OF MEDIUMS.

Mediums of physical effects.

— 2. Electric persons.

— 3. Sensitive or impressionable mediums.

— 4. Hearing mediums.

— 5. Speaking mediums.

— 6. Seeing mediums.

— 7. Somnambulistic mediums.

— 8. Healing mediums.

— 8. Pneumatographic mediums.

Everyone who feels, in any degree, the influence of the Spirits is, by that very fact, a medium.

This faculty is inherent in man; it does not, therefore, constitute an exclusive privilege. For this very reason, few are the persons who do not possess some rudiments of it.

It may, then, be said that all are, more or less, mediums. Nevertheless, customarily, only those are so qualified in whom the mediumistic faculty shows itself well characterized and is translated into evident effects, of a certain intensity, which then depends on a more or less sensitive organization.

It is moreover to be noted that this faculty does not reveal itself, in the same manner, in all. Generally, mediums have a special aptitude for the phenomena of this or that order, whence it results that they form as many varieties as there are kinds of manifestations.

The principal ones are: that of mediums of physical effects; that of sensitive, or impressionable, mediums; that of hearing mediums; that of seeing mediums; that of somnambulistic mediums; that of healing mediums; that of pneumatographic mediums; that of writing mediums, or psychographic mediums.

Mediums of physical effects.

Mediums of physical effects are particularly apt to produce material phenomena, such as the movements of inert bodies, or noises, etc.

They may be divided into facultative mediums and involuntary mediums. (See the 2nd part, chapters II and IV.)

Facultative mediums are those who are conscious of their power and who produce spiritist phenomena by an act of their own will.

Although inherent in the human species, as we have already said, such a faculty is far from existing in all to the same degree. But, if there are few persons in whom it is absolutely null, rarer still are those capable of producing the great effects such as the suspension of heavy bodies, aerial translation and, above all, apparitions.

The simplest effects are the rotation of an object, raps produced by the lifting of that object, or within its own substance.

Although we do not attach capital importance to these phenomena, we recommend, nonetheless, that they not be disdained. They can afford occasion for interesting observations and contribute to the conviction of those who observe them.

It must, however, be considered that the faculty of producing material effects rarely exists in those who possess more perfect means of communication, such as writing and speech. In general, the faculty diminishes in one direction to the extent that it develops in another.

— Involuntary or natural mediums are those whose influence is exercised against their will.

They have no consciousness of the power they possess and, very often, what abnormal thing happens around them does not appear to them in any way extraordinary.

It is part of them, exactly as happens with persons who, without suspecting it, are endowed with second sight.

These individuals are very worthy of observation and no one should neglect to gather and study facts of this kind that come to his knowledge.

They manifest themselves at all ages and, frequently, in children still very young. (See above, chapter V, on Spontaneous physical manifestations.)

Such a faculty does not constitute, in itself, an indication of a pathological state, since it is not incompatible with perfect health.

If he who possesses it suffers, that suffering is due to an extraneous cause, whence it follows that therapeutic means are powerless to make it disappear. In some cases, it may be consequent upon a certain organic weakness, but it is never an efficient cause. It would not, then, be reasonable to draw from it a motive for disquiet, from the hygienic point of view.

It could only bring inconvenience if he who possesses it abused it, after having become a facultative medium, because then there would occur in him too abundant an emission of vital fluid and, consequently, a weakening of the organs.

Reason revolts at the recollection of the moral and bodily tortures to which science has at times subjected weak and delicate creatures, in order to assure itself of the existence of fraud on their part.

Such experiments, often made maliciously, are always harmful to sensitive organizations, and may even give rise to grave disorders in the organic economy [read: in the organism]. To make such experiments is to play with life.

The observer of good faith need not resort to such means. He who is familiar with phenomena of this kind knows, moreover, that they are more of a moral order than of a physical order and that it will be useless to seek a solution for them in our exact sciences.

For this very reason that such phenomena are more of a moral order, one must avoid with scrupulous care everything that may overexcite the imagination.

It is known what accidents fear can occasion, and far fewer imprudences would be committed if all the cases of madness and epilepsy were known whose origin is found in tales of werewolves and bogeymen.

What will it not be, if the persuasion becomes general that the agent of the aforesaid phenomena is the devil? Those who spread such ideas do not know the responsibility they assume: they can kill.

Now, the danger exists not only for the patient, but also for those who surround him, who may become terrified, on thinking that the house where they live has become a den of demons.

