That rain interrupted the phenomena is another point against the partisans of the supernatural.  When after rain the nun was surprised and chased by Miss Freer, it would seem that she intended mischief to some other member of the garrison at B——­, or she would have been en rapport with Miss Freer, and aware that she was nearing her.

The pronunciation of the names Ishbel and Margaret only indicate a non-Highlander being implicated, but it seems possible that the latter name, for which there was no particular cause, may have been a punning appellation.  Mar-garret, as the grey woman, attacked the servants in the attics.  Such a joke is characteristic of such villains, and shows that they are tolerably educated people.  Their avoiding Mr. Z. may indicate that they may have been brought in contact with him, in the fifty different ways that an editor may have seen people—­their contributing to the press is not impossible.  They must have some money too.  The writer believes that physiology and many other branches of science, notably social, will be benefited by studying this case.

Lord Bute, Miss Freer, Colonel Taylor, and other members of the “garrison,” deserve the gratitude of society.  May inquirers never rest until the subject, not too difficult a one in the age of electricians and physiologists, has been fairly cleared up.

There are one or two points in the study of the advanced combined hypnotism—­it is probably always criminal—­which are worthy of notice.  One is that the operators generally, or always—­(observation is difficult)—­repeat a phrase or its most important words.  The first saying of the word is barely noticeable.  The repetition forces the word to the subject’s attention.

Secondly, speech is addressed to the right ear; the sufferer of course declines attention to it, but this slight, almost automatic effort, yet distracts attention from the left ear, and a communication to that ear is unheard, but perceived as a thought.

To detect speech a very trifling pressure on the ear has to be watched for.  In a law court or in society the interest of what is going on knocks the operators out.

A facility for receiving thought transferred makes a person perhaps more susceptible to depression by dull or inferior people, but principle partly cures this.

The art of dismissing obtrusive thoughts and persisting in one’s own has to be cultivated by people with the readiest perceptions.

Natural caution and a habit of studying probabilities are great helps against such attackers; but, on the other hand, the man who drinks a glass of wine when he feels low will beat the hypnotist, who will doubtless harm him by causing degeneration.

A glass of port wine at eleven in the morning, and tea or breakfast early, are a great help.  Early rising deprives the operators of the time when they pin their victim best.

A dog’s bark, a peahen’s cry, above all a bird’s song, is a great interruption to hypnotism—­silent or by voices.  A nightingale will foil the worst attack.