,,psychic     ,,phenomena      ,a       
,,brief ,,account ,,of ,,the ,,physical 
,,manifestations ,,observed ,,in        
,,psychical ,,research      ,,with      
,,facsimile ,,illustrations ,,of        
,,thought-,,transference ,,drawings     
,,and ,,automatic ,,writing       ,,by  
,,edward ,t4 ,,bennett                  
,,assistant-,,secretary ,,to ,,the      
,,society ,,of     ,,psychical          
,,research1 #ahhb-aijb       ,,with ,a  
,,foreword ,,by     ,,sir ,,oliver      
,,lodge       ,,new ,,york              
,,brentano',s     ,,mcmix     ,,note    
,the writer desires to express his      
sincere thanks to the ,council of the   
,society for ,psychical ,research for   
the permission given to make extracts   
from the ,proceedings of the ,society1  
from the privately printed ,journal1 and
 from ,phantasms of the ,living2 and for
 allowing the reproduction of a series  
of ,,thought-,,transference ,,drawings4 
,also best thanks are due to ,mrs4      
,myers1 and to ,messrs4 ,longmans1      

,green  ,co41 for permission to make    
quotations from ,mr4 ,f4 ,w4 ,h4 ,myers'
 great work1 ,human ,personality and its
 ,survival of ,bodily ,death4 ,also to  
,mr4 ,j4 ,burns and his brother1 for    
freely granting permission for any use  
to be made of the ,james ,burns #ahgc   
,edition of the ,report of the          
,committee of the ,dialectical ,society4
      ,e4 ,t4 ,b4     ,,contents        
,,chap4                                 
,,page         ,i4 ,,introductory       
#aa        ,,ii4 ,,the ,,movement ,,of  
,,objects ,,without ,,any ,,apparent    
,,physical ,,cause                      
#af       ,,iii4 ,,the ,,production ,,of
 ,,sound ,,without ,,any ,,apparent     
,,physical ,,cause                      
#ca        ,,iv4 ,,the ,,appearance ,,of
 ,,light ,,without ,,any ,,apparent     
,,physical ,,cause                      
#ce         ,v4 ,,physical ,,phenomena  
,,in ,,the ,,presence ,,of              
,,daniel ,,dunglas ,,home               
#da        ,,vi4 ,,physical ,,phenomena 

,,in ,,the ,,presence ,,of ,w4          
,,stainton ,,moses                      
#eh       ,,vii4 ,,the ,,divining ,,rod 
#gf      ,,viii4                        
,,thought-,,transference ,,drawings     
#hi        ,,ix4 ,,materialisations     
#aji         ,x4 ,,spirit ,,photography 
#aac        ,,xi4 ,,the ,,summing ,,up  
,,of ,,the ,,whole ,,matter             
#aba     ,,introduction  ,,by ,,sir     
,,oliver ,,lodge   ,consulted by the    
publishers as to the production of a    
small popular text-book1 which should   
constitute a summary indication of the  
nature of the evidence for ultra-normal 
physical or meta-psychical phenomena1 ,i
 suggested ,mr4 ,e4 ,t4 ,bennett as the 
right man for the task4 ,i have now seen
 the proof sheets1 and--without making  
myself in any way responsible for       
details--perceive that he has done the  
work well1 and has presented a          
satisfactory outline of the testimony   
for whatever it may be worth4           
,concerning its value ,i will only say  

that to my mind there comes a stage at  
which belief in gratuitous invention and
 false statement becomes forced and     
irrational4 ,with most of the evidence  
here adduced ,i have of course been     
familiar for years1 in its original     
sources1 and am well aware of the       
extreme difficulty or impossibility of  
understanding some of the alleged facts 
in any physical or physiological sense2 
nevertheless if ,i am asked whether such
 impressions can be actually received   
and honestly recorded by sane people1   
and whether ,i recommend experiment by  
careful and competent and               
unsuperstitious observers as if a prim  
facie case had been made out--that is to
 say1 as if some of these unusual and   
hitherto quite unexplained occurrences  
might possibly turn out to be           
true--having laws of their own and      
constituting an unopened chapter of     
science1 or rather a new science1       
uniting characteristics from physical1  
chemical1 physiological1 and            

psychological sciences1 and throwing new
 light on the connection between mind   
and matter--then1 though doubtless the  
answer will be received with scorn1 ,i  
answer unhesitatingly yes4              
,,spiritualism  ,,chapter ,i            
,,introductory   ,a short title to a    
book has its advantages4 ,it has also   
its disadvantages4 ,it is almost        
inevitable that it should1 on the one   
hand1 seem to include much more than is 
intended1 and1 on the other hand1 fail  
to convey the purpose of the author4    
,geology would be a tolerably large     
subject4 ,astronomy would be vastly     
larger4 ,but ,spiritualism is an        
infinite subject compared with either1  
and to suggest that its claims to       
scientific study be considered within   
the compass of a small volume of not    
much over a hundred pages seems the     
height of presumption6  ,it will        
therefore be well at the outset to      
indicate exactly what it is proposed to 
include in the present investigation    

into ,spiritualism4 ,the alleged        
phenomena of ,spiritualism may be       
roughly divided into two                
classes--physical and mental4 ,those    
which belong entirely to the latter     
class are outside the scope of this     
book4 ,it is proposed to examine those  
phenomena of the former class1 the      
reality of which may fairly be assumed  
to be proved by scientific evidence4    
,the scope of the work is thus reduced  
to reasonable proportions4 ,there are   
several groups of phenomena which appear
 to violate1 or at least to extend in a 
striking manner1 laws recognised by     
,physical ,science4 ,the evidence to be 
relied on will be that of scientific men
 of high standing1 and of other persons 
of unquestioned literary and social     
position4  ,there is1 however1 an       
important respect1 in regard to which   
this inquiry is placed in an entirely   
different position to any ordinary      
scientific investigation1 and one which 
adds greatly to the difficulties of the 

student4 ,ordinary experiments conducted
 in a physical laboratory can be        
repeated again and again under similar  
conditions1 and similar results will    
follow4 ,if attempts are made to        
reproduce the phenomena of              
,spiritualism1 under what appear to be  
precisely similar conditions1 by means  
which have previously been successful1  
failure to obtain the wished-for results
 may very probably follow4 ,it is no use
 to rebel and to feel inclined to       
abandon the pursuit as useless6 ,that   
would be most unscientific6 ,the        
inquirer finds himself in the presence  
of a subtle elusive influence1 which he 
seems unable to control1 and which      
refuses to submit to the laws which     
govern physical experiments4 ,on the    
other hand1 perseverance may be richly  
rewarded4 ,an unexplored field of       
scientific research of unlimited extent 
may open itself to view4 ,something of  
that joy may be experienced which the   
search into the unknown alone can give4 

,mr4 ,arthur ,james ,balfour1 in an     
address on the occasion of the annual   
dinner of the ,royal ,literary ,fund1 in
 #ahic1 said3--  ,my friend1 ,lord      
,kelvin1 has often talked to me of the  
future of science1 and he has said words
 to me about the future of science which
 are parallel with the words ,i have    
quoted to you about the future of art1  
and with the hope which ,i have         
expressed to you with respect to        
literature4 ,he has told me that to the 
men of science of to-day it appears as  
if we were trembling on the brink of    
some great scientific discovery which   
should give to us a new view of the     
great forces of ,nature1 among which and
 in the midst of which we move4 ,if this
 prophecy be right1 and if the other    
forecasts to which ,i have alluded be   
right1 then indeed it is true that we   
live in an interesting age2 then indeed 
it is true that we may look forward to a
 time full of fruit for the human       
race--to an age which cannot be         

sterilised or rendered barren even by   
politics4  ,there are some advantages   
which the study of this subject         
possesses over most branches of         
scientific inquiry4 ,in its present     
early and incomplete stage the most     
important thing is the accumulation of  
carefully observed and recorded facts4  
,even as regards ,thought-,transference1
 in which the number of careful         
experiments that have been made is far  
greater than in any other class of      
phenomena1 it is still most important to
 multiply the quantity of the evidence4 
,in most of the branches of the subject 
no expensive apparatus is required1 and 
no special scientific or intellectual   
training4 ,accurate observation and     
careful recording1 at the time1 of all  
that occurs1 without prejudice1 and     
without discouragement at apparent      
failure1 are the chief requisites4 ,any 
person1 or small group of persons of    
ordinary intelligence1 can train        
themselves to be equal to this4 ,a very 

simple instance occurred in the earliest
 experiences of the writer4 ,after three
 or four sittings round a small table   
with two friends1 at which there was    
meaningless tipping1 and nothing better 
than commonplace sentences1 the         
following was tipped out3 ,try no more  
to move--then this succession of        
letters--a t a t a4 ,it seemed useless  
to go on with nonsense1 but one of the  
party suggested perseverance2 when the  
following conclusion converted seeming  
nonsense into sense3 b l e take a pencil
 and write4 ,the result was that one of 
the party rapidly developed into an     
interesting automatic writer4  ,it is   
quite impossible to foretell the extent 
of the aid that may not be given1 in the
 explanation of some of these phenomena1
 by the persevering experiments of      
intelligent inquirers4  ,in the         
following chapters facts relating to    
several different kinds of phenomena are
 put before the reader1 as to which the 
guarantee of authenticity and the       

quality of the evidence are both        
unimpeachable4  ,it is not proposed to  
travel all over the world in search of  
evidence2 the illustrations will be     
drawn almost entirely from home sources4
 ,with all due respect to friends in    
distant parts1 it will doubtless be a   
satisfaction to some readers to know    
that in these pages they will not meet  
with ,mrs4 ,piper on the one hand1 nor  
with ,eusapia ,paladino on the other4   
,with these few introductory remarks a  
calm and dispassionate consideration of 
the evidence presented is invited4      
,first of all1 three classes of         
phenomena will be taken up in the       
following order3--  7#a7 ,the ,movement 
of ,objects without any apparent        
,physical ,cause4  7#b7 ,the ,production
 of ,sound without any apparent         
,physical ,cause4  7#c7 ,the ,production
 of ,light without any apparent         
,physical ,cause4  ,two chapters will   
then be devoted to a study of the       
phenomena exhibited in the lives of two 

of the most noted mediums of modern     
times--,daniel ,dunglas ,home and       
,william ,stainton ,moses4 ,both present
 manifestations of phenomena belonging  
to the three classes above-named1 as    
well as striking examples of other      
kinds4 ,a chapter on the ,divining ,rod 
will follow4 ,then a chapter on one of  
the forms of ,thought-,transference1 one
 which allows of its being included     
among physical phenomena4 ,two brief    
chapters will come next on ,spirit      
,photography and on ,materialisations4  
,it is explained that these are         
included1 not because of any scientific 
evidence in their favour which can be   
quoted1 but because of the extreme      
interest and importance of the subjects 
themselves1 and also because the strong 
testimony and moral evidence in support 
of their reality seem to promise a      
tempting field for the scientific       
explorer1 and to warrant a confident    
belief that the evidence he desires will
 be forthcoming4 ,in a final chapter an 

endeavour is made to sum up results and 
conclusions4     ,,chapter ,,ii  ,,the  
,,movement ,,of ,,objects ,,without     
,,any ,,apparent ,,physical ,,cause     
,,the ,,committee ,,of ,,the            
,,dialectical ,,society  ,so far as ,i  
am aware1 the first systematic or       
scientific attempt to investigate the   
alleged phenomenon of the movement of   
objects without any apparent physical   
cause was made by the ,london           
,dialectical ,society in the year #ahfi4
 ,on the motion of ,dr4 ,james ,edmunds1
 a ,committee was appointed to          
investigate the ,phenomena alleged to be
 ,spiritual ,manifestations1 and to     
report thereon4 ,the names of           
twenty-eight members were proposed4     
,three of these declined to act4 ,eight 
more names were added1 so that the      
,committee1 as finally constituted1     
consisted of thirty-three1 three of whom
 were ladies4 ,among the best-known     
names were ,h4 ,g4 ,atkinson1 ,f4,g4,s42
 ,charles ,bradlaugh2 ,e4 ,w4 ,cox1     

serjeant-at-law2 ,rev4 ,c4 ,maurice     
,davies1 ,d4,d42 ,charles ,r4 ,drysdale1
 ,m4,d42 ,james ,edmunds1 ,m4,d42       
,robert ,hannah2 ,h4 ,d4 ,jencken1      
barrister-at-law2 ,william ,volckman2   
and ,dr4 ,alfred ,russel ,wallace1      
,f4,r4,s4 ,it is believed that ,robert  
,hannah and ,dr4 ,alfred ,russel        
,wallace are the only survivors4  ,in   
order to investigate the phenomena in   
question by personal experiment and     
test1 the ,committee resolved itself    
into six ,sub-,committees4 ,in ,may     
#ahgj the ,committee appointed an       
,editing ,committee to prepare a joint  
report1 based solely on the evidence    
that had been before it4 ,a month later 
the ,editing ,committee presented a     
draft report1 which with some trifling  
verbal alterations was adopted nem dis4 
,a resolution was then carried that a   
copy be forwarded to the ,council of the
 ,dialectical ,society1 with a          
recommendation that it be printed and   
published4 ,this the ,council declined  

to do4 ,upon this the ,committee met and
 passed the following resolution3--     
,that the ,report be referred to the    
,editing ,committee1 and that they be   
requested to prepare it for publication1
 together with any supplementary or     
counter reports that may be received    
from members of the ,committee1 and     
appending thereto the reports of the    
,sub-,committees1 and the evidence1 oral
 and verbal1 that has been collected2   
the entire work1 when ready for         
publication1 to be submitted for        
approval to the ,committee4#a  ,such is 
the origin of the volume from which the 
following extracts are made4#b          
,considerations of space necessitate    
dealing with the work of one            
,sub-,committee only4 ,the essential    
part of the ,,report ,,of               
,,sub-,,committee ,,no4 #a is as        
follows3--  ,since their appointment on 
the #afth of ,february #ahfi1 your      
,sub-,committee have held forty meetings
 for the purpose of experiment and test4

  ,all of these meetings were held at   
the private residences of members of the
 ,committee1 purposely to preclude the  
possibility of pre-arranged mechanism or
 contrivance4  ,the furniture of the    
room in which the experiments were      
conducted was on every occasion its     
accustomed furniture4  ,the tables were 
in all cases heavy dining-tables1       
requiring a strong effort to move them4 
,the smallest of them was #e feet #i    
inches long by #d feet wide 444 and of  
proportionate weight4  ,the rooms1      
tables1 and furniture generally were    
repeatedly subjected to careful         
examination before1 during1 and after   
the experiments1 to ascertain that no   
concealed machinery1 instrument1 or     
other contrivance existed by means of   
which the sounds or movements           
hereinafter mentioned could be caused4  
,the experiments were conducted in the  
light of gas1 except on the few         
occasions specially noted in the        
minutes4  ,your ,committee have avoided 

the employment of professional or paid  
mediums1 the mediumship being that of   
members of your ,sub-,committee1 persons
 of good social position and of         
unimpeachable integrity1 having no      
pecuniary object to serve1 and nothing  
to gain by deception4         99        
99       99       99       99  ,your    
,committee have confined their ,report  
to facts witnessed by them in their     
collective capacity1 which facts were   
palpable to the senses1 and their       
reality capable of demonstrative proof4 
99       99       99       99       99  
,the result of their long-continued and 
carefully-conducted experiments1 after  
trial by every detective test they could
 devise1 has been to establish          
conclusively3--  ,first3 ,that under    
certain bodily or mental conditions of  
one or more of the persons present1 a   
force is exhibited sufficient to set in 
motion heavy substances1 without the    
employment of any muscular force1       
without contact or material connection  

of any kind between such substances and 
the body of any person present4         
,second3 ,that this force can cause     
sounds to proceed1 distinctly audible to
 all present1 from solid substances not 
in contact with1 nor having any visible 
or material connection with1 the body of
 any person present1 and which sounds   
are proved to proceed from such         
substances by the vibrations which are  
distinctly felt when they are touched4  
,third3 ,that this force is frequently  
directed by intelligence4  ,at          
thirty-four out of the forty meetings of
 your ,committee some of these phenomena
 occurred4         99       99       99 
99       99  ,in conclusion1 your       
,committee express their unanimous      
opinion that the one important physical 
fact thus proved to exist1 that motion  
may be produced in solid bodies without 
material contact1 by some hitherto      
unrecognised force operating within an  
undefined distance from the human       
organism1 and beyond the range of       

muscular action1 should be subjected to 
further scientific examination1 with a  
view to ascertaining its true source1   
nature1 and power4#c  ,one selection is 
now given from the ,minutes of this     
,sub-,committee1 illustrating the nature
 of the ,evidence that came before      
them3--  ,,experiment ,,xxxviii41 ,dec4 
#bhth #ahfi4--;,eight members present4  
,phenomena3 ,rapping sounds from the    
table and floor1 and movements of the   
table1 with and without contact4 ,the   
alphabet was repeated1 and the following
 letters were rapped3 ',a bad           
circle--want of harmony4' ,at the letter
 f1 the table tilted three times1 and at
 the letters a1 r1 gave several forcible
 horizontal movements1 tilting at either
 end4  ,raps1 with slight tiltings of   
the table1 beating time to the measure  
of a song4 ,two or three poems were     
recited1 to the measure of which there  
were loud raps from the table and floor1
 and the table also marked the metre by 
various horizontal movements and        

tiltings4  ,hood's ,anatomy ,song being 
repeated by one of the members1 the     
knocking1 rapping1 and tilting sounds1  
with various horizontal1 trembling1 and 
vibratory movements of the table1       
accompanied it1 in exact harmony with   
the measure1 added to which were strange
 movements1 in accordance with the      
character of the verses4 ,in one        
instance the table shifted its position 
several feet1 the tips of the fingers   
only being in contact with it4          
,,movements ,,without                   
,,contact4--,question3 ',would the table
 now be moved without contact8' ,answer3
 ',yes2' by three raps on the table4    
,all chairs were then turned with their 
backs to the table1 and nine inches away
 from it2 and all present knelt on the  
chairs1 with their wrists resting on the
 backs1 and their hands a few inches    
above the table4  ,under these          
conditions1 the table 7the heavy        
dining-room table previously described7 
moved four times1 each time from four to

 six inches1 and the second time nearly 
twelve inches4  ,then all hands were    
placed on the backs of the chairs1 and  
nearly a foot from the table1 when four 
movements occurred1 one slow and        
continuous for nearly a minute4  ,then  
all present placed their hands behind   
their backs1 kneeling erect on their    
chairs1 which were removed a foot clear 
away from the table4 ,the gas also was  
turned up higher1 so as to give         
abundance of light2 and under these test
 conditions1 distinct movements         
occurred1 to the extent of several      
inches each time1 and visible to every  
one present4  ,the motions were in      
various directions1 towards all parts of
 the room--some were abrupt1 others     
steady4 ,at the same time1 and under the
 same conditions1 distinct raps         
occurred1 apparently both on the floor  
and on the table1 in answer to requests 
for them4  ,the above-described         
movements were so unmistakable1 that all
 present unhesitatingly declared their  

conviction1 that no physical force1     
exerted by any one present1 could       
possibly have produced them2 and they   
declared further1 in writing1 that a    
rigid examination of the table showed it
 to be an ordinary dining-table1 with no
 machinery or apparatus of any kind     
connected with it4 ,the table was laid  
on the floor with its legs up1 and taken
 to pieces so far as practicable4#d     
,,testimony ,,of ,w4 ,f4 ,,barrett1     
,f4,r4,s41 ,,professor ,,of ,,physics   
,,in ,,the ,,royal ,,college ,,of       
,,science ,,for ,,ireland4  ,no         
endeavour appears to have been made by  
any of the members of the ,committee of 
the ,dialectical ,society to follow up  
the results which they had obtained4    
,the individual members who had         
previously been active in such matters  
continued to take an interest in them1  
but there is no evidence that a single  
new inquirer was gained4 ,the next event
 of any importance1 in the direction of 
scientific inquiry into the subject1 was

 the reading by ,professor ,w4 ,f4      
,barrett of a paper before the meeting  
of the ,british ,association at ,glasgow
 in #ahgf4 ,this paper was entitled ,on 
,some ,phenomena ,associated with       
,abnormal ,conditions of ,mind1 and     
dealt mainly with what was subsequently 
designated ,thought-,transference4      
,professor ,barrett also referred to    
some physical phenomena which had come  
under his notice4 ,he says3 ,i am bound 
to mention a case that came under my own
 repeated observation1 wherein certain  
inexplicable physical phenomena occurred
 in broad daylight1 and for which ,i    
could find no satisfactory solution     
either on the ground of hallucination or
 fraud4#e  ,in a paper read before the  
,society for ,psychical ,research in    
#ahhf1 entitled ,on ,some ,physical     
,phenomena commonly termed              
,spiritualistic1 witnessed by the       
,author1 ,professor ,barrett describes  
in detail the phenomena he referred to  
in the paper read ten years previously  

at the ,british ,association1 and the   
circumstances under which they occurred4
 ,the following paragraphs give the     
important features3#f--  ,mr4 ,c41 a    
solicitor1 with his wife and family1 had
 come to reside for the season in the   
suburban house of a friend and neighbour
 of ,professor ,barrett's4 ,he was an   
,irish country gentleman who had an     
utter disbelief in spiritualism4        
,professor ,barrett was therefore not a 
little amused on making ,mr4 ,c4's      
acquaintance1 to find that he had in his
 own family what appeared to be         
spiritualistic phenomena then and there 
going on4 ,mr4 ,c4 gave ,professor      
,barrett every opportunity of close and 
frequent investigation4 ,the sittings   
extended through the months of ,august  
and ,september #ahge4 ,there were       
present besides ,professor ,barrett1    
,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,c41 and their young     
daughter ,florrie1 a bright1 frank1     
intelligent child1 then about ten years 
old4 ,they sat at a large dining-room   

table1 facing ,french windows1 which let
 in a flood of sunlight4 ,shortly1      
scraping sounds1 raps1 and noises       
resembling the hammering of small nails1
 were heard4 ,florrie's hands and feet  
were closely watched1 and were observed 
to be absolutely motionless when the    
sounds were heard4 ,besides knocks1     
there were occasional movements of the  
furniture4 ,seated one day at a large   
dining-room table in full sunlight1     
,florrie1 and ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,c41 and   
,professor ,barrett being the persons   
present1 all their fingers visibly      
resting on the surface of the table1    
three legs of the table rose off the    
ground to a sufficient height to allow  
,professor ,barrett to put his foot     
easily beneath the castor nearest him4  
,the importance of the comparatively    
small amount of movement phenomena in   
this case is increased by their         
association with sound phenomena of     
great variety and frequency4 ,these will
 be fully described in the next chapter4

