THE DEMONOMANIA OF THE MIDDLE AGES. (continued 2)

We must admit that at that period doctors confounded hysteria with epilepsy. Spasms of the larynx, muscular contractions that we of the present day can provoke experimentally, as well as other phenomena of hysterical convulsions in somnambulic phases of hypnotism, were considered at that period only the manifest signs of diabolical possession. As to the stinking breath, which revealed the presence of the Devil among the nuns, that is a frequent symptom in grave affections of the nervous system; it is often a prodroma of an attack or series of maniacal convulsions. We have found that this fetidity of breath coincides with the nauseating odor of sweat and urine, to which we attribute the same semeological value as that of the mouth.

Another epidemic of hysterical convulsions, complicated with nymphomania, occurred at Cologne in 1554, in the Convent of Nazareth. Jean Wier, who was sent to examine these patients, recognized that the nuns were possessed by the Demon of lubricity and debauchery, who ruled this convent to a frightful extent.

P. Bodin has himself furnished the proofs; it was this author who wrote the history of erotic nuns. He remarks: “Sometimes the bestial appetites of some women lead them to believe in a demon; this occurred in the year 1566, in the Diocese of Cologne, where a dog was found which, it was claimed, was inhabited by a demon; this animal bit the religious ladies under their skirts. It was not a demon, but a natural dog. A woman who confessed to sinning with a dog was once burned at Toulouse.

“But it may be that Satan is sometimes sent by God, as certain it is that all punishment comes from him, through his means or without his means to avenge such crimes, as happened in a convent in Hesse, in Germany, where the nuns were demonomaniacs and sinned in a horrible manner with an animal.”

Thus says Bodin, the public prosecutor of sorcerers among the laity and the religious orders. Would he not have shown much greater wisdom if he had humanely judged the actions of mankind, and had condemned as social absurdities the innumerable convents and monasteries to which the fanaticism of the Middle Ages attracted so many men and women who might have followed more useful avocations? The convulsions of nymphomaniac girls were very wild, and diversified by curious movements of the pelvis, while lying in a position of dorsal decubitus, with closed eyelids. After such attacks these poor nervous nuns were perfectly prostrated, and only breathed with the greatest difficulty. It was thus with young Gertrude, who was first attacked by a convulsive neurosis which it was claimed had been induced by nymphomaniac practices in the convent, and that evil spirits possessed these nuns.

In 1609, hystero-demonomania made victims in the Convent of Saint Ursula, at Aix. Two nuns were said to be possessed; these were Madeleine de Mandoul and Loyse Capel. They were exorcised without success. Led to the Convent of Saint Baume, they denounced Louis Gaufridi, priest of the Church of Acoules of Marseilles, as being a sorcerer, who had bewitched them.

The Inquisitor Michaelis has left us the history of this trial by exorcism. These patients had all the symptoms of convulsive hysteria, with nymphomania, catalepsy, and hallucinatory delirium. This Judge, however, only saw in these manifestations the work of several demons, who tormented these nuns one after, the other, at the instigation of the priest, Louis Gaufridi, who was arrested, tried, condemned by the executioner, and led to the gallows with a rope around his neck, in bare feet, a torch in hand; thus punished, the unfortunate and innocent priest fell into a state of dementia, and while in this condition confessed that he was the author of the nuns’ demonomania.

As soon as Gaufridi had been sentenced to death by the Inquisition, the nuns of Saint Brigette’s Convent, at Lille, who had assisted at the exorcism of the nuns of Saint Ursula, in turn were attacked by hystero-demonomania. The report soon spread that they, too, were possessed, and the Inquisitor Michaelis came to Avignon to exorcise the demons. One of these nuns, Marie de Sains, suspected of sorcery, was sent to jail. Three of her companions, treated by exorcism, denounced the unfortunate girl as a witch. Marie de Sains, who, up to this time, had asserted innocence, finished by declaring herself guilty towards the rest of the nuns in the cloister. The demons found under the nuns’ beds were placed there, according to Marie’s statement, by the unfortunate Gaufridi.

She testified that, “the Devil, to recompense the priest, gave him the title of ‘Prince of Magicians;’ and promised me,” added the nun, “all kinds of sovereign honors for having consented to poison the other nuns’ minds by witchcraft. Sister Joubert, Sister Bolonais, Sister Fournier, Sister Van der Motte, Sister Launoy, and Sister Peronne, who were first to have symptoms of possession through diabolical power, soon fell under the action of the potent philter. The witchcraft was made with the host and consecrated blood, powdered billy goat horns, human bones, skulls of children, hair, finger-nails, flesh, and seminal fluid from the sorcerer; by adding to this mixture pieces of the human liver, spleen, and brain, Lucifer gave to the hideous melange a virtue of terrible strength. The sorcerers who gave this horrible concoction to their acquaintances not only destroyed them, but also a large number of new-born children.”

This unfortunate, besides, accused herself of having caused the death of a number of persons, including children, the mother, and often godmother; she claimed to have administered debilitating powders to many others. She confessed to casting an evil spell on the other nuns, which had given them over to lubricity; declared she had been to the witch vigils and cohabited with devils, and that she had also committed sodomy, had intercourse with dogs, horses, and serpents; finally, she acknowledged that she had accorded her favors to the priest, Louis Gaufridi, whereas the nun was really innocent.

Marie de Sains was found guilty of being possessed by a demon. She was exorcised and condemned to perpetual imprisonment and most austere penances by the Court of Tournay.

Immediately after the trial of Marie de Sains another nun, Simone Dourlet, was tried for the crime of sorcery, and by force of torture and suggestions, she admitted to have been at a witch vigil and was guilty. The history of this poor girl is revolting, for not only was she innocent of all crimes imputed to her, but she was not even sick. She was the victim of the hallucinations of her companions.

Another form of hystero- or hysterical demonomania was observed the same year near Dax, in the Parish of Amon, where more than 120 women were attacked by impulsive insanity, following the expression of Calmeil, but which has been designated by others as the Mal de Laira. This neurosis, which was only a variety of hysteria, was characterized by convulsions and loud barking. De L’Ancre gives an interesting description of this outbreak, but does not fail to attribute the affection to sorcerers. “It is a monstrous thing,” says he, “to see in church more than forty persons, all braying and barking like dogs, as on nights when the moon is full. This music is renewed on the entrance of every new sorcerer, who has perhaps given the disease to some other woman. These possessed creatures commence barking from the time they enter church.”

The same barking symptoms were noticed in dwellings when these witches passed along the street, and all passers by commenced to bark also when a sorcerer appeared.

The convulsions resembled those noticed in enraged insane persons. During the attack the victims would wallow on the earth, beating the ground with their bodies and limbs, turning their violence on their own persons without having will power to control their madness for evil doing. According to Calmeil their cases were rather hysterical than of an epileptic type.

A very remarkable fact in regard to this neurosis was that those women who howled were exempt from convulsions and reciprocally. These howls or barks were comparable to the cries uttered by the nuns of Kintorp and the bleatings of the sisters of Saint Brigette.

We have also the record of a German convent, where the nuns meowed like cats, and ran about the cloister imitating feline animals.

It is useless to add that the Mal de Laira was a cause of several condemnations of nuns who admitted they had bewitched their companions.[77]

Among the numerous trials for Demonidolatry, that which has been most noted was certainly the case of Urbain Grandier, and the Ursulines of Loudun, from 1632 to 1639.

The Convent of Loudun was founded in 1611 by a dame of Cose—Belfiel. Only noble ladies were received therein—Claire de Sazilli, the Demoiselles Barbezier, Madmoiselle de la Mothe, the Demoiselles D’Escoubleau, etc. These titled ladies had all received brilliant educations, but had submitted to life in a nunnery by vocation. Seven of these young women were suddenly attacked by hallucinations. They all claimed to be victims of witchcraft.

During the night these girls went in and out of the convent doors, sometimes standing on their heads, as is the case with certain individuals subject to natural somnambulism. These nuns all accused a chaplain of the order recently deceased of causing their troubles, and several of the ladies claimed that the chaplain’s ghost made shameful propositions to them.

The disease grew worse from day to day, until Justice was called on to interfere, when the nuns changed their minds and declared that the real cause of their possession was in reality one Urbain Grandier, priest to the Church of Saint Pierre of Loudun, a man distinguished for his brilliant intelligence, perfect education, but rather given to gallantry, and a desire for public notoriety.

Was it Mignon, the new chaplain of the order, who suggested to the nuns their pretended persecutor?

That was the story, but Urbain Grandier attached no importance to the rumor.

The attacks of the nuns increased more and more, however, and were complicated with catalepsy, ecstasy and nymphomania, the victims making obscene and shameful remarks. Then exorcisers were called in, but met with no success. These ladies on the contrary endeavored to provoke the priests by lascivious gestures and indecent postures. Some of them wriggled over the floor like serpents, while others moved their bodies backwards so that their heads touched their heels, a motion, according to eye-witnesses, made with the most extraordinary quickness. At times the nuns screamed and howled in unison like a chorus of wild beasts.

