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 Posthumous humanity: a studv of Bhantpms 
 
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POSTHUMOUS \HUMANITY : 
 
 H §ftt6fi of "^^antoms. 
 
 ADOLPHE D'4SSIBIl, 
 
 MEMRER OF THE BORDEAUX ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 
 
 TRANSLATKD AND ANNOTATED BY 
 
 HENRY S. OLCOTT, 
 
 PRESIDENT OP THE TfTEOSOPHTCAL SOCIETY. 
 
 TO WHICH IS AHDRD 
 
 AN APPETSTDIX 
 Shewing the Popular Beliefs Current I'n India respecting the 
 
 POST-MORTEM VICISSITUDES OF THE HUMAN ENTITY. 
 
 LONDON : 
 dEORGE R'EbWAY, YORK STREET, OOVENT GARDEN. 
 
 1887. 
 
 lOTily Authorised Translation.] 
 
PRINTKD BV 
 KELLY & CO., GATE STREET, LINCOLN'S IKN FIELDS, 
 AND KINGSTON-ON-THAMES. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 iNTHODtJCTION V— XV 
 
 AUTnOKIZATION xvi 
 
 Tkanslatoe's Pkefaoe xvii xxiv 
 
 Chapter I. — Facts establishing the existence of the posthumous 
 
 personality in man — Its various modes of manifestation 1 — 30 
 
 Chapter II. — Facts establishing the existence of a second per- 
 sonality in the living man — Its various modes of mani- 
 festation 33—69 
 
 Chapter III. — Facts establishing the existence of the person- 
 ality in animals, and concerning a posthumous animality 
 — Fluidic form of vegetables — Fluidie form of gross 
 bodies 70—83 
 
 Chapter IV. — Character of the posthumous being — Its phy- 
 sical constitution— Its aversion to light — Its reservoir of 
 living force — Its ballistic 84 — 104 
 
 CiupTBR v. — The nervous fluid — Electric animals —Electric 
 
 persons — Electric plants 105 — 127 
 
 Chapter VI. — The mesmeric ether and the personality which it 
 
 engenders — Thesomnambule — The sleep-talker — The seer... 127 — 163 
 
 Chapter VII. — The mesmeric ether and the personality which 
 it engenders {continued) — The turning-table — The talking- 
 table— The medium 163—183 
 
 Chapter VIII. — The mesmeric ether and the personality which 
 
 it engenders [continued) — Miracles of the ecstatics 183—207 
 
 Chapter IX. — ^The mesmeric ether and the personality which 
 
 it engenders (continued) — ^Prodigy of magic 207 — 227 
 
 Chapter X. — The mesmeric ether and the personality which it 
 
 engenders (continued) — The incubus — Theobsessingspirit... 227 — 249 
 
 Chapter' XI. — Causes of the rarity of the living phantom — 
 Causes of the rarity of the trans-sepulchral phantom — 
 Kesemblanee of the spiritistic phenomena to the phenomena 
 
 of the posthumous order — ^Lycanthropy 249 — 263 
 
 Chapter XII. — G-lance at the fauna of the shades — Their pre- 
 occupations — How they prolong their existence — The post- 
 humous vampire 264 — 281 
 
 Appendix 282 
 
 Answers to Questions 238 
 
AUTHOE'S INTEODUCTION AND PLAN. 
 
 The title of this essay will, perhaps, seem to certain 
 persons in conflict with the philosophical opinions 
 which I have all my life professed, as well as with 
 the great school (') towards which the study of the 
 sciences had led nie even before I had heard the 
 word of the master. (^) Let sucli persons be re- 
 assured : the contradiction is but imaginary. 
 Besides the Elements of .Analytical Geometry, 
 which his biographers omit to mention, I have 
 accepted of Auguste Comte's writings only his 
 Course of Positive Philosophy. And, furthermore, 
 I have had to reject certain passages wherein were 
 already revealed the familiar tendencies of the 
 " High-priest of Humanity " — tendencies to be 
 regretted in a work which will take rank among 
 the chief ones of this age, and which I regard as the 
 highest expression that philosophic thought has 
 ever attained. This system of expurgation naturally 
 traced my own programme, and the ideas I shall 
 now set forth are as far removed from the dreams of 
 mysticism as from the hallucinations of the spiritists. 
 
 (') Positivistic. . (°) Comte. 
 
vi POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 Never transcending the domain of facts, nor invoking 
 any supernatural cause to explain th.em, I have 
 designed to give to my book the stamp of Positivism. 
 And now let the reader observe how I have been 
 led into researches so different from my ordinary 
 work. 
 
 Every one is familiar with the great impulse that 
 the study of aerolites has acquired of late — their 
 connection with shooting-stars, the relationship 
 between these latter and comets, the part which 
 each of these asteroids plays in the economy of the 
 3olar world, the indications they afford as to the 
 chemical nature of the matter diffused throughout 
 space ; all these amply prove the value which 
 astronomers attach to this new branch of celestial 
 exploration. Yet it is barely a half-century since 
 the importance of such researches had begun to be 
 felt, and each time that our journals annonnce a 
 fall of meteors I cannot help recalling to mind the 
 superb disdain with which the men of science used 
 to greet every communication of the sort, and their 
 obstinate denials of the most precise affirmations by 
 observers. We all know the reply one day made by 
 Lavoisier in the name of the Academy of Sciences : 
 " There are no stones in the sky ; therefore none 
 can fall thence upon the earth ! " Thus it was 
 until 1803. On the 26th of April in that year, an 
 enormous bolide (meteoric stone), which burst near 
 I'Aigle (Orne), covered with its fragments more than 
 ten square kilometers of ground. Several thousand 
 
AUTHOR'S INTEODUCTION AND PLAN. vii 
 
 persons having witnessed this phenomenon, which 
 occurred in full daylight, the Academy of Sciences 
 came to the conclusion to send one of its members, 
 Biot, to the spot to make an investigation. At his 
 return, he laid before the eyes of his colleagues a 
 number of specimens, and finished by convincing 
 the sceptics. Stones could, then, after all, drop 
 upon the earth, despite the assertion of the scientists 
 that there were none in the sky. (^) Hoping to 
 extricate the astronomers from their sad predica- 
 ment, Laplace went into a calculation, by which he 
 attempted to show that the lunar volcanoes possessed 
 a projectile force great enough to fling out frag- 
 ments of rock to a distance where the attraction of 
 the earth might become preponderant over that of 
 her satellite. Thenceforward projectiles had per- 
 mission to fall among us. Later it was discovered 
 that these asteroids circulated in countless numbers 
 around the sun, and different observations assign 
 to them for origin the streams of cosmic matter 
 resulting from the rupture of cometary tails. 
 
 (') The remark was not original With Lavoisier ; it had been said 
 long before. The stolid dogmatism of the Academicians was the 
 more inexcusable, since but a short time before — on the 16th of 
 June, 1794 — Chladnis, the naturalist of Wurtemburg, had verified 
 the fall of a meteorite at Sienna, in Tuscany ; and, being such 
 lovers of the classics as they were, the French savants must have 
 read JPlutareh's description, in his Life of Lysander, of the cele- 
 brated aerolite which fell in Thrace in 467 B.C., and which Pliny 
 saw in his day, and says was then as large as a waggon. However, 
 the illustration is well chosen by our author as showing the abnor- 
 mal capacity of certain eminent physicists for credulous scepticism. 
 
viii POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 Aerolites, so long denied by the scientists, may now 
 be seen by thousands in our collections. 
 
 Stone-showers were not the only phenomena of 
 this nature. Many persons had witnessed the fall 
 of large numbers of toads in the midst of certain 
 heavy showers ; there was but one answer to their 
 affirmations — that of Lavoisier slightly altered : 
 toads do not exist in the clouds ; consequently none 
 can tumble upon the earth. As it was absolutely 
 necessary to take some notice of these animals, 
 which fairly covered the ground, it was added that 
 they came from eggs hidden beneath stones, and 
 which were suddenly hatched out by the heat and 
 electricity which usually accompany showers. It 
 might have been objected that the size of the toads 
 ill accorded with the diminutiveness of the eggs 
 whence they were alleged to have emerged, and that 
 furthermore it was their nature to first show them- 
 selves under the form of tadpoles before adopting 
 that of their adult age. But the scientists were not 
 men to permit themselves to be stopped by such 
 trifling annoj'auces, and it was of small moment to 
 them whether or not they gave a twist to the most 
 fundamental laws of natural history when their 
 theory was jeopardized. A rain of oranges having 
 occurred after a heavy shower, it was soon discovered 
 that these novel projectiles had come from a neigh- 
 bouring orange-grove that had been stripped by the 
 tempest. This undoubted fact set people to 
 thinking, and to study at closer range the progress 
 
AUTHOR'S INTEODUCTION AND PLAK. ix 
 
 and nature of storms which produced such phe- 
 nomena. Before long it was seen they, were dealing 
 with cyclones, whose whirlwinds caught up whatever 
 they encountered in their path to deposit it further 
 on. If a sea was being traversed, the water was 
 first sucked up and afterwards dropped, with its 
 aquatic population, elsewhere in the neighbourhood. 
 Toads, then, might fall upon the earth despite 
 their not existing in the clouds. 
 
 It was permissible to suppose that such lessons 
 would not be wasted, and that persons calling them- 
 selves discreet would for the future show more 
 circumspection in their wholesale and systematic 
 denials. It was not so. False notions, that we 
 found upon our prejudices or an imperfect educa- 
 tion, imprint upon our brain a sort of personal 
 equation, of which we cannot rid ourselves. During 
 thirty years I had laughed at the reply of Lavoisier, 
 without perceiving that I myself invoked the iden- 
 tical argument in trying to account for certain 
 phenomena equally strange with the showers of 
 stones or toads. I refer to the weird noises that 
 are sometimes heard in certain habitations, and that 
 cannot be ascribed to any physical cause, at least 
 in the vulgar sense that we give to that word. 
 A circumstance worthy of remark doubles the sin- 
 gularity of this phenomenon. It is that these 
 noises usually occur only after the decease of some 
 occupant of the dwelling. While yet a child, I 
 had seen the entire population of a canton thrown 
 
X POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 into excitement. The Abbe Peyton, cure of the 
 parish of Sentenac (Ari^ge), had died. The fol- 
 lowing days there were heard strange noises in 
 the Presbytery, and of so persistent a character that 
 the new incumbent was on the point of abandoning 
 his post. The country people, as ignorant as super- 
 stitious, were not in the least embarrassed to account 
 for the prodigy. They declared that the soul of 
 the defunct was in suffering, because he had not 
 had time to say before dying all the masses for 
 which he had been feed. For my part I was not 
 at all convinced. Beared in the Christian dogma, 
 I said to myself that the Abbe Peyton must have 
 undoubtedly quitted the planet for one or the other 
 of the three posthumous residences, Heaven, Hell, 
 or Purgatory, and I fancied that the gates of the 
 two penitentiaries were too solidly bolted to permit 
 of his indulging any fancy of returning to make 
 up arrears. Later, having fallen into another current 
 of ideas, as much from the study of comparative 
 religion as of that of science, I grew still more in- 
 credulous, and felt a pity for those who pretended 
 that they had witnessed such spectacles. Spirits, 
 said I, exist only in the imagination of mediums 
 or spiritists ; hence one could not meet them else- 
 where. In 1868, finding myself in Berry, I red- 
 dened with impatience against a poor woman who 
 persisted in affirming that, in a lodging she had 
 occupied at a certain time, every night an invisible 
 hand had pulled the clothes off her bed as soon 
 
AUTHOE'S INTEODUCTION AND PLAN. xi 
 
 as she put out the light. I treated her like a crazy 
 idiot. Soon afterwards came the terrible year. (^) 
 I came out of it, for my part, with the loss of my 
 sight and, a still graver thing, with the first 
 symptoms of a complete paralysis. Having been 
 an eye-witness to the marvellous cures effected by 
 the medicinal springs of Aulus in the treatment 
 of certain diseases, especially those due to the 
 prostration of vital energy, I went there in the 
 spring of 1871, and was able to arrest the progress 
 of my malady. The purity of the mountain air, 
 as well as the vivifying action of the mineral waters, 
 determined me to fix my permanent residence in 
 that locality. I could then study at close quarters 
 these nocturnal disturbances which I had previously 
 but known by hearsay. 
 
 After the death of the old proprietor of the 
 springs, the bathing establishment had become 
 almost nightly the theatre of scenes of this cha- 
 racter. The watchmen dared not sleep there alone. 
 Sometimes the bathing-tubs resounded at midnight 
 as with the. strokes of a hammer. If the closet was 
 opened whence the noise proceeded, it straight- 
 way stopped, but recommenced in the next com- 
 partment. When they were quiet, there were 
 other manifestations not less curious : blows were 
 struck on the partitions, human footfalls were 
 heard in the watchman's room, objects of various 
 
 (*) 1870— year of the Franeo-Prussian "War. 
 
xii POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 sorts were flung upon the floor, &c. My first im- 
 pulse upon hearing these stories was, as usual, 
 incredulity. However, finding myself in daily con- 
 tact with persons who had been witnesses of these 
 nightly scenes, the conversation would naturally 
 keep reverting to the one topic. Certain pecu- 
 liarities at last riveted my attention, I cross- 
 questioned the manager and watchmen of the 
 establishment, all those who had passed the night, 
 and, in short, every person who could give me any 
 facts about these mysterious occurrences. Their 
 answers were identical, and the details they sup- 
 plied so circumstiintial that I saw myself forced 
 into this dilemma — to believe, or to suppose them 
 all insane. But I could not tax with madness 
 some twenty honest villagers living peaceably 
 about me, solely because they repeated what 
 they had seen or heard, and because their stories 
 were identical. 
 
 This unexpected result recalled to memory cir- 
 cumstances of a similar kind that had been related 
 to me at other times. Knowing the localities where 
 these phenomena had occurred, and the witnesses 
 as well, I made further researches, and there again 
 was forced to yield to the evidence. I then began 
 to see that I had been as absurd as those whom 
 I had so long been ridiculing, in denying facts 
 which I had declared impossible simply because 
 they had not been pi-oduced under my own eyes, 
 and because I could not explain them. This post- 
 
AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION AND PLAN. xiii 
 
 humous dynamic, whicli in certain points seems 
 the antithesis of the ordinary dynamic, caused me 
 to reflect, and I began to suspect that in certain 
 cases, possibly very rare, the action of the human 
 personality may prolong itself for some time after 
 the cessation of the phenomena of life. The proofs 
 which I possessed seemed to me strong enough to 
 convince unprejudiced minds. However, I did 
 not stop there, but consulted the most reputed 
 authors of different countries. I then chose be- 
 tween such as presented the characteristics of the 
 most incontestable authority, giving most value 
 to facts which had been observed by a large number 
 of witnesses. 
 
 It remained to interpret these facts, that is, to 
 strip them of everything like the marvellous, so as 
 to connect them, like all other natural phenomena, 
 with the laws of time and space. Such is the chief 
 aim of this book. In presence of a task so arduous 
 I would not have the pretension of pronouncing the 
 last word of the enigma : it suflBces for me to state 
 the problem exactly, and indicate some of the co- 
 efficients which must be included in the equation. 
 My successors will find the exact solution .within the 
 lines I have traced for them. 
 
 A single word now as to the plan upon which I 
 have worked. At the outset, I cite without com- 
 ment the facts which seem worthy of keeping in 
 mind, and only begin to draw inferences when there 
 are enough to cover the different circumstance 
 
XIV POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 which may enter into so delicate and obscure a 
 question. Invariably one is forced to notice a mys- 
 terious agent revealing itself by manifestations of 
 the most peculiar and varied nature. Averse from 
 invoking a supernatural cause, I seek to discover 
 whether there may not be in living nature some 
 unfamiliar principle which, in certain cases and 
 within certain limits, may act as an active and inde- 
 pendent force. I find this principle not only in man, 
 but as well in the higher species of the zoological 
 scale ; so that posthumous humanity is, in fact, but a 
 special example of posthumous animality, and that 
 this latter presents itself as the immediate conse- 
 quence of the living world. 
 
 The study of this principle leads me to that of 
 the magnetic fluid, which seems to be its generative 
 cause. I then analyze the various manifestations of 
 this factor of psychology, notably in mesmerism, and 
 find the explanation of a crowd of phenomena which, 
 having been known only on their mystical sides, 
 have seemed to be capable only of attachment to 
 theology properly so called, or to its younger sister, 
 demonology. Shorn of all supernatural explanation, 
 the post-martuary personality appears in its real 
 aspect, and one can trace the origin of phantoms, 
 their physical and moral state, and the destiny re- 
 served for them. The philosophical purpose of the 
 book may then be stated thus : to bring within the 
 compass of the laws of time and space the phenomena 
 of the posthumous order, hitherto denied by science 
 
AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION AND PLAN. xr 
 
 because it was unable to explain them, and to rescue 
 the people of our epoebfrom the enervating hallucina- 
 tions of spiritism (^). 
 
 (^j Professor Hare began his Philadelphia researches with the 
 same declared object, as also did Mr. "William Crookes, P.R.S 
 Both, however, ended in verifying the reality of the mediumistic 
 phenomena. D'Assier does the same, although he does not realize it 
 quite. But the deductions of these three savants are all different. 
 Hare became a thorough spiritualist ; Crookes refused to adopt any 
 theory ; while D'Assier remains a Positivist, after rendering im- 
 mense service to psychological students. 
 
AUTHORIZATION. 
 
 Tarascon (Ari^ge), 9 Decembre, 1885. 
 
 Monsieur le ColoneI/, 
 
 Vous me faites demander, par Tentremise 
 de * * * , I'autorisation de traduire en anglais, 
 avec une addition, le livre que j'ai publie sous 
 ce titre : " Essai sur I'Humanite Posthume et le 
 Spiritisme, par un Positiviste." Je vous accorde 
 volontiers cette autorisation, vous priant de vouloir 
 bien me faire parvenir un exemplaire de votre tra- 
 duction d6s qn'elle aura parue. 
 Bien a vous, 
 
 Adolphe d'Assier, 
 De I'Academie des Sciences de Bordeaux. 
 
TEANSLATOE'S PEEFACE. 
 
 The present work is one of the most ingenious essays 
 extant upon the solemn theme of the future life. By 
 the quality of mind which Prof. Tyndall calls an 
 " educated imagination," the author propounds a 
 reasonable theory to account scientifically for many 
 of the more striking phenomena of psychic action. 
 While showing no proofs of familiarity with the 
 esoteric theories of Aryan psychology, he neverthe- 
 less broaches them as original suggestions of his 
 own mind ; and the Indian believer in Karmic palin- 
 genesis would be tempted to regard him as one who 
 had, in his previous birth, been a Brahman. Besides 
 the coveted pleasure of introducing so valuable a 
 monograph to the non-French-knowing public, a 
 stronger motive prompted me to undertake the 
 labour of translating and annotating it. Hitherto, 
 the believers in a future life have had to meet 
 their opponents, including the Comtists, upon 
 eis-sepulehral ground ; all phenomena ascribed 
 to apparitions and communications therewith being 
 by the majority barred as unscientific, hence indis- 
 cussable. No amountof evidence, however seemingly 
 valid, has been accepted as sufficient ; not even the 
 countless facts of Modern Spiritualism. Nego quia 
 
 h 
 
xviii POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 absurdum est, has been the tiresome and conceited 
 rejoinder. Out of the host of scientific leaders a 
 mere handful have dared to investigate ; fewer still 
 to report impartially their results. It is in vain 
 that two thousand vol umes, exclusive of tracts and 
 pamphlets,* have been published upon mediumistic 
 wonders within the past forty years ; and that simi- 
 lar testimonies abound in the records of all past 
 generations of mankind: the same absurd answer 
 has been repeated. So malignant has been the 
 scepticism of the majority, the combined weight of 
 professional disfavour has been thrown upon candid 
 scientists like Hare, Wallace, Wagner, Crookes, and 
 ZoUner, who had the integrity and courage to testify 
 to their experiences with mediums and seances. 
 Their facts being unanswerable, their sanity has been 
 questioned. No doubt there are, of late, signs of 
 increased interest in this wide department of research. 
 The formation of a special society at London, and 
 the marvellous experiments of Charcot and his col- 
 leagues in France with hysteriacs, betray a turn of 
 the tide ; yet we see the most marked desire to trace 
 to some other than the spiritual or psychical source 
 such phenomena as are being observed, rather than 
 concede an inch to the spiritualists. Anything would 
 be preferable to that ; even the certainty of annihi. 
 lation. 
 
 At such a conjuncture as this, the help of an 
 avowed Positivist in removing the grave barrier and 
 leading us into the frontiers of the Shadow Land is 
 
 »See "Light,'- 19tli June, 1883. 
 
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. xix 
 
 most timely and valuable. It matters little that he 
 parts company with us soon afterwards. It is the 
 first step which costs. He drags the question upon 
 solid scientific ground, and we ought to get on alone. 
 If any Pharoah of Comtism shall henceforth pursue 
 us, he will be engulfed in the sea that this new Moses 
 will turn in upon him. M. d'Assier may, if he 
 chooses, believe that final atomic dispersion awaits 
 the posthumous human phantom sooner or later ; 
 he has given us weapons to slay materialists withal, 
 and we are his grateful debtors. We are now pre- 
 pared to trace evolution from the objective up to 
 other and higher planes of activity. We need no 
 modern helper for that ; the teachers and text- 
 books abound, if not in the West, then in the East. 
 It is a source of constant satisfaction to amateurs of 
 Asiatic philosophy and science that the progress of 
 modern research brings Western thought nearer and 
 nearer the point where it must merge into the 
 ancient Esoteric Doctrine. Not a single recent scien- 
 tific discovery appears to conflict with this idea : 
 quite the contrary ; the irresistible force of attrac- 
 tion iDrings the two schools closer together every 
 year. Electrical science is the Nemesis of the 
 Aryan Eishis against our sciolists. It is in its 
 infancy, it must be remembered ; yet how gigantic 
 already its strides I There are those who can fore- 
 see that, within the next ten years, electrical 
 discoveries will be made in comparison with which 
 those hitherto achieved will seem trifles. These 
 discoveries will perhaps prove the connection of 
 thought with cosmic forces, and give us a measun^ 
 
XX POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 of intellectual and psychical dynamics. It is also 
 quite possible that -within about the same time the 
 present puzzle as to the intelligence behind the 
 mediumistic phenomena will be solved to the 
 general satisfaction. The boldness and originality 
 of M. d'Assier's speculations will then be properly 
 appreciated, and he will take his proper place 
 among psychological writers. Let us all hope he 
 may live to enjoy that satisfaction. 
 
 It has seemed to me that it would add value to 
 the present work to collate for it the opinions of the 
 Indian people respecting the shadow-world, and our 
 relations with the same. Their beliefs are those of 
 their ancestors, and, like the latter, founded largely 
 upon personal experience. It is surely useless to 
 argue that popular beliefs are no exception to the 
 law of nature, which in time destroys that which 
 finds no nutriment to renew itself upon. It is all 
 very well to theorize upon the persistency of popular 
 credulity; but if man's opinions are continually 
 modified by education, and his faculties, like his 
 bodily organs, die out when not exercised, it seems 
 almost axiomatic that there would be no believes in 
 apparitions and other psychical proofs of a future life 
 if none had been seen and tested in successive 
 generations up to the present. Allowing as much 
 as possible for the sentiment of reverence, it is in- 
 credible that any body of theological dogma about 
 past " miracles " should survive indefinitely, unless 
 fresh " miraculous " phenomena were from time to 
 time occurring. Contemporaneous Hindu belief; as, 
 to man's future existence, and the reality of psychical 
 
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. xx: 
 
 powers in us, rests upon something more than mere 
 tradition or religious dogma : there is more or less of 
 personal experience ; scarcely a fraction as compared 
 with what their parents or grandparents had, to be 
 sure, yet a great body of proof in the aggregate. 
 During my seven years' residence in India, I have 
 heard of nearly every phase of phenomena known 
 among Western spiritualists or recorded in Western 
 history. One may hear of them even in the Presi- 
 dency towns. My travels have extended to every 
 comer of the land, and brought me amongst most 
 Indian nations, whether of the mountains or plains, 
 I have enjoyed opportunities, probably wider than 
 any other white man, to form close friendships with 
 the most intellectual and influential class of these 
 various nationalities. I think, therefore, that I 
 ought to know what these people believe, and why, 
 and the above assertion is made in the conviction of 
 its truth. I venture to afErm, as the result of this 
 experience, that in the India of to-day there can be 
 found, with diligent search, ample proof of the reality 
 of phenomena like those described by M.d'Assier, 
 and even of phases he omits to mention. There are 
 here true adepts of white magic, and practitioners 
 of black sorcery ; mediums ; mesmerists ; " living 
 phantoms" projected, "posthumous phantoms" 
 haunting their .houses and obsessing their relatives ; 
 vampires, living and dead ; wehr-wolves, or temporary 
 metamorphoses of the human Double into animal 
 shapes ; blightings of persons, animals, trees, and 
 crops by malignant will-currents or "evil-eye;" 
 criminal subjections of persons to another's will ; 
 
xxii POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 ascetics in possession of herbs, minerals and prepara- 
 tions capable of effecting results that might almost 
 be called miraculous ; others who have metallurgical 
 secrets, of which that of the solidification of mercury 
 by a vegetable juice is a striking yet by no means 
 the greatest example ; men who can draw horoscopes 
 that are alleged to premonish of even the petty 
 events of one's life ; men who can fast for weeks 
 together, and some who can even suffer themselves 
 to be entombed and afterwards resuscitate them- 
 selves. Is it not important, then, to ask what India 
 thinks of our mediums and their phenomena, our 
 speculations and deductions from psychic facts ? 
 Can we afford to ignore the Indian records, and keep 
 sturnbling and groping through the darkness of our 
 Western inexperience, regardless of risks ? I thought 
 not ; so I sent out to friends, in a number of places 
 in India, the circular which will be found in the 
 Appendix, soliciting replies. An Asiatic is never in 
 a hurry, so, after waiting until my patience gave out, 
 I got only those answers which have been tabulated 
 with the circular ; others will come dropping in for 
 months to come. Yet, though what I have are few 
 as yet, they are interesting, and indicate the rich 
 harvest that awaits the reaping. There are facts 
 enough procurable to fill a library of books, and 
 countless ancient books in which there is more truth 
 written about the mystery of human nature than all 
 the Transactions of our academies and societies con- 
 tain. Time will show. 
 
 It will provoke the sympathy of his readers to learn 
 that M. d'Assier is totally blind, and yet that, like 
 
TEANSLATOH'S PREFACE. xxiii 
 
 the late Mr, Fawcett, the historian Prescott, and a 
 few other courageous men, he labours on as indus- 
 triously as others do with their eyes to help them. 
 How different from the deplorable despair of Ploetz, 
 the Grerman naturalist, who, becoming almost blind, 
 the other day took poison. He left the following 
 note : — " I consider myself justified, after my long 
 career, which, threatened as I am with complete 
 loss of sight, would be insupportable to me if, as 
 would be the case, I could no longer devote it to the 
 cause of science, &c." In answer to my request for 
 some autobiographical notes for insertion in the 
 present edition, M. d'Assier has been so obliging as to 
 communicate the following facts. He was born March 
 9th, 1827, and in 1848 was preparing himself at the 
 Ecole Polytechnique for his scientific career when 
 the revolution of February broke out. He was then 
 at Toulouse. As soon as the Eepublic was declared 
 at the capital, he enlisted as a volunteer in the 11th 
 Artillery, then garrisoned in the former city. When 
 he saw that Europe was not disposed to interfere, he 
 procured a substitute, and went to Paris to resume 
 his scientific studies, at the Sorbonne, the College 
 de France, and the Museum of the Jardin des 
 Plantes. He assisted actively in the defence of 
 French liberty against the usurpation of the '2nd 
 December, just escaping the loss of his life. His 
 health was quite broken down, and his constitution 
 never rallied completely, while the fearful events of 
 1870 dealt him the supreme blow of making him 
 blind. He visited Brazil in 1850-60, and made his 
 debut as a publicist in the Revue des Deux Mondes 
 
xxiv POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 in 1863, by the publication of his notes upon that 
 country. At the present writing he is occupying 
 himself, in his quiet retreat among the Pyrenees, 
 with the preparation of a work in 18 mo, entitled La 
 Terre, which, with two predecessors, Le del and 
 L'Homme, already issued, will compose a work in 
 three volumes, to be called, Essai de philosophie 
 naturelle — le del, la Terre, rHomme. 
 
 And now to yield the tribune to this instructive 
 teacher. 
 
 H. S. 0. 
 
 Adyar, Madras, 1887. 
 
POSTHTJMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 — « — 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 FACTS ESTABLISHING THE EXISTENCE OF THE POST- 
 HUMOUS PEKSONALITY IN MAN. ITS VAEIOUS MODES 
 OF MANIFESTATION. 
 
 Let us open this chapter with the posthumous 
 history of the Abbe Peytou, one of the most curious 
 that could be cited, as well from the long duration 
 of the manifestations as the variety of their forms ; 
 of which nearly the whole population of the locality 
 were witnesses. It will suffice for me to record the 
 following facts, for which I am indebted to the 
 kindness of M. Auge, late schoolmaster at Sentenac 
 (Aridge), the parish of the Abbe Peytou. Being 
 unable to visit the spot in person, I begged M. Auge 
 to interrogate the elders of the village as to what 
 they had seen or heard of the matter. 
 Here is his letter : 
 
 Sentenac de S6rou, 8th May, 1879. 
 
 SlE,— 
 
 You have asked me to relate, for subsequent scientific 
 discussion, the facts connected 'with ghostly visitors which are 
 generally admitted by the most intelligent persons of Sentenac, and 
 the circumstances of which ineontestably prove their genuineness. 
 
 1 
 
2 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 I shall narrate them exactly as they happened within the knowledge 
 of perfectly credible witnesses. 
 
 I. When, some forty-five years ago, M. Peyton, cure of 
 Seutenac, died, there was heard every evening, just after nightfall, 
 the noise of somebody moving the chairs in the Presbytery, walking 
 about, opening and shutting a snuff box and then making the sound 
 of one taking a large pinch of snuff. All this, which lasted a long 
 time, was of course immediately credited by the simpler and more 
 timid among the villagers ; others, who pretended to be shrewd 
 common-sense fellows (esprits forts), were not in a hurry to 
 believe ; they simply laughed at all who seemed or, rather, ac- 
 tually did believe that M. Peytou, the deceased cur^, had returned. 
 Two persons — ^M. Antoine Eycheinne, the mayor of the Commune, 
 but who died about five years ago, and Baptiste Graly, who is 
 still alive, the only two educated men in the neighbourhood and 
 at the same time the most sceptical — wished to have personal proof 
 whether aU the alleged nocturnal disturbances in the Presbytery 
 had any actual foundation in fact, or were but the effect of a weak 
 fancy in persons easily frightened. One evening, each armed with 
 a gun and a hatchet, resolved to pass the night in the house, 
 determining to know, in case they should hear any noise, whether 
 it was made by the living or dead. They ensconced themselves in 
 the kitchen, before a good fire, and began talking together about 
 the simplicity of the villagers, and saying that, for their part, they 
 could hear nothing, and would sleep comfortably upon the mattress 
 they had taken the precaution to bring along. But suddenly, in 
 the room just above them, they did hear a noise, then the chairs 
 moved, then some one walked about, descended the stairs, and came 
 towards the kitchen. They arose, M. Eycheinne moved towards the 
 kitchen door, holding his hatchet ready to strike whoever might 
 enter, and M. Galy raised his gun to his shoulder. 
 
 The apparent walker, having come close to the kitchen door, 
 took a pinch of snuff — at least, the men on watch heard the identical 
 sounds of a person who snuffs — and then, instead of opening the 
 kitchen door, the ghost passed into the drawing-room, where he 
 seemed to be walking about. MM. Eycheinne and Galy, retaining 
 their weapons, went out of the kitchen into the drawing-room and 
 saw — absolutely nothing. They went upstairs and searched the 
 rooms of the house from top to bottom, looking into every corner, 
 but found neither chairs nor any other things out of place. M. 
 , Eycheinne, who until now had been the most sceptical of all, then 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 3 
 
 said to his companion: "My friend, no living person is making 
 this disturbance, it is the dead ; it is M. Peytou —it is his step and 
 his vray of taking snufE that we have heard. We can now sleep in 
 peace." 
 
 II. Marie Calvet was the domestic of Monsieur Ferr^, suc- 
 cessor to M. Peytou, and a, brave woman upon occasion — one who 
 allowed nothing to disturb her, who believed nothing of the things 
 they were gossiping about, and one who, to use the common 
 phrase descriptive of a fearless person, would even sleep in a 
 church. One evening, just at nightfall, the woman was occupied 
 in the barn-passage cleaning her kitchen utensils. M. Ferr^, her 
 master, who had gone to visit the neighbouring curiS, M. Desplas, 
 had not yet returned. While the aforesaid Calvet was hard at 
 work on her pots and pans, a cur^ passed before her without 
 speaking a word. " Oh, you will not frighten me, master," she 
 said, "I am not so stupid as to believe that Monsieur Peytou has 
 come back ! " Seeing that the priest who passed, and whom she took 
 for her master, said nothing, Marie Calvet raised her head, turned 
 it in his direction, and — saw nothing. Then she began to get 
 Scared, and quickly ran to tell the neighbours what had happened, 
 and to beg Graly's wife to come and sleep with her. 
 
 III. Anne Maurette, wife of Raymond Perrau, still living, went 
 at daybreak to the mountain, with her donkey, for a load of 
 wood. In passing the Presbytery garden, she saw a cur6 walking- 
 along the path, with a breviary in his hand. Just when she was 
 about saying, " Good morning, M. le Cur6, you are up early,'' the- 
 priest turned away and kept on reading his prayers. The woman,., 
 not wishing to interrupt him in his devotions, passed on without . 
 the least thought of a ghost having entered her head. Upon re- 
 turning from the mountain with her wqod, she met the curfi of 
 Sentenac before the church. " You rose early, sir," she said. "I 
 thought you must be starting upon some journey when I saw you. 
 reading your prayer-book as I passed your garden." " No, my good, 
 woman, " answered he ; "I have been up but a short time ; I have, 
 but just finished mass." " Then," replied she in a fright, " who was: 
 that priest who was reciting his breviary in your garden at daybreak, 
 and who turned away just as I was about speaking to him ? I was 
 sure it was yourself, sir. I should have died of fright, if I had 
 thought it was the cur4 who is no more. Heavens ! I shall no 
 more have the courage to pass there." 
 
 Here, sir, are three facts, which are not the products of a weak 
 
 1—2 
 
4 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 and terrified imagination. I doubt if science can explain them 
 naturally. Are these ghosts ? I cannot so affirm ; but certainly 
 there is something here which is not natural. 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 J. Atjbb. 
 
 We regret that M. Auge did not feel constrained 
 to push his investigations somewhat further. We 
 would especially have liked to know, beyond doubt, 
 what truth or untruth there was in certain mani- 
 festations of the Abbe Peyton's desire to say mass. 
 The peasants, simple-minded and ignorant, inferred 
 that he must be suffering because he had received 
 pay for a certain number of masses which he had 
 not had time to repeat before he was surprised by 
 death. M. Auge admitted to me that he had not 
 placed any weight upon what he had heard respect- 
 ing this matter, believing the thing absolutely 
 impossible according to all he had ever read in 
 works on theology. He did not perceive that the 
 reading of the breviary was not less extraordinary 
 than the desire to say mass ; furthermore, he was 
 ignorant of the fact that the posthumous man, as 
 we shall have frequent opportunity to notice, loves 
 to return to the things which were familiar to him. 
 The following history is not less characteristic, and 
 made no less noise than that of the Abbe Peyton. 
 
 About twenty years ago, M. X., aged some sixty 
 years, living in a parish of the Canton of Oust 
 (Ari^ge), died after a brief illness. As he had been 
 a man of some mark in his country, this event 
 caused a certain sensation. Immediately after his 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 5 
 
 decease, his house became the scene of a crowd of 
 nootamal disturbances which I shall not relate 
 here, as I shall have frequent occasion in the 
 course of this chapter to revert to similar facts. 
 This went on for several years. I shall cite only 
 three facts, which I give as authentic, having them 
 from the eye-witnesses themselves. The first 
 witness was a gardener, whose story is as 
 follows : 
 
 "On Easter-eve I was detained in a garden to 
 finish some work I had not been able to do in the 
 day. My task completed, as I was about to leave, 
 I heard distinctly two or three times the sharp 
 noise of scissors trimming a grape vine. At this 
 noise I turned about and saw myself face to face 
 with the deceased M. X." 
 
 " How was he dressed? " I asked. 
 
 "As in life, his hat on his head, his muflBer 
 round his neck, and with a pleasant smile on his 
 face." 
 
 " Why did you not address him ? " 
 
 " I was going to do so, then hesitated, and then 
 getting to the garden gate, I left." 
 
 " Were you long in his presence ? " 
 
 " Long enough to repeat an Ave Maria." 
 
 " Were you frightened ? " 
 
 " No ; I go about night and day, and have never 
 seen anything. Yet upon reaching home I became 
 scared by degrees." 
 
 The second fact occurred the same evening, in 
 
6 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 presence of the gravedigger of the village where 
 M. X. lived and died. His story is the following : — 
 
 " On Easter-eve, having to dig a grave, and 
 deceived by the bells of a neighbouring village 
 which rang the riveillon at midnight, but which 
 I mistook for the angelus, I went to the cemetery 
 to do my work. Upon opening the gate I was 
 surprised to see, standing near the great cross and 
 not far from the tomb of M. X., a man. ' Hallo ! ' 
 I said to myself, 'here is somebody who is up 
 mighty early to attend to his religious duties ; ' and 
 while I was trying to make out who it could be, 
 I noticed that the individual advanced towards me, 
 and I recognized him as M. X. I slammed the 
 grating to at once, so as to put the thickness of the 
 door between the personage and myself, and hurried 
 home in a fright." 
 
 " How was he dressed ? " 
 
 " As when alive, with his muffler and hat." 
 
 " Why did you not wait and speak to him ? " 
 
 " I took good care not to do that ! " 
 
 As his friends joked him about his tale, he 
 replied invariably that they might believe or not 
 for aught he cared ; he told what he had seen, and 
 had nothing more to say. 
 
 The third example happened under the eyes of 
 a retired customs-officer. I quote literally his 
 words. It should be noted that this thing happened 
 on the same evening as the two others. 
 
 " On Easter-eve I was on guard, with another 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 7 
 
 officer, near a property that had belonged to M. X. 
 I saw a person, who passed and repassed near me, 
 opening and shutting an entrance-gate. I said to 
 myself that M. X.'s steward is very early to-day. 
 Then looking closer, I saw it was M. X. himself. 
 My first impulse was to arouse my comrade, so that 
 he might also see this extraordinary apparition. 
 However, I refrained." 
 
 "How was M. X. dressed ? " 
 
 " As usual, with the hat and muffler he always 
 wore when alive." 
 
 " When you recognized him, were you frightened ? " 
 
 " I am an old customs-guard, and was not at all 
 afraid ; in proof of which I did not waken my 
 comrade. At the same time, it must be confessed 
 that for the rest of the night I was not quite as 
 easy as usual." 
 
 Apparitions in human form, such as I have 
 described, are rare. {^) The most familiar mani- 
 festations of the posthumous personality seem to 
 be noises occurring in a variety of ways, and some- 
 times degenerating into a racket very disturbing 
 to the occupants of the house which it infests. 
 Usually it is at nig-ht that these tumults occur. 
 One hears, but sees nothing, not even the pro- 
 jectiles flung against the walls or upon the floor. 
 Sometimes, however, these nocturnal uproars are 
 
 (°) Not so rare, perhaps, as our author supposes ; but since he 
 makes out his case upon such as he cites, it is useless to weary the 
 reader with an embarras de riohesses. 
 
8 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 attended with particular circumstances which 
 enable us to identify their author. 
 
 Of such a nature is the story I am about to tell, 
 and which I borrow from the learned translator 
 of the works of Grorres, M. Charles Sainte-Foix : — 
 
 " The following incident occurred in my father's 
 house, about the year 1812. One evening, at about 
 ten o'clock, my mother was awakened by an unusual 
 noise in the kitchen, separated by the dining-room 
 from the chamber where she slept with my father. 
 She awoke him with an account of her uneasiness, and 
 begged him to go and see if the door which opened 
 into the court had been well closed ; for she thought 
 it was the dog that had entered and made all the 
 noise. My father, who was confident that he had 
 fastened the door that evening, attributed the im- 
 pressions of my mother to a dream or some illusion, 
 and begged her to go to sleep again, as he proceeded 
 to do himself. But after a few minutes my mother 
 heard fresh noises, and again waked my father. 
 Still she could not convince him, and, not being 
 willing to believe except he himself heard, he sat up 
 so as not to fall asleep again, and waited for the noise 
 to recommence. He did not have to wait long, and 
 ended by believing that his memory had played him 
 a trick, and that he had really forgotten to close the 
 outer door of the kitchen, that the watch-dog had 
 entered there, and was knocking together the pots, 
 saucepans, and all the other kitchen utensils ; for 
 that was the sort of noise they heard. He then rose. 
 
•POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 9 
 
 took a light, visited the kitchen, found everything 
 in order and the door closed, so that after all he 
 began to think that he had been deceived by his 
 senses, and had been half asleep when he thought 
 he had heard the noise. He went back to bed, 
 leaving, however, his candle alight to see if the 
 •noise would be repeated. Scarcely had he lain down 
 before a greater uproar than ever arose. Certain 
 that this could not be in the kitchen, he visited all 
 the other rooms in the house, from the cellar to the 
 loft. The hubbub continued without intermission, 
 but nothing was seen. He wakened the servants, 
 who slept in an out-building, again with them 
 searched the whole house, always hearing, but seeing 
 nothing. The noise had changed in place and 
 character; it had passed into the dining-room, 
 where it seemed as if stones of twenty or thirty 
 pounds weight were falling from a height of eight 
 or ten feet upon a piece of furniture which stood 
 against the wall. After eight or ten blows of this 
 sort, a final crash, still more loud than the others, 
 indicated a pause ; then immediately afterwards it 
 seemed as though some powerful hand was working 
 an iron bar among paving-stones. Several neigh- 
 bours, wakened by the noise, came to the house to 
 know what it all meant, and help my father to 
 make another search ; for he thought so little of ghosts 
 that not even the idea of them had come into his mind, 
 and all his fear was that there were robbers. On the 
 other hand, he said to himself that robbers had every 
 
10 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 interest in concealing themselves, and that it showed 
 great stupidity on their part to manifest their 
 presence in such a tumultuous manner. Then he 
 thought that perhaps it might be rats. But how 
 could rats make such a disturbance and such a 
 variety of noises ? All that threw him into great 
 perplexity, and he did not know what to think. 
 About three o'clock in the morning he sent away 
 the neighbours and the servants, telling them to go 
 back to bed, since he was sure that it was not rob- 
 bers, which was the important point for him. The 
 noise had lasted about four hours, and had been 
 heard by seven or eight persons. It stopped at 
 about four o'clock in the morning. 
 
 " At about seven o'clock a messenger came to an- 
 nounce to my father that one of his relatives, named 
 r., had died during the night, between ten and 
 eleven o'clock, and before dying had expressed a 
 strong desire that my father would take the guar- 
 dianship of the children whom he had left behind 
 him. He had, in fact, often expressed this desire to 
 my father during his sickness, without being able to 
 overcome his opposition. In vain my father had 
 urged the multiplicity of his engagements and the 
 anxieties that they caused him. Iri vain he had 
 named other persons better circumstanced than him- 
 self to undertake the trust that he wished to con- 
 fide to him. He had been unable, despite all these 
 excuses, to turn him aside from this idea, which he 
 had carried away with him into the other life. 
 
.POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 11 
 
 " The coincidence of this death with the noise that 
 had been heard during the night impressed my 
 mother, and made her think that perhaps it was 
 not the mere effect of chance. She insisted then 
 that my father should promise to accept the 
 guardianship of the children of the dead man. My 
 father, not sharing her fears, stubbornly maintained 
 his opposition. However, to quiet her, and believing 
 that he was really binding himself to nothing, he 
 promised her that if the noise recommenced he 
 would accept the responsibility which they wanted 
 to put upon him. Thinking, meanwhile, that the 
 noise was made by some men who had a grudge 
 against him or intended to play him some tricks, he 
 resolved to take all precautions for discovering 
 their artifices. So he caused two strong men, re- 
 puted very brave, to sleep in his room, and he 
 quietly waited in his bed. At midnight the up- 
 roar was renewed, but much stronger and more 
 terrible than on the previous evening. My father 
 rose, and told the two men who slept in his room to 
 rise up also and help him search every corner of 
 the house ; but they were seized with such a terror 
 that nothing could persuade them to get out of 
 bed, and a cold sweat covered the whole of their 
 bodies. My father then himself went, with all the 
 servants, throughout the house without discovering 
 anything. The noise did not last so long, but was 
 much more violent than the first time. My 
 father, upon returning to his room, yielded to 
 
12 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY, 
 
 the importunity of my mother, more to pacify her 
 than because he believed that these noises re- 
 sulted from any extra-natural causes ; and nothing 
 more of the kind was heard in the house. Three 
 or four witnesses of this incident are still living, 
 and can attest its truth. I have often heard the 
 story told by my father, who never, however, 
 believed that there was anything supernatural 
 about it. Yet one thing had struck him, and 
 gave him some uneasiness. The first night, at 
 the moment when the noise was the loudest, he had 
 called his dog, shouting out, " Here ! here ! " This 
 dog was enormous, very strong, very savage, and 
 this call of my father was usually enough to make 
 him leap and bark. But this time, in place of 
 bounding as usual, he crawled to my father's feet 
 as though terrified. This circumstance made upon 
 my father a very strong impression, and disconcerted 
 him, without, however, changing his conviction." 
 
 Sometimes the posthumous personality is recog- 
 nised by its footstep, when it is heard walking in a 
 room. Examples of this sort are quite common. 
 As, for instance: In the month of January, 1855, 
 the proprietor of the old hot springs of Aulus died. 
 Immediately, unusual noises were heard in this 
 establishment. The watchman who slept there 
 heard every night, as soon as the candle was ex- 
 tinguished, the noise that a man makes in handling 
 papers or registers, although there was nothing of 
 the kind in the room. Sometimes it was the steps 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 13 
 
 of a person walking beside him, or mounting or 
 descending tiie staircase. Another day he felt some 
 one trying to raise his bed. On certain nights a 
 frightful disturbance occurred on the ground floor. 
 One would have said that blows from a hammer 
 were being given simultaneously on all the metal 
 baths. The watchman arose, went and visited the 
 bathing closets in turn, but saw nothing. The 
 noise stopped as soon as he opened the doors, but 
 began again as soon as he left. Equally strange 
 things happened sometimes by day. At a certain 
 time, at about one o'clock, a despairing cry sounded 
 from one end of the building, the watchmen ran 
 thither, carefully examined the place whence the 
 cry had come without meeting anything, and 
 whilst he was making his search a similar cry was 
 heard from the other end of the building. This 
 occurred on several days in succession. Another 
 time, some customs-officers returning from the 
 mountain, and passing on a hill which was near the 
 hot baths, heard a frightful noise, as though the 
 buildings were going to fall. 
 
 The different watchmen who were successively 
 employed at this establishment were witnesses of 
 the same nocturnal manifestations. I knew them 
 all, and can affirm that they were not men subject 
 to timidity. One of them, who had served in a 
 regiment of Zouaves, had received from his com- 
 rades, on account of his daring, the nickname of 
 "the jackal." Another is now a tiger-hunter on 
 
14 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 the pampas of Soutli America. Nevertheless,, it 
 often happened that they made friends come and 
 sleep with them, so that they might not be alone 
 in the building. It is superfluous to add that 
 these also heard the same noises. Sometimes there 
 were very curious variations in the phenomena. A 
 woman who had come to sleep in a room adjacent 
 to that of the watchman felt an invisible hand 
 pull off her bedclothes. She rushed out of her 
 room and would not return. At other times it 
 was noises which were heard in the partitions. One 
 night the long passage on the first floor re-echoed 
 at about one o'clock in the morning with a strange 
 and rushing noise, like that made by a locomotive 
 running at full speed. This noise being repeated 
 every night, the watchman, who then was the 
 tiger-hunter of whom I have spoken, took his gun, 
 waited for the invisible train, and fired at the 
 moment when he thought he could feel it in front 
 of him. He broke a branch off one of the acacias 
 outside in the garden, but did not hit the invisible 
 enemy, who began again more lively than ever. 
 All who had heard the nocturnal footsteps, which 
 were sometimes in the rooms, and sometimes on 
 the passages or staircases, recognized the walk of 
 the former proprietor of the establishment. One 
 noticeable circumstance is that nothing of this kind 
 was heard in another little bathing establishment, 
 situated not more than three or four yards away 
 from this one, but which belonged to another pro- 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 15 
 
 prietor. These noises gradually diminished, but 
 did not entirely cease until 1872, when the estab- 
 lishment was demolished to give place to the 
 present baths. However, a certain Madame Eumeau, 
 of St. Girons, who came every year to Aulus during 
 the bathing season to take charge of the. linen of 
 the establishment, and lodged in the new buildings, 
 has told me that, in 1877, she had several times 
 heard at night, in the refreshment room, a great 
 clashing of glasses and bottles. It seemed as though 
 they were smashing in pieces, by clashing together 
 or falling on the ground. She went to inspect 
 the room, but found glasses and bottles all in order. 
 This strange circumstance is often noticed in post- 
 humous manifestations; I shall frequently have 
 occasion to recur to it. 
 
 In certain cases, along with the footsteps of a 
 person can be heard the rustling of a dress. The 
 manifestations that then occur are attributed to a 
 female. 
 
 About 1830, Madame X., a lady of somewhat 
 advanced years, died in her country house, in the 
 vicinity of Bastide-de-Serou (Ariege). 
 
 Some nocturnal manifestations, and even some 
 by day, then occurred, either in her bedchamber 
 or in the other rooms of the house. When the 
 family received a guest, and he was given the 
 room of Madame X. to sleep in, as soon as he 
 was in bed and had put out his light, he heard 
 some one walking in the room which he occupied. 
 
16 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 or moving the furniture. Sometimes the mysterious 
 personage approached the bed and tried to pull 
 off the clothes. The sleeper would have to hold 
 the sheets with all his strength, not to be entirely 
 uncovered. The rustling of a silk dress accom- 
 panied each of the movements of the nightly visitor; 
 so, therefore, the cause of these strange events was 
 soon ascribed by every one in the house to Madame 
 X. At other times the glasses and plates in 
 the dining-room were disturbed, knocked together, 
 fell on the floor, and apparently smashed with loud 
 noise. They would run to see what was the cause 
 of this disturbance, and to gather up the fragments. 
 The noise would instantly stop, glasses and china 
 were all found in their usual places, and there were 
 no fragments on the floor. These scenes occurred 
 sometimes by day as well as by night, and even 
 in the absence of the occupants of the house. Not 
 far from the dwelling was a farm. One fair-day, 
 the farmer, wishing to drive his cattle to the town, 
 rose very early to feed them, and then took them 
 to the drinking-trough, which was just alongside 
 the residence of Madame X. The family having 
 left the previous evening, and no one being in the 
 house, it might be expected that nothing unusual 
 would have happened during this night. Never- 
 theless, at the moment when the cattle were 
 drinking, so terrifying a disturbance went on inside 
 the house that the poor animals, mad with fear, 
 were scattered, and the farmer lost all the morning 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 17 
 
 catching them and bringing them back. The 
 family of Madame X., thinking that the soul of 
 the defunct was in pain, neglected neither masses 
 nor prayers to bring her out of purgatory. All 
 to no purpose; the posthumous manifestations of 
 Madame X. continued for several years. 
 
 Not knowing what to do to meet the difficulty, 
 they hit upon the following expedient. One night, 
 before bed-time, they placed paper, pen, and ink 
 on a table in the room where the nocturnal noises 
 were heard most frequently, and at the top of the 
 paper they wrote some linesi begging the ghost 
 to indicate its wishes, so that they might be satis- 
 fied. The next morning they perceived that the 
 paper, ink, and pen had been placed, intact, under 
 the table on the floor. But on this same table 
 was a dictionary, which had been opened during 
 the night, and on one of the pages they remarked 
 three little red spots of the size of a grain of corn 
 that had been crushed, and that resembled drops 
 of blood. The noises ceased soon after this singular 
 adventure, and, what is remarkable, they were re- 
 sumed some years later; but this time they were 
 much weaker, and did not last long. I have all 
 these details, which I have greatly condensed, from 
 the family of Madame X. 
 
 Sometimes the individuality of the posthumous 
 being discloses itself by tastes and customs which 
 were familiar to the person when alive. About 
 thirty-five years ago there lived at St. Grirons a 
 
 2 
 
18 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 young man of robust complexion and military tastes. 
 He was fond of fencing, and often indulged in this 
 exercise ; in his room was a collection of foils, gloves* 
 masks, &c. Having become insane, they shut him 
 up in the insane hospital of St. Lizier, where he 
 soon after died. This hospital is about iive miles from 
 St. Girons. The room that the young man occupied 
 before his sickness was situated upon the first floor. 
 Immediately under him lived a tailor and his family. 
 The day of the young man's death, at about eleven 
 o'clock in the evening, the family were already in bed 
 when they heard the street door open, and some one 
 quickly run upstairs. " Hullo! " said the tenant, 
 " one would swear that those are the footsteps of the 
 lunatic ; can it possibly be he ? " At the same time 
 the unknown entered the room on the first floor, and 
 immediately after they heard the measured stamp of 
 .a man fencing. These blows were more hasty than 
 those usually made, and this noise was immediately 
 followed by a clash of foils and masks, which seemed 
 to detach themselves from the wall, knock together, 
 and fall on the ground. The tailor got up, lit his 
 -candle, and ascended to the chamber overhead. The 
 noise stopped as soon as he opened the door ; nothing 
 had fallen on the floor, but everything was in its 
 place. Our good man went back to bed, and the 
 n.oise began again ; silence returned only at about 
 one o'clock in the morning. The following days, 
 the same things were repeated at the same hour and 
 under identical circumstances. Tired of making 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 19 
 
 useless visits to the room where the disturbances 
 occurred, the tailor at last accustomed himself to it 
 and did not trouble himself any more. These noises 
 were still going on when he left the house. He was 
 satisfied, as well as his wife and children, that the 
 nocturnal visitor was none other than the young de- 
 ceased, for all were unanimous in declaring that they 
 recognized his hasty steps every time that he 
 mounted or descended the stairs; so much so that 
 they were accustomed to say when they heard him 
 arrive in the evening at his usual hour, " T&, tS, 
 etchoou que toumash! — ^here comes the madman 
 again." It was the tailor himself who gave me these 
 details. 
 
 In the following example, the posthumous per- 
 sonality is not so clearly revealed as in the preceding 
 ones, but it is easy to follow its traces back to its 
 origin. 
 
 " Near a village of Landes, a woman lost her 
 mother. She lived, like most of the country-people, 
 in a ground-floor apartment (rez-de-chaussSe) which 
 communicated with a cellar. After the death of her 
 mother, she heard at night some one walking and 
 rummaging in the cellar. Being alone in the house, 
 with the outer door locked, she at first supposed that 
 it was rats which caused the noise. Convinced, after 
 numerous fruitless searches, that rats could not make 
 such a noise, she went to tell her story to the cure, 
 an experienced man, who was familiar with the 
 habits of the poor people of the country ; instead of 
 
20 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 making her pay for masses, as is the usual custom in 
 Catholic countries, he advised her to search carefully 
 every nook and cranny in the cellar, and take out 
 anything she might find hidden there. The woman, 
 having followed this advice, found a small sum of 
 money cunningly hidden in one of the most out-of- 
 the way places. She took possession of this sum and 
 heard no more of the noises. It was the hiding- 
 place where the old woman used to deposit her little 
 savings, and hence the personality of the nocturnal 
 visitant can but be identified with her posthumous 
 individuality." 
 
 In many cases, the post-sepulchral manifesta- 
 tions present no feature that very exactly indicates 
 their author. Nevertheless, one can hardly be 
 deceived in this study, for these events are always 
 preceded by the death of some person in the house. 
 This class generally consists of nocturnal disturbances 
 of various descriptions. About fifteen years ago, a 
 peasant, living in a hamlet in the Canton d'Oust 
 (Aridge), hung himself in a state of melancholy. 
 His house immediately became the theatre of nightly 
 scenes of the most tumultuous and inexplicable 
 character. 
 
 " The chairs were heard to move, the crockery to 
 fall and smash with a loud^ noise, blows of a 
 hammer or club to strike the partitions, and the 
 furniture on every side, &c., &c. In the wood-shed 
 it seemed as though the faggots were in insurrec- 
 tion : they knocked together, or flung themselves 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 21 
 
 against tlie walls with extraordinary force, and 
 made a terrible racket. If any one entered the 
 wood-shed or the dining-room, where the glasses 
 seemed to be clashing and the crockery breaking, 
 he was confronted with another phenomenon not 
 less marvellous : the most absolute silence instantly 
 succeeded, after the most fearful noise ; everything 
 was in its usual place ; nothing had been injured. 
 We have seen the same phenomenon occurring 
 invariably under analogous circumstances, and it 
 may be assumed in principle that it is one of the 
 laws of posthumous manifestations. When the 
 occupants of the house were in bed, an invisible 
 hand pulled at their coverings, and each time they 
 were obliged to hold on to them very strongly not 
 to be forced to remain entirely uncovered. All 
 these prodigies ceased as soon as a candle was 
 brought. The posthumous personality seems to 
 dread light ; to borrow an expression from medicine, 
 it is a ' photophobe.' Later on, I will give an 
 explanation of this fact. 
 
 " One evening, at dusk, a woman in the house 
 held in her hand a pair of scissors attached to a 
 chain. The candle not being yet lighted, she felt 
 some one pulling at this chain, notwithstanding that 
 she was alone in the room. She called for help ; a 
 light was brought, and immediately the scissors 
 fell. When the light was removed the disturbance 
 began again, but again stopped when the candle 
 was brought back. The experiment was repeated 
 
22 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 several times, and invariably with the same result. 
 These scenes lasted for several years, and were 
 witnessed by all the people of the neighbourhood. 
 The rumour having reached St. Girons, some of the 
 notabilities of this town, among them magistrates 
 and physicians, resolved to visit the spot, to 
 satisfy themselves as to the authenticity of these 
 facts. The project was not carried out, but the 
 recollection of what I have related still lingers 
 in the memory of all the inhabitants of the 
 canton." 
 
 The tendency to pull the clothing off the bed 
 and uncover the sleeper is a feature as common as 
 the nocturnal disturbances, and one in which the 
 action of the posthumous personality is indicated 
 most unequivocally. Usually, these two kinds of 
 manifestations go together, as we have seen in the 
 previous examples. Nevertheless, there are cases 
 where the mysterious visitor omits the hubbub, and 
 is satisfied with pulling at the blankets or lifting 
 the bed. This mode of procedure is still less 
 agreeable to sleepers than the banging of partitions, 
 and it often happens that they are obliged to desert 
 the house if they would get any rest. I might cite 
 several examples of this kind. Here is one told me 
 by the very person who was the object of the 
 adventure. 
 
 " It was a woman of sober character and fair 
 education. She had brought up the son of a rich 
 landed-proprietor who lived in a chateau in the 
 
J'OSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 23 
 
 vicinity of Foix. The child, having lost his mother 
 at an early age, conceived a son's affection for his 
 governess. Having attained his majority, he left 
 the paternal home and went to settle in Africa. In 
 •1873, this woman, being in bed one night, thought 
 she heard something unusual in her room. It 
 seemed like a sort of stifled moaning, repeated at 
 intervals. The next day a telegram announced the 
 death of the young man. From that time forth, 
 posthumous manifestations of a strongly marked 
 character occurred in the same room. Nightly, at 
 the same hour, the governess heard some one open 
 the door of her room, although she had herself 
 locked it, walk round the apartment, stop before 
 the bed, draw the curtains, and tug at the bed- 
 clothing. There would then be a struggle between 
 her and the invisible one. The poor woman was 
 obliged, in order not to be entirely uncovered, to 
 roll herself in the bed-clothing. A sort of plaintive 
 moaning was heard. At the end of an hour or two 
 the chamber door would again open, and there 
 would be total silence. The governess unhesi- 
 tatingly attributed the cause of all these prodigies 
 to the posthumous personality of the young man 
 whom she had reared ; for, beside the coincidence of 
 his death and the manifestations which imme- 
 diately occurred, she recognized his manner of 
 walking in the footsteps which she heard every 
 night in her room. Wearied at last with these 
 unfortunate scenes, she fell sick, and was obliged 
 
24 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY, 
 
 to leave the chateau, after having endured the 
 thing for six months." 
 
 I have said that if the posthumous man frequently 
 manifests himself by a variety of noises, his appear- 
 ances in human form are rare ; Q) still one some- 
 times sees them immediately after the decease of 
 certain persons. I have collected several examples 
 of this kind ; among them the following, the authen- 
 ticity of which I can guarantee. I have it from 
 Madame D., of St. Gaudens. Here is her story : 
 
 "I was still a young girl, and slept with my 
 elder sister. One evening we had just retired to 
 bed, and blown out the light. The smouldering 
 fire on the hearth still feebly lighted the room. 
 Upon turning my eyes towards the fireplace I 
 
 (') Here the author betrays his ■want of personal experience in 
 the stance-room. Animated forms of the deceased are now seen 
 often under perfect cest-conditions, and some 'will ' ' materialise " 
 themselves before one's very eyes. While there have been number- 
 less cases of fraudulent imitations of this astounding phenomenon 
 — sometimes even by real mediums — still there have been genuine 
 materialisations by the score. In the year 1874, I devoted about 
 three months to the investigation of this subject, at the Eddy home- 
 stead, in the village of Chittenden, Vt., and published my obser- 
 vations in a work entitled " People from the Other World." I saw 
 as many as seventeen of these materialisations in a single evening, 
 and nearly five hundred during the whole visit. I was enabled to 
 touch, talk with, and even weigh and measure them. After the 
 lapse of twelve years I see no reason to change my opinion as to the 
 genuineness of the phenomena of William Eddy, though my views 
 as to the psychical character of the forms have been altered by a 
 study of Asiatic psychological science. The curious reader will 
 find great abundance of proofs of materialisation in the works of 
 Owen, Sargent, Crookes, Wallace, Stainton Moses, and other 
 trustworthy writers. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 25 
 
 perceived, to my amazement, a priest seated before 
 the fire and warming himself. He had the cor- 
 pulence, the features, and the general appearance 
 of one of our uncles who lived in the neighbour- 
 hood where he was an archbishop. I at once 
 called my sister's attention. She looked in that 
 direction, and saw the same apparition. She also 
 recognized our uncle. An indescribable terror 
 seized us both, and we cried ' Help ! ' with all 
 our might. My father, who slept in an adjoining 
 room, awakened by these desperate cries, jumped 
 out of bed, and ran in with a candle in his hand. 
 The phantom had disappeared ; we saw no one in 
 the room. The next morning a letter was received 
 informing us that our uncle had died the previous 
 evening." 
 
 The posthumous apparitions can show themselves 
 immediately after death, whatever may be the 
 distance that separates the defunct from the place 
 where he manifests himself. In other,, words, 
 these phantoms move with marvellous rapidity, 
 comparable almost to that of electricity or 
 light. (*) I shall presently explain this pheno- 
 menon. 
 
 (*) Rather, let us say, thought. Time and space exist only for 
 us living ; and, while it is a, little premature to discuss the 
 question of estra^eorporeal mental dynamics, it may be said, as 
 from the Asiatic standing-point, that the telepathic action in cases 
 like those in point is instantaneous. However geographically far 
 apart in the body, mind talks with mind, as two persons speak 
 with each other across a table or even from " mouth to ear.'' 
 
26 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 I have stated above that a young man appeared 
 in the neighhourhood of Foix the very evening of 
 his death, although he .died in Africa. Others, 
 who lived in America, have shown themselves in 
 Europe at the moment when they expired, and 
 had consequently crossed the Atlantic in a few 
 seconds. Of numerous examples that I might cite, 
 I will give only the following, taken from the 
 work of M. de Mirville, Des Esprits et de leurs 
 Manifestations diverses. I quote verbatim : 
 
 " M. Bonnetty, responsible editor of the 
 Annates de Philosophie Religieuse, tells us that 
 one evening, before sleeping, he saw the image of 
 one of his friends, then in America, open his bed 
 curtains and inform him that he had that instant 
 died. The sad news is subsequently confirmed, and 
 indicates that very moment as having been the last. 
 But this image wore a waistcoat whose very extra- 
 ordinary pattern had much struck M. Bonnetty ; he 
 made subsequent inquiries, and begged that they 
 would send him a drawing of this waistcoat pattern. 
 They did so, and it was identically that of the 
 apparition." 
 
 Sometimes apparitions come during sleep. If it is 
 objected that these are ordinary dreams, I shall 
 answer that, whilst according the utmost possible 
 agency to dreams and hallucinations, it is difficult 
 not to believe in the reality of an apparition when 
 you see before you a person whom you recognize at 
 once by his height, features, and dress, who tells 
 
■POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 27 
 
 you that he has just expired, and when on the 
 next day, or at some later date, a letter confirms 
 the vision. 
 
 I went to Spain, towards the end of 1868, a little 
 after the Pronunciamento which put an end to the 
 reign of Isabella. I knew the country was in a state 
 of ebullition, and I wished to study upon the spot 
 the consequences of the revolution which had just 
 been completed. I was not long in perceiving that the 
 Spanish nation, kneaded for fourteen centuries in the 
 mould of the most rigid and absolute Catholicism that 
 ever was seen, and moreover fundamentally monar- 
 chical, was not yet ripe for liberty, that it would fatalis- 
 tically return to its old idols ; and I did not shrink 
 from imparting my forecast to the readers of the 
 Revue Gontemporaine, in an essay which appeared 
 in the month of June of the following year. 
 
 On the twelfth of January of the same year I was 
 at Barcelona, and one night in my sleep I distinctly 
 saw before me the face of' a young person who was 
 sincerely attached to me, and whom, before leaving for 
 Spain, I had left in Paris, dying from a chest com- 
 plaint. My first movement, as soon as I perceived 
 her, was to approach and bid her welcome. As I came 
 closer, I saw her recede, and I recognized in her face 
 the characteristic lividity of a corpse. I awoke with 
 a start, and, while I had constantly been in the 
 habit of regarding as dreams all apparitions of this 
 kind of which I had heard, nevertheless I did not 
 hesitate to say to the hotel-servant, when he entered 
 
28 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 the room the next morning : " To-morrpw evening 
 you will receive for me a letter from Paris in a 
 mourning envelope." The letter arrived on the day 
 and at the hour indicated. It announced that which 
 I already knew — that I had lost my poor friend on 
 the night of the twelfth of January. 
 
 The following fact is no less significant. It was 
 related to me by my friend Victor Pilhes. These 
 are the circumstances of its occurrence : 
 
 " Victor Pilhes had just been nominated Eepre- 
 sentative for Ari^ge in the legislature of 1849, 
 when the manifestation of the thirteenth of June 
 took place. Intelligence was brought that the French 
 army was marching on Eome to overthrow the 
 Eoman Eepublic. The constitution being thus 
 openly violated, some energetic men resolved to de- 
 fend it. But France, emasculated by the govern- 
 ments which had succeeded since the eighteenth 
 Brumaire, hastened mere in servitutem — to plunge 
 into serfdom, as Tacitus hath it. Instead of following 
 those who defended her rights and interests, she 
 handed them over to the mercies of the soldiery and 
 police. Having come together without arms, they 
 were easily dispersed or arrested. However, a small 
 group of eight representatives of the people, amongst 
 them the President of the Mountain, Deville and 
 Victor Pilhes, was in the court of the Conservatoire, 
 under the guard of troopers. At this moment they 
 saw a company of chasseurs a pied coming in search 
 of them. They had still a chance of escape, 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 29 
 
 owing to the indescribable tumult in the inclosure, 
 when Deville cried out : 
 
 " I was a captain at Waterloo, and I did not fly ; 
 to-day I defend the Eight and the Law, and I will 
 not desert my post, come what may." 
 
 Electrified by these noble and patriotic words, the 
 other representatives followed his example, and 
 desirous of standing to their posts to the very end 
 permitted themselves to be conducted to the Con- 
 ciergerie. Betrayed after five months impeach- 
 ment, they were brought before the High Court at 
 Versailles and condemned to death. A decree of the 
 Provisional Government having abolished this punish- 
 ment for political ofifences, the sentence had to be 
 commuted to one of perpetual detention in a state 
 prison. About 1854 they were in the fortress of 
 Belle Isle, where Deville had a stroke of paralysis. 
 After sundry delays, he obtained his liberty and re- 
 turned to Tarbes, to his family. Some months after 
 his departure, "Victor Pilhes, who, in the meanwhile, 
 had been transferred to St. Pelagie, saw during his 
 sleep Deville appear to him, saying : 
 
 " You are one of the men whom I have best loved 
 during my life. I have come to bid you a last fare- 
 well ; I am dying." 
 
 Our prisoner immediately awoke ; but, although 
 this vision was to him but an ordinary dream, he 
 could sleep no more. When he left his cell, he 
 related his dream to his comrades, who attached no 
 importance to it. Their attention was not attracted 
 
30 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 until the next morning, when they received a letter 
 from Tarbes announcing the death of Deville. 
 
 The first time that Victor Pilhes told me this story, 
 I, like himself, saw nothing more in it than an ordi- 
 nary dream, followed by a curious coincidence. Such 
 is no longer the case; since, some hundreds of 
 analogous facts have come to my notice. 
 
 I close here the list of posthumous manifestations 
 attributed to the human personality, reserving to 
 myself, however, the right to return to the subject 
 in one of the following chapters, to complete it in 
 certain respects. I could easily double or even 
 treble it, with merely the documents which have 
 been furnished to me ; but I fancy that enough has 
 been said to attract the attention of thoughtful 
 persons. Still, I shall refer any who yet entertain 
 doubts to the many works written upon this topic, 
 of some of which the authors are learned physicians 
 or eminent legal functionaries. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FACTS ESTABLISHING THE EXISTENCE OF A SECOND 
 PERSONALITY IN THE LIVING MAN. ITS VARIOUS 
 MODES OF MANIFESTATION. 
 
 The existence of the posthumous personality being 
 demonstrated by some thousands of facts, observed 
 in all ages and among all peoples, it remains to 
 seek out its nature and origin. Evidently it proceeds 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 3L 
 
 from the living personality, whose continuation it 
 shows itself, with its form, habits, prejudices, &c. 
 Let us, then, inquire if there is not found in man a 
 principle which, detaching itself from the body 
 while the vital forces abandon the latter, continues 
 for some time the action of the human indi- 
 viduality. Numerous facts show that this principle 
 exists, and that it sometimes manifests itself during 
 life, exhibiting, at the same time, the character- 
 istics of the living personality and those of the 
 posthumous personality. I shall now relate some 
 drawn from the best sources, and which seem 
 conclusive. The first was communicated to me 
 on my passage to Eio Janeiro. 
 
 It was in 1858 ; they were still talking, in the 
 French colony of that capital, of a singular appa- 
 rition which had taken place some years earlier. 
 An Alsatian family, comprising a husband, wife, 
 and little girl of a very tender age, were on a 
 voyage for Eio Janeiro, where they were intending 
 to join some compatriots established in that city. 
 The voyage was long; the wife fell sick, and, no 
 doubt for want of care and proper nourishment, 
 succumbed before reaching port. The day of her 
 death she fell into a syncope, remained a long 
 time in this state, and when she recovered con- 
 sciousness said to her husband, who was watching 
 by her side : 
 
 " I die happy, for now I am relieved of anxiety 
 as to the fate of our child. I have been to Eio 
 
32 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 Janeiro, and found the street and the house of 
 our friend Fritz the carpenter. He was standing 
 in the doorway. I showed him the little one ; I 
 am sure that on your arrival he will recognize her 
 and take care of her." 
 
 Some moments later she expired. The husband 
 was surprised at this message, yet, however, attached 
 but little importance to it. The same day, and 
 at the same hour, Fritz the carpenter, the Alsatian 
 of whom I have spoken, was in the doorway of the 
 house that he occupied in Eio Janeiro, when he 
 thought he saw passing in the street one of his 
 compatriots, holding in her arms a little girl. She 
 looked at him supplicatingly, and seemed to hold 
 out to him the child which she carried. Her face, 
 which seemed extremely emaciated, nevertheless re- 
 minded him of that of Lotta, the wife of his friend 
 and compatriot Schmidt. The expression of her face, 
 the singularity of her gait, which seemed more 
 that of a vision than of something real, made a 
 lively impression upon Fritz. Wishing to satisfy 
 himself that he was not the dupe of an illusion, 
 he called one of his workmen from the shop, also 
 an Alsatian, and from the same locality. 
 
 " Look ! " said he. " Do you not see a woman 
 passing there, in the street, holding a child in 
 her arms ; and would not one say that it is Lotta, 
 the wife of our countryman Schmidt ? " 
 
 " I cannot say ; I don't see it distinctly," an- 
 swered the workman. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. .33 
 
 Fritz said nothing more ; but the different cir- 
 cumstances of this real or imaginary apparition 
 deeply impressed themselves on his mind, espe- 
 cially the hour and day. Some time after that 
 he saw his compatriot Schmidt arrive, carrying 
 a little girl in his arms. The visit of Lotta was 
 then immediately recalled to his mind, and before 
 Schmidt could open his mouth he said to him : 
 
 "My poor friend, I know all! Your wife died 
 on the voyage, and before dying she came to show 
 me her little girl, so that I might take care of 
 it. See here, I have marked the date and hour ! " 
 
 It was exactly the day and the moment noted 
 by Schmidt on board the ship. 
 
