Analysis of the marihuana revealed that it contained about twenty-five per cent. admixture of other herbs in addition to the main base of _cannabis americana_. A gum or sap exudation of an aromatic nature served to bind the mass together. A personal experiment carried out with a small portion of the mixture proved that identical hallucinatory results could be induced by its use in a London room as well as on the top of a Guatemalan Tescalli. Of a party of four, three saw colour visions, two heard music, and one described figures of Mazan mythology with some exactness. As, however, we all know the origin of the incense and its connection, these latter visions may be more properly ascribed to suggestion than held to have objective existence as spirit phenomena. There is reason to believe that other plants, and possibly some synthetic products, have the same peculiar properties of the liberation of the “psyche.” In the same way, although consumption as a draught or as an inhaled smoke veiled by incense are the ritual ways of achieving a physiological result, the same might be achieved by spraying a solution into the air, by absorption through the skin (this may have been the _raison d’être_ of some “witch ointments”), or by hypodermic injection. Needless to say, any attempt to experiment in these matters is extremely unwise and dangerous. FOOTNOTES: [33] _Paracelsus_, Fr. A. Rufini. [34] See Ebers papyri. [35] See _Geschichte der Asassinen_. By T. von Hammer. Burgstall, _Un Grand Maître des Assassins au Temps du Saladin_. Also _Ars Quatuo Coronati_, Vol. ---- [36] The public interest would not be served by the revelation of the second missing ingredient, but it is now known. [37] See monograph on _Mescal_ by Havelock Ellis. CHAPTER VIII BEASTS AND ELEMENTALS The apparitions customarily seen by those who are clairvoyant or psychic are those that take human form. In many cases they represent known humans who have passed over, but sometimes we are brought into contact with non-human apparitions. These may be semi-human or demoniac forms, they may be animal forms, or they may be simply manifestations of elemental forces. Discarding the trumpery attempts at classification that have been advanced by one or two writers of so-called “ghost stories,” it must be recognized that the occultist is faced with problems that cannot be readily reduced or explained by any logical hypothesis. The Spiritualist approaches the question according to set theories. “Spirits,” says he, “can do anything. They take what shape they will. Why they do so is a mystery.” The woman Spiritualist is usually as open to believe that the spirit of her beloved Pekingese or Pomeranian can return in astral form, and ascribes it to the influences of love. “Love me, love my dog,” appears to furnish as good an explanation of animal manifestation as any.