wooden support, below which is a coil of copper wire, which, however, is
not connected with any battery or other apparatus, and merely serves to
condense the current. Below the needle, inside the glass, there is a
circular card divided into degrees to mark the action of the needle. Two of
these instruments are placed side by side, but in no way connected, and the
experimenter then holds out the fingers of both hands to within about an
inch of the glasses. According to the theory, the current enters at the
left hand, circulates through the body, and passes out at the right hand,
that is to say, there is an indrawing at the left and a giving-out at the
right, thus agreeing with Reichenbach's experiments on the polarity of the
human body.

I must confess that, although I had read Dr. Baraduc's book, "Les
Vibrations Humaines," I approached the instrument in a very sceptical frame
of mind; but I was soon convinced of my error. At first, holding a mental
attitude of entire relaxation, I found that the left-hand needle was
attracted through twenty degrees, while the right-hand needle, the one
affected by the out-going current, was repelled through ten degrees. After
allowing the instrument to return to its normal equilibrium I again
approached it with the purpose of seeing whether a change of mental
attitude would in the least modify the flow of current. This time I assumed
the strongest mental attitude I could with the intention of sending out a
flow through the right hand, and the result as compared with the previous
one was remarkable. The left-hand needle was now attracted only through ten
degrees, while the right-hand one was deflected through something over
thirty, thus clearly indicating the influence of the mental faculties in
modifying the action of the current. I may mention that the experiment was
made in the presence of two medical men who noted the movement of the
needles.