A historian of the time, De Le Menardy, witness de visu et de auditu, has written: “In their contortions they were as supple and easily bent as a piece of lead—in such a way that their bodies could be bent in any form—backwards, forwards and sidewise, even so the head touched the earth, and they remained in these positions up to such a time as their attitudes might be changed.” These movements were especially produced during the time of the attempted exorcisms. At the first mention of Satan “they raised up, passed their toes behind their necks, and, with legs separated, rested themselves on their perinæums and gave themselves up to indecent manual motions.” They were delirious at this time from demonomanical excitement. Madam de Belfiel claimed to be sitting on seven devils, Madam de Sazilli had ten demons under her, while Sister Elizabeth modestly asserted her number of imps to be five.

During the exorcisms these poor women fell sound asleep, which induces Calmeil to think “the condition of these women resembled closely that of magnetic somnambulists.” This supposition would permit us to explain the impossibility of the nuns telling on certain days what they had said or done during the course of a nervous attack. The days when they escaped contortions—when they were to the contrary violently exalted by the nature of these tactile and visceral sensations—they recalled too much, for the power of reflection disgusted these unfortunates with their own vile and uncontrollable acts and assertions.

This epidemic had continued fifteen months, and all the Ursuline nuns had been attacked by the epidemic when Laubardemont, one of the secret agents of the Cardinal Richelieu, arrived at Loudun to examine into the alleged Demonidolatry said to exist in the convent. The Cardinal had given this agent absolute and extended power. Urbain Grandier, who was the author of a libel against Richelieu, was arrested for complicity in this sorcery, and brought before a commission of Justices, whose members had been chosen by Laubardemont. He was confronted by the nuns, invited to exorcise them, and then subjected to most cruel tortures. Iron needle points were stuck in his skin, all over the body, in order to find anæsthetised points, which were the pretended marks of the Devil.

Notwithstanding his protestations of innocence, the Judges taking the acts of the accusers while in the poor priest’s presence, for his appearance was the signal for scenes of the most violent frenzy, condemned the man to be tied to a gallows alive. There he was subjected to renewed tortures, while the various muscles of his body were torn apart and his bones broken.

The punishment of Urbain Grandier did not put an end to the epidemic of hysterical demonomania among the Ursulines, for the malady extended to the people of the town, even to the monks who were charged with conducting the exorcisms; but the vengeance of his Red Eminence (Cardinal Richelieu) was satisfied.

Many commentaries have been made since then on this outbreak of Demonidolatry among the Ursulines. These we have no desire to reproduce nor to discuss, as it would only tend to show the ancient ignorance prevailing regarding diseases of the nervous system, and the want of character and weakness of the physicians of that epoch, together with the fanaticism of the monks and priesthood. One thing, however, appears to be worthy of remembrance; that is the analogy between the convulsive symptoms observed among the nuns and the phenomena of somnambulism described by Calmeil. This fact appears to us as so much the more remarkable, as the learned doctor of Charenton was a declared adversary of magnetism, and published his work almost half a century since—that is, in 1845.

The sleep into which the nuns fell during the period of exorcism, the forgetfulness of the scenes witnessed where they had played such a role, are, to our mind, only phenomena of hypnotism, and the resemblance is so strong that we do not believe it would be impossible to artificially reproduce another epidemic of hysterical demonomania.

Let us for an instant accept the hypothesis of a convent, where twenty young nuns are confined. Of these at least ten will be subject to hypnotism. Let us now admit that these recluses, living the ordinary ascetic and virtuous life of the cloister, plunged deeply in the mysticisms of the Catholic faith, receive one day as confessor and spiritual director a man of energetic character, knowing all the practices of hypnotism and of suggestion—a disciple let us say of Puel, Charcot, De Luys, Barety, Bernheim—a perfect neurologist. Now, if this man cared to magnetize individually each of these nuns in the silence and obscurity of the confessional, and should then suggest to them that they were possessed by all the demons known to sorcery, what would occur? Let us suppose again that he should carry his physiological power further and put his subjects into an ecstacy, catalepsy or lethargy—into a condition where marked hallucinations might occur and nervous excitation be provoked, how long would it be before this man could make these women similar to those who once lived in the convent of the Ursulines at Loudun?

We have not admitted this fiction for the purpose of having any one conclude that the possessed of Loudun were the mere playthings of some person who used hypnotism in an interest that we ignore; but, if this fact may be considered possible by the will of an individual, who can affirm at this day that there does not exist an unknown force, intelligent or not, capable of producing the same pathological phenomena observed long ago? What we call, in 1888, hypnotism in the amphitheatres of our universities, we reserve for another chapter, where we will give revelations much more extraordinary, and also more supernatural; our chapter on the neurology of the nineteenth century will, we promise, be very interesting.

Let us yet remark that the hystero-demonomaniacal manifestations were not peculiar to the Ursulines of Loudun. They have been observed in many convents in the same conditions of habits and prolonged fastings among debilitated young girls; from long vigils spent in prayer and nervous depression, caused by over-religious discipline; by mystical exhortations from a man invested in a sacred character, on whom fall all the discussions, all the entreaties, and all the thoughts of the girls in the cloister.

The history of the nuns of Loudun was identically reproduced under the same conditions among the sisters of Saint Elizabeth’s Convent at Louviers, in 1643, three years after the execution of poor Urbain Grandier for witchcraft.

In a short time eighteen nuns were attacked with hysterical demonomania; they had active hallucinations of all the senses, convulsions, and delirium. Like the Ursulines, they blasphemed, screamed, and gave themselves over to all manner of strange contortions, claiming to be possessed by demons, describing in obscene terms the orgies of the witch vigil (Sabbat), perpetrating all varieties of debauchery, even unknown to the vilest prostitutes; after this they finally accused one or more persons of bewitching them through sorcery.

The nuns of Louviers, for instance, after being duly exorcised according to the Canons of the Church, accused as the author of their affliction, and as a bad magician, their old time confessor, the Abbot Picard, who died before their symptoms were developed; then they accused another priest, by the name of Francois Boulle, and several of their companions, notably Sister Madeleine Bavan. These innocent people were tried by the Parliament of Rouen, who ordered that the body of the priest, Picard, should be exhumed, carried to the stake, there tied to the living body of Francois Boulle, and after being burnt their ashes should be cast to the winds. This execution, in the open air, occurred in the seventeenth century, in the “Old Market Place” at Rouen, at the spot where Joan d’Arc had also been burnt alive for being possessed, as was claimed, by supernatural beings. What a comment on intelligence in an age of partial enlightenment!

In order to close this chapter on hysterical demonomania among religious orders, of which we have given some examples, we shall cite an interesting relation left us by the Bishops and Doctors of Sorbonne, together with the testimony of the King’s deputies, regarding the possession of nuns at the Convent of Auxonne. Here there were always convulsions and screams, with blasphemy, aversion to taking the sacraments, possession, and exorcisms; and there was, undoubtedly, the phenomenon of suggestion observed with much precision.

We might say that the nuns of Auxonne were accessible to suggestion; for, at the command or even the thought of the exorcists, they fell into a condition of somnambulism; in this state they became insensible to pain, as was determined by pricking Sister Denise under the finger-nail with a needle; they had also the faculty of prosternating the body, making it assume the form of a circle,—in other words, they could bend their limbs in any direction.

The Bishop of Chalons reports that “all the before mentioned girls, secular as well as regular, to the number of eighteen, had the gift of Language, and responded to the exorcists in Latin, making, at times, their entire conversation in the classical tongue.

“Almost all these nuns had a full knowledge of the secrets and inner thoughts of others;[78] this was demonstrated particularly in the interior commandments, which had been made by the exorcists on different occasions, which they obeyed exactly ordinarily, without the commandments being expressed to them either by words or any external sign.

“The Bishop himself, among others, experimented on the person of Denise Pariset, to whom, giving a command mentally to come to him immediately and be exorcised, whereupon the aforesaid nun immediately came to him, although her residence was in a quarter of the village far removed from the Episcopal residence. She said on these occasions that she was commanded to come; and this experiment was repeated several times.

“Again, in the person of Sister Jamin, a novice, who on hearing the exorcism, told the Bishop his interior commandment made to the Demon during the ceremony. Also, in the person of Sister Borthon, who, being commanded mentally to make her agitations violent, immediately prostrated herself before the Holy Sacrament, with her belly against the earth and her arms extended, executing the command at the same instant, with a promptitude and precipitation wholly extraordinary.”[79]

Here, I believe, are facts so well authenticated of transmission of thought or of mental suggestions, perhaps voluntarily unknown to certain modern neurologists. These neuropaths of Auxonne presented still more extraordinary phenomena; at the word of command they suspended the pulsations of the pulse in an arm, in the right arm, for example, and transfered the beatings from the right arm to the left arm, and vice versa. This fact was discovered by the Bishop, and many ecclesiastics verified the same, and “it was promptly done in the presence of Doctor Morel, who recognized and makes oath to the fact.”

