SURGEON GENERAL'S OFFICE LIBRARY. Section, • . ' JVo. Ijlfl/9- i:z ■«£ 0 0. MENTAL ALCHEMY. 3 !l €xu\\n MIND, NERVOUS SYSTEM, PSYCHOLOGY, MAGNETISM, MESMERISM, AND DISEASES. Sit QLwclve Chapter©. B. BROTOT WILLIAMS, M.D. \'-' ""■■-,- 'N ;»- ;'vjt" ^Ai '■ FOWLERS AND WELLS, PUBLISHERS, CLINTON HALL, 131 NASSAU STREET. Boiton,142'VVMliingtonSt.l loOO. [London, No. 143 Strand. I r) h r\ *jaI- ItSi Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by B. BROWN WILLIAMS, in the ClerK s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. N. Y. STEREOTYPE ASSOCIATION, 201 William Street. TO JAMES JOINER, ESQ.. ATTORNEY- AT-LAW, WASHINGTON, N. C. Dear Sir, Having from our early boyhood enjoyed the pleasure of your friend- ship, the impressions which those associations made upon me have never been effaced from my remembrance, but have grown with my growth and strengthened with my strength; I beg, therefore, as a slight token of my regard, to dedicate to you this little work Very respectfully, your friend, THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. The twelve chapters comprising this little work, are the outlines of the lectures which we have been delivering for the last few years upon the interesting subjects of nature and mind. They are merely our deductions, and are presented for the inspection of the world, in as plain a manner as it was possible for us to do under existing circumstances. All that we wish in relation to the new ideas respecting physical and mental absorp- tion is, that they may be understood in the manner in which they are ex- pressed. They are not intended for the purpose of taking precedence over the received philosophy of man's physical and mental nature, but for the purpose of presenting the expressed relation and dependence of his being upon the elements of the universe. We have nothing to do with the speculations and philosophy of other men, nor do we desire any thing from the world but a careful perusal of the following chapters, upon what we suppose to be the most interesting subjects that pertain to human existence. If the reader shall conclude that our deductions are in accordance with the finger-boards of nature, and shall see himself, by means of the lights presented, more plainly, it is all that we desire. It is clear, however, that the present exhibitions in mental alchemy cannot be properly analyzed by the rules of mental and physical philosophy which now obtain. The application of its rules al- ready have made hundreds look with wonder and amazement, and exclaim they are supernatural, while others cry humbug and collusion at first, and after finding they are mistaken, speak of them as doing away with the miracles of better and former days. Nature, therefore, should be sifted, as far as we are able to do so, in order to a proper understanding of the subject, that the facts con- nected therewith may become intelligible. To prove their untruth would be to prove that two parallel straight lines would ultimately meet. ti PREFACE. It matters not if lecturers have presented the inferior departments of this subject in such a ridiculous light as to produce disgust. It is still a truth, and will remain so as long as man is in the possession of a nervous system, and is dependent upon external nature for his vitality. AVhat others, however, have done and written, is a matter between them and the public, and they must stand or fall according as the strength of the plat- form which they have erected may be. Without egotism on our part, we would state, that all the private classes we have ever taught have given us cards expressing their full satisfaction in every particular in the instructions received. We have now in our pos- session the cards of more than a hundred classes, some of which numbered from fifty to three hundred gentlemen, among whom are many of the most learned men in the land. All, without an exception, speak the same lan- guage in relation to the instructions and the philosophy advanced in sup- port of the astounding phenomena exhibited. Therefore, if the science of mental alchemy is not true, it certainly stands without a parallel in the history of the world. The most learned have said, that the philosophy of this condition of things can never be explained. We do not say that it is explained in the following chapters; but the deductions which they contain are the fruits of an humble indigenous plant of the old north state, and they are re- Bpectfully presented to the reader for his approval or disapproval. CONTENTS, CHAPTER I. The relation of Mind to Matter—Action and Reaction of the Nervous System—Analogy between the Corporeal System of Man and the Universe—Man's Spiritual Nature an Emanation from the Spiritual World........................................paga 9 CHAPTER II. The Elements or Systems comprising the Material World—An Error in Medical Prac- tice—Nature our unerring Guide—Man an Epitome of the Universe—The Nature and Office of Electricity—The Spiritual System of Man............................. 20 CHAPTER III. Man's Spiritual System further Discussed—The Subject of Communication between Man and the Spiritual World Considered, and its Natural Impossibility Presented— The Entrance of a Being into the Spiritual World analagous to the Introduction of a Human Being into this Life............................................. 33 CHAPTER IV. The Natural and Spiritual World—Their different Systems, Stratas, and Elements— They are both Created—They are not God—The Spiritual and Material Nature of Man Considered—Distinction between Mind and Intellect—Motion the Result of the Spirit —The Law of Equilibrium does not hold with Mind as with Matter.............. 43 CHAPTER V. Doctrine of Absorption—Clod of Earth and Water—The Falling of an Apple—Mind adapted to Impressions—The Body to Absorption—External Elements—Reactive differ- ence between Mind and Matter—Mind and its own Thunder-showers—Its wonderful • Nature—Innate Development of its own Faculties—Mixed up Condition of the Organs in Mental Philosophy......................................................... 60 CHAPTER VI. The Influence of Atmospherical Electricity upon the Nervous System of Man—Ele- ments in the External World Produce like Elements in our Bodies—The Electro- Reactive Trinity of the Nervous System—Our Natural and Spiritual Vitality is Induct- ive—The Instinctive Faculties come from the same Source as our Spirits—Influence Exerted by Impressions against the Power of the Will—Striking Instances Related- Method of ascertaining the Electrical Condition of the System................... 71 Vlll CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. Reactive Condition of the Nervous System further considered—Action of Will and Mind —Conflicting Forces of Electricity—Equality produces Death—Illustration respecting Motion and Life—Oneness of Action on the part of the Will of the Infinite... :Page 84 CHAPTER VIII. Philosopher's Stone—Power of the Will—Absorption, Extraneous Impressions, Will, and Vis-medicatrix NatursB—Philosophy of Sleep—Insanity the Reverse of the Pos- itive Electro-reactive State—Mosaic Account of Creation—Experiment in Vegetative Creation—Geologists answered................................................ 98 CHAPTER IX. Alchemistic Control—The Reason of that Control—Intelligence, the Result of Electrical Agency—One System more Reactive than Another—Succession of Electrical Disturb- ances—Physical Trinity of the Nervous System—How to Ascertain that Trinity—How to Change its Reactivity—Will of God—Oneness of Action of the Will in Producing Reactive Changes—How to Experiment Properly—Influences not Supernatural—Re- quest to Physicians and Skeptics—Cannot Square-rule the Nervous System as it now is—The Reason Why......................................................... 118 ELECTRICAL PSYCHOLOGY. CHAPTER X. Sir David Brewster—Nature and the Will of Deity—Example—Philosophic Necessity set aside—Skepticism by Magnetizing—Zinc and Copper Plates—Buck Eyes in Piles— Fluid of the Ulnar Nerve—The Name, Electrical Psychology—Card of Approbation— Its Practice Publicly—Gazing at an Object—The great Desideratum.............. 140 HUMAN MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM. CHAPTER XI. Vitality of the Brain—Atmospheric Undulations—The Senses—Impressions supported beyond Consciousness—Mental Faculties—Their Secretions—Thought and Electricity —The Thoughts of Others—Their Reception explained—Two Ducks in a Pond—Ger- man Writer and Teacher—Case in Milledgeville, Geo.—Practice of Magnetism and Mes- merism—A Card—Dr. Eisdale—The Effects of these Conditions upon the System . 152 DISEASES AND THEIR MODE OF CURE. CHAPTER XII. !The Brain—Throwing a Stone—Its Disturbance of the Nervous System—Co-operative Influence of Mind—The Vis-medicatrix Naturee—Source of Mental and Physical De- velopment—Consultations, Physical and Mental—The Will—Involuntary Reflex Dis- charges—Life not Electricity, but a Principle of Spirit—How Developed—Mental Im- pressions Authoritative—An Appeal to Nature.................................. 171 MENTAL ALCHEMY. CHAPTER I. The relation of Mind to Matter—Action and Reaction of the Nervous System—Analogy between the Corporeal System of Man and the Universe—Man's Spiritual Nature an Emanation from the Spiritual World. In taking a careful view of the past as well as the present, it is clear, that philosophers materially diner in their deduc- tions in regard to the relation which mind bears to matter, and in regard to the legitimate action of the nervous system in the support of physical and mental operations. We wish it distinctly understood, that we do not venture deductions in opposition to those that now obtain; but our purpose is merely to call attention to the practical phenomena that mental alchemy has developed. If the philosopher or physiologist should, from these developments, discover any thing deficient, or any thing that should be added to the great intellectual and physical fabric, or any thing that may have a tendency to cause it still further to unfold its mysteries, the object we have in view will be realized. Without any dis- play of words then, we simply mean, by this term, mental alchemy, the expressed action of the nervous system in car- rying impressions to the mind, and the reaction of the mind upon the same, in the support of its mental as well as phys- 10 MENTAL ALCHEMY. ical nature. Action and reaction, therefore, become the two important lights to direct us, so that we may understandingly realize the great principles of human nature, as developed within the periphery of nervo-vital action. The organized arrangement of each human being is a sys- . tem of the highest finite order; and as it is perfectly clear that every system presupposes a center, we recognize the brain.as the great vital center of each physical organization. The solar system itself is but a physical organization, the center of which is the sun. All the parts have a family de- pendence upon each other, and in their operations above, below, and around us, we behold each finer division playing harmoniously into other coarser divisions, and in these, the most sublime of all operations, it is clear that, vitally, the sun is the main point or center. How much can we under- stand, in a natural sense, about the nature of the being we call man, unless we carefully view him in his relation to this great system, upon which his very existence depends 1 Must we not lay before us a something, that in some degree cor- responds to his existence, in order to understand the laws physiologically by which his being is governed'? Can the mind understandingly absorb an impression, save by contrast- ing it with something else 1 Can the mind, while in connec- tion with the body, understand the meaning of the word good, except by contrast with bad 1 Could the mind appre- ciate the superiority of intellect of a Webster, if there were none inferior with which to contrast it 1 Is it possible, then, that the spirit of man ever absorbed an impression, intellect- ually and understandingly, unless it passed through the fiery ordeal of contrast *? If not, we are compelled to consider the different systems of man in their relations and aptitudes to this grand and physicial organization, which has the sun MENTAL ALCHEMY. 11 for its center. Is there any other through the light of which we can properly see him 1 Is there any other that gives the materials for his body than the elements of the globe—water, atmosphere, gases, and electricity 1 If there is not, then we hold that this is the one with which he should be contrasted, for the purpose of looking at him through the light of nature. What is man 1 If we were simply to present his physical and mental emotions, as a being capable of becoming im- pressed with a love for his Creator, for nature, and for art, and in the possession of powers which can reflect him back to the time when the morning sun received his primeval step as the great center of our solar system, and in this wide do- main of fancy, of pleasure, and of thought, to experience, and almost feel, the influence of that indescribable jubilee, when " The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for Joy," this answer would fall far short of the points essential to the practical investigation of the subject now before us. We therefore take nature at her word, and answer, that he is a finite being, and, so far as his physical creation ex- tends, made on mechanical principles; that is, that he is a being whose physical nature, at least, is found to possess, finitely, all the different kingdoms, elements, and compart- ments which compose the universe. As such, if we have before us, as a part of the external fabric, the globe or ter- restrial, as its coarsest division, we have in man his bony system, and adjacent elements or departments, correspondent thereto, as his coarsest division. If we rise one step higher, to the aqueous kingdom, with its circulation filling the ter- restrial with its moistening and soluble presence, we have corresponding thereto in man his blood and fluids, frolicking 12 MENTAL ALCHEMY through their fixed, and sometimes anastomosing channels, even down to the very marrow or pith of the bones. If we rise still higher, we find another kingdom or division, extend- ing to the distance of fifty miles above the earth's surface, called the gaseous, atmospherical, or respiratory; we have corresponding thereto in man, the lungs and their appendages, as his atmospheric and gaseous department, for the constant respiration, retention, and consumption of the elements of these external systems, as seen in the economy of respiration. If the theory of Newton be true (and philosophers almost generally, in this particular, do not differ), we shall find that we have another kingdom or division of the external world extending to the sun—if you please an emanation or effluvium from the sun—known as the ether of Newton, the electricity of Franklin, and the electric fluid of Sir James Murray. This, it will be perceived, comes from a distance of ninety-five millions of miles to our globe, from the great material head of the external solar and physical organization. Has not man a nervous system, which, in its operative movements, at least, speaks within the nature of this eman- ation, which also extends from the center to the periphery of his physical organization 1 We have now named four different kingdoms or divisions of the external world, the elements of which are, unquestion- ably, absorbed by the different systems in man, and by this absorption alone is his finite system supported and main- tained. Hence there is an adaptation of means to ends—on the part of the stomach to the reception of food and water, on the part of the lungs to the reception and absorption of the atmosphere and gases, and on the part of the nervous system to the absorption or respiration of the electrical fluid of the atmosphere. MENTAL ALCHEMY. 13 At the fourth we would stop, if our interpretation of things would warrant us to do so, and present the hypothesis of the attractive force by the electrical or last-mentioned system, as many have done, as being supreme ; but almost knowing, and fully believing, such hypothesis to be erroneous, we shall name the fifth, or last, or interior kingdom, as the spiritual, from which, from the mechanical connection of things, all that we have named, according to the constitution of the universe, not only absorb their vitality, but present a spiritual influence interiorly to the electrical throughout na- ture. We see an illustration of this in the spirit that looks out from behind the sparklings of the eye. When we look abroad into nature, therefore, is there any thing unreasonable in the supposition that from this interior kingdom or world come motion, power, and life, as well as the vital energy of man ? Must not that part of man, in the very nature of things, which possesses the power to rea- son and to think, receive its existence from this interior world, of which it is a part and parcel, as much as his ma- terial body, with its different systems, receive their elements from the material world of which it is a part and parcel ? Does not the doctrine of absorption, by the adaptation of means to ends, as well as the very nature of our existence, force upon us this conclusion 1 Hence there is truth in the hypothesis, that the universe itself is composed of two grand and distinct systems, with divisions which play harmoniously into each other division, the natural and the spiritual. Look at them, and behold the spiritual acting upon the electrical, the electrical, with its incomprehensible elasticity, acting upon the globe and its appendages, producing all its various movements, that our meaning may be clearly understood. Infinite and sublime are the multifarious operations that 2 14 MENTAL ALCHEMY. come within this consideration of the universe, the center of which is the sun, and the circumference illimitable space. Now, look at the mind or spirit through the brain, as it acts upon the elastic fluid of the nervous system, producing the voluntary and involuntary discharges to its circumference, and to the relaxation and contraction of the muscles of the heart in the vital movement, of frtfm twenty-five to forty-five pounds of blood throughout the circulating system, with its periodical revolutions, and we have here, finitely, a corre- sponding operation. We now have before us, clearly and distinctly, five systems or kingdoms, which comprise the universe, and five corre- sponding thereto, finitely, which are directly concerned in the operations of special human existence. It is easy enough to perceive the harmonious action with which each division plays into each other division in the support of their vital opera- tions, one being dependent upon the other. Are they not more and more rarefied and perfect as they rise above each other 1 And is not each coarser so constructed and built as to absorb the finer 1 Is it not plain, when we look abroad into the external world, at the rarefied and aerial condition of the electrical fluid, and at the less rarefied condition of the atmosphere and gases, that the latter permits the absorption of the former—the one above and beyond it; and the less rarefied condition of the aqueous division permits the absorp- tion of the atmosphere and gases ; and the still less rarefied condition of the globe permits the absorption of water. Here we have the doctrine of universal absorption as it obtains throughout nature. Behold the presence of the elec- trical fluid everywhere, and object, if you can, to the idea of this fluid filling the legitimate office of the nervous system of the world; but still it remains as the great chemical solvent, MENTAL ALCHEMY. 15 as well as the motive power, of nature. There it is, and will ever be, the great connecting link between the spiritual and the material world, as the nervous system of man is the connecting one between his mental and physical existence. What lesson did the God, of nature impart in creating the different divisions of the universe which are tangible—one more and more rarefied and perfect than another, as they rise above each other, and as they thus rise requiring less and less force to move them, at least, in bulk—if it were not by analogy to lead the mind, in its contemplations, to that king- dom whose very nature is motion and purity1? Does it not require more force to move the same bulk of the particles of the globe than it does of the same bulk of water—more force to move the same bulk of water than atmosphere—more to move the same bulk of atmosphere than electricity'? And« does not the smallest touch, or close contact even, give im- pulse to the electrical fluid 1 If so, it is presented in its offi- cial, mechanical, and chemical relations as the fourth king- dom—not of nature alone, but of the universe—standing, as it were, poised between the two worlds. If it is in a condi- tion so easy to move, and in its passage outstripped from point to point only by thought, we see no reason why the one still beyond in rarefaction, purity, and power, may not be looked upon as the highest and most sublime of all kingdoms composed of systems and elements, with their different stra- tas—if we may be allowed the expression, to be understood— entirely different in all their particulars. This, then, must be, in the nature of things, the presignification of all lower systems of a nature to move and to react, perfect, indestruct- ible, and eternal. From this, man derives his spiritual body, and all animals below him their instinctive and reactive na- ture, according to their different instinctive and spiritual 16 MENTAL ALCHEMY. origins. Hence the mind of man is not of a nature to desire sleep, but simply the resting of one of its properties—the wiH—for the recuperation of the vital forces of the body. The nature to feel, taste, smell, see, and hear, as well as the various grades of instinct, and intellectual susceptibility of thought and power, all belong to the bodies derived from this interior world. The spirit of man, from the nature of its origin, is sta- tioned on a mental elevation, where he may be rendered capa- ble of comprehending the relation between cause and effect. And, although in common with instinctive nature, chained to earth by the laws of gravitation, and compelled to move upon the same clods with the worm, yet, by the high prerogative of his being, he can, with one mental effort, elevate his ma- • jestic brow above all material incumbrances, and experience sweet converse with the skies. If, then, the mechanical connection of these different kind- doms of the external and internal universe before us are plainly seen, a specimen of architecture magnificent and awfully sublime in all its parts, as well as supreme in the splendor of its workmanship, opens itself before us, as a pro- duction worthy of its great Author. Will not a finite de- velopment of the same systems, put together upon mechanical principles, with their great variety of physical and mental dispensations, constitute all that we can possibly conceive of in the special existence of a human being 1 Look at these as they now stand finitely before us, and do we not see man, in his natural and spiritual fabric, in a light too clear to re- quire further explanation 1 In fact, a combination of these different systems and elements makes the human being, while their high and proper use, physiologically and mentally, makes the man. MENTAL ALCHEMY. 17 This is our answer, in a general sense, to the question, ' What is man?" In an especial consideration we desire now to look at him for one moment. Is it a truth, that the solid and gaseous portions of the universe lie at the founda- tion of the existence of the solids and fluids of man's body ? If this be so, it will also follow, from the special adaptation of means to ends, that the atmospheric and gaseous system has as much to do with the vital existence of his respiratory system. Does the electrical impart to the nervous system of man, as well as to the voltaic eel, its peculiar nature and quick- ness of action ? If so, it must have something to do with its vital and special existence. Now, then, we have the doctrine of special absorption before us, through the light of which we behold the fluids and solids of nature absorbed and di- gested into the system, forming bone and muscle; the lungs absorb the atmosphere and gases, by the opening and closing of which we constantly absorb a finite portion from the great respiratory system of external nature; and by the respira- tory action of the nerves, minutely ramified upon the surface, we absorb (mostly when asleep) a supply of electricity from the atmosphere. These exercise their specific influence, and impart their peculiar nature to our existence, according to their condition and the power of our systems to absorb the good and reject the bad. It certainly appears, from the nature of things, conclusive, that our mental system and being is just as much an emana- tion from, and bears the same relation to, the interior or spiritual world beyond, that our material bodies do to those we have named as systems with their different stratas and elements. In the very constitution of the universe this must be so. It is impossible for finite power even to imagine the existence of fluids and solids in the body without the prior 18 MENTAL ALCHEMY. existence of fluids and solids in nature. When and where, we respectfully ask, did nature ever speak a different lan- guage in relation to the spiritual existence of man 1 In the wide domain of fancy, to which the minds of men have been attracted, we are aware that they have spoken differently, in consequence of which, man has been looked upon almost as an isolated being. But we see man rising forth in his majesty from two worlds, with a spirit and a body which ap- parently make but one. The one, that reasons, thinks, per- ceives, and feels, itself unseen by mortal eyes, comes, in the nature of things, from the world also unseen by* mortal eyes. The other, which is seen, emanates from the world which is seen; and by the great doctrine of special absorption, which connects the spirit of man with the spiritual world and his body with the natural world, are his two existences main- tained. But if the philosophy of many be true, his body is in pos- session of a something that came from nothing, or, in other words, that something is merely the result of certain impres- sions, and not an emanation from the invisible world, which seems to be the highest link in the great chain of creation, filled with different systems and stratas, of which the ma terial world is but a mere impression. Now, then, if we look at the special creation of man through the imaginations of other men, and not through the real developments of the universe, and expect, under such circumstances, to understand the physical and mental phe- nomena which the absorption of impressions from the author- ity of the nervous system presents, our disappointment is sure. All the systems that make the human being have a mutual dependance upon each other, and as is the case in the external world, they, in their turn of relations, acknowl- MENTAL ALCHEMY. 19 edge their vital dependence upon those that are higher, and those that are higher acknowledge the supreme sovereignty of the universe; that is, those that are put together finitely to make the man are not independent, but constantly receive, by inductive absorption, the elements of all their vital move- ments. So far as we are able to understand the mechanical, natural, and constitutional spirit of things, we cannot believe the mere opinions of men, when a belief in those opinions would cause us to isolate the special from the general devel- opments of the universe. They are together by the attract- ive law of God. They were moved into existence by His almighty fiat, and we have no reason to believe, therefore, that the first link will be broken to accommodate the imagin- ative hypothesis of mortality, or to suit the views of a world of finite beings, when those views separate man from the great fountain of nature and of spirit. CHAPTER II. The Elements or Systems comprising the Material World—An Error in Medical Prac- tice—Nature our unerring Guide—Man an Epitome of the Universe—The Nature and Office of Electricity—The Spiritual System of Man. It would, perhaps, be well to remark, that the subject al- ready before us appears too vast for finite comprehension. One thing is certain, however, that the universe is unques- tionably divided off into systems and stratas, and that one is absorbed by the other. This, we know, could not be, if they were of the same degree of rarefaction. Now, then, the question may with some degree of propriety be asked, what is the universe 1 We answer, that, separate and apart from the terrestrial division, the aqueous, atmo- spheric, electrical, and spiritual, the mind of man could have no idea of the universe. Is not each division more and more rarefied and pure, as well as more powerful in its convulsive movements, as it rises above the other 1 Has the convulsive arm of the stirring gale the power of the thunderbolt 1 Has the thunderbolt the power of the mind which spoke, and through its agency controlled the waves of the ocean 1 What, then, is the material world 1 We answer, that the terrestrial, the oceanic, the atmospheric, and electrical di- visions, mechanically put together, as they are, above, below, and around us, constitute the material world. These dis- missed from the mind, any knowledge of materiality would be MENTAL ALCHEMY. 21 impossible. And we would respectfully ask, were not these different systems spoken into existence by that Being to whose inspection the wisdom of all worlds is but fearful foolishness 1 Can we expect that nature, which seems primarily to reside in the fourth system of the universe, or the electrical fluid, dispensing her positive and negative influences in the same, over the material world, would loose her strong-hold, even if she had the authority from that Being who arms her with power 1 Can she cling for vital support to finite arms, tossed about on the tumultuous ocean of conjecture, or accommodate herself to the rules of imaginative philosophy 1 If, then, all the rules which govern every system of nature, in a general sense, primarily, reside in the electricity of the universe, as well as specially in the nervous system—one the agent of 'the power that obtains in the spiritual world, the other the agent of the finite power that obtains in the mate- rial body—how can we expect a change of those rules to cor- respond with our peculiar deductions, stimulated as they are in many instances by the wildest secretions of the imagina- tion 1 Look at it. Was there not a time when the learned philosophy of the land, in a medical consideration, spoke to thirsty and diseased nature, burning with fever, demanding water, You mistake—you do not want it—you do not require it, and you shall not have it 1 Did they not, clothed with the power of science, and the medical usages of the day, even set a watch over the patient at the midnight hour, to prevent him from allaying his thirst—to prevent him from drinking at the living fountain of nature, because they believed, by the rules which had been established for them in physiology, that if the patient did drink, it would be certain death 1 Did not learned men absorb these rules, and were they not governed by them at the bedside of patients ? Did they not honestly 22 MENTAL ALCHEMY believe them to be true 1 And what occasioned that belief, if it were not their education 1 These rules, then, did not occasion the stomach to be any the less adapted to the reception of water, nor did not pre- vent the mind from craving it for the body. When they said it would be certain death, under these circumstances, to take this beverage of life, was it nature or men by their actions endeavoring to change, ignorantly, the order of things to ac- commodate their notions and theory ? We leave the reader to decide, and would pass it by as one of the things that were, if we could; but when we think of the hundreds and thou- sands that have gone into eternity, while their spirits were making the last, long, lingering effort to articulate their wants, and their best friends by them refusing to the very last this beverage, in consequence of their education, we feel it impossible to do so. It is certainly better to hearken to the voice of nature than to the notions of man. This change, like all others of this nature, is impossible, for in this case we know that every man has a certain quantity of fluids in his body, and when that quantity is in the least degree diminished, it is not irra- tional to suppose that nature should crave the corresponding element which has thus been consumed in the body. If seventy-five parts of a body be composed of water, and five of those parts are consumed beyond the supply, it is certainly not unreasonable to suppose that thirst should prevail until those five parts are supplied; and that a disease correspond- ing to the nature of the deficit of the individual's aqueous idiosyncracy would take place, just exactly in proportion as the consumption is greater than the supply. Now, then, is it quackery to refuse to nature that which she wants for physiological purposes ? If so, scientific men M E .NTAL A L C HE M V. 23 in high places—in this particular, at least—at one time practiced, if they do not now, quackery in the extreme. Ex- tend the mind, then, to the bedside of the patient in this con- dition, and behold the physician dishing out drugs to fill the indications of thirst, instead of the pure beverage of life, and you see what men once called a truly scientific performance. Truly may it be said, " Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn." The application of the rules of nature to many things that now are looked upon as legitimate, would show, beyond a reasonable doubt, that we do not as yet hearken to the voice from on high, saying, " If a child ask for bread, will ye give him a stone ?" In other words, if sick and diseased nature presents unmistakable indications, are they not disregarded, and the patient tortured to suit the theories and notions of men, merely because they have the name of science 1 True, their theories and notions have the* support of those in high places, who endeavor to look with scorn and contempt upon the simplicity of nature, and particularly upon any human being who proposes to examine for himself, and to call atten- tion to experiments outside of the ordinary routine. But nothing can be more clear, if we wish to understand the true principles of mental philosophy, than that our experiments must be performed upon those beings who are in possession of the highest attributes of the spiritual world. Electrical experiments upon human beings are the only ex- periments that can obtain, understandingly, in the true in- vestigation of physiology and mental philosophy. If experiments were proposed to take place by electrical or galvanic agency with a frog, a cat, a dog, or a monkey, as 24 MENTAL ALCHEMY. the subject, for the purpose of ascertaining the relations of man to voltaic nature, this would be all right, scientific, and pleasant. From these experiments deductions would be made, and volumes written and sent out to the world, and stored up among the scientific treasures of the library, be- cause the experiments would be consistent and of a high or- der. Scientific and learned gentlemen could see them with- out bending their necks, or stooping to quackery. Is this not saying to the world that you can learn more about the mind of man from experiments upon a frog, a dog, a cat, or , a monkey, than you can from experiments upon man him- self? How can it be possible that voltaic experiments upon the lower animals can fill the great cup of mental investiga- tion? But it really does seem, from the action of many learned men, that they are better satisfied with the electro- j physiological experiments with animals, by means of a gal- j vanic battery, upon this point. How do those experiments prove that there are two bodies in man in mysterious con- nection with each other ? Have they ever presented any ex- -: periment, save that which is involved in physical reaction ? If not, they certainly fall far short of filling the indications demanded in the true system of mental philosophy. May we be excused for asking the question, what do gentlemen mean when thus, as it were, entombed within books, which only contain the notions of others, they say by their actions, that nature has unfolded her last leaf of physical and mental progression? Do they expect us still to hearken to their \ voice, that speaks forth from such terrestrial caverns of con- < sistency and harmony, disapproving every experiment not recognized in their scheme, or not falling within their pre- scribed rules? From this source, under the circumstances, we hear the words humbug and collusion. If they expect the MENTAL ALCHEMY. 25 world still to believe that they are in a condition to entirely understand the meaning of those words in this day and age, when men are beginning to think for themselves, they will surely find themselves mistaken. The high prerogative— character—which God himself has stamped upon the mental chamber of man, would seem to be freeing itself from old no- tions and prejudices, and to be already speaking a language plain and forcible in relation to this matter. We have digressed from our subject in this way for the purpose of presenting the impossibility of the systems and elements of man maintaining their healthy condition when isolated from those external, from which they continually draw; and to show more plainly the entire impossibility of man, with all his ingenuity, changing the relations of the hu- man system to the corresponding systems of the universe in the least degree—whether by science or ignorance, it is all the same—a surrender, on the part of nature, would as soon be made to the one as to the other. To return, then, in an especial sense, for the purpose of getting at the pith of our subject, if our deductions of na- ture be in the least degree true, man is composed of five distinct systems or kingdoms, each one mechanically fitted into the other. They are his bony or terrestrial structure, or skeleton; his aqueous, or circulating; his atmospheric, or re- spiratory system; his electrical, or nervous ; and his spiritual. These constitute the material and spiritual existence of man. Let us inspect them a little more closely, as the un- derstanding of our subject seems to demand it. Then the question naturally comes up, what do you mean by the ma- terial world, having the sun as its center ? We mean, first, the globe on which we mcve; secondly, the water, upon and within that globe; thirdly, the atmosphere anr> gases, ra- 26 MENTAL ALCHEMY. diating from the globe's surface to the distance of fifty miles; and, fourthly, the electric fluid, extending from the sun to the earth. These constitute the material world, the elements which compose it being mechanically fitted into each other. Dismiss these from the mind, and, upon the in- vestigation of our subject, materially, a blank stands before us. Taken as a whole, they constitute a grand physical or- ganization, which has the sun for its center. If we could know nothing of nature, independently of positive and negative influences, manifested by different elec- trical dispensations, must it not be clear, that the effects of these influences upon matter fill all the indications which learned men have assigned to nature ? Do they not primar- ily reside in the nervous system of the world, and can we not easily perceive their path, and the part of the universe over which they legitimately reign ? The electro-reactive trinity, which in this system obtains, is too mysterious for comprehension. All that we are per- mitted to know, in relation to this, the fourth system of the universe, which connects heaven to earth and earth to heaven, is, first, that it is possessed of a fluid capable of infinite ex- pansion ; secondly, that that 'fluid manifests two different in- fluences, the positive and the negative; and that a certain relation of these two influences, although diametrically op- posed to each other, seems to overlook and govern the out- goings and incomings of nature. We can then easily see before us what is meant by the material world; and that every being that is capable of absorbing the electrical fluid Hves, of necessity, on this side of that great kingdom. The atmosphere, the gases, the water, and the clods, alike absorb it. They are this side of it; this fluid insinuating itself within them all, conveying a certain relation of these forces MENTAL ALCHEMY. 