Second sight - Oriental power - Clairvoyance compared with electrical means of communication - No restriction upon sight of clairvoyants - Distance not considered - Familiar manifestations - Illustrations - How to produce clairvoyance - Directing the mind of the subject - Asking questions - Clairvoyance not mind-reading - Finding hidden articles - Confirming a clairvoyant's statements - Who are the best clairvoyants.

While in the fifth degree of hypnosis, known as somnambulism, many persons can exercise the power of seeing hidden objects or objects at a great distance. This power is often spoken of as "second sight," and has been known for many centuries. In oriental countries its use is quite frequent and exhibitions of it are made for the entertainment of strangers and as a means of livelihood. In our own land there are many unscrupulous persons pretending to practice clairvoyance who have no knowledge whatever of the art and whose statements are made to credulous persons for the sake of a fee of greater or less proportion, according to the nature of the information furnished.

This young gentleman believes himself to be once again a nursing infant while the young lady thinks she is a nurse in a foundling asylum.

The lips are sewed together without the subject being conscious of the fact.

It is not more than a generation ago since a girdle was put around the earth by means of the electric telegraph and ocean cable and sounds made on one side of the earth were quickly heard upon the other. And it is but a few years ago that we were first enabled to communicate with one another by means of the telephone. Such a proposition would have seemed like a ridiculous fable before its possibility was actually demonstrated. But now we converse with our friends a thousand miles away - our voices being carried along a copper wire under certain conditions, which only those acquainted with electrical apparatus can explain or properly comprehend. Still more incomprehensible to the average person is the marvelous system of wireless telegraphy which is now being so rapidly developed. Nevertheless, we can no longer doubt these methods of communication.

The telephone is, in substance, the prolongation of our nerves of hearing to a distance by means of a wire, at the end of which is an artificial "ear drum," or receiver, to receive the sounds, just as our individual ear drums would receive them. Doubtless, it will not be long before the nerves of sight, as it were, can be prolonged for miles by means of a wire, to transmit the impressions made upon an artificial retina at the end of the line. Such a thing is possible, it is probable, and in fact, we realize that it must soon be a demonstrated reality.

We have no difficulty in realizing in our minds that wireless telegraphy is conducted by the influence of "currents of electricity through the atmosphere," and we can also realize that its perfection is simply a matter of a short time. To those who have given any thought to these subjects, the power of seeing at a great distance is no more remarkable than wireless telegraphy, and the power of viewing hidden things is no more wonderful than the revelations of the X-rays.

The phenomenon of clairvoyance is in reality the extension, to a greater or less distance, of our powers of observation. In general, the sensations conveyed by our five senses have been confined entirely to things about us and our minds act within a very limited sphere. But it is possible to render our minds perfectly passive and to control the action of our senses so that they may receive impression from objects far removed from our bodies. Our currents of thoughts may bound out into space, utterly disre-gardless of all physical surroundings, and transmit to our minds conceptions excited at any point toward which our thoughts are propelled.

Clairvoyance Not Uncommon

There are numerous manifestations of this power which have occurred to persons while in profound slumber. Nearly every adult reader can recall experiences where scenes have been witnessed during sleep which were afterward found to be absolute facts which occurred at that time. The author has had many such experiences, one of which will serve to illustrate the subject under discussion.

During the spring of 1884 a great and most devastating flood visited the Ohio valley. The author resided upon one of the hills which surround the city of Cincinnati, remote from the business center. During the night of the highest stage of the flood, he was awakened in the midst of what seemed to be a horrible "nightmare" at first, but which soon appeared as a reality. He awakened the members of the family and explained that he had seen and heard a terrible explosion; that a house had been blown to atoms and that Policeman Macke had been killed and mangled. It was some time before sleep could be restored. Imagine the peculiar sensations conveyed to all when the early morning paper conveyed the information that during the night the occurrence had actually taken place. A man had taken a lighted candle into the cellar of a house six miles away from the author's residence. The cellar was filled with gas caused by the flood backing up the sewers. The gas had exploded and the house had been blown to atoms and Policeman Macke was killed.

This was simply an instance where profound sleep permitted the mind to "'"'wander into space" and receive impressions at a distance as readily as though made close at hand. It is this condition that is called clairvoyance, and it may be produced in some hypnotic subjects without much difficulty.

How To Produce Clairvoyance

To produce clairvoyance, hypnotize the subject by any one of the several methods and gradually cause him to pass from one degree to another until he is profoundly under hypnotic influence in what is termed the somnambulistic state. Make frequent passes from the head downward over the body and test the subject frequently to demonstrate his insensibility to physical sensations when desirable. Then say to him: "You are now a clairvoyant. That is, your mind is able to leave your body and go wherever you wish it to go. You can see whatever you want to you, no matter where it is, and whenever you wish it your mind can come back into your body. I want you to go and look at something for me and tell me all about it. Are you ready?"

Directing The Clairvoyant

When the subject answers, "Yes, I am ready," then proceed to direct him. Not abruptly, but progressively. For instance: If the subject should be in Chicago and it is desired to have him describe a scene in New York, do not say: "Go to New York City and tell me what is going on in my uncle's home." But instead, lead him there as follows: "I want you to go to New York. Now you start out. You are going across the State of Indiana. You are at Indianapolis, but you will not stop there. You are now in Ohio and passing through Columbus on your way to Pittsburg. Now you are crossing Pennsylvania and going over the mountains to Philadelphia. It is a beautiful city and not far from New York. Well, here you are crossing New Jersey. You are at Jersey City, ready to cross the river. At last you are in New York City. It is a great city. You are not going to stop down town. Go up Broadway till you come to Fifty-sixth street. Now, turn east and walk three blocks. There is a large brown house standing all alone, not another house like it on the block. Walk in, you are in the parlor.

What do you sec?"

By such statements and questions the clairvoyant subject is led on to the desired spot and he will then make his own observations and reply to any questions put to him. If he should hesitate, make more passes and say: "Yes, you can answer."

It may be supposed that the subject is reading the operator's mind and that the operator simply thinks of what he wishes the subject to see or describe. That this is not so, can be readily demonstrated by having a third party name some particular place with which the operator is not familiar, and after being directed to the spot the subject will describe what is to be seen. In many instances news of battles and other important events have been learned through clairvoyance and confirmed by telegraphic reports.

Finding Hidden Objects

It is true that, an expert clairvoyant can often locate hidden articles, even though they be buried from sight, and many are able to do this through self-hypnotism. This may seem impossible to those who have not seen it practically demonstrated, but without claiming to be clairvoyants many persons have been able to locate lost articles through visions that came to them during natural sleep. Profound sleep is a self-induced hypnotic condition, and in some persons it amounts to the condition known as somnambulism, in which state clairvoyance is possible.

The gift of second sight was formerly more generally recognized than it is at the present day, probably because so many charlatans and imposters monopolize the "business," and use their powers (if they possess any) to convince people of their assumed ability to correctly read the future.

Young subjects usually make the best clairvoyants, especially those of a dreamy nature. The possibilities that present themselves through this branch of hypnotism are very great, and the spirit of investigation which permeates the scientific world, will prompt discoveries and experiments that will demonstrate the great benefits to be derived from the practice of true clairvoyance.