CHRIST ANDHISMISSION 369
transforming the savage into the civilized man, and will in
time transform the latter into a God.
Though nothing that is truly spiritual can be thoroughly
comprehended, yet it may at least be apprehended by means
of an illustration.
If one of two tuning-forks of exactly the same pitch is
struck, the sound will induce the same vibration in the other,
weak to begin with, but if the strokes are continued, the
second fork will give out a louder and louder tone until it
will emit a volume of sound equal to that of the first. This
will happen though the forks are several feet apart, and even
if one of them is encased in glass. The sound from the
smitten one will penetrate the glass and the answering note
be emitted by the enclosed instrument.
These invisible sound-vibrations have great power over
concrete matter. They can both build and destroy. If a small
quantity of very fine powder is placed upon a brass or glass
plate, and a violin bow drawn across the edge, the vibrations
will cause the powder to assume beautiful geometrical
figures. The human voice is also capable of producing these
figures; always the same figure for the same tone.
If one note or chord after another be sounded upon a
musical instrument—a piano, or preferably a violin, for from
it more gradations of tone can be obtained—a tone will
finally be reached which will cause the hearer to feel a
distinct vibration in the back of the lower part of the head.
Each time that note is struck, the vibration will be felt. That
note is the “key-note” of the person whom it so affects. If it
is struck slowly and soothingly it will build and rest the
body, tone the nerves and restore health. If, on the other
hand, it be sounded in a dominant way, loud and long
enough, it will kill as surely as a bullet from a pistol.