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marked in scientific circles ; and, by those who consider that the 

 evidence is abundant and conclusive, the dogmatism of science is 

 inveighed against quite as much as has ever been the bigotry of 

 Religion. The half-contemptuous indifference manifested, even by 

 those who admit the " vast wilderness of unexplored truth," and 

 who readily pursue new tracks of inquiry, can only be 

 attributed to a disbelief in the reality of the phenomena. Let it 

 be shown that, underlying the accumulated explanations and 

 impudent impostures, are to be found veritable facts, and the sub- 

 ject must be at once admitted into the realm of positive science 

 and the processes of Nature therein traced and examined. 



Some of the difficulties in the way of this demonstration and 

 admission appear to arise from certain unscientific conceptions 

 commonly held — such as, that matter is more real than mind. 

 "Matter," according to Mr. Huxley, "is merely a name for the 

 unknown and hypothetical cause of states of our own consciousness." 

 It cannot be too forcibly urged that it is knowledge of things not 

 in their reality, but in their ideality, that we possess, and this kind 

 of knowledge man cannot transcend. Another conception is that 

 the presence of all matter can be easily demonstrated. In the 

 most established sciences it is admitted that matter may exist in so 

 attenuated a condition that it can be known only by the effects of 

 its motion. Visibility and tangibility are not essential qualities of 

 material substances, and energy and activity do not depend on 

 density. 



A further error is to suppose that the evidence of the sensory 

 organs is strictly trustworthy and complete. An examination of 

 the method of excitation of the senses and of the sciences con- 

 nected therewith, soon reveals the indirect nature of their evidence 

 and the extreme limitation of their range of operation. 



Thought-Reading, a purely elementary form of psychical 

 phenomena, has been attributed to imposture, to muscular indi- 

 cations, to exalted states of the Nervous System, and to the Devil. 

 The first is disposed of immediately the modus operandi is observed. 

 Nor can any one who has witnessed all the manifestations of this 

 power, possibly retain the second hypothesis : since when the 

 surrounding conditions are favourable, the experiments are success- 



