"Telepathy is likely the base of much of the psychic phenomena presented. The fact that thought can be transferred without the aid of the five senses is well known among men of science. Carefully conducted experiments and ordinary occurrences have proved this time and again. For example: Two people are sitting in a parlor talking about various topics, when one exclaims: 'Have you seen Mr. Brown lately? I haven't seen him for a month.' The other is about to reply when, who should pass but Mr. Brown! The matter is generally dismissed without further comment. Again, two friends have not corresponded for months. Finally, one sitting alone one night decides to write to the other. At the same time the second one is seized with the same idea; they write, the letters pass each other on their respective journeys in the mails, and reach their destinations at the same time. They both are about the same. The average man would call this coincidence, but the coincidence theory is often more complicated than giving the credit to telepathy.

"Clairvoyance is another example of what we term the 'sub-conscious' powers. The clairvoyant is asked to 'see' for a person. He closes his eyes and before his mental vision floats a picture that he interprets as meaning something, as yet to transpire, generally. One after another of these visions come and go until the seance is ended. As time passes, some of them come true. To attempt to explain these things from a scientific standpoint is folly. We know that many of them are genuine, some are frauds. But the desire for occult knowledge has ever given man the impetus - provided his temperament is of the right kind - to delve into the hidden and ferret out what he can of the secrets of life.

"Hypnotism is as wonderful as these and far more useful. Clairvoyance often fails; telepathy would do no particular good to the business man, but hypnotism has a field of its own that is broad and useful. In surgery it can be seldom used; not because it would not be of benefit, but because of the difficulty of using it for purposes of that nature.

"The audience before me have gathered here for the purpose of seeing the demonstrations of this wonderful thing - hypnotism. It approaches the standpoint of a science more than any other occult study. You will see the amusing side of hypnotism tonight. It is necessary to present that phase in public because the scientific demonstrations would soon grow wearisome to the mind of him seeking entertainment and recreation. But I wish you all to bear in mind the fact that, as a therapeutic agent, hypnotism has no equal in nervous disorders. The functions of the body are under the direct control of the mind through the agency of the nervous system, the duty of which is to regulate these functions. The mind, in turn, is controllable by suggestion. I do not say that everything we do is promoted by suggestion, but suggestion has a great deal to do with the shaping of the affairs of our life. In our waking state it is a potent factor. In our sleeping state, with the ordinary faculties at rest, it is much more powerful, as it then acts directly upon the subconscious, or motor, brain of man and thereby touches the power-house, or the central station of the nervous system.

"Suggestion is more of an art than a science, for the things that may work admirably as suggestions on the mind of one would ingloriously fail on another. But suggestion, if properly used, will win its point. For example. I will call your attention to an ordinary little scene that is enacted every day in every town and city and village of the country: Mrs. A. is going up town to see if she has any mail in the postoffice. On her way there, she meets Mrs. B. They exchange greetings, and Mrs. A. asks of Mrs. B. what she has been buying. Mrs. B. shows her some article of household value and remarks that there is a sale on them, and this is the only day that they will be sold for 49 cents!' Whereupon Mrs. A. hurries to the postoffice, gets her mail and goes to the store and purchases her article. She did not intend to buy anything when she started out, but the suggestion was presented to her, she grasped it and acted upon it immediately.

"It is this power of suggestion that the hypnotist uses. True, he does not alone use verbal suggestions, but he suggests through all the senses. The more senses impressed, the greater the force of the suggestions and the longer their effects will last.

"If you will look at dream phenomena a moment, the fact that the hypnotized subject accepts the suggestions that he is a butterfly does not appear so strange after all. A person will become restless in the night, he will toss about until the covers have been thrown off him, and he will become chilly as the fires die out toward morning. Invariably he will dream of wading through snow, or of being in some very cold place. Without waking, he will reach down and pull the covers over himself, and his dreams are again peaceful. This is an example of his dual consciousness. His dream-mind is the one that accepts the suggestions of the hypnotic operator. The only difference between the natural and the hypnotic sleep lies in the fact that, in natural sleep, the conscious mind has become inactive without being in harmony with another mind; in hypnotic sleep, the opposite is the case; the senses are utilized by the subconscious mind and, instead of their becoming dulled, they are intensified.

"The cures wrought through the agency of hypnotism are, to say the least, often wonderful. Many of the diseases of mankind are imaginary. The mind becomes diseased and the body will be no better unless the trend of the thoughts is changed. Hypnotism will often affect this cure.

"In this evening's entertainment, I will ask a number of ladies and gentlemen to step upon the stage and submit to a few hypnotic tests. I do not want you up here to make fools of you. I will not misuse any of you, and I can assure you that there is no danger whatever of weakening your mind. I would ask about twenty to step upon the platform. Remember, there is absolutely no power in hypnotism. If you intend to come upon the platform for the sole purpose of showing your friends that your mind is powerful enough to withstand my influence, I would ask you not to come. If you do your best toward being hypnotized, I will do all I can. Should I then fail, it is no one's fault.