title: The world's greatest, Andrew J. Seymour.
text: .* "^ *; fc': ! ■%'■ W& --.••'-: <^ V- ANDREW J. SEYMOUR. *A R. SEYMOUR is a native of Ohio. At an early age he l^\ discovered that he possessed this peculiar power in a ± \ seeming marked degree. The first test was given with a friend who had lost an article. He asked him to think where he had last seen it. He took the party by the hand and immediately found it. For some days after this he continued in deep study to know why and how he had succeeded in obtaining the lost article. By continu- ally repeating these tests he soon found it easy to reveal names, age and occupation of any one; also to point out any mark or scar, or tell the number of a bank note or watch, combination of safe lock, or, in fact, any manner of business on the mind. After experimenting he found by placing his right hand upon the subject's forehead he could read with more accuracy and rapidity, making of himself, as it were, a human magnet, to attract the He takes vou bv the No Seymour's Birthplace. thought from the subject's brain to his own. hand, you think; and like a flash he tells you what you think. two parties in collusion, like so-called circus mind reading, when one, by a clever telegraphy of words, tells the other what he has in his hand. You may ask what mind reading is. A great many theories have been advanced, such as physic force, mesmeric influence, involuntary action of the muscles, &c, &c, but when the above theories are applied to Mr. Seymour's tests their chain of reason is broken. My theory is that it is mesmeric 4 SEYMOUR BURIED ALIVE. influence, but instead of controlling his subject's mind he allows the subject to control his. The minds must be in sympathy, and when in that passive or negative condition with his eyes covered to shut out all from his vision, he is impelled by the mind or some unknown power to read the correct thought. He is often able to read without coming in contact with his subject, but more accurately by coming in contact, either by wire, rod, or by the hand. In his great London sensational driving tests while blindfolded, driving through the streets of any city to find an article, with no one near him, going at rapid speed, avoiding street cars and all vehicles, A murder was committed at Lincoln, Neb., in April, 1890. Two persons were arrested on suspicion. The gun could not be found that the deed was com= mitted with. The sheriff requested fir. Seymour to assist in solving the mystery. Reading the mind he at once located the gun in a pond of water, linking together a chain of evidence that could have been obtained in no other way. ladies and gents passing by, and never meet with an accident. This is what baffles the minds of the scientific world. We live emphatically in an age of investigation and improvement, when light seems to be pouring in oceans on our world; and he who shuts his eyes, ard then sniffs and sneers because others open theirs and see, is not only recreant to his duty, but does society an irrepar- able wrong. We are floating in an immensity of space that knows no bounds, like the mote in the sunbeam. Thought, reason, understand- ing, etc., are not mind, but merely the results of mind. Mind is a substance that occupies space; it possesses living motion, and the result of that motion is thought, reason and power. If thought, reason and understanding are mind, then our minds are annihilated every Transferred frow Copyris-b* Oft)™ SEYMOUR BURIED ALIVE. 5 night in sleep. Because, if all the organs of the brain are wrapped in profound slumber, then there is not a single thought stirring in the whole intellectual realm. It will not answer to parry the force of this argument by saying that the action of blood upon the brain produces thought, and that this action is suspended in slumber, because the blood flows and acts upon the brain in sleep as well as when we are awake; and hence we should, on this principle, think and reason when asleep nearly as well as when awake. This, however, is not the case. If, then, thought and reason are mind, I must insist that, in profound slumber, the mind is annihilated, for thought is gone. Hence it is plain that thought, reason and understanding are not mind but the effects of mind. It is admitted on all hands that the mind resides in the brain; not in the blood-vessels, but in the nerves them- selves. Now, if the nerves are very much expanded by heat, it is impossible to sleep. By lying perfectly still upon our backs there is a coolness steals over the brain. The nerves, by coolness, are made to contract. They continue gently to shrink until they press upon the living substance that they contain and stop its motion. That moment all thought ceases. Recollect, mind is that substance whose nature is motion, and the result of that motion is thought. By pressure, by force, it is stopped, and thought is gone. The moment our rest is complete a nervous warmth comes over the brain. The nerves ex- pand; leave the mind