‘... There was nothing we might say but twaddle in the writing which followed, _e.g._ expressions of pleasure on the part of H. B. in that he was able to communicate with me, his long efforts to reach me, etc., when suddenly, at 5.30, without any rhyme or reason, so to say, our medium wrote (always under the influence of the H. B. personification): “Offer me some brandy and water....” Now, during fifty years H. B. had not been known to miss taking a glass of brandy and water every afternoon at half-past five. He was not in the habit of taking this concoction at other hours of the day; so that the coincidence is, to say the least, striking and curious....’ “Finally, on the occasion of the death of the last surviving member of his family, H. B. on the 5th of October 1904 wrote: ‘Poor L., no one is left now. It is a consolation for you to feel me near you.... Very often those left behind cannot see us.’ (_Pauvre L., il ne reste plus personne maintenant, c’est une consolation pour vous de me sentir près de vous. Souvent les survivants ne peuvent pas nous voir._) “This message was interesting because the last relative to die was not L. but C. L. died before C.; but L. had been H. B.’s favourite brother. It is quite correct that no one was left of H. B.’s generation after C.’s death.[27] [27] Neither L. nor C. have ever lived in Bordeaux. In fact H. B. was the only member of his family to leave his native land. “At this same seance, H. B. mentioned a very private detail in connection with L. This fact, which _raisons de convenance_ prevent me from fully relating, defines the nature of the intercourse which had existed between H. B. and his brother L. The circumstances which the writing recalled were known only to H. B. and a few near relations. “I am fully aware that the above details have no demonstrative value, for I knew them all, and the hypothesis of thought transmission can explain them quite as well as the spirit hypothesis. Here is, however, a case which is less easily explained:— “One of my friends is related to a lady, who lives with her husband in Paris. My friend told me that this cousin of his had amused herself one day with table-turning; and he added that the table had followed her without any one touching it. I had spoken of this incident to M. Meurice, but without mentioning names. The incident of the table following the novice the first time she had tried table-turning was the only thing mentioned. “Quite recently, while pursuing my inquiry upon mediums’ eyes, H. B., through automatic writing, told me that the afore-mentioned friend would be able to give me some information on the subject; the writing then named his cousin, but called her by her _maiden_ name, giving the name correctly.