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the Review of Reviews. 



February 20, 1906. 



THE MYSTERY OF MATTER. 



Illustrated by Hypnotic Sight. 



In the Occult Review for January there is a most 

 interesting article on Hypnotic Sight, which illus- 

 trates in a very striking way the immateriality of 

 in, uter. Some friends, for an experiment, hypnol 

 one of their number, and discovered that he could 

 see through the hark of his head and d- pic- 



tures in a closed book. They then made the experi- 

 ment of proving that a hypnotised subject can • 

 through matter. In other words, a mere suggesi 

 to the mind of the hypnotised subject render* • 

 matter as transparent as glass. I he) first told their 

 hypnotised subject that one of their number, who 

 was standing in front of the clock on the mantel- 

 piece, had left the room. The) then woke him up 

 and askeil him what time it was. He looked to- 

 wards the dock, which was quite concealed from 

 view by the alleged absentee's body, and told 

 time. The) then made the alleged absentee ch; 

 coats with another friend and walk about tlv room. 

 The man who had been hypnotised suddenh ex- 

 ploded with laughter, and exclaimed that it was so 

 funny to see that cat going about in the air all by 

 itself. But the man who was wearing the all. g 

 absentee's coat seemed to him to be^ in his shirt- 

 sleeves. They then covered a piece of tobacco with 

 the coat thus rendered invisible, and the man at once 

 saw the tobacco through the coat. They then put 

 him to sleep again, and told him that" the brass 

 candlesticks had been removed from the man 

 piece. When he woke up he saw the little bits of 

 paper placed under the heav) brass candlestick 

 without difficulty. He counted them and said th 

 were seven. Those present thought there were 

 eight, but when the candlestick was lifted there v. 

 only seven to be found. He \\ -s told to pick up 

 the pieces of paper, but he could not touch them. 

 and could not understand why. They then hvpno- 



d him again, and told him the cat had gone out 

 of the room. They slipped his spoon under the 

 body of the cat and woke him up. He missed his 

 spoon, but soon saw it through the bodv of the cat. 

 Then he went to pick it up. but said there was some 

 warm yielding substance that prevented him reaching 

 it. They then put the cat in his hands. He saw 

 nothing, but felt something soft. As the cat jumped 

 down it scratched him. and he said there was a pin 

 in the something which he thought felt like a velvet 

 cushion. The last experiment was to tell him that 

 an old lady who was sitting on a packet of letters 

 had gon- out of the room. When he was waked up 

 they asked him what he saw on the chair. - A 

 packet of letters,'" he said. Thev asked him to pick 

 them up. He stepped forward.' kicking the ladv's 

 leg as he moved, and was thrusting his hand through 

 her body when she stopped him : — 



She put out her hand and touched Morlev on the chest 

 with the tip of her forefinger. What is called cross- 

 mesmerism was set up. Morlev was made to feel ill 



stupid, heavy and distressed by it. It took a long time 

 and gave us great trouble to cure him and get him home. 

 Ihe^e experiments ended there, and have never been re- 

 sumed. 



What does this prove? Sureh that matter is only 

 a form of thought. Alter the thought by suggestion 

 and matter becomes invisible. But, strange to say, 

 although it cannot be seen it can be felt. Probably 

 the suggestion in the mind of the suggester was 

 limited to vision and not to touch. Anyway, the ex- 

 periments were interesting and suggestive. 



AN IRISH EXPERIMENT. 



In the Monthly Review Mr. Shan F. Bullock, writ- 

 ing under the above heading, gives an account of 

 what seems a\\ altogether successful experiment made 

 by Sir Horace Plunkett, who 'devised an Irish Home 

 Improvement Scheme, and with the help of a con- 

 trolling committee of his friends, and two well-known 

 and public-spirited women. Miss O'Conor Eccles and 

 Miss J. H. O'Brien, began tlv experiment of "im- 

 planting th<- principles of more cheerful living into 

 the homes of the Irish people 



The experiment was begun in Dromore, county 

 Tyrone, in a pastoral district, of meagre soil, with 

 an undesirable class of landlords, and no gentry. 

 bveryone was poor, or worse than poor, and the 

 condition of things not so ver) much better than 

 when vigorously denounced 1a Spenser in 1600. 

 Everythihg was rags, litter and dirt, neglect and un- 

 cleanness, when, eighteen months ago, this experi- 

 ment was begun. Miss O'Brien and Miss Eccles 

 settled in a model coitage in the heart of Dromore, 

 and began by giving daily lectures, chiefl) to women, 

 the simplest of lectures on the simplest of subjects: 

 the danger of the family midden ; the unseemliness 

 of filthy yards and approaches : the advantages of a 

 garden: the need for air. open windows, doors that 

 would shut out the pig. and a chimnev through 

 which the smoke might go out ; the desirability of 

 personal cleanliness, etc. Practical demonstrations 

 were given in the use of a toothbrush, and how to 

 wash one's face : as well as instruction in the right 

 way of washing clothes, nursing children, and caring 

 for the sick, not forgetting lessons in practical 

 cookery. The simple cookery seems to have done 

 most in impressing and arousing the women and 

 girls. 



After a time the men were approached, and help 

 was offered in laying out model kitchen-gardens, in 

 draining, fencing, planting, and pruning. 



Soon cottage gardening became something of a craze in 

 Dromore; and now, should you care to visit the place, not 

 only may you tread clean streets and trim sidewalks, but 

 from them you may have sight of many briehtened homes, 

 white-washed, painted, ordered, and provided with some of 

 the necessaries and luxuries of life. 



The result, indeed, has been cheerful in the ex- 

 treme, although, as Mr. Shan F. Bullock points 

 out. too much must not be expected from one at- 

 tempt. " Even in Dromore onlv a beginning has 

 been made, and Dromore is but a corner of Ireland." 