disengaged; it resumes its motions, and thought is the result. As cold shrinks and heat expands the nervous system, so that we alternately sleep and wake under this double action, so the mind is a living, self-moving and invisible substance, which is capable of being compressed sufficient, at least, to prevent its motion. What is called by skeptics the incomprehensibility and marvellousness of magnetic sleep, and who, on this account, openly avow the impos- sibility and inconsistency of anyone being thrown into such a state; and who, whenever they witness experiments to test it, freely use the stereotyped words, "humbug" and "collusion," and that, too, with great emphasis, without being able, however, to detect this great, this wonderful imposition on public credulity. If we turn to man and investigate the secret stirrings of his nature, we shall find that he is but an epitome of the universe. The chemi- cal properties of all the various substances in existence, and in the most exact proportions, are congregated and concentrated in him, and form and constitute the very element of his being. In the com- position of his body are involved all the mineral and vegetable sub- stances of the globe, even from the grossest matter, step by step, up to the most rarefied and fine. And, lastly, to finish this masterpiece of creation, the brain is invested with a living spirit. The incompre- hensible spirit, like an enthroned deity, presides over and governs through electricity as its agent, all the voluntary motions of this or- ganized corporeal universe; while its living presence, and its involun- tary self-moving powers cause all the involuntary functions Df life to proceed in their destined course. Man is subjected to the same com- 6 SEYMOUR BURIED ALIVE. mon law that pervades the universe, so electricity is the connecting link between mind and matter. As it is co-eternal witn spirit or mind, so it is the only substance in being that can directly touch, or through which it can manifest its powers. It is the servant of the mind to obey its will and execute its commands. It is through this that the mind conveys its various impressions and emotions to others, and through this same medium receives all its impressions from the eternal world; also by this that the mind contracts the muscles, raises the arm, and performs all the voluntary motions of this organized body. The brain is the fountain of the nervous system, from which it sends out its millions of branches to every part of the body; indeed, the brain is but a congeries of nerves, and is the immediate resi- dence of the living spirit. This spirit or mind is the cause of all Seymour making the above driving test does not come in contact with any member of the committee, but drives seated alone on the driver's seat. motion, whether that motion be voluntary or involuntary. It wills the arm to rise, and immediately the arm obeys the mandate. While the very presence of this mind in the brain, even though wrapped in the insensibility of sleep, produces all the involuntary motions of the vitals and executes the functions of life. Mind cannot come in direct contact with gross matter. Mind can no more directly touch the hand, the bones of the arm, the sinews, the muscles, the blood-ves- sels, nor the blood that rolls in them. In proof of this position let one hemisphere of the brain receive what is called a stroke of palsy. I,et the paralysis be complete and one-half of the system will be ren- dered motionless. In this case the mind may will with all its ener- gies — may exert all its mental powers — but the arm will not rise, nor the foot stir. Yet the bones, sinews, muscles and blood-vessels are SEYMOUR BURIED ALIVE. 7 all there, arid the blood as usual continues to flow. Here then we have proof the most irresistible that mind can touch none of these ; for what the mind can touch it can move. It is equally certain mind can touch some matter in the body, otherwise the arm could not raise at all. The question then arises, what is that mysterious sub- stance which the mind can touch as its prime agent, by which it pro- duces muscular motion. In the light our subject now stands the answer is most simple It is that very substance which was disturbed in this paralysis, and that is the nervous fluid, which is animal elec- tricity, and forms the connecting link between mind and matter. Mind is the only substance in the universe that possesses inherent motion and living power as its two primeval efficients. These two seem to be inseperable, because there can be no manifestation of power except through motion. Hence mind is the first grand mov- ing cause. It is the first link in the magnificent chain of existing substances. This mind wills. This will, however, is not a substance, but a mere energy or result of mind. To be plain, it is mind that touches electricity ; electricity touches nerve ; nerve touches muscle; muscle touches bone, and bone raises dead matter. It is, therefore, through this concatenation or