THE SOUL OF THINGS; O II, PSYCHOMETRIC RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES. B Y WILLIAM AND ELIZABETH M. F. 5ENT0N. DEN u Enter into the soul of things." Wordsworth. BOSTON: WALKER, WISE AND COMPANY, 245 WASHINGTON STREET, 1863. BFI32S /?63 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1SG3, by WILLIAM DENTON, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. ooGl L . C . I: A N H ^ A V v. It T , h x | ■ ■ <> T Y P \. R B I H D P ■ i H i I ■ I • PREFACE. There is a wide realm lying between the known physical and the comparatively unknown spiritual, — a realm as yet almost en- tirely unexplored. Mesmeric experimenters have been pioneers in exploring one portion of it, Keichenbach and Buchanan in other portions, while in this volume, we record our experience in travel- ling over a part of this little known, but exceedingly interesting and important region. . Facts are constantly presenting themselves, that no philosophy explains ; and as the most obvious phenomena are the first to be brought within the domain of science, because their explanation lies nearer the surface, so what remain necessarily lie deeper, are the results of the operation of subtler forces, and their existence is more likely in consequence to be denied by those whose belief is bounded by what their senses supply, or can be inferred therefrom. But he who knows most of Nature, he who is most reverently her lover, will be least likely to set up his knowledge as a boundary beyond which fact and philosophy may never advance. The higher we rise, the wider the circle of the unknown stretches around us ; while Destiny with uplifted finger beckons us on. in IV PREFACE. It has been suggested by some persons who have read portions of the manuscript of this volume, that many of the statements made are too strange to be believed, and that, by their publication, we subject ourselves to very severe criticism. So far as the conclu- sions drawn from the facts presented are concerned, I am willing they should receive all that criticism can bestow ; for the facts, I am not responsible, nor am I concerned about their reception ; and if any one chooses to do battle with them, he is welcome to the fruits of his victory. YThen a fact comes, I am prepared to welcome it ; and 1 envy not those who discard a truth because Fashion has not set her seal upon it. This work is, I feel, the merest introduction to one of the widest and most important fields in which the soul of man ever labored : and I trust that it will have the effect of inducing men of intellect and means to investigate and teach, though they should pull down all the theoretical scaffolding that we have erected. W. D. Boston, Junk, 1863. CONTEXTS. PART I. PSYCHOMETRIC RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES. CHAPTER I. PICTURES OX THE RETIXA AXD BRAIX. PICTURES FORMED OX THE RETINA WHEN BEHOLDING OBJECTS — THESE PICTURES ENDURING — PICTURES SEEN WITH CLOSED EYES — VISIONS OF THE BLIND — VISIONS OF OBJECTS SEEN LONG BEFORE BY THE SICK AND HEALTHY — ALL OBJECTS ONCE SEEN ARE PERMANENTLY RETAINED IN THE BRALN, 11—25 CHAPTER II. PICTURES OX SURROUXDIXG OBJECTS. DAGUERREAN PICTURES — PICTURES TAKEN IN THE DARK — PICTURES TAKEN ON ALL BODIES CONTLNUALLY, AND ENDURLNG AS THOSE BODIES — ALL PAST HISTORY THUS RECORDED, 26—31 1* V VI CONTEXTS. CHAPTER III. PSYCnOMETRY. DR. BUCHANAN'S EXPERIMENTS — EFFECTS OF MEDICLNES UPON PERSONS WHEN HELD IN Tni- HAND — CHARACTER DESCRIBED FROM UNSEEN LETTERS, 32— 3G CHAPTER IV, EXPER IMEXTS. EXPERIMENTS WITH GEOLOGICAL, METEORIC, MISCELLANEOUS, GEOGRAPH- ICAL, ARCTIEOLOGICAL, AND METALLIC SPECIMENS, 37—254 CHAPTER V. REMARKABLE PHENOMENA EXPLAINED. SPECTRAL ILLUSIONS — APPARITION'S — VISIONS, 255— 2GG CHAPTER VI. UTILITY OF PSYCHOMETRY, UTILITY 09 PSY1 HOMETRY P0 THE GEOLOGIST, THE PALEONTOLOGIST, THE mini. B, THE ASTRONOMER, THE PHYSIOLOGIST, \m> THE ANATOMIST— ITS EPLOYXBHl in i in. CUKE OF DISEASES — ITS BENEFIT K) THE ai:i i-i ami mi. HISTORIAN — RADIANT FORCES PA881NG PROM RUMAR SI CONTENTS. VII AND INFLUENCING OTHERS — INFLUENCE OF PEOPLE ON THE COUNTRY IN WHICH THEY LIVE — INFLUENCE OF A COUNTRY ON THE PEOPLE —WOMAN MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO PSYCHOMETRIC INFLUENCE THAN MAN — PSYCHOM- ETRY AS A DISCOVERER OF CRIME, 267—287 CHAPTER VII. MYSTERIES REVEALED. FORTUNE-TELLING — DREAMS — RELICS AND AMULETS — HALLUCINATIONS, 289—305 CHAPTER VIII. CONCLUSION. PSYCHOMETRY REVEALS THE POWERS OF THE SOUL — AS THE BODY BE- COMES WEAKER IT BECOMES STRONGER — EVIDENCE OF OUR FUTURE EXISTENCE, 306—308 PART II. QUESTIONS, CONSIDERATIONS, AND SUGGESTIONS. HOW OBJECTS ARE SEEN PSYCHOMETRICALLY, 312—320 SEEN BEST IN DARKNESS, AND WITH CLOSED EYES, 321—328 WHY CALLED SIGHT, 328—332 MESMERIC INFLUENCE NOT NEEDED TO INDUCE THE NECESSARY SENSITIVENESS, 333—335 VIII CONTENTS. WHEBE THE GAZE IS DIRECTED, 335 — 336 WHY THE PSYCIIOMETER IS UNABLE TO SEE SOME OBJECTS, . . . 336—339 THE NATURE OF THE LIGHT BY WHICH OBJECTS ARE SEEN, . . . 339—347 HOW THE PSYCHOMETER TRAVELS, OR APPEARS TO TRAVEL, . . 34S — 353 HOW ACCOUNT FOR THE HEARING OF SOUNDS, 354—355 GOING BACKWARD FN TIME, 356 CONTINUED EFFECTS OF INFLUENCES, 356 — 3C0 DEPARTED SPIRITS, 361 PREDOMINANT INFLUENCES, 362—364 CONCLUSION, 364—366 PART I PSYCHOMETRIC RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES. BY WILLIAM DENTON. "On the hardest adamant some footprint of us is stamped in; the last rear of the host will read traces of the earliest van." — Carlylc. [lie air is one vast library, on whose pages are 'forever written all that nian has ever said, or woman whispered." — Prof. Haulage. THE SOUL OF THINGS. CHAPTER I. PICTURES OX THE RETIXA AXD BRAIX. By looking into the eye of an individual beholding a landscape, we can see therein a picture of the fields, houses^trees, and objects generally that come within the range of his vision. This is because rays of light proceeding from these objects pass to the retina of t the eye ; and there form images or pictures of them. Nothing is apparent to ordinary vision until it is painted upon this window of the soul. The pictures so made and seen are not as evanescent as they are generally supposed to be. They seem to pass from the retina of the eye into the brain, and are there indelibly impressed upon its substance ; and under certain conditions they can be brought before the gaze years afterward, with as great distinctness as the beholder was conscious of at the time the ob- jects themselves were presented to the sight. Thus Sir Isaac Newton, in a letter to Locke, says : " I looked a very little while upon the sun in the look- ing-glass with my right eye, and then turned my eyes into a dark corner of my chamber and winked, to ob- 11 12 THE SOUL OF THINGS. serve the impression made, and the circle of colors which encompassed it, and how they decayed by de- grees, and at last vanished. Intending my fancy upon them to see their last appearance, I found, to my amazement, that they began to return, and by little^ an 1 little to become as lively and vivid as when I had newly looked upon the sun. But when I ceased to intend my fancy upon them they vanished again. After this, I found that as often as I went into the dark and intended my mind upon them, as when a man looks earnestly to see anything which is difficult to be seen, I could make the phantasm return without looking any more upon the sun : and the oftener I made it return, the more easily I could make it return again. And at length by repeating this, without looking any more upon the sun, I made such an impression on my eye that, if I looked upon the clouds, or a book, or any bright object, I saw upon it a round, bright spot of light like the sun. . . . And now in a few hours 7 time I had brought my eyes to such a pass, that I could look upon no bright object with either eye but I saw the sun before me, so that I durst neither write nor read : but to recover the use of my eyes I shut my- self up in my chamber, made dark, for three days ither, and used all means to divert my imagination from the Bun. For if I thought upon him I presently saw his picture, though I was in the dark. . . . For ie months after, the spectrum of the Bun began to return as often as I began in meditate n\^n the phe- nomena, even though 1 lay in bed at midnight with my curtains drawn i. in of n,w ton, i PICTURES ON THE RETINA AND BRAIN. 13 There are probably but few persons that perceive such impressions as readily and vividly as Newton did this of the sun ; but I think there are facts sufficient to show that all persons retain these impressions in a latent form, though the conditions favorable for their manifestation may not be present. Were experiments instituted for the purpose of testing the duration of visual impressions, as in the following, the result would be surprising to most persons. " Dr. Darwin says, i I covered a paper about four inches square w^ith yellow, and, with a pen filled with a blue color, wrote upon the middle of it the word banks in capitals, and, sit- ting with my back to the sun, fixed my eyes for a min- ute on the centre of the letter N in the word. After shutting my eyes, and shading them somewhat with my hand, the word was distinctly seen in the spectrum, in yellow colors on a blue ground ; and then, on open- ing my eyes on a yellowish wall, at twenty feet dis- tance, the magnified name of banks appeared on the wall written in golden characters. 7 "* In this case the word was seen with closed eyes, though in a different color from that in which it was written. The reason that blue was seen in place of yellow, and yellow instead of blue, probably arose from the fact that when we look for a long while upon one color, the eye becomes unable for some time to perceive that color, and we see, in the place of it, its complementary color. Blue and yellow being complementary colors, the one was seen in place of the other. " Dr. Ferriar mentions of himself that when about the age of fourteen, if he had been viewing any inter- * Abercrombie's Intellectual Philosophy. 14: THE SOUL OF THINGS. eating object in the course of the day, as a romantic ruin, a line seat, or a review of troops, so soon as even- ing came, if he had occasion to go into a dark room, the whole scene was brought before him with a bril- liancy equal to what it possessed in daylight, and re- mained visible for some minutes. " In these cases, the impressions do not seem to have been retained long afrer the objects were presented to the eye ; and it might be supposed that the impression made upon the retina was bo strong, that the pictures were retained there for a time and gradually faded away ; but in the cases that I shall now bring forward, it will be seen that this explanation is altogether insufficient to ac- count for the facts presented. Persons who have become blind are very naturally more observing of such visions, as well as more liable to their presentation ; and we have, therefore, many well-authenticated instances of persons who had be- come blind, that could at times see the objects on which their eyes had previously rested, with all the vividness of reality. '•'Dr. Samuel Willard, of Deerfield, Mass., has for the last twenty-five years been completely blind, and for twelve years previous had only been able to dis- tinguish large objects indistinctly; but even now, when closeted in his room, visions of the green fields sunny dopes of the Connecticut valley appear to him as really as when he gazed upon them with his i period have admitted no light. II- denies thai this is imagination, but regards it as riiibitioD of one of the mysterious modes by which the mind may hold communication with the outer world PICTURES OX THE RETINA AND BRAIN. 15 without the aid of the senses. 7 '* The imagination pos- sesses no such power as some persons attribute to it, and Dr. Wiilard very properly refused to recognize this phenomenon as its offspring. But if he can only see what his eyes had previously gazed upon, it is not, I think, as he supposes, an exhibition of a mode by which the mind may hold communication with the outer world without the aid of the senses, for the sense of vision had first to be employed to obtain these pictures ; but it is an exhibition of a power by which the scenes taken into the mind by the sense of vision become again visible, — scenes no one of which, apparently, is ever lost or obliterated. The case of Niebuhr, the celebrated Danish trav- eller, much resembles this. " When old, blind, and so infirm that he was able only to be carried from his bed to his chair, he used to describe to his friends the scenes which he had visited in his early clays with wonderful minuteness and vivacity. When they ex- pressed their astonishment, he told them that as he lay in his bed, all visible objects shut out, the pictures of what he had seen in the East continually floated before his mind's eye, so that it was no wonder he could speak of them as if he had seen them yesterday. With like vividness the deep, intense sky of Asia, with its bril- liant and twinkling host of stars, which he had so often gazed at by night, or its lofty vault of blue by day, was reflected in the hours of stillness and darkness on his inmost soul." f That these images are really imprinted upon the brain, in many cases at least, and not merely upon the * American Encyclopedia, Vol. in. p. 357. f Intellectual Philosophy, p. 100. 1G THE SOUL OF THINGS. retina of the eye, there is the best of evidence. Miil- ler, the German | gist, informs us that a remark- ed by Lincke, in which the extir- llowed by the appearance of luminous 3 re the orbit as long as the inflam- i the operation endured. -A had been for a Jong time blind Eer illusions were of the sight, and stantly haunted by strange visions. After her death it rtained that the two optic nerves, from the part at which they are united within the head (whi ists 11 their commissure) to their ter- mination in the retina, were shrunk and wasted, so y must have been wholly incapable of perform- i must be evi- . that tli n were not impr i the retina, and in the Lai we can hardly conceive ■ behold them to reside in the optic nerve; must have been impressed upon the brain, and the of inflammation in the one c and of insanity in the other, rendered them visible, ben attacked by fever, or dig inied with fever, have had presented to them thai they had beheld years before, and which iey had entirely forgotten. Mr. Mac- nish interesting accounl of a vision thus Been by himself: "In March, L829, during an mpanied with violenl action in the of a very peculiar kind, did no! appear . re Bhut perfectly dark ; and thi the PICTURES OX THE RETINA AND BRAIN. 17 most distressing things connected with my illness ; for it obliged me either to keep my eyes open, or to admit more light into the chamber than they could well tol- erate. " One night, when the fever was at its height, I had a splendid vision of a theatre, in the arena of which Ducrow, the celebrated equestrian, was performing. On this occasion everything was gay, bright and beau- tiful. I was broad awake, my eyes were closed, and yet I saw with perfect distinctness the whole scene going on in the theatre — Ducrow performing his won- ders of horsemanship, and the assembled multitude, among whom I recognized several intimate friends — in short, the whole process of the entertainment, as clearly as if I were present at it. When I opened my eyes the whole scene vanished like the enchanted pal- ace of the necromancer ; when I closed them, it as instantly returned. . . . This theatrical vision contin- ued for about five hours.'" * It is evident, from his account, that Mr. Macnish had seen just such a per- formance as this: the inimitable painter, Light, had drawn it in the eye, complete in every feature, and thence it had been transferred to the brain. During the paroxysm of the fever, the curtain was drawn that ordinarily conceals such pictures from our gaze, and there it hung, as bright and beautiful as on the day of its execution. The wonder is, not that such pictures are seen, but that they are so seldom seen, or, being seen, are so little noticed. Hugh Miller, when young, attended theatre in Edin- burgh. " The scenery/' he says, "made no favorable * Combe's Phrenology, p. 352, 18 THE SOUL OF THINGS. impression upon me ; but fourteen years after, when the whole seemed to have passed out of my memory, 1 was lying ill of small-pox, which, though a good deal modified, apparently, by the vaccination of a long an- terior period, was accompanied by such a degree of fever that for two days together one delirious image continued to succeed another in the troubled senso- rium, as scene succeeds scene in the box of an itin- erant showman. As is not uncommon, however, in such cases, though ill enough to be haunted by the images, I was yet well enough to know that they were idle unrealities, the mere effect of indisposition, and even sufficiently collected to take an interest in watch- ing them as they arose, and in striving to determine whether they were linked together by the ordinary associative ties. I found, however, that they w r ere wholly independent of each other. Curious to know whether the will exerted any power over them, I set myself to try whether I could not conjure up a death's I as one of the series; but w T hat rose instead was a cheerful parlor lire, bearing atop a tea-kettle; and as the picture 1'aded and then vanished, it was succeeded by a gorgeous cataract, in which the white foam, at first strongly relieved against the dark rock over which II. -non exhibited a dee]) tinge of sulphurous blue, and then came dashing down in one frightful sheet of blood The greal singularity of the vision served to ben recollection, and I detected in the strange cat- aracl every line and tint of the waterfall in the incan- iene in * Der Freischutz,' which I bad witne in the Theatre Royal of Edinburgh, with certainly no pari icular he i l« >ng before. PICTURES OX THE RETINA AND BRAIN. 19 " Tliere are, I suspect, provinces in the philosophy of mind into which the metaphysicians have not yet entered. Of that accessible storehouse, in which the memories of past events lie arranged and taped up, they appear to know a good deal ; but of a mysterious cabinet of daguerreotype pictures, of which, though fast locked up on ordinary occasions, disease sometimes flings the door ajar, they seem to know nothing."*" As reasonably might the Ptolemaic astronomer have supposed that he had discovered the boundaries of the material universe, as for the metaphysician to suppose that he has traversed and bounded the mental universe, which seems to be as infinite as space itself. " At the Leeds meeting of the British Association, Prof. Stevelly narrated the following anecdote : At the close of the last college session he had been in weak health, and had gone to his brother-in-law's seat in the country for a few weeks. While there, he had become greatly interested in the economy and habits of the bees. ' One morning, soon after breakfast, the servant came in to say that one of the hives was just beginning to swarm. The morning was a beautifully clear sunny one, and I stood gazing at the insects, as they appeared projected against the bright sky, rapidly and uneasily coursing hither and thither in most curious yet regular confusion, the drones making a humming noise much louder and sharper than the workers, from whom also they were easily distinguished by their size, but all appearing much larger in their rapid flights than their true size. In the evening, as it grew dark, I again went out to see the bee-hive, into which the swarm * My Schools and Schoolmasters, p. 332. 20 THE SOUL OF THINGS. had been collected, removed to its stand. Soon after I was much surprised to see, as I thought, multitudes of large flies coursing about the air. I mentioned it to my sister-in-law, who said I must be mistaken, as she had never seen an evening in which so few flies were abroad. Soon after, when I retired to my chamber, and knelt to my prayers before going to my rest, I was surprised to see coursing backward and forward, between me and the wall, what I now recognized as the swarm of bees, the drones quite easily distinguish- able from the workers, and all in rapid whirling motion, as in the morning. This scene continued to be present to me as long as I remained awake, and occasionally when I awoke in the night; nor had it entirely faded away by the next night, although much less vivid. This was the first instance I had ever seen of moving impressions having become permanently impressed upon the retina, nor can I give the slightest guess at the modus operandi of the nerve.' " * These visions, or re-visions as they may be termed, are not unknown to persons who are in sound mind and good health ; and I find with some they are so common, they never regard them as at all wonderful, supposing that all persons are conscious of them. In companies of five or six persons, I have sometimes found two, and at other times throe, who often ordinary objects with the eye- closed, especially Buch as have frequently come before them during the day. I have jusl received a letter from a lady, in which - : •• Since si rawberries began to ripen, or rather since 1 b< pick them, I can see nothing Common Urn, by o. n. Lewes, Vol. n. p. i PICTURES OX THE RETINA AND BRAIN. 21 else : they are before me whenever I close my eyes." Muller, to whom I have referred, says : " Any one who can watch the changes which take place in him- self, at the time when sleep is coming on, will some- times be able to perceive the images distinctly in the eyes. On waking, too, in a dark room, it sometimes happens that images of landscapes and similar objects still float before the eyes. Aristotle, Spinoza, and still more recently G-ruithuisen, have made this observation. I have myself also very frequently seen these phan- tasms, but am now less liable to them than formerly.' 7 Generally these visions are seen with the eyes closed, and the observer has no power to produce or destroy them ; at other times they are seen with the eyes open, and can be produced at will. u A painter who inherited much of the patronage of Sir Joshua Eeynolds, and believed himself to possess a talent superior to his, was so fully engaged that he told me, that he had painted three hundred large and small portraits in one year. The fact appeared physically impossible, but the secret of his rapidity and astonish- ing success was this : he required but one sitting of his model. I watched him paint a portrait in miniature in eight hours, of a gentleman whom I well knew ; it was carefully done, and the resemblance was perfect. T begged him to detail to me his method of procedure, and he related what follows : i When a sitter came I looked attentively on him for half an hour, sketching from time to time on the canvas. I did not require a longer sitting. I removed the canvas and passed to another person. When I wished to continue the first portrait, I recalled the man to my mind. I placed him 22 THE SOUL OF THINGS. on the chair, where I perceived him as distinctly as if lie were really there, and, I may add, in form and color more decided and brilliant. I looked from time to time at the imaginary figure, and went on painting/ occasionally stopping to examine the picture, exactly a* though the original were before me ; whenever I looked toward the chair I saw the man. " ' This method made me very popular, and as I always caught the resemblance, the sitters were delighted that I spared them the annoying sittings of other painters. In this way I laid by much money for myself and my children.' " * Combe, in the same valuable work on Phrenology, gives another instance of an individual in sound health, who was liable to the presentation of visions of objects that he had previously beheld. He says: "Several years ago I saw a person in the West of Scotland who was liable to spectral illusions. He was then thirty- eight years of age, in sound health, remarkably intelli- gent, and by no means liable to extravagance either in his statements or ideas. He mentioned that there was almost constantly present to his mind the appearance of a carpet in motion, and spotted with figures. On visiting (Glasgow, he saw a large log of wood, mounted on two axles and four wheels, passing along the street ; and on returning home, the apparition of the timber and it- vehicle, with the horses and driver, stood before liini in the dimensions and hue- of actual existence. " On another occasion he saw a funeral pass by the end <>f Queen Street, in Glasgow, and for some time afterward, whenever he >Imt his eyes or was in dark- ..!.<•'- Phrenolog] , | PICTURES OX THE RETIXA AND BRAIN. 23 ness, the procession moved before his mind as distinctly as it had previously done before his eyes. These are merely a few instances, out of many, of beings and objects which he had seen reappearing to his fancy. He was not conscious of the appearance of any object which he had not previously seen ; and he was rarely? or almost never, troubled with these visions when actual existences were before his eyes in broad day- light; but at all times they appeared to a greater or less extent when his eyes were shut or darkness prevailed. He mentioned that this peculiarity had descended to his son." I know a family in which mother, daughter, and granddaughter all possess this peculiarity. " Spectral illusion 7; is, however, an improper name to designate that by, which is simply re-vision, or the retention of what has been seen, and its presentation to some inte- rior organ of vision, that human beings evidently pos- sess. Dr. Kitto says, " I retain a clear impression or image of everything at which I ever looked, although the coloring of that impression is necessarily vivid in proportion to the degree of interest with which the object was regarded. I find this faculty of much use and solace to me. By its aid I can live again at will in the midst of any scene or circumstances by which I have been once surrounded. By a voluntary act of mind I can in a moment conjure up the whole of any one out of the innumerable scenes in which the slight- est interest has at any time been felt by me. 77 * From these facts it is evident, that the pictures * Body and Mind, Dr. George Moore, p. 206. 24 THE SOUL OF THINGS. taken in by the e} T e on ordinary occasions, are, in some individuals at least, wonderfully enduring ; after many years retaining all the perfection of detail and beauty of coloring with which they were originally invested. And there is good reason to believe that this is the case with all persons; the pictures are retained, though conditions may not be favorable for their manifestation. If Hugh Miller and Dr. Macnish had never been at- tacked by disease, could they have credited the exist- ence in the mind of the pictures which they saw ? So the mass of mankind dream not of the existence in their own minds of all they ever saw ; there notwith- standing, and only waiting till the veil shall be re- moved. There is the little cradle in which we were rocked, and the faces that bent over it; the oak under whose branches we played and whose acorns were our treasures. The old school-house is there, and the por- trait of every bo}^ and girl that sat in it with us. There hang all the landscapes we ever saw, with their numberless hills, streams, fields, trees, beasts and birds; in all lights and shades, from early morn to dewy eve; in all seasons, when Winter spreads his snowy mantle to hide his nakedness, and when Summer sits smiling at the beautiful prospect. In that gallery are ail the men and women we ever saw; the hurrying crowd that swept past us in Xew York, Boston, or London — none went bo swiftly but he left his portrait. No beggar but carries about with him pictures, that outnumber and outvie all that art lias made since the day of its birth, — pictures better colored than Titian's, more inal than Raphael's, more beautiful than Quido's, and more natural than Hogarth's. In sleep we some- PICTURES ON THE RETINA AND BRAIN. 25 times wander through this soul's picture-gallery, and catch glimpses of its beauty ; but of its grandeur and perfection we have not even dreamed. Wild as the statement may seem, I have no doubt that our minds receive and retain impressions of what is transpiring around us, even when we are unconscious at the time of what is taking place. " A boy, whose case is given by Dr. Abercrombie, was obliged at the age of five years to have his skull trepanned, it having been fractured by a fall from a window. He was of course quite insensible at the time, and after his recov- ery had no recollection either of the accident or the operation. But when a grown man, fourteen years after, he was attacked with fever ; and during the con- sequent delirium he astonished his mother with an account of the operation, describing minute particu- lars, even to the dress worn by the surgeon, all which his mother knew to be correct. He never alluded to it in his after life."* The probability of this will become more apparent as we proceed. * Lecture by W. J. Fox. CHAPTER II. PICTURES OX SURROUNDING OBJECTS. The rays of light, proceeding from objects in the light, have the power of forming pictures on other bod- ies, as well as on the retina of the eye. If the body be sufficiently opaque and polished, we can readily see them, as in an ordinary mirror, or a polished plate of metal, or water; as we observe in the river the trees that grow hy its margin ; and although when the object is removed no picture is visible, there is good :>n to believe that the picture thus formed is nearly, if not entirely, as enduring as the substance on which it is formed. We visit a daguerrean room and sit before the camera ; while thus sitting our picture is formed on a ired silver plate, and while wo sit it is distinctly it ; it is taken out of the camera, and now, nothing whatever can be seen; a searching microscopic ttion discovers no line; but, on a si ppli- .;•. It is no mor . now thai ' able, than il < ore ; •It 4 which as I it. If the pro [never who that an u 1 upon a 20 PICTURES OX SURROUNDING OBJECTS. 27 plate under such circumstances, and lay sleeping there- till art should awaken it ? If the silvered plate had not been previously made sensitive, some will say, the image of the sitter would never have been retained: but facts prove that this is incorrect, G-. H. Lewes says, "If a wafer be laid on a surface of polished metal, which is then breathed upon, and if, when the moisture of the breath has evaporated, the wafer be shaken off, we shall find that the whole polished surface is not as it was before, although our senses can detect no difference ; for if we breathe again upon it, the surface will be moist everywhere, except on the spot previously sheltered by the wafer, which will now appear as a spectral image upon the surface. Again and again we breathe, and the moisture evaporates, but still the spectral wafer reappears. This experiment succeeds after the lapse of many months, if the metal be carefully put aside where its surface cannot be disturbed/' On try- ing a similar experiment, I have repeatedly brushed the surface of the polished plate with a camel's hair brush, and yet, on breathing upon it, the image of a coin previously laid upon it was distinctly visible. " If a sheet of paper on which a key has been laid, be exposed for some minutes to the sunshine, and then instantaneously viewed in the dark, the key being removed, a fading spectre of the key will be visible. Let this paper be put aside for many months where nothing can disturb it, and then in darkness be laid upon a plate of hot metal, the spectre of the key will again appear. " In the case of bodies more highly phosphorescent 28 THE SOUL OF THINGS. than paper, the spectre of many different objects which may have been laid on in succession will, on warming, emerge in their proper order." " If a screen cut in a pattern be held over a polished metallic surface at a small distance, and the whole breathed on, after the vapor has evaporated so that no trace is left upon the surface, the pattern comes out when it is breathed on again." These are facts whose truth can be readily test- ed. Here there is no previous preparation beyond that of producing the polished surface, and yet images are formed, even without contact. And where the surface of a body is unpolished, there is no doubt that pictures are still formed upon it, though the difficulty of making them visible is greatly increased. Thus Sir David Brewster, whose authority on this subject cannot be questioned, says, " All bodies throw oft' emanations in greater or less size and with greater or less velocities ; these particles enter more or less into the pores of solid and fluid bodies, sometimes resting upon their surface, and sometimes permeating them alto- gether. These emanations, when feeble, show them- selves in images; when stronger, in chemical changes; when stronger still, in their action on the olfactory nerves : and when thrown off most copiously and rap- . in heat affecting the nerves of touch; in photo- nic action, d mbining the cle- f nature; and in phosphorescenl and Luminous emanations, exci iid prodn ion." These ema rhich he sp ling from all by night as well as day, and have the power of transferring the appearances of obj PICTURES ON SURROUNDING OBJECTS. 29 to others in their vicinity, not merely upon their sur- faces, but even into their interiors, so that the rough- ness of a body can be no hindrance to its reception of these pictures. Niepce de St. Victor, " having exposed to the sun for a quarter of an hour an engraving which had been kept several days in the dark, applied it to a sheet of sensitive paper, and after four hours 7 contact in the dark he obtained a negative picture of the engraving. If the distance between the engraving and the paper is one-eighth of an inch, or if a film of collodion or gelatine is interposed, the picture will still be ob- tained/ 7 * More recent experiments show that the previous exposure to the sunshine is unnecessary. " The im- pression of an engraving was made by laying it face downward on a silver plate iodized, and placing an amalgamated copper plate upon it ; it was left in dark- ness fifteen hours, when an impression of the engrav- ing had been made on the amalgamated plate through the paper. 77 f The same may be done, it is said, on plates of iron, zinc, or copper. u An iodized silver plate was placed in darkness with a coil of string on it, and with a polished silver plate suspended one- eighth of an inch above it ; after four hours they were exposed to the vapors of mercury, which became uni- formly deposited on the iodized plate ; but on the sil- ver one there was a sharp image of the string ; so that the image was formed in the dark, and even without contact. 77 f * See Annuals of Scientific Discovery from 1858. f Mrs. Somerville's Connection of the Physical Sciences, p. 237. 3* 30 THE SOUL OF THINGS. That photographic impressions are not confined to the mere surfaces on which they are visible, is evident. Every daguerreotypist knows the difficulty there is in effacing impressions from a plate : for after polishing a plate once used, and using it again, the image of the former sitter, to the chagrin of the artist, will fre- quently reappear. After a photographic impression upon a plate has been to all appearance wholly re- moved by polishing, so that another image could be taken upon it without the reappearance of the former, repeated discharges of electricity will reproduce the impression, showing that it had sunk into the sub- stance of the plate to a considerable depth. And since this is the case, it must be evident that the roughness of a body is no hindrance to the formation of pictures upon or within it; for the condition of the surface can make no difference in the capability of the interior to receive impressions. The rapidity with which photographic impressions may be made is shown by the following experiment : " A wheel was made by Mr. Talbot to revolve as rap- idly as a combination of multiplying wheels could make it fly; and when lit by an electric flash its pho- tograph was taken, and in it every spoke was distinctly visil t perfect rest, though duration of the illuminating spark, according to the experiments of Prof. Wheatstone, is only one-mil- !." * j)!v these indisputable facts, and in the world around us radiant forces are passing from all obj to all objects in their vicinity, and during every mo- .ill Of X-j.-i. ; . 102. PICTURES ON SURROUNDING OBJECTS. 31 nient of the clay and night are daguerreotyping the appearances of each upon the other; the images thus made, not merely resting upon the surface, but sinking into the interior of them ; there held with astonishing tenacity, and only waiting for a suitable application to reveal themselves to the inquiring gaze. You cannot, then, enter a room by night or day, but you leave on going out your portrait behind you. You cannot lift your hand, or wink your eye, or the wind stir a hair of your head, but each movement is infallibly registered for coming ages. The pane of glass in the window, the brick in the wall, and the paving-stone in the street, catch the pictures of all passers-by, and faith- fully preserve them. Not a leaf waves, not an insect crawls, not a ripple moves, but each motion is recorded by a thousand faithful scribes in infallible and indeli- ble scripture. This is just as true of all past time. From the first dawn of light upon this infant globe, when round its cradle the steamy curtains hung, to this moment, Nature has been busy photographing every moment. What a picture-gallery is hers ! There are the heaving crust, as the fiery tides pass under it : the belching volcanoes, the glaring lava torrents, the con- densing waters, the rushing floods, and the terrible struggles of the early stormy times ; the watery ex- panse unshored ; the new-born naked islands peeping above the waves; the first infusorial points, too small to leave a fossil trace behind them ; and the earliest fucoids that clung to the wave-washed rock. Every radiate and mollusc of the Silurian era, every ganoid of the Devonian, has sat for its portrait, and here it is. Not a 3- THE SOUL OF THINGS. leaf that grew m the Carboniferous forests, not a beetle that crawled, nor frog that hopped; not a monster of the Oolite, nor beast of the Tertiary, wanting. There are grand panoramas of the past, containing ail that man ever did, — the first rude savages of the world, their hunts, their wars, their progress ; the histoiy of all nations and peoples from the cradle to the grave. " They may be there,-' says the cool reader, "but how shall we be able to see them ? Xone but a madman would dream of such a thing.' 7 It would be strange if Nature admitted no mortal to her matchless galleries ; if, after employing myriads of artists in drawing the waking and sleeping world, she should permit no human eye to behold her instruc- tive pictures. To catch a shadow, was once the acme of the impossible ; now, country lads, with a camera for a trap, do it in almost every little village. And this is in appearance no greater impossibility than that was once regarded. There is nothing more difficult than to tell what can not be done ; and many wise men have made themselves foolish prophets in attempt- ing it. I know of no chemical application that can make le to ordinary observers these pictures with which all objects abound ; but in some individuals the brain insitive to perceive them when it is proximity to the objects on which I CHAPTER III. PSYCHOMETRY. This discovery was made in consequence of reading of Dr. Buchanan's researches and discoveries in another department of this great field ; and some account of his discoveries is necessary in order to the understand- ing of this. In 18-19 he writes: " About nine years since, in conversation with Bishop , of the Episco- pal Church, he informed me that his own sensibility was so acute, that if he should by accident touch a piece of brass, even in the night, when he could not see what he touched, he immediately felt the influence through his system, and could recognize the offensive metallic taste. "* This remark would have led to nothing farther, had it been related to many, but in this case the right thing was told to the right man ; and he commenced a series of experiments, placing metals of various kinds into the hands of persons of great sensibility, and in this way found that there was a number who possessed the power of naming metals, without any knowledge but that which was communicated in this way by touch. As the experi- ments were continued, it was found that other sub- stances could thus affect sensitive individuals. " Su- gar, salt, pepper, acids, and other substances of a de- * Buchanan's Journal of Man, Vol. I. p. 51. 33 34 THE SOUL OF THINGS. cided taste, made so distinct an impression that each could be recognized and named, by many of those upon whom the experiment was performed. These experiments were careftiHy performed ; the substance either concealed from sight, or enveloped in paper, and sometimes no person present knew what substance was being tested until the close of the experiment. Out of a class of one hundred and thirty students at the Eclectic Medical College, Cincinnati, forty-three of them signed a declaration that when various medicines were enveloped in paper, so as to be unknown to them, by holding them in their hands from five to twenty minutes, the distinct effects were produced upon them similar to those which would have been produced by the action of the same medicines admin- istered in the ordinary way. Dr. Buchanan adds that " when an emetic was the subject of the experiment, the individual was able to avoid vomiting only by sus- pending the experiment." * After proceeding thus far, he thought that sensitive persons might be affected by contact with living beings in a similar manner ; and this conjecture he found abundantly verified by experiment. Persons of highly impressible constitution could, by placing the hand on different portions of the head and body, " experience at each point a distinct effect, corresponding to the peculiar vital functions of the part. Nor was contact lately n . Highly sensitive persons com into the presence of diseased individuals, recog- QCe to locale it." Without giving all the steps taken by Dr. Buchanan f Journal of Alan, Vol. I., page 54. PSYCHOMETRY. 35 in his researches, it may be sufficient to say that about two years after making his first discoveries, he found individuals so sensitive that the influence communi- cated by the writer to a letter could be recognized by them, when the letter was placed in contact with the forehead, and in some cases the character and habits i 7 ] of the individual writing the letter could be thus given ' with wonderful accuracy. This will doubtless seem to some too marvellous for belief; but the evidence on this subject is now over- whelming. I know numbers of persons who by tak- ing a letter in the hand, or placing it on the forehead, without seeing the writing, or having the slightest idea of the writer, can describe his character with as great, or greater accuracy than his most intimate friends. Any person desirous of testing this can read- ily do so. On reading the statements of Dr. Buchanan, I re- solved to see what portion of them I could verify by experiment. My sister, Anne Denton Cridge, being highly impressible, was able, in a short time, to read character from letters readily ; and what was still more wonderful to us, and at the same time inexplicable, was, that at times she saw and described the writers of letters she was examining, and their surroundings, telling, at times, even the color of hair and eyes cor- rectly. After testing this thoroughly by numerous exper- iments, being intensely interested in geology and pale- ontology, it occurred to me that perhaps something might be done by psychometry — the term given by Dr. Buchanan to the power by which character was de- 36 THE SOUL OF THINGS. scribed by contact with persons, or from letters — in these departments of science. If there could be im- pressed upon a letter the image of the writer and his surroundings during the brief space of time that the paper was subjected to their influence, — and this was the conclusion I eventually arrived at, — why could not rocks receive impressions of surrounding objects, some of which they have been in the immediate neigh- borhood of for years, and why could they not com- municate this in a similar manner to sensitive per- sons : thus giving us the clue to the conditions of the earth and its inhabitants during the vast eras of the past? I accordingly commenced, some ten years ago, a series of experiments with mineral and fossil speci- mens and archeological remains, and was delighted to find that without possessing any previous knowledge of the specimen, or even seeing it, the history of its time passed before the gaze of the seer like a grand panoramic view ; sometimes almost with the rapidity of lightning, and at other times so slowly and distinctly that it could be described as readily as an ordinary scene. The specimen to be examined was generally placed upon the forehead, and held there during the examination; but this was not absolutely necessary, some psychomotors being able to sec when holding a specimen in the h Th of the experi at vari- bimes, I give in the words of the psychomotor the time. In - es the phraseology lias been itly changed, the idea b rally the are given. CHAPTER IV. EXPEBIMENTS. Our earliest experiments were by no means as sat- isfactory as they subsequently became ; the power of the psychometer increasing as the experiments con- tinued. I present many of these, because they show the manifestation of this power as we first became acquainted with it. EXPERIMENT I. Piece of limestone, full of small fossil shells, from Quindaro, Kansas, a small town on the Missouri River. Examined by my sister, Mrs. Cridge. Specimen un- seen, and nothing known by her regarding it. "It seems to me there is a deep hole here. Oh, what shells ! small shells ; so many. I see water ; it looks like a river running along. What a high hill ! almost perpendicular ; it seems as if the water had cut it in two ; it is not so high on the other side. The hill is covered with sand and gravel." In this case the present condition of the place, where I obtained the specimen, was given, and, as far as I am acquainted with the spot, it is a very accurate description. This piece of rock had taken in the pic- tures of the turbid Missouri that swept past it, the hill 38 THE SOUL OF THINGS. that hung over it, and the country in general around it, and, to the eye of the psyckometer, they became apparently as plainly visible as to a spectator on tbe spot. EXPERIMENT II. Piece of quartz from Panama. Examined by my wife, Mrs. Denton. Saw it, but knew nothing respecting it. u I see wkat looks like a monstrous insect. Its body is covered with shelly rings, and its head is furnished with antennas that are nearly a foot long. It stands with its head against a rock that looks like this. I see an enormous snake coiled up among wild, wiry grass. The climate of the country seems to be much warmer than this ; the vegetation is tropical." The animal seen was probably a land crustacean of some kind. The whole of the vision is evidently in harmony with the tropical condition of the country, from which the specimen was obtained. EXPERIMENT III Fragment of lava from Kilauea, on Hawaii, one of the Sandwich Islands. Mrs. Cridge. Specimen unseen by her. She had no idea of what it was, nor did she know that I pos- 1 any such specimen. •• I sec the ocean, and ships sailing on it. This must b • an island. Tor the water is all around. "Now 1 am turned from where I saw the vessels, and am Looking at something most terrific, li seems as if an ocean of fire was pouring over a precipice, and boiling as H pours. The sight permeates my LAYA FROM KILAUEA. 39 whole being, or the terror which it inspires. I see it flow into the ocean, and the water boils intensely. I seem to be standing on one side of it. 77 The feeling of terror, produced by the sight, did not entirely pass off for an hour. It seemed to be as great as if she had actually stood upon the spot, and beheld the whole as an ordinary spectator. Those who have read Mr. Coan 7 s account of the eruption of Kilauea, in 1840, will see the accuracy of the description. The specimen of lava examined, which was not larger than a hazel-nut, was, I under- stood, ejected from Kilauea, during that eruption, when, as Mr. Coan says, " a river of fused minerals, of the breadth of Niagara, and of a gory red, fell in one emblazoned sheet, one raging torrent, into the ocean. 