103. We have said that apparitions frequently present a vaporous appearance; in
certain cases, we might compare them to an image reflected in a sheet of glass ; an
image. which, notwithstanding its distinctness, does not prevent our seeing through it
the objects which are behind the glass. It is thus that seeing mediums generally perceive
them. They seem to be coming and going, entering the room or leaving it, moving about
among the persons who are present in the flesh, listening with interest to their conver-
sation, and taking, at least in the case of the commoner sort of spirits, an active part in
all that is going on around them. They are seen to approach a particular person,
suggesting ideas, endeavouring to influence him, or con-soling him if sorrowful ; others
show themselves scornful
or mocking; all appear to be pleased or disappointed, according to the results they
achieve; in a word, the world around us seems to be a counterpart of the corporeal
world. Such is the hidden world which surrounds us, and in the midst of which we live
without suspecting it, just as we live, without perceiving it, in the very midst of the
countless myriads of the microscopic world. The microscope has revealed to us the
world of the infinitely little, of which we were formerly unaware; spiritism, aided by
seeing mediums, has revealed to us the world of spirits, showing us that the latter are
one of the active forces of nature. By the aid of seeing mediums, we have been enabled
to study the invisible world, and to acquaint ourselves with its habits ; as a nation of
blind men might study the visible world, with the aid of those who have eyes. (See, in
the chapter on Mediums, the article concerning Seeing Mediums.)
