573 B. In Mrs. Sidgwick's paper "On the Evidence for Clairvoyance" in Proceedings S.P.R., vol. vii. pp. 30-99, an account is given of several striking cases of " travelling clairvoyance" on the part of a woman there called Jane, the wife of a Durham pitman (op. cit., pp. 53-62 and 82-94). She was hypnotised at intervals for many years from 1845 onwards, for the sake of her health, and used then to ask to "travel" - that is, to be guided by suggestion to places which she should clairvoy-antly visit. The main evidence about her is contained in the contemporaneous notes of a Dr. F., which, however, do not appear to have been made before the truth of her statements was verified. I quote an extract from these notes.

Before commencing the sitting I fixed to take her to a house, without communicating my intentions to any of the parties present. In the morning of the day I stated to a patient of my own, Mr. Eglinton, at present residing in the village of Tynemouth, that I intended to visit him. He stated that he would be present between 8 and 10 p.m. in a particular room, so that there might be no difficulty in finding him. He was just recovering from a very severe illness, and was so weak that he could scarcely walk. He was exceedingly thin from the effects of his complaint.

After the usual state had been obtained, I said, "We are standing beside a railway station, now we pass along a road, and in front of us see a house with a laburnum tree in front of it." She directly replied, " Is it the red house with a brass knocker?" I said, "No, it has an iron knocker." I have since looked, however, and find that the door has an old-fashioned brass handle in the shape of a knocker. She then asked, "Shall we go up the steps ? Shall we go along this passage and up these stairs ? Is this a window on the stair head ? " I said, "You are quite right, and now I want you to look into the room upon the left-hand side." She replied, "Oh yes, in the bedroom. There is no one in this room: there is a bed in it, but there is no person in it." I was not aware that a bedroom was in the place I mentioned, but upon inquiry next day I found she was correct. I told her she must look into the next room and she would see a sofa. She answered, " But there is here a little gallery. Now I am in the room, and see a lady with black hair lying upon the sofa." I attempted to puzzle her about the colour of her hair, and feeling sure it was Mr. Eglinton who was lying there, I sharply cross-questioned her, but still she persisted in her story.

The questioning, however, seemed to distract her mind, and she commenced talking about a lady at Whickham, until I at last recalled her to the room at Tynemouth by asking her whether there was not a gentleman in the room. "No," she said; "we can see no gentleman there".

After a little she described the door opening, and asked with a tone of great surprise, "Is that a gentleman?" I replied, "Yes; is he thin or fat? " "Very fat," she answered; "but has he a cork leg?" I assured her that he had no cork leg, and tried to puzzle her again about him. She, however, assured me that he was very fat and had a great corporation, and asked me whether I did not think such a fat man must eat and drink a great deal to get such a corporation as that. She also described him as sitting by the table with papers beside him, and a glass of brandy and water. " Is it not wine ?" I asked. "No," she said, "it's brandy." "Is it not whisky or rum?" "No, it is brandy," was the answer; "and now," she continued, "the lady is going to get her supper, but the fat gentleman does not take any." I requested her to tell me the colour of his hair, but she only answered that the lady's hair was dark. I then inquired if he had any brains in his head, but she seemed altogether puzzled about him, and said she could not see any. I then asked her if she could see his name upon any of the letters lying about.

She replied, "Yes;" and upon my saying that the name began with E, she spelt each letter of the name "Eglinton".

I was so convinced that I had at last detected her in a complete mistake that I arose, and declined proceeding further in the matter, stating that, although her description of the house and the name of the person were correct, in everything connected with the gentleman she had guessed the opposite from the truth.

On the following morning Mr. E. asked me the result of the experiment, and after having related it to him, he gave me the following account: He had found himself unable to sit up to so late an hour, but wishful fairly to test the powers of the clairvoyante, he had ordered his clothes to be stuffed into the form of a figure, and to make the contrast more striking to his natural appearance, had an extra pillow pushed into the clothes so as to form a "corporation." This figure had been placed near the table, in a sitting position, and a glass of brandy and water and the newspapers placed beside it. The name, he further added, was spelt correctly, though up to that time I had been in the habit of writing it "Eglington," instead of as spelt by the clairvoyante, "Eglinton".