We cannot dwell too long on the Demonomania of the Middle Ages, to which we have, perhaps, added some historical facts which are new and which we believe it to be our duty to publish, seeing a connection with modern hypnotism. We shall thus open a new field for investigation on strange affections, classed up to the present time in all varieties of monomania, but which appear to us to belong to a variety of mental pathology independent of insanity, properly speaking. If it were otherwise it would be necessary to recognize as crazy persons, not only the Demonomaniacs of the Middle Ages, but also the Jansenists, who went into trances, and the choreics and convulsionists (convulsionnaires) of the eighteenth century. They were certainly not crazy, those who came to the mortuary of Saint Medard, to the tomb of the Deacon Paris, to make an appeal against the Papal bull of Clement XI. And was it not another cause than auto suggestion, to which it is necessary to attribute the nervous phenomena that the appelants exhibited during thirty consecutive years?

The exaltation of religious ideas, so often advanced by psychologists, cannot account for these phenomena. I have seen palpable proofs of this in the various accidents that suddenly overcame sceptics and strong-minded men of modern times, who came as amateurs to assist at the experiments on convulsive subjects. These symptoms, as is well known, are usually ushered in by violent screams, rapid beatings of the heart, contractions of muscles, and analogous nervous symptoms.

Besides, it is incontestible that many patients and infirm people obtain an unhoped for cure following convulsive cries; while others, in a state of health, are taken with hallucinations and delirium. I have seen patients who would lacerate certain portions of the body that were the seat of burns, and continue to walk, cry, gesticulate, and abuse themselves, like insane persons in a real state of dementia.

The Jansenists did not speak, had no compacts with demons, no exorcisms at which Inquisitors and their acolytes could suggest ideas of demonomania; and notwithstanding their great austerities and the most rigorous fasts, we note among the convulsionnaires of Saint Medard only the ideas of possession by the Holy Spirit and divine favors obtained through the protection of the kind-hearted Deacon; and meantime, those possessed by God, as by the Devil, were subjects of somnambulism, to trances, lethargy, catalepsy, and other phenomena.[80]

The last analogy, finally, between the two nervous epidemics, was the Royal authority, a special form of suggestion in the Middle Ages, which put an end to sorcery or witchcraft as well as to Jansenism.

HYSTERIA AND PSYCHIC FORCE.

Among the phenomena observed in demonomaniacal hysteria there are some, as we have remarked, that modern neurologists have wished to pass over in silence, because it was impossible to give a rational explanation. It arose from that mysterious force which acts upon the human personality and its faculties and produces supernatural results in contradiction to well known scientific laws, known in one sense as Psychic Force, but which is nothing else than modern spiritualism.

This force, a power possessed in a high degree not only by hysterical persons, but all varieties of neuropaths, who are designated as mediums by spiritual psychologists, cannot be doubted by real scientists to day.

The demonologists of the Middle Ages have often mentioned it in the demonomaniacs, and attributed it to possession by evil spirits; and, if not pathologists, they did not disdain to occupy themselves with something that tends to simplify the study of the physiology of the nervous system; but to minds of the modern type, that consider science as synonymous with truth, it seems strange and incomprehensible that our learned investigators should have been overpowered by the fear of the criticism that might overtake them because they cannot explain purely and simply an inexplicable fact, a truth, real positive and certain.

Not being ourselves timorous to this prudence, which is, they claim, one of the conditions, sine qua non, to be a candidate for the Institute of France, we shall now pursue our investigations with the historical documents regarding the medical Middle Age we possess, and thus loyally seek a scientific interpretation for facts observed in modern spiritualism or psychic force.

Among these documents we will choose as a type the “Trial made to deliver a girl possessed by the Evil Spirit, at Louviers.” This suit, which dates back to 1591, is in reality a series of trials written up by several magistrates, in the presence of numerous witnesses, reporting with precision all facts observed by them—facts interpreted, it is true, with ideas of the demonidolatry of the sixteenth century, but having a character whose authenticity is undisputed, and even undiscussed. The first trial is thus conceived:[81]

“On Saturday, the 18th day of August, 1591, in the morning at Louviers, in the aforesaid place, before us, Louis Morel, Councillor of the King, Provost General and Marshal of France for the Province of Normandy, holding Court in the service of the King in the villages and castles of Pont de l’Arche and Louviers, with one lieutenant, one recorder, and fifty archers, assisted by Monsieur Behotte, licentiate of law, Judge Advocate and Lieutenant General of Monsieur the Viscount of Rouen, in the presence of Louis Vauquet, our clerk.” * * *

This old document, in French now almost obsolete and difficult of translation,[82] goes on to state that in a house at Louviers, belonging to Mrs. Gay, two officers, belonging to the troops occupying the town, who had temporary quarters with Gay, complained to their commandant that “a spirit in the house mentioned tormented them.” Now, this house was occupied by three ladies: Madame Gay, one of her friends, a widow named Deshayes, and a servant girl called Francoise Fontaine.

Captain Diacre, who was commandant of the village, found on investigation the general disorder of the residence, the furniture turned upside down, the two ladies terrified, and the servant girl with several wounds on her body. The latter was suspected of being in league with the Devil, and was arrested and cast into the prison of the town. On her person was found a purse containing a teston (old French coin), a half teston, and a ten-sous piece. The trial proved nothing. The ladies might have had nightmare, the officers might have been drunk, the noises heard might have been the result of a thousand different causes, but it is necessary to mention this case in order to comprehend the subsequent trials.

The second trial, witnessed, tried, and authenticated by the same authorities, determined the fact that Francoise Fontaine was born at Paris, Faubourg Saint Honore, and that at the age of twenty two years she had already witnessed similar phenomena in a house “haunted,” said she, “by evil spirits that frightened her so much that she went to a neighbor’s to sleep while her mistress was absent from home.” This statement was proved correct in six subsequent trials containing the depositions of Marguerite Prevost, Suzanne Le Chevalier, Marguerite Le Chevalier, and Perrine Fayel.

The following trial states that on Saturday, the 31st of August, 1591, before Louis Morel, Councillor of the King, assisted by his clerk, Louis Vauquet, etc., etc.,

“Came Pierre Alix, first jailer and guard of the prison, who threw himself on his two knees before us, holding the prison keys in his hand, pale and overcome by emotion; for which action we remonstrated, when he stated to our great astonishment that he did not wish to longer act as prison guard, for the reason that the evil spirit that tormented the aforesaid Francoise Fontaine likewise tormented him, and also the prisoners, who desired to break jail and fly in order to save themselves, having a presentement that the aforesaid Francoise Fontaine, was in a dungeon or pit, and that she had removed a great iron door that had fallen upon her afterwards; and several persons having ran to her along with the jailer found the aforesaid Fontaine acting as though possessed by an evil spirit, with her throat swollen,” etc.

Let us pass over an interminable recital made by Francoise Fontaine to the priests and counsellors of the King, relative to diabolic possession, to which she had been subject all her life. Also, as to the testimony of many witnesses as to her performance while in jail; as, for instance, “the body of Francoise rose in the air about four feet, without being in contact with anything, and she floated towards us in the air,” etc., etc.

Francois Fontaine claimed that she had consented to belong to the Demon, who was “a black man with whom she had cohabited.” Considered from a medical standpoint the girl was a victim to hysterical demonomania.

Let us make a few more extracts from the records of this trial:

“As the aforesaid Fontaine told us these things, being meantime on her two knees before us, who were seated on a raised platform, the aforesaid Fontaine fell forward on her face as though she had been struck from above, and the candles in the chandeliers of the room were extinguished, except those on the clerk’s table, the which were roughly blown upon several times without being put out, when no visible person present was near them to blow, and these candles were raised out of their candlesticks, lighted as they were, and rubbed against the ground in an attempt to extinguish them, and the which were finally extinguished with a great noise, without any human hand appearing near them; the which so astonished the priest, the advocate, the first jailer, the archers guard, who were present, that they retired, leaving us alone, the hour being then nine o’clock at night.

“Finding myself alone, I recommended my soul to God, and exclaimed in a loud voice the words, ‘My God, give me grace not to lose my soul to the Devil, and I command thee O, Demon, by the power I have invoked, to leave the body of Francoise Fontaine! Again I repeat the command!’”

At the same instant the exorcist felt himself seized by the legs, arms and body, and tightly held in the arms of an unknown force, which felt hot and blew a warm breath, while blows were rained on the Judge’s body as though he were beaten by a heavy piece of wood. He was struck on the jaw and under the ear hard enough to draw blood, etc.

At the eleventh trial it was found that Francoise Fontaine was bodily raised out of bed during the night by an unseen force, and this fact is duly authenticated by witnesses.

In the following trial the same phenomena were produced in the church at Louviers, during the mass of exorcism, where:

“Francoise Fontaine floated from the earth into the air, higher than the altar, as though lifted up by the hair by an unseen hand, which quickly alarmed the assistants, who had never before witnessed such an occurrence,” etc.

In presence of these facts Francoise was led back to prison, and it was decided by the clerical council, assisted by two eminent physicians, Roussel and Gautier, to cut off the girl’s hair, as was the custom when witches were arrested.

During this operation, which was performed publically by Dr. Gautier, the same phenomenon was reproduced. For says the veracious old French chronicle: “Francoise est de rechef enleuee en l’air fort hault, la tete en bas, les pieds en hault sans que ses accoustrementz se soient renuersez, au trauers desquelz il sortoit par deuant et par derriere grande quantite d’eaue et fumee puante.”