This baleful belief is what was the cause of so many acts of atrocity in times of ignorance. Yet, had there been a little more discernment, it would have occurred to those who practiced them that they did not burn the devil by burning the body they supposed possessed by the devil. Since it was the devil they wished to be rid of, it was the devil they needed to kill.

By enlightening us on the true cause of all these phenomena, the Spiritist Doctrine deals it the coup de grace. Far, then, from contributing to the formation of such an idea, all should—and this is a duty of morality and of humanity—combat it wherever it exists.

What is to be done, when a faculty of this nature develops spontaneously in an individual, is to let the phenomenon follow its natural course: Nature is more prudent than men.

Add to this that Providence has its designs and the smallest of creatures may serve as instrument for the greatest of them.

But, it must be admitted, the phenomenon at times assumes proportions wearisome and troublesome for everyone. n Here, then, is what in all cases it is important to do.

In chapter V on Spontaneous physical manifestations, we have already given some counsels in this respect, saying that it is necessary to enter into communication with the Spirit, in order to know from it what it wants. The following means is likewise founded on observation.

The invisible beings, who reveal their presence by sensible effects, are, in general, Spirits of an inferior order and who can be dominated by moral ascendancy. The acquisition of this ascendancy is what should be sought. (See no. 251, 254, 279.)

To attain it, it is necessary that the individual pass from the state of natural medium to that of voluntary medium.

There is then produced an effect analogous to that observed in somnambulism. As is known, natural somnambulism generally ceases, when replaced by magnetic somnambulism.

The faculty that the soul has, of emancipating itself, is not suppressed; another direction is given to it. The same happens with the mediumistic faculty.

For this, instead of placing obstacles in the way of the phenomenon, a thing which is rarely achieved and which is not always without danger, what one has to do is to urge the medium to produce them at his will, imposing himself upon the Spirit.

By this means, the medium comes to overcome it and, from a dominator sometimes tyrannical, makes a submissive being and, not rarely, a docile one.

A fact worthy of note and which experience confirms is that, in such a case, a child has as much and, at times, more authority than an adult: one more proof in favor of this capital point of the Doctrine, that the Spirit is a child only by the body; that it has by itself a development necessarily anterior to its present incarnation, a development which can give it ascendancy over Spirits inferior to it.

The moralization of a Spirit, by the counsels of a third person, influential and experienced, the medium not being in a state to do it, frequently constitutes a very efficacious means. Later we shall return to deal with it.

[Electric persons.]

In this category it would seem, at first sight, that there should be included persons endowed with a certain dose of natural electricity, true human dynamos, n producing, by simple contact, all the effects of attraction and repulsion. It would be wrong, however, to consider them mediums, since true mediumship supposes the direct intervention of a Spirit. Now, in the case of which we speak, conclusive experiments have proved that electricity is the sole agent of these phenomena.

This strange faculty, which one could almost consider an infirmity, may at times be allied to mediumship, as is easy to verify in the history of the rapping Spirit of Bergzabern. But, most of the time, it is wholly independent of any mediumistic faculty.

As we have already said, the only proof of the intervention of the Spirits is the intelligent character of the manifestations. Since this character does not exist, there is ground for attributing them to purely physical causes.

The question is to know whether electric persons are or are not more apt than any others to become mediums of physical effects. We believe so, but only experience could demonstrate it.

Sensitive or impressionable mediums.

Thus are called the persons susceptible of feeling the presence of the Spirits by a vague impression, by a kind of light brushing over all their limbs, a sensation which they cannot explain.

This variety presents no well-defined character. All mediums are necessarily impressionable, impressionability being thus a general quality rather than a special one.

It is the rudimentary faculty indispensable to the development of all the others.

It differs from purely physical and nervous impressionability, with which it must not be confounded, since there are persons who have no delicate nerves and who feel more or less the effect of the presence of the Spirits, just as others, very irritable, do not in the least sense them beforehand.

This faculty develops by habit and may acquire such subtlety, that he who possesses it recognizes, by the impression he experiences, not only the nature, good or bad, of the Spirit beside him, but even its individuality, as the blind man recognizes, by a certain something, the approach of this or that person. He becomes, with respect to the Spirits, a true sensitive.

A good Spirit always produces a mild and agreeable impression; that of a bad Spirit, on the contrary, is painful, anguishing, disagreeable. There is as it were a smell of impurity.

Hearing mediums.

These hear the voice of the Spirits.

