far more automatic than with us. All this being so, we can readily
understand that any attempt at communication would be attended with
the greatest difficulties, and such a consciousness, if it were
constantly interrupted by questions, etc., would tend to go to
pieces--to lose its grasp of the organism, and to drift away--only
confusion and error coming through. This consciousness might be
strengthened and rendered clearer, perhaps, by the presentation of
some object belonging to the person when alive--as, no matter how
explained, this seems to clear the communications. Any means that
can be adopted to render clearer the mind of the communicator, on
the one hand, or improve the condition of the nervous mechanism of
the medium on the other, should therefore be of great utility and
should at least be tried. This being so, I now come to the heart of
the matter, and offer a suggestion which, if followed out, might
improve the physical body of the medium, and hence render the
conditions better from _this_ side--as the presentation of objects
might be supposed to render the conditions better from the other
side.

"I have pointed out before that, in certain cases, when it is
desirable to restore the consciousness and to render its renewal
more certain and clear (after an accident, e.g., that has knocked a
person senseless) a mixture of oxygen gas is sometimes administered
to the patient in order to produce these results. This being so, I
ask: why may it not be a good idea to administer a diluted mixture
of this gas to the medium when she is in a trance state--and when a
communicator is attempting to convey his thought to the sitter by
means of automatic writing? Might not such an experiment be tried,
since no _harm_ could come to the medium if the oxygen were diluted
and only sufficiently strong to effect the desired results? And
might not its administration tend to improve the tone of the
nervous system _pro tem._, and render clearer the consciousness
that is trying to use it and manifest through it--just as one's own
consciousness might be rendered clearer by the same device? Of
course such a process might have the effect (especially at first)
of breaking the trance altogether, and of reviving the medium. But
if the medium understood the experiment befor