disappears, and the writing begins
again.

On most occasions, since the automatic writing has become easy, two
controls have manifested simultaneously--one by means of the voice, the
other by writing; Phinuit continuing to use the voice, according to his
former custom. George Pelham, although he also uses the voice
occasionally, prefers writing. On the 24th February 1894 a control
wrote, "There is no reason why various spiritual minds cannot express
their thoughts at the same time, through the same organism." This is
really what happens. The voice may keep up a conversation with a sitter
while the hand keeps up another in writing with someone else on a wholly
different subject. If the sitter who is talking with the hand allows his
attention to be distracted by what the voice says, the hand recalls his
attention by its movements. When anyone is speaking to the hand control,
it is necessary to speak to the hand, and close to the hand, or there is
a risk of not being understood. In short, one must behave as if the hand
were a complete and independent being.

Observation of this phenomenon suggested to Dr Hodgson that by using the
left hand he could perhaps obtain three communications on three
different subjects. He tried and succeeded, although imperfectly; no
doubt because, in the normal state, the left hand is not used to
writing.

Formerly Phinuit used to protest when the hand was seized, and asked at
once that it should be returned to him, as we have seen above. Since the
automatic writing has been developed the hand may be used by one control
without the fact being perceived by the control who is using the voice.
One day Phinuit was talking with a sitter about his relations, when the
hand suddenly, and so to say surreptitiously, wrote for Dr Hodgson a
communication supposed to come from an intimate friend, and treating of
a subject altogether different from those of which the voice was
speaking. Dr Hodgson adds that it was "precisely as if a caller should
enter a room where two strangers to him were conversing, but a friend
of his also present, and whisper a special message into the ear of the
friend without disturbing the conversation."[54]

Phinuit seems to prefer not to notice what the hand is doing. He talks
as long as he has an interlocutor, but, when the messages given through
the hand distract the attention of this interlocutor, Phinuit often
says, "I'll help him." What does he mean by this? It is a mystery