Such
then, was the mystic art of Crystal-gazing as practised by certain
earnest, and devout, though ecstatic, believers, about the time of our
Charles I. After being allowed to slumber, as a well-nigh extinct
creed, from then throughout a couple of centuries, this practical
method of prying into the secrets of the future is again of late
finding its advocates, whether as a pious proceeding of telepathic
character, or as a fashionable fad, within the last fifteen, or twenty
years. The Crystals, in which it is claimed that under certain closely
studied conditions the future may be read, are spheres of rock Crystal
varying from four to eight inches in diameter, whilst polished by
cunning, and careful hands into the lustrousness of a brilliant. The
preparation of some of these Crystal spheres occupies many years of
skilled work ; and their prices place them beyond the reach of all but
very wealthy possessors. The most valuable Crystal in the world is said
to belong to Miss Helen Gould, the daughter of Jay Gould. It is a
unique specimen of the polisher's art; is two feet in circumference,
and cost three thousand pounds sterling. This lustrous Oracle is
mounted on a black pedestal, and is religiously shrined within a
special sacred chamber. Again, a famous Crystal, uncanny of character,
is the property of Dr. J. B. Street, a well-known apostle of the
occult, in New York. Dr. Street guards his treasure with the most
jealous care, and will on no account allow it to be desecrated by human
touch. The slightest approach of an inquisitive finger clouds its
purity of lustre for hours, and draws a curtain over the mysteries it
might reveal. This same famous Crystal was for centuries the Oracle in
a Japanese Temple ; and many startling events have been fore-
