The immediately foregoing instances are facts actually observed at Spiritualistic seances. I will not treat them under a generalization foreign to their proper setting. They do not prove that, in certain circumstances, thinkers, poets, dreamers, investigators, may not be inspired by influences emanating from others, from loved ones, from departed friends. That is another question, a topic quite apart from experiments which we are giving an account of in this book. [Illustration: Fig. 1a.--Orbits of the satellites of Uranus as seen from the earth at different dates since the time of their discovery (1781).] The same author, otherwise generally very judicious, cites several examples of foreign tongues spoken by mediums. I have not been able to verify them, and I am asked not to say here anything but what I am absolutely sure of. According to my personal observations, these experiments bring us constantly into the presence of ourselves, our own minds. I could cite a thousand examples of this. One day I received an "aerolite" discovered in a forest in the environs of Etrepagny (Eure). Mme. J. L., who kindly sent it to me, added that she consulted a spirit about its origin and that he replied to her that it came from a star named Golda. Now in the first place there is no star of this name; and, secondly, this is not an aerolite at all, but a piece of slag from an old forge. (See Section 662 of my Inquiry of 1899. The first of these sections, relating to telepathy, have been published in my work _The Unknown_.) A lady reader of mine wrote me from Montpellier: Your conclusions would perhaps diminish the prestige of Spiritualism in the eyes of certain persons. But, as prestige may produce superstition, it is well to clear up matters. For my part, that which you have observed agrees with what I have myself observed. This is the method which I have employed, aided by a friend: I took a book and, opening it, retained in my mind the number of the right-hand page. Suppose it was 132. I said to the table, which had been put in movement by the little manoeuvre ordinarily used, "Does a spirit desire to communicate?" Reply--"Yes." Question--"Can you see the book which I have just been looking at?" Reply--"Yes." "How many numbers are there on the page that I have been looking at?" "Three." "Indicate the number of hundreds." "One." "Indicate the value of the tens." "Three." "Indicate the value of the units." "Two." The amounts indicated in these statements are of course 132. It was enchanting. Then, taking the closed book and, without opening it, sliding the paper-knife between the pages, I resumed the conversation, and the result with this last method was always inexact.