Like the many preceding trials, with experiments, which are duly attested by magistrates, physicians and the clerk, seven person in all, who witnessed the phenomena, as to material facts, we cannot suspect people whose honesty was never doubted; for it was through their influence that Francoise Fontaine was set at liberty, after all her inexplicable symptoms had disappeared and her nervous malady abated.

In order to render an account of the supernatural phenomena observed by early demonographers and attributed to evil spirits, let us briefly glance at the experiments made regarding Spiritualism by a few brave physiologists of our own epoch, who have dared to investigate the analogy existing between these two orders of phenomena.

Among the modern experimenters who have made a scientific study of this subject—let us call it Psychic Force, if you will—we will mention Mr. Crookes, member of the Royal Society of London, the (English Academy of Sciences), the master mind, the most illustrious in modern science; the discoverer of thallium, radiant matter, photometer of polarization, spectral microscope—a chemist and physicist of the first order, accustomed to the most minute experimental investigations.

The experiments of this savant have been arranged by him in three classes, as follows:

Class I.—Movement of weighty bodies with contact, but without mechanical effort.

This movement is one of the most simple forms of the phenomenon observed; it presents degrees that vary from trembling or vibration of the chamber and its contents up to the complete elevation in the air, when the hand is placed above, of a weighty body. We commonly object that when they touch an object put in motion, they push, draw or raise it. I have experimentally proved that this is impossible in a great number of cases; but, as a matter of evidence, I attach little importance to that class of phenomena considered in themselves, and have only mentioned them as a preliminary to other movements of the same kind, but without contact.

“These movements (and I may truly add all other similar phenomena) are generally preceded by a particular breeziness of the air, amounting sometimes almost to a true wind. This air disperses leaves of paper and lowers the thermometer several degrees.

“Under some circumstances, to the subject of which I shall, at some future day, give more details, I have not found any of this air; but the cold was so intense that I can only compare it to that experienced by placing the hand at a short distance from mercury in a state of congelation.” (Crookes).

I have obtained, like the eminent “member of the Royal Society of London,” the movement of weighty bodies by contact very easily, not only lifting massive tables of a weight altogether out of proportion and far superior to the force of a very robust man, but have also seen this furniture move in a given direction; I have even noted a small square table keep time in beating with a determined cadence. This phenomenon, well known to all experimenters, may be reproduced without the assistance of a powerful medium; it was well known in times of antiquity, but is not mentioned in the writings on sorcery during the Middle Ages.

As extraordinary as these facts seem, they are no more singular than those observed by W. Crookes, and very recently by Zoellner,[83] Professor in the University of Leipsic and correspondent of the French Institute, in presence of Professors Fechner, Braune, Weber, Scheibner, and the celebrated surgeon, Thiersch. It was with Slade, an American medium as extraordinary as Home, that Zoellner experimented. These experiments may be thus briefly mentioned:

1. Movements made by psychic force, through the medium of Slade, of a magnet enclosed in a compass box.

2. Blows struck on a table, a knife raised in air, without contact, to the height of a foot.

3. Movement of heavy bodies. Zoellner’s bed was drawn two feet from the wall, Slade remaining seated with his back to the bed, his legs covered and in full view of the experimenters.

4. A fire-screen broken with noise, without contact with the medium, and the fragments thrown five feet.

5. Writing produced on several experimental occasions between two slates belonging to Zoellner, and held well in view.

6. Magnetization of a steel needle.

7. Acid reaction given to neutral substances.

8. Imprints of hands and naked feet on smoked surfaces or surfaces powdered with flour, which did not correspond with the hands and feet of the medium, who remained meantime in full view of the experimenters, while Slade’s feet were covered with shoes.

9. Knots tied in bands of copper sealed at both ends and held in the hands of Slade and Zoellner, etc.

We find the same tests and facts observed by Mr. Crookes and the French experimenters, who, following his example, have sought to account for Psychic Force.

Class II.—Phenomenon of percussion and other analogous noises.

The popular name of spiritual rapping gives a very poor idea of this class of phenomena. On different occasions during his experiments, Mr. Crookes heard blows of a delicate variety, such as might be produced by the point of a needle; a cascade of sounds, as acute as those coming from an induction coil in full activity; sharp blows or detonations in the air; acute notes of a metallic variety; rasping sounds similar to that heard from a machine with rubbing action; noises like scratching; twittering chirps like a bird, etc.

“I have observed these noises,” says Crookes, “with the majority of mediums, each of whom has a special peculiarity. They were more varied with Mr. Home; but, for force and certainty of result, I have never met a medium who approached Kate Fox. For several months I experimented, it may be said, in an unlimited manner, and verified the different manifestations induced by the presence of this lady, and I especially examined the phenomenon relative to these noises.

“With mediums, it is necessary in general that they be methodically seated for the seance before noises are heard, but with Miss Kate Fox it was sufficient to merely place her hand on any object, no matter what, and violent blows were heard, like a triple sound of beating, and sometimes so loud as to be heard at different pieces of furniture in the room.

“In this manner, I have heard these noises on a living tree, on a fragment of glass, on a membrane extended in a frame—for instance, a tambourine—on the top of a cab, and on the edge of the parquet railing in the theatre.

“However, effective contact is not always necessary. I have heard the noise sound inside walls, when the hands and feet of the medium were tightly held; when Miss Fox was seated in a chair; when she was suspended above the platform; finally, when she had fallen on a sofa in a dead faint.

“I have heard these same noises on the harmonica; I have felt them on my shoulder and under my hands; I have heard them on a leaf of paper held between the fingers by the aid of a wire passed through one corner.

“With a perfect knowledge of the numerous theories advanced, in America principally, to explain these knocks or spirit rapping, I have verified them by all methods I could imagine, so that I have acquired a positive conviction as their objective reality, and the absolute certainty that it was impossible to produce these sounds by artifice or some mechanical means.

“An important question is here asked that deserves attention, i.e. ‘are these noises governed by an intelligence?’[84]

“From the commencement of my investigations, I have recognized the fact that the power which produced the phenomena, was not simply a fluid force, but that it is associated with an intelligence, or follows its directions.”

During the three years that I have experimented in psychology with Dr. Puel and his friends, there has been no seance where we have not been able to determine more or less important phenomena of percussion. An experiment I love to make is that of striking my fingers on the table, either to imitate the music of a band with drum accompaniment with some known air, and the same sound is immediately produced on the under surface of the piece of furniture, with the same rhythm appearing to be invoked by an invisible hand performing under the table. This phenomenon is manifested sometimes spontaneously upon my demand or that of my assistant. I observed it one evening at my own house for more than a quarter of an hour from, the moment I entered the room; in this case the noise was a rolling, which appeared to arise from the metallic surface of a table. It was a member of my family who called my attention to the abnormal noise, so much the more curious, inasmuch as I could produce it at will, giving shades and variations expressed by the movements of my hand. In order to respond in advance to any objection, I will say it was two o’clock in the morning when this phenomenon was produced, and there was no passing carriages in the street to make any kind of a vibration.

These phenomena of percussion are sometimes produced with a most extraordinary intensity, as in the observations of Kate Fox in the house at Hydesville; these were probably only phenomena of percussion similar to those observed at Louviers, in the home of Madame Gay, under the mediumship of Francoise Fontaine, in 1591, manifestations which were then attributed to the Devil, or later to a condition of hallucinations, among the witnesses, according to the materialistic psychologists of the nineteenth century.

Class III.—Alteration of the weight of bodies.

The experiments made by Mr. Crookes, in regard to the alterations in the weight of bodies, enters the category of psychic phenomena examined with the most mathematical exactitude, by the aid of accurate registering apparatus. It is in these experiments that the celebrated English physician was able to witness Psychic Force developed by his medium.

The description and designs of the apparatus thus used may be found in the “Moniteur de la Policlinique,” of the 7th and 14th of May, 1882, and in “Le Spiritisme” of Dr. Paul Gibier, published in the year 1887.

This article is too lengthy for reproduction in this work, but we have the right to consider it as the point of departure for experimental psychology, for not only have they not been denied in France and other countries, but they have been recognized as absolutely true, by several colleagues of Mr. Crookes, belonging to the Royal Society of London.

Class IV.—Movements of heavy bodies at a distance from the medium.

“There are numerous instances in which heavy objects, such as tables, chairs, ropes, etc., have been moved when the medium never touched them. I will mention a few striking cases.

“My own chair turned half way around while my feet were on the floor.

“In full view of all the people present, a chair started from a far off corner and advanced slowly to a table while we were watching its movement.

“On another occasion an arm chair came from to the place we were seated, and then, on my demand, slowly returned backward a distance of three feet.

“During three consecutive seances, a small table crossed the room under conditions I had especially fixed in advance, in order to respond victoriously to all objections that might possibly be raised against the reality of the phenomenon.

“I repeated on several occasions the experiment considered as conclusive by the “Dialectic Society,” that is to say, the movement of a heavy table in a full glare of light, the backs of chairs being turned towards the table about one foot of distance, each person being in a kneeling posture upon his chair, the hands placed upon the back above the table, but not touching it.

