she was dead. During the whole night she

cried deliriously that the woman had exercised a demoniacal influence

upon her; and whenever the woman returned she was always attacked with

spasms. On the third day they sent for a physician; and being then in a

magnetic condition, she cried to him when he entered, although she had

never seen him, "If you are a physician, you must help me!" He, well

understanding her malady, laid his hands on her head; and it was

remarked that, as long as he remained in the room, she saw and heard

him alone, and was insensible to the presence of all other persons. The

same kind of exclusive attachment has been seen in cases of persons who

have fallen under the peculiar influence of the magnet or a crystal,

thus showing the relation of mundane agencies to the psychological

nerve centres, as well as to the nerve centres in the spine, and among

the viscera.

After her physician had laid his hands on her she became calm, and

slept for some hours. Some internal remedies and a bath were prescribed

for her; but the spasms returned in the night, and for eighteen weeks

she was attacked by them from twice to five or six times a day. All the

remedies prescribed proving inefficacious, recourse was had to

"magnetic passes," which, for a time, relieved the spasms. It was amid

such sufferings and such influences that, in the month of February,

1823, after extreme tortures, she gave birth to her first child. This

event was followed, for some time, by additional ills. The following is

a somewhat curious circumstance, and goes to show the influence which

one organization will have upon another, when a certain relation is

established between them. It is this: The woman who, on a former

occasion, had exerted so unhappy an influence upon the mother, produced

precisely the same effects upon the child. Her contact with it threw it

into spasms, and the convulsions became periodical until its death.

About a year after the birth of her child, being laughed at for her

superstition, she was thrown into a state of rigid spasm, and became as

cold and stiff as a corpse. For a long time no respiration was visible.

She lay as in a dream. In this peculiar condition she spoke for three

days entirely in verse and at another, she saw, for the same period,

nothing but a ball of fire, that ran through her whole body as if on

thin bright threads. And then, for three days, she felt as if water was

falling upon her head, drop by drop; and it was at this time that she

saw her own image. She saw it clad in white, seated on a stool, whilst

she was lying in bed. She contemplated the vision for some time, and

would have cried out, but could not; at length she made herself heard,

and her husband entering, it disappeared. Her susceptibility was now so

great that she _heard and felt what happened at a distance_, and

was so sensible to external agencies, _that the nails in the walls

affected her_, which obliged her friends to remove them. The least

light had a powerful influence upon her nervous system, and could not

be endured.

She was now induced to take a medicine which made her more calm, but

threw her into a deeper trance. Still she could not endure the

sunlight. She was taken in a darkened carriage to her home on the

mountains. "Here she existed," says her physician, "only through the

nervous emanation of others, and it became necessary that some one

should always hold her hand; and if the person was weak, it increased

her debility. The physician prescribed magnetic passes and medicines,

but she fell into a magnetic sleep, _and then prescribed for herself_.

Her greatest suffering arose from the sensation of having a stone in

her head. It seemed as if her brain was compressed, and at every breath

she drew, the motion pained her. At this time a large magnet was

applied to her forehead; immediately her head and face were turned

round, and her mouth distorted as by a stroke of palsy. On the 28th of

December she gave birth to her second child, which was followed, as

before, by a long and severe illness. She continued constantly in a

magnetic state. Persons of various tempers now became her magnetizers.

The effects of these different nervous temperaments upon hers were very

serious. It brought her into special relation to so many persons, that,

even _at a distance, they affected her, visions of whom would appear to

her like visions of spirits_. This, moveover, brought her into a deeper

magnetic condition, and rendered her more _dependent on the nervous

energy of others_. Another physician was employed from a distance. He

gave her an amulet to wear, composed of certain substances, and a small

magnet, all arranged together. Occasionally this amulet, untouched by

any one, would run about her head, breast, and bed covering, like a

live thing."

"It has already been remarked, that, in the earlier stage of her

magnetic state, she was aware of _making sounds at a distance_.

This she repeatedly performed, so that her friends at a distance, as

they lay in bed, _heard distinctly the sounds_. This fact being

communicated to her physician, Dr. Kerner, he, by actual experiment and

observation, confirmed it. This was not performed by her will, which

was inactive in her somnambulic or cataleptic state, as well as her

consciousness. Every nerve centre was in a most intimate _rapport_

or relation with the mundane agencies, especially that which acts in

conjunction with the nervous force, and holds every animal in a certain

connection with every thing out of the organism.

The father of this unfortunate woman inhabited a house which formed a

part of an old cathedral, where, it had been reported by former

tenants, _strange sights had been seen, and strange sounds heard_. It

was in this house, at the time of her somnambulic state, already spoken

of, that there were heard _unusual knockings on the walls, noises in

the air_, and other sounds, which, as Dr. Kerner remarks, "can be

testified to by more than twenty credible witnesses." _There was a

trampling up and down stairs by day and by night to be heard, but no

one to be seen, as well as knockings on the walls and in the cellars;

but, however suddenly a person flew to the place to try to detect

whence the noise proceeded, they could see nothing. If they went

outside, the knocking was immediately heard inside, and vice versa._

The noises at length became so perplexing, that her father declared

that he could live in the house no longer. They were not only audible

to every body in the house, but to the passengers in the street, who

stopped to listen to them as they passed. Whenever there was playing on

the piano, and singing, sounds would commence on the walls."

We have not room to mention all the facts in her case; but will add a

few of the most remarkable. "She was very susceptible to _electrical

influences_, and, what is almost incredible, _she had a preternatural

feeling_ or _consciousness of human writing_. Various minerals seemed

to have a specific effect, when brought in contact with her. _Glass and

rock crystal_ had a powerful effect in waking her from the somnambulic

state, or in exciting the force within her organism. This fact, and

others of this character in abundance, point to the peculiar tendency

of this force, in some cases of disease, to act outwardly from the

nerve centres upon glass ware, window glass, &c. "We have known a

child, eight years old," says Mr. Rogers, "who seldom, at one period,

took hold of a glass dish without its soon bursting to pieces." In the

case of Frederica, a rock crystal, placed on the pit of her stomach,

and allowed to remain there for some time, would produce a deep state

of catalepsy. She was affected in the same manner by silicious sand and

gravel, or even by standing some time near a glass window. If she

chanced to seat herself on a sandstone beach, she was apt to become

cataleptic; and once, having been for some time missed, she was at

length found at the top of the house, seated on a heap of sand, so

rigid, that she was unable to move away from it. Whenever she was

placed in a bath by her medical attendants, it was with a great deal of

labor they could immerse her body beneath the surface. Her specific

gravity seemed to be more like cork, or a bladder of air, than that of

muscle, nerve, and bone. Something seemed to pervade her body, or to

act upon it, so entirely opposite to the centripetal action of the

earth, as to counteract this law of force in the most marked manner.

This fact suggested to Dr. Kerner a curious experiment, which resulted

in the development of another important phenomenon. He had concluded,

that as all these phenomena had taken place more or less in conjunction

with those usually termed _magnetic_ or _mesmeric_, there might be some

relation of the forces in both, or indeed they might be identical. To

test this matter, he at one time placed his fingers against hers, when

he found at once there existed a mutual attraction, as between two

magnets; and now, by extending his hand upward, _he raised her clear

from the ground; thus she was suspended, as a magnet suspends a piece

of iron_, or _another magnet, simply by a polar force_. This was

repeated several times, and afterwards his wife did quite the same

thing."

"We have already spoken of the action which the sun's light had upon

her in producing physical effects. Among others it was observed that

the different colored rays produced each a specific effect. The light

of the moon, also, when she looked at it, produced coldness and

shivering, with melancholy." The effects of these agents on the human

organism are clearly explained, in the numbers of an astronomical

paper, by Mr. Chapman, of Philadelphia.

