Thursday, December 23, 2021

A Little-Known Classic of Parapsychology

People who make serious study of the paranormal tend to be well aware of certain classic volumes of parapsychology, such as the often-mentioned works below:

Conversely, the 576-page work Man and His Relations by Samuel Byron Brittan MD is almost never cited, although it seems to be in the same class as most of the often-mentioned books above.  Maybe the work failed to get the attention it deserved because it lacked an intriguing memorable title such as The Night Side of Nature or Death and Its Mystery. It sure didn't help that the book's full title was the way-too-long and boring-sounding title "Man and his relations : illustrating the influence of the mind on the body : the relations of the faculties to the organs, and to the elements, objects and phenomena of the external world." From that dull-sounding title, you would never guess that the chapters are rich with fascinating material. Let's take a took at some of the book's very interesting contents, which discuss very many topics in psychology and parapsychology. 

Samuel Byron Brittan MD

After dozens of pages of well-written but not-very-interesting prose, we have on page 67 the first very interesting account of the book:

"Mr.  Charles  Lawrence,  with  whom  the  writer  was  for  several  years  on  familiar  terms,  possessed  a remarkable  voluntary power  over  sensation  and  vital  motion.  He  could  so  paralyze the  censor  nerves  that  his  skin  might  be  punctured without  causing  pain,  and  a violent  blow  did  not  occasion the  least  suffering.  By  the  power  of  his  volition  he  could immediately  accelerate  the  pulsation  in  a surprising  degree  ; and  he  could  also  entirely  suspend  the  heart’s  action  in  three minutes ! These  effects  were  repeatedly  produced  in  the presence  of  the  writer,  before  public  asssemblies,  and  to the  satisfaction  of  several  committees  composed  of  members of  the  medical  profession."

The author mentions Eastern holy men with similar abilities, and modern reports corroborate such claims.  In 2021 the Daily Mail reported the following:

"Russian scientists are actively studying Tibetan monks in the hopes of garnering tips for astronauts on future long-distance space missions. Experts from Moscow State University are examining ancient techniques for putting the human body into a 'semi-lethargic state' - 'suspended animation', before returning to normal weeks later."

A similar anomaly involves mysterious cases of Buddhist monks whose bodies seem to not decay for a very long time after death.  At the mainstream materialist site www.bigthink.com, we read this: "After the apparent death of some monks, their bodies remain in a meditating position without decaying for an extraordinary length of time, often as long as two or three weeks."

Most of the first two hundred pages of the book aren't very interesting.  On page 197 there begins a discussion of psychometry. We read on page 202 this remarkable claim: "The  capacity  of  certain  impressible  persons  to  perceive,  by an  exquisite  power  of  cognition,  or  semi-spiritual  sensation, the  general  and  particular  characteristics  of  distant  and  unknown  persons,  by  merely  holding  their  autographs  in  the hand,  or  against  the  forehead,  has  been  demonstrated  to  the satisfaction  of  numerous  experimental  observers."  On page 204 we read this similar claim, mentioning the "animal magnetism" experiments that are now called hypnotism: "The early  experimenters  in  Animal  Magnetism  did  not  fail  to observe  that  persons  of  acute  sensibility  were  enabled  to establish  a sympathetic  rapport  with  others  at  a distance,  by holding  a lock  of  hair,  an  article  of  clothing,  or  a finger-ring which  the  absent  party  had  worn  ; or,  indeed,  by  taking  in the  hand  any  small  article  of  personal  property  that  had been  in  contact  with  the  body." 

The claims may seem outrageous, but it matches what was reported at great length by a nineteenth century physician (Joseph R. Buchanan) and also an early twentieth century investigator (Osty), as reported hereEven in recent decades similar things may be reported, as we read below:

"In 1991, when her daughter’s rare, hand-carved harp was stolen, Lisby Mayer’s familiar world of science and rational thinking turned upside down. After the police failed to turn up any leads, a friend suggested she call a dowser—a man who specialized in finding lost objects. With nothing to lose—and almost as a joke—Dr. Mayer agreed. Within two days, and without leaving his Arkansas home, the dowser located the exact California street coordinates where the harp was found."