27 presents the material world, in one sense, as a great chemical laboratory. Decomposition and recomposition seem to be one of its leading features. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter certainly speak a different relation of these two forces. All the elements, then, that absorb electricity and feed upon it as one of their vital constituents, undergo change and death. Therefore we see the foundation of the ephemeral existence of man. Like develops like ; hence the great sys- tem of morphology, which nature presents in her vast labor- atory, still holds fast to its claim upon the material elements, whether in the bosom of the ocean or in the body of man. Here, then, the mystery that accompanies the cold and chilly hand of death, in a measure, disappears. As we cannot be moved out of the position which nature has assigned us, save by the order of progression, indelibly fixed upon the condi- tion of things, it will be useful, perhaps, for us to examine closely, in an especial sense, for the legitimate abiding place of our material bodies. Nature plainly spreads before us an aerial ocean, composed of the atmosphere and its gases, and the elec- trical fluid, as our ephemeral abiding place. This is the home of the body. In this grand ocean we live and move in con- nection with the elements therein, which are continually, with their undulating movements, beating up against every pore and nerve, like the water upon the fish. Those elements are above, below, and around us. Is not this as plain to the mind now, as that the oceanic department of the universe is the home of the fish ? Can we take their place and live, or can they take ours? We now have the answer before us to the question, " What is the material world ?" as well as the natural reason of the destructible tendency of our bodies, with the third and fourth systems of the universe furnishing them a momentary abiding place. Every crea- 28 MENTAL ALCHEMY. ture, therefore, that lives this side of, and vitally absorbs the ether of Newton, the electricity of Franklin, and the electrical fluid of Sir James Murray, is, of necessity, com- pelled to undergo change and death. The mole being an inhabitant of the globe, absorbs his electrical vitality through the systems that stand above it; the fishes, and other inhab- itants of the water, absorbing theii electrical vitality through the atmosphere; and man, being an inhabitant of the atmos- phere, directly absorbs his electrical fluid by the agency of the nervous system. Each part of creation seems to be governed, pl^sically, by those laws which obtain in the ele- ments where they are found naturally to exist, from the smallest and lowest of creation, that separates the particles of earth in its pathway, step by step, up to man. What kingdom or atmosphere does angel, archangel, cherubim, and seraphim inhabit? Do they exist? And if they do, is that existence upon nothing ? Are they not capable of ab- sorbing some kind of influence ? Can they be sustained by the elements that we absorb ? If not, in the mind's eye we behold them as the positive inhabitants of the interior or spirit world, although unseen by mortal eyes, as long as na- ture claims us as her own. From the mechanical condition and connection of the dif- ferent systems of the universe, we can easily contemplate them in our midst, feeding upon and absorbing the vital elements which compose the spiritual world. This must be so, as this beautiful and never-ending doctrine of absorption cannot stop with the nervous system of man and the elec- tricity of the atmosphere. Were it not for the tangible part of our being, we are quite sure any knowledge respecting the mind and its dispositions would be impossible. When we behold every creature, in its make, appetite, outgoings, and MENTAL ALCHEMY 29 incomings, adapted to its respective elements and depart- ments of the material world, so that they can absorb and live upon them, it cannot be mere speculation to speak of the progressive state of things, with reference to the higher and purer emanations from His almighty hand. The condi- tion of things, in this very interesting particular that we find here, did not happen by chance. Wisdom and design are seen throughout the special and general adaptation of means to ends. We should, therefore, be short-sighted and illiberal, indeed, to assert that there is no principle in man capable of absorbing other influences than electrical. The interior body, which now indirectly feeds upon the elements of the spiritual world, is unquestionably destined, when the chord between the nervous system and the spiritual system shall be broken, to absorb directly and live upon those wholesome in- fluences which now stand at the foundation of intellectual life. This must be so, as we have reason, both from nature and revelation, to prove the existence of beings beyond us, who were once the positive recipients of the great liquor amnii of nature, as we now are. Then excuse us for indulg- ing in that which nature seems unmistakably to present, and that is, we know that man has a natural organization or body, and that that natural organization or body recognizes the brain as its center. All the elements that compose the body and brain are destructible in their nature, upon the principles laid down, because the elements and systems that they con- tinually absorb are destructible and changeable. They are also inert and motionless, b.ecause those which they absorb are inert and motionless. They are moved about from place to place by the power of the spiritual being within, of which they are but an imperfect daguerreotype. Joy springs up in the mind when nature presents such a volume of thought in 80 MENTAL ALCHEMY relation to spiritual certainty. Look, then, at the spiritual s-ystem, as it plays its vital part through the agency of the nerves, in protecting, for a time, this finite castle from the millions of extraneous agents that are continually warring against it, and you have a demonstration not altogether of earth. This spiritual system, which thus speaks an unmistakable language, as regards its whereabouts, must, in the nature of things, have the mind for its center, as the body has the brain. The spiritual system and the mind are the only per- fect organization of man. Then it is not mere conjecture to assert, that the mind bears the same relation to the spiritual body that the brain does to the natural body, as every organization presupposes a center. It is not mere speculation to speak of the spiritual organization, as being indestructible and eternal in its nature, if it absorbs elements that are indestructible and eternal. If we see our bodies, in the stillness of the night, absorbing the elements around us, and from which they derive their vital support, and look at these as they are, changeable in their nature, we find them still in the possession of the same char- acteristics after being absorbed into the body, although they constitute that body. Then, if our spiritual bodies after death are actually released and removed from material ele- ments, they are indestructible and unchangeable, and exist in every way independent of them. Will it not necessarily follow, if the influences which they absorb are eternal and un- changeable, that bodies that are supported by those influences must correspond to their nature ? If you wish it, as it is in common usage, the body that we see is destructible and ma- terial ; and the one interior, that moves it at will—the one we do not see—is indestructible, and therefore immaterial. MENTAL ALCHEMY. 31 for the plain reasons laid down. If you say that the spirit is without form, and a mere essence only, we acknowledge our inability to understand any thing about it. What office can a mere essence, without the attributes of a spiritual being in the full possession of organs and faculties, fill in the economy of human existence ? Did not the greatest of all philoso- phers, with his mind illuminated by a flame above the bright- ness of the sun, record it, not as a fact only, but as a truth, that " there is a natural body and there is a spiritual body." Did he say it was a mere essence ? Has nature or revela- tion ever declared it as such ? Will men of mental power still contend for the primary virtue of the material elements by the hand of nature in the development of the body of man, and not admit a corresponding body as an emanation from the elements of the spiritual world ? Does not the body of man present itself as a representative of the material world, and as an emanation from it ? This spiritual body, then, of which St. Paul speaks, must, in the nature of things, emanate from and represent the spiritual world. Is the material body filled with different systems and elements ? If so, why not the spiritual body ? To say, then, it is without form, and an essence only, seems to contradict every word which nature has spoken in relation to that something which arms her with power. Why should we attach meaning to the natural body, and labor for centuries to understand its physical relations, and boldly proclaim that it is a physical organization, having the brain as its center, and speak of our internal body as an essence only ? Do we wish, by such deductions, to leave our recorded sanction, that it emanates from the material world by the mysterious distillation of nature ? From what source could such deductions come ? In her vast domain of opera- tions, the least possible indication of this direction is not 32 MENTAL ALCHEMY. even hinted at. She claims no priority over our primary spirituality, and humbly bows at its footstool, supplying the various constituents for its natural covering. It would, there- fore, not only be gratuitous on our part, but an effect which, in her constitution, never has been presented, to place such a free signification anywhere in her great physical chamber. The spirit of man rises transcendently above a mere essence, the distillation of matter, or any such conclusion. It is a spiritual body, the perfect system of our being,* and just as much an emanation from the ingredients which constitute, beautify, and adorn the interior or spiritual world, as the nat- ural body is an emanation from the great mass of nature. Look at the morning sun, as he comes forth clad in his aque- ous splendor, and we have presented a reflection from those elements from which man derives his immortal spirit, and from which it is supplied with life and being. Our spirits are now the indirect recipients of those elements thus re- flected. When we complete our mortal career, and pay the debt which we owe to nature; when we experience those inde- scribable struggles of anguish and pain by which the cord that links the spiritual and nervous systems together is broken ; when its last spiritual fiber has sundered its affinity for the nervous, then, and not until then, do our spirits be- come the direct recipients, and absorb, understandingly and knowingly, the elements and influences of the spirit world, which are pure and indestructible. CHAPTER III. Man's Spiritual System further Discussed-The Subject of Communication between Man and the Spiritual World Considered, and its Natural Impossibility Presented— The Entrance of a Being into the Spiritual World analagous to the Introduction of a Human Being into this Life. In our further contemplations upon this interesting sub- ject, it will be well to remember the voltaic connection of the different systems of the universe, and particularly those that compose the material world; as they, by the laws of their na- ture, force out from themselves bodies with forms and organs clothed upon with mortality. Then we shall not so readily deny the systems and elements of the interior world, the cor- responding primary authority in the development of the liv- ing spirit. If we cannot have any possible idea, save by reflection, of the nature of the different systems and elements which com- pose the interior world, the want of that knowledge here can- not, in the least degree, affect its primary development of the spirit. Have we a spirit ? If we have, does it not repre- sent something ? Have we a body ? If we have, does it not represent something ? Is not that something in relation to the body the material world ? Why may not that something, in a spiritual sense, be this spiritual world ? Is it unreason- able to suppose, therefore, that, by a power beyond nature, acting correspondingly with her, bodies, with forms and or- gans, should be developed in their nature immortal, and, 34 MENTAL ALCHEMY. by the power of death, be prepared to become the positive subjects and recipients of the elements and influences which thus claim them as their own ? Do we not here behold the beauties of nature ? Do we not absorb and feed upon her bounties, and with pleasure gaze upon her landscapes, and gather the choicest flowers from her fields, and drink in with delight the influences of her shady groves ? Shall not this something which mysteriously presides over the body, arm- ing it with power to absorb those influences which nature so bountifully bestows, ultimately absorb, feel, and enjoy those from which it came ? Look at the works of nature ; recol- lect that there was a time in our existence when we were not even the positive recipients of the atmosphere as we now are ; but we were its recipients, not directly, but indirectly. Our vitality from the atmosphere, then, was second-handed vital- ity, but exactly adapted to our more infantile nature and being. Have we not, then, an example before us, that seems to present a world of progressive thought as to what kind of recipients we are now of those high spiritual influences? Our spiritual vitality, therefore, is obliged to be, while it is in connection with the body, philosophically speaking, second- handed, unless there be supernatural agency. But it is ex- actly adapted to the nature of our spiritual being, while it supports the body which is within the great womb of our mother nature. How it can be contended that any spirit, while bowing in obedience to the gravitating laws of nature and of the body, without divine agency, can, for a time even, break this wall between spirits negative and spirits positive, is to us, indeed marvelous in the extreme—the gate that leads from one state to the other being that of death, and the entrance to those influences of a new condition of life—that of the resurrection. MENTAL ALCHEMY. 35 To contend, then, that our spirits can, while in connection with the body, understandingly absorb the influences directly of the spirit world, and be enabled to converse with those spirits that once had being among us, would be the strangest hallucination that has ever been tumbled into the great cate- gory of thought. The imaginative faculty of man, moved on by that of marvelousness, may induce the mind to depart, for a short time, upon the noncommercial ocean of conjec- ture, and when there, to think that it may rise transcend- ently above its nature, and be enabled to converse intelligibly even with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The information thus received from those noble and daring spirits may seem to impart a new stimulus to those two faculties that have be- come morbid, creating a strong belief, that spirits more ac- commodating, as those of Zachary Taylor, Lorenzo Dow, and others, would come at their calling, and entangle themselves again with matter, by knocks, sounds, tipping and moving tables, and giving instructions how we should conduct ourselves, and what course we should pursue in all matters requiring judgment and discretion, as positive evi- dence of their entanglement. The medium, therefore, is just as well satisfied that he can obtain additional power from the co-operating influence of those spirits, in the production of physical and mental results, as he is of his own existence. This is not the first time that the morbid secretions of these faculties of the brain have enticed the mind away from its natural channel of thought and power. We are not saying that those who believe in spiritual communications have not seen and felt enough to convince them of their possibility. We admit, that gentlemen, as honest as men can be, truly believe and participate in these things. The mind of man will, of necessity, be compelled to give way to the morbid 36 MENTAL ALCHEMY. secretions of these two faculties until his involuntary cham- ber is better understood. Now, the physical phenomena ema- nating from this source do not seem to be looked at in their proper light; and this being the case, the mental dispensa- tions are still .more in the dark. The great characteristics of these properties of the mind have shown themselves in all ages with a disposition to err in their celestial soarings, and it is neither strange, nor without cause, that the mind, labor- ing under the influence of their specific secretions, should believe that it could become, even now, the positive recipient of angelic care. Departed spirits have then, according to the belief of many, selected men of a certain reactive condition of the nervous system, for the purpose of conveying additional in- tellectual and divine intelligence to the world. Men believe this, and hundreds are now acting under the influence of these impressions. Without asking the question, in relation to the use and advantage of such intelligence, would it not be ill adapted to our present being and mental power ? Has that which has already been given by those set apart in the great purpose of all things, been properly digested and un- derstood ? When it is, have we not every reason to believe that it will run this cup over with unutterable pleasure and delight ? Nature, reason, and every thing else, says to the reflecting mind, and that, too, for its own good, digest well the food you already have, which is exactly adapted to the nature of your stomach and being, as danger may result from swallowing more, particularly if it be of a different na- ture, requiring, as all must perceive, supernatural reaction, on the part of its recipient, to digest it. We acknowledge the mind to be of a progressive nature. We look upon it as being in the possession of powers capable of reflecting back MENTAL ALCHEMY. 37 to the time when the morning sun first rose in his primeval splendor, and returning again, simply by an effort of the will, to its earthly bosom. We look upon it as being in posses- sion of a reactive influence, which enables it indirectly to absorb, in its reflections, the pleasure and delight of angelic existence. All this and more do we admit; but as there is an adaptation of means to ends, in the mental as well as physical dispositions of all creatures, reason cries aloud, Are we in our more infantile life and condition prepared as subjects for the departments of nature, as we now are? Has the periphery undergone that physiological and chem- ical change which takes place after birth to protect the body from the storms and tempests of winter that take place in the atmospheric and gaseous departments? The question is, to be plain on this subject, can the infant, before its birth, directly absorb the elements of nature as we do, and receive intelligence from us who are in a differ- ent atmosphere ? This would be a miracle, and would re- quire divine agency to accomplish it. As such, we say, it would require the same agency for our spirits to converse with introsuscepted spirits. However intelligent the mind of man may be, it still, in the nature of things, compares with the intelligence of the spirits in another world, as the infantile germ in the mother's womb compares with those minds that are intelligibly absorbing the most mysterious works of nature. The great difference between the two worlds justifies this conclusion. The process of death is, therefore, but the manner in which the spirit of man makes an exchange of worlds. The dissatisfaction of the spirit of man, manifested while here, under any and all circum- stances, however prosperous and happy nature may seem to make it, proves that it longs for this heritage of the resur- 4 38 MENTAL ALCHEMY. rection. The innate anxiety of man, therefore, demands it, and the many premature efforts which it ofttimes makes to disconnect itself from the body which is in the material world, are but so many evidences that it was created for a higher destiny than that of earth. The progression of our being upward, then, as plainly seen from the commencement of infancy, is but to prepare us for that of mature manhood, and that of mature manhood, by the power of death and the resurrection, will deliver us, as beings capable of absorbing the spiritual influences of the interior world. Then the spirit is unquestionably a higher being than it was before. It has thus, in the order of things, emerged from one state of existence into another. The question then arises, can the spirit return back, in any sense, to our world, and par- ticipate in our intellectual associations, without a special commission from the God who planned and created the order and harmony of His universe ? If the speculations of those who believe in spiritual communications be true, these spirits possess the power, and are, in a measure, at least, compelled to obey the emotions of a medium, and respond to his inquir- ies, laying plainly before him what our departed friends are doing. We ask, with the kindest feelings toward those who are now positively consuming their vitality in this direction, can this be so? If it cannot, every time such an impression is absorbed, it presupposes an extraneous expenditure of vi- tality which the mind and the body need for the legitimate support of its present existence. Those who believe and absorb such impressions, to such an extent as to cause their actions to correspond to their nature, may follow such freaks of the imagination with pleasure and apparent coolness, but that does not prove that this communication is opened up. How far it may, for a time, lead its followers by its extra- MENTAL ALCHEMY. 30 neous attractions is, indeed, fearful to contemplate in rela- tion to the welfare of some—fearful, because an expenditure of vitality in this direction being extraneous, must, of neces- sity, rob man of the vital agent which is needed for the sup- port of his physical existence. From such an expenditure ofttimes comes an unbalanced condition of the mind and the body, which nothing but death can level. We hope, therefore, the reader will first exam- ine the extent of the demonstrable power of the involuntary chamber of his being, in its physical as well as mental dis- pensations ; then connect it with the various conditions of the nervous system, which arms it with power, and inspect, with an impartial eye, the wonderful phenomena emanating therefrom, before he consents to have his intellect encum- bered with such impressions. Will he not, in certain con- ditions of the mind and the nervous system, realize the possibility of the involuntary stirrings beyond consciousness, conveying intelligence to others ? Examine the power of the mind in this condition to receive those impressions independent of consciousness, and recog- nize the peculiar quality of the mind, which is conditionally to act and react upon its nervous system, and see if from these internal sources a positive effect cannot be produced upon the auditory nerve, occasioning the same disturbance that atmospheric undulations do, by which the mind hears. Will the reader be so kind as to examine still further, and see if by the internal action of the mind upon the optic nerve the same disturbance may not take place, under certain con- ditions, by which the mind can see through the eye; and examine still further to satisfy himself in relation to this remarkable property of mind, to see if it cannot, even in a physical sense, produce the same disturbance in the nervous 4C MENTAL ALCHEMY. system that the action of the galvanic battery will produce. If he does, we are more than sure that he will be satisfied, in the first instance, of the truth of what he has heard, seen, and felt; and, secondly, that these effects are not of that spiritual nature that they are believed to be by many. Minds more mature than ours, we are aware, cling to the new doctrine of spiritual manifestations, independently of the virtue of what we have said. We drop these few hints, therefore, not for the purpose of disputing with those who are so eagerly pursuing this path of investigation, nor to charge any one with deception; but we ask in all kindness, ought we not to hearken to the powers that are here given us, and trace them out correctly, before we charge departed spirits with results which have taken place, in many in- stances, by the involuntary action of the mind independently of consciousness ? We have put ourselves to much trouble for the purpose of investigating these phenomena, but have as yet never seen or heard the least demonstration that could not be legitimately referred to the source we have named. We do not say that others have not; this much, however, we know full well, we have not. We have anxiously asked mediums, said to possess ex- traordinary power, to produce for us the most simple results, and we then would believe. The experiments that we asked to be given were of a nature that came not within the condi- tion of the nervous system and mind to which we have re- ferred. We have been told by mediums, from the authority of some mysterious spirit, which caused them to write inde- pendently of the will and consciousness, that if we would take the pen, they would also take possession of our nervous sys- tem, and write a communication. We did so with all hon- esty of purpose, and felt no impulse corresponding with the MENTAL ALCHEMY. 41 nature of such an impression. Being perfectly passive, the pen moved not, and, therefore, from this source we failed to get any experiment of writing communications. We have seen and know many persons as far removed from deception as mortality can be, who were not only believers, but were active mediums in the production of what is supposed to be this condition of things. During their demonstrations, inva- riably the greatest wonderment was expressed in the counte- nances of those present. Now, then, we hope that this will not be considered as traveling out of our way, or digressing from the path of our subject, as these phenomena have to do with mind. It is the mind or spirit that we have been asking nature, in a general sense, in her presignification to present. It has been written by the pen of inspiration, that there is—not will be—a spirit- ual body. If our deductions are not imaginary, nature, as well as revelation, speaks too plainly in relation to the where- abouts of the spirit, while in connection with the body, to be misunderstood. She sets at rest this indirect, inductive re- lation of the mind or spirit, while within her domain, and feeding upon her bounties, as regards positive spiritual influ- ence's outside of divine agency. It will be perceived, according to the principles laid down, that by the action and reaction of the mind, it can apparently absorb the impression of, and realize the immediate presence of departed spirits, converse with them, as well as hear sounds and voices as clear and distinct as in natural life. Any cir- cumstance, therefore, which may occur so as to produce a" similar condition of the mind, may bring about this state of things ; and while in this condition, revelations may be had that will startle the subject from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head. The mind that absorbs such impressions 42 MENTAL ALCHEMY. should remember that they are the works of his own interior creation, and that, having once absorbed them, he may take his pen in hand and give the most glowing description of what he has seen and heard. This is believed by him with as much earnestness as he believes in the truth of the absorption of any impression that ever came from a mortal being. We could mention many instances of this kind that occurred long before the new doctrine of spiritual revelations, creating im- pressions of the most sublime and aerial nature, which, if re- corded, would fill volumes. If it be contended that the mind in this condition, in a manner, at least, disconnects itself from materiality, and in consequence of that disconnection is permitted to approach nearer to the spirit world, and consequently nearer to its in- habitants, I still ask, where is the evidence? These con- templations are therefore left on record for the honest pur- pose, not of diverting the mind of any man from the true path of spiritual investigation, but for the purpose of begging him to weigh well the extraordinary power of his own mind when it bears a certain relation to the nervous system, in making creations apparently not of earth. CHAPTER IV. The Natural and Spiritual World—Their different Systems, Stratas, and Elements—■ They are both Created—They are not God—The Spiritual and Material Nature of Man Considered—Distinction between Mind and Intellect—Motion the Result of the Spirit —The Law of Equilibrium does not hold with Mind as with Matter. As there are, and have been, so many speculations put forth to the world as regards that which is natural and that which is spiritual, we will be as plain as possible in our de- ductions, that we may not be misunderstood. The subject, then, in this place, demands a more special consideration. Some might think, from merely a glance at our previous re- marks, that they would lead to the conclusion that the nat- ural and spiritual world are God. If they, however, will ex- amine more closely, they will find them placed as the result of His creating fiat. We may extend this subject, perhaps, further than many, because we believe, from the manifesta- tions of those things which are seen, that it was as possible for Him, in the first place, to create a spiritual world which should forever remain unseen by mortal eyes, as it was in the last place for Him to create a material world which should in its nature be visible—the one filled with systems and stratas, pure and unchangeable; the other filled with systems and stratas impure, and therefore subject to change. In this place nature even seems to say, why not? as a word from Him to the one would render it immortal, and to the other, mortal. 44 MENTAL ALCHEMY. " Thou above, apart, beyond, Oh ! tell us, mighty mind, Where art thou ?" Common usage has given us the words material and im- material. Nature herself gives us their true meaning. But if the immortal part of man simply means an essence result- ing from material distillation, the view we have taken is sadly erroneous. If, however, it means, in the condition of things, a spirit created and emanating from a world filled with sys- tems and stratas indestructible and of surpassing beauty, its existence is plain, and the definition of spirit imparts an eter- nity of thought. Are we not informed that God created all things ? If so, is the spiritual world a thing ? If it be, both nature and revelation seal this point, else, He is not the cre- ator of all things, and therefore something has existed also from the beginning which was uncreated. View this part of the subject carefully, and ask the question, how is it possible to imagine an uncreated something, with all the attributes of self-existence acknowledging any power beyond itself ? We venture the assertion, that it is impossible. Therefore we think that we have the authority of nature for saying that this interior world, is a world created; and its millions on millions of spirits are justly and truly so many emanations from the elements and stratas which compose it. He who said, " Let there be light, and there was light," spoke in so many words to the interior world, let there be spirit, and there was spirit. It is admitted, that the countless millions of beings who are the subjects of the material world, are by nature the creations of His hand. We cannot, therefore, believe that the material and spiritual world are God, as some have conjectured, for they appear in the operations above and below us, as subjects of a higher power. They are the universe, and not, there- MENTAL ALCHEMY. 45 fore, God. The one contains systems and elements for the development of our spiritual individuality; and the other, systems and elements, as we know, for the development of our physical individuality. Now, then, as our spirits pos- sess the power to reason and to think, do you say that the mass of the ingredients of the spiritual world, from which our spirits are individualized, think and reason as a mass ? We certainly mean to convey no such idea. We wish to be understood as speaking of this matter from analogy, when we say that it is just as much the spiritual nature of that world and its ingredients to impart those faculties to its special emanations, as it is the nature of the material world and its ingredients to produce muscles and bones for our mortal bodies. Do we see bone and muscle as bone and muscle in the material mass ? Certainly not. Still, no "man in his senses will deny the fact that the bones and muscles of all men, by some mysterious process, come from that mass. Here, then, the philosopher may reason upon it, and examine it as much as he pleases, and dispute our premises, if he likes, still the fact is clear, that the same elements that enter into the composition of the clods of the valley, do produce the bones and muscles of men. Why may not, then, a spiritual in- dividualization, representing the elements and systems of the interior world, possess the faculty of thinking and feeling, as well as the body possess ^oone and muscle ? It would seem that these are reasonable deductions, and they obtain, in this par- ticular, beyond all controversy; they are plain, and easy to be understood. Surely, then, if the natural world is but an im- pression of the interior world, the question settles itself. It does not present the spiritual world in a still more incompre- hensible light. We stare not at the power of nature in the development of our physical organization or body, with the 46 MENTAL ALCHEMY. brain as its center. If we can see this body, and many of the elements that compose it, and know that those of this world lie at their foundation, why is it not equally philo- sophic and reasonable to say that the created mass of the spiritual world lies at the foundation of our spiritual organ- ization or body, which has the mind as its center ? Turn it and speculate as we may, man is still a compound of a natural and spiritual organization, composed of systems playing mysteriously into each other, and so mechanically fitted together, as apparently to make but one body ; the in- J' terior of which has the mind for its center, and to which, we have every reason to believe, it bears the same relation as the brain does to the external organization. Hence the spirit of man is just as much in his hand, his spine, and his foot, as it is in his brain. The brain is the great point of its physical and mental response. Impressions of this world are received there; impressions to this world are given out there. But this will not warrant us, from the relation of things, to torture nature, by speaking a language she never spoke; that is, that the spirit of man is in the brain only. How would we account for, or in the least degree understand, the reason why some men feel, apparently, in a foot or hand for ten or twenty years after it has been amputated, by a contrary hypothesis ? When we bruise, or otherwise injure any part of the body, as, for instance, the hand, the spiritual system, a part of which is in it, though in its nature removed from destructibility and the surgeon's knife, is of a nature -' to feel, and the conclusion is forcible, that even when the hand is amputated the spirit is not touched, and still remains. If this be the hypothesis of nature, is it strange that, con- ditionally, the mind or spirit should manifest the same feel- ing as before ? None will contend that it is the hand we see MENTAL ALCHEMY. 