180. A spirit can also transmit his thought through the intermediacy of the soul of the medium himself. The disincarnate spirit does not, in this case, causes the medium to write by acting on his hand; for he neither holds nor guides it, but acts directly upon the incarnate soul, with which he temporarily identifies himself.

The soul of the medium, under this impulsion, directs his hand, and the hand moves the pencil. We have, in this place, to take note of a very important point, viz., that the disincarnate spirit does not substitute himself for the medium's soul, for the soul cannot be displaced; but he dominates it without the medium's being aware of his action, and impresses it with his will. And yet the part played, in such a case, by the medium's soul, is not simply passive; for it is the medium's soul that receives and transmits the thought of the disincarnate spirit, and he is therefore aware of what he is writing, although the thoughts are not his, and is what we call an intuitive medium.

"If this be the case," it may be objected, "there is nothing to prove that the medium is not writing his own thoughts instead of those of another spirit." We reply that, in fact, it is sometimes very difficult to ascertain this point. But we may add that we cannot refuse to recognise the fact of suggestion when thoughts are expressed which have never before arisen in the medium's mind, which flow into it spontaneously as he writes, and which are often not only contrary to his ideas and convictions, but notably beyond his knowledge and intellectual capacity.

The part played by a mechanical medium is that of a machine. The intuitive medium, on the contrary, acts as a dragoman, or interpreter, and, in order to transmit a thought, must necessarily understand it; but still, this thought is not his thought, for it only passes through his brain.