The impression received by the painter was that it was the portrait of an Englishman named Nathan Early.[1] No date was assigned. [1] See Frontispiece. As a further illustration of her automatic power, it may be mentioned that another uncultivated faculty developed itself, namely, the power of referring to past events in the lives of those who were in her presence. The knowledge of past events so conveyed was frequently most remarkable and was circumstantially correct, even rivalling in this respect the reports which we have of Jung-Stilling and Zschokke. CHAPTER IX. CRYSTAL-GAZING. Automatic messages fall naturally into two general classes: (1) _Motor_ messages, or those received by means of writing, speaking, drawing, or some _activity_ of the body, and (2) _sensory_ messages, or those received _passively_ by means of an impression made upon some of the senses, as, for example, seeing, hearing, or feeling. The motor messages spelt out by raps and table-tipping, and the performances of trance-speakers and spiritualistic mediums need not detain us at present; so far as the messages themselves are concerned they offer no new elements for consideration. The utterances of trance-speakers as a rule are not rich in verifiable facts, though some of their performances are truly remarkable as presenting a phase of improvisation automatically given; and the same may be said of mediumistic utterances generally; they have the same value as automatic writing, whether produced by Planchette, or passively holding the pencil in the hand; and so far as they are honest they probably have the same origin, namely, the secondary consciousness or subliminal self of the medium. As regards the force which makes the raps or tips the table, it is altogether a different subject and its consideration here would be unnecessary and out of place. I hasten to present cases of automatism where the messages brought are given by other means than writing, speaking, or any movement or activity of the body, but which belong to the _sensory_ class, and are received by impressions made upon the senses. Of these the most common are those made upon the sense of sight. To this class belong visions, dreams, distinct mental pictures presented under widely varying circumstances and conditions, in trance, in the hypnotic condition, in sleep, or directly conveyed to the primary conscious self. To simply _think_ how a person, a building, or a landscape looks is one thing, but to have a full mental picture, possessing dimensions, and a stability which admits of being closely examined in detail, is quite another thing.