This was before the Internet was widely available. The account above matches what Brittan states on pages 204-205:

"Crimes  and  criminals were  occasionally  discovered  in  this  way.  The  smallest fragment  of  a cravat,  worn  by  a thief,  would  hold  him  fast ; a shirt  was  a better  means  of  detection  than  a sheriff  ; and an  old  shoe  would  suffice  to  put  the  sensitive  explorer  on  the track  of  those  who  were  either  concealed,  absent  or  lost. When  the  search  resulted  in  finding  the  object,  not  only physical  conditions  and  specific  localities  could  be  described, and  pointed  out,  but  the  memory  became  an  open  book,  that could  be  read  in  the  darkness  of  midnight  ; the  unspoken thoughts  of  men  were  mysteriously  revealed  ; and  the  most secret  purposes  were  disclosed  before  time  had  afforded  an opportunity  for  their  actual  accomplishment."

On page 207 Brittan gives us some very specific examples to back up such claims. Referring to Semantha Mettler, whose first decades are documented in the biography here, Brittan states the following: 

"While  Mrs. Mettler  was  holding  a sealed  letter  from  Dr.  Buchanan — who  was  at  that  time  editing  the  Journal  of  Man — she declared  that  the  chief  study  of  the  writer  was  ‘Man,  in  his whole  nature.'  When  an  envelope  enclosing  some  [poetry] stanzas written  by  a convict,  was  placed  in  her  hand,  she  observed, that  the  author  had  a double  character — the  sphere  was unpleasant,  but  that  the  person  could  'write  poetry  tolerably well.'  A letter  written  by  Kossuth,  immediately  after  the delivery  of  a powerful  speech  in  St.  Louis,  caused  her  to  gesticulate as  if  she  were  addressing  a multitude,  and  this  was folloved  by  a feeling  of  extreme  exhaustion.  The  letter  of an  insane  man,  who  had  killed  his  own  child,  occasioned sympathetic  delirium  and  convulsions.  Some  irregular pencil  lines  and  scratches,  traced  by  the  hand  of  an  infant child  gave  no impression.  A very  delicate  picture  on  silk — painted  by  Miss  Thomas,  of  Edwardsburg,  Mich.,  and  presented to  the  writer — was  handed  to  Mrs.  M.,  under  the cover  of  a sealed  envelope,  whereupon  she  affirmed  that  the author  of  the  contents  of  the  envelope  had  painted  her  idea, instead  of  expressing  it  in  words."

On page 252 we read of the astonishing success that Dr. James Esdaile had in India in performing dramatic surgeries in patients who were given no anesthesia but had only been hypnotized to a state of deep trance:

"He  found  the  natives  of  Bengal  extremely  impressible, and  a few  trials,  by  himself  or  his  assistants, generally  subdued  their  natural  powers  of  resistance,  leaving them  in  a state  of  profound  coma,  and  insensible  of  pain.  In the  short  period  of  eight  months  he  performed,  at  Hoogly, no  less  than  seventy-three  painless  operations  in  surgery,  embracing among  others  the  dissection  and  amputation  of  different members  of  the  body,  operations  for  scrotocele  and hydrocele,  removal  of  scrotal  and  other  tumors,  actual and  potential  cauteries,  etc.,  etc.  In  these  operations  the subjects  were  entirely  deprived  of  physical  sensation  ; with rare  exceptions,  they  were  altogether  unconscious,  and  often expressed  the  greatest  surprise  on  learning  what  had  been done  to  them  during  the  interval  of  oblivious  repose."

On pages 286-287 Brittan discusses successful ESP experiments he did with various subjects. In one a subject was able to instantly identify flowers shown on a dozen or more cards Brittan was looking at but the subject could not see. In another a subject was able to identify tastes Brittan was experiencing. 

