5o8 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



"SPIRIT" WRITING AND "SPEAKING WITH 

 TONGUES." 



By Prof. WILLIAM EOMATNE NEWBOLD. 



THE word "automatism" not only designates a group of phe- 

 nomena but also connotes a theory as to their origin, and 

 this theory rests upon the popular conception of the relation of 

 "soul" and body. The soul, according to it, is an entity of a 

 peculiar kind, entirely distinct from and independent of the body. 

 The body is a material machine, and does not essentially differ 

 from the machines made by man. The relation between soul and 

 body is one of reciprocal action and interaction. The body is the 

 medium through which material realities external to it are com- 

 municated to the soul under the guise of the sensations and con- 

 ceptions of consciousness ; it possesses also the capacity of execut- 

 ing certain movements — as, for example, reflexes — without the 

 concurrence of the soul. But the more complex movements of the 

 body, especially those which adjust it to a constantly shifting 

 environment and those which serve as the exponents of mental 

 life, can not be executed without the co-operation of the soul. 

 Occasionally these normal relations appear to be disturbed. Move- 

 ments take place of the kind usually ascribed to the activity of the 

 soul, and that soul disavows them. Sensations and perceptions 

 enter into the range of consciousness for which no external reality 

 can be found, and thoughts strangely unlike those proper to the 

 thinker troop through his mind and force themselves upon his 

 unwilling attention. These phenomena are ascribed to the agency 

 of the body as distinguished from that of the soul on the one hand, 

 and that of the material world on the other. The body is a ma- 

 chine out of gear ; it is no longer controlled by the indwelling 

 soul, and is constantly executing movements on its own account 

 and forcing upon the soul sensations, perceptions, and ideas which 

 stand for no realities save that of the disordered mechanism which 

 produces them. Thus the three chief forms of automatism are : 

 the automatism of movement, of sensation, and of thought or idea- 

 tion. While I shall use the word automatism and its derivatives, 

 I do not, of course, wish to be understood as subscribing to the 

 theory which it connotes. 



Automatic movements may be of any and all kinds. The sim- 

 plest are those of which the actor is thinking at the time although 

 himself unaware that his thought is passing over into movement. 

 To this type belong the marvels of the pendulum which swings 

 above a reflecting surface only, of the divining rod, of most forms 

 of table-turning, of " thought transference " as practiced by Bishop 

 and Cumberland, et id genus omne. Space forbids my entering 



