ughts in French by means of Mrs Piper."

Phinuit found the explanation magnificent, and some days after served it
up whole to another inquisitive person who questioned him.

As Dr Hodgson continued to tease him about his name, he ended by
admitting, or believing, that his name was not Phinuit at all.

"It was the medium Cocke who insisted that my name was Phinuit one day
at a sitting. I said, 'All right, call me Phinuit if you like, one name
is as good to me as another.' But you see, Hodgson, my name is
Scliville, I am Dr John Scliville. But, when I think about it, I had
another name between John and Scliville."

Phinuit did think about it, and at another sitting he said he had
remembered. His name now was Jean Alaen Scliville. Alaen, as we see, is
unmistakably French. In short, these are wretched inventions, quite as
wretched and much less poetic than the Martian romance, due to the
subconsciousness of Mlle. Smith.

Does Phinuit better justify the title of doctor which he assumes? On
this point opinions are less divided. His diagnosis is often
surprisingly exact, even in cases where the patient does not himself
know what his illness is. As long ago as 1890, Professor Oliver Lodge
expresses himself as follows with regard to Phinuit's medical knowledge.
The opinion of a man of science like Professor Lodge is of great weight,
though he is a physicist and not a doctor.

"Admitting, however, that 'Dr Phinuit' is probably a mere name for Mrs
Piper's secondary consciousness, one cannot help being struck by the
singular correctness of his medical diagnosis. In fact, the medical
statements, coinciding as they do with truth just as well as those of a
regular physician, but given without any ordinary examination, and
sometimes without even seeing the patient, must be held as part of the
evidence establishing a strong _prima facie_ case for the existence of
_some_ abnormal means of acquiring information."[36]

Dr C. W. F., of whom we have spoken above, asks Phinuit to describe his
physical state for him, and Phinuit describes it perfectly. But here,
evidently, seeing that C. W. F. was a doctor, and must have known about
himself, we may only be concerned with thought-transference. Being
curious, Dr C. W. F. asked Phinuit how many years he had to live.
Phinuit replied by counting on his fingers in French up to eleven. This
happened in 1889. If the prophecy was fulfilled, Dr C. W. F. must have
gone to rejoin his colleague in t