 It was from reflecting upon the different cir- 
 cumstances of this story that I first deduced the 
 problem of the doubling of the human personality.(^) 
 
 (') The projection of the Double, of which many examples are 
 recorded in -works Trhich treat of psychical phenomena, occurs in 
 two ways — the involuntary and the intentional. Our author gives 
 illustrations of both. An intense concentration of desire by a 
 moribund or somnambulic person often carries the Double with a 
 rush to the vicinity of the individual thought of, without the 
 operator being at all acquainted with the process of projection. In 
 some, the Double is so loosely attached to the physical organism 
 that it can easily, and even without the conscious intent of the 
 person, go out and make itself visible. Cases are cited under. But 
 in Asiatic psychical science this psychic projection is a recognized 
 siddhi, or acquired power, capable of development, but known to be 
 dangerous, especially for neophytes, as the liberated and travelling 
 Double, in a measure like a new-born infant, is liable to the gravest 
 injury, and equally needs close watching and care. Hence the 
 phenomenon is strictly forbidden unless under the guardian teacher's 
 
 3 
 
34 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 But I could not, from a single example, establish 
 a theory which was at every point the antithesis 
 of that which I had been taught as to the nature 
 of man. I had to wait until an accumulation of 
 facts should corroborate the first. My studies upon 
 the posthumous being tended towards this result, 
 I compared the post-sepulchral phantom with the 
 living phantom, and I had not much trouble in 
 convincing myself that it was the same personage. 
 I could not, however, establish such a conclusion 
 save upon the basis of a great number of proofs. 
 I then consulted the works of those writers who, 
 after a more or less direct method, had treated 
 
 a's) supervision. So, also, it is a feature of the Eastern psy- 
 chical training to be taught how the Double, upon reaching the 
 intended foeug of concentration, may be compacted into visibility 
 to the ordinary observer. By " telepathic impact " upon the mind 
 of a selected individual, or upon those of two or more, that person 
 or those persons may be made to either see or not see the apparition 
 — the living phantom, as D'Assier prefers calling it. Where the 
 projection has been sporadic, and the operator is ignorant of 
 psychical science, those only will see the Double — unless, of course, 
 a dense solidification, like the mediumistie " materialisations," 
 occurs — who are natural clairvoyants. In India, two classes of 
 phantom-seers are known, viz. , the devagani, or those who can see 
 the higher races of the elemental kingdoms, and the rakshamsgani 
 or pisdcJiagani, those who can only see the lower orders of phan- 
 toms, including earth-bound human souls. The natural affinities of 
 these two classes of visionaries are clearly defined in Bhagvatgita 
 (cap. ix.), where Sri Krishna says each will, after quitting the body, 
 go to the sphere and companionship to which his attractions tend. 
 (For something about projection of Double, and special power of 
 certain persons to see wraiths, &c., see The Monastery (Scott), 
 caps. iv. and xx., the latter a very interesting illustration of throw- 
 ngof glamour.) 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 35 
 
 this question. I found in the reports of the theo- 
 logians, magistrates, physicians, magnetizers, &c., 
 a harvest of facts much more abundant than I 
 had dared to hope for. The doubling of the human 
 personality, and, as a consequence, the existence of 
 the posthumous phantom, became for me a matter 
 of certainty. I shall now transcribe some of the 
 examples which have seemed to me the most con- 
 clusive and most worthy of credence. The first 
 is taken from the book published, in 1864, by 
 M. Grougenot des Mousseaux, under the title, 
 Les hauta phSnomenes de la Magie, pric^dSs du 
 Spiritiame Antique. 
 
 An officer of the English army, having taken 
 furlough with the intention of returning from India 
 in the year 1830, had been at sea a fortnight, when 
 meeting the captain, he said to him : 
 
 "So you have on board a mysterious passenger, 
 whom you are hiding ? " 
 
 " You're joking." 
 
 " No ; I have seen him, distinctly seen him f,: 
 but he will not re-appear." 
 
 " What do you mean ? Explain yourself." 
 
 " Very well. I was just about to retire, when I- 
 saw a stranger enter the saloon, go all round it 
 from cabin to cabin, opening the doors, and each* 
 time, on leaving, shake his head. Having drawn 
 aside the curtain of mine, he looked in, saw me, 
 and as I was not the one whom he sought, he 
 quietly retired and disappeared." 
 
 3—2 
 
36 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 " Boh ! But how was he dressed, and what was 
 the age and appearance of your unknown ? " 
 
 The officer described him with minuteness and 
 accuracy. 
 
 "Ah! God forbid!" cried the captain. "If 
 what you say were not absurd, that would be my 
 father. . It could be no one else ! " 
 
 The voyage finally terminated. Then the 
 captain returned to England, where he learned that 
 his father had ceased to live, and that the date 
 of his death was posterior to the date of the 
 apparition ; but that, on that very day, and at the 
 hour of the apparition, being ill, he became 
 delirious. The members of the family, who had 
 watched by him, added, in speaking of this crisis, 
 that in his delirium he had cried out : 
 
 " Whence, think you, I have come ? Well, I 
 have crossed the sea. I have visited the vessel of 
 my son. I have made the round of the cabins. I 
 opened them all, and I did not see him in any of 
 them." 
 
 Des Mousseaux tells us that he had this story 
 from an old captain of Sepoys of the British army 
 in India, and that the latter had learned it from the 
 family of the captain of the ship. 
 
 That which first strikes one in this story is the 
 instantaneousness of the passage of the fluidic man. 
 The living phantom moves with a rapidity not less 
 marvellous than the posthumous phantom. The 
 father of the ship's captain goes to find the vessel 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 37 
 
 of his son on the Indian route, examines attentively 
 the cabins in turn, and comes back almost in the 
 same instant. All that lasts only the time of one 
 crisis. We have seen the same fact repeated in the 
 aerial journey of the Alsatian woman to Eio 
 Janeiro. This is a characteristic peculiar to every 
 fluidic form, whether living or posthumous. I have 
 given, in the preceding chapter, the reason of this 
 phenomenon, which seems inexplicable at first 
 sight. Another fact to notice is that, according to 
 the story of the persons of the family who witnessed 
 his sickness, the father of the ship's captain,, the 
 moribund, had fallen into delirium some moments 
 before he went to search after his son, and the 
 delirium continued until his return. Perhaps the 
 expression, delirium, is badly chosen, and it is a 
 question of syncope that we are dealing with. 
 The state of syncope would seem to be the most 
 favourable for the flight of the living phantom ; ('") 
 we have seen it occur in the case of the Alsatian 
 woman. I shall have occasion to cite other 
 examples. With certain persons, sleep is quite 
 enough to permit of the projection of the Double. 
 
 ('") Exactly ; for, imder the disturbance of the normal equilibrium 
 of the corporeal and psychical energies, the potentiality of the latter 
 is changed to actuality, and vice versa. As the potential energy 
 in a bent spring becomes vis viva when the compression is removed, 
 so the latent potentiality of trans-corporeal psychical projection 
 and function develops into actual work when the body becomes 
 abnormally deprived of its usual power to restrain and compress 
 the soul. This crisis may be brought on by disease, or consciously 
 and with set purpose, as by Indian ascetics. 
 
38 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 Here is an instance which I borrow from the same 
 author : 
 
 Mr. Eobert Bruce, a connection of the eminent 
 Scotch family of that name, was first mate of a 
 vessel. One day he was sailing near the banks of 
 Newfoundland, and making the usual calculations 
 for longitude and latitude, when he thought he saw 
 the captain seated at his desk ; but he looked closer 
 and saw that it was a stranger, whose fixed gaze 
 filled him with astonishment. Hurrying on deck 
 to the captain, who perceived his agitation, he 
 asked him : 
 
 " Who is that at your desk ? " 
 
 " Nobody," answered the captain. 
 
 " Yes, there is some one. Is it a stranger ; and 
 how could that be ? " 
 
 " You dream, or you're joking." 
 
 "Not at all. Kindly come down to the cabin 
 and see." 
 
 They went down, and found no one seated at the 
 desk. The ship was searched throughout, but no 
 stranger was found. 
 
 "Nevertheless, the man I saw writing at your 
 slate must have left, his writing there," said the 
 mate to the captain. 
 
 They examined the slate; it bore these words: 
 "Steer to the Nor'-West." 
 
 " But this writing is yours, or some one's on 
 board ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 39 
 
 Each member of the ship's company was made to 
 ■write the same sentence, but not one of the 
 writings resembled that on the slate, 
 
 " Well, let us obey this order. Put the ship to 
 the Nor'-West ; the wind is fair, and we may easily 
 make the experiment." 
 
 Three hours later, the look-out reported an 
 iceberg, and a vessel from Quebec, bound for 
 Liverpool, frozen to it. She was dismantled, and 
 crowded with people. The passengers, were all 
 taken off by the boats of Bruce's ship. 
 
 At the moment when one of these men passed 
 the gangway of the rescuing vessel, Bruce 
 shuddered, and started back much moved. It was 
 the stranger whom he had seen writing the words 
 on the slate. He communicated the fact to the 
 captain. 
 
 "Kindly write 'Steer to the Nor'-West' on this 
 slate," said the captain to the new-comer, holding 
 out to him the side on which was no writing. The 
 stranger wrote the sentence. 
 
 " Well, you acknowledge that to be your usual 
 hand ? " said the captain, who was struck with the 
 identity of the writings. 
 
 " But you saw me write it. How can you doubt 
 it?'' 
 
 The captain's only reply was to turn up the other 
 side of the slate, and the stranger was confounded 
 on seeing on both sides his own handwriting. 
 
 " Do you think you dreamed tl^at you wrote on 
 
40 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 this slate ? " asked the captain of the wrecked 
 vessel of him who had just written. 
 
 " No ; at least, I have no recollection of it." 
 
 " But what was this passenger doing at noon ? " ' 
 asked the rescuing captain of his colleague. 
 
 " Being much fatigued, he fell into a profound 
 sleep, and, as near as I can remember, it must have 
 been shortly before noon. An hour or more after he 
 awoke and said to me, ' Captain, we shall be saved 
 to-day. I have dreamed that I was on board a 
 vessel, and that it would come to our rescue.' He 
 described the barque and her rig ; and great was 
 our surprise, when you bore down towards us, to 
 recognize the accuracy of his description. Finally^ 
 the passenger said, in his turn : ' What seems to me 
 strange is that everything here seems familiar to 
 me, and yet I have never been here before ! ' " (") 
 
 I will make one remark upon this strange 
 adventure. 
 
 In the apparitions which occurred at Eio Janeiro, 
 and on board the returning Indiaman, the Alsatian 
 woman, as well as the father of the ship's captain, 
 recollected perfectly, on coming out of their lethargy, 
 the journey which they had made, and related its 
 different particulars to the persons about them. 
 Here we see the passenger announcing to the captain 
 of the wreck that another vessel is coming to their 
 
 (") Por the original narrative from -which the above was condensed, 
 see fiobert Dale Owen's Footfalls on the Boundary of another 
 World, pp. 334— 341.— 0. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 41 
 
 rescue, but lie has not the least remembrance of 
 that which he had written upon the slate of the ship 
 which was to save them. When he came aboard her 
 it seemed as though he could remember her, and 
 yet he declared that he had never been there before. 
 He had only fragmentary, confused reminiscences of 
 what had occmrred to him while out in the Double. 
 One would say that we have here solutions of con- 
 tinuity in his dream. That is not surprising. The 
 phenomena of " doubling" present, as\we shall see 
 in the course of this book, all the shades] of differ- 
 ence, from the complete and living apparition of the 
 human form to the simplest dreams. These differ- 
 ent manifestations evidently depend upon the degree 
 of moral energy in the individual, the tension of his 
 mind toward a determined result, his physical con- 
 stitution, his age, and probably other causes as 
 well, of which we are ignorant. ('^) The same 
 applies to the memory of what passes during the 
 '* doubling." Certain persons recollect most accu- 
 rately all that they have done, seen, or heard. 
 Others only catch vague and broken reminiscences 
 alternated with perfect blanks ; others have no re- 
 membrance of the part which they have played 
 during their lethargic sleep. Such is the case of 
 some somnambules, about whom I shall soon have 
 occasion to remark. 
 
 Now let us open the book of a man whose name 
 
 (") See note ante. 
 
42 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 carries weight in everything pertaining to the 
 rational use of magnetism, Du Potet. Q^) 
 
 "We read the following on page 549 of his book : 
 
 " The following fact is well attested, and may be 
 grouped with the phenomena of the order of 
 spiritism which are the most difficult to explain. It 
 was published in a manual, The Pocket Book of 
 the Friends of Religion, for 1811, by Jung Stilling, 
 to whom it was related as a personal experience by 
 Baron de Salza, chamberlain of the king of Sweden. 
 The baron says that, having been to pay a visit to 
 a neighbour, he returned to his house about mid- 
 night, an hour at which, in summer, there is light 
 enough in Sweden for one to read the finest print. 
 
 " As I arrived," said he, " in my domain, my 
 father came to meet me before the park gate. He 
 was dressed as usual, and held in his hand a cane 
 that my brother had carved. I saluted him, and 
 we had a long conversation together. We arrived 
 thus at the house, and at the door of his room. 
 Upon entering, I saw my father undressed, lying 
 in his bed in a deep sleep; at the same instant 
 the apparition vanished. Presently my father 
 awoke, and looked at me with an inquiring ex- 
 pression. 
 
 " ' My dear Edward,' said he, ' God be praised 
 that I see you again safe and sound, for I have 
 been extremely worried on your account in my 
 
 (") Cours de Magnetisme Animal. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 43 
 
 dream. It seemed to me that you had fallen into 
 the water, and were in danger of being drowned.' 
 
 " Now that very day," added the baron, " I had 
 gone with one of my friends to the river to fish for 
 crabs, and I just escaped being carried away by 
 the current. I related to my father that I had seen 
 his apparition at the park gate, and that we had a 
 long talk together. He replied that such things 
 often happened to him." 
 
 One of the most striking and at the same time 
 improbable facts is here presented. The human 
 phantom speaks and sustains a conversation of some 
 length. In the preceding examples the apparitions 
 are mute. Nothing is more natural. There is 
 needed a special organ for producing speech, and an 
 interior force which puts this apparatus in motion. 
 Admitting that the phantom duplicates the interior, 
 as well as the exterior, of the human mechanism, 
 whence does it draw the breath which puts in play the 
 phonetic machine ? If the passenger on the wrecked 
 ship above mentioned could have spoken, it is 
 probable that, instead of writing on the slate the 
 instructions which were to save him and his com- 
 panions, he would have transmitted them directly in 
 an audible voice to the mate, Mr. Bruce, who stood 
 before him in the captain's room. Should we, then^ 
 regard as absurd and completely impossible the ad- 
 venture attributed to the father of the chamberlain 
 of the king of Sweden ? By no means, for it is 
 confirmed by a crowd of analogous histories, of which 
 
44 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 I shall. cite some. Let us simply say, to explain the 
 contradiction which exists between the two appari- 
 tions of which I have spoken, that the human 
 phantom never loses its relation with the body which 
 it has quitted, by a sort of fluidic communication 
 which unites the one with the other. It is in the 
 latter that the living force is acting which is neces- 
 sary for its different evolutions. Useless to add that 
 this force has its maximum at the emerging point, 
 that it weakens with distance, and attains nullity 
 when this distance exceeds certain limits. The 
 phantom of the chamberlain's father, not having 
 gone beyond the inclosure of the park, was conse- 
 quently at but a short distance from the chateau 
 where lay the body from which he drew his active 
 power, and could therefore manifest itself by speech, 
 whilst the case was quite different with the phantom 
 of the passenger, which had had to travel a distance 
 of some leagues to reach the room of the captain. ('*) 
 
 (") Quite another explanation would te given by Asiatic psycholo- 
 gists. No audible sound need have been uttered to make the sou 
 believe his father was speaking : it was only necessary for them to 
 be in perfect psychic sympathy, and for the father to think intently 
 that he was talking. The illusion of audible speech would then be 
 imparted to the son's sensorium by the vibratory effect of the psychic 
 thought-current upon the same sensitive conductor that is the final link 
 between the sensorium and the mechanical apparatus of the ear and 
 auditory passage. Instead of air-vibrai ions telephonically working 
 the auditory mechanism, the agent would now be the subtler motions 
 of a thought-current. This postulates the assumption that thought 
 causes vibrations in a medium through which it can telepathically 
 act, and such is the claim made. I have tested it experimentally! 
 and seen it often done by otherp. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 45 
 
 Let us quote another fact of a speaking-apparition 
 from the same author. 
 
 Stilling gives some interesting details about a man 
 who lived in 1740, who passed a retired life, had 
 strange habits, and resided in the neighbourhood of 
 Philadelphia, U.S.A. This man had the reputation 
 of possessing extraordinary secrets, and of being 
 able to discover the most hidden things. Amongst 
 the most remarkable proofs that he gave of his power, 
 the following was regarded by Stilling as well 
 authenticated : 
 
 A ship's captain had gone for a long voyage to 
 Europe and Africa ; his wife, who had received no 
 news of him for a long time, was advised to apply to 
 this expert ; he begged her to excuse him while he 
 went in search of the particulars which she desired. 
 He passed into the adjoining room, and she took a 
 seat to wait. As his absence was prolonged, she 
 grew impatient, and thought that he had forgotten 
 her ; she softly approached the door, looked through 
 a blind, and was astonished to see him lying on a 
 sofa motionless as if he were dead. She did not 
 think it right to disturb him, but awaited his return. 
 He told her that her husband had been prevented 
 from writing by such and such reasons, that he was 
 at that moment in a cafe in London, and that he 
 would soon return home. The return of the husband 
 occurred, agreeably with what had been thus an- 
 nounced ; and the wife, having asked of him the 
 motives of his long silence, he alleged the very 
 
46 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 reasons which the adept had given her. The wife 
 had a great desire to verify the remainder of these 
 particulars. She was fully satisfied in this respect, 
 for her husband had no sooner set his eyes on the 
 magician than he remembered having seen him on 
 a certain day in a London coffee-house, where this 
 man had told him that his wife was very uneasy 
 about him ; to which the captain had replied by ex- 
 plaining why he had been prevented from writing, 
 and had added that he was on the eve of embarking 
 for America. The captain had afterwards lost sight 
 of this stranger, and had heard nothing more of 
 him. 
 
 Here, again, is a speaking phantom, and this 
 time at several hundreds of leagues away from the 
 starting point; for he had to cross the Atlantic 
 to go from the suburbs of Philadelphia to the 
 coffee-house in London. The explanation that we 
 have given of this phenomenon on the preceding 
 page does not apply here. It is, in fact, difficult 
 to believe that the Double of the adept exerted 
 the force that was necessary for these phonetic 
 manifestations in the physical body. The distance 
 which separates the phantom from its centre of 
 action seems too great. A new explanation be- 
 comes necessary. We find it in an experimental 
 fact well known to all those who are occupied in 
 any way with the study of man considered from 
 the point of view of these fluidic manifestations. 
 It is, that every phantom exerts its force, not only 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 47 
 
 in the body whence it proceeds, but also in that 
 of persons whose physical or moral constitution 
 resembles its own, or which by their nature pre- 
 sent a marked tendency towards what is commonly 
 called the phenomena of spiritism. The Seeress 
 of Prevorst, about whom I shall have frequent 
 occasion to speak, possessed this faculty in the 
 highest degree. She felt that she was nourished 
 by the emanations of those who came to see her. 
 The members of her family were those who gave 
 her the most strength, by reason of the conformity 
 of their constitution to this sort of vampirism, and 
 they felt themselves weakened after they had spent 
 some minutes near her. It was, then, in the body 
 of the ship's captain, or in that of one of the 
 persons in the same room with him, that the 
 phantom of the expert fed himself with .vital force, 
 and thus supplied the deficiency of the current 
 which reached him from Philadelphia. ('') 
 
 ('*) Ingenious, but, I think, not correct. The operator, in this 
 instance, -was a trained expert, who was able, it seems, to perform 
 this phenomenon of projection at will. We are not told whether 
 the phantom saw the captain alone or in company ; or, if the latter, 
 whether his companions also saw it and heard the conversation. 
 Even if others were present, it was quite within the power of a 
 skilful expert of the sort to ' ' materialize " his phantom into visi- 
 bility and create a voice. Beaders of theosophical literature will 
 recollect the story of my personally having had such an experience 
 at New York before my leaving for India, my occult visitor's body 
 being then actually more than double the distance away from where 
 we were talking than this alleged Philadelphia expert was from 
 his body. My visitor gave me a turban cloth, in connection with 
 which phenomenon see Scott's The Monastery, chap, xvii., where 
 
48 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 It is not, however, tlie dialogue of the phantom 
 that must be considered the most curious trait of 
 this narrative. What strikes one, in my opinion, 
 the most is the facility with which the expert falls 
 into lethargy to undertake his voyage of explora- 
 tion. Until now, we have seen apparitions produce 
 themselves in a more or less unconscious manner, 
 following after a sleep more or less lethargic, yet 
 natural. In the case we are now considering, the 
 patient knows that he is about to project the 
 Double, and, to accomplish his object, he shuts 
 himself in his room, lies upon a sofa, and sleeps, 
 or rather falls into syncope, for it is not a question 
 here of an ordinary sleep. Certain privileged beings, 
 that is to say, who present, in certain physiological 
 aspects, an organization of extreme delicacy, pro- 
 duce surprising effects, which seem so many in- 
 explicable phenomena, but which are in reality 
 but the exaggerated development of a principle 
 inherent in our nature and common to all men. 
 These personalities are rare; one sees them arise 
 only at certain epochs.('^) In antiquity it was Moses, 
 
 Halbert G-lendinning receives from the elemental guardian of the 
 house of Avenel a certain solid object — like my present, "mate- 
 rialized " at the instant. 
 
 ('^) This leaves q^uifce out of the account the vrhole great body of 
 Asiatic adepts, yogis, fakirs, and other religious ascetics. Por one 
 example of psychic projection — since it is useless to multiply in- 
 stances — see aa article on " Maroti Bd-vri's Wonders," in the 
 Theosophist magazine, vol. ii. p. 6, and confirmation of the narrative 
 on page 202 of the same volume. The holy man was still living 
 at latest accounts. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 49 
 
 Appolonius of Tyana, Simon Magus ; then it was 
 Merlin the Enchanter and the thaumaturgists of 
 the first centuries of the (Ihristian era. In our 
 times we have had Swedenborg, Cagliostro, and 
 the Seeress of Prevorst. The adept of Philadelphia 
 belongs to this galaxy. 
 
 If it is surprising to see a vocal organ in the 
 human phantom, it is still more so to learn that 
 the latter also possesses a digestive apparatus. A 
 glass of water, for example, can be swallowed by 
 the fluidic image of a person and instantaneously 
 pass into that person's body. I might quote several 
 examples of this kind, taken from different authors ; 
 but intending to devote a special chapter to the 
 ogreish, propensities of the posthumous man, I will 
 not enter here into any of the details of. the sub- 
 ject. I will but add that this apparatus can only 
 be the gaziform replica of that which exists in the 
 body, and that it is united to the latter by a plexus 
 of invisible capillaries. (") This supposition is, no 
 doubt, contrary to all the laws of physics. One 
 
 (") Many cases of eating and drinking by " materialized spirits " 
 are reported in the literature of Modern Spiritualism. It is paid that 
 the food and drink pass into the medium's stomach, though apparently 
 consumed by the apparition at some yards' distance. There is not 
 actual deglutition, but a disintegration of the food, and its transfer 
 as highly attenuated and invisible matter to the medium's body — 
 if it goes there ; otherwise it is dispersed in space. One of the 
 easiest yet most interesting of mesmeric experiments is to transfer 
 sensations of sound, taste, feeling, &c., from the operator to the 
 subject. The transfer of disintegrated matter is only a step 
 farther. 
 
 4 
 
50 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 cannot explain how an aeriform recipient can 
 receive, without disintegrating itself, a liquid so 
 heavy as water; and a thing still more extraordi- 
 nary, how this liquid passes into another receptacle 
 placed at a distance, and having with the first no 
 apparent communication. It must be distinctly 
 affirmed, and I shall have several occasions to re- 
 peat it, that the fluidic world obeys, in certain of 
 its manifestations, laws as yet unfathomed, and 
 which seem to connect themselves, at least in part, 
 to the very obscure problem of the rarification of 
 matter. It would not be impossible, however, to 
 find analogies in the physical world. ('^) Let us 
 
 (") Authok's Note : — ^Nature displays to us various phenomena 
 -wliich are not without analogy to that I have just described. Such 
 are waterspouts. Navigators who have had the opportunity of 
 observation see the lower surface of a cloud elongating itself into 
 the form of a conical tube, which stretches itself downwards towards 
 the sea. At the moment when its extremity is about to touch the 
 surface of the water, the latter, twisting itself into a column, pene- 
 trates into the centre of the tube and rises up to the cloud, which 
 swells and blackens more and more. Often they see, through the 
 transparent sides of the tube, the water rise with the spiral motion 
 ■of a screw. When the cloud is saturated with water, or rather 
 when the opposing electricities which have produced this attraction 
 "between the sea and the meteor are neutralized, the aspiring tube 
 breaks and the cloud discharges itself in rain. If one reflects that 
 "the walls of the tube are of extreme fluidity, and yet that they 
 lesist the full force of the gyratory pressure of the ascending 
 column, one can easily convince himself that this phenomenon is 
 not less extraordinary than the passage of a glass of water into the 
 digestive organs of a phantom of a fluidiform nature, or than the 
 presence of blood in its circulatory apparatus — a circumstance 
 which is about to present itself for notice in the following 
 examples. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 51 
 
 only bear in mind this principle of natural philo- 
 sophy, so familiar to all who devote themselves to 
 the study of science : there is no solution of con- 
 tinuity in nature. The child who comes out of 
 the body of its mother is attached to her by a 
 vascular system which brought it strength and life. 
 It is the same in this doubling ; the human phan- 
 tom is constantly in immediate relation with the 
 body whence it has wandered for some moments. 
 Invisible bonds, and of a vascular nature, so inti- 
 mately connect the two extremities of the chain, 
 that any accident happening to one of the two 
 poles reacts (se refer cute) instantaneously upon the 
 other. My meaning will be better understood from 
 the examples I am about to relate. The first was 
 extracted by Des Mousseaux from the judicial 
 archives of England : 
 
 " A young son of Henry Jones, the little Eichard, 
 was one day touched by a woman named Jane 
 Brooks. Passing her fingers downward along one of 
 the child's sides, Jane, after having in a friendly 
 way pressed his hand, made him a present of an 
 apple. C) He lost no time in cooking and eating it. 
 
 (") AVhich, of course, she had impregnated beforehand with her 
 malignant aura. A' glass of water mesmerized with kindly intent 
 will act as a specific against disease ; mesmerized with a vicious intent, 
 is capable of killing a sensitive, like a deadly poison. Does the 
 Western reader now get an idea of the real secret of the Hindu 
 Brahman's unwillingness to wear, sit upon, eat, drink, or touch 
 things that have been iu contact with non-Brahmans, that is to say, 
 of persons who have not become psychically purifi^d, as the true 
 Brahman has, by strict training of soul, mind, and body ? The 
 
 4—2 
 
52 P.OSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 A moment later he fell sick, and the illness became 
 serious. Now, one Sunday, when the child, tor- 
 mented with the curious sickness which had seized 
 upon his body, was watched by his father and a 
 witness named Grilson, he suddenly cried out, at 
 about noon : 
 
 " 'Look, there is Jane Brooks ! ' 
 
 " ' Where, where ? ' 
 
 " ' There, on the wall. There, don't you see her, 
 at the end of my finger ? ' 
 
 "For this sorceress, as well as the one who will 
 appear in the next anecdote, seemed to enter the 
 room, as she also left it, by passing through 
 the wall ! Q°) Nobody, it should be remarked, dis- 
 tinguished her except little Eichard. Was he then 
 feverish ? did he dream ? Gilson, however, springing 
 to the place pointed out by the child, slashed at it 
 with a knife. 
 
 " ' Oh, father ! Grilson has made a cut on Jane's 
 hand ; she is all over blood.' 
 
 " What was to be believed or done ? As quick as 
 
 mere touch of a vile man or woman defiles by the evil aura it 
 communicates. Hindus are not such fools as to shake hands, as we 
 do, with the most casual acquaintance. Above all, women and 
 children should be careful whose hand they touch. 
 
 (^') At will, a psychic expert can in a moment condense his 
 Double so that it would no more pass through a wall, or even a 
 lattice, than one's physical body could ; and in the next moment — 
 provided, always, that he keeps perfect command over his memory 
 and will — can volatize or aerify it into invisibility, when it can pass 
 through granite. And the same can be done by the " posthumous 
 phantom.'' 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 53 
 
 thought, Eichard's father and Gilson ran to the 
 house of the constable. The constable was one of 
 those quite rare indiridualSj of a blass that our 
 academies would find the greatest jprofit to draw 
 their recruits from, who know ho* to listen to 
 people of sound judgment, however strange and 
 singular their speech may seem to be. He gave 
 them then quite a magisterial attention, that is to 
 say that he put no obstacles in their way, but at 
 once accompanied them to the house of the accused. 
 They entered unceremoniously. Jane, seated upon 
 her stool, held one of her hands with the other. 
 
 " ' How do you get on, mother ? ' said the 
 constable. 
 
 " ' Not so very well,, sir.' 
 
 " ' But why are you covering up one of your hands 
 with the other ? ' 
 
 " ' Oh, that is only my way.' 
 
 " ' Is that hand paining you, then, perhaps ? ' 
 
 " ' No, not at all,' 
 
 " ' But you must have, something the matter with 
 it ; let me look.' 
 
 " And as the old woman refused, the constable, 
 quickly grasping her, uncovered her hand all 
 over blood. It was exactly as the child described 
 it. 
 
 " ' It was a large pin that terribly tore me,' cried 
 out the old woman. 
 
 "But it was averred furthermore that a host of 
 similar wicked acts committed by this wretch had 
 
54 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 come to the knowledge of many witnesses. Jane, 
 arraigned. at the assizes, was condemned on the 16th 
 of March, 1658, and that also marked the time 
 when the sufferings of the boy Eichard ceased. 
 
 "Messrs. Robert Hunt and John Carey, justices- 
 of the peace, before whom Jane was tried, affirmed 
 that they had seen with their own eyes a part of 
 the phenomena on which the accusation was based. 
 And every one knows the high position which these 
 magistrates hold in England. Needless to say that 
 all the witnesses deposed upon oath, which is 
 important." 
 
 One cannot misunderstand the cause of the 
 wound which the sorceress tried to conceal. This 
 wound had been perceived upon the phantom's hand 
 by the boy Richard at the moment when the 
 slashing stroke of the knife was made, and it was 
 found almost immediately afterwards by the con- 
 stable on the hand of Jane, in the latter's dwelling. 
 The child had seen not only the wound, but also the 
 blood which spurted from it. The direct communi- 
 cation between the body and its phantom is here 
 established in an official and undeniable manner. 
 It implies in the phantom the existence of an 
 arterial and venous system^ — a system which is in 
 reality but the fluidic replica of that which is in the 
 body. It may be asked if the blood which the boy 
 Richard saw coming from the wound of the phantom 
 was really arterial blood, or only its appearance. 
 The following story affords the answer. I take it 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 55 
 
 from the same author, who has exhumed it, like 
 the preceding one, from English judicial records : 
 
 " Another woman, named Juliana Cox, had attained 
 her seventieth year ; and as she knocked one day, 
 while begging, at the door of a house, a servant-maid 
 who opened it gave her a rough welcome. ' Very 
 well, my child; very well! Before this evening 
 you shall repent of this ! ' and that very night the 
 maid was writhing in the most frightful convulsions. 
 
 " As soon as she felt better, she cried loudly for 
 help, earnestly begging the people of the house to 
 come. ' See, see, this miserable beggar-woman is 
 pursuing me ; ' and, pointing with her finger, the 
 poor girl pretended to show the infamous old 
 woman, whom no other eye than hers could dis- 
 cover ! ' She must be hallucinated, maniacal, 
 hysterical ; what could be clearer ? Let her leave us 
 in peace.' These were the expressions uttered about 
 her in the kitchen by the philosophers in petticoats 
 who surrounded her, and the molestations took their 
 course. But one fine morning the servant-girl, per- 
 fectly certain that she should see her tormentor 
 coming again, conceived the happy thought of 
 arming herself with a cutlass. The phantom of 
 Juliana Cox did in fact soon renew her visit ; when, 
 seizing her cutlass, the girl dealt a blow at her in- 
 visible enemy, and before all the witnesses who saw 
 the flash of the blade her bed became instantly 
 sprinkled with blood. It was the leg of the phantom, 
 she said, that had received the blow. ' Let us go 
 
56 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 and see,' she cried ; and immediately she went, well 
 accompanied, to the house of Juliana, Their purpose 
 was to verify the wound. On. arriving, they knocked 
 at the door, but they might have knocked a long time 
 if they had not burst it open ; then they rushed into 
 Juliana's room. Quick, quick, what says the leg ? 
 The leg, newly wounded, had been dressed not more 
 than a few minutes before. And the lips of a 
 wound have sometimes an indiscreet and terrible 
 language. They then compared it with the servant's 
 cutlass. What then ? The blade exactly fitted the 
 wound. The blow aimed at the spectre of the beggar- 
 woman, in a house where there were so many good eyes 
 which ought to have been able to see her, but did 
 not, thus took effect on this same woman in a place 
 other than that of the apparition. However, it so 
 happened that the wound, which seems to have re- 
 bounded from the phantom to the person, was visible 
 and palpable to everybody. Nevertheless, the ob- 
 sessions of which the poor servant was the victim 
 did not cease until the day Juliana Fox was arrested. 
 She was judged and condemned." 
 
 Here we not only see the wound made by the 
 cutlass on the phantom's leg, but the bed on which 
 the scene took place is sprinkled with blood at the 
 same instant. Several persons were witnesses of this 
 marvel. There may have been some exaggeration 
 in the description, and the blood sprinkled on the 
 bed may be reducible to a few drops; but the 
 quantity of liquid spilled matters little ; it was seen 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 57 
 
 to flow at the instant the blow was struck. This fact 
 suffices. Doubt is no longer possible ; the phantom 
 possesses a circulatory apparatus as well as the body 
 of which it is the double. Invisible capillaries unite 
 the one to the other, and the whole forms a system 
 so homogeneous, so closely connected, that the 
 slightest prick received by the phantom at once 
 reacts {se repercute) on all the vascular apparatus up 
 to the extremity of the chain, and blood flows imme- 
 diately. This explains the instinctive aversion shown 
 by phantoms to fire-arms, swords, and cutting in- 
 struments of all kinds. It is the most certain way 
 of putting them to flight, unless, however, feeling 
 themselves the stronger, they try to disarm their 
 adversaries. I shall return to this subject further 
 on, and cite some examples. This fact was known in 
 antiquity, and all the authors who have treated of 
 spiritism or demonology — a designation which, ac- 
 cording to us, is only applicable to phantoms of the 
 living or the dead — are imanimous in testifying 
 to it. (2') 
 
 (") In oeremonial magic, one of the necessary articles is a con- 
 secrated, i.e., well mesmerised, sword, which the magician may 
 use as a defence against certain low classes of spectres. Ulysses 
 with his sword drives off the phantoms which swarm to absorb 
 the aura of his blood-sacrifice for the evocation of Tiresias, and 
 even the latter cannot approach him while he holds the wand in 
 his grasp. Mneaa, too, when about to descend to the realm of 
 the shades, is warned by the Sybil, his guide, to draw his sword and 
 clear a passage for himself through the crowd of phantoms. See 
 also PseUus {Be Deemm.) and other classical authorities. An in- 
 teresting and learned discussion of the subject is in Im Unveiled, 
 vol. i., d&Zetseq. 
 
58 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 We have seen tiiat the human phantom is able to 
 speak, when not too far distant from its starting 
 point. At other times its lips are seen to move with- 
 out any sounds being heard. (^^) Such is the case 
 in the following instance reported by Graerres : 
 
 " Mary, wife of Joseph Grofife, of Eochester, was 
 attacked by a wasting disease and taken to West 
 Mailing, nine miles from her home, to the house of 
 her father, where she died on June 4, 1691. On 
 the eve of her death, she feels a great desire to see 
 her two children, whom she has left at home in the 
 care of a nurse. . She begs her husband to hire a 
 horse, that she may go to Rochester and die near 
 her children. She is told that she is not in a fit 
 state to leave her bed and ride on horseback. She 
 persists, and says that, at any rate, she wants to try. 
 
 " ' If I cannot sit up,' she said, ' I will lie at full 
 length on the horse, for I want to see my dear little 
 ones.' 
 
 "A clergyman came to see her at about two 
 o'clock in the afternoon. She appeared quite 
 resigned to die, and full of confidence in divine 
 mercy. 
 
 " ' All my trouble,' she said, ' is that I cannot 
 see my children again.' 
 
 "Between one and two o'clock in the morning 
 
 (22) Of the phantom forms that I saw at the Eddy homestead, 
 some could only move their lips, some spoke in whispers, and others 
 were able to thunder out their words in a way to be heard in any 
 public hall. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 69 
 
 she fell into a sort of ecstasy. According to the 
 report of the widow Turner, who watched by her 
 through the night, her eyes were fixed and her 
 mouth shut. Her nurse placed her hand over her 
 mouth and nostrils, and did not feel any breath ; 
 so she thought that the patient had fainted, and 
 could not tell whether she was dead or. alive. 
 When she came to herself, she told her mother that 
 she had been to Eochester and seen her children. 
 
 " ' It is impossible,' said the mother ; ' you have 
 not left your bed.' 
 
 "'Well,' said the other, 'anyhow, I went to. see 
 my children to-night while I was asleep.' 
 
 " The widow Alexander, the children's nurse, 
 affirmed, on her side, .that the same morning, a 
 little before, two o'clock, she had seen Mary Goffe 
 come out of the room next her own, where one of 
 the children was sleeping alone, the door being 
 open, and come into her room ; that she had stopped 
 about a quarter of an hour by the. bed where she 
 was lying with the younger child. Her eyes moved, 
 and her lips seemed to speak, but she said nothing 
 audibly. The nurse willingly agreed to confirm by 
 oath, before the authorities, all that she had said, 
 and afterwards to receive the sacraments. She added 
 that she was perfectly awake, and the day was 
 breaking, for it was one of the longest in the year. 
 She was sitting up in bed, had regarded the 
 apparition with close attention, and had heard the 
 clock on the bridge strike two. But after a few . 
 
60 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 instants she had said, ' In the name of the Father, 
 the Son, and the Holy Ghost, who are you ? ' With 
 these words the phantom had vanished. 
 
 " The nurse quickly put on some clothes to follow 
 the phantom, but could not discover what had 
 become of it. She then began to feel somewhat 
 alarmed. She went out of the house, which was 
 situated on the Quay, and walked about for some 
 hours, going to look at the children . occasionally. 
 About five o'clock in the morning she knocked at 
 the door of the adjoining house; but it was not 
 opened until an hour later, and then she related 
 what had happened. They told her she had been 
 dreaming, but she answered, 'I saw her to-night 
 as plain as ever I saw her in my life.' Mary de J. 
 Liveet, one of the persons who heard her talk thus, 
 heard in the morning that Mrs. Groffe was in the 
 last extremity, and wanted to speak to her. She, 
 therefore, went to Mailing the same day, and 
 found her dying. The mother of the sick woman 
 told her, among other things, that her daughter 
 had greatly desired to see her children, and, indeed, 
 said she had seen them. 
 
 " Mary remembered the words of the nurse, for 
 till then she had said nothing about them, 
 believing there had been some illusion. Tilson, 
 the vicar of Aylesworth-Maidstone, who has published 
 this fact, heard all the details on the day of the 
 burial, from J. Carpenter, father of Mrs. Goffe. 
 On the 2nd of July, he made a very exact inquiry 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 61 
 
 of the nurse and the two neighbours she had visited 
 in the morning. The next day the account was 
 confirmed by the mother of Mrs. Grofife, by the 
 clergyman who had come to see her in the evening, 
 and by the person who had watched by her through 
 the night. All, were unanimous in their testimony; 
 all were calm, intelligent persons, incapable of 
 deception, and who, besides, had no interest in 
 giving false evidence. This fact, therefore, unites 
 all the conditions which make it incontestible." 
 
 According to the testimony of the nurse who 
 saw the phantom of Mary Groffe, her lips moved as 
 well as her eyes, and seemed to speak, but uttered 
 no sound. It is permissible to conjecture that this 
 mutism was due to a certain physical weakness ; 
 but to what cause shall we ascribe it ? The 
 distance which separated the invalid from the 
 place of the apparition being but a few miles, the 
 theory of distance can hardly be urged. On one' 
 side, the movements of the eyes and lips implied 
 on the mother's part an evident desire to bid a last 
 farewell to the dear ones whom she was about to 
 leave for ever. Moreover, the phantom had exerted 
 all the vital force which still animated the dying 
 woman. The sick-nurse, who was on watch, attests 
 this very precisely when she tells us that, at the 
 moment of the vision, Mary Goffe was as though in 
 ecstasis, her eyes fixed, mouth closed, and without 
 any trace of breathing, so much so that she asked 
 herself if she had not before her a lifeless corpse. 
 
62 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 It is presumable that the phonetic powerlessness of 
 the image reflected the exhaustion of the dying 
 woman.C^') 
 
 The facts which I have just cited and analyzed 
 are, I think, sufficiently numerous and conclusive to 
 prove the existence of the human phantom, and 
 edify us with respect to its intimate constitution. I 
 could multiply citations, but it seems useless. 
 However, I will again borrow from Des Mousseaux 
 the following narrative, which, in certain respects, 
 finishes and sums up what I have said upon this 
 subject : 
 
 " Mr. Eobert Pale Owen was ambassador from the 
 American Republic at the Court of Naples. In 1845, 
 this diplomatist tells us, there existed in Livonia the 
 boarding-school of Neuwelke, about twelve leagues 
 from Eiga and half a league from Wolmar. The 
 suhool contained forty-two boarders, mostly of noble 
 families, and among the assistant-mistresses was one 
 Emilie Sagee, of French origin, aged about thirty- 
 two, in good health, but nervous and of unex- 
 ceptionable deportment. A few weeks after her 
 arrival it was noticed that when one boarder said 
 
 C) Not necessarily. On the contrary, the phantom, draTring 
 its strength from the body, must grow stronger in proportion as 
 that weakens. There are many cases on record of phantoms which 
 have seemed to speak, although, presumably, their bodies were in 
 the last extremity of weakness. If the Goffe phantom's lips moved, 
 it was to utter the words that it was mentally framing, and, 
 perhaps, if the children's nurse had been more sensitive she would 
 have heard them. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 63 
 
 that she had seen her in a certain place, often 
 another one affirmed that she was in a different 
 place. Upon a certain day, the young ladies, saw 
 suddenly two Emilie Sagees, exactly alike, and 
 making the same gestures. The one, however, held 
 in her hand a chalk pencil, and the other nothing. 
 Soon afterwards Antoinette de Wrangel was dressing, 
 while Emilie was hooking her dress behind ; the 
 young girl saw in a mirror, upon turning around, 
 two Emilies hooking her dress, and fainted from 
 fright. Sometimes at meals the double form ap- 
 peared standing behind the chair of the assistant- 
 mistress, and imitating the movements that she 
 made in eating ; but the hands held neither knife 
 nor fork. However, the doubled form seemed only 
 by accident to be imitating the real person, and 
 sometimes when Emilie rose from her chair, the 
 Double seemed to be sitting there. Once, Emilie 
 being sick -in bed, Mdlle. de Wrangel was reading to 
 her. Suddenly the assistant-mistress became, stiff, 
 pale, and seemed ready to faint. The young pupil 
 asked if she felt herself worse ; she replied in the 
 negative, but in a feeble voice. {^) Some seconds 
 
 (*■") When the Double is projected by a trained expert, even, 
 the body seems torpid, and the mind in a " brown study " or dazed 
 state ; the eyes are lifeless in expression, the heart and lung actions 
 feeble, and |. often the temperature much lowered. It is very 
 dangerous to make any sudden noise, or burst into the room, under 
 such circumstances ; for the Double being by instantaneous reaction 
 drawn back into the body, the heart convulsively palpitates, and 
 death even may be caused. The Burmese will hardly on any 
 
64 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 later, Mdlle. de Wrangel saw distinctly Emilie's 
 Double walking up and down in the room." 
 
 Here is the most remarkable example of bi-corpo- 
 reality that was observed in this marvellous assistant- 
 mistress : 
 
 "One day, the forty-two boarders were embroider- 
 ing in the same apartment on the ground floor, and 
 four glazed doors of this room opened upon the 
 garden. They saw in this garden Emilie gathering 
 flowers, while at the same moment she seemed in- 
 stalled in the arm-chair which had been vacated. The 
 boarders immediately looked in the garden, where 
 they still saw Emilie ; but they observed the feeble- 
 ness of her locomotion and her air of suffering ; she 
 was as though dull and exhausted. Two of the 
 boldest approached the Double and tried to touch it. 
 They felt a slight resistance, which they compared to 
 that of some texture in muslin or crepe. One of 
 them passed through a portion of the figure ; and, 
 after the boarder had passed, the appearance 
 remained the same for some moments and then 
 gradually disappeared. This phenomenon was re- 
 peated in different ways as long as Emilie remained 
 in her situation, i.e., in 1845-46, during a year and 
 a half ; but there were intermissions of from one to 
 several weeks. It was further remarked that the 
 more distinct the Double, and more material in ap- 
 
 account consent to awaken any one from even ordinary slumber: 
 they say the projected Double, or "butterfly-spirit,'' may be far 
 away and unable to get back into the body if swiftly recalled. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 65 
 
 pearanee, the really material person was propor- 
 tionately wearied, suffering, and languid ; when, on 
 the contrary, the appearance of the Double weakened, 
 the patient was seen to recover her strength. 
 Emilie, finally, had no consciousness of this doubling, 
 but learned it only by hearsay. She never saw the 
 Double, nor ever suspected the state into which she 
 was plunged. This phenomenon having alarmed 
 the relatives, they took away their children, and the 
 institution failed." 
 
 I shall now analyze, as I have in the previous 
 examples, the different peculiarities of this story. 
 The facts speak for themselves ; all commentary 
 would be superfluous. However, I will note two or 
 three points which especially deserve our attention, 
 and which enlighten us upon the nature of the fluidic 
 being which seems to constitute in us a second 
 personality. 
 
 In nearly all the narratives of phantasmal doubling 
 that we have seen unfold themselves up to this point, 
 the person who was the subject of it has been in 
 bed, motionless, and plunged either in sleep- or 
 lethargy. The same rule holds with the greater 
 part of analogous facts, which I either pass without 
 remark or which I shall have occasion to cite in 
 the following chapters. Hence follows this natural 
 conclusion, that a lethargic sleep is the first neces- 
 sary condition for producing the phenomenon of the 
 Double. With the assistant-mistress of iiiga, we 
 see this doubling occur at all hours of the day, 
 
 5 
 
66 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 without apparent cause and under the most diverse 
 circumstances. This remarkable fact must be attri- 
 buted to the lady's nature, who, we are told, was 
 of an extremely nervous organization. However, 
 this exception is not solitary ; we shall meet others 
 in the course of the book. 
 
 The resistance which the image of the assistant- 
 mistress ofifered to the boarders, who tried to touch 
 it, is another important fact to notice. This resist- 
 ance was compared to that which one feels in 
 pressing a gauzy fabric. Such an indication 
 confirms that which has been revealed to us by 
 the analysis of the human phantom from the aspect 
 of its physical constitution. It is not purely an 
 optical image of our exterior form ; it is a complete 
 replica of all the constituent parts of our organism, 
 and this copy, far from being an ideal thing, is 
 composed of material molecules. I have designated 
 the phantom thus produced by the word fluid, 
 to imply that the atoms which constitute it are 
 borrowed from the most tenuous molecules of the 
 human body. But how reconcile the resistance 
 offered by these material molecules with the 
 extreme tenuity that must be attributed to the 
 phantom to allow it to penetrate walls and closed 
 doors, for we have seen it enter the most securely 
 closed rooms ? 
 
 The phenomenon explains itself. We know that 
 hydrogen, the lightest of the gases, passes through 
 certain metals. We also recall the celebrated 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 67 
 
 experiment of the Academicians of Florence, who, 
 having filled a golden globe with water, saw some 
 liquid drops appear upon the surface after they had 
 submitted it to a certain pressure. Whatever the 
 thickness of a wall, it can be easily traversed by 
 gaseous atoms, by reason of the numerous pores 
 which in all bodies separate the molecules of even 
 the densest matter. 
 
 Nevertheless, the manner in which the phantom 
 of the assistant-mistress of Eiga appeared and 
 disappeared gives us the solution of the problem ; 
 her image formed itself not suddenly, but by 
 imperceptible degrees. Appearing very mist-like 
 at first, it was only after some moments that it 
 showed its full consistence. The same occurred 
 when she fainted. It is thus that the phantom 
 proceeds who passes through a wall or partition. 
 So to speak, he causes the molecules to pass singly, 
 which becomes very easy, thanks to the elastic 
 nature of thS*' gaseous elements which constitute 
 
 it.e') 
 
 Another fact to mark is the change which was 
 observed in the attitude, gestures, and physiognomy 
 of the assistant-mistress each time that her duplica- 
 
 (^) In my book upon the Eddy phenomena, I describe (p. 2S3) 
 an experiment I made to test the muscular power that could be 
 exerted by a phantom hand, .detached from any visible arm. The 
 hand pulled 40 lbs. upon a spring-balance at the first trial, and 
 50 lbs. at the second. The first ^vas a horizontal, the second a 
 vertical pull — both in fuU light, I reading the indicator scale, 
 and alone handling the spring-balance for the phantom. 
 
 5—2 
 
68 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 tion occurred. The boarders saw her lose colour, 
 relax her movements, and lose her strength, in 
 proportion as her image developed. When the 
 latter had attained its complete development, Emilie 
 seemed exhausted and in a state of complete pros- 
 tration. This torpor reminds us of the heavy and 
 profound sleep which almost always seems the 
 enforced prelude of phantasmal duplication. For 
 naturalists, nothing is simpler than the explanation 
 of this phenomenon. It is the application of a 
 great principle of animal and vegetable physiology, 
 daily noticed in living nature, and known under the 
 name of the law of organic compensation. Invari- 
 ably, when an organ grows abnormally, it is at the 
 expense of those near it ; the latter diminish in 
 ratio as the other develops : the phantom of Emilie 
 developed at the expense of her body, by drawing 
 to itself, by a sort of aspiration, its constituent 
 elements. Thus is confirmed the existence of a 
 plexus of fluidiforrn capillaries connecting the 
 phantom with the body from which it emanates. 
 The extreme tenuity of this plexus makes it 
 invisible, as is the phantom itself at the moment 
 when it is about to manifest itself; for we have 
 just read that it only becomes visible cumulatively 
 in proportion as its constituent molecules reach it 
 through the conducting threads. 
 
 Let us summarize this chapter. Innumerable 
 facts, observed from antiquity to our own day, de- 
 monstrate in our being the existence of an in- 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 69 
 
 ternal reality — the internal man. Analysis of these 
 different manifestations has permitted us to pene- 
 trate its nature. Externally it is the exact image 
 of the person of -whom it is the complement. In- 
 ternally, it reproduces the mould of all the organs 
 which constitute the framework of the human 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 con- 
 stituent molecules, which represent the last term of 
 organic matter, allow it to pass through the walls 
 and partitions of apartments. Hence the name of 
 phantom, by which it is generally designated. 
 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 inversion, life 
 withdraw from the body, which then exhibits a cada- 
 verous rigidity, and transfer itself entirely to the 
 phantom, which acquires consistency, sometimes 
 even to the point of struggling with persons before 
 whom it materializes. It is but exceptionally that 
 it shows itself in connexion with a living person. 
 But as soon as death has snapped the bonds which 
 attach it to our organism, it definitely separates 
 itself from the human body and constitutes the 
 posthumous phantom. 
 
70 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FACTS ESTABLISHING THE EXISTENCE OF THE PEESON- 
 ALITY IX ANIMALS, AND CONCEKNING A POSTHUMOUS 
 ANIMALITY. — FLUIDIC FORM OF VEGETABLES. — 
 FLUIDIC FORM OF GROSS BODIES. 
 
 Is the existence in us of a living and phantasmal 
 image, copying our external form as well as our 
 interior organization, the privilege of the human 
 species, or must it be considered as an attribute of 
 animality ? For every man initiated in the study 
 of natural philosophy doubt is not permissible. He 
 will unhesitatingly answer that the human animal is 
 but a bough of the zoological tree, all his essential 
 characteristics being found in different degrees in 
 the other branches. This theoretical consideration, 
 deduced from the great law of analogies which forms 
 one of the principal bases of natural history, is ex- 
 perimentally confirmed by a great number of facts. 
 Certain of these I will now cite : 
 
 Towards the end of 1869, finding myself at Bor- 
 deaux, I met one evening a friend who was going to 
 a magnetic siance, and asked me to accompany him. 
 I accepted his invita.tion, desiring to see magnetism 
 at close quarters, which as yet I knew only by name. 
 This stance presented nothing remarkable ; it was 
 but the repetition of what occurs at meetings of 
 this kind. A young person who seemed quite lucid 
 filled the part of somnambule, and answered questions 
 which were put to her. I was, however, struck with 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 71 
 
 one unexpected circumstance. Towards the middle 
 of the evening one of the persons present, having 
 noticed a spider on the floor, crushed it with his 
 foot. 
 
 "Ah!" cried the somnambule at the same 
 moment, " I see the spirit of the spider escaping." 
 
 In the language of mediums, as we know, the word 
 spirit designates that which I have called the post- 
 humous phantom. 
 
 " What is the form of this spirit ? " asked the 
 magnetizer. 
 
 " It has the form of the spider," replied the 
 sleeper. 
 
 At the moment I did not know what to think of 
 this apparition. I certainly did not doubt the clair- 
 voyance of the somnambule, but not believing then 
 in the reality of any posthumous manifestation on 
 the part of man I could not admit it in animals. 
 The history of the spider was only explained to me 
 some years later, when, having acquired the certi- 
 tude of the duplication of the human personality, 
 I thought of searching for the same phenomenon in 
 our most familiar animals. I mean those we call 
 domestic. After some investigations I comprehended 
 that the Bordeaux somnambule had not been the 
 dupe of an hallucination, as sometimes happens with 
 magnetic subjects, but that her vision was a reality. 
 The following facts are the more conclusive in that 
 they have to do with persons wide awake, and not 
 with those in magnetic sleep. But, first of all, I 
 
72 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 must establish in animals the existence of the living 
 phantom, which will lead us to the posthumous. 
 Several examples of phantasmal duplication in 
 animals are known. The following instance, vrhich 
 I borrow from De Mirville, is significant. As 
 it is somewhat long, and contains details useless 
 for our subject, I shall content myself with giving 
 a brief abstract. 
 
 On April 18th, 1705, M. Milanges de la Eichar- 
 diere, son of an advocate to the Parliament of Paris, 
 when riding on horseback in the village of Noisy- 
 le-Grand, suddenly saw his horse stop, without any 
 apparent obstacle that could explain this singularity. 
 At the same time he perceived a shepherd, of a 
 sinister countenance, carrying a crook, and accom- 
 panied by two black dogs with short ears, who said 
 to him : 
 
 " Monsieur, return home ; your horse will not go 
 forward." 
 
 The horseman, who at first had laughed at the 
 words of the shepherd, soon saw that the latter had 
 but told the truth, for neither his encouragements 
 nor his spurs could make the beast advance, and 
 he was obliged to go back. Some days later, having 
 fallen ill, doctors were called, who, after numerous 
 unavailing attempts to cure him, declared that that 
 which troubled the young Milanges was not of the 
 nature of ordinary sickness, and began to talk of 
 sorcery. Young Milanges then recollected the 
 scene of the horse and the shepherd, and related 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 73 
 
 it to his parents. However, there was still some 
 uncertainty about it, until the young man one day 
 entering his room saw this shepherd seated in his 
 arm-chair. He wore the same dress as on the 
 day of the meeting, held his crook in his hand, 
 and had the two black dogs by his side. Terrified 
 at this sight, M. Milanges called his servants, but, 
 as usually happens in such adventures, the latter 
 perceived nothing. The apparition was visible only 
 to him to whom it had been sent. However, at 
 about ten o'clock that night, the phantom-shepherd 
 having flung himself upon the young man, the 
 latter drew a knife from his pocket and made five 
 or six cuts at the face of his adversary, who finally 
 relinquished his hold. Some days later the shep- 
 herd, having come to ask pardon of M. Milanges, 
 confessed that he was a sorcerer, and that it was 
 he who had persecuted him. 
 
 The young man, then, had not been duped by 
 an hallucination when he saw the shepherd in his 
 room, escorted by his two dogs. The sorcerer had 
 transported himself there by projecting the Double, 
 and it was his phantom that M. Milanges saw 
 seated in his arm-chair. The black dogs also were 
 but two phantoms; and this fact proves that the 
 practices of sorcery which permit the duplication 
 of the human being may be applied to animals 
 with equal success. (^) 
 
 {'^) Of course, everything in nature partakes of identical quali- 
 ties, evolution tut bringing into activity wliat in lower organisms 
 
74 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 The existence of the living phantom being demon- 
 strated in animals, one conceives that it may be 
 equally so as regards the posthumous phantom 
 which is its continuation. This is supported by 
 the following facts. The first was related to me 
 by a farmer of the neighbourhood of Ste. Croix 
 (Ari^ge), a serious man, and to some extent edu- 
 cated. Here is his story : 
 
 " One of my comrades was returning from his 
 
 watch at a late hour of the night. He was a young 
 
 man of my parish, who occupied an isolated farm. 
 
 At some distance from his house he perceived an 
 
 ass browsing in an oat-field by the side of the road. 
 
 Moved by a feeling of neighbourly interest natural 
 
 among farmers, he wished to take the unprofitable 
 
 guest from the field, and advanced towards the 
 
 animal to seize him and lead him to his own home 
 
 . until his owner should come to claim him. The 
 
 ass allowing himself to be approached, my comrade 
 
 removed him from the field and led him without 
 
 resistance. He arrived thus at the very door of the 
 
 stable; but at the moment when he was about to 
 
 open it the beast suddenly disappeared from his 
 
 hands like a shadow which vanishes. He looked 
 
 had been more or less latent. The phantom-soreerer brought with 
 him (without, of course, their agency) the Doubles of his dogs, 
 as he also did those of his staff, &e. Every leaf and blade of grass, 
 nay, every grain of sand, has its phantasmal double, as man has his. 
 Even the highest principle of all — Atma, the immortal unchange- 
 able spirit — is latent in the sand, and, by ascending degrees, mani- 
 fests through the successive kingdoms of nature. So teaches the 
 ancient Doctrine. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 75 
 
 around him, but perceived nothing. Seized \lrith 
 fright, he hurried into the house and awoke his 
 brother, to tell him the adventure. The next 
 morning they went together to the oat-field, anxious 
 to learn whether so extraordinary a being had com- 
 mitted much havoc, but found the crop untouched. 
 The mysterious animal had browsed upon imaginary 
 oats." 
 
 " From whom did you get this story ? " 
 
 "From the young man himself, to whom it- hap- 
 pened, as well as from his family." 
 
 " Did you think of asking him whether the night 
 was dark? The quadruped might have escaped 
 under cover of the darkness." 
 
 "That is the first question that we put to him 
 each time that he spoke to us about it. He in- 
 variably answered that there was not a cloud in 
 the sky, and that the night was so clear that he 
 perceived the trees and all the bushes several yards 
 off; otherwise he would not have been able to make 
 out the ass, which was foraging at some distance 
 from the road. He added that he had distinctly 
 seen the ass vanish before his eyes at the door 
 of the stable." 
 
 The nature of this phantom is sharply indicated 
 by the different circumstances of the tale. The 
 animal's spectre, originating on the same principle 
 as the human spectre, should exhibit posthumous 
 manifestations analogous to those that are observed 
 with the latter. 
 
76 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 We have established, by analysis of the appari- 
 tions mentioned in the iirst chapter, that the post- 
 sepulchral man preserves the habits that he has 
 observed during life. He shows himself in his 
 garden, his fields, his favourite walks. He is seen 
 with a crook in his hand, when it is a shepherd ; a 
 prayer-book, when it is an ecclesiastic who appears ; 
 an instrument of husbandry, when the case is that 
 of a cultivator. He seems to be attending to his 
 daily' occupations. The ass of St. Croix offers no 
 exception. He is met at night, because, like the 
 posthumous phantom, he shuns daylight. He is in 
 an oat-field, pasturing according to the instinctive 
 habit of his race, but in reality browses, as one would 
 naturally infer, but the phantom of grass or grain. 
 He follows his leader whilst they are upon the road, 
 but refuses to enter the stable, which is for him a 
 prison, and vanishes in order to escape it. Here we 
 have the essential features of posthumous manifes- 
 tations ; and if the young man to whom we have 
 spoken had inquired among his neighbours, he 
 would have learned, in all probability, that some time 
 previously a beast of burden had died and been 
 buried on a neighbouring farm. 
 
 The following fact is not less authentic. Talking 
 one day of nocturnal apparitions with an old 
 Customs officer, I asked him^if, in his long night 
 rounds, he had personally seen something of this 
 kind. 
 
 " No," he answered ; " but I will tell you a 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 77 
 
 curious thing that happened to me while I was a 
 Customs' guard." 
 
 " One evening, when I happened to be on guard 
 with one of my comrades, we perceived, not far from 
 the village where I lived, a mule which grazed before 
 us, and seemed as though laden. Supposing that 
 he was carrying contraband, and that his master 
 had fled on seeing us, we ran after him. The mule 
 dashed into a meadow, and, after having made dif- 
 ferent bolts to escape us, he entered the village, and 
 here we separated. Whilst my comrade continued 
 to follow him, I took a cross street, so as to head 
 him off. Seeing himself closely pressed, the animal 
 quickened his pace, and several of the inhabitants 
 were awakened by the noise of his hoofs clattering 
 on the pavement. I got in front of him to the 
 crossing, at the end of the street through which he was 
 fleeing, and at the moment when, seeing him close 
 to me, I put out my hand to seize his halter, he 
 disappeared like a shade, and I saw nothing but my 
 comrade, who was as amazed as myself." 
 
 " Are you quite sure that he hadn't turned aside 
 into another road ? " 
 
 "Impossible; the place where we were had no 
 outlet, and the only way he could get away was by 
 passing over my body ; and, besides, the night was 
 clear enough for us to see all his movements. Next 
 morning the inhabitants of the village were cross- 
 questioning each other about the racket they had 
 heard in the night." 
 
78 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 We may apply to this apparition that which I 
 have said with respect to the preceding one. Like 
 the ass of St. Croix, and like all posthumous 
 phantoms, our mule shows himself at night. He is 
 met in a pasture, all absorbed in his favourite occu- 
 pation, that is to say, browsing imaginary grass. As 
 soon as he finds himself tracked by the Customs 
 officers he takes flight as though he were really 
 carrying contraband in his panniers, and he vanishes 
 when he sees himself about to be captured — all 
 things which characterize the post-sepulchral spectre. 
 The most curious circumstance of the story is the 
 phantom pack which he carries on his back. I shall 
 give in the following chapter the explanation of this 
 fact. 
 
 The following story shows us a posthumous horse. 
 In the neighbourhood of the place where De Mirville 
 lived — the author of this tale — was an old haunted 
 castle. All who had stopped there were unanimous 
 in complaining of nocturnal manifestations upon 
 the premises which prevented them from sleeping. 
 
 In 1815 an English family, having come to stop 
 there, soon found themselves obliged to pack off. 
 They particularly mentioned the spectre of a horse- 
 man, armed at all points. Upon this subject the 
 following minute account was given to De Mirville 
 by one of his female relatives, who until then had 
 not wished to pay any attention to the rumours 
 which were about. 
 
 " Eetuming to Paris," said she to us, " and having 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 79 
 
 ordered from the neigbouring town two good horses 
 to draw our carriage the first stage, we left M. 
 very briskly, and soon were beyond the avenues of the 
 castle. All was going on well, when the carriage, 
 going at a quick trot, suddenly stopped in the middle 
 of an open plain, giving us a strong shock. My 
 husband and I, flung to the bottom of the carriage, 
 supposed at first that something had gone wrong 
 with the harness ; but we were soon completely un- 
 deceived, for blows began to rain upon the unfortu- 
 nate animals, which began to back, snorting with 
 terror. We supposed that they had sent either very 
 skittish or very lazy horses, and we waited quietly, 
 since there was no help for it ; however, the crisis 
 continuing, we concluded to put our heads out of 
 the window to ask the coachman what had hap- 
 pened." 
 
 " Eh ! madam, what has happened ? Don't 
 you see this horseman, who threatens my ■ poor 
 beasts with his lance and prevents theni from pass- 
 ing ? " and the whipping is doubled, and the beasts 
 back continually. Then, at the same instant, he 
 cried : 
 
 "Ah! God be praised, he has disappeared." 
 Then, of their own accord, the poor beasts broke 
 into a fast trot, but all covered with sweat, and try- 
 ing to escape as quickly as possible, like animals in 
 a panic. 
 
 Here there is no possible doubt as to the nature 
 of the horse perceived by the coachman, and his 
 
80 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 team, since he was bestridden by a posthumous 
 cavalier, 
 
 I might multiply examples, but I find myself 
 stopped by an obstacle. In certain cases, not yet 
 well defined, our internal personality may, by 
 reason of its fluidic nature, take on animal forms, as 
 I shall have occasion to show in one of the later 
 chapters. Hence, when one is in the presence of the 
 spectre of an animal, there is some reason to appre- 
 hend that this may be a lycanthropic manifestation 
 of the human phantom, unless certain particula- 
 rities do not identify, as in the preceding examples, 
 its true origin. But I have said enough to esta- 
 blish the existence of the fluidiform personality in 
 animals, and to demonstrate that the post-sepul- 
 chral humanity is but one particular case of a more 
 general law — that of posthumous animality. 
 
 The vegetable and animal kingdoms are so linked 
 together, especially at their boundaries, by a host 
 of points of contact, that one may ask himself 
 whether trees and plants have their phantasmal 
 duplication analogous to that of animals ; the pro- 
 jection of the Double not being operative with 
 vegetables, by reason of their absence of locomotion, 
 the direct demonstration fails us. But we have in- 
 direct proofs which are not without a certain value. 
 The first is afforded us by the experiments of the 
 Marquis de Puysegur ; the second by the Seeress of 
 Prevorst. When M. de Puysegur had recognized the 
 action of magnetism on man and, more generally. 
 
POSTHUMOUS nUMANITY. 81 
 
 on animals, he asked himself whether he could pro- 
 duce any effect on plants, and magnetized the trees 
 in his park. I will not bring in here the practice 
 of this operation repeated by other magnetizers. I 
 will content myself with saying that the mesmeric 
 fluid exercises a certain action on trees, that it is 
 easy to prove this by watching the change of aspect 
 which is produced in the leaves, when the trunk 
 and branches are subjected to the action of mag- 
 netism. From such' effects we may presume the 
 existence, in the interior of vegetable forms, of a 
 vital fluid which the magnetizers call the soul of the 
 plant, and which for us is the analogue of the fluidic 
 Double which we have observed in animals. The 
 Seeress of Prevorst distinguished clearly, whenever 
 she looked at a tree, its fluidic Double encased in 
 the vegetable form, and thus confirmed the physio- 
 logical deductions of the magnetizers. 
 
 The passage from the vegetable to the mineral is still 
 more easy than that from the animal to the plant. Ke- 
 duced to its simplest form, the vegetable is no more 
 than a slow crystallization of its constituent elements, 
 performed in the laboratory of nature, and recalling 
 what passes when a crystal is formed in the vessel 
 of the chemist. In both cases, it is the atoms of 
 simple bodies uniting differently, according to their 
 nature and the circumstances in which they are 
 placed. It may thence be conjectured that certain 
 properties of vegetables have their analogues in 
 minerals. Is the phantasmal doubling of the plant 
 
 6 
 
82 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 to be included in this category ? The direct proof 
 is still wanting, and analogies do not reveal much ; 
 for the existence of this duplication in vegetables 
 seems to be, as in animals, a physiological pheno- 
 menon, and we all know that physiology has nothing 
 to do with the crystallization of inorganic bodies. 
 Nevertheless, we do not hesitate to reply in the 
 affirmative ; for, in default of the direct demon- 
 stration, we have a mass of proofs derived from 
 another order of facts that I will mention in the 
 following chapter. For the moment, I will be con- 
 tent to say that the Seeress of Prevorst perceived the 
 soul of inorganic bodies as well as those of veget- 
 ables. It was their ethereal Double mixed, probably, 
 with some molecules of their proper substance. (^^) 
 
 One can realise this fact, if he considers that all 
 bodies of any density contain innumerable pores 
 connecting the interior and exterior, and con- 
 sequently they are in every sense penetrated by the 
 universal fluid in which they are bathed. The atoms 
 
 (") The reader, before adopting any definite theory, should have 
 a seance with a genuine " flower-medium," like Mrs. Mary Thayer, 
 of Boston, Mass., whose phenomena I tested. "While she was 
 enclosed in a large bag, sealed closely at her neck, and aU possibility 
 of trickery guarded against, I have seen a long table, quite covered 
 with vines, plants, and flowers, dropped out of space. I marked a 
 certain leaf of a rare plant in a garden without her knowledge, and 
 the same evening, in response to my mental request, it dropped 
 upon the back of my hand, with which I was at that moment 
 holding the medium's two hands. The above occurred in the dark ; 
 but once a tree-branch was brought me in fuU daylight, through her 
 mediumship, in the house of a gentlemen whose guest I was. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 83 
 
 of this fluid emitted from the stars in the form of 
 vibrations of light, heat, and electricity, impinge 
 upon the molecules of the objects they traverse and 
 rebound until they come into equilibrium. This 
 collection of ethereal atoms naturally takes the 
 external form of the body within which it takes up 
 its position and whose phantom it becomes. (^*) 
 Certain phenomena which the phantom presents in 
 its manifestations, whether it be living or post- 
 humous, which I shall analyze in the next chapter, 
 find in this theory a rational explanation, and give 
 it in some sort experimental sanction. 
 
 C) I cannot quite follow the learned author here. Surely, if 
 there were no pores traversing the plant-structure, this ethereal, 
 universal fluid, presumably finer, atomicaUy, than any of its gross 
 correlations, electricity, &c., ought to be able to permeate the 
 vegetable. And who can aiSrm that the plant, in its every part, is 
 not a compound evolution from this very " universal fluid," from 
 which its inorganic, organic, and vital portions were alike derived ? 
 The Eastern Doctrine affirms that the actual appearance upon any 
 given planet of the mineral, the vegetable, and the succeeding king- 
 doms is preceded by the arrival, in an evolutionary wave, of their 
 respective elemental privations, or models, or phantoms, which then, 
 gradually and in their fixed order of succession, "materialise" 
 themselves, as spiritualists would say. It is not a process of gross 
 forms evolving and then absorbing, by osmosis or otherwise, the 
 tenuous fluid of the stars, but of the orderly evolution of all things, 
 in aU their parts, principles, and components, from universal divine 
 cosmic stuff, i.e, Mulaprakriti. 
 
 6—2 
 
84 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 CHAEACTEK OF THE POSTHUMOUS BEING. — ITS PHYSICAL 
 CONSTITUTION.— ITS MODE OF LOCOMOTION. — ITS AVER- 
 SION TO LIGHT. — ITS CLOTHING. — ITS MANIFESTATIONS. 
 — ITS RESERVOIR OF LIVING FORCE. — ITS BALLISTIC. 
 — EVERY MAN HAS A PHANTASMAL DOUBLE. — THE 
 SEERESS OF PREVORST. 
 
 Let us return to the posthumous man. Being the 
 continuation beyond the tomb of the inner per- 
 sonality that we have seen manifest itself in the 
 phenomenon of duplication, it becomes easier to 
 observe it. The living phantom and the post- 
 sepulchral phantom have, in fact, as their common 
 origin would indicate, numerous points of resem- 
 blance, so that the study of the one completes that 
 of the other. I shall pass in review the principal 
 traits which characterize them, so that we may 
 inform ourselves as to the nature of the posthumous 
 being. At the same time, we must not forget 
 that we are entering the shadow-world, and that 
 more than one point of interrogation wUl go 
 unanswered. 
 
 Let us first study its physical constitution. What 
 I have already said of the living spectre in the 
 examples of duplication, cited in the second chapter, 
 throws light upon the structure of the post-sepul- 
 chral spectre. It is the phantasmal replica of all 
 the organs of the human body. It has been seen, in 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 85 
 
 fact, to move, speak, take nourishment, accomplish, 
 in a word, the different functions of animal life. 
 This applies to the posthumous phantom as well as 
 to its elder brother, as I shall have occasion to show, 
 especially in the chapter on the post-mortem 
 vampire. The molecules which constitute it are 
 evidently borrowed from the organism which gave 
 it birth. It may then be defined as a gaseous tissue 
 offering a certain resistance, as we are taught in the 
 doubling of the assistant -mistress of Riga, cited in 
 Chapter II. 
 
