“In a little while the wreck was cleared; the old man left me, promising to call again that day, and I went out to order new apparatus, some glazing, another carpet, and to visit a number of patients; after which I returned. It was about three o’clock, and I had not been long in before Miakus, true to his word, came also.”
FOOTNOTE:
[6] See the book called “Dealings with the Dead,” second series.
[CHAPTER IV.]
THE MAGIC MIRROR.
“ ‘Let me give you a piece of advice,’ said Miakus, ‘for you need it. First, never intrust any secret to a friend, which, if revealed, would bring trouble or disgrace. Never interfere in a brawl or quarrel, no matter who is right or who wrong; but always let the world do its own fighting, while you stand by to avail yourself of any advantage that chance may disclose; and lastly, keep what you know until there shall be a market for it. Now we will test our magic glass,’ and forthwith we went into the rear office, which by that time had been refitted, so far as glass and carpet were concerned.
“In his hands he bore the rose-wood box, which he laid upon the table, while, by the aid of four gimlets, he fixed a silken screen, or curtain, entirely across the room, having previously closed the shutters to exclude every ray of daylight from the apartment.
“ ‘That,’ said he ‘is a magic screen. You have seen a magic-lantern exhibition. Well, this is to be a similar one, without the lantern. I now open this box, as you see, and take from it this mirror, which is, as you observe, merely two plates of French glass, with strips of wood around their edges to keep them half an inch apart, and so that a fluid poured between them shall not escape. Nothing depends for success upon either the box, the curtain, or the glasses, but all depends upon the peculiar fluid between them, which is, as you perceive, of a dark brown color, but at a distance, quite inky to the eye.
“ ‘I now hang this mirror by this hook, to the ring sewed to the upper central edge of the screen. Then closing and locking both the doors, thus, I place these two chairs for you and I to sit upon. Then I take this reflector and place it near the gas jet in such a manner as to throw a strong light—a perfectly circular and brilliant disk upon the very centre of the glass tablet, thus,—and he suited his actions to his words; after which we took our seats before the curtain, and I observed that the liquid between the glasses was of such a nature as to reflect a sort of semi-opalescent hue.
“ ‘Before proceeding to demonstrate the truth of Hamlet’s remark to Horatio,’ said the experimenter at my side, ‘I find it essential to give you a why and wherefore. Know, then, that not only is there a mysterious and powerful sympathy between man’s body and all things outside of it, but it is still more true that a greater one exists between these outside things and his soul within, as is proved by the astonishing power over it exerted by various substances, most of which, especially the last eight, ought to be banished from the earth and be accursed for ever—for instance, Belladonna, Cantharadin, Beng, Opium, Hasheesh, Dewammeskh, Hyndee, Tartooroh, Hab-zafereen, Mah-rubah, Gunjah, and many other vegetable preparations that might be named, and every one of which will not merely affect the body, but the tremendous mystery that lies concealed within it. They expand the soul, but they also damn it! Let us ascend from gross matter to the volatile—Light, for instance. By concave mirrors we can throw an image in open space that shall be seen by thousands. We chain a shadow, and whoever has a photograph possesses one such prisoner. We make a few passes over a glass of water, and charge it thus with any specific quality we choose, nauseous or pleasant, and it produces corresponding effects upon the patient who takes it. Here you have mind and matter united by an act of mere volition. But we go still farther: for we select materials, and with them render the water still more highly sensitive. We then charge it with our souls, to such an extent that it shall comatize a man’s body, and illuminate his soul to the sublimest degree of clairvoyance. Still higher: it is possible to compound a liquid that shall seize on, and for a time retain, by its subtle power, any mental image thrown upon it. Still higher: there are direct and positive affinities and co-relations between every thing and person on this earth and off it. By certain knowledge, certain persons are able to select those things that possess certain affinities to and for the inhabitants of the upper worlds, and the dwellers in the Spaces. Now that glass disk before you contains such a liquid, thus compounded—’
“Here he gave me the most minute explanations of the process of constructing such curious mirrors, and how to charge them with a liquid which I at once saw must of necessity be electrical, magnetic, highly odyllic and ethereal. Then he told me how to charge it differently for different uses—as a toy, a means of medical diagnosis, for the purpose of interpreting dreams, seeing earthly things, discovering lost treasures, reading the past or the future, and for many other purposes, as no one mirror would serve more than one end, or work in more than a single direction, unless specially constructed for such general use, which would render them too costly.