  ,another case which ,professor        
,barrett cites in the same paper may be 
thus summarised as far as phenomena of  
movement are concerned3#g--  ,the       
sitters were ,mr4 ,l41 a well-known     
photographer in ,dublin1 his niece1     
,miss ,i41 and ,professor ,barrett4     
,while noticing the raps and knocks1    
,professor ,barrett observed a frequent 
uneasy movement of the entire table1    
which was a moderately large and heavy  
one1 four feet square4 ,it sidled about 
in a most surprising manner4 ,lifting   
their hands completely off the table1   
the sitters placed themselves back in   
their chairs1 with their hands folded   
across their chests4 ,their feet were in
 full view4 ,under these conditions1 and
 in obedience to ,professor ,barrett's  
request1 the table raised the two legs  
nearest to him off the ground eight or  
ten inches1 and then suspended itself   
for a few moments4 ,a similar act was   
performed on the other side4 ,then a    
very unexpected occurrence happened4 ,to

 quote ,professor ,barrett's own        
words3--  ,whilst absolutely free from  
the contact of any person1 the table    
wriggled itself backward and forward1   
advancing towards the armchair in which 
,i sat1 and ultimately completely       
imprisoning me in my seat4 ,during its  
progress it was followed by ,mr4 ,l4 and
 ,miss ,i41 but they were at no time    
touching it1 and occasionally were so   
distant that ,i could perceive a free   
space all round the table whilst it was 
still in motion4 ,when thus under my    
very nose1 the table rose repeatedly1   
and enabled me to be perfectly sure1 by 
the evidence of touch1 that it was off  
the ground1 and further1 that no human  
being1 consciously or unconsciously1 had
 any part in this movement4  ,professor 
,barrett1 with his accustomed caution1  
comments thus3--  ,the results1 it is   
true1 were very remarkable and          
unaccountable2 but though ,i had not the
 slightest doubt of the good faith of   
,mr4 ,l4 and ,miss ,i41 yet ,i do not   

adduce this evidence as unexceptionable4
 ,i should have preferred to have taken 
precautions which were not so easy to   
impose on a lady1 and ,i should also    
have preferred to have had the seance at
 my own house4  ,this latter objection  
was met by ,mr4 ,l4 and ,miss ,i4 going 
to ,professor ,barrett's house shortly  
afterwards1 no one else besides         
,professor ,barrett being present4 ,some
 remarkable sounds were again heard4    
,then1 this happened--again quoting     
,professor ,barrett's own words3--      
,suddenly1 only the tips of our fingers 
being on the table1 the heavy loo-table 
at which we were sitting made a series  
of very violent prancing movements      
7which ,i could not imitate afterwards  
except by using both hands and all my   
strength72 the blows were so heavy that 
,i hurriedly stopped the performance1   
fearing for the safety of the gas       
chandelier in the room below4 ,here1    
too1 ,i cannot avoid the conclusion that
 the phenomena described are            

inexplicable on any known hypothesis4   
,after discounting the pious platitudes 
spelt out by the tilts of the table1 and
 the possibility1 and even probability1 
that unintentional muscular movements   
were the cause of these1 and after      
recognising the impossibility of keeping
 up a continuous vigilant watch on the  
hands and feet of any person1 and after 
supposing that ,miss ,i4 had some       
ingenious mechanism concealed about her 
person1 whereby she could produce the   
sounds that were heard1 ,professor      
,barrett says3 ,this would fail to      
account for the undoubted motion of a   
heavy table1 free from the contact of   
all present4 ,after giving due weight to
 every known explanation1 the phenomena 
remain inexplicable to me4   ,,testimony
 ,,collected ,,by ,,frederic ,w4 ,h4    
,,myers4  ,next in order of time come   
two papers by ,mr4 ,f4 ,w4 ,h4 ,myers1  
under the title of ,alleged ,movements  
of ,objects without ,contact1 occurring 
not in the ,presence of a ,paid ,medium4

 ,they are published in vol4 vii4 of the
 ,proceedings of the ,society for       
,psychical ,research4#h ,the first      
article goes over most of the ground    
traversed in the earlier part of this   
chapter1 but devotes twenty lines only  
to the ,report of the ,committee of the 
,dialectical ,society1 and refers only  
to ,professor ,barrett's cases as having
 been already published4 ,a number of   
other cases are1 however1 described in  
detail4 ,the evidence in these scarcely 
comes up to the level of scientific1 and
 unless it had been sifted by so careful
 a critic as ,mr4 ,myers1 who convinced 
himself of the reality of the facts1    
could hardly be considered of much      
value4 ,the two following cases in the  
first article present the strongest     
evidence4  7#a7 ,,the ,,armstrong       
,,case4--,mr4 ,george ,allman           
,armstrong1 of #h ,leeson ,place1       
,dublin1 and ,ardnacarrig1 ,bandon1     
writes an account dated #acth ,june     
#ahhg4 ,after vouching for the perfect  

good faith of the small group of        
experimenters1 he describes in detail   
the movements of a table4 ,the rising   
was generally preceded by a continuous  
fusillade of knocks in the substance of 
the table4 ,when the knocks had1 as it  
were1 reached a climax1 the table slowly
 swayed from side to side like a        
pendulum4 ,it would stop completely1 and
 then1 as if imbued with life1 and quite
 suddenly1 would rise completely off the
 floor to a height of twelve or fourteen
 inches at least4 ,it nearly always came
 down with immense force1 and on several
 occasions proved destructive to itself1
 as the broken limbs of the table used  
at ,kinsale could testify4 ,the table   
was a round1 rather heavy walnut one1   
with a central column standing on three 
claw legs4 ,mr4 ,armstrong says that on 
several occasions he succeeded in       
raising the table without contact4 ,it  
rose to the fingers held over it at a   
height of several inches1 like the      
keeper of a strong electro-magnet4#i    

7#b7 ,a ,,bell-,,ringing ,,case4--,mr4  
,myers1 in introducing this case1 says3 
,the usual hypotheses of fraud1 rats1   
hitched wires1 c41 seem hard to apply4  
,the care and fulness with which it has 
been recorded will enable the reader to 
judge for himself more easily than in   
most narratives of this type4 ,our      
informant is a gentleman ,mr4 ,d41      
occupying a responsible position2 his   
name may be given to inquirers4#aj ,the 
detailed report of the occurrences      
occupies no less than twelve pages1 the 
greater part of which consists of a long
 letter addressed by ,mr4 ,d4 to the    
,society for ,psychical ,research4 ,he  
explains that he is writing in the main 
from notes taken at the time and not    
from memory4 ,the following is an       
abstract3--  ,on ,friday1 #bcrd         
,september #ahhg1 he took his four      
pupils to a circus1 his lady housekeeper
 also going1 leaving two servants at    
home4 ,they left at about #b ,p4,m4 ,all
 but himself returned about #e4cj ,p4,m4

 ,the two servants were on the doorstep1
 telling the boys not to go in by the   
area door--the kitchens being below     
ground--and explaining that all the     
bells were ringing violently1 no one    
touching them1 and that they had been   
doing so almost ever since half-past    
two4 ,when the master of the house came 
home1 he found the same state of things1
 the servants almost in hysterics and   
the bells ringing4 ,nine bells hung in a
 row just inside the area door1 opposite
 the kitchen door1 and there was one    
bell--a call bell--on the landing at the
 top of the house4  ,mr4 ,d4 frequently 
saw several of these bells ringing at   
once1 the ringing being sudden and very 
violent1 louder1 he believed1 than they 
could be rung by pulling the handles4   
,one bell was more than once pulled     
over1 so that it could not return to its
 normal position4 ,several of the       
upstairs bells had no bell-pulls4 ,the  
bellhanger was several times summoned to
 the premises4 ,he showed that the wires

 could not have been entangled1 and     
entirely agreed that it would be an     
utter impossibility for any animals1    
such as cats or rats1 to ring the bells 
as they were rung4 ,the house was quite 
a new one1 standing alone1 surrounded by
 unoccupied plots of building land4  ,as
 to the question of trickery4 ,there    
seemed no possibility of that being the 
explanation4 ,the phenomena occurred    
when the housekeeper and pupils were all
 away2 also when the cook was away2 also
 when only the two servants and the     
master were in the house1 and both of   
them in his sight4 ,for instance1 he    
says he stood in the passage in front of
 the nine bells watching them ring1 with
 both the servants close by4 ,once in   
particular he watched the housemaid on  
her knees in the middle of the          
wash-house scrubbing the tiles1 while   
the front door1 area door1 and bath-room
 bells were pealing violently4 ,the     
ringing was also heard by tradesmen1 and
 by men working in the gardens near4    

,the wires of the bells were distinctly 
moved1 not only the bells and the       
clappers4 ,the bell-handles were never  
observed to be moved4 ,the ringing      
lasted between three and four weeks1 and
 then ceased4 ,knockings in considerable
 variety were also heard1 and a few     
cases of the movement of chairs and     
small articles1 without any contact1    
also occurred4  ,mr4 ,d4 was at one time
 disposed to think that the housemaid   
was in some way connected with the      
disturbances1 but he could trace no     
evidence4 ,she was a young girl who had 
not been out to service before4 ,she got
 into such a state of nervous excitement
 about the occurrences1 that brain fever
 or something serious was feared4 ,she  
had only been in the house a few weeks  
previous to the commencement of the     
manifestations1 and nothing occurred    
after she left4 ,mr4 ,d4 was1 however1  
perfectly convinced that she had nothing
 to do voluntarily with the             
bell-ringing4#aa  ,the second paper by  

,mr4 ,myers is devoted exclusively to   
some strange experiences which occurred 
several years previous to #ahia1 at the 
village of ,swanland1 a few miles from  
,hull1 in the ,east ,riding of          
,yorkshire4 ,the evidence is that of    
,john ,bristow1 who states he was an    
eye-witness4 ,there were no intellectual
 phenomena1 nothing but the apparently  
meaningless throwing about of pieces of 
wood--directed1 however1 by some        
intelligence1 so as to attract attention
 without doing harm4 ,here again what   
value the case has rests almost solely  
on its having received the critical     
study of ,mr4 ,myers4#ab   ,,footnotes3 
#a ,report of the ,committee of the     
,london ,dialectical ,society1 p4 #bbh4 
#b ,report on ,spiritualism of the      
,committee of the ,london ,dialectical  
,society1 together with the ,evidence1  
,oral and ,written1 and a ,selection    
from the ,correspondence4 ,two editions 
have been published4 ,both are out of   
print4  #c ,report1 c41 pp4 #g-ac4  #d  

,report1 c41 pp4 #cij-cia4  #e          
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 i4 p4 #bdj 
#f ,see ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4
 pp4 #bi-cc4  #g ,see ,proceedings      
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 pp4 #cc-ce4  #h     
,vol4 vii4 pp4 #adf-aih and pp4         
#chc-cid4  #i ,for full account see     
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vii4 pp4   
#aei-afj4  #aj ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41  
vol4 vii4 p4 #afj4  #aa ,see the full   
account in ,part ,,xix4 of the          
,proceedings of the ,s4,p4,r41 which    
part is included in vol4 vii41 and may  
be obtained separately for #bs4 #f;d4   
#ab ,see ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4   
vii4 pp4 #chc-cid4     ,,chapter ,,iii  
,,the ,,production ,,of ,,sound         
,,without ,,any ,,apparent ,,physical   
,,cause   ,if the tipping of small      
tables when the hands of the sitters are
 in contact is excepted--under which    
circumstances it is generally impossible
 to determine whether the result is     
psychical1 or due merely to muscular    
action unconsciously exercised--the     

production of raps and other sounds is  
the most frequent of the phenomena under
 consideration4 ,they are1 however1     
generally so intermixed with other      
phenomena that it is difficult to treat 
them separately4   ,,the ,,dialectical  
,,society4  ,in the extracts from the   
,report of the ,committee of the        
,dialectical ,society given in the      
preceding chapter1 it will be remembered
 that raps and other noises are referred
 to as being frequently heard1 and also 
as apparently produced by an intelligent
 agency4   ,,testimony ,,of ,,professor 
,w4 ,f4 ,,barrett1 ,f4,r4,s4  ,the      
reader is asked to refer to the general 
conditions of the case of ,mr4 ,c4      
testified to by ,professor ,barrett in  
the previous chapter4 ,he says3--  ,they
 7the sounds7 came more readily and more
 loudly when music was played1 or a     
merry song struck up4 ,usually they kept
 time with the music1 and altogether    
displayed a singular degree of          
intelligence4 ,sometimes a loud rhythmic

 scraping1 as of a violoncello bow on a 
piece of wood1 would accompany the      
music4 ,again and again ,i placed my ear
 on the very spot on the table whence   
this rough fiddling appeared to proceed1
 and felt distinctly the rhythmic       
vibration of the table1 but no tangible 
cause was visible either above or below 
the table4444 ,on one occasion1 when no 
one else was in the room1 444 ,i asked  
my young friend the medium to put her   
hands against the wall1 and see how far 
she could stretch her feet back from the
 wall without tumbling down4 ,this she  
did1 and whilst in this constrained     
position--with the muscles of arms and  
legs all in tension--,i asked for the   
knocks to come4 ,immediately a brisk    
pattering of raps followed my request4  
,all the while the child remained quite 
motionless4 ,my reason in making this   
experiment1 was to test the late ,dr4   
,carpenter's muscular theory of the     
cause of the sounds4 ,had ,dr4          
,carpenter been present1 ,i feel sure he

 would have admitted that here at any   
rate that theory fell through4#ac       
,professor ,barrett sums up his         
conclusions on this case thus3--  ,a    
long and careful examination convinced  
me that trickery on the part of the     
child was a more improbable hypothesis  
than that the sounds proceeded from some
 unknown agency4 ,nor could the sounds  
be accounted for by trickery on the part
 of the servants in the house1 for in   
addition to my careful inquiries on this
 point1 ,mr4 ,c4 informed me that he had
 obtained the raps on the handle of his 
umbrella out of doors1 when the child   
was by his side2 and that the           
music-master complained of raps         
proceeding from inside the piano        
whenever the child was listless or      
inattentive at her music lesson4 ,mrs4  
,c4 told me that almost every night she 
heard the raps by the bedside of the    
child when she went to bid her          
good-night2 and that after she had left 
the room and partially closed the door1 

she would hear quite an animated        
conversation going on between her       
daughter and her invisible companion1   
the child rapidly spelling over the     
alphabet1 and the raps occurring at the 
right letters1 and the child thus       
obtaining with surprising rapidity a    
clue to the words spelt out4  ,still    
more violently improbable is the        
supposition that the parents of the     
child were at the bottom of the mystery1
 stimulated by a desire to impress their
 friends with the wonderful but         
imaginary gifts their child possessed4  
,the presence of the parents was not    
necessary for the occurrence of the     
sounds1 which1 as ,i have said1 often   
took place when ,i was the only person  
in the room besides the child4          
,hallucination was the explanation which
 suggested itself to my own mind when   
first ,i heard of the phenomena1 but was
 dismissed as wholly inapplicable after 
the first day's inquiry2 nor do ,i think
 that any one could maintain that       

different people1 individually and      
collectively1 for some weeks1 thought   
they heard and saw a series of sounds   
and motions which had no objective      
existence4  ,no6 ,i was then1 and am    
still1 morally certain that the         
phenomena had a real existence outside  
oneself1 and that they were not produced
 by trickery or by known causes4 ,hence 
,i could come to no other conclusion    
than that we had here a class of        
phenomena wholly new to science4#ad     
,after some three months the sounds     
ceased as unexpectedly as they had      
commenced4  ,there is one form of sound 
manifestation to which no allusion has  
been made--what is called the ,direct   
,voice4 ,it is alleged to be of frequent
 occurrence in spiritualistic circles4  
,articulate words are1 it is stated1    
spoken direct1 not through the voice    
organs of any person present4 ,the      
phenomenon1 so far as ,i have heard1    
occurs only in darkness--and is an      
objective voice audible alike to every  

one present4 ,it corresponds to the     
phenomenon of direct writing4 ,but no   
attempt that ,i am aware of has been    
made to treat the matter scientifically4
 ,one of the earliest alleged           
occurrences of this phenomenon took     
place in ,london1 at a private seance at
 which ,i was present at the house of   
,mr4 ,thos4 ,everitt1 who departed this 
life in ,august of last year1 and who   
was one of the most prominent ,london   
spiritualists1 ,mrs4 ,everitt being the 
medium4 ,some little time later1 at a   
similar seance at the same house1 the   
sitting was terminated by the singing of
 a hymn by three or four soft1 gentle   
voices1 purporting to be direct voices1 
which sounded as if they proceeded from 
the top of the room close to the        
ceiling4 ,they were certainly not the   
voices of any of the company present4   
,it was one of the most beautiful and   
touching manifestations ,i ever         
experienced4 ,i can only compare it to  
the singing of a choir of boys' voices1 

high up out of sight in ,truro          
,cathedral1 which ,i had heard many     
years before4 ,the seances at ,mr4      
,everitt's were conducted in an         
exclusively religious tone1 and afforded
 no opportunity for obtaining scientific
 evidence4 ,it is much to be desired    
that a careful inquiry should be made   
into the reality of so interesting a    
phenomenon4   ,,footnotes3  #ac         
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 pp4    
#bi-cj4  #ad ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41    
vol4 iv4 p4 #ca4     ,,chapter ,,iv     
,,the ,,appearance ,,of ,,light         
,,without ,,any ,,apparent ,,physical   
,,cause   ,the appearance of ,lights at 
,spiritualistic circles1 apparently not 
due to any physical cause1 is very      
widely asserted4 ,the character of the  
,lights is as varied as it is possible  
to imagine4 ,faint1 cloudy1 indefinite  
luminous appearances--brilliant stars   
which move or hover among the           
sitters--globes or balls of light1 like 
illuminated ostrich eggs1 or spheres of 

