in to listen. It was soon found that the raps, of which no one could discover the cause, would answer questions addressed to them, and it was gradually elicited by these means that the demonstration was produced by the spirit of a murdered pedlar. The marvel spread throughout the neighbouring townships. Other "mediums" were soon discovered, through whose agency the spirits were enabled to manifest their presence by raps. Gradually the spirits learnt to move tables and chairs, to play musical instruments, and do other things, such as the Poltergeist had been wont to do in the past. In a few years Spiritualism, thus incubated in the little country village of Hydesville, spread its wings and encompassed half the globe. Its growth in these early years was much encouraged by other outbreaks of the usual Poltergeist type, especially those in Stratford, Connecticut, in 1850, and in Ashtabula, Ohio, in 1851, full accounts of which are given in the Spiritualistic journals of the time.
To attain, therefore, a clear understanding of the physical phenomena presented to us by Spiritualist mediums, some of which are dealt with in the next chapter, it is essential to study the Poltergeist manifestations which are their lineal progenitors. The Poltergeist is, so to speak, the fera nature of Spiritualism.
Recently Mr. Andrew Lang has obtained, through the kindness of the Marquis d' Eguilles, copies of the official records of a trial in which a Poltergeist
