physical events or conversations at a distance, and to show himself to
an absent friend at will.

Again, he has the additional power of being able to hunt about for
what he wants. By means of the varieties of clairvoyance previously
described, for all practical purposes he could find a person or a
place only when he was already acquainted with it, or when he was put
_en rapport_ with it by touching something physically connected with
it, as in psychometry. It is true that by the third method a certain
amount of motion is possible, but the process is a tedious one except
for quite short distances.

By the use of the astral body, however, a man can move about quite
freely and rapidly in any direction, and can (for example) find
without difficulty any place pointed out upon a map, without either
any previous knowledge of the spot or any object to establish a
connection with it. He can also readily rise high into the air so as
to gain a bird's-eye view of the country which he is examining, so as
to observe its extent, the contour of its coast-line, or its general
character. Indeed, in every way his power and freedom are far greater
when he uses this method than they have been in any of the previous
cases.

A good example of the full possession of this power is given, on the
authority of the German writer Jung Stilling, by Mrs. Crowe in _The
Night Side of Nature_ (p. 127). The story is related of a seer who is
stated to have resided in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, in
America. His habits were retired, and he spoke little; he was grave,
benevolent and pious, and nothing was known against his character
except that he had the reputation of possessing some secrets that were
considered not altogether _lawful_. Many extraordinary stories were
told of him, and amongst the rest the following:--

"The wife of a ship captain (whose husband was on a voyage to Europe
and Africa, and from whom she had been long without tidings), being
overwhelmed with anxiety for his safety, was induced to address
herself to this person. Having listened to her story he begged her to
excuse him for a while, when he would bring her the intelligence she
required. He then passed into an inner room and she sat herself down
to wait; but his absence continuing longer than she expected, she
became impatient, thinking he had forgotten her, and softly
approaching the door she peeped through some aperture, and to her
surprise beheld him lying on a sofa as