REPORT ON ANIMAL MAGNETISM. 153 



for example, that some people are absolutely blind to cer 

 tain colours, as red, and enjoy perfect vision relatively to 

 yellow, to green, and to blue. If the Newtonian theory 

 of emission be true, we must irrevocably admit that a ray 

 ceases to be light as soon as we diminish its velocity by 

 one ten thousandth part. Thence flow those natural con 

 jectures, which are well worthy of experimental exam 

 ination : all men do not see by the same rays ; decided 

 differences may exist in this respect in the same individ 

 ual during various nervous states ; it is possible that the 

 calorific rays, the dark rays of one person, may be the 

 luminous rays of another person, and reciprocally ; the 

 calorific rays traverse some substances freely, which are 

 therefore called diathermal, these substances, thus far, 

 had been called opaque, because they transmit no ray 

 commonly called luminous ; now the words opaque and 

 diathermal have no absolute meaning. The diathermals 

 allow those rays to pass through which constitute the light 

 of one man ; and they stop those which constitute the 

 light of another man. Perhaps in this way the key of 

 many phenomena might be found, that till now have re 

 mained without any plausible explanation. 



Nothing, in the marvels of somnambulism, raised more 

 doubts than an oft-repeated assertion, relative to the 

 power which certain persons are said to possess in a 

 state of crisis, of deciphering a letter at a distance with 

 the foot, the nape of the neck, or the stomach. The word 

 impossible in this instance seemed quite legitimate. Still, 

 I do not doubt but some rigid minds would withhold it 

 after having reflected on the ingenious experiments by 

 which JVIoser produces, also at a distance, very distinct 

 images of all sorts of objects, on all sorts of bodies, and in 

 the most complete darkness. 



