This leads to the third of the facts to be considered--the fact, namely, that Science admits the possibility of “souls” continuing to exist when detached from the bodies with which they are usually associated. The word “detached” does not mean necessarily separation by any considerable interval of space, or the complete absence of every means of communication. A man who speaks and a man who hears are spoken of as being detached from each other notwithstanding that they are connected together by a sound-conveying atmosphere. Bricks stacked in a pile are detached separate entities even though, in popular language, they are said to be “touching” one another. So, in the case of a paralysed man, the affected portion of his brain is no longer under the control of his will, and to that extent there is a severance of his body from his soul; while in cases of complete trance the detachment in question extends to the entire material organism, and also to the entire psychical entity. The soul becomes, for the time being, wholly separated from the body, which no longer is actuated by consciousness, sensation, memory, thought or volition. All that serves to distinguish the state of things from “death” is the absence of bodily decomposition, together with one or two other physical peculiarities, such as the response of the muscles to electrical excitement and the ophthalmoscopic appearances of the fundus oculi. Yet, when the trance comes to an end, the normal intimate association of soul and body is resumed, and both soul and body are found to be unchanged. Now, this is a matter of common knowledge among educated persons and has often been made a subject of scientific observation. It proves, clearly enough, that souls can exist independently of material bodies; and the proof will not be disputed by any man of science who is concerned to speak of things as they are, and who uses words in their ordinary plain meaning and not for the purpose of dialectical subtleties.