Stramms lived, and gone to Canton Zurich. On Jan. 15th, 1887, living at the time alone in a small hamlet remote from his friends, August Duvanel, as M. Aksakof afterwards learnt, died by his own hand. The death, by Wilna time, took place at 4.30 p. m.—about five hours before the news was received by Mdlle. Stramm in Wilna. The Stramm family at Neufchatel did not hear of the death until two days later. No one was with Duvanel when he died; nor would his relations, in any event, have been likely to send a telegram on the subject to Mdlle. Stramm in Russia. Nor could such a telegram, if sent, have been received, so M. Kaigorodoff assured M. Aksakof, without his knowledge. The most puzzling feature in the case remains to be noted. M. Stramm when he wrote to his daughter on the 18th Jan. knew of the circumstances of the death; but to avoid causing her a shock, he ascribed it to engorgemnt de sang, using the same words as those given in the automatic writing; which professed to be dictated by the scribe's spirit brother, Louis.
The facts are fully attested by Professor Aksakof's contemporary notes; so that, short of imputing deliberate deception to the automatist, there seems to be no possible explanation which does not at the least involve telepathy. But such an interpretation presents, as will be seen, considerable difficulty. For a discussion of the interpretation of the case on the assumption of spirit communication the reader is referred to Mr. Myers's comments.[1]
In the following case the "message" was received in the borderland between sleep and waking. The percipient's state seems to have been intermediate between that of the waking automatist, who, as in the cases just recorded, would appear to
- ↑ Proceedings, vi., pp. 348–9
