88 



iliemsolves to walk. After a short time one felt the weight 

 of his body thrown on his right leg, and, by degrees, the right 

 leg moved forwards ; but it did not appear inchned to plant 

 itself on the floor, — so that the operator was obliged to resort 

 to 'direct volition, in order to save himself from falling back- 

 wards. The other operator experienced similar sensations, 

 excepting that his right leg moved. 



Being anxious to discover whether there were any tendency 

 ■ in these operations to bring the mind under electro-biological 

 influence, I placed half-a-crown in the hand of one of the 

 operators, and told him to regard it earnestly for ten minutes, 

 — the usual time being twenty minutas. After he had done 

 so I bade him raise his head and shut his eyes. Then, drawing 

 the point of my finger downwards over the lids after they were 

 closed, — in order to convey to his mind the idea of my power 

 to keep them shut, — I told him that he could not open them ; 

 and he only succeeded in doing so after many and violent 

 efforts. I tried one or two more experiments which satis- 

 factorily proved his susceptibility of the influence. He had 

 never tried the experiment before, nor had I. It is, however, 

 possible that he may be at all times very susceptible of electro- 

 biological influence. 



The whole of the foregoing experiments were performed in 

 immediate succession. 



With respect to the declaration of numbers by the successive 

 movements, up and down, of the side of a table, I cannot but 

 wonder at the superstitious feelings with which many persons 

 regard such experiments ; for a little reflection would, I think, 

 convince them that the results, when accurate, deserve to be 

 considered as no more than good guesses, produced by the 

 influence of the majority ; that is to say, if " the table is to 

 tell" the number of keys in a certain bunch — there being six 

 operators, — the first of whom thinks of the number 4, the 

 second of 5, the third of 7, the fourth of 6, the fifth of 6, and 

 the sixth of 8, — the result would probably be the average of 

 those numbers, namely, 6, — which, if correct, could only be 

 regar ied as a good guess. There is no doubt that some 

 correct, and, therefoj e, apparently supernatural gut sses have 

 been made ; but the failures have been far more numerous; — 

 the memory of them, however, being soon obliterated by a 

 very few instances of notable success. It is only those who 

 are too superstition sly credulous to beheve that the motion of 

 the table is caused by muscular action, resulting from embar- 

 rassed volition, who will imagine that the minds of men sitting 

 round a table, under circumstances of peculiar restraint, are 

 more nearly omniscient than they are found to be when in the 

 enjoyment of perfect freedom, — or that they are then capable 

 of infusing into, or evoking from, inanimate matter the sen- 

 sibility and power which belong to creatures endued with life. 



Shakspeare makes Hamlet well say " There are more things 

 in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your 

 philosophy ;" but such a sentiment does not justify, respecting 