 The fluidic constitution of the phantom offers the 
 explanation of several peculiarities which it presents. 
 In the first place, it clearly accounts for the ease 
 with which it penetrates houses. Some spectres 
 open and close the doors of rooms, but others disdain 
 these precautions, and know how to pass through 
 when the entrances are all shut. They pass through 
 partitions, or at least wooden ones. This pheno- 
 menon involves nothing contrary to the laws of 
 nature. It is a direct consequence of the structure 
 of the phantom. We know that all bodies, however 
 great their density, are pierced with innumerable 
 pores which give passage to fluid. Platinum, the 
 densest of metals, is penetrated by hydrogen, and 
 we have the record of the famous experiment of the 
 Florentine academicians, who, submitting to a heavy 
 pressure a hollow sphere of gold filled with water, 
 saw tiny liquid drops ooze through the surface. 
 One deduces from this, that the fissures of wood- 
 
86 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 work of doors imperfectly joined may give access to 
 the gaseous and elastic tissue of the spectre. (^^) 
 
 By analogous considerations may be explained the 
 rapidity with which the phantom, whether living or 
 posthumous, may move. We have seen the Double 
 of the Alsatian woman quit her ship, lost in the 
 middle of the ocean, to repair to Rio Janeiro, and 
 return on board within the interval of a syncope ; 
 that is to say, in two or three hours, perhaps less. 
 The same fact occurs with the father of the captain 
 who was returning from India, and for the adept of 
 Philadelphia. The phantom of the latter crossed 
 the Atlantic, entered a coffee-house in London, and 
 returned to his starting-point with the answer for the 
 lady who waited in his reception-room. We have 
 noticed facts not less extraordinary with the post- 
 humous phantom. It is seen to show itself at al- 
 most the moment of death, at hundreds, sometimes 
 thousands, of leagues distance. This is what hap- 
 pens with apparitions between the old and the new 
 world. Certain persons who had relations far away, 
 
 (^) If, when one is out of the hody, he is about to pass through 
 an obstruction, say, for instance, a wall of masonry, he suddenly 
 thinks of himself as he would in the body, viz., as a being having a 
 heavy "fleshly tabernacle," he will instantaneously consolidate his 
 Double, so ithat he will be stopped by the impediment, as would his 
 physical self. He may in this consolidated condition bruise him- 
 self, or wound himself by running upon any sharp point that would 
 be capable of wounding his body. The bruise or wound will then 
 ropercuss upon the physical body, as explained above by the author 
 in speaking of witchcraft phenomena in their psycho-physiological 
 aspect. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 87 
 
 having shown themselves to them at the moment 
 when they were about to expire, it has been sup- 
 posed that the phantom had the gift of ubiquity. 
 Nothing. of the sort. Its presence at the same 
 hour at different points vast distances apart is 
 easily explained by the marvellous rapidity of its 
 flight, which makes it seem as though the appa- 
 ritions were appearing simultaneously when they 
 were but doing so successively. As to this extra- 
 ordinary rapidity, the cause must be sought in the 
 fluidity of the spectre, which allows of its passage 
 almost without obstacle through the atmospheric 
 air under the final impulse of the vital force. ('") 
 
 One of the characteristics of the posthumous 
 being is its aversion to light and promptitude in 
 shunning it; all the manifestations by which it 
 reveals its presence are nocturnal and rarely diurnal. 
 In the latter case it sometimes produces noises 
 like those which are heard at night; but the 
 phantom only appears when favoured by obscurity, 
 in twilight, for instance. It even seems as if light 
 annihilates its forces, for all noises stop as soon as 
 a candle is brought into the room where they are 
 occurring. This fact is amply established by the 
 examples which I have cited. I will, however, 
 add another thoroughly characteristic fact, and 
 which confirms what I have said as to the physical 
 constitution of the spectre. It is related by an 
 eminent jurisconsult of the sixteenth century, Alex- 
 (") And the dominant one of the concentrated will. 
 
88 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 ander of Alexandria. The following is a condensa- 
 tion of his narrative : 
 
 " In a haunted house in Eome we saw nightly a 
 hideous and entirely black spectre, of the most 
 threatening appearance, who seemed to implore our 
 assistance. No one before my arrival had been 
 willing to hire this habitation, because of the 
 strange things which happened in it. Several of 
 my friends came one evening to pass the night with 
 me, to be witnesses of what they had heard told in 
 this respect. They watched with us, and, although 
 the lights were burning, they soon saw the spectre 
 appear, with his thousand and one pranks, his 
 clamours, his terrific manifestations, which made 
 our companions sometimes think, despite all their 
 courage, that they were destined to be its victims. 
 The entire house resounded with the groans of this 
 phantom; but when we approached it, it seemed 
 to fall back, especially to shun the light which we 
 carried in our hand. Finally, after an indescribable 
 uproar of several hours, and when the night was 
 almost ended, everything vanished. Of all these 
 prodigies a single one especially deserves mention, 
 for, in my eyes, it was the greatest and most terri- 
 fying. Night having come, after I had fastened my 
 door with a strong silken cord, I had retired to bed. 
 I was still awake, and had not yet extinguished the 
 light, when I heard the spectre make his usual 
 clatter at the door, and presently, the door remaining 
 closed and tied, I saw him, incredible though it 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 89 
 
 seem, introduce himself into the room hy the 
 chinks and the keyholes. Hardly had he entered 
 when he slipped under my bed, and Marc, my pupil, 
 as also the other who was lying with us, having per- 
 ceived all this manoeuvre, and being numbed with 
 fright, began to utter cries of terror and to call for 
 help. But, observing all this time the door to be 
 closed, I persisted in not believing what I had seen, 
 when I perceived the terrible phantom thrust from 
 beneath my bed an arm and a hand, with which he 
 extinguished my light. This being put out, he 
 then began to upset, not only the books, but also 
 everything in the room, at the same time making 
 sounds which froze our senses. All this noise 
 having awakened the house, we presently saw lights 
 in the antechamber, and at the same time noticed 
 the phantom open the door and escape." 
 
 As the author relates it, the most curious circum- 
 stance of this tale is the care taken by the spectre 
 to extinguish the light before commencing his 
 uproar. We have seen the same thing occurring 
 elsewhere. The uneasiness with which the phantom 
 feels the light is attributable to the disorganizing 
 action which all light has upon its tissue. 
 
 We know that light is a vibratory motion im- 
 pressed upon the ether by incandescent bodies. 
 These vibrations of an almost infinite rapidity would 
 soon alter the fluidic tissues of the phantom by dis- 
 persing its molecules, if it did not retire by day into 
 its tomb or other most obscure retreat. It is the 
 
90 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 same with the posthumous animal. It is photo- 
 phobic in the same degree as the post-sepulchral 
 man, and, like the latter, exhibits itself only at 
 night. These precautions may prolong for a certain 
 time the shade's existence, but not avert its end. 
 Whatever pains, in fact, it may take to shun the 
 daylight, it cannot entirely escape the multiple and 
 incessant action of the luminous calorific and elec- 
 tric vibrations which pervade space and assail it 
 from every side. The molecules of its tissue disin- 
 tegrating from each other, there comes at last a day 
 when it has no further consciousness of itself. Its 
 personality has then disappeared ; it has become but 
 a vague form, which dissipates itself slowly and 
 becomes lost in the universal medium. This slow- 
 agony of the posthumous being is verified, if I may 
 venture to say so, experimentally by the very couf se 
 of its manifestations : tumultuous at the beginning, 
 they decrease gradually in frequency and power, and 
 end in complete cessation ; thus indicating the daily 
 shocks which the shade suffers from cosmic agents 
 until its definitive annihilation occurs. (''') 
 
 (") Exit Homo anotoris nostri : beyond this vanishing point of the 
 posthumous phantom M. d'Assier goes not in his theories. Our 
 roads diverge. While he has chased his spectre beyond the field of 
 physical science and thinks, with Sir Walter, that 
 
 " Even the last-lingering phantom of the brain, 
 The churchyard ghost, is now at rest again," 
 the amateurs of Asiatic philosophy and science consider the research 
 but begun in earnest. They now follow the higher principles 
 attached to the Ego out of the lower sphere in which both its phan- 
 tasmic double and outer shell were successively sloughed off, to the 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 91 
 
 Let us now pass on to another order of facts. 
 What strikes us at once in a posthumous apparition 
 is that the person exhibits himself in the costume 
 that he had while living. It would seem that it 
 ought to show itself as it was on its death-bed, at 
 the moment when it was laid away in the tomb. 
 But it is not always thus. We have seen that the 
 Abbe Peytou and the Archbishop of Saint Gaudens 
 wore their ecclesiastical costume ; when one hears 
 Mdme. X,, of Bastide-de-Serou, walk in her room, 
 one distinguishes the rustle of a silken dress. This 
 is nothing extraordinary, for these garments would, 
 perhaps, represent those in which they were clothed 
 after their death. But this would not apply to the 
 case of M. X., of the Canton d'Oust, who in three 
 well-attested apparitions exhibited himself in a hat 
 and a comforter, such as he usually wore round his 
 neck. It is not at all likely that they would have 
 put him on a hat and muifler when they laid him in 
 his coffin. What is still more extraordinary, the 
 shade frequently carries in his hand articles which 
 were familiar to him. The Abbe de Peytou was 
 seen to be reading his breviary in the garden of the 
 Presbytery ; and when they heard him moving in his 
 chamber, they easily distinguished the noise that he 
 made in opening and closing his snuff-box and 
 taking from it a pinch of imaginary tobacco. When 
 
 more ethereal divisions of the evolutionary cycle, and so hack again 
 into earth, life, and new relations, over and over again, until the 
 point of final purificatit n, i.e. of evolution, is attained, and the truth 
 of Nirvana is knoTrn. 
 
92 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 we meet M. X., of Oust, in his vineyard, he carries 
 the scissors with which he used to clip the shoots. 
 The ass of Saint Croix and the mule of the Customs 
 officer carried, the one his halter, the other his 
 panniers. We have gathered analogous facts in the 
 examples of duplication mentioned in the second 
 chapter. The living phantom is clothed, like the 
 post-sepulchral phantom, with the costume that he 
 habitually wore; he carries also with him the 
 objects which are familiar to him. The father of 
 the chamberlain of the king of Sweden carried in his 
 hand a cane. The Alsatian woman of Eio Janeiro 
 had her little daughter in her arms. The shepherd 
 ofNoisy-le-Grand showed himself with his crook and 
 his two dogs. All were clothed as usual, although 
 the first two were in their beds at the moment of 
 the apparition. 
 
 The draft that the posthumous being makes on 
 his own wardrobe or former portable objects has 
 long seemed to me a phenomenon as inexplicable 
 as the apparition itself. It seems indispensable to 
 admit that garments and material objects in general 
 have their Huidic duplicates as much as men and 
 animals — duplicates that the phantom can detach 
 and make use of. But where to find the experi- 
 mental verification of this hypothesis so as to make 
 a rational explanation ? After various researches, I 
 discovered it in reading the biography of the Seeress 
 of Prevorst. As I have said in the preceding 
 chapter, we learn from Dr. Kerner that this extra- 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 93 
 
 ordinary woman detected in all subjects their 
 phantasmal image. 
 
 "We have seen that posthumous manifestations 
 are of two kinds. Sometimes the shade returns 
 peacefully to the places where it resided, or to its 
 favourite occupations. Such is the case with the 
 Abbe Peytou, who walked in his room or in the 
 garden of the Presbytery, carrying, sometimes his 
 breviary, sometimes his snuff-box ; of M. X., of the 
 Canton d'Oust, who went to prune his vines with 
 his scissors, smiling pleasantly, according to his 
 custom ; of the ass of Saint Croix and the mule of 
 the Customs oflBcer, who came to browse on imagi- 
 nary grass. But this is, we think, an exception, at 
 least with man. More frequently, these manifesta- 
 tions are boisterous, and disclose uneasiness and 
 suffering. It has been shown by sundry observations 
 that the object of all these disturbances is to attract 
 the notice of relations to the memory of the 
 deceased, as though the latter wished them to busy 
 themselves for him and relieve him from annoyance. 
 Post-mortem existence seems, in fact, to be a burden 
 for many of those who have the privilege of en- 
 tering it. ('^) The popular saying, " It is a soul in 
 suffering," stripped of all theological interpretation 
 
 C) " Through paths unknown In that sad place, 
 
 Thy soul has flown, By Mary's grace, 
 
 To seek the realms of woe, Brief may" thy dwelling be, 
 
 "Where fiery pain Till prayers and alms 
 
 Shall purge the stain And holy psalms 
 
 Of actions done below. Shall set the captive free." 
 
 Ivanhoe. 
 
94 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 seems perfectly accurate for characterizing posthu- 
 mous manifestations. The phantom, who confines 
 himself to pulling ofiF bed-clothes and uncovering 
 the sleeper, acts, evidently, under the impulsion of 
 the same force. 
 
 Let us make a closer study of the noises which 
 accompany the ghost; for we shall find in them, 
 perhaps, the strangest peculiarities that phenomena 
 of the posthumous order present. I shall not dwell 
 upon the noise that the spectre makes in dwellings, 
 when it limits itself to striking blows upon the walls 
 or partitions, moving furniture, and changing the 
 places of chairs. It only requires, to produce the 
 disturbance, a certain dynamic power, and I shall 
 presently tell whence it derives it. The real prodigy 
 begins when it resorts to its ballistics, for the 
 projectile seems to be its favourite arm. It often 
 happens that the objects flung about in a room by 
 an invisible hand are far from producing in their fall 
 the effect that one would anticipate from the noise 
 when they drop. They sometimes strike a glass 
 without breaking it, although their volume and the 
 force of projection with which they seem imbued 
 ought to make it fly in pieces. At other times 
 they fall upon a person, but do him no harm. 
 He who receives the blow compares it to the shock 
 that a ball of wool or cotton would produce. The 
 phenomenon becomes still more extraordinary when 
 it is a question of invisible projectiles. One hears 
 stones dashed with force against the partitions or 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 95 
 
 furniture, and then rebound upon tlie floor, but one 
 perceives nothing. Occasionally there are bits 
 broken out of glasses, or one can see fragments of 
 plaster detaching themselves from the ceiling and 
 falling to the ground, while the hail of projectiles 
 comes from without and passes through the windows. 
 In certain cases it is the crockery heaped upon a 
 table that is heard to fall and smash i|.self with 
 violence upon the floor. The occupants of the house 
 run there, but see with astonishment that the glasses 
 and china are in their places, as though they had 
 been dupes of an imaginary noise. Must we then 
 concede the existence of a posthumous dynamic, 
 which would be in its most essential features the 
 antithesis of ours ? Certainly not ; the shade obeys, 
 like us, the laws of time and space. The anomalies 
 which its projectile power presents will explain them- 
 selves on the day when we have completed the 
 inventory and studied the nature of all the forces 
 which govern the universe. (^^) Meanwhile, let us 
 
 (^) Here speats the true scientist, who bravely takes up the 
 only position tenable for those who are confronted by the mysteries 
 of nature. In connection with M. d'Assier's speculations upon the 
 problem of psychic ballistics, it should not be overlooked that cases 
 have occurred where, in a house whose doors and windows are all 
 closedjheavy stones and other ponderous objects have dropped in sight 
 of the spectators, as though formed in the air of the chamber. For 
 an example — the narrator of which I know to be -^ person of entire 
 veracity — see Theosophist, vol. iii. p. 232. See, also, at p. 280 of 
 the same volume, the certificate of Mr. Kalph, whom I also know, 
 that in a room at the Eddy homestead, of which the doors and 
 windows were at the time closed and sealed, a stone weighing 64 lbs. 
 suddenly dropped at his feet. 
 
96 POSTHUMOUS HUMAINITY. 
 
 try to lift a part of this mysterious veil, if indeed it 
 is permitted to apply rational deductions to a world 
 so different from our own. 
 
 The most striking prodigy in these tumultuous 
 manifestations is the extraordinary disproportion 
 which exists between the fluidic structure of the 
 shade, and the enormous quantity of muscular power 
 which it exhibits in flinging its projectiles and 
 making them rebound with a noise which sometimes 
 stupifies persons and even animals. When the death 
 is recent, and the posthumous being confines himself 
 to striking blows on the partitions, or moving chairs, 
 one may hazard an explanation sufficiently natural. 
 All is not over at the moment when the heart ceases 
 to beat. Certain organic forces continue their action 
 as long as the tissues which were their seat are not 
 decomposed. (^) We know that upon exhuming a 
 corpse it is remarked that the beard and nails have 
 grown. Therefore the shade might act, in a certain 
 measure, under the impulsion of the forces of the 
 body which it has just forsaken. But when the 
 death dates back some weeks or months, and 
 decomposition has begun its work, and the blows 
 struck or the projectiles flung imply a great 
 
 C) Eastern occultists say that the resuscitation of a corpse is 
 possible until the organs essential to the performance of the vital 
 functions are so injured that if life were suddenly re-infused into 
 the body it could not go on with the usual functions. Sri Sankara 
 Acharya is reported to have brought back to life the body of a 
 certain rajah which had been placed on the pyre for cremation ; 
 but the body was perfect in all its organs. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 97 
 
 muscular vigour on the part of the author of this 
 startling tumult, one is compelled to admit that the 
 latter has found a new source of vital force in which 
 it recruits its energies. Certain indications seem to 
 establish the hypothesis that this reservoir is the 
 body of a living person, and by preference that of a 
 relative of the deceased. ('^) I will mention, as an 
 indication of this fluidic vampirism and as an in- 
 direct proof, an analogous fact observed with the 
 Seeress of Prevorst. Dr. Kerner states that his 
 patient ate little, but she confessed that she was 
 nourished by the substance of her visitors, especially 
 of those related to her by the ties of blood, their 
 constitution being more sympathetic with her own. 
 In point of fact, visitors who had passed some 
 minutes near . her noticed that upon retiring they 
 were weakened. 
 
 Now let us skirt another not less mysterious side 
 of this strange ballistic phenomenon, where all is 
 obscurity and surprise. The invisible projectiles 
 produce mechanical effects as great as if they were 
 stones of great bulk. One would say this is a nega- 
 tion of the laws of motion. All rational explanation 
 becomes impossible. But let us go on to the end, 
 and try to penetrate into the geometry of phantoms. 
 
 We have seen that all bodies have their phan- 
 tasmal Doubles, which the shade can detach and 
 grasp. The garments it carries, the objects it holds 
 in its hand, are phantasmal images borrowed from 
 (M) In shoft, a " ijiedmm.'' 
 
98 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 its former wardrobe or its former utensils. It is 
 presumable that the same holds as to invisible 
 projectiles; in lieu of flinging stones, they fling 
 their duplicates. ('") What mechanical result can 
 come from such a projection ? 
 
 The science of dynamics teaches us that the 
 sum of motion that a moving body possesses is 
 found by multiplying the mass of the moving body 
 by its velocity, and that its live force at the 
 moment of fall is equal to half the bulk by the 
 square of the velocity. According to this formula, 
 can be obtained whatever mechanical effect may be 
 desired by giving to the projectile a sufiicient 
 velocity, provided the bulk of the projectile is 
 greater than zero. Now we have seen, in analyzing 
 several examples of duplication of living persons, 
 that their phantom offered a certain resistance. 
 It is the same with the image of inorganic bodies, 
 and, however feeble may be the density of such a 
 projectile, it might in falling produce any acoustic 
 effect desired, if the impulsion were strong enough. 
 The post-sepulchral man acts with stones as with 
 garments. He limits himself to detaching from 
 them their phantasmal Double, which becomes in 
 his hands an invisible projectile. In the same way 
 
 (36) Yet sometimes materialize the projectile completely. In Mr. 
 Vijia Raghava Charla's narrative above cited (Tkeos., vol. iii., 
 p. 232), he says that he and others, to test the pisdchas, -wrote their 
 names upon bits of brick, &e., flung them out into the enclosure 
 closed the house-door, and, presently, the same marked projectiles 
 ■would drop as if from space.- 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 99 
 
 might be explained the noise of crockery falling 
 with a crash, but which is afterwards found on 
 the sideboard intact. These are .acoustic effects 
 produced by the Doubles of the glasses and 
 plates which the phantom dashes on the floor. (^^) 
 In all cases, however, do not let us be deceived by 
 appearances, and let us be on our guard that, in 
 exploring the domain of the shades, we may not 
 take a shade of reasoning for reason itself. 
 
 The phantasmal image of a body, making in its 
 fall a noise comparable to that which the body 
 itself would produce, implies, as I have said, an 
 almost infinite projectile force. Now the posthu- 
 mous thing being unable to feed its energies except 
 in the body of a living person, with which it is in 
 fluidic communication, (^*) one asks himself if this 
 reservoir of living force is sufficient to render 
 
 (''') Does the phantom of the plate smash in pieces upon the 
 floor ? And if not — for who could smash such a ahiidow ? — then is 
 not the whole phenomenon one of illusion, or maya, a suggested idea, 
 mesmerically or psychically imparted to the witness or witnesses 
 ty the posthumous phantom ? Cannot any mesmeric experi- 
 mentalist make such an illusion upon any sensitive subject ? 
 
 {"') Not necessarily so. The phantom certainly does absorb 
 strength from living persons, but sometimes it must find another 
 dynamic reservoir to draw from. For instance, the black phantom 
 of Home, described by the jurisconsult Alexander : from whom did 
 it get the power for the fearful racket it had been making in the 
 empty house for such a long time ? The occult explanation is that, 
 when a human phantom is the actor, it gets its power from non- 
 human " elemental spirits," and, to a certain extent, from the 
 mesmeric aura of former inhabitants of the house or locality, which 
 still lingers there. A place so saturated is like an undischarged 
 Leyden jar. 
 
 7—2 
 
100 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 possible such effects. We toucli here upon a 
 problem still so obscure as to rarified matter, that 
 we must wait until this new branch of physics, 
 sighted by Crookes, has been studied under its 
 different aspects before we can have the reading of 
 the riddle. It would be easier to take account of 
 the not less strange phenomenon which presents 
 itself when the projectiles, in place of being 
 invisible, are real stones which strike without doing 
 any hurt. We can admit that these projectiles are 
 saturated with mesmeric fluid, and we shall soon 
 see that one of the properties of this fluid is to 
 render lighter the bodies which it impregnates with 
 its currents. 
 
 Is it the common right of all men to claim an 
 existence beyond the tomb ? It would be rash, we 
 think, to answer affirmatively this famous in- 
 terrogative, although one may lay down the general 
 proposition that every individual carries in himself 
 the phantasmal image which after death constitutes 
 the posthumous spectre. This principle, which 
 presents itself as the immediate consequence of a 
 general law, the phantasmal Double of all bodies in 
 nature, as established in the preceding chapter, 
 has been verified, to some degree experimentally, 
 by the Seeress of Prevorst. Let us first say a few 
 words about this extraordinary woman, so often 
 quoted in the books of the spiritists and 
 magnetizers. 
 
 Her name was Mdme. Hauffe, but she is more 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 101 
 
 commonly known under the name of the Seeress 
 of Prevorst, the name of a village of Wurtemburg 
 where she was born in the beginning of this 
 century. It is to Dr. Kerner, one of the celebrities 
 of contemporary Grermany, who had medical charge 
 of her during the last years of her life, that we 
 owe all the details . related about her. From her 
 childhood there was noticed in her a nervous 
 organization of exceptional delicacy, and this 
 excessive impressionability went on increasing to 
 the close of her life. Other members of her family 
 possessed certain of these faculties, but in a far 
 less degree. Finally, there had been remarked in 
 numerous persons in the village of Prevorst a 
 certain predisposition to nervous diseases, notably 
 St. Vitus's dance. Electricity and magnetism acted 
 upon her in a most extraordinary manner. During 
 a shower, electric sparks could be drawn from her' 
 body ; when she held certain metals in her hands, 
 she felt magnetic currents running through her 
 limbs. Iron, especially, affected her in a very high 
 degree, and they had been obliged to remove all 
 the nails from the woodwork in her room. 
 Animal magnetism acted on her in a way not less 
 surprising than terrestrial. She was often seen to 
 fall of herself into somnambulism. She thus pre- 
 sented a striking example of the connection so often 
 observed between electro-magnetic phenomena and 
 the phenomena of spiritism, among which the 
 duplication of the human personality occupies so 
 
102 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 large a field. The exquisite sensitiveness of her 
 nervous system made her perceive sensations which 
 passed unnoticed by all others. She sometimes 
 had presentiments of dangers which threatened 
 some one of her friends ; she then warned the latter, 
 and events always justified her prognostications. 
 Prom that fact, the name of Seeress, by which she 
 was designated, as antiquity gave the surname of 
 Thaumaturgist, or wonder-worker, to the celebrated 
 Apollonius of Tyana. Useless to add that the 
 common people ascribe to supernatural faculties, or 
 to communications with a world different to our 
 own, that which was but extraordinary aggrandise- 
 ment of the sensitiveness of the nervous centres. C) 
 Such an organization naturally predisposed to the 
 visions of spiritism. She was often tormented by 
 apparitions of spectres, which could not be charged 
 to hallucination ; for the persons who were present 
 heard as distinctly as herself the blow struck on 
 the partitions, or saw certain objects which were in 
 the room changing their places. We are aware that 
 this is the natural thing in manifestations of the 
 human phantom, conspicuously of the posthumous 
 phantom. She often saw her own Double, and per- 
 ceived those of others by looking in their right 
 eye. (*") This fact is the experimental demonstration 
 
 (39) For two papers upon the Seeress, and the resemblance of her 
 somnambulic teachings to the Eastern philosophy, see the Tieoso- 
 phist for September and November, 1886. 
 
 ('") In Kirke's Secret Commonwealth, p. 3, we find it stated that 
 it was the belief among the Celtic tribes that the apparition of a 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 103 
 
 of this axiom — that, besides its exterior and organic 
 form, the human body possesses an interior and 
 fluidic form moulded after the former. When a 
 person's Double is projected, the person and his 
 image are seen simultaneously. 
 
 Another revelation of the Seeress of Prevorst ad- 
 ditionally confirms our axiom. Whilst I was ab- 
 sorbed in physiological studies, I was often arrested 
 by a singular fact. It sometimes happens that a 
 person who has lost an arm or leg experiences certain 
 sensations at the extremities of the fingers or toes. 
 Physiologists explain this anomaly by postulating in 
 the patient an inversion of sensitiveness or of recol- 
 lection, which makes him locate in the hand or the 
 foot the sensation with which the nerve of the stump 
 is alone affected. They try to justify their state- 
 ment by pretended analogies which they find some- 
 times in the production of virtual images formed by 
 the action of luminous rays on mirrors, sometimes 
 in the arrival of despatches upon the same electric 
 wire, which have several centres of correspondence 
 as in its circuit, I confess that these explanations 
 seemed to me laboured, and have never satisfied me. 
 When I studied the problem of the duplication of 
 man, the question of amputations recurred to my 
 
 person's Double to himself was a sure portent of his death. They 
 called it the Co-Walker. The Eev. Mr. Fraser, in his treatise on 
 Second Sight, supports this affirmation, upon the evidence of one 
 Barbara Macpherson, relict of a Mr. MacLeod, minister of St.Kilda, 
 who said this species of premonitory clairvoyance was frequent 
 among the natives of the island. 
 
104 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 mind, and I asked myself if it was not more simple 
 and logical to attribute the anomaly of which I have 
 spoken to the doubling of the human body, which 
 by its iluidic nature can escape amputation. I set 
 myself, with this view, to making some experiments, 
 which the loss of my sight has prevented my carry- 
 ing out. I vras then not the least surprised when I 
 read in the book of Dr. Kerner that the Seeress of 
 Prevorst perceived on every amputated man the 
 lost limb. 
 
 Let us restate our interrogatory. Every man 
 possessing his Double should, it seems, enter after 
 death the region of shadows ; it is not at all cer- 
 tain, however, judging from the small number of 
 posthumous apparitions and the exceeding rarity of 
 projection of the Double with living persons. It is 
 probable that the phantasmal image, inert of itself, 
 has need to be stimulated, and in some sort com- 
 pleted, by another agent of the organism, which 
 imparts to it the necessary energy to give it self- 
 consciousness. The study of this new factor of 
 human dynamics will be the object in the follow- 
 ing chapters. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 105 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE UNIVERSAL FLUID. — NERVOUS FLUID. — ANALOGIES 
 AND DISSIMILARITIES OF THE TWO FLUIDS.- ELECTRIC 
 ANIMALS. — ELECTRIC PERSONS. — ELECTRIC PLANTS. 
 ACTION OF THE NERVOUS FLUID UPON THE INNER 
 PERSONALITY. 
 
 The human phantom does not always reveal itself in 
 as clear a manner as in the examples I have cited. 
 It has also sometimes obscure manifestations of a 
 very varied nature, which make of it a sort of elusive 
 Proteus. Mesmerism exhibiting analogous mani- 
 festations in the somnambule, the medium, the 
 ecstatic, &c., it is often difficult to say whether the 
 primary cause of these phenomena should be 
 ascribed to the inner personality or to the nervous 
 fluid, or, again, to the combined action of these two 
 agents. In a great number of cases, their union 
 seems so close that one is led to ask himself if it is 
 not from the second that the first derives its origin 
 and its energies. Let us explore this curious side 
 of human physiology ; but, to begin with, let us say 
 a few words respecting the universal fluid, which 
 the magnetizers often confound with the nervous 
 fluid. 
 
 The universal fluid, that is to say, the subtle 
 fluid which fills space and penetrates all bodies, 
 had been recognized by Greek philosophy several 
 centuries before our era; it was the ether which 
 Descartes resuscitated at the moment when they 
 
106 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 were laying the foundation of modern physics. But 
 it is scarcely half a century since the existence of 
 this fluid has been placed beyond doubt, and proved, 
 so to say, oflScially — thanks to the learned analyses of 
 Fresnel on Light, completed by the ingenious 
 experiments of Arago. Subsequently, various men 
 of science have attempted to explain by the same 
 method — I mean by the theory of the ether — other 
 branches of physics, and they have obtained the 
 same success. Finally, the astronomers, among 
 whom we must give the first place to Boucheporn 
 and Father Secchi, have crowned the work of 
 Fresnel by demonstrating that the laws of universal 
 gravity are consequences of the properties of ether. 
 
 It is, then, to-day a scientific fact that an 
 eminently subtle fluid, in whose depths the celestial 
 bodies float, fills the immensity of the universe, 
 and that the phenomena of light, heat, electricity, 
 gravitation, chemical affinity, &c., are due to the 
 diverse modes of action of this fluid. 
 
 When, towards the close of the last century, 
 Mesmer wished to satisfy himself as to the effects 
 of the magnetic bouquet, he was not slow in perceiv- 
 ing that he had a fluid as agent or vehicle, and he 
 bethought him of the universal fluid, which the 
 Cartesian school had just restored to honour. His 
 hypothesis was adopted by the majority of his 
 successors. The practice of magnetism soon demon- 
 strated, it is true, the existence of a special fluid, 
 the nervous fluid which disengages itself in the 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 107 
 
 passes under the will of the operator and produces 
 the phenomena of Somnambulism. But the old 
 terminology continued to prevail, especially among 
 persons unacquainted with physics, who only see 
 in the nervous fluid a synonym for the universal 
 fluid. That is a grave error, which it is important 
 to dispel. The nervous fluid, which I shall also call 
 the mesmeric ether, from the name of him who first 
 recognized it, is common to all animals provided 
 with a nervous apparatus sufficiently developed, or, 
 in a word, to a great number of living beings. In the 
 normal course of life, it flows away as it forms itself, 
 or, rather, when it exceeds a certain tension, and 
 loses itself in the ground or in the atmosphere, in 
 such a way that it passes without notice. But 
 among animals, as well as in man, it reveals itself 
 by manifestations sui generis in certain cases of 
 volition. Let us take, for example, the magnetizer 
 at the moment when he entrances his somnambule. 
 It is known that the business of the cerebro-spinal 
 apparatus is to execute the movements which are 
 imposed upon it by the will. The nervous fluid, 
 belonging to this apparatus, is governed by this 
 same mechanism. At each magnetic pass it flows 
 the length of the operator's arm, under his will, 
 and escapes by the extremity of the fingers, like 
 electricity, to act physiologically on the somnam- 
 bule. If the latter is antipathetic to magnetic 
 action, the operator ends by feeling the symptoms 
 of exhaustion, and sees himself obliged to stop 
 
108 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 when he has lost all his fluid. (^^) His passes have 
 no more effect. The magnetic power only reappears 
 the next day, when a new quantity of mesmeric ether 
 has accumulated in the organism. Only a portion 
 of the fluid emitted acts on the somnambule. Much 
 of the aura, probably the greater part, remains in 
 his clothing or is dispersed in the room. When 
 the sittings have been long or numerous, there is 
 sometimes so much aura in the apartment that 
 certain persons refuse to pass the night there, not 
 being able to breathe such an atmosphere. {*^) 
 
 (■") The operator feels this exhaustion equally if he has been 
 treating sympathetic patients for the cure of disease. In this 
 direction I have had large experience, having for over a year— for 
 the sake of teaching others to heal the sick — treated mesmerically 
 several thousand persons. I became, finally, so exhausted of vital 
 force as to be in danger of paralysis, of -which the premonitory 
 symptoms showed themselves. But a large number of very 
 astonishing cures were effected. The nervous exhaustion experienced 
 in mesmerizing antipathetic subjects, of which M. d'Assier speaks, 
 is, I think, due in great measure to the persistent efforts made by 
 the operator to overcome the auric resistance and the consequent 
 great discharge of mesmeric aura. Any article worn by the 
 operator on such days becomes powerfully saturated with his 
 nerve-fluid, and can be used with great effect by third parties for 
 healing a patient whom the former operator never saw. 
 
 ('^) In like manner some sensitives cannot remain in a room 
 where mediumistic phenomena are or, to any extent, hare been 
 occurring. In India, a house that has been occupied by a Brahman 
 is always preferred, even by non-Brahmans in search of a residence, on 
 account of the good influence believed to be lingering there. Such 
 a house is believed to be less subject to the invasion of evil 
 elementals and earth-bound human phantoms. The Hindus, as 
 the various papers in the Appendix to this volume show, have a, 
 horror of mediumship in all its phases. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 109 
 
 From this analysis result three orders of facts, 
 which demonstrate at once the existence and nature 
 of the mesmeric ether, the physiological action 
 which it exercises on the somnambule, such as we 
 see nervous temperaments experiencing in a room 
 saturated with fluid, and, finally, the exhaustion 
 which happens to the magnetizer after a certain 
 number of passes. 
 
 Btlt it is not only at the extremity of the fingers 
 that the fluid flows away; being at the command 
 of the will, it follows all the routes that the latter 
 prescribes. Is magnetized water wanted ? — it 
 suffices that the mouth shall blow into a glass 
 to cause the liquid to acquire new properties indi- 
 cating the presence of mesmeric aura. Here the 
 fluid has been transmitted by the breath, escaping 
 from the chest. At other times it is darted by the 
 eyes : it is known that certain magnetizers throw 
 their subjects into sleep by fixing them with a 
 glance. When, as a result of a special constitution, 
 a person disengages fluid of a bad nature, it may 
 throw into convulsions and even kill little animals, 
 such as chickens, goslings, &c. It is the Evil Eye, 
 which has been often denied, but which none the 
 less is based upon authentic facts ; . and I have 
 known personally a woman attacked with this in- 
 firmity. The serpent in particular shows us daily 
 undeniable examples of the Evil Eye. No one is 
 ignorant of the fact that when it fixes its glance 
 upon a bird perched on a tree, the latter soon 
 
110 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 loses confidence and flutters from branch to branch 
 until he falls a prey to the fascinator. (^^) The 
 action of the fluid is here so much the more 
 energetic, in being not only darted by the eyes, 
 but also by the breath and the quivering tongue 
 of the reptile. 
 
 It is especially in animals called electric that the 
 nature and origin of the mesmeric ether may be 
 closely studied. They are so designated because 
 they possess the singular faculty of accumulating 
 a sort of vital electricity in a special organ which 
 serves them as condenser, and of emptying them- 
 selves of it at will by successive discharges, com- 
 parable to those which we obtain with our electric 
 apparatus. It is thus that they stun or stupefy 
 the enemies who approach them. Three kinds of 
 fishes, the gymnotus, silurus, and torpedo, have 
 acquired a certain celebrity in this respect. The 
 first, which is met with in lakes and tanks of the 
 New World, especially in the basin of the Orinoko, 
 is only known to naturalists. The same as to the 
 
 (") Judging from a number of letters to the editor of Nature, 
 this subject would seem to be still suh judice. But Des Mousseaux 
 quotes from Pierrart (vol. iv. pp. 254—257), the storyiof a French 
 peasant, named Jacques Pellissier, of BrignoUes (Var), who gained 
 his livelihood by hunting birds with no other weapon than his will- 
 power. He could paralyze them from a distance of fifteen or 
 twenty paces, and he could then walk up to them and wring their 
 necks. In the presence of Dr. d'Alger, a well-known physician, he 
 thus bagged fourteen birds within the space of one hour. A curious 
 fact was that he could only affect mesmerieaUy sparrows, robins, 
 goldfinches, and meadow- larks. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. Ill 
 
 second, whicli is confined to the Nile and other 
 rivers of Septentrional Africa. But the torpedo, 
 common enough in the Mediterranean, affords daily 
 opportunity to verify this singular phenomenon. 
 Its electric faculty, which is noticeable in different 
 degrees in all the varieties of this species, is par- 
 ticularly remarkable in the torpedo proper. The 
 inhabitants of the coast, who feed upon this fish, 
 know that the condensing apparatus must be thrown 
 away as unhealthy. When the animal, seeing itself 
 pursued, gives its shocks, the latter go on diminish- 
 ing , in intensity in ratio to their multiplication, 
 and end in producing no effect whatever. These 
 fish are then completely harmless. In hunting 
 them, this is the moment when it is possible 
 to seize them. It is with them as with the mag- 
 netizer, who, after numerous passes upon an in- 
 sensitive subject, feels himself exhausted, and is 
 obliged to stop. All their electricity has been lost 
 in the discharges, and their benumbing power only 
 reappears when the organism has accumulated a 
 new quantity of fluid in the storage-battery. It 
 is easy here to observe in a direct manner the nature 
 and origin of the mesmeric ether. When we cut 
 the nerve which puts the brain in communication 
 with the condensing organ, the electric faculty 
 completely disappears ; the fluid, being unable to 
 flow to the usual reservoir, runs off into the ambient 
 medium, as with other fishes. We see, at the same 
 time, that it comes from the cerebro-spinal axis, 
 
112 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 since it outflows from the encephalon into the 
 receptacle by the intermediary nerve which places 
 these two organs in relation. 
 
 Are the fishes of which we have spoken an excep- 
 tion in nature ? We do not think so. At present 
 we know only in an imperfect manner the aquatic 
 fauna. In an exploration of the Amazon river, 
 Agassiz collected eighteen hundred new species of 
 fish. It is presumable that the list of electric 
 animals will lengthen in degree as we gain a better 
 knowledge of the inhabitants of our seas, lakes, and 
 rivers. If it were permitted us to express all our 
 thought, we should say that the torpedo, gymnotus, 
 silurus, and their congeners are appearing to us as 
 the last representatives of an ancient electric fauna. 
 Do not let us forget that in the earlier geological 
 ages of the planet, the ocean, the soil, and the 
 atmosphere were traversed by currents of electricity 
 otherwise potential than those of to-day. Now, as 
 we shall have occasion hereafter to demonstrate, there 
 exists between the ordinary electricity and vital 
 electricity, otherwise called the nervous fluid, such 
 a relation that every recrudescence of the first leads 
 to an abnormal development of the second. Perhaps, 
 some day, palaeontology will exhume fossils bearing 
 still some traces of a condensing apparatus. Per- 
 haps, also, research in comparative anatomy will 
 result in discovering in man or other vertebrate 
 some vestige of atrophied organs which have 
 formerly possessed . electric functions. Moreover, 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 113 
 
 the insect world offers us a number of species which 
 present, although upon a lesser scale, analogous 
 phenomena. These animals cause, when they are 
 touched, a shock or numbness which reminds one of 
 electric discharges. It is, therefore, permissible to lay 
 down as a principle that, the day when the terrestrial 
 fauna shall be sufficiently well known, mesmeric 
 ether will appear as an essential consequence of the 
 nervous mechanism. 
 
 The considerations which we have just stated put 
 us upon the path of the phenomena which are 
 noticed in certain persons called electric. It is 
 commonly young girls approaching puberty who 
 present this singular state. Possibly it is due, at 
 least in part, to the physiological activity which is 
 taking place in them at this epoch. The mode of 
 life exerts also a certain influence, for it is especially 
 in the labouring class that these young girls are 
 found. Also, the name of electric servant-maid is 
 often met with in the works of magnetizers. The 
 properties of mesmeric ether explain this pheno- 
 menon. It results from an abnormal disengage- 
 ment of fluid, due to a physiological predisposition 
 or some other cause. By a sort of organic fluctua- 
 tion still unknown in its essence, vital electricity 
 seems to act on a woman inversely to the ordinary 
 electricity. We know that, when lightning falls on 
 a group of persons of both sexes,' the women are 
 seldom struck, whilst men are almost invariably. 
 About 1846, just when spiritism was about to appear, 
 
 8 
 
114 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 several young electric girls were known in France, 
 England, and the United States. We shall speak 
 only of Angelique Cottin, a young peasant of Orne, 
 whose name had some notoriety in Paris. The 
 following details are borrowed from M. de Mir- 
 ville : 
 
 " Thursday, January 15th, 1846, at about 8 p.m., 
 Angelique Cottin, aged 14 years, was weaving gloves 
 of silk thread with three other girls, when the 
 oaken table used for fixing the end of the woof 
 moved from its place, so that their united efforts 
 could not keep it in position. They fled in fright 
 at so strange an occurrence ; but the stories they 
 told were not believed by the neighbours who 
 were attracted by their cries : at first two, then a 
 third, urged on by the bystanders, tremblingly 
 resumed their work without the fact mentioned 
 repeating itself; but as soon as Angelique, imi- 
 tating her companions, took up her woof, the table 
 again moved, danced, was upset, and then violently 
 thrown back. At the same time, the young girl was 
 irresistibly drawn after it; but as soon as she 
 touched it, it flew farther back : terror was general ; 
 they thought that some one had cast the evil eye on 
 her that morning. At night there was calm. The 
 next morning the child was isolated from the fatal 
 table, and, in order that she might resume her work, 
 they fastened her glove to a bin weighing about 150 
 pounds ; but this obstacle, when opposed to the 
 action of the mysterious and terrible force, did not 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 115 
 
 long resist. The bin was displaced and upset, although 
 the communication was only established by a thread 
 of silk. They ran to the Presbytery to ask for exor- 
 cismis and prayers. The cure at first laughed, but 
 subsequently verified their story, and sent them to 
 the doctor's. The next day shovels, tongs, fire- 
 brands, brushes, books, were all scattered at the 
 approach of the child ; a pair of scissors, hanging 
 from her belt, were flung into the air, without the 
 cord being broken or their being able to know how 
 it had been untied. The cure guarantees the 
 authenticity of this detail, mentioned also in the 
 report of M. Heberfc de Grarnay. This fact, the 
 more remarkable, says he, for its analogy with 
 the effects of lightning, at once prompted the 
 thought that electricity must play an important 
 part in the production of these astounding facts; 
 but this line of inquiry was cut short — the fact did 
 not occur more than twice. M. de Faremont, a 
 neighbouring landed proprietor, a man of sober 
 character, much respected, a friend to progress, 
 and versed in physical science, took her in his 
 carriage to the Doctor of Mamers ; the doctors, at 
 first opposing, afterwards proved the truth of the 
 statement and yielded. 
 
 " Tuesday, the 3rd, there was an incessant crowd. 
 On this and the following days more than a thou- 
 sand persons visited her; among the number, 
 nearly all the doctors of the country, eminent 
 physicians, druggists, lawyers, professors, magis- 
 
116 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 trates, ecclesiastics, and so forth, without counting 
 the great savants of the Academy of Science." 
 
 These reports are completed by an extract from a 
 letter addressed by M. de Faremont to M. de 
 Mirville, dated November the 1st of the same year : 
 
 " The phenomena have not stopped since last 
 spring. I have seen, I see, and I can always see 
 when I choose, the most curious and unaccountable 
 things. For, look you, gentlemen, the stumbling- 
 block is that your savants understand no more about 
 it than I. They should have seen and studied. We, 
 who have seen, believe because all the facts have 
 occurred under our eyes, are palpable, and cannot be 
 refated in any way. Those who thought themselves 
 wise hang their heads and are silent. The 
 populace say that the child is bewitched, and 
 not a witch, for she is too simple for them to give 
 her this title. As for me, I have seen so many con- 
 tradictory effects produced in her by electricity ; I 
 have seen, under certain circumstances, good con- 
 ductors operate, and, under others, inefficient to 
 such an extent that, if one confined himself to the 
 general laws of electricity, there would constantly 
 be contradictions to reconcile ; thus I am convinced 
 there is in this child some other power than 
 electricity." 
 
 The noise that was made about Angelique Cottin 
 having reached Paris, several physicists went to 
 Orne to study the phenomenon. Of the number 
 were Arrago, Mathieu, and Logier, of the Academy 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 117 
 
 of Science. They were astonished, in their turn, 
 with the facts which occurred under their eyes ; 
 upon their return to Paris, Arrago did not hesitate 
 to bring before the Academy the question of the 
 electric girl. The weight of authority attaching to 
 the name of the illustrious Perpetual Secretary 
 decided his colleagues to form a commission to 
 verify the extraordinary facts which had been 
 reported; then was seen repeated that which had 
 several times occurred at the Academy of Medicine 
 under analogous circumstances. Like the majority 
 of men of science, the members of the Institute, who 
 were to undertake the investigation, having never 
 studied the effects of magnetism, were persuaded in 
 advance that there was trickery or exaggeration in 
 the prodigies ascribed to Angelique Cottin. In such 
 a disposition of mind, their mission was foredoomed 
 to failure. The phenomena which commonly 
 occurred round the young peasant either did not 
 now repeat themselves or did so but feebly. As 
 Du Potet sensibly observes, investigations of mag- 
 netism have almost invariably failed with hostile 
 committees. It sufiBces, in fact, for an opposing 
 influence to be involuntarily emitted by the cerebral 
 fluid of the spectator to neutralize the action of 
 that which the magnetizer throws upon the somnam- 
 bule. It was the same with Angelique Cottin, for 
 the electricity which manifested itself in her was 
 none other than vital electricity, which I have called 
 the mesmeric fluid. The commission did not worry 
 
118 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 themselves in the least about giving a flat contradic- 
 tion to the testimony of several thousand persons, 
 among whom were to be counted scientific men of 
 the first rank, but declared, through their reporter, 
 that all the stories circulated about Angelique 
 Cottin were without the slightest foundation. ('''') 
 This conclusion, announced by the Institute, had 
 authoritative influence on public opinion, and there- 
 after no one paid any attention to other electric 
 damsels, who were, at about the same time, noticed 
 in the journals. 
 
 Let us now pass to electric plants, if, indeed, we 
 may give this name to certain vegetable species 
 endowed with extraordinary sensitiveness. Such a 
 property implies the existence of a special organ 
 analogous to the nervous tissue of animals. Now 
 some eminent botanists have thought they detected 
 in the leaves of some of these plants a delicate 
 tissue which seemed to represent a rudimentary 
 form of this nervous system. (^*) Different instances 
 
 (■") Yet we, students of practical psychology, are bidden to 
 nnbonnet before the Gressler-eorps of official science ! 
 
 (■'^) Since the lamentable catastrophe of blindness befell our 
 author, and he has, of course, been to a large extent shut out from 
 the observation of scientific progress, opinions have changed upon 
 this subject. It is now pretty generally admitted that the 
 vegetable, whose structure is distinctly cellular,, lacks the prelimi- 
 nary condition necessary for the initiation of a nervous system, 
 viz., the existence of a living substance whose excitability is high, 
 which possesses a high contractile power, and which is not 
 differentiated into cells with fully developed ceU-walls. (See 
 Darwin's Insectivorous Plants, and Bastian's The Brain as an 
 Organ of Mind, ed. 1885, c. i. p. 14.) But why could there not 
 
■ POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 119 
 
 of vegetable sensitiveness, that are observed in a 
 number of plants, such as the • Sensitive Plant, the 
 Dioncea, Venus' Fly-trap, would thus be accounted for 
 in a rational manner. These species are quite common 
 in South America, where they often occupy great 
 tracts, and sometimes it has happened, when I was 
 crossing the high plateau of the Brazilian chain of 
 the Orgar mountains, that I saw the guide, who 
 rode before me, strike with his whip the plants at 
 the edge of the path we were following, and immedi- 
 ately a shiver would be communicated successively 
 to all the plants in the meadow, as though all these 
 stalks were bending under the breath of a mysterious 
 wind. One cannot ignore in this phenomenon the 
 action of a sort of vital electricity. Without doubt, 
 a deeper study of botanical species would disclose to 
 us the existence of plants presenting properties 
 really electric, and here is what we find already in 
 the Arnike Scientifique for 1878 : (^^) 
 
 1)6 electrical attraction and repulsion without implied nervous fibre ? 
 Do we not see this phenomenon in the mineral kingdom, notably in 
 the repulsion between similarly electrified bodies ? Supposing the 
 whole structure of a sensitive plant to be of a vegeto-eleetrical 
 polarity, either + or — , and capable of suddenly discharging the 
 same at the approach of a body of the opposite aura of vegetal 
 polarity, or upon any violent change of its normal state, should we 
 not see the phenomena under discussion ? The occult doctrine is 
 that everything in the Cosmos is governed by the opposing forces of 
 attraction and repulsion. There is, just now, much talk of the 
 supposed new discovery of human polarity, as regards the two sides 
 and forces of the human body ; but the existence of an identical law 
 in vegetals was long since known and published, by Von 
 Eeichenbafih among others, and the mystics before him. 
 {^) L' Annie Scientifique, by Louis Figuier. 
 
120 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 " They have made this curious discovery in America, 
 that a plant, the Phytoloccea, possesses veritable elec- 
 tric properties. When a branch of this bush is cut, 
 the hand receives a shock like that which is given by 
 an electric machine. An English physicist desired 
 to test the degree of intensity of the electricity 
 thus emitted. A small compass needle was 
 affected at seven or eight paces by the plant, and 
 this influence was proportionate to the distance; 
 the nearer it was brought, the more jerky was the 
 motion. 
 
 " When the compass was placed in the middle of 
 the bush, its needle began to turn rapidly. No 
 trace was found of iron or other magnetic metal in 
 the soil. This property, then, belongs to the plant 
 itself. Let us add that the intensity of the pheno- 
 menon varies with the time of day. At night this 
 property is scarcely observable ; it reaches its maxi- 
 mum at two p.m. (^') The power increases during 
 a thunderstorm. It is affirmed that no bird nor 
 insect will alight upon the electric plant." 
 
 We shall repeat, in connection with plants, what 
 we have said in speaking about electric animals. It 
 is presumable that the list of vegetables possessing 
 these properties will be enriched with new species 
 with the progress of botanical science, and that, some 
 
 (") For some very interesting and suggestive researches upon 
 the odylic polarity of plants, see Eeiehenbaeh's Sesearches on 
 Magnetism, Electricity, Sfc, rf-c, ^c, in their relation to the 
 Vital Force (Treatise vii. sec. 248) et seq. ; and for the fluetua^ 
 tions by night and day of the currents of Odyle, ibid. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 121 
 
 day, it will no longer be a question of a few plants, 
 but of an immense electrical flora. Certain facts 
 seem to justify this hypothesis. In the mountains 
 of Wurtemburg, says Dr. Kemer, the cows are often 
 seen to suddenly fall into an indescribable uneasiness, 
 even running into madness ; seized with a like ver- 
 tigo, children ran at full speed towards their houses ; 
 and a still more extraordinary fact, the furniture and 
 utensils of all sorts indicated also the same mysterious 
 influence, shifting place, shaking, flying back when 
 one would take hold of them, evidencing thus, by 
 these movements and this repulsion, that it was a 
 question of electrical action. Simultaneously, says 
 Dr. Kemer, one noticed in the Seeress of Prevorst 
 an exaltation of sensitiveness which doubled her 
 second sight- 
 
 These phenomena must be attributed, we must 
 infer, to the vegetal electricity of these mountains, 
 the initial action of which might well be common 
 electricity. "We know, in fact, that there exists so 
 close a bond between these two agents of planetary 
 life, that they seem sometimes to mutually engender 
 each other. A second fact, quite common in the 
 United States, gives a new strength to this view of 
 the case. There is sometimes developed in that 
 country such a quantity of electric fluid that, at night, 
 the bushes seem to become incandescent. (^*) This 
 phenomenon does not confine itself to the country, 
 
 (•"J If it is, I never saw it, though I lived forty-seven years in 
 America, 
 
122 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 but is . sometimes seen in the cities. Strangers (■") 
 who visit New York or other cities of the Union 
 are sometimes surprised to feel a prickling in the 
 fingers, or to see sparks fly at the moment when 
 their fingers touch the brass door-handle. When 
 one remembers that the United States is the classic 
 land of mediums and spiritism, he is led to ask him- 
 self if this overflow of mesmerism should not be 
 ascribed to a transformation of fluidic forces, human 
 electricity being set in motion by vegetable elec- 
 tricity, while the latter would receive the primary 
 impulsion from the afflux of terrestrial electricity. 
 
 From the preceding considerations, it follows that 
 the mesmeric ether presents sometimes certain 
 similitudes to cosmic ether. Let us sum up in a 
 few words what is known of its nature, in oi;der to 
 postulate what is known of the analogies and differ- 
 ences between these two fluids. 
 
 Let us say, to begin with, that it is a matter for 
 extreme regret that the physiologists have not sub- 
 mitted mesmeric ether to a series of exact experi- 
 ments to verify the properties that are ascribed to 
 it, but which we only know upon the affirmations of 
 the magnetizers. Like the universal fluid, it moves 
 with the rapidity of thought, acts at great distances, 
 penetrates all bodies, and renders objects which it 
 impregnates with its vibrations susceptible to attrac- 
 tion and repulsion. But these phenomena suggest 
 but distantly the ether, properly so called ; it 
 (") Electrical strangers ? 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 123 
 
 differs from it especially by a lesser degree of in- 
 tensity and energy. The nervous fluid possesses, in 
 addition, special properties which it derives from its 
 atomic constitution, and which throw light upon a 
 number of extraordinary facts observed in the 
 different forms of mesmerism, magnetism, ecstasis, 
 sorcery, &c. 
 
 The first of its characteristics is tbe lightness 
 that it imparts to bodies. This explains the in- 
 offensive projectiles of the spiritualistic and posthu- 
 mous ballistics : the most massive tables raised by 
 a child ; sorceresses condemned to drowning, unable 
 to sink in the water, except under the efforts of 
 several men ; mediums, ecsfcatics, obsessed persons, 
 walking the air, or soaring to the top of a tree or 
 roof of a house like birds. Another feature is in- 
 combustibility. Fire does not act — at least accord- 
 ing to the testimony of magnetists — upon objects 
 impregnated with mesmeric aura, . books, clothing, 
 &c. Persons have also been seen under the influence 
 of the fluid to stand the test of boiling water, red- 
 hot iroh, &c. Nevertheless, we think it will be 
 prudent to wait for new experiments before pro- 
 nouncing finally upon these strange facts, i^") 
 
 (°'') No occasion to wait for proof that such a thing does happen. 
 The late D. D. Home, a Mrs. Snydam, and other modern mediums, 
 have, in the presence of quite unimpeachable witnesses, handled 
 fire and red-hot things with absolute impunity, and even imparted 
 the condition to others. Home, for example, took blazing coals 
 from the grate, laid them upon the venerable Mr. Hewitt's head, 
 and gathered his white hairs over them, without the slightest 
 
124 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 Still further let us note, as a striking feature of 
 nervous etKer, the property of lingering almost 
 indefinitely in bodies which it has impregnated; 
 magnetized water, in closed bottles, retained at the 
 end of six months its mesmeric principle. Stuffs 
 and other objects retain for a long time traces of the 
 fluid which has saturated them. "We may thus 
 comprehend the prodigies which are sometimes 
 worked at the tombs of persons who are venerated 
 in their different religions. (^*) The cures thus 
 operated are rarely lasting, (^^) but, none the less, 
 they testify to the presence and action of the thau- 
 maturgic fluid. This property seems to contradict 
 what we have said respecting the ease with which 
 ether runs through bodies to act at a distance. But 
 
 singeing of skin or hair. Occultists might ascribe this to the friendly 
 agency of the fire-elementals (salamanders) and the aspirant for adept- 
 ship must meet, and subject to his will, these nature-spirits in their 
 own domain. The Abbe Chayla, prior of Lavore, who had much to 
 do with the Catholic persecution of the unfortunate Cevennois, in 
 the earliest part of the eighteenth century, reported to the Pope 
 that he was powerless to dislodge the devil in that quarter. He had 
 closed their hands upon burning coals, and they were not even 
 singed ; he had wrapped their entire bodies in cotton soaked in oil, 
 and then set on fire, but not a blister was raised on their skin, &c. 
 
 {") And, as well, the efficacy of the " handkerchiefs or aprons" 
 brought from the body of St. Paul to the sick, which cured their 
 diseases and drove out their " evil spirits. " The ' ' special miracles ' 
 described lin Acts xix. 12 were mesmeric miracles which any power- 
 ful modern mesmerist can repeat at will. 
 
 (^') Many are radical, as my own experience amply shows, and 
 many more would be if mesmerists were but careful to test the 
 psychopathic sensitiveness of their patients before wasting aura 
 upon them. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 125 
 
 it is possible, we think, to explain this anomaly if 
 we keep in view the nature of the flaidic molecules 
 secreted by the nervous apparatus. 
 
 They result from a grouping of the chemical 
 atoms which compose the cerebro-spinal tissue, 
 hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, 
 sulphur, &c., to speak only of the principal ones. 
 It is possible that the aggregates resulting from 
 such complex combinations may not always be 
 homogeneous; the most subtle traverse walls 
 to transmit their action to a distance, whilst 
 the others, serving in some sort as a gross resi- 
 duum (^') to the first, lingers in the garments 
 of the somnambule, and in the atmosphere of 
 the room where the magnetic experiments are 
 made. 
 
 We shall close these considerations upon the 
 nervous fluid by a rapid glance at the causes which 
 make it develope, and the diverse modes of mani- 
 festation which betray its presence. 
 
 The causes are very various, and some, involving 
 
 (°') The author's ■word, gangue, means " vein-stone,'' in mining 
 phraseology, and is hardly translatable. Let us here remark that 
 the mesmeric aura wastes away from the body insensibly, like the 
 other waste products of vital function, such as the carbonic acid 
 and watery vapour of the breath, animal heat, and insensible per- . 
 spiration ; of course, saturating the clothing, the furniture of the 
 house, the house itself, and the ground about. But as the quiescent 
 air, when moved by natural causes, becomes the gale or the cyclone, 
 so this individual aura may, when directed upon some focal point, 
 at whatsoever distance, by a strong will, bscome a resistless, even a 
 death-dealing levin-bolt. 
 
126 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 the intimate nature of the subject, baffle analysis. 
 We may lay down the principle that all have as 
 their initiative a mechanical action, which is taking 
 place in the nervous apparatus. The most common 
 action is that of thought. We know, according to 
 the recent works on physiology, that every act of 
 intelligence implies molecular disturbance of the 
 cerebral tissue, and hence a disengagement of fluid 
 proportionately abundant to the initial action, I 
 mean as the transformation of atomic forces is more 
 energetic. Ordinarily this disengagement is too 
 trifling to manifest its presence but if there be a 
 strong mental tension acting protractedly upon the 
 brain, the quantity of ether set in motion will be 
 great enough to produce the effects of mesmerism. 
 It is thus that in the magnetic passes a sustained 
 volition compels the fluid to manifest itself. As to 
 the external causes, we shall only cite the influence 
 of atmospheric electricity, and the processes of 
 sorcery, to which we shall return in a special 
 chapter. 
 
 The phenomena of mesmerism are not less varied 
 than the causes which produce them. A fixed idea, 
 strong preoccupations, lead to somnambulism. 
 The practices of ascetic life engender thaumatur- 
 gists ; the fluid of the magnetizers, acting on the 
 subject, has as a consequence somniloquence. An 
 organic or moral predisposition gives rise to 
 mediumship. Certain causes, still badly defined, 
 bring about the strange facts of obsession and 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITr. 127 
 
 catalepsy. (**) Narcotics easily prepared cause 
 sometimes the dreams, sometimes the realities, of 
 sorcery. Each time one sees this mysterious per- 
 sonality, which we have called the inner man, form 
 itself and grow in proportion as the fluid becomes 
 more abundant and more active — an unanswerable 
 proof of the intimate relationship which unites these 
 two psychological agents. 
 
 The following chapters are devoted to the sum- 
 mary exposition of these different prodigies. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE MESMERIC ETHER, AND THE PERSONALITY WHICH IT 
 ENGENDERS. — THE SOMNAMBULE. — THE SLEEP-TALKER. 
 THE SEER. 
 
 Somnambulism, properly speaking, is the most 
 anciently known of the effects of mesmerism. A 
 word or two upon this curious phenomenon. 
 
 What must we understand by the word somnam- 
 bule ? Etymology teaches us that it is a person 
 who walks while asleep. This definition seems cor- 
 rect enough at first sight ; but it is soon perceived that 
 it is not general enough, and must be completed. 
 A somnambule does not always walk, and we often 
 observe in him facts not less singular than the 
 
 (*■') The -whole school of Charcot are now closely studying the 
 latter of the above — catalepsy. To understand obsession, they must 
 frequent spiritualistic stances and read the authorities on Oriental 
 psychology. 
 
128 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 nocturnal promenade. Let us attempt, by the 
 analysis of some examples, well selected and 
 authentic, to define the dififerent modes of action 
 which somnambulism presents. The study of these 
 different manifestations will enable us to form an 
 idea as to its nature and origin. 
 
 Burdach pretends that somnambulism is more 
 common with men than women, notwithstanding 
 that the nervous organization of the latter would 
 make us suppose the contrary. All that I can say 
 in this connection is, that the majority of the facts 
 related to men have related to women. The same 
 physiologist thinks that somnambulism is never 
 witnessed in children and old men. This view of 
 the case is comprehensible as connected with those 
 who are approaching the end of their career and 
 whose sensitiveness is blunted by age, but we could 
 hardly admit it in the case of a child, and, in fact, 
 numerous testimonies prove the contrary. (^•') I 
 will quote only one example, which is just now 
 occurring at Bastide-de-Serou, at the moment when 
 
 (^') Figuler tellg us {Hist, du Merveilleux dans les Temps 
 Modemes, vol. ii. p. 262) that in the epidemic of " obsession " 
 among the CeTennois, mentioned above, babes of twelve months 
 and even less spoke fluently in pure French — not the local patois — 
 and prophesied. Sometimes the discourses would last for hours, 
 and often so able as to fill the faculty with admiration. Among 
 the greatest marvels of modern mediumship is the writing of a 
 message by a baby in its cradle under " spirit-control," as it is 
 called. For full details see the very interesting work, The 
 Missing Link in Modem Spiritualism,, by A. Leah Underbill, of 
 the Fox family. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 129 
 
 I am writing these lines (end of November, 1879). 
 Briefly, here is the story : it is the father who 
 speaks : 
 
 " You know the youngest of my sons, little Leon, 
 hardly eleven years old ; you know he is an intelli- 
 gent boy, studious, applying himself with ardour to 
 all that interests him. For several months we had 
 noticed in him unmistakable symptoms of somnam- 
 bulism. He would rise in the middle of the night, 
 in a state of extraordinary agitation, and jump out 
 of bed, crying and gesticulating as if he were 
 pursuing an intruder. Wishing to prevent all 
 accidents, I made him sleep with his elder brother 
 Pierre, who would hold and calm him by gentle 
 words each time that an attack seized him. 
 Kecently, in the middle of the night, Pierre heard 
 him talk of a waggon that he meant to build, the 
 wood necessary to make it, and the tools that he 
 must use, <S:c. As he saw us every day working in 
 iron and wood, his imagination is naturally full of 
 these things. Thinking that he was awake, Pierre 
 conversed with him about the subject that was upon 
 his mind. Suddenly, little Leon told him to go 
 and get some hatchets to fell the trees that were to 
 supply the wood for his waggon. Pierre then under- 
 stood that his brother was in somnambulism, and 
 tried to calm him by promising to give him a sou if 
 he would remain quiet. 
 
 " ' Where is the sou ? ' 
 
 " ' I have put it on the table.' 
 
 9 
 
130 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 " Instantly, and before Pierre had time to hold 
 him, little Leon jumped out of bed, went straight 
 to the table to get the sou, and said that he did not 
 find it. His mother, who slept in the same room, 
 having heard all, then got up to go and put one 
 there. The child seized it, and, his mind taking 
 another direction, he thought of his brother Jerome, 
 who was making a tour through France. 
 
 " ' Grive me,' said he, ' some paper and a pen. I 
 want to write to Jerome.' 
 
 " Meanwhile the candle had been lighted, and we 
 were all up to see this crisis. "We gave him paper 
 and a pen, and, seizing the latter, he wrote, very 
 distinctly, Jerome, with his eyes closed, and his 
 head turned rather towards us than towards the 
 paper. 
 
 " ' You should also write to your sister Marie,' 
 said Pierre to him. • 
 
 " It is not unimportant to remark that Marie was 
 among us and at his very side. 
 
 " ' You are right,' answered Leon ; ' I shall also 
 write to Marie.' 
 
 " And he proceeded to trace the name. 
 
 " ' But you are mistaken,' observed Pierre ; ' you 
 have written Maire.' 
 
 " ' It's true, I have made a mistake ; ' and he 
 re-wrote the name of his sister. 
 
 " This time he spelt the word correctly, all the 
 while keeping his eyes closed and his head turned 
 towards us. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 131 
 
 "As his ziovements were jerky and almost con- 
 vulsive, I did not wish that this scene should be 
 prolonged, and I took him into my bed, petting 
 him with gentle words. He fell asleep after a few 
 moments, and, upon awaking, had no recollection of 
 what had happened." 
 
 I shall not analyze the circumstances of this 
 narrative. While somnambulism is here undoubtedly 
 exhibited, I prefer to cite other examples in which 
 the characteristics peculiar to it display themselves 
 in a broader manner. I will only add that I have 
 learned fresh particulars relative to little Leon. 
 Somnambulism developed in him after an accident 
 which gave him a great fright, and it has been 
 noticed that when he sleeps with his mother or his 
 sister he is less agitated that when he shares the 
 bed of his brother. This circumstance implies the 
 action of the vital fluid of one person on another. 
 It indicates at the same time that this fluid acts 
 with less energy when it emanates from a female, 
 especially if advanced in age ; for little Leon finds 
 himself calmer near his mother than near his sister. 
 
 The following fact occurred in the early part of 
 this century at Saint Jean-de- Verges, a little village 
 in the neighbourhood of Foix. It is related to me 
 by a daughter of Mdme, L,, the heroine of the 
 story : 
 
 " Mdme, L. was still a young girl, and was one 
 day busy at home about her household affairs. On 
 the morrow a local festival was to be celebrated, 
 
 9—2 
 
132 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 and all the day was given to tlie preparations. 
 But, despite her industry, she found no time to 
 clean her kitchen utensils. She went to bed, 
 intending to rise early in the morning to finish this 
 task. In the middle of the night she leaves her 
 bed, descends to the kitchen, puts her saucepans in 
 the basket, and carries them to some distance away 
 from the house, to the bank of the Arifege, to the 
 spot where she was accustomed to wash her pots 
 and pans. Her saucepans cleaned, she returned to 
 the house, put everything back in its place, and 
 returned to bed. In the morning she rose, as she 
 had intended, very early, to complete her task 
 Finding the work all done, and not being able to 
 explain this wonder, she went to tell it to her 
 parents. They replied that they had heard her in 
 the night descend from her room, enter the kitchen, 
 unhook the saucepans from the wall, and place 
 them in the basket ; then she had opened the door 
 of the house, and gone towards the river. They 
 had let her do it, thinking that she was awake, and 
 that it must be near daylight. At the end of about 
 an hour, they had heard her re-enter the kitchen, 
 hang up her saucepans, and go back to her room." 
 From this narrative, the prodigy gives its own 
 explanation. She had cleaned her utensils in a 
 crisis of somnambulism. 
 
 Two leading facts separate themselves from this 
 story. "We see Madame L. preoccupied about a cer- 
 tain thing, the cleaning of her saucepans. Being un- 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 133 
 
 able to finish the task in the day-time, she is 
 obliged to put it off till the morning ; she retired 
 with the purpose well formed to rise very early, to 
 finish this operation before the festival should begin. 
 A fixed idea dominated her, and directed all the 
 forces of her mind towards a determined result. 
 And this is the first characteristic noticeable in 
 somnambulism. 
 
 • In the second place, if we follow Madame L. step 
 by step, we see her accomplishing the intended task 
 in the same manner as if she had done it in full day- 
 light. Were her eyes open or closed ? I do not 
 know, but it is not important : both cases are 
 equally common in somnambulism. But when a 
 somnambule has the eyes open, they are fixed, 
 motionless, insensible to light, consequently inca- 
 pable of seeing. Madame L., walking wi th unfaltering 
 step in the darkness, handling her utensils with the 
 usual dexterity, finishing her work without inter- 
 ruption, was guided by an interior vision which 
 replaced sight and directed her actions in a manner 
 as sure as if she had been awake. 
 
 We can draw one other conclusion from this story. 
 Madame L. was not naturally a somnambule; for 
 they had never noticed in her any fact of this kind. 
 She became so by accident on a single occasion, 
 under the impulse of a fixed idea. Let a strong 
 preoccupation control a person several days succes- 
 sively, and the state of somnambulism may be 
 developed. Of this nature is the following example : 
 
134 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 it occurred at Pamiers, about forty years ago, and was 
 told me by a midwife, Madame F., who was an eye- 
 witness. 
 
 This young lady had gone to Pamiers to pursue 
 her medical studies. She went to lodge with a 
 woman who had three other boarders, young ladies like 
 herself. Winter was approaching — the time when 
 geese are fattened, and the mistress of the house 
 used to rise early every morning to gorge hers. • 
 One day she came in, in very depressed mood, to tell 
 her boarders that the geese seemed ill, that she had 
 not been able to make them eat their food, although 
 the dish was full of corn which she had given them 
 the evening before. She took some comfort, that 
 evening, in seeing that corn had, at any rate, been 
 digested during the day. But, the same facts 
 occurring on the next and following days, our 
 hostess worried more and more. A boarder, having 
 thought she heard some noise in the night, con- 
 ceived some suspicion of somnambulism, and told 
 her companions. All four adopted the means to 
 verify the fact, and the following night the same 
 noise recurring, they rose, went to see the geese, 
 and found the m.istress of the house in the act of 
 stuffing them. They awakened her, and great was 
 her astonishment when she found herself caught in 
 the very act of somnambulism. At about the same 
 time, another woman of Pamiers, who knitted 
 woollen waistcoats, sometimes found, upon rising, 
 her work more forward than she had left it the 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 135 
 
 previous evening. After numerous fruitless re- 
 searches, her neighbours discovered that she was a 
 somnambule, and rose at night to work at her waist- 
 coat in pitch darkness. 
 
 "We may apply to these two cases of somnam- 
 bulism the reflections that I have made with respect 
 to Madame L. The woman who rose at night to stuff 
 her geese, and she who worked at her knitting, were 
 only accidentally somnambulistic, and fell into this 
 state only under the power of a great preoccupation. 
 The dexterity with which they accomplished their 
 tasks shows that their members obeyed an inner 
 intelligent force which guided them as surely as 
 that which controlled them when awake. 
 
 When the mental tension which provokes som- 
 nambulism acts in a studious man, we notice still 
 more surprising facts than the preceding ones. 
 Scholars have been seen to rise at night, to compose 
 their work for the next day ; mathematicians, to find 
 the solution of problems which they had vainly 
 sought the evening before ; persons devoid of poetic 
 talent, to compose verses in irreproachable composi- 
 tion and style. The treatises upon physiology are 
 full of narrations of this kind. The most rigorous 
 logic seems to direct all the acts performed by 
 accidental somnambulists. It is not always so 
 with natural somnambulists. Burdach avows, in his 
 Traite de Physiologic, that the latter sometimes 
 do things quite contrary to reason. He cites in 
 this connection an example personal to himself. 
 
136 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 From his eighteenth to his thirtieth year he was 
 subject to attacks of somnambulism. One morning 
 he found himself without his shirt. No one having 
 entered his room, he could only attribute to himself 
 the strange fact ; but what had he done with the 
 lost article? All his searches were useless, and it 
 was only some time afterwards that he found his 
 shirt, rolled up and put away in the wardrobe in an 
 adjoining room. The night-walks of certain som- 
 nambules are also entirely unaccountable: they 
 have been seen walking on the edges of roofs ; others 
 leaping from beam to beam with a marvellous pre- 
 cision. If perchance they fall, the fall is for them 
 but a sort of leap, for they always find themfelves 
 on touching ground in the position that the best 
 trained acrobat would take. If obstacles are placed 
 in their way, they avoid them as they would do in 
 broad daylight — a manifest proof that they possess 
 in themselves an intelligent force which guides and 
 puts them in motion as the locomotive directs the 
 train with which it is coupled. 
 
