EINSTEIN: Well, then, why did you hesitate before? These experiments come under the head of science, and require no occult veil to appear in the open.
M.: This touches the main issue. Hansen did not work in the interests of science, but wished, above all, to earn money. Nevertheless he had in his own way produced marvellous results that were used later for scientific work. Unfortunately in his case, owing to the fact that he cloaked it in occultism at the outset, he was brusquely repudiated by scientists. The result was that Hansen was condemned to a long period of imprisonment in Dresden, thanks to the recommendation of scientists who declared that the experiments were only possible if deception was practised, and hence that Hansen was an impostor who should be made harmless by being incarcerated.
EINSTEIN: And how did you yourself seek to discover whether his experiments were genuine?
M.: Very easily and with absolute certainty. One of my acquaintances, the wealthy race-horse owner, von Oelschläger, had induced him by means of a high fee to experiment at his country house, at some distance from Berlin, in the presence of persons, not one of whom Hansen knew, and in the case of whom there could be no question of secret collaboration. I can assure you that everything succeeded without exception. A single second was sufficient for him to communicate his will to each subject of experiment. He operated like a supernatural being on those present.
EINSTEIN: I should like to hear examples.
M.: Herr von Oelschläger introduced four jockeys, and suggested a race in the great salon. Hansen placed them astride over chairs, hypnotized them on the spot, described the shape of the course, giving distances in kilometres, curves, and even the value of the prizes. He then gave the signal for starting. The jockeys immediately began treating their chairs as race-horses, exhibiting all the signs of extreme strain which accompany the actual ride.
EINSTEIN: This is not yet a positive proof. The subjects of experiment may have become cognizant of the fact that they were to serve some eccentric display. Their acquiescence in a prescribed part need by no means signify that they were subjectively convinced of the genuineness of the affair.
M.: There could be not the slightest doubt on this point. After a few seconds perspiration was streaming over their faces as a result of the exertion, a symptom that exhibits itself only when the participants are convinced of the absolute earnestness of their undertaking. All that gazed on this baffling ride made the acquaintance of a grotesque reality, and were looking into a strange world of dreams, which transformed wooden chairs into living thoroughbreds. In the course of his following experiments in the transference of his will-power, Hansen experimented with an actress who was famous at that time, and with whom he had no more acquaintance than with the others. He again produced deep hypnosis, and gave the order: I shall ask you various questions, all of which you will be able to answer correctly, with one exception: you will have forgotten your name. And so it happened. In her trance the actress gave correct answers, until, when the question, "What is your name?" was asked, her own name, Helene Odilon, had vanished from her memory. And immediately afterwards, she told me herself that, in spite of her state of coma, she had retained full consciousness, had understood everything, and had been possessed of her memory until it came to the critical moment when, in spite of extreme efforts, she could not recollect the words Helene Odilon. But Hansen did not stop at dictating his thoughts to others, he also transformed corporate things. By a single motion of his hand he converted a stable-boy into a rigid block, devoid of sensation. Never would I have thought such an intense state of cramp possible. He placed the boy with his feet and head alone resting on two supports, so that the body itself was poised in space. He then stood on the body with his whole weight, without the rigid body of the boy bending even an inch.
EINSTEIN: How did he, in all these cases, restore the normal state?
M.: Always by a single gesture, which, like everything that he did, worked at lightning speed. I must admit that his display became a little monotonous after a while, and that his programme did not seem capable of much variation. Things were different, however, in the case of a man who, some years previously, had toured the world as an exponent of occult phenomena, and to whom scientists will some time in the future look back with regret. When he appeared, most academicians took only sufficient notice of him to reject him without having given him a trial. It was Henry Slade, the American, who is not to be confused with other Slades who appropriated his name in order to dupe people whose insatiable curiosity was aroused.