chain, link by link, that the mind gives motion to and controls living or dead matter, and not by direct con- tact with all substance. Hence the proof is clear and positive that the mind can come in contact with, and by its volition control, the electricity of the body, and collect this subtle agent with fearful power upon any part of the system. It is evident that the mind holds its residence in the brain, and that it is not diffused over the whole sys- tem. Were it so, then one's hands and feet would think, and in case they were amputated we should lose part of our minds. If, then, the mind, invested with royalty, is enthroned in the brain, and if the mind command the foot to move, or the hand to rise, then it must send forth from its presence an agent, as its prime minister, to exe- cute this command. Hence it is easily seen that all motion and power originate in mind. If the mind continually throws off electricity from the brain by its mental operations, and by muscular motions, then how is the supply kept up in the brain; through what source is it introduced into the system, and how conveyed to the brain? I answer, through the respiratory organs electricity is taken into the blood at the lungs, and from the blood it is thrown to nerves and conducted to the brain, and is there secreted and prepared for the use of the mind. The brain is the fountain of the nervous system, and both its hemispheres are made up of a congeries of nerves. In the spinal marrow, which is the grand conducter from the brain, is lodged the whole strength of the system. From this spinal marrow branches out thirty-two pairs of nerves, embracing the nerves of motion and those of sensation. From these branch out others, and others again from these, and so on till they are spread out over the 8 SEYMOUR BURIED ALIVE. human system in network so infinitely fine that we cannot put down the point of a needle without feeling it; and we cannot feel unless we touch a nerve. We see, therefore, how inconceivably fine the nervous system is. In all these millions of nerves there is no blood; they contain the electric fluid only, while the blood is confined to the veins and arteries. The blood-vessels pass round among the con- volutions of the brain, and through them the blood freely flows to give that mighty organ action ; but in the nerves themselves there Seymour the Medium playing a piece of Husic thought of by a stranger. is no blood. They are the residence of the living mind, and its prime agent, the electric fluid. The operations of the mind and the nervous system of man have been too much overlooked; greater attention has been paid to the blood, and to the more gross and solid parts of the body. But it is evident that disease begins in the electricity of the nerves, and not in the blood. Electricity is the starting point. From thence it is communicated to the blood, from the blood to the flesh, and from the flesh to the bones which are the last affected. It begins in the finest and ends in the grossest particles of the system. The unseen are the starting powers. As the brain is the fountain of the nervous system, and sends forth its millions of branches to every possible part and extremity of the body. This nervous system is filled with electricity, which is the agent or servant of the royal mind, who, as monarch, SEYMOUR BURIED ALIVE. 9 holds his throne in the brain. From thence the mind, by its volitions, controls one-half of the electricity of the system. It controls all that is contained in the voluntary nerves, but has no such control over the other half, which is confined to the involuntary nerves. So we perceive that the same nervous fluid which, when equalized, produces health, is, when thrown out of balance, the cause of disease. The whole electricity of the nerves is, of course, one hundred per cent. Fifty per cent, is under the voluntary control of the mind, and belongs to the voluntary nerves, and the other fifty per cent, is under the control of the involuntary powers of the mind and belongs to the involuntary nerves. If the mind, on hearing bad news, or by some sudden distress, should call the whole fifty per cent, of electricity under its control to the brain, apoplexy and death must ensue. Medical men have noticed the great effect that the mind has upon the body, both as regards a disastrous or salutary result. Hence they keep up the brightest hopes of their patients as to recovery, and carefully guard every one against uttering to them a word of dis- couragement. These effects they have seen, but not understanding the connecting link between mind and matter, the true philosophy of disease has been by them overlooked, and in relation to this science they may after all cry " humbug." But this will avail them nothing, for truth, after all, will stand unshaken, and be appreciated by after generations, when opposition shall have been interred with no hope of its resurrection. As regards mental impressions, we see the supreme importance of maintaining