mother-of-pearl lit up from             
within--pillars of light--are some of   
the many forms which this manifestation 
takes4 ,but anything approaching to     
scientific evidence of the reality of   
the phenomenon is singularly scarce4    
,and ,i am not aware that anything has  
ever been done towards testing or       
endeavouring to ascertain the nature of 
the light4 ,one reason for this is1 no  
doubt1 that to investigate light        
phenomena1 the exclusion of other light 
is obviously requisite4 ,hence the      
necessity for dark seances4 ,the        
objection to a dark seance in itself can
 of course have no scientific basis4    
,but a strong feeling against dark      
seances has arisen from the abuses to   
which they have led4 ,it is possible    
that the extent of the evil has been    
exaggerated1 and has thus produced an   
exaggerated prejudice against darkness  
as a condition4 ,it is1 however1 safe to
 say1 that1 even if promiscuous seances 
are ever useful or wise1 a promiscuous  

dark seance should never be sanctioned  
by an earnest inquirer4  ,orthodox      
science has not yet condescended to     
bestow any attention on spirit lights4  
,i had the privilege of private         
acquaintance with ,dr4 ,tyndall1 and    
once acted as his assistant at some     
lectures he gave in a country place4 ,i 
remember sending him a report of some   
rather remarkable manifestations of     
light witnessed at a private seance in  
,london1 under fairly good              
test-conditions4 ,dr4 ,tyndall was at   
the time engaged in some special optical
 investigations1 and ,i asked him to    
spend five minutes in reading the notes 
enclosed4 ,dr4 ,tyndall's reply1 in his 
laconic1 jocular style1 was to this     
effect--,i have spent five minutes as   
you desired1 and it is a long time since
 ,i spent five minutes so badly6  ,the  
best series of light phenomena1 both as 
regards their varied character1 and as  
regards the observers1 and the care with
 which records at the time were made1   

occurred in the presence of ,mr4 ,w4    
,stainton ,moses4 ,a special chapter is 
devoted to his general experiences later
 on1 but ,i will deal with the phenomena
 of lights here1 and make this the only 
illustration of this branch of the      
subject4 ,for the general credibility of
 the ,w4 ,stainton ,moses phenomena the 
reader is referred to the opening       
paragraph of ,chapter ,,vi4 ,the        
following pages are taken1 by way of    
either extract or abstract1 from two    
articles on ,mr4 ,w4 ,stainton ,moses by
 ,mr4 ,f4 ,w4 ,h4 ,myers4 ,they thus    
have the advantage of ,mr4 ,myers' moral
 certificate1 so to speak1 as to their  
value4 ,the articles were published in  
the ,proceedings of the ,society for    
,psychical ,research4#ae  ,mr4 ,stainton
 ,moses says that the first occasion on 
which large luminous appearances were   
seen at the circle consisting of ,dr4   
and ,mrs4 ,speer and himself was on #gth
 ,june #ahgc4 ,they had become familiar 
with floating masses of luminous vapour2

 and on several occasions1 the masses   
condensed1 so to speak1 until a distinct
 objective light was formed4 ,on that   
evening1 however1 a number of cones of  
soft light similar to moonlight appeared
 in succession4 ,there was a nucleus of 
soft yellow light surrounded by a haze4 
,they sailed up from a corner of the    
room and gradually died out4 ,they seem 
to have been carried in a materialised  
hand1 a finger of which was shown at    
request1 by placing it in front of the  
nucleus of light4#af  ,subsequently they
 saw another kind of light altogether4  
,it was apparently a little round disc  
of light which twinkled like a star4 ,it
 flashed with great rapidity1 and       
answered questions by the usual code of 
signals4 ,on about half-a-dozen         
occasions a bright scintillating light  
apparently resting on the mantelshelf   
was seen4 ,it was about the size of a   
pigeon's egg1 and looked like a large   
diamond lit up with strong light4#ag    
,mr4 ,stainton ,moses gives a           

description of a most remarkable light1 
of quite a different kind from any that 
he had ever heard or read of4 ,it       
appeared six times1 diminishing in      
brilliancy on each occasion4 ,mr4       
,stainton ,moses says3 ,the light was   
first observed directly behind us--a    
tall column about half an inch or rather
 more in width1 and six or seven feet   
high4 ,the light was of a bright golden 
hue1 and did not illuminate objects in  
its neighbourhood4 ,for a minute a cross
 developed at its top1 and rays seemed  
to dart from it4 ,dr4 ,speer1 who had   
been watching the strange phenomenon    
with absorbing interest1 asked          
permission to examine it more closely4  
,leave being given1 he went to the      
light1 put his face close to it1 and    
passed his hand through it4 ,he detected
 no odour1 and the light did not        
disappear4 ,no warmth came from it1 nor 
did it perceptibly light up the room4   
,it remained visible until the seance   
was concluded4#ah  ,the following       

graphic description shall be given in   
,mr4 ,stainton ,moses' own words3--     
,the room1 which had been filled        
7especially round me7 with floating     
clouds of light1 grew suddenly dark1 and
 absolute stillness took the place of   
the previous loud knockings4 ,it would  
have been a strange scene for an        
ear-witness4 ,the table1 isolated1 with 
no human hand touching it1 giving forth 
a series of mysterious thuds of varying 
intensity1 some of which might have been
 made with a muffled sledge-hammer1 all 
indicating intelligence--an intelligence
 that showed itself by deliberation1 or 
eagerness1 or stately solemnity         
according to the nature of the          
communication4 ,around the table three  
persons sitting with a hush of          
expectation1 and faces 7if they could   
have been seen7 of awe-stricken         
earnestness4444 ,the room shrouded in   
darkness1 except at one end1 where      
shifting masses of luminous vapour now  
and again gathered into a pillar which  

dimly outlined a form1 and again        
dispersed1 and flitted round the head of
 one of the sitters4 ,no scene could be 
imagined more calculated to strike a    
novice with awe1 none more solemn and   
impressive for those who participated in
 it4#ai  ,mr4 ,w4 ,stainton ,moses thus 
describes the formation of the lights at
 a sitting on #ith ,august #ahgc3--  ,i 
witnessed the formation of some eight or
 nine very beautiful spirit lights4     
,they formed quite close to me1 and near
 my left hand1 about a foot from the    
floor1 floating upwards till they       
reached the level of the table and      
became visible to ,dr4 ,speer4 ,they    
were expressly made at my side1 instead 
of1 as usual1 at my back1 so that ,i    
might see them4 ,they seemed to develop 
from a very bright speck1 about the size
 of a pea1 until they attained the size 
of a soda-water tumbler1 and showed a   
soft luminosity like pale moonlight4    
,they seemed to be covered with drapery 
and to be held by a hand4 ,they faded   

slowly out1 remaining visible about     
thirty or forty seconds1 or perhaps a   
minute4 ,the largest would be about     
eight inches long4#bj  ,on #adth ,april 
#ahgd1 ,dr4 ,speer and ,mr4 ,stainton   
,moses held a sitting by themselves4    
,mr4 ,stainton ,moses thus describes    
what happened3--  ,to-night lights      
commenced again1 but of a quite         
different character to any we had seen  
before4 ,they darted about like a comet1
 coming from the side by the harmonium1 
or near the fireplace4 ,they were       
evanescent1 and apparently of diffuse   
luminosity1 within which was a nucleus  
of light1 not1 however1 visible to me4  
,we had some ten or twelve of these1    
some more brilliant than others1 some   
visible both in the looking-glass and in
 the glass of the book-case1 and they   
were showing a trail of reflected light 
on the table1 when suddenly there arose 
from below me1 apparently under the     
table1 or near the floor1 right under my
 nose1 a cloud of luminous smoke1 just  

like phosphorus4 ,it fumed up in great  
clouds1 until ,i seemed to be on fire1  
and rushed from the room in a panic4 ,i 
was fairly frightened1 and could not    
tell what was happening4 ,i rushed to   
the door and opened it1 and so to the   
front door4 ,my hands seemed to be      
ablaze1 and left their impress on the   
doors and handles4 ,it blazed for a     
while after ,i had touched it1 but soon 
went out1 and no smell or trace         
remained4 ,i have seen my own hands     
covered with a lambent flame2 but       
nothing like this ,i ever saw4444 ,the  
lights were preceded by very sharp      
detonations on my chair1 so that we     
could watch for their coming by hearing 
the noise4 ,they shot up very rapidly   
from the floor4#ba  ,this sensational   
experience must conclude the evidence   
respecting the lights1 for the present4 
,one more selection has1 however1 been  
made1 which is deferred to the special  
chapter on ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses'       
experiences as a whole4 ,the present    

chapter must be read in connection with 
that chapter4 ,it is admitted that the  
testimony quoted with regard to the     
,lights does not reach the level of     
scientific evidence4 ,at the same time1 
when due consideration is given to the  
existing contemporary records1 and to   
the careful way in which ,mr4 ,myers    
examined the whole case1 it is difficult
 to avoid the conviction that the       
,lights were objective phenomena1 not   
produced by any known physical cause4   
,it is much to be regretted that efforts
 were not made to secure a critical     
study of the ,lights by a competent     
scientific man4   ,,footnotes3  #ae     
,vol4 ix4 pp4 #bde-ceb1 and vol4 xi4 pp4
 #bd-aac4  #af ,see ibid41 vol4 ix4 pp4 
#bgc-bgd4  #ag ,see ,proceedings        
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4 p4 #bgf4  #ah ,see  
ibid41 pp4 #bgf-bgg4  #ai ,proceedings  
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4 p4 #bij4  #bj       
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4 p4     
#cai4  #ba ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 
xi4 pp4 #dd-de4     ,,chapter ,v        

,,physical ,,phenomena ,,alleged ,,to   
,,have ,,occurred ,,in ,,the ,,presence 
,,of ,,daniel ,,dunglas ,,home          
,scientific evidence of the reality of  
the ,physical ,phenomena alleged to have
 occurred in the presence of ,d4 ,d4    
,home is scarcely to be looked for in   
the two volumes written by himself1 nor 
even in the two volumes published after 
his death by ,madame ,home4 ,the alleged
 phenomena failed to attract the        
attention of more than a very few men of
 science during ,home's lifetime4 ,of   
these the most eminent is ,sir ,william 
,crookes1 ,f4,r4,s4 ,with regard to ,sir
 ,william ,crookes' evidence the reader 
is referred to two paragraphs on page   
#abd4   ,,the ,,report ,,of ,,the       
,,committee ,,of ,,the ,,dialectical    
,,society4  ,again1 the ,report of the  
,committee of the ,dialectical ,society1
 or rather the documents which accompany
 it1 supplies some good evidence4 ,home 
had four sittings with one of the       
,sub-,committees1 but the phenomena were

 of a trifling and inconclusive         
character4 ,this was attributed to the  
state of ,home's bodily health4 ,he was 
on the eve of a severe illness4 ,several
 persons subsequently sent to the       
,committee statements of what they had  
seen and heard in ,home's presence4 ,the
 only one of these which can be said to 
possess scientific value is a report of 
a seance held with ,lord ,lindsay--now  
the ,earl of ,crawford and              
,balcarres--and ,mrs4 ,honywood1 and two
 other persons4 ,the report is as       
follows4 ,it is written by ,mrs4        
,honywood1 and ,lord ,lindsay adds a few
 words1 his own personal testimony4     
,i met ,mr4 ,home at the house of a     
friend on the #agth ,march #ahfi4       
,we sat down1 five in number1 at a round
 table in the back     drawing-room4    
,there was an oil lamp on a table in the
 front     drawing-room1 and fires in   
both grates4 ,after a while ,mr4 ,home  
became entranced1 walked into the front 
room1 and stood on the     hearth-rug4  

,he began to dance slowly1 raising first
 the one foot     and then the other1   
his hands hanging loosely as ,i have    
read of     ,easterns and ,indians1     
moving in time to music4 ,he then knelt 
down1 rubbing and clasping his hands    
together in front of the     fire4 ,i   
asked1 ',are you a fire worshipper8' ,he
 nodded and looked     pleased4 ',are   
you a ,persian8' ,he smiled and nodded  
assent1 after     which he rose and     
placed four chairs in a row near the    
folding     doors1 signing to us to sit 
there4 ,he now went to the table on     
which stood the moderator lamp2 taking  
off the globe1 he placed     it on the  
table1 and deliberately grasped the     
chimney of the     lamp with both hands2
 then1 advancing to the lady of the     
house1     he asked her to touch it1 but
 she refused1 knowing it was hot4       
,mr4 ,home said1 ',have you no faith8   
,will you not trust in ,dan if     he   
says it is cool8' ,she replied1         
',certainly1' and placed her     finger 

on the glass1 exclaiming1 ',oh1 it is   
not at all hot6'     ,this was          
corroborated by ,lord ,lindsay and      
myself1 who in turn     both laid our   
finger on the glass several times to    
test it4 ,mr4     ,home laughed and     
said1 ',i will make it hot for you1 old 
fellow1'     and holding it towards ,mr4
 ----1 he turned1 apparently            
addressing some one1 and said1 in a sad 
tone of voice1 ',it is     necessary to 
confirm the faith of others that the    
glass should     be made hot for him4'  
,mr4 ---- now touched it1 and exclaimed1
     ',you have indeed1' shaking his    
hand and showing me a red mark4     ,so 
hot was the glass when a fourth person  
touched it1 that it     raised a        
blister1 which ,i saw some days         
subsequently1 peeling4     ,i leave it  
for the scientific to determine how the 
heat was     re-imparted to the glass1  
after being withdrawn4      ,mr4 ,home  
now returned to the fireplace1 and      
thrust the chimney     into the red-hot 

coals1 resting the end on the top bar2  
he left     it there about four or five 
minutes1 then1 lifting it1 he           
clasped it in both hands1 went to the   
table1 took a lucifer     match from a  
box1 and handing it to the lady of the  
house1     desired her to touch the     
glass--the match instantly ignited2 and 
having called our attention to this     
fact1 he observed1 ',the     tongue and 
lips are the most sensitive parts of the
 body1' and     thrust the heated glass 
into his mouth1 applying1 especially1   
his tongue to it4 ,he once more returned
 to the fire1 and again     placed the  
chimney on the upper bar1 the end of the
 glass     resting amidst the red coals4
 ,he left it there and walked about     
the room1 selected a small fern-leaf    
from a vase of flowers1 and     raising 
the chimney1 placed it within1 and      
replaced the chimney     among the      
coals4 ,after a few moments he told us  
to observe very     carefully1 as the   
experiment would be very pretty4 ,mr4   

,home now     held up the glass1 and we 
perceived the fern-leaf within          
apparently on fire4 ,he replaced it     
after a few seconds1 and     holding it 
up again1 exclaimed1 ',is it not        
pretty8' ,the fern     appeared red-hot2
 each little leaf edged with gold1 yet  
flameless1 like clouds at sunset--rich  
glowing crimson tinged     with molten  
gold4 ,after we had all looked at it and
 admired it1     he advanced to ,mrs4   
----1 and laughingly shook it out on her
     muslin dress4 ,i expected to see it
 crumble away2 but no1 it was     still 
green1 though dry and withered4         
,unfortunately it was not     preserved4
      ,again ,mr4 ,home returned to the 
fire1 and once more placed the     glass
 on the coals1 where he left it1 and    
walked about the room2     going to the 
lamp1 he passed his hand slowly         
backwards and     forwards through the  
flame1 not an inch from the wick2       
returning     to the fireplace1 he      
lifted the chimney1 and moving the coals

     about with his hand1 selected a    
small flat red-hot coal1 and     placed 
it in the chimney--shook it up and down1
 and advancing to     us1 playfully     
said1 ',h----1 here is a present for    
you1' and     threw out the coal on her 
muslin dress4 ,catching it up in        
dismay1 she tossed it to ,lord ,lindsay1
 who1 unable to retain it     in his    
hand1 threw it from palm to palm till he
 reached1 the     grate and flung it in4
 ,while we were all looking at the      
muslin     dress and wondering that it  
was neither soiled nor singed1 ,mr4     
,home approached1 and in a hurt tone of 
voice said1 ',no1 no1 you     will not  
find a mark2 did you think that we would
 hurt your     dress4' ,mr4 ,home then  
selected a small spray of white flower1 
and going to the lamp1 he passed it two 
or three times through     the flame1   
then carried it to the grate1 and held  
it first in     the flame and then in   
the smoke above the coals1 moving it    
gently about4 ,he now brought it back to

 us1 asking us to look at     it and    
smell it1 calling our attention to the  
fact that the     flower did not smell  
of smoke1 and that it was unchanged by  
the     heat and flame of lamp and fire4
 ,he then bid us notice that his        
hand which held the flower smelt of     
smoke1 while the flower     remained    
uninjured4 ,then addressing us1 he said1
 ',the spirit now     speaking through  
,dan1 and that has enabled him to show  
you these     curious fire-tests1 in    
which he hopes you have all felt        
interested1 is the spirit of an ,asiatic
 fire-worshipper1 who was     anxious to
 come here to-night1 as he had heard of 
seances held     here4 ,he now bids you 
farewell1 as he will return no more4'   
,after this ,mr4 ,home awoke4           
,,barbara ,,honywood4      ,i was       
present at this seance1 and can         
corroborate the truth of     the above  
statement4                              
,,lindsay4#bb                           
,,now ,,earl ,,of ,,crawford ,,and      