77 There can be no guess-work about such a descrip- tion as this. I am well satisfied that my sister had not the most remote idea of what the substance was that she was trying, until the vision was presented to her view, nor indeed then : and it will be seen, in experi- ments that I shall present, that my knowledge had nothing to do with calling up these images before her. EXEEBULEST IV. I wrapped a number of specimens of various kinds in separate papers, and Mrs. Denton took one, neither of us knowing anything respecting it. She said, — " The first thing I see is a volcano, or what I take to be one. An elevation of considerable height appears before me, and down its side flows a torrent of melted matter, though torrent does not convey the idea ; it is broad and shallow, and moves, not rapidly, like water, 40 THE SOUL OF THINGS. but creeps slowly along. Xow I see another stream pour over the top of the first, and the whole side of the mountain is covered. This second flow moves much more rapidly than the first. This specimen must be lava.' 7 On examination it proved to be a piece of brick- colored lava, picked up on the banks of the Upper Missouri, where it is common ; having been washed down probably from the Rocky Mountain region. AVe have the means, then, by this wondrous power, of calling up and examining in minute detail the vol- canic eruptions of all time, provided we can obtain specimens of their products; — see TenerinVs mighty crater when covered with glowing lava, and its surg- ing waves beat madly against the black, craggy preci- pices that gird them; — read the story of Vesuvius, — that fiery old man of the mountain,— from the time that he was a screaming baby. Etna's history, written by his own finger, before the reed was fashioned or the papyrus prepared, will be read by coming savans, and his ruddy page shall shed new light on many dark and mysterious subjects. EXPERIMENT V. Fossil fish-bone found near Painesville, in a bone bed, of. probably, about the same age as the Hamilton group of the Devonian formation. Mrs. Poote. Had no idea of what it was. •• I see clouds of steam rising from the side 4 of a hill, and on one side a large ledge of blue rocks. •■ I now see something Ion-- and dark that looks like a fish : there seems t<> be a large hump or bunch near FOSSIL FISH BONE. 41 the head. I should think it is ten or twelve feet long, — perhaps not quite so long as that. I see now that there is no hump on its head. What I thought so is a rock that hangs over near its head. High rocks hang over the water, and trees grow on them. East of me is what seems to be the lake or ocean. I can see the bottom of the water ; it consists of sand and gravel. What a most beautiful place ! It seems so much so that it appears artificial." Some may think it strange that trees should be spoken of as growing during this period ; yet, I think, there is little doubt that the earth supported a luxuri- ant vegetation even before this period ; not as much so as during the succeeding Carboniferous period, but luxuriant compared with the flora of our temperate zone at this time. In the very bone-bed from which the specimen was taken, I found the impression of a tree nearly a foot in diameter. EXPERIMENT VI. Same specimen. Mrs. Denton. Had no knowledge of it, or of the previous examination. "I see a point of land extending into a large body of water. The water looks to me like a lake. It hardly seems large enough for the ocean. I can see along the shore for miles. There is a singular-looking object in the water, about eight or ten feet long ; and, from just below the head, it tapers the whole length nearly to a point. It has a skin without scales, like a cat-fish. I see it dive obliquely down, fasten itself at the bottom, and then wave its body to and fro. This 4* 42 THE SOUL OF THINGS. is a large fish. It has ^ix fins ; two pectoral, two ventral, one caudal, and one anal. Its eyes and mouth are large. It has no teeth, but a hard, sharp, bony gum. It sucks its prey, and when doing so, the open- ing of the mouth is nearly round; but when closed, there are corners on each side." She now became fatigued ; but the examination was continued on the following day. " Now I see the skeleton of it within the body. There is a large bony plate below the head, and to it other bones are fastened in some way. The back-bone at the upper part is as large as my wrist, but not one- third as thick laterally as vertically ; but near the tail the vertebrae are nearly circular. " I see roe within it. The eggs are quite large, but the layers are thin ; there are two of them, one lower than the other. The lower one is the more developed. " I catch a glimpse of a singular animal. The body seems roundish, but it is at such a distance, as well as in the water, that I cannot describe it minutely. The upper part is out of the water, and seems spread out like a sail, and the wind blows the animal along. It is so gauzy that I can see the light through it ; but there are dark lines that look like ribs supporting it ; and between the upright ribs are horizontal ones, jointed in the middle, that fold up in a very singular fashion, closing completely like a fan, when the animal wishes to sink. J Bee eight or ton of them now near each oilier." There is considerable difference between the two iv would be in the descrip- tions of any scene, given by two independent observ- FOSSIL FISH BONE. 43 ers. The scene in both cases is the shore of a large body of water ; both see a large fish, and nearly agree as to its length. It is, in both cases, the principal ob- ject seen, the bone of a fish being the subject of exam- ination, but neither person having any idea of it. What remarkable coincidences indeed, if this were mere guess-work, or chance. It might have been a piece of chert from a lead mine, shale from a coal mine, a fragment of a mastodon's tooth, or bone from some ex- isting fish or beast. No mere ordinary sensation could have distinguished it from these ; yet, here, without a hint or question, the conditions present themselves to two independent observers, that, I think, paleontolo- gists will at least consider probably existed during the period when the fossil under consideration was a part of a living organism. What a peep into the Devonian times this gives us. Trees adorn the land ; the water, in places, at least, is clear enough to see the gravelly bottom ; large fishes are basking in it, and genuine Nautiiidse, undreamed of by the naturalist, are floating upon the placid waters. What myriads of organic forms must have lived, with bodies that could not under any circumstances be preserved as fossils : jelly-fish, radiates of infinitely diversified forms ; mollusks, destitute of shells, or hav- ing shells too fragile for preservation. Of all these, the ordinary paleontologist knows no more than the histo- rian knows of nations that nourished before letters were invented, or than the ancient astronomers knew of planets invisible to the naked eye. As the tele- scope came to the assistance of the astronomer, and gave him more correct conceptions of known celestial 44 THE SOUL OF THIXGS. bodies, and revealed to his gaze the otherwise invisi- ble worlds of space, so the science of psvchometry will shed new light upon many extinct animals and plants of which we have some knowledge, and reveal to ns innumerable organic forms of whose existence, without its assistance, we should be as ignorant as* the world was of the existence of Uranus and her moons before the telescope was invented. EXPERIMENT 1-77. Calcareous tufa from the Temple of Neptune, Pass- turn, twelve miles from Mount Vesuvius. Mrs. Denton. Specimen unseen, and nothing known by her regarding it. " I see near me deep ravines and high hills. Some of the hills appear destitute of vegetation and look rocky and naked. Others in the distance are worn down and appear covered with verdure, and a mellow light shines over the country. At the foot of a moun- tain, which looks to me like a volcano, are a few houses having the appearance of a village ; but they vanish almost instantly. That mountain is a volcano. I see smoke and vapor mingled issuing lrom it, and it spreads over so as to hide the view from me in that direction. The sea is behind me. That mountain and its ejections are more strikingly visible than anything eke. Around here is a great waste, as if the country had been covered by eruptions from the mountain, making a dark brown surface which is above the origi- nal level of the country." Why was nut the temple soon? it may be asked. 1 do not know; l»ur it" the experiment bad been contin- STRIATED LIMESTONE BLOCK. 45 ued or renewed, I think it is probable that it would have been. Vesuvius seems, for the time being, to have overshadowed everything. EXPERIMENT VIII. Striated block of limestone, Grand River, Paines- ville, Ohio. Mrs. Denton. Saw the specimen, and may have had some idea of its nature. "I see a mountain ridge of ice, gorgeous, magnifi- cent, and yet terrible, The ridge has a sharp edge with deep notches in it. The sides are ragged. The whole mass seems moving slowly along. I can hear it grind and scrape as it passes over the rock. I believe it must be in water; it certainly could not move on land in that way. The lower part is in water." (Turned the specimen over.) " I see no water on this side, but great spires of ice rise very high. ;? Nothing can seem much stranger than that the grinding sound of a moving glacier which passed over the country ages ago should have been communicated to, and retained by, an imbedded boulder, so as to be heard by a person to-day; and yet I am as well as- sured of its truth, as I am of anything that has not come within the sphere of my own sensation. If light can impress itself upon objects so that they retain its influence for centuries ; if radiant forces, proceeding from objects in the dark, can form pictures of those bodies upon contiguous bodies, — and these facts sci- ence recognizes, — why may not the waves of sound register themselves so as to perpetuate their exist- ence, and give that explanation to the ear that the eye 4G THE SOUL OF THIXGS. of the psychonieter demands, as the life-like panorama passes before it? That sounds are registered in the human brain is evident ; and so thoroughly is this done that they can be heard by the individual years afterward, and, what is most surprising, with even more than their original clearness and force. Dr. Macnish, in his statement of the illusions to which he was subjected during an attack of fever referred to in page 16, says, "But though by closing my eyes I could thus dissipate the spectacle, I found it impossible to get rid of the accompanying music. This was the grand march in the opera of Aladdin, and was performed by the orchestra with more superb and imposing effect, and with greater loudness, than I had ever heard it before ; it was executed, indeed, with tremendous energy. This air I tried every effort to dissipate, by forcibly endeavoring to call other tunes to mind, but it was in vain. However completely the vision might be dispelled, the music remained in spite of every effort to banish it." The air played at the theatre was no more lost than the scene displayed ; and under the peculiar condi- tions produced by the fever, it was executed with even ater effect than before. The outward ear probably heard not, but the inward ear heard more intensely than it was possible for the outward ear to do. A blind man, mentioned by Dr. Macnish, was subject to illusions of sound ; " for ho <>i'ton had the conscious- ness <»i hearing music so strongly impressed upon him that it was with difficulty his friends could convince him it was purely ideal." PHONOTYPES. 47 "In October, ,1833, a woman, aged twenty-eight, born in Piedmont, went to a village ball ; she danced during three days in a sort of frenzy, and after- wards heard without cessation the melodies which had charmed her. They were Montferrines, and each gave place successively to tlie other. This continued until she died. 77 * Probably she was diseased, and her disease produced such a condition of the brain that the melodies ex- isting there could be heard. Disease possesses no power to make sights or sounds ; they are in the brain, and all that disease does is, occasionally, to produce the conditions by which they shall become manifest to the individual. Facts indicate that what we once hear, however carelessly, becomes indelibly impressed upon the mind, so that under extraordinary conditions it may be repeated with all the accuracy with which it was originally impressed. One step farther, and we have the impression made on material objects retained, then revealed to human consciousness, as in many of these experiments. Dr. Abercrombie, who deserves credit for recording many strange and valuable facts, relates the following : " A girl aged seven years, an orphan of the lowest rank, residing in the house of a farmer, by whom she was employed in attending cattle, was accustomed to sleep in an apartment separated by a very thin parti- tion from one which was frequently occupied by an itinerant fiddler. This person was a musician of very considerable skill, and often spent a part of the night in performing pieces of a refined description ; but his * De Boismont on Hallucinations, p. 316. 48 THE SOUL OF THINGS. performance was not taken notice of by the child, except as a disagreeable noise. After a residence of six months in this family she fell into bad health, and was removed to the house of a benevolent lady, where, on her recovery, after a protracted illness, she was employed as a servant. Some years after she came to reside with this lady, the most beautiful music was often heard in the house during the night, which excited no small interest and wonder in the family, and many a waking hour was spent in endeavors to discover the invisible minstrel. At length the sound was traced to the sleeping-room of the girl, who was found fast asleep, but uttering from her lips a sound exactly re- sembling the sweetest tones of a small violin. On farther observation it was found that, after being about two hours in bed, she became restless and began to mutter to herself; she then uttered sounds precisely resembling the tuning of a violin, and at length, after some prelude, dashed off into an elaborate piece of music, which she performed in a clear and accurate manner, and with a sound exactly resembling the most delicate modulation of the instrument, and then began exactly where she had stopped in the most correct manner. These paroxysms recurred at regular inter- vals, ranging from one to fourteen and even twenty nights, and they were generally followed by a degree of level' and pain over various parts of the body. When awake she showed no kind of turn lor music." Aj nothing we : ever effaced, so nothing we hear ever dies out Not only is there a wonderful cabinet in the mind containing pictures of all we ever saw, I mi there is also a storehouse of latent sounds PHOXOTYPES. 49 containing all we ever heard. The lullaby sung by our cradle, the patter of the rain upon the roof, the sighing of the wind, the roll of the thunder, the dash of the falling water, the murmur of affection, the oath of the inebriate, the hymn in the church, the song at the concert, the words of wisdom and folly, the whis- per of love, — all are faithfully registered. And our experiments have convinced me of what is still more difficult to believe, that all sounds register themselves on all objects within their influence, and that these phonotypes, as they may be termed, are almost, if not entirely, as enduring as the objects themselves. Phi- losophers tell us that " the slightest movement of the smallest body, in the remotest region, produces results which are perpetual, which diffuse themselves through all space, and which, though they may be metamor- phosed, cannot be destroyed/ 7 * These experiments demonstrate, to a great extent, the accuracy of this statement. If we could become at once cognizant of all the sounds that are locked up in the objects surrounding us, or in our own brains, what a din would be presented to our ears. Occasionally individuals seem to pass into this interior world of sounds, to their great aston- ishment. "A farmer in the neighborhood of Edin- burgh, accustomed to drink freely, was invited to the funeral of a friend. He took a dram before he left home, and another at the house of his deceased friend. He had some of his acquaintances to dinner, with whom he continued to carouse until late at night. On the following morning he heard five hundred people * Buckle's History of Civilization, Vol. n., p. 384. 5 50 THE SOUL OF THINGS. talking at once. He compared what he heard to the confusion of tongues at Babel. 77 - The surgeon bled hirn, and in two days he was cured. As our experiments proceeded, the power of recog- nizing sounds increased, though it never became as active as the power of vision. Incredible as it may appear, all forces that operate upon bodies leave their impress upon them just as indelibly as the radiant forces. Or, in other words, : we call insensible matter receives the impression of whatever force is applied to it, treasures it up, and can impart it to a sufficiently sensitive individual. A pebble, that has been rolled to and fro by the waves, retains the rolling sensation communicated to it, and with such tenacity that the heat of a furnace does not cause it to relinquish that hold. Thus every body retains, not only all that light and sound have commu- nicated to it, but all that motion has impressed upon it : and the autobiography of the meanest boulder by the roadside would fill more volumes than all our libraries contain. The nail retains the impression made upon it by hammering, the clay by grinding, the brick by burning, the wool of the cloth, every step of the torturing process by which it was transferred from the buck of the sheep- to the back of the linn. Hence it is, probably, that all fossil remains of an- imals are imbued with the feelings of the animals o{' which they formed a part, and. under their influence, t psychometer. for the time being, feels all that was fell by them; and thus the characteristic actions of ]» ease of the Brain tud Mind, Winslow, p. 310. GLACIAL SCRATCHED PEBBLE. 51 monsters that have been extinct for millions of years can be accurately realized and described. This branch of psychometry may be termed psychopathy; and I find that generally, in examining specimens, seeing and feeling go together ; though some psychometers only see, while others feel, most readily, the influence of a specimen, but can sue nothing. EXPERBIEXT IX. Pebble of Trenton limestone, with glacial scratches upon its surface, picked up near Lyons, Wayne county, New York. Mrs. Denton. Specimen unseen and unknown. " I feel as if I were below an immense body of water, — so deep that I cannot see down through it, and yet it seems as if I could see upward through it for miles. Now I am going, going, and there is something above me, I cannot tell what. It is pushing me on. It is above and around me. It must be ice ; I am frozen in. The motion of the mass I am in is not uniform ; it pitches forward, then halts and pitches again, then goes grinding, pressing, and crushing along, a moun- tain mass. "All is dark. Now, I see a tinge of crimson, mixed with purple. What can it be ? How beautiful ! I fee] water again, as if I were drenched with it." (What kind of water is it?) " It is not rain. It seems like a mixture of fresh and salt water ; a little while the one and then the other. I see lights before me, apparently reflected from rising vapors. They are finer and more broken than those I saw before, and reflect the colors of the rainbow. 52 THE SOUL OF THINGS. u What an awful chasm we are approaching ; we can- not cross it without being dashed to pieces I am sure. I say we, because I feel completely distinct from the mass that moves me. There is that chasm again ! It is terrific ! We are going right to it, dashing most recklessly. We shall never get out or across. (Pause.) That is most astonishing. I felt desperate as we ap- proached the brink, but it was full of water, and we floated across. I wonder if that is not the lake ? so deep and so broad. Why did I not see the water? The first I knew, I felt the sensation of floating. Now we are aground. All around us is shallow water, ex- cept a few islands, which are not high enough to be dry. "Now, I see ice before me over a wide field. There are thousands of spires melting gradually away. There is a flood all over the country, but the water is not very deep. There is a shallow sea this side of the chasm, except a little spot of land here and there, and that is completely water-soaked. " There are five icebergs in sight, some of them as high as mountains ; they are anchored; the sight is in- describably grand. There is another at my right that has a tall spire and a large mass for a body. It is rock- ing, and I believe will tip over yet. It is rounded at the base. There is a current in the water that dis- turbs it" What a fine picture of the latter pari of the drift period in North America, when a sheet of ice covered a large pari of Canada and British America, from Lake Ontario, which was then probably an arm of the ocean, t«> the Arctic regions; as at the present time a glacial GLACIAL SCRATCHED PEBBLE. 53 sheet covers northwestern Greenland. On conies the icy mass toward the south, the only direction in which motion is possible, because the only direction in which the ice can melt, and room be found for the mass con- stantly increasing by falling snows. On it comes, bearing with it the rocks that it tears off in its passage, slides into this arm of the sea that we have supposed to occupy the place of Lake Ontario, thus forms icebergs, which float southward till they strand on what is now the northern part of the State of New York, and leave their rocky burdens to form the boulders that are so common over the face of that country. How often, on looking at some gray old boulder, we have wished it could relate its history, and tell us what had passed before and around it during its event- ful career. Little did we dream of the possibility of that, and more than that. These " hard heads " are wise heads, too, in a sense, and much they can teach us when we are prepared to learn. They are " chiels taking notes," indifferent spectators though they appear, and what they report may be depended upon as true. What is described by the psychometer is but a small portion of what is presented. At times, one panoramic view after another is unfolded in too rapid succession for the most meagre description. I know the explanation that some will offer to ac- count for these marvels. The self-confident biologist says, " I know well how it is done ; I can make my subjects see anything that I have in my mind. I imag- ine a snake, a crocodile, a volcano, and they are seen at once by my subjects ; and this is done in the same manner. 7 ' You are mistaken, however. I have repeat- 54 THE SOUL OF THINGS. edly tried to influence the minds of psycliometers, when making examinations, and at all times without avail. Many specimens have been examined when no one knew what they were, and yet the results were quite as accurate as at any other time ; indeed, in almost every case, statements have been made and ideas advanced of which we had not previously the most distant thought. Take the following example : -*- EXPERIMENT X. Out of a number of minerals and fossils lying upon the table, Mrs. Denton, with closed eyes, picked up one, no one knowing its character. " I am in the ocean, deep under the water. I can see a long way, for the water is clear. There are mil- lions of minute coral polyps busily at work. I am looking down upon them. I observe one kind of coral that is very peculiar; it is a foot in diameter at the bot- tom, and rises in terraces to the top, where it is much smaller. I should judge this specimen to be coral, or something worked over by coral, though it feels noth- ing like it." On examination it proved to be a piece of flat coral about an inch long and an eighth of an inch in thickness, from the Niagara group of the Silu- rian formation, at Lockport, N. Y. This is a specimen of various experiments tried in a somewhat similar manner and with like results, conclusively demonstrat- ing that the biological explanation La an incorrect one. EXPERIMENT AY. A small fragment of the enamel of a mastodon's tooth, cut oh' so that it might not be recognized, being ENAMEL OF MASTODON'S TOOTH. 55 about one-twentieth of an inch in thickness, and three- tenths of an inch in diameter. The tooth was dug, by miners in search of lead, out of a crevice thirty feet beneath the surface, near Hazel Green, Wisconsin. . Mrs. Denton. She did not see it, and had no idea of what it was. " My impression is that it is a part of some monstrous animal, probably a part of a tooth. I feel like a per- fect monster, with heavy legs, unwieldy head, and very large body. I go down to a shallow stream to drink. (I can hardly speak, my jaws are so heavy.) I feel like getting down on all fours. " What a noise comes through the wood ! I have an impulse to answer it. My ears are very large and leathery, and I can almost fancy they flap my face as I move my head. There are some older ones than I. (It seems so out of keeping to be talking with these heavy jaws.) They are dark brown, as if they had been completely tanned. There is one old fellow, with large tusks, that looks very tough. I see several young ones ; in fact, there^s a whole herd. " My upper lip moves strangely. I can flap it up. It seems strange to me how it is done. " There is a plant growing here higher than my head; it is nearly as thick as my wrist, very juicy, sweet and tender, something like green corn in taste, but sweeter.' 7 (Is that the taste it would have to a human being ?) " Oh, no 77 (appearance of disgust on the countenance); " it is. sickish, and very unpleasant. 77 The complete identification at times of the psy- chometer with the thing psychometrized, or the ani- mal with whose influence it is imbued, is one of the 56 THE SOUL OF THINGS. remarkable facts developed by our experiments, and it throws light upon some of the most mysterious depart- ments of nature. Some forms of insanity appear to present a condition produced by intense sensitiveness, resulting in the overpowering of the mind by sur- rounding influences, so that the individual ceases to be himself, and becomes the tool for those influences unconsciously to use ; the individual supplying the power, but the influences directing and spending it, instead of the will of the individual. Some manifestations considered to be spiritual come under this head, and may be readily accounted for in this way. You cannot walk into and out of a room without leaving a portion of your influence in that room, which will continue as long as the bricks and mortar endure. You cannot sit upon a chair but the chair receives from you that which can convey to some sensitive persons the idea of your presence and your mental peculiarities. Hence our houses — made of brick, from clay over which the Indian passed and re- passed ; with their letters from hundreds of persons, some living, some dead; with objects in them handled at some time by men of many races ; arrow-heads made by Indians, tea fingered by Chinese, coffee and cotton by negroes, ivory-handled knives and forks, the ivory of which passed through the hands of Samoides and Buss; with influences proceeding from all persons who have visited them — are conventions of unseen in- fluences representing thousands of diverse individuals, of which sensitive persons can and fre- quently do recognize, and are affected by, without being aware of the source from which it proceeds. 1 BIRD TRACKS OF THE CONNECTICUT. Oi say not this from any desire to throw discredit upon the fact of present communication between the spirit- world and our own, for this I know to be absolutely so ; but it will be found, as Science marches on with her hosts, and conquers the dark realm where ghosts and witches and fairies have revelled for ages, that much which is supposed to come from another world is the offspring of our own. EXPERIMENT XU. In the summer of 1861, I obtained a small fragment from a slab containing the impression of two toes of one of the bird-like tracks from the Connecticut Val- ley. It was but a mere speck, not more than a quar- ter of an inch long and one-twentieth of an inch thick; but it was quite large enough to tell some wonderful tales of a remarkable time. Mrs. Denton. Specimen not seen, and not a word had ever been uttered in reference to my possession of it, and since we were in the Par West at the time of the examination, she could have had no idea of its original whereabouts. " There is some magnetism about this. I have a glimpse of a long, broad, flat place, frequently washed by water ; it is sufficiently rolling, however, to prevent the water from remaining upon it. Whether it is the edge of the sea or not I cannot tell, but there lies before me a large body of water. " I begin to get the outline of objects moving, some on this flat and some among bushes that grow near there. One that I see attracts my attention much by its great singularity ; it is without exception the 58 THE SOUL OF THINGS. strangest-looking being I ever saw. (When I go back so far, there is a difficulty in seeing objects at a dis- tance, which I think is owing to the thick, heavy at- mosphere of those early times.) One of these animals is right before me now ; it has a rather long, small neck. A second one appears with a flat head and a neck tapering rapidly to it. The first one has a flat- tish head : from that there is an angle to the back, and then another to the tail. As it moves, its back rises and falls, and it looks as if the arch of the back assisted in propelling it, Xow I see three other backs, but no other part. (I had a glimpse just then of a turtle.) That animal I saw puzzles me; it seems to be deficient in legs, though I cannot see them distinctly. It goes very easily, though its motion is so singular. Its legs are short, and the angles of the body are not far from the ground. It moves with a good deal of rapidity. It has flat-looking feet, wide enough for it to balance itself upon. It has just two feet. There ! I know what it is now. It is that two-footed reptile I have read about. From foot to foot it measures, I should think, about four feet/' Second examination, made two days after, from a larger portion of the same slab. "Its head very much resembles in form the head of a Bnake, and its neck is long and gracefully arched. [ts scapula i ^tending on each side of the neck a little beyond its articulation with the humerus, which appears to be on the under side. Atfirsl I thought the pula projected beyond the articulation, bul I be- • now thai it is a bone united to it by a joint, and connected with other bones, that elevate what look BIRD TRACKS OF THE CONNECTICUT. 59 like wings on each side of its body. Lifting its fore foot it can sit upon its hind foot, assisted by the tail ; then, giving a spring, pass through the air for quite a distance. It does not seem to move its wings during the transit, but they act like parachutes, in its descent, and it comes gently down. u I cannot see any teeth ; but in the place of them appears to be a bony gum. It is carnivorous, and feeds upon fish and reptiles. I can taste how sweet they were to it. It had a motion of its head among the weeds in the water like that of a duck. There is something about it that resembles the opossum, but whether it is marsupial or not I cannot say." Some time after this, many specimens from various localities having been examined in the intervening time, we tried another fragment of a slab from the same locality, Mrs. D. as before knowing nothing of the nature of the specimen. " I see an animal that approaches the mammal in ap- pearance more closely than those animals I saw some time ago. It has claws, and is digging or scratching in the earth. Its long tail, with a bunch on the end of it, is elevated. It has a long body, and is a quadru- ped. It is somewhat reptilian in appearance, and yet it seems to be a mammal. It is carnivorous and very savage." If minute fragments can yield so much to the psy- chometer, what may we not expect when the quarries of the Connecticut valley are interrogated ; when the pictures preserved in its slabs are copied by psycho- metric artists, and its wonderful menageries of orni- 60 THE SOUL OF THDsGS. thoid lizards and sauroid mammals are brought before us for inspection? Some two years afterwards, having obtained a larger specimen in Albany, which was obtained from the same locality, Mrs. D. examined it as before. " I see the bed of a stream that is partly dry. It is broad, and sometimes rises high. The banks here are low and sloping. There is rock on the other side. " I am farther south and southeast now. I see an extensive tract of low, even ground. It seems naked, and looks as if washed by water sufficiently to prevent the growth of vegetation upon it. I see the appear- ances of bodies moving through the air, but they are partly hidden. That low, flat ground seems to be con- nected with the river, and there seems to be a min- gling of salt and fresh water here." EXPERIMENT XIII. — SAME SPECIMEN. " I see multitudes of objects. They swarm around me ; there are fishes among them ; they change rap- idly. What strange-looking animals there are here ! This seems to be the shore of the ocean, covered by the tide and then left bare. " One animal I see with a very long neck ; it has wings, but does not look like a bird ; the wings are bat-like ; but the animal is, I think, a reptile. There are many of them here, and they look like those I saw in Chicago, with a specimen from the Connecticut val- ley. They have exactly the same appearance. "I see another animal with feathered wings, but they are the coarsest-looking feathers I ever saw. One is very near me ; it is lightish-colored, with a red- BIRD TRACKS OF THE CONNECTICUT. 61 dish tinge. There are many among weeds that grow in stagnant water, of which there is a large body be- tween here and the main land. The head and neck are reptilian in form ; the month is large, and the jaws are very different from the bill of a bird. I see one drinking ; but it does not raise its head to swallow as a bird does. It sits up like a bird, but has a slimy appearance, notwithstanding its feathers, which are thin and wide apart ; they look stiff and unfinished. The barbs on the shaft are widely separated, and the feathers look something like those of a drowned bird. I see some of these animals in the air ; their wings are thick near the body, and gradually become thinner toward the edges, where they are membranous. " Here is a large monster that looks as if it might devour all these ; but it is sluggish in its movements. It is a reptile, with a head like a crocodile, but larger. It has enormous jaws, large eyes, small neck, and broad shoulders. It is looking at the other animals, and crawling softly toward them. It has a sly look. It is crested with an edge of thick points all along the back. (I feel as if I should be swallowed alive, with so many rapacious monsters around me.) " I see another animal, with a tail of great length, that curls round and round just like a snake. It looks like the body of a serpent joined to the body of a liz- ard. It may be five or six feet long ; but the body is not more than two feet. I believe it could draw the head in and dart it out for some distance. It seems like a link between the lizard and the serpent. Its tail winds and unwinds rapidly, sometimes in the air, and sometimes on the ground. 62 THE SOUL OF THINGS. u The only thought manifested here is, on the one hand, to devour, and, on the other, to escape being de- voured/' These descriptions will be appreciated by those who have made the sandstones of the Connecticut valley and their footprints a matter of study. They give a life-like, and, I doubt not, accurate picture of the time when the valley of the Connecticut resembled the Bristol Channel or the Bay of Fundy. having rivers pouring in large bodies of fresh water, high tides, and muddy waters, which deposited sediment over wide areas on each side ; and these left baking in the sun- shine until the return tide. Over this surface crept, crawled, wriggled and stalked the strange organic forms of these times, — slimy reptiles, and more slimy worms, walking fishes, and rude reptilian birds, foot- prints of which are so numerous in various portions of the valley. EXPERIMENT XW. Whalebone walking-cane. Mrs. Denton knew it was a walking-cane, but, hav- ing no opportunity of examining it, supposed very nat- urally that it was a wooden one. " I feel as if I am a monster. There is nothing of a tree about it, and it is useless for me to go an} T far- ."' (With great difficulty she was induced to con- tinn periment.) "I feel like vomiting. Now I into the water.*' (Convulsive shudder- lieve I am going into a lit. My jaws are iugh to take down a house al a gulp. I know • what this is, — it is whalebone. I Bee the inside of the whale's mouth. It has no teeth; it has ;i slimy BRICK FROM OSWEGO. 63 look ; but I only get a glimpse of it. Now I see the whole animal. What an awful-looking creature ! " This identification of the psychometer with the ani- mal psychometrized is at times so complete as to com- pel the suspension of the experiment; the influence produced sometimes affecting the person for hours. EXPERIMENT XV. When lecturing in Oswego, X. Y., the high school was burnt down, and I picked from its ruins a small piece of brick, which I handed to Mrs. Denton for examination, she supposing it to be a piece of rock. " I feel as if all was in commotion, and I was moving with tremendous force, and flying into ten thousand pieces. It seems as if I could not go with sufficient rapidity. " It makes me nervous. There is fire about it. It is horrible. It produces a terrific feeling. It is a piece of brick, I am certain. There is such confusion about it I cannot see anything, though I know there is fire about it. I feel like leaping down.' 7 Some may suppose that some of these remarks were in reply to leading questions : but such was not the case. In most instances not a word was said ; and in others, the questions asked have been merely in refer- ence to what was not fully explained. In these last two experiments it will be seen that the substance was eventually named ; and, in many experiments that we have tried, the substance is often correctly named in an instant, though nothing was known of it except psychometrically. I am not sufficiently acquainted with the history of 64 THE SOUL OF THINGS. the brick from which the specimen was taken to tell whether the account given is correct in every particu- lar ; but it must be evident to any one that the feel- ings experienced were much in harmony with what the clay generally passes through in being formed into brick. It seems a little singular that the heat of the fire had not obliterated the sense of the motion to which the clay had been previously subjected, but many experiments have convinced us that intense heat does not destroy even the pictorial impressions that have been made upon bodies. EXPERIMENT XVI. Many years ago I gave to Mrs. Cridge for examina- tion a specimen of the residuum of cannel coal, she not seeing the specimen or knowing anything of its history. " It is coal. I seem to be at the bottom of a mine. What a mass of coal ! It seems soft, and the bed is about as thick as the height of this room.' 7 In other experiments, made with metals melted from the ores, I have met with similar results. I have not a doubt that fossiliferous rocks which have been so highly metamorphosed that all organic traces are invisible, may be made to yield impressions to the psychomotor, and a wide and important geological field will be res- cued, to the great benefit of future explorers, and the perfection of the geologic record. I think it will yet be found that many rocks, regarded as belonging to the Qon-fossiliferous, are rich in organic influences. EXPERIMENT XVI r. .unit of fossil shell from Carboniferous forma- tion, [owa. FRAGMENT OF A SHELL. 65 Mrs. Denton. Neither she nor I knew what it was till after the examination. " I see something that resembles a star-fish in form/ though it differs from all living ones that I have seen. It is round, and has four long arms or tentacles, and shorter ones between. The shorter ones seem to be used for locomotion, and the longer ones for prehension. The long ones are the most pointed; the small ones are flatter, and more like feet. The mouth is in the centre. The long arms are ringed or jointed, so that the animal can bend them rapidly, and convey food to the mouth. Each long arm has two points at the end. "I see another animal moving through the water. It has a head nearly as large as the body ; the body tapers to the tail. It does not move with fins or true feet either, but with a webbed apparatus of some kind, apparently between a fin and a foot." In this case the shell, or the mollusk originally occu- pying it, was not seen at all, but animals that probably inhabited the ocean at the same time, and whose influ- ence was received by the shell, and preserved for ages after it became fossil. The star-fish described, resembles the ophiura, or serpent-like star-fish, one species of which Professor Sedgwick found in the lower Silurian, and other forms occur in the more recent formations. The animal seen moving through the water was probably one of those extinct forms of which the geologist may never know, unless it be by the investigations of future psychom- eters. EXPERIMENT XVni. It was naturally to be expected, if there was any 66 THE SOUL OF THINGS. truth in psychometry, that animals would be seen of winch the geologist knows nothing, for the number that the geologist knows is necessarily but a small por- tion of the mighty host that has existed. The air seems to have had tenants long before geology recog- nizes their existence. Bone from Tully limestone, near Seneca Lake. Mrs. Denton. Specimen unseen, and nothing known regarding it. " I see a long, smooth beach. It is before me, for I seem to be on the water. It extends for a great dis- tance, and gently rises as it recedes from the water. On that beach are quadrupeds of some kind. One is large, heavy, thick-skinned, dark-colored, and thick- necked : the flesh is not fibrous, but soft. Its head is broad, and horns rise up from its nose. I see another with a long neck, and a head nearly as large as a sheep's, but in appearance like that of a snake, though it is a quadruped. Both look reptilian. " What a beautiful place this is ! I see a large rock completely covered with beautifully green moss. The rock is craggy, but all green, and the water at times •ps over it. There are many large objects in the air. but they do not seem to be birds." Second examination, a month afterward. Specimen unrecognized. u I se • something that looks like a fish with spines on 1 > i > 1 1 1 sides and nearly round it. It seems short, compared with its breadth, f u- a fish. •• I see pari of another animal in shallow water, with it- body hid among the water-weeds, that look like long moss, but differ from all I ever saw before. The hack BONE FROM TULLY LIMESTONE. 67 of that animal is now visible to me. It has what looks like ears, but I cannot tell whether they are or not. They are in the same situation, and lie back on the body for a considerable distance. It has sharp-looking eyes. There are a great many of these animals, and they have a very strange appearance. What I took for ears must be folded wings; I can see between them and the head, though they are attached on the upper side. The wing is membranous, but I cannot describe it, it differs so much from anything I know. It is ribbed. The animal looks more like a reptile than a fish, though I cannot see the whole distinctly/ 7 The Tully limestone is one of the representatives of the Devonian formation, in the State of New York; it lies immediately above the Hamilton group, so widely distributed and so well known. That the air was occupied by flying animals so early is a very startling idea, when we remember that the earliest remains of birds that have been found are in the Cretaceous, or Chalk formation, certainly formed millions of years after the deposition of the Tully limestone. If the air was tenanted thus early, we may presume that it was occu- pied by successive forms, as the earth was during the time intervening between the Devonian and Cretace- ous periods, and if so, what an evidence we have of' the imperfection of the record that geology gives us of organic existences. We have but fairly made a beginning in the study of ancient life-forms. These are the earliest psychometric evidences that we have had of the existence of reptiles, though they may have lived long prior to this ; for our ignorance should never be made the boundary of knowledge. 08 THE SOUL OF THINGS. EXPEBJMEST XIX. Stones falling from the heavens, commonly known as meteoric stones, have always excited considerable at- tention, " They are," says Humboldt, " the only means by which we can be brought in possible contact with that which is foreign to our own planet." Some years ago, a farmer near Painesville, Ohio, informed me of a singular stone on his farm, that looked, as he said, like iron ore. On arriving at the spot, I found a dark, boulder-like looking mass, weighing, probably, five or six hundred pounds, covered with a dense crust, from one-fourth of an inch to three-eighths of an inch in thickness. On breaking off portions, a net-work of iron was observed, that indicated very clearly its mete- oric character. I carried off small fragments of it, and had some of them tried psychonietrically, one by Mrs. Foote, who had no conception of what it was, nor that I had any such specimens in my possession. " I seem to be travelling away, away, through noth- ing, right forward. I see what looks like clouds and something sparkling like stars ; but there seems to be a mist between me and that. How curious that is ! it carries my eyes right up; every other specimen has taken ray eyes right down." What could be more descriptive of the path of an ►lite — "away, array, through nothing, right for- ward"? In reference to her last statement, Bhe said that her eyeballs were rolled upward in opposition to her own will. Whence jular visitors? Arc they from lunar volcanoes ? Arc they formed in upper regions of the atmosphere? Are they small METEORIC STONE. 69 planets of a similar class to those circulating between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter ? or are they fragments of rings once surrounding the earth, as the rings of Saturn surround that planet ? I think our experi- ments throw some light upon this dark subject, though much remains yet to be done. EXPERIMENT XX. A few days after the last examination, I tried Mrs. Poote with another fragment of the supposed meteor- ite, under similar conditions. "It carries my eyes right up. I see an appearance of misty light. I seem to go miles and miles very quickly, up and up. Streams of light come from the right, a great way off. I see something sparkling, — a huge body like a mountain. Between me and that is a broad road, that glitters like diamonds. To the right of that I see a large round body that I can see through, and yet there is substance to it. The sun is rising behind that mountain, or a sparkling light is shining at a vast distance. ?? EXPERIMENT XXI. I gave the same specimen to Mrs. Denton, who knew nothing of it, nor of the previous examinations. " This seems to have been moved. I see it turning rapidly on its axis, and little flakes or cinders flying from it, which it leaves behind, like a tail. As it moves it changes its shape/* 7 (Turned the specimen over.) "'I see what looks like a vein of metal, and through it I see what appear like joints ; it is curved. From this vein streaks of light pass off like the beard from a head of wheat. 70 THE SOUL OF THINGS. "Xow I see a temple, built of wood, and in it a rock with three points. It is about three feet to the high- est point. I am reminded of the Aztec temples. " Aerolites have been objects of worship in many countries. At Emesa, in Syria, the sun was wor- shipped under the form of a black stone, reported to have fallen from heaven. Pliny mentions a stone which fell at Abydos, and was worshipped at that place. The holy Kaaba of Mecca, and the great stone of the pyramid of Cholula, in Mexico, have all the same history. It is possible that this Painesville aero- lite had answered for a god to some race that preceded the Indians in Ohio. I had never thought of it previ- ious to this examination, but a subsequent one made me think it more probable. EXPERIHEXT XXII. Another fragment of the same. Mrs. Foote. Conditions as before. " I see thousands of persons moving along. What a multitude ! They are marching in rows ; a few are standing still. How strange they look ! Beyond them there seems to be a city, with trees set out in beauti- ful rows. The people are in different companies; some look dark and others light. One company is busy stooping over, as if they were digging. By the side of that company is a ledge of rock, and from that a smoke is rising, one cloud after another. The com- pany digging are lure-headed; they have dark skins, but are not negroes. Now I see a river, and away off La a range of rocks, covered with moss, ferns, and bushes. The rocks taper oil' in height as I go down METEORIC STOXE. 71 the river, and there is a level plain, with woods in the distance. Farther down on the right is a city. There is something round it, posts and high work, that seem made to protect it. I see buildings and people ; the buildings are small." (What are they made of?) " Don't look like boards at all ; most of them seem plastered, or mud-bedaubed. It looks nothing like our cities. One building that I see is very large, and a great many people are coming and going near there, some walking and others riding." (What are they riding on ?) " Not horses, but animals much smaller ; I do not know what. Some of the streets are very dirty, others clean. From the city I can see out into the country ; there is a fine, broad highway." (In re- ply to a question,) " The large building is not high, but covers considerable ground. The roof goes up to a peak, but it looks nothing like our buildings ; it re- sembles most a huge tent. People are riding on strange-looking things, drawn by animals that look more like sheep than anything else, though they are not sheep, for they are larger and of a darker color, and hold up their heads like deer. The vehicles look like old boxes mounted on two wheels." That a race of comparatively civilized people, living in cities, and employing beasts of burden, ever existed in Northern Ohio, will seem like a very strange story to some persons ; yet those who are familiar with the remains of mounds and fortifications that are scattered over the surface of Ohio and the Western States gen- erally, may regard it as possible that such a people, as Mrs. Foote saw, once lived in Ohio, who, being startled by "the descent of an enormous aerolite, had made it 72 THE SOUL OF THINGS. an object of religious worship, and it had thus become impressed with the scenes described. That Indians should have employed animals as beasts of burden will appear strange, to those only who are unacquainted with their history. When the Spaniards first invaded Peru and Chili, they found the llama in common use as a beast of burden. Augustin de Zerate, in 1544 ? thus describes the llama in Peru: "In places where there is no snow the natives want water, and to supply this they fill the skins of sheep with water and make other living sheep carry them ; for it must be remarked these sheep of Peru are large enough to serve as beasts of burden. They can carry about one hundred pounds, or more, and the Spaniards used to ride them, and they would go four or five leagues a day." Captain G-. Shelvocke says of them, "The heads of these animals are small in proportion to their bod- ies, and are somewhat in shape between the head of the horse and that of the sheep. Their necks are long. They walk holding up their heads with wonder- ful gravity. 77 These animals are found both brown and white ; but the white are most common. The llama was not, how- ever, found by the Spaniards in North America, but it is quite possible that at a much earlier period it may have been, having perished, as the camel and horse had perished, that we know to have existed in North America during the Tertiary period. EXPERIMENT XXIIL The first opportunity I had of trying what was known to be an aerolite, was in June, 1861. It was a METEORIC STONE. 73 small fragment broken from a specimen in the posses- sion of Kev. W. B. Cristopher, of Galena, 111. As before, the examiner neither saw nor knew anything of the specimen, and as we were trying experiments with mundane specimens under like conditions, almost every day, that could not be distinguished from this by touch, there was little probability of the peculiar character of this being in any way guessed. The specimen was very black, heavy, and somewhat lus- trous. From the appearance of it, it probably con- sisted of iron and nickel, as meteoric stones gene- rally do. Mrs. Denton. " This seems to have had something done to it. I am* at the foot of a mountain or high hill. I can easily see into the inside of it, but with difficulty the out- side. I know not how to describe what I see. Here are different kinds of metal, and beautiful objects that look like gems. I see a great deep chasm; what a ter- rible depth ! It must have been dreadfully disturbed. " I see a hilly country now. The landscape is beau- tiful, delightful. All is at perfect rest, like a calm, sum- mer's day. The climate seems to be that of continual spring, without the heat of the tropics, or the cold of this climate." . EXPERI3IEXT XXIV. Ten days afterward I broke a small portion from the above specimen, and tried it again as before. " I see a mountain of rock, with iron-like network all through it. It looks like meteoric iron. (This must be a piece of the specimen I tried the other day.) I see different colors in the rock that look like the reflec- 7 1 4 THE SOUL OF THINGS. tion of brilliant gems. It is, however, merely light reflected from the iron. " There seems to be a great deal of electrical light in this. In proportion as I move this specimen from my forehead, the mountain increases in visible size. It looks ragged. The iron seems quite distinct/' EXPERIMENT XXV. More than a year afterward I gave this specimen to Mrs. Foote, she having no idea of its character. She held it in her right hand. " This is curious. There is nothing at all to be seen, and I feel as if I was in the air; no, not in the air, either, but in nothing, — no place. I am utterly unable to describe it; it seems up, however. I feel as though I was rising, and my eyes are carried up ; but I look around in vain ; there is nothing to be seen. " I see clouds now, but nothing else. They are so close to me that I seem in them. My head, and neck, and eyes, are affected. My eyes are carried up, and I cannot roll them down. " Xow the clouds appear lighter and lighter, and look as though the sunlight would burst through them. As the clouds separate, I can see a star or two, and then the moon instead of the sun. The moon seems near, and looks coarse and rough, and paler and larger [ze than I ever saw it before. " What a strange feeling comes over me. Seems as if I ;mi going right to the moon, and it looks as if it was coming on to me. It affects me terribly." She was too much affected to continue the experi- ment longer. Had this aerolite, at some period of its METEORIC STONE. 