On page 287 he describes astonishing success doing experiments with a Mrs. Rice, one involving a "traveling clairvoyance" very widely reported in nineteenth century literature:

"Mrs.  Rice,  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  was  distinguished  for  a most  delicate  susceptibility  of  mental  impressions.  Having been  invited  to  visit  her  one  afternoon — at  her  residence,   and  in  company  with  several  friends — I seated  myself  at  her side,  at  the  same  time  requesting  her  to  take  an  excursion,   and  to  describe  whatever  she  might  observe  by  the  way. Without  giving  the  slightest  intimation  respecting  the  direction we  were  to  travel,  I proceeded  on  an  ideal  [mental] journey,  by  railroad  and  steamboat,  to  New  York.  Madam  Rice described  with  singular  fidelity  all  the  important  objects  on  the  route  of  which  the  writer  could  form  a distinct  conception— spoke  of  persons  whom  she  met  by  the  way,  and  repeated  the  very  words  they  were  by  me  supposed  to  utter. On  the  same  occasion,  I imagined  a letter  to  be  placed  before her,  when  she  suddenly  exclaimed,  “ Here  is  a letter from  Mr. -----' mentioning  the  name  of  an  absent  friend  of whom  I was  thinking  at  that  moment ; and  going  through with  the  appropriate  motions,  as  if  she  were  really  breaking a seal  and  unfolding  the  sheet,  she  commenced  and  read  verbatim, from  my  mind,  for  several  minutes.  These  were  the first  and  only  experiments  made  with  Mrs.  Rice."

On page 288 Brittan describes a telepathy experiment with a Mrs. Mills of Albany:

"This  gentleman  having  expressed  a desire  to  witness  the experiment,  it  was  agreed  that  I should  cause  the  lady  to  leave  her  place  at  the  opposite  side  of  the  room,  and  occupy a vacant  chair  by  his  side.  In  less  than  one  minute  she obeyed  the  silent  action  of  my  will  and  seated  herself  in  the unoccupied  chair.  In  like  manner  she  was  impelled  to change  her  position  several  times,  and  finally  to  leave  the room  temporarily,  with  no  specific  object  in  view,  and  without  so  much  as  suspecting  the  origin  of  an  impulse  she  was  quite  unable  to  resist."

Later we read of a similar ESP experiment:

"Miss.  A.  promptly  obeyed  the  silent  mandate of  my  mind,  and  going  to  the  center-table,  selected  a particular  book,  that  had  been  singled  out  from  among  a number  of  others  equally  conspicuous.  Some  one  required that  she  might  be  incited  to  take  up  another  book,  of  five hundred  pages,  and  turn  to  a short  poem — somewhere  about the  middle  of  the  volume — which  was  accordingly  done  without the  least  hesitation.  Again,  by  a similar  effort,  this  lady was  influenced  to  make  choice  of  a particular  engraving, from  amongst  a number  contained  in  an  annual."

On page 290 Brittan reports a dramatic case of ESP in which a distant person was apparently telepathically summoned:   

"On  one  occasion,  while  spending  a few  days  at  Waterbury,  Conn.,  I found  it  necessary  to  see  a young  man  in  the  village.  The  immediate  presence  of  the youth  was  of  considerable  importance  to  me,  but  not  knowing his  residence,  place  of  business,  or  even  his  name,  I could not  send  for  him.  In  this  emergency,  I undertook  to  [mentally] telegraph him,  by  concentrating  my  mind  on  the  young  man,  with a fixed  determination  to  bring  him  to  me.  Some  ten  minutes had  elapsed  when  he  came  to  the  house  and  inquired  for  the writer.  Meeting  a gentleman  at  the  door,  he  asked,  with much  apparent  interest,  whether  1 wanted  to  see  him.  On being  interrogated  by  this  individual,  he  stated  that  a few moments  before,  and  while  actively  engaged  in  his  workshop — distant  one  fourth  of  a mile — he  suddenly  felt  that  he  must seek  my  presence  without  delay." 

