“To a certain extent, and up to a certain point, it is possible
to account for the astonishing case of the Blind Spot by means of
well-known psychological principles. Hallucinations will cover a great
deal of ground.
“But we feel that our personal experiences, in witnessing the interior
of the Thomahlia cannot be thus explained away. Our accounts tally too
exactly; and we are not subject to group hypnosis.
“To explain this we believe a new hypothesis is called for. We submit
that what we saw was not unreal. Assuming that a thing is real or
unreal, and can never be in a third state which is neither one nor the
other, then we should have to insist that what we saw was REAL.
“We stand ready and prepared to accept any theory which will fit all
facts, not merely a portion.”
Again refraining from any comment we pass on to the more exhaustive
opinion of Sir Henry Hodges. Inasmuch as this seems to coincide very
closely with the hypothesis of Professor Holcomb, and as the reputation
of Sir Henry is a thing of weight, we are quoting him almost verbatim:
“There is a well-known experiment in chemistry, wherein equal quantities
of water and alcohol are mixed. Let us say, a pint of each. Now, the
resulting mixture ought to be a quart; but it is not. It is somewhat
less than a quart.
“Strange, indeed, to the novice, but a commonplace to every student of
the subject. It is strange only that, except for Dr. Holcomb and
this man Avec, science has overlooked the stupendous significance and
suggestion of this particular fact.
“Now, consider another well-known fact: No matter how you try you cannot
prevent gravity from acting. It will pull every object down, regardless
of how you try to screen it from the earth.
“Why? Because gravity penetrates all things. Again, why? Why should
gravity penetrate all things?
“The answer is, because gravity is a function of the ether. And the
ether is an imponderable substance, so impalpable that it passes right
through all solids as though they were not there.
“These are two highly suggestive points. They show us, first, that two
substances can exist within the space formerly thought to be completely
filled by one. Second, they show that ALL substances are porous to the
ether.
“Very well. Bear in mind that we know nothing whatever directly about
the ether; our knowledge is all indirect. Therefore--
“It may be that there is more than one ether!
“Conceive what this means. If there were another ether, how could we
become aware of it? Only through the medium of some such phenomenon as
the Blind Spot; not through ordinary channels. For the ordinary channels
are microscopes and test-tubes, every one of which, when traced to the
ultimate, is simply a concrete expression of THE ONE ETHER WE KNOW!
“In the nature of the case our five senses could never apprehend a
second ether.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account