,,balcarres4   ,,testimony ,,of ,,the   
,,earl ,,of ,,dunraven4  ,lord          
,dunraven--then ,lord ,adare--had a     
number of sittings with ,home4 ,he      
printed a small volume--for private     
circulation only--under the title of    
,experiences in ,spiritualism with ,mr4 
,d4 ,d4 ,home4 ,this volume is          
exceedingly scarce4   ,,an ,,inquiry    
,,by ,,professor ,w4 ,f4 ,,barrett1     
,f4,r4,s41 ,,and ,,mr4 ,f4 ,w4 ,h4      
,,myers4  ,in the year #ahhi1 ,professor
 ,barrett and ,mr4 ,myers undertook an  
,inquiry into the ,evidence for the     
,mediumship of ,d4 ,d4 ,home4 ,they     
collected the testimony of a large      
number of persons who were witnesses of 
the ,home phenomena1 carefully examined 
its evidential value1 and summarised it 
in a ,joint ,report4 ,this was printed  
in the ,journal of the ,society for     
,psychical ,research for ,july #ahhi4bc 
,it is to be regretted that the ,society
 has not seen its way to publish this   
,report in a form accessible to the     

general public4 ,it is true that in his 
great work1 ,human ,personality1 and its
 ,survival of ,bodily ,death1 ,mr4      
,myers gives a brief summary of the     
,report2 but he condenses the thirty-six
 pages of the original ,report and its  
appendices into four pages of ,human    
,personality1 which are quite           
insufficient to convey an adequate idea 
of the ,report itself4 ,also1 the cost  
of ,mr4 ,myers' book debars from it the 
mass of readers4 ,this ,report was      
followed up a little later by a brief   
article by ,mr4 ,myers1 forming an      
important supplement4#bd  ,in the       
,report itself its joint authors say3   
,we propose the question--,have ,home's 
phenomena ever been plausibly explained 
as conjuring tricks1 or in accordance   
with known laws of nature8 ,and we      
answer--,no2 they have not been so      
explained1 nor can we so explain        
them4#be ,in commenting on the ,joint   
,report1 by ,professor ,barrett and     
himself1 ,mr4 ,myers puts the problem as

 to ,home in this form3 ,there is thus a
 considerable body of evidence as to    
,home1 which enables us to discuss the  
three questions3 7#a7 ,was he ever      
convicted of fraud8 7#b7 ,did he satisfy
 any trained observer in a series of    
experiments selected by the observer and
 not by himself8 7#c7 ,were the         
phenomena entirely beyond the scope of  
the conjurer's art8#bf  ,in the ,joint  
,report the writers say--7#a7 ,as to    
fraud3 ,we have found no allegations of 
fraud on which we should be justified in
 laying much stress4 ,mr4 ,robert       
,browning has told to one of us the     
circumstances which mainly led to that  
opinion of ,home which was expressed in 
',mr4 ,sludge1 the ,medium1' ,it appears
 that a lady 7since dead7 repeated to   
,mr4 ,browning a statement made to her  
by a lady and gentleman 7since dead71 as
 to their finding ,home in the act of   
experimenting with phosphorus on the    
production of 'spirit lights1' which1 so
 far as ,mr4 ,browning remembers1 were  

to be rubbed round the walls of the     
room1 near the ceiling1 so as to appear 
when the room was darkened4 ,this piece 
of evidence powerfully impressed ,mr4   
,browning2 but it comes to us at        
third-hand1 without written record1 and 
at a distance of nearly forty years4    
,we have received one other account from
 a gentleman of character and ability1  
of a seance in very poor light1 when the
 'spirit-hand' moved in such a way as to
 seem dependent on the action of ,home's
 arms and legs4 ,this account is        
subjoined in the ,report as ,appendix   
,d4 ,we may add that few1 if any1 of the
 lights seen at ,home's seances could   
7as they are described to us7 have been 
contrived by the aid of phosphorus4     
,there is also a frequently repeated    
story that ,home was found at the       
,tuilleries 7or at ,compigne1 or at     
,biarritz7 to be using a stuffed hand1  
and was consequently forbidden the      
,imperial ,court4 ,we have tried in     
,france to get at the fountain-head of  

this story1 but without success4#bg     
7#b7 ,with regard to our second         
question--whether his powers were tested
 by competent observers--,mr4 ,myers    
says3 ,home in this respect stands      
pre-eminent2 since we have the evidence 
of ,sir ,william ,crookes1 corroborated 
by the testimony of the ,master of      
,lindsay 7now ,earl of ,crawford and    
,balcarres71 himself a savant of some   
distinction1 and the privately printed  
series of careful observations by the   
present and the late ,lords             
,dunraven4#bh  7#c7 ,as to our third    
question--whether the phenomena could   
have been produced by conjuring--,mr4   
,myers says3 ,many of them1 especially  
the fire-tests1 and the movements of    
large untouched objects in good light1  
seem inexplicable by this supposition4  
,the hypothesis of collective           
hallucination on the part of the sitters
 seems very improbable1 because1 in most
 cases1 all those present saw the same  
thing2 and often without receiving from 

,home any audible suggestion as to what 
was about to happen4#bi  ,in the ,joint 
,report by ,professor ,barrett and ,mr4 
,myers1 a considerable space is devoted 
to a discussion as to conjuring being   
the explanation of the ,home            
manifestations4 ,it is dismissed as     
utterly inadequate4 ,in conclusion1 the 
authors of the ,report say3 ,and we find
 that experts in conjuring 7several of  
whom we have consulted71 however little 
they may believe in ,home's pretensions1
 are disposed rather to reject wholesale
 than to explain in detail the more     
remarkable records4#cj  ,professor      
,barrett and ,mr4 ,myers proceed to     
quote thirty-five cases of the          
identification of alleged communicating 
spirits from ,madame ,home's book1      
entitled ,d4 ,d4 ,home1 ,his ,life and  
,mission4 ,they remark1 ,this list of   
identifications is a long one1 and quite
 unique in the history of               
,spiritualism4#ca ,after analysing this 
list of cases1 they say near the        

conclusion of their ,report1 as implying
 their final verdict3 ,if our readers   
ask us--',do you advise us to go on     
experimenting in these matters as though
 ,home's phenomena were genuine8'--we   
answer1 ',yes4'#cb ,in the supplementary
 article above referred to sixteen more 
cases of identification are added to the
 thirty-five4  ,in ,appendix ,e to the  
,report is given some striking testimony
 to the reality of the fire-test4 ,the  
following letter from ,mr4 ,w4 ,m4      
,wilkinson1 the well-known solicitor1 is
 included3--      ,as you ask me to     
write to you of what occurred at our    
house at     ,kilburn1 where we were    
living in #ahfi1 with reference to the  
handling of red-hot coal1 ,i will merely
 say that one ,sunday     evening in the
 winter of that year1 ,i saw ,mr4 ,home 
take out of     our drawing-room fire a 
red-hot coal a little less in size than 
a cricket ball1 and carry it up and down
 the drawing-room4 ,he     said to ,lord
 ,adare1 now ,lord ,dunraven1 who was   

present1 ',will     you take it from me8
 ,it will not hurt you4' ,lord ,adare   
took it     from him1 and held it in his
 hand for about half a minute1 and      
before he threw it back in the fire ,i  
put my hand pretty close     to it1 and 
felt the heat to be like that of a live 
coal4--,yours     very truly1           
,w4 ,m4 ,,wilkinson4#cc           #dd   
,,lincoln',s ,,inn ,,fields1            
,,london1 ,w4,c41 ,february #g1 #ahfi4  
,appendix ,m to the ,report consists of 
some particulars verbally given to ,mr4 
,myers by ,mrs4 ,honywood1 of #eb       
,warwick ,square1 ,london1 in further   
explanation of her printed testimony to 
phenomena she had witnessed in ,home's  
presence4 ,she was well acquainted with 
him for twenty-five years1 attended many
 seances1 and took notes of them at the 
time4 ,in the early part of this        
chapter1 a statement she sent to the    
,dialectical ,society has already been  
quoted4 ,she told ,mr4 ,myers that most 
of her friends were complete            

disbelievers in ,spiritualism1 and that 
they frequently repeated to her rumours 
to the discredit of ,home4 ,but she     
never heard any first-hand account of   
any kind of trickery on his part4 ,she  
considered him a man of open childlike  
nature1 thoroughly honest and truthful1 
and that in her opinion his utterances  
in the trance state were much superior  
in thought and diction to his ordinary  
talk4 ,she said she should like to give 
,mr4 ,myers a few additional details    
with regard to the fire phenomena       
reported in ,madame ,home's book1 ,d4   
,d4 ,home1 ,his ,life and ,mission1 on  
her authority4 ,madame ,home's          
secretary1 she said1 had slightly       
abbreviated her words in a way which    
made the occurrences seem rather less   
wonderful than they actually were4 ,mr4 
,myers gives the following1 as having   
been signed ,,barbara ,,honywood1 ,june 
#ahhi4  ,as to the burning coal placed  
in my hand4 ,i saw ,mr4 ,home take this 
coal from the fire1 moving his hands    

freely among the coals4 ,it was about   
the size of a coffee cup1 blazing at the
 top1 and red-hot at the bottom4 ,while 
,i held it in my hand the actual flame  
died down1 but it continued to crackle1 
and to be partially red-hot4 ,i felt it 
like an ordinary stone1 neither hot nor 
cold4 ,mr4 ,home then pushed it off my  
hand with one finger on to a double     
sheet of cartridge paper1 which it at   
once set on fire4 ,i am quite certain   
that ,i was in my usual condition at the
 time4444  ,as to the hot lamp-chimney  
which ,i touched4 ,there was a row of   
four or five persons sitting side by    
side1 and ,mr4 ,home asked us each in   
turn to touch the glass4 ,when ,i       
touched it1 ,i felt as though a wave of 
heat were receding before me4444  ,i    
have repeatedly taken ,mr4 ,home in my  
own carriage to the houses of friends of
 mine who were strangers to him1 and    
have there seen the furniture at once   
violently moved in rooms which ,i knew  
that he had never entered till that     

moment4 ,i have seen heavy furniture    
moved2 for instance1 a heavy sofa in my 
own drawing-room1 with myself upon it1  
and a heavy centre table1 moved several 
feet away from ,home1 and then back     
again1 in the light1 while his hands and
 feet were visible4 ,not horse-hairs1   
but ropes1 would often have been        
necessary to pull the furniture about as
 ,i have seen it pulled4#cd  ,a brief   
reference must now be made to what is   
perhaps the most sensational alleged    
event in ,home's mediumistic career1 the
 one which is most frequently spoken of 
by the general public1 with more or less
 forcible expressions of scornful       
incredulity2 his levitation out of the  
window of a room at a great height from 
the ground1 and in at a window of the   
next room on the same story4 ,in the    
,report by ,professor ,barrett and ,mr4 
,myers1 no detailed account of this is  
given4 ,the ,report says3 ,lords        
,lindsay and ,adare had printed a       
statement that ,home floated out of the 

window and in at another in ,ashley     
,place 7,victoria ,street71 ,s4,w41     
#afth ,december #ahfh4ce ,at a meeting  
of the ,committee of the ,dialectical   
,society1 held on #fth ,july #ahfi1 a   
paper was read from ,lord ,lindsay1     
describing some of his personal         
experiences with ,home4 ,this paper     
makes no reference to the above case of 
levitation4 ,but at the same meeting of 
the ,committee1 ,lord ,lindsay and      
others gave evidence as witnesses1 and  
,lord ,lindsay thus described this      
particular case3--  ,i saw the          
levitations in ,victoria ,street1 when  
,home floated out of the window2 he     
first went into a trance1 and walked    
about uneasily2 he then went into the   
hall2 while he was away1 ,i heard a     
voice whisper in my ear1 ',he will go   
out of one window and in at another4' ,i
 was alarmed and shocked at the idea of 
so dangerous an experiment4 ,i told the 
company what ,i had heard1 and we then  
waited for ,home's return4 ,shortly     

after he entered the room1 ,i heard the 
window go up1 but ,i could not see it1  
for ,i sat with my back to it4 ,i1      
however1 saw his shadow on the opposite 
wall2 he went out of the window in a    
horizontal position1 and ,i saw him     
outside the other window 7that in the   
next room7 floating in the air4 ,it was 
eighty-five feet from the ground4 ,there
 was no balcony along the windows1      
merely a strong course an inch and a    
half wide2 each window had a small plant
 stand1 but there was no connection     
between them4 ,i have no theory to      
explain these things4 ,i have tried to  
find out how they are done1 but the more
 ,i studied them1 the more satisfied was
 ,i that they could not be explained by 
mere mechanical trick4#cf  ,there is one
 episode in the career of ,d4 ,d4 ,home 
which1 although it does not affect the  
reality of the phenomena alleged to have
 taken place in his presence1 claims a  
brief mention4 ,the gift to ,home by    
,mrs4 ,lyon of a large sum of money1 the

 subsequent lawsuit1 and the judgment in
 accordance with which the money was    
returned to its original owner1 excited 
much attention at the time4 ,public     
opinion frequently takes up sensational 
occurrences in a most illogical and     
unscientific manner4 ,but a permanent   
effect may thus be produced1 which is   
extremely difficult to eradicate1 even  
if shown to be unjustifiable4 ,this     
episode with ,mrs4 ,lyon has probably   
had more effect than any other          
circumstance in causing the feeling of  
aversion with which large numbers of    
people regard ,home and all his doings4 
,he is looked upon1 and spoken of1 as if
 he were an unprincipled adventurer1    
convicted of fraud1 and of obtaining    
money under false pretences4  ,the      
remarks at the end of this chapter are  
based mainly upon ,appendix ,,iii4 to   
the ,report by ,professor ,barrett and  
,mr4 ,myers1 and which deals with the   
case of ,lyon v4 ,home4#cg ,the         
,appendix commences thus3 ,our          

colleague1 ,mr4 ,h4 ,arthur ,smith      
barrister-at-law1 author of ',principles
 of ,equity1' has kindly furnished us   
with the following review of the case of
 ,lyon v4 ,home4 ,the following are a   
few extracts from this review3--      ,i
 have looked carefully into the case of 
,lyon v4 ,home as     reported in the   
,law ,reports 7#f ,equity1 #fee71 444   
and perhaps the     following comments  
may be useful to you4      ,it is       
certainly the fact that the judge       
discredited the     evidence of ,mrs4   
,lyon4 ,he said3 ',reliance cannot be   
placed on     her testimony4444 ,it     
would be unjust to found on it a decree 
against any man1 save in so far as what 
she has sworn to may be     corroborated
 by written documents1 or unimpeached   
witnesses1 or     incontrovertible      
facts4'      ,having1 then1 eventually  
decided against ,home1 it follows that  
the judge must have considered that her 
evidence was     corroborated in some or
 other of the ways mentioned4  ,mr4 ,h4 

,arthur ,smith further says3 ,there was 
also an admitted letter from ,mrs4 ,lyon
 to ,home1 in which she stated that she 
presented him with the #bd1jjj as an    
'entirely free gift4' ,this1 she said1  
was written by her at ,home's dictation1
 under magnetic influence4  ,mr4 ,h4    
,arthur ,smith proceeds to discuss the  
corroborative evidence which led to the 
judge's final opinion4 ,he then         
remarks3--      ,now it must1 ,i think1 
be admitted that considering the        
extraordinary character of ,mrs4 ,lyon's
 conduct1 and the     swiftness with    
which she reached her decision to       
transfer her     property to ,home1 such
 evidence as the above may reasonably be
     deemed corroborative of her        
assertion that she was induced to       
act as she did by the effects of ,home's
 spiritualistic     pretensions4444     
,there was sufficient 444 in my opinion1
 to     establish the plaintiff's case4 
,it is not then true that ',home     was
 made to restore the money1 because1    

being a professed     medium1 it was    
likely that he should have induced her  
in the way     he did4' ,the ,court held
 the law to be that such transactions as
     those in question cannot be upheld1
 'unless the ,court is quite            
satisfied that they are acts of pure    
volition uninfluenced4' 444     ,there  
was evidence of considerable weight1    
that as a matter of     fact 444 ,home  
did work on the mind of ,mrs4 ,lyon by  
means of     spiritualistic devices1 and
 further that he did so by suggesting   
communications from her deceased        
husband4 ,whether this is to     ,home's
 discredit or not of course will be     
decided according to     one's belief in
 ,spiritualism and the reality of her   
husband's     interference4444          
,h4 ,,arthur ,,smith4     #a ,,new      
,,square1 ,,lincoln',s ,,inn1           
,october #ai1 #ahhh4  ,in order that    
this episode should have its rightful   
effect1 and no more1 it is needful that 
several things should be borne in mind4 

,in the first place1 the action was in a
 ,court of ,equity4 ,it was not a       
prosecution in a ,criminal ,court4 ,the 
decision of the ,court was not a verdict
 of guilty against a prisoner1 to be    
followed by punishment for wrong-doing1 
but an order to refund certain money4   
,in ordinary circumstances a judgment of
 this kind does not brand a man with    
infamy1 nor affect his character and    
position in the eyes of society4 ,again1
 after the judgment of the ,court1 ,home
 promptly repaid the money4 ,he had not 
appropriated or expended any part of it4
 ,what more could he have done8  ,mr4   
,myers' remark in ,human                
,personality--,the most serious blot on 
,home's character was that revealed by  
the ,lyon case#ch--seems1 therefore1    
rather severe under the circumstances4  
,especially as ,mr4 ,myers has expressed
 himself so strongly in favour of the   
reality of the ,home phenomena1 and has 
said1 in conjunction with ,professor    
,barrett1 that they found no allegations

 of fraud on which they were justified  
in laying much stress4 ,much more to the
 purpose is ,mr4 ,h4 ,arthur ,smith's   
comment3 ,whether this is to ,home's    
discredit or not of course will be      
decided according to one's belief in    
,spiritualism and the reality of her    
husband's interference4  ,had this      
,report of ,professor ,barrett's and    
,mr4 ,myers'1 with its ,appendices1 been
 placed before the public1 it might have
 mitigated the prejudice which hangs    
about the name of ,d4 ,d4 ,home in the  
minds of so many4 ,the unique position  
which ,home occupies in regard to the   
,physical ,phenomena of ,spiritualism   
seems a sufficient reason for dwelling  
somewhat fully on this episode as it    
affects his character as a man4         
,,footnotes3  #bb ,report of the        
,committee of the ,london ,dialectical  
,society1 pp4 #cfj-cfc4  #bc ,vol4 iv4  
pp4 #aja-acf4  #bd ,journal ,s4,p4,r41  
vol4 iv4 pp4 #bdi-beb4  #be ,ibid41 p4  
#aae4  #bf ,human ,personality1 vol4 ii4

 p4 #egi4  #bg ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 
iv4 p4 #ajb4  #bh ,human ,personality1  
vol4 ii4 pp4 #ehj-eha4  #bi ,ibid41 p4  
#eha4  #cj ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 
p4 #ajg4  #ca ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4  
iv4 p4 #aad4  #cb ,ibid41 p4 #aae4  #cc 
,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 p4 #abb4   
#cd ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 pp4    
#ace-acf4  #ce ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 
iv4 p4 #ajh4  #cf ,report of the        
,committee of the ,dialectical ,society1
 p4 #bad4  #cg ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 
iv4 pp4 #aag-aai4  #ch ,human           
,personality1 vol4 ii4 p4 #ehj4         
,,chapter ,,vi  ,,physical ,,phenomena  
,,alleged ,,to ,,have ,,occurred ,,in   
,,the ,,presence ,,of ,,william         
,,stainton ,,moses   ,it is mainly due  
to the labours of ,mr4 ,f4 ,w4 ,h4      
,myers1 after ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses'    
death1 that the ,physical ,phenomena    
alleged to have occurred in his presence
 can be included among those for which  
evidence of a scientific character is   
claimed4 ,it is much to be regretted    

that1 during ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses'     
lifetime1 although phenomena of a very  
varied character were alleged to have   
occurred with great frequency during    
many years1 no scientific man of        
eminence appears to have joined in the  
seances1 except on one or two occasions4
 ,perhaps the primary reason for this   
was that ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses' own     
attitude of mind towards the subject did
 not court critical and scientific      
investigation of the phenomena4 ,but    
even during the last ten years of his   
life1 subsequent to the formation of the
 ,society for ,psychical ,research1 of  
which he was an original member1 and not
 only that1 but for nearly five years a 
,vice-,president and a member of the    
,council1 so far as ,i know1 no sittings
 were held with him on behalf of the    
,society1 and no first-hand authentic   
records of the alleged phenomena in     
earlier years were placed before it4    
,one reason for this probably was that  
the ,council of the ,society informally 

adopted a sort of understanding that its
 earlier investigations should not be   
directed towards ,spiritualism1 but     
mainly towards those branches of the    
great subject which were1 so to speak1  
just outside the field of recognised    
scientific inquiry--such1 for instance1 
as ,thought-,transference and           
,hypnotism4 ,in this course there was   
doubtless a certain amount of wisdom1   
but to it was due the apathy and the    
ultimate secession of a few members who 
took great interest in the formation of 
the ,society4 ,chief among these was ,w4
 ,stainton ,moses himself4 ,in ,november
 #ahhf he withdrew from the ,society1   
considering that the evidence of        
phenomena of the genuine character of   
which he had satisfied himself beyond   
doubt1 was not being properly           
entertained or fairly treated4  ,mr4 ,w4
 ,stainton ,moses entrusted by will his 
unpublished ,,mss4 to two friends as    
literary executors1 ,mr4 ,charles ,c4   
,massey and ,mr4 ,alaric ,a4 ,watts4 ,at

 the earnest request of ,mr4 ,myers1    
these gentlemen permitted him to see a  
large number of them4 ,thirty-one       
note-books were placed in his hands4    
,permission was further given to ,mr4   
,myers to make selections from these    
note-books for publication in the       
,proceedings of the ,society4 ,these    
selections form the substance of two    
long articles4#ci ,the thirty-one books 
comprise twenty-four of ,automatic      
,writing1 four ,records of ,physical    
,phenomena1 and three of retrospect and 
summary4 ,two of these recapitulate     
physical phenomena1 with reflections4   
,mr4 ,stainton ,moses' most intimate    
friends were ,dr4 and ,mrs4 ,stanhope   
,t4 ,speer4 ,they1 with the occasional  
attendance of another intimate friend1  
,mr4 ,f4 ,w4 ,percival1                 
barrister-at-law1 and ,examiner in the  
,education ,department1 were generally  
the only members of the small group who 
witnessed the phenomena4 ,mr4 ,stainton 
,moses' note-books had been kept        

extremely private4 ,it seems probable   
that no one had seen them until they    
were placed in ,mr4 ,myers' hands4 ,two 
note-books and other ,,mss4 by ,dr4     
,speer were also handed to ,mr4 ,myers1 
which he says contained independent     
contemporary records of much evidential 
value4 ,with regard to ,dr4 and ,mrs4   
,speer1 ,mr4 ,myers says3 ,their        
importance as witnesses of the phenomena
 is so great1 that ,i must be pardoned  
for inserting a 'testimonial' to the    
late ,dr4 ,speer 7,m4,d41 ,edinburgh71  
which shall not1 however1 be in my own  
words1 but in those of ,dr4 ,marshall   
,hall1 ,f4,r4,s41 one of the best-known 
physicians of the middle of this        
century4 ,writing on #ahth ,march #ahdi1
 ,dr4 ,marshall ,hall says 7in a printed
 collection of similar testimonials now 
before me73 ',i have great satisfaction 
in bearing my testimony to the talents  
and acquirements of ,dr4 ,stanhope      
,templeman ,speer4 ,dr4 ,speer has had  
unusual advantages in having been at the

 medical schools1 not only of ,london   
and ,edinburgh1 but of ,paris and       
,montpellier1 and he has availed himself
 of these advantages with extraordinary 
diligence and talent4 ,he ranks among   
our most distinguished rising           
physicians1'#dj ,dr4 ,speer practised as
 a physician at ,cheltenham and in      
,london1 and at different times held    
various important hospital posts4 ,he   
had scientific and artistic tastes1 and 
being possessed of private means1 he    
quitted professional work at the age of 
thirty-four1 and spent his subsequent   
life in studious retirement4 ,mr4 ,myers
 says that his cast of mind was strongly
 materialistic1 and it is remarkable    
that his interest in ,mr4 ,moses'       
phenomena was from first to last of a   
purely scientific1 as contrasted with an
 emotional or religious nature4#da ,mrs4
 ,stanhope ,speer also kept careful     
records of the sittings4 ,over sixty    
instalments were published in the weekly
 journal1 ,light1 under the title of    