“On one of these occasions, the experiment took place while I walked all around the table in order to see how each person was placed.” (Crookes).

In our own seances, with Madam Rosine, L.B., we have seen, ten or twelve times at least, a small table on rollers, advance towards us as though moved by a force of attraction or repulsion.

A similar phenomenon was very often produced in my office, under the mediumistic influences of M. D. with a strength of extraordinary propulsion, which seemed to originate in brute force. The traces of violent shocks of a table against my bureau still remain to testify to the results of this occurrence.

Class V.—Chairs and tables raised from the earth without contact with any person.

“A remark usually made when cases of this kind arise is: ‘Why do these things only occur with chairs and tables? Is this a privilege solely enjoyed by pieces of furniture?’ I wish to answer this by stating that I simply observed facts and report them without pretending to enter into the why and how; but, in truth, it is very evident that if any inanimate object of a certain weight can be lifted from the earth in the ordinary dining room, it could as easily be anything else than a chair or table.

“That such phenomena are not limited to furniture I have numerous proofs, as have other experimenters; the intelligence or force, whichever it may be, that produces the manifestations, can only operate with materials that are at its disposition.

“On five distinct occasions a heavy dining table was raised from the floor for a height varying from some inches to a foot and a half, under special imposed conditions that made fraud impossible.

“On another occasion a heavy table was raised to the ceiling, in full light, while I held the feet and hands of the medium.

“At another time the table raised itself above the floor, without any one touching it, but under conditions I had previously imposed in such a manner as to render the proof of the fact incontestable.” (Crookes.)

The phenomena observed in this class of experiments belong to those of movement without contact. Although these are difficult to obtain, I have noticed them several times; I have seen, in my own home, a massive table raised some distance from the floor ten or fifteen seconds after all contact had ceased. Dr. Gibier had the advantage of obtaining complete levitation and seeing the table turn and touch the ceiling with its four feet, under the mediumistic influence of Mr. Slade. The Doctor affirms this fact in his own book on the subject.

In the trial of August 31st, 1591, a phenomenon similar to the one narrated befell Francoise Fontaine, i.e., the fall of an iron door on the unfortunate girl; the elevation in the air of a washtub and its being emptied in the presence of the jailer and the prisoner Aufrenille. Francois Fontaine was evidently a medium with psychic effects.

Class VI.—Raising human beings in the air.

“This phenomenon has taken place in my presence four times, although in obscurity. The conditions under which these movements were performed, however, were completely satisfactory; but the ocular demonstration of such a thing is necessary to prevent the effects of our preconceived opinions; for example, upon that which is naturally possible or impossible, I shall only mention here cases in which the deductions of reason have been affirmed by the sense of vision.

“I saw, one day, in the quality of spectator, a chair on which a lady was seated raised from the floor several inches.

“On another occasion, in order to avoid being suspected of producing the phenomenon by artificial means, the lady knelt on the chair, so that the four legs of the piece of furniture were visible to every eye; then the chair was lifted from the floor three inches, remaining suspended in the air for ten seconds, when it slowly descended to the floor again.

“Another time, but separately, two children were raised to the ceiling in their chairs, under a full glare of light, under conditions entirely satisfactory to me, for I was on my knees and attentively watched the feet of the chairs in order to see that no one touched them.

“The most remarkable examples of levitation I have observed have taken place with Mr. Home. On three occasions I have seen him lifted to the ceiling of the room. On the first occasion he was seated in a chair, the second time he was kneeling on a chair, and the third experiment he stood on the chair. In all these instances I had every facility for examining the phenomena at the moment they occurred.

“Over a hundred instances where Mr. Home was raised from the floor in the presence of numerous witnesses have been published, and I have had the oral testimony of at least three witnesses to these exhibitions, i.e., Count Dunraven, Lord Lindsay, and Captain Wynne.

“To reject the numerous depositions presented on this subject would be to reject all human testimony on any other subject; for there are no facts in history, be they sacred or profane, that are supported on such a solid basis of proof.

“The number of witnesses who will testify to the levitations of Mr. Home is overwhelming. It is to be greatly desired that persons whose testimony would be accepted as conclusive by the scientific world would seriously examine with patience these facts.

“The majority of ocular witnesses of these phenomena are still living, and will most assuredly bear witness; but in a few years it will be difficult, if not impossible, to obtain such direct evidence as in the case of Home.” (Crookes.)

It is to this class of phenomena that the case of Francois Fontaine belongs, the authenticated facts of which, officially recorded and witnessed, are matters of history; her levitations in the prison at Louviers cannot be doubted.

The cataleptic symptoms accompanying the ascentional movements of this woman bear witness as to the special neuropathic condition in which she was found—a condition to-day in which most mediums develop psychic force, either spontaneously or following hypnotic maneuvers.

One of the benefits to future science will be the explanation given to these phenomena now considered supernatural; things that our learned Academicians refuse to believe in, although not investigating, insisting that such phenomena are hallucinations, the mere assertions of writers and those who witness them; while these so-called savants, who laugh spiritualism to scorn, claiming it a fraud and imposture, are themselves afraid to be convinced by scientific experimentation.[85]

Class VII.—Movement of small objects without personal contact.

“Under this title I propose to describe certain particular phenomena of which I have been a witness.

“I shall content myself to here allude to some facts all the more surprising, since those who have witnessed them did so under circumstances that rendered all deception impossible; it would be foolish to attribute these results to fraud, for the phenomena were not observed in the house of a medium, but in my own home, where any previous preparation was out of the question.

“A medium was taken to my dressing room and seated in a certain portion of the chamber under the watchful eyes of a number of attentive witnesses, and played an accordion I held in my own hand with the keys upside down; this same accordion then floated in the air, playing as it remained suspended.

“This medium could not secretly introduce to my home a machine strong enough to rattle my windows and remove Venetian blinds to the distance of eight feet; to tie knots in my handkerchief and carry it to a far-off corner of a large room; to play notes on a piano at a distance; to make a plate float around the room; to raise a water carafe from a table; to make a coral necklace stand up on one of its limber extremities; to put a fan in the usual society motions; or to start the pendulum of a clock when the time piece was sealed in glass and screwed tightly to the wall.” (Crookes.)

These same phenomena are produced by Fakirs. A certain number of fig or other leaves are perforated by bamboo sticks stuck in the ground. The charmer extends his hands, the leaves move up along the long sticks on which they are strung.

Another experiment: a vase is filled with water and spontaneously moves over a table, leans, oscillates, is raised a perceptible height, without a drop of water being spilled.

Musical instruments render sounds, play melodious airs, under the eyes of the investigator, at some distance from the Fakir and without the latter making any apparent movement. Dr. Gibier cites these phenomena, witnessed by persons entitled to every confidence.

During seances at the home of my friend Dr. Fuel, with Madam L. B., we have witnessed similar phenomena. Several times my confrere and I have seen damask curtains at his office windows shake and open; have heard the sound of a small trumpet placed in the center of a table, in the dark, it is true, but we were holding each other’s hands in the circle and used all possible precautions not to be duped or humbugged.

Class VIII.—Luminous apparitions.

“These manifestations are weak and generally require a darkened room. I wish to recall to my readers the fact that on these occasions I have taken all the necessary precautions to avoid being deceived by light due to luminous oils (of which phosphorous might form the basis) or other means. Besides, I have endeavored in vain to imitate these lights artificially.

“I have seen under experimental conditions of the most severe sort, a solid body having its own light about the size of a goose egg float around the room without noise at a height not to be touched even by standing on ones toes, afterwards softly descend to the floor.

“This luminous globe remained visible for more than ten minutes before disappearing; it struck the table on three occasions, making the noise produced by any hard and solid body of the same size.

“During this time, the medium was seated in an arm chair, in an apparent condition of insensibility.

“I have seen luminous sparks disport themselves above the heads of various persons.

“I have obtained response to questions by means of flashes of light, any number of times in front of my own face.

“I have seen sparks of light rise from the table and to the ceiling and fall back on the table with a distinct noise of solidity.

“I have obtained, alphabetically, a communication, by means of flashes of light, produced in mid air, before my eyes, while my hand moved around in the rays of the communicating light; I have seen a luminous cloud float up and rest on a picture.

“On several occasions, under similar conditions of severe control, a body solid in appearance but crystalline, having a light of its own, has been placed in my hand by a hand not belonging to any person present in the room. In the full glare of light, I have seen a luminous body fly to the top of a heliotrope placed on top of a console, break off a small branch of the plant and carry it to the hand of a lady present.

“I have sometimes seen similar luminous clouds visibly condense, assume the form of a hand, and carry small articles to people, but these phenomena properly belong to another class of manifestations.” (Crookes).

The only phenomena of this nature that I have noticed were produced under the following circumstances: One evening, after commencing some experiments with Madam L. B., in the parlor of Dr. Puel, we were obliged to cut the seance short owing to a convulsive hysterical attack that overcame the medium—an attack which lasted more than an hour and which was only stopped by the application of metallic plates to the thorax. Having regained consciousness, the lady, with her husband and Dr. Puel, retired to the latter’s consultation office, where I was summoned a few moments later by my confrere. Madam L. B. was standing, supported by my two friends,[86] while from her chest arose phosphorescent vapors, which grew more dense and thick as the lights in the room were turned down. These phenomena lasted more than a quarter of an hour, during which Madam L. B. uttered long and painful groans. These vapors had the odor of phosphorus, and seemed to rise from the epigastric region.