75 history, come within the sphere of the rnocn's attrac- tion, and had its velocity so increased that its in- creased centrifugal force had carried it off into space again, whence, drawn by the superior attractive force of the earth, it had fallen, and its planetary career ended forever? Large fire-balls have been seen ap- proaching the earth, and then flying off again appa- rently in this very manner. EXPERIMENT XXVI. Another meteoric specimen I obtained of Professor McChesney, Chicago. It was a small fragment of meteoric iron, and was tried as before. Mrs. Denton. " I am a very large — a monstrous beast. Others are near me that are different. My proportions are huge. I seem to be among trees. (I do not believe I can get at the true influence of the specimen.) "I see a great rock that goes up like a mountain. I feel like flying, going, going. What a high rock that is ! I am at the foot of it. (I cannot make this agree with the other.) There is a slope off to a tract of low land in the distance ; it looks marshy. I do not feel at home up here ; I am too awkward and clumsy. I am rising through the air to the top of the rock. (That certainly cannot be right ; the two do not agree at all.) Is it a fossil? 77 (No.) "That rock looks like a great broken mass. There are bodies in it that shine so as to dazzle my eyes. I cannot tell what they are. Now I have that moving feeling again. I know what this is now ; it is a piece of an aerolite. The slope or inclined plain that I saw is covered with 76 THE SOUL OF THINGS. short, green vegetation, differing from all I have ever seen. It looks more like moss than grass, though I never saw anything covered with moss to such an ex- tent. The soil in which it grows seems very thin. " That is strange ! I seem to have come to the 'jumping-off place. 7 The sky is overhead, and almost under my feet. There is a ledge of bare rock of great height, and miles in length, and, looking down at an angle of about thirty-five degrees, I see the sky be- low." This specimen, previous to examination, had been wrapped up in a paper with a fragment of the tooth of a mastodon, and had apparently imbibed considerable of its influence, and to this, in my opinion, strange as it may seem, was owing the difficulty that Mrs. D. had in obtaining the true influence of the specimen. Facts that have come before us during examinations since made, have convinced me of what I then sur- mised, — the transference, at times, of psychometric impressions from one specimen to another. I have tetimes thought that where specimens have no strik- ing history of their own, they more readily receive impressions from neighboring specimens. EXPERIMENT XXVII. i Two months after this, Dr. Bartlett, of Aurora, 111., • me a piece of rock ; looking somewhat like a light lava, supposed t<> be of meteoric origin. It was one of ;i number of pieces that were found upon his farm, »1 of Waukegan, QL, covering the ground over an oval -par,-. ;it one end of which, where the fall had ap- parently taken place, they had sunk deeply into the METEORIC STONE. 77 ground. The doctor thinks the aerolite, before its fall, must have been as large, at least, as a flour-barrel. Mrs. Denton. Conditions as before. " Peel as if I were away down at the bottom of the sea. I can see about twenty feet around me ; not very distinctly though, for the water is not clear. I hear it roaring above me. "I am near a cliff that presents a perpendicular face to me ; whether it rises above the water or not I cannot tell. I occupy the same position with regard to the high cliff that I did before with a meteoric specimen [Experiment 26] ; the only difference being that I am now in water and do not see that long, green slope. I cannot help thinking that this is the same place, and this specimen must be meteoric. "I am now rising, and everything around me is rising at the same time. I have a nervous feeling in connection with it, as a person might be supposed to have during an earthquake. I rise and sink, rise and sink, though never as low as before. I feel as if there would be a collision before long. There is a bright stream of light now. right before me. What can that mean? It flashes upon my vision every moment, and produces great terror. All seems strange and terri- ble. There are two streams of bright light, which I seem to see through a dense fog. " Now I am moving with great velocity and tremen- dous force, and then there comes a terrible crash. All is confusion. I do not think the concussion took place on this earth. I see enormous rocks, like moun- tains, for size, shattered and piled one on another. I have seen nothing like it for magnificence and sub- 78 THE SOUL OF THINGS. limity. The rocks are absolutely naked. What a pit ! I can see down a vast distance ; it is horribly deep. " Xow I am down, and miles of rock are above me. This is chaos. I see water pouring down like a torrent among the naked rocks.'' (In reply to a question.) "There was heat before the concussion, and heaving, rolling, sinking, and rocking before moving through the air. "I have travelled for many miles over the surface of that world, for world it is, with plains and seas. "I see a road between two cliffs; it is natural, of course, and near it is a low ridge, covered with green vegetation ; the soil is exceeding thin. 77 Many experiments are yet needed to bring order out of this apparent chaos. Our experiments indicate that meteorites were once portions of a world, or of worlds, shattered by some terrible concussion into fragments ; that these worlds, or at least oiie of them, had an atmosphere surrounding it, and large bodies of water upon it, and vegetation apparently in the condi- tion of that of our own planet about the close of the Silurian period. EXPEnniEXT xxv in. In July, 18G0, there was an eclipse of the moon, visi- ble.' in Lockport, New York, where we then were. It occurred to me that a psychometric examination of the moon might be made by the psychometer sitting where the lunar light could fall upon the forehead. The event seemed to justify the conjecture; and, al- though we have tried no other experiments in connec- . with celestial bodies,] h&ve no doubt whatever that the astronomer will eventually derive as much as- THE MOON. 79 sistance from psychometry as the geologist is likely to do. Mrs. Denton. "I feel a sensation of intense dryness; every- thing is clry ; hot, and crisp. What a rough, ragged, rocky scene of desolation this is, everywhere. It is absolutely terrible ; it affects my whole system. Near the edge of the moon "which lies toward the sun, I see an enormous crater, miles in diameter, and at the bottom is a lake of lava ; it is red, and I see it in slow motion. It is remarkable how it keeps its place in the basin that encloses it, which seems miles deep, with craggy rocks on every side." (" Why does it seem re- markable," I said, " that it should keep its place in this basin? I should think it would be the most natural thing in the world." She replied, " I am looking up, and it seems as if it should pour out.") " I have a view of the moon 7 s crust, and compared with the earth's it seems a mere shell, enclosing the liquid lava. "The electrical condition of the moon seems to me to be disturbed by the eclipse, and that disturbance is re- flected to the earth and back again; but I cannot prop- erly describe it. The disturbance in the electrical condition of the moon and earth seems to be recipro- cal; a tremulous vibration is produced that seems unusual." It is a common idea that the moon is cold, and poets have long sung of the " cold, inconstant moon : " but, if this, psychometric observation may be relied on, it is by no means as cold as we may have supposed. A body like the moon, destitute of water and an atmos- phere, must part with its heat slowly; and it would 80 THE SOUL OF THINGS. not be at all surprising if our little attendant planet had a very warm heart, after all. Sir William Herschel discovered, with his great re- flecting telescope, on the dark part of the new moon, what he conceived to be the flames of an active vol- cano. Since his time, various persons have seen lumi- nous spots upon the moon, which favor the idea of present igneous activity upon its surface. According to Humboldt, " Melloni was fortunate enough to observe, by means of a lens of three feet in diameter, the most satisfactory indications of an eleva- tion of temperature during different changes of the moon."* In this case, I suppose the heat would be at- tributed to reflection from the sun, but it may be ow- ing to heat radiated from the substance of the moon itself. EXPERIMENT XXIX. Some of the bodies, of which the aerolites are frag- ments, appear to have resembled the moon in the ab- sence of water, for Mrs. Denton remarked on trying one specimen subsequently : — " This has a great deal of the lunar feeling. I am in a region of rocks, all dry. I do not feel the heat of the moon, but the dryness is similar, as if all water were absent. I see large masses of rock, with veins of iron all through them, forming quite a net-work, with here and there large, pure masses of iron.' 7 EXPERIMENT XXX. I have a small stalactite, which I obtained in a cave, about a mile and a half west of Salem, Indiana, I put this into the hands of .Mrs. Cridge, when her eyes were • Cosmos, Vol. iv. p- Mfl* STALACTITE FROM A CAVE. 81 closed, and requested her to examine it psychometri- cally. She supposed, from the feeling, that it was an orthoceras, of which I had many specimens, and which it resembles. " I see pieces of rock hanging down ; they look like icicles, as if they had been formed by the droppings of the rock. I don't understand it, for the rock seems quite hard. I feel cold, and as if water were dropping on my head." EXPERIMENT XXXI. Many months after this I gave the same specimen to Mrs. IT. Taylor, of Lockport, New York, whom I found to be a good natural psychometer. She supposed it to be a part of some animal. "•I go straight along a road; there is water near, and a cave, into which I enter. I see two persons go- ing in with lights. Stalactites hang from the top all over. The two stand looking up. It is so damp and cold, it fairly makes me feel chilly. It is a large, roundish place. Off at a distance seem places where you can go still farther, but I cannot go ; it makes me shudder. Now I go to the right ; there is a basin of water ; and to the left, room after room. Stalactites hang down like curtains, and shine most beautifully." The accuracy of this description surprised me, ac- customed as I was to the faithfulness of the psycho- metric pictures. The road to the cave is along the western bank of the western branch of Blue River, Indiana ; and out of the cave, which is a " large, round- ish place," a small stream issues. When I obtained the stalactite, I was in company with another gentle- man, and each carried a candle ; but as the cave had 82 THE SOUL OF THINGS. been repeatedly visited by parties with candles, I do not presume that we were the parties she saw. A few hundred yards from the mouth the cave branches. There is a basin of water in the body of it, and rooms on the left with stalactites, as described. LXPERD1EXT XXXII. I have a small fragment of fibrous gypsum, which was obtained in the Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. This I gave to Mrs. Denton for examination; she saw it, but knew nothing of its history, and supposed it to be a piece of asbestos, which it somewhat resembles. " You must have had this given to you. The place I see does not look like this region. I see a bench with rocks upon it resembling this specimen. Back of this bench I see a hill with soil and vegetation on it. The rocks I saw seem to have been placed there by artificial means. Xow I see a curved wall arching over head ; the rocks that lie around seem to have come from an open place near there. Farther on, the rocks are perpendicular. " I am in a cave that I have seen represented in books, I am almost sure. It is very extensive. (I am not in good condition for examining, or I could see much better.) It has been visited a good deal, for I perceive artificial light; that is, light differing from the light that the rucks give out, by which I see objects under ground. There are parts of the cave, however, thai have been but little visited. I notice one room that ha- been visited a --real deal, and visitors must have remained and talked in it. " At one place I Bee steps going up, and a rock juts MAMMOTH CAYE. 83 out a long way; it looks fearful. I judge this place is more extensive than it is known to be. All the rooms near the entrance seem to have been visited; this I know by the artificial light in them. Where that is, I cannot see as distinctly ; it makes itself visible, rather than the objects around. "There is a cave below this that is more magnificent than the other, much more so. It has not been visited, I think. It is surpassingly beautiful. It looks like a palace built to embody the idea cf beauty. There is something that shines like a sun, raying out light all around; I cannot tell what it is. I cannot think of this as a cave : it is a gorgeous palace. I see a beau- tiful curtain-like partition between two rooms, with ridges and deep flirtings. I notice one long hall with two walls, about three feet high, running the whole length of it; they look very singular here, for they have quite an artificial appearance. What a splendid place this would be to live in ; only there is a cool, damp feeling about it. I know not how to get out of this labyrinth. " There is a pit down, down much deeper. It goes into another cave by a winding way. What monstrous rocks ! The cave near the surface is but a baby com- pared with these giant caves below. I thought that was a great cave, but what a poor pigmy by the side of these ! This cave is partitioned off, in every direc- tion, into long, fine rooms, with entrances from one to another, generally having high ceilings, though they are not all of the same height. There are grand long halls opening into the entrance where I came down. I wonder if it is not dangerous. If those rocks were 84: THE SOUL OF THINGS. to fall, how could one get out ? I don't know what it means, but I have a sense of animal influence. All at once I am on the surface. 77 I then informed her that the specimen was from the Mammoth Cave. She said, " Is there water in the Mammoth Cave ? for I saw streams of water in it, but did not notice them particularly, there was so much else to see. 77 I have never visited the Mammoth Cave ; but those who have will, I think, acknowledge the accuracy of the descriptions of the known-parts of the cave. The truth of the statements with regard to the unknown portions future explorers may yet determine. The animal influence felt was probably owing to the fossils contained in the Mountain Limestone, in which the Mammoth Cave has been hollowed out, by the action of underground streams for ages. One thing the reader will notice in this, as well as in some other examinations, that the psychometer seemed to be at the spot and travelling over the ground. TVhen our experiments first commenced, pic- tures connected with the history of the specimen passed before the gaze of the psychometer, like a panoramic view, she being a mere passive spectator. After some time these pictures could be to a certain extent controlled, their progress arrested or hurried at will, till at length the psychometer seemed to travel to the spot where the specimen came from, and de- a living person would who beheld it with the natural eye. Not only was this done with regard to present time but with regard to all past time. All pa&1 to the psychom imed to become present ; MAMMOTH CAVE. 85 all that had been was found to exist, and could be examined as thoroughly, almost, as the present around us. It would seem that rays of light are passing from all objects continually, which are invisible to the eye, as a general rule, and can pass readily through some substances, if not all, which are opaque to ordinary light. These rays seem to be able to pass at once to the brain of sensitive persons and give the sensation of vision, without the intervention of the eye as an organ. Ordinary light is too- coarse for such a refined organ as the brain to receive without the intervention of another organ, which receives it and then intro- duces it to the brain. But for this refined light the brain needs no such go-between, but it passes at once through the portals and is admitted into the inner chamber of the soul. Some of the lower animals seem to perceive objects, although they are totally blind, and, in some cases, do not even possess the vis- ual organs. We find in most large caves blind ani- mals, such as beetles, millipeds, crawfish, etc. ; but although they possess none of the ordinary power of vision, they yet move away from the light of the ex- plorer's torch, just as similar animals out of doors when they see a coming individual. Eyes are unne- cessary to these cave tenants, and in process of time they are withdrawn ; but they possess what answers the purpose to them in their underground existence equally as well ; otherwise they would certainly cease to exist. In the fresh-water polyp the whole body is sensitive to the influence of light, for it turns to it: and that 86 THE SOUL OF THINGS. this is owing to the sensitiveness of the whole body, is evident from the fact that, if cut in two, both parts equally seek the light, " The monas sulpluivavia, stentor niger, and the actinice, seek the light, but change their position if exposed to the full glare of the sun, and sink beneath the surface, before any part of their bodies conies in contact with the atmosphere. Veretillum cynomorium (a species of zoophyte) seeks the darkest spots and folds itself together if brought within the influence of the light. In all these animals the power of sight, or rather the sense of perception, is spread over the whole surface of the body."* Bats, that spend their lives in twilight or darkness, appear to possess this interior vision to a wonderful ex- tent. Experiments made by Spallanzani, and repeated by eminent philosophic naturalists, demonstrate that the bat, when blinded, regulates its motions in the same manner as when it has full possession of its eyes. " Completely blinded bats were not in the slightest de- gree obstructed in their motions. They flew about by night or by day with their wonted ease and rapidity, avoiding all obstacles which lay, or were intentionally placed in their way, as dextrously as if in full posses- sion of their sight. They turned round at the right time when they approached a wall, rested in a conven- ient situation when fatigued, and struck against noth- ing. The experiments were multiplied and varied in the most ingenious manner. A room was filled with iliiu twigs; in another, silken threads were suspended from the roof, and preserved in the same position and • niompson'E Passions of Animate. BLIND BATS. 87 at the same distance from each other by means of small weights attached to them. The bat, though de- prived of its eyes, flew through the intervals of these threads, as well as of the twigs, without touching them ; and when the intervals were too small, it drew its wings more closely together. In another room a net was placed, having occasional irregular spaces for the bat to fly through, the net being so arranged as to form a small labyrinth. But the blind bat was not to be deceived. In proportion as the difficulties were in- creased, the dexterity of the animal was augmented. When it flew. over the upper extremity of -the net and seemed imprisoned between it and the wall, it was fre- quently observed to make its escape most dextrously. When fatigued by its high flights, it still flew rapidly along the ground, among tables, chairs, and sofas ; yet avoided touching anything with its wings* Even in the open air its flight was as prompt, easy, and secure as in close rooms ; and in both situations, altogether similar to that of its associates who had the use of their eyes." * Any animal living in darkness during a continued existence, would, in my opinion, receive visual impres- sions in the same way ; still more, animals whose an- cestors had existed in a similar manner for ages, the power increasing with continued use, as transmitted for many generations. It is not surprising that human beings should possess a power which is thus shared in by many animals, some of which are quite low in the scale of existence. Harriet Martineau tells us of an old lady who had * Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, Vol. IV., p. 293. 88 THE SOUL OF THINGS. been blind from her birth, and vet saw in her sleep; and. when in her waking state, described the color of the clothing of individuals correctly. Most blind persons exhibit such phenomena to a greater or less extent, according to the sensitiveness of the individual and the length of time during which the power has been cultivated. The case of the blind Yorkshire surveyor is familiar to most persons, and, in his case, the possession of vision, without the use of eyes, seems most evident. Somnambulists who read and write with eyes closed, and sometimes bandaged, who in dark nights walk along the roofs of buildings and narrow Avails, and per- form various feats which other individuals could only do in the light of day, bear evidence to the possession of this faculty, that we are now considering, in man. For this subtle light to which I have referred is never obscured; it is always clay with it, and, to those who perceive by its instrumentality, the darkest midnight is light and clear as the sunniest noon. Clairvoyance is but the exercise of the same power by an individual in a somewhat different condition. If this subtle light can pass through a brick wall, the brick wall can be as readily seen through, by the per- son who sees by its instrumentality, as we can Bee through a pane of glass. To the clairvoyant, therefore, all things are transparent as air, because they are per- vious to the light by which he sees; the rays proceed- from objects passing directly through the transpa- rent skull — transparent to this Light — to the brain. - which philosophers have sneered at, and phc- aomena which they have denied, will eventually be MOUNT OF OLIVES. 89 accepted, and found to be in harmony with refined forces of matter with which they are as yet unac- quainted. I have recently become acquainted with Mrs, Lu- cielle do Yiel, of Pultneyville, Wayne Co., N. Y., a lady who, on examining a specimen psychometrically, not only goes to the spot from which the specimen was obtained, but has the sensation of travelling while doing so, and frequently sees towns, ships, rivers, seas, etc., as she passes along to her destination. She informs me that she has seen objects with her eyes closed, from infancy, and frequently heard sounds that were inau- dible to all but herself. After picking berries or gath- ing chestnuts, on lying down to sleep, she saw them in great abundance, and often wished she could have the privilege of gathering what was so plainly visible. When young, she frequently told her friends what she saw ; but, being laughed at and called visionary, she ceased to be communicative in reference to these vis- ions. Previous to my trying her with the following specimens, she had never done anything of the kind, nor heard of its being done. I simply requested her to tell me what she saw and felt. The following ex- periments were made, she having no knowledge what- ever of the specimen previous to its examination. She is more familiar with the French language than with English, and hence had more difficulty than another would have had in describing what appeared to her. After trying her with two specimens of but ordinary interest, I gave her the specimen of hornstone brought from the Mount of Olives, an examination of which is recorded in experiment 66. 90 THE SOUL OF THINGS. EXPERIMENT XX XIII. "I am going back, back, — over the water I glide along, but I see no vessels. Now, I am on shore ; and see stones and rocky hills. There are large and small stones scattered all around, with moss among them. It is too stony for trees. What a long way off this is ! There is water near where I am now, and a little grass, and small bushes. I see a basin of water ; it is a lake, I judge. " There does not seem to be many people. The land is so poos, I judge, they could not raise enough to eat. I see a forest a long way off. " I see an ancient place now ; how old-fashioned it is! Old houses almost down; arched gates and win- dows ; how curious they look ! Now I see people. Is that Spain? 7 ' (No.) "There is something grow- ing on that rocky mountain ; a few trees. They are not very tall, but thick and bushy. I should judge they were fig trees ; but the leaves look like the olive. " I have seen people like these ; but I cannot tell where. The women wear turbans and pantaloons ; and men and women are much alike. I see cattle, but they look different from ours. Farther back I see horses, sliecp, and goats. " I sec a great palace. It is very beautiful. It locks like a Roman Catholic church. That is what it is. I sec images, the cross, candlesticks, and an imag i of the Virgin, ii is a very [urge place. Women are d men walking on their tip-toes, as if they were afraid of disturbing something. Back of that palace I see a high mountain that lies to the north, 1 judge. X<>w F see ruing, — large stones lying round MOUNT OF OLIYES. 1)1 that have fallen clown. Some are in heaps, and some are scattered ; they seem too large for men ever to handle. " After supper, a second examination was made of the same specimen. " It seems just as it did before. Fm going over the water again. I guess Fm crossing the Red Sea, it looks so red and dark. I see no vessel. Now Pm on shore. It is dreadful far. I see rocky little hills, heaps of stones, and large, flat stones lying by the wayside. The roads are narrow and crooked ; they look like paths. I notice a large hill ; it is all stone though, except a few small trees, which can hardly find root. " Now I see a city, with high stone walls and large iron gates. The wall is thick and high. Two men are watching at the gate ; they look like Jews. I wonder if they will let me in. Now I come to that temple and go in again. There is the crucifix at the altar, the images, and the women praying. It is a splendid place. Now I see another nice temple, not so large as the first. There are Greek letters on the outside ; I cannot read them. I see many houses ; they look curious ; some are in ruins, and some are nice-looking places. " I am on a mountain now ; and there is another mountain on the opposite side, with olive trees and fig trees all the way. I see a garden, and water in a kind of basin. I have seen a description of this place, I know. Is not this Jerusalem ? The mountain I stood on was Mount Mori ah, and that opposite the Mount of Olives." 92 THE SOUL OF THINGS. Who does not see that what was stated is true of Jerusalem and its vicinity, and of no other place ? I found, on visiting her house subsequently, a work on Palestine, by means of which she had become familiar with Jerusalem and its vicinity, and hence the readi- ness with which she identified what she saw, which, at first, very much surprised me. EXPERIMENT XXXIV. Fibrous gypsum, Mammoth Cave. " I am travelling south now. I see the soldiers' camp and tents. There are mountains around there, back and back. I see a cave ; it looks white, like marble. What curious things on shelves, or what look like shelves, — vases, cups, candles, and candle- sticks, all in stone. There is a natural seat all round there. " I see a spring : how clear the water is. There are fine statues, horses, camels, everything one can think of, almost, in stone. •• What a pretty place this is ; it glitters like gold. What makes it shine so? Now I see water falling in- to a kind of basin down there. I see the appearance of curtains. That water pours into another basin be- low again." This specimen is the one that was the subject of Experiment 32, and was obtained from the Mammoth Cave Borne year- ago, at a time when there were no ran.: diers in the neighborhood; bo that it ap- ■A- the locality at the very time the exam- ination was made, a time when, as I afterward learned, our soldiers were in the immediate vicinity. A BLACK PEARL. 93 EXPERIMENT XXXV. I have a small black pearl, given me by Captain Lo- per, who brought it from the G-ulf of California. This I gave to Mrs. do Viel for examination, who did not see it, but supposed, as she afterward told nie, that it was a small bean, which in shape it much resembles. " 1 am travelling a long way again ; I think south- east. I see a man on his knees, digging and scraping with his hands. He has something like a basket on a stick, which he puts into the water and dips out, and then scrapes with his hands in the dirt. It is not much inhabited here. It is either between points or islands, where this man is at work getting things." (What is he getting ?) " Stones, or something valua- ble, for he is very choice of them, selecting them with great care. (Oh, but it is a long way from here !) As near as I can see, he is getting pearls. He scrapes into this vessel, full of holes ; the water runs through, and he selects out of what remains at the bottom. They may be diamonds for aught that I know ; they shine very bright. He puts them into a little bag, af- ter he picks them out, " Back from him there is a large building, but it looks as if no one lived there. I see goats ; they are the only animals that I can find. I see trees and vines. That sea-shore is splendid. What clean, nice sand ! " In this experiment she apparently travels to the spot, but whether she saw what was occurring at the time, or what had occurred at the time the pearl un- der examination was gathered, it is impossible to say. The lower part of the G-ulf of California is the place 94 THE SOUL OF THINGS. where pearls are obtained, and the land in that neigh- borhood is very sparsely populated, or, as she described it, " not much inhabited. 7 ' EXPERIMENT XXXVI. A small fragment of Table Rock, Niagara. " I am in a place where I see stony land. I trav- elled west from here. I see a stony mountain ahead of me. This came from a rock at that mountain. It is settled all around there, and there are forests back from the villages. Some parts of the village look well, but it is nothing particular as a whole. The people I see look like our people. I see several places where water runs down the side of the mountain. I see some- thing clear and white in the rocks; it looks like silver." (Look around, down below.) u I see two or three huts and arbors, and some rabbits. There is a cave that goes under that mountain. I am curious to see it. I see bones on the ground that look like human, and a beast's head of some kind." (Turned the specimen over.) •• Xow I see a kind of smoke, — it may be a cloud of some kind; it goes right up. It is more toward the middle than the cave. I see no fire, — once in awhile a little spark. That smoke does not spread ; it goes ight up. • i nn looking down now in the mountain. It is a dec]) hole. There is something down there boiling up, boiling u]) nil the time, and the smoke comes from that la thai a hoi spring?" (No.) " What makes it boil bo? It makes just such a noise as the lake does. How it n ir I It is louder than the lake. It sounds TABLE ROCK, NIAGARA. 95 just like a torrent. 77 (Go across to the mountain on the other side.) " That is a^small one, not so high as the one I was on before. Can that be a volcano ? I hear it roar off here. There are no inhabitants here. It is very rough. There is a river that goes right round, — yes, all the way. It has a very pretty shore, but it is not very deep. There are two or three small villages round there. The people seem to fish a good deal. " That river has a very rapid current ; it looks stony in places, and the water boils right up. What makes it smoke so ? It runs right under that big mountain. There is a place under the mountain where it runs just as it does above, and boils right up ; that is what makes the smoke. On the other side the water de- scends into a deep hole ; it seems like a whirlpool down there. Under that water is a place where 1 can go. The stones are flat under there. The water pours over my head. There is an arch of stone over me. The stone is white in places. It is right under the mountain where I see this. I can go a long way under that arch, and as far as I go the water is. It seems as if the water was engulfed as fast as it fell. I wonder where it comes from? The water makes that smoke ; it looks like a rain-cloud or mist. It rises right up through that hole in the mountain, and when the sun shines it sparkles, and that is what I took for sparks. " I am on top of the mountain again, and looking over the water. There is a great, big cataract. The water goes down with tremendous force, and that makes it go up like smoke. What monstrous stones 96 THE SOUL OF THINGS. there are near that cataract. — many as big as this house. That is a terrible -whirlpool ; the water goes round like a wheel. It is so strong it carries the fish up with it. Near the cataract is a large, square face of stone, and that is what the water falls over. That stone comes over, something like a piazza, and the wa- ter fails over it. There is quite a space behind the water ; it looks like a long tunnel. What a tremen- dous body of water ! What force ! I never saw any cataract like this before. 77 She travelled in the right direction, and seemed to be at the spot in a few moments; but her vision seems to have been very much circumscribed, so that she could only describe what was in the immediate vicin- ity of where she seemed to be. She had never been at Niagara personally, or she would doubtless have recognized the spot. Any one who has been there, must see the exceeding accuracy of her description, which evidently none but an eye-witness could give. The white substance she saw in the rocks on two occa- sions is a very pure variety of gypsum, as white as chalk, which is worked up b) r persons at the Falls into ornaments and sold to visitors. On crossing the mountain she seems to have gone over to Goat Island, for she sees the river " goes right round,' 7 and from there, right under the cataract itself, where there is an arch of stone above, and the Avater pours right over her head. She then passes to the tdiao Bide, and sees the cataract in its grandeur, which she seems to hive been unable to do before, and beholds, with keener vision than ordinary visitors, that long tunnel, as she likens it to, which all visitors LEAD MIXE, G ALEX A. 97 know exists between the descending sheet and the wall of rock behind it, along which many persons ven- ture daily, accompanied by guides. EXPERIMENT XXXVU. Sulphuret of iron from the Marsden lead, west of Galena, 111. (Thought it was a stone.) "I am going over Niagara Kiver. I see the cataract and suspension bridge. I am travelling west. I see a place dug out of the earth where this came from. I see something there that looks whiter than copper, and a good many people are digging it. It is a good way off west. Back of here there is a town or city, and a body of water and vessels. " (The Mississippi is about three miles west of there, and Dubuque, Iowa, perhaps seven or eight miles.) "I see horses and wagons that carry the stuff away. " Now I see a place where they melt it ; there is a great furnace. It looks like lead. There are many people at work ; I never saiv anything like it before. " They have axes under ground there for cutting it out. I see them pick out white stones and lay to one side. " Now I see them shipping it in a vessel — they un- load it from wagons — it is in bars. " They have dug quite deep, and there are two or three ladders in different holes. As they go down they dig away under and very wide — thirty or forty feet, I should think. They have lights down there, and very long ladders to go up and down. The men are hack- ing into the wall ; they are almost as black as negroes. They haul the stuff out in buckets from one hole to 98 THE SOUL OF THINGS. another. It is very damp and cold in there. How the wall shines ! There is very clear water there." The accuracy of this whole description is marvel- lous. The Marsden lead is the richest known in the neighborhood of Galena, and is worked about five miles west of that city. The mine is the deepest in that region : and the inflow of water, which is very pure, is so great, that an engine is kept constantly employed in pumping it out. There are several holes, he stated, furnished with ladders ; and in the prin- cipal one they have dug " away under," for the roof of the mine dips at an angle of about fifty or fifty-five rees. The wall glistens much more than is com- mon in lead mines, on account of the great abundance of crystallized sulphuret of iron. When at the mines she seems to have come into rapport with the lines of travel to and from it; along one she goes to the smelting furnace, and from there to Galena, where the lead is shipped on board vessels. in bar-, as she states, and then returns on the other in to the mines, to continue her explorations. The only statement that she made in reference to it that is open to criticism is the one in which she • " They haul the stuff out in buckets from one hole to another." If my remembrance of it is accurate, the ore is drawn up in buckets by the steam-engine that pumps the water out. by a very crooked passage, ii is true, and this may have led her to describe it as going from one hole to another. EXPERIMENT XXXVIIL Piece ofcham >is horn, from Switzerland It was but •i .-mail fragment, and no person by feeling could h CHAMOIS HORN, SWITZERLAND. 99 imagined its character ; and as she did not see it, evi- dently the remarkable power that she possesses could alone give her the cine to the surroundings of the ani- mal of which it was once a part. "I am travelling south-east now, I think. I pass over many places that I have clone before. I see many soldiers and cannon, but I go over them. Xow I am on the sea-coast, and here are all kinds of shells. "I go farther back into the wilderness. I see prairies and dark-colored hills. I go farther back to the moun- tain land. There are large mountains; I see one higher than any I ever saw before. I see a splendid city a little way off. "I see little caves here and there that seem to have been dug for shelter. The rocks are dark, and so is the soil. I see goats or deer climbing up. There are numbers of animals running round me, some goats and some deer. The horns of the goats arch over back, but the deer's horns are bushy. Streams run down from the mountain-side and make gullies ; the water is clear, and they look beautiful. " I went into one of those caves ; they are dens for wild animals. Nuts grow on that mountain — some look like hazels — they are not ripe. They are very sour — I tasted them; they make the water run out of my mouth. " It is a splendid country ail round here. Til go into that city and see how it looks. Some buildings are of white marble, and others of dark stone. The people are swarthy, but they dress a good deal like our people. They have a stern look. I see a Soman Catholic church: there is a cross on the top. I see 100 THE SOUL OF THINGS. other churches. There are many mules in that coun- try — more than horses. I can see the whole city. On the other side is a body of water, and a very ex- tensive wilderness in the distance. " Here we have the mountainous region of the Alps, where the chamois dwells, the caves in which wild animals shelter, the animals themselves, with their horns arching back, — though she supposed them to be a peculiar kind of goat, — and, generally, what we should behold if visiting the region in proper person. expefjjiext xxxix. Conglomerate from Eagle River, near where it emp- ties into Lake Superior. u I am going west of here. I pass over Xiagara, where I was before. I pass rocks and over woods and waters, and now I am close by a lake and a wilderness. That is a pretty shore. It is a nice place all around — quite a wilderness back. I see a creek that runs through the wilderness and empties into the lake. It makes quite a ripple over the stones as it goes down, se are beautiful trees — oak, I think, white oak. I am close to the edge of the creek, and but a little way from the lake. •• A little way back there are inhabitants. I see as, and log houses, and saw-mills. They take wood to the lake. (That creek is narrow.) They arc not a!l Yankees there. I sec different kinds of people — French, That is a great place for timber. That ■r i- dec]) enough for vessels to come in. 1 see on" at the wharf now taking in wood." This description of the place from which I obtained GLACIER-SCRATCHED PEBBLE. 101 the specimen is correct, I believe, in nearly every par- ticular. I obtained it from the rocky bank of Eagle River, about 300 yards back from Lake Superior, and within the bounds of Eagle River village, where the water " makes quite a ripple over the stones as it goes. 77 The creek runs through a wilderness and emp- ties into the lake, which has at that point a beautiful pebbly shore. There is a wharf near the place, and vessels call, in going up and coming down the lake. I am not certain that she is correct about the kind of trees in the neighborhood, which, I think, are princi- pally small pines. EXPERDLEXT XL, Glacier-scratched pebble, Palmyra, Xew York. " This draws me down. There are many stones where this came from; I see numbers of them. It did not come very far. You got this close by, a little south of here ; not very far from Pultneyville. You did not pick it up for its beauty, but to see if any one could tell where it came from. There is a bed of this stone where it came from, — different layers, one above another. I see a village ; there is nothing remarkable about it." These examinations were made at Pultneyville, on the shore of Lake Ontario : and Palmyra, where I ob- tained the specimen, is sixteen miles south of Pultney- ville. She had never been at Palmyra, and hence did not recognize the place, which she appears to have seen psychometrically. Some persons may think that out of a multitude of examinations I have chosen just the few that had in 9* 102 THE SOUL OF THINGS. them something remarkable, but this is not the case. My time was limited, and Mrs. do Viel's family duties prevented her trying as many experiments as she oth- erwise would. She examined, in all, thirteen speci- mens, and out of the thirteen I have presented eight. The rest were probably just as correct, but I have not yet been able to verify them as fully as I could wish. This lady had no idea that she possessed any such power, till she tried a specimen that I gave her, and she expressed the greatest delight at the wonderful things that she was thus enabled to see. She seemed less fatigued by it than any psychometer that I ever saw, owing probably to her robust physical constitution. Of what great utility this department of psychome- try may become ! All drift may be tracked by the fu- ture geologist to the place of its dispersion ; and where that drift contains portions of the precious metals, the vein from which they were borne may readily be discovered. A simple, cheap and efficient telegraph line may be established between the most distant places on the earth, that may be worked as rapidly as a person can read. In short, the uses of this power are innumerable, and such as only the great fu- ture can develop. I am strongly inclined to believe that if we detach a lock from its parent bed, wherever it may be car- ried, there is a line of connection extending from that i to the bed from which it was derived, and that along thai line something (call it soul, spirit, or mind, I know not what term would be most appropriate) passes from the psychometer to the place, and sees ob- they at presenl exist. When a psychometer RAVINE NEAR L0CKP0RT, N. Y. 103 examines a specimen of rock from a building, some- times the quarry is first visited where the rock was obtained, and then the building ; and at other times the building is first visited, and then the quarry. If psychometers only wandered over places as they exist at the present time, which appears to be the case with Mrs. do Viel, such an explanation would be quite sufficient for all cases ; but when they wander, as they appear to do, through the streets of cities, which they find in their prime, though they have been but heaps of ruins for centuries, when they skim over wide continents, containing strange mountain chains and long-perished rivers ; roam through trackless for- ests alive with extinct mammals, and visit the ocean- caves of early geologic periods, very different must be the explanation of this. Can it be that all the Si- lurian period — its thermal oceans, its shelly beaches, its foggy skies, all its tenants of water and rock, and the diversified surface and changing conditions of the globe and its inhabitants during its vast continuance — is locked up in the fragment of limestone, whose interior is viewed by the psychometer ? I am some- times inclined to think that the universe is contained in every pebble, and it only needs the all-compelling soul to call it forth. Time will explain all. EXPERIMENT XLL There is a remarkable gulf, north of the town of Lockport, New York, evidently produced by a branch of the Niagara river, which, at some distant period, flowed over the ridge there, and cut its way back for more than a mile. At the present time there is a small lOJr THE SOUL OF THINGS. creek flowing through it, which empties into Lake On- tario a few miles below. There is a mineral spring at the bottom of the gulf, and some one had dug out the rock in its neighborhood in order to deepen it, I car- ried away a block of it to Lockport, and broke out from the centre of it a small piece, which, up to that time, had never seen the light, I wrapped it in two thicknesses of paper, and then presented it to Mrs. Taylor for examination, she having at the time, I am positive, no knowledge of it whatever. She was si- lent for some time, but at length said : — " I find great difficulty in fixing my mind upon it. I am on the edge of a cliff; below me there is a deep ravine, with a little stream running through it, off to the lake. I go across a rocky, uneven piece of ground, and see trees and grass ; trees grow on the side of the ravine. I see you hammering among the rocks. " The description is accurate in every particular. Is a man exaggerating when he says the paving-stones can see, and tell what they see ? Images of external objects in their vicinity are impressed even upon their interiors ; images that will continue as long as the stones themselves endure. EXPERIMEXT XLSL When seeking for fossils in the bed of the Wyan- dotte River in Kansas, some years ago, I found a piece of petrified bone, apparently a portion of the leg-bone of some monstrous mammal; and near it a piece of the enamel of a tooth, looking somewhat like the side of a mastodon's tooth. This was examined by Mrs. Den- ENAMEL OF A TOOTH. 105 ton, she as usual neither seeing it nor knowing any- thing of its supposed character. "I see a very large and singular-looking animal, great beyond anything that I ever conceived a quad- ruped to be. Its huge legs are wide apart ; the hind legs considerably larger than the fore legs. The head is large, and must be very heavy ; it moves from side to side. There is a kind of marsh where plants grow, and there it goes to eat. " It seems as if I could describe the whole of the internal organs of the animal. The bones are large, and the marrow seems monstrous. The skin is very thick. The nose comes down a long way and widens out, and the animal seems to have had the power of lengthening its neck at will. 77 EXPERIMENT XLIU. The fragment of tooth was also examined by Mrs. Cridge, under like conditions. I had carefully kept both specimens from observation previous to these ex- periments, in order to have a satisfactory result. " I can see many animals that are large, but I see them too indistinctly to describe them. One is a large animal with horns, which lie back toward the shoulder. It has a very long head, and is about the size of a horse, but differs from all animals that I have seen. " A river appears before me, and a swamp, and a thicket connecting the swamp and river. There is one very large animal near there, a walking stack of flesh. What curious legs ! They are spread out and look very heavy, but look short compared with the size of the animal ; the ankle joint seems to come right 106 THE SOUL OF THINGS. down on the ground. It has a very long neck. The fore feet are unlike the hind feet. It eats branches of trees. It has the power of drawing in and sending out its neck. The head seems small compared with the size of the body. 77 (In reply to a question:) "I think it has a trunk, but it is shorter than an ele- phant's ; it seems to smell by it. It is very wide at the end and open. There ! I see the animal roll it over and over, and place it on the top of the head. " I see another animal, light-colored and scaly, cov- ered with a suit of armor; it has quite a long tail. It has a long head, and horns laid back upon it. The back is covered with regular, sharp protuberances ; underneath it is of a brown color. It is quite harm- less, living upon herbs. I can see it nibbling. Its teeth seem to be quite sharp. 77 It appears evident that both, saw the same animal, though the descriptions differ somewhat. One sees a marsh where plants grow; the other sees a swamp and a thicket. Both see a very large quadruped : both notice that its legs are wide apart, though they speak of it in somewhat different language, and both observe a difference between its fore and hind feet. One sees that it possesses a trunk, which the other does not appear to observe until the question is asked whether it has or not : but both state that it is wide at the end, which is very different, as every one knows, from the shape of tin- elephant's proboscis. Let it be remember- ed, that neither person knew that the specimen exam- ined wad a pari of any animal, and that these remarka- ble coincidences were brought out, not by hints given or l( ;ioiis asked, but by presenting the RAIN-PRINTS ON SANDSTONE. 107 specimen, which certainly could convey no idea to ordinary touch of its nature, and then leaving all to be educed by its pyschometric examination alone. Prom pyschometric examinations, made at various times, I believe that many huge animals existed in North America during the Tertiary period, allied to the mastodon and megatherium, and some that appear to have been links between the pachydermata and edentata; the descriptions given agreeing partly with the one and partly with the other. From the appearance of the cervical vertebras, in the engraving of the skeleton of the megatherium, given in Dr. Buckland's Bridgewater Treatise on Geology, it seems very probable that it had the power of pro- truding the head, thus enabling it to reach distant branches without moving its ponderous body. The vertebras of the neck seem to be concave on their upper surfaces, and convex on their lower, fitting into each other, as one cup of a set fits into another; so that they could be removed a considerable distance apart without danger of dislocation. The animal seen encased in armor was probably allied to the Armadillo family, many of which, of gigantic size, with shells like turtles, existed on the American continent during the Tertiary period. EXPERIMENT XLIV. At Chagrin Falls, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, there is, in a sandstone quarry, a layer about three inches thick, on which are found, over the whole surface, the im- pression of rain-drops ; corresponding casts of them being found on the under surface of the overlying 108 THE SOUL OF THINGS. layer. Occasionally, fossil fish with heterocercal tails have been found in the same layer as the rain-drops. The rock is a member of the Devonian formation. Mrs. Denton, without seeing it or knowing anything regarding ft placed a small piece of one of the slabs, containing the impressions of rain-drops, upon her forehead, and said : — "I see a zigzag flash of lightning; it divided before it reached the earth. Xow I am in a shower, and feel as if drenched by rain. This must be the impression of rain-drops. " How strange that the electric flash which darted to the earth millions of years ago, should still be visible, and the rain that followed it still be felt ! EXPERIllEST XLV. When travelling through Texas, several years ago, I found in Henderson County a creek, the bed of which contained innumerable fragments of silicified wood, some of them of rare beauty ; and in the vicinity, I saw bodies of trees, two and three feet in diameter, and many feet in length, changed into solid flint. One of the small pieces that I brought home with me, was the subject of this experiment, which was made as re. "I see water and trees, some standing and others lying. The water is peculiar ; it has some property in it that produces a feeling of incrustation, on putting the hands into it. It is very warm; a hot steam rises from it. It has a saltish taste, but there seems to be some alkali in it. It looks clear, except on the top, where a kind of crust floats upon the surface. The water FOSSIL WOOD FROM TEXAS. 