"On touching Frederica with a finger, during an electrical state of the

atmosphere, she saw small flashes, which ascended to the ceiling; from

men these were colorless, from women blue; and she perceived emanations

of the same kind, and of the same variation of color, from people's

eyes."

Concerning the power possessed in the nerve centres of this woman, to

produce sounds at a distance, Dr. Kerner remarks as follows: "As I had

been told by her parents, before her father's death, that, at the

period of her early magnetic state, she was able to make herself heard

by her friends, as they lay in bed at night, in the same village, in

other houses, by a knocking,--as is said of the dead,--I asked her, in

her sleep, whether she was able to do so now, and at what distance. She

answered that she could sometimes do it. Soon after this, as we were

going to bed, (my children and servants being already asleep,) we heard

a knocking, as if in the air over our heads; There were six knocks, at

intervals of half a minute. It was a hollow, yet clear sound, soft, but

distinct. We were certain there was no one near us, nor over us, from

whom it could proceed; and our house stands by itself. On the following

evening, when she was asleep, (we had mentioned the knocking to nobody

whatever,) she asked me whether she should soon knock to us again;

which, as she said it was hurtful to her, I declined." And yet, not

long after this, Kerner relates the following, as having taken place at

his house: "On the morning of the 23d of March, 1837, at one o'clock, I

suddenly awoke, and heard seven knocks, one after another, at short

intervals, seeming to proceed from the middle of my chamber: my wife

was awakened also; and we could not compare this knocking to any

ordinary sound. Mrs. Hauffe lived several houses distant from us."

"On the 30th of the same month, Rev. Mr. Hermann came into _rapport_ or

special relation with Mrs. H., through the medium of psychological

sympathy, as well as through the physical influence. Previous to this

he had not been troubled with strange sounds at his house, but after

that period he was awakened every night, at a particular hour, by a

knocking in his room,--sometimes on the floor, and sometimes on the

walls,--which his wife heard as well as himself. In a great part of her

magnetic state, Mrs. H. was under a strong state of religious feeling,

and was often engaged in prayer. Rev. Mr. Hermann sympathized with her

in this, and with the commencement of the rapping in his room, he

experienced an involuntary disposition to pray." (See Mr. Rogers's

work, where many such cases are given.)

In elucidation of the effect of glass, sand, gravel, &c., upon her

organism, we will state an additional fact, as related by her

physician: "On the 21st of April, Dr. K. was at the house of Mrs. H.

The window being open, he saw a quantity of gravel come in the window,

which he not only saw, as he says, 'but picked it up!' To be certain

that no one threw it in, he immediately looked out. On comparing it, he

found it to be such gravel as lay in the front of the house."

"Now, let the phenomena we have related be put side by side with those

which occurred at the house of Rufus Elmer, in Springfield,

Massachusetts, on the 5th of April, 1852, as witnessed by Professor

Wells, of Cambridge, and others, and alleged to be the work of spirits.

_First._ The table was moved in every possible direction, and with

great force, when no cause of motion could be perceived.

_Second._ The table was forced against each one present so powerfully

as to move them from their positions, together with the chairs they

occupied, in all several feet.

_Third._ Mr. Wells and Mr. Edwards took hold of the table in such a

manner as to exert their strength to the best advantage, but found the

invisible power, exercised in the opposite direction, to be quite equal

to their utmost efforts.

_Fourth_. In two instances, at least, while the hands of all the

members of the circle were placed on the top of the table, and while no

visible power was employed to raise the table, or otherwise to move it

from its position, it was seen to rise clear of the floor, and to float

in the atmosphere for several seconds, as if sustained by a denser

medium than the air.

_Fifth._ Mr. Wells was rocked to and fro with great violence, and

at length it poised itself on two legs, and remained in this position

for some thirty seconds, when no other person was in contact with the

table.

_Sixth._ Three persons, Messrs. Wells, Bliss, and Edwards, assumed

positions on the table at the same time, and while thus seated, the

table was moved in various directions.

_Seventh._ Occasionally we were made conscious of the occurrence

of a powerful shock, which produced a vibratory motion of the floor of

the apartment. It seemed like the motion occasioned by distant thunder,

or the firing of ordnance far away, causing the tables, chairs, and

other inanimate objects, and all of us, to tremble in such a manner

that the effect was both seen and felt.

In conclusion, it was observed that D. D. Hume, the medium, frequently

urged the company to hold his feet and hands. The room was well

lighted, and a lamp was placed on and under the table, and every

possible opportunity afforded for the closest inspection. They were

therefore positive that there was no deception in the case. The

conclusion was, _that it must be the work of spirits_--a singular

conclusion, indeed, for men of such standing and acquirements. It might

all have been accomplished, _biologically_; but admitting the whole

to be literally and substantially true, they fall far short of

well-attested phenomena, where it was not so much as _conjectured_ even

to be _at all supernatural_."

The fact is incontrovertibly evident, that physical agents, subtile and

unseen, are every where at work. "Force shows itself," as the elegant

Somerville remarks, in his Connection of the Physical Sciences, "in

every thing that exists in the heavens or on the earth." There is a

physical power which not only binds satellites to their planet, and

planets with suns, and sun with sun throughout the wide extent of

creation, which is the cause of the disturbances, as well as the order

of nature, but it physically binds man to man, and man to nature. And

as every tremor it excites in one planet is immediately transmitted to

the farthest limits of the system, in oscillations, which correspond in

their periods with the cause producing them, like sympathetic notes in

music, or vibrations from the deep tones of an organ, so every

vibration, thus excited, is transmissible to the delicate centres of

every organic being, provided the repulsive agent of those beings is

changed in its relative condition so as to admit its influx. (See

Geometry and Faith, by Rev. T. Hill, of Waltham.)

"It is well known to every chemist, that wherever there is chemical

action going on, there is a constant evolution of some force. Now, that

there is a constant chemical action taking place is certain, and the

sources of this action are very numerous. Among others, we have that of

water, (often holding in solution saline ingredients, thus increasing

its action upon metallic substances,) which, percolating through the

surface, acts upon all those surfaces whose materials have a strong

chemical affinity for the oxygen or hydrogen of the water.

Wherever there is a mineral load the development of force is in some

instances very great. For instance, Mr. R. W. Fox was able, by

connecting two lodes with copper wires, and conducting the latter to

the surface of the earth, and immersing them in a cell which contained

a solution of sulphate of copper, to obtain an electrotype copy of an

engraved copperplate.

Thus "the earth itself may be made a _battery_," as Robert Hunt says.

"We know," he repeats, "that, through the superficial strata of the

earth, electric currents circulate freely, whether they are composed of

clay, sand, or any mixture of these with decomposed organic matter;

indeed, that with any substance in a moist state, electric currents

suffer no interruption." The electricity of mineral veins has attracted

the attention of some of the first philosophers of Europe, and has led

to some highly-interesting experiments with regard to the action of

this important agent in the formation, disposition, and direction of

rocks and mineral veins. M. Becqueral and others have made use of these

currents successfully in imitating Nature in her processes of making

crystals and other mineral formations."

"It is not, however, necessary to suppose that the agent of which we

are treating particularly requires a chemical action to develop it, or

the action of the electric force. Experiments have proved that it is

developed in every form of material action--that even the substances of

the earth, without sensible alteration, exert this force. To this agent

the sensitive nerve centres are extremely susceptible. The celebrated

Ritter, of Germany, devoted much time to an investigation of this

subject, and, in 1809, published Supplementary Treatises upon it,

together with Amoretti's celebrated work on the same subject--Physical

and Historical Inquiries into Rhabdomancy, &c., in Germany. (See Dr.

Ashburner's Translation of Rheinbach, first American edition;

Redfield.) Schubert, in his work on Natural History, says, "It seems

clear, from many observations, that the whole mineral (and much of the

vegetable) kingdom _has a profound and mysterious relation with the

organism of man_." "_This_ relation," says Rogers, "is that of

matter with matter connected by an imponderable agent." "The phenomena

which betray this, as a fact of nature, have been observable from the

earliest ages. It is certain, however, that local causes often give

developments to such strange phenomena, _that it requires all the

science that can be mustered to keep back the tide of superstition

which will be thus aroused in the breasts of those unacquainted with

the action of these agents_."

