HPB-SB-8-32

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vol. 8, p. 32

H. P. Blavatsky Scrapbooks

from Adyar archives of the International Theosophical Society

vol. 8 (September 1878 - September 1879)

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The Spiritualist Newspaper

The Ghost of a Dog

BY THE BARONESS ADELMA VON VAY (COUNTESS WURMBRAND).

I Have an interesting story to tell you. A lady of my connection has written to me such a curious story about a dog’s ghost, and as you have already mentioned in The Spiritualist journal occurrences of spectral appearances of animals, I will tell you this one too. The lady writes to me from Kempten, in Bavaria; she says:

“In my vicinity dwells a very respectable and wealthy family, Mr. and Mrs. X. When newly married they dwelt at Munich, in the second floor of a house. Mr. X. had a Pomeranian dog, who seemed to be very jealous of the young wife; he often tried to bite her, and growled continually at her, especially in the absence of her husband. Once, as she lay in bed, when her husband was away, the dog sprang at her throat; she had only time and presence of mind enough to cry aloud, ‘The master comes!’ at which words the dog crawled growling away. After this, Mr. X. resolved to give away the dog. From that moment the Pomeranian pined away, fell sick, howled dreadfully, and one morning, at four o’clock, was found dead. Beginning from that day, Mr. and Mrs. X. regularly heard, at four o’clock every morning, a jumping about and a howling just in the same way that the dog used to do. The other people who dwelt in the house began to complain about the noise on the premises, and begged Mr. X. to leave the lodgings. After a time Mrs. X. dreamed she saw the horrid dog on the stairs showing her his teeth in bitter wrath. Another day Mr. and Mrs. X. made a little excursion into the country, when a heavy thunderstorm and rain set in; so they drove homewards, and on reaching their house a loud crash of thunder took place, accompanied by a blaze of lightning; they thought the house was nearly on fire. On reaching the stairs the lightning had fallen just in the place where Mrs. X. had seen the dog seated in her dream. Mrs. X. was so terrified that they immediately gave up their lodgings in that house. They were never more disturbed in their new dwelling.”

Before closing I may mention that the President of the Spiritist Society of Pest, Dr. Adolf Griinhut and his noble wife, Mrs. Johanna Griinhut, had on the 30th August their, as we call it, “silver wedding,” the twenty-fifth anniversary of their marriage day. The society of Pest presented them with a beautiful silver drinking cup. They had a seance in Dr. Griinhut’s rooms that evening, and listened to beautiful trance addresses through three of their mediums. The whole was a very touching scene; the deep religious feeling of all gave a truly heavenly hue to that soiree.

Gonobitz, Austria.

Professor Zollner's Experiments With Ddr. Slade

On Slade’s return to Leipzig, Professor Zollner’s first experiments were with objects such as hand-bells and a harmonica placed under the table, where they were made to ring and play while Slade’s hands and feet were visible to the sitters. On one occasion a metal ball was suspended by a silken cord within a glass globe; this was placed under the table, a good light was thrown upon it by candles arranged for the purpose, and while Professors Weber and Scheibner, as well as Professor Zollner, watched, with their chairs drawn back four feet from the table, the ball began to oscillate and to strike at regular intervals against the inner surface of the glass globe.

As a test that the writing on the slates was not prepared beforehand, Slade one evening took a slate at haphazard, and asked Mr. Zollner to wish for certain words to be written. Mr. Zollner said, after the slate was in position, “Littrow, Astronomer.” A sound of writing was heard, Slade’s hand being watched during the process. On turning up the slate, the desired words were found written in distinct letters.

An experiment with magnetic needles is of special interest. Two needles, a large and a small one, each enclosed in glass, were placed in front of Mr. Weber. Slade’s hands interlinked with those of the Professors on the table, at about one foot distant from the needles. The smaller one began suddenly to swing, until a constant motion was set up, whereas the larger needle showed only slight oscillations. Perceiving that some kind of force was at work, Mr. Zoliner suggested to Slade to try whether he could produce any effect upon an unmagnetised needle. He brought a number of knitting-needles, from which he and Mr. Weber selected one, which they tested by the compass, and found to be totally unmagnetised. Slade laid the needle on a slate, and held it against the under side of the table, as if for writing. After about four minutes he placed it again on the table, when one end of the needle was found to be sufficiently magnetic to attract steel shavings and sewing needles, and to turn the compass-needle. The magnetized end was a south pole. The needle is in Professor Zollner’s possession, and can be seen and tested by any one desiring it.

The next experiment was with ajar of flour, in which the impression of a hand was found, with all the marks of the cuticle distinctly discernible. At the same time a portion of the flour, also bearing the marks of a large, powerful hand, was left on Mr. Zollner’s trousers at the knee, where he had a minute before felt the grasp. Slade’s hands were on the table throughout, and on examination were found to have no trace of flour upon them. The impression was, besides, that of a larger hand than Slade’s. The jar of flour is preserved by Mr. Zollner, though, as he says, the skin-marks are becoming gradually obliterated by the falling together of the particles of meal.

Later on they obtained a more permanent impression with paper blackened over a petroleum lamp, and fastened on to a board. On this the mark of a bare left foot appeared. In obedience to the request of the Professor, Slade rose immediately afterwards from his chair, showed both his feet, and took off his shoes, but no trace of lamp-black was visible. His foot was then measured, and a difference of four centimetres in size was found to exist between it and the impression on the paper. A similar experiment was related by Mr. H. D. Jencken, in this journal last week. Slade and Zollner afterwards repeated the experiment, using a slate in place of the board, and the impression thus received was afterwards photographed, and is reproduced among the plates appended to Zdllner’s second volume. The Professor calls attention to the fact that the impression is evidently that of a foot which has been compressed by tight-fitting boots, one toe being so completely covered by the other as not to be visible at all, as is shown in the photograph. He also enters in detail into the reasons why this impression could not have been produced by Slade’s foot, even on the theory of certain “men of science” in Leipzig, that Slade had pieces cut out of the soles of his stockings for this express purpose.

Some experiments concerning the inter-action of acids and polarised light, also with the relation of Slade’s clairvoyant sight to prisms, by which Professor Zollner sets great store, will have an especial interest for those versed in chemistry and optics, but are somewhat too technical for ordinary readers. Professor Zollner is, however, not the first who has experimented in this direction, Dr. J. Purdon having for some years past made observations on the peculiarities of vision in mediums, which he hopes some day to give to the world.

A further attempt to get footmarks met with the most successful results. In Slade’s absence Mr. Zollner pasted two sheets of paper, prepared with lamp-black, to the inner sides of a folding slate. He remarked to Slade that, if his theory of the existence of four-dimensional beings <... continues on page 8-33 >

Editor's notes

Sources

• 

  London Spiritualist, No. 318, September 27, 1878, p. 150

• 

  London Spiritualist, No. 318, September 27, 1878, pp. 148-50