I have been told that Dr. Schlossenger had a very sharp eye, although wearing glasses; and that the glasses were probably to make the subject think it impossible for him to read writing when they were moved out of position and placed on the forehead, as they were during the tests.  It has also been suggested that his poor hearing was feigned, to enable him to hear remarks made about himself in his presence.  I have suspected that his memory had become trained to a high degree of accuracy, enabling him to give his tests with such marvelous success, as he did with nearly all wherever he went.  That he does not use one set of principles only in his tricks, I am certain, but has many more at his command which he uses continually.  However, I can only vaguely guess at them from having seen his tests but once.

Now, I do not say that this was the method employed by the lady with Rev. Savage, given in the account at the beginning of this chapter.  But as the experiments are practically the same, it is safe to conclude that the methods used are the same, or nearly so.  If the test were genuine in the case of the lady mentioned, it was probably genuine in the case of Dr. Schlossenger.  On the other hand, if it were trickery in one case, it probably was in both.

MIND READING IN PUBLIC

Not long ago I received a letter from an old-time friend, in which he urgently requested me to make a journey to his city.  In bygone days he and I had spent many hours together, discussing the mysteries of existence, the hidden powers which nature manifests to us, and the origin and destiny of the human soul.  My friend is a physician, and what is more, an earnest student; and he is also an investigator of that strange phenomenon in nature which manifests itself in organized beings subjectively, as thought, feeling and things spiritual.

Many times had we discussed the possibility and also the probability of an existence of the spiritual part of man after death.  Many times had he reported to me cases of strange phenomena that tended to prove the indestructibility of spirit.

When I received this missive, it stated to me that the writer most earnestly desired my presence in his city, that I might assist in investigating a very strange and marvelous case of psychic phenomena.  The case was that of a certain traveling spirit medium, who claimed the power to summon from the realms of the invisible the shades of our departed friends and loved ones.  He gave most marvelous exhibitions to prove his strange and miraculous power.  My friend stated that he thought he had at last found a person with at least some queer psychical gift, if not even possessing the power that he claimed.  He had watched the exhibition most carefully, and had even served on a committee on the psychic’s stage; and he could find no evidence of trickery of any kind.  He was inclined to believe that this strange being really possessed the power of vision without the use of human eyes as he certainly read sealed missives, of which he could in no secret manner have obtained knowledge.