109 flows over a small cascade into a lake below. Moving my position, I now see trees, tall, large and majestic, and the light comes through their dense foliage. They shoot up very high before branching. I can see trees on the upland, but they are more scrubby. Many trees are lying in the water. " I go down the stream. What quantities of drift- wood ! The water is almost dammed by it. What monsters ! — large, spotted lizards like crocodiles ; some in the water, and others crawling on the soft mud. The water and the swamp are full of them. The spotted ones are too slender for crocodiles, and their jaws too long. " One I see with a short and broad mouth. At the connection of its legs with its body is a wing-like extension of the skin. It seems well suited for the water, but is clumsy on land. "I see many small animals that the large ones are in pursuit of. How rapidly they dart away ! One dives right into the mud, as a fish would into the water ; its sharp snout being well fitted for the work. " What monstrous reptiles ! Here is the struggle for life. I see many reptiles that look like newts, but they are from three to four feet long. The water here is very different from that which I first saw." Here the trees and the silicifying agencies seem to have come up first, as most intimately related to the history of the specimen ; then its surroundings during the Tertiary period, when it was drinking in the influ- ences of the crawlers that abounded in it. If the ex- amination had been continued longer, I have no doubt that the images of the Tertiary quadrupeds would have 10 110 THE SOUL OF THINGS. presented themselves, and perhaps those of the early human occupants of the country. Here we have an evidence of the great deficiency of ordinary geological investigation, in revealing to us the various forms of life that have existed on the face of the globe. I think it probable that a thousand times as many animals existed, prior to the human period, as the paleontologist knows anything about. Take these Texan Tertiary deposits, and we find in them no bones, no footprints, nothing to tell of the myriads of animals that swarmed and rioted during countless generations, but the psychometric impres- sions, which seem to be the only means by which the gaps that at present exist in paleontology can be filled. EXPERIMENT XL VI. An experiment made with a Tertiary fossil, obtained near Calabazal, in Cuba, gave me a wider view of what this psychometric power is destined to do for science in the future than I ever possessed before. Mrs. Denton. " I see streams of water running down the side of a hill : the water is very much charged with foreign matter. There are rocks visible, that seem to have been formed by deposit from the water. There are fossils in the rock, but they differ from any I ever saw before. " I go back in time, and see a volcano and a shower of fire. There is a long dark strip of rock from the Lav ground up to the volcano. The land seems very unstable ; rocking, and heaving up, and sinking down; tee appearing above the water, and then vanish* FOSSIL FROM CUBA. Ill ing beneath. I seem to be on an island. The eastern part is less stable than the western. All the western part is under water now. The island is longer from east to west than from north to south. It extends south of east, farther than directly east. 1 think it is south from here. The coast is very singular. I see what would probably be called a barrier reef along the coast, and so regular is a portion of it that it looks ar- tificial. " The climate is delightful. I seem to be on the north side of the island, west of the centre, and some- what inland. " I have a glimpse of a grove, with vines stretching from tree to tree, and naked boys climbing on them. " Farther south and east there is a strip of land richer than here. This seems to have been washed by the sea. There is a kind of point here, and I see what looks like an artificial ditch." At the time when this examination was made, I 'did not really know on what part of the island of Cuba the specimen was obtained; but on writing to Mr. McDoneil, of Madison, Wis., of whom I received it, he informed me that " Calabazal is twelve miles south of the city of Havana, at a point where a railroad crosses a stream, half way between Havana and Santi- ago." How wonderfully correct, then, were the statements of the psychometer. Cuba is seven hundred and fifty miles long from east to west, with an average breadth of about sixty miles ; consequently the island is " longer from east to west than from north to south." Its direction is E. S. E., hence " it extends south of 112 THE SOUL OF THINGS. east farther than directly east." The mountains in- crease in height from the west to the east end of the island, where they are diffused over nearly the entire surface, some of them being nearly 8,000 feet high ; so that it is probable that the eastern part has been less stable than the western. The specimen was taken from "the north side of the island,*' "west of the centre/' and twelve miles from the coast ; and con- sequently, " somewhat inland. 77 It came from a place " south from here/ 7 which has a " delightful climate ; 77 and from a Tertiary bed, containing many fossils, dif- fering from any that Mrs. D. had seen before. It was taken from a railway cutting, which may explain the ditch that was seen. Let it be remembered that Mrs. D. did not see the specimen ; that she had no conception whatever as to the character of it, or the place from which it was obtained ; and that I did not know many of the facts stated during its examination, and its extraordinary character is most manifest. What is to prevent the accurate exploration of the Arctic and Antarctic regions by a process incompar- ably easier and cheaper than the expeditions of Parry, Ross, and Kane? EXPERIMENT XLVJI. Recently, the alligators that swarm in our southern rivers have been put to some useful account; oil being made from their bodies, and leather from their skins. A piece of this leather I had given to me by a friend, and in ;i few days had an opportunity of trying it psy- metrically. In this, as in all other experiments ►rded, where the contrary is not Btated, the psychom- LEATHER FROM ALLIGATOR'S SKIN. 113 eter did not see the specimen, and had no idea of what it was previous to the experiment. " I see an animal with a long neck and a long head. I see its skeleton. What a long neck ! I believe I can count the bones ; the processes are large and wide apart. It is an animal much larger than a horse. I get this indistinctly, as if it really did not belong to it, or only incidentally. The skeleton resembles that of the sea cowl saw the other day." (In the Academy of Sciences, Chicago.) "I see a large leg, bent as if in walking. It is an alligator's. A little old man passes before me, with his feet on a chair ; he is bent over as if doing something. "Now I am in another place altogether. Other scen- ery comes up, more tropical. I see plants and ani- mals, such as live in warmer countries than this. One animal, I see, is an enormous bird. There are hun- dreds of reptiles, too ; the water is alive with them. Two of them are eating the body of a dead animal. Some of them are alligators. There are many turtles of various kinds and sizes ; fishes, large frogs, and other animals." After informing her what it was, she said that she had come to the conclusion that it was an alligator's scale. The first influence may have come from the oil with which the leather was curried ; but the stronger influ- ence eventually makes itself felt. EXPERIMENT XLVI1I. Near La Salle, Illinois, on the Illinois River, there is a large high rock of white sandstone, known by the 10* 114: THE SOUL OF THINGS. name of Starved Rock, from a legend, which states that the remnant of an Indian tribe was starved to death upon it, being surrounded bj 7 their enemies. On the top of the rock, and around it, are found, in great abundance, Indian arrow-points, arrow-heads, beads, and pieces of pottery. One of the latter was the subject of this experiment. Conditions as before. Mrs. Denton. " I see a round place, as large as the floor of this room ; and on it a fire is burning. It looks like a fire around which Indians gather. There are woods nearly surrounding the fire. I seem to have a night view. " There is a stream here, and I am hunted. A num- ber of fellows are paddling across and yelling. I think they are after me ; but I feel soniewdiat secure, though I know not why. Now they are across ; I can see them, but they cannot see me. They go Indian file, and they look like Indians. How they shout and whoop ! I am crossing over their track, and running into the woods on the other side. I have come to the conclu- sion that they were not after me. I seem to have too much calm, steady thought for an Indian." Who was this fugitive, and how came this piece of pottery to record this incident in his life ? The debris of the old Indian villages abounds with biographies of the old aboriginal warriors and their families, and if a man chose to devote himself to the work, he might write the histories of the Caasars and Napoleons of the Now World, whose names are all unknown. EXPERIMENT XLTX. Th A aphy of a Boulder. — At .Jaynesville, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A BOULDER. 115 Wis., I obtained from a hill of gravel that had been cut through by the railroad, a boulder of dark trap, of somewhat peculiar appearance, and weighing probably four or five pounds. Breaking off a fragment, the fol- lowing was obtained from it psychometrically, the psy- chometer knowing nothing of it, and the angular frag- ment conveying, of course, no idea of its character to the mere touch. " Mercy ! what a whirl things are in ! I do not know what to make of it. I feel as if I were being belched out of a volcano ; there is water and mud, and everything is in a perfect whirl. There are great pieces of rock beside me, some larger than I feel my- self to be, though I am of great size. "This is the strangest feeling I ever had. I am sent up whirling in a torrent of water, mud and rocks ; not sent out, but it is puff, puff, whirl, whirl, all of us flying round together. " Now I am lodged. I can hear that puff, puff, how- ever, and with every puff, the water rushes out, so that it seems as though the volcano were vomiting. Now, a torrent of water rushing back sweeps me from my resting-place, and I am rolling in again. What fury there is down there ! I did not go far down. Another gush, and I am washed a long way off. I can see it boil over now, but do not feel it. I see no fire about it, though there is steam, and, I think, gas. " I am now away down the side of a mountain, and feel quite benumbed. I can just hear that belching sound and feel the heaving of the ground. Here I lie for a long time. " At last I fall into a cavity, a deep one, very rough 116 THE SOUL OF THINGS. and uneven. It is dark. I perceive the influence of water in my neighborhood. How shall we ever get out of here ? I am surrounded on all sides. " The water has burst in with great power, and it is spinning rne round and round. I am being moved onward by little and little during a long time. (I must hurry along, for it is a vast period.) I am now in a kind of notch, where the rushing water keeps me in a constant whirl. "At last I see the daylight. There is a long shelf that slants down into the water; I am washed right up on it, and the water has left me. It is a long body of water, larger and wider than a river : it looks like a lake, and has waves of considerable size. " The water rises again ; it washes around me, and I am carried back into it. All is dark now. I am washed on into a deep and wide hole. I am far under ground and under water. There is a strong current, and I am being rushed along by it. A strange feeling of passiveness possesses me, a disposition to go as it comes. It seems so strange to me. I feel as if a great deal larger then than now. I keep moving slowly along, slide a little, roll a little, stop a little, and knock against the side now and then — one side, however, more than the other; I do not know why that should be. " I am out once more. I lie in a basin, in a large open place. I am not at the bottom of the basin, how- r, I'^r other rocks are below me. (How cold the water I The basin is gradually filling up, by rocks rolling in. Jt is in a terribly cold latitude. I am all in a chill." (She fairly shook with cold.) AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PEBBLE. 117 " I feel now as if there were something over me besides water. I don't know what it is, though.'' (The room was very warm, yet she drew her chair close up to the stove.) "It is strange that I see so little — I just feel and act. The basin in which I lie is shallow from me up. That which lies over me must be ice, for I can see light through it. I am fast in it too. My connection with this ice seems to give me a connection with all the country round, so that now I can see for many miles. There is a great depth of ice ; I look up through it ; it is a long way to the top, and seems unbroken for a great distance. " How strange ! The ice has broken loose, and I am in motion now, travelling southwest. It goes very heavily, hitching now and then. There is a kind of pitching forward of the upper part that surprises me ; ice certainly could not do that ; the under part seems to go slower than the upper; it cannot be possible, and yet it seems so. How intensely cold it is ! The noise the ice makes in moving is awful to me, though I do not suppose it could be heard far ; and yet here, it is a terrible grinding noise, with a ring to it. " It seems as if I had come a long way ; but it is strange how slow it moves. I do not understand how a solid body could move in this way, for a part of it moves faster than another part; and yet it seems all solid ; it is incomprehensible. It is a flat, thick mass of ice, several miles broad. How insignificant a tree or a house would be in its pathway ! " It seems as if we had a hard time of it, scraping, scratching, and grinding along. It meets with obsta- cles and checks, more than would be produced by mere 118 THE SOUL OF THINGS. unevenness of the ground. I am so far back, that I do not feel all that the front has to contend with. "It seems to be growing warmer now. I do not feel as cold as I did. It is a great deal warmer, and the heat seems to come from beneath too. The ice is melting, dripping, and running. It seems to melt away from under : I do not understand that. It does not seem as if we had come far enough south to make all this difference in climate. " The ice is leaving me, I believe. Yes, it is. The length of the ice surprises me ; it seems like a long coast of ice ; great cliffs rising up like walls. It melts and melts, and keeps sliding on, faster since it melted so rapidly. I have dropped out of the place where I was, on to the ground, and I am only moved occasion- ally now. The front of the ice is miles ahead of me, and overhead the great mass still goes on. I am still moved on a little occasionally, but the ice is fast leav- ing. I am nearly out from under, but the front is still a long way ahead. " ►o much fatigued to continue the experi- ment any longer, or doubtless it would have revealed much more. What it did reveal is significant. North of the fortieth degree of north latitude, on this continent, we find, covering the face of the coun- try, beds of sand, gravel, or clay, and, sometimes mixed with these, or lying above them, boulders, or, as they are sometimes termed, erratic blocks and lost r< Tiicx* rocks frequently differ in their mineral composi- tion from the rocks in the neighborhood of which they found : and the roeks with which they are identical in composition are generally found north of their pros- AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PEBBLE. 119 | ent localities, sometimes, indeed, many hundreds of miles. Beneath these beds, which are known to the geologist in the aggregate, as the drift or glacial form- ation, we find upon the solid rock scratches or furrows, that have evidently been made by the passage of some body over them; that body, from the appearance of these furrows, having moved in a general direction from north to south. These beds and appearances excited the attention of thinking observers for a long time, before any theory was formed of their origin, ade- quate to. account for the facts observed in connection with them. At the present time it is universally con- ceded that ice has been the principal agent concerned in their production ; but with regard to its operation there is considerable difference of opinion. One party supposes that during the drift period, the time when these beds and appearances were formed, this northern country, over which the drift extends, was under water ; and icebergs, laden with fragments of rock and detritus, ' swept by glaciers from some northern re- gion, came floating down, as they now do from the west coast of Greenland into the Atlantic Ocean, and stranded upon the shore ; but, impelled by a south- ward-flowing current, they slid over the floor of the ocean, and their imbedded pebbles made the furrows or scratches ; and, on melting, the material with which they were laden was left upon the floor of the ocean, forming, when that became dry land, the beds of drift to which I have referred. Another party supposes that, owing to some cause as yet unexplained, this northern country had, during the drift period, an intensely cold climate, so much so that snow falling could not melt, 120 THE SOUL OF THINGS. but became condensed by its weight into a grand sheet of ice of vast thickness, which covered the face of the country; and that this sheet of ice, moving in the only direction in which it could melt, namely, toward the south, passed over the country, grinding down the rocks in its march, and leaving upon them those plain indications of its progress, which the glacial furrows and beds present. There are many difficulties in the way of accepting the glacial theory, as it is termed, but the psychometric experiments that we have made upon scratched rocks, point unvaryingly to the existence of glacial action at the localities from which the specimens were derived ; and at the same time the action of icebergs is indica- ted as one of the auxiliaries in producing the varied phenomena belonging to the drift. It is a remarkable fact, a fact with which Mrs. D. was unacquainted at the time that the above examination was made, that ice, moving in the form of a glacier, trav- els with unequal velocity. Thus, in an article on gla- ciers and glacial theories, in the Westminster Review, the writer says : — " The rate of movement of all parts of a glacier is by no means the same. Sometimes the commencement and the end appear to move somewhat faster than the middle, sometimes the lower end moves more swiftly than the upper, — differences which doubtless proceed from changes in the form of the valley,, and consequent variations in the amount of re- ar different points. But there is a constant and most important discrepancy between the rate of motion of the central part of the glacier and that of the Bides; the former being invariably found to be mov- AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PEBBLE. 121 ing onward much more quickly than the latter. The same relation appears to hold good between the super- ficial and the deeper portions,- so that the motion of a glacier resembles that of a flowing body. It matters not whether we choose a limpid fluid like water, or a viscus fluid like tar, if we allow either to flow, and then measure the velocity of its different parts, w^e shall discern that the lateral and inferior portions are retarded by friction against the walls of the channel, and hence that the top flows faster than the bottom, the middle than the sides." On seeing this psychometrically, Mrs. D.'s astonish- ment was very great, and she could scarcely credit the possibility of her vision being correct in this par- ticular ; yet, the scientific accuracy of it, the well-in- formed reader w r ill see at a glance. There is one portion of the psychometric descrip- tion that deserves particular notice ; it is that in which the heat is spoken of as coming up from the earth into the ice and melting it. The spot where the boulder was obtained is on the edge of that singular region of No Drift, which is nearly coincident with the lead re- gion of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa ; extending all around for a few miles beyond the district in which lead is found. On every side of this district drift is abundantly distributed, especially to the north of it ; but within that charmed circle you cannot find even a drift pebble. What can be the reason of this ? Some have suggested, that, during the drift period, this por- tion of the country was an island, so far elevated above the waves that drifting icebergs never reached it, and consequently deposited no drift. But this ex- 122 THE SOUL OF THINGS. planation takes for granted that all drift phenomena were produced by floating icebergs, which is far from being proved. How does it happen that the region of the Xo Drift is coincident with the lead region, and that there is no other portion of this continent, north of the fortieth parallel, in which drift is thus absent ? I have long been of the opinion that the lead in the region referred to, has come from below, in the state of vapor, through the underlying porous sandstone into the magnesian limestones in wdiich it is found ; the de- posits having been formed by sublimation, at a time when the rocks were heated to a certain degree, even to the surface ; indications of which are plain and abun- dant. This may have occurred during the drift peri- od, and, as the glaciers came down from the north and northeast, tliQj melted as they came near this heated district, leaving their detritus on the spot, and thus formed those immense accumulations of drift that are found in Wisconsin, north of the lead region. I had no thought of this theory at the time that we made the examination, but our examinations favor it very strongly ; for, if so, the circumstances described in the last experiment, must have taken place at or near the very place from which the boulder was obtained. EXPEPJHEXT L. Some glimpses of the ancient world that we have occasionally had, seem to indicate that the earth was once surrounded by a ring, or rings, like those sur- rounding the planet Saturn, which having become bro- ken from time to time, have dropped to the earth in jments. Some of themyel remaining in space, and RING SURROUNDING THE EARTH. 123 occasionally drawn within the sphere of the earth's at- traction, may constitute a portion of those bodies known as shooting stars and aerolites ; while others still remaining may produce the appearance known as the zodiacal light, I have not had an opportunity of verifying this by the statements of other psychome- ters, but hope to do so at some time. This experiment gave us the first presentation of this appearance : — Soapstone from the bed of a creek near Painesville. Devonian formation. Mrs. Denton. "Did you get this from a stream? for I seem to be in the bed of a creek. There are two trees on one side and an open space on the other. 77 (This is cor- rect.) "I see a tropical region, and plants and ani- mals in great abundance. I see the sun setting, but the atmosphere does not look clear as now. It looks much as it does when very foggy. There is a long circular belt or arch of light in the water, that looks as if reflected from something above. The sun is still above the horizon, but I see the light of this body notwithstanding, for the dark atmosphere seems to prevent the sun's light from obscuring it, " Now I see it in the sky; it is a segment of an arch ; but there seems to be more of it than I can see. It ex- tends from the eastern horizon upward for about sev- enty degrees, at least that is as far as I can see it, It looks about as broad as the full moon, yet has a faint appearance of being broader." A few days afterward, from the same specimen, the belt was seen in the heavens again, but much broader than before; apparently, three times as broad. The 1-4 THE SOUL OF THINGS. sun's place in the heavens was about twenty degrees south of the belt. It did not appear this time nearly as bright as before ; it looked as if covered with a veil, hiding its brightness, though through it the shape was distinctly revealed. EXPERIMENT LI. The next three experiments were made for the pur- pose of discovering the condition of the earth, and of its fauna and flora, during the Carboniferous period, and their revelations are of great interest to the paleontologist. In no case was the specimen known. Small specimen from a bone bed in the Coal Mea- sures, near Youngstown, Mahoning County, Ohio. There are impressions of plants in the shale below. Mrs. Denton. " I see plants as tall as a man ; two-thirds of the way up the stalk, is a bright, yellowish red bud ; I call it a bud for want of a more appropriate name ; out of it the upper stalk appears to grow. It is really on one side of the main stem, but grows with it for some distance. There is just one bud on each infant. At the end of the stalk is something that looks like a corn tassel. The plants are quite succulent, and cover the ground completely, as close together as they can grow. " I sec ribs, naked ribs, and now the skeleton of a long animal. 1 see another skeleton, longer than the first, but the ribs are not as large. Now I see the ani- mal : it resembles a lizard, and lias a fringe of long spines along tin- back. •• 1 see another animal, with a scalloped shell upon SANDSTONE, WESTEEN RESERVE. 125 its back. It has somewhat the appearance of a turtle with a scalloped shell all round. " I see a fish, with spines from the head to the end of the tail. All I see looks odd, strange." EXPERIMENT LIT. Sub-carboniferous sandstone, Western Beserve, Ohio. Mrs. Denton. " I see something that looks like a plant, but it dif- fers from anything I ever saw before. It has several stalks that go up to a certain height, and a round body encloses the whole ; then they go up again smaller, and are enclosed in a similar manner ; then again ; and then at the top it branches into heads, mak- ing it, altogether, about three feet in height. That which encloses the stalks looks something like a recep- taculite.* " The stalks that support the little heads, of which there are some five or six, seem to be furnished with cilia in constant motion ; and from the heads proceed tentacles, also having a constant, wavy motion. They must be some low kind of animal, instead of plant ; probably, belonging to the radiates. The heads, as I call them, move somewhat as I have seen crinoids. The bodies encircling the stems are of a brown color, the stems somewhat lighter. They are really beau- tiful. " The water is very dark, and seems quite thick ; it has much the color of smoked glass. It is not caused by mud, however, but it is chemically impure. There is a long, low, flat piece of ground with plants growing * A coral-like fossil found in the Silurian formation. 11* n. 126 THE SOUL OF THINGS. oh it, that look like high weeds. The water rises so as to cover it occasionally. The atmosphere is dark and heavy.' 7 EXPERIMENT LEU. A piece of anthracite- coal from Pennsylvania. Mrs. Denton. " I see a shallow stream of water that looks like a kind of bayou. A dense vapor hangs over it, that it is difficult to penetrate. I seem to be in a boggy place, where there is a great deal of vegetable matter be- neath me, not floating on the water, but the water is all through it, so that it is soft and spongy. I should think there are two or three hundred feet of vegeta- ble matter beneath my feet ; and it seems as if I could shake acres of it all round. " I see an island of higher ground in this swamp, with a dead tree twenty or thirty feet high upon it, I had a glimpse just then of an enormous lizard-like animal." Such examinations have given me a more vivid, and, at the same time, what seems to be a more correct idea of the Carboniferous era than I ever had, before investigating the subject psychometrically. Many may object to the apparent abundance of reptilian forms that were presented in these exami- nations: but the number of fossil reptiles, known to geologists, in the Carboniferous formation, is constantly increasing. According to Lyell, previous to the year 1844, no remains of air-breathing animals were known as low as the Coal Measures. In ten years from this time, that is, in 1854, the skeletons, or portions of the skele- GLOBULAE FOSSIL FROM WISCONSIN.- 127 tons, of no less than seven Carboniferous reptiles, referred to five different genera, were brought to light, besides numerous reptilian footprints, made by animals larger than those whose bones were discov- ered. From the great number of genera compared with the number of species, we may safely infer that the num- ber of species of reptiles, existing during the Carbon- iferous period, was very much greater than that discovered ; and that we have made the acquaintance of but a few of a very numerous family, whose por- traits Nature has carefully preserved in her rocky galleries. And although, at present, but one reptilian form is known to the geologist in the Devonian forma- tion, yet, I am well satisfied, that, during the deposition of the Chemung group, one of the higher groups of the Devonian formation in the State of New York, rep- tilian forms abounded in the waters, although not a bone or track of them has yet been found. At some future time we may refer to these early reptiles again. EXPERIMENT LTV. A peculiar globular fossil, about an inch in diameter, found near Evansville, Wisconsin, in the Upper Magne- sian or Galena Limestone. It is, probably, a fossil rad- iate of some kind. Mrs. Denton. Specimen seen. " A remarkably beautiful view is presented. I see a shell more than a foot long. Near it are several singular bodies, having roots like plants and stems five or six feet long; on the top is a green translu- cent body, with a soft gelatinous covering, fully half 12S THE SOUL OF THINGS. an inch thick. The interior reflects through the trans- lucent green, giving a mixture of orange, purple, and a tinge of pink. Among them is a large star-fish, or an animal of that kind ; it is covered with spines. I perceive branches spreading from the top of that green animal. (This water is poisonous, I believe ; it seems as if it would poison me now.) " 1 see a long body, a foot in diameter, which looks like a green feathery brush, collected around some small body. " Two eyes come before me, and disappear in an in- stant. I see that shell again, and another one, curved and thicker in proportion to its length. The animal of the first is retreating into its shell. There is some- thing at the end of the head, of the same shape as the orifice of the shell. The animal seems slimy. Some of them look double, as if there were two bodies in one shell, or two heads united in one body. I see one go right into the shell, and the cover, I saw, comes tight down and closes it. It does not seem to do it often, only when it is alarmed. As snails thrust out horns, so this thrusts out two bodies that resemble them. There are bodies at the end of them that look strange ; they are brick-colored, and I believe are eyes; the animal itself is dark-colored." These forms are in harmony with what wc know of life, during the period of the deposition of the lime- stone in which the fossil was found. The Galena lime stone belongs to the Lower Silurian formation, and at the time of its deposition, mollusks, articulates, and radiates abounded : and we do not know that any higher animals than these existed. Many beautiful POTSDAM SANDSTONE, WISCONSIN. 129 radiates, with plant-like stems and flower-like bodies, must have flourished in the heated waters of those early oceans. EXPERIMENT LV. Having obtained a specimen of Potsdam sandstone, when in Wisconsin, I subjected it to psychometric ex- amination. Mrs. Denton. " I see shells ; multitudes of them, swimming and floating on the water. Everything is so small and delicate here ! There are many small bivalves. A delicate fan-like leaf comes floating along ; it is lightish green, and looks as if it grew in the water. " I see a shell much larger than the bivalves ; it seems a univalve, but it is still small. Everything is very diminutive. There are many species of minute organic forms, but they are too small almost for notice. " The large shell, of which I spoke, has the mouth covered with a flexible membrane, through which the animal sucks. This membrane it sometimes presses out, so as to make it convex at the mouth of the shell." The organic forms existing during the period of the deposition of the Potsdam sandstone, were generally small, if Ave may judge from the fossils whose remains have been discovered in" it. This was not, however, invariable ; for the tracks found on slabs belonging to this period, in various parts of Canada, show that crus- taceans, larger than our ordinary crabs, crawled along the sandy shores at this time. Life probably existed in much higher forms in some parts of the earth than 130 THE SOUL OF THINGS. others, during the same geologic period, notwithstand- ing the general similarity of organic forms in contem- poraneous formations. EXPERIMENT LVL The Potsdam sandstone, which lies at the base of the Silurian formation in North America, was long supposed to be the lowest fossiliferous rock on the con- tinent ; and its fossils, of which but few were known, were regarded as the earliest representatives of life that existed in the ocean, at that period, covering nearly the whole land. To Dr. Emmons must be attributed the discovery of fossiliferous beds, on this continent, lower than the Potsdam sandstone. But it is hardly presumable that the Taconic formation, the name which he gives to the fossiliferous beds below the Potsdam, contains the re- mains of the earliest organic beings. As we have one formation, the Silurian, that contains no remains of reptiles, others still higher, the Devonian and Carbon- iferous, that contain no remains of birds, there may be a formation, yet to be discovered, in which no fish remains exist ; another, lower, in which articulate fos- Bils shall be absent; and another, still lower, in which even the mollusks shall disappear, and the radiata be the only representatives of animal existence on the globe. The Iluronian rocks, largely developed in Canada, on the borders of Lakes Huron and Superior, are known to he older than the Potsdam sandstone, for that sandstone i- found resting upon them; but the Laurentian group is still older, for the Iluronian rooks are found resting unconformably upon it, showing that LAUKENTIAN LIMESTONE. 131 the rocks composing it were deposited, consolidated, and upheaved before the Huronian beds were laid clown. How much older than the Potsdam sandstone then are these beds ! These metamorphic beds of gneiss, crystallized limestone, &c, have been examined over a large area; but, as might be supposed, in such highly metamorphosed rocks, no recognizable fossil has yet been found, though bodies have been discovered that bear some resemblance to the coral Stromatapora rugosa, but no paleontologist, that I am aware, accepts these as actual fossils, though several have suspected their organic origin. Had not the limestones of the Laurentian group been metamorphosed, I have no doubt they would have yielded fossils in great abun- dance. As it is, their forms have vanished ; but the heat that could destroy their forms, could not dissi- pate their influence, and hence the psychometer finds them instinct with life. I gave to Mrs. Denton a piece of crystallized lime- stone, from the Laurentian rocks at Perth, Canada West, she being unaware of its nature. " I see an object that consists of three leaf-shaped divisions, that expand and contract ; when expanded, it is more than an inch across ; but when contracted, it seems to sink into cells, somewhat like the coral polyps. There is a stalk about six inches long, on which this portion rests, which has cells all round it. " I see many objects now that it is difficult to de- scribe. One, about two inches long and one inch in diameter in the widest part, is round, grows on a stalk, and expands about two-thirds of the way to the top, and then diminishes more rapidly to an end that is not 132 THE SOUL OF THINGS. as small as the other. It has some appearance of a crinoid, but differs from any that I have ever seen. The upper part branches out like foliage ; it has a pinkish tinge. There are open places on the sides, through which tentacles are protruded and drawn in again. I see those on the top contract and expand, but not as much so, I think, as the other. I see many corals too, with larger cells than I ever saw before. I can see the polyps very clearly. There are many dif- ferent forms here." The Laurentian rocks, styled by the government geologists of Canada the oldest rocks of the globe, may possibly prove to belong to the Radiate era, the dawn of the morning of life on our planet. EXPERIMENT LVU. I placed in a box the following specimens, each wrapped separately in a piece of paper, so that no one by ordinary sight could be distinguished from another : Fragments of the Porcelain Tower, China ; Mastodon's tooth ; Bone of fossil fish ; Brick from ancient Rome ; Limestone from Mount Lebanon ; Temple of Minerva, Baii ; Obsidian, Mexico ; Sandstone from Connecticut Valley; Limestone from Mackinaw; Hornstone, Mount of Olives ; Fossil wood from Kansas ; Lava, Mount Vesuvius; Antimony, Borneo; Lead ore, Platteville, Wisconsin; Boulder, Jaynesvillc, Wisconsin; Silver ore, Mexico; Aerolite; White marble, Anti-Libanus ; Lava, Oauea; Conglomerate, Lake Superior; Gold- bearing quartz, Australia ; Glacial-scratched rock, Wis- consin; and Basalt, Fingal's Cave, Staffa. Mrs. Denton took out one of these, no one knowing fingal's cave. 133 which it was, and described what she saw and felt as follows : — " I can hardly tell whether I am on the surface or under ground. I seem to be in a kind of cave, but I do not have that chilly feeling that belongs to caves. If a cave, it is a large one. It is a cave of some kind, and yet cave is hardly a proper name for it. It is open to daylight, with a wide entrance. I do not know how I got in here. I do not seem to stand on the ground at all, or on rock. It seems as if there were water in there. How did they explore it ? Parts of the rocks are drenched with water. The cave is open to a great body of water that comes in. On each side there are — what shall I call them? — pillars of rock. " It looks dark farther in. I feel as if in water, and not a great way from other land. I have glimpses of land at a comparatively short distance. It feels like the sea where I am. At the opening of the cave there are shorter pillars that do not reach to the roof; I see them on the left-hand side in going in. How delightful to sail in there ! There is a grandeur and novelty about it that few other places possess. How high the entrance is ! The floor seems to be water ; I can see no other floor. These are regular columns ; they are not rough and uneven, as rock generally is. I am reminded of Fingal's Cave ; it looks like the pic- ture of it which I have seen. " There is a sensation of sailing in there, or more as if a vessel went dashing by me. I caught a glimpse of rigging just then ; it vanished in an instant. I can hear the sea roaring and dashing, both. There is 12 134 THE SOUL OF THINGS. something terrific about it." (Mrs. D. had never seen the sea at this time.) "It has such a feeling of unceas- ing^ never-ending motion about it. " I see a large bird, and hear several screaming. T >Vhat can they find on such a rock as that? I see no vegetation. They alight on some of those columns. How they delight in daring the dashing waves and the storm. I see a great many now ; they inspire me. I see fishes in the water, but not distinctly ; I just catch a glimpse of them now and then. " The sensation of the whole is almost overwhelm- ing; standing here all alone with the wide expanse, the roaring waves, the screaming birds, where human beings seldom come — how grand! There is a majes- tic loneliness about it that attracts me ; I want to dare the elements with those birds. " I think that roof has extended farther out at some time. Yes, a great deal farther out. I seem to hear it fall into the water with a terrible crash and splash. I think it bent round to the right and joined some other land at a vastly distant period. What a mag- nificent place this was once ! How much we have lost of the beauty of the past ! It has been more than as long again at one time ; what remains is but the end of it. There are columns still remaining out in the water, at a distance from the shore. ".The land has been all around here for a long way at some time. There was once an extensive tract, which has sunk under water. The sensation I have, is more of its having sunk than of its being washed away, though thai has been done to some extent. The land — me i" have vibrated for some time before it fingal's caye. 135 became stationary. I see it rise and sink, rise and sink, over a considerable extent. I do not see how it could have been, but that is what I perceive. " There is quite a number of islands around here. The main body of the land seems to have sunk and left them. I wonder if some of them are not the tops of mountains. 77 Half the examination was made, before she knew that I had a specimen from FingaPs Cave in my pos- session ; yet, had she visited it in person, a more accu- rate description of the cave and its surroundings, according to the statements of many visitors, could hardly have been given. Staffa, the island on which FingaPs Cave is situated, is one of the Hebrides, or Western Isles, of which there are one hundred and sixty. Sir J. Banks gives the following measurements of the cave : — Length from the rock without, 371 ft. 6 in. ; breadth of the mouth, 53 ft. 7 in. ; and height of the arch at the mouth, 117 ft. 6 in. There are pillars from thirty to fifty feet in height, and the sides are columnar through- out. " As the sea never ebbs entirely out, the only floor of this beautiful cave is the fine green water.' 7 Some months afterward I accidentally met with a description of the island of Staffa, by J. MacCulloeh, M. D., F. L. S., in the Monthly Magazine for 1815, in which are statements that corroborate some of the ideas advanced during the previous examination. He says, " I took notice of a fact of considerable impor- tance in the natural history of this island, which had before escaped the remarks of visitors. This is the occurrence of a bed of alluvial matter on some parts 136 THE SOUL OF THINGS. of the surface, containing fragments of the older rocks. It is most easily seen at that side of the island which faces Iona, and on the summit of the cliffs of a semi- circular bay opening in that direction. The bed is here broken at the edge of the cliff, so as to expose its thickness for a considerable extent. But the same appearance may also be observed immediately above the ordinary landing place, where the bed has also been broken. The stones which it contains are all rounded, and of various, often considerable, dimen- sions, and they exhibit specimens of granite, gneiss, micaceous schists, quartz, and red sandstone. To- gether with these are some rolled pieces of basalt. " Here then is a circumstance in the mineral history of Staffa, adventitious it is true, but involving difficul- ties of no small importance. If we cast our eves on the map, we shall perceive that it is embayed in a large sinuosity formed in the island of Mull, and nearly en- closed on the opposite side by Iona and the Treshan- ish islands. Beyond the latter a second line is drawn by Tiney and Coll; while to the north, but at a greater distance, are placed the islands of Muck, Rum, Egg, Canna and Sky." After thus examining the whole ground, he says that he has arrived at the conclusion that " Staffa has formed part of one continuous land with the islands of Coll, Tiny, and Mull." He is of the opinion, however, that the separation was caused by tli*' Bea wearing away the missing land, and leaving the islands as we now find them. EXPERIMENT LVW. Mother-of-pearl opal, southwest of Lake Yajoa, Nica- raugua. MOTHER-OF-PEAKL OPAL. 137 Mrs. Denton. Specimen unseen and unknown. " I see the action of electricity on fine particles of matter. A flat, circular surface appears, composed of fine particles of matter, segregated from the sur- rounding rock by electrical forces. " I see a number of persons that seem quite busy ; they are in a row. and are bent over doing something. This is a mountainous district, but the mountains do not seem to be in one continuous chain; the peaks are scattered. Between the mountains are broad lands that are to some extent inhabited. I see a village off at a distance ; I think it stands on high table-land ; I have to look between mountain peaks to see it. I see this like a panoramic view ; I do not seem to be there. " Near me is a deep chasm, very deep ; jet there is land above me, — heights on either side. The country has quite a peculiar appearance, unlike any country I have ever been in before. There is a kind of dark shade to everything; it may be some peculiarity of the foliage, but I do not know. " There is a human influence about this that is for- eign ; it is the influence of a people I am not familiar with. Their influence is singular ; I cannot see them, but I feel their spirit. They might be called civilized, but they do not take the interest in art, science, or intellectual investigations that enlightened people do. They seem very well satisfied with things as they are. " They- are religious, but their religion does not seem to affect their conduct much ; it does not enter into the soul. They may be very tenacious of their faith, and observe the ceremonies of the church with 12* 138 THE SOUL OF THINGS. great precision, but their standard of morals is low ; they lack strength of intellect and power of thought. " One character conies before me eveiy few minutes, — a team-driver. He carries a long whip, and shouts and sings by himself: shouts to his mules, and jumps on one and rides, instead of getting into his cart. Oc- casionally he sits on one side, like a woman. It seems as if he had no purpose in life beyond the enjoyment of the present. He comes up before me, among those hills and mountains, with his team. I think he comes from that village I saw. He wears a short kind of frock overcoat, loose pants, that look odd, and has a slouched hat. " It seems to me I could spend months in wan- dering among these mountains, ravines, and deep can- ons, — some of them so deep I cannot see the bot- tom of them. I cannot tell how the people manage to travel in this country, and yet they seem to do so, for I see roads here and there. "This seems to me to be a district where either precious stones or precious metals are obtained, and I think those people, that were stooping, must have been engaged in getting something valuable, either out of the stream or out of the rock. There is very pure water in streams here, but it does not remain in sight lor a great distance, they wind among the hills so. A beginning has hardly been made in developing the mineral wealth of this country; it seems so quiet, so irly undisturbed. Why has there not been a differ- ent class of people here ? "Ai one place, underground, is an opening, deep and narrow. ;i kind of chasm, in which there are trea THE NORTH POLAR REGIONS. 139 sures. What a pure feeling there is about them ; they must be precious stones, for I do not feel the metallic influence which gold gives. There is the common rock of the country, and these loose fragments of fine material. This place in which I now am, seems like an underground canon the rushing waters have been wearing for ages ; there is some water there now. At the bottom are precious stones in wonderful abun- dance. The feeling of purity connected with them is delightful. Some have been gathered from the sur- face, but underground, is wealth they never dreamed of." It is unnecessary for me to dwell upon this examina- tion; the description given of the country and its in- habitants will be acknowledged, by those who are ac- quainted with them, to be correct ; while the psychom- eter plucks out the heart of the secret of the speci- men under examination. EXPERIMENT LIX. One evening in December, 1862, when trying a crys- tal of amethystine quartz from St. Catherine's Bay, on the Saguenay, a tributary of the St. Lawrence, Mrs. Denton seemed to obtain, very readily, comprehensive views of the country to the north of there, and event- ually appeared to pass into the polar regions, though nothing of the kind was anticipated when the experi- ment commenced. " The Hudson's Bay region is a great deal warmer than I supposed. I see lakes and streams over such a wide surface that they seem like pictures. I had no idea that these extreme northern regions had as tern- 140 THE SOUL OF THINGS. perate a climate as they seem to me now to possess. I see a large river, much larger than I expected to find in this region. I see vast mountains of ice and snow. I do not know where I am, but I seem beyond the limit of the land, on the ice. •'•' In the distance are mountains that look as if they were land. Some are very high, and one I think is a volcano : if so, it is in a state of eruption now. There is a bluish, purplish, soft haze around it, and a kind of mellow light over all. It really seems warmer than it does here.* It is so strange, it appears like another world. It seems a long way beyond the boundary of this continent. I fancy that must be the very pole itself. There is water between me and it. It does not seem as cold as I should have expected to find it, and I see neither snow nor ice. The heat seems to come from the interior, and yet I cannot think it possi- ble. There seem to be boiling springs there. "Now I see mountains of ice and snow again; I think I must be returning.' 7 SE COXjD EXAMETA TIOX. " How different from countries that I have previ- ously explored ! In the far north there are not those continuous forests to shut out the view, and hence the sweep. The cold of that country, after all, is not as terrible as I had supposed. It is its continuity that makes it so dreadful. How those Bnow-peake shine, as the sun glancea on them! There arc great plateaus all covered with snow, and beyond thai the open sea, where it is much wanner." * We wire then iii (Quebec. THE, NORTH POLAR REGIONS. 