 It is to be remarked that somnambules preserve 
 no recollection of their nocturnal exploits ; but the 
 strange thing is, that they will relate what they 
 have done, if interrogated during the next following 
 sleep. One would say that there exists in them a 
 second personality, which only reveals itself during 
 somnambulism, and has no relation with the 
 ordinary personality. Burdach tells a very curious 
 story about this. "One of my friends," says he, 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 137 
 
 " learnt one morning that his wife had been seen on 
 the roof of the church. At noou, although she was 
 fast asleep, he asked her, speaking to her over the 
 epigastric region, to give him some details about 
 her nocturnal wandering. She gave him a detailed 
 account, and said, among other things, that she had 
 been wounded in her left foot by a nail projecting 
 from the surface of the roof. After awaking, 
 she answered affirmatively, but with surprise, the 
 question that was put to her as to whether she felt 
 any pain in this foot ; but when she discovered a 
 wound there, she could not account for it." 
 
 From the facts that I have just presented, the 
 following conclusions may be drawn. 
 
 I. Somnambulism, spontaneous in some people, 
 is in the latent state in all others. In the latter, 
 one detects it but slightly ; yet it may attain its full 
 development under the influence of a strong mental 
 tension, a moral commotion, or other physiological 
 causes. These manifestations, frequent though in- 
 complete in childhood, show themselves more 
 strongly in youth, then decrease with age, and 
 seem to disappear in the old. 
 
 ir. The extraordinary things that the somnam- 
 bule accomplishes, notably in the intellectual 
 domain, testify the existence in him of an active 
 and intelligent force, i.e., of an inner personality. 
 This personality seems quite different from the 
 ordinary one, and seems to have its seat in the 
 nervous ganglia of the epigastric region, as we 
 
138 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 have seen in the somnambule mentioned by Bur- 
 dach, and as we shall recognize in a degree 
 iQore marked and precise in other manifestations 
 of mesmerism. It is thus proven why the som- 
 nambule does not recognize the voices of persons 
 with whom he is most intimate, and preserves no 
 recollection of what has passed during his sleep. 
 In like manner we notice the fact that there has 
 never been detected in him any immoral act, as 
 if his mysterious guide was freed from the bonds 
 of animality, 
 
 III. The personality which appears in somnam- 
 bulism displays an intelligence equal and sometimes 
 superior to that of the ordinary personality; but, 
 
 like the latter, it has also its equation, its ob- 
 scurity, its exhaustion. To content myself with 
 one example, I will revert to that somnambule 
 mentioned by Burdach, who, after having put on 
 his boots, mounted astride a window-sill, and put 
 the spur to the wall to urge on an imaginary 
 courser. 
 
 IV. Somnambulism is due to an abnormal dis- 
 engagement of nervous fluid. Several causes may 
 lead to this result: fright, great mental tension, 
 exuberance of youth, &c. ; in a word, all which 
 tends to upset the equilibrium of the physiological 
 functions whose seat is in the nervous system. 
 When the fluid is not abundant, the effects of 
 somnambulism are only displayed in an obscure 
 manner, and seem to be confounded with those 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 139 
 
 of dreaming. But as soon as there is disengaged 
 a suitable quantily, the inner personality is imme- 
 diately seen to appear, and the somnambule then 
 presents the characteristics of a waking man, for 
 he has a guide within him who possesses all the 
 faculties of intelligence and movement. What I 
 have said of the thaumaturgic fluid, and the per- 
 sonality it calls into action, will be confirmed by 
 the other effects of mesmerism. 
 
 Let us now pass to the examination of the pheno- 
 mena that are observed in the magnetic sleep. 
 
 When the nervous fluid which acts on an indi- 
 vidual proceeds from another person there is pro- 
 duced a new order of facts. The patient submitted 
 to the action of magnetic passes sleeps, then be- 
 comes clairvoyant, and answers the questions that 
 are put to him. In other words, he is a sleep- 
 talker. He is given, by analogy, the name of 
 somnambule — an improper expression which leads 
 to misunderstanding. But custom has prevailed, 
 and by the side of natural somnambulism has 
 ranged itself " magnetic " somnambulism — another 
 improper designation, but also sanctioned by 
 custom. 
 
 It was in 1784 that magnetic somnambulism 
 was observed for the first time by a disciple of 
 Mesmer — M. de Puysegur. This discovery was, 
 like many others, the result of chance. A gardener 
 of M. de Puysegur, Victor Eass, having fallen sick, 
 his master took steps to magnetize him. After 
 
140 POSTIIUMOtrS HUMANITY. 
 
 some passes M. de Puysegur, seeing that lie had 
 his eyes closed, asked him if he slept. Great was 
 his surprise when he heard him answer and begin 
 a conversation with him about his sickness. Victor 
 Eass indicated to him the organs which were 
 diseased and the remedies which would cure him. 
 M. de Puysegur perceived that the patient had 
 fallen into a new physiological state, which he 
 likened to somnambulism. His discovery was soon 
 noised about, and somnambulism studied in all its 
 phases. I shall not enter into any detail as to 
 the manner in which it is produced, nor as to the 
 effects which are obtained in it. 
 
 These are matters familiar to everybody to-day, 
 and moreover foreign to my subject. I shall confine 
 myself to analyzing certain of its most essential 
 characteristics, such as have been revealed by the 
 practice of nearly a century. 
 
 The first phenomenon that the magnetic sleep 
 exhibits is the modification that most somnam- 
 bules experience in their nervous system. Sen- 
 sitiveness is entirely abolished. The patient hears 
 only the voice of the magnetizer and that of the 
 person whom the latter places en rapport with him. 
 His deafness is absolute for all noises that occur, of 
 whatsoever intensity. In an experiment made at 
 Paris, a sceptic fired a pistol near the ear of a som- 
 nambule. The latter heard nobbing. The insensi- 
 bility is not less complete in other parts of the body. 
 We may bury needles in the flesh without the 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 141 
 
 patient feeling the least pain. He suffers only 
 when he awakes. The most painful surgical opera- 
 tions have been performed on magnetized subjects, 
 and they had only learned what had happened after 
 they had come out of their sleep. (^°) Before the 
 discovery of chloroform the faculty had only at their 
 disposal this means for abolishing suffering during 
 operations, and a number of doctors employ it up to 
 the present time. This insensibility resembles that 
 which we have seen showing itself at the moment 
 when a person is about to project the Double. It 
 is the first point of resemblance which connects the 
 phenomena of somnambulism with those of dupli- 
 cation. 
 
 The second character of the magnetic sleep is the 
 lucidity which is observed in somnambules. Not 
 all magnetized persons can attain to this state. 
 Here, as everywhere else, the phenomena which 
 present themselves follow an ascending scale, whose 
 extreme terms are, if I may venture to so express 
 myself, zero and the infinite. Certain subjects are 
 found to be completely antipathetic to magnetism, 
 whilst others fall asleep after a few passes. Those 
 who fall into the sleep do not always reach somnam- 
 
 (*'') In the first experiment I ever tried to assure myself of the 
 reality of mesmeric anastheesia, a young woman was piit to sleep 
 and eight bad teeth were extracted from her ulcerated gums without 
 her having any consciousness of it. But her inner consciousness 
 being at the same time aroused, she was able to tell me the time by 
 a clock in a house eight miles away, as 1 verified the next day by 
 comparison with my watch. 
 
142 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 bulism. This phenomenon shows itself but by im- 
 perceptible degrees ; it commonly requires many 
 sittings before the first symptoms appear. (^') On 
 the other hand, individuals not sensitive to-day to 
 magnetic action may yield to it later on, and vice 
 versa. Sickness, and, more broadly speaking, any 
 cause which tends to weaken the bodily tone and 
 exaggerate nervous sensitiveness, predisposes to 
 magnetic influence. It is for the latter reason that 
 somnambulism more often shows itself in the female 
 than in the male. Useless to add, all subjects are 
 not equally lucid. Some privileged natures attain 
 to an extraordinary clairvoyance, but this clairvoy- 
 ance, far from applying itself to everything indis- 
 criminately, as was formerly believed, does not 
 transcend certain limits which I shall presently 
 define. 
 
 The most immediate and curious application of 
 the magnetic lucidity is in the diagnosis and treat- 
 ment of disease. If a somnambule is suQ'ering, he 
 
 (*') One fact as yet incomprehensible to Western mesmerists is 
 that some operators can never make any subject clairvoyant, -while 
 others do so in almost the majority of cases. The famous Major 
 Buckley was possessed of this power. The late Professor Gregory, 
 of Edinburgh University, says in his work on Animal Magnetism, 
 Letters to a Candid Inquirer, " It would certainly appear that 
 Major B. has a rare and very remarkable power of producing 
 conscious clairvoyance in his subjects.'' Natural seers can always 
 recognize each other upon meeting for the first time, and second 
 sight sometimes affects two persons simultaneously, so that both see 
 the same vision, although neither has spoken. I have seen this 
 happen to two persons looking into the same crystal. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 143 
 
 sees witli a marvellous sagacity tlie organ which is 
 the seat of the disease, predicts long in advance the 
 return of the crises, fixes their length, and announces 
 the day, hour, and exact minute when they ought to 
 show themselves ; at the same time he names the 
 most appropriate remedies, and makes known the 
 time when the cure will be accomplished. All 
 physicians who have observed these facts attest that 
 these prescriptions include nothing contrary to the 
 principles of medical science. Sometimes very sin- 
 gular coincidences are noticed. A patient ■ having 
 consulted a somnambule, the latter advised the use 
 of milk from a goat whose teats had been rubbed 
 with mercurial ointment. Some days previously 
 Dupuytren had ordered the same remedy. The 
 somnambules exhibit an analogous discernment in 
 the cases of patients whom the magnetizer places en 
 rapport with them. It is regrettable that physi- 
 cians, instead of seeking in magnetism a powerful 
 auxiliary, only permit themselves to see in it 
 quackery that they must leave to charlatans. 
 
 We shall find, then, in the somniloquist the 
 characteristics which I have described in connection 
 with the somnambule properly so called. Under 
 the action of the nervous fluid, the ordinary person- 
 ality seems obliterated, and in its place we see arise 
 the mesmeric personality. When the phenomena 
 of the magnetic sleep are but feebly displayed, it is 
 often difiScult to recognize the physiognomy of the 
 latter, and we are not quite sure to whom we must 
 
144 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 ascribe the answers of the sleep-talker. But as soon 
 as the effects of magnetism attain all their fulness 
 there is no longer room for doubt ; it is then truly 
 the mesmeric personality which acts. It presents 
 itself with distinct characteristics clearly differen- 
 tiating it from the cerebral personality. The mag- 
 netic subject does not recognize the voice of the 
 persons with whom he is most familiar, unless the 
 magnetizer places them en rapport with him. Upon 
 his awaking he has no longer consciousness of 
 what he has done. Like the natural somnambule, 
 he has an extreme sensitiveness for everything 
 which touches upon morality or modesty, and does 
 not shrink from recalling to decorum persons who 
 whisper dishonourable proposals. Questioned as to 
 what concerns himself, it sometimes happens that 
 he speaks of himself as an individual with whom he 
 has no connection. He expresses himself in the 
 third person, and exposes his own faults as though 
 he were doing it of a stranger. In other words, the 
 personality which the mesmeric fluid has evoked is 
 entirely distinct from the individual who has just 
 been submitted to mesmeric passes. If one asks 
 this mysterious interlocutor what is his name, he 
 does not know what to answer ; he babbles like a 
 child of three years, whom one asks about his origin. 
 It is a statue which a supernatural potency has just 
 animated for a moment with the breath of life. 
 Deleuze cites the example of a woman named 
 Adelaide, who, when she became somnambulic, no 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 145 
 
 longer answered to this name ; she declared that 
 she was called Petite, and spoke of Adelaide as of 
 an entire stranger. Others have been known to 
 call themselves a demon, a spirit, the soul of a de- 
 ceased person. We shall find analogous facts in 
 mediums and the obsessed. ('*) 
 
 The individuality which appears in the magnetic 
 sleep presents a trait not less remarkable than the 
 preceding ones, and which completes its differentia- 
 tion from the ordinary personality. Whilst the latter 
 has its seat in the encephalon, the former appears 
 to be localized in the bundle of nervous ganglia 
 called the solar plexus. In certain cases, in fact, 
 the voice of the somniloquist seems to come out of 
 the epigastrium, as if the mesmeric fluid animated 
 this region, crowded as we know it to be with nerve- 
 filaments, and we observe a marked dualism between 
 the somnambule, properly so called, and the epi- 
 
 (*") A curious case occurred in the United States a few years ago. 
 A young girl, named Lurancy Vennum, was suddenly seized with the 
 idea of 'a double personality. At intervals she would pass a crisis 
 of apparent obsession, and during its continuance she would declare 
 herself anothc r young woman whose existence had been unknown 
 until then to herself or any of her family. Her own relatives 
 would then seem total strangers to her; but the peraonalities, family 
 secrets, and interests of the other girl were as familiar to her as 
 though she had been born in that family. Subsequently her parents 
 verified, by careful inquiry, all the revelations of their daughter. 
 This is a problem hard to solve upon any other theory than that of 
 actual obsession by another conscious individuality than that of the 
 somnambule or hysteriac. Such obsessions are quite common in 
 India, and the obsessing entity is called a bhot, or earth-bound 
 ghost. 
 
 10 
 
146 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 gastric personage. I shall have occasion to revert 
 to this frequent fact in the obsessed, and which is 
 also noticed in various cataleptics who only perceive 
 sounds by the solar plexus. ('') Especially it is, 
 we think, in the magnetic sleep that this phenome- 
 non attains its full development, and that it is 
 easiest to study. At the commencement there is 
 something like a struggle between the cerebral and 
 the epigastric personalities. 
 
 The somnambule, if asked to read some hnes 
 upon a paper which is handed him, is not quite 
 sure to whom he should apply. He carries the 
 paper alternately to the forehead and the epigas- 
 trium, and it is usually in contact or close to this 
 latter organ that the reading is done. When, as 
 the result of predisposition in the subject, or of a 
 considerable charging with aura, the mesmeric in- 
 dividuality acquires all its energies, there occurs 
 another phenomenon quite common in the annals 
 of magnetism. This is the projection of the Double. 
 The epigastric personage, feeling himself strong 
 enough to burst the bonds of his prison, escapes, 
 and the somnambule falls into ecstasy; he becomes 
 deaf to the voice of the magnetizer. It is now 
 but an inert body, completely cut ofif from the 
 world which surrounds it. Life has abandoned it, 
 
 C) One of the most important mysteries yet to be solved by 
 Western psychologists is this " epigastric personage.'' It is included 
 in the six chahrams, or centres of psychic evolution defined by 
 Aryan sages. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 147 
 
 and it is in vain that the operator makes his passes 
 to compel it to re-enter. This lethargy lasts some- 
 times for several hours. (^°) When the somnambule 
 recovers consciousness, he tells of extraordinary 
 visions, of distant journeys, which recall the tales 
 of the ecstatics or of the sorcerers returning from 
 their sabbath. 
 
 A final characteristic of the individuality born 
 of the magnetic sleep is that its lucidity is not 
 always without alloy. It sometimes presents spots, 
 black lines, obscurities, which mak§ it so that one 
 can never have a complete faith in the answers 
 of a sleep-talker. Even in the diagnosis and treat- 
 ment of diseases, which seem its proper domain, 
 magnetic clairvoyance is sometimes at fault. "I 
 have seen," says Dupotet, " somnambules who have 
 told me, along with incontestible truths, unaccount- 
 able falsehoods," Deleuze goes farther, and does 
 not fear to lay it down as a principle that, of a 
 hundred persons who go to consult somnambules, 
 ninety-five go away dissatisfied. This tissue of 
 
 (*) A very dangerous crisis, quite capable of resulting in death. 
 The mesmeric neophyte, being always liable to such an accident as 
 finding a new subject one of these supersensitives, should proceed 
 in his experiments with the greatest caution and vigilance, If his 
 subject should fall suddenly into this ecstatic condition, he should 
 beware of losing his coolness and strength of will for a single 
 instant ; for thfese are the elements of his control over the somnam- 
 bule, who escapes him if he brealcs the mesmeric current. Eead 
 Cahagnet'6 vivid description of his agony when he had lost control 
 of the somnambule Adele (Celestial Telegraph, p. 70. London 
 edition). 
 
 10^2 
 
148 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 intuition mixed with errors, which will always be 
 the hidden reef of magnetism, and which has 
 brought it into discredit, (^') is seen, as we have ob- 
 served, although in perhaps a less marked manner, 
 in the natural somnambule. We shall encounter it 
 again in the talking-tables and the mediums. 
 
 To what causes may one ascribe the dark lines 
 which so often come out athwart magnetic clair- 
 voyance even in the most lucid subjects? The 
 following are, I apprehend, the most important. 
 
 To begin with the personal equation of the mag- 
 netizer: his influence upon the somnambule is 
 such that the latter's understanding unconsciously 
 reflects the thought of the master who dominates 
 it. If, then, the magnetizer has a fixed idea upon 
 any question put to the somniloquist, it will in- 
 fallibly give itself expression in the answer of the 
 latter. Among many examples supporting this 
 view, I shall cite the following. 
 
 A rich Brazilian, of the province of Eio Janeiro, 
 one Baron d'Uba, happening to be in Paris in the 
 years next after 1848, made the acquaintance of 
 
 (°') Always, until mesmerism is studied and explored by men of 
 first-elass abilities, patient, unprejudiced men, who have not the 
 conceit to suppose that knowledge is their twin sister, nor the 
 short-sightedness to abstain from studying their speciality in the 
 text-books of the masters of Aryan psychology. The somnambules 
 of the ancient temples were under the constant watch, ward, and 
 restraint of philosophical adepts who did not permit them to range 
 the fields of imagination like wild colts on the Pampas, nor foster 
 their conceit by accepting their fanciful rhapsodies as oracular 
 revelations. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 149 
 
 Baron du Potet, and became quite an expert in 
 the practice of magnetism. His son having fallen 
 very ill, and, seeing that the disease was rapidly 
 becoming more and more dangerous, notwithstand- 
 ing that he had called in one of the most eminent 
 physicians of the capital, he at length feared for 
 his life and sent for young Alexis, (^^) who had at 
 that time a great renown as a lucid somnambule. 
 The Baron d'Uba had consulted him frequently 
 about different subjects, and had been invariably 
 satisfied with the correctness of his answers. After 
 having put him to sleep, he asked him if his son 
 would get well. " No," answered Alexis. Yet the 
 boy did recover, and was full of life when the father 
 related to me the story. The latter was not in 
 the least surprised to see that Alexis had failed, 
 for he confessed that, when questioning him, he 
 did not believe in his son's recovery, and he ex- 
 pected none other than such an answer. In other 
 words, the fixed idea of the magnetizer is transferred 
 into the brain of the sleeper. 
 
 Often, the personal equation of the somnambule 
 acts as well as that of the magnetizer, and then the 
 replies given are still wider from the truth. In 
 1870, being at Bordeaux some days before the 
 disaster of Sedan, I met one of my friends, whom I 
 knew to be interested in magnetism, and asked him, 
 without attaching any importance to my question, 
 
 (^') Alexis Didier, one of the most celebrated somnambules in 
 history. 
 
150 POSTHUMOUS HUJVLtNITY. 
 
 if he had consulted some somnambule as to the 
 issue of the war. 
 
 " Certainly," he replied ; " I have access to 
 a very lucid subject, and have put him that 
 question." 
 
 " What did he tell you ? " 
 
 " He said the French would be in Berlin before 
 the Prussians came before Paris." 
 
 This answer seemed to me rather venturesome, 
 for it was easy to see that our armies were not 
 travelling the road to Prussia, much less to Berhn. 
 The successive defeats we met with had dis- 
 closed the powerful organization of the German 
 troops, their numerical superiority, the power of 
 their artillery, and thoughtful persons could not 
 deceive themselves with any illusions as to the 
 issue of the campaign. It was, then, easy for a 
 somnambule of even moderate lucidity to seize 
 upon the bitter concatenation of facts which had 
 developed within the previous six weeks, and from 
 them draw a horoscope more in harmony with the 
 truth. How had he of whom I speak, and who had 
 a great reputation as a clairvoyant, fallen into so 
 grave a mistake? Nothing is easier than to 
 account for it. The master and subject were both 
 old soldiers, and it could not enter the heads of 
 such campaigners that the eagles of France 
 could be humiliated by the Prussian eagles to the 
 point of our seeing the latter even displayed before 
 Paris. The answer of the somnambule could only 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 151 
 
 be the fixed idea which ruled equally in the mind of 
 both magnetizer and subject. 
 
 Let us suppose, now, that the master and the 
 subject are both exempt from the personal equation. 
 What degree of lucidity should one accord to the 
 latter ? 
 
 Before broaching this question, let us examine 
 what must be understood by magnetic clairvoyance. 
 Generally, we may perhaps define it — seeing at a 
 distance. You hand a somnambule an object which 
 has belonged to a person who lives in London, while 
 you are in Paris or some other distant place, and 
 you request him to put himself in communication 
 with it, so as to give you some news about him. 
 It is a telegraphic wire that we establish between 
 two places, having as electric batteries, the one, 
 the nervous system of the sleep-talker, the other, 
 that of the person with whom he is placed en 
 rapport; and for vehicle, the fluid which they 
 disengage. This fluidic emanation forms round 
 each of them an atmosphere whose undulations 
 extend very far, because of the subtlety of the 
 mesmeric atom. That of the magnetic subject, 
 much more active than the other's, goes, as it were, 
 in some sort in search of the latter, meets it, and 
 the communication is thus established between the 
 two poles. We now see the conditions wliich the 
 telegraphic system prescribes so that it may give 
 exact results. The somnambule will show himself 
 proportionately lucid as his sensibility shall be more 
 
152 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 delicate (I mean more apt to perceive the contact of 
 the etheric waves flowing from the opposite pole), 
 as these waves shall be more distinctly marked, and 
 a^ the distance between the two stations shall be 
 shorter. Let us add that, for the despatch not to 
 be interrupted, and to be free from all obscurities 
 which alter its sense, it is necessary that the 
 electric thread shall not be crossed by any opposing 
 current from a mesmeric source. It is to guard 
 against these disturbing currents that, at the com- 
 mencement, you hand the somnambule some article 
 belonging to the person with whom you are 
 bringing him into rapport. This article, impreg- 
 nated with the emanations of its proprietor, acts, if 
 I may venture to say it, upon the magnetic subject 
 in the same way as the track of game upon the 
 pointer. From the moment of their contact, he has 
 detected the nature of the aura special to him whom 
 they are pointing out; he follows his trace, and 
 identifies his auric wave among numberless etheric 
 vibrations which are crossing each other about him. 
 
 The annals of magnetism teem with narratives 
 of sight at a distance, displaying, on the part of the 
 somnambule, a lucidity sometimes marvellous. I 
 shall limit myself to quoting the following, which 
 is of a personal character : 
 
 "In the month of July, 1870, I was at Cauterets 
 when the war-cloud burst. Two or three days later, 
 one of my acquaintances, who was at Paris, and 
 to whom I had just written, having had the oppor- 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 153 
 
 tunity of attending a magnetic seance, handed ray 
 letter to a somnambule, and asked her to give him 
 some news of me. She answered, after having, as it 
 were, searched after me for some moments, that she 
 saw me in a room on the second storey, which she 
 described, seated before a table, occupied in reading 
 a newspaper. She added that my countenance 
 showed anxiety. All these details, which they 
 reported to me, were quite correct. The anxiety 
 which she had noticed on my face was but too well 
 justiiied by the reading of the paper, quite filled 
 with the campaign which was about opening, and 
 the apprehensions which this war awakened in me. 
 I knew the formidable organization of the Prussian 
 army, and I counted little upon a General Bona- 
 parte to restore the equilibrium of the situations, 
 whilst I apprehended the presence of a Frederick II. 
 in the ranks of the Grerman armies." 
 
 Distant sight is sometimes met with elsewhere 
 than in somnambules. Certain organizations, 
 naturally endowed with a sensitiveness similar to 
 that which the magnetic sleep develops, can, in 
 certain cases, be impressed by etheric vibrations 
 coming from a distant point and emanating from 
 known persons. Apollonius of Tyana was, in his 
 old age, in retirement at Ephesus, where he had 
 founded a school of Pythagorean philosophy. One 
 day, while discoursing in the midst of his disciples, 
 he was noticed to suddenly stop, and to cry out in a 
 voice full of emotion : 
 
154 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 " Courage, strike the tyrant ! " 
 
 He paused yet a few moments in the attitude of 
 a man who anxiously awaits the issue of a struggle, 
 then again exclaimed : 
 
 " Fear not, Ephesians, the tyrant is no more ; he 
 has just been assassinated." 
 
 Some days later, it was learnt that, at the moment 
 when the thaumaturge uttered this strange apo- 
 strophe, Domitian fell under the blows of the freed- 
 man Stephanus. The murder could not occur with- 
 out causing, as well on the part of the victim as on 
 that of the assassin, movements which must set in 
 vibration either the surrounding ether or the 
 cerebral fluid disengaged by the two actors in the 
 drama. These vibrations, starting from Kome, had 
 instantaneously reached Ephesus, where they were 
 perceived by the ultra-sensitive or subtle nerves of 
 the celebrated seer. It is not unimportant to recall 
 that, some time before, the philosopher had been 
 thrown into fluidic rapport with the tyrant, after 
 certain lively disentanglements which occurred 
 between them, and that ApoUonius was forced to 
 ieave Eome to escape death. If, from antiquity, we 
 pass to modern times, we find a great number of 
 analogous facts reported by different authors. 
 Certain races, or rather certain regions, seem to 
 favour second sight. Such are the high districts of 
 Scotland. Seers there develop themselves quite 
 often ; occasionally Englishmen, sceptical about 
 what has been told them in this matter, have made 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 155 
 
 a tour in the highlands to convince themselves at 
 first hand as to the truth of the allegations, and 
 have returned fully convinced. On the Continent, 
 intuitive sight is a rare phenomenon ; however, we 
 know of a number of examples. The biography of 
 Swedenborg cites several. I will confine myself to 
 the following, of which Kant guarantees the authen- 
 ticity : 
 
 "On July 19th, 1759, the great theosophist, 
 returning from England, stopped at Gothenburg, 
 distant from Stockholm about fifty leagues. As he 
 was lodging in a merchant's house of that city, 
 where there were several friends, they saw him, at 
 six o'clock in the evening, enter the drawing-room 
 pale and agitated. He announced that a great fire 
 had just broken out at Stockholm, in the Suder- 
 mahn, and that it was approaching his house. For 
 two hours he was very restless, going out and 
 coming in as if he were seeking news. At a certain 
 moment he declared |that the fire had just con- 
 sumed the house of one of his friends whom he 
 named, and that his own was in danger. At last, 
 about eight o'clock, after a new exit, he cried 
 out : 
 
 " Thank Heaven ! the fire has stopped at the 
 third door from my own." 
 
 Two days later, the governor of Grothenburg 
 received a despatch announcing to him the disaster. 
 Every detail given by Swedenborg was fully con- 
 firmed. 
 
156 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 An ordinary person, but with an exceptionally 
 delicate sensitiveness, may become clairvoyant in 
 certain circumstances, when a catastrophe has just 
 happened to a near relative. Two causes, the one 
 physical, organic similitude, the other moral, family 
 afifection, explain this fact. 
 
 Mirville, in the second volume of his work, cites 
 several very remarkable examples. His father relates 
 that in his youth, when playing at base with several 
 oiEcers of his regiment, he saw one of them suddenly 
 stop in the middle of his run, and cry out while 
 putting his hand over his two eyes : 
 
 " Ah ! heavens ! My brother has just broken his 
 thigh while leaping a rail fence in America." 
 
 Three months afterwards, the news was minutely 
 verified. A lady, living in Loraine, awoke one night 
 with a start, and in a frenzy of grief exclaimed that 
 her son had just been stabbed and thrown into the 
 river. They wrote to Paris ; search was made, and 
 the authorities found the corpse at the place in- 
 dicated, and bearing the fatal wound. 
 
 One of my friends at Carcassonne has told me 
 that in 1815, while still a child, he was awakened 
 one night by the report of firearms ; at the same 
 time he saw his uncle lying on the ground, struck 
 by a bullet. The next day they learned that the 
 unfortunate man, a veteran of the Empire, had 
 fallen at the same hour, a victim of the Eoyalist 
 rage of the times. Let us add that the place of 
 the drama and the house of the child were at too 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 157 
 
 great a distance apart for the noise of firearms 
 to be heard there. 
 
 From these dififerent instances it is easy to see 
 that the intuition has its source in the family ties 
 which unite two persons, and put their mesmeric 
 sensitiveness in unison with each other. Among 
 countless impressions which reach the seer from all 
 sides, he perceives only those which emanate from 
 his relative. His nerves, so sensitive as regards him 
 who is bound to him by the ties of blood or affection, 
 cannot act when they are solicited by vibrations 
 coming from strangers or from persons for whom 
 they feel indifference. {^^) 
 
 I will make another remark about second sight. 
 This faculty usually shows itself during sleep, as if 
 the relaxation of the bodily organs made the nervous 
 sensitiveness more apt to let itself be affected by the 
 mesmeric undulation. 
 
 Now let us return to magnetic clairvoyance. Can 
 the somnambule predict the future ? As a general 
 proposition, the thing is not impossible, but is daily 
 verified with lucid subjects, provided always that the 
 question is confined within certain limits. 
 
 Each event can, in fact, be considered as the 
 resultant of a certain number of forces, whether 
 
 (™) Mr. F. Galton, F.R. S. , has very ably worked up this rela- 
 tionship between twins, which in most cases he found to extend to 
 mental action as well as physical resemblance. See his masterly 
 work, Inquiries into Human Fmyidty and its Development, p. 216 
 
158 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 physical or moral, which obey laws as inflexible as 
 those of rational mechanics. Chance is an expres- 
 sion to which we have recourse to disguise our 
 ignorance of first causes, but which ought not to find 
 a place in the glossary of nature. All is united and 
 linked together in the universe, in such a way that 
 contemporary events spring from anterior circum- 
 stances, just as the facts of the future are in germ 
 in those which are occurring in our own time. It 
 concerns us then to disentangle the unknown from 
 a problem sharply determined and circumscribed, 
 whose elements are represented by etheric undula- 
 tions from cosmic or mesmeric sources, which place 
 the somnambule simultaneously en rapport with the 
 physical world and the world of idea. The lucidity 
 of the magnetic subject consists in perceiving his 
 fluidie impressions, of which some are occasionally 
 of an infinite delicacy, and in tracing them out until 
 they have given their resultant. It is, therefore, 
 evident that his answer will become easier as his 
 impressions shall be better marked, that is to say, as 
 they spring from causes more immediate and relate 
 to a future more near. (^^) 
 
 ("*) But are we to take no account of the normal degree of 
 lucidity in the individual ? If anything is certain, it is that some 
 lucid somnambules are, from childhood, far higher in the scale of 
 clairvoyance than the average of seers. Their prevision seems, 
 then, rather an innate capacity to, so to speak, look ahSve" the 
 clouds of sense " and trace present causes to their ultimate'^ffects, 
 than to be dependent upon the comparative nearness or remoteness 
 of the one from the other. For, as all ancient authorities insist, 
 time is not an appreciable element in the action of spiritual faculty. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 159 
 
 The prevision of the future is not alone observable 
 in somnambulism ; it is equally accredited to the 
 Scotch seers. One of them, passing with some 
 friends through the district where, two years later, 
 the battle of Culloden was destined to be fought, to 
 the great astonishment of his companions, forwamed 
 them of the bloody combat which was to decide the 
 fate of the Stuarts. (^^) Besides seers properly so 
 called, certain persons have occasionally prevision ; 
 but, as in the case of seeing at a distance, this faculty 
 usually shows itself only in sleep. We find in the 
 dream-book of Valerius Maximus a curious example 
 of this sort. They were celebrating, at Syracuse, 
 some gladiatorial sports. Aterius Euffus, a Eoman 
 nobleman, saw himself in a dream pierced by the 
 hand of a retiarivis, and the next day, at the amphi- 
 theatre, he related his experience to several persons. 
 A few minutes afterward, a retiarius entered the 
 
 (^) If our author had in mind the prophecy of the Culloden fight 
 made hy Kenneth Mackenzie, or, as he is hetter known, Coinneach 
 Odhar, the Brahan Seer, he has not done full justice to the case. 
 This wonderful man and true prophet was torn at the beginning of 
 the seventeenth century, and died before reaching old age ; but the 
 battle of Culloden was fought in April, 1746, about a century later. 
 It is recorded of him that, passing over what was afterwards 
 to be the battle-field, he suddenly exclaimed, "Oh! Drummossie, 
 thy bleak moor shall, ere many generations have passed away, 
 be stained with the best blood of the Highlands. Glad am I that 
 I will not see that day, for it will be a fearful period ; heads will be 
 lopped off by the score, and no mercy will be shown or quarter given 
 on either side." (See The Prophecies of the Brahan Seer, by 
 Alexander Mackenzie, editor of the Celtic Magazine — a most in- 
 teresting work.) 
 
160 posthu:mous humanity. 
 
 arena with his weapon, quite near the place where 
 the nobleman was seated. Scarcely had the latter 
 cast his eye upon him, than he exclaimed : 
 
 " The very retiarius by whom it seemed to me 
 that I was killed." 
 
 At once he wished to go away. Those who were 
 about him succeeded by their talk in dissipating 
 his fears, and thus caused his death ; for the 
 retiarius, having pushed his adversary up to the 
 very edge of the arena, upset him at this spot; 
 whilst he was trying to strike him, his weapon 
 reached Aterius, and killed him. 
 
 The following story, related by Marmont, will 
 match that of Valerius Maximus : 
 
 On the eve of a battle, one of the most brilliant 
 ofiBcers of the Italian army, Stingel, saw in sleep a 
 great green horseman, who came towards him and 
 killed him. The next day he related his dream to 
 his comrades, without, however, attaching to it any 
 importance. The same day an engagement occurred 
 between the French and the Austrians. In the 
 heat of the battle, Stingel saw approaching him a 
 tall dragoon, wearing a green uniform. He thought 
 he recognized the horseman who had appeared to 
 him in his dream, and advanced to meet him with 
 the shout : 
 
 " I recognize you ; I'm your man." 
 
 Some moments later, he was slain. 
 
 Sometimes the nervous organization of the seer 
 is such that he can distinguish impressions relating 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 161 . 
 
 to acts accomplished at a more or less distant epoch. 
 Somnambules furnish daily examples of this kind. 
 They relate to those about them what occurred in 
 the morning or during the preceding days. We 
 sometimes see them making revelations which the 
 one to whom they are speaking thought no one in - 
 the world was acquainted with, and by which they 
 are not complimented. Certain extra-lucid som- 
 nambules, or certain exceptional organizations, can 
 seize upon facts relating to several years back. 
 How can their sensitiveness act, however delicate 
 we may suppose it ? Can it let itself be impressed 
 by vibrations long since subsided ? No movement 
 is exhausted in nature ; it but transforms itself. 
 It leaves, consequently, traces, and these suflBce to 
 arouse the attention of the seer. (^^) Every vibra- 
 tion, whatever may be its nature and its origin, 
 may be compared to those which are emitted by 
 luminous bodies in the medium which surrounds 
 them. The undulatory movements of the ethereal 
 fluid depict upon our retina the image of the star 
 which projects them, though they may be crossed 
 on their path by the undulations of myriads of 
 other stars, and though the initial impulse traces 
 back thousands of years. 
 
 1^) So true, that psyehometers are able to view the most remote 
 events of the past hy clairvoyant inspection of the Astral Light 
 Prof. Denton's Soul of Things (3 vols. ; Boston, Mass. . Colby 
 and Eich) contains a mass of records of such psychometrical 
 researches, 
 
 11 
 
162 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 One of the most curious examples that can be 
 quoted of the subtlety of a seer is supplied us by 
 the celebrated Martin Graillardon, who was much 
 talked about in the first years of the Eestoration. 
 He went to Paris to see Louis XVIIL, announcing 
 that he had important revelations to make to the 
 monarch. These boasts having reached the ear of 
 the Minister of Police, M. d'Ecazes, the latter saw 
 in him only an ordinary hallucinated person, and 
 had him privately placed in an insane hospital. 
 One of the intimate friends of the king, the Due de 
 la Rochefoucauld, not hearing anything more said 
 about Martin, guessed what had happened, and 
 under pretext of visiting the insane hospital, went 
 to this establishment, and carefully visited all the 
 wards. In a room was a solitary man, whose 
 attitude was that of an ecstatic. The duke under- 
 stood that he had before him Martin ; he questioned 
 him discreetly, and becoming convinced that he was 
 not deceived, he took him the next day to Louis 
 XVIII. When the sovereign and the seer were 
 alone, the latter spoke, and, becoming more and 
 more animated, it ended in his drawing great tears 
 from the king-philosopher, who dismissed him with 
 sob§. The mistress of the monarch, Mdme. du 
 Cayla, who, from a neighbouring room, watched all 
 the details of this scene, imparts to us, in her 
 *' Memoires," the revelation which so strongly moved 
 h«r royal lover, and which it is useless to repeat 
 here. Suffice it to say that it concerned a heinous 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 163 
 
 act, with which Martin reproached the old king ; 
 that this act related to a time when the Queen 
 Marie Antoinette was pregnant with the Dauphin ; 
 aiid that it had never been known by any one, its 
 author having carefully buried it in the innermost 
 recesses of his consciousness. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE MESMERIC ETHER AND THE PERSONALITY WHICH 
 IT ENGENDERS {continued). — THE TURNING-TABLE. 
 — THE TALKING-TABLE. — THE MEDIUM. 
 
 It is now some thirty odd years since a moral 
 epidemic, spiritism, overran the United States. 
 Thence it passed into Europe, and gradually 
 spread over the entire Continent. The premonitory 
 symptoms of this curious disease were described by 
 Count de Rezies in his learned work, Les Sciences 
 Occultes." We will reproduce the following excerpt, 
 as an historical document : 
 
 Kaps, the cause of ivhieh nobody eould guess, were heard for the 
 first time in 1846 ("), in the house of one 'Weckman(°'), in the 
 village of Hydesville, Arcadia township, Wayne county. State of ' 
 New York. No pains were spared to discover the author of these 
 mysterious noises, but to no avail. Once, in the middle of the night, 
 the family were aroused by the screams of the youngest daughter, 
 aged about eight years, who declared she had felt something like a 
 hand, which passed all over the bed and at last rested on her head' 
 and face — a thing which seems to have occurred in several other 
 places where such knockings have been heard. Prom that time 
 forward nothing happened for about six months, at which time the 
 
 (") 1848. O Weekman, 
 
 11—2 
 
164 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 family left the house, -which Teas then occupied by a Methodist, 
 Mr. John Fox and his family, comprising his -wife and two 
 daughters. ("") for three months more all was quiet, but then the 
 Tappings recommenced louder than ever. They were at first rather 
 gentle, as if some one were tapping upon the floor of one of the 
 sleeping-rooms, and with each rap a vibration was felt in the floor ; 
 they could be felt even by those who were lying down upon a bed, 
 and those who did so say that the sensation was very like that 
 caused by a galvanic battery. The knocks were continually heard ; 
 it was impossible to sleep ; every night these light vibratory taps 
 went on softly but ceaselessly. Wearied, worried, ever kept on the 
 alert, the family at last decided to call in the neighbours to help 
 discover the riddle, and thenceforward the mysterious knocks 
 aroused the attention of the whole country. Groups of six or 
 eight persons were stationed in every room in the house, or every 
 soul would be made to go outside and listen ; but the invisible agent 
 kept up his knocking. On the 31st March, 1847, ('") Mrs. Fox and 
 her daughters not having closed their eyes the previous night, and 
 being excessively sleepy, retired very early, all in one room, hoping 
 thus to escape the noises which were usually heard about midnight. 
 Mr. Fox was away. But soon the rappings began again, and the 
 two young girls, who could not sleep, set to imitating them by 
 snapping their lingers. To their perfect amazement the knocks 
 responded to every snap. Then the younger began to test the 
 wonder ; she snapped her fingers and there came a knock, or two, 
 three, &c., always the invisible being giving the exact number of 
 knocks. The elder sister jokingly said, " Now do as I do ; count 
 one, two, three, four, five, six," &e., each time herself clapping her 
 hands the number of times called for. The sounds followed with 
 the same exactness ; but this sign of intelligence frightening the 
 younger child, she soon stopped her experiment. Then Mrs. Fox 
 said, " Count ten,'' and immediately ten blows resounded. She 
 added : " Will you tell me the age of my daughter Catherine ? " 
 
 C') The details have been inaccurately copied by the Count 
 Eezies from the full and well-known narratives of Capron, Har- 
 dinge, Owen, and other American authors. It is not worth while 
 pointing out the errors, as they do not affect M. d'Assier's argu- 
 ment. 
 
 ('") 1848 : the Fox family did not move into the Weekman house 
 until the 11th of December, 1847. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 165 
 
 and the knocks indicated the exact number of years of the child's 
 age. Mrs. Fox then asked if a human being were making the 
 noises. No reply. Then she said, '-If you are a spirit, knock 
 twice." Two raps came. " If you are a spirit to whom somebody 
 did wrong, answer me as before." And the raps did so. 
 
 Such was the first conversation, perhaps, that ever occurred, at 
 least in modern times, between the beings of the other world and 
 this. By this means Mrs. Fox came to know that the spirit 
 answering their questions was the soul of a man who had been 
 killed in the house several years before, that his name was Charles 
 ^7° (")> that he was a pedlar, and aged thirty-one when the 
 person with whom he lodged overnight killed him for his money. 
 Mrs. Fox then said to her unseen interlocutor, " If we call in the 
 neighbours, shall the knocks continue to answer ? " A rap was 
 heard in affirmative reply. The neighbours were soon gathered, 
 predisposed to make sport of the Fox family ; but the accuracy of a 
 multitude of details thus given by the raps, in reply to questions 
 which were put to the invisible agent by the several members of 
 the family about the affairs of their neighbours, convinced the most 
 sceptical. The rumour of these strange matters spread far and 
 wide, and quickly there gathered priests, judges, lawyers, and 
 a host of simple laity. Shortly after, the Fox family, whom 
 the spirit-authors of these knoekings pursued from house to house, 
 went to settle in Rochester, an important city of New York, where 
 many thousands of persons came to visit them, and vainly tried 
 to discover imposture in this whole business. 
 
 Such were the beginnings of spiritism; every- 
 body saw the spirit of a dead man in the mysterious 
 interlocutor of the Fox girls. Did he not so give 
 himself out ; and what interest could he have had 
 to dissimulate as to his true civil condition ? Another 
 circumstance made this explanation quite natural. 
 In the houses where the least doubtful posthumous 
 manifestations occur, it has been often noticed that 
 if we strike one or several blows on the wall or 
 
 (■") Charles B. Eosma. 
 
166 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 floor, the invisible being would repeat at once the 
 same number of knocks, as though wishing to indi- 
 cate that he was anxious to talk through an alphabet 
 at his disposal. However, it is not difficult to seej 
 when we scrutinize the facts very closely, that the 
 Fox girls were the dupes of one of those so common 
 mystifications in the history of spiritism. They 
 belonged to that class of young electrical girls, as is 
 proven by the part they have since played ; the 
 knocks and vibratory scratchings heard in their 
 room resulted from an unconscious action of their 
 mesmeric personality, for we notice the identical 
 phenomena occurring with other electrical persons. 
 Thenceforth the answers of the pretended defunct to 
 the questions of the Fox girls were a simple effect 
 of mesmerism, analogous to the talking-tables to 
 which we shall have to revert presently. 
 
 Spiritual telegraphy, whose foundations we have 
 just been laying above, soon made the tour of the 
 United States. Whenever a rapping spirit made 
 his presence heard in any house, he was cross- 
 questioned by some member of the family, by the 
 help of the ingenious system devised by the Fox 
 girls, and they never made persons wait long for 
 their answers. Soon people began to interrogate 
 tables and stands, that they had magnetically ani- 
 mated, and which replied by tapping with their feet. 
 Then came the turn of the mediums: they gavie 
 themselves out as the intermediaries of the spirits, 
 and wrote under their dictation the replies to the 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. ; 167 
 
 questions propounded to the latter. These noveltiefe, 
 so strange and so unexpected, caught the fancy of 
 all classes of American society, the sole talk of the 
 entire country was about rapping spirits, talking- 
 tables, and mediums. 
 
 However, two schools arose to explain the pi-6- 
 digies which any one might verify as he chose. Whilst 
 the one tried to account for them in a rational way, 
 that is to say, by modes of action of the mesmeric 
 fluid as yet unfamiliar, the other — and this was 
 the larger— saw in these mysteries the hand 
 of supernatural beings, who had opened com- 
 munication with mortals, and to assist them with 
 their best counsels. Did they not, in fact, reply to 
 every question putto them ? However ridiculousand 
 however hard the problems, were they not solved ? 
 As the answer was not invariably orthodox when 
 they touched upon religious questions, the Bible 
 •Societies rose in arms, as did the Catholics ; a for- 
 midable opposition was organized against the pro- 
 pagators of the new doctrine. The bishops of 
 different sects launched their anathemas, and 
 spiritism was declared a monstrous impiety. Labour 
 lost ! The impetus given by the Fox girls had been 
 irresistible, and four years after their first ap- 
 pearance the mediums were counted by thousands 
 ■in the United States. 
 
 In 1851 the entire country was in the hands of 
 the new proselytes. The spirit-telegraph was 
 .working in all the towns of the new continent. 
 
168 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY, 
 
 The movement had its journals, books, correspon- 
 dents, its organization and its clubs. This revo- 
 lution, or, if one prefers, this moral epidemic, as it 
 has often been termed, possessed an inherent ex- 
 pansive potency too great for it to stop with the 
 Transatlantic peoples. In the course of 1852 it 
 crossed the ocean and attacked the British Isles; 
 the next year it invaded the Continent. We can 
 all recollect the frenzy which turned all French 
 heads. The only talk was about the turning-tables 
 and the conversations that everybody had had with 
 his stand. I shall not recur to these scenes, uni- 
 formly so very amusing. These facts are known to 
 all the world. 1 shall merely summarize succinctly 
 the chief peculiarities that one notices in the prac- 
 tice of these prodigies, so as to analyze them and 
 satisfy ourselves as to the veritable nature of 
 spiritism. 
 
 It is usually with the turning-table that one 
 begins. Several persons seat themselves around a 
 table, laying their hands upon the edges, and 
 touching each other, either b}' the elbow or fingers, 
 so as to make a chain, and trying thus to give the 
 piece of furniture they are encompassing a rotary 
 impulse, if not physical, at' least mental. The table 
 either turned or did not turn, according to the 
 tact of the actors, or rather according to their 
 physiological state and their moral propensities. 
 Frequently the result was nil, the action of some 
 being quite neutralized by the indifference, seep- 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 169 
 
 ticism, or ill-will of the others. Occasionally the 
 table would begin to move, amid the joyous 
 exclamations of the initiated, and to the stupefac- 
 tion of the sceptics. The experiment would be 
 repeated in a thousand different ways; and those 
 who are fond of explaining things they see tried to 
 account for these mysteries upon scientific grounds. 
 Some saw in it suggestions of an electric current 
 caused by personal contact between those who 
 made the chain ; others theorized about a mechanical 
 impulse communicated of necessity to the table by 
 the pressure of the hands. These explanations 
 were accepted by the most sober men, and Babinet 
 enjoyed his day of triumph at the Academy of 
 Sciences in developing to his colleagues speculations 
 of this sort. 
 
 But the joy of the Academicians was of short 
 term. While varying the experiments with the 
 turning-tables, it was soon observed that they could 
 be set in motion without the necessity of making 
 the human chain. They then tried if a single 
 individual might obtain the same result as had, 
 until then, been considered only possible as from a 
 collective force, and the table continued its move- 
 ments. Then it was seen to rise, balance itself, 
 leap, go forward, retreat, and move itself in all ways. 
 At length certain experimentalists, pushing rash- 
 ness to its last limits, endeavoured to make it move 
 without touching it at all, by a simple act of mental 
 volition, and succeeded. To cap the marvel, the 
 
170 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 table obeyed a child as well as an adult, as soon as 
 it had become thus charged, and continued to move 
 or to raise itself, despite any weight they might 
 pile upon it. From that moment a new phase was 
 begun. The table raising itself at the command of 
 the experimenter, then striking a blow upon settling 
 again upon its feet, they would order it to give a 
 succession of knocks and it obeyed, the desired 
 number being made with a marvellous accuracy. 
 If the number were a great one, the table would 
 hurry through, as if anxious to get back to simpler 
 , numbers. Thereafter, the big table was abandoned 
 for the little stand, as more convenient for the 
 drawing-room, and being able to tap and rap time 
 more gently and less riotously than the other 
 furniture. The stand answered all questions, and, 
 by means of a certain code of knocks previously 
 agreed upon, would reveal the age of people in the 
 room, the amount of money in their pockets, &c., 
 It was no longer a mere bit of furniture made 
 to move mechanically, but an intelligent agent who 
 conversed with extraordinary cleverness, and amazed 
 nearly everybody with the justness and appositeness 
 of its answers. 
 
 One day they bethought them to ask the 
 mysterious agent which animated the table to 
 indicate its answers no longer by the tapping of its 
 feet, but by means of characters traced on paper by 
 a pencil, which they arranged in a support. Then 
 the pencil, in its turn, became animated, moved, 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 171 
 
 traced letters, and ahswtered questions which were 
 put to it. The advantages of having a moving 
 pencil made them naturally forget the table. But 
 its triumph was short. The fluid which animates 
 inert bodies could much more readily act upon 
 living persons, and, in fact, under the influence of 
 the atmosphere which they breathed in these 
 strange stances, certain impressionable natures felt 
 themselves penetrated by the invisible breath which 
 moved the pencil, took a pen and wrote, they, also, 
 under the control of the spirits. These were the 
 mediums, that is to say, the intermediaries who 
 supplanted the pencil, as the latter had supplanted 
 the table. Spiritism was now definitively organized. 
 The mysterious agent which set in motion the 
 speaking-tables was evidently the same as that which 
 animated the moving pencil and the medium, I 
 mean the mesmeric personality of the sitters or of 
 the medium himself. If it differed in its modes of 
 action, that was a question solely of the nature of 
 the intermediaries by which.it manifested itself. It 
 is not, in fact, difScult to see that the table is only 
 a passive instrument, a sort of acoustic syllabary 
 put in action by the fluid of him who interrogates. 
 In other words, it is the mesmeric personality of the 
 latter, which fills the office of breath-imparter in the 
 tabular ;dialogue. Thus it is explained how, iu 
 its replies, .the table Separates with mar veil oue 
 sagacity the unknown from the mistakes whiehinay 
 .obatrnct; itin the bead of the questioner, like ..a 
 
172 POSTHUMOUS HUMAMTY. 
 
 geometer wlio corrects the known quantities in a 
 problem badly stated. There is hardly any person 
 who has not heard people tell of the singular 
 dialogues carried on by a table when it is thoroughly 
 impregnated with mesmeric influence. One of the 
 most common amusements is to make it tell the age 
 of persons present. Before each question, he to 
 whom it relates confides to his neighbour, either by 
 writing or in a low voice, the number of years he 
 has lived, and the table is then required to reveal 
 the figure. The answer is never long in coming. 
 The foot that is to make the knocks begins to move, 
 and the number counted is almost always that which 
 has been fixed in advance. Sometimes, however, 
 there is a slight disagreement of one or two units, 
 and this is usually to the detriment of the party in- 
 terested. At once this is a cause of laughter and 
 joking among the audience. Some one says that the 
 table has made a mistake, and they ask it then to 
 repeat its calculations. But the latter is obstinate 
 enough to repeat the same number of knocks, and 
 the age is verified by appealing to the recollections 
 of the subject of discussion or of persons who can 
 give the necessary particulars, and the mirth is 
 doubled when they see that the table is right. The 
 same process and the same result when they ask it 
 to guess the money that some one present has in his 
 pocket, but who deceives himself as to the amount 
 in his purse. The calculations of the table are 
 always accurate. At the end of a certain stance. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY, 173 
 
 where they had made the table talk about various 
 subjects, one present exclaimed : 
 
 " A last question to finish the evening. Let it tell 
 us how many ears there are in the room." 
 
 They put the question, and the table immediately 
 rapped out sixteen. The sitters count themselves 
 and reckon only fourteen ears. 
 
 " You're mistaken," said they. " Begin again and 
 count better." 
 
 The foot raised itself again and repeated the same 
 number of knocks. Again they count themselves, 
 and it is but too evident that there are only seven 
 persons in the room. 
 
 " Again mistaken. Count once more." 
 
 The number marked by the table continuing to be 
 sixteen, they all began asking what could be the 
 reason of this disagreement. They are lost in con- 
 jectures over this strange fact, and they commence 
 to doubt the intelligence of the mysterious inspirer, 
 when one of them exclaimed : 
 
 " The table has told the truth : we forgot to count 
 the cat sleeping by the fire." 
 
 All eyes then turned in that direction, and there 
 indeed is a tom-cat, whose two ears made up the 
 missing figure. 
 
 This circumstance, which is repeated daily under 
 a thousand different forms in spiritual sSances, once 
 more reminds us of the extraordinary accuracy 
 which the understanding sometimes acquires when it 
 has the mesmeric agent for interpreter. We have 
 
174 EOSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 observed the same phenomenon in somnambulism, 
 the elder brother of spiritism. The sleep-talker, 
 also, corrects an uncertain answer and manages 
 with astounding accuracy involved computations. 
 Therefore it is not at all impossible that the table 
 obtains equally surprising results when it is 
 animated by the same principle as the magnetic 
 subject — the thaumaturgic fluid (aura). 
 
 The talking-tables were soon abandoned for the 
 moving pencil, their action being restricted within 
 narrow limits on account of the ultra-elementary 
 nature of the means of correspondence. Such a 
 spelling system made all dialogue, however brief 
 it might be, interminably tedious. It was aban- 
 doned as soon as the spirit-telegraph was perfected 
 by the discovery of the moving pencil ; and so 
 the latter was soon given up for the medium. 
 Let us now give attention to the latter. 
 
 The medium has often been compared to a waking 
 somnambule. This definition seems to us per- 
 fectly just. There are the extreme poles of the 
 mesmeric chain, two different modes of action of 
 a common cause, which passes from one to the 
 other by insensible degrees. One would define it 
 as a transformation of force analogous to that which 
 is observed in imponderable fluids — heat, light, 
 electricity, magnetism — which, as we know, are 
 but diflerent manifestations of the same agent — 
 the ether. Women have been seen to fall into 
 the magnetic sleep while forming part of the chain. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 175 
 
 around tKe table; the electrical phenomena of 
 attraction and repulsion show themselves in cer- 
 tain persons who devote themselves to the practice 
 of spiritism ; some mediums become somnambules, 
 and vice versa. Sometimes these two characters 
 show themselves simultaneously, so that it is diffi- 
 cult to say if we are having to do with a waking 
 or sleeping subject. Nothing else, save the method 
 of proceeding, distinguishes the sleep-talker from 
 the medium. The one speaks, the other writes ; 
 but both declare that they are under the influence 
 of a mysterious control, who dictates their answers. 
 If questioned as to its origin and personality, this 
 unseen control sometimes declares himself a spirit 
 without nationality, sometimes as the soul of a 
 defunct. In the latter case he willingly calls him- 
 self the friend or the relative of the medium, and 
 that he comes to assist him with his counsel. Here 
 occurs one of the most surprising facts of mes- 
 merism. If the mysterious personage is asked to 
 trace some lines by the help of the moving pencil 
 or the hand of the medium, he reproduces the 
 writing, peculiarities of speech, and even mistakes 
 in spelling which were peculiar to the friend or 
 the relative whose posthumous representative he 
 calls himself. Such an argument seems at first 
 glance unanswerable, and it was upon facts of this 
 nature that they relied to establish the theory of 
 spiritism. 
 
 Some mediums went farther. Wishing to test 
 
176 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 the knowledge of their correspondents, they re- 
 quired of them literary compositions. They evoked 
 Dryden and Shakespeare, by turns, in England and 
 the United States, Goethe and Schiller in Germany, 
 Eacine and Corneille in France, and begged them 
 to give pieces of poetry. They would have called 
 Homer and Pindar, had there been in the spiritual 
 circles Hellenists capable of judging them. These 
 shades came at the first call, and stood the test 
 triumphantly. Their productions were pronounced 
 irreproachable, and worthy in every respect of the 
 reputation which those authors had acquired during 
 their life. 
 
 "You see," said they to the sceptics, "an illiterate 
 medium, who has never written anything but prose, 
 would be incapable of producing such poetry; it 
 is only a Shakespeare, a Schiller, a Eacine, who 
 could write the verses that you have before you. 
 It could only be the shades evoked who have dic- 
 tated them." 
 
 The advocates of this strange theory did not 
 perceive the no less strange consequence which 
 must follow. The perennial survival of shades 
 would have long since rendered this planet unin- 
 habitable for us. The dead would occupy the 
 place of the living; for the accumulation of the 
 spectres of the different tribes of the terrestrial 
 fauna, heaped at the surface of the globe since 
 the first geological epochs, would render the air 
 irrespirable. We could not move save in a dense 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 177 
 
 atmospliere of ghosts. Now chemical analysis has 
 never shown in the air the presence of either of 
 the immediate principles which enter into the 
 constitution of a fluidic phantasmal form elabo- 
 rated in an animal economy. The mediums who 
 pretend to converse with Dryden and Shakespeare 
 seem to us as innocent as those who should evoke 
 Herodotus or Sahchoniaton. For our part, we 
 bitterly regret that these venerable shades have 
 disappeared. If they were able to reply to our 
 appeal, the archaeologists would not do ill to turn 
 to them every time when they are in perplexity. 
 Would it not be more simple, for example, in order 
 to reconstruct the history of ancient Egypt, to 
 take a medium to the ruins of Thebes or Memphis, 
 and there make him evoke the shades of the 
 Pharaohs, instead of trying to excavate their monu- 
 ments in order to collect the inscriptions which 
 they conceal ? (J^) 
 
 (") This is exactly ■what Mr. Peebles, an American spiritualist, 
 gravely asserts that he did. In his Around the World (p. 290), 
 we read his report of " A S&nee on the Pyramids." ' ' Michael 
 O'Brien, the controlling spirit, said : ' Faith, Jammie, I saw those 
 beastly fellows pulling away at the madeum' (Mr. Dunn, Mr. P.'s 
 travelling-companion), ' and I thought I would just lind a hand. . . 
 These are the pyramids, and I wanted to see 'em, that I might com- 
 pare them with those round towers of me native country, that 
 puzzle 1/ou- and everybody else. But I must out of this, for here's 
 one of those old long-haired spirits who lived a while after this 
 pyramid was built. The top of the morning to you, Jammie.' " 
 Then the phantom chief of the KaprjKO/iouvTiq opens his oracular 
 mouth and gives us two pages a la Sandford and Merton ! 
 
 12 
 
178 POSTHUMOUS HUMAIiTITy. 
 
 Let us pass on to the second class of the inspirers 
 of the mediums — the spirits. They call themselves, 
 as the case may be, angels or devils. But they 
 hardly show more knowledge than the shades when 
 one puts to them delicate questions. They feel 
 their way, are embarrassed, shuffle, and, if one per- 
 sists, end by getting angry. Moreover, it is not 
 difficult to detect in their answers, especially when 
 they relate to religious or social questions, one of 
 the characteristics of our species, the personal 
 equation, that is to say, the mill-mark of the human 
 brain. Let us enter a spiritual circle in Ireland ; 
 we see the stances placed under the patronage of 
 St. Patrick, and each time that religious subjects 
 are broached, they are handled by the spirits in the 
 tone of the most orthodox Catholicism. It is the 
 very opposite in Protestant England, where the 
 mediumistic communications almost always bear 
 the impress of the Anglican opposition to popery : 
 No popery ! the Pope is Antichrist ; Eome the great 
 modern Babylon. It is the same in the United 
 States and in the north of Grermany, and all countries 
 where the principles of the Eeformation prevail. In 
 Russia spiritism resumes its orthodoxy, but in its 
 own way, that is, according to the Greek rite. In 
 other words, the spirits are Catholic at Eome, 
 Anglican at London and New York, Freethinkers 
 at Paris, Lutherans at Berlin, Schismatics at Peters- 
 bourg. They should be Mahomedans at Constanti- 
 nople ; Brahmanical in India ; Buddhistical in most 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 179 
 
 of the Asiatic nations. (J^) There are the same 
 diversities when their advice is asked upon social 
 reforms. Some show themselves Conservative, but 
 these are the minority. The major part are Com- 
 munists, and proclaim the division of land. Their 
 answers varying thus with the nationality of the 
 interrogator, and reflecting his dominant idea, his 
 prejudices, his tendencies, in a word, his personal 
 equation, one is forced to conclude that the spiritual ' 
 communications elaborate themselves in the very 
 brain of the medium who stimulates them, or of 
 the sitters with whom he is in fluidic rapport. One 
 sees thus why the spirits change language and 
 attitude according to the persons of the circle. 
 Allan Kardec informs us that they are serious and 
 full of courtesy in the presence of high-bred and 
 thoroughly educated persons. Per contra, every 
 time that they have to do with those who are 
 without education, or are of a frivolous character* 
 they exhibit only flippancy and ignorance, attract 
 attention by their trivial expressions, become» 
 coarse, impertinent, even filthy. 
 
 Evocation of phantoms by the medium is, then, a, 
 mirage, even when they endue themselves with at 
 visible form, as has happened with certain favoured 
 mediums ; these latter are none the less the sport of 
 an hallucination analogous to that of the somnam- 
 bules who see appearing to them whatever phan- 
 
 (") And so they are. 
 
 12—2 
 
180 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 toms it may please the magnetizer to show them. C*) 
 I can give ample proofs of what I affirm. I take 
 them from the high priest of French spiritism, 
 Allan Kardec, whom I have mentioned above. Fol- 
 lowing is almost verbatim what he says in his Booh 
 of Mediums : 
 
 " One day the fancy took a medium to evoke 
 ' Tartufife.' He did not wait to be dragged in by the 
 ears, but speedily showed himself in all his classical 
 peculiarities ! It was veritably the personage created 
 by Moliere, with his soft and hypocritical speech, 
 his wheedling ways, his air of sugar-coated piety. 
 When, after close examination, the medium was 
 atisfied as to the phantom's identity, he was trans- 
 ported with pleasure, and said to it : 
 
 " ' By the way, how is it that you are here, seeing 
 that you never had any real existence ? ' 
 
 " ' That is true,' answered the spectre, in the most 
 contrite tone; 'I am the spirit of an actor who 
 used to play the part of Tartuffe.' " 
 
 Is this clear enough ? Tartuffe, being unable to 
 show himseli, for a very good reason, sends an actor 
 in his place. 
 ■^ The following fact is still more conclusive, for here 
 
 E (") Not always, as my Eddy book sufficiently sho-ws. I weighed 
 them on scales, tested their muscular force by spring-balances, 
 measured their heights against the wall (standing close to them), 
 laid my hands upon them, and in various other ways proved the! j. 
 momentary solidity. Add that Mr. Crookes photographed them by 
 he electric light in his own laboratory, and a pretty dear case of 
 their non-iUusive nature is made out. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 181 
 
 no subterfuge is possible. We are still quoting 
 Allan Kardec : 
 
 " A gentleman had in his garden a nest of little 
 birds. This nest having disappeared one day, he 
 became uneasy as to the fate of his little pets. As 
 he was a medium, he went into his library and 
 invoked the mother of the birds to get some news 
 of them. * Be quite easy,' she replied to him, ' my 
 young ones are safe and sound. The house-cat 
 knocked down the nest in jumping upon the garden 
 wall ; you will find them in the grass at the foot of 
 the wall.' The gentleman hurried to the garden 
 and found the little nestlings, full of life, at the spot 
 indicated." 
 
 It is quite likely that if the medium had evoked 
 the spirit of the rock, the rock would have answered 
 as easily as Tartuffe and the bird-mother. In face 
 of such follies is it not fair to say that spiritism is 
 the grand mystification of the century ? To com- 
 plete all, if one would edify oneself as to the true 
 nature of mediumship, it suffices to ponder the 
 following lines, which I borrow from the spiritists 
 themselves, and which form the basis of their 
 doctrine : 
 
 " The first necessary condition of mediumship is 
 to possess a certain portion of vital electricity, for 
 this fluid may be considered as the necessary agent 
 for the production of spiritual phenomena." 
 
 We observe, in the medium as well as in the 
 somnambule, that the same principle is at work — 
 
182 POSTHUMOITS HUMANITY. 
 
 the vital fluid. It attains its summum of energy 
 in the former, for it is from him — I mean from the 
 productive centre — that the latter draws the living 
 force which engenders mesmeric effects ; whilst the 
 second, borrowing from a foreign source, receives it 
 limited and diminished in its action. Thus spiritism 
 repeats, with exaggeration, all the prodigies of the 
 magnetic sleep. Like the somnambule, and, better 
 than the somnambule, the medium, even if illiterate, 
 becomes a polyglot, composes poetry, writes dis- 
 courses according to the minutest- rules of the 
 oratorical art, reads the thoughts of those about 
 him, possesses the faculty of sight at a distance, 
 reads in the past, and sometimes succeeds in 
 divining the future. Useless to add that we are 
 now concerning ourselves only with really lucid 
 subjects — in other words, with the very small 
 minority. Even in the latter, human stupidity 
 constantly tends to exercise its rights, and but too 
 often succeeds in mixing itself up in the responses. 
 
 One final word about spiritism. This branch of 
 magic was known in antiquity. We see it often 
 mentioned in the annals of the ancient peoples, and 
 sometimes to such great proportions that kings 
 forbade its practice, under the severest penalties. 
 The Fathers of the early centuries of the Church 
 fulminated against the talking-tables. In the 
 exorcisms of the same epoch, it is the rapping 
 spirits (spiritus percutientes) that they were 
 banning with their conjurational prayers. Various 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 183 
 
 missionaries, who have visited the Buddhist popula- 
 tions of Asia, tell us that spiritism has been 
 practised in those lands from time immemorial. ('') 
 
 CHAPTEK VIII. 
 
 THE MESMERIC ETHER AND THE PERSONALITY THAT 
 IT ENGENDERS (continued). — MIRACLES OF THE 
 ECSTATICS. 
 
 Of all the miracles taken from the lives of the 
 saints that I heard related in boyhood, there was 
 one which particularly impressed me. It is that of 
 St. Francis Xavier, who appeared simultaneously 
 upon two dififerent vessels during a tempest, and 
 encouraged his companions all the time that they 
 were in danger. His biographers tell thei tale thus : 
 " St. Francis Xavier went, in the month of 
 November, 1571, from Japan to China, when, seven 
 days after starting, the ship which carried him was 
 assailed by a violent tempest. Fearing lest the 
 long-boat might be swept away by the waves, the 
 pilot ordered fifteen men of the crew to lash it to 
 the ship. Night having fallen while they were 
 still at this work, the sailors were surprised by a 
 heavy swell, and washed away with the boat. The 
 saint had been abstracted in prayer from the 
 
 (") Why only among the Buddhist populations of Asia ? The 
 same remark applies to the non-Buddhist nations : the practice is as 
 common among Hindus of all the great sects, and among the 
 Mahommedang. 
 
184 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 beginning of the storm, which grew worse and 
 worse. The remainder of the ship's company still 
 on board thought their comrades in the long-boat 
 were lost. When the danger was past, Xavier 
 urged them to keep up their courage, and promised 
 that within three days the boat would come back to 
 the ship. The next day he caused a look-out to be 
 sent aloft, but they saw nothing. The saint then 
 returned to his cabin and resumed his prayers. 
 After having thus passed nearly the entire day, he 
 came again on deck, and with full confidence 
 announced that the boat would be saved. Never- 
 theless, as, the following day, there were no signs 
 of the missing, and the danger was still imminent, 
 the crew refused to wait about any longer for their 
 companions, whom they had given up as lost. But 
 Xavier again roused their courage, beseeching them, 
 by the death of Christ, to be patient a little while 
 longer. Then once more retiring to his cabin, he 
 prayed again with double fervour. At last, after three 
 more wearisome hours of waiting, they saw the long- 
 boat, and the fifteen sailors whom they had supposed 
 lost were soon on board again. According to the evi- 
 dence of Mind^s Pintus, they then saw happen a 
 most singular fact. When the men in the boat 
 had come aboard, and the pilot was about to shove 
 her off to tow behind as usual, they cried out to first 
 let Xavier come on board, as he was with them. It 
 was useless to try to persuade them that he had 
 never left the ship. They declared that he had 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY, 185 
 
 stopped with them all through the tempest, 
 encouraging them not to give up, and that it was 
 himself who had steered them towards the ship. 
 In face of such a prodigy, all the sailors were 
 convinced that it was to the prayers of Xavier that 
 they owed their escape from the tempest. It is 
 more reasonable to attribute the safety of the ship 
 to the skill and exertions of the officers and crew. 
 Yet there is every appearance of probability that 
 the long-boat would never have got back to the 
 ship but for the pilotage of the saint himself, or 
 rather of his Double." 
 
 This miracle of dupUcation, which I supposed to 
 be unique, is not rare in the lives of the saints. 
 The Acta Sanctorum of the BoUandists teem with 
 such stories. It is quite common in ecstasis. As 
 a general proposition it may be affirmed that the 
 more a person of mystical tendencies gives himself 
 up to the contemplative life, the more he becomes 
 the centre of strange phenomena, which, apparently 
 transcending the laws of time and space, appear as 
 so many prodigies. I shall demonstrate, by the 
 analysis of some examples, that the miracles of the 
 saints belong to the natural order, I mean to the 
 modes of action of the mesmeric ether, or of the 
 fluidic personality which it begets, and that all are 
 caused by a lively faith united with the practice of 
 the ascetic life. 
 
 With some ecstatics a phenomenon not less 
 strange than that of duplication is to be observed. 
 
186 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 At the moment of their supreme rapture, there 
 develops in them an inner force, a sort of electric 
 impulse, which, acting upwards, neutralizes the effect 
 of weight. The patient is then seen to rise from the 
 ground, in the bodily position in which he chances 
 to be at the ecstatic moment, and hovers motionless 
 like a body without weight, that the lightest breath 
 can make to change its place. Under the reign of 
 Philip II., Dominique de Jesus- Marie, a monk of a 
 monastery in Madrid, was the subject of such 
 ecstasies. The report of this wonder havipg reached 
 the king's ear, he wished to satisfy himpelf per- 
 sonally about so extraordinary a thing. One day the 
 monk becoming ecstatic in his presence and 
 floating in mid-air, the monarch drew near and blew 
 his breath at him several times. Each time the 
 body of the ecstatic yielded to the force of the 
 breath. Marie d'Agreda frequently presented the 
 same phenomenon in her religious ecstasies. 
 
 The ecstasis that I have just described is sometimes 
 known as the flying ecstasis. It is when the saint, 
 in becoming enraptured before a crucifix or some 
 other pious image, so yearns "to become united with 
 the object of his contemplation, that he is suddenly 
 transported towards it as though borne along by a 
 sort of electrical attractiop. An Italian monk, who 
 lived in the first half of the seventeenth century, 
 Joseph de Copertino, often exhibited this kind of 
 phenomenon. He also possessed the gift of projecting 
 the Double, and (xorres devotes to him many pages 
 
•POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 187 
 
 of his Mystique. It will suffice if I quote the 
 following passage : 
 
 " Joseph, in his earliest youth and while still 
 living at Grotella, had entered, on the feast-day of 
 St. Francis, a little chapel surrounded by olive trees 
 and situated a gunshot distance from his convent. 
 The Brothers heard a cry coming from there which 
 was repeated five times. They ran there, and saw 
 Joseph up in the half-ruined dome of the chapel, 
 holding in his embrace a cross, and raised some 
 twenty palms high from the ground. Another time, 
 in this same church, on Christmas night, having 
 heard the sound of the pipes of some shepherds 
 whom he had invited to come and honour the birth 
 of the child Jesus, he was filled with such joy that 
 he began to dance. Then he heaved a deep sigh, 
 uttered a loud cry and flew like a bird from the centre 
 of the church to the high altar, which was distant 
 from him more than fifty feet ; and in his rapture 
 he clung embracing the tabernacle for a quarter 
 of an hour, without upsetting one of the large number 
 of wax lights that were burning upon the altar, and 
 without one of his robes taking fire. The amaze- 
 ment of the shepherds was great, we may well 
 imagine ; but no less was that of the Brothers of his 
 Order and the inhabitants of Copertino, when one 
 day, at the feast of St. Francis, clothed in his 
 cope to take part in the procession about forming, he 
 suddenly flew up to the pulpit of the church, to a 
 height of fifteen palms, and remained for a long time 
 
188 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 kneeling with arms extended, plunged in an ecstasy, 
 upon the very edge of the desk." 
 
 Sometimes it is not the ecstatic who is levitated 
 towards the image he is contemplating, but actually 
 the latter which unhooks itself from the wall to 
 come and place itself in his arms or glue itself to his 
 lips. The magnetic attraction of which it is the 
 seat, then, has a sort of reflex action. In the second 
 volume of his Mystique, Gorres quotes numerous 
 examples of crucifixes and holy images thus re- 
 sponding to the appeal of the monks or nuns who 
 invoked them. I refer the reader to this work. "We 
 find in the same volume curious details about 
 another class of miracles not less remarkable. I 
 allude to locks and doors which open of themselves 
 before certain ecstatics when the latter go to pray in 
 a church. I shall in good time show that these 
 various phenomena are the effects of the mesmeric 
 aura (fluide) thrown off in ecstasis, for we see them 
 repeated in the practice of magnetism. 
 
