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THE BORDERLAND OF CHEMISTRY AND ELECTRICITY. 
I remember reading some years ago the account given by a French 
scientist of his curious electrical experience on the top of one of the 
pyramids; it was an uncommon phenomenon, for it took the shape of 
a tongue of electrical flame appearing on the top of his hat, on raising 
his hand higher than his head and hat the flame appeared at the ex¬ 
tremities of his fingers. The Arabs who accompanied him seem to 
have fallen down on their knees under the impression that he was a 
new prophet, but he very sensibly demonstrated the fact to them that 
it was not due to himself but to the peculiar electrical condition of the 
atmosphere. 
The Egyptians with their magic spread over Europe, in all prob¬ 
ability the true e gipsy 5 is the descendant of the ancient Egyptian. 
Hypnotism was known to them, as it was undoubtedly known to other 
Easterns. 
If thought is vibration then it explains that peculiar branch of science 
called f telepathy ’ (which Sir William Crookes spoke about the 
other day in his presidential address to the British Association) and 
similar to wireless telegraphy in its action; it is by no means un¬ 
common for two individuals to think of the same thing at the same 
time. I have seen experiments myself of what is known as thought 
transference with remarkable results obtained practically. Sir William 
Crookes has evidently tested it. 
As to the history of the artificial production of electricity, it was known 
to the Greeks, long before Christ, that when amber was rubbed with 
silk it acquired the property of attracting light bodies, and it is in¬ 
credible that it was not until the end of the 16th century that Dr. 
Gilbert, physician to Queen Elizabeth, showed that this property was 
not limited to amber. I am by no means certain whether this inter¬ 
regnum was an absolute fact, because many things practised by the 
Egyptian priests point to a more advanced electrical knowledge than 
the mere rubbing of amber. Practically, for hundreds of years noth¬ 
ing was done with it, nor in fact, with other branches of science. 
This was chiefly due to persecution instituted by the ignorant priests 
of the various religions; and it is with sorrow one reads that the 
professors of Christianity were the chief persecutors of those who 
thought for themselves. 
Incredible as it may appear, Germany, the most scientific and 
advanced country as regards education, had during the fourteenth century 
a mad wave of persecution, for over 100,000 people during that cycle 
of time were burnt alive because they dared to think for themselves. 
In this country we were not quite so bad in persecuting thinkers, 
but that may account for the fact that, where great persecution takes 
place of any particular set of thinkers, those thinkers ultimately 
spread their belief amongst succeeding generations, until those who 
have adopted the belief out number those who differ from them. 
Nowadays the large majority of people think for themselves, and as 
knowledge increases so the benefits to mankind will increase, the false 
will be sifted out and the true only remain. 