141 THIRD EXAMINATION. "I go under the surface through the rock, for that is the easier, to the north of Hudson's Bay, on the western side of it. (I cannot control my movements when travelling over the surface, but diverge here and there ; which is not as much the case under- ground.) After I get up there I go over the snow. " I do not know where I am now, but I am drejiched with water, as if a flood had rolled over me." (She looked at the map of North America.) " I do not think they have mapped that accurately. I see a great chasm, — very large; a little beyond that, and to the right, a rock towers up perpendicularly to a great height. I see round snow huts, and men riding in sledges drawn by dogs of some kind. " I am among those icebergs, — stationary ones, how- ever, — and mountains of snow again. Those moun- tains of ice are magnificent. I see now a long break in them. They stand up on both sides like two walls ; and there is a long, straight opening through which I see for a great distance. The sides are so even that it looks like a way cut through. There is water at the bottom. It widens as I go along. It is now a broad channel, and I can see the water move in it. As I go up, it moves down. How water can run there I do not see ; for there are mountains of ice on each side. There is a slope back from the water; then the ice rises in peaks. Now I come to a broad sheet of water ; I cannot see how broad. I am much farther west than I was before. I have come by a different route. It is difficult to go farther north. I see the same hazy appearance that I did before ; the same looking hills ; 142 THE SOUL OF THINGS* so for away that I can but just distinguish them. I have great difficulty in getting there. I keep coming back, and it requires great effort to go forward. There are hot springs in the sea, or inland near the sea. I see steam that rises from them. What a peculiar, yellowish, hazy light that is." FO JJR Til BJLAMLSA Z7CLV. " I seem to be right there. There is the same singular light ; the same hills and mountains. I am nearer than I was before. I see a volcano. I can imagine that to be the very pole itself, it looks so central. The rocks are more naked than I at first thought. I see spires of bare rocks, and nothing anywhere but hills and rocks. This side of it is a body of water, bounded on the south by mountains of ice and snow. It looks different, now that I am so much nearer. There is the same mellow, warm- looking light. Occasionally it seems colder than at other times. Sometimes it seems warm as summer. I see one or more streams of water. One .of them is as wide as the Ohio River at Cincinnati, but not nearly as deep. It runs over and through naked rocks ; not in a channel like our rivers; but spreads as they slope back, washing the whole surface of the bare rock. I see several orifices, out of which smoke i- issuing." The question of an open polar sea is one that has :i frequently discussed, and many facts have been given in favor of ii. especially by Dr. Kane. . 1 • surprised <>n reading his Arctic Explorations, subse- quently to the previous experiment, to find how much MOSAIC FROM CICERO'S VILLA. 143 the account given by Mr. Morton resembles the de- scription given by Mrs. Denton, though she had never seen it. When an unbroken sheet of ice covered the sea to the east, west, and south, Mr. Morton com- menced his journey due north, over snow-drifts, and among icebergs, some of them more than a mile long. After travelling four days, they discovered a channel of open water, widening as they continued northward, the water of which was several degrees above the freezing point. Still continuing their journey north- ward, the ice on the side of the channel became rotten, and the snow wet and pulpy, until eventually they found the waves beating upon the naked rock, the channel having expanded into an iceless sea, which they viewed from a cliff of considerable height, and over which the wind blew from the north for thirty-six hours, and yet failed to bring down any ice; indicating, most plainly an extensive open sea beyond. Supposing this to be true, we have yet to learn the cause of this remarkable condition of things. EXPERIMENT XX The value of psychometry to the archeologist may be seen from the five following experiments, which were made as usual ; the specimen being unseen, and no knowledge of it given. A small piece of mosaic pavement, dug up at Cice- ro's villa, at Tusculum, on a hill near Frascabi, fifteen miles from Rome, and taken to England, October 15, 1760. If we can obtain the influence of fishes, birds, and beasts that existed millions of years ago, why not the 144 THE SOUL OF THINGS. influence of men who lived during the last few thou- sand years, and thus glean facts of which the historian is profoundly ignorant ? Possibly, said I to myself, this little fragment was pressed by the foot of the great Roman orator ; and if not, it may have seen him, and treasured his likeness in its heart. I gave it to my sister Anne, not a word being said with regard to its character. " I see a dense forest. The trees are very high. Under them I see a mastodon, or something of that kind. I see its head more distinctly than I ever did before." (Come down to more modern times, I said.) " I see nothing now but what I might call a milk house, or more properly, perhaps, a grotto. There is a spring- near it, and trees around it. I see a hill, and an old man walking round, who wears knee-breeches. A dog- is with liim that looks like a carriage-dog. There is a house near, — a large one. The place is evidently in the country. There is a large porch in front of the house, and gravel walks around it. The windows look large." (Describe the man.) "The man is not tall. He wears a dark blue, swallow-tailed coat, with brass buttons. His hair is long, and he looks as if he wore a wig or a cue. There are ruffles on his shirt, and lie lias a very ancient look. He has a prominent nose, is k to perceive ; has large locality, and is benevo- lent. He is not proud, but has confidence enough in himself to be manly without being pompous. Consci- entiousness and caution are well developed, and he has and energy. His activity is connected in Some w;iy with benevolence, lie sits down upon a I under the trees, and a tall lady stands near, talk- MOSAIC FROM CICERO'S VILLA. 145 ing to him. She is dressed in very ancient style ; short waist, long skirts, and no hoops ; and has a large collar on her neck. A girl about ten years of age stands near her. " Now there is a man walking up the steps in front of the mansion. He is dressed in modern style, with light vest, high hat, and long pants." These were scenes in this specimen's picture-gallery that I had not anticipated, and did not feel very much interest in. EXPERIMENT LXL A few days afterward I gave the specimen to Mrs. Denton, she knowing nothing of its history, or of my sister's examination of it. " I feel Anne's influence very strong. I see her holding this up to her forehead as I am doing. She must have examined it." She then desired to know what kind of impressions I wished from it. I answered, " Surface impressions." "At some distance from me I see a gravelly bank with trees near, and at a greater distance there are gentle swells. At the foot of the bank there is a stream. Xow I see a cascade, not very high, but rather broad. (There is human influence about this,) I see the inside of a house, and several rooms. In one room is a bed, with a person lying on it. The person seems to be fifteen or sixteen years of age, and sick. The bed looks like a broad couch ; and the head of the person is elevated, owing to the bed being raised at one end, so as to give it a gradual slope. The place makes me feel gloomy. There seem to be many differ ent influences in this." 116 THE SOUL OF THINGS. SE COSD BXAMJOSTA TIOX. Something occurred that prevented any further ex- amination at that time, and the specimen was laid away for two or three clays, when the examination was continued. " I see a large building with stone steps going up, — six or eight of them; there are high pillars in front of it. It looks like a public building, but differs from any I ever saw. A little way from it, I see another building ; there is something very magnificent about them. " I am now inside of some building. At one side of a room, in which I find myself, I see something high and round, covered with crimson velvet. Everything looks strange. I do not know how to describe what I see. The style of the building is entirely different from anything I ever saw, and so is the furniture, if furniture it may be called. I neither know what to call it, nor what use it is put to. I see carved work on the walls, but not very clearly, for the light is not sufficient to enable me. The windows are very high, and are either heavily curtained or stained, for the light does not appear to come through freely. " Xow I see two pillars about eight feet high ; they stand near each other, and are adorned with beautiful carved work at the top and bottom; they seem made for ornament. I can hear some one in another part of the building. There are many persons here, but it is difficult for me to see them. I had a glimpse just then of a woman, or a man with a long robe on. Now I a man who looks like a Bervant; he has a dress thai tes to his knees ; his pants are loose, and he lias a MOSAIC FROM CICERO'S VILLA. 14.7 kind of cloak on his shoulders. I could not see him distinctly enough to describe him. " Strange ! I see long lines of people standing side by side, but they vanish in an instant. They look like soldiers ; are all dressed alike, have on their heads a covering, high and pointed, and something in their hands. " I am now in the house again." (Try to find the owner.) "I see a tolerably fleshy man, with a broad face and blue eyes. At times he appears merry. He wears a dress that looks easy, something like a gown, but not as long as a gown. He is a man of a great deal of spirit ; seems very resolute. What can he be ? He is majestic, yet has a good deal of geniality about him, too. He regards himself as superior, and with- draws from others, though he does not seek to mani- fest it. It seems to me that he has something to do with those troops I saw, though that does not appear to be his life-work. He has a powerful brain." Was this the eloquent old Roman ? Probably not, for Cicero is said to have been tall and slender ; yet, a portion of the description is in harmony with what we know of him. His military talents, evinced when he was proconsul of Cilicia, would explain the appear- ance of the soldiers, and the feeling of superiority, spo- ken of, is in strict accordance with the character of the great Roman orator, whose vanity seems to have been his greatest failing. At all events, we have a descrip- tion in harmony with the time and people of the days of Cicero. Long after writing the above, I discovered, in the course of my reading, that Cicero's house in Tusculum 148 THE SOUL OF THINGS. had belonged, previous to bis occupancy of it, to Cor- nelius Sulla Felix, or, as he is generally called, Sulla, the Dictator. The description given agrees better with what is recorded of him, than it does with what is recorded of Cicero. It is said of him that " he pos- sessed in the highest degree the art of winning the af- fection of his soldiers." that "his love of pleasure was greater than his love of power," and that " women, ac- tors, mimes, and buffoons were his favorite compan- ions to the last years of his life." Where specimens have taken in so many varied in- fluences, it is necessarily difficult to obtain any special one of which we may be in quest. A year's examina- tion would be none too much for a specimen of this kind. EXPERIMENT EXIT. A small piece of marble, about the size of a pea, from the ancient Christian church of Smyrna. Mrs. Denton. She also examined the specimens in the next eighteen experiments. •• A large stream of water is in sight. There is nothing around but wild scenery. (When I allow my mind to be diverted from the subject, everything is thrown into the greatest confusion.) •• I am in a building, and at one side is a high plat- form, extending across it, I judge, and above it, a high window. The platform is not as wide as some I have :. and it is higher up than platforms generally are. A- one end of h there is a beautifully finished railing, with steps down. ["here is em audience of some kind in the room, person I Bee with something in his hand, thai MARBLE FROM CHURCH OF SMYRNA. 149 tends above his head. It may be a musical instru- ment ; it is hollow, and bell-shaped at one end. The congregation seems earnest, as if they had something important on hand. All seem to have something to do. It is not like a common meeting; they listen atten- tively, and look enthusiastic : their heads are bent for- ward. Some of those who sit evidently intend to say something. I cannot see the speaker. One man, who sits in front, is writing. There is good taste in the ar- rangement of the room, and much fine, beautiful work. It must have cost a great deal. It is large and spa- cious, and its general style is quite different from any- thing that I am familiar with. Off at one side are cur- tains, but I cannot tell how they are arranged. " Xow I see a mass of moving people. What can that be they have on their heads ? They are dressed differently from those I saw sitting, and differently from us. How much there is that I cannot describe ! It passes before me with great rapidity, like a flying panorama." SECOND EXA1I1XATIOX. Eight days afterward the examination was contin- ued. " I see a large body of people : there must be thou- sands of them. They stand in an oval form, their backs toward the interior, and their faces fronting me ; they are partially bent over. They have high, light caps on their heads, that are quite peculiar. In their hands are long spears with square shafts. Xow, I see another body at a distance that come and join them. Each company has a banner ; they put them together and cross them. 13* 150 THE SOUL OF THINGS. u I can see outlines of towers and buildings. One building of stone I notice in particular : there is a door at the side of it. It does not look like a house ; it is heavy. There are trees off in one direction, and a pretty country. •• I am now looking through an open door into a room, but cannot see far. There is a deep window, with a shade of some kind before it." What an interesting picture of the primitive Chris- tians this fragment of marble contains! What ques- tions psychoinetry may be expected to answer in the future, about which theologians have been wrangling for centuries ! EXPEPJ3IEXT LXI1I. Small fragment of a flower in relief on the border of a garment, on a limestone slab, from Nineveh. " I see a square block of stone, and another on it placed there by artificial means. The edges are hewn off, and the stone has been cut for some special pur- pose, — prepared for something ornamental. •• A great deal passes before me like lightning. I several slabs lying in rows, but I cannot see them distinctly. I see another large slab, but I cannot see any of them connected with any particular structure. " Two or three times I have had a glimpse of a pil- lar on those limestone slabs that I first saw. Now I a slender pillar; on one side are open places, like i-doors,bu< I cannot describe them properly. Past and presenl are greatly mixed in this specimen. I see fences and houses of the present, though a moment ! ages back. " I am in a building that seems to have been used PORCELAIN TOWER, CHINA. 151 as a temple. It is deserted, part of it broken down and gone ; and it seems like the ruins of some temple or place of worship. Trees seem to have grown all around, and even in it, they come up so before me. There seems to have been a great deal of labor ex- pended upon the building. At one door there is an opening, with two short pillars that seem to have been erected as ornaments to the entrance. There is a kind of railing that comes around to the door. It is a very large building, with apartments divided off by pillars and arches, where curtains probably hung." These descriptions are of course very fragmentary. We could have done much better if we could have had more favorable conditions. Many of these exper- iments were made at hotels, in the evening, after my lectures were over, and we were both much fatigued by the labors of the day. I present them merely as evidences of what may be accomplished by persons of means and leisure, and who have cultivated these wonderful powers from their youth. The imagination cannot overleap the eventual realization. EXPERIMENT LXTV. A small piece of the porcelain tower of China. " I am in a room. A little way from here there is a mound or elevation, very regular in shape, with a tree in the centre. I am in the room again. There is something peculiar in its style. It is massive, with dark-colored walls, adorned with carved work, that I cannot see very distinctly. It seems to be divided by curtains, and in connection with them there is beauti- ful carved and ornamental work. The room has raised 152 THE SOUL OF THINGS. seats, or narrow platforms, the whole length and on both sides. It seems to me to be in a different cli- mate from this: it must be farther south, for it is warmer, and the vegetation is more luxuriant. " I get the idea of a place used as a temple — a gor- geous, magnificent place. I feel that influence about it. irrespective of anything I have seen as yet. I go back into the room ; it is difficult to keep out. The sides are more clearly visible to me now ; they are gorgeously festooned with gilt leaves and flowers ar- ranged in clusters, with vines running from one to the other. What wealth it must have required to make such a temple as this ! u I obtain the influence of a people whose politics and religion are united ; both seem blended in this room. What crowds of people ! too many for me to individualize any of them. Xow I see two or three more definitely. Their head covering strikes my at- tention; it is neither a hat nor a cap: I cannot describe it. It is crimson, I believe, and edged with gold leaf. I see other persons with caps on. "I see a place now where there are many dishes of silver and gold on a table. How rich this place is ! This is near the place where the religious ceremonies are performed by priests or leaders. There is a small room or recess where they go in; it is adorned with most elaborate carved work, and looks, altogether, much like a Catholic place of worship. I see some shining- ixtend from the ceiling to the floor. Broad steps lead to a place higher than my head; behind thai is a platform, and behind that is another room with figures in relief upon the wall. Every lit- PORCELAIN TOWER, CHINA. 153 tie while 1 see fire. On that platform I see two large urns. I see people again with something in their hands like flags. There is a pole eighteen or twenty feet high, with a turtle on the top, made of some kind of metal. " I am outside now, where there is a grove. I can see the whole building ; it goes up, then there is an open place with pillars, and a bell-shaped roof extend- ing over it; and so it goes up several stories, one above another, to a spire." At the time this examination was made I knew little more about the Porcelain Tower than the fact that a tower called by that name existed somewhere in China. But on reading an account of it in the Iconographic Encyclopedia, I found many of the previous statements remarkably verified. The walls appeared massive, and well they might; for they are "twelve feet in thickness below, gradually reduced to eight feet at the top." It seemed to bo " used as a temple," and it is a part of the Temple of Gratitude, near the City of Pekin, and was doubtless visited by multitudes of devotees, who left their influ- ence, as well as their offerings, behind them. The rooms were seen adorned with carving, gilding, and ornamental work ; and it is stated that the walls of the room in this tower " are covered with fantastic painting, and bas-reliefs, and gilded throughout." All intelligent readers will perceive much in the above psychometric description in harmony with what we know of the Chinese and of this Tower ; and from the accuracy of this description we may see what may be done when the ruins of Copan and Uxmal, of 154 THE SOUL OF THINGS. Thebes and Karnak, and of cities and temples yet to be exhumed, shall be fully examined and their story faithfully translated and recorded. EXPERIMENT LXV. Old coin, probably Grecian. Specimen unseen by the psychometer, though its shape might possibly have given some idea of its character. " I seem to be looking through a stereoscope. Fig- ures look smaller than their real size. There are two houses that look like boxes or play-houses. There is one with a spire to it that is quite small also. I do not understand this appearance. The one with a spire looks larger now. One house has a round roof. It seems to be solid below and tent-like above, the roof made apparently of some soft material. I am up where I see the tops of things. "I am in a room now that seems strange. There is a box in it, having a trough proceeding from one cor- ner, and on the other side a double wheel. I see another singular object, a small trough, with a wheel at one end, as if made to go by a current of water. The trough is inclined. Here is something hanging against the wall that has round figures stamped all over it. Some larger than this." (The coin was a copper one, about half an inch in diameter.) " This is one of the smaller ones. There is a plate of metal lying down that has the coins raised above its surface. There are four or five sheets of metal standing near each other; they seem to have been hammered rather thao rolled. They Lean againsi a frame on the side of in. HORXSTOXE, MOUNT OF OLIVES. 155 " There is a large roundish vessel made of metal, with bands or ridges around it. It seems to be for melting metal. It stands in a metallic scalloped basin. There are holes all around the vessel, and grooves, that correspond with these, in the vessel in which it is set. " I see a solid body, with a bar attached to the cen- tre, that covers three impressions at one time. Just then I had a glimpse of some person." After the examination was over, she remarked that these impressions were not obtained from the surface of the coin, but from its heart. There is one great difficulty in these archaeological investigations ; and that is, in describing what is pre- sented to the vision. Much is presented that differs so widely from what the pyschometer is familiar with, that language is needed by which to describe the ob- jects seen to those who cannot behold them. Special education of psychometers for particular branches of investigation will, in time, remedy this defect. EXPERIMENT ZXVT. Small piece of hornstone from the Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem. It was taken out of a box containing more than twenty specimens from various localities ; and during the early part of the examination I did not know what the specimen was, nor did Mrs. Denton know till the close of the experiment. " I see what looks like a projection of a partly de- molished breastwork. Near it is a rather tall and very solid-looking building, which seems to be square. From it a wall extends a long way, with buildings here and there for persons to go into ; they do not look 156 THE SOUL OF THINGS. large, but are very strong. Some of them are round, and 1 think they were built for strongholds in connec- tion with the wall. " I seem to be north-west of some large city. I am above it, a little to one side of the central portion, and I can look down upon the tops of buildings which are below me. There are some very fine buildings. I notice one particularly, that I judge to be a temple or some public building, which is near me. It has a round tower, but that is below me. The city seems in great commotion, a tide of people flowing through it. Its size is great ; for the influence as it comes up to me is very extensive. " The whole influence that I receive from this is entirely different from that of this country. The cli- mate is warmer. I can feel the influence of the sea, but it is at some distance ; yet not so far but I can feel its soft breath. I consider the climate and country superior to ours, but the people are inferior. " I see a tent-shaped building of three stories, with pillars and spaces between, filled with lattice-work all round ; each story diminishes in size to the top. The building is large and round, but what it is used for I cannot tell. " I see the entrance of a place that looks like a cul- vert, large enough for a person to walk into. It appears to go underground for a considerable distance, but is ied on the surface so far that it can be seen a long off. "I feel the influence of a stream of water, though I «!«» not see it: it seems somewhat large, and runs I think t<» the south, with a pure stream over a clean l,. |. HORNSTONE, MOUNT OF OLIYES. 157 u I saw a grand ruin, but it vanished in an instant. Large blocks hung as if ready to fall. The very ruin was magnificent. " I see now a naked-looking mountain, that seems connected with a range ; there are green hills, too, on which are scattering trees. " I am in a building that seems like a city under cover. In one place is a high dome. In a room I see a long table, and upon it what seems to be a crown made of gold, and decked with precious stones ; and near it is a silver bowl. This room is beautifully or- namented with carved figures of various kinds. " The people live a good deal out of doors, for I see some kind of tables and seats outside of the houses, such as we nowhere see in this country. These people are not as well developed intellectually as we, though they are as well developed religiously, and are very ceremonious. The whole country seems permeated with the sentiment of worship. I have such a feeling as is described by the poet in the lines, — 1 The cedars of Lebanon bow at his feet, And the air is perfumed with his breath/ I should think the Bible might have been written here. What an excellent place for a ceremonious religion ! I cannot tell how I get this, but it breathes over me ; the atmosphere of the place seems full of this feeling. It produces a joyous, worshipful sentiment, about which there is nothing sad or gloomy. It recognizes joy in everything. One of the Psalms seems to give this feeling : i The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.' 14 158 THE SOUL OF THINGS. " Now, I have a sense of destruction and desolation, that contrasts most strangely with the other. It seems like another age and another place, the feeling is so different." (I said, " Go as far back in time as you can within the human period.") " I obtain the influence of a people whose principal business seems to be looking after their flocks that feed on the hills. They seem to have no idea beyond the present life. The country is wild, and the people live in groups of relatives ; this must be the patriarchal time. They are not energetic, but fully occupied with their employments. " My opinion is that this is from the neighborhood of some city on the Asiatic continent, between the twentieth and fortieth parallels of N. latitude." Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine, is about thirty- three miles from the Mediterranean, and half that dis- tance from the Dead Sea. The Mount of Olives, on which the specimen of hornstone was found, is a moun- tain or ridge lying to the east of Jerusalem, from which it is separated by the valley of Jehoshaphat. The elevation of the central peak of the Mount of Olives is stated by Schubert at 2,556 Paris feet, or 416 Paris feet above the valley of Jehoshaphat ; and hence it appears to be 175 Paris feet above the highest part of Mount Zion. The summit of the Mount of Olives is about half a mile east from the city, which it completely overlooks, ry considerable edifice and almost every house being visible. Eence the feeling that she was "above •iiy," and could "look down upon the tops of the building HORNSTONE, MOUNT OP OLIVES. 159 The wall surrounding the city, and the towers upon the wall, seem to have been the first objects presented, and very naturally so. For many centuries they must have been one of the most striking features on looking at the city from the Mount of Olives. The tall, square, and very solid-looking building was, probably, the tower of Hippicus, which, Josephus says, was a quad- rangular structure, twenty-five cubits, or about forty feet, on each side, and built up entirely solid to the height of thirty cubits. The altitude of the whole tower was eighty cubits, or about 128 feet. At the present time it is styled the tower of David, and is near the centre of the west side of the city. This tower, and the towers of Phasselus and Mariamne, were left standing by Titus when Jerusalem was taken and destroyed by the Romans. The buildings that she saw upon the walls were doubtless towers or turrets, of which Josephus says there were on the outer wall ninety, on the middle wall forty, and on the inner wall sixty ; though the number is very much smaller now.* The tent-shaped building, and the building that seemed like a. city under cover, refer, I think, to the Armenian Convent, which is one of the largest, if not the largest establishment in the city. It occupies several acres, and is capable of entertaining 8,000 pilgrims. Those acquainted with the situation of the Mount of Olives will see that a mistake was made with regard to its situation, which is stated to be north-west of the city, instead of north-east. What part of the Mount of *Kitto's Biblical Cyclopedia, articles Mount of Olives and Jerusalem. 160 THE SOUL OF THINGS. Olives the specimen was brought from, I have been unable to learn. How strange that a flint pebble, on a hill outside of the city, could become imbued with the worshipful spirit of the people who lived in it ! How much more must houses and churches be imbued with the spirit of the people who live and worship in them, EXPERU1EXT LXYII. Piece of red damask that hung over the speaker's chair in the House of Representatives, Washington, when that city was taken by the British in 1814. It was taken to England, and then a piece of it brought back to the United Sates. Specimen seen, but nothing known of its history. " I sec a long hall. I seem to be at one end of it. Straight before me is an opening like an aisle ; it is wider, however, than I should suppose an aisle to be. It seems to be an open space where I am, and, I think, semicircular. I feel higher up than the objects around me. I see a short curtain above a raised place or plat- form, and, if such a thing would be allowed, I could fancy this had been cut from that curtain. " There is activity of some kind here ; something is being done. There seems to be more than one ope- rating in some way. Persons move in and out, but I yet understand what their business is. They visible, and then seem to go behind an open plac platform at the end where I am. "There is a table, or something like it, and persons come to it and do something and then retire. There i~ a curtained recess a1 each end of the platform. HALL OF REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON. 161 The persons officiating on the platform seem to have something to do distinct from the others. " The hall is large, and all about is on a large scale. There is an air of general magnificence about it. The influence of this place is very different from what I perceive in churches ; there is not that solemnity about it, but an air of cheerfulness, and, at times, even of merriment. " Something is placed in front of me that shuts out my sight of the hall. It has representations on it of figures with different colors ; it seems like a painting on canvas. " One person comes from the right-hand side to the table, raises up what looks like a spread, and puts something under it. I see a door open. 7 ' SB COXD EXAJflXA TIOX. A second examination was made about a week after the first, nothing more being known by the psychom- eter regarding the specimen than the previous exam- ination had developed. " I think I know what this place is now : I see ob- jects more clearly than before. It is a council cham- ber or hall. The person who comes out lays a paper on the table ; he lifts up something and puts it under. These seem like people that I am acquainted with, ft seems almost or quite like our own times. There is a great deal of earnestness of feeling here. " I see seats with something up before them in front of each person : what they can be for I cannot imag- ine. I now see they are for papers and writing. I have seen pictures of places like this. 14* 1G2 THE SOUL OF THIXGS. u They have something up for discussion now that is very amusing : awhile ago they were quite grave. They seem as changeable as an April sky. There are some who profess to feel very much, but I can see their earnestness is mere sham. They talk very glibly, but it is mere talk. It is sickening to contemplate them. •'• There seems to be a gallery here ; and those in the gallery take no active part in what goes on below ; but they listen with attention, and some are amused, while others look on with admiration. " Xow there is a great concourse of people outside. It must be some political gathering, celebration, or something of that kind. I see several marshals. There is a platform, and speakers on it, and a large flag at one side of it ; there are red and white stripes on it, I see. I see some long, broad steps, but cannot tell where they are." (What place do you think it is?) "I think it is the capitol of some state, or else of the nation/" Little thought the members of that house that the damask hanging over the speaker's chair was such an attentive observer of their doings ; that it was report- ing their proceedings with greater accuracy than the clerk, and looking into their hearts like an all-seeing Little supposed that smirking hypocrite that, Lgh he was deceiving his fellows, and receiving plaudit- of the crowd for his mercenary eloquence, curtain wavi r i him was reading his inmost soul, and preparing to transmit to the future a faithful menl of his true condition. Whal a cloud of wit- - surround us on every side a1 all times ! There MELROSE ABBEY. 163 is no darkness so dense but their keen eyes can pierce; there is no sound so feeble but they catch and hold it forever. No bribes can suborn, no eloquence can move them from their purpose ; no lawyer can break them down. The brick can reveal the character of the occupants of the house, and tell tales that may make the haughty cower and tremble. Bury it in the ocean, and it still carries along, and will keep for ages, what has been committed to its trust. Break it to pieces, and you have but multiplied it ; for every frag- ment, equally with the whole, can tell the tale. EXPERIMENT LXVJ2L Piece of Sandstone from the walls of Melrose Abbey, Scotland. Specimen unseen, and nothing known re- garding it. " I stand within a very large building, in which there are several persons. On one side a gentleman is just going through an arched doorway ; he seems a long way off, the building is so large. I see a semi- circular place, but cannot imagine what it is for. This building is on a magnificent scale, very lofty and spa- cious. The windows are deep. (I obtain glimpse after glimpse, which vanish in an instant.) In another part of the building is a large aisle, and at th8 THE SOUL OF THINGS. SECOSD EXAMINATION. Conditions as before. " I am looking from a small opening out upon the landscape, which has quite a stereoscopic appearance ; there are hills, and water beyond. I see a very high hill, with a large notch in the face of it, about half-way up : it is very wild, and yet very beautiful. This country is both hilly and rocky. I see cliffs every- where. I am surprised that any one should live here, it is so rocky, uneven, and naked. " I am now at the foot of a great hill of rock. What a strange-looking place ! It.is very rugged in places, and in others smooth. A steep, rough road leads up the hill on one side. I cannot conceive how people get down without sliding. " I feel the influence of a body of water, which seems to come in here and form a kind of bay, and then at a distance communicates with a larger body of water. " On the top of the rock is a round, castellated structure, which is, I think, on the highest point. It is too extensive a building for a light-house. It has a somewhat ancient look." THIRD EXAMINATIO If. " This place sustains a relation in some way to other distant places, but what that relation is I cannot tell. ] cannot Bee any physical connection, yet I sense influ- ence- passing from here, and coming from some distanl place to this. I see what looks like a long, winding road, that extends to a large town; it is crowded with people. ROCK OF GIBRALTAR. 169 " I see the same castellated structure that I saw be- fore. This is a picturesque country. I seem to feel the influence of the sea, though I do not know the dis- tance to it. On one side it seems to come very near. There is a large town near here ; indeed, it surrounds me, I think ; but more of it on one side of me than on the other. There are winding ways all round, that give it quite a romantic appearance. "■There is something remarkable about the people of this country; they are intellectually strong, and yet they cling tenaciously to the old. There is great independence and daring, yet great veneration for an- cient forms. They possess a warlike spirit. There does not seem to be any war in the country now, but they have the disposition to resist encroachment by the sword, if need be. There is nothing cringing about them ; what they do is done because they will, and not because they must. I have seen in the Eng- lish character something like it. " I can partly see and partly feel chains of moun- tains, back in the country ; they are not long, but therfe seem to be several of them. I feel the influence of the sea extending on both sides almost round the country. It may go all round, but I do not see it. "I obtain the influence of very heavy structures. I thought at first that they were walls, but they are not. I think they are massive structures of some kind; they might be called fortifications ; they are intended to protect the place from the attacks of enemies. They extend for a considerable distance. I seem to be more connected with these fortifications than I am with the city. It seems as if the approach of the enemy was 15 170 THE SOUL OF THINGS. by water ; I can hear the report of cannon booming over it. The people are so resolute, determined, and strong that a powerful force would be necessary to overcome them ; I should not like to be one of the at- tacking party. u I am in a building now in which there are many apartments. (I seem to be in the past.) In one of them many persons of high rank are assembled, and on a large raised place sits a lady, who, from her appear- ance, must be a queen. Those persons are present- ing something for her consideration; it is evidently something important. They are all richly dressed, and she is gorgeously arrayed. I do not know that this is the same place as before, but it seems connected with it in some way. Xow, all have vanished. " There has been much suffering in this vicinity, es- pecially mental suffering ; the people have been cursed by tyrants. " This is not Switzerland, though it is rough and mountainous. It does not seem far enough south for Italy : it is not far enough inland for Germany ; it is too mountainous for England, and it is not an island. It seems like Scotland in many respects, but I cannot really tell what country it is. It seems longer than wide, though there is a part stretching to the east and southeast that I cannot see. It is in Europe some- where." On turning to the map of the world, after some con- rat ion. she covered, with the head of a pin, the I where Gibraltar was marked. "That/' said she, >ms to be about the place where I was." Tin' following description, taken principally from ROCK OF GIBRALTAR. 171 the Encyclopedia Britannica, will show the accuracy of many of the previous statements. Gibraltar, a British town and fortress, in the most southerly province of Spain, stands on the extremity of a small peninsula, washed on the east side by the Mediterranean, and west by the Bay of Gibraltar. The top of Europa Point, the southern extremity of the rock, is sur- mounted by a fine light-house. This may have been the tower seen, or O'Hara's Tower, which was built upon a portion of the rock 1480 feet above the level of the sea. Originally it was intended for a signal station and light-house, but being struck by lightning, is now a ruin. On the western side of the rock the hill slopes gradually to the sea. On this slope stands the town of Gibraltar, containing about 15,000 inhabitants. The town is con- nected with the isthmus by a narrow causeway, in the defence of which science has exhausted its resources. The most remarkable of the defences of Gibraltar are the galleries, excavations cut out of solid rock, with great difficulty and immense expense ; they are two or three miles long, and broad enough to allow carriages to pass. Gibraltar has been in the possession of the Sara- cens, Spaniards, and Er^glish ; being taken and retaken many times. During the years 1779-1783 it was be- sieged by the combined land and sea forces of France and Spain. On the side of the sea they brought to bear against it forty-four sail of the line, and a count- less fleet of gun and mortar boats, and numerous float- ing batteries, but in vain ; though the besieged suf- fered for years the horrors of disease and famine. 172 THE SOUL OF THINGS. It is unnecessary for me to point out all the points of agreement between what was seen, and what is known of Gibraltar and its history. Those who wish to examine this subject thoroughly, would do well to read and judge for themselves. Many of the state- ments made were entirely new to me, and it was only after considerable research that I was able to verify some of them. I know of no time in the past when a connection ex- isted between Gibraltar and the court of Spain, likely to lead to the vision recorded of a queen and persons of high rank. I give it, because it came up spontane- ously, and future research may shed light upon this also. EXPERIMENT LXX. A square of mosaic from the baths of Caracalla, near Rome. Specimen unseen and unknown. " I am in a very large building. Directly in front of me is a large circular structure, built as if there were a fountain in there, or a bath for water. It is quite high and round. To come in here I went up some steps on the other side, and down some steps on this. The two rooms are separated by what looks like a half partition wall. The room with the vat in it is, I think, a little lower than the other. " Now that I am lower and nearer to it, I see the structure which contains the water is either square or nearly so; and lias a circular basin in the centre, with a beautifully ornamented rim. The base of the square structure has two broad steps passing all round; and on one corner of the base I sec an immense pitcher, which rises higher than the top of the basin. On an- BATHS OF CARACALLA. 173 other corner is a large urn, standing on a massive base. The handles are richly ornamented. On an- other corner is the figure of a beautiful naked boy. It looks like a Cupid. All these figures seem to be chiselled out of stone, and rise to about an equal height. On the rim of the basin is a bird that looks as if stooping to drink; and the whole rim is ornamented, except where there are steps that rise from the base up to it, apparently for persons to walk up and go into the water. It must be a bath. What skilful artists they must have been to cut stone in this manner ! " In one part of the room I see a large pillar richly ornamented. Above the base the pedestal has figures upon it in relief; the shaft is fluted, and the capital is richly adorned. An arch passes over from it to a similar pillar. " I see something now that is difficult to describe. It is about three feet long, two feet wide, and three feet high. It stands upon a block about a foot thick, and is rounded the whole length, bulging out in the middle. It is hollow, and has over the top a dish with a rim about three inches wide. It is made of stone, and looks quite symmetrical. " The influence of this room is that of great gayety and voluptuousness. This influence is very strong, and I feel as if it must have been frequented by men and women, who, at certain times, laying aside all re- straint, abandoned themselves to the intoxication of pleasure and sensual enjoyment. " I go outside of the building, and see a very large and high pillar, or tower, with something like bands around it. It is some distance off, The streets seem 15* 17-i THE SOUL OF THINGS. narrow and the buildings high ; but I do not see them clearly. " I am in the room again, and see the upper part of one corner, which is richly ornamented. On the sides of the wall are varying appearances, but I cannot dis- tinguish them. I see also a stand, apparently made of stone, ornamented also : there are lamps upon it." This must haye been, I think, one of the private bath-rooms, of which there were several, in the mag- nificent Thermae of Caracalla. Sixteen hundred years have passed, probably, since these pictures were impressed on the mosaics of the bath-room ; sixteen hundred years since the influences of the voluptuous Eomans that frequented it were com- municated to them, yet how distinctly they remain, and probably would for as many thousands or millions of years : and thus are we recording our histories, im- pressing our mental and moral conditions on our sur- roundings, to be read bj T the coming ages. EXrERDrEXT LXXL Out of nearly two hundred specimens of various kinds, from different parts of the world, wrapped up in paper, Mrs. Denton took one, no one knowing which it was. She said: — " I seem to oscillate between the city and a coun- try which is rough and rocky. The buildings in the city are high, and the streets being narrow, they look dark. There is a good deal of grandeur about it. I'll'- people seem to be busy, and move about as if they had great interest in what is going on. It is not merely an interest in physical matters, either. There MODERN MOSAIC FROM ROME. 175 seem to be two or three influences in this, somewhat different from our own time. " Now 7 I seem to be in a long room of a large build- ing. At one end the ceiling comes down lower, and is supported by pillars or columns, some of which have broad capitals that are ornamented with deeply-cut figures. " I see a large temple. I am standing, I think, in front of it. The entrance is at some distance, under a grand archway ; there are stone steps in front going up for some distance. This end of the building seems much higher than the other. After passing through the door, I see a part of a very rich building. It seems to be a place of a great deal of ceremony. I feel the influence of persons about, but they are not as much here as in other parts. The impression I receive from this place comes nearer to my idea of a Jewish syna- gogue than any other building. I feel the influence of priests with long robes on. What a great deal of ceremony there is ; but I do not obtain a very strong sense of devotion. They seem to have lost the true devotion in the form of it. " On one side is a place that, I judge, is for the priests. All the work about it seems plain, but grand. There are no little ornaments ; but all is substantial. A great effect seems to be produced here by different colors ; but it does not seem like paint. I cannot tell what it is. It seems to be inherent in the material itself. In one place I see gold color ; seems pure enough to be gold itself. There are either precious stones, or something resembling them. If artificial, there is a great deal of purity about them. 176 THE SOUL OF THINGS. " I see three places that seem made for persons to stand in. They are near each other, yet separated. Persons seem to stand in them and talk to some one on the other side. I believe this is a Catholic place of worship, after all. I feel that influence now. Yes, that is it. There is a place connected with this that is very little ornamented, and seems gloomy. It is very massive and prison-like. I see a great niany people outside. From this I obtain an idea of what may be done in architecture with sufficient means. 77 On examining the paper in which the specimen had been wrapped, I found it marked " Modern Mosaic, Rome. 77 From what part of the Eternal City it came, I am sorry to say, I do not know. EXPERIMENT LXXTI. Marble from temple of Serapis. Specimen unseen and unknown. " I see the ruins of a building which must have been very extensive, or there was more than one. It was a magnificent structure. I can feel the influence of per- sons who have visited it. There is a feeling of rever- ence associated with it, which seems to have been felt by the visitors. There are long, large pillars pros- trated, and what look to me like beams. I see stone- work about a foot high enclosing a paved space that ma in have been a yard at the back of one part of the building. It forms an arc of a circle. There is a greal pillar standing; the only one that I can see -tain the shadowy form of the original building; there are man; parts to it. The country me low. I see water al w distance; I think it must TEMPLE OF SERAPIS. 177 be a sea of some kind ; it hardly seems the ocean, for I feel the influence of land on the other side of it, though it is broad. I think there is a river near here too. ■ " Now I see ruins again. There seem to be huts here, or low, poor buildings ; they look very mean by the side of this. I see animals that seem very inti- mate with the people. (This view seems recent.) The people are singular, and considerably removed from us. They seem quite out of place here. If they are of the same race as the builders of this structure, they have sadly degenerated. " The surface here seems changeable ; at one time level, and then hilly and uneven. Wandering tribes of half-civilized people have passed over here occa- sionally. The ruins look as if they were buried part of the time ; being covered and uncovered alter- nately. ?? The ruins of this celebrated temple are near Puz- zuoli, in Italy, on a low terrace near the Mediterra- nean Sea. It has been much visited, and has excited great geological interest from the fact, that three of its pillars now standing, only one of which was seen, bear evidence to the sinking and uprising of the coast on which they stand. It was below the level of the sea, then elevated ; and, as Lyell says, " Showers of vol- canic ashes, and materials washed in during storms, covered up the pillars to the height, in some places, of thirty-five feet above the pavement." It sank again below the level of the sea, and was again elevated ; but is said to be sinking now. Alaric and his Goths sacked Puzzuoli in 456, and G-enseric in 545. These 178 THE SOUL OF THINGS. may be what are referred to as the " wandering tribes of half-civilized people/ 7 that passed over there. EXPERIMENT LXXIII. A fragment of fresco painting from " Cicero's House/' Pompeii. Examined under the same conditions as in the last experiment. " I obtain a mixture of objects. I see a deep win- dow in a thick partition wall, but there is no glass in it. I notice small statues and colored images of dei- ties upon the walls, that are very numerous and varied. On a level with that window are pilasters with square capitals. (The place I am in seems to be low.) On one side of the apartment in which I am, is a balus- trade, which divides off a portion of it ; that may be for a couch or bed. Through an arched opening I see the shadowy form of a man, and now another one with something peculiar on his head. Both sit on something quite high, compared with the height of the place. They sit with their feet up in some way. The first I saw is beckoning to some one. The men's dresses are full; not tight, as men's are now. I see a head occa- sionally that does not seem real. (There arc hills at one side of this place.) What I see is more elaborate than I can describe ; there is too much for me to indi- vidualize. " Now I am in a darker room, that is very beautifully adorned. In the centre of it is a structure built up and ornamented; there are steps to it. I obtain the influ- a place where they worshipped idols. The walls seem full of thai influence. •• I have passed to a large room where there are pil- FRESCO PAINTING, POMPEII. 179 lars ; the work about them seems heavy. The walls are all decorated with those figures ; they are well done for their style, which I do not much admire. These people care much more about art than wor- ship. "I see a great concourse of people; but they are shadowy. They seem to be in columns. There is a chariot with one man in the centre of a multitude. They go into a large hall, and then out again. They preserve a regular order and are united to each other in some way. They seem to be drawing something. Some carry lances in their hands, and some have sharp- pointed head-pieces. I think they must be a fighting people ; but there is a great love of merriment in their nature. It shows itself in these processions. In an engagement with the enemy, even, I should expect them to manifest it to some extent. There is consider- able solidity about them too. They are fond of music. They think a great deal of woman, but do not treat her as an equal. Among the masses the women seem coarse. They are out of doors a good deal, and doing what we should consider man's business. This seems to be a war time, and the women seem to feel a great deal of interest in it, and would do the meanest kind of services to assist the men in carrying on the war. They seem to feel that there is much at stake, and they must help. I think they are preparing for battle, and the men I saw must have been soldiers. " The street from here goes straight for some dis- tance, and then becomes very crooked ; farther on it seems to have been made for the convenience of the scattered houses, and goes from one to the other." 