 The mysterious force which bears up the ecstatic 
 towards the sacred objects he is contemplating, being 
 comparable with electrical attraction, we may ask 
 why the analogy is not complete ; in other words, 
 why, along with movements of attraction, it does 
 not also present actions of the contrary sort — I 
 mean motions of repulsion ? Ecstasis does not lead 
 to such effects. A monk, plunged into a deep 
 contemplation of pious images, can only feel an 
 attractive impulse. But mysticism has two poles — 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 189 
 
 ecstasis and obsession. Let a believer of timid and 
 cowardly disposition, commit some fault which he 
 dares not avow to his confessor, and under the weight 
 of the remorse which tortures him, of the shame 
 with which he covers himself, of the eternal damna- 
 tion which awaits him, he is assailed by the blackest 
 ideas. The aura (fluide) issuing from such a brain 
 is of necessity the antithesis of that which dis- 
 engages itself from an ecstatic. The love of holy 
 things gives place then in the head and heart of 
 the believer to a profound aversion. Instead of 
 feeling himself as before drawn towards the altars, he 
 is dragged away with irresistible power. If people 
 try to constrain him, even though strong men try 
 their best to hold him, he breaks away with a dis- 
 play of extraordinary vigour ; and sometimes he is 
 seen in his flight to climb to the top of a steeple, 
 or of the highest trees, with the agility of a bird 
 or a squirrel. I shall devote some pages of my 
 last chapter to these marvels, the most surprising, 
 perhaps, of mysticism. I shall add here a single 
 fact worthy of remark and easy to foresee. If, in 
 an ill-balanced brain, remorse for a fault and the 
 fear of punishment come into conflict with a lively 
 faith and the hope of pardon, the fluid which distils 
 out of this cerebral amalgam changes in its nature 
 each time that one of these contradictory tenden- 
 cies becomes preponderant, and the patient shows 
 himself by turns obsessed and ecstatic. A young 
 Spanish novice of the monastery of Morerola, who 
 
190 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 lived in the second half of the twelfth century, 
 presents a singular instance of this. His bio- 
 grapher tells us that he was simple-minded and 
 extremely ignorant. Having run away from the 
 convent, he soon felt a strong repentance, and 
 returned to the brothers. But, the recollection 
 of his fault constantly pursuing him, it was nol 
 long before he presented all the phenomena of 
 obsession — grinding of teeth, foam on the lips, 
 horrible blasphemies, dialogue of the obsessing 
 spirit with the exorcist, &c. One day, as he was 
 passing out of one of his crises, he fell in ecstasy. 
 He saw himself in a church among a crowd of 
 holy personages, among whom figured St. Bernard, 
 patron of his Order. They soon began to celebrate 
 the holy office according to the Cistercian rite. 
 The young novice responded to the choir, each 
 time that it was his turn to chant, with a perti- 
 nency and self-possession the more remarkable in 
 that he knew neither the chant nor the Cistercian 
 rite. The brothers, who watched all his move- 
 ments, could not believe their ears. All the in- 
 tervals were observed with mathematical precision. 
 After the Mass, he assisted at Vespers in the same 
 manner. When he was at the Magnificat, he in- 
 toned an anthem that no monk in the convent 
 had ever heard. These ceremonies concluded, 
 St. Bernard approached him, reproved him for his 
 prank, for the apples that he had stolen in the 
 garden, for the words exchanged without permission 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 191 
 
 with another brother, and condemned him to re- 
 ceive discipline. They saw him then strip himself 
 to the girdle, then kneel and beat his breast while 
 saying, twenty-five times in succession : 
 " By my fault, I wish to correct myself." 
 Each Mea cvJ/pa was followed by a pause, which 
 permitted the patient ' to receive flagellation. As 
 soon as this vision had passed away, the symptoms 
 of obsession returned ; then the ecstasy commenced 
 over again. During four days it was an alternation 
 of obsession and ecstasy. Each vision finished, like 
 the first, with the discipline. At the seventh he 
 was so feeble that he fell exhausted. The brothers, 
 believing that he was about to breathe his last 
 sigh, repeated for him the prayers for the dying. 
 He revived; and after a final Mass, in which he 
 performed the functions of under-deacon, he read 
 aloud the Epistle, although he scarcely knew how 
 to spell the letters : he slept, and upon awakening 
 found himself completely cured. His faults having 
 been expiated, as well by his repentance and prayers 
 as by the imaginary flagellations he had received, 
 he was delivered from obsession, and lost at the 
 same time the faculty of eestasis. 
 
 The different sorts of prodigies that I have been 
 reviewing were frequent with the thaumaturgists 
 of the early centuries of Christianity, and were 
 continued throughout the whole of the middle 
 ages. They decreased in number and renown in 
 proportion as the faith which gave them birth 
 
192 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 grew lukewarm, and seem to have completely 
 disappeared with the growth of the scientific spirit. 
 The greater number are in such formal opposition 
 with the laws of nature, so removed from what we 
 see in the ordinary course of life, that they appear 
 like legends that one ascribes to ignorance and 
 superstition. I am far from discrediting the great 
 part which it is necessary to ascribe to hallucination 
 and the credulity of periods of simple faith. The 
 agency of these two factors of the human brain is 
 then so preponderant that the atmosphere of each 
 convent becomes a sort of supernatural medium, 
 which it is only necessary to breathe for the monks 
 and nuns to break through terrestrial bonds and 
 soar in the world of the marvellous. But one 
 cannot deny certain miracles, for this would be 
 to give a ridiculous and childish contradiction to 
 the historians of all countries, as well as to a 
 thousand persons who have been eye-witnesses. 
 Such as declare them impossible take their stand 
 upon the fact that they are never produced in 
 their own experience. They forget that if they 
 changed continents their denials would no longer 
 have any reason, and that their scepticism would 
 fall before the evidence of facts. Miracle, having 
 for its primary essence faith, has disappeared from 
 the countries which rationalism has penetrated 
 with its breath; that is to say, the countries 
 where the virile races of the West rule — races 
 which belong, as we know, to the most noble 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 193 
 
 branches of the Aryan family. But it still shows 
 itself with surprising vigour wherever religious 
 beliefs have preserved the fervour of their earliest 
 ages. The Mussulman world, the Brahmanic and 
 the Buddhist worlds, to cite but three examples, have 
 also their Acta Sanctorum,. Ecstasis is a thing of 
 daily observation, and it is to be remarked that it 
 sometimes reaches proportions unknown to our most 
 celebrated thaumaturgists. In the chapter upon 
 the Posthumous Vampires I shall relate one of 
 the marvellous things done by certain Indian fakirs, 
 and of which English officers have often been wit- 
 nesses. The missionaries who overrun these coun- 
 tries, being unable to deny the miracles that they 
 see produced under their eyes, try to get out of the 
 difficulty by ascribing them to the devil, a childish 
 euphemism, revived by Zoroaster, and borrowed by 
 him from the revelators of the first ages of the 
 world. In reality there is no need of any occult 
 intervention to explain these prodigies, for they are 
 the natural consequence of the phenomena that 
 the mesmeric fluid gives birth to in persons who 
 devote themselves to the ascetic life. We have 
 seen, in fact, in these later times, somnambules and 
 mediums in their ignorance producing a host of 
 marvels that were thought peculiar to ecstatics. St. 
 Madeleine de Pazzi displayed, in her rapturous trans- 
 ports, the phenomena of modern somnambulism. 
 The nuns bandaged her eyes or closed the shutters 
 of her cell. She continued all the same, while in 
 
 13 
 
194 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 this state, the work that she had begun — work often 
 of a very delicate kind, like the painting of holy 
 images, and she did them with stich accuracy that 
 they have still preserved them in the convent. It 
 is known that it is of daily occurrence for persons 
 plunged in the magnetic sleep to repeat experiments 
 of this sort. ('^) St. Frances, of Eome, became rigid 
 whenever she fell in ecstasis. As it usually happens 
 her limbs were then as rigid as a marble statue; 
 nothing that they could do could straighten her 
 arms, crossed on her breast, nor make her legs move. 
 She heard none of the questions that were put to 
 her. Her superiors themselves adjured her in vain 
 in the name of her vow of obedience to speak to 
 them or to follow them — she remained mute and 
 impassible, despite the most formal injunctions ; but 
 the scene changed as soon as her confessor came 
 near her ; she heard all that he said, obeyed his 
 slightest wish, rose or sat as he ordered her, but 
 remained passive and motionless with every one else. 
 She thus repeated in every particular that which 
 takes place between a magnetizer and his somnam- 
 bule. We know that the latter is under the ex- 
 
 ('*) Not quite so common as that ; but there is a noted medium 
 at Glasgow, a Mr. Duguid, who has for years heen in the constant 
 practice of painting in pitch darkness, on marked cards and canvases, 
 paintings in oil. Years ago I saw in New York such painting done 
 upon paper laid upon the floor under the table, aU persons present 
 sitting with joined hands ; and I have also seen them done in full 
 light by Madame Blavatsky, by the conscious exercise of will-power, 
 upon satin as weU as paper, and have the specimens in my posses- 
 sion still. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 195 
 
 elusive and absolute power of her ruler ; that she 
 obeys the slightest gesture, the least wish of the 
 latter ; that she hears all he says, that she answers 
 every one of his questions, but she is deaf and 
 dumb for every other person with whom she has 
 not been brought in rapport by the magnetizer. In 
 the annals of mesmerism and sorcery, sciences 
 which trench so nearly upon each other, there are 
 numerous examples of men or women rising from 
 the ground under the action of the magnetic fluid, 
 and occasionally darting to a certain height. This 
 phenomenon recalls the aerial travel of ecstatics and 
 of the obsessed ; it was known in antiquity. Damis, 
 the companion of ApoUonius of Tyana, relates that 
 he has seen the Brahmans rise, in their ceremonies, 
 two cubits from the ground, and he was so impressed 
 by this sight that he recurs to it several times in 
 his Memoirs. It is known that this prodigy was 
 familiar to Simon Magus, who one day had a fall 
 at Eome in qne of his ascensions. Certain fakirs did 
 the thing before some English army officers in 
 India. {J'') In our times it has been repeated by 
 various mediums, among others by the celebrated 
 Home, who was levitated, with his chair, to the 
 ceiling of the room where he held his spirit- 
 seances. C) St. Theresa, who occasionally dis- 
 
 (") The common mistake is made by Western writers of applying 
 the title, foMr, to religious ascetics of all Eastern religions, whereas 
 it is the name of a Mussulman ascetic only. Such a thaumaturge 
 among the Hindus is called a yogi. 
 
 ('^) One Gordon was also thus levitated, and other modern 
 
 13—2 
 
196 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 played this kind of phenomenon, has told us that 
 she felt then, under the soles of her feet, a vertical 
 push which forced her to rise in the air. If at this 
 moment she happened to be in the presence of 
 somebody, it was only with the greatest difficulty 
 that she could resist such an impulse. This testi- 
 mony, confirmed as well by other ecstatics as by 
 mediums, puts us in the way to explain the prodigy. 
 We have seen that one of the properties of the mes- 
 meric ether is to render lighter bodies impregnated 
 with its undulations. Hence it suffices for there to 
 be an abnormal disengagement of this fluid in a 
 person, for him or her to be able to rise from the 
 ground like a balloon sufficiently inflated. 
 
 Let us pass on to another class of miracles. The 
 doors and locks which they describe in the lives of 
 saints as opening of themselves before certain 
 monks, once more recall an eflect of mesmerism, 
 for these phenomena happen in the practice of 
 magnetism. Du Potet confesses that he has several 
 times witnessed these prodigies. " I have seen," 
 says he, " doors open and close before me, without 
 my being able to explain the cause of this mysterious 
 action." These facts occurring in the course of his 
 
 mediums likewise. The demoralizing influence of professional 
 mediumship is seen in the fact, among others, that some of these 
 very air-floaters have been caught red-handed in gross trickery. 
 The fault is, I think, not so much theirs as that of the blind and 
 selfish public who demand phenomena, conditions or no conditions, 
 with the alternative of leaving the wretched mediums to starve if 
 they do not make them, or what looks like them, on call. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 197 
 
 magnetic operations, it is fair to suppose that the 
 invisible being who filled the oflBce of door-keeper 
 was none other than the fluidic personality of Du 
 Potet himself. This view of the case is confirmed 
 by the following anecdote, which I borrow from Louis 
 JacoUiot (") {Voyage au Pays des Perles). The 
 hero of the adventure was one of the most renowned 
 fakirs of Mysore. In a meeting where the author of 
 the story was present, the Hindu executed various 
 prodigies, denoting in him an extraordinary magnetic 
 power. A young boy fell into somnambulism without 
 the fakir seeming to notice it, and the spectators, 
 feeling sleep taking possession of them, were obliged 
 to look in another direction to escape the fascinating 
 influence of the charmer's eyes. With a simple 
 gesture, or a single act of his will, he moved and 
 displaced furniture at the extreme end of the hall. 
 He opened a door in the same way, then reclosed it, 
 then made it open again. There is no room for 
 doubt in this case, and the mysterious action of 
 which Du Potet speaks is really a mesmeric effect. 
 
 The miracles accomplished by the eestatics of dif- 
 ferent religions cover so vast a field that it is im- 
 possible to travel over it as a whole. I am forced to 
 
 (") Not a very credible witness, I fear. I have, since coming to 
 India, made minute inquiries at Benares, in Mysore, and other 
 places about this particular yogi, Govinda Swamy, but without 
 getting any particulars about him. Among my personal acquain- 
 tance are the Maharajah of Benares and the living representative 
 of the Peishwa, neither of whom had heard of him. Yet JacoUiot's 
 story does not at all exaggarate what such holy men can and do do. 
 
198 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 limit myself to the analysis of a few examples. 
 Brief as it may be, it will suffice to show in what 
 order of ideas one must search for the rational 
 explanation of these phenomena. Though mesmerism 
 may not yet have emerged from its empirical stage, 
 it has worked so many prodigies that one may 
 predict what it will reveal on the day when the 
 physicists, having decided to study it closer, will 
 compel it to enter into the scientific domain by sub- 
 mitting it to the investigation of the experimental 
 method. To the numerous facts I have already cited 
 I will add the following, which will once more 
 demonstrate that the potentiality of this agent is 
 limitless. One of its essential characteristics is to 
 resist chemical action and even that of fire. ('") 
 This latter property, long known to magnetizers, 
 was verified during the moral epidemic which 
 ravaged Savoy, especially Morzine, in the years 
 which preceded and followed the annexation of this 
 province to France. A young girl having fallen into 
 a crisis, they put a burning coal on her hand, and 
 left it there several minutes, without its causing the 
 
 (™) A series of most interesting experiments, which support this 
 assertion, are recorded by Du Potet in his Introduction to the 
 Stvdy of Animal Magnetism [London, 1838], pp. 214, 215, 216. 
 They show that the mesmeric aura thoroughly impregnates and 
 saturates organic and inorganic bodies through and through. Tests 
 were made with glass, marble, wax, colophane, sulphur, tin, iron, 
 and jjaper. The former retained the aura despite the action of 
 boiling water, ammonia, fuming nitric acid and sulphuric acid ; the 
 paper was actually burnt, yet the ashes were found to be still 
 mesmerized. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 199 
 
 least scar or burning. The fluid disengaged by the 
 patient forming an atmosphere around her limbs, 
 the action of the fire was arrested by the layer of 
 magnetic aura interposed between the hand and the 
 coal. This fact explains a phenomenon long incom- 
 prehensible ; I allude to the incombustible man (*'). 
 It is known that certain individuals possess the 
 singular faculty of being able to plunge their arms 
 rapidly into melted bronze, or to pass an incan- 
 descent iron over their limbs, without experiencing 
 the least hurt. Some years ago a learned physicist, 
 M. Boutigny, ofi'ered an explanation of this prodigy, 
 based upon the particular state of water, the 
 spheroidal state. At the approach of incandescent 
 matter, the liquids contained in the human body 
 suddenly vaporizing, form on the epidermis a layer 
 of aqueous vesicles, which, serving as a screen, 
 arrest the action of the fire. This ingenious 
 hypothesis, based upon the most certain observations 
 of science, has taken rank among the discoveries of 
 modern physics. But is it quite certain that it 
 suffices to explain everything that is observed in 
 these incombustible subjects ? I have seen, for my 
 own part, a Cape negress pass several times a red-hot 
 iron over her arms, legs, tongue, &c., and after, the 
 exhibition I came away with the conviction that any 
 other person, operating under identical circum- 
 stances, would have been horribly burned. More- 
 
 (W) Shadracli, Meshak, and Abednego also? 
 
203 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 over, trickery was impossible : the bystanders them- 
 selves heated the iron in a brazier, kindled before us, 
 and presented it to the savage. It was much worse 
 in the trials for magic, where they subjected the 
 accused to the ordeal by fire. Here doubt is impos- 
 sible. Those who came off victorious from this 
 terrible test owed their immunity simply to the fluid 
 disengaged by the practices of sorcery, as I shall 
 show in the next chapter. "We must not forget that 
 Simon Magus, who knew all the prodigies of modem 
 mesmerism, lycanthropy, evocation of phantoms, air- 
 walking, displacement of furniture and statues, cure 
 of paralytics, &c., passed through the flames of a 
 pyre without being touched. 
 
 The property possessed by animal magnetism to 
 resist chemical action and that of fire has for 
 corollary the almost indefinite persistence of its 
 efiluence in objects that have been impregnated 
 with it. This is the key to various prodigies related 
 in the lives of saints and the annals of sorcery. 
 A missionary relates that when the diviners of the 
 Indian tribes of North America wished to evoke the 
 spirits, they commenced by turning out the 
 Europeans from the locality where the ceremony 
 was to take place. Without knowing mesmerism, 
 they were aware that the presence of a single 
 individual of foreign faith was enough to prevent 
 the spirits from appearing. ('^) 
 
 ('^) The late Mr. Cromwell Varley, electrician of the Atlantic 
 Cable Company, and, of course, a high authority, told Professor 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 201 
 
 One day, when two or three of them had been 
 spending several hours in prayer without the 
 evoked spirit having shown himself, astonished at 
 this delay, they thought that some intruder had 
 hidden himself in their habitation, and thoroughly 
 searched it. Having found in a corner the garment 
 of a Spaniard, they threw it out of the window, and 
 the spirit quickly responded to their appeal. The 
 aura with which the garment of the European was 
 impregnated had sufficed to neutralize that which 
 the diviners set free in their chants and formulas of 
 evocation. Analogous facts often occur among us 
 under other forms : such are the effects observed 
 in the possessed when taken to the tomb of 
 some saint, or upon whom is laid an image or 
 other object that had formerly belonged to him. 
 They become infuriated as soon as they feel the 
 proximity of these relics, or even when they 
 approach them unwittingly. A child who was a 
 somnambule ceased to be so every time they put, 
 without his suspecting it, a piece of blessed box-wood 
 in his cap. 
 
 The cures and other prodigies that took place at 
 the cemetery of St. Medard, on the tomb of the 
 Abbe Paris, are included in the same order of 
 phenomena. It is known that the celebrated 
 
 Tyndall that " his presence at a seance resembled that of a great 
 magnet among a number of small ones." He threw all into con- 
 fusion. (Report on SpiritiMlism of the Committee of the Dialectical 
 Bociety, p. 265. Letter of Professor Tyndall.) 
 
202 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 Jansenist possessed the ardent faith of a thau- 
 maturgist and the piety of an anchorite. He con- 
 secrated his whole life, as well as his patrimony, to 
 good works and to the defence of his ideas. 
 Having struggled up to the last moment, he died 
 impregnated with the fluid which he had never 
 ceased to disseminate in his controversies and in the 
 practice of Christian virtues. Thus his tomb became 
 soon the theatre of extraordinary occurrences. I 
 will not recall the convulsionnaires of St. Medard : 
 these are things known to the whole world. I will 
 simply make one remark, which is not without 
 importance. Some time after the pilgrimages to the 
 tomb of the saint had commenced, it was noticed 
 that the entire cemetery was mesmerized. It 
 sufficed to gather a few grains of sand or earth, 
 taken at random in this enclosure, to cause the 
 appearance with certain persons of the prodigies 
 which only showed themselves at first on the tomb 
 of the deacon. Must we suppose that this enormous 
 liberation of aura came from that with which the 
 body and clothing of the thaumaturgist were im- 
 pregnated ? "We do not think it. It is more 
 rational to admit that this fluid was the overflow of 
 that which escaped from the multitude of believers, 
 plunged in prayer, ecstasis, cries, and contortions. 
 This view of the case is confirmed by what passes 
 daily in the miraculous wells and springs. This 
 demands some explanation. 
 
 In all epochs and all countries, there have existed 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 203 
 
 springs whicli have the reputation of working cures. 
 They are met with even among the savage peoples 
 of Polynesia. These springs become popular, 
 then fall into discredit; and end by being abandoned 
 for others. Nevertheless, people continue to gather 
 there on certain days of the year. But this is only 
 a remnant of tradition — a festival gathering, where 
 amusements play a larger part than piety. I have 
 met with several of this kind, both in Catalonia and 
 in the French Pyrenees. What has occurred at La 
 Salette and at Lourdes is the repetition of that 
 which one sees everywhere else. We know the 
 beginnings of these miraculous springs ; I speak of 
 the historical . record, not the legendary. The 
 debates which were held before the tribunal of 
 Grenoble, with respect to La Salette, give in this 
 matter the most circumstantial and least equivocal 
 details. It would have been the same at Lourdes, 
 if the law had pushed an inquiry. In face of 
 beginnings having so little of the supernatural in 
 them, the bishops of Grenoble and Tarbes tried to 
 oppose the infatuation of the crowd, whom they 
 knew were dupes of a mystification. But they had 
 calculated without the believers and mesmerism. 
 The impulse once given, there came a general 
 rush. (*') From the midst of a multitude trans- 
 
 C) I am happy to be able to say (and to prove) that I once 
 prevented the carrying out of a priestly scheme of this sort. A 
 certain ordinary well had been selected, near a large Asiatic town, 
 and the false report was started that there had been a supernatural 
 
204 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 ported by an ardent faith, falling on their knees, 
 intoxicated by the atmosphere of incense, by music, 
 by the lights which blaze in the pomp of worship, 
 there is liberated a sort of aura inagnetica, which, 
 as at St. Medard, impregnates everything with its 
 effluence. The sick man comes to obtain a cure, 
 already half mesmerized by the preparations he has 
 undergone, fastings, confessions, communions, fer- 
 vent prayers, &c., and ends by becoming entirely so 
 under the influence of the atmosphere into which 
 he is plunged. He breathes a magnetized air, 
 treads a magnetized soil, treats himself with a 
 magnetized water (^''). If it is a question of malady 
 affecting the nervous system, such as a paralysis of 
 the limbs, of sight, or of hearing, the moral com- 
 motion caused in the patient may be strong enough 
 to galvanize his entire being, provoke a salutary 
 crisis, and effect a cure. Such a healing is not 
 always persistent, the vital forces being too much 
 weakened to respond to the impulse which has been 
 given them. But occasionally, also, it is lasting, 
 
 appearance, a blessing of the well, and a cure of a cripple miracu- 
 lously by application of the water. Knowing what was likely to 
 be the pernicious effect upon the sensitive Asiatic community if this 
 humbug was permitted to get the initial impulse, I first exposed the 
 false cure, and then, by simple mesmeric transfer of my own aura, 
 made a number of genuine cures. The well was never subsequently 
 used for other than its legitimate purposes. 
 
 (*'') Author's Note. — It is known that water can be magnetized- 
 The practitioners obtain this result by blowing into a glass filled 
 with this liquid. This drink is employed successfully in the 
 treatment of certain diseases. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 205 
 
 and miracle appears then in all its marvellous 
 splendour. This is what has happened at Lourdes 
 and at La Salette, and the prelates, conquered by 
 facts, have been forced to raise their embargo and 
 swim with the current. 
 
 Do we need a more direct proof, one that might 
 almost be called tangible, of the magnetic action 
 being due to a collective force ? Among certain 
 islanders of the South Seas the people assemble 
 every year to hold a great ceremony, to which are 
 bidden the protecting genii of the different villages. 
 In the centre of an immense hall is a boat, around 
 which gathers the multitude. Each divinity is called 
 by his name in turn, and invited to show his power 
 by making the canoe move. Then all eyes are 
 turned towards this latter, especially those of the 
 inhabitants of the village competing. Anxiety is 
 manifested upon their faces, for they ardently desire 
 that their patron divinity shall obtain the honours 
 of the victory, and concentrate upon this object all 
 the vital forces of their will. After some moments 
 of waiting, the canoe is seen to advance or retreat. 
 Then they pass on to the next. The one who has 
 achieved the greatest displacement is proclaimed 
 victor. The missionaries witnessing such prodigies 
 explain them, according to their custom, as the 
 action of the devil. They forget that what passes 
 under their eyes is but the repetition, upon a larger 
 scale, of what takes place daily in spiritualistic 
 seances, where a massive table becomes animated 
 
206 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 and moves at the request of some of the 
 sitters. 
 
 Let us recapitulate. In each of the examples 
 that I have analyzed, we have recognized the direct 
 action of the mesmeric ether, or of the mysterious 
 personality to which it can give birth. In ecstatics 
 this personality sometimes becomes double. The 
 ascetic life and an ardent faith, exalting inordinately 
 the sensitiveness of the nervous centres, cause a 
 great liberation of aura, and become thus the 
 veritable factors of the miracle. Let us add, as 
 another predisposing cause, celibacy. All the great 
 thaumaturgists, from Moses to Swedenborg, lived in 
 continence. There was in them a plethora of vital 
 electricity. We know that magnetists lose their 
 fluidic power when they abandon themselves to the 
 gratifications of sense, and that they recover it when 
 they return to an austere life. This interpretation 
 of miracle, confirmed by the efi'ects of somnambulism 
 and mediumship, which are daily repeating the 
 prodigies of the ecstatics, can, we think, be general- 
 ized and be applied to all facts of the same kind. 
 Permit me to cite a final example in support of the 
 theory. Among the surprising stories that one 
 meets with in reviewing the work of the BoUandists, 
 there is one quite common in the early centuries of 
 the Church which surpasses in some measure all 
 others by its strangeness. It is the written corre- 
 spondence between posthumous and incarnate beings. 
 Some persons would go and pass the night in prayer 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 207 
 
 by the tomb of a holy personage, after having 
 placed there a letter containing a question, and the 
 next morning the answer would be found written 
 below the question. I should observe that they 
 would go at the recommendation of another holy 
 personage, a living one, who, guaranteeing the reply, 
 played the part of medium; for this phenomenon 
 has been repeated many times in spiritual seances. 
 According to Allan Kardec, you have only to place 
 in a corner of the room a paper containing the ques- 
 tion that is propounded to the spirits, and to wait 
 patiently. The answer will come after ten minutes, 
 a quarter of an hour or more, according to the 
 power of the evocator, whose fluidic personality 
 quietly performs the function of scribe. It is not 
 useless to add that this test succeeds with difficulty, 
 wonder-workers being quite as rare among mediums 
 as elsewhere. 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 THE MESMERIC ETHER AND THE PERSONALITY WHICH IT 
 ENGENDERS {continued). — PRODIGY OF MAGIC. 
 
 Let us now pass to another order of phenomena, 
 belonging, like the preceding ones, to the mesmeric 
 ether, yet differing from them by the manner of 
 their production. Here we deal with artificial 
 processes which develop the fluidic personality. 
 Of course I allude to the wonders of magic. 
 
208 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 This word has had the same fate as miracle. 
 Credulous minds have so abused it that men of 
 science have felt it a duty to flatly deny it. But 
 facts that cannot be gainsaid prove that the magi- 
 cians have had their wonder-workers no less than 
 the ecstatics and the mediums. Our duty is, then, 
 to analyze these facts without prejudice, and what 
 we know already about mesmerism, will permit of 
 our easily attaching them to the laws of time and 
 space. At the outset we find a singular contra- 
 diction. In the last century, magistrates, under- 
 standing the odious and farcical aspects of ,the 
 processes of sorcery, banished them from our 
 judicial codes, and the whole public applauded the 
 measure. But when we run through the legal 
 history of the Middle Ages, we see constantly in 
 the various states of Europe prosecutions and con- 
 demnations of sorcerers. How to account for such 
 an anomaly ? During several centuries magic had 
 acquired such a great development in certain coun- 
 tries that it was really a national affair. It was 
 not alone ignorant and rude populations who offered 
 this painful spectacle : the most polished nations 
 were equally under the fatal influence. The drama 
 of Shakespeare, in which the genius of old England 
 has reflected itself so powerfully, shows us what 
 place the sorcerer still held at this epoch in all 
 minds. How is it that this personage, who filled 
 by his turbulent activity the annals of our fathers, 
 has so suddenly vanished from the mundane stage ? 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. £09 
 
 If he is not to be encountered among ourselves, 
 or rather if he but shows himself at rare intervals 
 to feed the laughter of the public in the prisoners' 
 dock of the police-courts, it must have been the 
 same heretofore, say sensible persons, and we feel 
 compassion for the judges who tried such offences 
 with all the gravity with which our contem- 
 poraneous judges preside at criminal trials. 
 
 If, now, we lay aside these philosophical gene- 
 ralities and study the practical side of the question, 
 we reach quite different conclusions. In judging 
 the men of former times, our personal equation 
 often leads us to very unjust estimates. We fall 
 especially into this error when it is a question 
 of the Middle Ages. The absence of rational 
 science, and the resultant superstition, the sterility 
 of metaphysical discussions to which thinkers de- 
 voted themselves, the poverty of their argumenta- 
 tion, the intolerance which formed the basis of 
 all their doctrines, oblige us to accord to the men 
 of that period but a cramped philosophical grasp. 
 Then, suffering ourselves to be guided by ill-con- 
 sidered analogies, we admit as necessary conse- 
 quence that this moral infirmity must have shown 
 itself in all the affairs of life. This is a grave 
 mistake. The most obtuse mind usually exhibits 
 astonishing penetration when occupied in judging 
 the things of every-day custom. We must place 
 ourselves at this point of view if we would under- 
 stand the ancient trials for sorcery. The lawyers 
 
 ]4 
 
210 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 of the Middle Ages were as well informed, as cir- 
 cumspect, as well versed in the practice of right 
 as those of our days; and the procedure that we 
 follow comes to us in a straight line from that 
 which they had adopted, and which they had from 
 the Eoman bar. When our old judicial archives 
 are rummaged, one is struck with the conformity 
 between their proceedings and our own. There are 
 the same systems of investigation, the same desire 
 of arriving at the truth, the same minuteness in 
 research, the same mode of briefing, and, barring 
 idioms, one might say the same style. A con- 
 demnation was never pronounced until after the 
 accused had confessed his crimes, or there were 
 material proofs thoroughly establishing guilt. The 
 courts which for so long a time tried the cases of 
 sorcery in France, Germany, England, Italy, &c., 
 were composed of the most learned men and the 
 most respected of their nations. These women (the 
 sorceresses) often confessed the misdeeds charged 
 against them, and gave details which, upon being 
 verified, were found to conform to the truth. Thou- 
 sands of warrants, preserved for us along with the 
 records of testimony, establish in the most formal 
 way the practices of magic. Unfortunately the 
 incline was sUppery in such matters, and super- 
 stition on the one side, on the other the spirit 
 of inquisition then prevalent, often led to the 
 failure of justice. Every act which seemed to 
 transcend human possibilities aroused suspicion 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 211 
 
 and caused you to be accused. Had you a neigh- 
 bour of weak or testy character, and some sickness 
 or accident of any sort befell him, he would de- 
 nounce you as having cast upon him a spell. It 
 ended in everybody becoming either sorcerer or 
 heretic. This moral epidemic spared nobody: it 
 attacked the greatest as well as the most humble 
 personages. It only needs to remember Joan of Arc, 
 burnt alive because she had discovered how to 
 arouse the courage of the French and awaken their 
 patriotism ; Urbain Grrandier, condemned to the 
 same punishment for having bewitched a convent 
 of nuns; Gottenberg, suspected of having conni- 
 vance with the devil in the transcription of his bibles, 
 which he produced so rapidly and so beautifully. 
 Women were chiefly the victims of such accusations. 
 It sufiSced that one of them should be at the last 
 extremity with age and poverty for her to be 
 declared a sorceress. The heart bleeds when one 
 thinks of Kepler, obliged to interrupt the works 
 that were destined to immortalize his name, to 
 go and snatch from the hangman's clutches his 
 old mother, threatened with the last punishment 
 in a denunciation for sorcery; and the judges, 
 wearied at last with seeing such infamies daily 
 repeated, and realizing that the odium must recoil 
 upon themselves, ended by abolishing these trials, 
 as they had already abolished torture, which 
 wrenched alike from innocent and guilty what- 
 ever confessions were demanded. 
 
 14—2 
 
212 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 It remains to explain how sorcery has so com- 
 pletely disappeared from among us, that it is no 
 more talked about save as a memory. Two cir- 
 cumstances account for this fact. The social state 
 of the Middle Ages was too often but confusion and 
 chaos. The incessant wars which deluged with 
 blood the different countries of Europe decimated 
 their populations, at the same time ruining 
 them and bringing almost invariably in their train 
 those two inseparable scourges, famine and pes- 
 tilence. The lower classes found themselves in the 
 utmost misery. The work of destruction, begun by 
 the Germanic invasions, which destroyed the Old 
 World, continued for twelve centuries. Need we 
 recall what our ancient chroniclers relate of this 
 lamentable epoch, and, in a time nearer our own, 
 what Vauban said of the rural populations of 
 France ? Under such surroundings, demoralization 
 was inevitable. The human heart easily perverts 
 itself under the prick of primary necessities. The 
 struggle for existence became a sort of strange 
 cannibalism, as though, by a transformation of 
 moral force, the perverted instincts had absorbed, to 
 nourish themselves, all that was good in our nature. 
 Heaven turning a deaf ear to the voices of those 
 who supplicated it, they had recourse to infernal 
 evocations. The poor people only sought in their 
 magical practices that which they could not find 
 elsewhere. A sort of nightmare weighed upon all 
 minds. This anti-social fever subsided in the same 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 213 
 
 measure as the causes which had fed it receded. 
 When order and tranquillity had re-appeared in 
 Europe, the working-classes found comfort and 
 prosperity in labour, and magic lost all the ground 
 conquered by the new state of things. On the 
 other hand, it was in the very action of justice, I 
 mean in the official existence given to sorcery by 
 the prosecutions launched against it, that this 
 institution recruited its adepts. Evil has often, 
 particularly at critical epochs, an irresistibly con- 
 tagious power. (*^) Each prosecution for magic led 
 to others, by divulging the practices of those who 
 had followed it, before audiences greedy for the 
 marvellous. When the magistrates had renounced 
 prosecutions, the noise which had been made stopped 
 simultaneously. People forgot by degrees the 
 means employed by the initiated, and to-day it 
 would be hard to meet with a magician really 
 worthy of the name. The sorceress is still common 
 
 C) Says Maekay {Popular Delusions) : " Whole communities 
 suddenly fix their minds upon one object, and go mad in its 
 pursuit ; millions of people become simultaneously impressed ■with 
 one delusion." Says a writer in the Christian Times (of Jan. 25, 
 1856) : " Crime propagates itself by infection, like fever and small- 
 pox, and at times it seems as if the infection came abroad into 
 the atmosphere and exacted its tribute from every class and every 
 district of the eovmtry." Dr. C. Elam, one of the most interesting 
 of contemporaneous writers, says {A Physician's Problems, p. 158) : 
 "As plague and pestilence attack and hurry off their thousands and 
 tens of thousands at one time, so to an equal extent does a more 
 terrific blight than this pass over a country or a continent an 
 variable and uncertain periods in the history of man, changing the 
 entire aspect of his moral nature." 
 
214 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 enougL. in country districts ; tardly any old woman 
 of slovenly appearance, and belonging to the pauper 
 class, escapes this title. But, in the interviews I 
 have often had with those who had been thus 
 designated, I became quite satisfied that they had 
 not the least real notion of magical practices — an 
 ignorance that many of them deplored, for they 
 saw in this art a means of making themselves 
 comfortable and of revenging themselves upon their 
 enemies. Some knew by hearsay that the first 
 condition of becoming a sorceress, was to get oneself 
 a pot and an ointment. But their science went no 
 further. The nature of this salve, its mode of 
 preparation, how it should be used, they were 
 perfectly ignorant of. All that I could verify was 
 that the most disreputable of them had occasionally 
 the evil touch, if I may employ the common 
 expression, that is, a sort of animal electricity of an 
 evil quality, communicable by contact, and capable 
 of causing some temporary troubles of slight impor- 
 tance, either to little children or to certain animals. 
 We are warranted in seeing in this fluid a degener- 
 ation of the mesmeric ether, the production of 
 which seems connected with certain physiological 
 predispositions in the persons where it appears, with 
 the nature of their food, finally with the bad hygienic 
 conditions among which they live. 
 
 Is it a fact that magic has disappeared without 
 leaving any trace behind it ? It would be rash to 
 so affirm. There is no more talk about sorcery, but 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 215 
 
 the practices of this art are, it seems, preserved in 
 certain families, and several times, in this century, 
 there has been occasion to note facts which recall 
 in every particular those ascribed to the old 
 magicians. They were usually cases of people who 
 projected the Double by processes obd hoc, and whose 
 phantom penetrated some neighbouring house, to 
 harass and annoy somebody upon whom an injury 
 was to be revenged. Mirville relates, in all its 
 details, one anecdote of this kind, which happened 
 about thirty years ago at the Presbytery of a parish 
 in the Seine-Inferieure, and which, for several 
 months, kept the whole canton in excitement. The 
 phantom of the shepherd Touret, struck with a 
 sword-cut whilst it was making a great disturbance 
 in the parlour of the Presbytery, demanded pardon, 
 though remaining invisible, and promised to come 
 the next morning and make his excuses to the cure. 
 The following day, the latter saw the shepherd 
 coming, and upon his face the wound that his 
 Double had received the previous evening. Touret 
 confessed all. 
 
 I have quoted in the second chapter two similar 
 examples taken from the judicial records of England, 
 I shall add still a third, borrowed, from the same 
 source, and which throws a new light upon the 
 actions of the human phantom. As this narrative 
 is too long to be transcribed in full, let me give it 
 in brief. 
 
 In the month of March, 1661, a Mr. Mompesson, 
 
216 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 of Tedworth, in the county of Wiltshire, wearied 
 with the noise a beggar made with his drum, and 
 thinking that the vagabond was carrying a false 
 passport, had him summoned. After satisfying him- 
 self that his suspicions were correct, he kept the 
 drum, and gave up the beggar to justice. But the 
 latter succeeded in escaping. In the month of 
 April, strange nocturnal noises began to be heard in 
 the house of Mr. Mompesson. They were particu- 
 larly frequent in the room where he had put the 
 drum. These noises were of very dififerent kinds. 
 For a long time they heard the roll of a drum and 
 military footsteps. At other times, there were blows 
 or scratchings on the children's wooden bed. Then 
 came tricks of all sorts. The hubbub began usually 
 as soon as the inmates retired to rest, and lasted 
 sometimes two or three hours. This persisted for 
 several years ; it would stop at certain times, but 
 begin stronger than ever after an interval of some 
 weeks or months. They had one day the proof that 
 the cause of all these prodigies must be traced to 
 the beggar in question. Having been arrested for 
 theft at Grloucester, he received in his prison the 
 visit of a Wiltshire man, and asked him if he had 
 heard anything said about the drumming which was 
 going on at Mr. Mompesson's house. The other said 
 that he had. " Well," answered the beggar, " it is 
 I that am tormenting him so, and I shall never leave 
 him quiet until he has given me back the drum, 
 which was my means of livelihood." These vexations 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 217 
 
 were particularly directed to tlie children, and Mr. 
 Mompesson was often obliged, after having made 
 them, to no purpose, change their beds and room, to 
 send them to sleep in another house. Most of the 
 inhabitants of the place, as well as most of the 
 people of the neighbourhood, were witnesses of these 
 prodigies. The rumours of it having extended even 
 to London, the chaplain of Charles II., Grlanvil, came 
 to the spot to carry on an investigation, and embodied 
 the facts in a memoir which was published some 
 years later. As to Mr. Mompesson, he would go 
 through all the rooms where the noise was happening, 
 with a pistol in his hand, in pursuit of the invisible 
 phantom which thus tormented his family, but met 
 no one : the row would stop in the room that he 
 entered, and begin in another. Once, however, seeing 
 some pieces of wood moving in the chimney-place, 
 he fired his pistol, and immediately saw some drops 
 of blood on the hearth ; others were traced upon 
 the stairs. The phantom had been hit, and had 
 fled ; but it had received only a slight wound, for the 
 nocturnal manifestations went on again two or three 
 days after. Like all spectres, he shunned swords 
 and firearms ; he even struggled sometimes with the 
 person he was tormenting, when he saw him about 
 to seize a weapon. One night a servant of Mr. 
 Mompesson, a strong and stout young fellow, 
 feeling himself molested in bed, wished to use a 
 sword that he had placed near him, to strike the in- 
 visible being. A struggle ensued for the sword. 
 
21S POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 and he had much trouble to get possession of it. 
 Immediately the phantom fled from the room. 
 Another time they were less fortunate. Some one 
 having taken a bed-staff to drive away the spectre, 
 which he felt at his side, the latter seized it simul- 
 taneously, snatched it from the hands of his adver- 
 sary, and threw it on the ground. These molestations 
 did not completely cease until the vagabond, con- 
 demned as a sorcerer, was put out of the way for 
 good and all. Meanwhile, he had been arrested 
 several times for theft and other misdeeds, and had 
 then spent days or weeks in prison. It was during 
 these terms of imprisonment that quiet was restored 
 in the family of Mr. Mompesson, for, as we shall 
 presently see, the practices of sorcery are impossible 
 for prisoners. 
 
 An important fact stands out from this story. I 
 shall bring it into prominence. 
 
 From the analysis which I have made of the 
 human phantom, we have been able to decide that 
 the tissue which composes it is of a fluidic nature. 
 There would seem to be deduced from this fact an 
 immediate consequence — that the phantom cannot 
 produce any great muscular effort. The history of 
 the drummer, corroborated by others that I might 
 quote, (*^) gives a denial to this conclusion. From the 
 
 ('^) Some delicate and very scientific tests were made by Mr. 
 Crookes to determine the dynamic value of the current of " psychic 
 force " flowing from the medium, Home, while physical phenomena 
 were occurring in his presence. The result was perfectly convincing, 
 and the translation of the current into foot-pounds was easily made. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 219 
 
 picture that is given of the beggar, he had great 
 physical power, and his phantom naturally shared his 
 athletic constitution. But that would not explain 
 the vigour that he displayed in his fluidic manifesta- 
 tions. He struggled with those whom he saw seizing 
 a weapon, and one day he succeeded in snatching a 
 bed-staff from the hands of his adversary. Another 
 time, when he was raising the children's bed, a prank 
 that was a great favourite of his, it required six men 
 to hold it. We cannot consider these strange facts 
 without admitting that, in the phenomena of 
 the double the fluidic personality may borrow from the 
 body from which it separates itself, all the living 
 forces contained in the latter. Thus are explained 
 the stubborn and often painful struggles under- 
 gone by persons who have to submit to persecutions 
 on the part of evil men addicted to the practice of 
 sorcery. The judicial annals of sorcery teach us, 
 moreover, that women, accused and convicted of this 
 crime, have acknowledged to having smothered 
 children in bed, to revenge some injury that they 
 had received from the father or the mother. 
 
 I have said that the drummer left in quiet the 
 Mompesson family whenever he was in prison, be- 
 cause he could not then devote himself to magical 
 
 (See his Eesearches in the Phenomena of Spiritualism.) A chair, 
 ascertained to weigh 8| lbs., was lifted, one evening at the Eddy 
 house, in my presence, by an unseen agent, to a height of 5 ft. 6 in., 
 and a calculation, made at the time, showed that a force of 24'36 
 of a H.P. had been exerted. (People from the Other World, 
 p. 264.) 
 
220 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 practice. Long ago the same thing was noticed 
 in connection with sorcerers who filled the Middle 
 Ages with the fame of their exploits. All their 
 magic power ceased as soon as they were in the 
 hands of justice. As, at that epoch of superstition, 
 they saw in the facts imputed to such people 
 nothing but a manifestly diabolical action, they, 
 with good reason, were astounded that the demon 
 lost all his power as soon as one of his own people 
 was under lock and key; in other words, that it 
 only required the closing of a prison-door to totally 
 destroy infernal powers. The matter is very simple, 
 nevertheless, and explains itself. All the art of 
 magic consists in the forming of the double of the one 
 who addicts himself to it. But this phenomenon can 
 only be produced by the help of certain preparations 
 and of certain substances that are not procurable 
 in gaol. I will give some details of these pro- 
 cesses. In the prosecutions for sorcery it often 
 happened that women, constrained by the evidence, 
 confessed the facts imputed to them. The first 
 was, going to the sabbath — a vague term that they 
 applied to all nocturnal voyages attributed to sor- 
 cerers. They declared that they went there, not 
 in imagination, but bodily. Frequently magistrates 
 who were trying the cases, being anxious to verify 
 for themselves and to give the lie to these poor 
 fools, gave them liberty, so that they might renew 
 their nocturnal voyages ; for they were unanimous 
 in declaring that they had no power whilst they 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 221 
 
 were in prison. At the same time they had them 
 watched, sometimes with and sometimes without 
 their consent and knowledge. As soon as the hour 
 arrived, they undressed and rubbed their body with 
 a salve which they had prepared. They fell imme- 
 diately into a lethargic sleep which continued for 
 several hours. Their bodies exhibited the insensi- 
 bility that we have pointed out in the magnetic 
 sleep. The persons set to watch them tortured 
 them in many ways, by sticking sharp-pointed 
 things into their flesh, sometimes even burning 
 sensitive parts ; they could neither awaken them 
 nor detect any movement. The limbs had a corpse- 
 like rigidity. "When the lethargy had ended and 
 they came to their senses, they declared that they 
 had returned from the sabbath. To no purpose 
 were they told that they had not been lost sight 
 of for a moment; that their bodies had remained 
 in the same place. In vain were they shown the 
 punctures and burns that had been made on their 
 flesh; they persisted that they had been to the 
 sabbath, and alleged as proofs of their story the 
 most circumstantial details about what they had 
 done, as well as the countries they had traversed 
 and the people who had been there with them. 
 They would end by begging their judges them- 
 selves to make investigations. Upon making the 
 veriflcation, it was most frequently recognized that 
 they had only to do with poor hallucinated persons ; 
 but sometimes, also, the results of the inquiry were 
 
222 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 found to conform in every point with the declara- 
 tions of the sorcerers, which redoubled the per- 
 plexity of the magistrates, thus hemmed in by a 
 circle of contradictory facts. 
 
 "What was the nature of the salve which produced 
 such physiological effects ? In 1545, Andre Laguna, 
 physician to Pope Julius III., was in Lorraine, in 
 attendance upon the Due de Gruise, when a man 
 and woman were arrested upon the charge of sorcery. 
 A search of their house had resulted in the discovery 
 of a pot containing a pomade, or unguent, of a 
 greenish colour. Andre Laguna, having analyzed 
 it, discovered that this preparation contained juices 
 of different narcotic plants, among which he dis- 
 tinguished hemlock, hyoseyamus, nightshade, and 
 mandrake. The wife of the executioner complaining 
 of neuralgia and insomnia, he saw the opportunity 
 of testing the properties of this salve, and caused 
 them to rub the patient's body with it. The latter 
 fell immediately into a lethargic sleep. She had 
 been thirty-sis hours in this state when the doctor, 
 thinking that it might be dangerous to leave her any 
 longer thus, restored her to consciousness, but not 
 without having to use violent means, among others 
 by cupping. Andre Laguna is not the only physi- 
 cian who has analyzed the salve of the sorceress. 
 The substances which entered into these prepara- 
 tions diifered in number and kind, but were always 
 taken from narcotic plants. Hyoseyamus was often 
 the base. Cardan has given us the receipt of one of 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 223 
 
 these salves, in which were mixed opium, aconite, 
 pentaphyllum, and nightshade with honey. The 
 effect produced by these preparations differed, 
 necessarily, according to the nature of the ingre- 
 dients and the manner of their use. The experts in 
 the art would have a dry rub before anointing 
 themselves, so as to make the pores more accessible 
 to the action of the drug. Others limited them- 
 selves to rubbing the palms of the hands and the 
 soles of the feet, or, perhaps, some other part of 
 the body rich in nerves, such as the top of the head 
 and the epigastrium. Some, having acquired by 
 custom or by a natural predisposition the power of 
 entering at will into the lethargic sleep, disdained 
 these precautions, and would simply lie down and 
 go to sleep. It was in these latter that were 
 commonly noticed the most surprising effects of 
 sorcery. I shall presently return to this. It is 
 superfluous to add that the magic salves produced 
 different results, since they depended at once upon 
 the physical constitution of the patient, of the 
 preparation which he used, and of the way in which 
 he employed it. 
 
 Most commonly the sorcerers obtained no other 
 effects than simple hallucinations, like those caused 
 by the hashish of the Orientals. They travelled in 
 dream through delicious countries, or, perhaps, 
 entered the houses of persons whom they knew to 
 be rich, killed the finest sheep in the pen, and, after 
 having dressed it, went to work to feast upon it, 
 
224 POSTHUMOUS HUJ-'ANITy. 
 
 moistening their throats with the best wine in the 
 cellar. However sumptuous might be this repast, 
 they were not less starved upon their awaking — an 
 unmistakable proof that it was misery that most 
 frequently led to the practice of sorcery. The poor 
 people wanted to appease, in nocturnal imaginary 
 banquets, the hunger which they could but partly 
 satisfy by day. However, things did not always go 
 off so inoffensively: in persons whose nature lent 
 itself to the phenomenon of duplication, the fluidic 
 being left the body as soon as the latter was asleep, 
 and then magic showed itself in its true aspect. 
 The sorceress entered into the house of him against 
 whom she had a revenge to gratify, and vexed him 
 in a thousand ways. If the latter were resolute, and 
 had a weapon available, it would often happen that 
 he would strike the phantom, and, upon recovering 
 from her trance, the sorceress would find upon her 
 own body the wound she had received in the 
 phantasmal struggle. I have related above several 
 examples of this kind. It was these sorts of witch- 
 craft that the rulers of states had in view when they 
 prescribed the severest penalties against magicians. 
 It had been often proved, in judicial inquiries, both 
 by the avowals of the accused and the testimony of 
 the victims, that the sorcerers could kill those whom 
 they pursued, without distinction of rank, so that 
 even kings, feeling themselves in danger, had 
 recourse to the axe and the halter to abate the 
 common scourge. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 225 
 
 I have said that certain magicians could project 
 the Double without having to employ the witch- 
 salve. Among other instances, I may quote from 
 Gorres the following : 
 
 " Maiole, in his work, Jours caniculaires, relates 
 that a peasant, not far from Eiga, while supping 
 at the house of his master's steward, tumbled from 
 his seat after the meal and remained thus stretched 
 insensible upon the ground. The steward believed 
 the man must be a wehr-wolf. (*') He therefore 
 sent his people to bed, and had the man left lying 
 as he was ; the latter did not return to conscious- 
 ness until the next morning, whereupon he departed. 
 The steward, having ascertained that a horse had 
 been killed during the night in the pasture, sus- 
 pected the peasant, had him arrested and brought, 
 and questioned him about the matter. The peasant 
 confessed that, on the previous evening, he had seen 
 a large insect flying about; that he had taken it 
 for an evil spirit ; that he had pursued it ; that the 
 insect {cousin) had hid itself behind a horse in the 
 meadow; that he had wanted to kill it with his 
 sickle, but that it had escaped the blow aimed at 
 it, and that he had killed the horse instead." 
 
 The use of the salve was not the only process 
 resorted to by the practitioners of sorcery. Certain 
 beverages produced as efifectually the lethargic 
 sleep. The principle was the same in both prepa- 
 
 (") A sorcerer who could project his Double, and, making it 
 assume the shape of some animal, do injury to man and beast. 
 
 15 
 
226 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 rations. It was always the juices of narcotic plants 
 dissolved in some liquid, instead of mixing them 
 with a fatty substance. Among the North American 
 Indians, the Siberian tribes, the Finns and Lap- 
 landers, the soothsayers had recourse to other cus- 
 toms, sometimes very strange, yet all having one 
 common object — the complete suppression of the 
 external life. They employed, to this end, some- 
 times the circular dance or the monotonous chant, 
 sometimes the inhalation of tobacco-smoke accom- 
 panied with yellings and the sound of the tam- 
 bourine. (^^) Again, they would combine the whole 
 together, and add the action of strong drinks. 
 Among the Laplanders the sorcerer carried a 
 hammer, and beat upon the anvil a brazen frog or 
 serpent, which he turned upon all sides, muttering 
 formulas of conjuration, until he fell to the ground 
 motionless. People would come to consult these 
 soothsayers about the fate of an expedition that 
 had delayed its return, or for news of a relative 
 or somebody else who might be very far away. 
 
 (88^ From the very first outbreak of the modern spiritualistic 
 movement, the unseen intelligences have required singing or 
 playing upon musical instruments at seances. I think that, as 
 a rule, a preference has been shown for airs embodying short 
 rhythmic measures. It "will be seen in th e Appendix that Indian 
 sorcerers and mediums use a small drum monotonously beaten. 
 There is in the Adyar Library a specimen of the drum used 
 in Kathiawar upon such occasions. The dugpas, or " led-eap " 
 sorcerers of Bhootan, Sikkim, and Nepal use such a drum, the 
 body — it can scarcely be called a cylinder — of "which is composed 
 of t'wo human skulls fastened together at their apices ; and they 
 also play upon a pipe made of a man's thigh-bonci 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 227 
 
 The preliminary steps for bringing on the trance 
 were usually tedious, and it was only after waiting 
 for him several hours that the patient, coming to 
 himself, gave his replies. They were always accu- 
 rate, and were verified in all their details upon the 
 return of the absent persons. The spirit — to use 
 the common expression — left the magician's body 
 as soon as he fell into the state of unconsciousness, 
 and went in search of the one inquired about. His 
 quest being finished, he would re-enter the body 
 he had temporarily left, and recall it to life. These 
 facts are accounted for above. The fatiguing prac- 
 tices to which the sorcerers submitted themselves 
 led, in some, to the projection of the Double ; in 
 all, to the liberation of an excessive quantity of 
 mesmeric fluid; and we know that this fluid can 
 extend itself to great distances, and, by a reflex ' 
 effect, telegraph to the brain that which passes 
 afar off, so that it is frequently hard to say if one 
 is having to do with the phantom itself or the 
 simple action of the cerebral ether. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE MESMERIC ETHER AND THE PERSONALITY WHICH 
 IT ENGENDERS {continued). — THE INCUBUS. — THE 
 OBSESSING SPIRIT. 
 
 We are now coming to the most extraordinary 
 phenomena that are presented, in its exterior 
 
 15—2 
 
228 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 manifestations, by the fluidic personality of man, 
 or rather of woman, for it is principally with the 
 latter that these prodigies are noticed. I speak 
 of the incubus. This word, which one scarcely 
 meets elsewhere than in theological treatises, was 
 quite unknown to me when I saw it for the first 
 time, but its peculiarly Latin physiognomy made 
 me easily guess its meaning. I did then what I 
 had already done in other circumstances, notably 
 in connection with posthumous vampirism, to which 
 I shall soon recur : I turned the page and passed 
 on to another chapter. The history of the post- 
 humous vampire seemed to me a little hazardous; 
 it exceeded all bounds, and seemed to me the most 
 formidable of mystifications. However, this same 
 word recurring in most of the authors whom I con- 
 sulted, I found myself compelled, in spite of myself, 
 to become acquainted with it, and the result was 
 my recognizing in it a certain objectivity, rather 
 difficult to define and circumscribe ; for, direct veri- 
 fication being almost always impossible in such 
 kinds of phenomena, one is naturally led to attri- 
 bute them to hallucination. I shall, then, be brief 
 in my quotations, and I hasten to add that I throw 
 the whole responsibility upon those from whom I 
 take them, although the latter appear to have drawn 
 them from the best sources. (^') The following 
 
 (^') I have not, like M. d'Assier, had to rely entirely upon third 
 parties for this class of repulsive facts, several cases having come 
 under my own observation, and two under my treatment. One of 
 these was that of a young Buddhist priest ; the other a respectable 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 229 
 
 story will serve me as a transition, for it is indirectly 
 allied with our subject : 
 
 " In a town in the county of Somerset, England, 
 there lived, about fifty years ago, an old woman who 
 passed generally for a sorceress. She was thin and 
 dried up, bent with age, and walked with crutches. 
 Her voice was hollow, solemn, mysterious, but, at 
 the same time, hypocritical. Her eyes darted a 
 penetrating light, inspiring fear. A young man of 
 twenty-two years, healthy and robust, who lived in 
 the same village, found himself tormented all at once 
 by an impure spirit, to such a degree that his health 
 was affected, and that, at the end of three or four 
 months, he was pale, thin, exhausted, and presented 
 all the signs of a speedy death. He knew very wellj 
 as well as his relations, what was the cause of this 
 sickness ; and as he was of a very decided character, 
 he finally resolved one night to await the sorceress. 
 She was a long time coming, but finally, about 
 midnight, he heard the noise of light footsteps on 
 the stairs. It was she, in fact. She came to the 
 foot of his bed, climbed up, and slipped gently over 
 his feet. He let her alone until she got as far as 
 his knees, and was about to fall on him with all her 
 
 married lady in America. In the former, I cured the patient 
 in one month's time by making him drink water I had mesmerised ; 
 in the latter, I taught the lady how to rid herself of the obsession 
 by the exertion of her own will-power and the observance of a non- 
 stimulative diet. In a third ease the victim, an elderly Asiatic 
 lady, died of sheer exhaustion of her vitality, after many years of 
 real or imagined relationship with her obsessing demon. 
 
230 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 weight. Then, with both hands, he caught her by 
 the hair, and held her with a convulsive effort, 
 crying out to his mother, who slept in a neighbour- 
 ing room, to bring a light. While she ran to iind 
 one, the young man and the sorceress struggled 
 furiously on the floor. But, with the first glimpse 
 of light that came from the stairs, the woman tore 
 herself with supernatural force from the hands of 
 the young man and disappeared like lightning. 
 His mother found him standing breathless, and his 
 two hands full of hair. 
 
 "'I asked him,' said Barnet, the author of the 
 narrative, ' where he had put the hair.' 
 
 "'I was stupid enough,' he answered, 'not to 
 ■preserve it: it would have helped to prove 
 the identity of the person. But in the trouble in 
 which I was, I let it fall on the ground, and she 
 to whom it belonged took good care to carry 
 it off; but I handled her so effectually that she 
 came no more to trouble me. It is singular,' he 
 added, ' that while I held and struggled with her, 
 although I was certain that it was she, her breath 
 and her whole figure indicated a young girl.' 
 
 " ' He to whom this happened is still alive,' adds 
 Barnet, from whom Gorres took the story. ' He 
 has told it me several times, and I can guarantee its 
 truth, without being able to give any explanation.' " 
 
 Whilst this tale presents all the characteristics of 
 truthfulness, it would seem impossible, if we had 
 not observed in the posthumous vampire facts no 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 231 
 
 less extraordinary. It is a simple phenomenon of 
 duplication. Since it is established by many 
 observations that the living phantom can leave its 
 bodily habitation, to go and drink and eat in a place 
 where the latter could not go, there is no difficulty 
 in admitting that it might be the same in a case 
 where an individual, predisposed to doubling, is 
 urged by a need not less imperious than hunger. 
 
 This brings us to the evidence of the incubus. 
 The spiritists, ascribing all that they see to the 
 manifestations of the posthumous being, make of 
 the incubus a satyr from beyond the tomb. It is 
 not • difficult to demonstrate the absurdity of such 
 an opinion. Every incubic act, traced to its primary 
 cause, supposes an excess of vitality in the normal 
 function of the organ of which it is the seat. The 
 fluidic structure of the posthumous being in no way 
 recalls such a mechanism. The shade is, then, in 
 all respects the antithesis of the satyr, and it is, 
 we think, in the actions of the living phantom that 
 we must seek the solution of the enigma. The 
 analysis of some examples will show upon what fact 
 rests our view of the case. 
 
 Grorres, to speak only ' of this author, cites 
 numerous facts of incubi borrowed from the writings 
 of the theologians. Brognolis, an Italian monk of 
 the seventeenth century, had acquired a certain 
 renown as an exorcist in this kind of witchcraft, 
 naturally attributed to demoniac agency. But such 
 instances would not serve as a basis for rational 
 
232 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 examination, for, relating generally to nuns shut up 
 in a cloister, they appear almost always as the result 
 of a delirious imagination in hysteric women. 
 What is to be said, for example, of the confessions 
 of Madeleine de la Crux, abbess of a convent of 
 Cordova in the first half of the sixteenth century ? 
 She confided to her confessor that during thirty 
 years she had had commerce with an incubus. The 
 latter came to her every night in her cell, and 
 showed himself under the appearance of a Moor. 
 We know that the Moor was often cited in the 
 romances of that period as the perfect type of 
 gallantry. What shall we say, also, about that nun 
 of the third order of St. Francis, confessing to 
 Brognolis, who had come to exorcise her, that for 
 eighteen years the devil had misused her body 
 under the form of a handsome young man, and that 
 at night he would often take her out of her home to 
 give her up to other enchanters ? What enchanters 
 were meant ? That is what Brognolis does not ex- 
 plain. In his conscientious researches upon the 
 incubus, M. des Mousseaux did not confine himself, 
 like his predecessors, to the confessions of penitents 
 in convents. He has compared these facts with 
 other phenomena of the same order, which are 
 recorded in the annals of spiritism. Here it is not 
 a question of mysterious confidences of subjective 
 order, made behind the gratings of a cloister, but of 
 real facts occurring in open day and susceptible of 
 control. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUaiANlTY. 233 
 
 [The author here cites a number of historical 
 facts going to prove the reality of immodest 
 relations between male and female phantoms and 
 normal beings of the opposite sex. As they will 
 hardly bear translation, the scientific student may 
 be referred to the many authors, ancient as well as 
 modem, of all countries who have written upon this 
 sad and repulsive theme. Among others, the 
 Chevalier Gr. des Mousseaux, a great modern Catholic 
 writer upon magic, whose books are very highly 
 recommended by leading prelates of his Church, has 
 entered at great length into the discussion. In his 
 Les Hants Plienomenes de la Magie, he devotes 
 a hundred pages to it. It is also treated by Lenor- 
 mant, in his Chaldean Magic ; by Ennemoser, in his 
 History of Magic, and by scores of others. Father 
 Sinistrari's De Dcemonialitate et Incubis et Succubis 
 (French edition by Liseux, Paris, 1875) learnedly 
 and exhaustively deals with the whole question. (^'') 
 Besides all these, and besides the voluminous annals 
 of the tribunals of Great Britain, France, Grermany, 
 Italy, and other countries, numerous cases have been 
 reported among our modern spiritualists. After 
 
 ('") A very curious collection of such facts is to te found in the 
 Histoire des Fantomes et des Demons qui se sont montres parmi 
 les Hommes, par Mde. Gabrielle de P » * ♦ * » 
 (Paris, 1819). A ease, made the more disgusting by being taken 
 an grand seriewx by the author, as a prognostic of a possible improve- 
 ment of the human race by unions between spirits and mortals, is 
 cited by Putnam, in his Witchcraft of New England explained hy 
 Modem 8]nritualism (p. 155). 
 
234 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 citing his facts, M. d'Assier goes on to discuss the 
 nature of these impure spirits, and in a few brief para- 
 graphs pretty effectually disposes of the theological 
 hypothesis of diabolical agency by showing that it 
 involves various contradictions and is inconsistent 
 with the character of God as depicted by the 
 Church, His fifth proposition we may now translate 
 literally. — Translator.] 
 
 V. Finally, admitting that all the foregoing 
 objections are put aside, there will always remain to 
 be explained how a being of immaterial nature (he 
 refers to the devil) flies like the phantom of a simple 
 mortal before a sword or a firearm, as all attest who 
 have had recourse to this means to free themselves 
 from incubic obsessions. 
 
 Let us pass on to another most strange manifesta- 
 tion of the mesmeric ether, or rather of the per- 
 sonality which it gives rise to. 
 
 From the remotest antiquity there has been ob- 
 served a singular malady. The characteristics which 
 it presented were so extraordinary that it was at- 
 tributed to a demon, or to the soul of a deceased 
 person who had taken possession of the body of the 
 patient. The doctors finding themselves helpless 
 before such symptoms, the people hastened to the 
 temples and implored the help of the priest. Whilst 
 Apollonius of Tyana was at Athens, he delivered 
 from a demon a young Corcyrsean woman who came 
 to attend his lectures. At the time of his visit to 
 the Indian sages, a woman came to beg the latter 
 
. POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 2^5 
 
 to free her adolescent son from the soul of a man 
 killed in battle, which had possessed him for several 
 years. The young man having refused to follow his 
 mother, larchus, the elder of the Brahmans, gave 
 her a letter which would effectually conjure the 
 obsessing spirit and drive it away. Long before 
 this epoch, a Eamses of the twentieth dynasty re- 
 ceived a messenger from an Asiatic prince, the king 
 of Bakthren, who begged him to send an exorcist, 
 selected from among the priests of the great temple 
 of Thebes, to deliver his daughter from an evil 
 spirit. The sage sent by the Pharaoh, not finding 
 himself strong enough to drive away the demon, 
 they had to despatch a second, more learned or 
 bolder, (^^) who cured the young girl. The method 
 employed by these exorcists of ancient times was the 
 same as that made use of to-day. The thaumatur- 
 gist summoned several times the obsessing spirits 
 to depart, and the latter yielded after having made 
 more or less resistance. 
 
 Possessions and exorcisms, rare in our times, were 
 very frequent in the earlier times of Christianity 
 and during the Middle Ages. Summoned to reveal 
 its name, the spirit usually called itself a demon, 
 rarely a lost soul. In some cases it stubbornly tried 
 to conceal its personality; in others, as is now 
 occurring daily with mediums, and as was recently 
 seen at Morzine, the spirit gabbled, sometimes 
 
 (") Or a stronger mesmerist ? 
 
533 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 giving himself out as a demon, sometimes as one of 
 the damned ; occasionally he replied with witticisms. 
 One day it declared, in the case of a young girl 
 whom they were exorcising near Lucca, that he was 
 called the guardian of the frogs (Grorres, vol. iv., 
 p. 442). "With such incoherent responses, it seems 
 that one ought to entertain suspicions as to the true 
 nature of the pretended obessor. But they ascribed 
 all these contradictions to diabolical malice, and 
 saw in them only one of the familiar frolics of the 
 " father of lies." 
 
 Other contradictions, not less singular, presented 
 themselves when one studied the origin of the 
 malady, its symptoms, its modes of cure. Among 
 the moral causes which brought about possession, 
 one of the most frequent was remorse for a fault 
 that they dared not confess. The diabolical agency 
 appeared then perfectly manifest, and they applied 
 the remedy naturally indicated — confession. The 
 example of a young girl of the neighbourhood of 
 Vallombreuse, who became possessed because she 
 had seen her parents commit a theft, and who was 
 released when the latter had made restitution, ought 
 to have caused some reflection ; for, in strict justice, 
 it was upon the authors of the crime that the 
 punishment should have fallen. It was much worse 
 when one reviewed the other causes of obsessions. 
 Grorres, who has devoted to the study of the 
 questions several chapters of his Mystique, makes, 
 in this connection, the most candid confessions. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 237 
 
 He relates seriously that, in 1609, in the diocese of 
 Toledo, a woman, named Maria Garcia, was possessed 
 for seven years, from eating an orange that had been 
 given her by a neighbour. Near Sens, a child 
 became so because, in his great thirst, he had drunk 
 greedily from a bucket of water. In 1605, the 
 obsessing spirit entered the body of a young orphan 
 girl, after some bad treatment that she had received 
 in the house of a miller, where her guardians had 
 placed her. In Lorraine it was a beverage which 
 caused Marie de Ranfain to be possessed. Her 
 doctor, smitten by her beauty, had given her a love 
 philtre. Other unfortunates fell into this state 
 after certain illnesses. The moon herself exercised 
 an influence upon demoniac action : in certain of 
 the possessed, this action increased or diminished 
 according to the course of that orb. The same 
 singularity there was as to the modes of cure, with 
 or without exorcism. As Jeanne Morette, of Venice, 
 was being exorcised by St'. Cajetan, the demoUj 
 speaking by her mouth, said that he would go away, 
 because he could not stand the smell of orange, 
 which the saint exhaled. In Old Castile, a monk 
 cured a case of possession by blowing into the 
 patient's mouth. St. Vincent de Paul, exorcising 
 in vain a woman, suddenly seized her by the hair, 
 as if he were enraged, all the while continuing his 
 conjurations, and the patient was speedily released. 
 In certain cases the patient was cured by the 
 administration of purgatives. A young monk, of 
 
238 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 the convent of St. Ethelred, becoming suddenly 
 possessed, passed the night, by order of the prior, 
 at the tomb of the saint, while the monks remained 
 in prayer. In the morning he was taken with 
 violent colic pains, and was delivered in the manner 
 above indicated. Three possessed persons, exorcised 
 by St. Nicet, became cured by profuse expectora- 
 tion. A woman, taken to the tomb of St. Ulrich, 
 found herself cured after strong nasal haemorrhage ; 
 others were so after having vomited either blood or 
 some dark fluid. If we add to that the violent 
 attacks which occurred in most of the possessed in 
 the moments of their crises, their frightful bodily 
 contortions, and the foam which came out of their 
 mouths, we shall not be surprised that medical 
 science has only seen in these pretended obsessions 
 forms of catalepsy. 
 
 But if the physiologists had disposed of dia* 
 bolical agency, the patients were no better ofif; 
 for the doctors found themselves controlled by a 
 personal equation which was scarcely any better, 
 than that of the theologians. Thus the advan- 
 tage has remained until now with the latter, who 
 have at least on their side the appearances, and 
 who, it would be puerile to deny, have obtained 
 in a great number of cases complete cures by the 
 employment of exorcisms. The characteristics 
 which certain of the possessed present in the hours 
 of the crisis are so different from those that are 
 observed in other maladies, that they seem to result 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 239 
 
 from a supernatural action. I do not speak of the 
 strange things that they emit sometimes by the 
 mouth, such as coals, hair, or living reptiles ; it 
 is not necessary to suppose that these objects were 
 swallowed, to explain their presence in the interior 
 of the human body. All physiologists know that 
 they may, in certain cases, be formed in different 
 parts of the organism under the feverish and 
 abnormal action of the vital forces. The most 
 common are coals and reptiles. The former seem 
 to be excrementary matters, to which the common 
 people give the name of coal, because of their 
 consistency and their blackish colour. As to the 
 reptileSj they are intestinal worms, so various, as 
 we know, in form and size. In 1870, when I was 
 editing the Revue d'Aquitaine, I was able to satisfy 
 myself of this fact. One of my correspondents 
 informed me that the Zouave Jacob, of whom there 
 was much talk at that time, had just effected a 
 marvellous cure upon a young lady of the neigh- 
 bourhood of Marmande. This lady, abandoned by 
 the doctors, suffered from convulsions which re- 
 sembled those of the possessed. After some inag- 
 netic passes, and amidst horrible suffering, she 
 threw up a sort of reptile about fifteen centimetres 
 in length. This scene having occurred in the house 
 of M. Dambres, of Marmande, I requested the latter 
 to send me the facsimile of the animal which he 
 had preserved in alcohol. M. Dambres sent me a 
 pencil drawing, and I recognized at a glance that, 
 
240 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 as I had suspected, the pretended reptile was a 
 monstrous helminth. 
 
 The characteristics which distinguish possessed 
 persons, properly so called, are of another order. 
 When they enter the crises, certain of them acquire 
 a muscular vigour so great that the most feeble 
 women occasionally escape from the hands of several 
 robust men who are exerting themselves to hold 
 them. 
 
 Others, becoming electrical, climb with surprising 
 agility to the tops of the highest trees, dart from 
 branch to branch like squirrels, then return to the 
 ground head first without doing themselves any 
 harm, to the stupefaction of persons witnessing 
 these prodigies. 
 
 Some show themselves lucid (clairvoyant) ; they 
 read the contents of a sealed letter, name different 
 objects shut up in a box, divine the secret thoughts 
 of persons about them, and make in this connection 
 most piquant revelations. Some are polyglots; 
 but all, or nearly all, understand what the exorcist 
 says, answer all his questions, whateyer may be the 
 language he employs, and if he happens to deceive 
 himself do not shrink from addressing him in such 
 terms as these: "Ass that thou art; that is not the 
 way to talk ! " This sudden transformation of an 
 illiterate person into a linguist is, in the eyes of 
 the theologians, the undeniable proof of diabolical 
 possession. It is no longer the possessed who talks ; 
 it is the obsessing spirit who expresses himself by 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY, 241 
 
 the other's mouth. Such a view of the case is the 
 more natural, since the tone of the voice is some- 
 times completely changed ; the new interlocutor 
 speaking in his own name and not in the name 
 of the patient, who is for him but a stranger, 
 and, interrogated as to his origin, freely calls him- 
 self an emissary of Satan, or at least a lost soul ; 
 and indicating the day when he will depart, as 
 well as the name of the exorcist who will force 
 him to decamp. Let us add to this another trait 
 not less characteristic of obsession : the fury into 
 which the possessed are thrown whenever they are 
 spoken to about holy things ; the aversion that 
 they show for priests, churches, and ceremonies ; the 
 horror that relics cause them, contact with which 
 they describe as like that of fire. In presence 
 of these facts, which I have condensed, and which 
 show in the least equivocal way the action of a 
 mysterious personality of a supernatural order, how 
 avoid giving reasonableness to the theologians ? 
 