It is, as we said in speaking of pneumatophony, sometimes an interior voice, which makes itself heard in the inner forum; 3 at other times, it is an exterior voice, clear and distinct, like that of a living person.

Hearing mediums can thus carry on conversation with the Spirits.

When they have the habit of communicating with particular Spirits, they recognize them immediately by the nature of the voice.

Whoever is not endowed with this faculty can, equally, communicate with a Spirit, if he has, to assist him, a hearing medium, who performs the function of interpreter.

This faculty is very agreeable, when the medium hears only good Spirits, or solely those whom he calls.

Such, however, it is no longer, when a bad Spirit fastens itself upon him, making him hear at every instant the most disagreeable things and not rarely the most improper ones.

It behooves him, then, to seek to free himself from these Spirits, by the means which we shall indicate in the chapter on Obsession.

Speaking mediums.

Hearing mediums, who merely transmit what they hear, are not, properly speaking, speaking mediums.

The latter, most of the time, hear nothing. In them, the Spirit acts upon the organs of speech, as it acts upon the hand of writing mediums.

Wishing to communicate, the Spirit makes use of the organ that it finds most flexible in the medium. From one, it takes the hand; from another, speech; from a third, hearing.

The speaking medium generally expresses himself without being conscious of what he says and very often says things completely foreign to his habitual ideas, to his knowledge and, even, beyond the reach of his intelligence.

Although he finds himself perfectly awake and in a normal state, he rarely retains remembrance of what he says.

In short, in him, speech is an instrument of which the Spirit makes use, with which a third person can communicate, as he can with the aid of a hearing medium.

Not always, however, is the passivity of the speaking medium so complete. There are some who have the intuition of what they say, at the very moment in which they pronounce the words.

We shall return to occupy ourselves with this kind of mediums, when we treat of intuitive mediums. [no. 180.]

Seeing mediums.

Seeing mediums are endowed with the faculty of seeing the Spirits.

Some enjoy this faculty in the normal state, when perfectly awake, and preserve precise remembrance of what they saw.

Others possess it only in the somnambulistic state, or close to somnambulism.

It is rare that this faculty shows itself permanent; almost always it is the effect of a passing crisis.

In the category of seeing mediums may be included all persons endowed with second sight.

The possibility of seeing the Spirits in dream results, without contestation, from a kind of mediumship but does not constitute, properly speaking, what is called a seeing medium.

We explained this phenomenon in chapter VI on Visual manifestations.

The seeing medium thinks he sees with his eyes, like those who are endowed with second sight; but, in reality, it is the soul that sees and for this reason they see as much with the eyes closed as with the eyes open; whence it is concluded that a blind man can see the Spirits, just as well as anyone else who has perfect sight.

On this last point an interesting study would be in order, that of knowing whether the faculty of which we treat is more frequent in the blind.

Spirits who on Earth were blind told us that, when alive, they had, through the soul, the perception of certain objects and that they were not immersed in black darkness.

It is necessary to distinguish accidental and spontaneous apparitions from the faculty, properly speaking, of seeing the Spirits.

The first are frequent, above all at the moment of the death of persons whom he who sees loved or knew and who come to forewarn him that they are no longer of this world. There are countless examples of facts of this kind, not to speak of visions during sleep.

At other times, they are, likewise, relatives, or friends who, although dead for more or less time, appear, either to warn of a danger, or to give a counsel, or, again, to ask a service.

The service that the Spirit may solicit is, in general, the execution of a thing which it was not possible for it to do in life, or the aid of prayers.

These apparitions constitute isolated facts, which always present an individual and personal character, and not the effect of a faculty, properly speaking.

The faculty consists in the possibility, if not permanent, at least very frequent, of seeing any Spirit that presents itself, even though it be absolutely unknown to the seer.

The possession of this faculty is what constitutes, properly speaking, the seeing medium.

Among these mediums, there are some who see only the evoked Spirits and whose description they can make with minute exactitude. They describe for them, with the smallest particulars, the gestures, the expression of the physiognomy, the features of the countenance, the garments and, even, the sentiments by which they seem animated.

There are others in whom the faculty of vision is still more ample: they see the whole ambient spirit population, moving in all directions, attending, one might say, to its affairs. [see Adrien.]

We attended one evening the performance of the opera Oberon, in the company of a very good seeing medium.

There were in the hall a great number of empty seats, many of which, however, were occupied by Spirits, who seemed to take interest in the spectacle.

