Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 17.djvu/431

Rh to the really needy; and that for the accommodation of all others pay wards, or separate pay institutions, should be provided. He makes a review of the hospitals working successfully on this basis in other countries, to show both the feasibility and desirability of such institutions in England.

author of this volume professes to discredit the supernatural element of modern spiritualism, and to explain all its effects naturally. He holds to clairvoyance and animal magnetism, and accounts for everything of the kind by those agencies. There does not seem to be much gained. Of the science of the book we can not speak very highly. A story is told of a woman suspended horizontally in mid-air, with her head resting upon her arm, and her arm resting upon the the top of a rod. "The lady weighs about one hundred and thirty pounds; and, while thus suspended, the attraction of gravitation is completely overcome. Were the rod upon which her head rests fastened into a scale, she would not probably weigh twenty pounds." Indeed, it is declared that all supports have been removed, "and she left hanging in the air without touching an object; in which case, of course, she would weigh nothing. . ..

"The science of this phenomenon we have already explained. Gravity consists in the attraction of the atmosphere to the earth, and by it. This is called atmospheric pressure, which is fifteen pounds to the square inch. The bulk and density of the earth being so much greater than those of the atmosphere, give all bodies on its surface this superior attractive force to the earth. . ..

"In order to suspend this woman, it was necessary to charge her with electricity or magnetism, fifteen times higher than that of her normal condition. This makes her as positive as the earth itself; and, as two positives resist each other, she hangs in the air just where she is placed. Now, if she should be charged higher than this degree, say sixteen pounds to the square inch, she would, of herself, without a touch, rise from the floor to the ceiling, or to that locality where she would be in equilibrium with the attractive force of the air; and, until demagnetized, would there remain suspended."

And of such is the "Key to Ghostism."

volume is a reprint of two English primers dealing with kindred topics, which may very well go together. There are many valuable hints in it regarding the care and management of the mind, but the author seems foolishly nervous lest somebody should take him for a materialist. As the main practical facts are independent of speculation, why should he take pains to put himself forward as a theorist and a partisan? Dr. Granville, however, has given much attention to the subject of mental diseases.

is a small volume of lectures reprinted from "Van Nostrand's Magazine," which will well repay attention to those concerned about the hygiene of house-construction. The subject is of deep and increasing interest; Professor Corfield is an authority upon it, and he is content with a plain, common-sense statement of the subject. His lectures refer to English practice, but the principles he expounds are applicable everywhere, and if followed in this country would be productive of much advantage both private and public.

is one of the series of "American Health Primers" and is an excellent and concise statement of the conditions to be fulfilled in order to have a healthy home. The subjects considered are the site, the