THE REVIVAL OF WITCHCRAFT. 215 



surrounding her was also similarly charged with her sensibility ; 

 she herself becoming anaesthetic. When pinches were made in the 

 air at given distances, which were supposed to represent points of 

 contact and lines of cleavage of the atmospheric planes, such 

 pinches at these given points were always felt by her and gave 

 what is above described as " evident pain." I was shown draw- 

 ings of these planes. When the water was removed to a distance 

 and the glass was stroked or imaginary pinches made in the air 

 just above the water, or the water itself was touched, she gave 

 similar manifestations. This water, we were told, was charged 

 with her vitality, and terrible consequences might ensue if the 

 water were maltreated, either then or subsequently. Fantastic 

 stories are related by Colonel de Rochas of the terrible effects fol- 

 lowing from the throwing away of this water and from people 

 stepping on it, or from watering the flowers with it. In one case, 

 where some one incautiously drank the water, the patient fell into 

 a swoon which lasted for a fortnight; The only correct proceed- 

 ing was to allow the subject herself to drink the water at the 

 close of the seance, and thus enable her to protect herself from 

 the sad effects which might follow any careless treatment of it. 

 She herself was supposed to be insensitive while under operation, 

 and her sensibilities were externalized and communicated to others 

 either by " contact" directly to the operator, or in another hypno- 

 tized patient who was placed in contact with her, or, as the re- 

 porter solemnly describes, "across space." Whenever her mag- 

 netizer was touched she felt it in the same place. 



Now, Madame Vix furnishes seances for a fixed consideration. 

 On page 28 of his book on the profound stages of hypnosis, Colo- 

 nel de Rochas refers to her as being a subject " well known in 

 Paris," " very distinctly polarized," and " who passes with extreme 

 regularity " through all the phases described at length in his first 

 chapter, and, besides, " through some phases of an indeterminate 

 character up to the point of syncope." She presented indeed, 

 " when the left hand was placed on her head instead of the right, 

 general paralysis so closely resembling death in appearance," that 

 he did not dare to continue his experiments. She did the wax- 

 image business, the state of sympathy by contact, and the rest, 

 with such perfection before me under the manipulations of Colo- 

 nel de Rochas at the Charitd and at the Polytechnique School, 

 that I asked her to favor me with some professional sittings, 

 which she readily consented to do. She had an extensive reper- 

 toire, and on three separate occasions she went through her per- 

 formances with great precision and completeness in the presence 

 of a variety of witnesses, some of whose names I have already 

 cited. I determined, however, to do everything en faux. On the 

 first occasion I solemnly went through all the series of passes and 