Some placed themselves beside certain spectators, as if to listen to their conversation.

A different scene unfolded on the stage: behind the actors many Spirits, of jovial humor, amused themselves by mimicking them, imitating their gestures in a grotesque manner; others, more serious, seemed to inspire the singers and to make efforts to give them energy.

One of them kept himself always beside one of the principal singers. Judging him animated by intentions somewhat frivolous and having evoked him after the end of the act, he came at our call and reproached us, with severity, for our rash judgment: “I am not what you judge,” he said; “I am her guide and her protecting Spirit; I am charged with directing her.” After some minutes of a very serious talk, he left us, saying: “Farewell; she is in her dressing room; I must go watch over her.”

Next, we evoked the Spirit Weber, author of the opera, and asked him what he thought of the execution of his work. “Not altogether bad; but, weak; the actors sing, that is all. There is no inspiration.

Wait,” he added, “I am going to try to give them a little of the sacred fire.” He was seen, an instant later, on the stage, hovering above the actors. Issuing from him, a kind of effluvium poured itself over the performers. There was then, in these, a visible resurgence of energy. [The above fact presupposes that Allan Kardec made the evocation and conversed with the Spirits in the theatrical hall itself.]

Another fact that proves the influence that the Spirits exercise over men, without their knowledge:

We were attending, as on that evening, a theatrical performance, with another seeing medium.

Entering into conversation with a Spirit spectator, he said to us: “Do you see those two ladies alone, in that box of the first tier? Well, I am striving to make them leave the hall.” Saying this, the medium saw him go place himself in the box in question and speak to the two. Suddenly, these, who showed themselves very attentive to the spectacle, looked at each other, seeming to consult one another mutually. Then, they go away and do not return. The Spirit then made us a comic gesture, wishing to signify that he had fulfilled what he had said. We did not see him again, to ask him for fuller explanations.

It is thus that many times we were witness to the role that the Spirits play among the living.

We observed them in diverse places of assembly, at balls, concerts, sermons, funerals, weddings, etc., and everywhere we found them stirring up passions but, blowing discords, provoking quarrels and rejoicing in their exploits.

Others, on the contrary, combated these pernicious influences, but, were rarely heeded.

The faculty of seeing the Spirits can, without doubt, develop, but it is one of those whose natural development it is fitting to await, without provoking it, if one does not wish to be the plaything of one's own imagination.

When the germ of a faculty exists, it manifests itself of its own accord.

In principle, we should content ourselves with those that God has granted us, without seeking the impossible, since, in claiming to have much, we run the risk of losing what we possess.

When we said that cases of spontaneous apparitions are frequent (no. 107), we did not mean to say that they are very common.

As for seeing mediums, properly speaking, they are still rarer and there is much to distrust in those who claim to be possessors of this faculty.

It is prudent not to give them credit, except in the face of positive proofs.

We do not even allude to those who give themselves over to the ridiculous illusion of seeing the globule-Spirits, which we described in no. 108; we speak only of those who say they see the Spirits in a rational manner.

It is beyond doubt that some persons may deceive themselves in good faith, but, others may also simulate this faculty out of self-love, or out of interest.

In this case, it is necessary, very especially, to take into account the habitual character, the morality and the sincerity; 10 yet, in the particulars, above all, is where one finds means of more secure verification, since there are some which can leave no suspicion, as, for example, the exactitude in portraying Spirits whom the medium never knew when incarnate.

To this category belongs the following fact: A lady, a widow, whose husband communicates frequently with her, was on a certain occasion in the company of a seeing medium, who did not know her, nor knew her family. The medium said to her, at a given moment: I see a Spirit near you. — Ah! said she in turn: It is surely my husband, who almost never leaves me. — No, replied the medium, it is a woman of a certain age; she is coiffed in a singular manner; she wears a white headband over her brow. By that particular and other details described, the lady recognized, without possibility of error, her grandmother, of whom at that instant she was absolutely not thinking.

If the medium had wished to simulate the faculty it would have been easy for him to follow the lady's thought. Yet, instead of the husband, with whom she was preoccupied, he sees a woman, with a particular in the coiffure, of which nothing could have given him an idea.

This fact also proves that the vision, in the medium, was not the reflection of any extraneous thought. (See no. 102.)

Somnambulistic mediums.

Somnambulism may be considered a variety of the mediumistic faculty, 2 or, rather, they are two orders of phenomena that frequently are found united.