,records of ,private ,seances1 from     
,notes taken at the time of each        
,sitting4  ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses was    
born in ,lincolnshire in #ahci4 ,he     
studied at ,oxford1 and was ordained as 
a clergyman of the ,church of ,england4 
,after a few years of active life as a  
parish clergyman1 he was offered a      
,mastership in ,university ,college     
,school1 ,london1 which post he held    
until about three years before his      
death1 which took place in #ahib4 ,as to
 the fundamental questions of sanity and
 probity1 ,mr4 ,myers says3 ,neither ,i 
myself1 nor1 so far as ,i know1 any     
person acquainted with ,mr4 ,moses1 has 
ever entertained any doubt4#db ,mr4     
,charles ,c4 ,massey says3 ,however     
perplexed for an explanation1 the       
crassest prejudice has recoiled from    
ever suggesting a doubt of the truth and
 honesty of ,stainton ,moses4#dc ,mr4   
,h4 ,j4 ,hood1 barrister-at-law1 who    
knew him for many years1 writes3 ,i     
believe that he was wholly incapable of 

deceit4#dd ,the principal published     
works of ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses          
are--,researches in ,spiritualism1      
issued in ,human ,nature1 a periodical  
now extinct2 ,spirit ,identity 7#ahgi71 
recently republished2 ,spirit ,teachings
 7#ahhc71 of which a new edition has    
lately appeared with a biography by ,mr4
 ,charles ,speer 7son of ,dr4 ,s4 ,t4   
,speer74 ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses was also 
,editor of ,light during its earlier    
years4  ,it has seemed important1 in    
view of what is to follow1 that the     
reader should be in possession of this  
somewhat explicit account of ,mr4       
,stainton ,moses1 his life1 his work1   
and his intimate friends4  ,having      
briefly treated of these external       
matters in the first of his two articles
 in the ,proceedings of the ,s4,p4,r41  
,mr4 ,myers goes on to say3--  ,but now 
our narrative must pass at a bound from 
the commonplace and the credible to     
bewildering and inconceivable things4   
,with the even tenour of this           

straightforward and reputable life was  
inwoven a chain of mysteries which1 as  
,i have before said1 in whatever way    
soever they be explained1 make that life
 one of the most extraordinary which our
 century has seen4 ,for ,stainton       
,moses' true history lies1 not in the   
everyday events thus far recorded1 but  
in that series of physical              
manifestations which began in #ahgb1 and
 lasted for some eight years1 and that  
series of automatic writings and        
trance-utterances which began in #ahgc1 
received a record for some ten years1   
and did not1 as is believed1 cease      
altogether until the earthly end was    
near4#de   ,,the ,,physical ,,phenomena4
  ,this inquiry concerns physical       
phenomena only4 ,the wealth of material 
to select from is enormous4 ,it is      
proposed to give one or two examples of 
each of the important classes of        
physical phenomena4 ,in doing so such   
examples only will be quoted as have    
been selected by ,mr4 ,myers to include 

in his articles in the ,proceedings of  
the ,s4,p4,r4 ,the reader will therefore
 know that the following records have   
been under ,mr4 ,myers' scrutiny1 and   
have been considered by him as of       
evidential value4 ,this will also       
simplify references1 as it will be      
needful to refer only to ,mr4 ,myers'   
articles which are easily accessible1   
and not to the original sources4        
,,movements ,,without ,,contact4  ,after
 recording some movements of a table1   
,mr4 ,stainton ,moses says3 ,all that ,i
 have described occurs readily when the 
table is untouched4 ,indeed1 when the   
force is developed1 we have found it    
better to remove the hands and leave the
 table to its own devices4 ,the tilting 
above noticed has been even more marked 
when the sitters have been removed from 
it to a distance of about two feet4 ,it 
has rapped on the chair and on the      
floor1 inclined so as to play into a    
hand placed on the carpet1 and has been 
restored to its normal position when no 

hand has touched it4 ,the actual force  
required to perform this would be       
represented by very considerable        
muscular exertion in a man of ordinary  
strength4#df  ,the following account1   
besides being a record of physical      
phenomenon1 is a curious illustration of
 the result of not following alleged    
instructions4 ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses     
writes3--  ,we had ventured on one      
occasion1 contrary to direction1 to add 
to our circle a strange member4 ,some   
trivial phenomena occurred1 but the     
usual controlling spirit did not appear4
 ,when next we sat he came2 and probably
 none of us will easily forget the      
sledge-hammer blows with which he smote 
the table4 ,the noise was distinctly    
audible in the room below1 and gave one 
the idea that the table would be broken 
to pieces4 ,in vain we withdrew from the
 table1 hoping to diminish the power4   
,the heavy blows increased in intensity1
 and the whole room shook with their    
force4 ,the direst penalties were       

threatened if we again interfered with  
the development by bringing in new      
sitters4 ,we have not ventured to do so 
again2 and ,i do not think we shall     
easily be persuaded to risk another     
similar objurgation4#dg  ,the following 
account of some impromptu occurrences is
 written by ,mr4 ,serjeant ,cox1 and is 
quoted by ,mr4 ,myers from the second   
volume of ,serjeant ,cox's work1 ,what  
am ,i8 ,the scene was also orally       
described to ,mr4 ,myers by ,serjeant   
,cox1 who1 as ,mr4 ,myers remarks1 was  
not himself a ,spiritualist1 but        
ascribed these and similar phenomena to 
a power innate in the medium's own      
being4  ,on ,tuesday1 #bnd ,june #ahgc1 
a personal friend ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses 
came to my residence in ,russell ,square
 to dress for a dinner party to which we
 were invited4 ,he had previously       
exhibited considerable power as a       
,psychic4 ,having half an hour to spare1
 we went into the dining-room4 ,it was  
just six o'clock1 and of course broad   

daylight4 ,i was opening letters2 he was
 reading the ,times4 ,my dining-table is
 of mahogany1 very heavy1 old-fashioned1
 six feet wide1 nine feet long4 ,it     
stands on a ,turkey carpet1 which much  
increases the difficulty of moving it4  
,a subsequent trial showed that the     
united efforts of two strong men        
standing were required to move it one   
inch4 ,there was no cloth upon it1 and  
the light fell full under it4 ,no person
 was in the room but my friend and      
myself4 ,suddenly1 as we were sitting   
thus1 frequent and loud rappings came   
upon the table4 ,my friend was then     
sitting holding the newspaper with both 
hands1 one arm resting on the table1 the
 other on the back of a chair1 and      
turned sideways from the table1 so that 
his legs and feet were not under the    
table1 but at the side of it4 ,presently
 the solid table quivered as with an    
ague fit4 ,then it swayed to and fro so 
violently as almost to dislocate the big
 pillar-like legs1 of which there are   

eight4 ,then it moved forward about     
three inches4 ,i looked under it to be  
sure it was not touched2 but still it   
moved1 and still the blows were loud    
upon it4  ,this sudden access of the    
,force at such a time1 and in such a    
place1 with none present but myself and 
my friend1 and with no thought then of  
invoking it1 caused the utmost          
astonishment in both of us4 ,my friend  
said that nothing like it had ever      
before occurred to him4 ,i then         
suggested that it would be an invaluable
 opportunity1 with so great a power in  
action1 to make trial of motion without 
contact1 the presence of two persons    
only1 the daylight1 the place1 the size 
and weight of the table1 making the     
experiment a crucial one4 ,accordingly  
we stood upright1 he on one side of the 
table1 ,i on the other side of it4 ,we  
stood two feet from it1 and held our    
hands eight inches above it4 ,in one    
minute it rocked violently4 ,then it    
moved over the carpet a distance of     

seven inches4 ,then it rose three inches
 from the floor on the side on which my 
friend was standing4 ,then it rose      
equally on my side4 ,finally my friend  
held his hands four inches over the end 
of the table1 and asked that it would   
rise and touch his hand three times4 ,it
 did so2 and then in accordance with the
 like request1 it rose to my hand held  
at the other end to the same height     
above it and in the same manner4#dh     
,,levitation4--,the wonderful phenomenon
 of levitation must be included in the  
category of movements without contact6  
,some of ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses'         
experiences of this kind are much more  
explicitly and circumstantially         
described than those alleged to have    
occurred with ,d4 ,d4 ,home4 ,mr4       
,stainton ,moses gives the following    
account of his first personal experience
 of this nature3--  ,my first personal  
experience of levitation was about five 
months after my introduction to         
spiritualism4 ,physical phenomena of a  

very powerful description had been      
developed with great rapidity4 ,we were 
new to the subject1 and the phenomena   
were most interesting4444 ,one day      
7#cjth ,august #ahgb7 444 ,i felt my    
chair drawn back from the table and     
turned into the corner near which ,i    
sat4 ,it was so placed that my face was 
turned away from the circle to the angle
 made by the two walls4 ,in this        
position the chair was raised from the  
floor to a distance of1 ,i should judge1
 twelve or fourteen inches4 ,my feet    
touched the top of the skirting-board1  
which would be about twelve inches in   
height4 ,the chair remained suspended   
for a few moments1 and ,i then felt     
myself going from it1 higher and higher1
 with a very slow and easy movement4 ,i 
had no sense of discomfort nor of       
apprehension4 ,i was perfectly conscious
 of what was being done1 and described  
the process to those who were sitting at
 the table4 ,the movement was very      
steady1 and occupied what seemed a long 

time before it was completed4 ,i was    
close to the wall1 so close that ,i was 
able to put a pencil firmly against my  
chest1 and to mark the spot opposite to 
me on the wall-paper4 ,that mark when   
measured afterwards was found to be     
rather more than six feet from the      
floor1 and1 from its position1 it was   
clear that my head must have been in the
 very corner of the room1 close to the  
ceiling4 ,i do not think that ,i was in 
any way entranced4 ,i was perfectly     
clear in my mind1 quite alive to what   
was being done1 and fully conscious of  
the curious phenomenon4 ,i felt no      
pressure on any part of my body1 only a 
sensation as of being in a lift1 whilst 
objects seemed to be passing away from  
below me4 ,i remember a slight          
difficulty in breathing1 and a sensation
 of fulness in the chest1 with a general
 feeling of being lighter than the      
atmosphere4 ,i was lowered down quite   
gently1 and placed in the chair1 which  
had settled in its old position4 ,the   

measurements and observations were taken
 immediately1 and the marks which ,i had
 made with my pencil were noted4 ,my    
voice was said at the time to sound as  
if from the corner of the room1 close to
 the ceiling4#di  ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses 
says that this experience was repeated1 
with variations1 on nine other          
occasions4 ,once he suddenly found      
himself on the table--his chair being   
unmoved4 ,this1 under ordinary          
circumstances1 he says1 is what we call 
impossible4 ,on another occasion he was 
placed on the table standing4 ,but he   
discouraged these phenomena of          
levitation as much as possible1 from a  
dislike to violent physical             
manifestations4  ,,movement ,,of        
,,objects ,,in ,a ,,closed ,,room1 ,,no 
,,one ,,being ,,present4--,i am not     
aware of any other well-attested        
instances of a curious phenomenon stated
 to have occurred when ,mr4 ,stainton   
,moses was near but not present4 ,he    
thus describes the first startling      

manifestation of this kind4 ,it was on  
,sunday1 #ahth ,august #ahgb4 ,simple   
phenomena of raps and movements of the  
table commenced at breakfast-time4 ,mr4 
,stainton ,moses went to church with his
 friend4 ,on entering his bedroom       
afterwards1 his attention was drawn by  
loud rappings which followed him round  
the room1 to three articles so placed on
 the bed as to form an imperfect cross4 
,while he was in the room another       
article was added4 ,he called his friend
 whose guest he was4 ,to avoid the      
possibility of children or servants     
playing tricks1 in case anything more   
happened1 they well searched the        
room--it contained no cupboard--bolted  
the window1 locked the door on leaving1 
and the host put the key in his pocket4 
,after lunch two more articles were     
found to be added4 ,another visit       
discovered other additions4 ,this went  
on till #e ,p4,m41 when a complete cross
 extending the whole length of the bed  
was made entirely of little articles    

from the toilet-table4 ,the position of 
the room1 and the whole circumstances1  
convinced ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses and ,dr4
 and ,mrs4 ,speer1 with whom he was     
staying1 beyond any doubt that human    
intervention was impossible4 ,a very    
detailed account of this incident exists
 in the handwriting of ,dr4 ,speer4#ej  
,,the ,,carrying ,,of ,,objects ,,into  
,a ,,locked ,,room1 ,,and ,,the         
,,passage ,,of ,,solid ,,objects        
,,through ,,material                    
,,obstacles4--,during the two or three  
weeks subsequent to the above1 over     
fifty instances occurred in which       
objects from different parts of the     
house were placed upon the table round  
which ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses and ,dr4 and
 ,mrs4 ,speer were sitting in a locked  
dark room4 ,the gas was always left     
burning brightly in the adjoining       
dining-room1 and in the hall outside1 so
 that if either of the doors had been   
opened1 even for a moment1 a blaze of   
light would have been let into the room 

in which they sat4 ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses
 remarks--,as this never happened1 we   
have full assurance from what ,dr4      
,carpenter considers the best authority1
 common sense1 that the doors remained  
closed4 ,on one occasion a small edition
 of ,paradise ,lost was placed on the   
table1 and at the same time the words to
 convince were spelt out by raps4 ,this 
little book had been in the hands of all
 of them during the evening1 and they   
could testify to the position on a      
bookshelf where it had been left4 ,one  
evening seven objects in different rooms
 were brought in2 among them a little   
bell from the dining-room4 ,they heard  
it begin to ring1 the sound approached  
the door1 they were astonished soon to  
hear the sound in the room where they   
sat1 round which the bell was carried1  
close to the faces of all1 and finally  
placed on the table1 having been ringing
 loudly all the time4 ,a curious        
incident occurred at a later date1 the  
circle of three sitting alone4 ,a small 

,parian statuette from an upper room was
 placed upon the table4 ,one of the     
party requested that a friend who       
usually communicates might be fetched4  
,we are doing so was spelt out by raps4 
,this was taken to be the complete      
answer1 and they ceased to call over the
 alphabet4 ,however1 the alphabet was   
called for again1 and mething else was  
spelt out4 ,no idea could be formed as  
to the meaning of this4 ,at request it  
was exactly repeated4 ,after much       
puzzling it occurred to one of the party
 to join it on to the previous          
message--when the meaning became        
apparent4 ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses         
sarcastically remarks--,what a clear    
case of 'unconscious cerebration'6 ,very
 soon an odour like ,tonquin bean was   
apparent to all of us4 ,something fell  
on the table1 and light showed that a   
snuff-box which had contained ,tonquin  
bean had been brought from ,dr4 ,speer's
 dressing-room4 ,the box was closed1 and
 the odour was remarked before any of us

 had the remotest idea that the box was 
in the room4#ea   ,,perfumes ,,and      
,,waves ,,of ,,scent-,,laden ,,air4     
,this phase of the phenomena must be    
passed rapidly over1 though manifested  
to a much greater extent and in greater 
variety in ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses' case  
than in any other with which ,i am      
acquainted4 ,in his circle music and    
singing were never introduced as a means
 of harmonising the conditions4 ,mr4    
,stainton ,moses says3 ,in our circle   
this harmonising is effected by means of
 perfumes and waves of cool-scented air4
 ,if a new sitter is present1 he or she 
is censed 7if ,i may adopt the          
expression71 and so initiated4 ,if a new
 intelligence is to communicate1 or     
special honour to be paid to a chief1   
the room is pervaded by perfumes which  
grow stronger as the spirit enters4     
,sometimes the scent was in a liquid    
form1 and apparently sprinkled down from
 the ceiling4 ,sometimes dry musk was   
thrown about in considerable quantities4