a reconciled state of mind. Kquanimity of mind is the parent of health, peace and happiness. Taste, seeing, etc. are electrically conveyed to the mind. Try the following experiments: Take a half dollar and piece of zinc of the same size. Touch them separately to the tongue and you will not perceive any taste; but put the tongue between them, and, in this position, touch the edges of the two pieces together over the end of the tongue and you will taste a pungent acid. This taste is produced electrically. Zinc contains a greater portion of electricity than the silver, and when they come in contact it gives it off to the silver and conveys the sensation of taste through the glands to the mind. In further proof of this living electricity put the hair dollar against the gums under the upper lip; open the mouth and lay the zinc upon the tongue. By moving the tongue up and down you will touch the pieces together, and every time they come in contact you will not only perceive the same taste before described, but you will see a flash of lightning. Now that this lightning is seen directly by the mind, and independent of the natural organ of the eye, you may enter a dark room, and in the darkest night, close your eyes, and even bandage, and yet when you touch those pieces as described you will see a flash even when one from the heavens could not be seen. This flash is conveyed through the nervous system directly to the mind, where alone exists the power of vision. This is not only proof that taste and sight are electrically 10 SEYMOUR BURIED ALIVE. conveyed to the iniud, but also that electricity is that substance which alone comes in contact with mind. ARTHUR ST. ELMO'S SECRET OF MESMERISM REVEALED. I will now proceed to instruct you how an individual can be elec- trically and psychologically controlled. This is a subject involving vast utility as a curative power to the sick and distressed, and is there- fore full of deep and stirring interest to every feeling heart. To control is to cure. In order to effect an individual, and to success- Seymour found a dagger stained with blood used by a bank clerk near Kansas City, flo , year of 1874. fully control his mind and muscles, it is, in the first place, necessary that he should stand in a negative relation to the operator as to the doctrine of impressions. Some persons are naturally in this condition ; were born in it; live in it, and will die in it. Others are not in this state, and hence means must be used to bring them there before they can be controlled. In order to determine whether an individual stands in this negative relation to yourself, as the operator, you may first proceed to take the communication, as we term it. Hence, as man is a part of the universe, he constantly takes into his system large portions of electricity with the air he inspires, with the water he drinks, and with the food he eats. And by mental and muscular action, and the common operations of animal life, he unceasingly throws it off through the nervous force. On passing from his system into the surrounding elements, it forms around him his electric or SEYMOUR BURIED ALIVE. 11 magnetic circle. How large this circle may be is as yet to us un- known. Hence, when two individuals come within a certain distance of each other, their circles meet, and touch each other at two points. If one of the individuals is in the electro-psychological state, the communication will be taken through the positive and negative forces. And through this communication is taken without personal contact, yet it is done through the nerve that constitutes our individ- ualism or personal identity. A communication in this manner can be established with those persons only who are very sensitive. The most natural mode to get a good communication, and the one least liable to be detected, is to take the individual by the hand, and in the same manner as though you were going to shake hands. Press your thumb with moderate force upon the ulnar nerve, which spreads its branches to the ring and little ringer of the hand. The pressure should be nearly an inch above the knuckle, and in range of the ring finger. Lay the ball of the thumb flat and partially crosswise, so as to cover the minute branches of this nerve of motion and sensation. The pressure, though firm, should not be so great as to produce pain or the least uneasiness to the subject. When you first take him by the hand request him to place his eyes upon yours and to keep them fixed, so that he may see every emotion of your mind expressed in the countenance. Continue this position and also the pressure upon this cubital nerve for half a minute or more; then request him to close his eyes, and with your fingers gently brush downward several times over the eyelids as "though fastening them firmly together. Throughout the whole process feel within yourself a iixed determination to close them, so as to express that determination fully in your countenance and manner. Having done this, place your hand