we had no evidence of the X-rays, of the
telephone, of the new theory of non-atomic matter. That men
have been trying from the beginning of time to demonstrate
another existence and have always failed is of no
significance. Perhaps they have not tried in the right way.

The objection that most of the things purporting to be said
and done by spirits are absurd or trivial has no weight. The
only way to find out how a spirit will act under given
conditions is to place him under those conditions and watch
the results.

What seems absurd to us may not seem so to him. If he exists
at all, his norms of worth may be, and probably are, very
different from ours. According to the valuations of the
spirit world, rapping on a table may be as exalted a
function as heading an army is with us.

How silly it was for Galvani to make a frog's leg twitch
with his bits of zinc and copper! Yet something has come of
it. How trifling a thing was the fall of Newton's apple! Yet
he could see in it the revolutions of the stars.

Perhaps some day another Newton will appear who can discern
some law of universal import in those occult trifles which
now merely puzzle without edifying us.

As the course of the falling apple involves the trajectory
of Arcturus, so the foolish raps upon a kitchen table which
mystify a superstitious circle of devotees may imply the
immortality of the soul.

Let us wait and see.

The _Oregonian_ appears to argue simply for an open mind--which is the
right attitude for investigators.

THAT GREAT MYSTERY, THE COMMON TABBY.

There Must Be Something Esoteric About
the Cat, to Judge from Her
Astounding Performances.

However cozily she may sleep upon the rug, however certain her knowledge
of the quickest route to the milkpans on the closet shelf, the cat is ever
but a guest in the house. Though occasionally she permits herself to be
stroked, it is only when a stroking accords with her own desires. She
never makes concessions as the dog does; she is selfish and independent;
so canny in her policies as to be almost uncanny; aloof, full of
indirections.

The late Professor Shaler spoke of "the almost human dog"; and surely we
are able to trace the associational processes of mind by which Fido has
drawn close to his master. We are convinced that Fido does not know that
he is a dog. He does what his mast