 ,a striking instance is given in the   
form of a statement from ,mr4 ,f4 ,w4   
,percival1 mentioned at the commencement
 of this article--a very occasional     
sitter4 ,he says3 ,in compliance with   
your request1 ,i will describe as       
briefly as possible what occurred at the
 dark seance held on the evening of     
#ahth ,march #ahgd1 when scent was      
produced so abundantly in the presence  
of ,mrs4 ,speer and myself1 while you   
,mr4 ,s4 ,m4 were in a state of trance4 
,the controlling spirit began by        
speaking through you at some length1 and
 we were told to expect unusual         
manifestations4 ,they commenced with a  
strongly scented breeze1 which passed   
softly round the circle1 its course     
being marked by a pale light4 ,in a few 
minutes it suddenly changed1 and blew   
upon us with considerable force1 as if a
 pair of bellows had been employed1 and 
the temperature of the room was         
perceptibly lowered4 ,after this liquid 
scent was sprinkled upon us several     

times2 it appeared to come from the top 
of the room1 and fell upon us in small  
drops4 ,finally we were told that a new 
manifestation would be attempted1 and   
that we were to prepare for it by       
joining hands and holding the palms     
upwards4 ,in this position we waited for
 two or three minutes1 and then ,i felt 
a stream of liquid scent poured out1 as 
it were from the spout of a teapot1     
which fell on one side of my left hand1 
and ran down upon the table4 ,the same  
was done for ,mrs4 ,speer2 and to judge 
from our impressions at the time1 and   
from the stains on the table1 a very    
considerable quantity must have been    
produced4 ,i may remark in conclusion   
that there was no scent in the room     
before the seance1 and that we could    
distinguish several different perfumes  
which made the atmosphere so oppressive 
that we were glad to seek a purer air so
 soon as the seance came to an end4#eb  
,,lights ,,without ,,apparent ,,physical
 ,,cause4  ,the phenomenon of ,light    

without any apparent physical cause was 
a frequent one with ,mr4 ,stainton      
,moses1 and the manifestations were of a
 very varied character4 ,several of     
these were described in ,chapter ,,iv4  
,an account is now given of some        
remarkable phenomena which occurred at  
four consecutive seances on the #ith1   
#ajth1 #aath1 and #abth of ,august      
#ahgc4 ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses was on a   
holiday excursion with ,dr4 and ,mrs4   
,speer in the ,north of ,ireland4 ,the  
days were spent in orthodox holiday     
fashion4 ,the following is condensed    
from notes written in detail at the time
 by ,dr4 ,speer3--  ,on the #ajth of    
,august1 after some other phenomena had 
occurred1 a large globe of light rose   
opposite to me1 sailed up to the level  
of our faces1 and then vanished4        
,several more followed4 ,by request one 
was placed in the centre of the table4  
,it was surrounded with drapery4 ,a     
light came and stood on the table close 
to me4 ,now ,i will show you my hand was

 rapped out4 ,a large very bright light 
then came up1 and inside of it appeared 
the materialised hand of the spirit4    
,the fingers moved about close to my    
face2 the appearance was as distinct as 
can be conceived4 ,i was told to write  
an exact account of what had been done4 
,the next evening ,i placed the account 
,i had written and a pencil on the      
table1 and asked that the light might be
 brought down upon it4 ,this was done4  
,i then asked that if possible the      
spirit would append his signature4 ,the 
spirit said he would try4 ,after other  
lights had been produced1 the hand      
appeared outside the drapery1 ,i heard  
the pencil moving1 and repeating his    
instruction of the previous evening1 he 
departed1 leaving on the paper a        
specimen of direct spirit caligraphy4   
,on these two evenings no other sitter  
was present but myself4#ec   ,,direct   
,,writing4  ,as has already been        
remarked1 the wealth of material is so  
great that selection is a matter of     

difficulty4 ,there is much more ,i      
should like to have included in this    
chapter1 but it must be drawn to a close
 with a brief detailed account of a case
 of ,direct ,writing4 ,there is perhaps 
no phenomenon more incredible to the    
beginner in these studies1 than that    
legible and intelligent writing should  
be produced without human agency1 and   
yet there seems no other way of         
explaining the facts4 ,the following is 
an account1 by ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses    
himself1 of a seance held on #aith      
,september #ahgb1 the last held before a
 break in the series during the autumn  
of that year4 ,imperator had recently   
announced himself as the leading guide  
or director of the phenomena4           
,illustration3 ,facsimile reduced from  
original4 ,the paper was blue1 with     
faint blue lines4 ,the corner at the top
 right hand was torn off for            
identification of the paper4  ,we       
darkened the seance room1 leaving the   
gas burning brightly in the adjoining   

dining-room4 ,dr4 and ,mrs4 ,speer and  
,i sat at the table4 ,on the floor under
 the table we put a piece of ruled paper
 and a pencil4 ,a corner of the paper ,i
 tore off1 and handed it to ,dr4 ,speer 
to identify the sheet of paper if       
necessary4 ,various raps1 some objects  
brought in1 and a noise rather like     
sawing wood4 ,when light was called for1
 ,mrs4 ,speer stooped down and picked up
 the paper4 ,the upper surface was      
blank4 ,her endorsement on the back of  
the paper1 afterwards written1 reads3   
',i took the paper from under the table 
with the writing downwards1' i4e4 on the
 surface touching the carpet4 ,dr4      
,speer and ,i wrote and signed this     
endorsement3 ',the above corner was torn
 by me 7,s4 ,m47 before the light was   
put out1 and was given to ,dr4 ,s4' ,i  
7,s4 ,m47 afterwards put the two pieces 
together4 ,they fit exactly1 and are    
secured by a couple of halfpenny stamps1
 with the initials of ,dr4 ,s4 and      
myself upon them4 ,the message follows  

the rules exactly4 ,a facsimile is      
appended1 omitting only the initials of 
a deceased friend4 ,it will be noticed  
that the writing is clearly and         
laboriously executed on the ruled lines4
 ,in no case are the lines deserted4 ,i 
fancy the message is written backwards4 
,imperator's signature is of his usual  
decided type1 very like what is         
automatically written by my hand4 ,i    
suspect that the message was written by 
two hands4#ed   ,,footnotes3  #ci       
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4 pp4    
#bde-ceb1 and vol4 xi4 pp4 #bd-aac4     
,reference should also be made to an    
obituary notice of ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses
 by ,mr4 ,myers1 in ,proceedings1 vol4  
viii4 pp4 #eig-fja4  #dj ,proceedings   
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4 pp4 #bdg-bdh4  #da  
,ibid41 p4 #bdh4  #db ,ibid41 p4 #bdg4  
#dc ,ibid41 p4 #bdg4  #dd ,proceedings  
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4 p4 #bdg4  #de       
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4 p4     
#beb4  #df ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 
ix4 p4 #bei4  #dg ,ibid4  #dh           

,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4 pp4    
#bei-bfj4  #di ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41  
vol4 ix4 p4 #bfa4  #ej ,see ,proceedings
 ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4 pp4 #bfc-bff4  #ea 
,see ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4   
pp4 #bff-bfg4  #eb ,proceedings         
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4 pp4 #bfg-bgc4  #ec  
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4 pp4    
#bgd-bgf4  #ed ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41  
vol4 ix4 pp4 #bhd-bhf4     ,,chapter    
,,vii  ,,the ,,divining ,,rod   ,the    
reality or otherwise of the pretensions 
of the ,divining ,rod come legitimately 
within the scope of the present inquiry4
 ,the physical results which1 it is     
alleged1 follow the use of the ,divining
 or ,dowsing ,rod in certain hands are  
unexplained by recognised physical      
science4 ,the main fact of the success  
of the ,rod1 as a means of finding water
 where all ordinary methods have failed1
 is1 however1 so widely acknowledged    
among intelligent persons1 including    
many business men1 that it will be      
unnecessary to devote much space to this

 chapter4 ,i shall not do more than     
briefly refer to the scientific inquiry 
into the whole subject which has been   
made in recent years1 and quote a few   
cases where success has attended the use
 of the ,rod after other means had      
failed4  ,here again we are mainly      
indebted to a member of the ,society for
 ,psychical ,research for what has been 
done4 ,in the early days of the         
,society1 two or three members1         
especially the late ,mr4 ,e4 ,vaughan   
,jenkins1 of ,oxford1 had assiduously   
collected the best testimony they could 
obtain as to the successful use of the  
,rod4 ,this was placed at the disposal  
of the ,society in #ahhd1 and was amply 
sufficient to show that a strong prim   
facie case for fuller investigation     
existed4#ee ,in #ahia1 at the request of
 the ,council of the ,society1          
,professor ,w4 ,f4 ,barrett1 ,f4,r4,s41 
of ,dublin1 undertook to submit the     
whole subject to a thorough scientific  
and experimental research4 ,the results 

of ,professor ,barrett's indefatigable  
industry over a number of years are     
embodied in two lengthy ,reports1       
published in the ,proceedings of the    
,society4#ef ,the following cases are   
quoted from ,professor ,barrett's       
records as examples of the work of      
different professional dowsers4  ,i4    
,mr4 ,b4 ,tompkins1 of ,pipsmore ,farm1 
,chippenham1 ,wilts1 was the diviner in 
this case4 ,prior to #ahij1 ,mr4        
,tompkins was a tenant farmer4 ,having  
been at some expense in endeavouring to 
obtain a good supply of water for his   
cattle1 without success1 he sent for    
,mr4 ,mullins1 who came and found a spot
 where he said a plentiful supply of    
water existed at a depth of less than   
#cj feet4 ,a well was sunk1 and at #ae  
feet deep a strong spring was tapped    
which has yielded an unfailing supply   
ever since4 ,mr4 ,tompkins finding that 
the forked twig moved in his own hands1 
tried some experiments on his own       
account which proved successful4 ,he was

 then asked by ,messrs4 ,smith and      
,marshall1 of ,chippenham1 agents to the
 late ,lord ,methuen1 to try and find a 
spring on ,lord ,methuen's estate1 as a 
well already sunk had proved useless4   
,after a long search the rod moved at a 
certain spot on a hillside where ,mr4   
,tompkins predicted a good supply of    
water would be found4 ,nine feet of     
solid rock had to be blasted1 but at #ah
 feet a spring was struck which rose #i 
or #aj feet in the well4 ,messrs4 ,smith
 and ,marshall subsequently wrote thus  
to ,mr4 ,tompkins3--                    
,,chippenham1 ,,wilts1 and              
#g ,,whitehall ,,place1 ,,london1       
,november #bd1 #ahia4      ,the decision
 you arrived at was perfectly correct1  
and it is     our opinion that if we had
 made the well #f feet either way to    
the right or left of the spot you       
marked1 we should have missed     the   
water1 which is now abundant4           
,,smith ,,and ,,marshall4  ,this is by  
way of introduction to case #ii in      

,professor ,barrett's ,report4  ,no4    
#ii4 ,mr4 ,charles ,maggs1 who is a     
,wiltshire county magistrate1 and       
proprietor of the ,melksham ,dairy      
,company1 required a large supply of    
pure water for his butter factory1 and1 
after ineffectual attempts to obtain it1
 wrote to ,mr4 ,tompkins to come over   
and try the divining rod4 ,this was     
done1 and subsequently ,mr4 ,maggs      
writes to ,mr4 ,tompkins as follows3--  
',,melksham ,,dairy ,,company1          
,november #aj1 #ahij4      ',we found   
water at #cj feet1 as stated by you at  
time of finding     the spring--a very  
strong spring4 ,our hopes had almost    
gone1 and     faith was all but         
spent4444                   ,,charles   
,,maggs4'  ,professor ,barrett wrote to 
,mr4 ,maggs1 and received the following 
interesting letter in reply3--          
,,bowerhill ,,lodge1 ,,melksham1        
,march #h1 #ahig4      ,briefly the     
facts are3--,i sunk a well to find water
 for my     dairy and found none4 ,then 

,i wrote to ,mr4 ,tompkins1 who came the
     following day4 ,he cut a forked    
stick out of the hedge1 and     having  
placed it over the well1 said1 ',there  
is no water here1'     but found a      
slight spring within #aj feet1 too small
 to be of any     service1 he reported4 
,he walked all over the field1 and said 
he     had not come across any spring at
 all4 ,however1 in the extreme          
corner of the field1 a bunch of nettles 
was growing1 and he     entered this1   
and instantly exclaimed--',here it is2  
and a good     head of water1 too6 ,not 
running away1 but just ready for        
tapping1 and as soon as you strike it1  
it will come surging up4'     ',how     
deep8' ',not over #be feet4' ,he cut out
 a turf to indicate     the spot1 and we
 commenced sinking next day4 ,the person
 employed     was an old well-sinker1   
and he came to me two or three times    
whilst engaged in sinking1 showing      
specimens of the soil or     marl1      
assuring me there never was water where 

such existed1 and     it was worse than 
useless to go further4 ,i told him to go
 on if     he had to get to ,new        
,zealand--it was my money1 and he need  
not     regard me nor my pocket4 ,when  
he had gone about #bb feet1 his         
pickaxe tapped the spring and the water 
came up like a fountain1     and at such
 a rate he feared he should be drowned  
before he     could get pulled up--his  
mates being away6 ,the water rose       
rapidly to within #ab or #ae inches of  
the surface4 ,we put in     pumps and   
kept the water down whilst he went a    
little deeper1     but the rush of water
 was such that we had to desist going   
lower4 ,since then we have had a        
splendid supply4444                     
,,chas4 ,,maggs4#eg  ,,ii4 ,mr4 ,john   
,mullins and ,mr4 ,h4 ,w4 ,mullins1     
father and son1 ,colerne1 ,chippenham1  
,wilts4  ,mr4 ,mullins1 sen41 who died  
rather more than ten years ago1 was for 
thirty years engaged all over ,great    
,britain and ,ireland in finding water  

by means of the divining rod4 ,he was a 
professional well-sinker4 ,his sons     
carry on their father's business4 ,one  
of them1 ,mr4 ,h4 ,w4 ,mullins1 inherits
 his fathers faculty4  ,cases ,nos4 #fb 
and #fc in ,professor ,barrett's ,report
 illustrate the powers of both father   
and son4  ,mr4 ,e4,g4 ,allen writes3--  
,,highfield1 ,,metheringham             
,,lincoln1 ,march #be1 #ahic4           
,having frequently availed myself of    
,mr4 ,john ,mullins' services     during
 the last twenty years1 ,i can say ,i   
have never known him     to fail4 ,i    
have sunk six wells1 two on a heath farm
 about #cj     feet deep 7surrounding   
wells measuring about #gj feet7 in      
limestone rock1 thus saving a great     
expense in sinking4 ,i took     him one 
morning to a farm which was at that time
 farmed by the     owner1 the ,right    
,hon4 ,h4 ,chaplin1 ,m4,p4 ,the well in 
the yard     7nearly always dry7 was    
about #cj feet deep4 ,in a few minutes1 
,mullins1 carrying in his hand his twig1

 found a good spring a     very short   
distance from the old well4 ,a new well 
was sunk1 and     at #aj feet a splendid
 supply of water was found4 ,it has     
never     failed1 and has supplied the  
yards1 c41 with water ever since4       
,being in want of water for a large     
grass field1 called ',catley     ,abbey 
,field1' ,i went with ,mullins1 who     
placed down a peg to     denote a       
spring4 ,we sunk a well1 and bored #gj  
feet obtaining a     good supply of     
water4 ,being struck with a peculiarity 
in its     taste1 it was submitted to   
,professor ,attfield1 ,ph4,d41 who      
pronounced it to be the only natural    
seltzer spring in the     kingdom4      
,e4 ,g4 ,,allen4#eh  ,the next case in  
,professor ,barrett's collection1 ,no4  
#fc1 forms an interesting sequel to the 
above4 ,the following is abridged from a
 long report1 in the ,lincolnshire      
,chronicle of #hth ,june #ahie1 of a    
visit of ,mr4 ,h4,w4 ,mullins1 son of   
,mr4 ,john ,mullins1 to ,catley         

,abbey3--  ,the object of the ,catley   
,abbey ,company in sending for ,mr4     
,mullins was to secure a well of pure   
water for bottle-washing4 ,a well on the
 adjoining farm of ,mr4 ,allen had run  
dry1 and recently the seltzer water had 
been used for the purpose of            
bottle-washing4 ,eight years ago1 ,mr4  
,j4 ,mullins1 the father of the family1 
located the spot at ,catley1 where now  
stands the only natural seltzer spring  
in ,britain4444 ,proceeding to the site 
of the dried-up well1 ,mullins took out 
a ,v-shaped twig1 the forks of which    
were each about a foot long1 and walked 
slowly along the ground a short distance
 from the well4 ,suddenly the twig      
revolved 444 and ,mullins confidently   
asserted that he was standing over a    
subterranean watercourse4 ,proceeding to
 the other side of the well1 he traced1 
or professed to trace1 the course of the
 hidden stream1 and marked a spot       
contiguous to the buildings where he    
asserted a good spring would be tapped  

at a depth of from #abj to #acj feet1   
and he advised that a well should be    
sunk there4  ,it was told to ,mullins   
that his father asserted the seltzer    
spring flowed under a hedge on the other
 side of the field in which we were then
 standing1 and he was asked to indicate 
the place4 ,starting at one end of the  
field1 he walked close by the hedge     
side4 ,he had gone about #ajj yards when
 the twig began to play1 and digging his
 heel in the ground1 he thus marked the 
spot4 ,mr4 ,allen1 who was present when 
,mullins1 sen41 also located the spring1
 sent a man for a spade1 and a stake was
 dug up which eight years ago was driven
 in by ,mr4 ,allen to mark the place4   
,mullins1 jun41 had touched the spot    
exactly4  ,the same newspaper of #bcrd  
,august #ahie announces the result of   
digging in the spot indicated as        
follows3--  ,our readers will remember  
that a few weeks ago our columns        
contained an article relative to the    
finding of water at ,catley ,abbey by   

means of hazel twigs in the hands of    
,mr4 ,mullins1 the eminent 'dowser4' ,we
 are now able to state that a well      
having been sunk in the position        
indicated by ,mr4 ,mullins1 a valuable  
supply of water has been obtained1 and  
that at a depth of about #e feet less   
than that mentioned by him4  ,professor 
,barrett says3 ,i sent ,mr4 ,allen the  
foregoing account1 and asked if it were 
correct4 ,he replies that it is         
perfectly accurate1 the facts being most
 interesting1 and occurred as stated in 
the letter and newspaper report4#ei     
,,iii4 ,mr4 ,leicester ,gataker1        
,crescent ,gardens1 ,bath1 who is a     
gentleman by birth and education1 soon  
after leaving ,bath ,college1 discovered
 to his surprise that a forked twig     
revolved in his hands in the same way as
 it did with a local diviner4 ,the      
following is ,case #abc in ,professor   
,barrett's ,report3--  ,mr4 ,gataker    
states that1 being engaged by ,messrs   
,ruscombe ,poole  ,son1 the well-known  

solicitors of ,bridgwater1 he found a   
spring less than #ad feet deep1 and     
within #c or #d yards of a useless well1
 #bj feet deep1 sunk prior to his visit4
 ,in corroboration he encloses the      
following letter3--                     
',,bridgwater1 ,,somerset1 ,july #ahif4 
',we have sunk a well in the garden1 and
 a copious spring has     been found at 
#ac feet #f inches1 which amply verifies
 your     prediction4                   
',j4 ,,ruscombe ,,poole  ,,son4'        
,professor ,barrett says3 ,i wrote to   
,mr4 ,ruscombe ,poole1 and asked him if 
,mr4 ,gataker's statements were correct1
 and he replies3--                      
',,bridgwater1 ,january #ae1 #ahig4     
',we return the paper you sent us4 ,as  
regards the statement that     there was
 a well about #bj feet deep which was   
useless1 this is     perfectly true1    
because the water in it was foul and    
smelt     badly4 ,the supply found is a 
very much more copious one than the     
old well1 which contained very little   

water4'#fj  ,the ,index to ,professor   
,barrett's ,reports enumerates between  
three and four hundred persons with whom
 experiments with the ,divining ,rod are
 described4 ,a list of the names of     
dowsers is also given4 ,this list       
includes the names of about seventy     
professional dowsers1 and of nearly as  
many amateur dowsers4 ,these figures    
show the extent to which the use of the 
rod prevails1 and also the work which   
the preparation of the ,reports         
involved4 ,as a specimen of the kind of 
evidence presented by ,professor        
,barrett from miscellaneous sources1 the
 following may be quoted3--  ,in the    
present ,report numerous independent    
witnesses of unimpeachable integrity1   
and some with high scientific           
attainments1 testify to the same class  
of facts1 viz43--7#a7 ,the automatic and
 apparently irresistible motion of the  
twig in the hands often of a complete   
novice2 and 7#b7 that1 when the forked  
twig does not move in a person's hands1 

if the dowser takes one link of the     
twig1 or even places his hand on the    
wrist of the insensitive person1 the    
previously inert twig now turns         
vigorously and often breaks in two in   
the effort to resist its motion4 ,as    
regards 7#a71 see the letter from the   
,president of the ,royal ,geological    
,society of ,cornwall on p4 #bai1fa who 
states that the ,clerk of his ,parish   
,council1 on finding the rod suddenly   
twist in his hands1 called out--',it is 
alive1 sir1 it is alive6' ,mr4 ,enys    
adds3 ',this exactly describes the      
sensation when the rod moves4' 444 ,mr4 
,bennett1 of ,oxford1 on p4 #agf1 refers
 to the frantic motion and the ultimate 
breaking of the twig 'held firmly' in   
the dowser's hands4444 ,as regards 7#b71
 see ,mr4 ,morton's letter to ,the      
,engineer1 given on p4 #agb2 ,mr4       
,morton found the rod would not move in 
his hands1 but when the late ,john      
,mullins1 the dowser1 'laid his hands on
 my wrists and grasped them firmly1 then