on the top of his head and press your thumb firmly on the organ of individuality, bearing partially downward, and with the thumb still pressing the ulnar nerve, tell him, "you cannot open your eyes!" Remember that your manner, your expression of countenance, your motions and language must be of the most positive character. If he succeed in opening his eyes, try it once or twice more, because impressions, whether physical or mental, continue to deepen by repetition. In case, however, that you cannot close his eyes, nor see any effect pro- duced upon them, you should- cease making any further efforts because you have uow fairly tested that his mind and oody both stand in a positive relation to yours as it regards the doctrine of impressions. There is another mode of communication through the median nerve, which is a compound nerve having the power of both motion and sensation. It is located in the center of the upper part of the palm of the hand near where it joins the wrist. In order to take the commun- ication through this medium, you must take the subject by the hand with the palm upward, place the ball of your thumb in the center of his hand near the root of his thumb, and give a moderate but firm pressure. The astonishing nature of the impression can only be equalled by the result produced. If you succeed in closing the 12 SEYMOUR BURIED ALIVE. subject's eyes by this mode, you may then request him to put his hands on his head, or in any other position you choose, and tell him, "you cannot stir theni!" In case you succeed request him to be seated and tell him, "you cannot rise!" If you are successful in this request him to put his hands in motion and tell him, "you cannot stop them!" If you succeed request him to walk the floor and tell him, "you cannot cease walking!" And so continue to perform experiments involving muscular motion till you can completely control him. When this is accomplished, we say, for the sake of convenience, he is in the electrical state. You may, perhaps, not be able to affect him further; and as you cannot know without a trial, Conveyances of thought over an electric wire. This test alone has astonished the scientific minds, awakened the press and mystified the populace of both hemispheres. The most miraculous exhibition of spirit power ever given mortal medium. you will proceed to produce mental impressions by operating upon his mind only. If he is entirely in the state, you can make him see that a cane is a living snake or eel; that a hat is a halibut or flounder; a handkerchief is a bird, child, or rabbit; that the moon or stars falls on a person and sets him on fire, and you can make him hasten to extinguish it. You can make him see a river, on it a steamboat crowded with human beings. You can change his own personal identity, and make him believe that he is a child two or three years old, or that he is an aged man, or even a woman. You can change the taste of water to that of vinegar, wormwood, honey, or anything you please. In like manner you can operate on his hearing and smelling, as well as on his sight, feeling and taste. We now say for convenience that he is in the psychological state. The average num- SEYMOUR BURIED ALIVE. 13 ber of persons in the United States who are naturally in the psycho- logical state is almost one in twenty-five. These can be cured of any functional diseases with which they may be assailed by simply per- forming upon them the experiments just named, or others of a like character. And on such any surgical operation may be performed without the slightest degree of pain, that, too, while they are wide awake and in perfect possession of all their reasoning faculties. We see how vastly important it is that all should be brought into the electro-psychological state. It would be a triumph over disease and pain, and prepare the human race to wear out with age. In order to bring about this result there is no better process than the following- For convenience take a piece of zinc the size of a cent, but somewhat thicker, and imbed a silver five-cent piece in its center; pass a small copper wire, as a rivet, through both. Place this coin in the palm of the hand with the silver side up, and request him to bring it within a foot of his eyes. L,et him take a position which he can retain twenty minutes or more without any motion of his feet, hands, lips, head. He must remain motionless as a statue, except the natural winking of the eye. The eye should be placed upon the coin as though riveted there. If they have a tendency to close he should not strive to keep them open; let them close. Follow nature. If one sitting does not bring them to this state repeat the next evening. Some require one sittings some two, some three, some more. No two are alike. Now if you really desire to mesmerize a person who has never been put into the state, nor in the least affected, there is no better mode than to seat him in an easy posture and request him to be calm and resigned. Take him by both