 It was, in truth, that which the sceptics them- 
 selves were forced to do before the discovery of 
 mesmerism. But, for serious minds, there is no 
 longer to-day any question of obsession — at least, of 
 demoniacal obsessions — for magnetism, sometimes 
 even simple catalepsy, repeats the strange phenomena 
 that the possessed present. In the annals of the 
 magnetizers, and more particularly of the spiritists, 
 it is not rare to find facts relative to persons who 
 have become electrical under the influence of the 
 
 16 
 
242 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 mesmeric fluid. Some shoot up from the ground, 
 like certain ecstatics, driven by an ascensional 
 force, and it sometimes requires the efforts of 
 several men to pull them down. Others acquire a 
 herculean strength. I have quoted, in connection 
 with incubic phenomena, the example of a young 
 girl in whom a passion for turning tables had 
 developed an almost miraculous muscular power. 
 Lucidity is a common thing in somnambulism. In 
 cataleptics has been observed a clairvoyance not less 
 remarkable. The gift of languages is common 
 enough among mediums, and it is known that a 
 number of them write their replies in idioms which 
 to them are entirely unknown. It is a fact, also, 
 that patients gifted with magnetic lucidity predict 
 the return of their crises, and, like the possessed, 
 indicate in advance the day and the hour of that 
 one which will be the last. This supreme crisis 
 offers other analogies not less surprising. In 
 exorcism there is one peculiarity worthy of remark, 
 which the theologians consider as the touchstone of 
 possession. At the moment when the possessing 
 spirit declares that he is about to leave the body of 
 the patient, the exorcist, wishing to satisfy himself 
 that he is not the dupe of a falsehood, orders him 
 to give a visible sign of his departure. Usually, it 
 is one of the surrounding objects which is to be 
 upset or moved from its place. ('^) In an example 
 
 ('2) It is the custom in India also ; tlie commonest signal is the 
 breaking of a branch of some tree near the house. A ceremony 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 243 
 
 cited by Gorres, the spirit having declared that 
 there were thirty demons in the body of a young 
 girl, the monk in charge of the exorcism, after 
 having caused thirty wax candles to be lighted, 
 ordered that the departures should be successive, 
 and that each demon should mark his going out by 
 extinguishing one light. The programme was 
 punctually carried out. 
 
 These prodigies, which at first sight appear 
 supernatural, nevertheless are included in the 
 category of mesmeric phenomena. The first was 
 reproduced by ApoUonius of Tyana, when he relieved 
 the young woman of Corcyra, whom I have men- 
 tioned above. The thaumaturgist having ordered 
 the obsessing spirit to give a sign of its departure, it, 
 replied' that it would upset one of the statues in. 
 the portico that was near. The statue was presently 
 seen to totter upon its base, and then fall. The 
 Indian fakir, of whom Louis JacoUiot speaks in his. 
 Voyage au Pays des Perles, did even better. He 
 produced several miracles before the author of the- 
 
 called Sraddha is performed after every Hindu's death, to ascertain! 
 if the deceased has any unsatisfied longing, the persistence of whichi 
 ■would bind the soul to earth. Balls of cooked rice are laid out- 
 side the house to tempt the crows, which swarm everywhere and 
 snap up anything' of the nature of food they can steal. If these 
 birds gather about the rice-balls bxit do not eat them, it is 
 taken as a (preconcerted) signal from the deceased that he is still 
 lingering near. In such case, the relatives take every possible 
 means to ascertain, as quickly as possible, his wishes:, and to satisfy 
 them. 
 
 16-2 
 
244 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 narrative. By a simple act of his will, he caused 
 furniture to move, opened and closed doors, extin- 
 guished lights placed at the end of the hall. 
 Having observed through a window a gardener 
 drawing water from a well, he arrested by a single 
 gesture the movement of the pulley, to the great 
 stupefaction of the gardener, and the rope moved 
 freely again only when a second gesture had been 
 made. Here no jugglery was possible. The in- 
 cident happened in the house of an English colonel ; 
 the fakir, quite naked save for a small strip of cloth 
 a few inches wide {langanti), remained motionless, 
 whilst the house-servants themselves brought and 
 lit the candles. As for the aversion shown by the 
 possessed for holy things, it is easy enough to be 
 accounted for. It is a necessary consequence of the 
 nature of their fluid (aura). Like ordinary elec- 
 tricity, the vital electricity has two modes of action, 
 mutually opposed. The production of each of these 
 results either from the individual organization or 
 from the cause which gives it birth. They are the 
 two poles of its battery : the one leads to ecstasis, 
 the other to obsession. Whilst the ecstatic feels 
 himself drawn by an irresistible force towards the 
 altars, the obsessed feels an invincible repugnance to 
 approach them. Occasionally the fluid manifests 
 itself in the same individual, now in one, now in 
 the other of these states, and then the patient shows 
 himself by turns ecstatic and possessed. I have 
 given, in a preceding chapter, the example of the 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 245 
 
 young novice of the Spanish convent of Moreola, 
 who presented this singular phenomenon. 
 
 The moral epidemic which burst out, a few years 
 since, in certain villages of Savoy enabled us to 
 verify most of the facts relating to obsession, and 
 to show once again that the theologians, while 
 deceiving themselves as to the causes of this strange 
 malady, obtain cures, unlike the physicians, who 
 arrive at no result, although they confine them- 
 selves to the scientific territory. Early in the 
 spring of 1857, several young girls of Morzine, of 
 ten or twelve years of age, showed the symptoms 
 of possession — extraordinary physical vigour during 
 the crises, horrible blasphemies against holy things, 
 dialogues sui generis between the obsessing spirit 
 and the persons present, second sight, the gift of 
 tongues in some, marvellous ascension of the tallest 
 trees, &c. The contagion soon seized upon adults 
 and boys, but preferentially attacked young girls. 
 The crisis past, these poor children had no recol- 
 lection of what had happened, and could not believe 
 what was told them about the vile language they 
 were charged with using against religion and their 
 own cure, for whom they professed the greatest- 
 respect. The country physicians confessed their 
 inability to treat such an illness, and left the field 
 to the exorcists. These latter effected some cures ; 
 but the contagion was so wide that many young 
 girls who had been relieved afterwards succumbed 
 again. The famous doctors of Lyons, and then 
 
246 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 those of Paris, were called in. These gentlemen, 
 seeing themselves as helpless to conjure away the 
 illness as had been their colleagues of Savoy, 
 accused the priests of nursing the moral disorder, 
 and tried to prevent the use of exorcisms. Thus 
 left to itself, the pest could but become indomi- 
 table. It reached some distant localities, and did 
 not disappear until about 1863. The outcome of the 
 affair may be thus stated : perfect helplessness of 
 the doctors; actual successes obtained by certain 
 exorcists, fruitless attempts of others. Let us try 
 to explain these contradictions. 
 
 The physicians found themselves disarmed, be- 
 cause they refused to open their eyes as to 
 the cause of the evil. They fully recognized 
 that it was one of the forms of catalepsy; but 
 denying mesmerism, or having but a very im- 
 perfect knowledge of it, they could not detect in 
 obsession an abnormal afflux of nervous fluid in 
 these poor children. The very way in which the 
 pest broke out left no room for doubt in this 
 respect. It proceeded like every contagious epi- 
 demic which spreads from one neighbouring place 
 to another. Several villages near Morzine were 
 soon attacked. A remedy naturally suggested itself 
 — to remove the patients far away from the centre 
 of infection. This was done for several young 
 girls ; their symptoms soon decreased, and finally 
 disappeared. It may be said that, besides the 
 exorcisms, this was the sole treatment that yielded 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 247 
 
 a result. This is a direct proof that the atmo- 
 sphere of Morzine was impregnated with a foreign 
 fluid (aura), since all that was required was to give 
 change of air to ensure escape from the clutches 
 of the disease. In certain families the domestic 
 animals ate nothing, or satisfied themselves by 
 gnawing the wood of their mangers; at other times it 
 was the cows,goats, or sheep which gave no more milk, 
 and what little some yielded was unfit for making 
 into butter. These phenomena especially showed 
 themselves in families where there were patients. 
 Occasionally it worked a shifting of the sickness 
 between persons and animals. Was a young girl 
 relieved, a beast in the stable fell sick : was the 
 latter cured, the young girl fell again into her 
 former state. In face of such facts it was no longer 
 possible to be talking about obsession. The pest 
 bursting forth simultaneously in houses and cattle- 
 sheds could only be ascribed to a physical cause, 
 and the disorders that it provoked in persons 
 attacked showed clearly that these phenomena were 
 due to an excess or a degeneration of the mesmeric 
 fluid. As they had been occupying themselves 
 with the turning-tables for some months before 
 the appearance of the epidemic, it has been thought 
 that that was a predisposing cause of the abnormal 
 development of the cerebral ether, and possibly 
 this fact might explain it all. (^^) But Dr. Kerner 
 
 ('") A Hindu friend of mine, a Government topographical engi- 
 neer, tried to work Planchette, and succeeded so well as to beedme 
 
248 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITYI 
 
 having noticed in the mountains of Wurtemburg- 
 a sudden afflux of this fluid manifesting itself simul- 
 taneously among men and animals, and which could 
 only be attributed to the vegetation of those alti- 
 tudes, it is in order to ask if it vras not the same 
 thing in the Alps-like mountains of Savoy, and if 
 this second cause should not be joined to the first 
 named. 
 
 Obsession being an abnormal afflux of magnetic 
 fluid upon the nervous system of the patient, the 
 direct remedy is naturally the neutralization of this 
 fluid by a current of cerebral ether turned in the 
 opposite direction and emanating from an energetic 
 will: this was the method of the Brahmans of 
 India, the priests of Egypt, and of ApoHonius of 
 Tyana; it is also that of the exorcists. If they 
 do not invariably succeed, it is because they then 
 do not fulfil all the 'physical and moral conditions 
 which such a practice demands, and which may be 
 thus summarized —great magnetic power and a will 
 strongly imperious. 
 
 Of all the prodigies that obsession displays, the 
 
 a medium and an epileptic, and finally was forced to take sick leave. 
 After some months of medical treatment, from which he derived 
 little benefit, he came to Adyar, and begged me to treat him mes- 
 merically. I did so with success, and he was soon able to return 
 to duty. This ease supports our author's theory, and indicates the 
 true remedy. A priest who proves himself a sueeessful exorcist 
 must drive out his devils by mesmeric aura. This is why, as 
 D'Assier shows, the identical prayers and ceremonies succeed with 
 one priest and fail with another. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 249 
 
 most siirprising is, without question, the sudden ap- 
 pearance of that mysterious personality which con- 
 verses with the exorcist, and which I will call the 
 epigastric personality. We have seen this same 
 factor of human physiology reveal itself in natural 
 somnambulism, magnetic somnambulism, catalepsy, 
 ecstasis, the magician, the incubus : the genesis of 
 these strange phantoms is most closely linked with 
 that of the mesmeric ether, and seems to attain its 
 highest expression in the phenomena of the incubus. 
 
 CHAPTEK XI. 
 
 CAUSES OF THE EAEITY OF THE LIVING PHANTOM. — 
 CAUSE OF THE RARITY OF THE TRANS-SEPULCHRAL 
 PHANTOM.— RESEMBLANCE OF THE SPIRITISTIC PHE- 
 NOMENA TO THE PHENOMENA OF THE POSTHUMOUS 
 ORDER. — LYCANTHROPY. 
 
 We have passed in review, in the preceding chapters, 
 the beginnings of the mesmeric ether and its chief 
 modes of action. Let us now resume our inquiry 
 upon a higher level. Why the exceeding rarity of 
 the projection of the Double ? 
 
 The answer to this question, which we have had 
 to leave in suspense until now, has become possible, 
 since the elements of the problem have been brought 
 out in the successive analyses that we have made 
 above. These elements are two in number — the 
 fluidic being, which is virtually m each of us, and 
 the mesmeric ether. The first is the gasiform 
 
250 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 duplicate of the liuman body. Its existence has 
 been proven by the phenomena of duplication, and 
 by this fact, that persons who have lost an arm or a 
 leg often experience pains in the missing member — 
 a member which the Seeress of Prevorst perceived 
 distinctly on all amputated persons. It plays a 
 purely passive part, and only becomes animated 
 under the action of the vital fluid. The latter, 
 whose reservoir is the nervous apparatus, is developed 
 in great quantity as the result of a very strong 
 mental strain, a moral commotion, certain diseases, 
 or other physiological causes. Under its vivifying 
 influence, the inner being awakens, and, although 
 remaining always in the latent state, reveals itself 
 by unequivocal manifestations. One would say, then, 
 that there was in man a second personality entirely 
 different from the ordinary personality, and putting 
 itself at times in antagonism with the latter. If 
 the energies that it receives from the thaumaturgic 
 fluid are so potent as to enable it to burst the bonds 
 of its prison and assume momentarily an indepen- 
 dent existence, it detaches itself from the body and 
 shows itself under its visible form. This is duplica- 
 tion. This phenomenon is observed only in some 
 organizations exceptionally gifted in the matter of 
 sensitiveness ; and this explains its extreme rarity. 
 
 There are persons in whom the fluidic being, 
 while remaining invisible, manifests itself naturally 
 and, so to say, nt will. The agency of the mesmeric 
 ether is here latent, for no apparent cause indicates 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 2jl 
 
 its action, which is exclusively due to a special pre- 
 disposition of the organism. These mediums of a 
 new kind present a most curious fact, inexplicable 
 at first sight. Their fluidic personality, like the 
 familiar demon of Socrates, is a slave always ready 
 to execute the wishes of the master. Occasionally, 
 however, it becomes mutinous, argumentative, 
 threatens to disobey. To insist is then dangerous, 
 for one exposes himself to grave reprisals. We iind 
 in Des Mousseaux a singular story of this kind. I 
 copy it in brief: 
 
 M. de B., a fugitive from the French Eevolution, 
 had retired to Palermo, where he practised medicine. 
 There was much talk at this time of a seeress called 
 the Sybil of Etna, because she lived at the foot of 
 this mountain. M. de B. at first paid no attention 
 to it. But the facts related of this extraordinary 
 woman becoming more and more the subject of 
 conversation, his scepticism was at last shaken, and 
 he went one day to Etna, to satisfy himself as to the 
 knowledge of the prophetess. Instead of meeting, 
 as he had expected, an old sorceress, wrinkled and 
 bent by age, he found, before the cottage pointed out 
 to him, a woman of about thirty, having all the 
 attractions of youth and beauty. The following 
 dialogue then took place between them : 
 
 " The Sybil of Etna ? " 
 
 « Is myself." 
 
 <' You, so young ? Could you tell me my past and 
 my future ? " 
 
262 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 " Certainly. Enter ; you shall see and judge." 
 
 " Here is some paper," said the young girl, as 
 soon as they were inside the house; "you shall 
 write your questions yourself. Yet, no ; you might 
 think that the paper had been specially prepared. 
 Tear out a leaf from your note-book, and put your 
 questions upon it." 
 
 While speaking, she threw some dry herbs into 
 the chimney-place ; she then stirred up the jBre. 
 Some clouds of black smoke arose, and the paper 
 being rapidly exposed to the flame, whose tongues 
 shot through this thick spiral, was almost imme- 
 diately withdrawn. A reply was found legibly 
 written on it ; it was correct. Astonished, but not 
 yet convinced, the doctor several times repeated the 
 experiment, varying his questions, and always 
 obtained the same success. A certain intimacy 
 having been formed between him and the young 
 girl, he became a constant guest at the cottage, and 
 could, at his ease, question the sybil about the 
 secret of her art. 
 
 " Nothing is more simple," she told him. " I 
 have at my orders a spirit of Etna. As soon as the 
 fire bums and the smoke rises, he comes out of this 
 curling vapour and traces characters upon the 
 paper, which, wherever his claw has not touched it, 
 remains pure and white. However, there are times 
 when the spirit declares that he is not free, and 
 that if I call him he cannot come. I have, it is 
 true, powerful means to compel him, and if I 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 253 
 
 venture upon them he comes, but in a state of 
 fearful rage, and his threats long ring in my ears. 
 At such moments I am afraid, and feel myself as on 
 the eve of some terrible thing; he must not be 
 defied." {^*) 
 
 Some time after that, the doctor was able to 
 convince himself that the pythoness had told but 
 the simple truth. Having come, one day, to beg her 
 to give him news of his family, from whom he had 
 received no letters, she replied : 
 
 " To-morrow, not to-day ; for the spirit cannot 
 come this time ; I do not dare to compel him." 
 
 However, overcome by the pressing impatience of 
 
 (''') There was in India, some few years ago, a Mahomedan 
 sorcerer, called Hassaa Khan Djinni, -who is said to have received 
 from his father control over several elementals (djins), and with their 
 help he performed, before Europeans as well as Indians, a vast 
 number of phenomena. A favourite kind was to command his 
 spirits to bring fruits of different distant countries, bottles of wine 
 and other drinkables, and other articles. He would extract jewels 
 or money out of locked burglar-proof safes, or out of the innermost 
 box of a nest of boxes, locked or sealed. He would tell you to 
 gather the fiiiger-rings of the company and cast them yourself into 
 a well, and presently either produce them to you out of his hand 
 or somebody's pocket ; or would tell you to go and pick an orange 
 or lime off a tree in the garden — he not touching it — and upon 
 cutting it open you would find the rings there. In short, his phe- 
 nomena were the prototypes of the familiar illusions of our Western 
 conjurors, effected by them by the help of confederacy and sleight 
 of hand. Latterly, having become a great drunkard and debauchee, 
 he is said to have lost control of all the djins save one, and of this 
 one he had a mortal terror. If a bottle of wine or other heavy 
 object was called for, he would give the command, but put up his 
 hands to guard his head from the projectile the angry spirit would 
 now invariably make of it. The man died in prison. 
 
254 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 her friend, the poor girl resigned herself to take the 
 risk. She lights her prepared packet of dried 
 herbs, and the paper which her hand holds is put 
 in contact with the flame and smoke. But scarcely 
 had she touched it than she fell as if under a 
 hammer-stroke, rending the air with a frightful 
 cry of distress. Her demon had horribly burnt it, 
 and, as a souvenir of his anger, he left on her arm 
 the imprint of a hand of fire. 
 
 The most curious fact of this story is not in the 
 transcription of the replies below the questions. 
 We have seen the same phenomenon occurring, 
 with the exception of the singularity of the varia- 
 tion, with certain mediums, and on the tombs of 
 certain wonder-workers of the first centuries of 
 the Church. It was the fluidic being of the sybil 
 which played the part of scribe. The new aspect 
 of the question is in the repugnance which the 
 invisible secretary showed at intervals, and the 
 reasons which he alleged to secure an adjournment. 
 From what I have said of the manifestations of the 
 mesmeric personality, it is easy to understand that 
 this unwillingness was the unconscious avowal of a 
 temporary weakness. The fluidic being only attains 
 its plenitude of action when it is vivified by a 
 sufficient quantity of nervous ether. Now this 
 quantity is necessarily variable, since it depends 
 upon physiological causes that act upon the 
 organism, and some of which are temporary or 
 accidental. We know that the most gifted mediums 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 205 
 
 experience at times eclipses in their faculty of 
 second sight. "When the pretended demon of Etna 
 demanded a postponement of the execution of an 
 order until the next day, it was because the fluidic 
 personality of the pythoness had lost a part of its 
 living force — I mean of its mesmeric ether — and 
 that it had need of a delay of twenty-four hours to 
 recuperate them fully. If summoned to obey, its 
 weakness revolted against such an injustice, and it 
 testified by the sternness of its reprisals that this 
 barbarous order condemned it to frightful tortures. 
 
 Let us return to the posthumous phantom. Its 
 visible manifestations are as rare as those of the 
 living phantom. This comes evidently from the 
 same causes. It is not enough that death frees the 
 fluidic being from its bonds for the latter to become 
 an independent and active personality, endowed 
 with a life of its own ; it is further necessary that 
 at this moment it shall be suitably saturated with 
 mesmeric ether. Now this fluid decreasing with 
 age and illness, and losing at the same time its 
 essential qualities, it is excessively rare that it 
 should have sufficient strength and energy to vivify 
 the phantom at the instant when the latter is about 
 to open the doors of its prison. Let us quote in 
 this connection a fact worthy of remark, which will 
 furnish us with the direct proof. It has been 
 noticed that the most tumultuous and persistent 
 of the post-sepulchral manifestations, hence the best 
 marked, resulted from violent deaths. I have 
 
256 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 mentioned an example of this kind in the first 
 chapter. It concerned a man of the Canton d'Oust, 
 who was hanged. In these moments of struggle, 
 of sufifering, and despair, a physiological labour was 
 caused, which led to an abundant liberation of vital 
 fluid. Under those circumstances the phantom 
 could supply itself with living force, and make sure 
 of a posthumous existence. 
 
 The living spectre and the spectre from beyond 
 the tomb, having the same origin, can present in 
 their manifestation the same common characteristics. 
 Such are the noises that occur in certain habita- 
 tions, where the chairs, furniture, crockery, &c., are 
 seen to change place or to shake under the impulse 
 of an invisible hand. When the hubbub is nocturnal, 
 and the family has lost one of its members, the 
 phenomenon should be attributed to the actions of 
 the posthumous being. If the noises occur during 
 the day, and no death has happened, the cause of 
 the prodigy must be sought in the effects of mes- 
 merism. By scrutinizing closely, we shall probably 
 find that there is in the house some electric person 
 whose fluidic self is the cause of all these disorders ; 
 usually it is a young girl. When it is a case of 
 visions occurring in sleep, it is not so easy to 
 discern the nature of the agent and to know if one 
 has to do with a phenomenon of the objective or 
 subjective order. We think, however, that the prin- 
 ciple may be laid down that it must be ascribed 
 in greater part to mesmerism. As a general rule, 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 257 
 
 one should beware of pretended posthumous inter- 
 ferences, the part played by the ghost being purely 
 passive except in cases of personal importunities 
 that occur at the beginning of its new existence. 
 Let us quote some examples. 
 
 The. first is taken from the book of Valerius 
 Maximus upon dreams, the details into which the 
 author enters giving to his recital all the features 
 of a historical fact. The poet Simonides, landing 
 upon a certain coast, found a body lying without 
 sepulchre, and rendered to it the last offices. 
 During the night the dead man warned him not 
 to embark the next day. He remained on shore; 
 those who sailed were caught in a tempest and 
 perished before his eyes. The grateful poet has 
 preserved the memory of this adventure in an 
 elegant piece of verse, thus raising to the dead 
 man who had saved him a monument more lasting 
 than that which he had given him upon a desert 
 shore. 
 
 Must we see in the warning given to Simonides 
 a posthumous interposition, or simply a vision of 
 the poet ? The death was recent, as the narrative 
 would indicate, and the ghost might have con- 
 sciousness of itself, and act within certain limits 
 as an active force. But here is the announcement 
 of an event which is about to take place. Now 
 the prescience of the future is hardly within the 
 domain of the shades. Their perceptions are con- 
 fined to a vague notion of the present and to some 
 
 17 
 
258 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 reminiscences of the past. The advice which the 
 poet received during his sleep should, then, be 
 classed among the effects of magnetic clairvoyance, 
 which is observed in the somnambule and the 
 medium. 
 
 Let us quote another case from Dr. Kemer. 
 
 One day when the Seeress of Prevorst was in 
 her kitchen, she perceived the spectre of a woman 
 holding a child in her arms. Although familiarized 
 with apparitions of this kind, she did not at first 
 understand the meaning of this one. But this 
 phantom having shown itself on the following days 
 at the same place and in the same posture, the 
 seeress had the idea to cause the flagstone upon 
 which it planted itself to be raised, and to dig at 
 this spot. At a depth of several feet they found 
 the corpse of a child. Madame Hauffe had the last 
 offices paid to it, and the spectre appeared no more. 
 
 There is here no question of a dream, but of a 
 phantom showing itself to a waking person. In 
 every other circumstance this apparition would 
 have to be taken seriously. But it concerns the 
 Seeress of Prevorst, with whom spectres were in 
 some sort a result of her physiological state, so 
 much so that they seemed to spring up at her 
 every step. There is no necessity, then, to see, 
 in our opinion, in the double phantom of the 
 mother and child anything njore than a subjective 
 phenomenon. 
 
 I will finish this study of the mesmeric per- 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITy. 259 
 
 sonality with some views upon lycanthropy. This 
 feature, perhaps the most obscure of the mani- 
 festations of the fluidic being, long seemed to me 
 so utterly unreasonable that I did as with the 
 questions of posthumous vampire and the incubus 
 — I turned over without reading the pages that 
 treated on this theme, and I gave but a very 
 inattentive hearing to what was told me about 
 these singular metamorphoses. If I decide to 
 speak of it now, it is because it would not be 
 wise to oppose a systematic denial to a multitude 
 of facts reputed authentic which corroborate each 
 other. However, as I only skirt along this sub- 
 ject in passing and, if I may venture to say, as 
 a memorandum, I will confine myself to the two 
 following examples. 
 
 The first occurred about fifteen years ago, at 
 St. Lizier, in a house occupied by two brothers. 
 It is from one of them that I have the story. 
 It is almost literally as follows : 
 
 " I lived at that time in one of those little houses 
 that you can see at the upper end of the town. 
 I was about twelve years old, and my brother, 
 older than myself, was perhaps seventeen or eighteen. 
 We slept together in a room, to which we ascended 
 by a little staircase of some steps. One evening 
 we had just gone to bed, and were not yet asleep, 
 when we heard some one ascending the steps which 
 led to our room. Soon we saw before us an animal 
 of the size of a calf. As the window had no blinds, 
 
 17—2 
 
260 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 and the night was clear, it was easy for us to 
 make it out. Frightened at this sight, I clung 
 to my brother, who at the first moment seemed 
 as frightened as myself. But, soon recovering from 
 his terror, he leaped out of bed, ran and caught 
 up a pitchfork which was in a corner of the room, 
 and, placing himself before the animal, said to it 
 in a firm and resolute voice : 
 
 " ' If thou comest by permission of God, speak ; 
 if from the devil, thou wilt have to deal with me.' 
 
 "My brother, already strong and vigorous, was 
 renowned through all St. Lizier for his intrepidity. 
 Thus encountered, the animal wheeled around, and 
 in turning it struck with its tail the frame of my 
 bed. I then heard it descending precipitately the 
 steps of the staircase ; but as soon as it had arrived 
 at the bottom it disappeared, without my brother, 
 who was at its heels, being able to see where it 
 passed. Useless to add, the door of the house was 
 fast shut. On my part, as soon as I had heard it 
 descend the stairs I took courage, and as the 
 window of the room was over the street-door, I had 
 opened it to watch the strange visitor go out. I 
 saw nothing. My brother and I thought that we 
 had had to do with a wehr-wolf, and we accused an 
 inhabitant of the vicinity, to whom were charged 
 other adventures of this kind." 
 
 Here is a case of lycanthropy clearly defined, and 
 yet it does not teach us much as to the nature of 
 the phenomenon. They accused a man of that dis- 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 261 
 
 trict ; but how to prove that it was his mesmeric 
 personality which was acting ? The following fact is 
 more explicit. It occurred about thirty years ago, 
 at Serisols, in the Canton of St. Croix : 
 
 A miller, named Bigot, had some reputation for 
 sorcery. One day when his wife rose very early to 
 go and wash some linen not very far from the house, 
 he tried to dissuade her, repeating to her several 
 times, " Do not go there ; you will be frightened." 
 " Why should I be frightened ? " answered the 
 woman. " I tell you you will be frightened." She 
 made nothing of these threats, and departed. 
 Hardly had she taken her place at the washing-tub, 
 before she saw an animal moving here and there 
 before her. As it was not yet daylight, she could 
 not clearly make out its form, but she thought it 
 was a kind of dog. Annoyed by these goings and 
 comings, and not being able to scare it away, she 
 threw at it her wooden clothes-beater, which struck 
 it- in the eye. The animal immediately disappeared. 
 At the same moment, the children of Bigot heard 
 the latter utter a cry of pain from his bed, and add, 
 " Ah ! the wretch ! she has destroyed my eye." 
 From that day, in fact, he became one-eyed. Several 
 persons told me this fact, and I have it from Bigot's 
 children themselves. 
 
 Here there is no possible doubt as to the author 
 of this scene of lycanthropy. It was certainly the 
 Double of the miller which projected itself while he 
 was in bed, and wandered about under an animal 
 
282 .POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 form. The wound which the phantom received at 
 once repercussed upon the eye of Bigot, just as we 
 have seen the same thing happen in analogous cases 
 of the projection of the Double by sorcerers. It is 
 the fate that sooner or later is reserved for every one 
 who has the sad privilege of turning wehr-wolf. 
 This personage is, by nature, an inoffensive being, 
 who goes about nightly under the shape of some 
 animal — a wolf, calf, dog, &c., and is satisfied with 
 frightening people whom he visits or who meet him 
 in the way. But when they take the matter seriously, 
 and hunt the spectre with a weapon, there is sure to 
 be found, next morning, in some neighbouring 
 house a man riddled with wounds and refusing to 
 explain how he came by them. 
 
 I shall not attempt to give an explanation of these 
 prodigies, which are, in fact, an insoluble problem 
 for myself. The fluidic and, consequently, elastic 
 nature of the mesmeric personality permits of its 
 adapting itself to lycanthropic forms ; but where shall 
 we place the efficient cause of these metamorphoses ? 
 Must we fall back upon atavism ; in other words, 
 upon the most delicate and least-known chapter of 
 biology ? I prefer to confess my incompetency, 
 and to leave to those who are more skilled than my- 
 self the task of expounding the enigma. Yet I will 
 add one final fact, for which Allan Kardec is respon- 
 sible. It seems relative to the subject under con- 
 sideration, and may cast a new light upon the very 
 uncertain and obscure causes of lycanthropy. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 263 
 
 " Here is a fact, in connection with transfigura- 
 tion, whose perfect authenticity we can endorse, and 
 which happened in the years 1858 and 1859, near 
 St. Etienne : — A young girl of fifteen years had this 
 singular faculty of transfiguring herself, that is to 
 say, of assuming at fixed moments all the appear- 
 ances of deceased persons : the illusion was so com- 
 plete, that it would seem as if the very person were 
 before you, no detail being wanting in features, look, 
 Toice, and even jargon. These phenomena occurred 
 hundreds of times without the desire of the young 
 girl acting at all. She took on several times the ap- 
 pearance of her brother, deceased several years 
 previously ; she had not only the face, but the height 
 and physical bulk as well. A physician of the place, 
 a frequent eye-witness of these puzzling effects, and 
 anxious to satisfy himself that he was not the sport 
 of an illusion, made the following experiment. We 
 have the facts from himself, from the father of the 
 young girl, and from several other witnesses who are 
 very honest and trustworthy. He conceived the 
 plan of weighing the young girl in her normal state, 
 then in that of the transfiguration, whilst she had 
 the appearance of her brother, aged twenty odd 
 years and much larger and stronger than herself. 
 Well, he found that in this latter condition the 
 weight was almost double. The experiment was 
 conclusive, and it was impossible to attribute this 
 appearance to a mere optical illusion." 
 
264 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 A GLANCE AT THE FATINA OF THE SHADES. — THEIR PEE- 
 OCCDPATIONS. — THEIE REMINISCENCES. — HOW THEY 
 PROLONG THEIR EXISTENCE. — THE POSTHUMOUS 
 VAMPIRE. 
 
 From all that I have said in the preceding chapters, 
 as well about the living phantom as about the 
 posthumous phantom, the conclusion is warranted 
 that these two personages have a common origin, 
 or, to speak more exactly, that the second is the 
 continuation of the first. Their identity being 
 thus established, it becomes easy to measurably 
 assure oneself with respect to certain facts connected 
 with the life beyond the tomb. As the fluidic being 
 experiences, in disengaging itself from the body, 
 but a change of environment, it must preserve 
 something of its customs, tendencies, and prejudices 
 which it had acquired during life. This very 
 distinctly appears from these manifestations. Its 
 first desire, when it has any marked desire, is 
 connected with its sepulture. It would seem to be 
 very jealous of receiving funereal honours according 
 to the sect -to which he belonged, and it knows how 
 to enforce them. Unable to speak audibly, it has 
 recourse to other acoustic processes according to 
 local circumstances. Its favourite method is knock- 
 ing upon walls or throwing of projectiles. Pliny 
 the Younger relates a curious tale in this connection. 
 A house at Athens was haunted by a spectre, which 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 265 
 
 nightly made the sound of rattling chains. No one 
 dared to live in the house, until the philosopher 
 Athenodorus resolved to pass the night there and 
 await the coming of the spectre. The latter soon 
 appeared, rattling its chains, and made a sign to 
 the philosopher to follow it. Athenodorus complied 
 with the phantom's invitation, and was led into the 
 courtyard of the house, where it disappeared. Some 
 excavations having been made at this spot, there 
 were found some human bones mingled with chains. 
 The honours of burial were given to these relics, 
 and quiet was restored to the house. Similar 
 stories are to be found in other authors. 
 
 The most common yearning of the posthumous 
 being is, it would seem, to bid the last farewell to 
 those who are dear to it. I have given, in the first 
 chapter, several accounts of such apparitions. A 
 variety of examples demonstrate that it is equally 
 accessible to ideas of vengeance. If it died the 
 victim of assassination, it comes to set its nearest 
 relative to avenging the outrage. In his work on 
 " Apparitions," Morton speaks of a young man who, 
 having been killed at London, in a brawl, appeared 
 with his forehead all bloody to his brother at 
 Boston, and gave him the names of the persons who 
 had struck him, begging him to avenge his murder. 
 
 If man sometimes carries with him beyond the 
 grave his hatreds and anger, he may also preserve 
 the memory of his jealousies and his baiHed hopes. 
 We find an illustration of this in the archives of 
 
266 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 the Prefecture of Police — the record of a very 
 singular adventure which occurred in Paris under 
 the reign of Louis XIV. It is as follows : 
 
 A young man, desperately in love with a woman, 
 pursued her with his attentions for three years, but 
 without success. In despair at not being able to 
 make her listen to him, he fell into a wasting 
 illness, which finally carried him off. In the last 
 interview with her who was the cause of his 
 premature end, he vowed to her that, in revenge for 
 her obduracy, he would persecute her after death 
 for as long a time as she had rebuffed him. 
 Unusual noises, which were heard immediately 
 after his decease, in this lady's house, re- 
 minded her of the threat, to which she had at first 
 paid no attention. There were nocturnal disturb- 
 ances which changed after a certain time, and 
 occasionally assumed very peculiar characteristics. 
 Sometimes were heard clappings of hands, followed 
 by sarcastic laughter ; again there were sudden 
 explosions, like the detonations of bombs or 
 firearms. Wearied with this hubbub, and not 
 knowing how to relieve herself from it, the mistress 
 of the house waited upon the Lieutenant of Police 
 to tell him what was going on in her residence, and 
 begged him to give her some help. The latter 
 placed at her disposal his best spies, but all their 
 investigations were fruitless. They heard, but saw 
 nothing. After all sorts of expedients to discover 
 the author or authors of these mysterious dis- 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 267 
 
 turbances, they were forced to confess their 
 powerlessness and give it up. As the dying man 
 had announced, this matter went on for three years. 
 
 The ghost of one who was unhappy in his 
 affections is not always satisfied to signify his 
 resentment by noisy but harmless manifestations. 
 Father Tyrroec, author of a remarkable work on 
 posthumous apparitions, tells of a young man who 
 cruelly persecuted after his death a young girl,' 
 because she had refused him her hand. She found 
 herself daily scolded, maltreated, and beaten by the 
 ghost of her rejected lover. What she related could 
 not be accounted for as hallucination, for she carried 
 on her body the bruises of the blows which she said 
 she had received. Father Tyrrcee, who knew this 
 young girl, was able to satisfy himself personally of 
 the reality of the facts. 
 
 The two following circumstances, related by 
 Dr. Passavant, and which have all the appearance 
 of indisputable authenticity, prove that the post- 
 humous being, as I have already had occasion to 
 remark, sometimes likes to resume the occupations 
 which were familiar to it. During the reign of 
 Frederick II., a Catholic priest, who lived in the 
 Prussian village of Quarrey, having lost his servant- 
 maid, took another woman. Scarcely had the latter 
 been installed at the Presbytery than she found her- 
 self the butt of all sorts of molestations, and was 
 forced to relinquish her employment. Her pre- 
 sence was, indeed, perfectly useless; for^ invisible 
 
268 .POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 hands lighted the fire, swept the rooms, tidied the 
 furniture, did, in a word, the whole work of the 
 house. (^') The noise of this prodigy having reached 
 the Court, the king-philosopher sent to the spot 
 two of the officers of his Guard to verify such 
 wonderful facts. At the moment when the com- 
 missioners are about to cross the threshold of the 
 Parsonage, a military march is beaten before them, 
 ■ but without their seeing any performer. Scarcely 
 had they entered the room when they witnessed 
 the prodigies which had been reported to them, 
 and which they had come to verify. One of them 
 having exclaimed, " This is worse than the devil ! " 
 received immediately a buffet from the invisible 
 hand which was putting the furniture in order. 
 Frederick II., convinced by the reports of his officers 
 that the Presbytery was haunted, ordered it to be 
 torn down and rebuilt in another spot. 
 
 All the inhabitants of Quarrey were witnesses of 
 these strange things, and no one was in doubt as 
 to the personality of the invisible being which 
 engaged their attention. It was, indeed, the phan- 
 tom of the deceased servant, which continued to 
 busy itself with her daily duties, and would not 
 allow of any stranger coming to do her work. 
 This phantom had no visible form — a very common 
 
 (°°) For a modern example of this performance of household 
 duties by the dead, see Mr. Morell Theobald's Spiritucdism at 
 Home (London, 1886). The deceased daughters of the author 
 are said to have lit firas, boiled water, and performed quite a 
 round of domestic duties. Mr. Theobald is an F.O.A. of London. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 269 
 
 thing with the posthumous being. This was not 
 the case in the following story, which is not less 
 significant nor strange : 
 
 In 1659 there died at Crossen, in Silesia, an 
 apothecary's apprentice, named Christopher Monig, 
 Some days after they perceived a phantom in the 
 pharmacy. Every one recognized Christopher Monig. 
 This phantom seated itself, rose, went to the shelves, 
 seized pots, flasks, &c., and changed their places. 
 It examined and tasted drugs, weighed them in 
 the scales, pounded the drugs with a noise, served 
 the persons who presented prescriptions, received 
 the money and placed it in the drawer. No one, 
 however, dared to speak to it. Having, doubtless, 
 some grudge against the master, then very seriously 
 ill, it busied itself with giving him all sorts of 
 annoyances. One day it took a cloak which was 
 in the pharmacy, opened the door, and went out. 
 It walked through the streets without looking at 
 any one, entered the houses of several of his ac- 
 quaintances, gazed at them a moment without 
 speaking a word, and withdrew. Meeting a ser- 
 vant-girl in the cemetery, it said to her : 
 
 "Gro to your master's house and dig in the 
 lower room; you will there find an inestimable 
 treasure." 
 
 The poor girl, overcome with terror, fell sense- 
 less on the ground. It stooped down and lifted her, 
 but left on her a mark which was long visible. 
 Eeturning home, and although suffering from great 
 
270 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 terror, she related what had happened to her. They 
 dug at the spot indicated, and found, in an old pot, a 
 pretty hematite (bloodstone ?). It is well known 
 that the alchemists attributed occult properties to 
 this stone. The rumour of these prodigies having 
 reached the ears of Princess Elizabeth Charlotte, 
 she ordered that the body of Monig should be 
 exhumed. It was thought that this was a case 
 of vampirism; but nothing was found except a 
 corpse in rather an advanced state of putrefaction. 
 The apothecary was then advised to get rid of all 
 the things that had belonged to Monig. The 
 spectre reappeared no more from that time. These 
 facts are recorded in the annals of the Academy 
 of Leipzig, which publicly discussed them after an 
 investigation. 
 
 Most of the manifestations by which the shades 
 reveal themselves seem to indicate that the post- 
 humous existence is a burden. The relatives of 
 the deceased suppose, naturally, that his soul is 
 in suffering, and hasten to employ the practices 
 which, in popular belief, can abridge its sufferings 
 or mitigate its fate. Is it necessary to say that 
 the expiatory ceremonies vary with each country — 
 I should say with the religions there professed — 
 and that each cult has its formulas of conjuration 
 and appeasement for shades in suffering ? In 
 Catholic countries they cause masses to be said ; 
 the Protestants have recourse to prayers and to 
 alms ; the followers of the Koran invoke Allah and 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 271 
 
 his prophet, after a purification by fasting and 
 ablutions. Useless to add that this intercession 
 by the living in favour of the dead seems often 
 of doubtfal efficacy, even when it is not entirely 
 useless. Certain shades are quieted as soon as 
 they perceive that people are thinking of them ; 
 but others persist in continuing their lamentations 
 despite all that is done to draw them out of their 
 trouble, or they subside but very gradually and 
 after a long time, as though they were wearied 
 out. We find in the narratives of the theologians, 
 both Catholic and Protestant, many stories of 
 haunted houses that they have been forced to 
 abandon to the spectres, although there had been 
 exhausted on their behalf the whole arsenal of 
 posthumous ritual — masses, prayers, exorcisms, &c. 
 If the ghost has a certain perception of the present, 
 is it the same as regards the future, I mean of the 
 fate which time has in store for it, whose destructive 
 action detaches one by one its constituent atoms to 
 restore them to the universal medium; in other 
 words, has it consciousness of its becoming ? Such a 
 question can only be solved by the rare replies that 
 certain shades consent to give to the relatives or 
 friends to whom they appear, and that the latter 
 interrogate as to their situation. (^^) These in- 
 
 ('^) Since M. d'Assier overlooks the numterless commuuioations 
 made, as alleged, by revenants with regard to the future life and the 
 progress and destiny of humanity in the supermundane^ spheres, our 
 inference must be that he regards all such as coming from the 
 
272 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 significant or senseless answers warrant the supposi- 
 tion that the posthumous being has no consciousness 
 of the future reserved for it, and that its notions are 
 limited to a vague sense of the present and some 
 memories of the past. The shade only talks about 
 its personal predilections, and remains deaf to every 
 question outside the limits it has prescribed for 
 itself. All the colloquies that have been gathered 
 upon this subject resemble that of Bezuel and Des- 
 fontaine (1697) reported by Dr. Bri^re de Boismont. 
 They were two college comrades, two intimate friends, 
 who had sworn to each other that the first who died 
 should appear to the other to give him some news 
 about himself. The following year Bezuel perceived, 
 one day, the shade of Desfontaine, who took him by 
 the, arm to draw him aside and speak to him. The 
 other persons present saw Bezuel talking with an 
 invisible interlocutor, for they heard the questions 
 and answers of the former, but not those of the 
 latter. This fact, which has been elsewhere 
 remarked, is something quite natural. The shade, 
 unable to produce articulate sounds, limits itself to 
 fluidic emissions perceptible only to the one to 
 whom they are addressed. " I agreed with you," 
 said Desfontaine, " that if I died first I would come 
 and tell you. I was drowned in the Caen river, the 
 day before yesterday, at this same hour, in company 
 
 Double or "epigastric personality" of a living person. The 
 genuine messages from posthumous persons irould, then, be the 
 egoistic scraps he has enumerated. 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 273 
 
 of Such and Such ; " and he related the circumstances 
 which had caused his death. " It was his very.voice," 
 says Bezuel. " He requested me, when his brother 
 should return, to tell him certain things to be com- 
 municated to his father and mother. He gave me 
 other commissions, then bade me farewell and disap- 
 peared. I soon learned that everything that he had 
 told me was but too true, and I was able to verify some 
 details that he had given. In our conversation he 
 refused to answer all the questions I put to him as 
 to his actual situation, especially whether he was in 
 heaven, in hell, or in purgatory. One would have 
 said that he did not hear me when I put such ques- 
 tions, and he persisted in talking to me of that which 
 was upon his mind about his brother, his family, or 
 the circumstances which had preceded his death." 
 To sum up, one may say that the impression left 
 upon the mind by the lamentations and the rare re- 
 plies of those shades who succeed in making them- 
 selves heard is almost always a sentiment of pro- 
 found sadness. I cannot do better, to convey an idea 
 of it, than to liken the moral state of the post- 
 sepulchral man to that of a European .transplanted 
 suddenly, without arms and clothing, to an in- 
 hospitable district in Australia, amid an inclement 
 nature, and who. would have preserved of his reason 
 only just enough to have the feeling of his impo- 
 tence and of an eternal isolation. (^') 
 
 (*') The works of Eliphas Levi are a mine of facts and explanations 
 for the student of occult science. Upon the point made above by 
 
 18 
 
274 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 I have said that the existence of the shade is but 
 a brief one. Its tissue disintegrates readily under 
 the action of the physical, chemical, and atmo- 
 spheric forces which constantly assail it, and re-enters 
 molecule by molecule the universal planetary 
 medium. Occasionally, however, it resists these 
 destructive causes, continuing its struggle for 
 existence beyond the tomb. We touch here upon 
 the most curious phase of its history, for this brings 
 us to the posthumous vampire. The first time I 
 read this word, applied by Grorres to spectres which 
 leave their graves and come and drain the blood of 
 a relative or friend, as a weasel bleeds a rabbit, I 
 turned the page, as I had no desire to be the dupe 
 of a mystification. But as this wordj too, occurred 
 in most of the authors whom I subsequently 
 consulted, I was obliged, in spite of myself, to read 
 what was said about the matter, and I was soon 
 
 M. d'Assier he says {JDogme et Bitml de la Haute Magie, 
 vol. i ., p. 261 ): "Eien ne peut entrer dans le ciel que ce qui 
 vient du ciel. Apr^s la more, done, I'esprit divin qui animait 
 I'homme retourne seul au ciel, et laisse sut la terre et dans I'atmo- 
 s phere dexix cadavres, I'un terrestre et elementaire, I'autre a^rien et 
 sideral ; I'un inerte d^ja, I'autre encore anim^ par le mouvement 
 iiniversel de I'ame du monde, mais destine a mourir lentement, 
 absorb^ par les puissances astrales qui I'ont produit. . . Lorsque 
 I'homme a bien v^cu, le cadavre astral s'evapore comme un eneens 
 pur en montant vers les regions supMeures ; mais si I'homme a v^cu 
 dans le crime, son cadavre astral, qui le retient prisounier, cherchs 
 encore les objets de ses passions et veut se reprendre a la vie. . . . 
 Mais les astres I'aspirent et le boivent ; il sent son intelligence 
 s'affaiblir, sa m^moire se perdre lentement, tout son etre se 
 dissoudre.'' 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 275 
 
 satisfied that posthumous vampirism is but too 
 much of a reality. Several of these stories could 
 not be rejected as doubtful, since they related to 
 events of which whole towns were witnesses. Let 
 me select some that, in view of the sources from 
 which they are taken, appear to be most authentic. 
 First let Dom Calmet speak : 
 
 " In the last century there died, at the village of 
 Kisilova, three leagues distant from Gradisca in 
 Sclavonia, an old man of about sixty-two years of 
 age. Three days after his interment, he appeared 
 at night to his son, and asked for something to eat ; 
 the latter having served him, he ate and dis- 
 appeared. The next day, the son related to his 
 neighbours what had occurred, but the spectre did 
 not show himself on that day ; but the third night 
 he again appeared, and again asked for food. It is 
 not known whether the son gave it or not ; but they 
 found him in the morning dead in his bed. The 
 same day five or six persons fell suddenly ill in the 
 village, and died, one after the other, a few days 
 after. The bailiff of the place, being informed of 
 what had happened, sent an account to the Court at 
 Belgrade, which ordered two of its officers to go to the 
 village, in company with the executioner, to inquire 
 into the aSair. The imperial officer, from • whom 
 the present narrative emanates, himself went there 
 from Grradisca to personally verify a story of which 
 so much had been heard. They had the tombs of 
 all who had died within the previous six weeks 
 
 18—2 
 
276 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 opened : when they came to that of the old man, 
 they found him with his eyes open, his complexion 
 rosy, breathing naturally, although motionless and 
 dead, whence they concluded that he must be an 
 immistakable vampire. The executioner plunged 
 a sharpened stake through the heart. They erected 
 a pyre, and reduced the corpse to ashes. No sign 
 of vampirism was found in either the body of the 
 son or in that of any of the others." 
 
 In the case I have just reported, the vampire 
 only shows himself, so to say, by stealth. We 
 know the object of these apparitions — it is to seek 
 nourishment; but we doi not know how death is 
 caused to the selected victim. The following facts 
 will reveal it in its true aspect : 
 
 "In 1718, after parts of Servia and Wallachia 
 had fallen to Austria, the Austrian government 
 received several reports from the commanders of the 
 troops cantoned in those countries. They stated 
 that it was a general belief among the people that dead 
 persons, but still living in the grave, came out 
 under certain circumstances to suck the blood of the 
 living, and thus sustain underground a remnant 
 of health and strength. As early as 1720, one 
 report announced that at Kisolova, a village 
 situated in Lower Hungary, a certain Pierre 
 Plogogowitz, about ten weeks after his sepulture, 
 had appeared by night to several residents, and so 
 squeezed their necks that they had died within 
 twenty-four hours ; so that, in the course of a week, 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 277 
 
 nine persons, some young, some aged, had died in 
 this manner. His widow herself had been annoyed 
 by him, and had left the village on this account. 
 The inhabitants demanded permission of the com- 
 mandant to exhume and bum the body. The 
 commandant having refused it, they declared that 
 they would all leave the village unless their request 
 was complied with. The commanding officer there- 
 upon came to the village in company with the cure 
 of Gradisca. He caused the coffin of Pierre to be 
 opened, and they found his body intact, except the 
 end of the nose, which was a little shrivelled ; but 
 it exhaled no bad odour, and seemed rather the body 
 of a man asleep than of one dead. His hair and 
 beard had grown, and fresh nails had replaced the 
 old ones which had fallen ofif. Under the external 
 skin, which appeared pale and dead, had formed a 
 new living skin ; the hands and feet resembled those 
 of a man in perfect health. As they found in his 
 mouth fresh blood, the people believed it must have 
 been he who had sucked the blood of those who had 
 quite recently died, and nothing could prevent their 
 plunging into the breast of the corpse a sharpened 
 stake. There then gushed a quantity of fresh and 
 pure blood from the mouth and nose. The peasants 
 threw the body upon a pyre and burned it. 
 
 *' Some years later, a soldier of the frontier, who 
 lived at Haidamac, told his regiment that, being one 
 day at table with a guest, he saw enter a stranger, 
 who came and sat himself down with them ; that 
 
278 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 his guest was very much alarmed, and that he had- 
 died the next morning; that he had subsequently 
 learned that this stranger who had died more 
 than ten years previously, was the father of his 
 guest, and had announced and even caused his 
 death. Count Cabrera, a captain in the regiment, 
 was ordered to investigate the case, and repaired to 
 the place with several brother-ofSeers, the auditor, 
 and surgeon. He questioned the persons of the 
 house, and as their testimony was confirmed by 
 that of other inhabitants of the place, he caused the 
 corpse to be disinterred. They found it perfectly 
 preserved, with the lively expression of a living 
 man. The head was cut off, and the body was then 
 restored to the grave. 
 
 Another man, who had died some thirty years 
 before, had thrice come, as was said, in daylight 
 to his house, and had killed, by sucking their 
 blood, first his own brother, then one of his sons, 
 and finally a domestic. His corpse was found in 
 the same state, and it was re-interred after a large 
 nail had been driven through the two temples. 
 Cabrera had a third burned, who had died sixteen 
 years before, and who, it was reported, had killed 
 his two sons. He handed in a report to the com- 
 mandant of his regiment, who forwarded it to 
 the Court, after which the emperor formed a 
 commission of officers, judges, pleaders, physic- 
 ians, and men of science to thoroughly inves- 
 tigate these extraordinary phenomena." Dom 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 279 
 
 Calmet cites this fact in liis dissertation upon 
 vampires. 
 
 Here are facts at once significant and incon- 
 testable. I might multiply them, for there are 
 other countries, notably in Northern Europe, where 
 histories of this kind are equally numerous and 
 well authenticated ; but those which I have quoted 
 seem to me quite enough to convince the reader 
 as to the reality of posthumous vampirism, as well 
 as the phenomena which characterize it. These 
 facts at the same time bring into a new and clear 
 light the physiognomy of the posthumous being. 
 It is one of those cases where the fluidic being, 
 instead of abandoning the body from which death 
 has just separated it, persists in stopping with it 
 and in living with a new life, in which the parts 
 are reversed; the corpse being unable to leave its 
 last dwelling-place, it is the phantom that assumes 
 charge of the functions which the former performed 
 previously. Thenceforth the struggle for existence 
 continues beyond the tomb with the same tenacity 
 the same brutal and seliish ferocity, one might say 
 the same cynicism, as in living nature. The spectre 
 is seen to come as a nocturnal marauder, like a 
 malefactor, on behalf of its old landlord; it enters 
 a habitation, goes straight to the one selected as 
 a victim, springs at his throat like a jaguar or a 
 wild cat, and does not relinquish its prey until it 
 has imbibed his blood. It is the members of its 
 own family whom it seems to seek by preference. 
 
280 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 In default of these, it attacks the inhabitants of 
 the locality, and if in great straits will satisfy itself 
 with a sheep or some other domestic animal, as 
 is proven by a mass of testimony which it will not 
 profit us to collect. 
 
 Let us now examine what becomes of the blood 
 aspired by the spectre. We find here a repetition 
 of what we have observed several times in the 
 preceding chapters in connection with the living 
 phantom. Its structure is bound so intimately 
 with that of the body of which it is the image, 
 that all absorption of liquid by the former passes 
 at once into the organs of the latter. It must 
 be the same in the phenomena of posthumous 
 vampirism, since the post-sepulchral phantom is 
 the continuation of the living phantom. All the 
 blood swallowed by the spectre passes instantly 
 into the organs of the corpse which it has just 
 left, and to which it returns as soon as its poaching 
 work is finished. The constant arrival of this 
 vivifying liquid, which at once disseminates itself 
 through the circulation, prevents putrefaction, pre- 
 serves in the limbs their natural suppleness, and 
 in the flesh its fresh and reddish tint. Under this 
 action is seen to continue a sort of vegetative life 
 which causes the hair and nails to grow, forms a 
 new skin as the old one dries up, and, in certain 
 cases, favours the formation of adipose tissue, as 
 has been proved by the exhumation of certain vam- 
 pires. Persons who had known them found them 
 
POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 281 
 
 plump and fleshy to a degree far beyond that they 
 had at the time of their decease. Popular instinct 
 divined that there was but one way to break this 
 strange association of the spectre and the corpse; 
 it was to reduce to nothing one of them. Power- 
 less to attack the phantoms, they^ disinterred and 
 burned the body. The remedy was infallible; for 
 from that moment the vampire ceased his dreadful 
 depredations. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 The existence of nearly one hundred branches of 
 the Theosophical Society throughout the Indian 
 Peninsula induced me to try to collect the popular 
 beliefs of the several races respecting the post- 
 mortem vicissitudes of the human entity. To this 
 end I addressed the following questions to a number 
 of the more enlightened members of the Society : 
 
 /. What do the people of the District of your 
 present residence, and those of yowr Native District, 
 believe as to the nature and locality of Kama, or 
 Vayu, Loha ? 
 
 II. Do they think it a place with geographical 
 limits and boundaries ; or merely a condition, or 
 state of existence, through which the soul must pass 
 before entering a higher one ? 
 
 ///. Are the races inhabiting it human, sub- 
 human, or super-human — lower in development to 
 mankind, or higher than ourselves ? 
 
 IV. Which of these beings are hostile and which 
 friendly to us ; and to what sorts of persons among 
 us are they respectively hostile or kind ? 
 
 V. How can they do us injury ? 
 
APPENDIX. 283 
 
 VI. Is it considered a good or a bad thing for 
 mankind to encourage intercourse . with their 
 deceased friends, or with any deceased persons — 
 supposing such intercov/rse to be possible — whether 
 for the purpose of deriving instruction or of keep- 
 ing up former personal relations, or with any 
 other object ? 
 
 VII. It is alleged by many that a deceased 
 person, upon whose mind there lingers some strong 
 desire to complete some earthly business, is thereby 
 earth-bound, and that he or she soTnetimes mani- 
 fests his or her presence and wishes, by controlling 
 a living member of the family and speaking by 
 their m,outh. In the West such chosen agents are 
 called "mediums." Have you known of such 
 instances ? If so, kindly give particulars. 
 
 VIII. Is such an occurrence regarded with 
 pleasure and as something to be proud of, or the 
 reverse ? 
 
 IX. In your District, or elsewhere to your 
 knowledge, are there persons who practise so-called 
 magical rites, such as ceremonies, the recitation of 
 mantrams, spells or chwrms, to evoke the souls of the 
 dead, or demons of any sort ; to control the spirits 
 of the elements ; to cure diseases; to get knowledge 
 of future events, the welfare of distant or lost 
 friends, or buried treasures ; or to injure an 
 enemy, win the affections of persons of the opposite 
 sex, favourably influence the minds of superiors, 
 or for any other purpose f 
 
284 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 X. Have, you knowledge of the dead making 
 themselves visible to the living, either by day or by 
 night ? If so, at what hours, and under what 
 circumstances, as regards the number, intelligence, 
 and calmness of witnesses ? 
 
 XL Have you knowledge of any predictions 
 m,ade by such alleged 'phantoms, and were such 
 predictions verified or not ? 
 
 XII. Have you knowledge of living persons 
 being persecuted, attacked, or injured by the Double, 
 or phantom, of a living practitioner of sorcery or 
 Black Magic ? Give particulars. 
 
 XIII. If yes, please state how such victim, was 
 relieved of the persecution. 
 
 XIV. Have you actual knowledge of any temple, 
 well, or other alleged holy place having cured any 
 pilgrim or devotee of any disease or ghostly 
 obsession ? 
 
 XV. Do you know, or is it popularly believed 
 in your District, that persons called sorcer&rs can 
 m,ake themselves seen at a distance from, their 
 physical bodies, either in their own or an animal 
 shape? and if so, have they done any injury to 
 person or property ? 
 
 XVI. Can you report any case of a dying 
 person showing himself to a friend, then far distant 
 from him ? 
 
APPENDIX. 285 
 
 While it is true that the replies which were 
 received afford an instructive glimpse of Indian 
 popular opinion in this direction, yet it is very- 
 meagre as compared with what we should have 
 learned but for two factors — the Asiatic loathing 
 for all meddling with the dead, and their natural 
 indifference to research that involves their taking 
 trouble for matters not connected with daily routine. 
 It would, however, be quite practicable for me to 
 collect further data in the course of future official 
 journeys, and these may be embodied in other 
 editions of the present work, should such be called 
 for. The correspondents to whom I am indebted for 
 the particulars embraced in the following epitome 
 are all gentlemen of position and credibility. If 
 any one wishes to inquire further of them, I shall 
 be happy to furnish the addresses. Their names and 
 districts are as follows : 
 
 Southern India. 
 
 Madura. — S. Eamaswamier ; Sackara Josiar ; P 
 Naraina Iyer, B.A., B.L. 
 
 Malabar Coast. — Naib Dewan A. Sankariah; N. 
 Sankunni Wariyar. 
 
 Goromandel Coast. — M. V. Soobba Eow. 
 
 Mysore. 
 jBa'n.g'aiore.-^Andinarainswamy Naidu ; A. Krish- 
 nappa Graru. 
 
 Nizam's Territory. 
 Hyderabad. — P. lyaloo Naidu. 
 
 Baroda. 
 Baroda. — Eao Bahadur Janardhan S. Gradgil. 
 
286 posthumous humanity. 
 
 Kathiawae. 
 Bhavnagar. — Prof. J. N. Unwalla. 
 
 Bengal, 
 Calcutta. — Neel Comul Mukeiji. 
 Berhampur (Murshidabad). — Kali Prasanna 
 Mukerji. 
 
 OUDH (N. W. P.) 
 Bareilly. — Prof. Gryanendra N. Chakravarti. 
 
 All irrelevant matter, and reports of ignorance as 
 to matters asked about, have been omitted from the 
 compilation. 
 
 The word "Elemental" means a non-human 
 entity, a spirit of the elements. An " Elementary " 
 means a human soul, a " posthumous phantom," 
 in the sense of M. d'Assier. 
 
 There is a vast body of literature in India pertain- 
 ing to our subject, one very erudite and enlightened 
 Brahman gentleman estimating it for me at 10,000 
 separate volumes, I shall not assist my readers to 
 experiment in sorcery by publishing the titles of 
 such as have come to my notice ; but the curious 
 minuteness to which this kind of research has been 
 pushed will be inferred by my enumerating a few of 
 the subjects of books easily procurable, viz. : 
 
 1. How to cause instantaneous growth of a tree or 
 plant [by forcing a current of vegetable life-principle 
 to rush through the seed-germ]. How to compel a 
 person of either sex to do your bidding and follow 
 you like a dog [vide Calcutta case of the barber and 
 the boy, reported by Dr. Esdaile, Presidency sur- 
 geon]. How to make savage animals dumb and 
 
APPENDIX. 287 
 
 liarmless. How to eat harmlessly live coals, breathe 
 fire, eat glass, &c. 
 
 2. Treats of the science of curing blindness, deaf- 
 ness, and other ailments, and of propitiating ele- 
 mental spirits. 
 
 3. Ceremonial invocation and control of certain 
 spirits ; and description of what may be phenome- 
 nally done with their help. 
 
 4. How to attach them to you as wife, mother, or 
 sister. 
 
 5. A variety of other methods for attracting and 
 using elementals. 
 
 6. How to gain and keep control over female 
 spirits. 
 
 7. How, by elemental agencies, to cure snake- 
 bites. 
 
 8. How to understand the voices of animals [the 
 theory being that interested spirits can control them 
 to give us every sort of warning and information 
 respecting things which concern us, if we will only 
 learn their telegraphic code] ; how to interpret signi- 
 ficant dreams; how to prolong life; and how to 
 know the secret virtues of herbs and other medicinal 
 remedies. 
 
 9. How to control the breath. 
 
 10. How to kill or inflict disease and madness 
 upon selected victims. 
 
 It should be observed, moreover, that all these 
 infernal arts are widely practised even at the present 
 day throughout India, especially in Bengal, Behar, 
 Kathiawar, and among various hill tribes not yet 
 civilised into disbelieving the evidence of their senses 
 
288 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 and the reality of man's latent psychical powers. 
 The witnesses whom we are now to listen to are 
 neither ignorant, obscene, nor vicious, but gentle- 
 men of such standing as to give importance to their 
 observed facts, and weight to their independent 
 testimony. 
 
 ANSWEES TO THE QUESTIONS. 
 QUESTION I. 
 
 Baroda State. 
 
 Baroda. — The belief of the people of the district 
 I reside in at present, Baroda, and of my native dis- 
 trict, Zilla Satara, Bombay Presidency, is that Vayu 
 Loka is a portion of space surrounding our earth. 
 The earth is said to have seven covers, of which Vayu, 
 or air, is one; lightning (electricity) another, &c. 
 The word K&ma Loka is not known among the 
 people, but as the souls or Beings are supposed to 
 live in it with only their Sukshma or Linga Shariras 
 (or bodies of desire, shaped according to the strongest 
 desire they had at the time of their death, that is, at 
 the time of their throwing off the outer visible cor- 
 poreal bodies), the space they live in may be called 
 Kama Loka, or the world of desire. Some of these 
 souls may be so earth-bound, that is, so attracted to 
 this earth by strong desires, that they may even 
 remain in the regions inhabited by man. There are 
 various narratives given in "Yoga Vasistha," a 
 standard work on Adwaita philosophy, of deceased 
 persons with special attractions to the houses they 
 
APPENDIX. 289 
 
 had lived in, and of some who had strong desires at 
 the time of their death that they should be kings, 
 &c., lingering in those very places ; the consequence 
 of which was that their souls, being cut off from 
 the normal evolution from material existence towards 
 the spiritual state, were tied or tethered, so to say, to 
 those places, and there they enjoyed imaginary 
 worlds or kingdoms begotten of their strongest 
 desires. 
 
 Southern India. 
 
 Madura. — According to the popular belief in this 
 part of Southern India, Kama Loka has nothing to do 
 with the soul, if the latter be taken to mean Atma 
 (the immortal spirit). According to " Brahmasutra,"* 
 the jivatma, when it deserts one body and leaves one 
 state of existence, enters another body and another 
 state of existence, with the latent potentiality of 
 future births in various states of existence (bhutasu- 
 kohna). 
 
 The Teluga phrase, Satkupaya (literally, " Sat is 
 gone "), shows actually the idea of death as enter- 
 tained by the Hindus. 
 
 The lower principles belonging to the earth, that 
 cannot go beyond the earth's sphere, commonly 
 called shell or reliquae, alone belong to the state of 
 KS,ma Loka. 
 
 Nizam's Tereitory. 
 Hyderabad. — The belief of the people of the 
 various parts of the country I have visited, about 
 
 * Adhyaya 3, pada 1, siitra 1. Tadantara-prati-pattav, ramhati 
 
 19 
 
290 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 Vayu Loka and Kama Loka, is that the former is 
 a region of the atmosphere, and that the latter 
 forms but a part of the Vayu Loka. IL is believed 
 that in the Kama Loka human monads of the 
 lowest type hover about and await future progress 
 in the scale of evolution. 
 
 OUDH. 
 
 Bareilly. — The ideas of the people here about 
 Kama Loka (or, as is more generally known here, 
 Yama Loka) are mostly derived from " Grarud 
 Purana." The popular notions are too hazy and 
 vague to be taken into account. The book, " Garud 
 Purana," may be regarded as a mythological work, 
 which gives an idea of the state after death in an 
 objective form, so as to bring it within the range 
 of common conception. It deals mostly with the 
 sufferings of evil people when they die. The pangs 
 to which they are subjected are, as gathered from 
 the descriptions contained in it, of a mostly phy- 
 sical nature — perhaps intentionally made so, to 
 restrain people from evil deeds, as a purely sub- 
 jective punishment would hardly have any mean- 
 ing to them. Yama Loka is considered as a region 
 between this physical world and Swarga or 
 Naraka, (heaven or hell), as the case may be. 
 An entity has to pass through this loka, settle the 
 account of its Karm,a, and then pass on to establish 
 itself either in heaven or hell. 
 
 Kathiawar. 
 Bhavnagar. — Kfi-ma or Vayu Loka is a locality of 
 which the people have but a vague notion in this 
 
APPENDIX. 291 
 
 province. The Bhuwas, of whom a detailed account 
 is given in Dalpatram's book,* and who, as a rule, 
 are themselves mediums and induce mediumistic 
 conditions in others, being an illiterate class, have 
 no definite notion of the Kama Loka. 
 
 The people who are a little higher in the scale of 
 intelligence believe that the Kfi,ma Loka is Yama- 
 purijt mentioned in the " Grarud-purana," 
 
 Bengal. 
 
 Calcutta. — The people — I mean the general mass 
 — living in and around my present residence, i.e. 
 Calcutta, have no notion of Kama or Vayu Loka. 
 A few very learned men are, of course, excepted. 
 
 The people of Hugli believe in the existence of 
 Preta Loka (Kama Loka), whither, generally speak- 
 ing, every one has to go after death, and there 
 remain for some time, according (a) to the life he or 
 she may have led, and (6) according to his or her 
 mode of death. 
 
 Malabar Coast. 
 Cochin. — -Vayu Loka (the etheric region between 
 earth and heaven) is the abode of devils and ele- 
 mentaries, according to the Hindus. The denizens 
 are, of course, subject to the influence of Kama 
 (desire) and Krodha (anger), but the term " Kd.ma 
 Loka "■ is probably Buddhistic.^ Vayu Loka is the 
 
 * "Bhiit Nibandh." Translated from the Marathi, by A. K. 
 Forbes. Bombay (eire. 1849). 
 
 t The city of Yama. 
 
 ] Partly true. Buddhists in Ceylon recognize the Kdma Loka, 
 and call its inhabitants Kdmorwachera — beings still controlled by 
 unappeased desires. — H. S. 0. 
 
 19—2 
 
292 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 gulf between birth and emancipation. The souls of 
 good and bad men must pass into Vayu Loka; the 
 good souls passing through to Swarga, and the bad 
 souls wandering in it for a time, and then return- 
 ing to the earth. 
 
 The trials of a chela in this Vayu Loka and the 
 " Aranyam,,'' or wilderness of temptations of the 
 Mahabharata and Eamay&na and the Bible, are only 
 typical of Vayu Loka. The object of all sacraments 
 while in the flesh, as well as the Srddha (cere- 
 monies performed by relatives for the deceased), is 
 to strengthen the soul against the devils and ele- 
 mentaries of this Loka. Devil is the term opposed 
 to Deva, and both are superhuman beings. Elemen- 
 taries (the undissolved ghosts of human beings) 
 are drawn towards them in Vayu Loka, accord- 
 ing to their Karma and afflnities. Preta is the 
 Sanskrit name for all disembodied souls. The 
 devil-ridden only are put en rapport with weak 
 mediums by the Black Magicians, but the deva- 
 protected sometimes annoy their relatives and 
 friends, just for prayers as helps to cross on to 
 Devachan, or Swarga. The pitrls are the devas 
 of dead worthies, 
 
 COEOMAKDEL CoAST, 
 
 Godavery awl Kistna, Districts. — The popular 
 belief in this part of India respecting KS,ma Loka 
 is that it is a state of existence to which must pass 
 the souls of men whose desires for this world have 
 not been satisfied. The popular notion is not uni- 
 form as to the nature and locality of this Kama 
 
APPENDIX. 293 
 
 Loka, But one thing is pretty uniform, so far as my 
 information goes, and it is this — that this state of 
 existence is far from desirable. Some of the cere- 
 monies performed for the sake of the deceased are 
 aimed at the deliverance of the soul from this loka. 
 In our parts of the country a young bull is, amongst 
 certain classes, let loose, after the chanting of some 
 mantrams on the last day of the faneral ceremonies. 
 The popular belief is that at that time the de- 
 parted soul is carried by the ceremonies daily made 
 through the greater portion of its journey in Kdma 
 Loka, and at that stage there is a stream to be 
 crossed, and that this ball is necessary to help the 
 soul in crossing it. It appears to me that the 
 difficulties which the 7noi,na,s or karana sarira 
 has to go through before its reaching the Devachanic 
 state, and the help that the relatives of the de- 
 ceased can render to the mcmas so circumstanced, 
 are given to the populace in parables ; and time 
 working, the spirit of the thing is lost and the 
 shell retained. But the anxiety in the mind of 
 the deceased's heir or relative about the deliverance 
 of the soul from all the troubles which it will have 
 to encounter before reaching the swarga fwhich, 
 I think, corresponds with Devachan), and the belief 
 that unless the sradhs are performed with scru- 
 pulous exactness such deliverance cannot be had, 
 still remain. I am not speaking about the notions 
 of our Anglicised young men, but about the notions 
 of the orthodox portion of our community. The 
 ideas of the people about this matter seem to be 
 pretty consistent. It is only a man who is connected 
 
294 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 with this world that requires these funeral ceremonies 
 and this help from mantrams ; because up to the last 
 moment of his life he will be thinking of this world's 
 things, desiring this and shunning that, panting 
 after the accomplishment of this object and wishing 
 that another thing should never happen, anxious 
 for not knowing whether his B.A. son will become 
 a big man or not, or discouraged about the future 
 prospects of his more stupid son, and so on ; en- 
 tangled, as it were, in the network of human 
 desires and aspirations, his soul cannot be free 
 from the effects of such desires, which are so many 
 forces drawing his soul earthwards, and his rela- 
 tives' assistance through mantrams is necessary. 
 But when a man renounces the world and becomes 
 a sanyasi, he is no longer bound to the earth, and 
 no ceremonies are necessary, and the belief seems 
 to be that, as the soul at once gets into the swarga 
 even the cremation of his body is not necessary. 
 His soul has had a clean severance, if I may so say, 
 from the body, and there is no tie between the 
 two which remains to be dissolved. To such 
 blessed souls there is no Kamaloka. 
 
 Of Vayu Loka I have never heard anything. The 
 expression is scarcely used by ordinary men, and is 
 perhaps confined to the learned pundits. 
 
 QUESTION II. 
 
 SOUTHERX IXDIA. 
 