Some will ask the question, "If these things be true, why have we not

heard of them before?" We confess that we know of no other possible

reason than that such inquiries are not "_posted up_," as they should

be, in matters of history and science. But, before closing this part of

our subject, we propose to relate a few more incidents, by way of

illustration.

"In the year 1849-50, certain highly-respectable houses in the city of

New York seem to have been all at once unaccountably beset with a

strange power, which seized upon particular parts, and would not allow

any one, not even the members of the families, to touch those seemingly

consecrated things. Whenever this was attempted, a loud, sharp sound

would be instantly given, accompanied with a sharp and spiteful flash

of light, as if the agent was determined to protect that which it had

seized upon. But this was not all; it would smartly shock the intruder

with a blow, as if with an unseen fist, or the like. It even seized

upon the members of these families at times, and would--so to

speak--make them apparently strike one another, in an unseen manner,

simultaneously. It was often the case that a stranger could not call at

the door without being instantly struck on the wrist or elbow, on

touching the knob of the door bell; and he would see, at the same

instant, an angry flash of light, as if from some demon's eye. The

ladies were not allowed to kiss each other without each receiving, on

the approach of their lips, a fiery smack, as from a spirit's lips. The

dear little ones of these families were prevented from giving their

mothers the parting salutation on retiring for the night."

"There _seemed_ to be a great deal of cunning shown by this agency. If

the lady of the house did not think to pay all due deference to its

rules, when she wished to give orders to the servants below through the

metallic speaking tube, she was sure to receive an unseen blow in the

mouth, almost sufficient to stagger her: at the same instant she would

see the flash of what might have been taken for a 'fiery,' if not for

an 'evil eye.'"

"Professor Loomis visited these dwellings, (see Annual of Scientific

Discovery, 1851, page 129,) and observed these phenomena. He perceived

the flash whenever the hand was brought near to the knob of the door,

also to the gilded frame of a mirror, the gas pipes, or any metallic

body, especially when this body communicated freely with the earth. "In

one house," says this scientific gentleman, in his description before

the American Scientific Association, at New Haven, "in one house, which

I have had the opportunity to examine, a child, in taking hold of the

knob of a door, received so severe a shock that it ran off in great

fright. In passing from one parlor to the other, if the lady of the

house chanced to step upon the brass plate which served as a slide for

the folding doors, she received an unpleasant shock in the foot. When

she touched her finger to the chandelier, there appeared a brilliant

spark, and a snap." After a careful examination of several cases of

this kind, Professor Loomis came to the conclusion "that the

electricity is created (excited) by the friction of the shoes of the

inmates upon the carpets of the house." "If the professor is correct in

his conjecture, it would follow that every house," says Mr. Rogers,

"with similar carpets, should become electrized, and exhibit similar

phenomena, in which case we should have observed their appearance at a

much earlier period, and the occurrence would have been presented much

more frequently and extensively. Yet the phenomena is every whit

electrical; hence we are led by them to see, that when local

circumstances are favorable, an agent may be developed in our midst,

which may play the most singular pranks, which, it is more than

probable, may be attributed to _supernatural_, and even to SPIRITUAL

_powers_, if the witnesses should be ignorant of those characteristics

which identify them with a well-known agent. Had the characteristics in

the above been contrary to those of any known agent, although the

phenomena had been entirely physical, how many would have leaped to the

conclusion, without a moment's thought or investigation, that the force

was a power of the invisible spirit world? With regard to the phenomena

of the present day, reason has been entirely set aside; hence the

precipitate conclusion concerning them, even by many who lay great

claim to its use and application to all other subjects. We have been

truly astonished at the course of such persons."

"We shall now present a few cases that bear a closer analogy to

electricity, perhaps, than those we have been considering. The first we

shall speak of is that of the two Smyrna girls, who visited France in

1839, and exhibited what was called _their electrical powers, in

moving tables without contact_. The account was published in the

Boston Weekly Magazine, of December 28, 1839. The two girls landed at

Marseilles, about the first of November, 1839. In hopes of realizing a

splendid fortune, they intended to exhibit themselves in France, and

other parts of the continent. Immediately on their arrival, several

persons, including several men of science and professors, visited them,

and ascertained the following phenomena:--

_First._ "The girls stationed themselves, facing each other, at the

ends of a large _table_, keeping at a distance from it of one or two

feet, according to their electrical dispositions.

_Second._ "When a few minutes had elapsed, a _crackling_, like that of

electric fluid spreading over gilt paper, was heard, when,--

_Third._ "The table received a strong shake, which always made it

_advance from_ the ELDER to the younger sister.

_Fourth._ "A _key_, _nails_, or any piece of _iron_ placed on the table

_instantaneously stopped_ the phenomena.

_Fifth._ "When the iron was adapted to the _under part_ of the table,

it produced no effect upon the experiment.

_Sixth._ "Saving this singularity, the facts observed constantly

followed the known laws of electricity, whether glass insulators were

used, or whether one of the girls wore silk garments. In the latter

case, the electric properties of both were neutralized." Such was the

state of matters for some days after the arrival of the young Greeks;

but,--

_Seventh._ "The temperature having become cooled, and the atmosphere

having loaded itself with _humidity_, all perceptible electric

virtue seemed to have deserted them. One may conceive the melancholy of

these girls," the writer continues, "and the disappointment of the two

Greeks, their relations, who came with them to share their anticipated

wealth."

"In this case we have the "manifestation" of a force greatly analogous

to that often witnessed at the present day. In one important respect it

acted differently from electricity, in that it was broken by simply

laying a _key_ or a small piece of _iron_ on the object the agent had

acted upon, &c. "It must be admitted, however," says Mr. Rogers, "that

the fact of the influence of glass insulators and the silk dress,

causing a cessation of the phenomena, shows that the agent that acted

upon the table was, in some way, a form of electricity, though greatly

varying, in its laws of action, from that usually known to science. We

have," says Mr. R., "some curious facts relating to this _modified

agent_, to present from Matucci and others," (in the second number of

our work.)

"From the effects of the humidity of the atmosphere, some may conclude

that the agent must have been _electricity_, inasmuch as the same state

of the atmosphere produces a like effect upon the action of friction

electricity. Let us allow this, and turn to precisely the same

phenomenon, as it has been manifested in the cases of numerous

'mediums' for the so-called '_spiritual manifestations_.'"

"We will not state it upon our authority alone, but also upon that of a

large number of intelligent believers in the spiritual origin of these

phenomena, that the electrical condition of the atmosphere enters into

the circumstances of their evolution; that in a humid state of the

weather it is not only difficult, in many instances, but sometimes it

is absolutely impossible, to obtain them under such a condition." We

know that many of the less informed "mediums" attribute these failures

to the _capriciousness of the spirits_, and frequently scold them

soundly for their misdemeanors, though at other times they seem to pity

them because they get so weary and fatigued in answering so many

inquiries, and being so long "_on duty_."

"It was thought by some who witnessed the case of Angelique Cottin,

that the agent which acted so powerfully from her organism,

overthrowing tables, twisting chairs out of stout men's hands, raising

a man in a heavy tub, was electricity. C. Crowe says it did cause the

deviation of the magnetic needle; but M. Arago, who knows more about

this abused agent than a nation of theorizers, could not detect the

least signs of it by the nicest tests. And yet it would give the person

who touched her or her dress a powerful shock, as if it _were_

electricity. Still, it may be the same agent that is ground out of

plate glass, that propagates news from city to city on iron wires, and

that thunders in the material heavens."