47 which feels; the feeling, therefore, must be in the invisible hand which remains, because the hand of our immortal sys- tem is as much in the hand we see as in the brain. There- fore, when the hand we see is amputated by the surgeon's knife, this immortal hand remains, and conditionally feels, as it did before, the same identical distress and pain. This phenomenon, which has been looked upon as a physi- cal one, seems now to go home to its proper origin, and de- monstrates the indestructible character of spirit which all may understand. The brain hypothesis falls far short of a satisfactory explanation on this subject. Its followers, in conversing on this phenomenon, which has occasionally occur- red in the practice of physicians, refer to the secretions of the imagination for its solution. That faculty, then, is asked for an explanation of this, the deepest psychological phenom- enon, and before a reply is received, the scientific nail this charge to its door, in accordance with a kind of physiological usage and convenience, by which they explain some of the more difficult phenomena of nature. Look, then, at a man who has had a hand or a foot amputated ten or twenty years ago, and hear him complain distressingly of the same pains and aches that existed before it was amputated, and you have an effect, which seems to attract to itself a world of thought. It is one of those sentences penned in the great book of na- ture, to convince man of the existence of the spirit which we have been considering. He who hearkens not to the lesson of a spirit thus speaking, however humble, passes by the brightest star in nature's vast domain, that points uner- ringly to the immortality of man. About this, at present, we say no more, and pass on to prominent difficulties, in a special sense, which we propose to discuss in relation to mind. First, some philosophers believe that this mind or 48 MENTAL ALCHEM? spirit that we have labored so hard to give spiritual person- ality, as the body has natural personality, is nothing more than the result of impressions upon the brain ; secondly, that the intellect of man is, indeed and in truth, his mind; and, thirdly, that the five senses in union may constitute this something susceptible of intellectual progression. These positions are worthy of consideration, as many adhere to them and advocate them with eloquence and power. Our objections to them are founded upon the practical demonstra- tions of the nature of man. We have a source in the man- ifestations of the mind in its alchemistic developments, to prove that these are only imaginary hypotheses. Subject them to the scrutiny of the science of mental alchemy, and their imaginative existence at once appears. To prove their unsoundness we have but to take persons in a natural state, and at once take away all impressions that their minds have absorbed, from the cradle up. If this can be done, they cer- tainly stand dispossessed of those impressions and of intel- lect, causing all around them, with which they were familiar, even to the impression of a father or a mother, for the time, to be beyond their intellectual reaction. If these impres- sions are the individual's mind, it is in this instance certainly gone. Place before him a book with which he is familiar, call upon him to repeat a school-boy speech, and, although he may understand, by your permission, what you say, still, in relation to the matters of which you speak, he knows nothing. The impossibility of giving his opinion in relation to any subject is peculiarly marked in his very condition. Now, then, I repeat, if the intellect is his mind, it is in this instance certainly gone. His brain is stripped of its intel- lectual robe, but his blood circulates as before. A something remains which exerts a physical force of from fifty to two MENTAL ALCHEMY 49 hundred thousand pounds ; that is, the positive and negative motion of from twenty-five to thirty-five pounds of blood throughout the arterial and venous system once in every three or four minutes. Now, what is that something which remains and still pre-; sents to us, in the great economy of human existence, one of its most sublime operations ? It cannot be the brain and the heart, for they are matter, and matter cannot move itself. Motion is no property of matter. Matter only moves by the influence of some other power separate and apart from itself. As something remains, and presents us with motion, pro- ducing such an extraordinary amount of physical force, the conclusion is positive that it is not matter. What, then, can it be but the living spirit, still producing its involuntary nervo- vital discharges to the heart, contracting its muscles now as it contracted them before it received an intellectual impression from the material world ? I press this question, and beg particular attention to this state of things. Here stands a man who is intellectually and understandingly conversant with different languages, as well as capable of receiving impressions, and, by the authority of the nervous system, which caused those impressions to consti- tute his intellect, we find by experiment that his intelligence, and even his power to receive impressions is, for the time, set aside. If those impressions were, in a vital sense, his mind, the effects that are now produced would, in their very nature, cause it to cease its material existence. But, on the contra- ry, we find a hearty co-operation between the brain, the heart, and the circulating system, with a strong, healthy pul- sation, and a soft, flexible feel of the skin. The mind still remains, as we now see, clad with all its physical power of life and being. The five senses, in their turn, are also—as 5 60 MENTAL ALCHEMY. you may now perceive by experiment—alchemistically nega- tived, and we have the same living and immortal monarch, Bhowing his power as before, in the circulation of the blood. While the subject is thus disarmed of his senses, and com- pletely stripped of his intellectuality, the blood still contin- ues to flow through the living channels of the body, whisper- ing the intelligence of the presence of his spirit, separate and apart from intellectual impression, or the union of the five senses. What can be more conclusive? If these experi- ments were performed on a frog, a cat, or a dog, the conclu- sion would not be as. forcible; but here is a being who can testify, with thousands of others, the condition of things as regards this matter, by which we may more understandingly overlook the true operation and relation of mind to matter, as well as the manner in which impressions are absorbed. Are we not authorized, from these experiments—as they involve the highest reactions of a human being—to say that man has a something which is not the result of impressions, which is not the union of the senses, nor any distillation of matter by the great crucible of nature ? That something is spirit, and it is just as much adapted to the absorption of impressions as the body is to the absorption of the different elements of na- ture. If these conclusions are imaginary, an awful chasm is here presented, which can be found nowhere else in the absolute condition of things—which compels like to beget like. The natural world begets our natural body, and the spirit- ual world our spiritual body. We see the one, and through that, from its nature, by impressions, reach the other; as when we step upon the foot, the pressure produces a mechan- ical disturbance of a fine fluid that circulates within the body of the nervous system, from the brain and spine to the foot. MENTAL ALCHEMY. 61 I hat disturbance occasions a succession of waves in the * nervous system to pass from the point involved to the brain. This is simply action, a property which belongs to matter, when disturbed. These waves are purely mechanical; but they reach the brain, and that being which looks out from behind the sparklings of the eye. Then the mind reacts upon the same system through the brain and spine, dispatch- ing a reversed succession of waves from the center of the physical organization to the point involved. Without this i> returning succession of waves, or disturbances of the parti- cles of the nervous system, there is no response, no feeling, no reaction. These bring with them an extra quantity of blood, and a chemical condition, therefore, of the parts in- volved takes place. Hence they may properly be termed the chemical succession of waves or disturbances of the nervous system. They are the effects of a sensible response by which distention of the blood-vessels takes place, causing irritation, pain, and inflammation proportioned to the extent of the re- action or response, and the peculiar texture of the physical and mental organization involved, presenting plainly a new and interesting volume in physiology. Is the question still asked, Where is this something that responds with such force and power ? We answer, that it is just beyond and interior to the vital circulation of the nerv- ous system. A piece of bread is taken into the mouth and conveyed to the stomach. There it stops for the present; still we do not see it. Now, then, suppose the question be asked, Where is this stomach? Is it not plain that it is where the bread stops, and does it not, by its presence, agi- tate the stomach, and in that agitation produce a disturbance of the muscular wall, and does not a disturbance of its vital particles, in consequence of its nervo-vital connection with 52 MENTAL ALCHEMY the brain, occasion a succession of waves to pass mechanic- ally to it, before the transverse and longitudinal contraction and relaxation of that organ can take place ? This is mere mechanical action, thus produced from the stomach to the brain ; and the chemical action from the brain to the stomach must, in the nature of things, occasion the churning process of the different stomachic movements in digestion. Why not say that a succession of disturbances takes place from the stomach to the brain within the nervous system, when we are told that the food that we take into the mouth enters the stomach through its cardiac orifice by a wave-like movement? This wave-like motion certainly claims our attention in all the great variety of physical and mental phenomena. Sup- pose the question still be asked, Where is the stomach? We reply, that the answer is had in looking at the bread where it is now making impressions, and positively calling forth the natural secretions of the stomach upon the prin- ciples laid down to produce the chemical change of the par- ticles of which the bread is composed. The most simple cannot fail to see naturally what we mean here. The chem- ical power of the stomach presupposes the presence of the gastric juice. All organs have their peculiar secretive na- ture as much as it is the nature of the peach tree to produce peaches, and the apple tree to produce apples, although they may both be influenced by and absorb the same vital stim- ulus. It is the nature of this organ to secrete the gastric juice, and it is the nature of the gastric juice, when secreted, to produce a chemical change in the food, and in this chem- ical change we see its power. Now, then, what objection is there to the hypothesis that the spirit of man is just beyond this nervous fluid, which has the nervous system, with its great variety of ramified threads as its channel of influen- MENTAL ALCHEMY. 53 tial circulation. The brain and spine seem to be the vital radiating points of this fluid to the circumference of the castle. They seem to be the points of reaction of the spirit. Immediately upon a disturbance of the fine particles of this system, we can perceive from analogy a succession of waves going to the center, imparting pleasure or pain to the being within as the case may be, and returning with a new reactive succession of disturbances for the purpose of expelling the enemy that may have taken possession of its castle. This being the process also by which it brings blood-vessel to blood- vessel, and nerve to nerve, if they have been severed. We see, then, the official agency of electricity between mind and matter in the decomposition and recomposition which takes place in the body of man, as well as the physical op- erations of the universe. Now, then, if the question be also asked, Where is this mind or spirit? the operations of the physical man reply, that it is where these undulations are thus making impres- sions. These undulations of the nervous system are thus making impressions, beating up upon it, like the waves of the atmosphere upon our bodies, calling forth its inherent re- active power, in the fluid of the nervous system. In other words, to be more plain, it is just beyond the vital fluid, or just beyond the lightning's flash, which circulates within the pith of the nervous system, and interior to it; as when we say the respiratory system is just beyond the circulating system in rarefaction, purity, and power, and interior to it. We are aware that we are here handling a matter which appears to be not altogether of earth, and feel our entire in- ability to trace understandingly the mechanical movements of nature in co-operation with the chemical movements of the mind as here presented. To contemplate the composi- 54 MENTAL ALCHEMY tion and the peculiar texture of this internal body can only be done by analogy. Its texture and composition, with its pe- culiar elements, are not here given to man to present, as he can those of its castle. But by the power of analogy he can see them too plainly, it would seem, to be misunderstood. Nature calls this power of the mind into play, in the under- standing, even, of electricity, which escapes mechanical vi- sion and inspection. We only know its existence from its effects, as no chemist can analyze it. Even if the atmos- phere be pumped out of a vessel, this does not empty the vessel of all its contents. Suppose we take a vessel filled with water, and pour out the water. In domestic usage, I grant, that the vessel is empty. But this is not so in a chemical sense, as it is still filled with atmosphere and the gases. Now let the atmosphere and gases be pumped out; in both domestic and chemical usage the vessel is empty, but it is nevertheless clear, that this fine, elastic, electrical fluid remains, and will not leave its throne for all the power and genius of philosophy combined. There is a something, then, which remains, and it. will be understood and admitted by all classes of philosophers that the vessel is still filled—not with water, as the domestic would reply; not with atmos- phere or the gases, as the chemist would reply—but with electricity. A vacuum, therefore, in nature, is impossible. This ether of Newton, electricity of Franklin, and electrical fluid of Sir James Murray, which remains, is not of a na- ture to succumb to the wisdom of man, as the atmosphere and gases do in this particular. Oh ! nature, why dost thou thus abhor a vacuum ? This electrical fluid, with its positive and negative influ- ences existing everywhere and in every thing, in a material sense, is what we frequently call the nervous system of the MENTAL ALCHEMY. 68 world. This system has the sun as its center—yea, nature presents the electrical fluid as an emanation from the sun, which is the material center of inductive vitality from the spirit world. In relation to what has already been said, we are fully sensible that many will, without further consideration, ven- ture a negative verdict. To those we would very respectfully say, we have not presented any hypothesis of our own; and if proper attention be paid to the operations of nature in rela- tion to one point, we are satisfied that they will begin to see with us ; and that is, to look for a something which has the property of special motion. Has any thing in the terrestrial world this property ? Certainly not; for gross matter is ad- mitted to be inert and motionless ; that is, it has no inherent power by which it can stimulate itself to move from the place where it may be put. Upon an inspection of the oceanic de- partment, although it is not so gross, the same characteristic, inertia, is presented. If we turn to the third system, or to the atmospheric and gaseous department, which is much more rarefied and much finer than the other departments we have named, have they this inherent power? Approach, then, the fourth system, or department, the electrical, in which the God of nature presents His creative and destructive fiat. Behold in the properties accompanying that fluid, if possible, independently of the law of equilibrium, the inherent power of self-stimulation. Then be pleased to stop here, and care- fully notice nature's own operations, and gather wisdom from the angry clouds. If two clouds come together, in different electrical conditions, as they approach each other the great- est possible stir and confusion in the heavens are unques- tionably presented by the action of this fluid. But if they are in the same electrical condition, this property is not man- 56 MENTAL ALCHEMY. ifested. When this law of equilibrium—which is undoubted- ly the law of matter ruling and obtaining in every department of nature—brings about an equalization of the electric fluid between the two clouds, that which before was wrapped in angry confusion is now regular and harmonious, and nature is again at rest. Does this express any thing more than the general motion of all matter, and the action of the law of equilibrium which presides over it ? If it does not, then, in the nature of all operations, it cannot be placed in the same category of things with a thing, that possesses the power to stimulate its own bulk, and to move itself from the place where it was put. Now, then, we say that this property of specific motion iz a property that belongs to the spiritual world, beyond the electrical; and all the individual emanations from that world inherit it of necessity, as much as the body inherits bone and muscle from its parent earth. As we are speaking now about man alone, we are author- ized to venture the assertion, that he has a something that does not come from nature. If this were not so, his innate, reactive, mental stamina, which are a property of mind, and not of electricity, would be governed by the same law of equilibrium. Look at the following, and see if we are not correct. Suppose a Sir David Brewster were to remain for a short time in a room with or near an idiot. His innate, re- active stamina being positive, and that of the other, in the nature of things, being negative, would of necessity decrease, and the idiot's increase, until there was an equality of re- action and capability of the reception of intelligence pro- duced between the two. We are authorized to make this remark, and to present this example, as this law has no re- spect fOr persons nor favorites among the materials over MENTAL ALCHEMY. 57 which it positively reigns. Is it not, then, clear ? If it held dominion over the innate strength and power of mind, as it does over matter, it would be an impossibility, in any condi- tion of things, for one human being long to possess greater innate, reactive stamina than another; and men, therefore, who had greater mental reaction than others, would not be found willing to be near those of inferior power. They would leave an idiot for a mental cause, as they would a lion in the lonely forest, for a physical cause. For is it not apparent, that if they approached each other, as two clouds do, a men- tal discharge from the one positive would take place to the one negative, setting the electricity between them on fire, as the electricity does the atmosphere, until an equilibrium is produced ? Now, I ask any man, if the opposite doctrine were true, would there not be the greatest confusion in the minds of both until an equality took place ? Is not such the charac- teristic action of the law governing electricity, atmosphere, and water ? How, then, does this law exercise any influence over mind while in connection with the body, save that of the negative ? If this influence were positive, the results to which we have referred would take place with the same pre- cision that they do in the case of matter. The experience, however, of all human beings proves our position true, as we will perceive if we notice the germs as they are budding forth, even in two children of the same parents. They may sleep together, play together, eat together, school together, and go to the same church together. Here, then, these im- mortal spiritual germs are subjected to the same impressions for the purpose of their advancement, and yet a difference is soon noticed in many particulars in regard to their innate power of mental reaction. This could not be so if the law 58 MENTAL ALCHEMY. of equilibrium positively presided over their minds. Here we have an example, as all must see, where it would have the best opportunities for displaying itself in producing its only end and aim. But we see the peculiar innate mental electro-reaction of the two still remains, with a difference, showing itself through life. Does not this law carefully over- look the electro-vital system, and is it not ever watchful of two persons asleep side by side, to lose no time, if the one has more of the electric and vital principle than the other, to take from that one for the support of the other ? Will it stop before an equilibrium is had, regardless of consequences, even if it be to the death of the one positively charged and in good health ? Does nature here not laugh at their calam- ities, and mock when- their disease cometh, because she makes on the one hand what she loses on the other? Instead, then, of regarding the mind as its own, its every action proves the contrary. Take the case of a young child sleep- ing with an aged diseased person. The complaint of the young child of weakness and physical debility matters not— disease may even take possession of its vitals, restlessness may agitate its little body, its spirit may still complain of parting with the vitality which it needs for its support, but still this law heeds it not until a vital equilibrium, compar- atively speaking, shall take place between the two bodies that are thus together and quiescent. Have we any reason to suppose that a law like this, the main overseer in nature's vast domain, would hearken to the mind of a Webster or a Clay, while in the presence of others just a step above the idiot, and particularly if sleeping near them, and not produce an equilibrium between them as regards their mental electro- reactive strength ? If their minds were subjects of natural culture alone there would be no escape. We hope, there- MENTAL ALCHEMY. 69 fore, in the event of a careful interpretation on the part of the critic and philosopher of the operations in the vast de- partment over which the law of equality obtains, that they will, at least, see that our deductions about the spirit of man are not without cause. Will they not agree with us, in a general sense, from that which has already been penned, that like points to like in a special sense, or that the material world, with its different systems, stratas, and elements has a finger-board at its north, south, east, and west, pointing to the body of man as its special production ? And if so, wiU he be pleased to extend his mental vision to the finger-boards interior to those now before him, and see what we mean by the relation which the spirit of man bears to the spiritual world CHAPTER V. Doctrine of Absorption—Clod of Earth and Water—The Falling of an Apple—Mind adapted to Impressions—The Body to Absorption—External Elements—Reactive differ- ence between Mind and Matter—Mind and its own Thunder-showers—Its wonderful Nature—Innate Development of its own Faculties—Mixed up Condition of the Organs in Mental Philosophy. In the preceding chapters we have indirectly hinted at the great doctrine of absorption, which, in the very nature of things, obtained in the vital operations of the universe prior to the individualization of even the spirit of Adam. Learn- ed men may be skeptical and speak differently of nature's works, but still this doctrine proclaims everywhere, that no one element can produce its specific result upon another, unless it, or an influence from it, be absorbed. Just exactly, then, in proportion as the element or its influence is absorbed, just exactly in that proportion will a specific influence be exerted, and the thing which absorbs participate of the nature of the thing absorbed. We take as an example a dry clod of earth, we place it upon the table and we pour water upon it. In this experiment, it is clear, that just exactly in proportion as the clod absorbs the water does the water not only exert a specific influence upon the clod, but the clod also participates of the nature of the water. It is also plain, that if the water is poured upon it, and the clod is not in a condition to absorb it, it will not participate of its nature, nor be influenced by it. Therefore we say, for MENTAL ALCHEMY. 61 the sake of being understood, that the clod was the recipient of the water in this case, not positively, but negatively. Its pores were closed. We venture the remark, therefore, that outside of looking at this, which seems to be the most simple experiment of nature, the relation which the mind bears to that which it receives, cannot be properly understood. We beg the reader, therefore, to keep this in mind, as we shall have especially to call this effect produced by one element upon another to our aid in showing the relation which the mind bears to that which it receives and absorbs. The next inquiry, then, which seems to present itself is, what is it that the mind absorbs ? We see by the digestive apparatus that the coarser department of the body absorbs food and water ; the respiratory system absorbs atmosphere and the gases; and the nervous system, the electrical fluid. Now, what is it that the mind, which is interior to the nervous system, ab- sorbs? We answer, impressions. Before we consider this part of our subject specially, it might, perhaps, be proper to ask nature more closely, as regards the whereabouts of this mind or spirit. In doing so, we are sure that the reader will have no objection to the following supposition : that is, sup- pose we take the systems and elements that are found in our physical nature, and, if you please, torture them until the . the spirit responds and says, " I am here." As the bony or osseous system seems to be the first, com- mence and torture this. In relation to the living spirit, we have here no response. Mechanically fit in and connect the circulating system with this, embracing all its fluids of every name and nature, and inflict the severest torture. The mind speaks not, therefore we know that this real being is not just beyond this system. Now, for the purpose of understanding this subject, or what 6 62 MENTAL ALCHEMY we particularly mean, connect the lungs and their append- ages, or the respiratory system, with these, as they appear in the body, and try the question with increased torture. Still the mind speaks not. It cannot, therefore, in the nature of things, be even just beyond these, as the disturbance of their particles does not reach it. Now then, if you please, take the nervous system, mechan- ically connect it, with all its homeopathic insinuations, with the others, inflict the most unheard-of tortures, occasioning a violent -succession of waves to pass to the brain; still, the mind responds not—it heeds not, but remains as the corpse, entombed in death. Let, then, this system become charged naturally with its elastic and nervous attendant, the lightning- flash. Now, make the least possible pressure where you did before, and a different language entirely is spoken. Re- action and response become the characteristic symptoms, also, of your mechanical pressure and torture, and something says, " Oh ! don't; you hurt me." Ah ! what is this ? Is it either of the systems we have named ? If so, why did they not respond before ? Is it the circulating fluid of the nervous system ? Certainly not, as it is not of a nature to feel. Then the conclusion is positive, and nature accommodates us with an answer, not altogether unintelligible, that the pressure now made on the periphery disturbs the particles of that fine circulating fluid within the body of the nervous system, which reaches the whereabouts of this living being. The monarch of the body, then, responds by its own reaction upon the same fluid, and gives a returning succession of waves, saying, "lam here. This is my earthly tabernacle; let it alone." The conclusion, then, forces itself, regardless of our belief or learning, that we have this nervo-vital fluid, with its systematic system, as the first material garment MENTAL ALCHEMY. 63 or covering of the living spirit. Then the disturbances or waves occasioned in the finite electrical ocean of each finite being beats against and upon the spirit of man, as the waves of the atmosphere do upon his body. This constitutes the first material system or kingdom of the living spirit. The atmosphere and gases are its second, the fluids of the body its third, and the skeleton itself is the fourth. Thus we have an analysis of the different systems that make the man, with their connection of particles.- How, then, can the office of the nervous system be misunderstood, in the great economy of human existence, if nature is to be believed rather than man? Shall we now ask that which has been penned in books, if in matter the recuperative power dwells, or shall we take nature at her word, and behold it in the re- turning succession of waves in the nervous system, as having been absorbed from the living spirit ? Can the healing pow- er of nature, outside of the response of spirit, be even imag- ined ? Where is the man who will venture to do so ? Num- bers, we know, can be found who contend for the innate crea- tive power of matter, but where is the man who can support such an hypothesis ? Upon what limb of nature can he rest himself and venture such torturings of the darker ages ? Is that the lamp which is to light him as a physician of nature ? And is he satisfied that matter, by its own reaction, possess- es the power to make the material body sparkling, joyous, and happy. If so, we leave him, with the expression before him, that he that walketh in the night stumbleth. Having now, as we flatter ourselves, removed some of the rubbish from this new and intellectual field of immortal de- light, we hope the reader will pursue the investigation further in the special culture and acquaintance with mind in its pres- ent connection with matter. If so, we have a hope that he 64 MENTAL ALCHEMY. will see what we are forced to believe is the power of this electrical agent in positively changing the mental as well as physical secretions. The multifarious operations of this sys- tem constitute the platform from which we more understand- ingly behold the gradual physical and intellectual develop- ment of man. Through this system, also, we look with a more correct physiological eye at the physical and mental changes through life. This brings us, in the next place, to the inquiry, " What are impressions ?" Their inspection certainly deserves our attention in the investigation of the true philosophy of mind, and their relation to the same—as much so as the natural elements in their relations to the body, deserve our attention physiologically. We answer, then, by impressions adapted to the mind's absorption, we mean, in all cases when they are positively acknowledged, a disturb- ance of the particles of the vital fluid of the nervous system, mechanical, natural, or spiritual. Now, then, as regards the sense of hearing. What is it that produces the disturbance of the auditory nerve, by which the mind hears ? We an- swer, that it is the waves or undulations of the atmosphere beating up against the tympanum or drum of the ear. To look at this in the light of common sense, it becomes necessary for us to consider where we are, that is, in the at- mospherical, gaseous, and electrical ocean of the universe, as fish are in the water. These elements, then, are constantly pressing up against us, and, as we have before remarked, they are constantly ab- sorbed by the body. When a person inhales a breath, the atmosphere and gases enter the throat and lungs. The relaxation and contraction of the muscles of the throat occasion certain waves to pass from him, as the center of those waves ; or, if you please, a MENTAL ALCHEMY. 65 succession of disturbances of the particles cf the atmosphere. This succession of disturbances vibrates against the tym- panum of the ear, and occasions a corresponding disturbance of the vital circulation of the auditory nerve, which in turn beats up against the living spirit. The spirit responds ; the impression is received. These waves, in reality, may be rep- resented as mere effects ; but it is certainly clear, that as the living spirit stands at the foundation of the relaxation and contraction of the muscles which produce this succession of disturbances, there is a spiritual emanation brought with them, which, when positively absorbed, produces its peculiar nature in the mind that absorbs it. Can the mind hear, without a healthy circulation along the auditory nerve, al- though wave after wave may beat up against the tympanum of the ear ? Can the mind see, if there is not a healthy cir- culation along the optic nerve, although emanations may con- tinually reach it ? In other words, can the mind absorb an impression through the sense of sight from the external world, if there is not a healthy circulation along the optic nerve ? And can any object be seen by the mind, mechanically, un- less its emanating impression is absorbed ? We give this as an example which will apply to all the senses, that no im- pression whatever can reach the mind without first producing a succession of disturbances of the nervous fluid. Is it not clear that that which we hear, and positively absorb, exerts a specific influence upon our mental being as well as that which we see, smell, taste, and feel? What is it, then, that the mind receives ? It is impressions ; and what are impressions but this succession of waves imparted to the nervous system by external disturbances ? Here, then, we see the relation which a man bears to the different impressions to which he may be subjected, and the reason why these impressions oc- 66 MENTAL ALCHEMY. casion his mental being to participate of their nature when they are positively absorbed. Although they may be vitally concerned in his intellectuality, still they are not his mind. ■There are impressions to be absorbed, and the truth is, there must be something capable of their absorption, else they in vain may reach the organs of sense. I press the question here, to know if a man's intellect and his mind are the same thing. Will it answer to say, that because a young man receives at college his education, con- sisting of a multitude of impressions which his mind absorbs, those impressions are his mind? Certainly not, for we might, with the same degree of propriety, say that the water poured upon the clod, when it becomes positively absorbed, is the clod itself, because the clod participates of its nature and is influenced by it. Separate, then, the water and the clod, and we unquestionably have a line of demarkation, un- derstandingly, between mind and intellect. This little ex- periment with the clod and tumbler of water is the key alone, in my humble opinion, by which the door of nature can be unlocked, and permission obtained for a true under- standing of the mysterious operations of man's physical and mental existence. Lock at the infinite electrical fluid of the world as it is inductively absorbed by every atom of matter, and I am sure you will see that the absorption of a tumbler of water, when poured upon the ground, opens up to the in- tellect of man a more interesting field of true and unmistak- able philosophy than the falling of an apple from a tree. In this great doctrine of physical and mental absorption, when it may be properly understood, we certainly have a true sys- tem of physiology and philosophy as well as theology. We do not, in this place, mean to say, that a man's mind stands, in every particular, exactly in relation to impressions MENTAL ALCHEMY. 67 as the clod does to the water, but we mean to say, that just exactly in proportion as the clod absorbs the water does the clod participate of the nature of the water. Such is the case with mind; as it positively absorbs an impression, it- participates of the nature of that impression. We have in this the great distinguishing feature between mind and mat- ter ; that is, that the clod when once moistened by the water has not the power within itself to react in the production of the same liquid showers. But when the mind has received an impression, and has become moistened and influenced by it, it possesses the property of reaction in the production of the same moisture, and by that means recalls the joyous as well as stormy showers of past life at pleasure. Then, be- cause of the moisture which this impression has produced, it can, by its own inherent creative energy, moisten and grad- ually develop other departments of mental culture, besides those which the impression received may have a tendency to foster and feed. Therefore, it will be perceived, that mind possesses, in a great measure, the power to produce its own thunder-showers for the moistening and developing of its in- tellectual growth. These, then, we present as being the two great features or properties of mind not possessed by matter. The minds of some men are so fruitful with these little thunder-showers, that they seem to live almost within themselves, and in con- sequence of this peculiar faculty seem to take, by intuition, what other men have to labor for years to understandingly obtain. I grant you that time, with the perplexities of life, as the spirit seems to be worn out with the things of the world, may apparently present a drying up of these impres- sions ; but this is no reason for believing that they are not indelibly written upon the involuntary chamber of man's ex- 68 MENTAL ALCHEMY. istence. This is what the world calls the loss of memory; that is, the apparent inability on the part of the mind to produce at pleasure these internal thunder-showers by which former impressions are recalled and understood. These are the high distinguishing features between the properties of matter and the properties of mind. They may not be ac- knowledged at the first glance, but when nature is taken at her word, and the action of human beings everywhere prop- erly looked at, the new discoveries which have been made, and the chariot-wheels of the genius and originality of all ages shall be inspected, we are almost satisfied of a positive conclusion on the part of the reader. If he still have his doubts, let him ask himself the question, can the clod moisten itself by its own inherent power of vital stimuli ? If he ad- mits that it cannot, we are satisfied he will at least see our meaning in the corresponding relation of mind to impressions. Such is the nature of the mind, that even when we read a speech made by a distinguished man, even if it were spoken and penned centuries ago, in consequence of the emanation of spirit which the speaker implanted in the very words ar- ticulated, we cannot avoid participating of the nature of the feelings of the speaker just exactly in proportion as his intel- lectual emanation in them may be understandingly absorbed. This emanation, then, exercises an influence over us, and, in a great measure, gives its peculiar cast to the mentality of the being that thus intellectually absorbs the words spoken and written. This is unquestionably a source of impressions by which no ordinary amount of the vitality of man is con- sumed, and from which he receives many of his intellectual characteristics. The brain is the center of our physical organization, and therefore the point of spiritual electro-reaction. The head, MENTAL ALCHEMY. 69 then, of necessity, becomes the material and external point of the different conditions and manifestations of its innate susceptibility and mental power. We therefore naturally look to this, the central organ, for the different mental facul- ties and their secretions, as we do to the body for the physical organs and their secretions. We know it to be a physiolog- ical certainty, that when one of the physical organs pours out its secretions more abundantly than another, the body partic- ipates of the nature of those secretions. It is the nature of the stomach to secrete the gastric juice, and of the liver to secrete the bile; it is also the nature of the faculty of mirth- fulness, when stimulated, in a mental sense, to pour out its secretions, causing an involuntary disposition on the part of the mind to laugh. If the individual laughs, it is positive evidence of the secretions of that mental faculty being abundantly poured out, as they certainly cause his mental being to participate of their nature. This we know to be so, from the fact that when a physical organ pours out its secretions abundantly, it makes the phys- ical being participate of its nature. We give this as an ex- ample of all the physical and mental faculties, as lying at the foundation of our different physical and mental dispositions. With the specific secretions of each before us, we can go somewhat understandingly now into the investigation of the true principles of mental philosophy. If the medical student were to attend college for years, and the lecturer on physiol- ogy were to mix up the secretions of the different physical organs so that he could make no distinction in his mind be- tween them, a thorough knowledge of physiology, or of the facts in physiology, on his part, would, under these circum- stances, certainly be impossible. If this holds in the less complicated departments of human existence, how can it be 70 MENTAL ALCHEMY. expected that we are to understand any thing at all about mind when the secretions of its different faculties, or organs, are thus confounded together and given forth to the world in that condition ? Each mental organ, let it be ever so insig- nificant, has its office to fulfill, as much as the smallest gland of the human body. We respectfully ask the question, there- fore, how can we arrive at a true understanding of mind un- til we first look at the legitimate secretions of its different faculties, which give to it their specific direction and charac- ter ? Why will gentlemen, then, find fault with us for re- fusing to believe in the present system of philosophy, which has, in a great measure, passed by the peculiar properties of each faculty, and by which they seem to be resolved wholly into soul, spirit, will, conscience, and imagination? All, therefore, being mixed up and confused, constituting a con- glomeration unfit, as may be perceived in its application, to the proper understanding even of the most simple department of physical philosophy. CHAPTER VI. 