hands, or else by one hand and place your other gently on his forehead. But with whatever part of his body you may choose to come in contact, be sure to always touch two points answering to the positive and negative forces. Fix your eyes firmly upon his, and, if possible, let him contentedly and steadily look you in the face. Remain in this position till his eyes close. Then place both hands on his head, gently pass them to his shoulders, down the arms, and off at the ends of his fingers. Throw your hands outward as you return them to his hcjad, and continue these passes till he can hear no voice but yours. He is then entirely in the mesmeric state. The reason why you throw your hands outward on returning them to his head when making the passes is to avoid waking him by passing them upward in front and near his body. It is well known that downward passes of an electro- magnet attached to a galvanic battery the steel magnet becomes instantly charged so as to lift a pound of iron. By the upward passes it becomes instantly demagnetized so that it will lift nothing. The same applies to the human being when his mind is left uninfluenced. In case the person whom you wish to mesmerize is not affected, feels no inclination to close his eyes after fifteen or twenty minutes' trial, you will proceed to make the passes and continue them for fifteen or twenty minutes. Then take him again by the hands as at first; 14 SEYMOUR BURIED ALIVE. continue this position the same length of time, then resume the passes as before. Continue these two modes of operation alternately about an hour. Before you leave him reverse the passes for the space of a minute, as though waking him up. The next day give him another sitting of an hour; and so on day after day till you get him into the mesmeric state. When a person is in the mesmeric state, awake him by the upward passes. There are mysteries in mesmerism, but no more than in any other science. It is vastly important that every person while at ease, or even in health, should be operated upon until the brain is magnetically subdued. One person can be mesmerized in an hour or less, another in two hours, Seymour caused the Accused Thief to mentally confess that the stolen diamonds were concealed in tiia cavities of har teeth. and so on up to thirty hours. Let a healthy friend of yours sit down one hour each day until he subdues your brain. No person should mesmerize more than one hour in twenty-four. The exertion is so great he will injure himself if he does. But here is the glory of this science. Though you may labor an hour each day for twenty or thirty days in succession, yet what you gain you hold until the work is accomplished. After the brain is once magnetically subdued you can then throw the person into the state in five minutes. Your brain being magnetically subdued, it is worth hundreds of dollars to you. You are then ready for the day of distress. Come what may — tooth- ache, headache, ticdoloreaux, neuralgia, or any pain which you can conceive. Let some one mesmerize you, then wake you up, and the pain is gone. The whole process need not occupy more than ten SEYMOUR BURIED ALIVE. 15 minutes. Should )Ou break your arm, let some person mesmerize the arm only, which can be done in one minute. You are free from pain, and though in your wakeful state, you can look quietly on and see the bones put to their places. Your arm can be kept in the mesmeric state, and thoroughly and rapidly healed without having ever experienced one singte throb of pain. If you neglect to have your brain magnetically subdued, then when the day of distress comes upon you it might require several hours to put you into this state; it will then be too late too avail yourself of the blessings this science is calculated to bestow. It is not only a preventative of fits, insanity, and of the most frightful nervous diseases, but a safeguard against pain. It never fails to remove the ague and fever. Truth is immutable; cannot bend to circumstances, and must stand independent of the belief or unbelief of men. It must soar on towering wing far above the reach of scorn, and sooner or later triumph over all opposition. We are but an epitome of God's universe, and in us is contained every variety of matter and substance in being. "The proper study of mankind is man;'' in this study the most unbounded fields are opened to the range of human thought. We will now speak of the dangers of mesmerism. Do you know of any blessing beneath these heavens but what has been and still continues to be abused? There is no more common blessing than taste; yet to gratify taste millions on millions have gone to a drunkard's grave. Also millions have gone to their graves through excess in eating. But is taste a curse because men abuse it? So can all the organs of the human brain be abused; it is impossible for any person to be thrown into the state against his will, if he at the same time use physical resistance. When in the magnetic state he has twice the strength to