rong
paths, and far more."

What this "far more" is, we are left to conjecture. The advertisement of
this book says that it is "an explanation of much that is false and
repulsive in Spiritualism." W. F. Jamieson, in a Spiritualist paper,
called these diakka "a troop of devils," and quoted Judge Carter as
saying: "There is one thing clear, that these diakka, or fantastic or
mixed spirits, are very numerous and abundant, and take any and every
opportunity of obtruding themselves."

Hudson Tuttle, author of "Life in Two Spheres" and other Spiritualistic
works, speaks of "a communication, through a noted medium, to Gerald
Massey from his 'dog Pip,' the said Pip 'licking the slate and writing
with a good degree of intelligence.' " He adds, "Mr. Davis would say that
'Pip' was a 'diakka,' and to-morrow he will communicate as George
Washington, Theodore Parker, or Balaam's ass. This diakka is flesh, fish,
or fowl, as you may desire."

Some idea of how the spirits sometimes torment the mediums, as hinted at
above, may be gained from the following instance. In "Astounding Facts
from the Spirit World," pp. 253, 254, Dr. Gridley describes the case of a
medium sixty years of age, living near him in Southampton, Mass. The
sufferings inflicted upon him "in two months at the hands of evil spirits
would fill a volume of five hundred pages." Of these sufferings, the
following are specimens:--

"They forbade his eating, to the very point of starvation. He was
a perfect skeleton; they compelled him to walk day and night, with
intermissions, to be sure, as their avowed object was to torment
him as much and as long as possible. They swore by everything
sacred and profane, that they would knock his brains out, always
accompanying their threats with blows on the forehead or temples,
like that of a mallet in the hands of a powerful man, with this
difference, however; the latter would have made him unconscious,
while in full consciousness he now endured the indescribable agony
of those heavy and oft-repeated blows; they declared they would
skin him alive; that he must go to New York and be dissected by
inches, all of which he fully believed. They declared that they
would bore holes into his brain, when he instantly felt the action
suited to the word, as though a dozen augers were being turned at
once into his very skull; this done, they would fill his brain
with bugs and worm