'I he influence of Atmospherical Electricity upon the Nervous System of Man—Ele- ments in the External World Produce like Elements in our Bodies—The Electro- Reactive Trinity of the Nervous System—Our Natural and Spiritual Vitality is In- ductive—The Instinctive Faculties come from the same Source as our Spirits__Influ- ence Exerted by Impressions against the Power of the Will—Striking Instances Re- lated—Method of ascertaining the Electrical Condition of the System. We have a hope that the reader is now prepared for the special understanding of the great purpose that we have in view in presenting the foregoing hypothesis of nature and mind. That purpose is, in an especial consideration, to pre- sent the changes which the influence of atmospherical elec- tricity, by the adaptation of means to ends, alchemistically produces upon the nervous system of man, and through that system, upon the other systems, spiritual as well as natural, that are concerned in his existence. We have, as plainly as we can, presented the relations which the different systems composing man, bear to the external world. In order, then, to see this more plainly, does not his physical system absorb the elements of the material world, or nature, and does not his mind absorb impressions ? If so, it is decidedly certain that his mental and physical nature must, in proportion as they are absorbed, be governed and controlled by them. Would there be any thing imaginary in presenting the idea that lime, iron, and water, chemically combined in the food which a man eats, and in the liquids which he drinks, go to 72 MENTAL ALCHEMY. produce these particular elements in his body ? Like, then, goes to like. It is as impossible for iron, when taken into a man's body, to be chemically changed into water, as it is for it to be thus metamorphosed in the external world. Like elements in the external world go to like elements in the body. Here we have nature's foundation of our physical existence ; and if like elements of the spirit world do not bear the same relation to a spiritual body, there must be a chasm somewhere in the works of creation. The nervous system of man, as we have before stated, seems to be the great line of demarkation be- tween his spirit and his body. The nervous system becomes the conducting one of his electrical fluid, as much as the veins and arteries are the channels for conveying the arterial and venous blood. In this nervous system, then, we have the lightning, which is directly concerned in all the thunder- clouds of passion, of feeling, and of sympathy. This elastic fluid seems to have been armed with power to immediately surround the living spirit while the spirit of man is, for a time at least, imprisoned within the body. Every thought, therefore, of the spirit disturbs the elec- trical fluid as surely as the relaxation and contraction of the muscles of the throat disturb the atmosphere in which the body moves. Hence the nervous system is impregnated from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head with the living spirit. Therefore all the innate faculties of the spirit only pour out their peculiar secretions, manifesting the disposition of the man to the world by the special presence and stimu- lation of this fluid. As it is perfectly clear, then, that impressions of the same nature, although they reach each in- dividual's mind by disturbing the same fluid, do not produce the same influences upon all, there must be a physical trinity MENTAL ALCHEMY. 73 as regards the reactive condition of the nervous system. But to intelligibly present that trinity, we fear, is almost too great a task for us to perform. Before we undertake to do so, and to point out what it is, it will be admitted, we think, by all physiologists as well as naturalists, that each individual's body in the state in which we now are, is dissimilarly vital- ized and electrified. It will also be admitted that our ma- terial vitality is nothing more than inductive vitality, and the same must follow of necessity as regards our spiritual vital- ity ; that is, that the spirit is not life itself, but absorbs that element from the spiritual world, and consequently life is a part of the nature and being of spirit, as water is a part of the nature and being of the body. In the constitution of things, from the apparent primary distance of the spirit from matter, this peculiar element is presented in nature, in man and in animals, as well as the flowers of the field, by the agency of this fine fluid. It will not be looked upon as an unpardonable hypothesis, then, for us to say, that all the qualities of the mind materially regard the condition of this fluid. This system, then, becomes the acting, and the mind or spirit the reacting one in the great variety of the physical and mental manifestations of all creat- ures. In the higher reactions man seems to present his pre- rogative as a human being; still we find him, in a measure, in many instances manifesting the instinctive dispositions below him, although they may not be so plainly developed in any one man. Being, therefore, from his relation to the spirit world, in possession of properties and faculties that involve the highest reaction, prevents him from manifesting so plainly the instinctive disposition of the monkey or other animals. These instinctive faculties, however, are in him but are deprived of their active development by the higher reactive 7 74 MENTAL ALCHEMY. dispensations of the vital fluid of his nervous system. Here we have presented the doctrine of special instinctive spiritual absorption, of which man alone can boast. This makes him the lord of creation. And whether a cat, a dog, a horse, or a monkey has an individual spiritual existence after death, does not disprove this doctrine of special spiritual absorption, which surrounds the human being; but one thing is clear, this great process of spiritual digestion means something. We have not the time here to pursue the investigation of the doctrine of special spiritual absorption as seems every- where to be manifested in creation, and only drop these im- perfect deductions for the reflection of the reader, that he may more clearly see the great importance of understanding the influence and operation of the nervous system of man as well as the lightning's flash of the universe. Let us look at this, however, one moment. The monkey can move himself about. Now, what is this that possesses the power to react in the production of voluntary movements ? Did this some- thing come or emanate from the clod, the water, the atmos- phere, or electricity ? Certainly not, for these of themselves are matter, and therefore inert and motionless. How can it be possible, then, that they, in combination, even could give life to a special being that would manifest a different nature from themselves ? We should have reason to suppose such to be the case, if we ever saw the clod move about without force separate and apart from itself. The same may be said of water, atmosphere, and electricity, the last of which, equally with the others, requires the action of some extra- neous influence before it will move. We press this question, and ask, is it reasonable to suppose that that something in the monkey that moves its body about from place to place by acting upon its vitality, emanated from matter? If it did MENTAL ALCHEMY. 75 not, then it comes from some department of the spiritual world from which the spirit of man came also. Is there any thing unreasonable in this, when we see and know that the body of the monkey comes from the same element of nature as the body of man? Both alike, according to their relations to nature, are dependent upon the elements that are found in the material world for their existence. We freely acknowledge, therefore, that when we contrast the dictionary of nature with that of man, we cannot understand the isolated meaning of instinct, as commonly used for the purpose of expressing this something that dictates the mo- tions and the actions of the monkey. We understand it to be a something that is directly and positively in possession of elements that belong to the spiritual world, and in conse- quence of which the monkey is capable, as well as many other animals, by his reaction to impart the vital stimulus of his body to certain faculties which will pour out the same secretions, giving the same direction to his being, as regards that faculty, as it does in man. Therefore we say, that the something which dictates the motion and action of the monkey, as well as the motion and action of all creatures in their great variety of special developments, emanates from the lower elements of the spiritual world, and are therefore as indestructible and eternal as that something in man which is capable of extending itself back to the time when the morn- ing sun rose in his primeval splendor, as well as to compre- hend the relation between cause and effect. This something could not, in the nature of things, there- fore, come from nothing nor from matter. Hence from the premises which nature unmistakably presents, we are forced to conclude that the lower stratas and elements of the spirit ual world, to which the spirit of man is traveling, also claims 76 MENTAL ALCHEMY. that something as its own — whether in the way of indi- vidual immortality, or that their special existence is swallow- ed up in the spirituality of man—for the reasons before named, is a matter of thought worthy the theologian and the philosopher. One of the two must be as certain as that man himself has an immortal principle. Nature declares this to be so as well as revelation, for " who knoweth that the spirit of man goeth upward and the spirit of the beast goeth down- ward." The spirit of man complains not of their place here, and how do we know that they will lessen the happiness of man's immortal spirit when separated from the body, if they should be the special inhabitants of the same interior world. The works, therefore, of that almighty arm which wound up the vast machinery of the natural and spiritual world and swung the electro-spiritual pendulum thereof, by which crea- tion swarms with living beauty, and by which its special pro- ductions are filled with joy and gladness, are too vast for human comprehension. That rule of nature which occasions like to beget like, and like to go to like involuntarily, forces the conclusion of the spiritual return of the reacting principle of all creatures. Here we leave this subject for the present, having offered these few suggestions (which may go for what they are worth), and pass directly to the consideration of the physical trinity of the nervous system of man. In consequence of its prime relation to the principle of reaction, it will be more proper, perhaps, to consider it in an electro-reactive light. Then we say, it appears from experiments, unmistakable in their nature, that there are three distinct electro-reactive condi- tions found to obtain in man; thus showing the extent to which an impression will be absorbed, exercising an influence which the will itself will not have the power to resist.' Im- MENTAL ALCHEMY. 77 pressions do influence the vital apparatus of man against the power of his will, as may be clearly seen in this experiment, which any one can exercise upon himself. That is, to will the action of his heart and arteries to quicken. If not success- ful at first, try again with all the will-force, and he will per- ceive still the same involuntary movement continues. This is an experiment of a will-impression made upon his existence, and does unquestionably show the extent to which this will- force will be absorbed in the region beyond consciousness. It is clear, that if the will could thus actively pass into that region, the action of the heart and arteries would be quickened just exactly in proportion to the effort of the will to make an impression, and the extent to which that impression was ab- sorbed. Suppose, then, the same man is walking carelessly along, and a beautiful green snake, innocent and harmless as any creature can be, falls or springs suddenly before him, is not the action of his heart and arteries quickened by the im- pression which this snake makes upon him ? Could his will- force produce this effect ? If it could, the moment he saw the snake, to will would be to prevent the authoritative absorp- tion of the impression in the region beyond consciousness. Here is an influence exerted, then, over his vital apparatus, as is known by the visible effects in the case, against the power of the will. And what gentlemen mean, who under- stand any thing at all about the principles of human existence and the nature of impressions, and the action of the will upon the human economy, when they say that impressions cannot control a man against his will, is something that we are unable to comprehend. Now, then, if you can find a man who can produce the same result upon his involuntary existence by his will-power as the impression of this snake produced, then you will find a man who, whatever may be the reactive con- 78 MENTAL ALCHEMY. dition of his nervous system, can prevent the positive absorp- tion of an impression against his will in the region beyond consciousness. To control such a being against his will would be to pro- duce an effect without a cause. There must be a cause for every effect; and hence there might be thousands of exam- ples cited in the ordinary transactions of men, which would prove that impressions exercise an influence over them against the power of the will. We will state a very striking in- stance of the power of impressions. It is the case of a very interesting young lady. A friend of hers concealed himself behind a door through which he knew she would pass, with the intention of giving her, as he supposed, a harmless fright in a spirit of fun and frolic. As the lady approached the spot, he started suddenly from his concealment, and the impression made upon her, merely by the suddenness of his unexpected appearance, was so great as to destroy her life. Does any man in his senses suppose that her will had the power to pre- vent this ? Another remarkable case of the power of impressions, is that of a lady in Baltimore, a number of years ago, who, by the action of her own mind upon the auditory nerve, when no living being was near, heard a voice distinctly say to her, " On next New Year's Day, at twelve o'clock, thou shalt surely die." Although the time had nearly twelve months to run, and notwithstanding that she enjoyed excellent health up to the very day that had been thus fixed for her dissolution, and in despite of all that her friends and acquaintances could say, who assembled for the purpose of preventing the active absorption of the impression, the moment the hour arrived she died. Was this a control exercised over her existence against what some persons are pleased to call the will-force ? MENTAL ALCHEMY. 79 How much power, then, can a man's will exercise over his real existence ? Is not the will a property of the mind, and has it any power save that which it absorbs from the mind ? Is it not controlled by the mind? Does not the mind com- mand it to raise the arm ? Does it obey ? If it does, it cer- tainly shows, by its action, that it is controlled by a some- thing separate and apart from, though connected with it. Can that which is controlled be equal to the power which ex- ercises control over it ? We again press this question, as it has much to do with the practical department of mental alchemy, without even seeing an experiment, alchemistically, on the part of the reader and skeptic, to know if impressions do not exercise influence over us, and occasion our actions to participate of their nature against the power of the will. If this can be seen and recognized.as being among the categorical terms of our existence, we are ready to present the condition of the nervous system, which may convey authoritative impression to the mind, and occasion it to participate of their nature against the power of the will. And if it does participate of their nature, and the will-power of man is not interfered with, then we contend for the existence of the science we advocate, upon principles that will not fear the ordeal of public or pri- vate scrutiny. Men may laugh, children may imitate, the lion may roar, but facts are stubborn things; and if they are those of nature, they will remain as true as the law of equi- librium. The electro-reactive trinity of the nervous system, which admits these impressions against the power of the will, call- ing forth the highest reaction and absorption of mental im- pressions, is certainly different from that condition which only admits the authoritative absorption of physical impressions, as 80 MENTAL ALCHEMY. well as that condition which admits them not at all agains the operation of the will. These three constitute the trinity, which we recognize as the electro-reactive trinity of the nervo-vital system. These three, when properly understood, plainly present the key to the nervous system, showing not only the reactive condition of the mind in a physical recuperative sense, but the extent to which the mind may be controlled by impres- sions against the will-force. The inquiry will here naturally present itself, how do you distinguish the different conditions of the nervous system ? Is one man negatively electrified, and another positively electrified ? Certainly not, for the laws of nature forbid his existence without both positive and negative electricity in his nervous system. Every idea of the laws of nature anywhere presupposes the presence of the positive and negative, and hence the attrac- tive and repulsive forces. What induces men to say that a subject, controlled by impressions from the operator, is nega- tive, while the operator is positive, electrically, we are at a loss to know. The reactive condition of each individual's nervous system seems to be the relation which these forces bear to each oth- er. If they bear a certain relation, that relation is, properly speaking, a condition that admits of reaction, and, compared with the other conditions, it is more properly expressed by calling them conditions of electro-reaction. Another relation of this force would be properly expressed by calling it a state of positive electro-reaction. The first, when an impression is made for the purpose of being absorbed against the power of the will is negatived; the second is absorbed sufficiently so as to overpower the will in those operations of the body which MENTAL ALCHEMY. 81 call forth only physical reaction ; the third, those reactions which are directly concerned in all the mental operations of his existence as well as the physical. How or why this con- dition of things, as regards the nervous system of man, is so, it would be nonsensical to discuss, as much so as it would be to endeavor to discuss the reason why the God of nature has placed over the material world two different influences. Well, then, in a practical point of view, the question is still unsettled as to what is meant by this negative state of electro-reaction, the physical and the positive. To be plain, it regards prac- tically the extent to which the mind may acknowledge a me- chanical disturbance of the circulation within the body of the nervous system. Now, then, let us examine this. Suppose we take hold of the hand of a man, and involve one of the many nerves which come off from the spine, or make pressure upon any portion of the body, he certainly feels it. If there is no other symptom accompanying the pressure, save the feeling, then the man's nervous system is in a state of negative electro-reaction. It will be noticed that, from the point where the disturbance is made, a succession of disturb- ances of the nervous fluid passes to the brain. Now, then, if the mind does not feel this succession of disturbances, as they pass to the brain, then the individual's nervous system is in a state of negative electro-reaction, and it would be contra- ry to nature for any man's impressions, magnetically, psycho- logically, or alchemistically, to exercise an influence over him against his will. Are we now understood as regards this, the most isolated condition, from the primary, original, reactive state of the nervous system ? If we are, then we will proceed to remark that if, when the pressure is made, the succession of disturb- ances should be felt to the spine as they pass up to the brain, 82 MENTAL ALCHEMY. and no further, then we say that the subject's nervous sys- tem is in a state of physical electro-reaction, for the reason that impressions properly made will control his physical sys- tem against the power of the will; that is, you can, after properly understanding this subject, straighten his arms, so that the will cannot bend them, seat him in a chair, so that he cannot rise, besides other physical phenomena that are equal- ly interesting and astounding. Are the symptoms, now on pressure, in this case, different from the first ? Certainly; as both feel the pressure where it is made, and the last one mentioned also feels the succession of disturbances, or waves, of the nervous system, as they pass on up to the spine. And we remark here, that it would certainly be contrary to nature, if, on his mind's acknowledging or feeling this succession of disturbances also to the spine, the operator, understanding his business, could not get a response, in the absorption of an impression by the mind, sufficient to control his physical sys- tem against his will. If this is understood, then, being what we call the physical electro-reactive state, we are ready to call attention to the highest or positive electro-reactive condition; that is, that on making the pressure properly, if the mind should acknowl- edge this succession of disturbances, as it passes up to the brain, and over the whole nervous system, then we say that the influence thus communicated has been positively felt throughout the system; the succession of disturbances has been acknowledged by the sense of feeling, even to the very dome of the spirit, where all impressions are received and absorbed through the same agency. This is indeed exhibit- ing an influence physically, at least, throughout the whole nervous system. It is positively acknowledged, because the succession of disturbances is felt. Now, then, it would be MENTAL ALCHEMY. 83 contrary to nature if in such a condition of the nervous sys- tem the operator should not be enabled to get a mental re- sponse, exercising mental control against the power of the will. There are three persons before you; each of the three, ■on making the pressure as aforesaid, acknowledge to you dif- ferent symptoms; the first, simply the feeling; the second, the feeling, with the succession of disturbances of the elec- trical fluid of the nervous system to the spine ; the third, the feeling, and the succession of disturbances to the brain, and throughout the minute ramifications of the system. This makes the matter all plain, with these guides before us, and the control which one individual can exercise over another is reduced to a mathematical certainty. These are the reactive rules which nature has implanted in the nervous system, over which no individual can possibly pass; that is, if we speak of control from the authority of nature. Now, then, when you have thus made your pressure pos- itively felt through the nervous system, as we have thus laid down, you certainly speak to the mind from the highest authority of its official relations, and unless the mind has some other vitality from which the will can absorb extra power, then it follows of necessity that your impressions must absorb more of the vital power from the subject's in- voluntary being than the will can; and if so, his actions must participate of the nature of your impressions, and not of the nature of his will. This is a deeply interesting subject in many points of view, and must, from its very nature, open up to us new and interesting fields of mental and moral delight; as well as the proper road to nature's most luxuriant field of physical and mental progression. CHAPTER VII. Reactive Condition of the Nervous System further considered—Action of Will and Mind —Conflicting Forces of Electricity—Equality produces Death—Illustration respecting Motion and Life—Oneness of Action on the part of the Will of the Infinite. We have been speaking of the different conditions of the nervous system as they are found by experiment to be natu- rally ; that is, that persons are in this positive electro-reactive condition who have never specially subjected themselves to any mesmeric, psychological, or alchemistic process. Persons are in a physical reactive state also who have never subjected themselves to any special influence. And the large proportion of men in the United States and in the world are in the isolated, negative, electro-reactive condition. We have found gentlemen of the highest respectability, and who were the greatest skeptics on this subject, whose minds on pressure, properly made as before stated, acknowledged this succession of disturbances, and in consequence of which our impressions were absorbed at once, and we were enabled to exercise a control over them against the power of their will. This control by the operator over persons in this con- dition, in a natural state, is not had in consequence, as you will perceive, of any physical influence from him, nor is it had through the agency of the subject's imagination, but rests itself upon the unmistakable physical trinity of the nervous system. We here repeat, and wish it distinctly un- derstood, that no man can control another against his will by MENTAL ALCHEMY. 85 his impressions, unless those symptoms that we have men- tioned accompany his mechanical pressure. We are now speaking of alchemistic control. The psychological and magnetic are, in many instances, accomplished, simply by catching the eye, and in that case, if you will ask the subject if he does not feel a sensation pervading his nervous system, corresponding to the one that we have named, on pressure, and the answer is that he does not, then we will admit the theory of a physical influence, passing from the operator, which enables him to control the subject. We regret ex- ceedingly that we are compelled to touch so lightly on this part of our subject; but as we intend to present our views and experiences, however humble and insignificant they may be, in a large work which is now in preparation, we hope those who are directly interested in a thorough and practical understanding of the subject, will patiently wait till time will permit us to carefully lay that which we may have to say before the public for investigation and scrutiny. One more point in relation to the changes which take place in the nervous system by the different processes that are instituted; that is, if a subject still is in a state of neg- ative electro-reaction, how do you manage to bring him into a state of physical and positive electro-reaction? What in- fluences are at work in the production of the change, and how is it possible that, one man sitting down and taking hold .of the hands of another, looking him steadily in the eye, the magnetic state is produced ? How does it happen that by looking at a zinc and copper plate, or a wafer, a man becomes magnetized or psychologized; and how does it happen that when he takes hold of the thumb of one hand with the fore- finger and thumb of the other, closes his eyes, and makes pressure just sufficiently hard to feel it, that a change takes 8 86 MENTAL ALCHEMY. place as regards the reactive condition of his nervous system, as it does happen and has happened in thousands of cases ? There certainly must be a cause. Every effect presupposes a cause. We need not, therefore, when we see a subject sit- ting down and following these directions, although he may be hundreds of miles from any human being, suppose that he is not subjecting himself positively to the influences around him. All will admit, that if the will is passive the external elements are absorbed in a greater degree, for it is reason- able to suppose that the reactive powers will be replenished by the vital agency which the will gives up at the time, and that that agency increases the electrical and respiratory ac- tion of the surface. Therefore we can easily perceive a greater absorption of those elements under a passive than under an active state of the will. It is plain and easy of comprehension, that if the will is ap- propriating a certain amount of the vitality of the nervous system to a multitude of impressions, that vitality at the same time cannot be appropriated for recuperative purposes. Well, says the reader, I do not see for my life, how even this state of things, that is, the will absorbing only vitality enough from the involuntary chamber to support but one im- pression this side of consciousness, how that condition of things should occasion such an electro-reactive change to take place in the nervous system. Bear it in mind, that no man's nervous system can ever reach this passive electro-reactive condition unless his mind can so govern and control the amount of vitality as not to per- mit one of its highest properties, the will, to absorb only enough to support one impression. But how this can effect it is indeed mysterious. The most learned say it never can be explained, and therefore it must MENTAL ALCHEMY. 87 be given up in despair. We do not say that the explana- tions we shall give will be satisfactory to others ; but we give them for what they are worth, with the hope that if they are not true, and in accordance with every principle of nature, that some person who is more competent to discharge this elevated duty, so much needed and looked for at this time, will present us a better one. Look, then, at the subject, sitting in an easy posture, making pressure upon his thumb, or any other part of the body just hard enough to feel it, with his eyes closed, and his will endowed with vitality at the time only sufficient to support the one impression, that of feeling; all others are dismissed, this side of the cerebellum, and you see a result coming from that condition, as the facts in the case incontestibly prove, corresponding to that which causes the reactive condition of the electrical principle of the uni- verse to make creation swarm with life, order, and beauty. A reactive and recuperative change, then, does take place, and how could it take place unless the same element ab- sorbed was in the electro-reactive condition. Then we say that the electricity of the atmosphere, from the adaptation of means to ends, is absorbed reactively during this condition of the will, by the nervous system, and imparts its corresponding reactive condition to the nervous system of the subject that thus absorbs it under the oneness of action on the part of his will. By experiments, this is a demonstra- ble fact, and presents to the investigating mind the dangerous consequences of an unnecessary retention of the will in the region of the brain, on this side of consciousness. If the experiments in mental alchemy prove any thing at all, they present in a light, easy of comprehension, the fact that when the will is actively engaged in attending to the business of the cerebrum, the demand made upon the nervous 88 MENTAL ALCHEMY. system for vitality to support the attention is undoubtedly greater than the supply. The involuntary powers, or cere- bellum, are correspondingly robbed of their nervo-vitality when the will thus becomes unmanageable, and will not, from five to ten hours in the twenty-four, cease its demand upon that portion of the brain beyond consciousness, for the sup- port of the portion this side of consciousness. These constitute the double action of the mind upon the nervous system ; and if this double action continues, it will follow of necessity that the absorption from the external ele- ments, on the part of the respiratory action of the surface, will be negatived, for the reason that the will is in positive action, and as such, appears to use the recuperative force of the replenishing energy of man, which seems to reside myste- riously in the region beyond consciousness. This is the force which the recuperative powers would, if not thus ab- sorbed by the will, appropriate to the opening and shutting of the surface, and the taking in of the elements that are con- tinually beating up against it. Then the unnecessary re- tention of the will in the voluntary chamber can so isolate the different systems of man, on the principles thus laid down, as to produce not only disease, but death itself. Are we under- stood, now, in relation to this double action of the mind, which is only manifested by the constant and continued de- mands upon the vitality of the nervous system ? And is it not reasonable to say, in considering the relation of demand and supply, the will-force being too constant in action, as every motion occasioned by it or the mind supposes reaction and consumption of vitality, that the condition of the nervous system, which was before very reactive, would undergo a change. Must it not of necessity ultimately assume a nega- tive state of electro-reaction, from the fact that this will-" MENTAL ALCHEMY. 89 force does unquestionably isolate the elements of the body in a reactive sense, at least, from the reaotive condition of those that are external ? " . As regards the reactive condition of the nervous system, no one, we suppose, will deny the different degrees that ob- tain in different persons, and that the nervous system is vi- tally concerned in all the degrees and conditions that may be found. But these considerations, separate and apart from placing it by the side of nature, would not lead to a satisfactory un- derstanding of these changes that are within effected. There- fore, we call especial attention to the infinite nervous system of the world, by which we mean the electrical fluid of the at- mosphere, which fluid is everywhere, and in every atom of mat- ter, in some condition or other. And hence we say that its highest reactive condition is what may properly be termed the positive. This fluid is one thing, and the two different influ- ences which it exerts upon matter is another. If there are two fluids, the subject before us will, with the most profound in- spection, still remain as mysterious as the operations of eternal night; but if there is but one, we can in a measure, at least, understand through that agency tnose effects that look to be mysterious. Is there a nervous system of the world, and is there a spiritual system? And is there a God who spoke them into existence, not from nothing but from Himself? And are they in a condition to continually absorb and acknowledge the in- fluence of His almighty hand ? If they are God, then we have no more to say; but if they are, as before remarked, emanations and creations from Him, we beg the liberty of saying more. In connection, then, with this electrical fluid, and the two different influences, oositive and negative, which 90 MENTAL ALCHEMY. it everywhere presents, we have, within the same circumfer- ence motion, as one of the properties or one of the effects of the belligerent actions of the two. Outside of that mo- tion we could have no idea of recuperative energy, no idea of reaction. This electrical fluid, then, which passes from the sun as the great center of our physical organization to the circum- ference of the solar system, is one thing, and its action upon matter that is tangible, is another. A certain amount of that fluid must, and that too continually, be in positive ac- tion, and a certain amount in negative or latent action; for, take a common battery, and by chemical action especially develop it to try an experiment, to see what nature means by these two different influences. If, then, on the proper con- nection with zinc and copper, by means of a solution of sul- phate of copper, you connect with the battery an electro- magnet, with its positive and negative poles, for the purpose of absorbing the different influences that are taking place in the solution, and bring the magnet in contact with small particles of iron, it will be found that one of the poles scat- ters or repels those particles from the center to the circum- ference, and the other produces immediately the opposite effect, and attracts them from the circumference to - the center. These, indeed, appear plain, but as simple as they are, they overrule the operations of the universe. Man, too, is compelled to bow to the comparative authority of these two forces. It may be contended by scientific men that these two influences are equal throughout nature; and that when a man becomes diseased, an equality of them must be pro- duced before he can be cured. But still this does not make it so. For if one of these influences separately will attract matter, and the opposite MENTAL ALCHEMY. 91 one is brought in equal" contact with it, no attraction now presents itself; but the effect before produced is neutralized by the counteracting effect of the one with which it is brought in contact. Hence an equality of this fluid would unques- tionably stop the revolutions of the globe in its vast and ma- jestic movements. The equality between these two forces being produced in the body of man, has always clipped the umbilical thread which connects the nervous with the spirit- ual system. In the body of every man there is continually, from the cradle to the grave, a struggle going on between these two belligerents. They are as interesting in their na- ture as the contemplation of any effect in physical science. These lie at the foundation of all the chemical changes that take place, either in the body of man or in the material world. To illustrate. Suppose we take a vessel of cold water. It is perfectly clear that the particles of that water are in a different condition from those of a vessel of water that is heated. If a ball be suspended in the first by a slen- der thread, it is perfectly clear that in the negative condition of the particles of water it will remain still. On the sub- jection of the vessel, then, to a proper amount of heat, it is clear that its particles of water undergo a change in propor- tion as it is thus heated, as a certain amount of its particles are put in positive action while the other remains in negative action. It will be noticed by this experiment that the ball thus suspended will move just exactly in proportion as the particles of water shall change from their original condition. Now, then, we see this ball taking the direction of those particles that are in positive action. Here it is evident that there is but one fluid, but the particles of that fluid, in conse- quence of the fire to which it is subjected, are in both posi- tive and negative action, or, if you please, in different condi- 92 MENTAL ALCHEMY. tions. These different conditions, as regards the water, pro- duce two dissimilar results, as much so as the experiment just now presented by the electro-magnet with the agency of the electrical fluid. If the question be asked, whether the fire has any thing to do with the motion of the ball in the vessel, no one would make a negative reply. If the question were asked, also, if in consequence of this motion there were two fluids, certainly no one would reply in the affirmative. Does not, then, the relation of the hot and cold water in the vessel present the unmistakable nature of the water as it now is ? Does its nature have any thing to do with the mo- tion of the ball ? If it does, we ask if that nature is any thing more than the effects produced on the particles of the water in putting those particles in a dissimilar condition? Would the ball move without this dissimilar condition of the particles ? If it would not, nature here means something in relation to the power which produces motion. Would it answer to say that when the action of the parti- cles correspond to the nature of the fire so that the hand can- not be held in it, then there is no cold water in the vessel ? What is it that prevents evaporation, if it is not those parti- cles that still remain in their original condition ? Now, then, suppose we take away the fire, do not the par- ticles, which before were in positive action, gradually resume their original condition, and an equality of forces ? And does not the motion of the ball cease just exactly in proportion as an equilibrium is established between the forces ? We do not intend to say that this very simple experiment presents the motion of all worlds in a more clear light, or that nature observes any other system in the production of her sub- lime and vast operations, but we present it with all its sim- MENTAL ALCHEMY. 