 the twig instantly began to turn1 and  
continued turning till he removed his   
hands4 ,he never touched the twig while 
it was in my hands4' ,mr4 ,montague     
,price in his letter on p4 #aha states3 
',i held one side of the forked rod     
myself and the diviner the other1 and   
when we came to water alleged           
underground water the strain was so     
great on my fingers ,i was obliged to   
ask him to stop4 ,from the position of  
the rod it was almost impossible for him
 to produce the pressure1 which         
increased with the strength of the      
stream4' 444  ,the usual practice1 after
 watching a dowser at work1 is for some 
of the onlookers to try if the forked   
twig will move in their hands4          
,generally speaking1 one or more1 out of
 perhaps ten or twelve persons1         
discover1 to their astonishment1 that   
the twig curls up in their hands--at the
 same places at which it did with the   
dowser4 ,here is such an experience4    
,mrs4 ,hollands writes to me as         

follows3--                              
',,dene ,,park1 ,,tonbridge1 ,october   
#i1 #ahii4      ',in answer to your note
 of inquiry about the divining rod1 the 
whole thing is rather a long story1 but 
the practical result of     the water   
dowser's visit was to find water which  
now supplies     the house4 ,one of my  
daughters found she had the strange     
power     which moves the divining rod1 
and it works for her now quickly        
over any spring4 ,it is most            
interesting1 as you can feel the rod    
move if you take one side of it1 and    
take one of her hands1 she     holding  
the other end of the rod--it struggles  
up1 and would     break off altogether  
if you did not allow it to move4 ,my    
daughter has since found several springs
 on the estate1 where we     have sunk  
wells4 ,they have stood us in very good 
stead these     last dry seasons4       
,,minnie ,,hollands4'  ,a similar       
experience is given by ,miss ,m4        
,craigie ,halkett1 who published some   

excellent photographs of a dowser at    
work in ,sketch for #bcrd ,august #ahii4
 ,miss ,halkett writes to me as         
follows3--                              
,,lauriston1 ,,new ,,eltham1 ,,kent1    
,september #h1 #ahii4      ,the man     
depicted in the photographs is not a    
water-finder by     profession4 ,he is a
 tenant farmer residing at ,catcolt1 a  
village near ,bridgwater1 and merely    
exercises the art to oblige     his     
neighbours4 ,several of the country     
people in this     neighbourhood        
7,somerset7 have the gift4 ,it has never
 been known     to fail4 ,personally ,i 
was rather sceptical on the subject1 but
     was converted by the stick turning 
in my hands when standing     over a    
spring4 ,there were about six persons   
present at the time2     all tried it1  
but it would turn for no one excepting  
the man in     the picture and myself4  
,i experienced a sort of tingling       
sensation in my arms and wrists1 but    
otherwise was quite unaware     when the

 forked stick began to turn1 it seemed  
to go over so     quickly4              
',,maude ,,craigie ,,halkett4'          
,miss ,halkett does not say how she knew
 she was 'standing over a     spring'   
when the twig turned in her hands2 this 
statement is     very characteristic of 
many others that have reached me4#fb    
,professor ,barrett's views as to the   
source of the power which moves the rod 
are entitled to more attention than     
those of any one else4 ,in a chapter on 
,theoretical ,conclusions in the first  
of his two ,reports1 he says3 ,few will 
dispute the proposition that the motion 
of the forked twig is due to unconscious
 muscular action4 ,he then gives a      
summary of the causes which1 he         
believes1 determine that action4 ,among 
these he enumerates1 impressions from   
without unconsciously made upon the     
dowser's mind from his own trained      
observation and practice1 and from      
bystanders4 ,he also believed that in   
some cases an impression appears to be  

gained through ,thought-,transference4  
,he did not1 however1 think this covered
 the whole ground4 ,a peculiar          
pathological effect is produced on the  
dowser2 but to what this is due can only
 be ascertained by persevering and      
unbiassed investigation4  ,professor    
,barrett's second ,report contains a    
long and interesting discussion of this 
problem4 ,his views had undergone some  
modification4 ,he adheres to his        
previous view that the curious phenomena
 attending the motion of the so-called  
divining rod are capable of explanation 
by causes known to science 7e4g4        
involuntary muscular action74 ,but he   
has become more impressed with the view 
that the suggestion may arise from some 
kind of transcendental discernment      
possessed by the dowser's subconscious  
self4 ,and he further says3 ,for my own 
part1 ,i am disposed to think that this 
cause1 though less acceptable to        
science1 will be found to be a truer    
explanation of the more striking        

successes of a good dowser4 ,in         
conclusion ,professor ,barrett says     
still more definitely3 ,this            
subconscious perceptive power1 commonly 
called 'clairvoyance1' may provisionally
 be taken as the explanation of those   
successes of the dowser which are       
inexplicable on any grounds at present  
known to science4#fc   ,,footnotes3  #ee
 ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ii4 pp4   
#gi-ajg4  #ef ,ibid41 vol4 xiii4 7,part 
,,xxxii471 pp4 #b-bhb1 and vol4 xv4     
7,part ,,xxxvi471 pp4 #acj-chc4  #eg    
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xiii4 pp4  
#ade-adh4  #eh ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41  
vol4 xiii4 pp4 #hh-hi4  #ei ,proceedings
 ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xiii4 pp4 #hi-ij4  #fj 
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xiii4 p4   
#ahb4  #fa ,the pages in this paragraph 
refer to the present ,report 7i4e4      
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xv4 pp4    
#acj-chc74  #fb ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 
vol4 xv4 pp4 #bgi-bha4  #fc ,proceedings
 ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xv4 p4 #cad4 ,see also 
the whole discussion of which this page 

is the conclusion4     ,,chapter ,,viii 
,,thought-,,transference ,,drawings     
,there is one1 and perhaps only one     
phase of the great subject of           
,thought-,transference or ,telepathy the
 manifestations of which can            
legitimately be included among physical 
phenomena4 ,involuntary drawing or      
scribbling is a phenomenon of very      
common occurrence4 ,but when such an    
involuntary drawing turns out to be a   
more or less exact copy of a drawing    
which the involuntary draughtsman has   
never seen2 and still further when it   
turns out that the original drawing has 
been drawn by another person with the   
deliberate purpose of impressing it on  
the mind of the involuntary draughtsman1
 the subject assumes an entirely new    
interest4 ,this1 however1 is the history
 of those series of                     
,thought-,transference ,drawings which  
have been published by the ,society for 
,psychical ,research4 ,they are         
scattered through several volumes of its

 publications4 ,through the kindness of 
the ,council of that ,society ,i am able
 to put before the reader the largest   
selection of these drawings which has   
appeared4 ,the drawings are the results 
of several different groups of          
experimenters in different parts of the 
country2 and the selection has been made
 from as many groups as possible4 ,in   
all cases facsimiles of the original    
drawing and of the reproduction are     
given4 ,the earlier series done under   
the auspices of a ,committee of the     
,society do not represent successes     
picked out of a large number of         
failures1 but include all the attempts  
made at the time4 ,the number that can  
be considered total failures in any of  
the trials is exceedingly small4 ,any   
conceivable chance or coincidence is    
entirely inadequate to account for the  
similarity in the great majority of     
cases4  ,the ,first ,report on          
,thought-,reading was written by        
,professor ,w4 ,f4 ,barrett1 ,mr4       

,gurney1 and ,mr4 ,myers1 and was read  
at the first ,general ,meeting of the   
,society on #agth ,july #ahhb4 ,in order
 to illustrate the then state of        
scientific opinion1 the writers say3    
,the present state of scientific opinion
 throughout the world is not only       
hostile to any belief in the possibility
 of transmitting a single mental concept
 except through the ordinary channels of
 sensations1 but1 generally speaking1 it
 is hostile even to any inquiry upon the
 matter4 ,every leading physiologist and
 psychologist down to the present time  
has relegated what1 for want of a better
 term1 has been called ,thought-,reading
 to the limbo of explored fallacies4#fd 
,a second ,report by the same writers   
was read at a meeting of the ,society in
 the same year4 ,in this ,report the    
first series of ,thought-,transference  
,drawings was described4  ,the method of
 proceeding was as follows3--,a4 makes  
an outline sketch of a geometrical      
figure1 or of something a little more   

elaborate4 ,b4 sees this sketch1 and    
carrying it in his mind goes and stands 
behind ,c41 who sits with a pencil and  
paper before him and draws the          
impression which arises in his mind4    
,precautions are taken against the      
conveyance of information by any        
ordinary means4 ,except in a few of the 
earliest trials no contact between any  
of the parties was permitted4 ,b4 and   
,c4 are called respectively transmitter 
and receiver4  ,in ,december #ahhb1 ,mr4
 ,myers and ,mr4 ,gurney paid a visit to
 ,brighton to personally investigate    
some joint experiments of ,mr4 ,douglas 
,blackburn and ,mr4 ,g4 ,albert ,smith4 
,both ,mr4 ,blackburn and ,mr4 ,smith   
were then1 or soon after became1 members
 of the ,society for ,psychical         
,research4 ,the experiments were made in
 ,mr4 ,myers' and ,mr4 ,gurney's own    
lodgings4 ,the following plan1 arranged 
in regard to some experiments made on   
#dth ,december1 is thus described by    
,mr4 ,myers3 ,one of us completely out  

of sight of ,s4 ,mr4 ,smith drew some   
figure at random1 the figure being of   
such a character that its shape could   
not be easily conveyed in words4444 ,the
 figure1 drawn by us1 was then shown to 
,b4 ,mr4 ,blackburn for a few moments1  
,s4 being seated all the time with his  
back to us1 and blindfolded1 in a       
distant part of the same room1 and      
subsequently in an adjoining room4 ,b4  
looked at the figure drawn2 then held   
,s4's hand for a while2 then released   
it4 ,after being released1 ,s4 7who     
remained blindfolded7 drew the          
impression of a figure which he had     
received4444 ,in no case was there the  
smallest possibility that ,s4 could have
 seen the original figure2 and in no    
case did ,b4 touch ,s41 even in the     
slightest manner1 while the figure was  
being drawn4  ,the whole series of      
drawings done in this way1 on that      
occasion1 is given in the ,report in the
 ,s4,p4,r4 ,proceedings4 ,they were nine
 in number4 ,we have selected two1 ,nos4

 #e and #i4  ,no4 #e calls for no       
special remark4  ,illustration3 ,,no4   
#e4      ,,original      ,,reproduction 
,illustration3 ,,no4 #i4      ,,original
      ,,reproduction  ,when the         
reproduction of ,no4 #i was drawn1 ,mr4 
,s4 touched the spot to which the arrow 
points1 and said3 ,there is something   
more there1 but ,i cannot tell what it  
is4  ,in the experiments made           
subsequently to these1 the conditions   
were still more stringent1 and no       
contact whatever was allowed between    
,mr4 ,blackburn and ,mr4 ,smith2 and it 
will be seen that striking and          
successful results were obtained4  ,a   
few weeks later1 in ,january #ahhc1 at  
the invitation of the ,committee of the 
,society for ,psychical ,research1 ,mr4 
,blackburn and ,mr4 ,smith came from    
,brighton1 and a series of experiments  
was conducted at the ,rooms the ,society
 then occupied in ,dean's ,yard1        
,westminster4 ,for the ,report embodying
 the results of these experiments1 ,mr4 

,myers1 ,mr4 ,gurney1 and ,professor    
,barrett are specially responsible4 ,two
 drawings1 ,nos4 #aj and #aa1 are       
selected from a series of twenty-two    
made on this occasion4  ,as to ,no4 #aj1
 ,mr4 ,s4 had no idea that the original 
was not a geometrical diagram4 ,nor had 
he any clue given him as to the         
character of ,no4 #aa4 ,he added the    
line marked b some time after he had    
drawn the line marked a1 saying that he 
saw a line parallel to another          
somewhere4  ,the authors of this ,report
 say3 ,it is almost needless to point   
out that in these observations so       
foreign to our common experience1 it is 
indispensable to be minutely careful and
 conscientious in recording the exact   
conditions of each experiment4 ,the     
reader is referred to the ,report itself
 to show how this was carried out2 and  
also to show how exhaustively every     
possibility was considered by means of  
which information could be conceived to 
be conveyed through any recognised      

channel4  ,illustration3  ,no4 #aj4     
,,original      ,,reproduction  ,no4    
#aa4      ,,original      ,,reproduction
  ,mr4 ,smith had no idea that the      
original was not a geometrical diagram4 
,he added line b some time after he had 
drawn line a1 seeing a line parallel to 
another somewhere4  ,illustration3  ,no4
 #b4      ,,original      ,,reproduction
  ,mr4 ,guthrie and ,miss ,e4 no        
contact4  ,an entirely different group  
of experimenters set to work in         
,liverpool4 ,mr4 ,malcolm ,guthrie1     
,j4,p41 was a partner in one of the     
large drapery establishments1 and ,mr4  
,james ,birchall was the ,hon4          
,secretary of the ,literary and         
,philosophical ,society of ,liverpool4  
,their interest was aroused in the      
subject of ,thought-,transference1 and  
they carried out a very large number of 
experiments with some of the young      
ladies employed in ,mr4 ,guthrie's      
establishment1 who1 amusing themselves  
after business hours1 found that certain

 of their number1 when blindfolded1 were
 able to name very correctly figures    
selected from an almanack suspended on  
the wall of the room1 when their        
companions having hold of their hands1  
fixed their attention on some particular
 day of the month4 ,this led to serious 
experiments1 including about one hundred
 and fifty ,thought-,transference       
,drawings4 ,the conditions were         
carefully guarded1 and in the majority  
of cases no contact was permitted4      
,there were many failures1 but a large  
number of successes4 ,assistance as     
transmitter was also given by ,mr4 ,f4  
,s4 ,hughes1 a member of the ,society   
for ,psychical ,research4 ,in a report  
by ,mr4 ,guthrie1 published in the      
,proceedings of the ,society1 sixteen of
 these drawings are given4 ,,nos4 #b and
 #ae are selected4 ,in neither of these 
was any contact between transmitter and 
receiver permitted4 ,in ,,no4 #b1 ,mr4  
,guthrie was transmitter and ,miss      
,edwards receiver4 ,in ,,no4 #ae1 ,mr4  

,f4 ,s4 ,hughes was transmitter and     
,miss ,edwards receiver4 ,with regard to
 the second1 ,miss ,edwards said1 ,it is
 like a mask at a pantomime1 and        
immediately drew the reproduction4      
,illustration3  ,no4 #ae4               
,,original     ,mr4 ,hughes and ,miss   
,e4 no contact4      ,,reproduction     
,miss ,e4 said1 ,it is like a mask at a 
pantomime1     and immediately drew as  
above4  ,mr4 ,malcolm remarks in his    
,report3 ,the drawings must speak for   
themselves4 ,the principal facts to be  
borne in mind are that they have been   
executed through the instrumentality as 
agents transmitters of persons of       
unquestioned probity1 and that the      
responsibility for them is spread over a
 considerable group of such persons1    
while the conditions to be observed were
 so simple--for they amounted really to 
nothing more than taking care that the  
original should not be seen by the      
subject receiver--that it is extremely  
difficult to suppose them to have been  

eluded4  ,mr4 ,guthrie1 having satisfied
 himself as to the reality of the       
phenomena of ,thought-,transference1 as 
manifested by the drawings1 and in other
 ways1 endeavoured to interest the      
scientific men of ,liverpool4 ,he       
naturally appealed among others to ,sir 
,oliver ,lodge1 who was then ,professor 
of ,physics in ,university ,college1    
,liverpool4 ,he accepted the invitation1
 and subsequently gave ,an ,account of  
,some ,experiments in                   
,thought-,transference to the ,society  
for ,psychical ,research1 of which he   
was already an unofficial member1 and   
which account is published in the       
,society's ,proceedings4  ,the ,report  
commences with a tribute1 since it bears
 on the questions of responsibility and 
genuineness1 to the important position  
,mr4 ,guthrie held in ,liverpool1 as an 
active member of the governing bodies of
 several public institutions1 including 
the ,university ,college4 ,sir ,oliver  
,lodge then says3--  ,after ,mr4        

,guthrie had laboriously carried out a  
long series of experiments 444 he set   
about endeavouring to convince such     
students of science as he could lay his 
hands upon in ,liverpool2 and with this 
object he appealed to me1 among others1 
to come and witness1 and within limits  
modify1 the experiments in such a way as
 would satisfy me of their genuineness  
and perfect good faith4 ,yielding to his
 entreaty1 ,i consented1 and have been1 
,i suppose1 at some dozen sittings1 at  
first simply looking on so as to grasp  
the phenomena1 but afterwards taking    
charge of the experiments4444 ,in this  
way ,i had every opportunity of         
examining and varying the minute        
conditions of the phenomena1 so as to   
satisfy myself of their genuine and     
objective character1 in the same way as 
one is accustomed to satisfy oneself as 
to the truth and genuineness of any     
ordinary physical fact4  ,i did not feel
 at liberty to modify the experiments   
very largely1 in other words to try     

essentially new ones4444 ,i only        
regarded it as my business to satisfy   
myself as to the genuineness and        
authenticity of the phenomena already   
described by ,mr4 ,guthrie4 ,if ,i had  
merely witnessed facts as a passive     
spectator ,i should most certainly not  
publicly report upon them4 ,so long as  
one is bound to accept imposed          
conditions and merely witness what goes 
on1 ,i have no confidence in my own     
penetration1 and am perfectly sure that 
a conjurer could impose upon me1        
possibly even to the extent of making me
 think that he was not imposing on me2  
but when one has the control of the     
circumstances1 can change them at will1 
and arrange one's own experiments1 one  
gradually acquires a belief in the      
phenomena observed quite comparable to  
that induced by the repetition of       
ordinary physical experiments4  ,sir    
,oliver ,lodge then describes in detail 
the method of procedure1 in the course  
of which he says3--  ,we have many times

 succeeded with agents 'transmitters'   
quite disconnected with the percipient  
'receiver' in ordinary life and         
sometimes complete strangers to them4   
,mr4 ,birchall1 the headmaster of the   
,birkdale ,industrial ,school1          
frequently acted2 and the house         
physician at the ,eye and ,ear          
,hospital1 ,dr4 ,shears1 had a          
successful experiment1 acting alone1 on 
his first and only visit4 ,all suspicion
 of a pre-arranged code is thus rendered
 impossible even to outsiders who are   
unable to witness the obvious fairness  
of all the experiments4  ,sir ,oliver   
,lodge then gives the details of        
twenty-seven experiments4 ,from these   
four are selected4 ,descriptions1 in    
,sir ,o4 ,lodge's own words1 are        
condensed4  7#a7 ,mr4 ,birchall1        
agent--,miss ,r1 percipient1 holding    
hands4 ,no one else present except      
myself4 ,a drawing of a ,union ,jack    
pattern4 ,as usual in drawing           
experiments1 ,miss ,r4 remained silent  

for perhaps a minute2 then she said1    
',now ,i am ready4' ,i hid the object2  
she took off the handkerchief and       
proceeded to draw on paper placed ready 
in front of her4 ,she this time drew all
 the lines of the figure except the     
horizontal middle one4 ,she was         
obviously much tempted to draw this1 and
 indeed began it two or three times     
faintly1 but ultimately said1 ',no1 ,i'm
 not sure1' and stopped4  ,illustration3
  ,no4 #a4      ,,original              
,,reproduction  7#b7 ,double object4 ,i 
arranged the double object between ,miss
 ,r----d and ,miss ,e41 who happened to 
be sitting nearly facing one another4   
,miss ,r----d and ,miss ,e4 both acting 
as agents4 ,the drawing was a square on 
one side of the paper1 and a cross on   
the other4 ,miss ,r----d looked at the  
side with the square on it1 ,miss ,e4   
looked at the side with the cross4      
,neither knew what the other was looking
 at--nor did the percipient know that   
anything unusual was being tried4 ,there

 was no contact4 ,very soon1 ,miss ,r4  
7percipient7 said1 ',i see things moving
 about4444 ,i seem to see two things4444
 ,i see first one up there and then one 
down there4444 ,i can't see either      
distinctly4' ',well1 anyhow1 draw what  
you have seen4' ,she took off the       
bandage and drew first a square1 and    
then said1 ',then there was the other   
thing as well1 444 afterwards they      
seemed to go into one1' and she drew a  
cross inside the square from corner to  
corner1 adding afterwards1 ',i don't    
know what made me put it inside4'       
,illustration3  ,no4 #b4      ,,original
      ,,reproduction  ,illustration3    
,no4 #c4      ,,original                
,,reproduction  7#c7 ,object--a drawing 
of the outline of a flag4 ,miss ,r4 as  
percipient1 in contact with ,miss ,e4 as
 agent4 ,very quickly ,miss ,r4 said1   
',it's a little flag4' ,and when asked  
to draw1 she drew it fairly well but    
perverted4 ,i showed her the flag 7as   
usual after a success71 and then took it

 away to the drawing place to fetch     
something else4 ,i made another drawing1
 but instead of bringing it ,i brought  
the flag back again and set it up in the
 same place as before1 but inverted4    
,there was no contact this time4 ,miss  
,r----d and ,miss ,e4 were acting as    
agents4 ,after some time ,miss ,r4 said1
 ',no1 ,i cant see anything this time4  
,i still see that flag4444 ,the flag    
keeps bothering me4444 ,i shan't do it  
this time4' ,presently ,i said1 ',well1 
draw what you saw anyway4' ,she said1   
',i only saw the same flag1 but perhaps 
it had a cross on it4' ,so she drew a   
flag in the same position as before1 but
 added a cross to it4  7#d7 ,object--a  
teapot cut out of silver paper4         
,present--,dr4 ,herdman1 ,miss ,r----d1 
and ,miss ,r4 ,miss ,e4 percipient4     
,miss ,r4 holding percipient's hands1   
but all thinking of the object4 ,told   
nothing4 ,she said1 ',something         
light4444 ,no colour4444 ,looks like a  
duck4444 ,like a silver duck4444        

