spiritualist-writers, and
in conversation with him, showed him confidentially one of those
photographs, with also the shadow of another person, with the remark,
mysteriously whispered:

"I assure you, Sir, upon my word as a gentleman, and by all my hopes of
a hereafter, that this picture was produced upon the plate as you see
it, at a time when I had locked myself in my gallery, and no other
person was in the room. It appeared instantly, as you see it there; and
I have long wished to obtain the opinion of some man, like yourself, who
has investigated these mysteries."

The spiritualist listened attentively, looked upon the picture, heard
other explanations, examined other pictures, and sagely gave it as his
opinion that the inhabitants of the unknown sphere had taken this mode
of re-appearing to the view of mortal eyes, that this operator must be a
"medium" of especial power. The New York Herald of Progress, a
spiritualist paper, printed the first article upon this man's spiritual
photograph.

The acquaintance thus begun was continued, and the photographer found it
very profitable to oblige his spiritual friend, by the reproduction of
ghost-like pictures, ad infinitum, at the rate of five dollars each.
Mothers came to the room of the artist, and gratefully retired with
ghostly representations of departed little ones. Widows came to purchase
the shades of their departed husbands. Husbands visited the photographer
and procured the spectral pictures of their dead wives. Parents wanted
the phantom-portraits of their deceased children. Friends wished to
look upon what they believed to be the lineaments of those who had long
since gone to the spirit-land. All who sought to look on those pictures
were satisfied with what had been shown them, and, by conversation on
the subject, increased the number of visitors. In short, every person
who heard about this mystery determined to verify the wonderful tales
related, by looking upon the ghostly lineaments of some person, who,
they believed, inhabited another sphere. And here I may as well mention
that one of the faithful obtained a "spirit" picture of a deceased
brother who had been dead more than five years, and said that he
recognized also the very pattern of his cravat as the same that he wore
in life. Can human credulity go further than to suppose that the
departed still appear in the old clo' of their earthly wardrobe? and the
fact that the appearance of "the shade" of a yo