93 plicity, for the purpose of representing the relation of the spirit to the body, and the Almighty arm from which all na- ture absorbs, and that, too, continually, the flame of life. A man's spirit, then, bears the same relation to the finer and coarser fluids of his body that the fire does to the water in the vessel. When the connecting link between the body and the spirit is severed, so that the body cannot absorb any influence from its spirit, motion in the body ceases, of necessity, be- cause the fire has gone out. Where this fire is, which before flushed the cheek of beauty, and presented such interesting, captivating, electrical sparklings of the eye, it is not our pur- pose here to say; but one thing is certain, it has gone out of its earthly house That house, then, has nothing to protect it, and is speed- ily swallowed up and demolished. The external forces of na- ture then prevail, and we have the verification of that text of Scripture, which says, " Dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou return," so far as man's visible existence is concerned. All this may be so, and truthfully sanctioned by the op- erations of nature; but still the reader does not see how it happens that this infinite nervous system of the world is in the condition of positive electro-reaction, in relation to which we here speak. It is important to know that condition, as it produces a corresponding state in the nervous system of man, by which a degree of susceptibility of his spiritual existence is had as re- gards the influence of impressions against the power of the will. Let us contrast, then, these finite operations of one- ness on the part of the will of the spirit of man, which is had in following the directions here given, with the relation which the God from whom all nature absorbs its vitality, bears to His universe ; and so far as a finite can be contrasted with an 94 MENTAL ALCHEMY. infinite operation, we are sure this point will be clear and in- telligible. Now, then, we say that the electrical fluid is a part of the universe, and that that fluid is one of the systems that com- pose it. It is the connecting link between the one visible and the other invisible, or, if you please, the one material and the other immaterial. The question, then, presents itself, is the electrical fluid, as a system, an independent one, or does it absorb an influence from any source vitally, save the one absorbed from God, through the agency of the spirit world? If it does, we have no more to say ; but if not, we pursue with pleasure the investigation. What is it, then, that constitutes the electro- reactive condition of the electrical fluid of the atmosphere ? We answer, that it is the oneness of action ^m the part of the infinite mind, on the part of that Being who continually makes His influence felt from the center to the circumference, and from the circumference to the center of this fluid. Then this fluid bears a susceptible influential relation to one source, and that source is the will of God. This oneness of action, then, on the part of His will, causes its positive electro-reactive condition. Separate the electrical fluid from this oneness of action, and who could even imagine an electro-reactive condi- tion of nature ? This electrical fluid, then, is in a state of susceptibility, so that in the nature of things it is compelled to absorb a controlling influence from one source alone ; whether that in- fluence is first absorbed by the spiritual and transferred to the electrical, and from thence to the material world, does not change the nature of things in the least degree, for it will be seen that it does absorb but one influence, and why that influence should produce two different actions in this MENTAL ALCHEMY. 95 particular, so that we have presented through its agency the centripetal and centrifugal forces, is a matter that needs not discussion. In the nature of things there is an influence exerted over the natural by the spiritual world through this electrical agency. But still we contend that it is all absorbed from God himself. And the operations of His arm, in making His influence felt throughout the mysterious ramifications of the electrical fluid of the universe, in the nature of things, manifests a susceptibility of that fluid which we can, at least, from analogy, understand. It is this unseen arm which has implanted m this fluid its coming and returning succession of disturbances or waves, within the operation of which we are compelled to look for the recuperative power of nature. It is apparent, therefore, that this fluid is one thing, and its reactive and susceptible condition another. Hence, if a man's nervous system, as regards reaction, is removed from the condition and suscep- tibility of the external electrical fluid, it follows, of necessity, that sleep alone will not restore that condition, although the electrical power of his nervous system may be supplied by the natural passive condition of his will. From the pre- mises laid down, it will be impossible for it to assume, as it is thus received, the corresponding reactive condition of the relation of external forces, as the individual is a magnet by induction, and a peculiar relation of these forces constitute the reactive condition of his own being. Why will not the forces be changed, then, passively by sleep ? We answer, that there is not a oneness of influence exerted on the part of the will upon the nervous system cor- responding to the oneness which the external nervous system, that thus supplies it continually, absorbs from the infinite 96 MENTAL ALCHEMY. mind. Then, you perceive, there is a vast difference between the relation of the nervous system and external elements during sleep, and when the mind permits the will to absorb only vitality enough to support one impression. Therefore, when an individual sits down and follows this infinite example in the mighty movement of the vast machinery of the uni- verse, which is unquestionably the cause of reaction, life, order, and beauty, it will follow, of necessity, that he having a finite nervous system, subjected thus to the positive influence of an infinite one, the corresponding reactive condition finitely must be had that exists in the elements, for cause, which are thus absorbed. We say, from the premises, and that, too, from the highest authority of the works of God, that it would be impossible for any man who cannot so govern and control his will as to cause it to consume vitality enough to support but one impression, to ever obtain, on his part, from the electricity of the atmosphere, this high electro-reactive and recuperative condition of the nervous system. And we say, * on the other hand, that it would be impossible for any man to resist that condition who thus, to the letter, follows this the greatest of all examples, the oneness of action on the part of his will. The reason, then, must be plain, why a man when asleep, when the will has departed from the conscious region, or positively laid itself down under the darkness of night, which reigns in the cerebrum, why the extra amount of electro-vitality which is received during sleep, does not main- tain the same reactive condition as when absorbed; and why it is, when he follows these directions to the letter, that it does maintain its original condition, changing the relation of the forces of his nervous system, recuperatively and react- ively. Hence we say, that this has always been the source MENTAL ALCHEMY. 97 that has been primarily concerned in effecting all the mes- meric, magnetic, and psychological changes that have taken place in the nervous system, and this is the reason why pow- erful men, particularly if they happen to be the seventh or ninth son, supposed that they possessed an influence over the body of the subje c which enabled them to exercise control over him. This appears to us to be the correct view of the matter; if it is not, all its operations and effects are just as mysterious now as they were when first produced. But if we are un- derstood, as regards the causes which produce the electro- reactive condition of the vitality of the universe, and the action of the will upon the nervous system, and the relation which the nervous system bears to, and its capability of absorbing, conditionally, the electrical fluid of the atmos- phere, which presents the idea of the inductive vitality of human existence, we are quite sure that any legitimate ob- jection to the subject would be out of the question. Regard it as we may we are dependent beings, and however strong may be our innate power of recuperation, the changes that take place in the external forces produce correspond- ing changes in us. All the objections, therefore, on the part of those who may be skeptical, however scientific, will not change the adaptation of means to ends of the different sys- tems of man to those of nature; but the extraneous expend- iture of vitality on the part of the will can greatly prevent their absorption, as well as a normal expenditure support a healthy connection between body and spirit. 9 CHAPTER VIII. Philosophar'fl Stone—Power of the Will—Absorption, Extraneous Impressions, Will, and Vis-medicatrix Naturae—Philosophy of Sleep—Insanity the Reverse of the Pos- itive Electro-reactive State—Mosaic Account of Creation—Experiment in Vegetative Creation—Geologists answered. It is not our purpose to revive the alchemy of past ages, but to present the more sublime co-operative action of elec- tricity and mind. However skeptical we may be, and however mysterious their relations may appear, it is, nevertheless, true, that an unhealthy mental disposition of the vital agent to any one organ, either physical or mental, changes the na- ture of its secretions. Those secretions being changed, not only impart their peculiar disposition to our physical and mental being, but positively control them. The chemical change here effected in any one organ, especially presupposes an undue action on the part of the nervous system ; and who will deny, from the facts in the case, the dissolving power of the fluid within it, in effecting a perceptible change in our physical and mental faculties ? The action of the nervous system and reaction of the mind, properly understood and controlled, would, beyond all question, be the real " Kimai," or secret, in relation to which past ages gave us a physical hint, and in despair abandoned this interesting field of thought. The philosopher's stone was looked for in those days in the chemical action of matter upon matter. True, in the action of matter upon matter, we have a system of physical MENTAL ALCHEMY. 99 chemistry, by which the physical organs are not only supplied with their vitality but ofttimes destroyed. We have also in the action of the mind upon the electricity of the body a sys- tem of mental chemistry. In its reaction here we also have the vital support of each mental faculty, as well as the changes which take place in them. These are operations, as will be perceived, of a higher nature than those of matter upon matter. They are more awful in their effects, and present an unquestionable system of mental chemistry, showing the action of each mental fac- ulty through this agent, and the co-operative action of mind. We are not presenting this subject in the light of a uni- versal and unconditional solvent, nor the application of elec- tricity as an universal remedy for the pains and aches of man. We say, however, that the philosopher's stone can never be approached short of an extension of the will-power in the cerebellum or involuntary chamber. In other words, that it shall be taught how to increase or decrease at pleas- ure the reflex electrical discharges which take place in the region of our existence beyond consciousness, so as to in- crease the action of the heart and arteries. Then, and in that case, and in that case alone, the will of man has the power to prevent the absorption of extraneous impressions, physically and mentally, on the part of the mind, which is undoubtedly the cause of the world being now filled with so much physical and mental anguish. The conclusion forces itself upon us, that each faculty of the mind is only ma- terially developed by the reaction of the mind upon the elec- trical fluid of the nervous system. That reaction implies a property of mind, and therefore it is a mental phenomenon. The different conditions of electricity being dispensed by it, in changing the nature of the different secretions of the 100 MENTAL ALCHEMY. mental faculties, present in a light too plain to be misunder- stood, the foundation of the science to which we are feebly endeavoring to call attention. The different dipensations of electricity, thus by the reaction of the mind in effecting the different changes of the mental organs, embody all in an active sense, which we mean by the science of mental alchemy. As the reactions, then, are mental, and one faculty is oft- times robbed of its vital stimuli for the undue support of an- other, so that changes there do take place, we see no objec- tion to the propriety of the use of this term. In fact, it is the most appropriate term that can possibly be employed to express what the mind means in effecting these changes through the agency of the nervo-vitality. The subject is now, we hope, plain before us; and if we have failed to make out its claims from the works of nature and of mind, it is not because her brightest operative move- ments have not given birth to this as the first-born of all sci- ences. After a close inspection of the premises, if our meaning should not be understood, we shall regret it exceedingly, but still contend that the thousands of experiments performed upon gentlemen of respectability and standing, warrant this conclusion ; and we again, in relation to this matter, repeat, with due deference to those who possess prejudices against that science alone which can teach men to subdue their will, and by that means control themselves, that if the philoso- pher's stone is ever to be inherited by the human family while the spirit is in connection with the body, it must, in the nature of things, be an inheritance of the will. When the will, then, shall be properly taught from in- fancy to invade the involuntary powers, and increase the dis- charges from the brain to the circumference or body, in its MENTAL ALCHEMY. 101 protection of its physical system against internal and exter- nal extraneous influences; and when it shall assume a higher prerogative,,and stimulate actively the peculiar faculty of the brain, which the mind may want, and prevent, also, the ab- sorption of extraneous impressions which have a tendency to increase its specific gravity, then, and not till then, will any human being give any evidence of the fact that he is in pos- - session of this great and invaluable heritage of nature. The philosopher's stone! what is it ? Suppose a man could, by an effort of his will, act positively upon his stom- ach, bowels, and kidneys, or any other organ to which he might direct his will, by its specific action upon the nervous system, as well as inflict pain upon any portion of his body, increase his physical recuperative powers—in fact, not per- mit the mental absorption of any impression that would have a tendency to negative his higher faculties, how far would this be from the possession of that invaluable desideratum ? There are men, even now, who can accomplish this result. Their will, from the positive electro-reactive condition of their nervous system, has been taught to invade the involun- tary chamber, so that they can increase the discharges from the brain to the stomach, cause its muscles to relax and con- tract so that the extraneous matter can be ejected without the use of drugs. The same as regards the bowels, the kid- neys, and the respiratory action of the surface, but not to the extent and perfection that it would have been had they, in the first instance, inherited this high electro-reactive condition from their parents, and been taught the exercise of the will from their infancy. It is, beyond a doubt, as true as man's existence, that the great family of man is, in a physical sense, isolated from that reactive and controllable condition of the nervous sys 102 MENTAL ALCHEMY. tem of which our original parents were possessed. Their sleep was more quiescent than ours; their constitutions were stronger. Their will possessed the power to say to extra- neous impressions, You shall not be absorbed by the mind so as to cause me to participate of 3rour nature. What has produced this physical isolation ? We answer, that the un- necessary retention of the will, in the support of a multitude of impressions, has done it more than any thing else. When we properly reflect upon the great principles of hu- man existence, we find that this condition of things causes more disease than any one thing in the great category of ex- traneous agents. Why do the recuperative powers steal the time when one is asleep to throw out the impurities of the body; and if the body has received a mechanical injury, to bring nerve to nerve, and blood-vessel to blood-vessel ? Why may not this remedial result be accomplished while the will is active ? We answer, that the recuperative powers want the very agent which the will is absorbing, to appropriate to this purpose, and to increase the respiratory action of the sur- face. To illustrate this, which we think is a very important principle in physiology, suppose the momentum of the vital force of the nervous system be one hundred per cent., it is plain that the will, while it is in action, absorbs a certain amount of the one hundred per cent. Suppose, then, the will absorbs twenty per cent., it will be perceived that the region beyond consciousness, where the recuperative powers mysteriously dwell, has not the same amount of vitality to clean out the castle and repair it, that it has when the will is passive. While the will is active it is plain that there cannot be, according to this supposition which is nearly a mathematical certainty, more than eighty per cent, in the possession of the region beyond conscious- MENTAL ALCHEMY ;i03 ness. The vitality of the nervous system cannot, in the na- ture of things, be appropriated to two purposes simulta- neously ; therefore, if the finger of a man be cut off, and the will ceases not its action, the wound will never heal; but as soon as the will surrenders into the hands of the recuperative force the amount of vitality which it is absorbing for volun- tary purposes, then nature goes to work and performs well her task, because the momentum of vitality beyond conscious- ness is increased. The external elements become attracted to the body from the healthy respiratory condition of the sur- face, as will be perceived by the flexible feel of the skin in all cases where the will is thus passive. This is the condition of the system where the old particles are being thrown off, and new and fresh ones from the atmos- phere absorbed and appropriated in their stead. Who is there, then, who does not see that for physical purposes even, the great desideratum cf human life is to endeavor to break down this wall, which our parents have unquestionably be- queathed us, between the will and the mind ? How often have you seen it that the mind has petitioned the will to cease its absorption of vitality, and it would not ? How often has the patient said, " Doctor, I cannot sleep." They meant that the will continues still to rob their recupe- rative powers of the vitality which would, according to the doctrine of physical absorption, enable the external elements to assist in restoring the diseased body. Sleep, then, simply implies the passive relation of the will to the mind; that is, that thus the highest property of the spirit ceases for a time its action, by which a latent condition of the cerebrum is pro- duced. It ceases its action for the express purpose of giving up the agent, by which it manifested voluntary results, into the hands of the recuperative powers. This, then, is another 104 MENTAL ALCHEMY. property of mind, and seems, in a measure, at least, to make changes and exchanges of vitality with the will-force. Now, then, let us ask the question no longer, why does na- ture heal our diseases when we are asleep, and why is sleep essential to our physical and mental health ? Look at a man with not a thought in his voluntary chamber, and one who is dreaming and turning over the business transactions of the next day, and considering how he shall accomplish this or that, and perhaps how he shall take advantage of his neigh- bor or friend, and you see in this case, contrasting it with the other, one of the many cases which produce the negative re- active condition of the nervous system. This, in connection with physical abuses that have a tend- ency to strengthen this wall between the will and the mind, is, at least, an important consideration in reference to the causes which are mysteriously at work producing, physically, a degeneration of the human race. Therefore, the individual who gives way to his will in the first instance, and suffers its positive retention, when the recuperative powers ought to be at work, should particularly remember, that there is no one cause calculated to shorten his days equal to this. There is no one cause better calculated than this to impart a feeble physical condition to his offspring. Remember, oh ! the will of man, remember, that thou owest a debt to the recupera- tive powers. If thou payest it not, whether thou knowest it or not, thou wilt cause it, in a measure, at least, to weaken the fine thread which holds the spirit to the body. By thy continued action, in not regularly responding to it, which seems to regularly reach over for thy vitality, thou wilt render this thread more and more brittle, and become the prime cause of all the mind suffers, and ultimately be the means of taking the life of the body. MENTAL ALCHEMY. 105 The reader may wonder what we mean, and as we have no other medium of conversing with him, we beg respectfully leave to say, we mean exactly what we have recorded. If he says the will and the mind are all the same, we plainly ac- knowledge that we cannot understand his meaning. We know that the will is commanded and controlled, and seems to fill the office of executive volition of the mental and phys- ical chamber. There is a something which commands it. There is a something, which in the condition of our nature permits it to absorb vitality enough to move the body from place to place, and to make known to the world, in a meas- ure, at least, the intellectuality of man, which is absorbed and retained in the region of his existence beyond conscious- ness. The reader must, on reflection, see that a man's in- tellect is not the result of his will. It is not the result of that department of his existence over which consciousness seems to preside. The impressions which constitute his in- tellect are absorbed in the region beyond consciousness, while the will, together with the other faculties spread out in the voluntary domain, are permitted to absorb the intel- lectuality of the living spirit. In the relaxation and con- traction, therefore, of the muscles of the throat, we have a demonstration of its power of intellectual absorption. If a man's intellect be the result of his will, the whole human family make a great mistake in not becoming Solomons. Does the will have any thing to do with the capability of a mind to absorb impressions which may ultimately make a great man, otherwise than to carry him where he may be subjected to their absorption, and to increase his desire for their constant reception? If it does, we should like very much, indeed, to know in what instance. The will, then, is controlled; and a thing controlled im- 106 MENTAL ALCHEMY. plies a higher power by which it is controlled. It is true, the will may become so accustomed to refusing to cease its action, as before presented, that the mind cannot render it quies- cent at all times when it may desire to do so; but then, at the same time, it is perfectly clear that the mind can com- mand it when there is physical strength enough to move the body. Can the will-power manifest its specific influence upon any portion of the body unless that portion bears a healthy rela- tionship to the involuntary chamber ? If there are not con- tinual reflex discharges coming from the brain to the hand, can the will raise the hand ? If any thing is presented, the impression or emanation of which the mind has never before absorbed, or any thing by which the faculty of comparison can contrast it, can the will tell you what it is ? If it can- not, then we say, both in a physical and mental sense, that the will has no power save that which is absorbed from the living spirit. Hence we perceive the separate action of the mind and of the will. A careful inspection of the operations of the two will render this clear and distinct. Without this clearness of understanding, it would be impossible to compre- hend the reason why an individual, when his nervous system is in a state of positive electro-reaction, is controlled by the impressions of the operator. With what does the operator have to contend ? It is the will. Why is that will capable of offering resistance. Because it absorbs a certain amount of the subject's vitality. Do not impressions absorb his vi- tality also ? If, then, the condition of his nervous system is such that an impression goes to the mind, positively absorbing more of the vitality of the nervous system than the will ab- sorbs, it will follow, of necessity, that the actions of the sub- ject will be compelled to participate of the nature of the im- MENTAL ALCHEMY. 107 pressions of the operator, the resistance of the will notwith- standing. Here, then, is the secret of the whole matter, in a theo- retical sense. To speak about impressions not exercis- ing a positive control over a subject against the will-force, would be to say that the mind is incapable of the absorption of impressions, or, if it does absorb them, that they are inca- pable of exercising any control over him, or to say that a man's will has the full and complete control over the whole momentum of his nervo-vitality. Whether scientific men, according to the common accepta- tion of the term, will sanction these great practical and theo- retical truths of nature, matters not; one thing is decidedly certain, that the intelligence of the world combined could not change in the least degree this condition of things. This electro-reactive condition of the nervous system was unques- tionably the condition that our first parents inherited from the bosom of nature. And instead of this condition—as men who are ignorant of the action of mind and the nervous system, would have the world to believe—being the condition that causes persons to become insane and diseased, it is exactly the reverse. You may go to all the asylums now in exist- ence, and you can find no subject there whose nervous sys- tem is in a state of positive electro-reaction. You may understand the science, and go into the hospitals where thousands are tortured with pain and disease, and you will find them not in this positive electro-reactive condition, but universally in the negative condition. All the persons that we have ever seen who were naturally in the reactive state, by which their minds could, without any sitting what- ever, be compelled to absorb impressions positively against the power of the will, enjoyed the finest health, and presented 108 MENTAL A LC II L M V. a recuperative condition of their physical nature, in relation to which they had occasion to be proud. We here make the record, and call upon the world to dis- prove it—and physicians particularly—and ask the question, why do they desire to frighten the community by saying that the positive influence of the electricity of the atmosphere is capable of producing that condition of the nervous system which leads to insanity. Go to your asylums, and the nega- tive condition of the nervous system of the insane speaks vol- umes in relation to this matter. Go to the man afflicted with chronic rheumatism ; go to the patient who is nearly gone with tubercular 'tisis ; yea, go to diseased nature, anywhere, and see if this positive electro-reactive condition is at the foundation of it. In conclusion, consult, properly, the physical electro-reac- tive trinity of the nervous system, and you will no longer kick against the positive dominion of the prime reactive in- fluence of the atmosphere, by positive alchemistic absorption, in producing its corresponding condition of our physical na- ture. Let us in an especial consideration examine what na- ture means by extraneous actions or disturbances on the part of the nervous system. It will be perceived, from the make of all persons, that this system is obliged to be subject to unhealthy as well as healthy impressions, physical and mental, wherever the body may be. If a man swallows poison, it disturbs the healthy circulation, and occasions an extraneous succession of waves to reach the mind. If the mind does not respond, with a sufficient amount of recuperative aid, the poison is not ejected; the physical system absorbs it, and then partakes of its nature. This is also the case with impure atmosphere, impure food, and every thing else to which our physical nature is subject. It will be MENTAL ALCHEMY. 1109 moreover, perceived, that if the mind does not quickly re- spond to the demands of its physical nature, there will be an unhealthy or undue consumption of the vital principle by the action of the poison. In despite of the will, the mind will experience the most violent pain and anguish, and produce electrical discharges to such an extent that they, too, may as- sist in the destruction and death of the body. It will here be noticed that a complete change in the physical man is ap- parent, as well as the ability of the physical organs to per- form their proper functions. The whole system seems to surrender its vital stimulus to its presence. Is this all clear in relation to the physical man ? If so, we are ready to notice the influences of the extraneous action of the nervous system upon his mental being. It is clear that before the mind can hear, see, taste, smell, or feel, a disturbance must take place in the nervous fluid. There- fore, in view of this, every word that is spoken occasions its own specific atmospheric undulations, and these undulations produce their specific disturbances of the auditory nerve by their tympanitic vibrations. The emanations from different objects produce their specific disturbances of the eye and op- tic nerve before the mind is enabled to see. Can the mind see an object before the emanation or impression from it is absorbed ? Can the mind hear before the impressions made by the atmospheric undulations are absorbed ? What, then, are impure impressions, in this sense? We answer, that they are the atmospheric undulations and emanations caused by the presence of those who mentally are continually bend- ing to the unhealthy secretions of combativeness, destructive- ness, secretiveness, etc. Good impressions are those which come from others who live under the influence of the facul- ties that belong to their higher nature, as benevolence, ven- 10 110 MENTAL ALCHEMY. eration, conscientiousness, etc. Remember that like goes to like. If a young man, whose higher nature is moistened by the secretions of the latter, be subjected to impressions com- ing from the former, and they are negatively received, his mental nature remains the same, and his character will not participate of their nature. But, on the other hand, if they are positively absorbed by his mind, that absorption presupposes an application of his vitality to their support. Hence the vitality will go to the development of the corresponding faculty in his brain, caus- ing his character and actions to participate of their nature. When this is the case, we see a perceptible change in his disposition, because the mind, from the circumstances of the case in the first instance, absorbs the impressions, and takes away from the higher faculties of his existence their vitality for the support of the lower. This is the condition of things which we say increases the specific gravity of the mind, and it may become greater and greater, until at last, in its own estimation, it falls down, as it were, on a level with the ani- mals. This is the reason why the mind becomes insensible to the high feelings and impressions of a man. Are we understood? If we are, this example shows us the relation which the mind bears to impressions, and the influ- ence which they exert in the changes of our mental being; and if it stopped at a mere change, it would not be so awful to contemplate ; but the destruction of some of those mental faculties, which lift man above all other created beings, may follow. Have you never known the extraneous forces of nature, apparently without cause, to occasion the impression of our Saviour to be positively absorbed by a finite being, so that his mind, as far as it was capable, made efforts to partici- MENTAL ALCHEMY. Ill pate of His nature ? If you have not, go to the asylums for the insane—see for yourself, in more particulars than this, and with wonder and pity behold their effects, by which they seem for a time to hold empire over every faculty of human existence ; there your doubts will pass away, and nature her- self will present her own testimony in support of the extra- neous part of mental alchemy, and tell you that this condi- tion of things, mentally, is owing to an extreme negative electro-reactive state of the nervous system. Friends may weep over this lamentable state of their friends. They may endeavor to make the happiest impres- sions on the minds of those that are thus unfortunate, but still they heed them not, on account of the extreme negative condition of the system which conveys impressions to the mind. This state of things, which has fallen upon the world for cause, is too awful to contemplate, and it behooves us, particularly, to respectfully bow to the powers that be, and no longer subscribe to the doctrine, that man possesses the power to generate his own vitality; that his brain is a gal- vanic battery, which becomes a magnet of itself, but that all his vitality is absorbed from nature, and hence that it is in- ductive. Then the brain, if it be a magnet, only becomes so by induction. This inductive vitality, of which we see men possessed, speaks a language, in relation to physical ab- sorption, which none can resist, even if the doctrine of men- tal absorption, which we have endeavored to present, should be looked upon as erroneous. Let us more accurately investigate the operations above, below, and around us, in connection with those in the phys- ical and mental chamber of man, which seem to lead to the conclusion, that as the electricity of the nervous system is appropriated, either physically or mentally, so will the incli- 112 MENTAL ALCHEMY. nation of the body and mind be. If this is not so, then wo should be at a great loss to know what is meant by the ex- pression, " There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in thy philosophy." The science of mental alchemy, in "a practical sense,' as all who have attended our lectures for the last eighteen months know, differs from electro-phsychology, thusology, biology, magnetism, and mesmerism. The manner of pro- ducing the condition of the nervous system, by which one in- dividual may occasion the mind of another, in a natural state, to respond to his impressions against the power of the will, is entirely different from any process before laid down. While gentlemen in the audience are producing this elec- tro-reactive change of the nervous system by the absorption of atmospherical electricity, conversation, and even the loud- est noise on the part of the audience, will not retard it, as has been over and over demonstrated, if they will follow the alchemistic directions. They are given no zinc nor copper- plate to look at as a medium, nor requested to concentrate their minds mechanically on any object. Their bodies are not subjected positively to the nervous fluid of any man; the downward and upward passes are not made. The experi- ments are performed without gazing them in the eye, without the pretension of any supernatural agency whatever in the production of the multitude of astonishing phenomena which have been presented in a course of one hundred and fifty lectures and experiments, upon more than a thousand gentle- men, in a natural state, during the past winter and spring, in Brooklyn and New York. When we take into consider- ation, that all the lecturers on what is supposed to be this subject, both in this country and throughout the world, have always demanded, on the part of the audienoe, the most pro- MENTAL ALCHEMY. 113 found silence, or they could not mesmerize, psychologize, or biologize, the difference between this science practically and all others that have a name in this direction, is plainly seen. Twice as many in the audience, under the circumstances, produce this electrical change upon themselves, as by any other process or plan made public. These facts being cer- tain, places this subject, beyond a reasonable doubt, above suspicion. It is armed with power sufficient to understand- ingly and attractively reach the minds of the most skeptical, and demands nothing that is in the least degree repulsive to the most scientific. We will not here mention the efficacy of the healing vir- tues, but will ask, to its limits who can set bounds ? There cannot be in the wide domain of intellectual culture a theme on which the mind can dwell with as pure delight as upon its own electro-reactive movements. By these movements, to produce the voluntary and involuntary relaxation and con- traction of the muscles, and with a still higher reaction in its finite electrical ocean, sparkle forth corresponding flames of true patriotism in the bosom of others. The philosopher may labor to impress his mind with the nicest astronomical move- ments, in relation to distant worlds, and while his reflective powers are thus spread out over the starry crown 6f Jehovah, he may even fall in love with the order and harmony that there prevail, and, while absorbed in the relation of cause and effect, venture to speculate on the mysterious nebulae of La Place and Herschel; but this fails to call into play the reac- tion of his high innate mental power, as they are seen only in those that cluster around the investigation of mind itself and its nervo-vital radiations. Hence the great science of mind, standing as it does above, and authoritatively waving its elec- trical arm supremely over organized matter, presents to view 114 MENTAL ALCHEMY. the first-born of all sciences; and, as such, its alchemistic movements as far transcend all others as mind transcends matter. How pleasing the idea that we are legitimately the children of nature, and how heart-rending it is to think of the manner in which we have violated her laws ! The iron and water that compose our bodies correspond to the same sub- stances as they exist in nature, or in the material world. The atmosphere and gases which we consume come from na- ture ; the action of the nervous system participates of the character of the lightning's flash, which not only surrounds the mind itself, but is continually coursing the vibrating cords of the nervous system, or, in other words, as poetically ex- pressed : " Comes like a giant for the race, Its Orient flame ascends, Soars thro' the boundless realms of space, And in the man descends. Its light the vital lamp bestows, The universe pervades, In ocean's darkest caverns glows, And earth's profoundest shades." After all, we are sensible that men who take a different view in relation to mind, may fall back upon the prejudices of physical science, and answer that we have no authority for the deductions we have made concerning it. As the science of geology makes the Mosaic account of creation literally un- tenable, and as the globe is millions of years old, according to geological testimony, it is more than probable that some long-continued distillating process, inherent in matter, is at the foundation of this something, which you call mind or spirit. We have no desire whatever to dispute with those who are MENTAL ALCHEMY. 