The Spiritualist newspaper > No.254, July 6th 1877

Jlstrmjit xif i|| xif l|| p|{|^ ntfo x$ JjpiijiimtHsm*
Volujvie E^evejh. Number One.
LONDON, FRIDAY, JULY 6th, 1877.
PROFESSOR TYNDALL’S “EVIL EYE.”
During the latter part of the Royal Institution session |
just closed, Professor Tyndall delivered a long series of I
deeply interesting lectures on heat, illustrated by experi- :
ments made by the aid of the extensive stock of scientific I
apparatus which has accumulated on the premises during |
half a century. He separated the invisible from the visible i
rays of the sun, and with the invisible rays set fire to zinc |
foil, and performed a number of experiments, proving their j
potency in mundane phenomena. Not satisfied with this, he |
committed aggressive acts in relation to those not working |
in his somewhat narrow materialistic groove, in which groove I
he is as perfect as a most excellent blacksmith, who executes j
with <c mechanical veracity” duly appreciated by the ob- i
servers, any order given to him by an architect more related j
than himself to the ideal, the spiritual, and the eternally j
real. To a mind of his order—which has done its best to j
forge a materialistic religion as a blacksmith would forge a |
horse-shoe—it is disappointing to be obliged to beg the ques- j
tion of the foundations of the belief, by attributing certain j
characteristics to alleged ultimate atoms which nobody has j
ever seen, and which may possibly not exist at all, except as a j
fetish. Professor Tyndall’s latest vagary was to gaze down j
the conical cap of his thermo-pile, when the heat radiated |
from his eye, two feet off, caused the iron galvanometer |
needle connected with that most delicate instrument to I
swing round. Now,” said he, ((if I chose to adopt the I
example of certain people who are active nowadays, I j
might say that that motion of the needle is due to the oc- j
cult power of my eye, but it is due simply to the heat; I I
am not breathing on the pile.” This, of course, was a rap j
at Spiritualism, respecting the phenomena of which he has
such deplorable want of knowledge, and is such an untrust¬
worthy guide. To show how mistaken he is as to the calibre
of Spiritualists, when he brings his u evil eye ” to bear
upon bars of antimony and bismuth, he may be reminded j
that some time ago he asked a Royal Institution Friday I
evening audience to look at the u black smoke” arising from
an alcohol flame into the path of a beam of light from the i
electric lamp, and he harped upon the same fact half the i
evening. One Spiritualist present turned to another and
said: u What does he mean? That is not black smoke!
The apparent blackness is due to the dispersion by the flame
of the floating particles of dirt in the air, which particles
reflect light wherever they are present.” Towards the close j
of his lecture Professor Tyndall stated this to be the true
explanation, but the assertion which he thought calculated i
to mislead for half an hour a highly cultured Royal Institu¬
tion audience, was too transparent to be received by some of j
the Spiritualists present.
DR. CARPENTER AGAIN.
A well-written article by Mr. William Crookes appears |
in the Nineteenth Century^ convicting Dr. Carpenter of mis- j
quotations, and pointing out to the public that he knows |
scarcely anything of the nature of those psychological j
phenomena about which he speaks so fluently to applauding
audiences consisting of the ignorant who trust in his j
authority. We have shorthand notes of Dr. Carpenter’s last
lecture delivered in Finsbury Chapel, but have not thought |
them worth printing ; to those acquainted with the subject, |
his utterances there were so much behind the age as to afford
no materials for rational controversy, and it is perhaps as
well, in all cases, to avoid contention. Our plan with Dr. j
Carpenter, and others like him, has been to get on record in |
these pages the documents or utterances whereby their j
names are committed to a denial of the eternal facts and j
phenomena of nature, so that when their lives fall into the 1
cold impartial grasp of posterity, their historical reputations
shall have justice meted out to them. We know perfectly
well what the verdict will be, and in the meantime they had
better make the most of the popular applause of the ignorant
which they are gaining by the way in which they use their
“ little brief authority.” In many respects we greatly admire
Dr. Carpenter, who is a great physiologist, and an interest¬
ing and entertaining lecturer upon subjects he understands,
among which psychology cannot be included. After leaving
a lecture of his on Spiritualism, the informed listener
emerges into the fresh air with all the feelings of relief in¬
cidental to emerging from the Catacombs of Egypt, as the
ideas and the supposed facts put forward by him belong to a
past age, and are everywhere steeped in the atmosphere of
the grave. The very books on psychology he recommends
for perusal have been so long dead and buried, that his dis¬
interment of them provokes a pitying smile.
