May 12, 1899.] 



SCIENCE. 



681 



observation that "invisible projectiles hurled 

 by posthoms produce mechanical eifects as 

 great as if they were of great bulk." This 

 he shows is due to the fact that " all bodies 

 have their phantasmal doubles, which the 

 shade can detatch and grasp. The gar- 

 ments it carries, the objects it holds in its 

 hand, are phantasmal images borrowed from 

 its former wardrobe or its former utensils. 

 It is presumable that the same holds as to 

 invisible projectiles ; in lieu of stones they 

 fling their duplicates." 



It may seem surprising that the shadow 

 of a stone could harm any one or produce 

 anj' sort of a physical commotion. But 

 here we are to remember that it is not the 

 weight of a thrown object which tells, but 

 its momentum. Its momentum is its weight 

 multiplied by its velocity. " Its live force 

 at the moment of fall," says D'Assier, " is 

 equal to half the bulk multiplied by the 

 square of its velocity." It is well known 

 that the velocity of a living posthom may 

 be scarcelj' less than that of a flash of light. 

 The instantaneous apparition and disap- 

 pearance of phantoms shows this. The 

 true posthom never deliquesces, as the old- 

 fashioned ghost is said to do, but in reality 

 it moves away with much celerity. It is 

 plain, then, that however light a shadow 

 may be, it is a terrible weapon when hurled 

 with almost infinite velocity by a disem- 

 bodied posthom. Its concussion might be 

 heard as a great shock, if flung with suffi- 

 cient force. It is related that in the castle 

 of Schreckheim, in Franconia, a posthom 

 once entered the pantry on a shelf of which 

 was the ancestral china of the noble house. 

 Soon a mighty crash of breaking dishes 

 arose. On entering the room the noble lord 

 of the castle found everything in j^lace. 

 The excited posthom had merely flung down 

 the phantasms of the different pieces of 

 china, but with a force so mighty that the 

 noise reverberated to the outer walls of the 

 castle. It may be thought that the posthom 



in question was that of a servant girl who 

 had been deeply reproved for breaking a 

 favorite teacup, and who, dying soon after, 

 had this method of expressing her vanish- 

 ing feelings. But, curiously enough, the 

 servant girl whose posthom caused the dis- 

 turbance recovered from her illness and 

 lived to break many more pieces of rare 

 china, in this and other castles to which she 

 was sent by the intelligence office in Nurem- 

 berg. From this we may conclude that her 

 illness was due to the temporary breaking 

 of the vascular plexus which holds the 

 posthom to the body, and that when her 

 shadow came back from its rounds her 

 health was promptly restored. 



It is, in fact, certain that very many forms 

 of disease, known as anfemia, neurasthenia, 

 echolalia and the like are due to the tempo- 

 rary absence of the posthom shadow. It 

 can be sought for by direct means, and it 

 will usually be found engaging in absurd 

 and freakish actions. An effective method 

 of cure is to strengthen the degree of per- 

 sonal magnetism and to bring the shadow 

 back by a strong effort of the will. Mental 

 healing, mind-cure suggestion, astral mag- 

 netism and the like are forms of this pro- 

 cess. Contact with certain relics has pro- 

 duced an odic shock which has served the 

 same useful purpose. 



In concluding this most interesting dis- 

 course, soon to be printed in full in the an- 

 nals of the Club of Alcalde, the distin- 

 guished sage of Angels asserts that we shall 

 do well to heed the wise words of Dr. 

 Adolphe D'Assier : " Let us not be de- 

 ceived by appearances and let us be on our 

 guard that in exploring the domain of the 

 shades we may not take a shade of reason- 

 ing for reasoning itself." For Logic as well 

 as Magic has also its Phantasmal Double,^ 

 and when truth dips wearily under oblique 

 suns the two are apt to range very far apart. 

 David Stare Jordan. 



Stanfoed Univeesity. 