I was called some months later to attend to Madam L. B., whom I found in a condition of profound anæmia and mental prostration, reminding me of the seance; I prescribed granules of phosphoric acid for her with excellent results.

Class IX.—Apparition of hands, either luminous or visible under ordinary light.

“One finds himself frequently touched by hands, or something having the form of hands, during dark seances, or under circumstances which do not permit us to see these forms; but I have seen these hands.

“I shall not speak here of instances in which the phenomenon occurred in obscurity, but will simply choose some of the numerous instances in which I have seen the hands in the light.

“A small hand, of charming shape, has risen from the table and extended me a flower; this hand appeared and disappeared three times at intervals and gave me every opportunity to convince myself that it was, in appearance, as real as my own. This occurred in a full light, in my own room, while I held the hands and feet of the medium.

“On another occasion, a small hand and arm, similar to those of a child, appeared to play around a lady seated near me; this arm floated to my side, struck my arm lightly and pulled my coat several times.

“Another time, I saw an arm and hand tear the petals from a flower placed in Mr. Home’s boutonniere and hold the same before the faces of parties sitting near him.

“On this occasion, and with other witnesses, who saw the same manifestations, a hand touched the keys of an accordeon and played the instrument, while the medium’s hands were visible meantime, and even held at times by persons seated near him.

“The hands and fingers have always appeared solid and like those of any living person; at times, however, they appeared nebular, condensations in the form of hands.

“These phenomena were not visible to the same extent to all the persons present. For example, one person would see a flower or other small object; another person would see a small cloud of luminosity fly over the flower; another, still, would notice a nebulous hand; while others, again, would simply see the movement of the flower.

“I have seen, on several occasions, an object move with the appearance of a luminous cloud and perfectly condense into the form of a hand; under such circumstances the hand is visible to all persons present.

“It is not always a simple form, for often the hand perfectly resembles that of a living person, and has every element of grace; the fingers move; the flesh presents a human appearance, the same as though that of a living person; at the wrist or arm this form may become nebulous, and end in a luminous cloud of vapor.

“To the touch the hand appears cold, icy as in death at times; while on other occasions it feels warm and living, clasping my hand like that of an old friend would.

“I have retained one of these hands in mine, firmly resolved not to let it escape; it made no resistance nor effort to disengage itself, but appeared to gradually resolve itself into vapor.” (Crookes).

I have heard many persons affirm that they perceived hands that touched them in full light. I never had this experience, but I can testify that during eight or ten sittings I and five or six persons who assisted me felt these hands perfectly; and among these hands were those belonging to a small child, and certainly no small child was in the house; these baby hands were soothing and caressing. Our medium was still Madam L. B., who, during the seance, was held down tightly on a sofa by Madam P., whose scrupulous attention may be relied on where science is at stake, for all our experimentations of this sort were in the dark. Several times the small baby hands were put in my sleeve, and seemed to take pleasure in pulling off my cuffs and taking them to other persons in the room. My eyeglass was also taken by the infantile fingers and carried to one of the circle.[87]

Class X.—Direct writing.

This is the expression we employ to designate a writing not produced by any person present, and Mr. Crookes gives the following description of this phenomenon:

“I have often received words and messages written on paper (on which I had made private marks) under the most severe conditions of control; and I have heard, in the dark, the noise of the pencil moving across the paper. The precautions previously taken by me were so strict that my mind is perfectly convinced, as if the characters of the writing were formed under my own eyes.

“But, as space will not permit me to enter into complete details, I shall simply choose two cases in which my eyes as well as my ears were witnesses of the operation.

“The first case I shall cite took place, it is true, in dark seance, but the result was none the less satisfactory.

“I was seated near the medium, Miss Fox, and there were only two persons present, my wife and a relative of ours; I held both hands of the medium in one of mine, while her feet were on top of my own. There was paper before us on the table and my hand held the pencil.

“A luminous hand descended from above, and, after hovering near me for a few seconds, took the pencil from my hand, writing rapidly on the paper, threw the pencil over our heads and gradually faded in obscurity.

“The second case may be considered and registered as a discovery. A good discovery is often more convincing than the most successful experiment.

“This occurred in the light of my own room, in the presence of Mr. Home and a few friends. Different circumstances, unnecessary to enumerate here, had shown that evening that the psychic power was very strong. I expressed the desire of witnessing the production of a real written message, similar to that I had one of my friends mention a short time before. At the instant this wish was uttered an alphabetical communication was given which read, ‘We will try.’

“A pencil and some sheets of paper were placed on the center of the table. Soon the pencil stood on its point and advanced, by jerks, then fell over. It raised itself again and fell over; it tried a third time but with no better result.

“After three fruitless attempts, a small piece of wood which laid near on the table slid towards the pencil and raised itself some inches above the table. The pencil now raised itself anew, supporting itself against the wood, and the two made an effort to write on the paper; this did not succeed and a new trial was made. On the third attempt the wooden lath abandoned its efforts and fell back to its old position on the table; the pencil remained in the position where it fell on the paper, and an alphabetical message said to us, “We have tried to do what you have asked, but our power is exhausted.” (Crookes.)

In India, the Fakirs easily obtain direct writing; they spread fine sand on a table or other smooth surface and place on this sand a small pointed stick made of wood. At a given moment this stick rises and traces characters on the sand, which are responses to questions put by the lookers on.[88]

In the experiments made with our friend Dr. Puel, we obtained writing on over twenty slates. A bit of chalk was placed on a new slate and this slate was placed on a table at some distance from the medium, Madam L. B., the experiments being made with all the cautions possible. A previous examination of both surfaces of the slate put away all doubts as to any fraud in that respect. I, meantime, held the hands of Madame L. B., the medium, who was always in a hypnotic condition during such experiments, at which several persons usually assisted—persons who were known to be capable of observing and recording facts with coolness and deliberation.

All these communications have a signature, and many of them date 1900 as the epoch when modern spiritualism shall be scientifically recognized by the world.

Dr. Gibier, who made interesting experiments with Mr. Slade, like us, obtained spontaneous writing on many slates, of which he gives reproductions in his remarkable work, a book that he had the courage to write and to which his celebrated name is affixed.[89]

We do not find in any Middle Age documents such spontaneously written communications; at least Demonographers do not mention them in their writings, for if they had it would have been a most striking proof of the analogy of magic with modern spiritualism and Indian Fakirism, which serves as an intermediary in the history of Occultism.

Class XI.—Forms and figures of phantoms.

“These phenomena are rarely ever witnessed. The conditions required for their appearance seeming so delicate, and so little prevents their production, that it is only on very few occasions that I have witnessed satisfactory results. I will cite two cases:

“At twilight, in a seance by Mr. Home, given at a private house, the blinds of a window, back of the medium about eight feet, were seen to move, then all the persons sitting near the window perceived a shadowy form that grew darker and then semi-transparent, like that of a man trying the shutters with his hand. While we gazed at this object in the twilight it evanesced and the window shutters ceased to move.

“The following example is still more striking. As in the preceding case Mr. Home was the medium. A phantom form came from the corner of the room, took an accordeon in its hand, and glided around the room playing the instrument beautifully. This phantom was visible to all those present for the space of several minutes, Mr. Home being perfectly visible at the same time. Then this shade approached a lady in the room, when the frightened woman uttered a scream and the phantom vanished.” (Crookes.)

We regret that space will not permit our giving the experiments made on Miss Cook and Katie King, spectres which became so tangible that they were photographed.

This History given by Crookes regarding spiritual photography is well nigh incredible, but Dr. Crookes has remarked concerning doubters and his personal experiments, “I do not say that it is possible, I say that it is.”

These apparitions of forms and figures of phantoms were more common to the Middle Ages than at the present day, if we are to believe the numerous cases cited by Pierre Le Loyer.[90]

This celebrated author in fact, will not admit that there is any doubt on this subject; a matter he has thoroughly studied, for he says in this preface of his work—“Aussi est traicte des extases et rauissements: de l’essence, nature et origine des Ames, et de leur estat apres le deces de leurs corps; plus des Magiciens et Sorciers, de leur communication avec les malins esprits; ensemble des remedes pour se preseruer des illusions et impostures diaboliques.”

In analyzing passages from this curious document, we will immediately see the correlation that exists between what was called in other times sorcery or magic, and spiritualism. In speaking of these spectres which form in the air, and under our eyes, Pierre Le Loyer writes: “We know them by the coldness of their touch and their bodies, which are soft, their hands receding from ours like soft cotton when pressed, or a snow-ball squeezed in a child’s hand. They tarry no longer than it pleases them, returning again into their element.”

Further along, Le Loyer adds: “A bad spirit questioned by a sorcerer why his body was not warm, responded that it was not in his power to give it heat.”

But, meantime, he attributed these apparitions to evil spirits and demons; finally, our author seeks to explain “what is this body seen and touched of these demons, so to speak, of the air, water and earth?”