115 learned in the different stratas of the globe, and have satisfied themselves upon this point that the progression of science has made the Mosaic account, taken in its literal acceptation, altogether untenable. We have a right to say, that we have yet to learn the first discovery in any of the sciences which, in the established order of creation, forbids- the condensation of the globe, and its special creation, as found in the Mosaic record. The globe, when put in the scale of finite deductions, may, in that sense, be millions of years old, as it looks to be so; and the argument may apparently become stronger by an ap- peal to the gradual condensation of the fluids and solids which now takes place. These circumstances, say they, forbid it otherwise. This, however, we think, does not disprove, in the nature of scientific discoveries, the record of Moses. Let us for one moment examine one of the most pointed discover- ies which applies to the case under consideration, as it now stands on the pages of science, as regards vegetative creation. Learned gentlemen have recorded it, and any man who wishes it may try the experiment. " Take a small quantity of mustard or grass seed, and steep it for a few days in diluted oxymuriatic acid, then sow it in a light soil in garden pots, and cover them with metallic covers. Now bring them in contact with the prime conductor of an electrical machine. The seed will spring up, as if by magic, and in the course of a few minutes he will have a crop ready to cut." We are here told by the gentlemen who believe that the globe is millions of years old, that the experimenter will have a salad in a few minutes ready to be put upon the table. Is this not an instantaneous creation by finite wisdom and power through electrical agency? Let us look at this. 116 MENTAL ALCHEMY. Suppose the experimenter, then, places this salad upon his table, and a friend of his should come in and say, this is very nice salad, and it looks as though it grew in a fertile soil. In reply, the experimenter says, it is but a few minutes old. We can well imagine the astonishment of his friend, and the skepticism which would be depicted in his counte- nance. The natural remark of the incredulous man would be, I know you are mistaken, as from its looks it must be two or three months old, and I cannot believe your assertion, as it is contrary to nature in every particular. The experimenter would, undoubtedly, laugh at the-skepticism and the learned remark of his friend against the reality of this specimen of finite electrical creation. Is it not passing strange, that those who say they have performed this experiment them- selves, without looking to see its force, set aside the account of the creation, as given by Moses, as wholly untenable ? If a human being can .thus suddenly convert a seed into a plant by his wisdom and skill through electrical agency, why could not the Infinite Mind as suddenly condense the globe and its special creations in the first instance, as recorded by Moses ? This is a case in point, derived from the lights afforded us by the progression of science; and this as well as many other experiments prove, at least, by analogy, that the an- cient record is true. The looks of the globe, therefore, with the solidity of its stratas, do not prove its existence millions of years ago, .any more than the plant and its firmness of texture proves that it must have been the growth of months. How can we be made to believe, therefore, that the develop- ments of science as yet stand at all in the way of the creation of the world in six days, if we comparatively admit the virtue of the infinite creative energy, and that there is a God, from whose almighty fiat worlds and systems of worlds are being MENTAL ALCHEMY. 117 continually moved into existence ? Neither the giant arm of science, nor the speculative philosophy of men, can take from man his primary immortality, nor destructively reach his spirit within the {Jeep-heaving bosom of despairing love, nor take it from behind the liquid sparklings of the eye. " The sun is but a spark of fire, A transient meteor in the sky; The soul, immortal as its sire, Can never die." (The mortal existence of man is, therefore, but a portion of the universal process. With the express command to press forward, avoiding the reception of all extraneous im- pressions, that he may escape the violent reaction that would be sure to follow. CHAPTER IX. Alchemistic Control—The Reason of that Control—Intelligence, the Result of Electrical Agency—One System more Reactive than Another—Succession of Electrical Disturb- ances—Physical Trinity of the Nervous System—How to Ascertain that Trinity—How to Change its Reactivity—Will of God—Oneness of Action of the Will in Producing Keactiva Changes—How to Experiment Properly—Influences not Supernatural—Re- quest to Physicians and Skeptics—Cannot Square-rule the Nervous System as it now is—The Reason Why. We now propose a practical lesson on the subject of men- tal alchemy, by which unmistakable experiments may be per- formed, proving, as we believe, the theory advanced to be true. In entering this beautiful field of practical culture, we wish it remembered, that we only speak of our own ex- perience, and the manner by which we have been enabled to exercise control positively over subjects, which has led us to believe in the reality of the effects upon the minds of others by certain conditions of the nervous system. The nervo-vital fluid seems to play an authoritative part between the mind and the body. The body moves not without its special agency. The secretions of none of its organs can take place without its positive presence. Every function, then, per- formed by the animal economy, presupposes its existence. The mind receives all its impressions from the external world, and responds to the external world only by this agency. When we pursue its office in the great economy of human existence farther, we need not be amazed to find that every impression which the mind receives, from the cradle to the MENTAL ALCHEM Y. 119 grave, presupposes its positive agency. In other words, the intellect of man, which is retained in his chamber beyond * consciousness, owes its retention to a normal relation of the forces of this system. All the different faculties of the brain pour out their secretions through its special agency. With- out it, then, as it thus unquestionably surrounds the spirit itself, the mind could not reabsorb an impression in a mental sense. And even that implies a reaction of the mind, and produces a certain disturbance in the rounds of its circula- tion. If this be so, the authority of this system is clear and » unquestionable in the great office of human existence. This fluid develops two influences in the rounds of its cir- culation, just exactly in proportion as its motion may be. The fire which kindles it into a flame is the mind. Hence its presence gives motion to the fluid within the nervous sys- tem, by which the attractive and repulsive powers therein are manifested, and by which they hold under subjection the re- lations and conditions of the arterial and venous blood. As no man can live without both arterial and venous blood in his circulating system, so no man can live without positive and negative electricity within his nervous system. A certain relation of these two forces constitute the nervo-vital idio- syncrasy of a man. That relation being different in different persons, gives us reason to say that the bodies of persons are in a different electro-reactive condition, or dissimilarly elec- trified. What is it that naturally presents itself here that occasions one nervous system to be more reactive than an- * other ? Is it not a certain relation of these two forces ? These two forces constitute his nature. Do these two forces bear the same relation to each other when the mind is ab- sorbing the impression of fear as they do when it is absorb- • ing that of joy ? If so, we are greatly mistaken in our de- 120 MENTAL ALCHEMY ductions as regards the nervous system. We speak "thus pointedly concerning this system because it is the one which has, in the first instance, every thing to do with the experi- ments that we expect to present. Its authority upon man's physical and mental nature now being plain, and the relation of the two forces constituting his peculiar nervo-vital idiosyn- crasy, we would state that we do not know what gentlemen mean—speaking in a natural sense—when they say that one man is negatively electrified, and "another is positively elec- trified, merely because one controls the other against his will. We here repeat the question, how is it possible for a man to be naturally negatively charged with electricity, and live, or positively charged, and live ? As well might a man say that the globe would continue its motion without the in- fluence of the positive and negative powers of nature, or un- der the influence of one of these powers separated from the other. Therefore, we shall take nature at her word, so far as we are able in presenting our philosophy of this subject, regardless of the scorn and contempt that those who cling to books, without thinking for themselves, may endeavor to heap upon us. We have said that a certain relation of these forces in the nervous system, is its different electro-reactive conditions. The manner, then, of ascertaining its different reactive conditions, will of necessity be the next point for our consid- eration. In order to make ourselves understood, we will, for inspec- tion, present before the reader the physical electro-reactive trinity of the nervous system. By this term, we shall com- prehend all the conditions in the family of man. The ex- tent to which the system will react cannot, of course, be as- certained unless it is disturbed, and, by means of such dis- MENTAL ALCHEMY. 121 turbance, we expect to make ourselves understood, from the symptoms that may be presented in relation to this matter. The nerves of this system are minutely ramified upon the ex- ternal surface. Wherever they are in a subject that is healthy, we naturally suppose the presence of the nervo-vital fluid. If this be true, it will be easy to perceive that me- chanical pressure made upon any portion of the body, must involve the particles of that fluid. From the point where they are thus involved, a succession of waves will pass to the brain, and the mind will respond with a reflex succession of waves to the point thus involved, and feeling will be the result. All subjects, then, whatever may be the relation and con- dition of the forces of the nervous system, will feel the pres- sure thus made upon any portion of the body. This feeling would, of course, be a symptom accompanying the pressure. Now, then, suppose we take hold of the right hand of A, as the most convenient point, and make pressure just above the third joint of the ring finger; we involve, mechanically, a large thread of nerves which come from the spine, and through the spine are connected with the brain. It is evident that, on making the pressure, a succession of disturbances passes through the nervous system to the brain. It is evident that these disturbances pass in regular succes- sion, or waves, whether A feels them or not, as they pass thus to the brain. Now, then, if his mind does not feel them, as they pass thus to the brain, and no other response is had except that of feeling, then we say that A's nervous system, and the relation of the forces, is in a state of negative electro- reaction. Now if we take hold of the hand of B, and make pressure in the same way, and his mind responds and ac- knowledges the succession of disturbances to the spine, as 11 122 MENTAL ALCHEMY well as feeling at the point involved, nothing can be more plain than that there is a difference in the reactive condition of the nervous system of A and B. The symptoms are dif- ferent ; the one acknowledges nothing but feeling, the other the feeling with the succession of waves as they pass on to the spine. Now, then, in contra-distinction to the condition of A, we say that B's nervous system is in a state of physical or in- stinctive electro-reaction. We next in turn take hold of the hand of C in the same manner, and make use of the same mechanical pressure, and his mind responds with its sense of feeling in the acknowledgment of the succession of disturb- ances to the brain and all over the nervous system, as well as the feeling responded to in the other cases. The symptoms in this case are certainly different from those of the other two, as his mind has felt the succession of disturbances not only to the brain, but throughout the minute ramifications of his nervous system. Without experiment, then, this would mean nothing; but this is the exact rule that nature has establish- ed in the nervous system of man, showing the extent to which the mind will be permitted, through its agency, to respond in the control of its physical and mental being to an impression properly made against the power of its will. The acknowl- edgment of this succession of waves is not in the least de- gree whatever referable to the imagination or belief, but it is a certain action that takes place from the condition of the two forces in the nervous system or the nature of man. This is the electro-reactive trinity of the nervous system, and the key by which we unlock the door that will lead us understand- ingly into the great chamber of man, where impressions are absorbed and retained. These different effects that we have now spoken of, manifest themselves in different persons as MENTAL ALCHEMY. 123 they naturally are; and no man who will make this applica- tion, which is easy and simple, will be any longer skeptical as regards this trinity of the nervous system. If a man, then, feels the disturbances pass to the spine, the operator can ob- tain successfully a physical absorption of his impressions, so that they will control the physical action of the subject against the power of his will. But he cannot obtain a mental absorption, for the reason that the sense of feeling has not acknowledged the presence of the succession of disturbances in the brain itself. Hence it will be perceived that he will have no authority from the nervous system to expect a mental absorption of his impressions exercising the least control over the subject's mental nature. But, if the sense of feeling ac- knowledges these disturbances to the brain itself, and all over the nervous system, if the operator makes the impressions correctly, it would be contrary to nature if he did not obtain a successful absorption of his impressions and the mental control of the subject against the power of his will. This is what we will call speaking to the mind from the positive authority of the nervous system, because the succession of disturbances, occasioned by the operator, has been acknowl- edged by the sense of feeling in the very chamber where all his impressions are obtained, in the chamber where all exter- nal objects are seen and analyzed. If a man, then, should expect to get either a physical or mental absorption of his impressions of a subject where his pressure produced no other symptoms than feeling, he would expect a result contrary to nature. If he did, it would be an effect that we have never been able> to obtain. This has been the unalterable rule that has governed us in our experiments. Whenever a subject feels the disturbances to the spine, we expect, by pursuing the following course, to get a physical 124 MENTAL ALCHEMY. absorption of our impressions, without any effort of our will, sufficient to exercise physical control over his physical action against the power of his will. It would be nonsense, with this condition of the nervous system, to expect to exercise mental control over the subject. Now the matter is plain before us, and if this electro-re- active trinity of the nervous system, as it naturally exists in the bodies of men, can be set aside, we say, then, that any man would be a humbug who would attempt to demonstrate this science before the public. He would have no authority from nature, and not having that authority, he would certainly be beating about upon the tumultuous ocean of conjecture, not knowing where he was or what he was about. The reader will doubtless be somewhat astonished at the idea here presented, that some persons are naturally in this positive electro-reactive condition, as we were when we first discovered it; and we will remark candidly, for his informa- tion, that we never found any person in that condition who at once acknowledged the succession of waves that we have described, but what they enjoyed the finest health. What is remarkable, furthermore, is, that we have never seen a hu- man being who was diseased or insane who was in this high- est electro-reactive condition. Still, men who talk learnedly on a subject that they might understand, would have the world believe that this is the condition that makes men in- sane, and causes them to become diseased. Nature, how- ever, tells them they know not what they say; and this being the case, its advocates should charitably forgive them. The next inquiry which seems to present itself is, how shall A manage to get his nervous system in the same condi- tion as that of B and C, and to what agency shall he make an appeal, and how is that appeal to be made by which the MENTAL ALCHEMY. 125 reactive change is effected? These are questions, the an- swers to which involve more philosophy than we are enabled to digest; but we will give such deductions and reasons as satisfy us beyond all question as regards this matter. We say, then, the appeal must be made to the electro-reactive condition of the atmosphere, as the only source upon which hope can rest for a successful change. The puny arm of man, with his small amount of vitality, is a source inade- quate to perform this wonderful change. What power, then, of my being shall I direct to make application to the ele- ments of the atmosphere for this change ? We say it is the will-power, and that the will has got to comply with the con- dition of things, as stated in a preceding chapter, which causes the electro-reactive trinity of the elements of the at- mosphere, or it never can be effected. This electrical fluid is within the body of the atmosphere which is around us, above us, and below us, and it is absorbed upon the princi- ples before laid down. In order to be understood as regards this very interesting point, let us present two persons before the reader, both alike thirsting for water, the reason of that thirst being a deficiency of that fluid in the body. Let these two persons walk into a pool of water on a summer's day up to their shoulders, and remain there for half an hour. Let one continue in positive action, moving and swimming about, and the other remain perfectly still. Examine now and ascertain the condition of the thirst of the two at the expi- ration of the half hour, and we have a lesson of nature point- ing directly to that which we wish to effect in the directions that we shall presently give. The one that was passive finds that his desire for water is greatly lessened or entirely gone, while the other, who has been active, has a desire as great or greater than before he went into the pool; the reason being, 12(3 MENTAL ALCHEMY. that the absorbents of the surface could not open and shut without the aid of the recuperative vital influence. And that recuperative property of the mind could not develop its power in the opening and shutting of the surface without a portion of the agency which the will employed for the pur- pose of moving the body about. This agency cannot be ap- plied to two purposes simultaneously. Then, while the will was thus absorbing it 1'rom the involuntary chamber for vol- untary purposes, it would be unreasonable to suppose that the recuperative power could display its influence in the absorption of the water on the part of the surface, by which the deficit was to be supplied. The other one being passive, so far as his will is concerned, the recuperative property of the mind being replenished with vital agency, which the will, if in action would demand, sent it to the surface, opened and shut the mouths of the absorbents, and drank in the supply. Hence, for cause the one is still thirsting, and for cause the thirst of the other is gone. Can we fail to perceive, then, the different relations which the absorbing surface of these two occupy recuperatively to the water in which they are ? Is the one who is passive, in a recuperative sense, isolated from the water to the same ex- tent as the one that is active ? If so, we should be at a losa to prove what we mean by the isolated condition of the nerv- ous system of man, and the legitimate propriety of following certain directions, in order to occasion the nervous system to absorb an extra amount of vitality from the electricity of the atmosphere, in order to assume the same corresponding reac- tive condition. Nature here means something in this beauti- ful operation of the absorbing system. It is an operation that certainly serves as a key to unlock the mystery of the operation of the higher systems. Does not the condition of MENTAL ALCHEMY. 127 the arterial and venous blood present itself, showing the relation of the positive and negative influences in the system beyond it? Now, then, how shall A manage to get his nerv- ous system in the same reactive condition as that of B and C ? We answer, that he must follow the example of the man who was passive in the pool. Then his recuperative power will enable his nervous system to absorb an extra amount of electricity from the atmosphere, or to assume, as the case may be, its condition. While the nervous system may not, in one sense, be isolated from the electrical fluid of the atmosphere, it may be so, as regards its recuperative condition; for, cer- tainly, the electrical fluid is one thing, and its condition is another. The nervous system is one thing, and its condition, or the relation of its forces, another. These are all to be taken into the account in a regular investigation of this mys- terious portion of human existence. This matter being plain now before us, we are ready to state the different plans that we have found to be the best for subjects negative to effect a positive change in their nervous system. A should sit down, and, as the most convenient plan, take hold of the first joint of the thumb of one hand with the fore-finger and thumb of the other; make pressure just hard enough to feel it, and close his eyes, He should keep his eyes constantly closed, without any effort on his part to assist the recuperative ener- gy, or without a thought stirring in his voluntary chamber, save that which particularly relates to the sense of feeling occasioned by the pressure which he himself is making. This will, as any one must perceive, increase the electrical respi- ratory action of the nervous system, for the will, by thus dis- missing all impressions but the one from the voluntary chamber, needs not the vitality of more positive action. The recuperative powers become, therefore, increased ; and hence 128 MENTAL ALCHEMY. the change which takes place in the respiratory action of the surface. The surface, by its power, is brought reactively into nearer juxtaposition with the vital fluid of the atmos- phere ; and the oneness of action on the part of the will con- tinually disturbing the nervo-vital fluid, occasions the reactive change to be effected. In other words, the oneness of action on the part of the will exerted in the nervous system of his being, corresponds to the oneness of action exerted in the electrical fluid of the Universe, by that God who speaks in thunder, and to whose oneness of action alone its reactive condition can be referred. The like oneness of action, on the part of the will of the subject, must of necessity occasion the like condition to take place in his nervous system. That electrical condition would be the same as that which we find naturally to exist in the nervous system of B and C. We do not see any great mystery about this, nor any special agency of Divine Providence in its production ; nor that it becomes necessary that for a man to produce it upon himself he should be the seventh son or the ninth son. But we do understand, that in order to produce it, the will has to comply with the conditions laid down; that is, that it shall cease its absorp- tion of vitality from the involuntary powers only sufficient to support one impression. That impression may be mental or physical; but the physical is unquestionably the best, and the one to which the will can sooner accommodate itself. We would here repeat, that as regards discovering any physical agent that will produce this reactive condition in the bodies of all men alike, those who even hint such an idea must be ignorant of the source that produces this change, or else they would not look for such a discovery within the realms of physical science. The only thing that can possibly accomplish it is, for the mind of man to learn to control the MENTAL ALCHEMY. 129 Will, so that it shall absorb only vitality enough to support one impression. This condition complied with, the reactive change is effected in five minutes. Not complied with, it could not be effected in fifty years. We have known persons who have subjected themselves for as many as forty or fifty times, without the least perceptible symptom of this reaction, and afterward, within five minutes, work an entire change in their nervous system, so that they became just as reactive and recuperative as the cases of B and C. This, then, is the natural plan for subjecting the nervous system, by the consent of the will, to the reactive influence of the atmosphere. We have pursued this plan for the last eighteen months, and declare it as a truth, that we have never known the least unpleasantness to originate from producing this change by this plan, as it appears to be natural. But, in the concentration of the mind upon any one object me- chanically, the agitation being directly to the center of the nervous system, it is very apt to occasion dizziness, unpleas- antness in the head, sometimes spasms, and other symptoms too tedious to mention. The reader can easily perceive the reason of the one, and the objections to the other. We would remark here, that unless a subject is actively diseased, he should not sit and gaze upon any object for fifteen, twenty, or thirty minutes, as it will produce, of necessity, [the brain becoming the point of disturbance of the nervous system] in some the unpleasant symptoms which we have advert- ed to. Attentively looking at an object, or into the eye of the op- erator, merely fills the indications of this oneness of action on the part of the will; and the influences that have ever pro- duced this change in a subject in this country, or anywhere, 130 MENTAL ALCH11 M Y. were the vital influences of the atmosphere, and not alone the physical vitality from the body of the operator. We there- fore ask scientific gentlemen to raise objections, if they can, to this condition of the electric fluid of the atmosphere which wohave named; the relatbn which the nervous system bears to that fluid, and the different actions of the will of man upon the nervous system, preventing its absorption; but when, by the passivity of the will, it is thus absorbed, let them repel, success- fully, its electro-reactive claims in the nervous system of the subject who thus absorbs it, and we have no more to say. We therefore hope, that gentlemen who say they do not believe in the different changes of the nervous system, and raise objections to it, will make this one of the points of their objection, for this is the point. It is the source and the cause of all the changes which they have seen produced in experiments, public or private. We do not merely believe in the power of this influence to produce these changes—we know it to be so. Every physician knows distinctly well that when his patient is sick, unless he can occasion the will to cease its absorption of vitality from the involuntary cham- ber, all the medicines he can possibly administer will be of no avail. He may go to his apothecary-shops, and understand- ingly compound the chemical elements which are there, he may administer them as scientifically as his education and experience will permit him, but still the recuperative powers stare him in the face, and speak to him sometimes in tones of anguish, that an especial appeal must be made to the vi- tality of the atmosphere by means of electrical absorption by the nervous system, or the patient will die. Let us here, then, answer another question that is frequently put by scientific men—that is, if this state of things is induced by the passivity of the nervous system, is not the morning, or MENTAL ALCHEMY. ,131 after a man has taken a sound sleep, the best time to experi- ment with him ? Strange and unfathomable deductions sometimes come from human beings, but this is indeed more strange than any that we have heard. The man who asks this question has never considered the cause which speaks the electro-reactive condi- tion of the atmosphere; for, had he done so, he would have seen at once that there is a difference between an entire pas- sivity on the part of the will, and its oneness of action upon the nervous system. This very experiment proves, unques- tionably, that some influence, separate and apart from the electrical fluid of the nervous system of the world, is at the foundation of its recuperative and reactive condition. Does it not follow, if a man has a will, and a mind, and a nervous system, that for his nervous system to assume the corre- sponding condition, the same oneness of action must bear upon his finite system to constitute its electro-reactive condi- tion. How plain it is before us ! Let a man's will be con- stantly employed in the retaining of a multitude of impres- sions in the voluntary chamber, when it ought to be passive, and just exactly in proportion as the multitude of impres- sions shall unnecessarily be kept in the voluntary chamber, just exactly in that proportion does his nervous system be- come less recuperative and less reactive. If there were twenty gods, then the will could support twenty impressions in the voluntary chamber, and still the nervous system receive and retain its reactive condition. But if there is but one God who claims this reactive condition as the result of His power, then the will of man must bow to the supreme authority of that power which claims the electro-re- active condition of nature as its own. Sleep, then, legitimately, is an entire passivity on the part 132 MENTAL ALCHEMY. of the will, for the purpose of absorbing the momentum of nervo-vitality which may have been, on the part of the will, consumed. The extra amount of vitality thus absorbed by sleep as- sumes, of necessity, as it becomes a part and parcel of the vitality of the individual's nervous system, the same reactive condition that it was in before he slept. If he was in a state of negative reaction before, and his sleep has refreshed him in consequence of a resupply from the atmosphere, still his nervous system is in the same condition as before. In other words, if he has lost ten per cent, of his nervo-vitality, or the consumption has been to that extent greater than the supply, his will becomes passive, in order that the recuperative pow- ers may take the vitality that it would naturally use, and send it to the surface for the purpose of electrical respira- tion, and the absorption of the same vital principle which has been consumed. Sleep, then, is a desire on the part of the recuperative powers for a resupply of the electrical fluid, as thirst is a desire for water to resupply the circulating fluid. Sleep, practically, does not involve the mind therefore, but its property, the will; and as the recuperative powers seem, in a sense, at least, to be dependent upon the will for the portion of vitality which it absorbs when in action, the feel- ing imparted when a man is sleepy is occasioned, therefore, by the demand of the recuperative powers upon the will, to deliver up its vital agency for the purpose of permitting an action on the part of the surface by which the vitality of the nervous system is absorbed. This, then, is the reason, prac- tically, why it becomes necessary for man to sleep. We cannot say more, here, in relation to the phenomenon of sleep, having said enough to show the reason why the extra amount of vitality that is received during sleep does not as- MENTAL ALCHEMY. 133 ___» _______ sume the electro-reactive condition, as when following the di- rections of the oneness of action on the part of the will. In order to experiment successfully, it becomes necessary for the operator to regard the proper manner of making im- pressions. The electrical fluid is controlled by impressions; and as it is a principle of its nature that the same fluid can- not be appropriated to two purposes simultaneously, the man- ner of making impressions properly becomes very important. If they are not made as they should be, the physical or men- tal impressions intended to exercise control over the subject will not be absorbed to the extent that they otherwise would. To ascertain the extent of the change which has been ef- fected by any one sitting, you proceed in the same manner as first laid down to ascertain the electro-reactive condition of the nervous system naturally. If there has been any change effected, it will manifest itself as before described. If it manifests itself physically or positively, as regards the sense of feeling, then you are ready to commence your experiments accordingly. To do so, take hold of the right hand of the subject as you would naturally, and with the thumb of your right hand press moderately hard just above the third joint of the ring finger; then place the thumb of the left hand upon the forehead at any point that you may desire, and, simultaneously with the mental impression, make the phys- ical, that is, upon saying to him that he cannot open his eyes, make the pressure upon the hand and the forehead moderately hard. If the mental and physical impression should not be made simultaneously, or not by a simultaneous action on your part, unless the subject can be controlled by a mental im- pression alone, you will not exercise control over him but to a very small extent. But when you make the impression as 12 184 MENTAL ALCHEMY. stated, you will be sure to get the extent of the control, or the absorption of your impressions, occasioning his actions to participate of their nature, against the power of his will, just in proportion to the extent that the sense of feeling has ac- knowledged the electrical succession of disturbances in the nervous system. Having ascertained that you can close his eyes, next tell him to stretch out his arms, to clench his fists hard, and, simultaneously with telling him he cannot bend them, make pressure anywhere between his shoulders. The cessation of the pressure on your part, in either case, as a general rule, will relieve the subject from the condition of your special influence ; but if it does not, tell him now he can open his eyes, or bend his arms, as the case may be. If the arms should still be a little rigid, a few impressions upon the shoulder with your hand, telling him, " All right," will make it so. Thus you leave him in the same condition as before your impressions were thus absorbed. Having this principle before you, you cannot fail to per- ceive the nature of all the physical experiments that you may see proper to make, recollecting in every instance to see that the absorption of your impressions, which thus exercise a control against the power of the will, has entirely ceased be- fore you attempt another experiment. In this way no harm can possibly result from the control thus exercised over the mind of the subject. The idea that it decreases the will-power of man has no truth in nature, as the will is all the time free to act, and absorbs as much vitality as it did before. But the reason that it cannot re- sist your physical and mental impressions is, that they ab- sorb more vitality from the involuntary chamber than the will can. MENTAL ALCHEMY 135 The subject is therefore controlled because the impres- sions made upon the mind, through the nervous system, ab- sorb more vitality than the will can absorb. Your impres- sions, therefore, cannot, in the nature of things, be absorbed by the will-force. Now, then, we know that this is so from the facts in the case. You tell the subject to straighten out his arms, and make the impressions, and he cannot bend them. Certainly his action corresponds to the nature of your impressions, and not to the nature of his will; for his will is trying all the time to bend the arms. How can we tell that any impressions exercise a control, either physical or mental, unless the physical and mental ac- tions correspond to the nature of the impressions. If they are dissimilar, then there cannot be positive control. If the reader will recollect what we said in a preceding chap- ter in relation to the doctrine of mental and physical absorp- tion, what we here mean will be plain and easy to be understood. This is what we call the positive absorption of impressions against the power of the will, occasioned by the reactive con- dition of the nervous system. We do not mean the ordinary absorption of impressions, as in other cases. They have a will-direction ; that is, the mind participates of their nature, and is controlled by the consent of the will. For example, if the reader were to say to me, bring me some water, it is per- fectly clear that, if I brought the water my mind absorbed the impression, for the reason that my actions would corre- spond to the nature of the impression received. But if I did not bring it, he could not say that my mind positively or favorably received the impression, for the reason that the na- ture of the impression and my actions did not correspond. We say, positively received in the first instance, because 136 MENTAL ALCHEMY the positive action on the part of the will, filling the indica- tions of the impression received, presupposes a certain con- sumption of vitality. On the other hand, if my actions and the impression are dissimilar, we cannot say that the impres- sion was positively received, because it did not occasion my will to consume any of my vitality. Still it will be perceived that the impression was not pos- itively but negatively received. Such impressions as these exercise a control over the mind by the consent of the will; but the condition of things which admits an impression to be positively absorbed against the power of the will, invokes the aid and assistance of the reactive condition of the nervous system. Having, then, the manner of experimenting physically be- fore us, you can easily perceive what is necessary to the accomplishment of a mental control over the subject, and by observing the principles here laid down, all persons who are naturally in the instinctive and positive condition, or have induced it, by following these directions can be controlled, physically and mentally, in the production of the most as- tounding phenomena ever recorded upon the pages of science. In conclusion, does not this science give full, fair, and im- partial testimony of the existence of two beings in one ? What is meant when a man's nervous system is in a state of instinctive electro-reaction, and you can get nothing but a physical response, and control only his physical nature? Has not this very being higher reactions from his brain, and if he has, why are they not reached in this condition of the nervous system ? Here, then, are two subjects before you; one in the in- stinctive and the other in the positive state. One exhibits to you the reactive power of the physical being, the other, in MENTAL ALCHEMY. 