THE YOUNG 
rying out this performance. Many years 
ago, Dr. Paris, in his well-known book, 
"Philosophy in Sport made Science in 
Earnest," detailed one of the best, but we 
are satisfied that the method described by 
Dr. Paris is not oalcutated to give the ex- 
ceedingly prompt and accurate results at- 
tained by Miss Heller. It is possible that 
several systems are used each evening, but 
there is one which is easily put in operation, 
and which is equal to all demands. This is 
the electric telegraph, and when we remem- 
ber the extensive use made of electricity by 
Mr. Heller, we feel that it is more than 
probable that this is the agent employed. 
His miller, who opens and shuts the door of 
his mill, and throws out the cards, is elec- 
tricity; the tree buds and the oranges are 
developed by electricity; the gun-cotton, 
which simulates the handkerchief that is 
supposed to be burned, is ignited by elec- 
tricity; the half-dollars are dropped on to 
the glass stairs by electricity, and by the 
same agency they are allowed to fall into 
the body of the cash-box from a compart- 
ment in the side or top; the dropping of the 
curtains, and the firing of the gun-cotton in 
the medium scene, are also done by elec- 
tricity. It is more than probable, there- 
fore, that electricity is the chief agent in 
Miss Heller's second sight. But how is it 
applied? Mr. Heller carries no telegraph in 
his hand; he is perfectly free in all his 
movements; no wires seem to be connected 
with him in any way; how can it be done? 
Nothing more simple. Proceeding from 
the stage might be two wires which pass 
underneath the carpets in the aisles to all 
parts of the house. These wires are con- 
nected with the tacks which hold down the 
carpets, and in this case these tacks do ac- 
tually have large bright heads. Wire No. 1 
being connected with one pole, and wire 
No. 2 with the other, each alternate tack is 
connected with a difierent wire. If, there- 
fore, any two adjoining tacks be connected, 
the circuit will be complete. 
To make use of this arrangement, the 
operator might have shoes or slippers with 
soles of wire gauze, or very thickly sewed 
SCIENTIST. 53 
with wire, or pegged with fine metal nails, 
and to these soles might be connected a 
wire which would pass up one leg of his 
trousers and down the other. Therefore, 
whenever the operator stood so that his feet 
rested on the heads of two consecutive 
tacks, the circuit would be complete. A 
small circuit breaker could of course be 
easily placed in one shoe, so as to be oper- 
ated by the toes, and in this way telegraphic 
communication could be established with 
the stage, or the circuit breaker might be 
carried on some other part of the person. 
The receiving instrument on the stage might 
be merely a vibrating armature, the move- 
ment of which would be felt by the foot of 
the person on the stage, and several of these 
might be placed on different parts of the 
stage, so as to allow a considerable range of 
movement to the person who acts as seer. 
Several circumstances conspire to con- 
vince us that this is the real solution of a 
problem which seems to have puzzled all 
our journalists. On several occasions, 
where Miss Heller has hesitated or made a 
mistake, the mistake has been just such as a 
telegraph operator would make in misinter- 
preting phonetic signals, such as " oysters '* 
for "Austria." Moreover the answers often 
come too promptly to be explained on the 
system of verbal signals. It is probable that 
the required information is sent before the 
question is asked, and this renders the em- 
ployment of the telegraph probable. 
Taken all in all, it is one of the most 
ingeniously carried out arrangements that 
we have met in a long time. And like 
every part of Mr. Heller's performance, it 
is done with a dexterity and skill which 
renders it a pleasure even after we are fully 
apprised of the means employed. 
— Education does not come through 
academies and colleges; these are helps, but 
it comes by study and reading and compar- 
ing. All the colleges in the world will not 
make a scholar of a man without these; and 
with them a man will be one if he never 
sees a college. It is that indomitable "I 
can " that sets a man astride the world. 