"It has been supposed that because, in many instances, 'mediums' have

given shocks like those given by electrized bodies, the two agents must

be identical. Not long since, a young lady, about sixteen years of age,

Miss Harriett Bebee, was placed in a magnetic state, in company with

Mrs. Tamlin, both being of a clairvoyant character. The sounds were

heard while they were in that state. Every time these occurred a very

sensible jar, like an electric shock, was experienced by Miss Bebee. In

answer to a question, she stated that at each sound she felt as if

there was electricity passing over her. Several of the persons, in

whose presence these sounds are heard, always receive a slight shock,

so that there is a slight jar, which has sometimes been so plain as to

lead persons, ignorant of the facts and the phenomenon, to accuse them

of making it themselves." Says a writer upon this subject, "This

feeling of electricity seems to pervade nearly every thing connected

with these phenomena. When the rapping is heard, the peculiar jar is

felt, differing from the jar produced by a blow; and in various other

ways we are reminded of the use of this subtile agent. We often see, in

a dark room, bright electric flashes on the wall and other places."

The same writer observes, "Persons sometimes feel a sensation of

electricity passing over their limbs when they stand in the vicinity of

those who get the sounds most freely, although the particular persons

who seem to be the mediums feel no sensation at all. In one or two

instances we have seen a perceptible shock, as if caused by a galvanic

battery, especially when the persons were under the influence of

magnetism."

"In a work published in Cincinnati, by "William T. Coggshall, the

author says, "We have felt positive electrical influences from

clairvoyants. At the present time," he continues, "what is termed

'electrical circles' are being formed every week in Cincinnati, for the

benefit of persons whose systems require additional electrical power.

We have seen several women so powerfully electrized in these circles,

that the same effects were produced upon them which would have been had

they been isolated in connection with a galvanic battery." So it has

been seen that, on touching Angelique Cottin, a person would receive a

"true electric shock." This kind of shock was experienced by Campeti

and Bleton, in passing over mineral veins and subterraneous streams, as

mentioned by Dr. Ashburner. "Many somnambulic persons," says C. Crowe,

"are capable of giving an electric shock; and I have met with one

person, not somnambulic, who informed me that he has frequently been

able to do it by an effort of the will."

"When an iron plate was brought near to one of Reichenbach's patients,

and a crystal brought in contact with it, the effect upon it was like

an electric shock, which even ascended from the elbow to the shoulder."

Many other cases might be cited to the same purpose. The magnet and

iron have a specific action upon the nervous system; and the same agent

acts also from crystals, vegetable substances, and the human hand, nay,

from the earth itself." The second number of Mr. Rogers's work contains

some interesting facts of this character.

"Vitality," says Dr. W. E. Channing, in his Notes on Electricity, "is

dependent on physical conditions, and performs its functions by the

agency of physical forces." The Rev. Thomas Hill, in his Fragmentary

Supplement to the Ninth Bridgewater Treatise, observes that "all bodies

are moved through the agency of other bodies, and we see nowhere a

motion which is not dependent upon _physical causes_, that is, which is

not produced by _physical agents_. Our will employs, unconsciously, the

aid of nerve and muscle; the supreme will employs, with wise designs,

the intervention of the laws of _impulse_, _attraction_, and

_repulsion_." "When, in the course of ages, the comparative easy

problems of astronomy were solved, problems of more difficulty were

brought to view. Phenomena which were not _obvious_, not _pictured

alphabet_, but the _fine print of creation_, _electrical_, _optical_,

and _chemical phenomena_, led men into more _hidden_ knowledge."

"The agents employed by the animal organization," says Dr. Channing,

"are principles found UNIVERSALLY IN NATURE, and, in addition to these,

a force which is peculiar to living structures--the special agent of

vitality." "Now, it might reasonably be expected, that if electricity,

among other agents found "universally in nature," is also associated

with the agent of the animal economy, it might, under favorable

conditions, exhibit its characteristic phenomena. These conditions

would, of course, be owing to a variation of the organism from its

normal standard. The following case, given by Dr. Ennemoser, of

Germany, exhibits some of these characteristics:--

The case was that of a young woman, sister of a professor at Strasburg.

Immediately on a sudden fright, she was seized with a nervous malady,

which continued for a long period, and finally terminated in her death.

Among the remarkable symptoms in her case were the following:--

_First._ Those of _somnambulism_, with more or less lucidity.

_Second._ Her body became so highly charged with electricity that

it was necessary to conduct it away by a regular process of conduction.

_Third._ Her body would impart powerful shocks to those who came

in contact, and even when they did not touch her.

_Fourth._ She controlled its action so as to give her brother (the

professor) a "smart shock when he was several rooms off." (The account

states, that when the professor received the shock, "he started up and

rushed into her chamber, where she was in bed; and as soon as she saw

him, she said, laughing, 'Ah, you felt it, did you?'")

_Fifth._ She was subject, also, to spasms and paroxysms of rigor

and trembling.

Some of the phenomena, in this case, resemble those we see exhibited by

the electric fish. The case is an important one in considering the

command which the nerve centres possess over the general agents

associated with them."

We shall now present another singular case, which occurred in this

country, in the month of January, 1839, an account of which was given

in Silliman's Journal, by a correspondent:--

_First._ That "on the evening of January 28, 1839, during a somewhat

extraordinary display of the northern lights, a respectable lady became

so highly charged with electricity, as to give out vivid electrical

sparks from the end of each finger, to the face of each of the company

present."

_Second._ That this did not cease with the heavenly phenomena, but

continued several months, during which time she was constantly charged

and giving off electrical sparks to every conductor she approached.

This was extremely vexatious, as she could not touch the stove, or any

metallic utensil, without giving off an electrical spark, with the

consequent twinge.

_Third._ That "the state most favorable to _this phenomena_ was an

atmosphere of about eighty degrees Fahrenheit, moderate exercise, and

social enjoyment. It disappeared in an atmosphere approaching zero, and

under the debilitating effects of fear."

_Fourth._ That, "when seated by the stove, reading, with her feet upon

the fender, she gave sparks at the rate of three or four a minute; and

under the most favorable circumstances, a spark that could be seen,

heard, or felt, passed every moment."

_Fifth._ That "she could charge others in the same way, when insulated,

who could then give sparks to others."

_Sixth._ "To make it satisfactory that her dress did not produce it, it

was changed to cotton, and woollen, without altering the phenomenon.

The lady is about thirty, of sedentary pursuits, and delicate state of

health, having, for two years previously, suffered from acute

rheumatism and neuralgic affections."

For further investigation into the cause of singular phenomena evolved

from secret agents, and the true philosophy of biology, magnetism,

trance, &c., we would again refer to the numbers of a work by Mr.

Rogers, now in process of publication. His principles and deductions

challenge successful contradiction.

EXPERIMENTS IN BIOLOGY.

Biology, so called, is one peculiar feature, or form, of mesmerism.

"These experiments," says Dr. Richmond, "attracted much attention some

three years since, in Ohio, and other places, and such was the intense

excitement of the public mind that, in some places, parents and the

public were obliged to interfere and stop children from biologizing

each other." It was found that not only muscular motion, but the

exercise of the senses, could be destroyed by the will of the operator.

Taste was obliterated, or changed, memory destroyed, and any picture

presented to the mind of the subject would be seen. Tell him he saw

snakes, and he would become frightened, and rush with violence over the

seats and benches. Tell him he was sleigh riding, and he would

instantly seize the reins, and drive the horses with great glee. Tell

him he was a witch--an old woman in rags--and he would own the

character, and confess all the crimes with which you had charged him.