180 THE SOUL OF THINGS. EXPERIMENT LXXIV. I was disappointed in the previous examination ; twice before I had tried specimens from Pompeii, but without anything being said of the terrible catastrophe that overwhelmed this beautiful city, which I supposed would have been presented at once. I had in my pos- session a portion of volcanic tufa obtained from the excavations at Pompeii, and this I thought would be more likely to give the particulars of its destruction. It was not larger than a small bean, but quite large enough to contain a psychometric volume, as will be seen. All knowledge was carefully concealed from the psychometer, who was also still unaware of the locality from which the previous specimens had been obtained. " I see colored figures on a wall. " Xow, I see a yard, but it differs from all I ever saw before. It is diamond-shaped, with the corner in front of me. I feel the influence of something back of me ; it seems like a building. It is a very heavy structure. I do not see it, but I feel its influence behind and on each side of me. This comes from some old country; the influence is ancient. It reminds me of Dickens' song of the Ivy Green, 4 That creepeth o'er ruins old/ One side of this building looks out on the water ; it may be the sea, for I feel the influence of some large body o[ water. The side of the building next to the water, and 1 think another side, have square towers rising up. I hear the rustling of long, heavy curtains in the building. VOLCANIC TUFA, POMPEII. 181 " In front of me, and to rny left hand, the view is all shut out, and I have been trying for some time to find out the cause. It seems as if there was a great moun- tain, so high that I have to elevate my head to see the top of it. The abrupt rise of the ground here seems to have caused that yard to be made in the peculiar shape it is. That mountain looks volcanic, and there are smoke, and stones, and cinders, and dust, all issu- ing from it in a dense body. They are thrown up with such force that, for a great distance, they form a perpendicular column, resembling somewhat a tall chimney, and then spread out on all sides. The moun- tain seems a hollow shell to a vast depth, the crater at the top being merely an orifice of small dimensions compared with the great cavern in the interior. The mountain has two peaks, the lower one much smaller than the other, but much sharper. I have been stand- ing in the space between them, and I now go up a lit- tle higher. I hear the mountain bellow. What a depth that comes from ! The influences that produce this eruption seem different from any I ever felt before.' How strange it seems that I did not see this at first ; for now everything seems so insignificant compared with it. The amount vomited out is immense. It is not like lava, but spreads out in a great black cloud, that rolls over and over and covers the country like a flood. I can hardly believe that what I see is correct. It looks as if it would bury everything all around it. "What a sight ! There it goes, pouring, spreading, foaming, as it rolls down the mountain-side in great black waves. It seems to me there is water too, run- ning down the side of the mountain. At first all 16 182 THE SOUL OF THINGS. seemed dry ; but now the mountain belches out water that sweeps everything before it. It is washing away the cinders and ashes that it previously threw out. I see the water rush through the cleft between the lower and upper peaks, and sweep a vast amount of material down. What a desolation it spreads over the land ! It is not a dash and then over, but it continues to pour out for a long time. The lower part of the mountain seems entirely buried. It appears to extend for several miles, and makes it seem like night, it is so dense and dark. There are occasional flashes that look like lightning, and others that are not as evanes- cent, seen through that dense cloud. They seem to be caused by irregular bodies of fiery matter shot up from the crater. I can think of nothing but electricity that could produce the tremendous force necessary to eject this material to such a height that it falls miles away. 7 ' (Go below and see how it affects the country.) " There is utter ruin to everything below. I do not sec any place at the bottom. It is a great barren field ; or rather an immense desert of cinders and dust everywhere. (I do not feel the heat that I ex- pected.) I cannot recognize any place. There is nothing visible that was there before. Even the water for a long way looks converted into land, being covered with a deep, dark scum of this same material. " I feel the influence of human terror that I cannot iribe; it is awful. I see no one; but the feeling 18 almost overpowering. I feel like screaming. There many different sensations commingled; but there 18 a horror more overpowering than all. This is either li irculaneum or Pompeii. There is no fancy about VOLCANIC TUFA, POMPEII. 183 this ; it is too terribly real. Some seem to regard it as a judgment of the gods. There is wild agony, prayer, and blind dread. Now I see them. Some wring their hands ; others throw out their arms wildly. I see no one injured ; that is, I receive no impression to that effect. " I feel the influence of some persons at a distance from here. Now, I see a very large crowd of persons, some hurrying along, and occasionally looking back ; others seem to feel as if they could never leave, but are compelled to go to save their lives. The scene is agonizing in the extreme. I see one woman dart from the rest, and rush back, as if she had left a help- less parent or child to perish, that she was now deter- mined to save ; but she is compelled to give it up in despair, for there is a fresh burst from the mountain, and she sees there is no hope. A darkness almost as great as night is now around them. How wild they seem ! Many know not what to do, nor where to go. They act as if they thought there was hardly any place left in the wide world for them. There is a town at no great distance, to which many of them seem to be fleeing. I feel the influence dividing off in different directions ; but I think many who escaped afterwards perished. Such is the impression I receive. " Those flashes from the mountain have a slight tinge of purple. "I am in the city now, and, under the material, I can see something of its previous condition. I am sur- prised at their structures, now that I see them more clearly. Their architecture is not of that massive kind that I have supposed it to be. The place resem- 184 THE SOUL OF THINGS. blea a modern town much more than I ever imagined. There is a good deal of taste manifested in the ar- rangement of the town and buildings, and much time and means have been employed in making it beautiful and cheerful. 1 see a large open space that looks like what we call a square. In the distance I see a long dwelling: but with this specimen it is very difficult to obtain conditions as they were before the eruption." EXPEEDIEXT LXXV. I told her that I had another specimen from the same place, and that from it, I supposed, she could ob- tain previous conditions readily. This specimen she did not recognize, though it was the specimen of fresco painting, from " Cicero's House/' 7 that she had pre- viously examined. "All is in a perfect whirl." (Pause.) " Xow it is more calm. There are multitudes in the streets on business. Many of them are collected in one place. It seems the early part of the day. Some never went home from here, they started off in such haste. They must have had some idea of danger for several days ►re this. There is a feeling of fear and insecurity Qg them, but the great catastrophe came so sud- denly, at last, that they never returned to their houses in. •• Now I am farther back in time. I see a great many persons in the streets. What most singular- dng vehicles they have ! they are straight up and down behind, and generally very narrow, as if intend- ed only for one person. 1 can Bee a head sticking up here and there, above the odd-looking backs. The VOLCANIC TUFA, POMPEII. 185 front part has a curve from the tap, and looks better than- the back. There seems to have been much labor and art bestowed upon them, but they are clumsy af- fairs. " In one place I see a long bar or railing along the street, and over it there are long poles bent into arch- es, each end being in the ground. Business seems to be done there, for I see many going up and down. At times, I think, coarse cloth is spread over those arches to keep off rain or sunshine, or both. It seems to be a kind of market-place, and this is where, I think, many people were on that dreadful morning. I see a large building that must have cost a great deal of la- bor; it has a circular appearance, and is very different from any building I ever saw before." The lower part of it is larger than the central, and has arched open- ings all round it that seem like rooms. The second story has openings all round farther in. People seem to be going there. " I am in the building now, in which there is a great number of people. They do not seem to take any part, but merely look on. I feel no solemnity about it, as in a church. In it I see an oval space. The peo- ple seem to be seated very singularly ; I cannot ac- count for it, unless the seats rise as they extend back. It is built in the fashion of an amphitheatre, so that those farthest back can see over the others 7 heads. There is some mirthfulness in their feelings, but I can- not see what is going on down there. " Now, I see persons singularly dressed ; some of them are on animals that look like horses, but they seem smaller than ours. Some of them are women; 16* 186 THE SOUL OF THINGS. one of them on horseback. There is an entrance, where they come in, beautifully decorated with flow- ers. I see one young lady, with small features, of straight and rather slender figure, standing on horse- back near there : she seems to have just ridden round. She looks beautiful. There is nothing on her head but a wreath of flowers. She has a light-colored dress, which is in good taste, and rides on a light-colored horse. The men have dresses on, that give them the appearance of possessing wings, as they fly round, standing on their horses. I can fancy some of them to be fixed up to resemble birds. Some of them are dressed in black. The lady on the pony is gay, merry and nimble ; the men do not seem so light-hearted. What a rider she is I It is fearful to see her ; I can scarcely credit that any one could ride like that. I sometimes think, some of the men are dressed to rep- resent dark angels, and she a bright one. This is a very large place, and is strongly built. " I see a street now, in what seems twilight. There is an archway, and under it, at one end, is a statue ; and figures in alto relievo on the sides. I thought at first that it was connected with the market, but I now think, it is the entrance to that amphitheatre. On each side of the statue, which seems to represent a woman, is an animal couched. •• My attention is turned to the eruption again. The firsl thing that I notice, is that hollow sound from the mountain; then a rumbling. I hear a kind of sharp, hissing noise occasionally. All die away, and the peo- ple Beem to recover from their fright. This appears to have been Borne days before the destruction." VOLCANIC TUFA, POMPEII. 187 (Were any persons in the amphitheatre when it com- menced?) "I think there were. Those near the en- trance heard the screams in the streets, and then the intelligence seems to have been slowly communicated through the whole mass. " I see and feel the rushing water now ; that was water. There was a pause after the first outgush. Every eye is turned toward the mountain. A great many moved before the worst came. All the light seems to be colored ; it takes its color from the cloud through which it passes. A purple twilight is thus produced, — a rather dark twilight. What a scene for a painter ! In-doors it is absolutely dark, and the peo- ple are rushing into the streets in every direction. I see them carry off their valuables. They load them into their vehicles and drive off; others take loads of people and drive off furiously. I am now up where I can see them nearly all over the city hurrying in ev- ery direction. They carried off the more helpless, the old, and the feeble and sick, while the strong ones walked. I can see some of those with vehicles, ahead of that crowd I saw with the other specimen; they are driving with all speed, apparently to return again. I see some covered vehicles among them, but they look strange. 77 Pompeii was a city in Italy, situated on the river Sarnus, near the Bay of Naples, and, unfortunately for its inhabitants, within a short distance of Vesuvius. All the neighboring heights were crowned with villas, and the loveliness of the whole region, favored by na- ture and adorned by art, was unsurpassed. In a. d. 63, an earthquake threw down part of the 188 THE SOUL OF THINGS. city. From time to time, smaller shocks occurred, un- til, on the 23d of August, a. d. 79, Vesuvius awoke from the slumber of ages, and poured out rocks, ashes and dust, that buried the city and surrounding coun- try. The contrast between its previous and subse- quent condition is thus given us by Martial : — " Here verdant vines o'erspread Vesuvius' sides ; The generous grape here poured her purple tides. This Bacchus loved beyond his native scene ; Here dancing satyrs joyed to trip the green. Far more than Sparta this in Venus' grace ; And great Alcides once renowned the place : Now flaming embers spread dire waste around, And gods regret that gods can thus confound." The younger Plnry, who was an eye-witness of the eruption that destroyed the city, gives us a very inter- esting narrative of it, many portions of which corrob- orate the statements made during the preceding exam- ination. He tells us that a cloud was seen to ascend from Mount Vesuvius, of very unusual size and shape. "I cannot give a more exact description of its figure, than by resembling it to that of a pine tree, for it shot up a great height in the form of a trunk, which ex- tended itself at the top into a sort of branches ; occa- sioned, I imagine, either by a sudden gust of air that impelled it, the force of which decreased as it ad- vanced upwards, or the cloud itself, being pressed back again by its own weight, expanded in tin's man- ner. It appeared sometimes bright and sometimes dark and sp >tted, as it was more or less impregnated with earth and cinde] For many day- previous to the eruption there bad DESTRUCTION OF POMPEII. 189 been earthquake shocks, but on that night they were particularly violent. The next morning, which ush- ered in no daylight, the cloud seemed to descend and cover the whole ocean. Pliny and his mother fled for their lives, and he says : — " The ashes now began to fall upon us, though in no great quantity. I turned my head, and observed behind us a thick smoke, which came rolling after us like a torrent. I proposed, while we had yet any light, to turn out of the high road, lest we should be pressed to death in the dark by the crowd that fol- lowed us. We had scarce stepped out of the path, when darkness overspread us, not like that of a cloudy night, or when there is no moon, but of a room when it is shut up, and all the lights extinct. Nothing then was to be heard but the shrieks of women, the screams of children, and the cries of men; some calling for their children, others for their parents, others for their husbands, and only distinguishing each other by their voices ; one lamenting his own fate, another that of his family ; some wishing to die from the very fear of dy- ing ; some lifting their hands to the gods ; but the greater part imagining that the last and eternal night was come, which was to destroy the. gods and the world together. 77 Mrs. Denton, it may be proper to say, had never read this account of Pliny's, nor in fact any descrip- tion of the event she so truthfully describes. There is one statement made by the psychometer that is contrary to the generally received opinion respect- ing the phenomena attending the destruction of Pom- peii. It is generally supposed that ashes, falling as 190 THE SOUL OF THINGS. the snow falls, in process of time enveloped the city ; but, according to the preceding examination, water vomited from Vesuvius, and sweeping the loose ashes along with its current, must have contributed materi- ally to the catastrophe. There are many facts, which have been brought to light by the excavations at Pom- peii, which are in harmony with this idea. Various skeletons that have been discovered were found enclosed in hardened tuff, which appears to have flowed around them, for in some cases perfect casts of bodies have been found ; as in the case of a woman found in a cellar, with an infant in her arms. Casts have been recently discovered, so perfect, that in pouring into them plaster-of-Paris, there were formed statues of the ancient Eomans, true to the life. Lyell informs us that a mask imbedded in tuff has left a cast, the sharpness of which has been compared to those in plaster-of-Paris ; the mask was not in the least degree scorched, as if it had been imbedded in heated matter. The cellars and vaults of Pompeii are filled with mat- ter that seems to have flowed in, which can hardly be accounted for, except by streams of mud resulting from a flow of water from the mountain ; for no quan- tity of rain upi><>t where Herculaneum buried LIMESTONE, CHICAGO. 195 This from a piece of charcoal, no larger than a hazel- nut. The chemist looks at it, and says, — " A fine piece of carbon, of the same chemical composition as the diamond ; by no means, at my command, distinguishable from a piece made by the charcoal-burner last week." The artist looks at it, and says, — " This would form outlines of figures very readily, and I see no other use to which it could be put in my line.". But the psy- chometer takes it, and what a revelation of sights, sounds and feelings ! Who can tell the infinite num- ber of pictures that it contains : the knowledge that might be gained from it in reference to subjects on which all history is silent, and yet subjects in which we are deeply interested? I believe that a true his- tory of the lava-buried city, more full and more accurate than historian ever wrote of any city, might be obtained from that fragment of a charred Hercula- neum beam. The eruption that overwhelmed the city, would have bees seen, no doubt, if the experiment had been continued for a sufficient length of time. I have been unable to verify many of the statements here made with regard to Herculaneum, from the great paucity of definite information, in all books that I have been able to obtain, bearing upon the subject. I have no doubt, however, that a searching investiga- tion would result, as it does almost invariably, in establishing the correctness of the psychometric vis- ion, even to the minutest particular. EXPERIMENT LXXVn. Piece of limestone picked up on the surface, near a limestone quarry, about two miles west of Chicago. Conditions as before. 196 THE SOUL OF THINGS. " City scenes come before rne. " Xow I see another town, made of huts, with a hill or mound back of it. There are many men and women, who look something like Indians, but smaller and dif- ferent from any that I have seen before. In the town is a large, heavy, dark building, with a raised platform at the end of it, and an image upon it, something like a human being. The platform takes up the whole breadth of the building, and there are six or eight steps up to it. There are props supporting the roof, consisting of pieces of wood one above another." (In- terrupted, and after a little time tried it again.) " Similar scenes all come over again in the same order. I have, " 1. Glimpses of present conditions ; " 2. Forest, all wild; "3. Indian town, with trees in the distance. They have been taking out rock to a great depth here ; at one place there is quite an excavation/-" Who were these people that looked like Indians, but were smaller in size, and more advanced in the arte ; who built temples, and carved rude images? Have they disappeared, like the mastodon that once rambled over the wide land, or were they driven south by the Indian Goths and Vandals who poured in upon them from the North and West? The soil we tread, the rocks we carelessly trample under our feet, abound with the records of the primitive inhabitants of the land : and we leave our traces, in like manner, to be read by those that shall come after. I know of no traces of an Indian town in the neigh- borhood where the specimen was obtained, though TOMBS OF THE KINGS, THEBES. 197 siieli might possibly be found on examining the spot, for the situation is one well suited for an Indian vil- lage, as it must have been, at one time, the first ground in the vicinity of Chicago, west of Lake Michigan, that was not overflowed every spring. EXPERIMENT LXXVUI. A piece of stalagmitic limestone from one of the Tombs of the Kings near Thebes. Specimen seen, but nothing known regarding it. ^What I see has the appearance of being reflected, as if near a river and reflected by its water. It" looks like the side of a room, though, in some respects, it dif- fers considerably from that. It has a natural feeling, but an artificial look. It looks to me like an opening in a bank ; it has quite an artificial appearance, and yet seems so natural. I think it has been used by human beings. I cannot tell, though I have been try- ing for some time, what makes this union of the natural and artificial. There seem to be many influences mixed up with this. " The human influences are of a very peculiar kind. I see a long train of persons going to and coming from this place ; they are carrying something. Some have animals, which they lead, walking by the side of them ; the animals look strange ; I cannot tell what they are. These persons differ from all with which I am familiar. Two rows of them stand facing each other. " I cannot imagine what this means. I see several faces that seem to be looking out of holes in a wall-like surface ; they are human faces. " Xow, a great company, connected together in some 17* 198 THE SOUL OF THINGS. way, are moving something high over the ground, and again, I see others quite independent. " I see some that look as if they were building ; hundreds are moving, hurrying in every direction ; but what I see is not distinct enough for accurate descrip- tion. " Now, they are all collected in a great crowd before a place where there is a large door. As far as I can see, there are rows of persons carrying something. Xow, they have their arms raised up. Above and around that door the hill is cut away, so as to form three truncated pyramids, one above another, becom- ing smaller to the top, the door being in the centre of the lower one. All over this, crowds are standing, wherever there is room; some looking down at the .spectacle below. All seem to have some common ob- ject. There is a sensation of gloom here, though the appearance of the people seems to contradict it ; but that may be in accordance with the custom of the country. I think this must be a burial place; and they have either carried a bod}' in there, or go and see a body, and then make wild demonstrations of extrav- agant, showy mourning, that we should regard as quite indecorous; there is nothing quiet or subdued about it. " I see a portion of a high building, with three stat- in- of human beings standing on the top of it. I see another building, with smaller figures on each end. There are many buildings in the distance. I seem to be in a city, or something like it. They are a busy people here, — like ants, moving continually in a hurry from one thing to another. They work together in TOMBS OF THE KINGS, THEBES. 199 large numbers; so differently from our people. They take great pleasure in their labor. " I see a building now, that has four or five terraces all round it, smaller and smaller toward the top. The ceiling has a very substantial look. " It fatigues me to follow the motions of these peo- ple. Every man in the city seems to work with every other man. Whatever is done, is done by the multi- tude. There is another long procession, just going round the corner. Some kind of animals — I think they must be camels — take part in the procession, not as beasts of burden, but as if they were esteemed. " I see a square kind of opening, apparently an en- trance to a building. If a building, it is a curious one. It is ornamented with sculpture, and reminds me of the cave temples of India, though I do not know that this is the same. The people have a darkish look ; much more so than Europeans." The Tombs of the Kings are chambers, hewn out of the solid limestone, on the side of a mountain, seven or eight miles from the river Nile, and near the ancient city of Thebes. That mixture of the natural and arti- ficial, which the psychometer could not understand, may be referred to the artificial excavations thus made in the natural rock. From the city of Thebes, through whose streets, at the time of her visit, the tide of life was flowing, and the tide of death ebbing, she sees the processions as they march with the embalmed bodies of the deceased to their resting-place. It was the custom to draw the bodies to the tombs on sledges, accompanied with long processions ; on which occasions that extravagant 200 THE SOUL OF THINGS. mourning was indulged in, which so excited her atten- tion. Wilkinson thus refers to the Egyptian customs on occasions of death and burial : — •• When any one died, all the females of his family, covering their heads and faces with mud, and leaving the body in the house, ran through the streets with their bosoms exposed, striking themselves, and utter- ing loud lamentations. Their friends and relations joined them as they went, uniting in the same demon- strations of grief; and when the deceased was a per- son of consideration, many strangers accompanied them, out of respect to his memory. Hired mourners were also employed to add, by their feigned demonstra- tions of grief, to the real lamentations of the family, and to heighten the show of respect paid to the de- ceased." * The present funeral customs in Egypt throw light upon their ancient practices. As soon as a person is known to be dying, " the females of the family raise the cry of lamentation, one generally commencing in a low tone, and exclaiming, l Oh, my misfortune! ' which is immediately taken up by another with increased vehemence ; and all join in similar exclamations, united with piercing cries. They call on the deceased ac- cording to their degree of relationship, as, 'Oh, my father ! Oh, my mother ! Oh, my sister ! Oh, my brother ! Oh, my aunt ! 7 or according to the friendship and connection existing between them, as, 'Oh, my ' Oh, lord of the house I Oh, my friend! Oh, my dear, my soul, my ^yc^l 1 and many of Hie ncigh- well as the friends of the family, join in the * Wilkinson's Anci< m Egyptians, Vol. n. p. 102. MUMMIED CROCODILE, MAABDEH. 201 lamentations. Hired mourning women are also en- gaged, who utter cries of grief, and praise the virtues of the deceased, while the females of the house rend their clothes, beat themselves, and make other violent demonstrations of sorrow.' ' * The great similarity between this and what Mrs. D. saw, must be apparent to all ; but, to give an explana- tion of all that was presented during this experiment, would require a knowledge of Egyptology to which I can make no pretension. EXPERIMENT LXXIX. From a gentleman in Quebec I obtained a small mummied crocodile, taken by him from a crocodile pit at Maabdeh, Egypt. Some time afterward I took a small portion of the cloth in which it was wrapped, and pulled it into fine tow ;■ then wrapped it in three thicknesses of writing paper, and presented it to Mrs. Denton, who did not see it, and had no idea of its na- ture. " I see a great mound or hill, with a place cut into it on one side. " I am looking over the heads of a great many peo- ple, who are busily engaged in doing something, I can- not yet see what. I see a long, deep place, that goes away under the hill. I do not know what to call it. Near it is an extensive wall ; but it does not seem to be connected with any building. " The people here, are, I think, Egyptians ; they look like it. There is an honesty about them that I * Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, Vol. n. p. 403. Quoted from Lane's Modern Egyptians. 202 THE SOUL OF THINGS. like. They are destitute of that hypocrisy which I have so frequently noticed, when examining psycho- metrically. They seem to carry their religion into almost everything they do. In all their work they seem to give expression to their religious ideas. The universality of this expression is truly wonderful. It does not seem to be confined to any particular place. They seem to regard everything as a partial embodi- ment of the Divinity, or an embodiment of some part of the Divinity. They are exceedingly religious in their way ; the religious people of this day cannot compare with them in the habitual exercise of devo- tion. "I see shadowy appearances of very large forms, some of which resemble human beings, but they are stationary. All the buildings have a solid and sub- stantial appearance. The architecture is all heavy. u There seems to be a dark passage to that place, that I said looked like an excavation. It seems closed up. The entrance looks very singular ; I know not how to describe it. Light and ethereal forms are mov- ing in the air in that entrance, some human, some ani- mal. I could fancy them to be the spirits of those that are buried in there, for I think it must be a burial place. They seem as much more refined than common psychometric objects, as these are more refined than ordinary objects. One seems like a turtle; another looks like a rabbit, but the ears are not as large. There is a greal deal about this that I cannot give, for I am unable to describe it. u I 'i numbers of crocodiles, some large and others small. MUMMIED CROCODILE, MAABDEH. 203 " I see hills, all of dust, that look as if they might be changed from one place to another ; or, as if the wind might blow them away. " I seem to oscillate betweer the far past and a more recent period ; which makes ac curate description diffi- cult. I think those hills must be sand ; they have too bright a look for dust. " (There comes up occasionally a being of the human form, having a wild appearance, very different from the people I have been seeing.) These people do a great deal of work in stone, cutting it into many dif- ferent forms. (I feel the influence occasionally of high rocks.) They are as industrious as ants in building, excavating and cutting. They work together. They have many projects, but are by no means idle dream- ers, for they execute, too. I see objects that tower up in the air to points ; they are distinct from the buildings, and seem three-sided ; they must be obe- lisks. I see several of them. Now, I see a live croc- odile, a large one, that seems to be in the street." That the ancient Egyptians were a very religious people, there can be no doubt. " The Egyptians/ 7 says Herodotus, " are very religious, surpassing all men in the honors they pay to the gods.' 7 * A similar testi- mony is borne by others. " The Egyptian priests/ 7 says Porphyry, " profiting by their diligent study of philosophy, and their intimate acquaintance with the nature of the gods, have learnt that the Divinity per- meates other beings as well as man, that he is not the only creature on earth possessed of a soul ; and that nearly the same spiritual essence pervades all the * Herodotus, n. 37. 204 THE SOUL OF THINGS. tribes of living creatures. Oh this account, in fash- ioning images of the gods, they have adopted the forms of all animals, sometimes joining the human fig- ure with those of beasts : at others, combining the shapes of men and of birds." ' f How exceedingly refined must that influence be, which, passing from a small piece of linen tow, perme- ates three thicknesses of writing paper, and then gives to the psychometer the sensations recorded ! EXPERIMENT LXXX. I had long desired to investigate psychometrically some of the human relics discovered in the drift de- posits of England, France, and Germany ; and after many fruitless inquiries for specimens, in museums and geological collections, chance threw in my way the opportunity I had so long desired. While in Mont- real, in December of last year, I observed at the bot- tom of McGill Street several heaps of flint shingle, laid there previous to being used for macadamizing the street. This flint shingle surprised me, for I had « - r i < > r ! or not. EARLY MEN OF ENGLAND. 207 " It is rather dark in that cave ; I can only see a lit- tle way. There is something in the back part of it, but I cannot see what it is. u In the soft floor, at the bottom of the cave, are cu- rious markings. It looks as if some one, for pastime or for play, had made a number of shallow holes. There must be quite a number of these beings around here, for I see others occasionally. I see one more slender than the first, and another larger, heavier, and yet smoother and more delicate. I think this is a fe- male. She is fuller and more rounded, and her limbs are shorter; but her face is far from being that i human face divine/ of which the poets speak, though I only obtain its general appearance. I see another female, smaller than the first. They are more erect than those hairy ones I saw, who are males, I suppose ; but it is strange there should be such a difference between them. " I see an animal, in a kind of enclosure, that seems partly tamed. It is a large, herbivorous animal, and I fancy now that the first man I saw was watching it, till some one else came ; two or three of them taking- turns. " There must be a number here, from the influence I feel, — more than one family. All that I have seen hitherto, have been perfectly nude; but I see the back of one now, that seems to have some kind of covering on; I think it is a skin. The wearer is one of the fairer, erect kind, as most of them are that I see now. They seem much more human than the others. "In that cave I see objects that I cannot tell the use of; they seem made of stone. Some are five or 208 THE SOUL OF THINGS. six feet long : but they must be made of wood, with a sharp point of stone at the end : they have a round end where they are handled, and I think now are used as spears for killing animals. I see smaller ones hang- ing on the side of the cave. There seems to be a belt of skin, several feet long, fastened against the wall, and through it different implements are placed. Some are seven or eight inches long, and others but two or three. Some are bulky, and look like hammers, while others are slim and sharp.' 7 (Are they made of flint?) " They look hard, and some seem to have been chipped, but I am not near enough to distinguish the precise material of which they are composed. " I feel a great many of these beings about, going in and out, but I cannot see many. That cave is quite a large place. There are some implements hanging on the wall that are quite sharp; they seem to be flint. They use them to cut up their meat with. (I feel this.) They did not eat their flesh raw; I have the impression of its being cooked. " I see green trees ; the vegetation seems like that of a warmer country than this. I see grape vines. There is much more intelligence among these beings than those I saw with that specimen from Mount Ararat. (Experiment 83.) u These dark ones do not seem as savage as I should . Th ire is something mild and submissive about them. At a distance the face seems flat; the lower part of it is heavy; they have what. I suppose, would tailed prognathous jaws. The frontal region of the head is low, and the lower portion of it is very promi- nent, forming a rounded ridge across the forehead, EARLY MEN OF ENGLAND, 209 immediately above the eye-brows. The hair bushes up full in front and seems inclined to curl. I think there is hair on the chin and sides of the face. "I see something peculiar at the edge of a wood. Between the rocks and the wood is an open space ; and near the wood is something built that seems in- tended to shed rain. There are vines growing over it. " I see an animal now, much larger than the largest ox; with large, long horns, three times as large as any I ever saw, that curve over on each side and almost meet under the head." EXPERIMENT LXXXI. A few days afterward, other and different specimens having been tried in the interim, I broke off a small fragment from the same bone and gave it to Mrs. Den- ton for examination. She might have supposed it to be bone from its feeling, but she certainly had no idea of its being a portion of the one previously examined. " I see a rude bucket hanging on a cross-bar sup- ported by two forked sticks. It is long for its width, and seems to have been dug out of solid wood. There is something around it near the top. probably to fasten something to, to carry it by. It is rough on the out- side. " I see a very low place, that looks as if made to live in; it goes up to a sharp peak. (There is some animal influence about this specimen, from the feeling I have.) That house is made by poles put in the ground and poles on the top connecting: then it is banked up with earth, and skins are put over it — so it seems. I see the poles have forked tops, and the top poles are 18* 210 THE SOUL OF THINGS. placed in the forks. I see another, that is round on top : and in the distance are three or four little ones. I see shadows of people moving around : I cannot see any one distinctly. I now see the facial bones of a human being : the teeth are very prominent, the jaws large, and the front part of the face very prominent and large. •*I feel now as if I were in one of those places in the rock that I saw the other night. I do not see that long row of implements, but I am in a place like that. I see some great branching horns in there, but no ani- mal. The horns are much longer than any I ever saw. There are two main branches on each side and a num- ber of smaller ones. Between the two, short points stick up, that give it a singular appearance. It seems to be on a kind of seat above the ground. " I see an animal lying down, that has a tapering face and nose, more so than a sheep ; though it looks more like a sheep than any other animal I have seen. Its eyes are large. It has short horns, and is herbiv- orous ; but what is most remarkable about it, and what 1 cannot understand, is that it has four horns. I see many things, but not distinctly enough to describe. Many that I see seem quite incongruous and must have been brought here ; for instance, I see a singular- !i lying on the ground. I have ral times the head of an animal resembling an ox, but with a thin and short under jaw, compared with upper, which is heavier than in our cattle. It has a curly front. The whole head looks very heavy. I • that looks like that of a human is e monkey-like appearance about \ EARLY MEN OF ENGLAND. 211 it. I also see several persons trying to roll a large angular stone. One I can see quite plain; he looks like that one I saw sitting the other night. All these seem of that kind having long arms and hairy bodies. The face of one is toward me and the backs of the others. None of them are clothed. One looks like a female, with some kind of ornament bound around her head. I cannot tell what it is made of. I seem to be in about the same place and period that I was the other night with that bone, but I do not see any of the smooth people, as I did then. " In rolling that stone, one of them seems to act as overseer; he seems to be the same tall, ugly one — the second I saw the other night. " I see a very low entrance to a cave, in which it looks quite dark. The front of it, over the top, has an artificial appearance, as if something had been put up to make the entrance smaller. The climate is not warm all the time ; sometimes, it seems chilly, cold and damp. " I see now a point of land stretching into a large body of water that seems to be the ocean. On this side of it are many people down by the water. I wonder if that long weapon I saw the other day was not for spearing fish? I see one of these people hold- ing up something in his hand, as if for some one at a distance to see. Another one is bent over. They seem to have a monstrous fish on the land which re- quires several of them to manage. Its mouth is open, and seems full of sharp, white teeth. " Toward that point of land are more persons than here. Some of them have dresses on that reach from 212 THE SOUL OF THINGS. the shoulders to the knee, and are fastened at the waist ; some are shorter, and others are unfastened at the waist. I think they are the skins of animals. They seem to be fishing, and are not very particular about what they catch. These are the smooth-skinned people, and the others are, I believe, either their pris- oners or slaves that work for them. There is more intellect and craft among these, and they have a greater range of ideas. There is more calculation and cunning about them. The others seem inefficient compared with them; they may become terribly en- raged, but they lack ability to accomplish much. These are shorter and stouter people ; they have round faces, low foreheads, but not with that protrud- ing ridge I saw in the others ; they have flat heads, and nothing like beard or whiskers. The fairest of them have a dark, tawny look. I do not like them, they are so designing and selfish. They are largely in the majority here I find, and they are the same people I saw the other night. " I had a glimpse of an awful-looking creature just then, with his hair hanging all around his face. He lias an ugly-looking face, and his hair is terribly tan- gled. " I see more animals penned up that look somewhat like oxen, but with thicker skins and less hair; they are <»!' monstrous size. "I Bee faces of some animals that resemble our dogs, yet they differ from them considerably; but they are more like dogs than any other animals with which I am acquainted." EARLY MEN OF ENGLAND. 213 EXPERIMENT LXXXU. Another bone from the same locality, gnawed by some small rodent; the bone 'seen, and the circumstances of its discovery known. " The first thing I see is one of those hairy men sit- ting with his back against a tree. The same things come up that I saw with the other specimens, or nearly so : but I see the animals more distinctly. A great many are visible. One kind that I see resemble oxen, and have very large and long horns ; they are larger than my arm, curve upward on each side of the head, and have two or three twists in them. I see one about as high as an ox, but smaller. It looks young, has no horns, and seems like a calf; it has the look of a yearling. So many objects crowd upon me, I am un- able to describe them. One animal, that I suppose to be an ox, has frowzy hair, and thick horns, heavier than the others I have seen, but not as long. " This must be a horse that I see now. Yes, I see two of those men on the back of one ; they are going with great speed. They seem to have something to guide it with ; but I do not know what. " I see a long string of skulls of different animals ; they are hanging against the face of the rock ; the first looks like a human skull. " Several of those hairy ones are here ; first at work, and then at play. Now, I see them climbing up a rock as if pursued by something. (The pictures come up in such abundance, I cannot disentangle, them. In whatever direction I look, figures are darting to and fro, singly or in groups; but so rapidly that I cannot describe them.) " 214 THE SOUL OF THIXGS. I advised her to lay the specimen down and try if she could see them without. " Xow, they seem less than the natural size, and just as if they were pictures. That is strange ! it seems to me as if they were painted on the outside of my forehead, and I were just looking at them so. I almost turned round to ask you to look at them ; they are so plain. Xow, they appear more natural, and move more slowly than before, though I do not see them as dis- tinctly.' 7 (She now put the -specimen on her forehead again, and said she would tell me all she saw as rap- idly as she could.) "A man lying down. "An ox-heacl. "A place marked off, and the ground tracked round. u Enclosure, with an animal in it. "Another animal, large, unenclosed, and that looks tame. u The sun shining on the water. "A cave, with an arch-like entrance. " Xow I see a man with a club, and it seems as if some kind of fighting were going on. I see one of the smooth ones with a club in his uplifted hand. " The influences I receive now seem more recent. There is more skill manifest : all artistic work seems Buperior, and more genius is apparent. "There is a wide and deep river running into the not far from here. I sec a place with artificial odeo blocks. "Now, ! see -Mine of the hairy fellows working in stone. One of them is doing something with a very \<»\v he >its on it, and put,- his hands be* EARLY MEN OF ENGLAND. 215 hind him, and leans back on another to rest. I see two in the water wading, with a pole between them. Now there are a number wading out. That is a pleas- ant stream, but large and wide." As we travel into the night of the past, in search of facts regarding the condition of our race at an early period of its existence, we find history burning with a dim and uncertain light, before we have advanced three thousand years ; and if we had history alone to guide us, beyond this, in midnight, we should grope our uncertain way. But when history can no longer be depended upon, archeology comes to our assistance, and we continue our journey with light sufficient to behold the salient features of the landscape lying be- fore us. We have learned from archeology that, prior to the historic period, men knew the use of iron, and fash- ioned it into tools for ordinary use, and weapons of war, and this for a long time before history gives any record of their doings. We also learn that previous to the iron age, there was a bronze age, in which men knew not the use of iron, probably, because they had not learned to produce heat sufficient to melt it from its intractable ores. This bronze age, archeologists have discovered, existed for a long time. Lyell says, " The number and variety of objects belonging to the age of bronze indicate its long duration, as does the progress in the arts implied by the rudeness of the ear- lier tools. 77 * Immeasurably back in the far past, the use of metals was unknown; and men fashioned their tools and * LyelPs Antiquity of Man, p. 11. 216 THE SOUL OF THINGS. weapons principally of stone. This was the stone age. Already the existence of this stone age has been dem- onstrated in Great Britain, France, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. During the early part of this age, gigantic elephants, nearly twice as large as existing ones, roamed in herds through the forests of Great Britain, France, and Germany. Oxen, of several spe- cies now extinct, and some of them of immense size, fed in the natural meadows, while tigers, bears, and hyenas prowled through the woods in pursuit of their prey, or hid from the hot rays of the sun in the dark recesses of the rocks. In the rivers, extinct species of the rhinoceros and hippopotamus sported, their tough hides impervious to the rude weapons of the rude men that occupied the land. The scenes described in the three preceding experi- ments, belong, I think, to this stone age, and give a lifelike representation of the people, their condition, and pursuits. Probably, during the early human period, man had attained the highest point of comparative civilization in Central Asia : and from that, as a centre, wave after wave rolled westward over Europe, as the desire for change, or need of wider territory, or love of conquest, or the persecution of a dominant race, compelled them. Finding a people inferior to themselves in form, color,and intellectual ability, they enslaved them, after taking possession of their lands by the right of the ngest; themselves to bo supplanted at some future time by another wave of humanity, as much in advance of them as they were of their predecessors. Jusl as in the presenl 'lay the Arabs have overrun North- EARLY MEN OF ASIA. 217 ern Africa, enslaving the negroes ; and the French, in their turn, are driving them out and occupying their domain. The conquest of Great Britian by the Ro- mans, the first of which authentic history speaks, was probably but one of a number that had preceded it, during what may be termed the pre-historic period. EXPERIMENT LXXXUI. Small fragment of obsidian, from Mount Ararat. Mrs. Denton saw it, but thought it was coal. " I am near a soft, wet place ; below me it is marshy. On one side is a steep ridge, and on the side of that, a square hole, lined with poles or sticks ; they do not seem to have been hewn. There are different animals around, which seem to be much afraid. One, with slender body and legs, looks like a deer, biii is taller. Some are larger still, and more clumsy-looking. One is as large as a hog, but is in shape like a mole. An- other has a broad face, curved horns, and peculiar curled hair ; it looks frowzy and quite fierce. " The strangest sight of all comes up. It is a man- like animal; it is pursuing the other animals, and that is the reason they run, and are so afraid. This animal built that place I saw, I believe. I see one in the dis- tance now; he has something on his head; and another with something in his hand or paw, — the left one, — which he swings. His head is very angular. I seem to see the dawn of thought, as he holds that out, and watches it swing. It is a wild animal, and he holds it by the entrails, I believe ! His arms are long as legs, and covered with hair ; but the face is nearly smooth, yet looks fuzzy. The color is dark, but has an olive 19 218 THE SOUL OF THINGS. tinge. This one has some mirthfulness about him. Oh, oh, what a yell ! I never heard anything equal to it. It thrills me, and I fairly tremble. Yet it had a kind of silvery ring to it. The mouth of this animal is orescent-shaped. It has a very large nose, three or four times the size of a man's ; it is rounded and very prominent, and seems in keeping with the face and head. The forehead goes up and back to a ridge, giv- ing it a triangular shape." If my thought were at all concerned in the produc- tion of these pictures, on this occasion the vision would certainly have differed most widely from the one presented. I was looking at the time for a vol- canic eruption and its accompanying phenomena ; and was very much surprised, as I have frequently been, at the difference between what was presented, and what was expected. EXPEPJUEXT LXXXIY. Small flint arrow-head, found near Chesterfield, Mad- ison County, Indiana. Mrs. Giles, of Eandolph, Cattaraugus County, Xew York. •• I go south to the water's edge, but cannot cross it. I see grass of a yellow color, a few trees, and various I animals that I am not familiar with. I see pieces of rock in the earth that look something like glass. "Now, I see a wilderness: there are no trees cut 11. and in its depths are birds, snakes, and bears. I also, and pass through it; it is built of bark and skins, and what look- like cloth. There are 2 od many men near it. I Bee no women. The men FLINT AEROW-HEAD. 219 are poorly dressed, almost naked. The skins they wear look rough; some are worn with the hide out, and some with the fur. They have nothing on their heads, and their skins are dark-colored. Now I see more of them; they look lazy, dirty and shiftless. They really don't seem to know anything. Their foreheads are small, and their heads run up to the crown, sugar-loaf shape. They have large noses, large mouths, and thick lips." In reply to a question she said, " I should not call them Indians ; they are lighter-colored, and short and thickset. They look more like monkeys than any human beings I ever saw. " I see a woman now ; she has a loose skin in front of her breast, and another round her hips that is fast. There is a small hut ; I have to stoop to enter it. In one corner I see grass and stuff, where I suppose they lie. Here is a larger hut; 1 will go in. I see square stones that seem intended for seats. There is a place made of stones for a fire, and I see one burning, and meat, with a pole stuck through it, cooking. The bed in this hut has skins on it. I see a woman with orna- ments in her ears ; she has nice furs on. "A man is pounding against the side of a tree with a stone to loosen the bark. The stone is sharp at one end and thick at the other ; he pounds with the large end, and cuts with the other. He has a rough kind of basket into which he piles the bark. " There are spots as large as a house here and there, that seem to have been cleared for cultivation." A very life-like picture of the aboriginal times. Mrs. Giles assured me that she did not know what the specimen was till the examination was over. 220 THE SOUL OF THINGS. EXPERIMENT LXXXV. Piece of encrinal limestone, obtained near the res- ervoir at the foot of Mount Royal, Montreal. Mrs. Denton knew it came from somewhere in the neighbor- hood of Montreal, but not what it was. " I see a tremendous waterfall, of great breadth, wi- der than any river that I ever saw. Niagara, from what I have heard of it, must be a baby in compari- son. There seems to be a good deal of what looks like steam. I see beams of light that shine through it ; at the lowest part it is dark, but higher up the light is more diffused through it. Those shafts of light that dart through it remind me of lightning, they are so clear and well-defined. " I am under the fall now ; there is an arch of rock overhead, but I do not see the water. The archway is extensive ; it is a great open place. The light in the water seems to vibrate. " There is that fall again. What a tremendous fall it is ! it seems to hold me. A rock rises up in or near the centre of it, high and steep. It is water-worn all round, and is smaller at the bottom than higher up. The fall must have been miles wide. (It is difficult to shut out modern influences.) " I wonder if this has not been exposed to heat. What can have made it so hot? "I see animals resembling crinoids." At the time this examination was made, I did not know that Mount Royal was composed, to a considera- ble extent, of trap, scnl up from below in a heated condition, oi ; but when I learned this, the beat that Mrs. Denton recognized was readily ex- TRAP, MOUNT ROYAL. 