The somnambulist acts under the influence of his own Spirit; it is his soul that, in the moments of emancipation, sees, hears and perceives, beyond the limits of the senses.

What he externalizes he draws from himself; his ideas are, in general, more correct than in the normal state, his knowledge more extensive, because he has his soul free. In a word, he lives in anticipation the life of the Spirits.

The medium, on the contrary, is the instrument of an extraneous intelligence; he is passive and what he says does not come from himself.

In sum, the somnambulist expresses his own thought, whereas the medium expresses that of another.

But, the Spirit that communicates with an ordinary medium can also do so with a somnambulist; it even happens that, very often, the state of emancipation of the soul facilitates this communication.

Many somnambulists see the Spirits perfectly and describe them with as much precision as seeing mediums.

They can confer with them and transmit to us their thoughts.

What they say, beyond the scope of their personal knowledge, is frequently suggested to them by other Spirits.

Here is a remarkable example, in which the double action of the Spirit of the somnambulist and of another Spirit reveals itself and in an unequivocal manner.

One of our friends had as a somnambulist a boy of 14 to 15 years, of very common intelligence and extremely scant instruction.

Yet, in the state of somnambulism, he gave proofs of extraordinary lucidity and of great perspicacity.

He excelled, above all, in the treatment of infirmities and effected a great number of cures considered impossible.

One day, giving a consultation to a sick person, he described the infirmity with absolute exactitude. — That is not enough, they said to him, now you must indicate the remedy. I cannot, he replied, my angel doctor is not here. — Who is this angel doctor of whom you speak? — The one who dictates the remedies. Is it not you, then, who see the remedies? — Oh! no; I am telling you that it is my angel doctor who dictates them to me.

Thus, in this somnambulist, the act of seeing the malady was that of his own Spirit which, for this, needed no assistance whatever; but the indication of the remedies was given to him by another. That other not being present, he could say nothing.

When alone, he was merely a somnambulist; assisted by the one he called his angel doctor, he was a somnambulist-medium.

Somnambulistic lucidity is a faculty that is rooted in the organism and that is, absolutely, independent of the elevation, the advancement and even the moral state of the individual.

A somnambulist may, then, be very lucid and at the same time incapable of resolving certain questions, since his Spirit may be little advanced.

He who speaks for himself can, therefore, say things good or bad, exact or false, demonstrate more or less delicacy and scruple in the processes that he uses, according to the degree of elevation, or of inferiority, of his own Spirit.

The assistance then of another Spirit can supply his deficiencies.

But, a somnambulist, as much as mediums, may be assisted by a Spirit lying, frivolous, or even bad.

There, above all, is where the moral qualities exercise great influence, to attract the good Spirits. (See: The Spirits' Book, Somnambulism, no. 425, and, here, further on, the chapter on the Moral influence of the medium.)

Healing mediums.

Solely so as not to fail to mention it, we shall speak here of this kind of mediums, since the subject would require excessive development for the limits within which we need to confine ourselves.

We know, moreover, that one of our friends, a physician, proposes to treat it in a special work on intuitive medicine. [See in the Spiritist Review of March 1860: A healing medium.]

We shall say only that this kind of mediumship consists, principally, in the gift that certain persons possess of healing by simple touch, by the gaze, even by a gesture, without the concurrence of any medication.

It will be said, without doubt, that this is nothing more than magnetism. Evidently, the magnetic fluid plays therein an important role; but, whoever examines the phenomenon carefully recognizes without difficulty that there is something more.

Ordinary magnetization is a true treatment, sustained, regular and methodical; in the case we are considering, things take place in an entirely different manner.

All magnetizers are more or less apt to heal, provided they know how to conduct themselves suitably, whereas in healing mediums the faculty is spontaneous and some even possess it without ever having heard magnetism spoken of.

The intervention of an occult power, which is what constitutes mediumship, makes itself manifest, in certain circumstances, above all if we consider that the majority of the persons who can, with reason, be qualified as healing mediums have recourse to prayer, which is a true evocation. (See above no. 131.)

Here are the answers that the Spirits gave us to the questions which we addressed to them on this subject:

1st Can persons endowed with magnetic force be considered as forming a variety of mediums?

“There is no doubting it.”

2nd Yet, the medium is an intermediary between the Spirits and man; now, the magnetizer, drawing from himself the force he uses, does not seem to be the intermediary of any extraneous power.