Tell him he was a gay young lady, and another subject was about to

court him, and a love scene would commence. Tell him he was cold, and

he would shiver, his teeth chatter; he would stamp, and thresh his

hands to keep them warm. Tell him it was summer--very hot, and he would

begin fanning himself, fling off his coat, and, unless prevented, would

divest himself of all garments tell him that a tree of fruit was before

him, and he would begin to fill his pockets. Sweep the room before him,

and open the sky, and say that the river of life and a white throne

were before him, that the judgment was set, and instantly he would

assume the attitude of devotion; he would gaze with burning eye and

rapt delight into the scene of glory. Take him to a lake side, tell him

a child was drowning in the water, and he would wade in, take it in his

arms, and lay it carefully down, and weep over it in deep pity. Bring

before him the lightning's flash, the thunder's roll, or proclaim a God

in grandeur, and a world on fire, and, as once actually took place in

Covington, Kentucky, a dozen subjects fell in intense fright: some on

to the floor, some on benches, others sought to fly, and all declared

to the audience that a shower of fire seemed to be around them. Any

image the operator sees fit to plant in the subject's mind is readily

done; any passion readily assumed; reverence, revenge, vanity, love,

hate, fear, mirth, joy, grief, or ecstasy, are all _imitated_ at his

bidding, and safely dispersed and reproduced with the rapidity of

thought, changing in an instant both the actions and motions of the

subject. Tell the person he is suffocating in water, and he _will_

suffocate, unless you prevent him. Tell him he is struck on the head,

and he falls, as if stricken down with a hammer. No doubt a subject

might be killed by a mental impression--by saying to him he was shot

through the heart, or was struggling in water. This is the opinion

of all operators in the art. The subject at the time is, to all

appearance, in a perfectly _normal state_; his mental, moral, and

physical powers seem unchanged, and he thinks at the time he can resist

your power over him; he but gives you his eye, and you lead him captive

by mental impressions. The only perceptible variation from the normal

state is, that the _eye_, in most subjects, is clear and glassy, the

same eye that is observed in some maniacs, and in consumptive

patients--clear, sharp, and fearful to look at. The hidden fires of the

soul seem to burn through it, with intense force. I have watched it for

months, and years, in consumptives, under the wasting of vitality; and

the eye kindles and sparkles with more intensity as they near their

end. All impressible subjects have this eye, to a greater or less

extent; all consumptives have it, as well as those who in early life

are inclined to consumption.

The facts and incidents under the effects of biology are truly singular

and wonderful; and yet the advocates of the "spirit mania" admit there

is nothing supernatural in them. For aught we can see, the phenomena

put forth by the "rappers" differ not materially from the biologic

developments. They seem to be identical with each other.

I know it is affirmed that the developments of electro-biology do not

cover the whole ground in dispute, inasmuch as _men and women only_ are

found to yield to its impressions, while _chairs, tables_, and other

inanimate objects remain unimpressed. But if chairs and tables are not

moved by one form of magnetism, they are by another, as we have

abundantly shown. And any one with half an eye cannot but see that it

would require less effort to move a table, or other inanimate object,

than living, intelligent beings, capable of exerting their will in

opposition to the effort. Dr. Richmond says he has "seen an operator

draw a dozen persons from their seats, by the magnetic force of his

hand, at the distance of many feet. The first move of the hand would

bring the head forward, then the body, and by adding his voice, 'You

will stand up,' they would, _while resisting with the will, in spite of

themselves_, stand up, and follow his hand around the room." If

biologists have not usually exerted their power upon inanimate things,

it has probably been because they did not deem it of sufficient

importance. We have seen, however, a biologist raise a table to the

ceiling of a room, kindly permitting it to stick there a while, to the

no small amusement of the spectators! And it can be done again. By the

way, we would inquire what biologist is it that has sometimes lent his

aid in the raising of tables, at a "circle" in East Boston, himself an

unbeliever in "_spirit table-liftings_?"

The editor of the Spiritual Telegraph says, that "in the biological

experiments there is a _visible human operator_," but, "in the

spiritual manifestations, no human operator can be found, or

demonstrated to exist." But, pray, what is the "medium," in these

manifestations, but _a visible human operator_? Sometimes it takes

three or four persons to produce a single demonstration. And sometimes

they cannot muster _force_ enough to do this, especially if the weather

be rainy. And this is probably the reason why the rappers at

Poughkeepsie have resolved not to admit unbelievers, nor at any time

more than two or three new-comers, at a "circle," making, with the

believers, ten or twelve in all--successful results never being

guarantied to those invited to attend.

Mr. Brittan himself asserts that it is "the same power that moves the

_human medium_ that also moves the _wooden table_," &c. Here we have a

_human medium_ that is _moved to do something_, and _wooden tables_,

also; and if we can discover the secret agent in the one case, we shall

likewise in the other, for there is a perfect sameness or coincidence

in their operations. It is the same _unseen_ power, in both cases,

moving chairs, tables, tubs, troughs, bedsteads, and piles of lumber,

besides other gross, ponderable bodies--cutting up an infinite variety

of pranks to the _consternation_ of some, and the _amusement_ of

others, as A. J. Davis says of the dancing plates, knives and forks,

shovel, tongs, and poker, moved by "electrical discharges and magnetic

attractions," or emanations of vital electricity seeking its

equilibrium in the atmosphere.

FACULTY OF IMITATION.

The faculty of imitating signatures, of writing music, poetry,

specimens of foreign tongues, &c., is no more strange than imitating

the voice and gestures of those we never heard nor saw. Persons of

scarcely any education or talents, while under biological influence,

have been made to imitate the voice of Webster, Everett, Fillmore, and

others, delivering off-hand speeches of most impassioned diction and

eloquence; while, in their _normal_ state, they could scarcely frame a

paragraph in the king's English, much more deliver a formal address,

embellished with a profusion of metaphors, tropes, and figures,

accompanied with the finished attitudes and movements of a Choate, a

Sumner, or a Banks! These mesmeric imitations refer also to mechanical

and artistic power, and every talent that characterizes us as

intelligent beings. Some assert that mediums are in a _perfectly normal

state_ during the exhibitions of the "spirit" phenomena; and yet, to

the practical mesmerizer, nothing is plainer than that they are most

absolutely mesmeric persons.

The power of _imitation_ among mediums is various, but distinct. Some

draw _maps_, purporting to come from a deceased schoolmate. Others draw

_likenesses_; others speak in voices imitating the dead--but they can

imitate the living just as well; others hear sounds--the voice of a

wife, or child, or friend. Walter Scott relates the case of an English

gentleman who was ill, and was told by his physician that he had lived

in London too long, and _lived too fast_; and advised him to retire to

the country and ruralize. One of his troubles was, that a set of

_green_ dressed dancers would enter his drawing room, go through their

evolutions, and retire. He knew it was an illusion, but could not

resist the annoyance, or the impressions made on him. He returned to

his country seat, and, in a few weeks, got rid of his visitors. He

concluded to remain out of town, and sent to London for the furniture

of his old parlor, to be placed in his country house; but when it came,

and was arranged in the room, the _corps de ballet_, dressed in

_green_, all rushed into the room, _exclaiming_, "Here we are all

again!" He had associated in his mind the furniture and the dancing

apparitions, and when it returned, they came with it, and, as he

thought, _spoke with voices_. We recollect of reading in a medical

paper, published in Boston, an account of a man who believed his house

to be haunted by the devil, in consequence of which he resolved to

vacate it and remove into the country. His goods were packed into a

wagon, and he was just upon the point of starting with his load, when

to his surprise he heard a voice, seemingly among the goods, crying

out, "We are all going together." "If that is the case," said the man,

"I will unload again; for if I am _to have_ the devil's company, it may

as well be in one place as another."

The excessive use of wine will induce a state of the brain, in which

the person thinks he hears voices and sees spirits; but on close

examination it will be found that it is the work of the abnormal

powers, developed in the brain by stimulating agents or intense

thinking. It will be recollected that Swedenborg, after eating a late,

heavy supper, heard a voice crying out to him in terrible accents, "Eat

not so much." (See chap. 5.) Such phenomena may unravel the voice Judge

Edwards heard. His long-continued meditation on death, with night,

solitude, loneliness, and grief, had so impressed him that he thought

he heard a sound in exact imitation of the voice of his wife. In the

case related by Scott, hearing was not only affected, but the organ of

color was involved in the hallucination, and the _green figures_

were as plain before him as real persons. This is always one of the

phenomena of ghost-seeing that the seer associates with the spectre,

namely, _form_ and _color_, _voice_ and _action_.

