of
cause. It has always appeared to me highly probable that mesmerism and
hypnotism are dependent upon entirely different causes, and were not at
all the same in the last analysis.

In the _second_ place, the exhaustion which "healers" sometimes
experience when treating patients of a certain temperament can hardly be
due altogether to suggestion. I have been informed by "magnetic" and
"spiritual" healers that this feeling of exhaustion is very great when a
self-centred, selfish person is being treated, and correspondingly less
whenever a generous, large-souled individual is receiving the treatment.
"Osteopaths" have told me the same thing. Those possessing an active
mind and brain, and who are analytical and unsympathetic by nature, are
far harder to treat, and leave a far greater exhaustion, than those who
are not so. This bears a very striking resemblance to the "good" and
"bad" sitters in the Piper case, and also the Palladino case; in fact,
it is true of everyday life, to a certain extent. The more active the
mind, the greater the _grasp_ over life and self which we possess, the
less susceptible are we to external or internal influences. Let us call
to mind in this connection the remark of Dr. Snow in his treatise on
_Anaesthetics_, that "the more intelligent the patient, the more
anaesthetic is required to put him under."

_Thirdly_, the phenomena presented by Eusapia Palladino completely prove
the reality of such a "fluid" to my mind, without any other proof being
necessary.

_Fourthly_, the impression said to be left in or upon objects or houses,
and the phenomena of "psychometry" seem to indicate the same thing.

_Fifthly_, the recent reinforcement of the evidence in favour of the
human "aura" strongly supports the same view.

_Sixthly_, the French experiments in "exteriorization of sensibility,"
"thought-photography," "radiographs," etc., point to the same
conclusion.

_Seventhly_, the successful experiments conducted by Professor Alrutz
and others with his instrument--which is thought to register "will
power"--is a long step towards recognizing the existence of a nervous,
vital energy, which can at times be externalized and made to pass into
and "charge" an inanimate object.

_Finally_, the facts of materialization and kindred phenomena, which
find so ready and complete an explanation on this theory.

For these and other reasons, therefore, it seems fairly certain that
there is a nervous "fluid" whic