137 the experiments, gives off the highest reactions in the absorp- tion of your impressions, by which every impression that his spirit has received is controlled, as well as reaction on the part of his physical movements. This condition of the nervous system, then, by experiments, we see,,incontrovert- ibly proves that two beings, the natural and the spiritual, are in mysterious connection with one body. Upon this interesting electrical platform we now stand, and see what is meant by the great science of mental al- chemy. The mind, by its reaction upon the nervous system, produces not only a change in the body, but in the brain also. By the dispensations of its electrical power, the faculty of alimentativeness becomes morbid, the agency which produced this condition is taken away, and hope is stimulated in turn. It is transferred to self-esteem, and the greatness of oneself is increased ; from thence to the organ of combat- iveness, causing changes in the disposition which no one will pretend to deny. These are the alchemistic operations of nature; mental, because the mind, from the absorption of impressions, dispenses its agency to those faculties, and oc- casions them to pour out their secretions. All these effects give different dispositions to the character of man, as is proved by the experiments of the operator, when this condi- tion of the nervous system is had. Therefore, this science practically proves the fact beyond all question, that when- ever any one faculty, which is mental, undergoes a change, it gives its peculiar direction to the mental being. Then the science of mental alchemy involves all the operations of psychology, magnetism, and mesmerism, and places the operator, in connection with the nervous system and the mind of the subject, in a light where he 3an, without amazement or awe, or dwelling on his self-importance, comprehend the K38 MENTAL ALCHEMY reason of this, as he will call it, extraordinary power, which he is enabled to exert over others. We have thus, in compliance with the request of some friends, given some practical hints in relation to this subject, and, referring the reader to what we have also to say in rela- tion to electrical psychology, magnetism, and mesmerism, we shall close with the remark, that in the large work which we hope to be enabled to publish during the next winter upon the doctrine of physical and mental absorption, we shall ex- tend our practical investigations to all the departments which mental alchemy involves, practically as well as theoretically. In this connection, we will also beg leave to remark, that the external forces of nature are undoubtedly governed by a square rule; and as such, learned gentlemen, without looking at the different relations which the nervous system bears to external nature, have endeavored to apply the same rule to the nervous system of man. They have found for thousands of years that it does not hold, but still they will not ask the reason why. We mean they will not ask of nature. If the question is not here answered in this eleetro-reactive trinity of the nervous system, we say it never will be; for if the same electro-reactive condition is produced in the nervous system of three persons, then the administration of an emetic or cathartic would exhibit something like a square rule ; but if we apply the square rule to one which is negative, the other instinctive, and the other positive, we get deceived on every hand. Still, we stop not to inquire what occasions this. When the time shall come, therefore, and it surely will, when the medical profession will regard these different condi- tions in the administration of medicines, then they will not be so much deceived in the expected recuperative results from the administration of the elements which nature has given MENTAL ALCHEMY. 139 them for the especial assistance and relief of human suffering. It is impossible that human suffering can be imagined in the body without the disturbance of the forces of the nervous system, either by mental or physical actioL. Therefore, we say,- and press the question, that it is of importance for med- ical men particularly not to cry humbug and collusion in re- ference to this condition of things, but to humbly bow at the footstool of nature, and learn wisdom from her teachings; and that it is not necessary in their professional dispensations to make an apothecary's shcp of the human body, in order to cure it of disease. ELECTRICAL PSYCHOLOGY. CHAPTER X. Sir David Brewster—Nature and the Will of Deity—Example—Philosophic Necessity set aside—Skepticism by Magnetizing—Zinc and Copper Plates—Buck Eyes in Piles- Fluid of the Ulnar Nerve—The Name, Electrical Psychology—Card of Approbation- Its Practice Publicly—Gazing at an Object—The great Desideratum. The psychological condition of the nervous system has given rise to the practical developments of such new man- ifestations of our nature, and has of late excited so much interest, both in this country and Europe; and as lecturers upon it have crowded every city and country place, it becomes necessary to delineate its character, and present its history. It is admitted, by men of parts, that it takes a more exten- sive and intelligible range than animal magnetism, hypnotism, or mesmerism. It has moved the learned Sir David Brews- ter, of Edinburg, to proclaim " that he believes in the facts which it unmistakably presents from the mysterious fountain of the soul, as much as he does in those of any physical science." This is saying a great deal—coming, as it does, from one of the most learned gentlemen that now lives. When we couple his testimony with thousands in our land, its attrac- tion, even in its range, becomes positive. We have heard it often proclaimed that electricity, years ago, was discovered to be the connecting link between mind and matter, but we have never heard of any experiment to comparatively settle ELECTRICAL PSYCHOLOGY. 141 this interesting fact; nor have we heard theoretical deduc- tions from such sources that would understandingly present it as such. Therefore we are unable to see from what authority such a discovery came, unless it be from that of human power, which rises in its majesty and proclaims, that electricity is uncreated eternal matter, and the Deity himself could not have created the world but for its original and eter- nal presence. Now, then, we do not wish to venture an opinion against such learned and self-important deductions as these, but would respectfully ask any man, who may venture so far as to qualify the creating fiat of Deity, if electricity stands in the great laboratory of nature, independent of the will of God, who told them so? What guardian angel left the eternal throne, and whispered it in their ear, or from whence their authority to make the record on the page of mortality, that His will cannot, in the constitution of things, now interfere with the operations of nature ; as they have passed under the control of His involuntary powers, as a piece of bread in the stomach passes over to the action of its involuntary powers ? In proof of which, we are told by those who thus look beyond themselves, and will not allow their Maker the corresponding power which man can demonstrate; and in order to set be- yond all question their torturing proclamations, they give the following illustration : " The machinery of various kinds, grain and vegetables, are the result of man's voluntary crea- tions, as well as to cook and eat them; there the volition stops. The moment they are eaten our creations are fin- ished, and the whole naturally, and of philosophic necessity, passes beyond our volition into the hands of the involuntary power, and is governed, in all its motions and revolutions, aocording to the fixed laws of our organism. Therefore the 142 ELECTRICAL PSYCHOLOGY. volition of Deity is unchangeably employed in planning, ar- ranging, and creating new worlds and systems of worlds, and peopling them with inhabitants—when the whole of such sys- tem is finished, and its laws regularly organized," we are told that " the whole naturally passes, according to the princi- ples of philosophical necessity, from the action and control of His voluntary miraculous power, and submits itself to be governed through the fixed laws of the universe, by the in- voluntary powers of the same mind." Then it is a fixed fact, that the will of God cannot interfere with His involuntary powers, as the will of man cannot interfere with his in the movements and the changes of his food after it reaches the stomach. All such philosophers as these would do well, per- haps, to examine more closely, and understand the subject upon which they think they treat so learnedly, before they make such extraneous records, particularly in relation to one, the knowledge of which seems to be their boast. If they, therefore, in reality, understood this subject in its practical tendencies, they never would have declared, from its tenden- cies, a limit to the power of Deity ; they would have known, as well as hundreds of others do, who understand the subject, better than to draw such conclusions—that men can elevate their wills, conditionally, so as to positively invade their in- voluntary powers, and not only interfere with the involuntary movements of the stomach, but actually vomit up their food. Therefore, such reasoning presents the fact that God can, when it shall please His will, according to the constitution of things, interfere with the involuntary forces of the universe, and shake it from the center to the circumference. Hence we perceive that the principles of philosophic necessityr, as here set forth, came from the morbid secretions of the imag- ination, and are not the legitimate deductions of nature. The ELECTRICAL PSYCHOLOGY. 143 position, therefore, assumed, no doubt, has proved more than such men intended; that is, the voluntary commotions of na- ture, that fully tried the patriotism of the sons of men in days of yore ! We do not assume that the will of man can interfere with the reflex actions of the brain ; but would re mark, that any person who understands the subject of elec- tro-psychology, and is in the positive condition, can perform the experiment in point upon themselves. We know many who can, and have found some few in our travels, that had accidentally discovered that they could produce emesis at pleasure. We have made this reference, not for the purpose of vent- uring an opinion against those who feel at liberty to record such extraneous deductions, but for the purpose of defending the science of electro-psychology from such conclusions, as being foreign to any of its pretensions. While we do not wish to present ourselves as the great author of electro-psy- chology, we would remark, that we have been constantly en- gaged in its public presentation, and the subject of magnet- ism, for the last six years, and claim the right here to say that we first discovered the process by which it was ascer- tained, to a certainty, that the nervous systems of persons were in a state, naturally, so that impressions, properly made, would control them against their wills. Professor Green (now Bishop of Mississippi), and Professor Hooper, of " Chap- el Hill" Literary College, of North Carolina, who were stu- dents of ours five years since, made known to the world that the subject of animal magnetism was then presented in an en- tire new light. This new light stands at the foundation of electrical-psychology, and the antecedent, as well as the sub- sequent investigations by others, fully sustain their deduc- tions in relation to its newness of birth. When we visited 144 ELECTRICAL PSYCHOLOGY plaos for the purpose of lecturing, scientific men, and even those who believed in mesmerism, laughed at the idea that the natural and healthy condition of the nervous system of any man, should be such as to positively admit the impressions of another against his will. We therefore had the skep- ticism of even believers in mesmerism to contend with. We will not say that any attempts to establish the fact that such was the case, and that subjects could be controlled condi- tionally, with much more ease than they supposed, have been successful; we leave that to the decision of the candid mind, who will now look at its great number of believers in this country as well as Europe. Even now we have the same kind of opposition from psychologist, biologist, and thusol- ogist, for demonstrating, before large audiences, the reason why that state of the nervous system, induced by looking at zinc and copper plates, or any other object whatever, has, for cause, by those who are up with the times, become obso- lete. They are not now used in public practice by those who understand the natural and scientific bearings of the gal- vanic and controlling processes of positive impressions upon I the minds and nervous systems of others. They may speak of the virtue of the galvanic plate, held in the hand, and that some medium between the subject and operator is essential, and persons who know no better, may spend their money, as many have done, impressed with their virtue. Such preten- sions, however, will only make men who think become dis- gusted with the tendencies of this great department of mental science. Then the question arises, Why did you introduce them into practice ? We answer, because it occurred to us that subjects from audiences would look at them more readily I than they would at a ten cent piece or a wafer. But, with all our classes, their office was explained and the reason why ELECTRICAL PSYCHOLOGY. 145 they were introduced. They did fill the indication in the production of the psychological state better because they at- tracted the attention of the subjects more than a ten cent piece or a wafer, and by that means rendered their nervous systems more passive to the external electrical forces of na- ture. We never dreamed, therefore, that those we taught, or in turn were taught by others, merely because they could me- chanically make subjects perform startling feats before au- diences, that they would, while the audiences were caught up with their wonders, slip in the impression of their special im- portance to the detriment of the science, and filling their pock- ets with hundreds by their sale. One even went so far as to make an attempt to patent them, that they might go off more readily to his own special interest, and that it might be handed down to posterity that he had made an invaluable discovery. We never sold fifty of them to all our classes together, and when we did they were at the prices they cost, with the explana- tion that they served only the purpose named. We, of course, would have had the right to dispose of them, but we did not look upon them as having any more virtue than that which we have named, and were more than surprised that men who say they love the science, should thus, almost at one fell blow, nearly take its life by holding out their special virtues, and selling them at from fifty cents, to one dollar each. A man could, with the same propriety, go to Ohio and get a large quantity of Buck-eyes and peddle them out, telling the people that they, if worn in the pocket, would cure piles, without explaining their action, as they do sometimes benefit the subject who becomes involuntarily impressed with a suffi- cient amount of confidence in their efficacy. We hope, there- fore, that even this department of the great science of mind will not be looked upon in such lights as these that now stand 13 146 ELECTRICAL PSYCHOLOGY before the world as the points of its philosophical as well as practioal basis. We wish to make known, also, that those who have lectured publicly, and taught others, and therewith presented the idea that the circulation of the ulnar nerve, or any other, when mechanically disturbed by the physical impression of the op- erator, was accompanied with an injection of fluid from their own nervous system, by which they were enabled to control them, is the most extraneous deduction we have yet heard of in relation to its practical disposition. We hope that no man will look upon such morbid mental deductions in connection with the science. Some lecturers, perhaps, for the purpose of making themselves notorious, and increasing their finances (not for the advancement of the science, we are sure), named it electro-biology and thusology. It was not unreasonable, therefore, that many who were not conversant with the sub- ject, should at first suppose that they were new discoveries, and presented for the benefit of mankind. In relation to which, as we wish to attend to our own business, we will say no more, as all fully understand the indications which they filled. By psychology we mean the science of the soul of man (not of animals), in its reactive relations to matter; and by electricity, in this sense, its relative agency both to mind and matter. As this fluid, then, within the body of the nervous system, has to be disturbed before the mind can receive an impression from nature, and as it also has to be disturbed in its response, the name electro-psychology of necessity presents itself. We have—as remarked in the preface—many such cards as the following, that speak pointedly in relation to the sub- jects upon which we have lectured, and take the liberty t<* insert this here, that the reader may see, before he examines ELECTRICAL PSYCHOLOGY. 147 farther, what we have to say—a specimen of what others who have the capacity to think, reason, and understand, have said m their public journals about this new philosophy and this condition of the nervous system. [From the New Bedford Mercury, Nov. 7, 1850.] A CARD. The undersigned have attended the course of Electro Psychological Lec- tures delivered in this city by Dr. B. B. Williams, and take pleasure in expressing their satisfaction at his explanations of the theory of electro- psychology, mesmerism, and clairvoyance, and with the interesting ex- periments which have accompanied the explanations. We have gained much information from these lectures, which we value, and are assured that all who may feel disposed to attend the course will acquire an amount of knowledge which will fully compensate them for their time and attention. Charles Almy, Wm. J. Rotch, B. Rodman, A. L. Gleason, Sylvantts Thomas, Nathaniel Cobb, James B. Congdon, Edward Stetson, i Jos. Cokent, S. G. Driscoll, Edw. L. Baker, Wm. Hathaway, C. R. Tucker, Benj. Evans, Wm. C. Coffin, 0. Prescot, Judge S. C'rt of Mas [From the New Bedford Mercury, Nov. 7, 1850.] ELECTRO-PSYCHOLOGY. Dr. Williams's Lectures on the Philosophy of Human Existence, deliv- ered in the city the past week, have been attended by some of the most intelligent and cultivated among us, who express their great interest in the lectures and the advantage they have derived from them. From an attendance upon a single lecture, we were impressed favorably with the claims of this new theory to a full and impartial investigation. It pos- sesses, certainly, many interesting points relative to the causes of disease, its prevention and cure, and, moreover, concerning the laws which govern the material and spiritual universe. His explanations of the mysteries of 148 ELECTRICAL PSYCHOLOGY. clairvoyance, mesmerism, and their kindred subjects, is the most satisfac- tory we have seen We are happy to learn that Dr. Williams will remain to deliver another course of lectures, provided a sufficient number of pupils can be imme- diately obtained. We have no hesitation in commending the subject as well worthy of public attention. Practically, this science simply involves the taking hold of the hand, and by pressing upon the nerves sufficiently hard to ascertain if the nervous system is reactive enough to admit both a negative and positive response. If so, the mind is ready to be controlled by psychological impression, when properly made. If the nervous system only negatively responds, the following process is instituted to cause a positive response, or to produce the psychological state. Publicly, those in the audience, who feel disposed, are requested to go on the plat- form with the lecturer, and mechanically concentrate their minds upon zinc and copper plates, for fifteen or twenty min- utes, with their faces turned to the audience, who are partic- ularly requested to keep still. After they have thus fol- lowed directions, and that too, if possible, without winking their eyes, the operator goes round and mechanically dis- turbs the circulation of the nervous fluid of the hand (not inject from his person), to see if their minds then, against their wills, positively respond to the physical pressure. If so, they are subjects psychologically, and in this condition made to do whatever the operator, if he understands the prin- ciples of experimenting, may command to be done, in the pro- duction of a great variety of wonderful and laughable phe- nomena. This is the course pursued by electro-biologist and thusol- ogist also, the only difference being that they cause their sub- jects, while being biologised, to sit with their backs to the ELECTRICAL PSYCHOLOGY. 149 audience. Hence the names electro-biology and thusology, would be more properly rendered, as all must perceive, elec- tro-backology. And if the reader, in properly disturbing the circulation of the hand of another, should find that the mind positively responds to his pressure, he can, by making » impressions correctly, exercise that control as well as those who assume extra innate greatness and strength for them- selves, without injecting into their nerves, as others say they do, any fluid from his system, by the agency of his will. All that you have to do now to make yourself a good psychologist, etc., is to understand the manner of making physical and men- tal impressions, and you have all here that they now teach and —if we understand correctly from gentlemen who learned the secret practically—all that they have ever taught. We do not speak out so plainly in relation to this matter to injure any one, but we do so that all may go understandingly into its investigation. It is useless to suppose that they will learn to perform any thing supernatural, or be impressed by their teachers, that their control upon others afterward will be the result of imparting their nervous fluid, or that this science re- cognises the psychological grip, but a mechanical pressure upon any portion of the nervous system, to ascertain its condition psychologically. In all these processes for public experi- ments, it will be noticed also, that, as in magnetism, it be- comes necessary, for cause, to occasionally demand the at- tention of the subjects by looking them in the eye. We would remark here, however, that the constant gazing at any object mechanically for any length of time, must of necessity produce an abnormal reactive condition of the nervous sys- tem to some extent, and that change effected by that process, cannot, therefore, be that natural reactive condition of the nervous system as is had when it is subjected naturally to 150 ELECTRICAL PSYCHOLOGY. the influence which produces it. This point will not be disputed by any one who understands the influence of a con- stant impression made upon the nervous system, by gazing intensely at any object steadily for half an hour on the part of some. We have dismissed this mechanical process, be- cause the one we now pursue is natural, and therefore far , superior. First, because we have found that it will effect at least thirty-three and a third per cent, more, in the audience, and that, too, while those who are not being electrified are enjoying themselves in conversation as though nothing was going on; secondly, the electro-reactive state induced is en- tirely natural; and thirdly, the experiments are performed without any passes or looking in the eye to make them more complete, and in the production of this remarkable change in the nervous system, we have never known the least unplea- sant symptoms to follow. Therefore it will be perceived, the great desideratum in the nervo-vital tendencies of mind, in its most attractive light, is not only had, but also its practical availability in its more recuperative consideration. It will also be observed by those who become familiar with the sub- ject as now presented, that the science of electro-psychology bears practically the same relation to mental alchemy that mesmerism and magnetism do to electro-psychology. We can very well anticipate that many will think a little strange of the remarks here made; but in doing so, we beg them to remember, that this science is as dear to our heart as it is to any other. Why should it not be, when we were the first to present it and safely pass it through the ordeal of public as well as private scrutiny ? Without vanity we say, we have never, in any instance, knowingly abused it, or held it forth as any thing supernatural. We appeal to the numerous classes we ELECTRIC A L P S Y C H 0 L 0 G Y. 151 have taught, who have freely spoken their own language in relation to our instructions, not only as regards this condi- tion of the nervous system, but as regards the natural view in which we presented it. If mesmerism, magnetism, and electrical psychology are all the same (the condition having % been made because of the different conditions of the nervous systems admitting experiments of a different nature), then electrical psychology and mental alchemy are all the same. Although electrical psychology, theoretically, may take as wide a range, yet, practically, it differs very materially from mental alchemy. This subject now being more familiar, we shall next present for inspection the subject of magnetism and mesmerism. In concluding our special remarks upon this subject, the assertion is ventured, that many, no doubt, have experienced as well as we, the meaning of the poet's description of the ways of human nature, which we find thus understandingly recorded: " In the great game of life from its dawn to its close, There is one way to win and two ways to loose; And hence, those who scan mankind and their ways, Find a great deal to blame and but little to praise." HUMAN MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM CHAPTER XI. Vitality of the Brain—Atmospheric Undulations—The Senses—Impressions supported beyond Consciousness—Mental Faculties—Their Secretions—Thought and Electricity —The Thoughts of Others—Their Reception explained—Two Ducks hi a Pond—Ger- man Writer and Teacher—Case in Milledgeville, Geo.—Practice of Magnetism and Mes" merism—A Card—Dr. Esdale—The Effects of these Conditions upon the System. The state of the nervous system making the founda- tion of magnetic phenomena, which, as Dr. Carpenter very justly remarks, " deserves the attention of scientific physi- ologists as much as those of any other class of facts," now is the subject, of our special delineation only—its history being too well known for repetition. There never was a class of experiments about which scien- tific minds have speculated with more eagerness, and found as little " data," as these. Therefore we shall not say that this or that theory is un- true or imaginary, but attempt its delineations as we conceive it to be, theoretically and practically, in accordance with the existing principles of nature that stand at the foundation of the normal and abnormal, or the nervo-vital, as well as the nervo-extraneous relations of mind and matter. If we con- template man—first, through the action of his circulating fluids—astonishment at once forces itself upon us, when Ave are, no doubt truly, told by physiologists that one-sixth part HUMAN MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM. 153 of the blood is appropriated to the vital support of the brain, while the brain itself weighs but one-fortieth part as much as the body. If, then, the blood is controlled in its move- ments by the express action of the involuntary elastic ra- diations of the nervous system, it of necessity follows, that a corresponding portion of the nervo-vital fluid must be appropriated to the brain, for the support of its physical and mental operations. The brain, being the point not only of physical but mental reaction, would, in the nature of things, require an extra amount of vitality compared with any other organ of the body. The obstructions of the subor- dinate organs, and the circulation, are removed only by a special demand upon the brain as the center of the physical organism. The brain, then, becomes the finite fountain, or battery, from which they are charged, and from which they receive their vital support. Does not the idea here force itself upon any reflecting mind, according to the established order of our nature, that the brain, in every sense of the word, even with its galvanic convolutions, is, virtually speak- ing, but an electrical reservoir or magnetic fountain ? Here the two forces of man's physical nature, being within the nervous system, meet, to absorb from the mind fresh vitality and living power for the positive maintenance of its earthly tabernacle. Electrically speaking as regards the nervous system, we have its normal or healthy dispensations now before us, ren- dering to the brain one sixth part of all its vitality or mag- netic stimuli. If we, then, take this in consideration, and note the fact that atmosphere cannot legitimately enter within the body of the nervous system, we can easily perceive that the mind can only be reached through the circulation of the nu'vous system. 154 HUMAN MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM. Atmospheric undulations or waves, produced by articula- tion, reach the mind, therefore, only by disturbing the nerv- ous circulation at the tympanum. If the circulation be thus positively disturbed, the undulations of the auditory nerve, occasioned by that disturbance, reach the mind, and the mind hears, and that, too, against its will. So with the sense of sight. If an object is held before us, with the eyes open, the disturbance, by its emanation upon the eye, will reach the mind against the will. In other words, the will, according to physiological usage, cannot interfere with the involuntary discharges from the brain, along the auditory nerve to the tympanum, nor the optic nerve to the eye. As such, hear- ing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and feeling, belong to the in- voluntary powers of mind, as well as the reception, absorp- tion, and retention of every impression from the cradle to the grave. At all events, if an impression, when presented through this agency, does not commence at once a consump- tion of this involuntary power, by the reaction of the mind, it is perfectly clear it cannot be intelligibly retained, and no power that the will may possess can enable us, at any time, to understandingly recall it. We merely mention these mental phenomena that we may keep the fact in view, that the intellectuality of man is not so much the result of his voluntary, as his innate involuntary reactive forces. Therefore, every impression received, and intelligibly retained, presupposes a consumption of the elec- trical fluid of the nervous system, from the moment of its reception. What an agitation, then, must there be, in the involuntary chamber, to support and intelligibly retain the countless millions of impressions which the mind absorbs and retains. This is the analyzing and digesting chamber, from which the stimuli of each mental faculty is derived, the re- HUMAN MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM. 155 suit of which is seen in the peculiar character, disposition, and intelligence of a man. Mark the actions of the mind, while bowing to the authority of combativeness and mirthful- ness, giving different expression to the countenance, and you have our meaning. Let us notice the mind and some of its faculties, and point out their peculiar offices, or mental se- cretions, before we make further deductions from this high intellectual chamber of thought and power. Is it not clear, if physiologists had not pointed out the several offices and secretions of each organ physically, or if the secretions of each were mixed up in physiology as the mind, will, con- science, and imagination, etc., are in mental philosophy, that a knowledge of that science would not be so easy on the part of the student. As it is by the physical characteristics, then, that we are enabled, in a great degree, to understand the mental, it becomes necessary that we should, in the first instance, separate, as far as can be, their several mental secretions and functions, and look at the mind and its men- tality, through these, as much as we look at the physical being through the different organs and their secretions. It is a truth, as we have before said, that it is natural for the stomach to secrete the gastric juice, as well as the liver the bile; but neither of these secretions take place without a stimulating response from the brain. It is also the nature of combativeness to secrete a disposition, on the part of the mind, to fight and quarrel; mirthfulness, to laugh; consci- entiousness, a scrupulous regard for a sense of justice toward God and man; causality, a love to trace effects to their causes; imagination, active conception of things communi- cated, the power to make new wholes out of our own creation, a love for the beautiful in nature, and, in its higher secre- tions, stamp genius with poetry and the fine arts. It would 156 HUMAN MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM run thus with every organ, or faculty of the brain, through- out the whole mental chamber, each one imparting its nature to the mind, just in proportion to their consumption of the nervous power. But it will be also observed, that none of these peculiar dispositions can be secreted, on the part of any faculty of the brain, without an electro-vital response from the mind. Then it is as contrary to our mental nature for a man to laugh without a stimulating response from his mind to mirthfulness, as it is for the stomach to pour out its secretions without a stimulating response from the brain. If " like goes to like," we have here the modus operandi of the development of each faculty of the brain by external as well as internal impressions. Can any thing in connection with the existence of man hear, see, smell, taste, feel, and vitally respond to any impressjfcytfxcept his mind or spirit ? Whenever the action, therefore, of any impression calls forth positive reaction on the part of the mind, that positive re- action presupposes a direction and consumption of the nerv- ous power in the development and activity of that faculty in the brain to the one who gave it off. On the other hand, if the mind negatively responds, there cannot be any positive consumption of the vital electrical power, because of the re- ception of such impressions. It would, therefore, be impos- sible, in the nature of things, for them to develop or actively stimulate the corresponding faculties and dispositions in those who became their recipients. The blood makes quick successive appeals to the atmosphere, at the lungs, as its main point or center of vital absorption; so, also, the fluid of the nervous system of man has the brain for its main point or center, and seems to correspondingly absorb, from the spirit within, the vitality which imparts motion and life to the body as well as eloquence and intellectual power to the mind. HUMAN MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM. 157 If we look at man, as living and moving in the atmosphere with its gases, as connected with electricity, or charged with that elastic fluid by a mechanical adjustment of things, the true state of the case, in mesmeric phenomena, must, of ne- cessity, more plainly appear. He is then continually stand- ing, moving, and lying down, even in the midst of these elements, as all will admit. The respiratory system, adapted to the reception of the atmosphere and gases, and his nervo- periphery, adapted also to the absorption or respiration of the electrical fluid which is within them. Now, suppose the question be asked, Can a man speak without disturbing the atmosphere around and in him, and can he prevent that dis- turbance, let it be ever so slight, from moving the particles of atmosphere to the distance of fifty miles above him? Certainly not; for the reason that he cannot speak without disturbing his own elements of respiration, and their connec- tion with those external is such as to positively forbid a disturbance in the one without a corresponding disturbance in the other. This would be a disturbance coresponding to a pebble or stone dropped in the ocean, it is true, but still the whole ocean would be disturbed. So with every step that we make upon the globe's surface, influencing its par- ticles to the center. Now, then, as we see the adaptation of means to ends in our respiratory system to the atmospher- ical division, the conclusion forces itself, that we cannot relax and contract the muscles of the throat without disturbing its particles, and occasioning thereby undulations or waves to pass from us as the starting point or center of such waves. Have we not the same reason to suppose, from the adapta- tion of our nervous system to the external electrical ocean of nature, that as we cannot think without not only disturb- ing but consuming our nervous fluid, the corresponding dis- 11 158 HUMAN MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM. turbance is given off from our nervous system and brain to the external electrical department, occasioning waves in it also to pass from us as their center? Recollect the mind cannot receive any impression except through electrical or nervo-vital agency. The atmosphere, therefore, may be vi- tally concerned as an undulating medium between us, still its office is completed in its vibrations upon the tympanum. If it does not meet there with a healthy circulation of the au- ditory nerve, the mind cannot recognize nor respond to those vibrations, as its medium is thus obstructed, and conse- quently it cannot hear. Philosophy or no philosophy, belief or no belief; neither the one nor the other can change this condition of things of the mind, in relation to its nervo-vital circulation. Is there not a reason, then, why we hear a call at a distance of one hundred yards, and a reason why we do not, and a reason why we cannot hear, even with a perfect tympanum ? What prevents the mental vision from seeing the electrical undulations passing from one human being to another, occasioned by thought, just as much as we can see the atmospherical undulations produced by speaking ? Let the question be asked again, What is the reason that one man cannot know the thoughts of another, if the electrical undulations produced by thought reach his brain also ? This question certainly comes with more force, when from analogy we know that A, in positively recalling an impression to him- self, would, of necessity, produce the same disturbance in the nervous fluid, as B would to recall or think of the same. The only difference that there could be, in the nature of things, would be in the extent of their mental reaction. We answer that the reason is seen, first, in the fact, that the brain, being the point of physical as well as mental reaction and retention of all our impressions and intellectuality, is, of HUMAN MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM. 