The cases of imitation referred to, and others of the same class, are

the results of the _imitative mechanic power_ of the individual,

brought out by the abnormal magnetic state existing at the time. For

instance, if the individual has time and tune--the faculty of music

within lying undeveloped--it may be brought out, and made to act, by

the effects of magnetism. Last winter we listened to a lecture

delivered in Newark, New Jersey, by the Rev. Mr. Harris, from New York

city. He stated that there was a lady in Providence, who, by the agency

of spirits, produced musical compositions equal to the productions of

the best masters, as Haydn, Beethoven, and others, and that a volume of

these pieces were soon to be issued from the press. And although the

said work has not been heard of as yet, still we doubt not that a

person in a magnetic state might write very good music, even if totally

ignorant of its rules, as this young lady was said to be.

Phrenologists often tell persons that they would make excellent

tailors, dressmakers, poets, painters, musicians, &c.--persons who

never attempted to operate in these callings. "All they need," it is

said, "is an opportunity for the development of their powers." Now,

magnetism tends to develop or rouse these _dormant_ faculties into

action. It also gives a far-reaching, a far-seeing grasp and perception

of things, as in the case of Miss Martineau, who, be it remembered, was

too intelligent to attribute such effects to the agency of spirits.

A marked case of the increase of the _imitative power_ of persons

in the magnetic condition, is found in the case of Frederica Hauffe. In

one of her magnetic moods she informed Dr. Kerner that she would make a

diagram of the spheres. "The sun sphere," as she called it, is very

complex; but "she spun out the complicated web with unerring

precision," and a pair of compasses given her to facilitate her labor

only embarrassed her. It is made up of circles within circles, and

sections and points, amounting to thousands, related and connected; and

yet the "whole was executed," says Dr. K., "in an incredible short

space of time." An engraving was made of this sphere, and a year after

she was shown the engraving, and said it was not correct; a point on

one of the lines was wanting. On referring to the original, they found

she was right. This diagram contained many curious things, and in some

parts related to the highest departments of mathematics. This

_faculty_ she only possessed in the magnetic state, being wholly

incompetent to the task when not clairvoyant. No living artist can

execute that diagram with a pen, with a fac-simile before him, with the

rapidity with which that ignorant, unlettered child of nature did it.

"I have, in many cases," says Dr. Richmond, "witnessed this imitative

power of mediums with the pen, dashing off figures and images with a

rashness and rapidity almost inconceivable." As far as we can see,

there is no more proof of the agency of spirits in one case than in the

other; and we are sure no such claim was ever set up in the case of

Mrs. Hauffe, though living in a less enlightened region, perhaps, than

these United States. We might multiply cases of this kind, but space

will not permit.

UNSEEN LETTERS AND SIGNATURES.

The operator in biology or magnetism often lays hold of the inquiring

spectator, and uses him or her to imitate unseen letters, signatures,

and sentences, in foreign languages. And no doubt but what Professor

Bush has been made unconsciously instrumental in executing a few

specimens of languages, his eyes wide open, it may be, all the while.

It can be no more strange than that the son of Dr. Phelps should have

been made unconsciously instrumental in tying himself to the limb of a

tree in his father's yard, _supposing_ it to have been done by

_spirits_. (See the version of the affair by A. J. Davis.)

A biological mesmerist assures us that he finds no difficulty in

raising beds, chairs, and tables; and in the case of Mr. Kellogg it is

shown that such things are easily done without any aid from

_spirits_. In the case of Dr. Taylor, the writing medium, it is

shown, by the testimony of the spirits themselves, if their word is to

be relied on, that the phenomena in his case were not done by spirits,

but were the results of vital electricity. Such things are getting to

be so common that we may expect soon to see the time when little ragged

boys even (like those in Egypt, who went through the streets offering

to show the spirit of any deceased friend for a penny or a piece of

cake) will offer to lift tables, or imitate handwritings, at a penny a

sight. We know of several "mediums," now engaged in these things, who

confess they do not understand by what power it is they raise tables,

or write sentences, &c., yet they do not believe it to be done by the

agency of disembodied spirits. In many schools, the children have been

forbidden by their teachers to indulge in these foolish practices. This

power may be electricity, in some of its forms, or some other agent

that has some relation or affinity to it, as in the cases related by

Mr. Rogers.

A DANCING LIGHT.

A few years since the inhabitants of Southboro', Massachusetts, were

excited and alarmed at the appearance of a _light_, about the size of a

star, which for several successive nights was seen moving over a spot

of land in the westerly part of the town. Upon examining the premises

by daylight, it was found that a quantity of bones that had been buried

in the earth had been thrown upon the surface by the roots of a tree,

the trunk of which had recently been prostrated by a gale of wind. By

many, these bones were supposed to belong to some human being, who, it

was conjectured, had been murdered, and buried beneath the spot. And

the light seen hovering near was considered indicative of such an

event. But if the reader will turn to the second chapter of this work,

he will learn that these _dancing lights_, so called, arise from an

inflammable gas, evolved from decayed animal and vegetable substances,

which take fire on coming in contact with atmospheric air. This _ignis

fatuus_, _Jack-with-a-lantern_, or _Will-with-a-wisp_ appearance is

generally seen in dark nights, over boggy and marshy ground, and

generally in motion, at the height of five or six feet, skipping from

place to place, and frequently changing in magnitude and form. On some

occasions, it is observed to be suddenly extinguished, and then to

reappear at a distance from its former position. Those persons who have

endeavored to examine it closely have found that it moves away from

them with a velocity proportioned to that of their advance--a

circumstance which has had no small influence on the fears of the

ignorant and superstitious. Dr. Denham once saw an _ignis fatuus_ in a

boggy place, between two rocky hills, in a dark and calm night. He

approached by degrees within two or three yards of it, and thereby had

an opportunity of viewing it to the best advantage. It kept skipping

about a dead thistle, till a slight motion of the air--occasioned, as

he supposed, by his near approach--caused it to jump to another place;

and as he advanced it kept flying before him. He observed it to be a

uniform body of light, and concluded it must consist of _ignited

vapor_. These appearances are common on the plains of Boulogne, in

Italy, where they sometimes flit before the traveller on the road,

saving him the expense of a torch on dark nights. Sometimes they spread

very wide, and then contract themselves; and sometimes they float like

waves, and appear to drop sparks of fire. They shine more strongly in

rainy than in dry weather.

An appearance of the same kind is sometimes met with at sea, during

gales of wind, and, of course, has become connected with many

superstitious notions of sailors, who call it a _corpusant_. There

are sometimes two together, and these are named Castor and Pollux. The

following is a description of one, given by the voyager Dampier: "After

four o'clock the thunder and the rain abated, and then we saw a

corpusant, at our maintopmast head. This sight rejoiced our men

exceedingly, for the height of the storm is commonly over when the

corpusant is seen aloft; but when they are seen lying on the deck, it

is generally accounted a bad sign. A corpusant is a certain small,

glittering light; when it appears, as this did, on the very top of a

mainmast, or at a yardarm, it is like a star; but when it appears on

the deck, it resembles a great glowworm. I have been told that when the

Spanish or Portuguese see them they go to prayers, and bless themselves

for the happy sight. I have heard some ignorant seamen discoursing how

they have seen them creep, or, as they say, travel about, in the

scuppers, telling many dismal stories that happened at such times; but

I did never see any one stir out of the place where it was first fixed,

except on deck, where every sea washeth it about. Neither did I ever

see any but when we had rain as well as wind, and, therefore, do

believe it is some jelly."

