_BY THE EDITOR_.


In placing before the public a work with such novel and extraordinary
demands upon its consideration, a few explanatory words seem appropriate.

Its title and contents will doubtless at first sight cause a smile of
incredulity, and will be regarded by many as one of the devices which are
sometimes put forward to entrap an unsuspecting public into the perusal
of a sensational hoax.

For a number of years past the community has been surprised with accounts
of most incredible marvels; and from time to time the press has reported
various phenomena in connection with an _unrecognized force and
intelligence,_ as occurring in almost every locality throughout the
habitable globe.

These phenomena are thought by many to be mere illusions, and by some
attributed to peculiar electrical conditions; while others seek their
solution in an abnormal state of the brain; and others still believe them
dependent on an actual intercourse between mortals and those who have
passed beyond the grave.

Having become interested in this mysterious and exciting subject, and
finding the means at hand for testing the various phenomena, I resolved
to undertake a series of experiments, with the hope of exposing a
delusion, if such it were, or perchance, of clearing up a mystery which,
by the magnitude and importance it has already assumed, is disturbing the
foundations of old beliefs and steadily diffusing it's theories and