On page 335 we have this account of information apparently acquired in a dream:

"Some  years  since  the  Highland  Eagle  of  Westchester County,  New  York,  published  the  fact  that  Mr.  Dykeman, Deputy  Sheriff  of  Putnam  County,  had  made  a singular  discovery in  a dream.  It  was  stated  that  George  F.  Sherman, of  Cold  Spring,  had  lost  his  pocket-book,  containing  three hundred  and  seventy-two  dollars.  On  the  night  following the  Deputy  Sheriff  dreamed  that  a clerk  by  the  name  of McNary  had  the  money.  Unable  to  resist  the  suspicion excited  in  his  mind,  Mr.  Dykeman  arrested  McNary,  who thereupon  made  a confession,  and  restored  over  three  hundred dollars  of  the  money,  which  he  had  concealed  in  places indicated  in  the  dream."

On page 362 we have some fascinating accounts of people who performed very complex tasks while sleepwalking:

 "Dr.  Gall  gives  an  account of  a miller  who  was  in  the  habit  of  rising  every  night and  running  his  mill.  Mertinet  mentions  the  case  of  a saddler who  worked  at  his  trade  when  sleeping; and  Dr.  Prichard that  of  a farmer  who  got  out  of  bed,  dressed  himself, saddled  his  horse,  and  rode  to  market  while  asleep.  Professor Soave  reports  the  case  of  an  Apothecary’s  clerk  who not  only  walked  while  asleep,  but  would  kindle  his  fire  ; pursue  his  studies,  examining  authorities,  classify  botanical specimens  ; engage  in  animated  controversies — with  his  employer or  Professor  Soave — on  Chemistry  and  other  scientific themes  ; and,  indeed,  perform  any  duty  or  service  that he  was  accustomed  to  do  in  his  waking  hours.  He  would carefully  compound  medicines,  according  to  the  prescriptions that  were  before  him,  but  conscientiously  declined  filling false  prescriptions,  or  such  as  would  be  likely  to  injure  the patient.  Mrs.  Newton,  a relative  of  the  writer,  was  a skillful  seamstress  and  was  accustomed  to  the  unconscious use  of  her  needle  for  hours at  night,  when  there  was  no light  in  her  room.  A friend, who  was  an  accomplished horseman,  often  rode  many  miles  while  he  was  in  a profound slumber  ; and  it  is  a still  more  remarkable  fact — but  well authenticated — that  in  the  disastrous  retreat  of  Sir  John Moore,  before  the  battle  of  Corunna,  many  of  the  soldiers fell  asleep,  yet  continued  to  march  with  their  comrades."

On page 389 we hear this account of the legendary scientist and clairvoyant Immanuel Swedenborg:

"It  is  alleged  by  M.  Dieudonne  Thiebault,  Professor  of  Belles Letters  in  the  Royal  Academy  of  Berlin,  that  the  Count  de Montville,  Ambassador  from  Holland  to  Stockholm,  having died  suddenly,  a shopkeeper  demanded  of  his  widow  the  payment of  a bill,  which  she  remembered  had  been  paid  in  her husband’s  lifetime.  Not  being  able  to  find  the  shopkeeper’s receipt,  she  was  induced  to  consult  the  distinguished  Seer, though  she  did  so  less  from  credulity  than  curiosity.  Swedenborg informed  her  that  her  deceased  husband  had  taken the  shopkeeper’s  receipt  on  a certain  day  (also  naming  the hour),  while  he  was  reading  such  an  article  in  Bayle’s  Dictionary, in  his  cabinet  ; and  that  his  attention  being  called immediately  to  some  other  concern,  he  put  the  receipt  into the  book  to  mark  the  place  at  which  he  left  off ; where,  in fact,  it  was  found  at  the  page  described!" 

