676 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 228. 



spects to that of the living creature as a 

 whole, but in reality its double or negative, 

 being solid only when the first is empty, 

 and being empty when the first is solid. 



The well-known astral body of man is a 

 species of posthom. But astrality is not 

 confined to man. It has been shown by Mr. 

 "William Q. Judge that the ' body of the 

 jelly-fish is almost pure astral substance.' 

 It is, in fact, a posthom of a marine organ- 

 ism which has become saturated with water, 

 which fills all the interstices in its anatomy, 

 thus giving it an independent and self-per- 

 petuating existence. For the distinguished 

 scientist of the Society of Bordeaux has 

 shown that the posthom phantom of man 

 is "the exact image of the person of 

 whom it is the complement. Internally it 

 represents the mould of all the organs 

 which constitute the framework of the hu- 

 man body. We see it, in short, move, 

 speak, take nourishment, perform, in a 

 word, all the great functions of animal life. 

 The extreme tenuity of these constituent 

 molecules, which represent the last term of 

 organic matter, allow it to pass through 

 the walls and partitions of apartments. 

 Nevertheless, as it is united with the body, 

 from which it emanates by an invisible 

 vascular plexus, it can, at will, draw to 

 itself, by a sort of aspiration, the greater 

 part of the living forces which animate the 

 latter. One sees, then, by a singular inver- 

 sion, life withdrawn from the bod}^, which 

 then exhibits a cadaverous rigidity and 

 transfers itself entirely to the phantom, 

 which acquires consistency, sometimes even 

 to the point of struggling with persons be- 

 fore whom it materializes. It is but ex- 

 ceptionally that it shows itself in connec- 

 tion with a living person." But as soon as 

 death has snapped the bonds (or vascular 

 plexus) that attach it to our organism it 

 definitely separates itself from the human 

 body and constitutes the ' posthumous 

 phantom' or posthom. 



The fact of the occasional separation of 

 the posthom during life is now perfectly 

 authenticated. The case of Schlemihl comes 

 under this head, as also the remarkable ex- 

 perience related by Mr. H. C Andersen, of 

 Copenhagen. A Danish country gentle- 

 man, of good family, it is alleged, lost his 

 shadow at one time. He took a humorous 

 view of the accident at first and consoled 

 himself with the reflection that the world 

 set too much store on shadows anyhow. 

 But as time went on his philosophy failed. 

 He noted that his own strength oozed away, 

 and later that his clothing was becoming 

 brittle and unable to support the slightest 

 strain. It, too, had lost its shadow. His 

 friends brought him word of strange pranks 

 which his double performed in the society 

 of the neighborhood, although at the same 

 time he was confined to his room and finally 

 to his bed. Apparently the posthom phan- 

 tom felt a strange delight in bringing its 

 master into ridicule. Finally it boldly 

 usurped his place in social functions, ruling 

 with a high hand and giving him an op- 

 portunity to be heard in his own defense. 

 At last, in violent indignation, by a supreme 

 effort of the will, the gentleman recalled the 

 phantom, to the endless mystification of his 

 friends. With the return of the posthom 

 to his own cellular substance his physical 

 and mental vigor returned and his new suit 

 of clothes showed no lack of the ordinary 

 shadow. 



It will be noticed that in this case the 

 phantom man was clothed in phantom cloth- 

 ing. This was similarly formed, being made 

 up of the tenuous molecules which filled the 

 cloth cells of the original garments. As it 

 is notorious that posthoms are clothed in 

 materials similar to those worn by the per- 

 son from whom they are derived, this de- 

 serves a moment's explanation. 



Dr. D'Assier has conclusively shown that 

 even inanimate bodies have their doubles, 

 or posthoms, as well as men and beasts. 