221 plained ; the trap lying in place but a few rods from where I obtained the specimen. EXPERIMENT LXXXVI. A few days afterward, tried a piece of trap from the top of Mount Royal. Specimen seen, and its locality known. u I can see the St. Lawrence plainer than when I was on the Mount, and parts of the city fully as plain. I cannot see the bridge distinctly: I merely see a dark line across the water. I should not have known what it was, if I had not seen it before. " Now I am a little way back in time from the pres- ent occupation of the country. It looks very wild ; the water rolls on, with no human being present. How lonely ! There is no steeple in town nearly as high as the rock on that island; it was magnificent. It looks very craggy on top, as I go back in time. " Now, I see a fall, — very wide ; there are rocks in it higher than the general bed over which the water dashes. I can hear the rushing of that stream ; the roar is terrible. There is a hollow sound, too, that I cannot account for, but I think it comes from there. It is *the broadest sweep of water in the shape of a river that I ever saw, but I do not think it was as deep then as now. 77 EXPERIMENT LXXXVU. When in Montreal, I broke from the first pier of the Victoria Bridge, on the north side of the river, and on the east side of the pier, a small fragment of lime- stone ; this, about six weeks afterward, I gave to Mrs. 19* 2 2 2 THE SOUL OF THIXGS. Denton, who did not see it, had no idea of the charac- ter of it, and knew not that I had any such specimen. " I see a point extending into the water, and vessels around it ; and I see another point farther away that has buildings upon it. Xow I see high cliffs. There seems to be a kind of archway here, but I cannot tell yet what it belongs to. It looks, however, like a tun- nel, and yet like a bridge. I do not know what to call it. I am looking through the arched entrance, and that is the appearance presented. There are hills in the distance. There is a city here. " I see now what this is ; it is a long bridge over a stream. Down the stream I see that high pinnacle on an island that I saw once when we were at Montreal. This must be from the long bridge at Montreal. 77 If Mrs. Denton had been placed bodily on the spot where I obtained the specimen, she could hardly have described more accurately the principal features of the view presented from it. There is a point of land on the lower side of the bridge, which was either made or enlarged during the building of the bridge, and used as a wharf for vessels that were employed in convey- ing material for its construction. The bridge ap- peared long, of course, for it is the longest bridge in the world. The iron tube, of which the body of the bridge is composed, has very much the appearance of a tunnel when looked into from the end. The high pinnacle referred to is the same as that noticed by her in the last experiment; and it is a little remarkable thai it was not the present appearances observed that determined the locality of the specimen, but an ap- pearance that ha- had no actual existence forages; ORIGIN OF PETROLEUM. 223 for it was the observance of this remarkable pinnacle of rock that enabled her to determine that the speci- men was from Montreal. EXPERIMENT LXXXYIFL. Since the discovery of petroleum, or rock oil, in such great abundance in Western Pennsylvania, Can- ada West, and other localities, much interest has been excited in reference to it, and many theories of its ori- gin propounded. One supposes that it is the oleagi- nous matter from antediluvian whales, buried in the localities where the oil is discovered ; another, that it is the drippings of coal-beds ; subject to enormous pressure, they are supposed to yield oil, as a cake of linseed subjected to the power of a hydraulic press ; and hence the occurrence of this oil in beds underly- ing coal. Others again believe that the oil was driven by heat from beds of coal into the neighboring rocks ; the coal after parting with its oil assuming the form of anthracite. A wilder theory is, that the oil was driven out of coal by heat, in the condition of vapor, condensed in the upper, cold atmosphere, and rained down in greasy showers ; and thus it is found in locali- ties where there is no coal in the vicinity. Some, de- spairing of finding any philosophic solution of the question, tell us that God made it when it best pleased him, and we must receive it thankfully, asking no questions. It will be seen that most of these theories assume that the coal-beds are the source of the oil. The rea- son may be, that an oil, somewhat resembling petro- leum, can be obtained from coal by distillation : though 224 THE SOUL OF THINGS. that consideration should not be allowed to outweigh the stern facts that are in complete opposition to this favorite idea. In the neighborhood of Titusville, Penns3 T rvania, where the oil was first discovered in the United States in large quantities, it is obtained by boring into shales belonging to the Chemung group of the Devonian for- mation; and in these shales, which are at least six or seven hundred feet below the Coal Measures, the oil is sometimes obtained at a depth of six hundred feet; and when obtained, frequently rushes to the surface with great violence ; showing clearly that the fountain supplying it lies still deeper. There is no coal in the immediate vicinity, the nearest being more than twenty miles distant. The beds between the coal and the shales, in which the oil is found, consisting of sand- stones and conglomerate principally, it is difficult to conceive of oil soaking through them and travelling twenty or thirty miles to the spot where it is now found. In Canada West, about twenty miles east of Port Sarnia, petroleum is found in the greatest abundance. The whole country seems to rest on a lake of oil, which has burst through at some time and flooded the land ; when, the volatile parts evaporating, the ground for acres has become covered with asphalt um, in places two feet thick. Here we should certainly expect coal, according to the common theories; but when we ex- amine the limestone underlying the deep bed of drift clay, which covers that part of the country, we find in it the characteristic shells of the Devonian formation, and discover thai ii is one of the members of the Ham- ORIGIN OF PETEOLEOI. 225 ilton group of that formation. It lies, therefore, still lower geologically than the Pennsylvania oil ; and as, on boring into the limestone, the oil is found in greater abundance and of better quality, it is evident that the source of its supply lies deeper still. There is no coal nearer than the Michigan coal basin, probably seventy miles distant ; and there, the thickest coal seam is not more than four feet, which, under no circumstances, could yield oil enough to flow half a mile toward the Canadian petroleum region. At Louisville this oil, so readily recognized by its peculiar smell, may be seen in the limestone rocks blasted out in forming the ship canal ; rocks laid down ages before the Coal Measures were deposited. In Chicago, where I have observed it floating on the sur- face of water in a limestone quarry, and where the limestone is thoroughly saturated with it, we find it in the Lower Silurian ; as we do near Hamilton, in Can- ada Yv 7 est, and many other localities. It is most evident, then, that this oil does not pro- ceed from coal. What does it proceed from? After visiting the Titusville oil wells, in Pennsylvania, on the breaking out of the oil excitement in that region, I sent a piece of the shale, obtained from one of the wells, to Mrs. Denton, requesting her to see what psy- chometry could db towards revealing the mystery of the origin of this remarkable product. The following I received by mail : — " All is perfect darkness around me ; I do not think I shall see anything to-night. In a twinkling the dark- ness is gone, and I find myself deep underground ; how deep, I cannot tell, but I feel a great weight above me. 226 THE SOUL OF THINGS. " In front of me, at my right, at my left, and appar- ently behind me, though I do not see that distinctly, is a gorgeous scene. I seem to stand in a perfect forest of — (what shall I term it?) I know of nothing that it resembles, in its general structure, but the coral for- ests I have seen, when examining fossil coral; and again, a portion of its structure resembles the honeycomb more nearly than anything else to which I can compare it. The cells are, however, different in form, having a hanging appearance, the lower portion of each cell being more extended, and somewhat smoother and rounder than the upper extremity. These cells, when entire, seem filled with a liquid ; but many, great mul- titudes of them, in the part of the forest next me, have been crushed and broken, and the whole space, or nearly so, is filled with this expressed liquid. " In many places this coralline forest seems to prop the roof, or stratum, above ; and in every direction, through this grove, I see clusters and groups reflect- ing all the colors of the rainbow, and presenting most beautiful and singularly effective arrangements. The liquid is readily distinguishable from water by the appearance; but, aside from that, there is the taste and effect of being in communication with oil. I do not know what may be above or below this, but here, at least, / see no appearance of coal, or the vegetation of which coed is formed, though I have looked faithfully for it" In several oil districts she has observed similar ap- pearances, and on more than one occasion watched tho coral polyps as they filled their cells with the oil se- creted from the impure waters of the early oceans. ORIGIN OF PETROLEUM. 227 My own observations corroborate Mrs. Denton's psy- chometric views. I have found a reef of fossil coral belonging to the genus favosites, with the oil dripping out of it, within eight miles of Buffalo : and near Wil- liainsville, in the centre of solid limestone blocks, are multitudes of corals, the cells of which are filled with this oil, which is visible nowhere but in these cells. In the New York Geological Rooms, Albany, is a fine specimen of oil-bearing coral, marked Favosites Goth- landica, Erie County, from which the oil has dripped to the bottom of the case. I saw several specimens in the geological rooms at Montreal. I have no doubt whatever that this oil owes its ori- gin to the coral polyps, principally of the Silurian and Devonian periods. They seem to have accomplished a work analogous to that performed by the plants of the Carboniferous period ; they purified the water as the plants did the air ; and though no oil-bearing corals may exist in the ocean at the present time, it may be because the material from which the oil was obtained is exhausted, and the family of oil-bearing corals has become 'extinct. I know of no living corals whose cells at all resemble those of the oil-secreters, where was deposited this very valuable article, which by heat and pressure has been driven out of its original recep- tacles into crevices and reservoirs, where it is at pres- ent found. By long exposure many of the original oil- containing corals have lost their oil, and hence their cells are frequently found empty. EXPERIMENT LXXX1X. If caves can be examined psychometrically, and 228 THE SOUL OF THINGS. their windings traced, why not mines and mineral veins ? Many persons have existed who professed to have the ability of seeing objects deep buried in the earth, and I have no doubt that, in some cases, these professions were in accordance with the truth. In the Seeress of Prevorst, it is said, quoting from Del Rio, that in Spain there is a race of people called Zo- huris, who can see things hidden under the earth, as water, veins of metal, and dead bodies. Gamasche, a Portuguese, who lived in the beginning of the eigh- teenth century, had the faculty of discovering water and metals at a considerable depth under ground. Zschokke, the well-known German author, says : — " In almost every canton of Switzerland are found persons endowed with the mysterious natural gift of discovering by a peculiar sensation the existence of subterranean waters, metals, or fossils. I have known many of them, and often put their marvellous talents to ihe proof. One of these was the Abbot of the Con- vent of St. Urban, in the canton of Lucerne, a man of learning and science ; and another, a young woman, who excelled all I have ever known. I carried her and her companion with me through several districts entirely unknown to her, but with the geological for- mation of which, and with the position of its salt and sweet waters, I was quite familiar, and I never found her deceived. The results of the most careful obser- vation have compelled me at length to renounce the binate suspicion and incredulity I at first felt on this subject, and have presented nie with a new phase of nature, although one .-till involved in enigmatical ob- scurity. T<> detail circumstantially every experiment COPPER, LAKE SUPERIOR. 229 I made to satisfy myself on this point, would take up too much space at present ; but I think it right to mention some of the cases which led me occasionally to vary from others in my views of nature and of God." * Catherine Crowe says, in her Night Side of Nature, " Numerous cases are met with, in which metals or water are perceived beneath the surface of the earth. A man called Bleton, from Dauphine, possessed the divining power in a remarkable degree, as did a Swiss girl, called Katherine Beutler. She was strong and healthy, and of a phlegmatic temperament, yet so sus- ceptible of these influences that without the rod she pointed out and traced the course of water, veins of metal, coal-beds, salt mines, &c." Our experiments confirm these statements remark- ably, demonstrating as they do the possession of this wonderful and valuable power. On visiting the Lake Superior copper region, some years ago, I brought from there a number of speci- mens, which I submitted to Mrs. Cridge and Mrs. Den- ton for examination ; they, as before, having no previ- ous knowledge of the specimen, which was carefully concealed from view when a sight of it would give any clue to its character. A piece of conglomerate from the bed of Eagle River, and one mile from the Phoenix Copper Mine. Mrs. Cridge. "I feel the influence of copper, but very slight. The vapor of the metal must have passed into this. I should say this came from next to the copper. I can *Life of Zschokke, p. 143. 20 230 THE SOUL OF THINGS. see a vein of copper; it is not more than eighteen inches thick in the thickest place ; and seems to extend a mile." Whether there is copper beneath this conglomerate or not. I cannot say ; but from the fact that it is found so immediately in the vicinity, and that the psychom- eter had not the slightest idea of the locality whence the specimen was derived, I think it more than prob- able. The copper region of Lake Superior has not been one hundredth part explored yet. EXPERUTEXT XC When at Copper Harbor, I picked up, from a gravel- bed near the burying-ground, about half a mile from the lake, a fine specimen of crystallized quartz, which was also examined by my sister. " I feel the influence of copper. This came from near the lake, and near the surface, and beneath it is loose rock or gravel for twelve or fifteen feet. Be- neath that is a brown stratum, quite thin, not more than a foot thick ; then trap-rock, very deep; it must be sixty or seventy feet. I see something yellow in that trap ; it does not look like copper ; it is not in veins, but scattered around. " A little from there, toward the west, the trap rises and comes to the surface. There is copper beneath the trap, but it is only a thin vein. 77 About two hundred yards from where I picked up the specimen the trap does come to the surface, and a _ • cliff of it overlooks the harbor. The yellow substance thai she saw was probably the sulphuret of copper, which she had not previously seen, either COPPER, LAKE SUPERIOR. 231 psychometrically or otherwise. It is obtained at a mine about half a mile from the spot where the speci- men was found. EXPERIMENT XCI. I found near the mouth of Eagle River 7 on the Lake Superior shore, a small pebble of amygdaloidal trap, with a speck of copper in it about as large as a pin's head. The pebble is somewhat angular, however, and a person would hardly suppose that it had been rolled by water. Mrs. Cridge. " I seem to be standing on the shore of the lake, and before me the water spreads inimitably. Banks rise to the left, and behind me. The strata seem to have been cut away, so that all lies exposed. I see great masses of copper lying bare against the side of the cliff. This seems to have been broken from the cliff above the copper. Near there, is a copper vein dividing into three branches, and extending for half a mile. It is thickest near the cliff, and is pure copper." EXPERIMENT XCU. I determined to try this specimen again, and dis- cover what it would reveal to another psychometer, who was totally* unacquainted with it, and equally so with the examination that had been made. Mrs." Denton. " I see water. Xow I see, but it cannot be right, a vessel with sails. " I seem to be standing some distance above the 232 THE SOUL OF THINGS. shore, and either there is an island in the distance, or the land stretches out. "I see a man in dark clothes, sitting on a rock, look- ing at the water: and now I see a steamboat. •• I am at the place where this was broken off. I see a vein filled with pure copper. It comes out in a cliff, and extends apparently for a mile, never run- ning very far from the lake. The cliff, I should think, is one hundred and fifty feet high, and the copper is some distance from the foot of it. Pine trees grow all over the land, but they look small. I see another vein larger than that, — thicker and deeper. It heads about on the same level as this, but to the west of it ; both veins, as it appears to me, go to the southeast : the last more than the first. This vein has large rugged masses in it ; but it is not as contin- uously rich as the first. " EXPERIMENT XC1II. Six weeks after this, many specimens from various localities having been examined in the mean time, I tried the same specimen again. " This seems to have been moved through the water with a wavy motion. It has been moved a consider- able distance by the waves." (In what direction?) " I cannot tell. I am surprised, for I see a boat on water, some distance from me, — a steamboat. " I - "• -liining metal that looks like gold, or copper with i 1 !" Bim shining upon it ; and it is a good deal like ilmt 1 have seen before. There is a I r a1 my left. I seem to have a nig topper ia very bright This must be a ii thai I tried once before." COPPER, LAKE SUPERIOR. 233 I could not deny it, and "thus the experiment termi- nated ; but Mrs. D. said that on first trying it, she had not the most distant suspicion of what it was. EXPERIMENT XC1V. Nearly a year after this time, I broke the pebble, that it might not be recognized, and gave a small frag- ment of it to Mrs. Denton, for examination again. Nothing seen or known. " Many scenes pass before me like lightning. They are principally water scenes ; they seem to carry me back to the Silurian period. I see rocks projecting into the water, the sea occasionally passing over them ; and in the sea are myriads of living forms of an infe- rior grade of organization." (I do not wish the paleo- zoic impressions.) " I go to the land. It seems as if the earth was all open. To my left are rocks that seem two hundred feet high. I am away down in a crevice, and there is a narrow continuation of it for a long way below me. It seems as if the rocks all round me had been shivered into fragments ; crevices and veins run in every direction. I am now at an immense depth. I see fire ; no, not fire exactly, but liquid mat- ter in motion ; it is of a deeper color than flame. I must be a long way down. The molten matter pours up like a tremendous fiery spring. I follow it up, but it does not rise to the surface of the earth. There are long crevices, filled with this matter, off to my left. They seem to be to the south of me. " I stand with my face to the west. The fluid mat- ter in the crevices is now hard ; it is metal of some kind ; but whether gold or copper, I cannot tell. There 20* 234 THE SOlL of things. is a gas arising from it that gives me the feeling of copper to some extent ; but the metal has a pure look like gold, and I feel almost sure that it is ; but what an enormous amount ! These crevices that I am trac- ing are hundreds if not thousands of feet below the surface.' 7 (Turned the specimen over.) " Xow I see a vein of copper. This is higher up and near the surface. There is a great difference be- tween this and the other. This I know to be copper; there are several veins. Some seem to come very near, if not quite, to the surface. Some of the veins are very large. " I seem to stand and look through the earth for miles, as if it were transparent as water, only the metallic veins obstructing my vision. The veins look skeleton-like, all standing up and ramifying in every direction. What a singular sight ! There is a good deal of dark trap beyond that, in which there is no metal for a long way." The Potsdam sandstone may be seen at the outlet of Lake Superior, at Sault St. Marie, and also along the southern shore. It is the only fossiliferous rock that is known in that region. Back to the period when this was laid down flies the psychometer, views the tepid ocean swarming with animals of strange forms and inferior organization ; then, turning to the land, 1a into the heart of the earth, and sees the gur- gling floods of molten gold come rushing through its It J< not unlikely that the massive copper de- posits, for which Lake Superior is so justly famous, are underlaid by equal or still more remarkable deposits of gold. Free to arrange themselves according to GOLD, CALIFORNIA. 235 their specific gravities, the heavier metals would as- sume the lowest place ; and when the Lake Superior region shall have been mined as long as the tin and copper region of Cornwall, it may be more famous for gold than it is now for copper. EXPERIMENT XCV. I have two small specimens of gold obtained from the diggings at Pike's Flat, California. I gave one to Mrs. Cridge, which she saw, but knew nothing of its history. " I seem to be in a country that is level or flat, but there are hills all around at a distance. There is gold here, near or on the surface. I don't like the look of the country, it is so wild and broken ; and there is no grass. " I see men walking around with wheelbarrows. They are shovelling dirt into a trough. I see a shaft too, and men working at it. The gold does not lie in veins there, but is scattered all around in pieces. It is not in hard rock, but in soft stuff. In some places there are large quantities of gold that seem to have been poured into holes and crevices. The shaft is a curious one ; I see a long kind of beam that goes up and down. The miners have blue smocks on." From what I know of Pike's Flat, this is a pretty correct description of the place and of the mining operations going on there when the specimen was obtained. The gentleman from whom I obtained it said it was such a description as a person would be likely to give, who, having no previous knowledge of mining operations, should see the place. 23G THE SOUL OF THINGS. EXPERIMENT XCVL But I had another specimen from the same place, taken out of the same shaft : and here was an oppor- nity for an excellent test. Would this lead her to the same spot, and would she recognize it ? This second examination was made a month after the first. •• I can see a river, but it is not deep. The scenery around is hilly and broken and somewhat rocky. There is a great deal of gravel, and the rock that I see is not hard. In that water I can see gold, but in very small pieces : it looks as if it had been washed down from above. / go to the same place as I did with that other specimen. I can see the men at work, the wheelbar- rows, shaft, and washer, as before. The washer is a long trough into which they put the sand and gravel. The men look rough and strong and young. Why I should see that old place again I cannot tell." After the examination was over, she said she found she was at the same place, and tried her best to get away, assured that she was receiving incorrect impres- sions ; but, though she travelled up the valley a short distance, she was compelled to return. She was much surprised when told that it came from the same place. EXPERIMENT XCVII. The same specimen was subsequently tried again mother psychomotor, who did not see it and did not know what it was. Mrs. Taylor. •• 1 am nn board ship, going back. Now T am on land: it is a new country and hilly. I see a stream, and banks on each Bide, and off to the right is a vil- SULPHURET OF COPPER, BRUCE MINE. 237 lage. I stand on the right-hand side of the stream. Now I see a hole that has been dug through the soil and gravel and dirt to the rock. All through the rock they have cut into are shining particles. I see men digging. How greedily they act ! They look pleased ; those shining particles must be gold. There are large quantities in that hill. "I see the top of a mountain covered with large trees. One mountain goes up to a peak. I see huts dotting the country over, near where the men are dig- ging. The stream goes off small up into the moun- tains." EXPERIMENT XCVm. Sulphuret of copper from Canada West. I think it was obtained at the Bruce Mine, but I am not cer- tain. Mrs. Cridge. Had no conception of what it was. " It seems as if I were in a tunnel, and I see the light at the other end. I am under ground, and yet I can see the light and water when I look out. I am quite a distance from the mouth. How chilly it is here ! This must be a mine. I can see a little track laid down, and men about. There is a good deal of metal here. The mine is damp. I can see a vein of metal, and it differs from all that I have seen before. It has a greenish appearance, as I see it stretching along. They have cut out the thickest of it, and they will not find as much in the direction they are going. They have missed one large branch of the vein where the ore is quite thick. They are coming to where i^ae vein separates into two branches, neither of them as 238 THE SOUL OF THINGS. wide as half the vein they have gone through. The metal is not copper, and I do not think it is iron. It causes. a pain down my back. I see a gentleman and lady in the mine examining it. 77 Having in previous examinations seen copper only in the native or metallic condition, she did not recog- nize the greenish yellow ore as being copper. EXPERIMENT XCIX. Lead ore from near Galena, Mrs. Denton. Specimen seen. " I seem to be standing with my face to the west. Behind me is a large excavation, at one end of which I stand, as if the earth, for some distance and to a con- siderable depth, had been removed ; I cannot tell how deep nor how far in extent behind me. " Before me, and extending to my right and left, or rather X. X. East and S. S. West, for a long way, is a vein of metal resembling in all respects, as far as I can judge, this piece of lead. I should think large blocks as pure as this might be removed without diffi- culty. It does not, however, look as I expected to find it ; for, instead of being in one continuous solid mass, it appears separated by dust, or something simi- lar, into blocks of irregular shape, not thrown care- lessly together, but closely packed, the interstices being filled with sand or dust. If the appearance in- dicates the amount, there must be thousands of tons as pure as this. But the most inconsistent feature seems to be it> nearness to this excavation, and, at the same time, its undisturbed appearance. Not a grain of it have been touched; it rests in perfect quiet.' 1 THE FIERY OCEAN. 239 At the time when this examination was made, nearly four years ago, Mrs. D. had never seen a mine of any description, nor had I visited any of the lead mines of this country ; and I was not aware, until my visit to the lead region of the Northwest, of the remarkable agreement between her description and the actual ap- pearance of the large lead deposits throughout that region. The galena is found in irregular blocks, not thrown carelessly together, but closely packed, the interstices being filled with clay or ochreous dust. EXFERI31EZT C. If the psychometer can go down and describe the interior of the earth for thousands of feet below the surface, why not pass through the earth's crust and visit the great fiery ocean, whose waves no human eye has ever beheld? For this purpose a specimen from some deep mine would,, I thought, be favorable, and accordingly a piece of copper ore from the Cliff Mine, Lake Superior, was chosen. Mrs. Criclge. H I am in the mine now, from which this came. It is a rich mine, containing much copper. There are several branches from the main one, but none that I see as large as it." (Go down as far as you can.) "It is not very pleasant going down, yet I can go a long way. I go down, and then return ; and thus keep flit- ting back and forward." (Pause.) " I went down an immense distance, passing rock af- ter rock, till it seemed all light from the material around me. It was not light, however, but I was sur- rounded with rock as white as snow, and sparkling. 240 THE SOUL OF THINGS. " Now I am below it ; it is dark, dark again. I should think I am now three or four miles down. What metal I see ! yellow metal : it is bright as gold. It is gold. It seems very dense, and is many yards thick. It seems half a mile across, and looks to me as if it had once been a lake of gold. This lake is con- cave in the centre, so that it forms an immense golden amphitheatre. As the gold has cooled and sunk, it has left a considerable space between it and the roof, and in that space all is dark. " I go down again in the centre of that amphithea- tre. There must have been an opening here once, for I go by a circuitous route. I feel the heat ; it seems to take my breath. Every now and then I obtain glimpses of flames, as if they came up thus at one 'time. All is dark, dark again; what an Egyptian night this is ! " I see a faint dawn, becoming every moment bright- er and brighter. " Xow, I am standing on the shore of an ocean of still fire. The stillness that hangs over it seems never to have been broken. " It does move, though ; it ebbs and flows like the ocean. I feci much safer than I should have thought rible. There is a space, strange to say, between this ocean and the superincumbent mass, and in its hearings to and fro it is depositing rock all the time. " It is not always calm here ; there are storms at times, when it surges and dashes in fury. This is hell indeed ! nothing wanting but the devils." Thai the earth was once a molten mass of matter, is now almosl universally believed by those who have AMETHYSTINE QUARTZ. 241 made geology a matter of study. Its hot springs, vol- canoes, and other phenomena, indicate that its inte- rior is in a highly heated state at the present time ; and there is no doubt that a condition of things exists there very similar to that so graphically described by my sister. I have tried to induce other psychometers to make a similar journey. As far as they went, their descriptions agreed with the one given ; but their ter- ror was too great to allow them to reach the goal. EXPERIMENT CI. Amethystine quartz. Mrs. Denton. " I see a mound, covered with tall grass and flowers; there are three terraces on the sides. At a little dis- tance there is a marsh, in which tall reeds and grasses grow, that have a straggling appearance. At a dis- tance, I see a few very pretty low trees, and a stream. " (See what is under the surface.) "I do not know where I am, but I see metal ; it seems loose, as if in sand. It is yellow, and there is a good deal of it, but it is in small pieces, like scattered drops ; pretty close together in some places, however. I think it is gold ; indeed, I feel sure of it. What a tremendous amount! The sand containing it seems to lie in three streams, and, at some distance south, I see another stream con- taining gold, but the pieces are more scaly, and lie nearer the surface. " At the time when this examination was made, I was not aware that gold had be^en found in the neighbor- hood ; but have since learned that it is obtained within a few miles of the place where the specimen was 21 242 THE SOUL OF THINGS. found, though in nothing like the abundance that this psychometric experiment indicates. EXPERIMENT en. A few days afterward I gave the specimen to my sister for examination, she knowing nothing of it. •• I see mountains away off, but it is a plain where I am. I see a lot of trees, that look like palms. This must be a torrid region. I can see a road that seems to have been made. " There are rocks below, though it looks sandy above. I see gold in great quantities, very near the surface, too. There is a good deal among the sand, that could be got at very easily. 77 It would be very strange if these independent ob- servers, with no such idea in their minds, should see what had no existence. EXPERUIEXT OIL About six months afterward I broke the specimen, and gave a small piece of it, from the centre, to Mrs. Denton; and though what was seen differed very widely from that of the previous examination, it does but confirm the truth of its most essential feature. " I see a mass of softish material, about the color of flame : there are openings in it of various sizes, and at unequal distances. As the mass slowly moves, steam arises from these openings, or what seems like steam to me, and the openings change their shape with the motion of the mass, but do not close. The surface is isionally a little disturbed, but there is a feeling of resl and quiet connected with it. AMETHYSTINE QUARTZ. 243 " Now I see it hard, and it alternates between a hard and soft condition several times. Some of the openings gradually fill up. I see a body of rock, with long rows of nodules of harder rock in it." (How were they produced?) "Very slowly. I can see how it was done, but it is very difficult to describe. " As I watch, there is a terrible convulsion or explo- sion, and the rocks are thrown, with most tremendous force, into great confusion. Huge caverns are formed deep underground. Again all is still, and I observe dark gray rocks behind me, and in front, beautiful rocks, that are almost transparent. Now, there is another grand convulsion. I stand where all is calm, but in front of me, miles of the massive rock are moved along. It looks as if there was rock enough to make a world of. Again all is calm. " Now, I see metal ejected from below, a great deal of it. I think it is gold. There is little comes up, however, compared with the amount below. Much sent up, settles down again. One large rock drops miles into a profound cavern.'' The interior of a specimen gives most readily its early history. On the exterior this is generally ob- scured by the impressions more recently received. In this case, she seems to have gone back to the time when the country was in a condition of intense igne- ous activity, and the precious metals were vomited to the surface from their grand reservoirs in the interior. We obtain a glimpse of the way in which precious stones are formed ; by openings in the rock slowly filled, probably by segregation from the surrounding rocks, till amethyst, agate, and the more precious ruby, -44 THE SOUL OF THINGS. emerald, and diamond, are, during long ages, collected into nodular or crystalline bodies. EXPERIMENT CIV. Gold-bearing quartz from Columbian Reef, Xew En- glewood, Victoria. Australia. Mrs. Denton. Specimen unseen, and nothing known respecting it. " I see a rock rising up to the northwest of me. I am in a road, where there are trees on one side, and off at a little distance the ground seems to rise. This country has a pleasant atmosphere ; I like its influ- ence. It seems very still. There are hills west of me, extending as far as I can see. One chain of them comes circling round to where I am. The influence of the country is inspiring. "Shall I go under ground?'' (Yes.) "I do not think I can here, but I will try. I obtain the influence of some kind of metal, but I do not see it. Xow I see a white rock, with yellow metal in it, in all manner of shapes. It looks as I have seen metal when melted and thrown into the water. I can see one large, une- ven mass, that looks as if it had received two or three twists when soft. It looks like gold. There is one mass of rock with thin flakes all through it. and another with the dust distributed through it; this extends a long way. There is more gold toward those hills. The rock seems disturbed here: they have been dig- _■. and have come near that large mass, if they have no1 obtained it. •' The gold Is not in a vein, at least 1 should nol call it thai ; but it load- along for many miles, though there GOLD, AUSTRALIA. 245 are several breaks in it, where it seems to have been cut off; and in these places there is no gold at all ; so that a person might readily suppose that they were at the end of the profitable lead, when it was by no means the case. Many places around here have been disturbed. There is another lead off, farther to the south, that has a good deal of gold in it, but I cannot go to it. " Toward the hills they would have to dig deeper ; here, it seems to be quite near the surface. " The atmosphere of this country is soft and balmy. There is a good deal of fine, warm, hazy, rich weather, and it is continuous. " That part of the lead which they have disturbed seems quite small ; it is nothing compared with the undisturbed portion of it. It is narrow where they have been working, but very much wider near the hills, though broken and cut off here and there. Quite near the hills it is one continuous lead, and seems very rich. In digging here, they have gone in the wrong direction for getting the greatest amount of gold, owing, I suppose, to a break or interruption near, which is quite wide. Beyond that, however, it continues on, but dips lower and lower the farther it goes." I wrote to the gentleman from whom I received the specimen, and sent this description, requesting him to let me know whether it was correct as far as he knew. I have not heard from him, but have little doubt of its accuracy, from my general knowledge of the aurifer- ous deposits of Australia. The specimens obtained at the Columbian Reef are the richest gold specimens I ever saw. 21* 246 THE SOUL OF THINGS. EXPERIMENT CV. Silver ore from the Washoe mines, California. Mrs. Denton. For a test I requested her to look for oil. "I see coral. Has this been lying near coral? I think so, for the appearance of the coral is shadowy. 7 ' (It had been in my pocket for several weeks along with a piece of oil-bearing coral ; both ; however, wrapped in paper.) " 1 see eight or nine layers of rock, with the edges towards me ; there is a thin, dark layer between every one. There is a curved, open place in them that seems to have been dug out. " I am away off now. There is gas here. It seems as if it would suffocate me. The gas is thick, of a purple color, with an orange tint at the edges. It must be different from oil gas ; there is some metal with it. I cannot see anything, for gas. Do you wish me to look for oil? There does not seem to be any oil about it?" (Told her what it was.) " There is a great deal of ore there, but I do not think they have found the richest place yet. Standing with m) T face to the southwest, to the left there is a vein of ore like this specimen; but to the right there is one with pure silver in it in masses." I am not acquainted with the "Washoe region, so cannot speak of the correctness of this, beyond its gen- cm] accuracy, which all can sec. EXPERIMENT ('VI. When travelling through the lead region of Wiscon- sin, Mrs. Dentota indicated a spot as being very rich LEAD, WISCONSIN. 247 in lead ore, where a " sucker hole " had been dug for a few feet, in search of lead, and then abandoned. I brought from the place a piece of chert, resolved to test it at some future time. Let it be remembered that the specimen was not seen by the psychorneter, nor had she any knowledge of it whatever. * " There is an immense amount of lead ore here. I see a vein with tiff,* much lead, and a little ochre, in a compact rock. Higher up there is a good deal of lead, but in no crevice; it is in blocks, and looks so like ? s place, on that hill by the timber, that I cannot trust myself to speak of it. This is a rich place, and does not seem to have been disturbed much, if any. The vein seems a good deal deeper than the other part. The lead extends over a large territory ; I can see it in a great many places. " This description agreed precisely with that given by her when we were at the spot. Lead has been ob- tained in considerable abundance within a quarter of a mile. % EXPERIMENT CVU. A month afterward I broke a small fragment from the same specimen, for a farther trial. As before, nothing was known of it. " I seem to be in a mine, as near as I can tell. I cannot tell whether it has been worked where I am or not. There has been digging here. I can see lead, however, that does not seem to have been touched. They do not seem to have got to it. I feel positive * A term used by the miners for carbonate of lime. 248 THE SOUL OF THINGS. they have not got down to the lead ; it is undisturbed and there is a great deal of it. It does not seem to be very far to it. They could not go very deep without finding it. It lies in large slabs or blocks. " I know where I am, now that I am on the surface. I am at 7 s place. 77 (Designating the same place as in her previous description.) " The whole lead region seems spread like a map before me. I view it for miles. The most lead lies north of where this came from. There is a perfect mountain of lead north; rising somewhere near the surface, and dipping toward the east. The lead in other places seems to be in drops compared with this. There is, however, a good deal where this came from, and I am sure it came from 7 s place. 77 EXPERIMENT CVUL When at Mineral Point, we examined a number of specimens connected with the lead mines of that re- gion, nor did Mrs. Denton know that copper was found in that part of the country. Having obtained a speci- men of rock entirely free from ore, from the copper mine, about two miles east of the town, I gave it to her for a trial, she supposing it to be connected with some lead mines in the vicinity. " It does not look like lead here. I see rock with metal in it that looks like silver. 77 (Some of the sul- phurets obtained from the mine have that appearance.) "It is not disposed like lead; it is in small pieces a few inches long; not thick like lead. I see a crevice now. There is a good deal of ore, mixed with earthy matter, tered through it; it is not pure like lead. The GOLD, pike's peak. 249 crevice seems to have a northwestern direction. I see a place where another crevice joins, and they both widen, making quite a large opening where there is a great deal of ore. One of the walls of the crevice is split into a number of columns, that are so even they have quite an artificial appearance. The interstices between them are filled with ore. " There is something else here. I can taste it. It is copper. There is a vein of it mixed with other material a little way from the crevice, or else it is the same crevice a little farther on. It is not alone ; there seems to be silver with it, though it may not be ; it is white and bright. There are several small veins within a short distance of each other. u Deep down I see a great cave that has a brilliant appearance ; it glistens all over, for it is lined with crystals, some of them large. There is a purple vapor in it." This mine has never paid for working, and probably never will. There is a fissure in the limestone, in some places nearly twenty feet wide, that has been traced for several hundred yards. In this, sulphuret and carbonate of copper are very sparingly distributed through clay and rock. EXPERIMENT CIX. Piece of quartz from a gold mine in the Pike's Peak mining region, obtained of Mr. Henry, Peru, Illinois. Mrs. Denton did not see the specimen, and had not the most distant conception of the locality from which it was obtained. " This is unlike any place I ever saw before. I am 250 THE SOUL OF THINGS. between rocks that are high up; it is a magnificent place. I can see a long way down a deep valley to a turning. I see metal. The specimen takes me away to some distant country. They have been excavating here for some purpose. I notice one place where the water has been made to run into an artificial channel. " I wonder if that can be gold I see. It certainly looks like it. There is a good deal of it at that turn- ing, farther in the rock however. There is a little where this was found ; but not much ; there is more in several places around. The gold is contained in seams in the rock generally, but in some places I see it with- out. The rocks are damp and cold where I am now. There is a place in the distance where the gold shines in the rock like stars. It is well calculated to disap- point the miners, it lies so scattering. There js very little continuity about it.' 7 Those who are acquainted with the gold region of Pike's Peak will recognize the accuracy of some por- tions of this description at least. EXPERIMENT CX. "When visiting McChesney's cabinet in Chicago, I obtained several pieces of silicified wood. Some time afterward I thought I should like to know the condi- tion of our planet during the time of its petrifaction, and gave one of the smaller pieces to Mrs. Denton for examination, not remembering at the time where it waa obtained. She said, — •• Ii affects my face and eyes. I am underground, in a place open here and there; it looks like a large d crevice. I Bee metal and most beautiful rock. I ACTON COPPER MINE. 251 stand with my face to the northwest. Forward of me is an open space with rock scattered here and there. The beautiful rock extends a good way to the left, with metal distributed among it. It seems to be a kind of vein, to the left, rich in metal and continuous for some distance. I see now and then a bright yel- low substance that seems like gold ; if gold, it is in great quantities. There are several metals here how- ever; there is lead in large masses by itself, and a good deal of sulphuret of iron. Off at my left, there is a massive piece of gold, and a good deal of gold dust distributed through the rock in the vein. Lead, however, would be a better name for it than vein, for it is wide and open almost like a cave. ;; I thought this strange ; for of gold or metals con- nected with the specimen I had never dreamed; but on examining it I discovered a label marked, "near Gregory's Diggings, P. Peak." Here was the explana- tion then : gold, apparently possessing superior attrac- tive force psychometrically, as it does normally, had drawn the psychometer to its sphere ; and hence this description, probably, of some unexplored gold lead near Gregory's Diggings. EXPEEI2IEXT CXI. Piece of ore from the copper mine at Acton, Canada East, Mrs. Denton. Specimen unseen, and nothing known by her respecting it. No ores had been examined for several months. ' " The first thing I see is a group of objects in water, not well defined. Shall I notice them ? " (No.) 252 THE SOUL OF THINGS. " I see something in spots that is very bright. Now I see a rock jutting out. and under it I see the same bright appearance. I see something artificial ; it is heavy at the bottom, and runs up high ; there seems to be a wheel there. I do not know but I am in a mine. I had a glimpse ctf a ladder. I am under- ground ; I think I am in a mine. There is an artificial light, I think a candle. I cannot yet tell what kind of a mine it is. The material has not the purity of gold about it. There seem to be two kinds of metal here. I do not see both, but I see one and feel the influence of the other, though it may be at some distance. "There is a bluish, purplish vapor that rises and pro- duces a feeling of suffocation. I think this must be copper; but there is something else. The vapor seems poisonous ; it is this which makes me think it is cop- per. This is a copper mine ; but it is not like the cop- per mines of Lake Superior; it is differently arranged. There is a great deal of copper here, I think, but I am only where they have disturbed it, I could not be induced to work in such a mine, it seems so poisonous. (There seems to be gas with that vapor.) T^is mine must have yielded well; for, though the bodies of ore are not as large as I have seen them, they are thickly distributed. There seems to be a pit dug at one place. They do not seem to have taken out all the ore, even where it is open. There are some large bodies, mixed with yellow sulphuret, that have not i touched yet I see a mass as long as this room ifl high. Jt is very jagged, and has an average thick- ness of five or .-ix feet. It seems to lie to the north- easl of the part that has been worked. Some of the ACTON COPPER MINE. 253 ore is blue, some purplish, and some has a green tinge. I do not seem to be far -underground anywhere. The excavation here seems large. Ore is all scattered through the rock, and it seems much easier to obtain than in the Lake Superior region.