resist and defend himself that he has when out of it. One surely would not suffer an enemy, nor an unprincipled person, to mesmerize them. But to be safe, never allow any one to magnetize you, unless in the presence of a third person. There are persons who undertake to mesmerize others, who have some local disease, or are in feeble health. By so doing they injure themselves and also the subject. Such persons have no nervo-vital fluid to spare, and what little they have is in a diseased state and unfit to be thrown upon the nervous system of another. I care not what the disease may be, by long persistence in mesmerizing a person, that disease will be at length communicated to the subject. Great caution, in this respect, should be observed by both parties, if they would not impair their health. Never allow any person of a poor constitution to put you in this state; and I also warn those who are diseased, or even in delicate health, never to mesmerize others, for they will by so doing, inflict upon themselves a serious injury. But, on the other hand, there is no danger in a healthy person magnetizing those who are diseased. As the operator imparts the nervo-vital fluid, and doe; not receive any in return, he is in nj danger of taking the disease of his patient. 16 SEYMOUR BURIED ALIVE. ANDREW J. SEYMOUR'S CORRECT METHOD OF MIND READING. It is the action of the positive and negative impressions of two minds; but the minds must be in sympathy. The subject's mind the positive and the reader's mind the passive. The reader must take the subject's left hand in his left and place the right hand to the subject's forehead or base of the brain, and soon you will be impelled by some unknown force to move toward the hidden article or object thought of. To read words thought of by the subject, the reader must have charts of letters and figures. Then by forming connection in same manner as stated above, and moving the hand slowly over the charts, ANDREW J. SEYMOUR. the same unknown hidden force will indicate to the reader the thoughts of the subject. In all tests the reader should be blindfolded and the subject must keep his mind intently fixed on the subject in question. A TEST.— To further prove the true action of your mind, tie a key or some article to a string about sixteen inches long, hold it between the thumb and finger of the right hand, holding your arm and hand out away from the body, then will the key, " as it were," to move to the right, left or revolve in a circle, and almost instantly it will answer your thought's bidding while you hold the hand and arm perfectly still. r J .SEYMOUR BURIED ALIVE. 17 SEYMOUR'S BURIAL TEST. Suspended Animation. HOW AN INDIAN FAKIR REMAINED BURIED ALIVE FOR TEN MONTHS. That the plan is practicable is alleged by travelers who claim to have seen the thing done by Indian fakirs. Captain Osborne, a British army officer, in his work entitled "The Court aud Camp of Rungeet Sing," gives a circumstantial account of a fakir who had the extraordinary power of suspending his animation for a great length of time, during which he allowed himself to be kept in a burial vault apart from all supply of air and food. After going through a regular course of preparation, which occupied him seven days, and the details of which are not agreeable to dilate upon, the fakir reported himself ready for interment in a vault which had been prepared for the purpose by order of the maharajah. Captain Osborne tells us that on the appearance of Rungeet and his court he proceeded to the final preparations that were necessary in their presence. After stopping with wax his ears and nostrils, he was stripped and placed in a linen bag, and the last preparation was con- cluded by turning his tongue forward and closing the gullet. He im- mediately died away in a kind of lethargy. This bag was then closed and sealed with Rungeet's seal and after- ward placed in a small deal box, which was also locked and sealed. The box was then placed in a vault, the earth thrown upon it and trodden down and a crop of barley sown over the spot and sentries placed around it. The maharajah was, however, very skeptical on the subject, and twice in the course of the ten months that the fakir remained under ground he sent people to dig him up, when he was found to be in ex- actly the same position and in a state of perfectly suspended animation. At the termination of the ten months Captain Wade, another British officer, accompanied the maharajah to see the fakir disinterred. He examined the fakir personally and minutely and was convinced that all animation was perfectly suspended. He saw the locks opened and the seals broken by the maharajah and the box brought into the open air. The man was then taken out, and on feeling his wrist and heart not the slightest pulsation was perceptible. The first thing towards restoring him to life was the forcing of his tongue back to its proper position, which was done with some little difficulty by a person insert- ing his