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Experimental investigation of the spirit manifestations, [electronic ...

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36 INTUITIVE EVIDENCE OF125. "Insulated conductors, whe<strong>the</strong>r inanimate, or in <strong>the</strong> form <strong>of</strong> animals,may be electrified by <strong>the</strong> most powerful means, without being injured orseriously incommoded. Before a spark <strong>of</strong> lightning passes, every objecton <strong>the</strong> terrestrial surface, for a great distance around, is subjected to aportion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> requisite previous accumulation. Yet it is only those objectswhich arc made <strong>the</strong> medium <strong>of</strong> discharge that are sensibly aifected.126. *' Powerful galvanic accumulation can only be produced by thoseappropriate arrangements which concentrate upon a comparatively smallfilament <strong>of</strong> particles <strong>the</strong>ir peculiar polarizing power; but nothing seemsto me more inconsistent with experience than to suppose a table movedby any possible form or mode <strong>of</strong> galvanic reaction.It was ascertained byGaziot that one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most powerful galvanic batteries ever made couldnot give a spark heforc contact to a conductor presented to it, at <strong>the</strong>smallest distance which could be made by a delicate micrometer.If <strong>the</strong>reis any law which is pre-eminent for its invariability, it is, that inanimatematter cannot, per se, change its state as respects motion or rest. Werethis law liable to any variation, we should be proportionably liable toperish ; since in that case <strong>the</strong> revolutions and rotations <strong>of</strong> our planet andits satellite might undergo perturbations by which <strong>the</strong> oceanmight inundate<strong>the</strong> land, or <strong>the</strong> too great proximity or remoteness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sun causeus to be scorched or frozen. If <strong>the</strong> globe did not carry <strong>the</strong> Pacific moresteadily than <strong>the</strong> most competent person could carry a basin <strong>of</strong> water, weshould be drowned by <strong>the</strong> overflow <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> land. I recommend to yourattention, and that <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs interested in this hallucination, Faraday'sobservations and experiments, recently published in some <strong>of</strong> our respectablenewspapers. I entirely concur in <strong>the</strong> conclusions <strong>of</strong> that distinguishedexperimental expounder <strong>of</strong> Nature's riddles.Robert Hare."127. This publication drew forth <strong>the</strong> following remonstrance in <strong>the</strong> subjoinedletter, which does great credit to <strong>the</strong> correctness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> author'sobservation and sagacity. It contributed, toge<strong>the</strong>r with a personal invitationfrom Dr. Comstock to attend a circle, to induce <strong>the</strong> <strong>investigation</strong>upon which I entered immediately afterward.SouTiiwiCK, Mass., Nov. 17, 1853.128. ^^Dear Sir: I had <strong>the</strong> pleasure <strong>of</strong> a slight acquaintance with you,somethiiig less than twenty years ago, when I exhibited telescopes inPhiladelphia. You will, I trust, excuse <strong>the</strong> liberty I take in writing toyou now.I have seen your letter to <strong>the</strong> Philadelphia Inquirer upon tablemoving. I never believed it was caused by electricity or galvanism, butis it not as likely to be <strong>the</strong>se, as muscular force ? You agree with Pr<strong>of</strong>essorFaraday that <strong>the</strong> table is moved by <strong>the</strong> hands that are on it. NowI know, as certainly as I can know any thing, that this isnot true in general,if it is in any instance. There is as much evidence that tables some-

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