The origin and nature of the lights above described have not yet been

satisfactorily explained. More accurate observations than have been

made are required to furnish the basis of a correct theory respecting

them.

SAILORS' OMENS.

Sailors, usually the boldest men alive, are yet not unfrequently the

very abject slaves of superstitious fear. Nothing is more common than

to hear them talk of noises, flashes, shadows, echoes, and other

visible appearances, nightly seen and heard upon the waters. Andrews,

in his Anecdotes, says, "Superstition and profaneness, those extremes

of human conduct, are too often found united in the sailor; and the man

who dreads the stormy effects of drowning a cat, of whistling a contra

dance while he leans over the gunwale, will, too often, wantonly defy

his Creator by the most daring execrations and licentious behavior."

Dr. Pegge says that "sailors have a strange opinion of the devil's

power and agency in stirring up winds, which notion seems to have been

handed down from Zoroaster, who imagined that there was an evil spirit,

called _Vato_, that could excite violent storms of wind." To lose a cat

overboard, or to drown one, or to lose a bucket or a mop, is, at the

present day, a very unlucky omen with common sailors.

LOVE CHARMS.

Theocritus and Virgil both introduce women into their pastorals, using

charms and incantations to recover the affections of their sweethearts.

Shakspeare represents Othello as accused of winning Desdemona "by

conjuration and mighty magic."

"Thou hast practised on her with foul charms;

Abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals

That waken motion.

She is abused, stolen from me, and corrupted,

By spells and medicines bought of mountebanks."

In Gay's Shepherd's Week, these are represented as country practices:--

"Straight to the 'pothecary's shop I went,

And in love powders all my money spent.

Behap what will, next Sunday after prayers,

When to the alehouse Lubberkin repairs,

These golden flies into his mug I'll throw,

And soon the swain with fervent love shall glow."

In Love Melancholy, by Dr. Ferrand, it is said, "We have sometimes

among us our silly wenches, some that, out of a foolish curiosity they

have, must needs be putting in practice some of those feats that they

have received by tradition from their mother perhaps, or nurse; and so,

not thinking forsooth to do any harm, as they hope to paganize it to

their own damnation. For it is most certain that _botanomancy_, which

is done by the noise, or crackling, that box or bay leaves make when

they are crushed between one's hands, or cast into the fire, was of old

in use among the pagans, who were wont to bruise poppy flowers betwixt

their hands, by this means thinking to know their loves." Speaking of

the ancient love charms, characters, amulets, or such like periapses,

Dr. F. says, "They are such as no Christian physician ought to use,

notwithstanding that the common people do to this day too

superstitiously believe and put in practice many of these paganish

devices."

Miss Blandy, who was executed many years ago for poisoning her father,

persisted in affirming that she thought the powder given her by her

villanous lover, Cranston, to administer to him, was a "love powder,"

which was to conciliate her father's affection to her lover. She met

her death with this asseveration; and her dying request, to be buried

close to her father, seems a corroborating proof, that though she was

certainly the cause of his premature death, yet she was not, in the

blackest sense of the word, his wilful murderer.

We quote the following lines from Herrick's Hesperides:--

A CHARM OR AN ALLAY FOR LOVE.

"If so be a toad be laid

In a sheepskin newly flayed,

And that tied to a man, 'twill sever

Him and his affections ever"

EFFECTS OF A BELIEF IN A GHOST.

Whenever a real ghost appears,--by which we mean some man or woman

dressed up to frighten another,--if the supernatural character of the

apparition has been for a moment believed, the effects on the spectator

have always been injurious--sometimes producing convulsions, idiocy,

madness, or even instantaneous death. The celebrated Allston, the

painter, when in England, related the following incident to his friend

Coleridge, the poet: "It was, I think," said he, "in the University of

Cambridge, near Boston, that a certain youth took it into his wise head

to convert a Tom Paine-ish companion of his by appearing as a ghost

before him. He accordingly dressed himself up in the usual way, having

previously extracted the ball from the pistol which always lay near the

head of his friend's bed. Upon first awakening, and seeing the

apparition, the youth that was to be frightened very coolly looked his

companion, the ghost, in the face, and said, 'I know you; this is a

good joke; but you see I am not frightened. Now you may vanish.' The

ghost stood still. 'Come,' said the youth, 'that is enough. I shall get

angry; away!' Still the ghost moved not. 'By heavens!' ejaculated the

young man, 'if you do not, in three minutes, go away, I'll shoot you.'

He waited the time, deliberately levelled his pistol, fired, and with a

scream at the immovability of the figure, became convulsed, and soon

afterwards died. The very instant he believed it to be a ghost, his

human nature fell before it."

THE INVISIBLE LADY.

In the year 1804, an invisible lady and acoustic temple were exhibited

in Boston, as an "Extraordinary Aerial Phenomenon." Its body was made

of glass It gave answers to questions asked by visitors. In London, a

few years ago, there was shown an apparatus consisting of a four-footed

stand, and several trumpet-mouthed tubes, from any one of which

spectators received ready answers to questions. The answers were said

to come from the "invisible girl;" but the true explanation of the

puzzle was, that a secret tube, in the legs of the apparatus,

communicated the sounds to a girl in a neighboring apartment. Probably

something similar was arranged in the glass body exhibited in Boston;

and if we mistake not, during the sojourn of Joice Heth, of more recent

notoriety, at the Albany Museum, a shrewd Albanian, after a minute and

diligent examination, made the wonderful discovery that the old lady,

or _nurse of Washington_, was composed of _India rubber_, and was made

to breathe, speak, cry, sing, &c., by the aid of _ventriloquism_!

In a case of spirit rappings, Professor Grimes discovered that the

party had contrived to have some levers concealed beneath the floor,

and by means of certain little pegs coming through where the rappers

sat, connecting with the levers, all nicely poised on a balance, they

placed their feet upon them, and produced the raps at pleasure. And in

the case of the Rochester rappers, when their ankles were firmly held

by the committee of investigation, it is said a servant girl rapped

with her knuckles under the floor. Mrs. Culver, who had been instructed

by the Fox family, and had practised with them a while, afterwards

renounced the craft, and exposed this among other deceptions to the

world. "The girl," she says, "was instructed to rap whenever she heard

their voices calling for spirits."

SORCERERS IN THE EAST.

The operations of the men sorcerers in India are quite scientific. They

set about their work in a business-like manner, and in sight of the

house of their intended victim the mystic caldron begins to boil and

bubble. The victim, however, is not to be terrified out of his senses.

What are his enemy's fires and incantations to him? He takes no notice,

and continues to live on as though there was not a sorcerer in the

world. But that _smoke_: it meets his eye the first object every

morning. That ruddy glare: it is the last thing he sees at night. That

measured but inarticulate sound: it is never out of his ear. His

thoughts dwell on the mystical business. He is preoccupied, even in

company. He wonders what they are putting into the pot, and if it has

any connection with the spasm that has just shot through him. He

becomes nervous; he feels sick; he cannot sleep from thinking; he

cannot eat for that horrid broth that bubbles forever in his mind. He

gets worse and worse, and dies! But this empire of the imagination is

beaten in Java, where it is supposed that a housebreaker, by throwing a

handful of earth upon the beds of the inmates, completely incapacitates

them from moving to save their property. The man who is to be robbed,

on feeling the earth fall upon him, lies as motionless as if bound hand

and foot. He is under a spell, which he feels unable to break.

SINGULAR METAMORPHOSES.

In the East, men are believed to be frequently metamorphosed--sometimes

voluntarily, sometimes involuntarily--into tigers. The voluntary

transformation is effected merely by eating a certain root, whereupon

the person is instantly changed into a tiger; and when tired of this

character, he has only to eat another, when, as quick as thought, he

subsides from a tiger into a man. But sometimes mistakes happen. An

individual of an inquiring disposition once felt a strong curiosity to

know the sensations attendant on transformation; but, being a prudent

man, he set about the transformation with all necessary precaution.

