Those driven mad by Spiritism.

One reads in a newspaper: “According to the Gazette des Hôpitaux, the asylum for the insane at Zurich counts at this moment 25 patients who lost their reason thanks to the talking tables and the rapping Spirits.”

In the first place, we ask whether it was well ascertained that these 25 insane persons all owe the loss of their reason to the rapping Spirits, which can be contested until proof to the contrary. Supposing that these strange phenomena were able to impress certain weak characters in a lamentable manner, we would ask, moreover, whether the fear of the devil has not made more madmen than belief in the Spirits. Now, since the Spirits will not be prevented from rapping, the danger lies in believing that all those who manifest themselves are demons. Set aside this idea, by making the truth known, and they will be no more feared than will-o'-the-wisps. The idea that one is besieged by the demon is made to measure to disturb the reason. Here, moreover, is the counterpart of the above article. We read in another newspaper: “There exists a curious statistical document, of dire consequences, namely that the English people is led to the habit of intemperance and of strong liquors. Of every 100 individuals admitted to the lunatic asylum of Hanwell, there are 72 whose insanity must be attributed to drunkenness.” We have received from our subscribers numerous accounts of very interesting facts, which we will hasten to publish in our forthcoming editions; the lack of space, however, prevents us from doing so in this number.

Allan Kardec.

[1] This title of the Miscellany section does not exist in the original; it was placed here out of simple necessity required by the indexing. — (Compiler's Note.)