- 199 - waxen, his muscles completely lax, his breathing weakly and wheezy, and his pulse barely perceptible. Colonel Octavio Viana now rose to convince himself of the reality of the apparition.. He also took the child in his arms, felt her pulse, looked into her deep, unfathomable eyes, and asked her several questions, which she answered rationally, although in a sad, monotonic voice. Viana also confirmed that the apparition was real. Dr. de Souza then mentioned several childhood incidents in his daughter’s life to the apparition, receiving replies that showed that his remarks were understood. The apparition was photographed, A copy of the picture was included in the investigating committee’s report. After the picture had been taken, the child began to float about the room, rising into the air and tumbling about like a fish in its native element. The spectators had risen to their feet and followed the apparition, which remained within an arm’s reach. The medium meanwhile imitated the child’s motions with his forearms. She floated about in the air a few seconds longer, and then disappeared all of a sudden. She had shown herself for 36 minutes by daylight and under unimpeachable conditions to a gathering of educated men, who testify that they saw before them a perfectly formed human being. Dr. Ganymed de Souza lost his daughter for the second time, so deeply was he moved by what he had seen. The protocols recording this occurrence were signed by 10 doctors of science who had been present, to certify the truth of its contents. The medium continued to tremble and show signs of great exhaustion for some time after he had overcome the intense nervous strain caused by the phenomenon described above. Even before he had regained his strength, hefty blows were heard in a cupboard in which a skull used as a specimen for study was kept. The skull was being angrily hurled about inside by an unseen force as though trying to break out of its place of confinement. One of the participants was hastening to the cupboard, intending to open it, when suddenly its doors swung open of their own accord, and the skull shot out, rising into the air and chattering its teeth hideously. Dr. Ganymed de Souza was wondering to himself why the rest of the skeleton did not appear, when, as though in answer to his unspoken thought, the vertebrae of the neck began to form, followed in order by the bones of the chest and arms, the entire spinal column, the pelvic arch, the legs, and finally the feet, complete to the last bone. At this the medium, held by both arms, erupts a mass of frothy saliva and, still seated in the chair, beats angrily at himself. All of his arteries seem bottled up and throb violently, while his body diffuses a sickening, offensive corpse-like odour that so pollutes the room that not even fresh air succeeds in driving out the smell. The skeleton now gets up on its feet and starts to walk about the room with long, unsteady strides, occasionally seeming in danger of falling, but always managing to regain its balance. To assure himself that it is real, Dr. Ganymed de Souza touches the apparition and taps its hard, greasy bones. As he does so, he feels a shock rack his nerves, and returns to his seat. Meanwhile, the medium squirms about in his chair and can be held only with difficulty. The skeleton continues its weird stroll.
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