126 Dr. Hammond and the [vm. 



might towards the floor." But as soon as Dr. Ham- 

 mond had waved his hand over the table and declared 

 that it might now be lifted, the young man lifted 

 it with ease. Scientifically viewed, such phenomena 

 are very interesting ; they seem closely akin to the 

 phenomena of hypnotism in men and animals, so 

 strikingly illustrated in the experiments of Kircher 

 and Czermak. Hens and pigeons can easily be put 

 into a cataleptic state by holding a cork or a bit of 

 chalk before their eyes so as to attract their atten- 

 tion ; and in a similar way a frog's attention may 

 be so absorbed that his belly may be cut open with- 

 out his seeming to notice it. Mr. Braid has similarly 

 hypnotised men ; and Dr. Hammond produced com- 

 plete anaesthesia in a lady by causing her to look 

 for a few moments at a cork fastened upon her fore- 

 head while her back was cauterised with a red-' 

 hot iron. 



As for Mr. Home's tricks of putting live coals into 

 his waistcoat pocket and on other people's bald 

 heads with impunity, such things have so long been 

 commonplaces with second-rate conjurors that it is 

 astonishing to find intelligent men like Mr. Wallace 

 quoting them as instances of ghostly agency. 

 Nothing could be easier for a clever juggler like Mr. 

 Home than to exchange real coals for false ones, or 