A New Book by the Countess of Caithness.—We lhave just re¬
ceived from the Countess of Caithness, a new book written by herself,
entitled, Serious Letters to Serious Friends. It popularises the doc¬
trines of Allan Kardec, and deals extensively with some of the re¬
ligious aspects of modern Spiritualism. The book meets a public want,
that is to say, meets the requirements of those who wish by means of
a comparatively brief outline, to learn without much effort to them¬
selves the nature of the religious ideas so prevalent among Spiritualists
in France, and in some other parts of the Continent. Mr. Triibner,
who has done so much to make known in this country, without pre¬
judice or the colouring of priestly bigotry, the best aspects of the re¬
ligious ideas sincerely held by all the nations of the earth, is the pub*
lisher of the work, the contents of which well deserve careful con¬
sideration.
The Divining Rod.—By the way, I found out the other day that
the belief in divination has not yet wholly died out of the Cornish
mining districts. Instead of using a divining rod, however, when you
want to find out where a mine is, you get a short forked stick, and
placing your jaw in the fork the stick will gradually bend down when
you walk over a part of the earth which is rich in mineral treasures.
There is a certain gentleman in Cornwall somewhere who, although a
scientific chemist, and up to every wrinkle of the nineteenth century
civilisation, is ready to swear that he just discovered through this
magic a mine which he is about to work. You must know that when,
on finding your mine, you have dug some distance into the earth, you
ought to find a large piece of stone. This is called a . horse,” no doubt
as a sort of pun on the “ lode ” of metal underneath. I can vouch for
having heard the story above first-hand, though as to the mysticism
you had better write to The Spiritualist to learn the truth of it.—The
Pictorial World.
“The Heathen Chinee.” — It appears that Ten Wing Tze Way
Shin Shuo Shing Tze Way Shing Show Tan Tze Way Eeo Ton
Ye Che Poh Kow Shu Yu Lee Yeh Wong Chin Foo is the sonorous
name of a Chinese savan who has lately been holding forth to intelli¬
gent audiences in New York City, lecturing on the subject of Budd¬
hism, Christianity, and the immortality of the soul, and who seemingly
sustains his side of the question against all opposition. He enthusi¬
astically says :—“ The Chinese invented the art of printing, made the
first compass, the first porcelain, the first gunpowder, the first cannon,
the first system of laws. You must not judge the Chinese from those
who emigrate to America. They are the lowest part of the Chinese
population. There are ten times as many murders in the United
States as in China with ten times the population. The best and most
highly educated men are selected for rulers. They are not selected by
ballot, but are trained for their places, and are chosen only after a
thorough competitive examination, which eliminates all the inferior
material. The religion of China is not heathenism; it teaches immor¬
tality and obedience to a supreme spirit. It has all the essentials of
Christianity. There have never been any religious persecutions in
China, while thousands of men, women, and children, have been
slaughtered in Christian countries on account of differences in religious
belief. ‘A tree is known by its fruit.’” We rejoice that Ten Wing,
&c., is making an effort to reform this country. In China the best
and most highly educated are selected for rulers, while in this country,
the bummer, the gambler, the knock-down politician and disreputable
saloon keeper, are often placed in a position where they can swindle
the people. We hope that Ten Wing Tze Way Shin Shuo Shing Tze
"Way Shing Show Tan Tze Way Keo Ton Ye Che Poh Row Shu Yu
Lee Yeh Wong Chin Foo will come to Chicago and establish a mis¬
sionary society. He should have a tabernacle erected at once, and
should go in like Moody, on his voice and muscle.—Religio-Philosophi¬
cal Journal.