 Madura. — Kama Loka is no place ; it is simply a 
 state of existence of the shells until they are disin- 
 
APPENDIX. 295 
 
 tegrated in the ordinary course of nature. This 
 disintegration is only a matter of time. It occurs 
 speedily when the rnanas (physical intelligence) of the 
 deceased was under the control of his Buddhi ( spiritual 
 intelligence) during his lifetime, like a well-broken 
 horse under an experienced rider. It takes a long 
 time in a case where his Ahamkara (egotism) was al- 
 lowed to get the better of his Buddhi. But in the 
 end it must disintegrate. All the ceremonies per- 
 formed by the Brahmins during the ten days suc- 
 ceeding the death of a person are calculated to aid 
 the disintegration of the shell. The ceremonies, be 
 it observed, are not addressed to the Atma, but to 
 the Preta. The word " preta " literally means " gone " 
 (pra, prefix, meaning intensity, and " ita," gone, from 
 the root " e," to go) — that which is left when the " sat," 
 or the " being," is gone. The general purport of the 
 mantrams used in the funeral ceremonies is this : 
 " I pour this water to satisfy the preta's unsatis- 
 iied thirst. I make this offering of rice and sessa- 
 mam seed to satisfy the preta's unsatisfied hunger, 
 &c." Among very rich persons, as soon as a man is 
 dead thirty-two balls of rice and curry are prepared 
 and spread before the preta, who is supposed to be 
 invisibly present. One end of a cord of Kusa-grass 
 is bound by -inantrams (words of power) to the preta 
 and the other to a poor Brahmin. The latter is then 
 made to eat the rice, he being paid for this act an 
 enormous sum, sometimes from ten to a hundred 
 thousand rupees. But as the general belief is that the 
 Brahmin will not live out the year at the utmost, this 
 ceremony cannot be performed by all ; therefore in 
 
296 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 the case of ordinary people the balls are put into the 
 fire with the appropriate mantrams. 
 
 The number represents 32 Kalas, of which 12 
 belong to the sun, 16 to the moon, and 4 to the fire ; 
 these being the original Tatwas, which are reckoned 
 at 96 by a further subdivision of each into Satwa, 
 Rajas, and Tamo gunas. 
 
 In the case of suicides, persons dying by accident 
 from fire, water, wounds in battle, &c., the funeral 
 ceremonies cannot be performed till at least six 
 months after their death. The reason for this is that 
 in the case of these persons the annamaya kosha, or 
 the physical body, alone is destroyed, the other princi- 
 ples are not destroyed ; therefore, as there is no death 
 in the proper sense of the word, the funeral cere- 
 monies cannot be performed with efifeet at the time, 
 
 Nizam's Territory. 
 Hyderabad. — I do not think they could be localized 
 in any particular spot ; they are in that stage of 
 existence through which the soul must pass before 
 entering a higher one. 
 
 Kathiawar. 
 
 Bhavnagar. — A short account of Yamapuri, the 
 abode of the elementals and elementaries, is given 
 on pages 6 and 7 of " Bhut Nibandh." That the 
 " Garuda-purana " should contain all that is alleged 
 about Kamaloka is very suggestive ; for is not Graruda, 
 the eagle of Zeus Pater, symbolical of astral light 
 — Akasha ? 
 
 Any distinction as to whether K^ma Loka is a 
 
APPENDIX. 297 
 
 place with geographical limits, or a state of being, 
 does not exist in the popular belief, although the 
 Shastris — I do not mean the very learned ones — do 
 make some kind of distinction, but it is so vague that 
 it cannot bear any close scrutiny. 
 
 That there are certain very high elementals who 
 act as familiars of the gods themselves is a belief 
 that is very common. I may even assert that 
 these elementals, and even the lower ones, are 
 looked upon as gods that must be worshipped as 
 such. 
 
 Baroda. 
 
 Usually the Vayu Loka is considered to be a 
 region much higher than the atmosphere which 
 modern physical science recognizes as surrounding 
 our globe, and the souls living in Vayu Loka are 
 considered to live there, but as they have Linga 
 Shariras (astral bodies), in which the element of air 
 (Vdyu) preponderates, they can move about swiftly 
 from one region to another as they desire. 
 
 Many souls are regarded as living in this con- 
 dition for " a long time before, by rebirth among 
 men, they take another visible physical body {Sthul 
 Sharira) ; but many also are thought to pass at 
 once to another superior or inferior world of the 
 universe, such as the Brahma Loka, Surya Loka, 
 or the Yama Loka, &c., according to the intensity 
 of their merits or demerits. 
 
 Bengal. 
 It is generally believed that men after death 
 must go through Preta-yoni. The place has no 
 
298 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 geographical boundaries, but is thought to exist 
 somewhere in the Southern quarter of space. 
 Every soul must pass through it. Violent or ac- 
 cidental death causes the Preta to be earth-bound, and 
 many legends are told regarding it. It is the duty 
 of the Brahmins daily to give oblations of water, 
 tulseed, or gangilly, called (tarpan), to the fore- 
 fathers, to keep them pleased, as well as to benefit 
 their departed souls. It is one of the daily duties 
 of a Brahmin to make tarpan at the time of his 
 daily worship. Just before the Doorga Pooja, in 
 the dark aspect of the moon, it is incumbent on 
 almost all Hindus to make tarpan in the river 
 Granges. 
 
 II. — A state of existence; as regards locality, 
 earth. 
 
 OUDH. 
 
 Yes, they consider it to be a definite place at a 
 certain distance from the earth. Yama's residence 
 is described to be 86,000 yqjanas* from our planet, 
 and in its journey to that place the entity has to 
 pass through sixteen places, or stages, named Ugra 
 (populated with Fretas), Sowripur, Varendra (thick 
 forest), GandharvaguTn, Siddhyagam, Karur nag- 
 gur (where there is a shower of stones), Krounch- 
 pur, Vichitrapur (here the soul crosses the 
 Baitarni river), Bahnvapad, Duhhhad, Nanakrand, 
 Sutappur, Rand/rapur (very hot sun), Piovarvar- 
 shana (constant rain), Shitadh (very cold), Buhi- 
 bhitpur. 
 
 *A yojana is ahnmt nine miles. 
 
appekdix. 299 
 
 Malabar Coast. 
 Only a state of existence througli which the soul 
 
 Mysore. 
 Vayu Loka is not a geographically circumscribed 
 locality, but an interior plane of existence, em- 
 braced within the Akasha, and intermediate between 
 the earth-life and that supreme spiritual state 
 called Swarga (heaven). 
 
 COROMANDEL COAST. 
 
 They never give it geographical limits or boun- 
 daries, but they think that this loka has a specified 
 locality in space. Exoteric language says so; but 
 the esoteric meaning seems to be that it is a state 
 of existence through which the soul must pass 
 before entering a higher one. Our purobits them- 
 selves understand the subject so little that they are 
 scarcely better off in their notions about these 
 things than the ordinary people. When the soul is 
 very much earth-bound owing to the strong desires 
 it entertained at the time of death, it is supposed 
 to wander upon the face of the earth, appearing to 
 some and possessing some others, as opportunities 
 occur. From this it maybe inferred that the KS,ma 
 loka begins with this earth, though it is not confined 
 to it. But the notions of the people in general are 
 so vague that it is difficult to say whether the K^ma 
 loka is entirely on the earth, or partly on it and 
 partly elsewhere ; and no two people, perhaps, agree 
 in all points as to the nature and locality of K5,ma 
 
300 POSTHUilOUS IIUMANITy. 
 
 loba. Some people think that the soul must pass 
 through manylokas before entering Swarga, whereas 
 some call the whole of the path Kama loka, and 
 subdivide it into different stages. 
 
 QUESTION III. 
 
 Mysoee. 
 
 The soul of every deceased person passes into 
 Vayu Loka, and lingers there a longer or shorter 
 time until the ties engendered in that particular birth 
 are broken. The natural term of this sojourn in 
 Vayu Loka is believed to be from ten to about six- 
 teen days, and the funeral ceremonies {ShraddK), of 
 prayers, &c., &c., are regulated in different parts of 
 India according to the local or sectarian belief as to 
 the length of this term. If a religious person dies 
 with some strong earthly longings unsatisfied, he or 
 she becomes a brahma-pisdcka — an earth-bound soul 
 of a certain sort ; if the person was an infidel or atheist 
 (nastika), he or she becomes a pisdcha — a malicious 
 soul, a devil. The Shraddh ceremonies are believed 
 to help the soul through Vayu Loka and on to Swarga. 
 Soldiers killed in battle pass at once into Swarga ; 
 but their employers, if their cause be an evil one, 
 suffer corresponding punishment. Persons dying by 
 accident or suicide have to linger in Vayu Loka as 
 many years as they would have existed in the body 
 had they lived out their natural term. There are 
 three lokas in the Akasha — Vayu, Naraka, and Swarga, 
 or Indra, lokas. The first is a transitive state ; the 
 second one of punishment (hell) ; the third one of 
 
APPENDIX. 301 
 
 happiness (heaven). The stay of a being in either 
 of the two latter continues until his evil or good 
 deeds have been fully compensated, or, as Hindus 
 say, until the Karma is exhausted. The being then 
 returns to earth-life and takes birth in accordance 
 with previous, but not yet exhausted, Karma. In 
 the realms of torture and of happiness there are 
 non-human beings, or spirits, the agents of the 
 supreme deities presiding over those realms. These 
 spirits are not employed by magicians or sorcerers to 
 work phenomena (miracles) or injure living persons ; 
 but bhutas, pisachas, and other human unliberated 
 souls, are thus employed. 
 
 Kathiawar. 
 From my inquiries I find that the races inhabiting 
 the Kama-loka are looked upon as human and sub- 
 human, as well as superhuman. The innate spirit 
 of veneration is so far developed in this country 
 that they are, I believe, all looked upon as objects 
 worthy of worship and veneration (as if they were all 
 gods themselves) by the people who believe in them 
 and fear them. The intelligent classes who believe 
 in them do, at any rate, look upon Bhairava and all 
 others like him as gods, higher than human beings, 
 and to be worshipped as such by prayers, sacrifices, 
 &c. It is a very difficult task to find out whether 
 the Matas or the Shaktis are elementals pure and 
 simple, or goddesses, or symbols representing the 
 attributes of the superior gods. There is such a 
 hopeless confusion in the modern Hindu mind, that 
 it would be vain to expect to come to any definite 
 conclusion. 
 
302 POSTIIUilOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 Following are the names of a few prominent 
 Matas evoked by the Bhuwas in this province of 
 Kathiawar : 
 
 Meladi, Khodlar, Chamund, G4tral, Magal, Momai 
 Eaveshi, Chhinkotora, and Varndi. 
 
 In the Southern Mahratta country, where I was for 
 very nearly five years, I used to hear much of a Mata 
 called YellammS, — a most powerful Mata, but I was 
 assured by intelligent orthodox Brahmins that she 
 was beyond the pale of the Hindu pantheon. 
 
 I have no means of ascertaining which of these 
 elementals are purely Hindu and which are purely 
 aboriginal. Anyhow the general belief is that they 
 are superhuman. 
 
 Southern India. 
 
 Madura. — The beings that inhabit this region 
 are called by various names : Grandharvas, Kinnaras 
 (literally sub-human), Pisacha (lit. flesh-eater), 
 Bhuta (lit. those who can fulfil their desires, not 
 disembodied spirits, as they are called), Guhiakas 
 (lit. guardians of hidden treasure), Siddhas (lit. pos- 
 sessors of anima, mahima, &c., Siddhis). They are 
 none of them considered to be above man in the 
 scale of creation. They may sometimes wield power 
 greater than man ; but that does not make them 
 superior to him, any more than the elephant or the 
 lion. The received idea about these beings is this. 
 There are five Bhutas, or original elements, viz. Akas, 
 Tejas (light), Vayu (air), Ap (water), and Prithivi 
 (earth). Every thing or being in the created universe 
 is a comb,ination of these principles. It is only when 
 
APPENDIX. 303 
 
 the primitive portion of a being predominates that it 
 becomes an object of perception to the ordinary 
 man, as distinguished from those who have the gift 
 of second sight by nature, or who have acquired it. 
 These beings are considered to have less of the 
 Prithivi Bhuta, and so are imperceptible to the senses 
 of ordinary humanity. They are said to have more 
 power than man over fire, water, akas, &c., according 
 to the particular bhutam (element) that predomi- 
 nates in their constitution. They may also do things 
 which are impossible for man in his present state, by 
 reason of t heir familiarity with certain laws of nature 
 which appertain to their state of existence. They 
 are believed to be capable of assuming any animal 
 form, and making themselves visible. But all these 
 do not make them superior to man, but, on the con- 
 trary, they are the absolute slaves of the adept who 
 can control them completely and compel them to 
 carry out his will. Such of these semi-human beings 
 as are of mischievous tendencies can be coaxed into 
 carrying out evil behests by the black magicians. 
 To keep up their goodwill the latter sacrifice 
 animals to these beings periodically, generally on 
 new-moon or full-moon days. 
 
 Hyderabad. — Either equal to, or lower than, 
 humanity, but never higher. This is the prevalent 
 notion. I may be permitted to mention here, that 
 sometimes the greatest sages have to halt for a short 
 time in the Kama Loka, by way of expiation for 
 some trifling error, or for some wrong desire they 
 might have cherished within themselves during 
 their lifetime. I have known a clairvoyant who 
 
304 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 used to hear (clairaudiently) the bemoaning cries 
 of these creatures, at times innocent, at times mis- 
 chievous, but always anxious to escape from the un- 
 enviable sphere.* 
 
 Baroda. 
 The forms of the Lingo, Shariras of the souls 
 living in the Vayu Loka may be varied — human or 
 otherwise — according to the strongest desire at the 
 time of death, that is, at the time of leaving the 
 Sthula Sharira. These souls can, if possessed of 
 higher powers, assume other shapes for a short time 
 and become visible to men. But most of these last 
 are earth-bound, and live in the regions inhabited 
 by man. 
 
 OuDH. 
 They (the residents of Yama lok:i) can see and 
 hear from any distance, and ciu appear instantly at 
 any place. There is a distinction of sex there ; i.e., 
 there are both msn and women. The residents of 
 YamaZohob include entities that were once human — 
 giants and demons (elementals) of terrible shapes, 
 and Yama's messengers, who are kind and gentle to 
 pious souls, but extremely hard on the evil ones. 
 
 Bengal. 
 Some are considered superhuman ; but, according 
 to Hindu belief, it is considered a calamity if it is 
 thought that the soul has become earth-bound ; 
 
 * See " Thessophist" for 1880-81, pp. 101, 102. 
 
APPENDIX. 305 
 
 and many are the rites and formalities which are 
 prescribed in our ancient books to elevate the soul 
 from such a state. There is a Hindu ceremony, 
 called Sraddha, which is performed to free the soul 
 from such condition. Especially it is said that by 
 giving oblations at Grya the soul is freed. It is said 
 that sons are needed to do this ceremony. The word 
 " Putra " means the male issue, who has the power 
 of relieving the soul from the hell called " Put." 
 
 COROMA^fDEL COAST. 
 
 People call the souls inhabiting it Pisachas. 
 They do not consider them human. In some 
 respects Kdma Loka is considered as sub-human, for 
 those Pisachas which inhabit it are pitied as being 
 in an undesirable condition. But they (Pisd,chas) are 
 believed to be superhuman in their power either 
 for good or for evil. People believe that the soul of 
 a friend and relative may be watching its connec- 
 tions still on earth, and protecting them from Pisa- 
 chas, and sometimes from other dangers. It is also 
 believed in some quarters that these Pisachas some- 
 times give warnings to friends or relatives of coming 
 dangers. 
 
 QUESTION lY, 
 
 Southern India. 
 Madura. — They are not believed to have any 
 feeling of either hostility or friendliness for man- 
 kind. Some of them are by their nature more 
 mischievous than well-disposed, and vice versa • 
 
 20 
 
308 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 but the generality are an indifferent combination 
 of both. They attach themselves to, or possess, 
 persons whose nature and disposition are similar to 
 theirs, or whose extreme passivity attracts their 
 influence. The general belief is that men attract 
 to themselves such of these beings as are in sym- 
 pathy with their habitual thoughts and predominant 
 passions or tendencies, " Like seeks like." 
 
 Hyderabad. — Humanity, all the world over, is 
 divided into three main classes: (1) men of Satva 
 Guna; (2) men of Eajo Guna; and (3) men of 
 Tamo Guna. The people of the Kama Loka are 
 unable to do any harm to human beings of the 
 first order; but those of the third are, as a rule, 
 accessible to them. I may here cite the case of 
 a grammarian of Mysore, which I heard of some 
 time ago. His knowledge of the Sutras of Panini, 
 &c., was profound. Day and night his zeal was 
 to impart his knowledge to others; but, in the 
 midst of all his solicitudes, death cut off his life. 
 His unsatisfied desire, that chief goal of his ambi- 
 tion, to teach his grammatical lore to humanity, 
 made him a denizen of the KS-ma Loka. Every 
 evening he used to haunt a tree in the back com- 
 pound of his house, from whose top he used to 
 recite verses for the edification of those pupils of 
 his who were eager to profit by his instructions. 
 It is said that the students who were allowed the 
 privilege of hearing him were able afterwards to 
 rightfully construe some of the doubtful passages 
 of the Vedas. Of the pranks and mischief com- 
 mitted by the Kama Loka entities upon men of 
 
APPENDIX. 307 
 
 Tamo G-una there are hundreds of instances. Their 
 contact is always injurious, and no good whatever 
 results from their intimacy with the third class of 
 human beings. 
 
 Kathiawar. 
 
 Bhavnagar. — It would be difficult to answer this 
 question satisfactorily. The Bhuwas and other Black 
 Magicians look upon their familiars as ver^jfriendly 
 to themselves ; but at the same time I cannot help 
 imagining that they have a secret dread of them, 
 for they are extremely careful with regard to' certain 
 ceremonies and observances, which they must per- 
 form daily, so as to avoid displeasing them. 
 
 I think that the Hindus, as a rule, look upon the 
 superhuman elementals as gods or Devatas. 
 
 I know of a case, easily verifiable, where the wife 
 of a friend of mine, who is a medium under the 
 control of a Mohammedan elementary — a venerable 
 old silvery-bearded gentleman — looks upon him as 
 friendly; for he has in her dreams often predicted 
 future events, consoled her in her misfortunes, pro- 
 mised his help, and has even gone so far as to 
 assure her that he does not belong to the class 
 of bad spirits, and that she should in no way dis- 
 trust him, as he is pious and good in every way. 
 
 But it should be remembered that the majority 
 of the intelligent class of orthodox Hindus look 
 upon most of them, if not all, as hostile to us, 
 and treat those who dabble in such practices as 
 unworthy of encouragement. Their belief is that 
 they would all turn elementals or elementaries 
 themselves, without any hope of Moksha. 
 
 20—2 
 
308 posthumous humanity. 
 
 Mysore. 
 Both Brahma-pis&chas and Pisachas obsess or 
 take control of living persons ; but the former are 
 not malicious : tricks, persecutions, and foolish phe- 
 nomena are done by the latter. The hhwta has 
 some desire to satisfy, and if that is gratified he 
 will be released and go away. The Pisacha seems 
 to delight in causing confusion and trouble, inflict- 
 ing pain, gratifying low appetites, and taking life. 
 A perfectly pure and good person, if of a religious 
 mind, will not be attacked by an evil spirit; but 
 any vicious habit attracts them. Ignorance of reli- 
 gious things, also, renders persons liable to their 
 influence. 
 
 Baroda. 
 
 Of the earth-bound souls, some are of good ten- 
 dencies, but the large majority are considered to 
 be of bad tendencies. If they died with special 
 strong affections to some human beings, they are 
 friendly to them; if with special hatred to some, 
 they are hostile to them. It is believed that they 
 can be utilized, according to their natural ten- 
 dencies for good or evil, by those living human 
 beings who can control them. 
 
 A dying man's unsatisfied desire for a woman, 
 or a woman's for a man, will tend to attach them 
 after death to that person, if there exists in him 
 or her any responsive desire, however carefully 
 masked by social conventionality ; for there is 
 then a positive mutual attraction, and the living 
 cannot repulse the dead until that is extirpated. 
 
appendix. 309 
 
 Bengal, 
 
 There are no different classes that are hostile 
 or friendly; but it is believed that in most cases 
 they are hostile. Both men and women are pos- 
 sessed, but generally women. I may mention here, 
 that in some cases bad women feign possession ; but 
 nowadays the English doctors call these hysteriacs. 
 
 II. All are hostile to ordinary individuals ; kind 
 only to those who propitiate them and lead a 
 peculiarly unclean life. 
 
 OUDH. 
 
 The djinn (elementals) are supposed to be both 
 friendly and hostile. Elementaries (Bhdtas and 
 Pretas) are generally considered to do injury to 
 men who are evil.- 
 
 COROMANDEL COAST. 
 
 It is believed that these beings are hostile to 
 their enemies and friendly to their friends. They 
 are supposed to be hostile to the weak-minded. 
 
 QUESTION V. 
 
 SouTHEEN India. 
 The injury they do us is either physical or mental. 
 The former is perceived by a gradual diminution 
 of vital activity, culminating in death. This death 
 sometimes takes place in a moment. But in either 
 case no trace will be perceptible of the manner of 
 the wound or disease causing death. No physical 
 remedy will withstand it ; but any one accustomed 
 to manipulate these forces will be able to cure the 
 
310 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 malady. As for the mind, the man gradually de- 
 velops disposition in one particular direction, and 
 some tendency either for good or bad, which he had 
 formerly, and which was not observed hitherto, 
 begins to grow to intensity at the expense of all 
 the rest. The man becomes a monomaniac, harm- 
 ful or harmless according to the being that controls 
 him. 
 
 They attack men, women, and children indis- 
 criminately, producing fever, hysteria, and many 
 nervous complaints. 
 
 Baeoda. 
 Earth-bound souls can do us injury by entering 
 our visible physical bodies and giving them pain, 
 and by tormenting us even to death. It is thought 
 that these earth-bound souls, the bad ones of them 
 being called Bhutas or Pishdchas, have very strong 
 earthly desires for food, &c., but that they have 
 not the physical instruments, viz., the corporeal 
 bodies, by means of which they can satisfy their 
 desires ; they have therefore to enter the corporeal 
 bodies of others, and satisfy their desires by that 
 means. 
 
 Mysore. 
 In person, women are more subject than men 
 to their attacks, but only after attaining puberty. 
 The victim loses health, appetite, and interest in 
 domestic affairs; constantly broods over the con- 
 trolling Pisacha, and, when not controlled by it, 
 seems stupid and absent-minded. She is often 
 
APPENDIX. 311 
 
 made to gratify his lust, believing that the marital 
 act takes place between them ; and she feels the 
 strongest repugnance to her husband and any other 
 man. 
 
 Kathiawar. 
 They are capable of doing us harm in a variety 
 of ways ; by depriving us of our " means of subsist- 
 ence ; " by depriving us of children and near rela- 
 tions ; by bringing about sickness, madness, leprosj', 
 &c., in the family ; by the death of the medium or 
 the exercisers themselves ; in short, by every imagin- 
 able means that might bring about death and ruin 
 in any of their forms. 
 
 Bengal. 
 
 When it is said that a woman is possessed by an 
 elemental, she acts like a mad woman, and her 
 health gradually decays and her whole appearance 
 changes for the worse. 
 
 II. Bodily injury ; in persons of peculiarly mild 
 temperament mental injury is also done. 
 
 OUDH. 
 
 Elementaries can do injury by obsession and 
 frightening. 
 
 COROMANDEL COAST. 
 
 They are supposed to injure us by possessing us, 
 and thereby deranging our minds, and in various 
 other ways. They phenomenally deposit rubbish 
 in our boxes and rice-pots, tear our valuable cloths 
 
312 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 and such other things which involve the disintegra- 
 tion or destruction of tangible matter. In one 
 instance the " devil " used to throw some babe in 
 the house among thorns, where it was often found 
 in the morning. This is an incident connected 
 with the family of a relation of mine, and took place 
 when I was a boy of about ten years. Many rela- 
 tions, who are still alive, can testify to the facts as 
 having been seen by them. Sometimes stones are 
 pelted at men and into the houses. I know a case 
 which was a matter of great notoriety in the town 
 in which I am now living. There is a house which 
 now belongs to a near relation of mine. During the 
 time of its former owner, and for some time after 
 it came to the hands of its present owner, one 
 peculiar phenomenon was often witnessed by many 
 men now living. This house stands close by a 
 m(Xs;ifZ where there are some tombs of Mohammedans. 
 This masjid is supposed to be haunted, even up to 
 this day. What occurred was that huge stones 
 would fall into this house and compound from the 
 side of the Tnasjid. For some time it was supposed 
 to be due to human agency, but all attempts to 
 prove it so failed. One thing which is very peculiar 
 was this, that the stones would invariably fall just 
 by a man or a vessel; but though they say that 
 stones without number fell in this way, not one was 
 observed to have injured either a human being or 
 any material object. No human skill can, I think, 
 be so exact in its aim as that. In this case the 
 devil is supposed to have played tricks with the 
 inmates of the house for some reason best known to 
 
APPENDIX. .313 
 
 itself. Some time after a certain man came and, 
 by mantrams, put a stop to these innocent but 
 rather terrifying pranks. The popular idea seems 
 to be that there is nothing impossible for a devil or 
 PisS,cha, and that it can only be controlled by man- 
 trams chanted by a magician of great skill. 
 
 QUESTION VI. 
 
 Baroda. 
 It is considered a bad thing for mankind to en- 
 courage intercourse with their earth-bound deceased 
 friends or other persons, because these earth-bound 
 souls, having become earth-bound through strong 
 worldly desires, cannot really give such instruction 
 as will emancipate the soul of the living man, which 
 is the highest goal that should be aimed at ; and, 
 secondly, because these earth-bound souls are likely, 
 by their intercourse, to inflame such desires in the 
 living persons as will make them also earth-bound 
 at their death. The state of these earth-bound souls 
 is considered not at all a desirable one ; for they con- 
 tinue in this state for a long, long time, tormented 
 by desires which they cannot satisfy. This existence 
 retards the progress of man towards final emancipa- 
 tion. 
 
 Mysore. 
 A bad thing: no respectable family would en- 
 courage such intercourse ; only sorcerers do so, and 
 they always get punished for it. If they omit the 
 least part of their magical ceremony, or in any way 
 do anything to weaken their acquired will-power 
 
314 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 over their " spirits," they are instantly killed by the 
 latter. A sorcerer is said to have been thus de- 
 stroyed by fire in the streets of Calcutta. It is con- 
 sidered a wicked act of selfishness — an interference 
 with the order of nature and the law of Grod. 
 
 Bengal. 
 
 It is generally considered a calamity when a per- 
 son is possessed by an elemental ; but we can find in 
 some of the Tantric works how an elemental could 
 be invoked and commanded to do the biddings of the 
 human invoker : this is what is called the " Black 
 Art." Those people who have control over the ele- 
 mentals do not command a very high respect, although 
 they are dreaded. It is a common belief that it is 
 not good to invoke elementals to have anything to 
 do with them. In many Hindu families children 
 wear madoolies, or some other charms, to protect 
 them from elementals. The metal iron, is much 
 used for the purpose. The customs regarding this 
 protection are various. 
 
 II. Injurious in all cases. None of the higher 
 castes would attempt it. 
 
 Southern India. 
 
 Madura. — This matter is viewed with such abhor- 
 rence among people here that any one who is even 
 distantly suspected of having any such dealings is at 
 once excommunicated by his caste ; he becomes a 
 chandala, or pariah. 
 
 Hyderabad. — In some cases intercourse with de- 
 ceased friends and relatives does take place. Such 
 
APPENDIX. 315 
 
 an intercourse is deemed favourable in a few cases, 
 and the reverse in others, according to the good or 
 bad motives with which the intercourse is opened, 
 and according to the development of the impart- 
 ing entities. 
 
 Malabar Coast. 
 Invoking the spirits of deceased relatives on annual 
 occasions of anniversaries is a sort of intercourse. 
 The non-performance on the fixed days renders the 
 defaulter subject to penance and penalty. The per- 
 formance is calculated to be an honour to the family. 
 Any misfortune or domestic calamity is attributed 
 to the wrath of the Pitris, or the departed ancestors. 
 
 Cochin. 
 No good can ever come of intercourse with the bad 
 pretas, who will only inflame the physical cravings 
 of weak girls and men by " possessing " them, and 
 assist black magicians for the sake of offerings of 
 drink, flesh, and lust. They are known as "Cha- 
 than " on the Malabar coast, where Christians, Brah- 
 mans, and of course also black magicians, play 
 the exorcists. They are powerless, wheri directed 
 against good men of virtue and self-control. 
 
 OUDH. 
 
 In all cases whatever, intercourse with elementaries 
 and elementals is considered to be ominous, and is 
 looked upon with disgust by the Hindus. 
 
 Kathiawar. 
 Bhavnagar. — It is certainly considered by the 
 
316 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 intelligent classes that intercourse with deceased 
 persons is highly dangerous. 
 
 COKOMAXDEL COAST. 
 
 There seems to be a wide-spread belief that inter- 
 course with deceased persons should be avoided as 
 much as possible. If the soul of the departed is 
 invoked it is only with a view to fiud out the wishes 
 and other particulars about the devil which possesses 
 a man, whose cure is put in the hands of a mantrika 
 (one who knows mantrams), and, by satisfying those 
 wishes or otherwise, to deliver the patient from the 
 hold of the devil. Even this is not done by man- 
 trikas, who are supposed to be of the higher class. 
 They only go through the mantrams and expel the 
 devil, or PisS,cha, without any invocation or any ap- 
 parent intercourse with it. 
 
 QUESTION VII. 
 
 Southern India. 
 Madura.— 1 am about to state a certain accident 
 in my family, some fourteen years ago, in connec- 
 tion with the death of my elder maternal uncle. I 
 was living with my said uncle's son, named Nara- 
 yanasamy, in Combaconum, at a distance of 150 
 miles from my village, Melur. My uncle was at- 
 tacked all of a sudden with paralysis, while at 
 a neighbouring village for cultivation business, 
 and was brought to the house by two servants. 
 About thirty days after the attack he breathed 
 his last. The sickness was not communicated 
 to us, as it was thought it would interfere with 
 
APPENDIX. 317 
 
 his son's appearance for a certain university ex- 
 amination. One night, when I was half-awake, 
 I saw my uncle, who was much attached to me, 
 standing before me near my bed. He stayed about 
 two minutes and then disappeared, I immediately 
 got up, but was much depressed. Next evening 
 at 4 P.M., a servant from home, who came to take 
 us to our village, informed us of the death of my 
 uncle three days previously. I saw him in the night 
 of the second day after his death. 
 
 Southern India. 
 
 Hyderabad. — I answer this question in the 
 affirmative. I may cite an instance I have drawn 
 from a trustworthy source. About three years ago 
 an oilmonger died within the vicinity of Arnee, 
 whom I will call, for the sake of convenience, A. 
 Sometime after his death, a kinsman, or friend of his, 
 whom I may name B, also appeared to breathe his 
 last. But the latter, a few hours after the apparent 
 stoppage of breath, came to life again, and the 
 first thing that he said was that he had seen A 
 somewhere in the other world, adding that he had 
 received peremptory orders from him, which re- 
 quired his relatives to pay off a debt he had con- 
 tracted in his lifetime as soon as possible. 
 
 A second case of the kind in question is as follows. 
 It occurred at Darapoorum, where a rich merchant 
 of some celebrity died. A few years after, a friend 
 of the deceased also appeared to die ; but, as in the 
 above case, he revived. As soon as he was able to 
 speak, he said he had a message from the deceased 
 
318 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 merchant to be delivered to his living nephew. Dur- 
 ing the apparent cessation of life, he had seen him 
 (the merchant) somewhere in the other world (KS,ma 
 Loka), commissioning his nephew to lose no time 
 in building a temple, for which he had reserved a 
 sum of money in his lifetime. The relatives of 
 the deceased, who had assembled to hear this 
 strange story, were moreover told that, unless the 
 wishes of the departed were carried out by his 
 nephew, there was no hope of any diminution 
 of the sorrows he had to undergo in some dis- 
 agreeable regions. The nephew was told that if 
 he wanted to see his uncle free from posthumous 
 pains he must set to work at once to construct the 
 temple, and so fulfil the unsatisfied desire which 
 kept his uncle earth-bound. The nephew did what 
 he was ordered to do, and this seems to have given 
 rest to the troubled soul of his uncle. 
 
 Mysore. 
 In 1858, 1 being at Madras and an UDcle of mine 
 at Tirippatur (about 80 miles away), he suddenly 
 died at about daybreak. At about eight o'clock 
 that morning I waked from a doze, and saw him 
 before me. I was startled, and tried, but was power- 
 less, to rise. Two females and two males were in 
 the room with me, and saw my agitation; but none 
 but myself saw him. Six years later I was prostrated 
 with jungle fever, with no medical aid available, 
 and for a day and night was insensible. The next 
 day, at about noon, I regained consciousness, opened 
 my eyes, and saw my deceased uncle before me. He 
 
APPENDIX. 319 
 
 asked me why I was lying there ? I said I had 
 no medicine, and no nurse to care for me. He 
 told me to open my box, and use the medicine I 
 should find there. I opened the box, found some 
 greyish powder, wrapped in a paper, and took it 
 in water. It had a sweetish taste. I broke out 
 into a profuse perspiration, which continued all 
 the afternoon. At the end of six hours I was quite 
 well. Since then I have seen him in dreams only. 
 I never saw any other deceased person. 
 
 I am a pensioned ressaldar (troop-leader) of the 
 Mysore Horse, and my service took me much into 
 various districts, among others Shivamoogah, where 
 it is a common thing for people to have intercourse 
 with Pisfi.chas. Some possess mantrams, or spells, 
 by which they control them. They compel them to 
 guard their property. If a thief lay his hand upon 
 any article in the house, or any fruit in the garden 
 of a man so protected, he is unable to stir from 
 the spot or withdraw his hand until the owner 
 returns, and not even then until the spirit is 
 ordered to set him free. A Pisdcha so employed 
 is called a chowdi ; by accepting his help for 
 such a selfish purpose, the sorcerer gives him a 
 stronger hold upon himself, and he has to exercise 
 all the more caution, lest he fail for a moment to 
 keep the control, and thus lose his life. Sorcerers 
 can transfer the services of their chowdis, and it 
 is a common thing for the purchaser of a garden to 
 take from the seller the mantram by which the 
 guardian chowdA is controlled ; otherwise he would 
 not be able to enjoy the fruits of the field or 
 
y20 POSTHUMOUS HUJIANITV. 
 
 orchard. Pisdchas sometimes take possession of a 
 house, a well, or a tree. They are driven away by a 
 viantriki (one possessing knowledge of mantraTris), 
 by reciting charms, suspending jft?iii'as (cabalistical 
 signs inscribed on sheet-copper plaques) on the 
 walls, sides, or branches, as the case may be, and 
 other devices. Sometimes, when the Plsdcha 
 (spirit-control) is expelled from a medium he is ob- 
 sessing, the mantriki will cut a lock of her hair, 
 wrap it about an iron nail and drive the nail into a 
 tree ; the Pisdcha is then bound to the tree until 
 the nail rusts away. 
 
 Kathiawar. 
 
 Bhavnagar. — Mediumistic phenomena are very 
 common indeed in this part of India. Possessions 
 and obsessions manifest themselves in tremors of 
 the whole of the body, but the Western medium 
 and his or her cabinet and psychography are, as far 
 as we find, unknown here. Materializations during 
 a Bhuwa's seance we have never heard of. 
 
 The following are a few particulars which may 
 interest students of occult lore. 
 
 To appease the " control," the Bhuwa exerciser, 
 with his assistant's or Jogi's peculiar mode of beat- 
 ing his hand-drum and his peculiar plaintive chant, 
 demands of the control what sacrifices would suit 
 it. If it is a goat or a sheep which has to be sacri- 
 ficed, we have heard from many that when the poor 
 animal is brought before the trembling medium, 
 and when accepted by the control, it soon begins to 
 tremble in a most unusual manner. 
 
APPENDIX. 321 
 
 The trembling medium, or rather the control, is 
 compelled by the exerciser, by incantations or threats 
 and objurgations, to declare who it is that possesses 
 or obsesses the medium, and how it is to be pacified. 
 These objurgations sometimes take days before any 
 decisive issue is reached, during which time the 
 exerciser frequently invokes his favourite Mata, by 
 his own tremors, to compel the control, elemental 
 or elementary, to leave the patient for good. 
 
 The Jogis adopt different modes of beating the 
 drum for different Matas. 
 
 The exerciser, of course, has the greatest reverence 
 for his Mata ; an image of her is religiously kept in 
 a niche in his house, which he constantly worships, 
 and to which he offers his oblations and sacrifices. 
 
 In many of his ceremonies he uses alcoholic 
 drinks ; but he is very chaste, for he really believes 
 that unlawful sexual intercourse will offend his con- 
 trolling Mata. 
 
 Baroda. 
 I have seen some such mediums at two places 
 viz., at Narsoba's Vddi, near Kurundwad, Southern 
 Maratha country, and at Mird Ddtdr's mosque at 
 Unja, in the Kari Division of the Baroda State ; 
 but at both places I found that the mediums were 
 tormented by the earth-bound souls, and they (the 
 mediums) had resorted to these holy places to get 
 rid of their intercourse with the said earth-bound 
 souls. 
 
 Bengal. 
 Calcutta, — It is not often that people dying with 
 
 21 
 
232 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 some earthly desires come back or become earth- 
 bound ; but it is supposed that mostly people dying 
 suddenly by accident or committing suicide become 
 earth-bound. Such souls obsess some members of 
 the family. I have no personal knowledge of such 
 cases, but have heard many stories about these, 
 some of which I have no reason to doubt, as they 
 are well authenticated. 
 
 II. Very rare ; we think it a misfortune. 
 
 OUDH. 
 
 Bareilly. — I know a case (about which I have 
 written to you already) in which a departed lady 
 materialized herself to a friend in the Central 
 Provinces, and said that she had, without the know- 
 ledge of her husband, lent money to some persons 
 from whom she wanted to recover the sum. 
 
 COKOMANDEL COAST. 
 
 I have heard of many cases and seen some of this 
 sort ; but I have never observed any, in my mature 
 age, under test conditions. What I have observed 
 may, for aught I know, have been mere hallucina- 
 tions. But almost every orthodox man believes 
 that such things do occur. A case happened in my 
 own family in 1 875-76, where the patient used to 
 tell me (I was standing by and assisting the patient) 
 that she could see the devils (three in number) 
 sitting by her and beside her, as well as she could 
 see myself. When the devil was to fall on her, she 
 used to tell me : " Now look here ! the devil is pre- 
 paring and girding up her loins to fall upon me. Be 
 on the alert." Immediately after that, I used to 
 
APPENDIX. 323 
 
 observe the usual convulsions in the patient. The 
 patient used to pre-announce the hours of attack by 
 the devil, and she was so sure of it that she used to 
 tell us (the assisting men) to go away on our business, 
 but be ready by the hour and minute predicted. 
 I always found the prediction true. At last the 
 obsessing devil stated all the particulars of her 
 unsatisfied desires to us through the lips of the 
 patient, with a request that before driving her out 
 by mantrams we should satisfy them. The devil 
 said, she (it was the spirit of a woman) died full of 
 desires which were not yet satisfied. We complied 
 with her wishes, and till this moment we have been 
 free from further annoyance. The devil has kept 
 its word. The man who subdued this spirit was a. 
 well-known " white magician," who was respected, 
 by one and all of the community in which he lived.. 
 He was known to be an extraordinarily good, pious,, 
 truth-speaking man. I saw him several times, and 
 I was always inspired in his presence with awe and 
 respect. He told me that the devil above spoken of 
 had many conversations with him, in which she- 
 plaintively requested him to see her desires satisfied.. 
 I say she, because, of the three devils above spoken, 
 of, one — the most important of them — seemed to be.- 
 the spokesman of the rest. 
 
 I have had no other experience worth mentioning.. 
 
 QUESTION VIII. 
 In reply to this question, a gentleman, who does 
 not wish his name mentioned, says : 
 
 " My mother used to tell me that her grandmother- 
 in-law had become earth-bound, though she was a 
 
 21—2 
 
324 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 good-natured lady, through intense affection for her 
 young children whom she had left behind at her 
 death. Her husband was an eminent magician, 
 and she had constant opportunity of seeing obsessed 
 persons, and it was believed that these scenes had 
 probably something to do with her having become 
 earth-bound. Her medium was her daughter-in- 
 law, that, is my mother's mother-in-law. Some 
 members of the family did not believe in the truth of 
 the manifestations, and regarded the medium as only 
 pretending to be possessed by her mother-in-law. 
 One day her son became suddenly ill ; all medicine 
 failed, and it was thought that he would die in a 
 short time. Suddenly the medium became obsessed, 
 and began to say that if any members of the family 
 thought the obsession mere humbug, they might try 
 all the medicines in the world and save her son if 
 they had the power. The family members implored 
 that the earth-bound soul which manifested itself 
 through the medium, and was the guardian angel 
 of the family, might save her son. The obsession 
 ceased for a while, but reappeared soon afterwards, 
 and the medium began to say that she, the earth- 
 bound soul, had to take very great trouble to drive 
 off the evil earth-bound souls that had entered the 
 house along with a certain idol that was brought 
 into the family from a distant country, and that the 
 idol should be at once removed and taken out of the 
 house. This was done in the dead of night, and 
 the medium scratched up a little earth from the 
 ground and applied it to the forehead of her dying son , 
 after which he at once got better and recovered. 
 
APPENDIX. 325 
 
 The medium used to become obsessed whenever 
 there was great danger to any member of the 
 family, and the earth-bound soul used to relate, 
 through the mouth of the medium, that her strong 
 desire for the children made her a Bhut or Pishdcha 
 (earth-bound soul), and that that state of existence 
 was not at all desirable ; and when her son was about 
 to start for Benares on pilgrimage, she suddenly 
 manifested herself through the medium, and said 
 that she was tired of her existence as Pishacha, and 
 that her son should perform at Benares the rite for 
 her called the Fishdcha mochani (the rite of 
 emancipating an earth-bound soul from the earth- 
 bound state), so that she would be delivered from 
 the condition of a Pishacha. The rite was per- 
 formed, and the medium never became obsessed 
 after that time. Mediumship is not considered a 
 thing to be proud of, but rather the reverse." 
 
 Madura, — Such an occurrence is considered to be 
 a great misfortune : it brings the family into bad 
 repute. As soon as it occurs no trouble or expense 
 is spared to get rid of it at once by some costly cere- 
 mony or pilgrimage to distant shrines, or whatever 
 other thing may be demanded by the deceased 
 through his medium. 
 
 Such an order is regarded either with pleasure or 
 pain according to the means or otherwise of those 
 who are commanded to carry out the wishes of a de- 
 ceased friend or relative. If the order go to a rich 
 man, it will give him great pleasure, and he will 
 consider himself blessed; but by one who is not in 
 a position, or one who has not the wherewithal t6 
 
326 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 satisfy the wishes of the deceased, it will be received 
 with positive sorrow. 
 
 I here cite an example. 
 
 There was a member of a Brahmin family living 
 in a village of Sholinghur, where there is a famous 
 temple, who happened to die about a century ago. 
 There are some intelligent members of the same 
 family yet living, two of whom are pleaders. My 
 information comes from one of the latter, and hence 
 I think it has all the more claim to credence. 
 
 It seems that whenever any marriage ceremony 
 was to be performed, or any Sraddhas were to be cele- 
 brated, one of the younger daughters of the family 
 would be attacked with some malady. On every 
 festival a younger girl was sure to be the victim 
 of some bodily sufifering. At length, after many 
 enquiries, the true cause of such occurrences was 
 ascertained. It seems that a member of the family, 
 who had died about a hundred years before, had met 
 with an unnatural death, or, as he said himself, he 
 was throttled by some one in the family; whence 
 came these unfailing visitations on every festive 
 occasion. To assuage the spirit of the man who had 
 met with a violent death, poojahs were offered to 
 avert any evil consequences, with beneficial results to 
 other members of the family. 
 
 Kathiavfae. 
 
 Bhavnagar. — Such occurrences are not regarded, 
 as a rule, with pleasure ; on the contrary, they are 
 looked upon as misfortunes in the family. 
 
 It is strange that in India mediumship, except in 
 
APPENDIX. 327 
 
 very rare instances, is looked upon as a misfortune, 
 whilst the spiritualists of the West seem to 
 encourage it as a means of communication between 
 the living and the dead, or between men and the 
 angels. It is sad to think what terrible misfortunes 
 they are bringing upon their several communities by 
 thus ignorantly breaking down the barriers erected 
 by nature between the two worlds. Our knowledge 
 has been bought by the miseries of ancestral experi- 
 ence, and perhaps the Western nations, will have to 
 journey by the same road. 
 
 Bengal. 
 
 People consider it a calamity when the soul of a 
 member becomes earth-bound. 
 
 II. The reverse, certainly. It is a great mis- 
 fortune and disgrace. 
 
 OUDH. 
 
 Never with pleasure ; just the reverse. 
 
 COROMANDEL COAST. 
 
 Such an occurrence is never regarded with plea- 
 sure, or as something to be proud of. It is always 
 considered to be some bad fate for the soul which 
 appears as the devil, and some misfortune to the 
 patient possessed. 
 
 Of mediums proper, as known in the West, I 
 know nothing ; nor have I heard anything. 
 
328 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 QUESTION IX. 
 
 Malabar Coast. 
 
 There are rites : 
 
 (1) to control the spirits of the elements ; e.g., it 
 is considered the duty of the Hindu rajahs to ask 
 the learned Brahmins of the district to assemble 
 and perform what is called the Jala-japam, the 
 efficacy whereof is to bring about immediately a 
 good shower ; generally done on occasions of drought 
 and scarcity. It is recorded that on a recent occa- 
 sion of the Murajapam ceremony, continuing, once 
 in twelve years, at Trevandoum for fifty-six days, 
 there was no water in the tanks and wells, and that 
 by this Jala-japam there was instantly brought 
 on a shower, enough for the purpose. 
 
 (2) To cure diseases. The magician and astrologer 
 are allied to some extent. Immediately a child or 
 man gets suddenly ill, or is confined to bed by any 
 disease, the astrologer is consulted. He invariably 
 tells you the name of a particular magician, receipt 
 from whom of a charm will alone serve the object, 
 like a doctor advising his patient to have his pre- 
 scription made up at a particular chemist's only. 
 
 (3) To get knowledge of buried treasures. The 
 "art of reading through ink," some time ago 
 described in the " Theosophist." In 1879 a pamphlet 
 was published. It contained certain mantram^ 
 to be recited, often at dead of night on a dark 
 Amavasi day, several thousands, or lacs, of times. 
 It also prescribes certain materials, such as skulls of 
 females who have died during delivery, &c. The 
 
APPENDIX. 329 
 
 reciter must be completely naked, and must have no 
 thread on his body. 
 
 There are a few persons who, although they do 
 not practise as a profession, know the spells by heart. 
 Formerly different tribunals used to be assisted by 
 such persons in detecting cases of theft of movable 
 property. Even now police ofBcers and a few magis- 
 trates send for persons who are reputed to be 
 members of the trade, to see if they can get any 
 clue. 
 
 (4) To win the affections of persons of the opposite 
 sex, &c. There is a general belief in the existence 
 of certain herbs, &c., which, if mixed up and ad- 
 ministered, tend to influence the mind favourably. 
 Similarly, to injure an enemy, a magician is often 
 consulted, to prescribe counteractive measures. This 
 is called Kaio-visham (lit. hand-poison.). 
 
 Southern India. 
 
 The districts of Madura, Tinnevelly, and the native 
 kingdoms of Travancore and Cochin abound in 
 people who do all the things mentioned in this 
 question 
 
 Hyderabad. — All the incidents mentioned in this 
 question often happen in the Malabar district, 
 the borders of which are only twenty or twenty-five 
 miles distant from my native place, Coimbatore. I 
 have heard that such occurrences are not rare in 
 those parts of India. 
 
 I have also heard from a friend of mine the case 
 of a Pariah who was in communication with a spirit. 
 He used to live in Sarun, a village about ten or 
 
330 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 twelve miles distant from Bulsar, in the Bombay Presi- 
 dency. The man had his sSances every Tuesday and 
 Sunday, and hundreds of men used to flock there 
 asking him numerous questions. These questions 
 were not put verbally, but every man who had some 
 inquiry to make put a pie and some rice on a piece 
 of wood before the Pariah. About a hundred such 
 pies were placed in rows before he commenced his 
 work. In the beginning he would untie his hair, 
 take a brass plate and beat it vigorously, swinging 
 his head to and fro. This process continued for 
 about half an hour, when all at once the brass plate 
 would fall from his hand, and the Pariah, continu- 
 ing to swing his head as before, answered the ques- 
 tions put. My friend, who saw the man himself, 
 said that many questions were rightly answered, and 
 almost all those who came to consult him went home 
 satisfied with his answers. Many were cured of 
 diseases ; lost articles were found ; discarded wives 
 once more reconciled to their husbands ; unfortunate 
 persons iu search of employment were commanded 
 to go to a certain country in quest of their object ; 
 and, in short, many cravings of greedy humanity 
 were satisfied by the spirit which inhabited the 
 body of the Pariah. A mamlatdar had been robbed 
 of some jewels by a servant of his. Upon inquiries 
 at a sSance the Pariah indicated the very spot 
 under a tree where the jewels were buried. All this 
 is authentic, and you are authorized to make any 
 use of it you like. Similar cases occur even now all 
 over India. 
 
 Madura. — I have lived with Eamanuja Yogi for 
 
APPENDIX. 331 
 
 three years. He was an Iyengar by caste. He 
 died about four years ago; and although I am a 
 Tamil Brahmin, I alone performed funeral cere- 
 monies for him. He has taught me something, 
 and I am trying to lead the life to the best of 
 my ability and circumstances. The following are 
 one or two of the actions I have seen him perform 
 on several occasions. 
 
 I. He ordered my nephew, a child of a year old, 
 to be brought to him. The child was made to sit 
 on the floor in front of us. He said he was going 
 to show some wonder, and that I could ask any 
 question of the child, in any language I chose. 
 He then covered himself with his rettarium,* and 
 touched the child with a light rattan he had in 
 his hand. The child immediately sat in the pos- 
 ture known as Virasanam, and gave me a learned 
 discourse on Eaja Yoga in beautiful Tamil, verse. 
 I was so struck with this wonder that I did not 
 then avail myself of his permission to ask the child 
 questions, but continued to be a passive hearer. 
 While this was going on I looked at the Yogi, 
 and found that his body was motionless and rigid. 
 I thought he was in a trance, and tried to wake 
 him. His body was at first like a corpse ; but in a 
 few seconds he got up, and at the same instant 
 the child began to weep very loudly. His first words 
 were, "Take the child away, and give it milk in- 
 stantly." This was done. 
 
 II. On another occasion there was a trial going 
 
 • Upper gai-ment. 
 
332 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 on, in the High Court of Madras, of a case in which 
 I was interested. On the day appointed for hearing 
 the case I was in Madura, and felt anxious about 
 the result. The Yogi was then with me, and to 
 him I communicated my anxiety. In a few seconds 
 there was a bright spot before me of the size of 
 a rupee. Gradually it increased, and I was in the 
 midst of the light. I found that I was in the High 
 Court, in the midst of the people there, and that 
 the trial had already closed. I asked one of the 
 parties present in the court the result of the trial. 
 He told me that judgment was given against him. 
 After this the Yogi touched my shoulders, and the 
 light was gone. Subsequently, when I saw the 
 same person, he described everything as I had seen 
 it. Eut he knew nothing of my asking him the 
 question. 
 
 III. On one occasion I left, through forgetfulness, 
 my sampudam (a small circular brass vessel, con- 
 taining ashes, money, &c., usually kept in the fold 
 of the cloth about the waist) by the river where 
 I had bathed. As soon as I returned home I 
 looked for the sampudam, and missed it. I was 
 sorry. The Yogi, who was then with me, told me 
 to unlock a certain room of my house and search 
 a particular corner. I looked in the place, and 
 there was the sampudam as I had had it on the river 
 bank. 
 
 IV. On another occasion he was talking of various 
 things while on the river-bed, when we were per- 
 forming japam, and all of a sudden he asked me 
 to confess before him all the sins I had committed. 
 
APPENDIX. 333 
 
 I told him I had nothing of importance to tell him. 
 He then ordered me to bring olai and iron stylus. 
 He then made a seat of sand in a square shape, 
 wrote on it some letters, and asked me to sit on 
 it. After I had taken my seat, he gave me a smart 
 blow with his rod. I then all of a sudden began to 
 write. I was conscious 1 was writing, but had no 
 control over what I wrote. I could not but write ; 
 some mysterious force compelled me to do it. I 
 yielded. I felt a sort of mild intoxication. About 
 half an hour afterwards the Yogi snatched the ola 
 from my hands, splashed cold water over my face, 
 and took me out for a walk. He then, after some 
 time, gave me the ola to read. But what was my 
 amazement when, in my own handwriting, I found 
 a detailed and circumstantial account of all my 
 disgraceful peccadilloes which I would not for the 
 world have had anybody know, much less the re- 
 vered Yogi. He took pity on my state of mind, 
 tore the ola into pieces, and directed me to pros- 
 trate myself before the sun, which was then setting 
 in the west, and devoutly pray Grod that all my sins 
 might be consumed in His eternid jyoti (light). 
 
 Cochin. 
 They are invoked by the sorcerer for a bribe to 
 gratify the enemy of the victim. Setting fire to 
 houses and clothes, causing stone-showers, putting 
 unclean things into food, making noises or loud 
 raps, cutting off the locks, driving into hysterical 
 ravings, and injuring cattle in the illusive form of a 
 furious bull, are the phenomena of the day to which 
 living testimony can be had. No sorcerer in India 
 
334 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 would dare to exhibit experiments at s&ances, as he 
 would at once be shunned and punished as a wicked 
 man. Yet spiritualistic phenomena seem to be in 
 request in this sceptical age to prove that an inner 
 man survives the death of the body. It is certified 
 by many, including government officials, that a low- 
 caste man at Shoranou, and one at Alattoor, also an 
 astrologer, give fairly accurately the past incidents 
 and present ailments of the questioner, as well as 
 valuable information in respect of thefts and other 
 crimes. I am unfortunate in finding them to \)e 
 failures. Their success seems to be in proportion to 
 the credulous anxiety of the questioner. 
 
 Bengal. 
 
 I know of several persons who are professionally 
 elemental invokers. Their services are required 
 when any case occurs in which a person is pos- 
 sessed by an elemental. 
 
 II. Yes, to cure diseases, and for the welfare of 
 distant friends ; these are called " Santi-sastayana." 
 
 Kathiawar. 
 Bhavnagar. — The question can be easily solved. 
 Every one of us here knows that there are such 
 black magicians, who are capable of doing wonders, 
 and who can do all that is enumerated by Colonel 
 Olcott in this question. In fact, we can safely say 
 that those of us who take an interest in occult lore 
 find that, as an unmistakeable sign of these de- 
 generate times, in our country we constantly hear 
 much more of Black Magic than of White Magic. 
 
appendix 335 
 
 Baeoda. 
 There are several such persons in Baroda, but I 
 have no personal experience of their powers. 
 
 OUDH. 
 In plenty, and the black magicians make money 
 by it. It is, even in these sceptical days, a 
 lucrative trade. 
 
 COROMANDEL COAST. 
 
 It is the undoubted belief of the people at large 
 that there are such magicians. I know some men 
 who profess to be such. I have also observed some 
 performances, but they are not of a high order, 
 except two cases (that I can now recall to my 
 memory) where I observed extraordinary cures by 
 mantrams. 
 
 QUESTION X. 
 
 Nizam's Territory. 
 Hyderabad. — Two cases of this kind I have 
 known in my lifetime. One is the case of my 
 second granddaughter. The night before her death 
 I was sitting in a chair on the balcony of my house 
 in Hyderabad ; at about 1 1 p.m. my second daughter, 
 who was on the ground-floor, cried out that she had 
 seen my grand-daughter coming downstairs hastily 
 from the upper floor. The room where her bed was 
 placed was facing the east. Coming down she 
 rushed into a room facing northwards, adjacent to 
 her own sick-room. Following her immediately, I 
 
333 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 went into the room she had entered. Finding no 
 traces of her there, I rushed at once into her sick- 
 room, where she was lying, as I suppose now, in a 
 trance. I called her, asked her many questions 
 without getting any answer. She was fond of me ; 
 I think her Double went up to give me intimation 
 of her approaching end. She died next morning at 
 about 7 A.M. 
 
 The case of a Moodeliar, by name Manallee 
 Chinnya, may also be mentioned here. He was 
 once a very rich and famous man of Madras, and 
 was the factotum of the Raja of Tangore. It so 
 turned out that before his death he had a great 
 mind to give a certain sum of money to a Brahmin 
 friend of his. A little before his death he told the 
 members of his family that he had a great mind to 
 give some money to the Brahmin in question ; but 
 as death was at hand, should the Brahmin not 
 turn up in time to receive the gift, he enjoined them 
 to give it to him without fail. So saying, he put 
 the money in a purse, deposited it under his pillow, 
 and breathed his last. The Brahmin, who had 
 already started from his house for that of the 
 deceased, was walking slowly on his way ; all of a 
 sudden he saw Chinnya coming towards him in a 
 palanquin. The Moodeliar said that he was going 
 to a di«tant country, whence he might probably not 
 return ; and as a remuneration for many services he 
 wished to give him some money, which the Brahmin 
 might receive from his (Moodeliar's) relatives. The 
 Brahmin was, moreover, told that the money was 
 deposited under the pillow of his bed. The next 
 
APPENDIX. , 337 
 
 day the Brahmin arrived at the house of Chinnya, 
 which was about ten or twenty miles distant from 
 his place. The funeral had already taken place. 
 The relatives were in deep grief, but he would not 
 trust his ears when he heard of the death of the 
 very man whom he had seen but a few hours before 
 seated in a palanquin. However, at length he had 
 to give way. The money left under the pillow was 
 made over to him according to the dying dictates of 
 the Moodeliar. Our southern people do not scruple 
 to concoct stories, but this one I have heard from 
 more than two or three sources. Similar cases 
 other than this are also known. The death of 
 Chinnya, and his Double appearing to the Brahmin, 
 took place in the daytime. 
 
 I may also add that, in connection with Question X. 
 you may refer to the " Theosophist " for 1880-1881, 
 pages 81 and 84. 
 
 Another story of the same kind is as follows. 
 
 A friend of mine, by name A. Parthas&rthi 
 Moodeliar, now about fifty years of age, is a theolo- 
 gian of the Tamil Vedas, which he used to recite 
 every night before several people from a book called 
 "Nalayar Prabhandham." His recitations made 
 him a great favourite among his neighbours. 
 About thirty years ago he was invited by a family at 
 Madras to recite the Vedas. The distance between 
 his own house and that of the family where he had 
 to go to recite verses was about a mile. Every night 
 he returned to his own house. The recitations were 
 kept up for thirty or forty nights. One night, when, 
 he was returning home as usual, a Shrivaishnava 
 
 22 
 
338 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 Brahmin crossed his path from under a large tree 
 and accosted him, accompanying him all the way as 
 far as his house, talking on religious philosophy, and 
 removing many of the doubts of Parthasdrthi. The 
 Brahmin added that he was very much pleased with 
 the recitations, which he took very great care to 
 hear from a corner in the house in which they 
 took place. He was much gratified at seeing him 
 take such a zealous interest in religious subjects at 
 his young age. It was for that reason, the Brahmin 
 told the Moodeliar, that he liked to accompany him 
 on his way home. Night after night the Brahmin 
 kept up his practice. When the Moodeliar was 
 going home at night, a boy of fifteen used to 
 accompany him, and whom he asked one night if he 
 heard all that passed between the Shrivaishnava 
 Brahmin and himself. Upon receiving an answer in 
 the negative,Parthasd.rthi grew a little suspicious,and 
 thought that the man who daily met him was not 
 an earthly creature. As usual, the next night the 
 Brahmin put in his appearance ; all of a sudden the 
 Moodeliar stopped thunderstruck and dared not 
 move on. He looked stedfastly at him and found, to 
 his no small surprise, that the feet of the Brahmin 
 did not touch the ground, but were some twenty 
 inches above it. Seeing his learned friend stand 
 like a statue in the middle of the road, the Brahmin 
 undertook to lift him up on his shoulders in case he 
 was tired that night. The Moodeliar answered that 
 exhaustion was not the cause of his stopping thus 
 abruptly, but that his mind was filled with grave 
 doubts about this curious creature who held inter- 
 
APPENDIX. 839 
 
 course with him every night. Whereupon the 
 Brahmin narrated his whole story as below. 
 
 " When I was a tenant of the world to which you 
 belong, I devoted my life to the study of the 
 Vedas and Shastras. Through ignorance I trans- 
 gressed the rules of mantras, which circumstance 
 has now. entailed upon me the body of an elemen- 
 tary. The chief cause why I like so much to hear 
 you recite from the Nalaiyar Prabhandham is that by 
 a devout attention to the verses therein contained I 
 may purge off my past misdeeds, and thus minimize 
 the efifects of bygone karmas for my own benefit. 
 After you iave done reading the book at the 
 place where you daily go, I shall wend my way 
 to Eajmandri. Eest assured I will not injure a hair 
 of your head." 
 
 Accordingly, when the recitations were over, the 
 Brahmin as usual accompanied him, and with tears 
 in his eyes took leave of the Moodeliar by prostrating 
 himself at his feet — a form of respect which the 
 latter also did not forget to offer to the spirit who 
 used to accompany him. 
 
 Kathiawar. 
 
 Prince Harisinghji tells me that he has been 
 assured at Sihor of the truth of the story of a ghost, 
 fully materialized, asking water to drink from his 
 widow, at a well, a long time after the man was 
 dead and gone. This was in the presence of many 
 witnesses, and in the daytime. 
 
 We have heard of innumerable instances where 
 the dead have made themselves visible under every 
 variety of circumstances. 
 
 22- 2 
 
340 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 Mysore. 
 I have never known of a dead person being visible 
 to all bystanders, hence such cases as have come 
 to my knowledge are probably subjective apparitions. 
 
 OODH. 
 
 Yes, I know of an apparition making herself visible 
 both by day and night. The apparition has been 
 seen by at least half a dozen persons — sometimes 
 when two were together. The witnesses were mostly 
 intelligent, and one or two very calm ones, who have 
 discoursed with her for about an hour at a time. 
 She has been seen at noon, in the afternoon, in the 
 morning, and, in fact, at all the hours of the day and 
 night. 
 
 Bengal. 
 In the year 1859 or 1860, on a dark night, at 
 about midnight, my mother going out (we were 
 then living in a large dilapidated house, belonging 
 to a relative of ours) saw what she fancied to be my 
 paternal grandmother's sister. She called her, but 
 got no answer. Eeturning, she found my grand- 
 mother's sister in her bed. My father, who was 
 awake, on being called, got up and began to watch 
 the apparition. It was a white thing, looking like a 
 person in very white clothes in a sitting position. 
 After some time the thing got up, rose in the air 
 and vanished. Besides my parents, two or three 
 others saw the apparition. 
 
APPENDIX. 341 
 
 QUESTION XI. 
 
 Bengal. 
 In my own case only once. A relative of mine 
 appeared in a dream and told me something which 
 was fulfilled. 
 
 Mysore. 
 Not by phantoms ; but we have in Mysore fortune- 
 tellers (ooduku) who make certain ceremonies to 
 invoke the Devatas. higher non-human spirits, call 
 up the soul of any deceased person you name, and 
 become, or pretend to become, possessed by the 
 same, and to deliver predictions. Sometimes these 
 come true, but oftener not. They will also read 
 your thoughts. 
 
 Other correspondents answer this question in the 
 negative. 
 
 QUESTION XII. 
 
 Kathiawar. 
 
 Bhavnagar. — We have heard of such instances, 
 of which the following can be verified. 
 
 N. B. informs me that he knows of a Brahmin 
 who has met with such strange experiences. The 
 Brahmin's sister once had the usual mediumistic 
 tremors, and the control, being questioned as to who 
 it was, declared that it was a living sorceress, who 
 felt aggrieved with the patient because of not 
 having been properly treated by her. The Brahmin, 
 who was a bold and dare-devil sort of a fellow, com- 
 
342 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 pelled her to leave the patient by burning her hand 
 with a small torch, and similar harsh measures. 
 Next day he, being a Bhikhshu (mendicant), pur- 
 posely went to the sorceress and asked for a handful 
 of rice, his dole. She looked at hira wistfully, and 
 gave him the dole with her left hand ; for evidently 
 she meant to conceal the burn of the previous day 
 on her right hand. He, nothing daunted, chaffingly 
 said, " Why, madame, do you give me the rice with 
 the left hand, and not the right ? / know why. 
 Your right hand was burned yesterday. Do your 
 worst, let us see ; " or words to that effect. Being a 
 man of " brass," the woman could not do him 
 immediate harm ; but after some time he fell ill ; 
 he became very weak, and the woman began to 
 trouble him with the nervous tremors. He was 
 helpless, and in his helplessness was advised to 
 appease the woman. He did so, and after many 
 months of entreaties he recovered, " a sadder and a 
 wiser man." 
 
 Kathiawar. — I have a friend at R, a Parsi, a shop- 
 keeper and merchant. He has a son. P., about twenty 
 years old, a nice young man, but physically weak, who 
 was for very nearly a year subject to wild ravings 
 and fits, which his father, a man of sound common 
 sense, at first attributed to hysteria. No medicine 
 would cure him, and the boy became more and mare 
 violent, and his father assures me that in his fits he 
 would talk in purer Hindustani than in his sober 
 moments ; that he was forced to suspect at length, 
 much against his will, that there was something 
 uncanny about it. He took him to his native place, 
 
AITEXDIX. 343 
 
 E., not far from Surat, in Gujerat, and consulted an 
 exerciser Brahmin who was sent for from Surat. 
 It is one of the most interesting features in this 
 remarkable case that on the first occasion after the 
 arrival of the Brahmin, when in a violent fit, P., or 
 rather his control, eyed a pot of mesmerized water 
 that the Brahmin had prepared beforehand, yelled 
 in a highly excited manner, and said that there was 
 fire issuing from the pot, and the lambent flames 
 were striking on him with deadly efl'ect. Evidently 
 he could see the antagonistic aura of the exerciser 
 issuing from the pot. In accordance with the 
 Brahmin's instructions, the father rubbed a small 
 quantity of the water on his chest, and P. got relief. 
 This was continued as often as the boy got the fits, 
 but the control never left him for good. His father 
 consulted many others known as exorcisers, but P. 
 failed to get permanent relief from the vampire. 
 At length his father was advised to go to E. with 
 his son, and consult a Sanyasi there. This holy 
 man gave P. a string, evidently full of his pure 
 magnetism, to be tied round his arm. By all 
 accounts, as far as I know, P. is quite well now. 
 
 The control in this case was very often asked to 
 leave the patient, and not to worry him any longer ; 
 and when matters had grown very serious his father, 
 being inquisitive and desirous of studying his case 
 thoroughly, induced him to say who he really was. 
 After some trouble a very strange revelation was 
 made. The control said that he was a beggar at R., 
 and was employed by the wife of a rival shopkeeper 
 to annoy, by his magical arts, M. in some way or 
 
341 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 other, and that he had chosen his favourite son as a 
 victim. On being reminded that P. had often shown 
 him favours by giving him food and money, and that 
 his conduct towards him was very ungrateful, the 
 controlling sorcerer, evil and mean as he evidently 
 was, did not seem in any way moved by such appeals. 
 He used to give further proofs of his identity, and it 
 was found that the sorcerer was then in the land of 
 the living, and not dead. The father was advised by 
 his friends not to speak to the man " in flesh and 
 blood," and, for aught I know, he has never spoken to 
 him about his unwelcome and objectionable visits to 
 his son. 
 
 This circumstance appears to us noteworthy, — 
 that controls, elementals and elementaries, when 
 they are pressed to do so, declare themselves who 
 they are; but it seems strange, nay, contrary to what 
 one should expect, that the controls of living sorcerers 
 should reveal their identity when they know, or 
 ought to know, that such a confession is prejudicial 
 to them, as they are still alive. 
 
 In this connection, perhaps, I may draw the atten- 
 tion of students of occult lore to a belief entertained 
 by some knowing ones whom I have talked to, 
 about black magicians — that persons who dabble in 
 the black art lose all their power if beef, or water 
 from the pot of a tanner (Chamar), in which he 
 soaks leather, &c., is administered to them clandes- 
 tinely. How far this is true we have at present no 
 means of ascertaiuing. 
 
 Bengal.' 
 When we were boys, we often used to see in our 
 
APPENDIX. . 345 
 
 village people being attacked by Dyeens, or witches, 
 the symptom being an hysterical one, when persons 
 who were experts in these matters used to come and 
 utter certain incantations, and the djin then left its 
 medium. Once I saw a patient walk out, holding 
 with the teeth a ghurra* filled with water, and then 
 fall down quite cured. 
 
 Southern India. 
 I have heard that in the Malabar district sorcerers 
 appear in the shape of animals, attack, injure, and 
 persecute living beings, if they are inimical to them. 
 
 QUESTION XIII. 
 
 Nizam's Territory. 
 
 Hyderabad. — There are some persons,whose special 
 subject is Black Magic, who are able to exorcise evil 
 spirits from anybody, and take measures to prevent 
 further visits from such unwholesome creatures. 
 Such persons are to be found in the Coimbatore and 
 Malabar districts. I have no more particulars on 
 this subject. 
 
 Kathiawae. 
 
 Bhavnagar. — Such victims get relief by appeasing 
 in some way or other the originals, or by the power- 
 ful magnetism of a pure Yogi. 
 
 QUESTION XIV. 
 
 Malabar Coast. 
 About four or five years ago a well near Porrany, a 
 seaport town, to the west of Tirver railway station, 
 
 ^Ghurra, a clay water-pot. 
 
346 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 was reported in the papers to possess special curing 
 powers. For a few days persons flocked thither for 
 leprosy, &c. ; but nothing has been heard of it since. 
 
 The temple of Guruvayoor (sacred to Krishna) has 
 a reputation for the cure of all sorts of rheumatic 
 complaints; there are several such temples in 
 Malabar, Just as famous as the above is Cranga- 
 nore, sacred to Bhagavathi (goddess of smallpox, &c.). 
 There are pagodas which have a simply local repu- 
 tation only. They are numerous ; offerings, or vows 
 of offerings, are calculated to cure a man if ill, 
 or to secure an object in view. I do know persons 
 who have performed the vows, and have got cured 
 of their complaints. 
 
 At Guruvayoor aforesaid, a silver or gold eye is 
 offered (if the complaint is in the eyes), a similar 
 figure of any other part of the body (as the affection 
 may be), or the whole body itself. There are these 
 iigures ready made there ; people have only to pay 
 according to their means or intentions. In fact, a 
 few sets of figures serve for generations. A religious 
 stay at the station for a particular number of days 
 is also calculated to do, and does, much good. 
 
 About three hundred years ago, a Brahmin 
 scholar became cured of a bad rheumatic complaint, 
 and, sitting in the Mandapam, there composed a work 
 of above one thousand slokas in praise of Krishna, 
 and recounting his exploits. 
 
 The god there is also known as " Vathalayesen," or 
 the god who removes cases of rheumatic complaints. 
 
 About twelve miles to the west of it is an ancient 
 pagoda of Eama, offerings to which place are par- 
 
APPENDIX. • 347 
 
 ticularly voted for asthma, &c. About six thousand 
 rupees are annually collected on one head alone. 
 The cash is expended for the firing of popguns, or 
 kathinaa — the Mofussil substitute for cannon, and 
 always used on festival-days at temples. The rate is 
 three guns for 4 as. 8 p. The largest number vowed 
 is 101 for any particular object. The net proceeds 
 (after expenses of firing gunpowder and of servants), 
 are devoted to the charitable feeding of Erahmins. 
 
 These guns are held specially sacred to Sri Eama. 
 Jemadars of the neighbourhood have set apart funds 
 for firing guns at particular hours every day. 
 
 There are not many shrines sacred to Hanuman 
 (the so-called monkey-god), son of the " god of the 
 winds ; " but when a boat is at sea or on water and a 
 heavy gale threatens, it is usual for a vow or offering to 
 be made to Hanuman, invoking his assistance to lower 
 the wrath of the high wind, so that the boat and persons 
 or goods in it may not be stranded. The nivedyam 
 generally consists of bitter rice (3.vil), cocoa nuts, and 
 jaggery. 
 
 At the village of Kolloor, at the northern end of 
 South Carara (included in ancient Malabar), is the 
 temple of the goddess of letters (Sarasuati). The 
 place is called Mookamli (because an asara named 
 Mookan was killed by the goddess there). The 
 swallowing of a sweet preparation, offered as nive- 
 dyam to the goddess, turns the devotee into a man 
 of accomplishment in some " fine art " to which he 
 has the greatest desire.' The Brahmin priests make 
 a fortune out of it. They seldom give what is really 
 offered as nivedyam except for a good consideration. 
 
348 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 There are several people on the coast who Lave 
 resorted there and afterwards become good songsters, 
 poets, &c. 
 
 There are several spots on rocks on hill-tops where 
 pure water springs on certain Amavasi occasions. 
 They are considered sacred Theerthaws, and persons 
 often resort thither on such occasions. The water 
 is taken and sprinkled on the head and face. 
 
 The foot of a hill a.t KaUati Kotan, near Palghaut, 
 is the seat of a few experts in the black art, who train, 
 under a masonic pledge, persons in the mode in which 
 their business is to be done. " KaUati Kotan " is the 
 place known all over the district as the resort of all 
 would-be magicians. "Pischa" (devil) is a word 
 often in abuse used to a naughty child. Mothers 
 frighten their children to sleep with stories of the 
 devil, and hence the superstition is instilled early in 
 life. 
 