“These devils appear indifferently to all persons; they themselves affect the society of certain, individuals some much more than others.”

“To these sorcerers and witches (mediums), they ordinarily show themselves in a visible form, and will come to those who call them.”

“As to persons subject to these sort of things, they are usually those young and tender of age, cold and imperfectly organized beings; by such we can speak with power; old men and eunuchs, and withal melancholy persons.”

“All those these devils dominate over, are estranged from their natural, beings, and not infrequently become maniacs.”

Our author in his chapter on the essence of souls, affirms, that “that the ancient oracles were only the Oracles of the souls of men,” and to be specific, he gives a long list of names. He remarks, “there were in Greece, temples known to be psychomantic, and in such places were received responses from the souls of different men. It was for this reason too, that the souls for the same reason watched over the places where the bodies of generous and noble barons had been burned.”

Further along Le Loyer mentions the origin of the power that the spirits possess of manifesting themselves to us, but our author disagrees with the modern theories that makes them derive their power from the medium, for he remarks that the spirits can act “through their own powers,” and are governed only by their own intelligence. “They are not off so far,” adds he, “and the distance between us and the spirits is so slight that we may easily communicate;” however, he says, meantime: “They are commanded by God and conform to his will.”

Finally, he considers man as an inferior being to the spirits of the dead—in fact, he states: “The soul appears to derive nothing from another, and, as an invisible spirit, it acts with us as a passive agent, being too proud to control that which is inferior; and I deny,” says he, “that the true souls of the dead obey either charms or magical words.”

Of the future of the soul after death he remarks to one of his opponents, whose opinions he refuted, that “this soul, whatever it may be, in a state of health or not purged, comes by degrees and not at one bound into the full fruition and happiness of God;” and these degrees, according to Le Loyer, are like prisons where the penalties for misdeeds done in the flesh are to be satisfied. He admits, however, that some spirits make more rapid progress than others. These, to his mind, are the judgments of God after death, and the fire mentioned in Scriptures. Such is the manner in which he explains away the ideas of the images of Paradise and Hell, the promises to the virtuous and the wicked. He cites (apropos of manifestations before courts of justice) houses “where spirits have appeared and made all manner of noises, that disturbed the tenants at night.” He speaks of Daniel and Nicholas Macquereau, who rented a house for a term of years. “They had been living there but a short time when they heard the noises and hubbub made by invisible spirits, who allowed them neither sleep nor repose.” The court cancelled the lease, thus admitting that there were places haunted by spirits.”[91]

Class XII.—Particular examples which seem to indicate the intervention of a superior intelligence.

“It has already been demonstrated that these phenomena are governed by an Intelligence; an important question is to know what is the source of this Intelligence.

“Is this the Intelligence of the medium or some one else present in the room? Or is this Intelligence exterior? I do not wish to commit myself on this point at present in a positive manner. I will say that I have observed several circumstances which appeared to demonstrate that the will and the intelligence of the medium have a great influence on the phenomena. I have likewise observed others which seemed to prove in a conclusive manner the intervention of an intelligence entirely independent of all persons found in the room where the seance was given.

“Space will not permit me to give here all the arguments that might serve to prove these propositions, but I will briefly mention one or two circumstances chosen from among a number of others. I have several times seen phenomena take place simultaneously, some of them being unknown to the medium. I have seen Miss Fox write automatically a message for a person present, while a message for another person was given alphabetically by means of raps, and during all the time of these manifestations she conversed on a subject entirely different from the two others.

“The following case is, perhaps, still more astonishing. During a seance with Mr. Home, a small wooden lath, that I have previously mentioned, came across the table to me, in full light, and gave me a message by striking lightly on my hand; I repeated the alphabet and the lath struck me at the proper letters; the other end of this wooden stick was some distance off from the hands of Mr. Home.

“The blows were so distinct and clear, the wooden lath was so evidently under the invisible power that governed its movements, that I said: ‘Can the intelligence that governs the movements of this lath change the character of the movement and give me a telegraphic message by means of the Morse alphabet, by blows struck on my hand?’

“I had every reason for thinking that the Morse alphabet was entirely unknown to all the other persons present, and I knew it only imperfectly myself.

“Immediately after I had said this the character of the raps changed and the message was continued in the manner I demanded. The letters were given too rapidly for me to catch but a word now and then, consequently I lost the message; but I had heard sufficient to convince me that there was a good Morse operator at the other extremity of the line, no matter what place it might be in.

“Another example: A lady wrote automatically by the aid of Planchette. I sought to discover the means to prove what she wrote was not due to unconscious cerebration. Planchette, as it always does, affirmed that, although the movements were made by the hands and arms of the operator, there was an intelligence coming from an invisible being, who played on her brain like an instrument of music and thus put her muscles in motion.

“I then remarked to this Intelligence, ‘Can you see what is contained in this chamber?’ And Planchette answered, ‘Yes.’ ‘Can you read this journal?‘ said I, placing my finger on a copy of the London Times that happened to be back of me on a table, but which I could not see. ‘Yes’ responded Planchette. ‘Very well,’ said I, ‘write the word now covered by my finger.’ Planchette commenced to move and the word ‘however’ was slowly written. I turned around and saw that the word ‘however’ was covered by the end of my finger. I had not looked at the paper when I attempted this experiment, and it was impossible for the lady, had she tried, to see any word in the journal, as she was seated at a table and the London Times lay on a table back of me with my body interposed.” (Crookes.)

In the experiments in typtology at which I have assisted, to all the demands addressed to psychic force the responses have always presented a particular character independent of that of the assistants.[92]

I have sometimes tried to concentrate my will upon the answer awaited, and have always failed in my attempts at mental pressure.

1 have likewise determined that these answers cannot be dictated by the mind of the medium, whose scientific and literary knowledge were not always equal to the message received. This observation coincides with the facts observed among pretended Demonomaniacs, who had in their attacks the gift of language, responding in Latin to the exorcists, making entire discourses in this language, of which they knew not the first elements.

Under the name of phenomena of ecstasy, Dr. Gibier described, after his experiments with the medium Slade, his displacement by a stronger spirit to that of his usual control. Says Gibier, the phenomena produced from thence were “a certain discoloration of the medium’s face, which became red, a sort of grin contracting the muscles of the visage, the eyes were convulsed upwards, and after some nystagmatic movements of the ball of the eye the eyelids closed tightly, gritting of the medium’s teeth was heard, and a convulsive sign, indicating the commencement of his possession by a strange spirit. After this short phase, which was painful to behold, the medium’s face fell into a smile and the voice, as well as the attitude, was completely modified to that of a different person. Slade thus transformed to his regular control, saluted all our party most graciously.”

Among the experiments made by Dr. Gibier to control this condition of incarnation (the English call it trance), we might cite that of a comparison of the dynamometric force of the medium in his natural condition and the trance state. In the first case, by reason of two previous attacks of hemiplegia, Slade’s muscular force gave 27 kilos to the right and 35 kilos to the left. In the second state there were 63 kilos to the right and 50 kilos to the left. Meantime, Dr. Gibier, no more than ourselves, deems it proper to consider the trance state other than a hypothesis, “a foreign element, introduced in the scene, and like it present in the experiences of suggestion and catalepsy.”

If we cannot give a scientific explanation of these phenomena, it is our duty to examine them as others and retrace their history, especially seeking those points of coincidence with the proofs furnished by the history of demonomania and diabolic possession of the Middle Ages; for we are convinced that these phenomena were dominated by the same unknown force, interpreted differently by reason of the philosophic and religious ideas of the epoch at which they were studied.

Class XIII.—Varied cases of a complex character.

Under this title Mr. Crookes cites facts that cannot be classed otherwise by reason of their complex character. As an example, he reports two cases: one being an experiment in typtology between himself, Miss Fox, and another lady. He proved that a bell that belonged in his business office was brought to the table, as a proof announced by the intellectual force, that communicated with him, of its strength. The chamber in which this was done was separated from the office by a door which he previously securely locked with a key, and he was absolutely positive that the bell in question was in his office.

“The second case I desire to report,” says Mr. Crookes, “took place one Saturday night under a full glare of light, Mr. Home and my family being the only persons present.

“My wife and I, having passed the day in the country, had brought home flowers with us that I had gathered; on arriving at home we had given them to a servant to put in water. Mr. Home came shortly after and we went into the dining room. At the instant we seated ourselves, the domestic brought the flowers, arranged in a vase; I placed them in the center of the table, which was not covered by a cloth. It was the first time Mr. Home had seen these flowers.

“Immediately a message came, given by the rap alphabet, which said, ‘It is impossible for matter to pass through matter, but we will show you that we can do it.’ We waited in silence, and soon a luminous apparition was seen floating over the bouquet of flowers, and then, in full view of all my family at the table, a branch of China grass, fifteen inches in length, which ornamented the middle of the bouquet, slowly rose from the bunch of flowers, descended from the vase and moved across the table, and my wife saw a hand stretched out from under the table and seize the flower; at the same moment she was struck three times on the left shoulder and the noise made by the slaps was so loud we all heard it; then the luminous hand dropped the China grass to the floor and disappeared. Only two persons of my family saw the hand, but every one at the table noticed the different movements of the plant stalk, as I have before described them.

