The long-continued concentration of vision on an object tends to produce a partial paralysis of certain functions of the brain. This effect may be noted in the helplessness of a bird when its gaze is fixed upon the glittering eyes of a serpent, or in the unwilling obedience yielded by a lion or some other wild animal when forced to look into the intent eyes of its trainer. In the same way those who gaze for a long time and without interruption on a crystal or glass ball, on an opal, a moonstone, a sapphire, or a cat’s-eye, may become partially hypnotized or even fall into a profound sleep. The condition induced, whether it be that of semi-trance, of hypnotism, or simply due to the imaginative workings of the brain, is believed to give an insight into the future. This hypnotic effect is probably caused by some gleam or point of light in the stone, attracting and fixing the beholder’s gaze. The moonstone, the star sapphire, and the cat’s-eye are all gems which possess a moving light, a moving line, or three crossed lines, and they are believed by the Orientals to be gems of good luck. Indeed, it is supposed in the East that a living spirit dwells within these stones, a spirit potent for good. Superstitious fancies bear the same relation to truth that the shadow of a form does to the form itself. We know that the shadow has no substantial existence, and yet we know equally well that it is cast by some real body; in the same way we may be sure that, however foolish a superstition may appear to be, it has some foundation in fact. Indeed, superstition is associated with the highest attribute of the human mind,—imagination. The realities about us gain much of their charm from sentiment, and all that is great in art and literature owes its being to the transforming energy of pure imagination. Morbid imagination, on the other hand, distorts and degrades the impressions it receives and produces only unlovely or ignoble forms and ideas. Sentiment may best be expressed as the feeling of one who, on a warm summer’s day, is rowing along a shady brook or resting in some sylvan dell, with nothing to interfere with his tranquil mood and nothing to spur him on to action; thus he has only suggestions of hope and indulges in rosy views of life. Reality, on the other hand, may be likened to a crisp winter’s morning when one is filled with exhilaration, conscious of the tingle of the cold, but comfortable in the knowledge of wearing a tightly-buttoned garment which will afford protection should the elements become disturbing. Superstition, lastly, can be said to resemble a dark, cold, misty night, when the moon is throwing malevolent shadows which are weird and distorted, while the cold seems to seize one by the throat and arouse a passionate desire to free one’s self from its grip in some way, to change a horrible nightmare into a pleasant dream.