' He shook his head,
said he would try; but it was useless. She said she 'couldn't do
it,' and the agent frankly admitted that it was a failure.
Now, if the mesmeric consciousness were really, as pretended, the
result of mental intercommunication between the agent and
patient, it is obvious that the well-known taste of blood could
be communicated as well as any other taste. This experiment
suffices to prove that the revelations are communicated in the
matter-of-fact way which I have sufficiently described.
Should it happen that a spectator has discovered the method, the
performers easily turn the tables against him. They have always
ready a conventional list of common things; and the agent
undertakes that his mesmeric patient will indicate them without
hearing a word from him, even in another apartment. The agent
then merely touches the object, and the patient begins with the
first name in his list. The patient takes care to give the agent
sufficient time, lest he should name the object next to be
touched before the agent applies his finger, and thus, as it
were, call for it rather than name it when touched, as required
by the case.
1. Guessing.
Five persons having each thought of a different card, to guess
five cards.
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