“During the time that this phenomena lasted we all saw Mr. Home’s hands on the table, where they rested motionless, and they were at least eighteen inches from where the plant stalk disappeared.

“It was a dining-room table that opened in folds, it did not lengthen,” etc.

As a contribution to the facts mentioned in this class, I may report the famous experiments with the bracelet made by Dr. Puel—experiments that I have witnessed a dozen times at least—as well as numerous other persons. A bracelet made of brass, without opening or solder, cut by a machine out of a solid piece of metal, was placed on the forearm of Madame L. B. The lady’s hands rested flat on the table, or were held in the hands of those experimenting. At a given moment, often in the middle of a conversation, Madame L. B. uttered a piercing cry and at the same instant the bracelet would fall on the floor, or on some piece of furniture, with great force. Several times, under the same circumstances,—that is to say, when the lady’s hands were firmly pressed down on the table by those experimenting,—I have seen the bracelet pass from one arm to the other.

So, in opposition to all laws of physics, it appears that matter can pass through matter; I affirm the reality of this, and others, who are no more victims to hallucination than I, can also testify to the truth of this statement. And no matter what may be the consequences to my professional reputation, and utterly without regard for anything that may be said by critics, I boldly maintain, as if under oath, that my senses lead me to this imposed conviction. Besides, I am far from being alone in believing what I have seen, whether or no it be “in harmony with our acquired knowledge;” to the names of French, English and German savants I have cited, there are experimenters in all countries who have the courage to believe the evidence offered by their own senses, as witness that celebrated English geologist, who, after ten years of investigation with the phenomena under control, declared spiritualism to be true, drawing from his experiments the following conclusions: “Who shall determine the limits of the possible, limits that science and observation accumulate each day? Let us examine, let us doubt, but not be so daring as to deny the possibility of such occurrences” (Barkas).

If now we have established the balance-sheet of facts attributed to the Demonomania of the Middle Ages, and compared them to the experiences of experimental psychology, we are not only led to recognize a striking analogy between them, but also to interpret them by the hypothesis of an intelligent force of an intensity proportionate to certain nervous pathological conditions. It is necessary to remember, in fact, that, according to the Ritual of the Roman Catholic Church, the phenomena necessary to recognize possession among Demonomaniacs were:

1. The faculty of knowing thoughts, even though they are not expressed.

2. Intelligence in unknown languages.

3. The faculty of speaking foreign tongues which are unknown to the party speaking them.

4. A knowledge of future events.

5. A knowledge of what is transpiring in far-off places.

6. Development of superior psychal force.

7. Suspension of persons or bodies in the air for a considerable space of time.

No less interesting is it than to compare these phenomena to those observed by the thirty-three members of the commission appointed by the “Dialectic Society of London.” The following was this committee’s report, after eighteen months’ investigation:

1. Noises of varied nature, apparently arising from the furniture, floor or walls of the room, accompanied by vibrations which are often perceptible to the touch, are present without being produced by muscular action or any mechanical means whatever.

2. Movements of heavy bodies occur without the aid of mechanical apparatus of any sort, and without equivalent development of muscular force on the part of persons present, and even frequently without contact or connection with any one.

3. These noises and movements are produced often at the moment wished for and in the manner demanded by persons present, and, by means of a simple code of sounds, respond to questions and write coherent communications.

4. The response and communications obtained are, for the most part, hackneyed and commonplace, but sometimes they give facts and information only known to one person in the room.

5. The circumstances under which the phenomena are present vary, the most striking feature being that the presence of certain persons seems necessary to their production, and that the presence of some people serves as a check; but this difference does not seem to depend on the belief or the unbelief of those present as to the nature of the phenomena.

The testimony, oral and written, received by the commission affirmed the reality of phenomena much more extraordinary still, such as heavy bodies rising in the air (men in certain cases floated through the atmosphere) and remaining in suspension without tangible support; apparitions of hands and forms belonging to no human beings, but seemingly alive, judging by their aspect and motions.

This report was signed by savants of the first order, as sceptical before commencing their investigations as the most positive Materialists of our academies of science. Let us cite, among the celebrated names of men known throughout the world for their learning and scientific veracity, those of the great naturalist and collaborateur of Darwin, Russell Wallace, Professor A. Morgan, President of the Mathematical Society of London and Secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society; F. Varley, Chief Engineer of the Trans-Atlantic Telegraph Company and member of the Royal Society of London.

Mr. Morgan does not fear to add to the report the following lines: “I am perfectly convinced, from what I have seen and heard, in a manner that renders doubt impossible, that Spiritualists, without doubt, are upon a track that will lead to the advancement of the psychal sciences; their opponents are those who seek to trammel all progress.”

Mr. Varley writes to the celebrated Professor Tyndall: “I am obliged to investigate the nature of the force that produces these phenomena, but, up to the present time, I have been unable to discover anything save the source from which this psychic force emanates, i.e., from the vital systems of the mediums. I am only studying, however, a thing that has been the object of investigation for two thousand years; brave men, whose minds are elevated above the narrow prejudices of our century, seem to have sounded the depths of the subject in question,” etc.

This opinion of the learned English physicist proves, once more, that we are right in connecting Demonomania to the magic of antiquity and to modern spiritualism. One must be perfectly blind or of poor judgment not to see the connecting links that unite these various phenomena. And if our men of science dare no longer say that these facts are worthy of credit, although refusing to investigate the same, it is because they lack courage, it is because they dare not brave the criticism of pretended strong-minded men and the jests of the ignorant. If the vulgum pecus, the amorphous matter that stuffs the superior element of society, contest the value of the works of Crookes, Wallace, Morgan, Varley, Gibier, Zoellner, Mapes, Hare, Oxon, Sexton, and others, they can only be included in the same class of people who ridiculed Galileo, Harvey, Jenner, Franklin, Young, Davy, Jussieu, Papin, Stephenson, and Galvani, with all the authors of great discoveries and scientific truths, who have invariably been combatted by the pseudo-scientific and half-fledged goslings whose names adorn our so-called colleges and other mutual admiration societies.[93]

Why, then, longer refuse to study a force recognized by some of the most eminent men among modern civilized nations and by the modest pioneers who first studied these phenomena in France? If the number of experimenters named be not sufficient to convince sceptics, let them enter into a full study of present-day psychology, and find a host of the greatest modern neurologists.

Nine years of study has led Mr. Oxon, Professor at the University of Oxford, to formulate the following propositions on Psychic Force, which corroborate the results obtained by his colleagues in England, Germany, and America, and which still constitute another proof of the identity of the phenomena:

“1. A force exists which acts by means of a special type of human organization, a force that we call psychic force.

“2. It is demonstrated that this force is, in certain cases, governed by an intelligence.

“3. It is proved that this intelligence is often other than that of the person or persons through whose influence it acts.

“4. This Force, thus governed by an exterior intelligence, at times manifests its action, independent of other methods, by writing coherent phrases, without the intervention of any known mode of writing.

“5. The evidence of the existence of this force governed by an intelligence rests on

“(a) The evidence observed through the senses.

“(b) The fact that the force often uses a language unknown to the medium.

“(c) The fact that the subject matter treated is very frequently superior to the medium’s knowledge or education.

“(d) The fact that it has been found impossible to produce the same results by fraud under the conditions in which these phenomena are obtained.

“(e) The fact that these special phenomena are not only produced in public and by paid mediums, but likewise in a family circle where no strangers are admitted.”

Without writing to prejudice the question, I believe, in my turn, that I can solemnly affirm that this force has intimate connection with the soul, the mind or the ministerial part of our being, as it is called; that it acts on our ideas as well as on our physiological functions, and it is to my mind the destiny of humanity to investigate its essence and study its phenomena, its manifestations and all its sensible effects by all our senses and means of investigation.

It is high time that secular boasting of the materialistic scientists be checked, and that they should recognize the fact that force does not arise from matter alone but exists independent of it and primarily submits to its laws.

Starting, then, with the proposition that an unknown force exists, to whose influence we unconsciously submit, science should investigate this force, isolate, and control it, if it be in our power so to do.

Instead of opposing an ignorant skepticism to modern discoveries in psychic force, our learned Academicians should investigate the acquired facts for inspiration in future work, remembering that good thought of Laplace: “We are so far from knowing all the agents of Nature and their different modes of action, that it is not philosophical to deny the existence of phenomena simply because they cannot be explained in the actual condition of our present knowledge.”[94]

Such are the conclusions I believe I have a right to draw from my historical studies on the Demonomania of the Middle Ages. Let me briefly recapitulate my personal views on the subject:

1. There exists a psychic force, intelligent, inherent to humanity, manifesting itself, under determined conditions, by various phenomena, with an intensity more or less great.

2. Certain human beings, known as mediums, who are very sensitive to the action of magnetism, facilitate the production of these phenomena, considered as supernatural in the actual state of our present scientific knowledge, and in apparent contradiction with all known physical and physiological laws.

3. In certain nervous conditions, natural or provoked, this Force can possess the human organism and bring about, temporarily, either a change in one’s personality or an alteration in one’s sensations and in the intellectual and moral faculties.