 A few miles to the east of Ponani, a seaport town 
 fifty miles south of Calicut, is a village called Poran- 
 dakat, with an ancient Siva pagoda. Pilgrims go 
 there in virtue of the supreme efficacy of the local 
 deity to cure cases of ghostly obsession, especially 
 children, cases of epilepsy, &c. Pregnant women go 
 there and stay days together religiously, so that 
 children in the womb may be born without defect 
 or complaint. Weighing the body with equivalent in 
 kadali plantains is the most favourite vow. 
 
 Benoal. 
 I know the temples of Baydo Nath, of Tarkeswar, 
 and many others where many sick are cured. They 
 
APPENDIX. 349 
 
 lie down in Dhunna, i.e., without taking any food or 
 water for days together, and mostly on the third day 
 they get an Adesh in a dream as to the way in which 
 they will be cured. Besides the temples mentioned 
 above, there are many places of such nature in and 
 around Bengal. 
 
 Kathiawae. 
 Bhavnagar. — Such places are usually temples 
 dedicated to Matas: their name is legion. The 
 Bhuwas and the people here have, we often hear, 
 great faith in the famous temples at Prawas Patau, 
 in Kathiawar, and Bahachraj i, near Mount Aboo, for 
 the cure of ghostly visitations. 
 
 Mysore. 
 There are various Sivaite and Vishnavite temples 
 which are famed for relieving pilgrims of obsessing 
 pisdchas. I myself have seen the phenomenon a 
 score of times at the Hanumanta, the Vishnu, and 
 the Durga temples in Bangalore. My wife has seen 
 the same at the Minakshi temple in Madura. A 
 pis^cha medium will not sit quiet to hear the 
 Eamayana read ; she will jump up and run away. 
 
 Southern India. 
 Madura. — Almost all temples in India are con- 
 sidered to be places for the cure of obstinate 
 diseases. In cases of ordinary diseases people do 
 not resort to the temples. They generally remain 
 for forty-five days in the temples, leading a strictly 
 ascetic life. There are many cases in which various 
 
350 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 diseases, leprosy included, have been so cured. The 
 belief of the individual that he will be cured, his 
 strictly ascetic life, during which he eats only once 
 a day, and even then confines himself only to rice, 
 milk, pure water, and plantain fruits — how far each 
 of these acts on his bodily system to produce the 
 desired result is for science to determine. But 
 sick people do resort in great numbers to all holy 
 temples for Bhajana, as it is technically called. 
 
 During the Navaratri (Dasra) all persons, male 
 and female, obsessed by ghosts resort to the Madura 
 pagoda. Every year the number amounts to nearly 
 two hundred. They all go away cured by the ninth 
 or Saraswati puja day. Their wild pranks and their 
 bowlings, their superhuman actions in some cases, 
 all make the pagoda a regular pandemonium in 
 those nine days. At San Kara Nainar Kovil, in 
 Tinnevelly, this takes place all the year round. 
 
 At Tiruvathir, near the seaport of Tondi, in the 
 Madura District, is a famous temple. There is a 
 small tank in it, and whoever bathes in it is said 
 to get cured of diseases. Every Friday a large 
 crowd gathers in the temple. Whoever is bitten 
 by a cobra is taken to the temple, bathed in the 
 tank, and made to eat the leaves of the margosa- 
 tree on its bank. He is then cured. 
 
 At Nanguneri, twenty miles south of Tinnevelly, 
 there is a well, where is gathered the oil, ghu, &c., 
 used in washing the idol. It has the reputation 
 of curing diseases, and people pour into the well 
 sessamun oil, and take an equal quantity of the con- 
 tents of the well and use it for curative purposes. 
 
APPENDIX 351 
 
 Hyderabad. — Yes ; I have heard of one or two 
 temples possessing the wonderful power of effecting 
 cures. The temple of the goddess Minaxi, in the 
 city of Madura, is specially gifted with this power. 
 
 At Narsoba's Vadi, near Kurundwar, Southern 
 Maratha country, there is a small temple of D&tta- 
 traya, on the confluence of the Krishna and the 
 Cunch Granga. I saw several obsessed persons there 
 when I visited it some fifteen years ago, several 
 of whom were, as their relations told me, in a fair 
 way towards recovery. The place is very famous 
 for curing people suffering from obsession. Priest- 
 craft has not much scope there, because generally 
 the obsessed person himself gets a dream or a 
 manifestation as to what he should do for his cure. 
 Hundreds of cases are, it is said, cured there. 
 At Mira Datdr's mosque at Unjha, Kari Division, 
 Baroda State, also, I saw several cases of obsession. 
 The place is famous for curing such cases.- 
 
 Madura. — In my native place, Permagoody, Ma- 
 dura District, there is a temple near the Agraharam 
 (Brahmin quarters) dedicated to the Deccata Hanu- 
 mar. The structure of the temple is very simple. 
 In the heart of a compound there is a venerable 
 ancient tamarind-tree, hollow throughout a greater 
 portion of its. trunk, with a raised peedam (raised 
 basement) all around ; at its base there are half a 
 dozen images of Hanumar, a cluster of five bells 
 overhanging them from one of the branches of the 
 tree. The origin of this temple is full of deep 
 meaning to a student of occultism. About the 
 beginning of this century, the districts of Madura 
 
352 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 and Tinnevelly were troubled by the factions of the 
 Poligars of the south. The country was overrun 
 by numerous bands of brigands. In their looting 
 and plunder they had petty quarrels among them- 
 selves ; petty skirmishes were fought between rival 
 ■ factions of the Poligars. One of such skirmishes was 
 fought at Permagoody; a small body of Maranars, of 
 Sinaganga (they say one hundred in number), that 
 had sought shelter from their inimical faction in 
 the Eamnad chuttrum at Permagoody, were mas- 
 sacred to the last man. In consequence of this 
 incident, the chuttrum and the adjoining Brahmin 
 quarters became haunted by the disembodied spirits 
 of 'the dead. The poor people of the agraharam 
 were tormented by these spirits ; all sorts of bowl- 
 ings would be heard in and about the chuttrum; 
 murderous sounds and groans would be loudly 
 . ringing in the haunted grounds. For one year the 
 place around the chuttrum presented a deserted 
 appearance. About that time a Bairagi pilgrim 
 from the north, who was on his way to Ramaes- 
 maram, happened to break his journey at Perma- 
 goody, and to put up in the haunted chuttrum. 
 The devils also tried their pranks upon him. Find- 
 ing the place haunted, he instituted, at the base 
 of a big tamarind-tree that then stood hard by the 
 chuttrum, the worship of Hanumar. The images 
 that are now found are later introductions. By 
 chakara sthapanam (burying in the ground a square 
 copper plate, with certain occult diagrams inscribed 
 with certain letters) of the powerful Deccata Hanu- 
 mar, he enchained, as it were, to the tamarind-tree 
 
APPENDIX. 353 
 
 the disembodied spirits that were hovering about, 
 and thereby relieved the people of Permagoody of 
 their afflictions from these pisachas. The tree 
 stands in full vigour even to this 'day. The power 
 of the Deecata, that has been focused (if I may 
 use that phrase) in the mystic copper plate buried 
 near the foot of the old tamarind-tree, still seems 
 to be in full swing, as persons of refractory pos- 
 sessions resort to it as the last place of final cure. 
 
 P.S. — This was communicated to me by my old 
 grandmother, who is dead. It has been confirmed 
 by mdny old residents of the place. A local inquiry 
 will satisfy a sceptical mind. 
 
 QUESTION XV. 
 
 Mysore. '^ 
 
 I know of no such thing being done by sorcerers ; 
 but about^ forty years ago there was at Bangalore a 
 very holy and respected Yogi, named Eamavadhudha, 
 who was known to have appeared at distant places, 
 while his physical body was here. He stopped for 
 about four years in the garden of my uncle, the late 
 Dewan of Mysore, C. Kristnama Naidu. One 
 day he went miraculously to Benares, where Banga- 
 lore people saw him bathe in the Granges, make his 
 ceremonies and eat. The next day he was back 
 again.* Another time he similarly visited Combaco- 
 num. Another time he similarly attended the festival 
 at Sivagunga Hills, about twenty-six miles from 
 Bangalore, and was seen by several Bangaloreans, 
 
 * .Distance from Bangalore to Benares, about 1200 miles as the 
 crow flies, or about 2000 by rail. 
 
 23 
 
351 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 among others by one Combulingan Pillai, now living, 
 but blind. While the festival was in progress his 
 physical body was in a locked room in the Bangalore 
 bazaar, where it was confined twenty-four hours. 
 When the door was unlocked the next day, the body 
 was there as it had been left. Shortly afterwards 
 an officiating priest of the Shivagangam Temple 
 came inquiring the whereabouts of this Yogi, saying 
 that he had been at the temple the day before, and 
 had left his brass drinking-tumbler and brass spoon, 
 which drinking - tumbler and spoon he, the 
 pujari, or priest, had .brought with him. The Yogi 
 was awakened, and the brass utensils delivered to him 
 by the messenger. 
 
 I once knew another Yogi, a holy man who lived 
 in a forest in the Bellary District. My troop was 
 stationed about six miles from the spot, and I rode 
 over one day with the Inam Commissioner to try and 
 find him. Men were sent in various directions, but 
 could not discover him. We then sat down in a 
 house to eat, and had just finished our meal when 
 the Yogi suddenly appeared at the house. After 
 saluting him, we placed him between us, and gave 
 him a portion of food sufficient for six or seven njen. 
 He consumed this, and then drank a corresponding 
 portion of water, which he had retained only for a few 
 minutes before he spat out a quantity in a glutinous 
 state, like a colourless jelly. It was quite unmixed 
 with food. After stopping with us perhaps a quarter 
 of an hour, he rose to go. We presented him 
 with two cloths of the kind commonly worn by 
 Hindus, throwing them over his shoulders, as he 
 
APPENDIX. 355 
 
 made no oflfer to receive them in his hands. He moved 
 towards the house-door, we following close behind 
 him ; he stepped over the threshold, and instantane- 
 ously disappeared from under our very eyes. The 
 two cloths fell to the right' and left where he had 
 stood. Some people were just outside the door, but 
 they did not see him pass them. This man is re- 
 ported to be of a fabulously great age, three witnesses, 
 grandsire, son, and grandson, all elderly men, having 
 known him for .ja century as appearing no younger 
 nor older than |he seemed when I met him as above 
 stated. "When he appeared at the house, he said 
 that as he knew we were so very anxious to see him, 
 and our messenger could not find him, he had come. 
 
 Malabar Coast. 
 
 It is popularly balieved that a low caste of people 
 practise Oti. The word literally means " bending." 
 A person assumes the shape of a dog, a cow, or an 
 elephant ; walks about at night, and injures people. 
 Generally a plurality of men are engaged in the pro- 
 fession, naked. They bend their physical body and 
 walk together in such a manner that ordinary per- 
 sons think they are natural dogs, cows, or elephants. 
 They waylay passengers, kill cattle, &c. Contact 
 with a human being is supposed to convert the 
 figure into its original natural figure. Several cases 
 are reported by respectable friends to have occurred 
 within their experience. 
 
 Practising this branch is considered the basest of 
 conduct ; therefore low-caste men only are credited 
 with it. I have heard that a particular root is placed 
 
 23—2 
 
353 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 beliind the ear, which has some power to help the 
 sorcerer cast the desired glamour over the sight of 
 the intended victim. 
 
 Occasionally one hears that, through the interven- 
 tion of a sorcerer, some one causes serious annoyance 
 to his enemies by introducing unpleasant things (e.g. 
 excrement) in the plate of rice~(while being served 
 or eaten), causiag the fall of small stones on house 
 tops and terrifying people inside, &c. On the most 
 vigilant search no trace of a human being would 
 appear in the neighbourhood. 
 
 Magicians are believed to have the art of causing 
 the entry into the womb of a pregnant female of 
 something, for instance, an earthen pot, &c., and of 
 taking out the foetus. Such a case of sorcery, com- 
 bined wioh murder, came up for trial (in a reported 
 case) before the Court ofFarjadore Adaulautin J 834. 
 The prisoner was convicted ; but the judges there 
 repudiated the suggestion, and " pitied the supersti- 
 tions " prevailing in the district. Cases of abnormal 
 or extraordinary dissolution of the foetus in the womb 
 are even now attributed to sorcery. 
 
 Last year (1885) there was a case in Calicut Dis- 
 trict, where the evidence showed that a murder was 
 committed because the deceased had been suspected 
 of interfering with the murderer's female relatives 
 against his wish; the approach of the sorcerer to 
 his victim having been effected unnoticed, under 
 the illusive appearance of a dog. 
 
 Kathiawae. 
 Bhavnagar. — We have heard of cases in which 
 
APPENDIX. 357 
 
 the Doubles of black magicians have made 
 themselves visible, and even materialized as human 
 beings or, very rarely, as animals ; it is a general 
 belief that only the most powerful ones can do so. 
 Well-authenticated instances it is at present im- 
 possible for us to give. 
 
 QUESTION XVI. 
 
 ~ _ Kathiawar. 
 
 Bhavnagar. — We have many instances of wraiths 
 making themselves visible. Many of these can be 
 easily verified. 
 
 One of us, N. B., saw his sister's wraith, some 
 years ago, appearing before him, when alone and 
 in his room, at the very hour at which she was 
 subsequently reported to have died, some thirty 
 miles away. 
 
 A European friend of mine, J. A., used to assure 
 me, some eighteen years ago, at a time when I was 
 a great scoffer, that he had, when in Bombay away 
 from his wife, who was at Madras, in a dream 
 actually seen his wife on her death-bed. He heard 
 her saying, " After all, I forgive you, John, before 
 I die," or words to that effect. He was so horrified 
 that he awoke, wept bitterly, large drops of per- 
 spiration suffusing his body, and related the whole 
 incident to a friend sleeping in the same room with 
 him, who himself was startled to find J. A. in so 
 much distress, and who at first thought that J. A. 
 had taken a drop too much. After some days, J. A. 
 was informed by post, by his wife's brother, .that she 
 had died at that very hour, on that very day, her 
 
358 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 last words being the very same that J. A. had heard 
 in his dream or trance. 
 
 One of us, K. I., a Parsi, tells me that his father 
 died at Quetta, some five years ago, one morning at 
 four or five o'clock. The news of his death was 
 telegraphed to him by his father's friends at once. 
 But before he got the telegram in Bombay, at about 
 half-past nine, he dreamed that a very bright ball of 
 light shot across the sky like lightning, whilst he 
 was .standing in an extensive plain that he had 
 never seen before, and in a strange land. The 
 brilliancy of the ball of light was so sudden that hp 
 woke up, to find the telegraph-pffice peon at his 
 door, ready to hand over his telegram. He took the 
 telegram, without opening it, to his mother, in 
 another part of his house ; and he assures me that 
 something prompted him to tell his mother that the 
 unopened telegram contained the news of his father's 
 death. He opened the telegram, and found that it 
 was too true ; he had died almost suddenly. K. I.'s 
 father, it may be mentioned, was a highly virtuous 
 and honest man, loved and respected by all who 
 knew him. 
 
 A friend, G., a Brahmin, assures me that, some 
 years ago, when he was travelling in Upper India in 
 search of manuscripts, in the company of a well- 
 known antiquarian, he one day halted under a tree ; 
 and in a state between waking and sleeping, whilst 
 he was lying under that tree, he distinctly saw his 
 uncle standing before him, and then vanishing away 
 in a most mysterious manner. In his note-book, 
 Gr., on awaking, instantly put down the date and 
 
APPENDIX. 359 
 
 the hour. Some two or three weeks afterwards 
 he received a letter from his relations at A., in 
 Kathiawar, informing him of his uncle's death at 
 that very hour, on that very day, his last words 
 being, " "Where is G. ? " — for he was very much 
 attached to Gr. 
 
 The cases are evidently cases of clairvoyance, 
 superinduced by the aura of the dying or recently 
 deceased persons. 
 
 K. I. was, some years ago, a naval engineer in a 
 vessel plying between Jeddah and Aden. He tells 
 me that a brother-officer, named Shayers, one night, 
 on their way to Aden, got suddenly wild, wept and 
 cried bitterly, and told K. I., and afterwards every 
 one on board, that he had dreamed his wife was dead 
 in Bombay on that day. His friends ridiculed the 
 idea, and thought that it was all owing to his having 
 taken a drop too much. Two days afterwards, on their 
 casting anchor in Aden harbour, a telegram was 
 received by Shayers. He handed it over to K. I. to 
 be opened and read aloud ; for, he said, he would not 
 read a telegram conveying the sad news of his wife's 
 death. K. I. opened it, and found that Shayers was 
 right. 
 
 Bengal. 
 At the time of the death of my own mother, my 
 grandmother (mother's mother), who was living at a 
 distance, saw my mother in a dream the evening 
 she died, and sent a man to inquire, my grand- 
 mother being quite unaware of my mother's illness. 
 I know of another instance of a highly respectable 
 
330 POSTHUMOUS HUMANITY. 
 
 man, travelling in a railway first-class carriage, the 
 evening his brother died, who saw a corpse lying on 
 the bench opposite. " 
 
 COKOMANDEL COAST. 
 
 There is one peculiar case I have heard of from a 
 respectable relation of mine, who is an eye or rather 
 ear witness to the phenomenon. In a certain place 
 there was a gentleman who was a very pious man. 
 He was seriously ill, and could not move about. 
 My relative above named and some others were 
 seated at a place which, for our purposes, may 
 merely be described as far distant from the sick 
 gentleman. This invalid was a rich man, and used 
 to go about always in a palanquin, with a certain 
 distinguishable sound of the bearers — a monotonous 
 sort of refrain to which they would keep step. 
 Now where my relative and others were sitting 
 they heard exactly the same sound as that which 
 always attended the palanquin of their sick friend, 
 and they at once got up under the momentary 
 impression that he was coming. There was, how- 
 ever, nothing to be seen ; but, on inquiring, it was 
 found that at that very moment when they heard 
 the sound the invalid had breathed his last. 
 
 THE END. 
 
FKOM 
 
 GEOKGB REDWAY, 
 
 16, YORK STREET, COVBNT GARDEK, LONDON. 
 
 1887. 
 
16, YosK Stkeet, Covent Gaedek, 
 
 London, May, 1887. 
 
 12mo., cloth, 2,9. 
 
 Nature and Law. 
 
 AN ANSWER TO 
 
 Professor Drummond's " Natural Law in the 
 Spiritual Worlds 
 
 "i* Nature and Law ' is an answer to Professor Drummond's ' Natural Law in 
 the Spiritual World,' by one who modestly withholds his name. The writer 
 is with the Professor when he remarks 'No one who feels, the universal 
 necessity of a religion can stand idly by while the intellect of tlie age is slowly 
 divorcing itself from 'it ;' he approves Uie intention, but objects to the method. 
 The Professor sought to materialise the future world, and to establish an 
 identity between this imperfect terrestrial sphere in act and deed with the 
 unknown future spiritual world. His critic traces all the laws of earth to a 
 celestial source, without thereby identifying the celestial and terrestrial. 
 Who but Time can decide between the two ?"— Sunday Tmes. 
 
 GEOKGB EEDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 A NEW NOVELIST. 
 
 Fifine : 
 
 A NOVEL. 
 
 BY 
 
 AliFBED T. STORY. 
 
 2 Vols., 21s. 
 
 " The account of the various families is most amusing. Soon after Fifine's 
 arrival her husband reappears, and begins to persecute her ; but she is sav,ed 
 by a clever stratagem of the Professor's, one that we do not remember having 
 previously come across in a novel. It would not be fair to spoil the interest 
 of this story by even hinting how Fifine is relieved from her husband, and 
 how all ends happily. If the author will only change his style and be content 
 to use plain language, he bids fair to be successfxil in writing novels." — 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 " Exhibiting genuine abihtv." — Scotsman. 
 
 " Readers v^l be glad that the morally unpleasant portions of the book are 
 briefly narrated." — Scotsman. 
 
 GEORGE REDWAT, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
MR. EEDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 Poit 8«o., cloth. Price 10s. ^d. 
 
 The Life of Philippus Theophrastus, Bombast of 
 Hohenheim, 
 
 KNOWN BY THE NAME OP 
 
 Paracelsus, 
 
 Jnd the substance of his teachings concerning Cosmology', 
 
 Anthropology, Pneumatology, Magic and Sorcery, Medicine, 
 
 Alchemy and Astrology, Theosophy and Philosophy. 
 
 Extracted and translated from his rare and extensive works and 
 from some unpublished Manuscripts, 
 
 BY 
 
 FRANZ HARTMANN, M.D., 
 
 AUTHOE or "magic," ETC. 
 
 ' ' Paracelsus was a high priest among mystics and alchemists, he left behind 
 him one hnndred and six treatises upon medical and' occult subjects, which 
 are likely to be read by the cmious as long as mysticism remains a necessary 
 study for whoever would trace the developments of civilization. 
 
 " From some considerable acquaintance with the writings of Paracelsus, we 
 can say that Dr. Hartmann has made his excerpts from them with a good 
 deal of skill. Students, indeed, should be grateful for this book, despite its 
 setting of Theosophical nonsense ; since to read one of Bombast's Latin or 
 German treatises is a very stiff exercise indeed, unless you are well versed in 
 his very recondite terminology. , 
 
 "Dr. Hartmann has compUei a very full and accurate glossary of occult 
 terms, which will be of great use to future readers of Paracelsus ; and for so 
 much he is to be thanked. 
 
 "Dr. Hartmann quotes some of his recipes for transmuting metals and 
 producing the 'electnlmmagicum.' But Paracelsus is the most transcendental 
 of European mystics, and it is not always easy to know when he is writing 
 allegorically and when practically. Dr. Hartmann says he has tried these 
 prescriptions and found them all right ; but he warns the uninitiated against 
 irumiing the risk of blovring themselves up in the endeavour to follow the 
 master's instructions. 
 
 ■ "Paracelsus held firmly to the belief of some of the hermetic writers of 
 the Middle Ages, that it is perfectly possible to create human beings by 
 alchemical means ; and he even gives directions (in his treatise ' De Natura 
 Rerum ') for the production of homunculi. 
 
 ' On the whole, however, Dr. Hartmann has produced a very amusing book 
 and a book which wiU have some permanent value to the student of the 
 occult. "-^Sf. James's Gazette. 
 
 GEORGE REDWAT, YORK STREET, COVBNT GARDEN. 
 
MR. EEDWAY'S publications. 
 
 Monthly^ One Shilling. 
 
 Walford's Antiquarian Magazine 
 
 AND 
 
 Bibliographical Review. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 G. W. REDWAY, P.R.Hist.S. 
 
 *** Volumes I. to X, Now Beady t jpi'ice^Js. &d. each. 
 
 The following are the Contents of the Four Numbers published this year. 
 Articles : — Domesday Book — Frostiaua — Some Kentish Proverbs — The Litera- 
 ture of Ahnanacks—" Madcap Harry " and Sir John Popham— Tom Coryate 
 and his Crudities— Notes on John Wilkes and Boswell's Life of Johnson— . 
 Earities in the Locker-Lampson CoUecbion— A Day with the late Mr. Edward 
 Solly— The Defence of England in the 16th Century— The Ordinary from Mr. 
 Thomas, Jenyns' Booke of Armes — A Forgotten Cromwellian Tomb— Visitation 
 of the Monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII. — The Rosicrucians — The 
 SeiH6re Library — A Lost Work— Sir Bevis of Hampton— More Kentish Pro- 
 verbs — Cromwell and the Saddle Letter of Charles I. — Recent Discoveries at 
 Rome — Folk-Lore of British Birds— An Old Political Broadside.— Notes for 
 Coin Collectors— Higham Priory — Byways of Periodical Literature— How to 
 Trace a Pedigree — The Curiosities of Ale — The Books and Bookmen of Read- 
 ing — The Language of the Law— Words, Idioms, etc. , of tiie Vulgar— Notes on 
 Old Chelsea — ^The Romans in Cumbria. 
 
 Collectanea. — Early Italian Prints — Tercentenary of the Potato — Chaucer ' 
 Discovery — Sir John Soane's Museum— Copyright in Government Publications 
 — Pausanias — The Loan of Manuscripts — Paper Making in 1588 — Portraits of 
 Charles Dickens — Hopton Castle— A very Ancient Watch — The Value of 
 Antiquarian Study — Curious Forestry Privilege — A " Factory " — Thimbles 
 Old and New — Mrs. Glasse's Cookery Book — A Bucks Estate — Chalfont St. 
 Giles — Greek Coins — Shakespearian Literature — Geography in the Sixteenth 
 Century — Welsh Place Names — Japanese Art--Duelhug in 1760 — Shelleyana — 
 English Archers— Oriental Porcelain— South Italian Folk-lore— Serpent-lore— 
 Modem Witches — The Domesday Plough — A Bishop of the Olden Time — 
 Historical Treasures in the Upsala Cathedral — The Witches Ladder— Old 
 Prayer-Book — A Relic of James II. — Pontefract and Ripon — Old Shoes— Love 
 Charms — County Families — A Roman Fire Brigade — Parish Registers — 
 Border Raiding— Peasant, Proprietors— Queen Mary's Tree — The Turks and ^ 
 Persians as Book-lovers— Epitaph of John Ruskin's Parents — Quakers — 
 "Yankee" and the "Stars and Stiipes" — Gipsies— The Royal Academy — 
 Chigwell Church, Essex — Printers' Errors— A Village Club- An Historical 
 Fishery — A Survival — A Cock Match — Early Publishing— Pancakes at West- 
 minster School— The Archbishop's Palace at Croydon — The Art of the Saracens 
 In Egypt — ^The Early Custody of Domesday Book. , 
 
 Correspondence. — The late Bishop Hannington's Ancestry — A Reacier of 
 Curious Books— Throwing the Dart in Cork Harbour— The De la Poles— The 
 Family of John Hampden — The "OUa Podrida", and T. , Monro — Life of 
 Bertram Montfichet— Magdalen College, Oxford —Book Bound in a Murderer's 
 Skin — A Forgotten Society — Latin Verses by Dr. Johnson — " Merchet " and 
 the " Jus Primse Noctis " — Hanna, Hanet, and Wallace — Another Book Bound 
 in a Murderer's Skin— Humorous Portrait of Charles Dickens— Beating Boys 
 at Parish Boundaries — Destruction of National Antiquities,. 
 Reviews — Obituary Memoirs — Meetings of Learned Societies — News and 
 Notes. 
 
 GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
MR. REDWAY'S publications. 
 
 J8S" The Athen^dm says : — " Admirers of Thackeray may 
 be grateful for a reprint of ' Sultan Stork.' " 
 
 In large 8vo., uniform with the New " Standard" Edition 
 of Thackeray's Works. Price Ws. 6 A 
 
 Sultan Stork, 
 
 And other Stories and Sketches. 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY (1829— 44). 
 
 Now first collected, to which is added the Bibliography of 
 Thackeray, revised and considerably enlarged. 
 
 '' " The remains of Thackeray are now in the hands of the resurrectionists, 
 Writera In the Athenceim. have been gloating over them, and Mr. George 
 Redway, a London publisher of peculiar and quaint literature, has issued a 
 handsome volume of Thackerayan fragments." — QLasgoio Herald. 
 
 ** Thackeray collectors, however, have only to be told that none of the pieces 
 now printed appear in the two volumes recently Issued by Messrs. Smith, 
 Elder, and Co., in order to make them, desire their possession. They will also 
 welcome the revision of the Bibliography, since it now presents a complete 
 list, arranged in chronological order, of Thackeray's published writings in 
 prose and verse, and also of his sketches and drawings." — Daily Chronicle. 
 
 " * Sultan Stork' which purports to be told by Scheherazade on the 
 
 thousand and second of the 'Arabian Nights,' is undoubtedly the work of 
 Mr. Thackeray, and is quite pretty and funny enough to have found a place 
 in his collected miscellanies. ' Dickens in France ' is as good in its way as 
 Mr. Thackeray's analysis of Alexander Dumas" ' Kean ' in the ' Paris Sketch- 
 Book.' .... There are other slight sketches in this volume which are 
 evldentiy by Mr. Thackeray, and several of his ohite)' dicta in them are worth, 
 
 preserving We do not assume to fix Mr. Thackeray's rank or to 
 
 appraise his merits as an art critic. We only know that, in our opinion, few 
 of his minor writings are so pleasant to read as his shrewd and genial com- 
 ments on modem painters and paintings.*' — Saturday Review. 
 
 GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVBNT GARDEN. 
 Just published, 32 pages, wrapper. Price Is, 
 
 The New Illumination. 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWARD MAITLAND, 
 
 AUTHOB OP "THB PILGKIM AND THE SHRINE." 
 
 GBOEGB REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 In post ito. Illustrated with Ehgravings on Wood. Most chastely 
 bound in tohite vellum. Price 10s. 6d. 
 
 ASTROLOGY THEOLOGIZED. 
 
 The Spiritual Hermeneutics of 
 Astrology and Holy Writ. 
 
 BEING 
 
 J Treatise upon the Influence of the Stars on. Man, and on the 
 Art of Ruling them by the Law of Grace, 
 
 Reprinted pkom the Original op 1649, 
 
 With a Prefatory Esaay on Bible Hermeneutics. 
 
 BY 
 
 ANNA KINaSFOKD, M.D., Paris. 
 
 " It is well for Dr. Anna Kingsford that she was not born into the sidereal 
 world four hundred years ago. Had that been her sorry fate, she would 
 assuredly have been burned at the stake for her preface to ' Astrology Theo- 
 logized.' It is a very long preface — more than half the length of the treatise 
 it introduces ; it contains some of the finest flowers of Theosophical philosophy, 
 and of course makes very short work of Christianity." — St. James's Gazette. 
 
 ' • Mrs. Kingsford, amid many things which we do not understand, and some 
 few which we think we comprehend afar off, gives a more detailed analysis of 
 ghosts than we remember to have met with in any of the ancient hermetic 
 writers." — St. JarMs's Gazette. 
 
 " The only pleasing features of the book are the reproductions of a number 
 of beautiful symbolical figures with which it is illustrated. That on p. 28, 
 representing Christ surroimded by an elliptical glory and carried up to heaven 
 by angels, is taken from an illuminated manuscript of the fourteenth century 
 in the Bibliothfeque Royale ; and the figure of the Virgin in an aureole, on p. 94, 
 is from a tenth-century illuminated manuscript in the same library. Some 
 of the figures here reprodued are among the finest things in Christian 
 iconography. " — St. James's Gazette. 
 
 GEORGE BBDWAY, YORK STREET, COVBNT GARDEN. 
 
MR. KEDWAY'S publications. 
 
 In demy 8to., cloth. Price 10s. M. 
 
 The Mysteries of Magic j 
 
 A DIGEST Of 
 
 The Writings of Eliphas Levi. 
 
 WITH BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL ESSAY 
 
 BY 
 
 ARTHUR EDWARD WAITE. 
 
 Eliphas Levi, who died in 1865, and whose real name was Alphonse LouiH 
 Constant, ranks, beyond controversy, as the prince of the French adepts. 
 His writings contain a revelation of the Grand Secret and a lucid interpreta- 
 tion of the theory of the Astral Light, which is the great Magical Agent. His 
 philosophy of miracles is of lasting value and interest, and absolutely indis- 
 pensable to all students of occultism. It establishes a harmony between 
 religion and science based on a rational explanation of all prodigies. Eliphas 
 Levi revealed for the first time to the modem world the arcanum of will- 
 power in the operations of transcendental magic, and he was also the 
 originator of a new departure in Kabbalistic Exegesis. In the present digest, 
 the information on the various branches of esoteric science, which is scattered 
 over six large volumes of the French originals, has been diligently collated, 
 and the translation carefully made. 
 
 " A very curious book." — Time. 
 
 "To the rapidly-extending catalogue of remarkable books published by 
 Mr. George Redway, of London, an important addition has been made by the 
 issue of a digest of the writings of Eliphas Levi. Many people, we dare say, 
 will consider the voltime to be 'fuU of nonsense,' but it is really a very 
 curious and improving work, going over a vast space of ground, and present- 
 ing a great deal of matter that is worth thinking over. The author has earned 
 a title to be heard. As a contribution to what is called 'occult science,' the 
 present book will, of course, find a welcome from many readers, among those 
 especially whose passion it is to grope for the unseen, and to these the varied 
 contents will give delight. The roatter contained in Mr. Waite's volume is 
 wonderfully varied, and much of it worth reading, even by those who do not 
 believe in magic of any kind, bla.ck or white." — Glasgow Herald. 
 
 '• Mr. "Waite has rendered an important service to English students of occult 
 science by the preparation of his digest of the works of Eliphas Levi. One 
 would rather have welcomed soprofoundly philosophical a volume undersome 
 simpler name less calculated to alienate the sympathies of a cultivated world 
 at large. True magic — ^the science of the Magi— is in reality nothing less than 
 spiritual knowledge, and the name is strictly appropriate, of course, in iis 
 loftiest significance, to the grand philosophy of the ancient • Wisdom-Religion' 
 which Eliphas Levi partly unveils. We have merely objected, in passing, to 
 the title of Mr. Waite's book, in so far as it may to some extent lessen its 
 acceptability to a generation not yet generally ripe to understand it, but 
 from the midst of which it may still be possible, by the presentation of occult 
 truth in a certain way.to attract more advanced minds into the path of spiritual 
 inquiry, No determined student of Nature's higher mysteries, setting out 
 from the standpoint of modem European culture, can afford to remain 
 ignorant of Eliphas Levi's works. But to study them in the original is a 
 wearisome task, if for no other reason, on account of their aggref|;ate length. 
 The present single volume is a.digest of half a dozen books enumerated by the 
 
MR, REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 THE MYSTERIES OF MAGIC— continued. 
 
 present author in a ' biographical and critical essay * with which he prefaces 
 his undertaking. These are the Boyme et Rituel de la Haute Magie, the Histoire 
 de la, J^agie, the Clefdes Grands Mysttraa, the Sorcier de Meudon, the PhilosopMe 
 Occulte, and the Science des Esprits. To attack, the whole series — which, 
 indeed, it might be difficult to obtain now in a complete form — would be a 
 bold undertaking, but Mr. Waite has endeavoured to give his readers the 
 essence of the whole six books in a relatively compact compass." — Mr. A. P. 
 SiNNETT, in Light, 
 
 GEOBGE BEDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 In small Svo., cloth. Price 5s. 
 
 Mountaineering Below the Snow- 
 Line; 
 
 Or, The Solitary Pedestrian in Snowdonia and Elsewhere. 
 
 BY 
 
 M. PATERSON. 
 
 WITH ETCHINGS BY MACKANBSS. 
 
 Vanity Fair says : — " Mr. Paterson writes charmingly of a charming subject, 
 He is a cultured and an athletic man, and tells of the climbs he has done, in 
 nervous, descriptive English. He confesses to some partiality for getting 
 along alone, but he is evidently not a churl, and he opens the store of his 
 experiences under the snow-line in Wales, Cumberland, Scotland, and Norway 
 with a skill which will make his wanderings acceptable to a much larger 
 number of people than can ever climb mountains themselves." 
 
 GEORGE EBDWAT, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 Small ito., Illustrated, doth. Price 5s. 
 
 Famous Frosts and Frost Fairs in 
 Great Britain, 
 
 Chronicled from the Earliest to the Present Time. 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.Hist.S. 
 
 Only 400 copies printed. 
 
 GEORGE RBDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
10 MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 "The interest of this compilation is naturally not to be compared to that 
 aroused by the ever-fresh ' Thousand and One Nights ;' but it has had high 
 reputation among particular admirers, and the gentleman to whom we are 
 indebted for this English version — apparently the most complete in any lan- 
 guage of Western Europe — merits the thanks of the reading public for the 
 work performed." — Athenceum. 
 
 About 500 pages, crovm Bvo., doth. Price 10s. Sd, 
 
 The History of the Forty Vezirs ; 
 
 OB, 
 
 The Story of the Forty Morns and Eves, 
 
 Written in Turkish by Shetkh-Zada, and now done into English 
 by E. J. W. GiBB, M.il.A.S. 
 
 " A delightful addition to the wealth of Oriental stories available to English 
 readers is ' The History of the Forty Vezirs ' (Redway), done into English by 
 Mr. E. J. "W. Gibb, from the Turkish of Sheykh-Zada. The collection com- 
 prises 112 stories. To the forty told by the Lady and those of the forty Vezirs, 
 Mr. Gibb has added four from Belletete, twenty from a MS. in the India 
 Office, six from Dr. Behmauer's translation, and two from a MS., recently 
 purchased by Mr. Quaritch. The results of collation are admirally summarised 
 in a comparatire table that analyses the contents of the various texts. In the 
 preface Mr. Gibb deals with the bibliography of the French and German ver- 
 sions, and indicates some of the more interesting parallels suggested by those 
 old stories in the * Gesta Romanorum,' the ' Decameron,' the ' Thousand and 
 One Nights/ the ' Mabinogion,' and other treasures of old-world fable. In 
 shoi-t, Mr. Gibb has considerately done everytiiing to help the reader to an 
 intelligent appreciation of this charming book. " — BaXv/rday Heview. 
 
 * ' In my opinion the version is definite and final. The style is light and 
 pleasant, with the absolutely necessary flavour of quaintness ; and the notes, 
 though short and few, are sufficient and satisfactory. Mr. Gibb does not write 
 only ad clerum ; and thus he has been obliged to • leave in the obscurity of an 
 Eastern language ' three whole tales (pp. 35S, 366, and 399), No. 2 being ex- 
 ceedingly witty and fescennine. He has the good sense, when he supplants a. 
 broad joke by a banal English phrase, to subjoin in a note the original Turkish 
 (pp. 109, 140, 199, 215, and 382). Tet some of the -novelle are highly spiced 
 enough : see the amorous princess in the Eleventh Wazir's story (pp. 381-3) ; 
 and the truly Turkish and imspeakable version of modest ^sop's * Country- 
 man and his Son.' Of the less Milesian I would especially commend the 
 story of the Venus-star and the magical angels, Harut and Marut (p. 167) ; the 
 explanation of the proverb, 'Take counsel of the cap that is on thy head ' 
 (p. 362), and the Thirty-seventh Wazir's tale, showing why ' men have beaten 
 their wives since the days of Saint Adam ' (p. 349).~^ir Richabd F. Bdeton, 
 in The Academy. 
 
 GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 11 
 
 In large crown 8vo., handsomely printed in borders with original 
 
 headpieces, on u, special make of toned paper, and bound in best 
 
 cloth, the cover designed by Matthew Bell. Price 10s. 6d. 
 
 Sea Song and River Rhyme 
 
 From Chaucer to Tennyson. 
 
 SELECTED AND EDITED BY 
 
 ESTELLE DAVENPORT ADAMS. 
 
 With a New Poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne. 
 Illustrated with Twelve Original Etchings. 
 
 ** Mr. Swinburne's new patriotic song, ' A Word for the Navy,' is as fiery in 
 its denunciation of those he believes to be antagonistic to the welfare of the 
 country as was his lyric with which he startled the readers of the Times one 
 morning." — Athenaum. 
 
 GEORGE BEDWAT, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 In post 8vo. , with numerous plates coloured and plain, cloth. 
 Price 7s. 6d. 
 
 Geometrical Psychology ; 
 
 OK, 
 
 The Science of Representation. 
 
 Being the Theories and Diagrams of B. W. Beits 
 
 EXPLAINED BY 
 
 LOUISA S. COOK. 
 
 " Hia attempt (B. W. Betta') seems to have taken a similar direction to 
 that of George Boole in logic, with the difference that, whereas Boole's expres- 
 sion of the Laws of Thought is algebraic, Betts expresses mind-growth geome- 
 trically ; that is to say, his growth-formulae are expressed in numerical series, 
 of which each can be pictured to the eye in a corresponding curve. When the 
 series are thus represented, they are found to resemble the forms of leaves and 
 flowers."— ^a:ti'act^-om " Symbolic Methods of Study," hy Mary Boole. 
 
 GEORGE EEDWAr, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
12 MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 A few copies only remain of the following important work, by the 
 author of " The Rosicrucians." 
 
 Phallicism : 
 
 Its connection with the Rosicrucians and the Gnostics, and its 
 Foundation in Buddhism. 
 
 BY 
 
 HARGBAVE JENNINGS, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "THE BOSICEUOIANS." 
 
 Demy Svo.j cloth. 
 
 " This book is written ad clerum, and appeals to the scholar only, and not to 
 the multitude. It is a masterly and exhaustive account of that worship of the 
 creative powers of nature which, under various names, has prevailed among all 
 the nations of antiquity and of mediaeval times, alike in Egypt and India, in 
 Italy and Gaul, among the Israelites of old, and among the primitive 
 inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland . . .a most valuable auxiliary to 
 all who care to pursue such a subject of inquiry, a subject for which Mr. 
 Jennings is the better fitted on account of his long and intimate acquaintance 
 with the Bosicrucians, their tenets, and their practices."— ^niiguarian Magazine 
 and Bibliographer. 
 
 " Unpleasant as this subject is, we are quite prepared to agree that in its 
 scientific aspect, as a form of human worship, it has considerable importance 
 
 . . . Mr. Jennings deals almost entirely with the subjective part of his 
 inquiry, and he has evidently made a considerable amount of research into the 
 
 literature of early religions He has produced something which is, at 
 
 all events, worth the attention of the student of comparative psychology."— 
 Antiquary. 
 
 " This book. . . is profoundly learned, and gives evidence on each page of 
 deep thought, intense powers of research, clear and unmistakable reasoning, 
 and thorough mastership of the subject. The appendix also contains much 
 very curious matter which will interest those who desire to study the subject 
 under all its different aspects and bearings."— iZeWg-uary. 
 
 GEORGE RED WAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
MR. REDWAY'S publications. 1.3 
 
 In demy 8i;o., cloth. Price 10s. M. 
 
 Incidents in the Life 
 
 OF 
 
 Madame Blavatsky, 
 
 Compiled from Information supplied by her Relatives and Friends, 
 
 AND EDITED BY 
 
 A. P. SINNETT. 
 
 With a Portrait reproduced from an Original Painting by Hermann 
 
 SOHMIEOHEN. 
 
 " Mr. Sinnett's memoir is fluently written, and is free from unsympathetic 
 scepticism. Theosophists will find both edification and interest in the book ; 
 and the general student of science will profit more or less by having his atten- 
 tion called to, etc "—Pall Mall eazette. 
 
 " Mr. Sinnett, however, offers on all the disputed points explanations which 
 will be perfectly satisfactory to those who do not agree with the committee of 
 the Psychical Society."— Pal! Mall Oazeite. 
 
 " For any credulous friend who revels in such stories I can recommend 
 ' Incidents in the Life of Madame Blavatsky.* I read every line of the 
 
 BOOK WITH MUCH INTEREST."— TrMtt. 
 
 GBOBGE EBDWAT, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 " An admirable study of a primitive belief and custom. One of the utmost 
 importance in considering the growth of civilization." 
 
 Large post Svo., cloth, uncut. Price Is. 6d. 
 
 The Blood Covenant : 
 
 j4 Primitive Rite and its Bearings on Scripture, 
 
 BY 
 
 H. CLAY TRUMBULL, D.D. 
 
 "A profound interest will be aroused by the keenness and clearness of 
 vision, no less than by the wealth of learning, by means of which he follows 
 a line of research, tracing through this one rite the cannibalism of savages to 
 a religious impulse not essentially different in its symbolical aspect from one 
 of the most vital principles of Christianity. In the details of the work will 
 be found much to attract the attention of the curious. Its fundamental and 
 essential value, however, is for the student of religions ; and all such wil} be 
 grateful to Dr. Trumbull for this solid, instructive, and enlightening work." 
 —ScoUman, March 14th, 
 
 GEORGK REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
14 MR. RBDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 HINTS TO COLLECTORS 
 
 OP ORIGINAL EDITIONS OF 
 THE WORKS OF 
 
 William Makepeace Thackeray. 
 
 BY 
 
 CHABIiES PLUMPTRE JOHNSON. 
 
 Printed on hand-made paper and hound in vellum. 
 CrovmSvo.j 6s. 
 
 **.... A guide to those who are great admirers of Thackeray, and are col- 
 lecting first editions of his works. The dainty little volume, bound in parch- 
 ment and printed on hand-made paper, is very concise and convenient in form ; 
 on each page is an exact copy of the title-page of the work mentioned thereon, 
 a collation of pages and illustrations, useful hints on the differences in editions, 
 with other matters indispensable to collectors. . . . Altogether it 
 represents a large amount of labour and experience." — The Spectator. 
 
 " . . . . Mr. Johnson has evidently done his work with so much loving care 
 that we feel entire confidence in his statements. The prices that he has 
 afl&xed in every case form a valuable feature of the volume, which has been 
 produced in a manner worthy of its subject-matter." — The Academy. 
 
 ' ' The list of works which Mr. Johnson supplies is likely to be of high interest 
 to Thackeray collectors. His preliminary remarks go beyond this not very 
 narrow circle, and have a value for all collectors of modern worl^."— ^o(e« 
 and Queines. 
 
 " .... It is choicely printed at the Chiswick Press ; and the author, Mr. 
 Charles Plumptre Johnson, treats the subject with evident knowledge and 
 enthusiasm. . . . It is not a Thackeray Bibliography, but a careful and 
 minute description of the first issues, with full collations and statement of 
 the probable cost. . . . Mr. Jnhnson addresses collectors, but is in addition 
 a sincere admirer of the greatest satirist of the century." — Boo/c Lore. 
 
 GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
MR. redway's publications. 15 
 
 HINTS TO COLLECTORS 
 
 OF ORIGINAL EDITIONS OP 
 THE WORKS OF 
 
 Charles Dickens . 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES PLUMPTRE JOHNSON. 
 
 Printed on hand-made paper, and hound in vellum. 
 Crown 8yo., 6s. 
 
 " Enthusiastic admirers of Dickens are greatly beholden to Mr. C. P. John- 
 son for his useful and interesting ' Hints to Collectors of Original Editions of 
 the Works of Charles Dickens ' (Eedway). The book is a companion to the 
 similar guide to collectors of Thackeray's first editions, is compiled with the 
 like care, and produced with the like finish and taste." — The Saturday Review. 
 
 "This is a sister- volume to the * Hints to Collectors of First Editions of 
 Thackeray,' which we- noticed a month or two ago. The works of Dickens, 
 with a few notable 'Dickensiana,' make up fifty-eight numbers .... and 
 Mr. Johnson has further augmented the present volume with a list of thirty- 
 six plays founded on Dickens's works, and another list of twenty-three 
 published portraits of Dickens. As we are unable to detect any slips in his 
 work, we must content ourselves with thanking him for the correctness of 
 his annotations. It is unnecessary to repeat our praise of the elegant /ormat 
 of these books "—The Academy. 
 
 GEORGE BBDWAr, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 In crown Bvo.^ cloth. Price 5s. 
 
 The History of Tithes. 
 
 BY 
 
 H. W. CLARKE. 
 
 " We have no hesitation in saying that he has produced the best book of 
 moderate size yet published for the purpose of enabling an ordinary reader to 
 
 thoroughly understand the origin and history of this ancient impost 
 
 The author gives a great deal of interesting information concerning the 
 planting and growth of Christianity in these islands, the origin of parishes, 
 
 and the founding and endowment of parish churches Mr. Clarke 
 
 declares himself in his book to be a member of the Church of England. He 
 thus writes in no spirit of hostility to her. But he rightly uses very plain 
 language in giving his opinion on the wilful distortion of facts by Church 
 
 writers aiming to defend their Church No one who wishes thoroughly 
 
 to understand the history of tithes should be without this book. It will well 
 repay perusal as a book of ecclesiastical history apart from its special object. 
 — Literary World, March 25th. 
 
 GEORGE BEDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
16 MR. redway's publications. 
 
 Handsomely pHnted and tastefully hound, 436 pages, 
 large croion Svo., cloth extra, Is, Qd. 
 
 Essays in the Study of Folk-Songs. 
 
 BY 
 
 THE COTTNTESS EVEL'SN MARTINENGO-CESARESCO. 
 
 '•A pleasant volume on a pleasant topic. . . . The Countess, with her 
 sincere enthusiasm for what is simple, passionate, and sensuous in folk-song, 
 and with her lucid and unaffected style, well understands the mode in which 
 the educated collector should approach the shy singers or story-tellers of 
 Europe. . . . Her introduction is perhaps, to the scientific student of popular 
 culture, the best part of her book. . . . Next to her introduction, perhaps 
 her article on * Death in Polk- Poetry' is the most serviceable essay in the 
 volume. . . . ' Folk Lullabies ' Is perhaps the most pleasant of the remaining 
 essays in the admirable volume, a volume remarkable for knowledge, sym- 
 pathy, and good taste." — Extracts from a page notice in the Saturday Review , 
 April 24, 1886. 
 
 " This is a very delightful book, full of information and thoughtful sugges- 
 tions. It deals principally with the Folk-songs of Southern peoples, Venetian, 
 Sicilian, Armenian, Provence, and Greek Songs of Calabria, but there are 
 several essays devoted to the general characteristics of Folk-Poetry, such as 
 the influence of Nature, the Inspiration of Death, the idea of fate, the nume- 
 rous songs connected with the rites of May, Folk- Lullabies, and Folk-Dirges. 
 There is also an interesting essay on what is called the White Paternoster, and 
 Children's Rhyming Prayers. This is one of the most valuable, and certainly 
 one of the most interesting, books which have been written on a subject which 
 has of late years been exciting an ever-increasing attention, and which in- 
 volves many important problems connected with the early history of the 
 human rauCQ."— Standard. 
 
 " ' Folk-Songs,' traditional popular ballads, are as tempting to me as King 
 Charles's head to Mr. Dick. But interesting as the topic of the origin and 
 diffusion and literary merit of these poems may be — poems much the same in 
 all European countries — they are rather caviare to the general. The Countess 
 Martinengo-Cesaresco is, or should be, a well-known authority among special 
 studentsofthis.branch of literature, to whom I heartily commend her 'Essays 
 in the Study of Folk-Songs.' The Countess is, perhaps, most familiar with 
 Southern volksleider, as of Greece, Italy, and Sicily. Her book is a treasure- 
 house of Folk-lore of various kinds, and the matter is handled with much 
 poetic appreciation and a good deal of learning." — Daily News. 
 
 "A kind of popular introduction to the study of Folk-lore." — St. James's 
 Gazette. 
 
 GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STKEET, COTENT GARDEN. 
 
MR. KED way's PUBLICATIONS. 17 
 
 In crown Svo., in French grey wrapper. Price 6s. 
 A few copies on Large Paper. Price 10s. 6d. 
 
 The Bibliography of Swinburne ; 
 
 A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LIST, ARRANGED IN CHRONOLOGICAL 
 
 ORDER, OF THE PUBLISHED WRITINGS 
 
 IN VERSE AND PROSE 
 
 OF 
 
 ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE 
 
 (1857-1884). 
 
 This Bibliography commences with the brief-lived College Magazine, to 
 which Mr. Swinburne was one of the chief contributors when an under- 
 graduate at Oxford in 1857-8. Besides a careful enumeration and description 
 of the first editions of all his separately published volumes and pamphlets in 
 verse and prose, the original appearance is duly noted of every poem, prose 
 article, or letter, contributed to any journal or magazine (e.g., Once a Weeh, 
 The Spectator, The OornMll Magazine, The Morning Star, The Fortnightly Review, 
 The Examirier, The Dark Blue, The Academy, The Athenmum, The Tatler, 
 Belgravia, The Gentleman's Magazine, La E&publique des Lettres, Le Rappel, The 
 Glasgow University Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, etc., etc.), whether collected 
 or uncollected. Among other entries will be found a remarkable novel, 
 published in instalments, and never issued in a separate form, and several 
 productions in verse not generally known to be from Mr. Swinburne's pen. 
 The whole forms a copious, and it is believed approximately complete, record 
 of a remarkable and brilliant literary career, extending already over a quarter 
 of a century. 
 
 \ * ONLY 250 COPIES PRINTED. 
 
 GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
18 
 
 MK. REDWAY'S publications. 
 
 Post free, price Zd. 
 
 The Literature of Occultism and 
 Archaeology. 
 
 Being a Catalogue of Books ON SALE relating to 
 
 Ancient Worships. 
 
 Astrology. 
 
 Alchemy. 
 
 Animal Magnetism. 
 
 Anthropology. 
 
 Arabic. 
 
 Antiquities. 
 Ancient History. 
 Behmen and the Mystics. 
 Buddhism. 
 Clairvoyance. 
 Cabeiri. 
 China. 
 Coins. 
 Druids. 
 
 Dreams and Visions. 
 Divination. 
 Divining Bod. 
 Demonology. 
 Ethnology. 
 Egypt. 
 Fascination. 
 Flagellants. 
 Freemasonry. 
 Folk-Lore. 
 Gnostics. 
 Gems. 
 Ghosts. 
 Hindus. 
 
 Hieroglyphics and Secret Writ- 
 ing. 
 Herbals. 
 Hermetic. 
 
 India and the Hindus. 
 Kabbala. 
 Koran. 
 Miracles. 
 Mirabilaries. 
 
 Magic and Magicians. 
 
 Mysteries. 
 
 Mithraic Worship. 
 
 Mesmerism. 
 
 Mythology. 
 
 Metaphysics. 
 
 Mysticism. 
 
 Neo-platonism. 
 
 Orientalia. 
 
 Obelisks. 
 
 Oracles. 
 
 Occult Sciences. 
 
 Philology. 
 
 Persian. 
 
 Philosophy. 
 
 Physiognomy. 
 
 Palmistry and Handwriting. 
 
 Phrenology. 
 
 Psychoneurology. 
 
 Psychometry. 
 
 Prophets. 
 
 Rosicrucians. 
 
 Round Towers. 
 
 Rabbinical. 
 
 Spiritualism. 
 
 Skeptics, Jesuits, Christians and 
 
 Quakers. 
 Sibylls. 
 Symbolism. 
 Serpent Worship. 
 Secret Societies. 
 Somnambulism. 
 Travels. 
 Tombs. 
 Theosophical. 
 Theology and Criticism. 
 Witchcraft. 
 
 GEORGE EEDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN 
 
MR. REDWAY'S publications. 19 
 
 In crown Svo, , cloth. Price Is. &d. 
 
 Theosophy, Religion, and Occult 
 Science. 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY S. OLCOTT, 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 WITH GLOSSARY OF INDIAN TERMS AND INDEX. 
 
 " This book, to which, we can only allot an amount of space quite incom- 
 mensurate with its intrinsic interest, is one that will appeal to the prepared, 
 student rather than to the general reader. To anyone who has previously made 
 the acquaintance of such books as Mr. Sinnett's ' Occult World,' and ' Esoteric 
 Buddhism,' or has in other ways familiarised himself with the doctrines of 
 the so-called Theosophical Society or Brotherhood, these lectures of Colonel 
 Olcott's will be rich in interest and suggestiveness. The American officer is 
 a person of undoubted social position and unblemished personal reputation, 
 and his main object is not to secure belief in the reality of any * phenomena,' 
 not to win a barren reputation for himself as a thaumaturgist or wonder- 
 worker, but to win acceptance for one of the oldest philosophies of nature 
 and human life — a philosophy to which > of late years the thinkers of the 
 West have been turning with noteworthy curiosity and interest. Of course, 
 should the genuineness of the phenomena in question be satisfactorily estab- 
 lished, there would undoubtedly be proof that the Eastern sages to whom 
 Colonel Olcott bears witness do possess a knowledge of the laws of the 
 physical universe far wider and more intimate than that which has been 
 laboriously acquired by the inductive science of the West ; but the theosophy 
 expounded in this volume is at once a theology, a metaphysic, and a socio- 
 logy, in which mere marvels, as such, occupy a quite subordinate and unim- 
 portant position. We cannot now discuss its claims, and we will not pro 
 nounce any opinion upon them ; we will only say that Colonel Olcott's 
 volume deserves and will repay the study of all readers for whom the bye- 
 ways of speculation have an irresistible charm." —Manchester Examiner. 
 
 GEORGE REBWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
20 MR. redway's publications. 
 
 Now ready, at all Booksellers', and at Smith's Railway Bookstalls. 
 Popular Edition, price Is. 6d. 
 
 Burma : 
 
 As it Was, As it Is, and As it Will be. 
 
 BY 
 
 J. G. SCOTT ("Shway Yoe")* 
 Crown 8vo., cloth. 
 
 ' ' Before going to help to govern them, Mr. Scott has once more written on 
 the Burmese . . . Mr. Scott claims to have covered the whole ground, to 
 show Burma as it was, is, and will be ; and as there is nobody competent to 
 criticise him except himself, we shall not presume to say how far he has suc- 
 ceeded. What, however, may be asserted with absolute confidence is, that he 
 has written a bright, readable, and useful book." — Saturday Review, March 27. 
 
 "Very lively and readable "—Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 " The author knows what he writes about." — St. Stephen's Review. 
 
 " There is a good deal of curious reading in the book." — Literary World. 
 
 "The book is amusing and instructing, and Mr. George Redway, the 
 publisher, will have done the public and himself a service." — dynrt Journal. 
 
 "The print is clear, and the binding in excellent taste." — Bookseller. 
 
 " Evidently full of genuine information." — Society. 
 
 " A handy guide to Burma, as readable as it is accurate." — Globe 
 
 ' ' Mr. Scott should have called this volume * A book for Members of Parlia- 
 ment.' " — London and China Telegro.ph. 
 
 "The sketch of Burmese cosmogony and mythology is very interesting.'* — 
 Nature. 
 
 " A competent historian. He sketches Burma and the Burmans with minute 
 fi.delity." — Daily Chronicle. 
 
 " Probably no Englishman knows Burma better than Mr. J. G. Scott."— 
 Contemporary Review. 
 
 An excellent description both of land and people." — Contemporary Review. 
 " Most interesting."— St. James's Gazette. 
 
 " Shway Yoe is a graphic writer ... no one can supply this information 
 better than Mr. Scott." — AsioAic Quarterly Review. 
 
 GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, OOVENT GARDEN. 
 
MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 21 
 
 A few large-paper copies, with India proof portrait, in imperial 8j)o. , 
 parchment paper covers. Price 7s. Sd. 
 
 An Essay on the Genius of George 
 Cruikshank. 
 
 BT 
 
 "THETA" (WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY). 
 
 With all the Original Woodcut Illustrations, a New Portrait of 
 Cruikshank, etched by Pailthoepe, and a Prefatory Note on 
 Thackeray as an Art Critic, by W. E. Church. 
 
 " Thackeray's essay *0n the Genius of George Cruikshank,' reprinted from 
 the Westminster Review, is a piece of work well calculated to drive a critic of 
 these days to despair. How inimitable is its touch ! At once familiar and 
 elegant, serious and humorous, enthusiastically appreciative, and yet just 
 and clear-sighted ; but, above all, what the JbVench call personnel. It is not 
 the impersonuel reviewer who is going through his paces . . . it is Thackeray 
 talking to us as few can talk— talking with apparent carelessness, even 
 ramblingly, but never losing the thread of his discourse or saying a word too 
 much, nor ever missing a point which may help to elucidate his subject or 
 enhance the charm of. his essay. , . . Mr. W. E. Church's prefatory note on 
 'Thackeray as an Art Critic ' is interesting and carefully compiled." — West- 
 tninstei' 2ieview, Jan. 15th. 
 
 "As the original copy of the Westminster is now excessively rare, this 
 reissue will, no doubt, be welcomed by collectors." — Birminghain. Daily Mail. 
 
 "The new portrait of Cruikshank by F. W. Pailthorpe is a, clear, firm 
 etching."— 3'Ae Artist. 
 
 GEORGE REDWAT, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 In demy 8vo., wrapper^ tbncut, with Extra Portrait, 
 Price 5s. 
 
 rniZ (Hablot Knight Browne): 
 
 A Memoir ; including a Selection from his Correspondence and 
 Notes on his Principal Works. By Fked. G. Kitton. 
 
 With a Portrait and numerous Illustrations. 
 
 /tS" A few copies only remain. 
 
 GEORGE EEDWAY, YOBK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
22 MR. redway's publications. 
 
 In ■preparation. 
 NEW TRANSLATION OF "THE HEPTAMERON." 
 
 The Heptameron ; 
 
 OB, 
 
 Tales and loTels of Margaret, Queen of lavarre. 
 
 Now first done completely into English prose and verse, from the 
 original French, by Aethue Maohen. 
 
 GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 One vol., crown 8vo., iOO pages, doth. Pi-ice 6s. 
 
 A Regular Pickle : 
 
 How He Sowed his Wild Oats. 
 
 ET 
 
 HENRY W. NESFIELD, 
 
 Author of "A Chequered Career." 
 
 "Mr. Nesfield's name as an author is established on such a pleasantly sound 
 foundation that it is a recognised fact that, in taking up a hook written by 
 him, the reader is in for a delightful half -hour, during which his risible and 
 humorous faculties will be pleasantly stimulated. The history of young 
 Archibald Highton Tregauntly, whose fortunes we follow from the cradle to 
 when experience is just beginning to teach him a few wholesome lessons, is as 
 smart and brisk as it is possible to be." — Whitehall Review. 
 
 '* It will be matter for regret if the brisk and lively style of Mr. Nesfleld, 
 who at times reminds us of Lever, should blind people to the downright 
 wickedness of such a perverted career as is here described." — Daily Chronicle. 
 
 GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
MR. EEDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 23 
 
 544 pages, crovm 8iio., green doth hoards, price 7s. 6d. (Only 500 
 copies printed.) 
 
 Dickensiana. 
 
 A Bibliography of the Literature relating to Ohablbs Diokens 
 and his Writings. 
 
 Compiled by !Frbd. Gr. Kitton, author of " 'Phiz' (Hablot K. 
 Browne), a Memoir," and "John Leech, Artist and Humourist." 
 With a Portrait of "Boz," from a Drawing by Samdbl Laurence. 
 
 "This book is honestly what it pretends to be, and nothing more. It is a 
 comprehensive catalogue of all the writings of Mr. Charles Dickens, and of a 
 good quantity of books written about him. It also contains copious extracts 
 from reviews of his works and from sermons on his character. The criticisms 
 are so various, and some of them are so much at variance with others, that 
 the reader of them can complain of nothing leas than a lack of material on 
 which to form his judgment, if he has not formed it already, on the claim of 
 Mr. Dickens to occupy a front place in the rank of English classics. Asser- 
 tions, if not arguments, are multiplied on either side." — Saturday R&view. 
 
 "Mr. Fred. G. Kitton .... has done his work with remarkable thorough- 
 ness, and consequently with real success. It is a subject on which I may 
 fairly claim to speak, and I may say that all I know, and a great deal I did 
 not know, about Dickens is to be found in Mr. Kitten's work."—" Atlas," in 
 the World. 
 
 " DICKENSIANA." 
 "If with your Dickens-lore you'd make 
 Considerable headway. 
 The way to be well-read'a to take 
 
 This book brought out by RED WAY. 
 *Tis dear, exhaustive, and compact. 
 Both well arranged and written ; 
 A mine of anecdote and fact. 
 Compiled by P. G. WITTOIS."— Punch. 
 
 GBOEQB EBDWAY, YOEK STREET, CO VENT GARDEN. 
 
 • In the press. 
 MR. SWINBURNE'S NEW POEM. 
 
 A Word for the Navy. 
 
 ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE. 
 
 Edition limited to 250 copies, each numbered. 
 
 GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVBNT GARDEN. 
 
24 MK. kedway's publications. 
 
 Transactions of the London 
 Lodge of the Theosophical 
 Society : 
 
 Nos. 1 and 2. — Out of print. 
 
 No. 3. — On the Higher Aspect of Theosophio Studies. By 
 
 MoHiNi M. Chattekji. 
 No. 4. — A Synopsis of Baron Du Prel's " Philosophie der Mystik.'' 
 
 By Bertram Keightlbt. 
 No. 5. — A Paper on Reincarnation. By Miss Arundalb. And 
 
 other Proceedings. 
 No. 6.— The Theosophical Movement. By A. P. Sinnbtt. 
 No. 7.— The Higher Self. By A. P. Sinnett. 
 No. 8.— The Theosophical Society and its Work. By MOHINI 
 
 M. Ohattbeji. 
 No. 9.— A Paper on Krishna. By MoHiNi M. Chattehji. 
 No. 10. — On Mesmerism. By A. P. Sinnett. 
 No. 11. — Theosophy in the Works of Richard Wagner. By W. 
 
 AsHTON Ellis. 
 Nos. 3 to 11, and each succeeding number as issued, may be had, 
 price One Shilling. 
 
 GEORGE RBDWAY, YORK STREET, COVBNT GARDEN. 
 In large crown 8wo. Price 3s. 6d. 
 
 Sithron, the Star Stricken. 
 
 Translated [Ala herehet Allah) from an anqjent Arabic Manuscript. 
 
 BY 
 
 SALEM BEN UZAIK, of Bassora. 
 
 "This very remarkable book, * Sithron,' ... is a bold, pungent, audacious 
 satire upon the ancient religious belief of the Jews. ... No one can read the 
 book without homage to the force, the tenderness, and the never-failing skill 
 of its writer." — St. James's Gazette. 
 
 GEORGE RBDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN, 
 
MR. bedway's publications. 25 
 
 In demy 8vo., choicely printed. Cloth or Japanese parchment. 
 Price 7s. M. 
 
 Primitive Symbolism 
 
 As Illustrated in Phallic WorsMp ; or, Tlie Reproductive 
 Principle. 
 
 BY 
 
 The late HODDEB M. WESTBOPP. 
 
 With an Introduction by Majob-Genbeal Foblong, Author of 
 "Rivers of Life." 
 
 ' ' This work is a midtum in parvo of the growth and spread of Phallioism, as 
 we commonly call the worship of nature or fertilizing powers. I felt, when 
 solicited to enlarge and illustrate it on the sudden death of the lamented 
 author, that it would be desecration to touch so complete a compendium by 
 one of the most competent and soundest thinkers who have written on this 
 world-wide faith. None knew better or saw more clearly than Mr. Westropp 
 that in this oldest symbolism and worship lay the foundations of all the 
 goodly systems we caUBeligions." — J. G. R. Foklong. 
 
 " A well-selected repertory of facts illustrating this subject, which should 
 be read by all who are Interested in the study of the growth of religions."— 
 
 Westminster Jieview. 
 
 GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 Printed on Whatman's hand-made paper, at the Chiswick Press. 
 Price Is. 
 
 Immodesty in Art. 
 
 An Expostulation and Suggestion in a Letter to Sir Frederick 
 Leighton. 
 
 BY 
 
 TBEDEBICK GEOBGE LEE, LL.D., P.S.A. 
 
 GEORGE REDWAY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
26 MR. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 Ill sinillSvo., han, homely printed on antique paper, and tastefully 
 bound. Price 2s. 6d. 
 
 Pope Joan 
 
 (THE FEMALE POPE), 
 
 A Historical Study. Translated from the Greek of Emmanuel 
 Rhoidis, with Preface by 
 
 CHARLES HASTINGS COLLETTE. 
 
 "When Dr. DoUinger wrote to the efifect that * the subject of Pope Joan 
 has not yet lost interest,' he said no more than the truth. The probability is 
 that the topic will always have its attractions for the lovers of the curiosities 
 of history. Mr. Baring-Gould has declared that ' the whole story of Pope 
 Joan is fabulous, and rests on not a single historical foundation ;' but others 
 are iiot so firmly convinced in the matter, and at ail times there are those 
 
 who are anxious to investigate singular traditions Eho'idis discusses 
 
 the topic with m,uch learning and ingenuity, and Mr. Collette's introduction 
 is full of information." — Globe. 
 
 " It is interesting enough, and is accompanied by curious illustrations." — 
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MR. RED way's PUBLICATIONS. .31 
 
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 Myths, Scenes, and Worthies 
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ME. REDWAY'S PUBLICATIONS. 39 
 
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 The Kabala Denudata 
 
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 1. Tie Book of Concealed Mystery^ 
 
 2. The Greater Holy Assembly. 
 
 3. The Lesser Holy Assembly. 
 
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INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Ambulance Sermons 39 
 
 Astrology ITieologized ^ . . . 7 
 
 Anatomy of Tobacco 30 
 
 Antiquarian Stvdy 31 
 
 Astrologer's Chdde 34 
 
 Arch(eolqgy and Occultism . . . . 18 
 
 Adams, F. W. L 30 
 
 Adams, Mrs. Davenport . . . . 11 
 
 Andrews, W 9 
 
 Arundale, Miss 24 
 
 Baughan, Boaa 33, 36 
 
 Elavatsky, H. P 13, 27 
 
 Burma 20 
 
 Batty, John 31 
 
 Boger, Mrs. E 38 
 
 Bonatus .. .. .. ..34 
 
 Browne, HablOt K 21 
 
 Betts.B.W U 
 
 Beauty and the Beast 32 
 
 Blood Covenant 13 
 
 Cosmo de' Medici 34 
 
 Curate's Wife, The ^ 26 
 
 Confksbion^ of an English Hachish 
 
 Eater . . 32 
 
 Cruikshank, George 21 
 
 Church, "W. E. 
 Cardan . . , . . . 
 Cook, Miss Louisa S. 
 CoUette^ C. H. .. 
 Chatterji, Mohini M. 
 Clarke, H. W. .. 
 
 Dickens . . 
 Dickensiana 
 Dreams of the Derby 
 Drummond 
 
 Eliphas LevVs Writings . . . . 8 
 
 EUis.W. A 24 
 
 Forlong, Major-General J. G. R . . 25 
 
 Eprty Vezirs .. . . . . . . 10 
 
 Folk-Songs 16 
 
 Fifine .. .. 3 
 
 Famous Frosts 9 
 
 Geometrical Psychology . . .11 
 
 George, G. JVE. 28 
 
 Gibb, E.J. W 10 
 
 Hints to Collectors . . . 14, 15 
 
 Heptameron- 22 
 
 Hope, Lieut. "Colonel W, . . . . 38 
 
 Home, R. H 34 
 
 Hartmann, F 4 
 
 Hermes 39 
 
 Mistory of Tithes 
 
 ..15 
 
 Immodesty in Art 
 Ingram, John H. 
 iTuyidents in the Life 
 Blavatsky 
 
 .. 2S 
 29 
 Of H.P. 
 
 ..13 
 
 Johnson, C. P 
 
 Jones, Ebenezer 
 Jones, Sumner , . 
 
 Judge, -W.O 
 
 Jennings, Hargrave . . 
 
 14,15 
 .. 31 
 .. 31 
 
 .. 3r 
 
 .. 12 
 
 Keightley, B 24 
 
 Kitton, F. G. . . ' . . . . 21, 23, 33 
 
 Kaoala Denudata 39 
 
 Kent, Charles . . . . . . . 27 
 
 Kingsford, Mrs. Anna, M.D. 7, 37 
 
 Lamb 
 Leech 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Linton, W. J 31 
 
 LiUy • .. ..34 
 
 Leolinus Siluriensis 30 
 
 Low Down 28 
 
 Literatwe of Occultism and Arch- 
 
 (eolotjy 18 
 
 Leicester 30 
 
 Lee, F. G. 25 
 
 Love Affair, Ihe 38 
 
 Kartinengo-CesaTesco, Countess.. 16 
 
 Maitland, E 6, 37 
 
 Mathers 39 
 
 Machen,A 22 
 
 Mountain^eriTigieltwtheSnowline 9 
 Mysteries of Magic 8 
 
 Nesfleld,H.W 
 
 ]>lew Illummation 
 Nature avd Law 
 
 Occult World Phenomena . . 
 
 Olcott, H. S 
 
 Occultism aTid Archeology . . 
 
 "Phiz" 
 
 Phpsiogruimy 
 
 Primitive Symbolism . . 
 
 Palmistry 
 
 Panton, J. E 
 
 22 
 
 27 
 
 I, 30 
 18 
 
 21 
 35 
 25 
 33 
 26 
 4 
 
 Pope Joan 
 
 Poe 29 
 
 Paterson, M. 9 
 
 Path, The 37 
 
 Phallicism 12 
 
 Posthumous HumaiHty .. . . 30 
 
 Ba/ven, The 29 
 
 Eedway.G. W 6 
 
 Regular Pickle, A 22 
 
 Eideal, 0. F 27 
 
 Rosicrufftarus, History of . .. . . 26 
 
 Salem Ben Uzair 24 
 
 ■SultanStork 6 
 
 Sheykh-Zada 1» 
 
 Swinburne, A. C 11, 17, 23 
 
 Sinnett, A. P 13, 27, 36 
 
 Spiritual Herrrieneutics .. .. 7 
 Sea Song and River Rhyme . . u 
 Shepherd, E. H. . . 28, 31, 32 
 
 Swinburne, Bibliography of . . 17 
 
 Sithron 24 
 
 Scott, J. G. ..I 20 
 
 Studies of Sensation aTid Event .. 31 
 Serjeant, W. C. Eldon . . . . 34 
 Story, A. T. .. .,• .. 3 
 
 Theosophy, Religion, and Occult 
 
 Science ■. . . 19 
 
 Tobacco Talk ■ 35 
 
 Theosophist, The 29 
 
 Two Tramps 28 
 
 Transactions L.L.T.^ 24 
 
 Thackeray 6, 14, 21 
 
 Trumbull 1.1 
 
 United . . . . . . 36 
 
 Valley of SoTek 28 
 
 Virgin of the World 37 
 
 Watford's Antiquarian . . .5 
 Westropp, H. M. ... 25 
 
 Wellerisms '"27 
 
 TVaite, A. E. ts 26 
 
 Word for the Navy 23