THE POWER OF MIND. William Walker Atkinson

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      Chapter IV

       Mental Magic in Animal Life

       Table of Contents

      I HAVE spoken of the manifestation of Mind-Power among the atoms and particles of matter, whereby the tiny corpuscles become aware of each other's proximity, and whereby they move voluntarily in response to the desire aroused by the attraction or affinity of the other atoms; and whereby they also exert a pull or drawing power on the other atoms, and respond to the same attracting force of the other particle. Ascending the scale, we find the crystals building up their forms by drawing material from the fluids in which they are immersed, and then building upon a set pattern and style, as truly as does the builder among the animals or among men.

      Passing on to the low forms of animal life, we find tiny life-forms in the slime of the ocean-bed, which are apparently no more than tiny drops of glue—cells without a nucleus— which nevertheless perform the functions of all organic forms, being born, taking nutrition, assimilating, eliminating, growing old, and finally dying, after reproducing their kind by growth and division. But, the point that most concerns us is that although these creatures have no senses, or even rudimentary sense organs, they are aware of the approach of other creatures, and of their food. In some way they become "aware" of these things—how, man does not know. Moreover they are possessed of the power of motion, and exert their will in the direction of moving from place to place. Some of these forms of life, when viewed under even a strong microscope are seen to move by gliding from place to place, apparently at will, and with no perceptible employment of organs of motion such as false-feet, fins, etc. They seem simply to move by pure will. How do they do this? How do they become aware of the approach of other creatures, without sense-organs, or the rudiments of the same? It seems that mentation and telementation are manifested here.

      Rising higher in the scale, we find many insects seemingly endowed with the faculty of becoming aware of the presence of other insects at distances so great as to render the ordinary senses of no avail. Students of ant-life relate many remarkable instances of this kind. Ants at a distance seem to be able to communicate with their fellows, summoning assistance, and directing the movements of ant-armies. A professor in an American university has related that upon one occasion he met with an instance of telementation on the part of a colony of ants. He stated that he had placed a breeding cage of ants inside of a stone house, the latter having walls sixteen inches thick, with no windows and but one door, the latter being so sealed and protected that it was impossible for even a tiny ant to enter its crevices. When approaching this house for the purpose of studying the progress of his ant colony, he would notice that other ants had collected on the outside of the walls, and were running about trying to get through the stone blocks. Then he tried the experiment of moving his ant-cage from one part of the house to another—first placing it beside one wall, and then another, and so on, trying all positions and places. In each case, after each change, when he would emerge from the house he would find the outside ants grouped on the stone wall as near to the inside ants as possible, changing their position from side to side according to the position of the ant-cage inside of the house. Many other instances of the possession of the power of telementation on the part of ants have been noted.

      Another authority relates that a pair of foreign moths were brought to England. There were no other moths of that kind in the country. One of them, the male, escaped in a part of England many miles distant from the place to which the remaining moth, the female, was taken. The female moth was placed in a tiny cage for security, and then set out-of-doors during the night. In the morning, much to the entomologist's surprise, he found the male moth clinging to the tiny cage which contained the female. It was the same male, undoubtedly, for in size, coloring, appearance, etc., it corresponded exactly; besides which there was not another moth of that particular species known to be in England. Similar experiments have been conducted with insects, and there is held to be ample grounds for believing that insects attract their mates by means of some mental power beyond the range of the ordinary senses.

      Schools of fish seem to have some method of instantaneous communication between the individual fishes composing them, for the entire school moves from side to side, turning sharply, etc., as if it were possessed of but a single mind. Some scientists have held that many of the lower animals who live in groups, schools, etc., have mental relations similar to those of the colonies of cells which seem to have a common mind. There is undoubtedly communication over distance of the cells of the blood in animals, and the phenomenon of the school of fish, just noted, may be analogous—at any rate, there is some sort of distant mental communication between the individual fishes. The same phenomenon is noted among flocks of birds, СКАЧАТЬ