SECTION V.

NERVES.

A HELM of only a few feet in length, guides the monster ship. The nerves of man-so fine, so attenuated, so fragile, guide the whole body. Trace them to their root in the brain, and the size of the primitive root, which controls the physical body of man is a mere point of matter. Let the spirit get the control of that spot, and it controls the whole body, as easily as the other day the massive machinery for opening and shutting the Keyham Docks was moved by a fragile girl of sixteen ; she having command of the little instrument which governed; and by it opened the tide-gates for commerce.

Nerve-power has been too much overlooked by all classes of thinkers. The nerves are all-powerful in governing the physical of man; and I am the more desirous to fix the attention of the reader on this fact; as it is the key to the greater portion of the phenomena we ordinarily observe, and of the phe nomena which will in due course come under our observation. The Power which governs the nerves, governs the body; for instance, if the body be dead, galvanic power, directed by a human spirit in another body, can cause spasmodic action, can cause an arm to rise, can cause the dead body to sit up; showing that it is possible for a substance-not solid, and without seen shape, to act upon the body or frame of man, and produce results after the life-principle has left; when the want of elasticity in the subject must necessarily present extra difficulties to be overcome: If we while alive, can be quieted by sleep, or by a narcotic, so as to stupify the mental organs of the brain; the operator with galvanic power will have an easier task-the sinews, muscles, nerves, &c. being flexible, and in working order, the result will necessarily be more natural, and in accordance with the usual movements of the living mechanism while under the control of its own spirit; it will fight, kick, grin, laugh,

or play any antic the operator wishes, dependant on the hold he has of the nerves. Again, if a living subject in his full consciousness places his hand on the mechanism of an electric machine, there is an instant thrill through the whole body, and the hand is, by the will of the operator, properly exerted, kept fast, so that he cannot remove it, although he may exert all the power his own life or spirit can bring to overcome the force. He is powerless, he is in the grasp of a power greater than his own—and yet that power is as unseen as the spirit in the man. I wish these facts to be ever active in the memory of the reader, as they form important links to the understanding of the phenomena which arise under the phrase, Spiritualism. I have been compelled, by the nature of the several sections which have come under notice, to refer incidentally to the nerves. Let us now examine carefully their root, form, substance, and duties, as discovered by anatomists; for knowledge on these points, will greatly facilitate our readiness to accept the facts to be hereafter advanced in proof that unseen power exists, governed by unseen life; and that that power can, under certain conditions, control or guide man while embedded in flesh, bones, and ligatures.

The nerves originate in the base of the brain; and only in this century has the examination of that part of man carefully occupied the thoughts of the student of anatomy. Sir Charles Bell led the way; he developed the mechanism, duties and powers of several branches or semi-roots, and resolved them into three great leading orders-Motion, Sensation, and Respiration that sets of nerves were allied together, but as inde-pendent in their position and duties, as the hands and the feet; that if near the root, the stem was cut; then all power of motion was gone :-take another root, cut it in the same way, and all sensation was gone-thus proving the distinct function of each semi-root. These semi-roots are eleven; the duties of some are enveloped in mystery, but for the sake of perspicuity they are here detailed: as by the detail, the mind more readily perceives how one set of nerves may be injured, paralyzed, or controlled, and the others still act with vigour.

Cerebral nerves to the organs of sensation and volition :

1st pair. Olfactory; controversy respecting their func

tion.

2nd pair. Optic.

3rd pair. Motores Occulorum; anomalous as to function. 4th pair. Pathetici.

5th pair. Trigeminus.

6th pair. Abducentes.

7th pair. Portio Dura, or Facial Nerve.

8th pair. Portio Mollis, or Auditory Nerves. 9th pair. Glosso-pharyngeal.

10th pair. Par Vagum, or Pneumo-gastric Nerve. 11th pair. Hypo-glossal, or Lingual Nerves.

The spinal nerves consist of thirty-two pairs.

The sympathetic nerve divides itself into two leading branches.

