“I go one better by putting both. Whence comes this amazing sense of yours, and whither does it tend?” “If it amuses you to hear my guesses on those points, I am not disinclined to bring them into the light. Have either of you heard of Paul Flechsig’s ‘organs of thought’ theory? Yes? Well, he holds, as you know, that in the gray bed of the brain there are four inner spheres of sensation--the sphere of touch in the vertical lobe, the sphere of sight in the occipital lobe, the sphere of smell in the frontal lobe, and the sphere of hearing in the temporal lobe. These are the sense-centers. Between, and in active communication with them, lie the four great thought-centers, containing an elaborate and peculiar nerve-structure. Take away the enveloping tissues and bones, and you have a wonderfully complex instrument, balanced, so to speak, on the spinal cord. This, in the descent of man, is not the outcome of, but an essential preliminary to, the brain. I imagine that a comparative anatomist would assign far more importance to the spinal cord than, let us say, a philosopher would give it. Be that as it may, I am quite certain, in my case, that the spine possesses magnetic polarity to an extraordinary degree. Without going into an extensive lecture on the subject, I believe that I have answered your first question. The second bristles with difficulties. I can only tell you that I affect others, who have the same latent attributes, by the exercise of the principle roughly known to science as magnetic induction. Notwithstanding the curious things you have seen, my powers are strictly limited. At a given moment I can induce varying sensations in different subjects, and these sensations, carried to the thought-centers, set in motion the sense-centers. If such faculties were common to all, life would be more simple, and, perhaps, less mechanical.” “That is an extraordinary conclusion,” I broke in. “It sounds contradictory, but I think analysis of my meaning will bear me out. Come now, Hooper, I look to you for support. I recall your famous thesis that man contains within himself all the possibilities of invention. Man required the power to communicate speedily with his fellows. After long ages, he has evolved the electric telegraph and the telephone. I reach the same end without the cumbrous means. Certain people would dub my sixth sense supernatural, or transcendental, meaning thereby something which can exist and operate without a material basis. That is ridiculous. If such well-known beverages as tea and coffee can stimulate thought, if alcohol can intensify feeling, if musk can reanimate the fainting consciousness and ether deaden it, is it not clear that the ordinary senses have an anatomical basis yielding to chemical action? My sixth sense is a true natural phenomenon, and, when I come to be dissected in the interests of science, you must ask the anatomist to explain--” There was a sound at the door as of one fumbling at the handle.