rson in this way is akin to
the unwinding of a ball of yarn, when you hold the loose end in your hand.
Or, it is like giving a keen-scented dog a sniff at a handkerchief once
carried by the person whom you wish him to nose out for you.

A well-known authority on the subject of psychic phenomena has said on
this point: "The untrained clairvoyant usually cannot find any particular
astral picture when it is wanted, without some special link to put him en
rapport with the subject required. Psychometry is an instance in point. It
seems as though there were a sort of magnetic attachment or affinity
between any particle of matter and the record which contains its
history--an affinity which enables it to act as a kind of conductor
between that record and the faculties of anyone who can read it. For
instance, I once brought from Stonehenge a tiny fragment of stone, not
larger than a pin's head, and on putting this into an envelope and handing
it to a psychometer who had no idea what it was, she at once began to
describe that wonderful ruin and the desolate country surrounding it, and
then went on to picture vividly what were evidently scenes from its early
history, showing that the infinitessimal fragment had been sufficient to
put her into communication with the records connected with the spot from
which it came. The scenes through which we pass in the course of our life
seem to act in the same way upon the cells of our brain as did the history
of Stonehenge upon that particle of stone. They establish a connection
with those cells by means of which our mind is put en rapport with that
particular portion of the records, and so we 'remember' what we have
seen."

One of the simplest and most common form of psychometry is that in which
the psychometrist is able to tell the physical condition of a person by
means of holding to the forehead, or even in the hand, some trinket or
small article such as a handkerchief recently worn on the person of the
individual regarding whom the information is sought. In the case of some
very sensitive psychometrists, the psychic person "takes on" the condition
of the other person whose former article of clothing, trinket, etc., she
is holding. She will often actually experience the physical pain and
distress of the person, and will be able to indicate from what ailment the
person is suffering. Some persons attain great proficiency in this
direction, and are a great assistance to wise physicians who a