These nerves are like grey and white threads; they weave themselves through the bulk of the human body, laying hold of, and controlling the bones, muscles, and fibres of the whole man, and each, according to its order, attending to its own duty.

These root-nerves are the staff-officers of the spirit-they are ever-active, vigilant messengers from the seat of power; and communicate with telegraphic speed to the extremities of his empire, and return information when required.

It is obvious from the foregoing list how varied are the operations of the nerves, and how ill-informed medical men are as to the duties of some of these divisions of nerve; and, therefore, how disqualified men of science are to decide authoritatively as to the nature of the phenomena which frequently appear in connection with the developments of Man, physically and mentally. Doubt is wisdom; denial, without knowledge, is folly. When scientific men know all the duties each pair of nerves has to perform, and they can clearly see the play of powers in the network of nerves, then will they be competent judges. In the meantime let all manifestations of power which appear, be treated as facts; and if arranged, they will in due time develope the law which controls.

Originally my intention was to have entered fully into the nature and properties of the nerves, so far as their nature and properties were known; but, as medical men need notthe information, and the nature of our subject does not require minute explanations for the general reader; enough has been shown to illustrate how the body is moved, and to fully confirm the position taken at the commencement-that the nervepower is the helm-power of the body, and any influence, animate or inanimate, obtaining ascendancy; will disturb or destroy its action, and as a necessary consequence, produce a paralysis on the part or parts of the human body no longer subject to its influence. Taste, Smelling, Hearing, Feeling, and Sight, are all developments of nerve-power. Destroy any branch of any of these nerves, and the sensation is destroyed; so far as the separated portion had power. These physical facts will unfold the laws which produce phenomena yet to be considered, more especially in the next section-Biology.

I have called the roots of the several pairs of nerves—semiroots, because I think they spring from a germ-root, or point.. They are spokes from the centre of the circumference of the wheel of powers; and that point is as fine, as microscopic, as the point of light concentrated in the eye, which has, in its excessive littleness all the extensive mileage of scenery portrayed, before it expands again to the size of the camera-disc in that eye.

We cannot comprehend, though we perceive the feat accomplished. So with the nerve-point, the germ-power of animal life. It has a minuteness, a distinctness, which, as it radiates, expands, till we can see it in action controlling the substance which it comes in contact with; first, through the semi-roots, and then, through the ganglions, which ganglions appear to me to be the absorbents or stomachs for foodjuices, to supply the waste of nerve-substance.

The point of the oak is the acorn; the nerves are the rootfibres; and the earth or flesh of the animal is the holdingground, wherein the fibres run in all directions to lay hold of the food necessary to supply its wants and achieve its instinctive future.

SECTION VI.

BIOLOGY.

BIOLOGY is the power one man has over another; by which, without touching, he can not only control the nerves, and consequently the whole body; but by his WILL or spirit can so confound the perceptions of the patient, that he fancies himself a fish, a lion, a mouse, a child,-fancies he sees, the snow falling around him, and feels the cold piercing him; in which condition he walks with difficulty, as if wading through snow, and wraps himself up in any raiment he can get hold of, shivering and looking the very picture of chilliness. And so also with any other freak of the grotesque or picturesque the operator chooses to create. There have been public exhibitions of this power, and in districts where the operator was a stranger, and the operated upon well known; the latter has, after the exhibition of his absurdities on the public platform, for days been ashamed to show himself in the public streets.

The prudence of producing the phenomena of biology in this phase, may be questioned; but the fault is with scientific men, they deny the existence of the power, and refuse to attend in private, and to examine for themselves; and the public are not to be drawn out to pay a fee for admission to cover expenses, unless there is something "funny," something to create merriment; and, therefore, men full of energy to show their fellow-men something new, and which it appears to them would be useful to society; have to adopt the plan used by "Jesters" in the halls of our kings and nobles in olden days; dress wisdom and knowledge in the costume of a clown or merryandrew. But, apart from any opinion of the prudence or imprudence of such exhibitions, the truth of the principle, stands out as a FACT; and, though it has an amusing phase, there is in its nature, the most important law in man's physical and mental existence; except that of his own vitality or life. That law