finger and forcibly pulling it back and continuing to hold it until it gradually resumed its natural place. Captain Wade describes the top of his head to have been considerably heated, but all other parts of the bod)- were cool and healthy in appearance. Pouring a quantity of warm water upon him constituted the only further measurers for his restoration, and in two hours' time he was as well as ever. 18 SEYMOUR BURIED ALIVE. The above test was to have been performed by Andrew J. Seymour but Mayor Harrison of Chicago, 111., refused the burial permit. This is only one of the many testimonials on record in books of Indian travel to the same effect. SEYMOUR'S PALMISTRY BY THE LINES ON THE HAND. The palms of the hands contain a great variety of lines running in different directions, every one of which bears a certain relation to the events of a person's life; and from them, with the most infallible cer- tainty, can be told every circumstance that will happen to any one, by observing them properly. It is therefore recommended to pay ^VV"^ >tSlc\>LLeM Seymour, the Thought Magnet, reading through a telephone at Salt Lake City, and iinling an article at Ogden, Utah, over forty miles distant. strict attention to this subject, as by that means you will undoubtedly gain very excellent knowledge for your pains. And first is given the names of the several lines as they hold their places, and then particularize their qualities. There are five principal lines in the hand, viz: — The Line of Life. The Line of Death. The Table Line. The Girdle of Venus. The Line of Fortune. And besides these are other Lines, as the Line of Saturn, the Liver Line, and some others, but these only serve to explain the principal Lines, SEYMOUR BURIED ALIVE. 19 The chief Line on which persons of the profession lay the greatest stress, is the Line cf Life, which generally takes its rise where the thnrnb-joint plays with the wrist on the inside; and runs in an oblique direction to the inside of the innermost joint of the fore finger. The next is the Line of Death, which separates the fleshy part of the hand on the little finger side, from the hollow of the hand, run- ning in various directions in different people. The Table Line originates with the Line of Life at the wrist, and runs through the hollow of the hand towards the middle finger. The Girdle of Venus takes its course from the extremity of the low- ermost joint of the little finger, and, forming a curve, terminates between the fore and middle fingers. The Line of Fortune strikes from behind the ball, or mount of the fore finger, across the palm and Line of Life, and loses itself in or near the fleshy part of the hand, on the little finger side. If the Line of Life is crossed by other lines at or near the wrist, the person will meet with sickness in the beginning of life, and the degree of sickness will be proportioned to the size, length, and breadth of the intervening lines. If the Line of Life runs fair and uninterrupted, the person will enjoy good health; and according to its length towards the outside of the fore finger, you may judge if the person will live long, as the longer the line the longer the life. If the Line of Death is short, and runs even, without being broken or divided, it shows that the person will enjoy a good length of days, and not be subject to many maladies; but if it is interrupted, it evidently shows that the person's life will be endangered by illness. If this line ends abruptly, and with a broad point, it shows that the person will die suddenly; if it goes off in a tapering point, the last illness will be slow, and consuming by degrees. If other lines run across it, the person will be of a weakly and infirm habit of body, often incapable of following any hard or laborious business. The line of Fortune, by its approach to the Girdle of Venus, shows that there is a strong kindred between them, and their distance, at their two extremities, clearly points out that love is inconsistent with childhood and old age; yet in those where the cross lines approach from the one to the other near their ends, prove that the person were, or will be susceptible of love in childhood or old age. For example, if the cross lines are at the beginning of the Girdle of Venus, and bear towards the tail of the Line of Fortune, it evidently indicates that the person was susceptible of love at an earlier period than usual; if these lines of communicaticn are crossed by other small lines, the person has been disappointed in his wishes, or severely punished for gratify- ing them; if plain and straight, that he has been successful; if the lines take their rise from the tail of the Girdle, and lead towards the head of the Line of Fortune, the person will be amorous in his old age, and according to the situation of the transverse lines, will be successful or unfortunate in his amours; if the Line of Fortune runs smooth, broad and clear, the person will enjoy affluence through life, and be pros- 20 SEYMOUR BURIED ALIVE. 