In reality his name was indeed Howels. Mary Howels then spelled out: "I have a child, a daughter: she is seven years old and lives at present on Cat Street in an evil house. I wish that my brother might take her away from there."

Thomas, being illiterate, did not grasp the meaning of this message and they hesitated to tell him. But finally they said: "Your sister claims that she has a little girl seven years old" - Tom counted on his fingers and replied - "That is true, seven years to-day." The rest of the message moved him deeply and he promised to send fifty dollars the following month. But they asked him if there was really a Cat Street in Plymouth, England, for that was the original home of the false Travers. "Yes," he answered, "and it is in the worst section of the city."

During the following days, Mary Howels manifested herself anew, announcing that her child was ill. Later, she was worse, then she said her daughter was dying and finally confirmed her death. "Well," they replied to her, "She is now with you." "No," answered the table.

Strangely enough, the witnesses had continued this dialogue in the belief that they were conversing with the spirit of Mary Howels deceased: but she was living: they had forgotten to question her on this subject.

That became interesting. Mrs. Kirby decided someone should write cautiously to Thomas' parents, and this she did in his name, asking news of the child. An answer came saying all were well save Mary's daughter, who was dead.

The seances had been held in Santa Cruz, California, and Mary Howels was in Plymouth, England.

The time in Santa Cruz, between seven and nine (the time of the seances) corresponded to the middle of the night in Plymouth. Thus the thoughts of Mary Howels were exteriorized during her sleep, and it was the transmission of these thoughts that caused the table movement in Santa Cruz.

The Commission of the Psychical Society corresponded with Mrs. Kirby upon this subject; and in the hope of verifying the story, she wrote to the Post Office in Plymouth to ascertain if the above-named street really existed. The following reply was received:

Post Office, Plymouth, January 23, 1888. Sib:

In reply to your favor of the 21st inst., I am able to inform you, that until a few years ago, there was a street here, called Catte Street, and it is at present named Stillman Street.

Yours very truly, R. A. Leverton, for the director.

It is sometimes difficult to explain the automatic phenomenon: it is often possible to determine its agents. Render unto subconsciousness that which belongs to subconsciousness, and unto the spirit that which belongs to the spirit.

The human mind has sufficiently proven its power to influence the organs: one can no longer deny it this faculty, which we judge normal, when it is exercised by ourselves, and abnormal when an outside agent substitutes itself for our normal action. When it is a question of telepathy or automatism, it is the same phenomenon which affects, in the first case, the sensitive centers, in the second, the excito-motor centers, and which produces, in the one, images, and in the other, movements. Henceforth, we know then, a possible motor agent of the phenomenon of unconscious automatism: it is, indeed, the human person, an exterior source, foreign to the organs, which provokes the movement. This established, we cannot fail to wonder if the proof of a life in the Beyond could be given us, in the same way, in case a disembodied spirit could exert upon us a telepathic action followed by the same results.

Incontestably, this proof has been given us: but one can always escape from it by supposing that there exists in the Beyond beings different from us but corresponding with us and knowing our language, so that they are enabled to play the roles of our disembodied friends, with an aim in view which we cannot comprehend. It is for the reader to judge the probability of this interpretation.

We have an experiment made some years ago, by Doctor Ermacora, founder of the Review of Psychic Studies (La Revue des Etudes Psychiques).

The doctor had a subject, Miss Manzini, who had given him phenomena of spiritistic appearance of the best quality. He asked the personality in the Beyond, who was manifested by automatic writing under the name of Elvira, to give him a proof of her objective reality, by a direct action which she was to exert upon a little girl of five years.

The proof of Elvira was to consist in the creation of a dream, entirely imagined by Dr. Ermacora, which the child could recount upon awakening.

Naturally, it was necessary to assure the complete isolation of the child, an orphan, who was then living with the medium, Miss Manzini, who had her mother with her also.

The child, kept in ignorance of the experiment that was to be tried, was removed to another part of the house and was often already asleep when the doctor dictated the scope of the dream.

All verbal communication was rendered impossibe through seals affixed by the doctor upon the doors of the room where Miss Manzini slept, the other person being ignorant of the prepared subject. The doctor himself would come to break the seals the next morning and the child would be questioned.

The experiments numbered one hundred. For subject matter of the dreams, they chose scenes most incompatible with the knowledge of the child . . . balloon ascensions, tempests, trips to the mountains, etc.

Here are some examples:1

No. 76. Subject of the Dream. The Child will be a blacksmith, out of work, who will go to ask employment from the farrier, who lives in a certain street of Padua. The latter, to test the skill of the workman, will give him a horse-shoe to fashion. While Angeline, the blacksmith, is forging it, the iron will break in pieces and they will discharge her on this account.

1 Taken from the book by Mr. Sage, The Frontier Zone.

"In the morning," wrote Dr. Ermacora, "I found the seals intact and the dream had taken place in its least details. The child could not tell the name of the street, but she described it exactly."