ty, she was already mourning him as dead when
her friends advised her to consult Mme. M. The medium consoled her
with the first words that she spoke and told her that she saw her son
wounded, but in no danger whatever, that he was in a sort of shed
fitted up as a hospital, that he was being very well looked after by
people who spoke a different language, that for the time being he was
unable to write, which was a great worry to him, but that she would
receive a letter from him in a few days. The mother did, in fact,
receive a card from this son a few days later, worded a little stiffly
and curtly and written in an unnatural hand, telling her that all was
well and that he was in good health. Greatly relieved, she dismissed
the matter from her mind, merely said to herself that of course the
medium, like all mediums, had been wrong and thought no more of it.
But two or three messages following on the first, all couched in
short, stilted phrases that seemed to be hiding something, ended by
alarming her so much that she was unable to bear the strain any longer
and entreated her son to tell her the whole truth, whatever it might
be. He then admitted that he had been wounded, though not seriously,
adding that he was in a sort of shed fitted up as a hospital, where he
was being capitally looked after by English doctors and nurses, in
short, just as the medium had seen him.

I repeat, mediumistic experience can show other instances of this
kind. If it stood alone, it would be valueless, for it might well be
explained by mere coincidence. But it forms part of a very normal
series; and I could easily enumerate many others within my own
knowledge. This, however, would merely mean repeating, with
uninteresting variations, the essential features of the present case,
a proceeding for which there would be no excuse save in a technical
work.

Is success then practically certain? Yes, rash and surprising though
the statement may seem, mistakes upon the whole are very rare,
provided that the medium be carefully chosen and that the object
serving as an intermediary have not passed through too many hands, for
it will contain and reveal as many distinct personalities as it has
undergone contacts. It will be necessary, therefore, first to
eliminate all these accessory personalities, so as to fix the medium's
attention solely on the subject of the consultation. On the other
hand, we must beware of calling for details which the nature of the