Having provided himself with

"the insane root

That takes the reason prisoner,"

he gave one also to his wife, desiring her to stand by and watch the

event, and as soon as she saw him fairly turned into a tiger, to thrust

it into his mouth. She promised, but her nerves were not equal to the

performance. As soon as she saw her husband fixed in his new form, she

took to flight, carrying in her hand, in the confusion of her mind, the

root that would have restored him to her faithful arms. And so it

befell that the poor tiger-man was obliged to take to the woods, and

for many a day he dined on his old neighbors of the village, but was at

last shot, and _recognized_!

In this superstition will be seen the prototype of the wolf mania of

mediæval Europe. In Brittany, men betook themselves to the forests in

the shape of wolves, out of a morbid passion for the amusement of

howling and ravening; but if they left in some secure place the clothes

they had thrown off to prepare for the metamorphosis, they had but to

reassume them to regain their natural forms. But sometimes a

catastrophe, like that above related, took place: the wife discovered

the hidden clothes, and carrying them home, in the innocent carefulness

of her heart, the poor husband lived and died a _wolf_!

PERNICIOUS ERRORS RELATING TO HEALTH.

In a former part of this volume, we have spoken of several impositions

upon the credulity of the public, in matters appertaining to health.

The astrologists have told us that "some plants are only to be plucked

at the rising of the _dogstar_, when neither sun nor moon shine, while

others are to be cut with a golden knife, when the moon is just six

days old." To some particular plants "a string must be fastened, a

hungry dog tied thereto, who, being allured by the smell of roasted

flesh set before him, may pluck it up by the roots." At one time, the

vegetable oil of swallows was considered a potent remedy. It was

prepared "by compounding twenty different herbs with _twenty live

swallows_, well beaten together in a mortar." Another medicine was

prepared from _the raspings of a human skull_; another from the _moss,

growing on the head of a thief_, who had been gibbeted and left to hang

in the air. In addition to these, we have had "_the powder of a mummy;

the liver of frogs; the blood of weasels; an ointment made of sucking

whelps; the marrow of a stag; and the thigh bone of an ox_." And we

have numerous modern nostrums scarcely better than these, by which the

gullible public are often sorely victimized.

There are many opinions among the people, which prove highly

deleterious in being carried into practice. For instance, that we must

"stuff a cold to cure it," when the reverse of the case is the only

safe mode of procedure. In a cold, the lungs are already loaded and

congested with accumulations of muco-purulent matter, which is

increased by taking large quantities of food.

Erroneous views, in regard to cleanliness, often lead to great

mischief. There is a notion with some that dirt is really healthy,

especially for children. This idea probably originated from the fact,

that those children who are allowed to play in the dirt are often more

healthy than those who are confined in the nursery or parlor. But it

should be remembered that it is not _dirt_ which promotes their

health, but active exercise in the open air. This more than compensates

for the injury sustained by the dirt. There is, however, something

deceitful, after all, in the ruddy appearance of these children, who,

like some four-footed animals, are allowed to wallow in mire and dirt;

for they actually suffer more, not only from chronic, but from acute

diseases, than children whose parents are in better circumstances. The

pores of the skin, as we have shown in the Family Physician, published

by us a few years since, cannot be closed with filth for any length of

time, and the subject remain uninjured. It is true, some years may pass

away before the bad effects appear; but in after life, scrofula,

rheumatism, jaundice, and even consumption, often arise after the cause

which first gave rise to them is forgotten, if indeed it were ever

suspected. It is our candid opinion, that a larger part of the deaths

that occur among children by typhoid, scarlet fever, and other baleful

diseases, is owing to some defect in management, as to diet, air,

dress, or exercise, which we will briefly show in this connection.

There are some, in adult life, who abstain wholly from external

ablutions, and never think of washing their bodies from one year to

another. Now, such persons must be considered, to say the least, to be

of an uncleanly habit; and such a habit is not only unfavorable to

health, but to morality. Mr. Wesley reckons cleanliness to be second

only to godliness. We venture to affirm that he who is most guilty of

personal neglect will generally be found the most ignorant and vicious.

I am well acquainted with a whole family who neglect their persons

_from principle_. They are a sort of _new lights_ in religious things,

and hold that the true Christian should "slight the hovel, as beneath

his care." But there is a want of intelligence, and even of common

refinement, in the family, that certainly does not, and _cannot_, add

much to their own happiness or comfort, aside from the fact that it

greatly annoys their neighbors.

We do not pretend to say but that there are some great and good persons

who are slovenly in their general appearance; but these are only

exceptions to a general rule. On the contrary, common observation

teaches us that it is a distinguishing mark of low-bred rowdyism, and

of vicious and intemperate habits, to see young men dressed in the most

loose and careless manner. A person of refinement and cultivation would

feel ashamed to appear in such a manner before the public gaze.

Neglect of proper ventilation leads to incomparable mischief. There are

many persons who live through the day in closely confined and

excessively heated apartments, and also sleep in small contracted bed

rooms, without the least opportunity for a current of fresh air. Who

can wonder that they rise in the morning with wearied limbs, languid

and listless, with a furred tongue, parched mouth, and headache? They

are continually subjected to inhaling, over and over, the poison, the

miasma, of their own bodies, which cannot but result, in the end, to

the great detriment of health. We are perfectly astonished, oftentimes,

to see to what an extent such a thing is carried. Take this, in

connection with eating improper and badly-cooked food, fat meats,

gravies, and pastries, the want of suitable protection against

atmospheric changes, and active exercise in the open air, and who can

marvel at the prevalence of deadly fevers, consumption, or cholera

even? It is only a matter of surprise that there are not ten deaths

where there is now one.

Look at the quality of the meats purchased for use. It is now a common

practice with farmers (in order to save the milk) to sell their calves

for market as soon as born; and people eagerly purchase this immatured

meat because afforded at a low price. Then look at the enormous

quantities of _pork_ consumed. Go past the sausage factories, in

the cities of Jersey, and you behold it heaped in piles, ready for the

work of the hundreds of "choppers," driven by steam. Then look into the

groceries, see the array of pound sausage meat, and cheese heads, so

called. A grocer in Newark city informed us, last winter, that sausage

meat and buckwheat cakes formed three quarters of the aliment of the

citizens. And in Paterson, New Jersey, in the hottest of the season,

calves were lying upon the pavements, ready to be slaughtered, and

almost as momentarily devoured, as occasion demanded. Even the poor

fowls, their legs swollen with inflammation from the cords with which

they were bound, and half famished for water and food, and fevered by

fright and exposure, were readily purchased by men and women, to

satisfy the cravings of a perverted appetite. When we behold such

practices, we cannot think it strange that mortality should be so rife

as it is at times, especially when the atmosphere is in a condition to

affect the body in a predisposed state, favorable to the development of

diseases, such as that of small-pox, cholera, fever and ague, scarlet

and typhoid, (i.e., decomposing fever,) which is the concentration of

all others. The food we eat may convey the disease within, and unless

the state of our system is healthy and harmonious, the resisting power

will not be equal to the force and action of the external elements, and

consequently we shall become a prey to the contagion, whatever type or

form it assumes. We are somewhat inclined to think that A. J. Davis

(who is a physician by profession) is correct, when he says, "The

atmosphere has had the cholera, more or less, for thirty years, and

will continue to have it until there occurs a geological change in many

portions of the earth; and from the atmosphere the disease has been,

and is, communicated epidemically to the predisposed potato plant, and

also to the human system." A late English writer remarks, that "certain

diseases prevail at the approach of the equinoxes."

* * * * * *

Transcriber's note:

Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.

Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as

printed. Unmatched double quotation marks occur in numerous places,

particularly near the end of the text. No attempt was made to open

or close these quotations unless the location of the missing

double quotation mark was apparent.