The next page tells another account about Swedenborg that was well authenticated:

"When  Swedenborg  was  in  Gottenburg,  three  hundred miles  from  Stockholm,  he  announced  the  occurrence  of  a great  fire  in  his  native  city,  giving  the  facts  respecting  the time,  place,  and  circumstances  of  its  origin,  and  accurately describing  its  progress  and  termination.  It  was  on  Saturday night  that  this  conflagration  was  described  as  occurring  at that  time.  The Seer  repeated  the  substance  of  his  statement to  the  Governor  on  Sunday  morning.  This  was  substantially confirmed  by  a dispatch,  received  from  Gottenburg on  Monday  evening,  and  on  Tuesday  morning  the  arrival of  the  royal  courier  furnished  an  unqualified  attestation of  the  truth  of  all  the  particulars  of  the  clairvoyant revelation.  These  facts  rest  on  no  doubtful  authority.  Their authenticity  is  sanctioned  by  Kant,  the  great  German  metaphysician, in  whose  judgment— to  use  his  own  words — they 'set  the  assertion  of  the  extraordinary  gift  of  Swedenborg out  of  all  possibility  of  doubt.' "

Kant's original account of the incident above can be read here

The book gives many other accounts of clairvoyance, including the well-documented case of Alexis Didier, which I won't repeat since I already described it here.  We then read of a case I had not previously heard of:

"Mrs.  Semantha  Mettler,  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  has  long  exercised her  clairvoyant  powers  in  discovering  the  immediate and  remote  causes  of  disease,  its  organic  relations — noting, at  any  distance,  its  essential  character  and  its  phenomenal aspects  - and  in  selecting  from  the  great  pharmacopeia  of Nature  the  appropriate  remedies  for  her  patients.  During a period  of  fifteen  years  she  has  been  constantly  before  the public,  in  a professional  capacity,  and  her  diagnoses — made in  the  course  of  her  daily  transfigurations—  amount  to  more than  40,000  in  number.  In  numerous  instances  the  representatives  of  accredited  science  have  been  put  to  shame  by Mrs.  Mettler’s  disclosures  respecting  the  original  cause,  the particular  seat,  the  precise  nature,  and  the  ultimate  result  of a disease,  when  these  were  previously  all  unknown  by  the afflicted  parties,  and  not  to  be  detected  by  ordinary  professional sagacity."

The case of Semantha Mettler (comparable to that of Edgar Cayce) was so remarkable that she inspired an 1853 biography that detailed her rise from abject poverty and extreme bad luck to an apparent wonder worker.  Brittan's work dates from 1865, so apparently that 1853 biography detailed only part of Mettler's success.  The Brittan work gives this example:

"The  writer  could  easily  fill  a volume  of  facts  illustrative of  the  Clairvoyance  of  Mrs.  Mettler,  but  a brief  digest  of  a few  well-authenticated  facts  must  suffice  in  this  connection. Mrs.  William  B.  Hodget,  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  had  extreme pain  and  inflammation  in  one  of  her  limbs.  Mrs.  M.  made an  examination  at  the  distance  of  twenty-four  miles,  and  discovered a  fine  cambric  needle  concealed  in  the  flesh.  This staggered  the  faith  of  Mr.  Hodget,  and  the  family  Physician was  equally  skeptical  on  the  point  of  the  needle  ; but,  to remove  all  doubts,  he  applied  his  lancet,  when  the  needle was  discovered  and  removed."

Brittan recounts a case of a man who was shot in the pocket, and who did not recover from his wound.  We read this:

