t he could not "find any satisfactory interpretation of it
except the spiritistic."

* * * * *

Yet, as was said at the outset, it may now be affirmed that another
interpretation is possible, and one far more satisfactory than the
spiritistic; this, too, without impeaching in any way the truthfulness
of the testimony given by Dr. Stevens, the Roffs, and the numerous other
witnesses. To begin: apart from the supernatural implications forced
into it by the appearance of the so-called spirit control, it is clear
that the affair bears a striking resemblance to the instances of
"secondary" or "multiple" personality which recent research has
discovered in such numbers, and which are due to perfectly natural, if
often obscure, causes. In these, it has already been pointed out, as the
result of an illness, a blow, a shock, or some other unusual stimulus,
there is a partial or complete effacement of the original personality of
the victim and its replacement by a new personality, sometimes of
radically different characteristics from the normal self.

A sufficient example is the case of the Rev. Thomas C. Hanna, for
knowledge of which the scientific world is indebted to Dr. Boris
Sidis.[P] Following a fall from his carriage, Mr. Hanna, a Connecticut
clergyman, lost all consciousness of his identity, had no memory for the
events of his life prior to the accident, recognized none of his
friends, could not read or write, nor so much as walk or talk,--was, in
fact, like a child new born. On the other hand, as soon as the rudiments
of education were acquired by him once more, he showed himself the
possessor of a vigorous, independent, self-reliant personality, lacking
all knowledge of the original personality, but still able to adapt
himself readily to his environment and make headway in the world.
Ultimately, through methods which are distinctively modern, Dr. Sidis
was able to recall the vanished self, and, fusing the secondary self
with it, restore the clergyman to his former sphere of usefulness.

This, of course, is an extreme example. The usual procedure is for the
secondary personality to retain some of the characteristics of the
original self--as the ability to read, write, etc.--and give itself a
name. In this way Ansel Bourne, the Rhode Island itinerant preacher,
became metamorphosed into A. J. Brown, and, without any recollection of
his former career or relationships, drifted to Pennsylvania