159 necessity, while in its natural state, positively charged with magnetic force. The constant involuntary reaction of the mind upon its nervo-vitality, in the retention of impressions and recalling them, makes this the great focus of giving off, instead of receiving primary electrical undulations. There- fore, it is clear, upon the plainest principle in nature, that any focus of agitation will successfully resist the waves from another focus, particularly in reaching its center, when the centers may be in the same innate active condition. In order to be more fully understood, we will illustrate this po- sition by two ducks in a pond of water, at different points, unseen by each other—each being a focus of the agitation of its particles, disturbing them to its circumference. Now, remember that two positives repel as well as two negatives, and that the negative or passive becomes the recipient of the positive, and the reader will be prepared to discover what we mean by presenting before him two ducks in a pond of water. Now look at them as in positive action. You see the waves or disturbances, occasioned by the one, successfully repelled by those occasioned by the other. Although the correspond- ing motion of one gives off the same waves, it is clear, for cause, that they cannot sensibly reach the other. There they remain, and never would, under those conditions, recog- nize the presence and motions of each other, through the medium of those disturbances, as long as the corresponding motion of both was kept up. Now, let one become quiet and become passive, and it will be easily imagined, as the waves from the other would be sure to reach him, that he would sensibly realize the presence and the nature of the physical movements of the other. Let them be placed under Avater, and the position becomes still more pertinent. Suppose the question still be asked, What if the reason that the waves 1G0 HUMAN MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM. going from the one, do not, when both are in action, sensibly reach the other? The answer is, because the focus reaction of the one is now corresponding to the other. Notice now the voluntary and involuntary reaction of the mind upon the electrical fluid positively of the brain and body, in its con- nection with the external electrical fluid, and you have the source, as well as the cause, of the electrical undulations, which, of necessity, pass from one being to another, in con- sequence of thought. These electrical undulations, which thus pass from one being to another, from analogy bear the same relation to the mind, the electricity of the nervous sys- tem, and the electricity of the atmosphere, that the aqueous undulations do to the duck, his physical movements, and the water in the pond. Now, take into the account the fact, that nature has rendered the brain a magnet, in the highest sense, by appropriating one sixth part of the whole vital power to its use, and that although electricity in its external waves and circulation passes through flesh, blood, and bones, it cannot reach the mind as the sensible something in the brain, as long as the brain is positively charged with vitality, and the mind continues that involuntary agitation which must necessarily be in the support of its multiplicity of impres- sions. They are, for cause, therefore, resisted; and one man's mind cannot become the recipient of the thoughts of another, as long as his brain and the nervo-vital reactions of the mind are active. If a man, however, from any cause, can so control this involuntary reaction, his mind may, and that, too, instantly, recognize, upon the established principles of nature, the thoughts or influence of the will of another, so as to repeat over what another may be thinking of, even if he be at the distance of twenty to fifty feet, and how much farther we will not now say. HUMAN MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM. 161 The following, which occurred within the experience of a distinguished writer, is corroborative of the foregoing philos- ophy : " Zschokke, the German writer and teacher, is a peculiarly honorable and unimpeachable witness. What he affirms, as of his own knowledge, we have no right* to disbelieve. Many of us have read the marvellous account given by him of his sud- den discovery, that he possessed the power, in regard to a few pccple—by no means in regard to all—of knowing, when he came near to them, not only their present thoughts, but much of what was in their memories. The details will be found in his Autobiography, which, being translated, has become a common book among us. When, for the first time, while conversing with some person, he acquired a sense of power over the secrets of that person's past life, he gave, of course, but little heed to his sensation. Afterward, as from time to time the sense recurred, he tested the accuracy of his im- pressions, and was alarmed to find that, at certain times, and in regard to persons, the mysterious knowledge was undoubt- edly acquired. Once when a young man at the table with him was dismissing very flippantly all manner of unexplained phenomena, as the gross food of ignorance and credulity, Zschokke requested to know what he would say, if he, a stranger, by aid of a secret power, should be able to tell him secrets out of his past life. Zschokke was defied to do that; but he did it. Among other things, he described a certain upper room, in which there was a certain strong box, and from which certain moneys, the property of his master, had been abstracted by that young man; who, overwhelmed with astonishment, confessed the theft." Many glimmerings of intuition, which at certain times oc- cur in the experience of all of us, and seem to be nothing more 102 HUMAN MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM. than shrewd or lucky guesses, may be referred to the same power. Many cases of catalepsy have occurred where the brain has,.by extraneous influences, also became dispossessed of its extra vitality, so that the will of the patient received every electrical undulation occasioned by the thoughts of the phy- sician. The patient accurately responded, to the amazement and wonder of the physician, as well as others who were present, in the communication of the thoughts of the physi- cian's mind. Doctor Ford, of Milledgeville, Geo., in his work on the Practice of Medicine, gives a very interesting account of the case of a little girl while suffering from a disease of a cataleptic nature, who responded thus, correctly, during her illness of months. As soon, therefore, as her health recov- ered, she was as far removed from this power as any one. There are many others of a similar character, which have been produced by the extraneous forces of nature. Therefore, it will be perceived, as miraculous and mysterious as they may appear, every case was as much in accordance with the ex- traneous forces of nature, as any other abnormal phenome- non. Their uncommon occurrence, however, producing a sen- sation of wonderment different from all others, because the condition of the nervous system, as the cause of their devel- opment, was unaccountable. If you will, now, observe when you go by the bedside, or in the chamber, of a person in this condition, that the brain has a deficit, naturally speaking, of its magnetic power, and that the electrical radiations from the same, are nothing more than passive, you can easily per- ceive the possibility of the electrical undulations from your brain being positive, reaching the mind of the patient, under- standingly, upon the principles laid down. Many persons can go by the cradle of an infant, and simply by looking at HUMAN MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM. 163 it, as they suppose, produce involuntary reaction of its spirit, and awake it. Adults are sometimes aroused by others in the same way. Therefore, the passive reaction of the mind of the one, and the positive reaction of the other, is the cause of the effect produced, and not by looking alone. There can- not be an effect produced without a cause; and we respect- fully ask even the most skeptical in relation to these sleepy and mysterious movements of mind, if the circumstance of the special magnetic condition of the brain, taken as a whole, and the agitation of its vital fluid by the involuntary and vol- untary reaction of the living spirit within, do not present to him a sufficient cause why the mind of one man cannot receive, understandingly, the higher undulations from another, occasioned by his thought as their center, as long as the minds of both remain in an active state ? Is it not a fact that elec- tricity, in its undulatory movements, passes through flesh, blood and bones, conditionally? Are not the conditions here positive and conclusive against their passing even to man's mental chamber, over which his will and mind preside, as long as it is armed with its positive resisting power ? If so, the utter impossibility of the thoughts of one man reaching the will and mind of another, becomes, as it is in natural life, a fixed fact. WThen the brain, from any cause, either by the extraneous action of nature, or by the special manipulations in mesmerism, becomes demagnetized, its negative and passive condition is plainly seen. The possibility of electrical undu- lations produced by the thoughts in the brain of another, natural and positive, reaching the intellectual attendants that now stand stripped, as it were, of their positive resistance, becomes somewhat apparent. The silent mental emotions of one man obtaining an intellectual response on the part of another thus conditioned, need not be looked upon as outside 164 HUMAN MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM. of the established laws of man's extraneous nature, although they may be of uncommon occurrence. We cannot say more now, theoretically, upon this state of things, which is looked upon as being so mysterious, and the reason why many sup- pose that they can, in this condition of mind (but not in reality), leave the body, and not only visit the moon, but un- derstandingly overlook the inhabitants of different planets as well as the condition of the positive inhabitants of the spiritual world. This condition of the nervous system and mind is what we conceive to be the cause of such mysterious and dreaming phenomena. In relation to which we have not the time nor space to say more at present, but drop these few hints, in order that the reader may be enabled to enter more fully into its investigation with us, in a large work that we are now preparing for public inspection, upon all these inter- esting subjects. Many works are now before the public, and we do not even record these few hints in opposition to what others more experienced have penned, but simply present them as our interpretations of nature, that' seem to stand at their foundation and the different conditions of clairvoyance, sympathetic and independent, as well as those phenomena that are more properly referred to the mysterious electrical assimilation of intelligence, from the reaction of minds natural and positive upon those degalvanized and negative. Practically, human magnetism, as it is understood through- out the country, is as follows : Take a ten cent piece, put it in the palm of one hand, with the ball of the thumb of the other pressing upon it, with a will that it should be charged with your nervous fluid, and when it becomes hot or percep- tibly warm, it is then said to be magnetized and ready for use—(to be kept separate from any other, that it may not lose its magnetic fluid). Now, tell your subjects to get an HUMAN MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM. 165 easy position, which they can maintain for twenty minutes or more—place the piece thus magnetized in the palm of one hand, the back of which should rest in the other ; place their eyes firmly upon the piece, not to take them off, or wink them, to prevent the influence; and when their eyelids be- come heavy, let them close. When they close, make a few passes from the head down to the neck and shoulders, and place a half dollar, prepared in the same way, before their eyes that are now closed, then say, Open your eyes and fix them upon the piece, and do not take them off. Now carry it around the head for two or three times, noticing carefully for the peculiar glare of the eye, which indicates that they are indeed fixed upon the piece. Then say, Now you cannot take them off; and, if he cannot, you have him magnetically under your control, so that he is compelled to do whatever you tell him, and, if a very easy subject, whatever you will. This condition of the nervous system renders it impossible that the mind should retain any thing more than a dreaming recollection of what they have been made to do. It seems also to correspond to the condition of the nervous system at the foundation of somnambulism. We merely mention the preparation of the coin that the reader may be informed as regards practical magnetism. When you wish any thing done, if the subject is rather hard to move experimentally, say to him, When I count two or four, as the case may be, you will be compelled to act in accordance with what I say. Make the impressions accordingly, and if he is magnetized, your control over him will be positive. This plan has now become obsolete also; and how so many learned gentlemen should have become impressed with the virtue of the coin any more than a wafer as a medium for the operator, is indeed strange. In the days of witchcraft, when 166 HUMAN MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM. old ladies and consequential old men believed that they could bewitch, by their influence, even at any distance, it would have looked a little more reasonable ; but with the lights be- fore us, how any mind can even suppose that they possess any specific virtue more than an object to look at, is unac- countable. There are many respectable-looking phreno-de- velopments in the world that believe in their positive and specific agency; and with confidence proclaim that, because they are held in the hand as described, the will charges them with their fluid, and that that fluid works magnetic wonders in the nervous system of subjects. Psychologist, biologist, and thusologist say as much of the zinc and copper plates, because there is chemical action taking place by their juxta- position, evolving electricity, as is known by the touch of the tongue. Doctor Braid, who is known favorably in this field of investigation, in producing the state which he calls hypno- tism, directs the subjects to get an easy position, and places an object so that to see it requires an upward and backward position of the eye, and under this stretch of their wills to keep their eyes fixed upon the object, their eyes, if they are susceptible, involuntarily close; and by a few passes, as be- fore, and sometimes without them, they are rendered fit sub- jects for hypnotic experiments. Pathetism is another name given to this abnormal condition of the nervous system—the only difference being that the lecturer has an object for the whole audience to look at, fixed upon the stand, upon which they are requested to look, while the pathetizer is lecturing— all keeping perfectly still. Those that are very pathetic or susceptible, or have been pathetized before, by thus fixing their attention, fall into the same abnormal condition, and by a few passes by the operator, over and upon their heads, a will communication is said to be had, so that the pathetic HUMAN MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM. 167 feelings of the operator pathetizes the subjects to see what he sees, hear what he hears, and, in fact, to do his will, wheth- er it be to remain on earth, or visit the planets and return with a true account of the nature and character of their spe- cial productions ; besides many other wonderful develop- ments, which, if true, are not only supernatural, but real an- gelic flights that outstrip electricity itself. We do not ven- ture an opinion here in relation to the course which others have pursued ; indeed, it would be gratuitous; and we only give them a practical touch, so that the reader may have fair- ly before him the different magnetic and pathetic processes. The following card will show that we have had experience also in this field of magnetic phenomena : Chapel Hill College, N. C, Nov., 1847. The undersigned have witnessed the experiments, and attended the pri- vate lectures of Dr. B. B. Williams, on mesmerism and animal magnet- ism. The phenomena exhibited in the latter presented the subject in a new light, and were of such a character as to compel us to believe in the reality of the principle which produces these remarkable effects. The experiments were conducted with the utmost fairness, and the operator at all times invited the most rigid scrutiny. We take pleasure, also, in bearing testimony to the gentlemanly and obliging deportment of Dr. Williams, during ' ur brief acquaintance with him. W. M. Green, Professor (now Bishop) of Miss. J. D. B. Hooper, Professor. Mesmerism is, properly speaking, that condition of the nervous system which places the mind in the most abnormal reactive condition ; or, as more commonly expressed and un- derstood, as falling into a trance.—(Dr. Eisdale, on Mes- merism.} The extraneous forces of external and internal na- ture have ofttimes produced this singular condition, so that subjects have remained several days unconscious of all me- 168 HUMAN MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM. chanical impressions. This being the example which the mesmerizer aims to follow by the following process—A, the mesmerizer, having a plus amount of vitality, compared with B, takes hold of B's thumbs, forming an electrical circle from brain to brain, through their nervous systems. Now directing B to look steadily in his eye, and to be passive, and not resist the influence he receives. A looks the subject also steadily in the eye, with his will active, as it is said;, in dis- pensing his nervous influence into the nervous system and brain of B, the subject, until his eyes involuntarily close. Then A commences gently with his negative manipulations, by his hands, from the center to the circumference of B, un- til he has taken away, by his passes, the extra amount of positive vitality in the brain of B, or produces that abnor- mal reactive condition of the brain, nearly corresponding to that of a trance. This is ascertained by inflicting pain, and receiving no response from the mind of the subject. He now places himself in positive " rapporte," and influences the mind of B, by his mental efforts upon the theoretical prin- ciples before laid down. In other words, the will of the subject becomes the obedient recipient of the will of the op- erator, and causes the mind to move and act, as well as taste, smell, see, and hear whatever A may will. Here, then, is the relation between the operator and the subject, where one man's mind may become the recipient of the thoughts of another, in accordance with the extraneous opera- tions of nature. We would enter no objection to the influence of the special law of equilibrium in this instance; and the subject mav and does receive a portion of the physical influence which thus overcomes him from the operator; but we deny the fact that that influence is competent to produce this wonderful change HUMAN MAGNETISM A N D~M E S M ER I SM. 169 in the nervous system of the subject. For the reason, first, that it is utterly impossible for the subject to be thus passive to the influence of the operator, without at the same time being passive to the positive influence of atmospheric elec- tricity ; and, secondly, that if the same subject will gaze at an object, without being in contact with another body, with the same passivity of his will and mind, the involuntary fall- ing of his eyeHds, and sensations of sleep, will be as forcibly produced by the external agency of electricity alone. This, in our opinion, from the adaptation of means to ends, has always been the great source vitally concerned in the pro- duction of this abnormal and truly wonderful condition of the mind and body. As the question is often asked, Of what use is any department of this subject ? we would refer the reader to the extraordinary cures, as reported by Dr. Eisdale of the mesmeric hospital at Bengal, and to those performed by dif- ferent lecturers since the introduction of mesmerism, and ' more especially to the recuperative physiological condition of a subject in this state, as seen in the healthy respiratory action of the surface, and the soft, regular, bounding pulse. We would say to those who are already in the enjoyment of good health, with all due deference to those of a contrary opinion, that we cannot see how the production of this condition of the nervous system can do their minds or bodies any good. They should, therefore, be cautious in suffering such pointed changes of their nature when their recuperative powers do not demand them. Dr. Eisdale states, in his work on mesmerism, that he never knew the least injury to result from the production of this condition. Neither have we ever known of a case that was injured in the least degree by the production of this con- dition or the. higher conditions; but that is no reason why 15 170 HUMAN MAGNETISM AND MESMERISM. persons in health should permit this negative state of the brain to be produced, as the reactive condition of the nervous system can be had naturally, leaving the brain positive. DISEASES AND THEIR MODE OF CURE, CHAPTER XII. The Brain—Throwing a Stoned-Its Disturbance of the Nervous System—Co-operative Influence of Mind- The Vis-medicatrix Naturae—Source of Mental and Physical De- velopment—Consultations, Physical and Mental—The Will—Involuntary Reflex Dis- charges—Life not Electricity, but a Principle of Spirit—How Developed—Mental Im- pressions Authoritative— An Appeal to Nature Under this head we have a subject as vast and compli- cated as nature herself, and we shall therefore condense what we have to say. The brain, recollect, is the center of our physical organization, as well as the reactive dome of the nervous system. From the brain we have, from the cradle to the grave, involuntary or reflex electrical discharges, which, by their elastic streams, enable the heart to circulate the blood, and the respiratory muscles to perform their office even while we are asleep. Now, let us look at the recuper- ative arm as it undulates forth from the involuntary chamber, by a disturbance of the nervous fluid, that we may see, not only a source of disease, but the reason that sanative im- pressions upon the mind produce, conditionally, a sanative and healing influence upon the body. We will not theorize, but take the facts as they are. Therefore we take the fol- lowing to illustrate our position: If a stone be thrown at A, and it strike him on any part of the body—say, for example, the foot—it causes a mechanical disturbance of the solids 172 DISEASES AND THEIR MODE OF CURE. and fluids of the body at that point, which is positively con- nected with the brain by means of the electrical fluid in the nervous system. This disturbance, it will be admitted, is mechanical, and as such, occasions a succession of waves, or undulations, to pass instantly from that point to the brain— the mind reacts, and occasions a succession of returning waves, or undulations, to the part, bringing with them an ex- tra amount of fluids, which distend the blood-vessels and compress the nerve. This is the cause of the irritation, pain, and inflammation which follow the injury received. Now, then, suppose the question be asked, In which of these undulating movements of the nervous fluid do we behold the healing power ? Not in those that go to the brain, we are sure, but in those that come from it. Without the latter there will be no response, and if there is no response, there cannot be any feeling or positive inflammation in the part injured. Then, those which go to the brain are mechanical, and those that return are the natural or chemical, by which the parts are restored to a normal condition. If they are too great from the brain, positive chemical action is the result, and in- flammation and gangrene of the part presents itself just in proportion as the reaction shall throw the two forces out of balance at the point injured. If the brain does not suf- ficiently respond, the parts cannot be healed. If that reac- tion or response should continue sufficiently great, so as to keep the sense of feeling recognizing the injury, the experi- ence of all men proves that the parts cannot be healed. It is a fixed fact in the principles of natural physiology (but not as yet in the physiology of men), that the minct has to be consulted in relation to the cure of every disease that its body can have. The diseases of the body cannot be cured independent of this response, and nothing can give it save DISEASES AND THEIR MODE OF CURE. 173 the spirit within the brain. If a man, therefore, takes med- icines, they are obliged to have the co-operative influence of this response from the brain, before their properties can be chemically set free in the discharge of their sanative influ- ences. Then, it is this response, as strange as it may appear also, that creates and cures, as well as sometimes destroys and kills. If it be a normal response, it is unaccompanied with pain, and the part quickly heals. If an abnormal re- sponse, pain and inflammation will necessarily follow in the prevention of the healing power of nature, in bringing nerve to nerve, and blood-vessel to blood-vessel, etc. Nature, then, in this sense, means a response from the brain suffi- cient to give her healing force additional preponderance, pro- portionate to the injury to be healed, or the disease to be cured, producing an easy relation of the two forces at the part, which is accompanied with but little pain or sensation. Then the normal relation of these two forces builds up the parts injured or diseased, under the influence of the chemical and healing undulations that come from the brain. You may call these undulations the ancient " Vis-medicatrix Natu- rce," or whatever you please. They are at last nothing but the healing power of the living spirit which comes for the purpose of setting to rights and repairing the different sys- tems of the body. In the stillness of the night they seem to steal away from the presence of the will and mind for the purpose of performing this arduous and recuperative task. Does not a normal relation of the mechanical and chemical forces, at any part diseased or injured, result in another effect —that is, the cure ? We repeat here, that there never was any thing more clear than that the mind is, of necessity, consulted in the cure of every disease. Learned men, however, would have us be- 174 DISEASES AND THEIR MODE OF CURE. lieve that medicines being, as they are, physical, produce their specific vitalizing effects without consulting the living spirit, or independent of any application to that source, as though the responses of the spirit do not govern the physical as well as the intellectual man. If this be so, what " thorns shoot up in every thought," at the idea that we were sent to school to get mind. Is this a fact, or were we sent there to subject our infant germs to impressions naturally, to call forth our higher responses in the development of our innate intel- lectuality and mental strength? By a constant attendance upon gymnasium exercises, the physical responses of the mind are called forth in the full development of the flexibil- ity and strength of the physical man. In either case, must we not have an innate something, of a nature to respond to these impressions, before we even see the gymnasium, school- house, or college? Are these not, then, two great sources of our mental as well as physical development, instead of their creation ? How, then, can we say that medicines, swal- lowed by a patient unconscious, do not physically consult the mind before they can produce their specific results? Our intellectuality is retained only by the involuntary reactions of the living spirit upon the nervous system, independent of con- sciousness. Can a Doctor Bush, or a Sir David Brewster,' at will, make themselves idiots, or at pleasure arrest their higher reactions, which stand at the foundation of their intel- lectuality and learning ? If not, this point is conclusive, that those higher reactions continually go on independent of con- sciousness. Why may not a physical response take place from the living spirit, unconscious, as the medicine swallowed must, of necessity, disturb the nervo-vital circulation, and oc- casion its firm elastic particles to be moved to the center ? Little children and adults, with diseases that produce posi- DISEASES AND THEIR MODE OF CURE. 175 tive disturbance of the brain, are examples of this kind. Then the mind does, even in this condition, physically re- spond to the impressions mechanically made by the calls of its physical nature, and its physical response enables the remedies given to produce their specific results. This un- conscious mechanical and chemical condition, occasioned by the action of the nervous system and reaction of the mind, re- stores the sanative relation of the parts diseased. Hence it will be perceived that the physician has placed within his reach, by nature, in reference to the positive and negative reactions from the brain, her great laboratory of physical agents, each one producing its specific action upon the ner- vous system, increasing or decreasing the chemical condition of any part diseased, by increasing or decreasing this reac- tive and physical response, which brings with it the blood and fluids. These, in some instances, seem to overflow, as if to hide from the world its diseased parts, and almost speak intelligibly the secret emotions of a thoughtless bosom. Does not nature say to man, you can only become my phy- sician by virtue of the physical agents with which my bosom is filled? They are for you to administer, for the express purpose of holding a physical consulation with the spirit of the patient, according to the case, to restore any abnormal condition that may occur. Notwithstanding they may be endowed with a specific healing virtue, by the properties they possess, still they speak not their power in the restoration of diseased nature, without the co-operation and healthy re- sponse of the brain. Is the stomach adapted to the recep- tion of food and water—the lungs to atmosphere and the gases, and the nervous system to positive and negative elec- tric influences? If so, we answer, that this living spirit, which looks out from behind its electrical sparkling of the 1715 DISEASES AND THEIR MODE OF CURE eye, is adapted to the reception of impressions. Impure im- pressions cause an extraneous expenditure of its innate strength and reactive mentality, when they are positively ab- sorbed, phrenologically and theologically, as well as the pos- itive reception and consumption of impure food and water produce an unhealthy condition of the innate strength and physical reaction of the brain and body, physiologically and electrically. The main point in the cure of disease, then, seems to be to carefully inspect the condition of the patient, and particularly the reflex action from the brain, accompa- nied as it is, sometimes, with a higher response. Can the brain react without the presence of the living spirit ? Is not the spirit stimulated to its inherent action by external im- pressions ? If so, we cannot see why those impressions may not occasion it, conditionally, as well as physical agents, to increase or decrease, according to the impression made, its involuntary discharges. If the healing and recuperative power of the body cannot be had without these discharges or radiations from the brain, and from the region beyond consciousness, it of necessity fol- lows that these, being electrical, act as the agent of the mind or spirit for the purpose of imparting the principle of life to the body. Electricity cannot, in the constitution of things, be that principle which nature presents as life, but the agent by which it is materially developed. Life, there- fore, is a principle primarily of the spiritual world, devel- oped by the action of electricity upon matter. Spirit is a special emanation from that world, and therefore must, in a special sense, possess all the properties, principles, and ele- ments from whence it came. The two forces of the elec- trical fluid meet at the great center or sun of our solar sys- tem to absorb this principle of life from the spiritual world, DISEASES AND THEIR MODE 0§ CURE. 177 and by their connection and action upon matter, make it manifest in the support of the material world, its creations, and orderly motions ; even so, the two forces of the fluid in the nervous system meet at the brain of man for the purpose of absorbing the principle of life from the spirit for the body, its organs and various movements. Does not the mind, on the positive reception of sorrowful and fearful impressions, withhold those discharges which pro- duce weakness and debility of the body ? Does not the mind, upon the reception of the impressions of joy and pleasure, increase those discharges, and buoy up the whole being ? It is therefore the different conditions of the mind* (not imag- ination) which give life and vital action to the negative and positive sparklings of the nervous system. Its negative and positive actions open and close the respiratory apparatus in the positive and negative consumption of external elements. The crimson streams which frolic positively and negatively from the center to the circumference of the circulating sys- tem, depend upon their vital relations. Then we say, the remedial tendency of impressions made upon the mind from the positive authority of the nervous system, dispenses, from the brain to the body, the healing power as well as physical agents, when taken into the stomach or applied to the exter- nal surface. If the involuntary discharges from the brain are positively withdrawn from the hands or feet, can the will move them ? In other words, if they do not positively consume the vital- ity of the brain from the region beyond consciousness, can the will raise them from their place, although they are nat- urally, though negatively, attached to the body ? This would be contrary to nature, as the will, or volition, has no power save that which is absorbed from the involuntary chamber. 178 DISEASES AND THEIR MODE OF CURE. * As well might a man think of recalling an impression re- ceived years ago, without its constant involuntary consump- tion of his nervo-vitality by the reaction of the mind, inde- pendent of consciousness. This is the involuntary depart- ment over which the mind presides, in the great economy of human existence. Its innate reactive power gives life and vitality to all the physical and mental functions that are de- veloped in the great chamber of special mortality. Men of science may cling, by the power of conventional usage and early education, to the innate curative power of matter, and refuse their assent to the special stimulation of mind by im- pressions in the cure of diseases, yet the voice of nature heeds them not, and her cries and groans, which come up to them from every quarter, will continue to ask, What is the objection to making positive applications to the living spirit itself, to cure the aches and pains which neither your saddle- bags nor apothecary-shops, with years of study and experi- ence, can in the least mitigate ? Is it because it is more scientific to make applications by disturbing the solids and fluids, and from thence the- nervous system, to obtain the reflex or vital action from the brain by the administration of medicines, than it is to obtain this reflex action by impressions at once upon the mind, clad with reac- tive authority of the nervous system, to produce the same, and, in many instances, a much happier result ? We give the following, among the many cases which the reactive authority of the nervous system has cured upon the principles laid down, after all physical remedies had become inert and powerless in obtaining this co-operative action of the mind in the cure of the diseases of the body. The first case that we will mention is that of a young lady of Lynchburg, Va., who had been confined to her bed and DISEASES AND THEIR MODE OF CURE. 179 unable to walk for about eighteen years. Her disease, which was a disease of the spine, had baffled the skill of all the physicians in that section, and was pronounced incurable by physicians of the best skill in Philadelphia, to whom it hak been reported. We have a certificate from this lady to the effect that, under our treatment, she was enabled to walk within one hour from the time we first saw her, and that she was within a few weeks restored to the enjoyment of excellent health. Another remarkable case is that of a young lady, who was thrown from a horse, by which she received an injury of the spine, resulting in complete paralysis of the inferior extrem- ities, that resisted all the scientific applications and efforts that could be made for eighteen months, and was restored by this agency alone in three or four weeks (four years since), and is now married and doing well. Another case of a young lady, of high respectability also, who had been laboring under convulsions for the space of five years, whose restoration resisted extraordinary efforts on the part of her friends, and in such a condition that she could not be left alone, remarkable to 1 elate, was cured by this agency in one week (three years since), and is now enjoying fine health. We will mention one more—that of an elderly lady, whose mind had lost all its attractions for her friends, and even her husband—who was restored in one week to her previous nat- ural condition of mind. We need not be surprised, therefore, that men who thus believe in the innate curative power of matter, separately and apart from the co-operative action of the living spirit, should, by the administration of drugs, inflict wounds both of body and mind which their combined skill cannot heal. Oh, na- 180 DISEASES AND THEIR MODE OF CURE. ture, why dost thou not occasion man to acknowledge thy ways in the treatment of diseases ? Swayed as thou art by the law of equilibrium, occasionally setting the heavens on fire, and shaking the globe beneath us, why hast thou made us the creatures of time and circumstances which seem not to spare the cries of the infant, the lamentations of the de- voted mother, nor the deep-heaving sighs of the widowed bosom ? Did " the morning stars sing together, and all the sons of God shout for joy," when our destruction, pain and death, was deposited also in that which thou wouldst give us to eat? Strange and unfathomable demonstration of kindness to thy children ! We would still torture thee, if we knew how, until thou wouldst plainly answer the question, Why didst thou speak us into existence, to look abroad for a few days upon thy works, and gather, as our only reward, paiu and misery ? Why, in the midst of this pain and anguish, suffer the cold and chilly hand of death to snatch us from all that is dear on earth, and force us back into apparent nonentity ? We ask thee for those that are gone and even now stand before our mental vision like the distant isles that slumber in thy aqueous bosom. Are they gone forever, or have they passed into that state where they may behold the beauties of that interior world of which the Australian sky is but a faint impression? If so, do they fully realize "the times of the restitution of all things which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began," and freely forgive thee, for thy torturings here ? " Here smiles must hide the breaking heart, And cheerful words, the mute despair, Here friends must meet, and love, and part: But not so there." %'i'MX% PZ > ' Z >4>»- CV « )r rc.% '*%: i&'-'ZZ. Z^Zj^/Z