33 
PLANCHETTE. 
but sincerely made, in the traditions of nearly all living fami¬ 
lies. The writer can testify to several monitions of this kind 
portending death; and the authentic records of such things 
would make a volume.” 
In the “Life of Frederica Haufifé, the Seeress of Prevorst, by 
Dr. Justinus Kerner, chief physician at Weinsberg ” (who died 
in 1S59), almost every phase of the recent spiritual phenomena 
is described as pertaining to her experience. To these more 
than twenty credible witnesses testify. They consisted in re¬ 
peated knockings, noises in the air, a tramping up and down 
stairs by day and night, the moving of ponderable articles, &c. 
But we must return to the experiences of the Fox family. 
Startled and somewhat alarmed by the manifestations of intelli¬ 
gence, Mrs. Fox asked if it was a human being that was making 
the noise, and, if it was, to manifest it by making the same noise. 
There was no sound. She then said, “ If you are a spirit, make 
two distinct sounds.” Two raps were accordingly heard. 
The members of the family by this time Fad all left their beds, 
and the house was again thoroughly searched, as it had been 
before, but without discovering any thing that could explain the 
mystery ; and, after a few more questions and responses by raps, 
the neighbors were called in to assist in tracing the phenomenon 
to its cause. But the neighbors were no more successful than 
the family had been, and confessed themselves thoroughly con¬ 
founded. 
For several subsequent days, the village was in a turmoil of 
excitement; and multitudes visited the house, heard the raps, 
and interrogated the apparent intelligence which controlled 
them, but without obtaining any clew to the discovery of the 
agent, further than its own persistent declaration that it was a 
spirit. 
About three weeks after these occurrences, David, a son of 
Mr. and Mrs. Fox, went alone into the cellar, where the raps 
were then being heard, and said, “If you are the spirit of a 
human being who once lived on the earth, can you rap to the 
letters that will spell your name? and if so, now rap three