"On  my  return  from  the  West I took  an  early  opportunity  to  submit  this  distressing  case to  the  clairvoyant  inspection  of  Mrs.  Mettler,  merely  telling her  that  she  was  requested  to  examine  a young  man  who  had been  shot.  There  was  no  intimation  respecting  the  circumstances attending  the  accident,  the  seat,  or  the  extent  of  the injury  ; nor  was  the  existing  condition  of  the  young  man  in any  way  implied  or  referred  to.  In  the  course  of  the  investigation and  diagnosis — conducted  at  Hartford,  while  the patient  was  in  Central  Michigan  — Mrs.  M.  discovered  a piece  of  copper  in  the  limb,  and  observed  that  the  wound would  not  heal  until  it  was  removed.  But  young  Barker was  sure  that  he  had  no  copper  in  his  pocket  at  the  time  of the  accident  ; and,  inasmuch  as  the  medical  attendant  had made  no  such  discovery,  it  was  presumed  that  the  Seeress was  mistaken.  But  some  time  after  the  foreign  substance described  became  visible,  when  Mr.  Barker’s  mother — with a pair  of  embroidery  scissors — removed  a penny  from  the wound  ! In  such  a case  science  is  a stupid,  sightless  guide, and  must  stand  out  of  the  way.  The  doctors  in  Michigan could  not  see  that  penny  when  it  was  within  their  reach, and  their  eyes  were  wide  open  ; but  this  Seeress  discovered it  at  a distance  of  nearly  1,000  miles  with  her  eyes  closed !"

Call it a case of telemedicine before there was what we now call telemedicine. The next pages of the book give us equally impressive accounts involving the same Mrs. Mettler. 

On page 427 the author tells us that he personally witnessed an astonishing case of accurate prophecy:

"The  writer  and  several  other  persons  were  witnesses  of a prophetic  announcement  of  the  destruction  of  the  steamer Henry  Clay,  on  the  Hudson  River,  made  by  Mrs.  Harriet Porter,  at  Bridgeport,  Connecticut,  on  the  27th  day  of  July, 1852 — the  day  before  that  boat  was  actually  burned.  On the  28th,  at  about  tbe  hour  of  three  o’clock,  p.  m.,  Miss. Porter — being  entranced  in  presence  of  several  persons — again  referred  to  the  subject,  and  proceeded  to  describe  the terrible  catastrophe,  which  was  then,  as  she  affirmed,  being enacted  before  her.  She  declared  with  great  emphasis  that a steamboat  was  burning  on  the  Hudson ; that  she  could  see the  name — Henry  Clay;  and  that  the  village  of  Yonkers was  also  distinctly  visible.  She  appeared  to  be  thrilled  and terrified  at  the  spectacle,  and  expressed  the  deepest  anguish on  account  of  the  loss  of  so  many  lives.  On  the  following morning  the  public  journals  contained  the  verification  of  all she  had  said,  in  the  details  of  the  mournful  disaster,  so  mysteriously foreshadowed  and  so  graphically  portrayed  at  the very  hour  of  the  fatal  occurrence."

Bridgeport, Connecticut is more than 25 miles from the closest part of the Hudson River. Wikipedia.org lists the fire on the Henry Clay as occurring at about 3 PM on July 27, 1852, with a loss of nearly 50 lives, as the ship passed near Yonkers (40 miles from Bridgeport). The details in the wikipedia.org article exactly match the details given above. 

On page 476 of this book written more than a century before the terms "near-death experience" and "out-of-body experience" became widely used, we have an account of a near-death experience that included an out-of-body experience:

"A few  months  since,  an  eminent  Presbyterian  divine  in New  York  was  borne  by  disease  to  the  very  portals  of  the invisible  world.  He  had  a distinct  consciousness  of  his  condition. Veiled  in  light,  his  spirit  rose  and  hovered  over  the body.  He  could  distinctly  see  the  wasted  form,  stretched on  the  couch  ‘beneath  him,  pale,  pulseless  and  cold,  but  his immortal  self  was  thrilled  with  inexpressible  peace  and  joy. Just  then  his  wife,  to  whom  he  was  tenderly  but  strongly attached,  called  to  him  with  the  deep  earnestness  of  that  undying love  which  can  endure  all  things  but  separation  from the  object  of  its  devotion.  The  potent  magnetism  of  that loving  heart  counterpoised  the  combined  attractions  of  the spheres,  and  even  recalled  the  unshackled  spirit  from  the Heavens  just  opening  to  receive  it.  He  returned  to  the body.  The  next  moment  a gentle  voice — calling  his  name in  tones  of  mingled  tenderness  and  grief— vibrated  on  the outward  ear,  reminding  him  that  he  was  still  a dweller  in the  earth." 

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