“That is an error; the magnetic force resides, without doubt, in man, but it is augmented by the action of the Spirits whom he calls to his aid.

If you magnetize with the purpose of healing, for example, and invoke a good Spirit who takes interest in you and in your patient, he augments your force and your will, directs your fluid and gives it the necessary qualities.” 3rd There are, however, good magnetizers who do not believe in the Spirits.

“You think then that the Spirits act only on those who believe in them?

Those who magnetize for good are aided by good Spirits.

Every man who nurtures the desire for good calls them, without realizing it, just as, by the desire for evil and by bad intentions, he calls the bad ones.” 4th Would he act with greater efficacy who, having the magnetic force, believed in the intervention of the Spirits?

“He would do things that you would consider a miracle.”

5th Are there persons who truly possess the gift of healing by simple contact, without the employment of magnetic passes?

“Certainly; do you not have of this multiple examples?”

6th In that case, is there also magnetic action, or only influence of the Spirits?

“Both the one and the other.

Those persons are true mediums, for they act under the influence of the Spirits; 3 this, however, does not mean that they are like healing mediums, as you understand it.”

7th Can this power be transmitted?

“The power, no; but the knowledge that he who possesses it needs, in order to exercise it.

There is no lack of those who do not even suspect that they have this power, if they do not believe that it was transmitted to them.” 8th Can cures be obtained solely by means of prayer?

“Yes, provided God permits it; 2 it may happen, however, that the good of the sick person lies in suffering for a longer time and then you judge that your prayer was not heard.”

9th Are there for this some formulas of prayer more efficacious than others?

“Only superstition can lend any virtues whatever to certain words 2 and only ignorant, or lying Spirits can foster such ideas, prescribing formulas.

It may, however, happen that, in dealing with persons little enlightened and incapable of comprehending things purely spiritual, the use of a particular formula contributes to instill confidence in them.

In this case, however, it is not in the formula that the efficacy lies, but in the faith, which is augmented by the effect of the idea connected to the use of the formula.”

Pneumatographic mediums.

This name is given to mediums who have the aptitude for obtaining direct writing, 2 which is not possible to all writing mediums.

This faculty, until now, shows itself very rare.

It develops, probably, by exercise; but, as we said, its practical utility is limited to a patent corroboration of the intervention of an occult force in the manifestations.

Only experience is capable of showing any person whether he possesses it.

One can, therefore, experiment, as one can also inquire about it of a protecting Spirit, by the other means of communication.

According as the power of the medium is greater or lesser, one obtains simple strokes, signs, letters, words, phrases and even whole pages.

It ordinarily suffices to place a folded sheet of paper in any place whatever, or one indicated by the Spirit, during ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour, at times more.

Prayer and recollection are essential conditions; 10 it is for this reason that the obtaining of anything whatever may be considered impossible, in an assembly of persons little serious, or not animated by sentiments of sympathy and benevolence. (See the theory of direct writing, chapter VIII: Laboratory of the invisible world (no. 127 and following), and chapter XII: Pneumatography.)

We shall treat in a special manner of writing mediums in the chapters that follow.

[1] One of the most extraordinary facts of this nature, by the variety and singularity of the phenomena, is, without contestation, that which occurred in 1852, in the Palatinate (Rhenish Bavaria), at Bergzabern, near Wissembourg. It is all the more remarkable in that it denotes, united in the same individual, almost all the kinds of spontaneous manifestations: crashes shaking the house, overturning of furniture, hurling of objects afar by invisible hands, visions and apparitions, somnambulism, ecstasy, catalepsy, electric attraction, cries and aerial sounds, instruments playing without contact, intelligent communications, etc. and, what is not of least importance, the corroboration of these facts, during nearly two years, by countless eyewitnesses, worthy of credit by their learning and by the social positions they occupied. The authentic narration of the aforesaid phenomena was published, at that time, in many German newspapers and, especially, in a brochure today out of print and exceedingly rare. In the Spiritist Review of 1858 is found the complete translation of that brochure, with the indispensable commentaries and explanations. This, as far as we know, is the only publication made in French of the pamphlet to which we refer. Besides the gripping interest that such phenomena awaken, they are eminently instructive, from the point of view of the practical study of Spiritism. [2] In the original French it stands, in the italics, “Torpilles humaines.” Torpille is a fish similar to the ray, which has organs capable of emitting electric discharges. It is the torpedo fish, like the names we give, of “electric eel” or “electric fish,” to the Amazonian poraquê fish.