* 7 I read this description to two mining engineers who were familiar with the Acton mines, and they both agreed that it was a very accurate description. One of them excepted the statement about the ladder that was seen, and the other, the rising vapors. Ladders have doubtless been used in the vicinity; and in refer- ence to the vapors, Mrs. D. did not mean to indicate that they were rising at the present time ; she merely received the impression of the long past, when from the interior came the dense vapors whose sublimation probably gave rise to these immense cupriferous de- posits. Since writing the above, I have visited the Acton mine ; and one of the first things I saAv was a large ladder against the wall of rock, and a miner upon it drilling for a blast. I consider the description given a very correct one ; and when it is remembered that Mrs. D. did not know that the specimen she tried was an ore at all, much less a copper ore, it must be re- garded as truly wonderful. I present the facts as they occurred ; certainly none the less worthy of con- sideration because they are remarkable. How far psychometry can be practically employed in developing mines, remains yet to be tested. The greatest difficulty seems to be, in precisely determin- ing the depth at which deposits lie. A hundred feet more or less are but a trifle to the psychometer, 22 254 THE SOUL OF THINGS. whereas to the miner, who has to drive through them, they involve considerable time and expense. In time all difficulty in this direction will be outgrown, I have no doubt, and the world be greatly advanced by the discovery of its rich mineral deposits. CHAPTER V. REMABKABLE PHENOMENA EXPLAINED. From a consideration of the statements made in this volume, it is but reasonable to suppose that phenom- ena springing from the accidental application of the psychometric faculty must have been frequently mani- fested in the history of the world. If, by placing specimens of various kinds in the hands or on the foreheads of sensitive individuals, they can behold pictures connected with the history of those speci- mens and perceive sensations that have been treas- ured up in them, we may naturally suppose, among the many sensitive persons in the world, that some must have had such pictures presented to them and such sensations produced, though they may have been alto- gether unconscious of the source from which they emanated. This supposition is borne out by many facts that I have met with in reading, since we com- menced the investigation of this subject. Under the head of " Spectral Illusions/ 7 Dr. Aber- crombie gives the following : — "A gentleman of high mental endowments, now upwards of eighty years of age, of a spare habit, and enjoying uninter- rupted health, has been for eleven years liable to al- most daily visitations from spectral figures. They in general present human countenances ; the head and 255 256 . THE SOUL OF THINGS. the body are distinctly denned ; the lower parts are, for the most part, lost in a kind of cloud. The figures are various, but he recognizes the same countenances repeated from time to time, particularly of late years, that of an elderly woman, with a peculiarly arch and playful expression, and a dazzling brilliancy of eye, who seems just ready to speak to him. They appear also in various dresses, such as that of the age of Louis XI V.; the costume of ancient Eome; that of the modern Turks and Greeks ; but more frequently, of late, as in the case of this female now mentioned, in an old-fashioned Scottish plaid of Tartan, drawn up and brought forward over the head, and then crossed be- low the chin, as the plaid was worn by aged women in his younger days. He can seldom recognize among the spectres any figure or countenance which he re- members to have seen ; but his own face has been pre- sented to him, gradually undergoing the change from youth to manhood, and from manhood to old age." * I recognize this case at once as one in which psy- chometric influences, probably proceeding from arti- cles in the house in which the gentleman lived, opera- ting upon a sensitive organization, made sensitive by age, as others are by sickness, caused him to see the images of the persons from whom the influences origi- nally proceeded ; in the same manner as psychometers the animals whose influence is contained in the die with which they come in contact. It is very common for psychometers to see a portion of a body only, tlr dng "lost in a kind of cloud/ 7 as in the case of this gentleman's apparitions. The individ- ►Abercrombie'e Intellectual Powers, p. 255. REMARKABLE PHENOMENA EXPLAINED. 257 uals appearing to hini wore the dresses of the time when they existed ; the pictures of dresses being im- pressed on objects as readily as those of persons, and just as capable of psychometric vision. The elderly woman, so frequently seen, may have been a former oc- cupant of the house in which the gentleman resided, and its very walls may have been saturated with her influence. Dr. Abercrombie, practising in Edinburgh, his patient must have lived there ; and this former occupant, supposing this to be the true explanation, must have been a Scotch lady ; and hence the proba- bility of her wearing the " old-fashioned Scottish plaid of Tartan, drawn up and brought forward over the head, and then crossed below the chin, as the plaid was worn by aged women in his younger days." He did not recognize among the spectres the countenan- ces of those that he had seen, because these pictures did not proceed from his own brain originally, but from the objects surrounding him ; and hence those . objects having taken in his influence during his life- time, he saw himself in the various appearances that he presented "from youth to manhood, and from man- hood to old age." These .anomalous facts, that seem to forbid all ex- planation, and set at defiance all law, will be found, like the cometary wanderers in space, to have their orbit, too ; and every waver in their track will be shown to be produced by the operation of some law, though its discovery may remain to reward future ex- plorers in this great ocean, where the dim outline of grand continents may be faintly seen on the distant horizon. 22* 2o8 THE SOUL OF THINGS. "Monsieur Andral, in his youth, saw in La Pitie the putrid body of a child, covered with larvae, and during the next morning the spectre of this corpse, lying on his table, was as perfect as reality." * In a statement of this, that I have met with in some other work, it is said that this was visible to him for a quarter of an hour. He saw nothing of it until he came to the ta- ble on which the child had lain, and then its image was at once presented to him; its influence proceeding from that table bringing up the image before him; for if it had been the image of the child impressed upon the retina of the eye or the brain, he would doubtless have seen it at a distance from the spot as readily as when there. Dr. Damon, of Coaticook, Canada East, informed me that when a young man, attending medical college, he had a fit of illness ; and, when confined in his cham- ber, he saw the lecture-room and all the students, and heard every word of lectures that he had previously heard, though an hour long. He also saw books that he had read, and was able to read page after page, the words on which were so plainly visible, that he noticed even the typographical errors. This condition contin- ued for about two weeks. Thousands of such experiences might have been re- corded, if a feeling of shame had not prevented par- te whom they occurred from making them public. Many persons who have made public statements of what they have thus soon, have been rewarded for their candor by being charitably supposed insane, or uncharitably suspected of being drunk. ♦ PhUosoph} of Mystery, by Dendy, p. f4. REMARKABLE PHENOMENA EXPLAINED. 259 " The late Lieutenant-General Robertson, of Lawers, who served during the whole of the American war, brought home with him, at its termination, a negro who went by the name of Black Tom, and who contin- ued in his service. The room appropriated to the use of this man in the GeneraPs town residence (I speak of Edinburgh) was on the ground floor ; and he was heard frequently to complain that he could not rest in it, for that every night the figure of a headless lady, with a child in her arms, rose out of the hearth and frightened him dreadfully. Of course nobody believed this story, and it was supposed to be the dream of in- toxication, as Tom was not remarkable for sobriety ; but, strange to say, when the old mansion was pulled down to build Gillespie's hospital, which stands on its site, there was found under the hearthstone, in that apartment, a box containing the body of a female, from which the head had been severed ; and beneath her lay the remains of an infant, wrapped in a pillow-case trimmed with lace. She appeared, poor lady, to have been cut off in the e blossom of her sins/ for she was dressed, and her scissors were yet hanging by a rib- bon to her side, and her thimble was also in the box, having apparently fallen from her shrivelled finger." * Through the hea'rthstone came the influence of mother and baby, and their images appeared to the terrified Tom,* who appears to have been the natural possessor of considerable psychometric power. The case of Nicolai, the bookseller and author, of Berlin, has excited more attention perhaps than any other of this kind; and, though there are some difficul- *Mrs. Crowe's Night Side of Nature, p. 411. 260 THE SOUL OF THINGS. ties in it, is I think explicable on the same principles. His narrative was read before the Academy of Sci- ence, at Berlin, in 1799, and its substance is thus given by Mayo : — " Nicolai had met with some family troubles that much disturbed him. Then, on the first of January, 1791, there stood before him, at the dis- tance of ten paces, the ghost* of his eldest son. He pointed at it, directing his wife to look. She saw it not, and tried to convince Nicolai that it was an illu- sion. In a quarter of an hour it vanished. In the af- ternoon, at four o'clock, it came again. Nicolai was alone. He went to his wife's room, the ghost followed him. About six other apparitions joined the first, and they walked about among each other. After some days, the apparition of his son stayed away ; but its place was filled with the figures of a number of per- sons, some known, some unknown to Nicolai, — some of dead, others of living persons. The known ones represented distant acquaintances only. The figures of none of Nicolai's habitual friends were there. The appearances were almost always human ; occasionally a man on horseback, and birds and dogs would pre- sent themselves. The apparitions came mostly after dinner, at the commencement of digestion ; they were just like real persons, the coloring a thought fainter. The apparitions were equally distinct whether Nicolai was at home or in society, in the dark as by day; in his own house, or those of others; but in the lat- ter case they were less frequent, and they very sel- dom made their appearance in the streets. During it days they seemed to lake very little no- li '• of one another, hut walked about like people at a REMARKABLE PHENOMENA EXPLAINED. 261 fair, only here and there communing with each other. They took no notice of Nicolai, or of the remarks he ad- dressed regarding them to his wife and physician. No effort of his would dismiss them 7 or bring an absent, one back. When he shut his eyes they sometimes dis- appeared, sometimes remained; when he opened his eyes they were there as before. After a week they became more numerous, and began to converse. They conversed with one another first, and then addressed him. Their remarks were short and unconnected, but sensible and civil. His acquaintances inquired after his health, and expressed sympathy with him, and spoke in terms comforting him. The apparitions were most conversible when he was alone; nevertheless, they mingled in the conversation when others were by, and their voices had the same sound as those of real persons. The illusion went on thus from the 24th of February to the 20th of April ; so that Nicolai, who was now in good bodily health, had time to become tran- quillized about the nature of his visitors, and observe them at his ease." The doctors now prescribed leech- es ; and the figures became fainter and fainter, as he lost blood, until at length they became invisible, and Nicolai saw them no rnore.* I have no hesitation whatever in referring the vis- ions and sounds perceived by Nicolai to the operation of the very same power by which, from archeological specimens and fossil remains, the psychometer sees the apparitions of beings, and hears sounds apparently made by them. At first, the psychometric power in him does not seem to have been so fully developed as *Mayo's Popular Superstitions, p. 55. 262 THE SOUL OF THINGS. it subsequently became, and be only sees the appear- ance of his deceased eldest son, toward whom his thoughts during this period of trouble were doubtless frequently directed, and whose image was so vividly impressed upon his brain. As this power increases, his vision is no longer confined to objects previously impressed upon his brain, but the influences proceed- ing from surrounding objects call up the images of per- sons known and unknown, dead and alive, that fill the place. Xicolai was at this time sensitive enough to see the great picture gallery, or a portion of it at least, where hangs the likeness of all that light ever beheld : and he at length becomes sufficiently sensitive to hear, issuing from the great store-house of sounds, the con- doling words which his friends had uttered, as faith- fully registered and repeated to his interior ear. That this is the true explanation of this remarkable phenomena, is strengthened by the fact that, thirteen years previous to this, visions had presented themselves to his gaze such as psychometers are well conversant with. Thus he writes: — "In the year 1778, I was afflicted with a bilious fever, which at times, though seldom, grew so high as to produce delirium. Every day, toward evening, the fever came on, and, if I hap- pened to shut my eyes at that time, I could perceive the cold fit of the fever was beginning, even before the sensation of cold was observable. This I knew by the distinct appearance of colored pictures, of less than half their natural size, which looked as in frames. They were a set of landscapes, composed of rocks, trees, and other objects. If I kept my eyes shut, ev- ery minute produced Borne change in the representa- REMARKABLE PHENOMENA EXPLAINED. 263 tion ; some figures vanished, and some appeared : but if I opened my eyes all was gone ; if I shut them I had a different landscape. In the cold fit of the fever I sometimes opened and shut my eyes every second, for the purpose of observation, and every time a dif- ferent picture appeared, replete vrith various objects, and which had not the slightest resemblance to those that appeared before. These pictures presented them- selves, without interruption, as long as the cold fit of the fever lasted. They became fainter as soon as I be- gan to grow warm ; and when I was perfectly so, all were gone. When the cold fit of the fever was entirely past, no more pictures appeared : but if, on the next day, I could again see pictures when my eyes were shut, it was a certain sign that the cold fit was coming on." * Nicolai's clothing, or articles contained in his pock- ets, or objects in his room, may have furnished the pic- tures ; the fever producing the condition in him neces- sary to the observance of them. " Then we have the case of Professor Hitchcock, detailed by himself in the l Xew Engiander/ and which is one of the most striking on record. He had," during a fit of sickness, " day after day, visions of strange landscapes spread out before him, — moun- tain and lake and forest, — vast rocks, strata upon strata, piled to the clouds, — the panorama of a world shattered and upheaved, disclosing the grim secrets of creation, the unshapely and monstrous rudiments of organic being." f * Natural History of Creation, T. Lindley Kemp, M. D., p. 43. f Dream Land and Ghost Land, by E. P. Hood. 264 THE SOUL OF THINGS. If sufficiently sensitive, this was no wonder, when he was handling from day to day the rocks that con- tained these landscapes, and was constantly surrounded by them. In his " Eeligion of Geology," speaking of the influence of light upon bodies, and the formation of pictures upon them by means of it, he says : — " It seems then that this photographic influence per- vades all nature ; nor can we say where it stops. We do not know but it may imprint upon the world around us our features, as they are modified by various pas- sions, and thus fill nature with daguerreotype impres- sions of all our actions that are performed in daylight. It may be, too, that there are tests by which nature more skilfully than any human photographist can bring out and fix these portraits, so that acuter senses than ours shall see them as on a great canvas, spread over the material universe. Perhaps, too, they may never fade from that canvas, but become specimens in the great picture gallery of eternity." Beautiful and true ! This conjecture, which was probably suggested by his own experience, accords with many of the facts presented in this volume ; some of which go farther, however, than the professor's imagination dared to go, vigorous as was its flight- Thus do the realities of nature constantly outstrip the halting imagination of man. A son of Professor Hitchcock, Professor Charles H. Hitchcock, State Geologist of Maine, informed me that, during a recent fit of sickness, his father saw spread 1m 'lure him large beds of sandstone, covered with tracks, such as are found in the Connecticut Valley ; and that these tracks enabled him to clear up some REMARKABLE PHENOMENA EXPLAINED. 265 doubtful points in reference to them, which he had been unable to do by any other means. As I write this, I am reminded of a vision that Mrs. Denton had while examining a specimen of sandstone from the Connecticut Valley, she knowing its nature : " I see the whole surface of the rock exposed for acres. There are many footprints, of different sizes, some larger than any that I have seen. In two places I see large jaws and teeth in the rock ; they are semi- circular, and the teeth flattish and broad. In one place I see a track go round, then it comes to the edge, and I see no farther. "I do not believe they have opened the richest place yet. There seems a large collection of fossils in one place ; I am sure there are bones. " Now I see a great many feet and ancles. The feet are divided, and the leg is roundish ; it has a chubby look, quite unlike that of a fowl. 77 It is to be hoped that some of these fossils will be found, and the nature of the animals that made the tracks be determined to the satisfaction of all. Where there is one who possesses the power, of see- ing psychometrically, there are probably three who possess the power of feeling. For years I have sought to develop in myself the power to see the pictures that ail objects contain, but in vain; yet, I am able to feel influences proceeding from substances that had once belonged to organic bodies, and can at times, by this means, from a portion of bone describe the kind of animal to which it originally belonged. In the fol- lowing case we have, I think, the result of the uncon- scious-exercise of this power: 23 266 THE SOUL OF THINGS. "In the town of North Walsham, Norfolk, 1788, the Fair Penitent was performed. In the last act. where Caliste lays her hand on the skull, a Mrs. Berry, who played the part, was seized with an involuntary shud- dering and fell on the stage. During the night her illness continued; but the following day, when suffi- ciently recovered to converse, she sent for the stage- keeper and anxiously inquired where he procured the skull. He replied, from the sexton, who informed him it was the skull of one Norris, a player, who, twelve years before, was buried in the graveyard. That same Xorris was her first husband. She died in six weeks. 7 ' Possessed of considerable psychometric power, she recognized the influence proceeding from the skull, and the recognition produced such a terrible shock that her death was the consequence.. Were I disposed to increase the size of this book, I might give many other instances illustrating the unin- tentional use of the psychometric faculty. All persons doubtless possess and exercise it more or less, and, by proper cultivation, many might make it of the great- est benefit to themselves and others. CHAPTER VI. UTILITY OF PSTCHOMETRT. To the geologist psychometiy will be of incalculable benefit. There are wide realms of the past that he has never trod ; others, that he has visited, are so en- shrouded in gloom that his acquaintance with them is extremely limited. How little we know of the land fauna and flora during the Cretaceous period. Trees must have flourished, reptiles must have crawled, and beasts roamed over the surface of the dry land, when the chalk beds of Europe were being deposited in the depths of the ocean, the cream-colored limestones of Texas, and the marls and greensands of the Atlantic States. Yet of these we know hardly anything ; the river deltas of that period are yet to be found, and their fossil contents exhumed ; and even when that is done, the record will be very incomplete. The ad- vanced psychometer can take a Cretaceous fossil, and, by means of it, not only obtain the forms of marine animals and plants that lived during this period, but, without much difficulty, those also of the land; and thus fill up the great hiatus that at present exists. What do we know of the commencement of life? True, the Oldhamia has been found by the government surveyors- in Ireland, below all other fossil remains, and corals in the Taconic formation of the United 267 268 THE SOUL OF THINGS. States have been discovered below all other organic forms; but it is probable that the traces of life's begin- ning lie far below these ; not in fossils to be seen, but in influences that the psyckometer alone can detect. Forms too small, too soft, or too fragile to leave visible impress upon tke rocks, skall be distinguisked and described, and vast ages of apparent barrenness be peopled with busy life. The imperfection of the geological record, especially as a record of organized existences, must be evident from an examination of those parts of the earth where formations are now being deposited and organic re- mains buried. This age will be geologically represented in the future by those beds that are now forming at the mouths of rivers, such as the Mississippi, the Ganges, and the Nile ; by beds of tufa, in the neighborhood of calcareous springs ; by beds of peat, as in some parts of Ireland, Xew York, and Massachusetts ; by accumu- lations of vegetable remains, as in the Dismal Swamp ; by coral reefs, such as are now forming in the Pacific Ocean ; and by volcanic products similar to the beds near Vesuvius, which contain the works and remains of man. A million years from this, how large a por- tion of these formations will be dry land trod b}^ human beings? How much of the land thus above the water will be exposed, so that the beds composing it may be examined by the geologist? Among the bones ex- 1 in those beds and examined by geologists, what chance would there be of finding a fossil gorilla? It would not be buried in peat beds, for peat is not formed in countries hot enough for it to exist in. It would no! be found in a coral reef, for it is altogether UTILITY OF PSYCHOMETRY. 269 confined to the land. Almost the only chance of dis- covering the bones of this animal would be in tufaceous deposits, or in beds formed at the mouths of some of the rivers of Western Africa. But how extremely un- likely it would be for any future geologist to exhume the bones of an animal that while living eluded the gaze of naturalists for centuries. So, of course, it must be with many animals that lived millions of years ago. What fishes must have existed of which we have no scale ! What reptiles have crawled that have left no track ! Had it not been for the enduring char- acter of the dermal skeleton of the ganoids, what should we have known of the strange fishes of the Devonian period ? And how many fishes have existed with car- tilaginous bodies, of which we have no vestige* and are not likely to obtain any ! What myriads of beings must have lived and died whose memorial has per- ished ! Of the more than a hundred reptiles, and other animals, whose tracks have been found in the sandstones of the Connecticut Valley, what should we have known if the shore of the estuary on which they wandered had not been composed of material fine enough to retain the impressions made upon it, and conditions had not been exceedingly favorable for their preservation ? The ornithological page of geology is most sadly deficient. A few suspected fragments from the chalk, a few more from the London clay and other Tertiary deposits, are the sum total of our acquisitions. Owing to their habits, the lightness of their bones, and the tendency of their dead bodies to float on the water, but few have become fossil, and hence our knowledge 23* 270 THE SOUL OF THINGS. of them is extremely limited. Where are the birds that were doubtless the companions of the marsupial quadrupeds of the Oolite, and probably long preceded them? Where the water-fowl that skimmed the Cre- taceous seas and fished in their calcareous waters? The number of species of birds at the present time is about five times as great as that of beasts, and their numerical superiority was probably quite as great dur- ing the whole of the Tertiary and Secondary periods; and, if so, what revelations are yet to be made in refer- ence to extinct birds! — revelations that, apparently, psychometry alone can make. For, imperfect as the rocks may be in fossils, they are, in my opinion, abso- lutely perfect in pictorial representations and organic influences ; and hence every feather of every wing of every wandering bird has been delineated and may yet be found. Models of these and of all other ani- mals will be made, and we shall eventually be able to view the great organic procession from the monad to the man. How extravagant ! you exclaim. Granted ; but the extravagance of one generation becomes the sober reality of the next. These fossiliferous rocks are a great volume of natu- ral history, illustrated by plates, — how marvellously uted! — of all that has issued from the fertile womb of life. What translators will be needed for centuries m<1lt this volume into our ordinary language, and rible to ordinary observers ! Over r ages buried in the depths of the ocean, -hall wander and view mighty Airia- and Mississippis, on which boat never sailed, flow- ins from mountains that have lone been worn down UTILITY OF PSYCHOMETRY. 271 to fertile plains, and sweeping over wide regions, ten- anted by stranger monsters than imagination ever con- ceived. The geological history of every continent and island may be obtained, and the minutest detail furnished of all the changes to which it has been subjected. Cor- rect maps of the earth will yet be constructed, show- ing its land and water surface at all periods of its his- tory. Nay, I do not think we need despair of obtain- ing eventually the absolute date of the formation of all the rocks, and the actual period when the various ani- mals flourished whose fossil remains are found in them. The heavens are a grand chronometer, over whose dial the stars slowly move, and cycles are marked as our clocks mark the hours ; and by the position of the stars, as seen by psychometers, the periods of all the great formations may yet be determined, and, in time, the groups in these formations be gradually worked out. Rocks that are now regarded as contemporane- ous, because they contain fossil forms that are identi- cal, may be found separated by ages ; life having been retarded on some portions of the globe by unfavorable conditions, as it has been advanced on other portions by favorable ones. Geology is the history of many worlds ; the face of the earth having been renewed many times. Mountains have been elevated and degraded, lakes formed and drained, and life in many forms, on land and in water, has spread over wide areas, flourished for countless generations, and then passed away, to give place to others, in their turn to flourish and decay. A preci- pice a hundred feet high may contain the tablets on 272 THE SOUL OF THINGS. which are recorded the events that transpired on the surface of many of these successive worlds ; and the future psychometers alone can fully understand and correctly translate these for the benefit of those com- ing after us ; who shall read more correctly than we these instructive volumes containing the history of the past. To the miner, psychometry gives eyes that see through granite almost as readily as through glass ; and he shall trace the courses of veins deeply buried under drift accumulations as readily as he does the windings of rivers on the surface. Frequently, in travelling over the country in the cars, Mrs. Denton will say to me, there is oil under here, or there is lead or copper in this neighborhood ; and, in many cases, I have afterward verified the state- ments, though neither of us, apart from psychometry, knew anything respecting these deposits. For instance : in passing from Richmond to Que- bec, in January last, as we approached Black River Station, Mrs. Denton remarked, "There is considerable copper in this neighborhood.*' " In what form does it exist?" I inquired. "'Some of it appears to be the sulphuret ; but there is a good deal of native copper, resembling that which I have seen in the Lake Supe- rior region ; it is the first of that kind that I have seen in Canada. I see it distributed in detached, irregular mass< surprised me very much, for I had, previous to this, no idea that copper existed in its native form in the eastern townships, unless in very fine grains, one Bpecimen of which J had seen, but from a different UTILITY OF PSYCHOMETRY. 273 locality. But what was ray surprise, a few days after- ward, at the dinner-table, to hear one gentleman in- form another that a piece of native copper had been found in a gravel bank near Black River. A few days afterward, Rev. W. L. Thompson, of Stanstead, showed me a specimen from the same locality. When properly cultivated, what an advantage psy- chometry will be to the miner and to the world. Dig- ging for metals will be as certain as the reaping of the ripened grain. Mining, at the present time, is a most hazardous business, more than half the mines worked never paying expenses ; but it shall not always be. The vast stores of lead, copper, silver, gold, and pre- cious stones, that are lying concealed in the dark re- cesses of the earth, shall be exposed and obtained. Deep pits need no longer be made to bury the hopes and the money of the men that dig them ; nor tunnels made by incredible labor be abandoned when success is nearly certain, by men whose future lives are embit- tered with poverty and disappointment. These things will become stories of the past, to be repeated no more in the future. Of the wealth of the earth's inte- rior, few beyond psychometers who may have exam- ined it have any idea. Astronomy will not disdain the assistance of this power. As new forms of organic being are revealed, when we go back to the earlier geologic periods, so new groupings of the stars, new constellations will be displayed, when the heavens of those early periods are examined by the piercing gaze of future psychom- eters. An accurate map of the starry heavens during the Silurian period may reveal to us many secrets that 274 THE SOUL OF THINGS. we have been unable to discover, from the shortness of time that has been devoted to intelligent astronomical observations, and make clearly apparent what is at present but dimly seen. Why may we not indeed be able to read the history of the various heavenly bod- ies, especially those belonging, to the solar system with which we are so intimately related, — their geological, their natural, and, perchance, their human history? For ages their influences have been rayed upon the earth, for ages they have been relating their stories to their sister worlds, patiently waiting till the intelligent soul should come that could understand their revelations. "What books are yet to be written, what histories re- corded, and what light to be shed on great problems that have agitated the minds of thinkers for thousands of years! I have good reason to believe that trained psychometers will be able to travel from planet to planet, and read their present condition minutely, and their past history. It may be asked, How shall we be able to know whether the statements that are made are correct or not ? The revelations of one may be compared with the revelations of another ; and we shall thus be able to judge of their correctness, as we do the statements of astronomers, who see with their -piercing tubes what is invisible to the ordinary spectator. To the physiologist and anatomist it presents a mi- jope, by which the organs of living animals can be they perform their varied functions; the tis- mined, fresh and beautiful, as they arc perva- ded by the vital currents; disease traced to its lurk- ing place, and the operation of the appropriate remedy UTILITY OF PSYCHOMETRY. 275 be watched as the system returns to its equilibrium. The secret history of every animal may be ob- tained, from its birth to its death, and life be made to reveal its most cherished secrets. The great chain of organic existence may be traced, link by link, and the nature of the connection between them be fully understood. Psychometry has already been employed in the cure of diseases ; its principal value having been, hitherto, in giving a correct diagnosis ; which can readily be done, in consequence of the sympathy that can be established between psychometers and the diseased; and also by means of that clear vision which has been, illustrated in several of our experiments. I have known persons from letters to give accurate descriptions of the diseases of the persons who wrote them, though having no previous knowledge of the writer. The good that maybe accomplished in this way is incalculable. The artist will find his field almost infinitely ex- tended, as the panoramas of the earlier worlds pass before his eyes. What mountains he shall see in sul- len grandeur, as just upheaved they stand, unworn by frosts and rains ! What cataracts pouring over im- mense precipices, long since worn down and swept awa,y ! The historical past can be represented by him with all accuracy of surroundings, feature, and cos- tume, and we shall no longer be troubled with the lies on canvas that pass for historical paintings. Who can estimate the value of psychometry to the historian? " History/ 7 said Voltaire, " is a grand lie ;" it will be the work of the psychometer to make it a 276 THE SOUL OF THINGS. grand truth. The biography of all nations is faithfully- recorded somewhere, and all that is needed, I doubt not, can be obtained. What the soul asks for, Nature, in her superabundant fulness, is able and willing to grant. We ask to be delivered from the fables in which the early history of all nations is shrouded, for light to arise upon the darkness of the past; and it shall be done. The history of the early dwellers in Britain, France, Germany, Denmark, and Switzerland shall be read in the light of this power, and the still older histories of the early dwellers in Greece, Asia Elinor, Egypt, and India. Man's history on this globe may possibly extend over millions, instead of merely over thousands of years, and we may watch every step of the process by which the brutal savage was eventu- ally transformed into the man. We shall wander along the shore of time, and watch the empires as they rise and fall before^us, as rise and fall the waves of a swelling tide. By the aid of psychometry we can tread the sands of Egypt, and see the united mul- titudes as they drag the ponderous stones and heave the enduring pyramids : walk the streets of Athens in the artistic days of Pericles, and behold it in its won- drous beauty, as adorned by those ancient lovers of art : or when Socrates drops his thoughts in the mar- ket-place, like pearls ; or when in academic bowers we listen to the voice of his noble disciple, Plato; through the streets of Jerusalem when Solomon sits on the ic of his glory, and the new temple shines in its splendor, "the joy of all the earth;'' stand on the Gal- d mountain and hear the peaceful lessons that are ;«-ij by the Man of Nazareth, and mark the rapt UTILITY OF PSYCHOMETRY. 277 attention of the multitude as they hear the gracious words that fall from his lips. The sword that Cromwell used is imbued with his stern spirit, and is prepared to reveal the secrets of its master when a worthy listener shall appear. It is not surprising that relics of Napoleon bring large sums ; they are the recipients of the actions and even thoughts of this mighty master of war, and will yet make known what no biographer can write. What a tale a chip of the pyramids might tell, or of the stony- faced Sphinx, that has stared upon a hundred genera- tions as they marched to their destiny over the sands before it ! Could the tomb of Mahomet be rifled, what revelations of the private life of the camel-driver it could give us ! The history of the world has yet to be written ; these accurate, uncorruptible witnesses of the past shall be heard, and their testimony taken. The history of the people, so sadly neglected by his- torians, shall be sought for and found ; for the life of the meanest plebeian is detailed as accurately as the deeds of the proud patrician. The gradual advance of all peoples in language, from the first monosyllabic grunts, to the polished tongues of Europe ; in art, from the chipped stone and the rude cave, to the sculptured marble and the stately palace ; in religion, from the worship of crawling beetles to the recogni- tion of the Divine Spirit of the universe, — these, and more, will all be traced ; and the clouds that now rest over the histories of all nations shall melt away in the beams of the rising sun. There is a practical, every-day side to psychometry well worthy of consideration. It must be evident to 24 278 THE SOUL OF THINGS. those who place any faith in the examinations recorded in this volume, that all bodies, organic bodies more es- pecially, are transmitting influences continually to sur- rounding objects, the tendency of which is to bring these objects into a similar condition to their own. We may readily see how valuable this knowledge is, and how it explains many facts that are constantly pre- senting themselves, and are dismissed as mysteries. Radiant forces pass from us continually, as truly as light proceeds from the stars ; and though they may be unseen, they are by no means unfelt. " Talk of the devil, and he will appear/' is an old adage, and made probably in consequence of the vicinity of an individual directing our attention to him ; his atmos- phere causing us to think of him, though we perceive not the reason. Sensitive persons can be influenced in this way, I am persuaded, at great distances. Hus- band and wife mutually influence each other, and the tendency is, though it may fail to secure the object from the operation of counteracting causes, to bring both parties to a closer resemblance to each other in every respect. This has long been noticed, even phys- ically ; long-married and lovingly-united couples in- crease in outward resemblance as year after year pass- way. Mentally, this is notorious, and morally not less so. Where one is on a decidedly inferior plane to the other, the degrading tendency felt by the higher and superior may produce great unhappiness and con* •i;t inharmony; hence, the necessity of attending to the intuitive suggestions which may rise in the soul previous to an alliance on which so much depends, and in which the interests of bo many may be involved. UTILITY OF PSYCHOMETRY. 279 To the maiden, who shrinks at the presence of the man who wishes to be her life-companion, I say, let no persuasion of friends, no prospect of wealth, no fear of want, no urgent entreaties or prayers of a lover, in- duce you to neglect that small voice, which proceeds from woman's wisest instructor and best adviser. When persons are long and very intimately asso- ciated, the life-power of the one seems to become linked with that of the other. Persons have been known to feel a shock caused by the death of a twin brother, though separated at the time by hundreds of miles. Some cases of this kind have occurred during the present war. Long-married people frequently die within a short time of each other ; their condition re- minding one of the expression of Juclah, in reference to Jacob and Benjamin, " His life is bound up in the lad's life." As the stove parts with its heat to bring all surround- ing objects into its own heated condition, so we affect those surrounding us. Not more certainly does a rose diffuse its fragrance than human beings dispense their influence wherever they go. We are each surrounded by an atmosphere, which can convey to sensitives the impression of our character and condition. Wherever the foot touches the ground, the impression of the man is left upon it, so that even the clog, by means of it, can track his master hours after he has passed over the ground ; and persons have been known to trace murderers in this way over a- large extent of country several days after they had passed. Not only does a speaker reach his audience by the sounds that strike the ear, and rays of light that pass 280 THE SOUL OF THINGS. from him to the eye, but by invisible rays that reach the interior sense ; and enable him, more than by all else, to charm and captivate them. When a speaker uses a manuscript, that receives it to a great extent instead of the audience ; and hence, such lectures are pronounced cold and insipid; though the language may be perfect, the ideas all that could be wished, and the elocution faultless. Something is wanting; we cannot tell what ; but all feel it. Until a speaker has established a sympathy between himself and his audi- ence, his position is far from being agreeable to him- self, or pleasant to them. Hence, everything that tends to place a barrier between a speaker and his audience should be avoided. All boxes, called pulpits, all desks and tables, are a hindrance to the free com- munication that ought to take place between them. It has long been noticed that preachers give much better sermons in little country schooihouses than in fine churches in the citj 7 . They are nearer the people ; there is less obstruction between them, and a true sympathy is more readily established. By the connection existing between speaker and hearer, he can call up in their minds the feelings exist- ing in his own. Love, hate, revenge, and even frenzy; all these are thus communicated, and each one thus influenced becomes in turn a centre to radiate these influences to those around. When the number affected irge, and the feeling intense, it consumes like a furnace, and transforms into its own nature whatever ii comes in contact with. The most indifferent specta- sometimes becomes as rabid as any actor, without being able to assign a reason. UTILITY OF PSYCHOMETRY. 281 Where an audience is antagonistic to a speaker, if sensitive, he perceives it ; and unless remarkably posi- tive, and his positiveness arouses him to unusual ac- tion, he will be so affected by it as to lower the tone of his discourse, or even, as in cases that I have heard of, be compelled abruptly to close it. Where, on the contrary, the audience sympathizes with him, he re- ceives from them as truly as he imparts, and, upborne by their sympathy, he mounts to regions of philosophy that unassisted he could never gain, and pours out his soul in burning eloquence that startles and thrills him not less than his hearers. Is a man religious ? not more truly does the sun shine, imparting its glory to surrounding objects, than that man's religious influence passes from him to all persons and things within its sphere. The house in which he lives, as well as the house in which he wor- ships, becomes a religious house ; and the word, thus applied, is by no means as inappropriate as some would have us believe, who see the surface, but not the interior of things. Brutality and lust go forth in like manner, impressing and influencing all within their range. Houses become so imbued with the influence of the people that live in them that sensitive persons can feel that influence as soon as they enter ; and if it is unpleasant, they have a feeling of uneasiness, or positive unhappiness, as long as they are subject to it. Many persons feeling this, are entirely unaware of its origin, and suffer the consequences of their ignorance. It has long been known that the young and healthy impart their health and vigor to the sickly and infirm. Of this, David's advisers seem to have been aware, 24* 282 THE SOUL OF THINGS. when, in his old age, they brought the fair Shunamite damsel to " cherish the king." For this reason, old and young should not unite in matrimony, neither should young children sleep with their grandparents, who by this means prolong their own existence at the expense of the children's health. " Dr. Copeland relates the following case : — " i I was a few years since consulted about a pale, sickly, and thin boy of about five or six years of age. He appeared to have no specific ailment, but there was a slow and remarkable decline of flesh and strength, and of the energy of all the functions, — what his mother very aptly termed " a gradual blight.' 7 After inquiring into the history of the case, it came out that he had been a very robust and plethoric child up to his third year, when his grandmother, a very aged person, took him to sleep with her ; that he soon after- ward lost. his good looks, and that he had continued to decline progressively ever since, notwithstanding med- ical treatment. I directed him to sleep apart from his aged grandparent, and prescribed gentle tonics, change of air, etc., and the recovery was very rapid.' " * Sickly persons should refrain from kissing and fond- ling children, and healthy persons alone should be nurses. It is important to know who makes our bread; for the dough necessarily receives the influence of *e through whose hands it passes. The baker puts his Life in his loaf, and influences persons for good or evil, who cat his bread. The domesticatioD of animals may have been to a great extent produced by man's influence imparted to * mUingen'i Cariosities of .Medical Experience, p. 826. UTILITY OP PSYCHOMETKY. 283 them; which animals acquainted with man are all glad to receive. This influence was, of course, more read- ily imparted to them when man was a savage, and there exisited a greater familiarity between the beast and man. Animals, in their turn, affect human beings. The influence of healthy horses, cows, dogs, and other ani- mals is beneficial to the sick and the infirm ; and much of the robust health enjoyed by those surrounded by their influence, in spite of wide departures from cor- rect living, may be attributed to this. Puny children might play with dogs and cats, and ride on horseback, to advantage, as far as their health is concerned. But as animals below man have but little that is intellectual or spiritual to radiate, and they are con- santly receiving these from us while we are in contact with them, we are robbed on these sides of our being by the association, and receive the brutal in return. Men who are constantly with hogs, cattle, and horses, seem to partake of their nature, manifesting the ani- mality they are constantly receiving. There is no doubt that the geologic formations of a country produce some effect on the people who dwell above them, and who drink the water which has soaked through them, and is charged with their peculiar influ- ence. I have found the calcareous deposit of a steam boiler, so charged with the organic influence of the rocks through which the water had passed, that it could be instantly perceived on trying it psychometrically. Certain countries produce certain men. Much is due to the original stock from which they were derived ; much to the climate to which they are subjected ; 2&4 THE SOUL OF THINGS. much to their habits; but, after all' these and other causes are eliminated, there is quite a remainder which may be attributed to the influence that the rocks of a country and their contents have upon its inhabitants. It may be long before we can tell how much effect, and what kind of an effect, the Lower Silu- rian limestones, so completely filled with fossil forms, may have upon the people of Nashville, Cincinnati, Ottawa, and Montreal, who live above them ; but that they do affect them considerably, I have not the slight- est doubt. There is more received by the earth and its inhab- itants from the sun than the natural philosopher or the chemist can detect, and the astrologer himself may have had some reason in the nature of things for his belief in the influence of the stars. As houses receive and retain the influence of the dwellers in them, so cities, aggregates of houses, re- ceive and retain the influence of the people living and walking in them, and then radiate this influence which they have received, so that a stranger, taking up his residence in a city, has this influence brought to bear upon him, the tendency of which is to mould him ac- cording to the general character of the place. Who that has travelled does not know that towns have char- acters just as truly as individuals ? and these characters continue, though generation after generation pas away. Louis Napoleon wisely caused the sentry-box to be destroyed, in which three successive sentries had hung themselves. Not more surely did the in- fluence in thai sentry-box permeate these men, than influences proceeding from cities permeate the people UTILITY OF PSYCHOMETRY. 285 living in them, and give them a general character. In a feebler degree this is true of a country ; the very rocks drink in the character of the people of the coun- try in which they exist, and give this out again, so as to be perceptible to the sensitive psychometer. Evil associates not only influence by their practices and language, then, but unseen and unheard baleful in- fluences pass from them, as from the fabled stars dark- ness was rayed forth. The good man, the intelligent man, is a blessing, everywhere and at all times; the man who walks past his house receives his silent benedic- tion, and even when he is dead, the very stones of his hearth spread benign influences around them, and the world is better and more intelligent for his having lived in it. The virtues of mankind outnumber their vices. Their crimes, about which so much is written and said, are but dust in the balance, compared with their good deeds, constantly poured out, and as little regarded as the oft-repeated showers; and in conse- quence of this, every generation born into the world has a more glorious heritage than the preceding ; not only are they the richer and better for the mechanical inventions, the architectural improvements, the scien- tific advancements, but the world is every year becom- ing more imbued with intelligence, refinement and vir- tue, which are silently moulding the masses into more lordly beings, in turn to leave the world better than they found it. Could we psychometrize the planets of our solar system and more distant worlds, as we may do at some time, it is probable that we should find all those that are inhabited having a distinct character impressed upon them by the influences proceeding 286 THE SOUL OF THINGS. from their inhabitants, and thus, with their light, these influences may proceed, and they be mutually tele- graphing to each other their mental and moral condi- tion, as- age after age passes away. The doctor's presence, if he is healthy and genial, may be of more benefit to the patient than his pills ; and mothers, by their soothing manipulations, fre- quently cure unconsciously their sick children, by im- parting to them the health and vigor of their own constitutions. By a knowledge of such facts, much suffering may be removed, and the sum of human en- joyment be greatly increased. Women are much more susceptible of psychometric impressions than men, probably in the proportion of five to one. And this may be the reason why they are quicker witted, arrive at correct conclusions easier and sooner, and are unable so frequently to give the reason for those conclusions. Ask a woman why she thinks a thing is so, "Because it is," is the answer ; and this has been styled " woman's reason." There is a good reason why women employ it. The) 7 have such an assurance of the truth of what they say that no doubt exists in their minds; but as they arrived at this urance intuitively, and by no process of reasoning, they are of course unable to give any other than " wo- man's reason." While man is toiling up the steep by painful steps, with laboring breath and sweating brow, woman flies to the summit in an instant, and wonders that man should be such a laggard. When woman shall employ her psychometric power in a scientific direction, as she will ere long, some of