Book Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1852 edition. Excerpt: ... the possibility of her raising her hands or lowering her head sufficiently for seeing over it, without exciting the attention of the audience Indeed, whoever had had the opportunity of observing the clairvoyante, as I did. during this card scene, must have felt that he would be permitting an insult to be perpetrated upon himself and upon the whole audience, were he not to endeavour to expose what appeared to me to be such an absurd farce. I was aware that my test would be objected to, on the ground that she did not profess to read through card board (although I must confess my surprise that a person who can see and read through stone or brick walls, should not be competent to penetrate through thin card board), so I, therefore, offered to remove that objection, by cutting out a piece of the card board, and covering the hole with the cotton wadding and folded handkerchief, which she actually professed to see through; but, although the audience were almost unanimous in their opinion that my proposed test was a fair one, and such as they wished to see tried, M. Lassaigne well knew that it was too certain and obvious a mode of testing to answer his purpose, and, therefore, under various pretexts, and in a most rude manner, he obstinately refused to try it. I therefore withdrew from the platform and left the room, feeling the force of the remark, --" Ex uno, disce omnes." Had Mr. Lassaigne, like M. Robin, admitted that his feats were done by ingeniously contrived collusion, I should have considered it perfectly fair for him to refuse submitting to any mode of testing which might destroy the interest of his future public exhibitions. Here, however, we had a different sort of pretensions to deal with, for M. Lassaigne represented that there was...