ETHER THE VEHICLE OF THE SOUL 343 



To supply some, perhaps only a slight ground for 

 this supposition, I will describe briefly the result of 

 careful observations on experiments made by a gentle- 

 man who possesses the powers of revealing (not reading 

 any thought), whatever was within the brain of any 

 person in the form of a mental picture. It may, perhaps, 

 in a way, lend some countenance to the ethereal theory 

 of soul-vibrations occurring in an ethereal counterpart 

 of the body. 



The gentleman in question admitted that he had no 

 power to read any abstract thought passing through the 

 mind, so styled his entertainment — " Thought Reveal- 

 ing ". From, a careful study of all his successes as well 

 as failures, which were just as instructive, it became per- 

 fectly clear to me that whatever formed a nie^ital pictiire 

 in the mind of the " Transmitter," as he called the person 

 operating with him, he, the " Revealer," could see and 

 describe it ; so that if you thought of a particular photo- 

 graph among a group of portraits lying on the table, he 

 would at once select it from any number. 



His method of operation consisted first, in being 

 blindfolded ; for he said, though not necessary, it helped 

 him not to see. Then he would hold with his left hand 

 the right hand of the transmitter. He usually first 

 pressed his own palm strongly upon that of the trans- 

 mitter, often with a sliding motion. They then grasped 

 hands firmly. This was not, however, necessary, for 

 after pressing the palm he would sometimes withdraw 

 his hand to a distance of about twelve or fourteen inches, 

 so that the outstretched palms of both men faced each 

 other. They were then kept in this position. Under 

 this condition, without actual contact, he could "reveal" 

 just as readily. He told me that it produced a sensation 

 of taut cords, as it were, extending from palm to palm. 