,something oval4444 ,head at one end and
 tail at the other4' 444 ,the object    
being rather large1 was then moved      
further back1 so that it might be more  
easily grasped by the agents as a whole1
 but percipient persisted that it was   
like a duck4 ,on being told to unbandage
 and draw1 she drew a rude and perverted
 copy of the teapot1 but didn't know    
what it was unless it was a duck4 ,dr4  
,herdman then explained that he had been
 thinking all the time how like a duck  
the original teapot was1 and in fact had
 been thinking more of ducks than       
teapots4  ,illustration3 ,no4 #d4       
,,original      ,,reproduction  ,in the 
autumn of #ahia ,sir ,oliver ,lodge was 
staying for a fortnight in the house of 
,herr von ,lyro at ,portschach am ,see1 
,carinthia4 ,while there he found that  
the two adult daughters of his host were
 adepts in the so-called willing game4  
,the speed and accuracy with which the  
willed action was performed left little 
doubt in his mind that there was some   

genuine thought-transference power4 ,he 
obtained permission to make a series of 
test experiments1 the two sisters acting
 as agent and percipient alternately4   
,he hoped gradually to secure the       
phenomena without contact of any kind4  
,but unfortunately contact seemed       
essential1 though of the slightest      
description1 for instance through the   
backs of the knuckles4 ,sir ,oliver     
,lodge says3 ,it was interesting and new
 to me to see how clearly the effect    
seemed to depend on contact1 and how    
abruptly it ceased when contact was     
broken4 ,while guessing through a pack  
of cards1 for instance1 rapidly and     
continuously1 ,i sometimes allowed      
contact1 and sometimes stopped it2 and  
the guesses changed1 from frequently    
correct to quite wild1 directly the     
knuckles or finger tips1 or any part of 
the skin of the two hands ceased to     
touch4 ,it was almost like breaking an  
electric circuit4  ,as ,sir ,oliver     
,lodge remarks1 it is obvious how       

strongly this suggests the idea of a    
code1 and that therefore this flaw      
prevents these experiments from having  
any value as tests1 or as establishing  
de novo the existence of the genuine    
power4 ,but apart from the moral        
conviction that unfair practices were   
extremely unlikely1 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge 
says that there was a sufficient amount 
of internal evidence derived from the   
facts themselves to satisfy him that no 
code was used4 ,as examples1 two from a 
series of twelve drawings are given4    
,illustration3      ,,original          
,,reproduction  ,illustration3          
,,original      ,,reproductions  ,in    
#ahid1 ,mr4 ,henry ,g4 ,rawson1         
barrister-at-law1 made a long and       
interesting series of experiments in    
,thought-,transference1 a ,report of    
which was published in vol4 xi4 of the  
,proceedings of the ,society for        
,psychical ,research4 ,the ,report      
includes fifteen originals and          
reproductions of drawings4 ,two sisters1

 ,mrs4 ,l4 and ,mrs4 ,b41 were the      
operators2 and on the two evenings when 
the two series of drawings were         
executed1 from which the accompanying   
selections are made1 ,mr4 ,rawson was   
the only other person present4 ,on both 
occasions1 ,mrs4 ,l4 sat on a chair near
 the fire1 ,mrs4 ,r4 sat at a table many
 feet off1 with her back to ,mrs4 ,l41  
and ,mr4 ,rawson stood or sat where he  
could see both ladies4  ,illustration3  
#e      ,,original      ,,reproduction  
,illustration3 #f      ,,original       
,,reproduction  ,nos4 #e and #f of the  
first series are here reproduced4  ,the 
following selection is from the second  
series4 ,mr4 ,rawson says respecting it3
 ,mrs4 ,l4 began drawing within ten to  
fifteen seconds1 and presently said1 ',i
 am drawing something ,i can see4' ,the 
clock was in front of her on the        
mantelpiece4 ,it would seem as though   
the idea of a clock was                 
thought-transferred at once2 but that   
the working out of the idea in the mind 

was modified by what the percipient     
happened to see before her4             
,illustration3      ,,original          
,,reproduction  ,a final selection of   
,thought-,transference ,drawings will be
 taken from the records of several      
series of experiments of different kinds
 made in #ahig and #ahih by ,professor  
,a4 ,p4 ,chattock1 of ,university       
,college1 ,bristol4 ,the drawings were  
made with two old students of ,professor
 ,chattock's1 ,mr4 ,wedmore and ,mr4    
,clinker4  ,illustration3 ,no4 #f4      
,,original      ,,reproduction 7#a74    
,,reproduction 7#b74  ,no4 #f of a      
series done at ,harrow1 ,september      
#ahig4 ,agents1 ,professor ,chattock and
 ,r4 ,c4 ,clinker4 ,percipient1 ,e4 ,b4 
,wedmore4 ,e4 ,b4 ,w4 about three yards 
from agents1 with lamp and table        
between4 ,to reproduction 7#a7 these    
words are added3 ,i thought of these1   
and then suggested we should try three  
musical notes4 ,and to reproduction 7#b7
 these words are added3 ,got this       

result4  ,illustration3 ,no4 #a4        
,,original     ,agent1 ,e4 ,b4 ,wedmore4
      ,,reproduction     ,percipient1   
,r4 ,wedmore4  ,no4 #a of a series done 
in ,london1 a little later4 ,the        
reproduction was drawn in about one and 
a half minutes after the sitting        
commenced4  ,the ,report of the various 
series of experiments is printed in the 
,journal of the ,society for ,psychical 
,research for ,november #ahih4  ,instead
 of giving detailed references to all   
the quotations in the descriptions of   
these various ,thought-,transference    
,drawings1 a list of the several        
,reports is appended4 ,they can be      
referred to for further information4#fe 
,second ,report of the ,s4,p4,r4        
,committee4 ,proceedings1 vol4 i41      
part ii41 #ahhb4 ,see p4 #ib4           
,third ,report of the ,s4,p4,r4         
,committee4 ,proceedings1 vol4 i41      
part iii41 #ahhc4 ,see pp4 #id1 #ie4    
,experiments in ,thought-,transference1 
by ,malcolm ,guthrie4     ,proceedings1 

vol4 ii41 part v41 #ahhd4 ,see pp4 #if1 
#ig4      ,experiments in               
,thought-,transference1 by ,oliver ,j4  
,lodge1 ,d4,sc4     ,proceedings1 vol4  
ii41 part vi41 #ahhd4 ,see pp4 #ajj-ajb4
      ,some ,recent                     
,thought-,transference ,experiments1 by 
,oliver ,j4     ,lodge4 ,proceedings1   
vol4 vii41 part xx41 #ahia4 ,see p4     
#ajd4      ,experiments in              
,thought-,transference1 by ,henry ,g4   
,rawson4     ,proceedings1 vol4 xi41    
part xxvii41 #ahid4 ,see pp4 #aje1 #ajf4
      ,experiments in                   
,thought-,transference1 by ,professor   
,a4 ,p4     ,chattock4 ,journal         
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xiii41 ,no4 #aec1 ,nov4 
#ahih4 ,see     p4 #ajg4  ,during the   
last few years no important addition    
appears to have been made to the series 
of ,thought-,transference ,drawings4 ,a 
revival of similar experiments would be 
of great interest and value4  ,the      
question may fairly be asked1 ,what have
 these ,thought-,transference ,drawings 

to do with the ,physical ,phenomena of  
,spiritualism8 ,a reply is easily given4
 ,the reader is referred to a passage in
 the concluding chapter1 quoted from    
,mr4 ,myers1 in which he claims an      
exalted position for ,telepathy1 as     
almost the fundamental doctrine of      
,spiritualistic ,philosophy4 ,he speaks 
of the beginning of ,telepathy as a     
quasi-mechanical transference of ideas  
and images from one to another brain4   
,the ,thought-,transference ,drawings   
constitute the primary evidence of this4
 ,they may be looked upon as            
constituting the physical basis of a    
belief in ,thought-,transference1 and   
therefore as the physical basis of a    
belief in ,telepathy1 the action of     
which1 as ,mr4 ,myers says1 was traced  
across a gulf greater than any space of 
earth or ocean--it bridged the interval 
between spirits incarnate and           
discarnate4 ,thus we may look upon these
 ,thought-,transference ,drawings as    
supplying the chief--perhaps the        

only--physical basis for a belief in one
 of the main doctrines of spiritualism4 
,hence they legitimately find a place in
 the present examination4   ,,footnotes3
  #fd ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 i4 p4
 #ac4  #fe ,a list of all the           
publications of the ,society for        
,psychical ,research1 with prices of the
 different volumes and parts1 can be    
obtained from the ,secretary1 at the    
,society's ,rooms1 #bj ,hanover ,square1
 ,london1 ,w4     ,,chapter ,,ix        
,,materialisations   ,by                
materialisation1 in this chapter1 is not
 meant the production of more or less   
complete portions of the human          
body--generally hands--a phenomenon     
alleged to be frequent in spiritualistic
 circles4 ,a materialisation of the     
whole figure is meant1 the production of
 a figure which to the spectator appears
 as a new human being1 so to speak1     
occasionally exhibiting signs of        
independent organic life4 ,such a       
phenomenon would be the most astounding 

that can well be imagined4 ,i am not in 
a position to offer any scientific      
evidence in its support4 ,by far the    
majority of the accounts which have been
 published of full form materialisations
 are destitute of any evidential value1 
and in many cases the circumstantial    
evidence for fraud is strong4 ,were it  
not for a small number of cases which   
present prim facie evidence of a        
different character1 the question of the
 reality of this phase of mediumship    
would be scarcely worth raising4 ,but   
the existence of even a small amount of 
evidence of such a kind raises the      
question into a different position1 to  
one which reasonably demands the        
searching investigation of scientific   
men4 ,i propose to give one illustration
 only of this better class of evidence1 
but it is one in which common-sense     
precautions against deception seem to   
have been carefully taken4  ,the        
following extracts are from a report    
made by ,mr4 ,j4 ,slater1 and published 

in ,the ,two ,worlds of #aeth ,february 
#ahie3--      ,,is ,,materialisation ,a 
,,fact8 ,,yes4 ,,scientific ,,proof4    
,after the recent suspicions and        
exposures of materialising     mediums1 
,i determined to take the first         
opportunity of applying     further and 
more stringent tests1 which should      
absolutely     preclude the possibility 
of deception4 ,for this purpose ,i wrote
     to the ,middlesbro' materialising  
medium1 asking for a test     sitting1  
and stating the conditions--which he    
readily     accepted4444      ,the      
conditions were that he should strip to 
the skin 'naked as     he was born1' and
 in the presence of witnesses dress in  
clothes     to be supplied by me4444    
,i made him understand that after he had
 dressed in the clothes     supplied by 
me1 he must consider himself in my      
charge1 and must     not attempt to do  
or touch anything1 or go anywhere except
 to     the chair provided for him4 ,he 
readily agreed to this1 and     imposed 

upon himself a still further test1 viz4 
that as soon as     the phenomena had   
ceased1 he would instantly place himself
 in     our charge1 to be held fast     
until the light was turned up1 and      
the company had retired to the next     
room1 the same process of     undressing
 being gone through4  ,this was all     
carried out preliminary to a seance1 and
 a final examination of the room was    
made4  ,the light was then lowered so   
that we could just see each other--the  
company sang a hymn1 a prayer was       
offered1 and then came the crisis--to be
 or not to be8 ,in less than a minute a 
form of exceeding whiteness appeared at 
the opening of the curtain2 ,i should   
judge the height to be three feet six   
inches or a little more4 ,we could not  
distinguish the face4 ,the form appeared
 twice4 ,then a child form appeared1 its
 raiment white1 luminous and very       
distinct4 ,then came the well-known and 
lively black child1 opening the curtain 
with her small arms and bowing          

repeatedly to us4 ,this child would be  
about two and a half feet in height4    
,the folds of shining drapery hung from 
her head in gipsy fashion1 which she    
opened for us to see her round black    
face4 ,i was quite close to her1 but did
 not pat her face and woolly head as ,i 
have done before4 ,she climbed upon the 
medium's knee1 and then came close to us
 again1 and then disappeared4444  ,the  
meeting then concluded with prayer and  
doxology4 ,we then seized hold of the   
medium's hands1 and held him until the  
company retired1 and then went through  
the undressing and dressing process as  
before1 every article of clothing being 
rigidly examined as removed4 ,we then   
searched the corner as before1 and found
 all intact1 and not a sign anywhere of 
the abundance of drapery we had seen4   
,sixteen ladies and gentlemen present at
 the meeting allowed their names to be  
published as a testimony to what they   
saw4 ,the evidential value of the seance
 depends entirely on the honesty and    

truthfulness of ,mr4 ,slater and of the 
two friends who assisted him in the     
carrying out of the precautions taken4  
,mr4 ,slater had been in the ,york ,post
 ,office for over thirty years1 and for 
nearly seven years before his death in  
#aijb had occupied the position of      
superintendent4 ,mr4 ,slater was a      
frequent contributor to the newspaper   
press of his own district1 and also     
occasionally to other periodicals4 ,he  
appears to have been a man of           
considerable intelligence and force of  
character1 and to have been widely      
respected4 ,i am informed by ,mr4 ,j4   
,p4 ,slater1 a son of ,mr4 ,j4 ,slater1 
and who is in the ,post ,office at      
,york1 that the name of the ,middlesbro'
 medium was ,kenwin1 and that he was an 
ordinary working man in some steel      
works4 ,he died six or seven years ago4 
,,chapter ,x  ,,spirit ,,photography    
,for over thirty years photographs have 
been taken in ,london1 on which1 when   
they were developed1 figures appeared   

for the presence of which there seemed  
to be no physical cause4 ,they appeared 
both with professional photographers and
 in private studios4 ,two or three      
professional photographers laid         
themselves out to encourage such        
appearances4 ,others were annoyed by    
them4 ,one in particular1 whom ,i knew  
personally1 was greatly annoyed in this 
way1 fearing it might injure his        
business4 ,naturally1 but unfortunately1
 the term spirit photographs was        
invented4 ,unfortunately1 because1      
granting the reality and genuineness of 
some of the results1 it by no means     
follows that a spirit stood or sat for  
its portrait1 as a human sitter does4   
,naturally also1 various explanations   
were soon alleged1 two being1 either    
that the plates had been used before1   
and had been imperfectly cleaned1 or    
that the results were produced by       
deliberate artifice and fraud on the    
part of the photographer4 ,there is no  
doubt that artificial results can be    

obtained in a variety of ways1 which are
 extremely difficult1 if not impossible 
to distinguish from the professed       
genuine article4 ,it may therefore be   
said that no examination of a professed 
spirit photograph1 or as we should      
prefer to call it1 a psychic photograph1
 is sufficient to determine its nature  
and origin4 ,the true test must be      
sought for in the conditions under which
 the photograph was taken4 ,very few of 
those who have had to do with spirit    
photography have possessed the necessary
 technical knowledge1 and also been     
sufficiently careful1 in the various    
stages of the process4 ,the result is   
that scarcely any of the photographs    
shown as spirit photographs possess any 
evidential value4 ,in common with       
several other alleged phenomena1 but    
little attention has been given to the  
subject by scientific men1 or by trained
 experimenters4  ,the most notable      
exception to this which ,i am able to   
quote is that of the late ,mr4 ,j4      

,traill ,taylor1 who was for a          
considerable time the editor of the     
,british ,journal of ,photography4 ,the 
following quotations are from a paper on
 ,spirit ,photography by ,mr4 ,taylor4  
,it was originally read before the      
,london and ,provincial ,photographic   
,association in ,march #ahic1 and was   
reprinted in the ,british ,journal of   
,photography for #bfth ,may #aijd1      
shortly after ,mr4 ,taylor's death4     
,spirit photography1 so called1 has of  
late been asserting its existence in    
such a manner and to such an extent as  
to warrant competent men in making an   
investigation1 conducted under stringent
 test conditions1 into the circumstances
 under which such photographs are       
produced1 and exposing the fraud should 
it prove to be such1 instead of         
pooh-poohing it as insensate because we 
do not understand how it can be         
otherwise--a position that scarcely     
commends itself as intelligent or       
philosophical4 ,if1 in what follows1 ,i 

call it 'spirit photography' instead of 
psychic photography1 it is only in      
deference to a nomenclature that        
extensively prevails4444 ,i approach the
 subject merely as a photographer4  ,mr4
 ,traill ,taylor then gives a history of
 the earlier manifestations of ,spirit  
,photography1 and goes on to explain how
 striking phenomena in photographing    
what is invisible to the eye may be     
produced by the agency of fluorescence4 
,he quotes the demonstration by ,dr4    
,gladstone1 ,f4,r4,s41 at the ,bradford 
,meeting of the ,british ,association in
 #ahgc1 showing that invisible drawings 
on white cards have produced bold and   
clear photographs when no eye could see 
the drawings themselves4 ,hence1 as ,mr4
 ,taylor says1 the photographing of an  
invisible image is not scientifically   
impossible4  ,mr4 ,taylor then proceeds 
to describe some personal experiments4  
,he says3 ,for several years ,i have    
experienced a strong desire to ascertain
 by personal investigation the amount of

 truth in the ever-recurring allegation 
that figures other than those visually  
present in the room appeared on a       
sensitive plate4444 ,mr4 ,d41 of        
,glasgow1 in whose presence psychic     
photographs have long been alleged to be
 obtained1 was lately in ,london on a   
visit1 and a mutual friend got him to   
consent to extend his stay in order that
 ,i might try to get a psychic          
photograph under test conditions4 ,to   
this he willingly agreed4 ,my conditions
 were exceedingly simple1 were          
courteously expressed to the host1 and  
entirely acquiesced in4 ,they were1 that
 ,i for the nonce would assume them all 
to be tricksters1 and to guard against  
fraud1 should use my own camera and     
unopened packages of dry plates         
purchased from dealers of repute1 and   
that ,i should be excused from allowing 
a plate to go out of my own hand till   
after development unless ,i felt        
otherwise disposed2 but that as ,i was  
to treat them as under suspicion1 so    

must they treat me1 and that every act  
,i performed must be in the presence of 
two witnesses2 nay1 that ,i would set a 
watch upon my own camera in the guise of
 a duplicate one of the same focus--in  
other words1 ,i would use a binocular   
stereoscopic camera and dictate all the 
conditions of operation4444  ,dr4 ,g4   
was the first sitter1 and for a reason  
known to myself1 ,i used a monocular    
camera4 ,i myself took the plate out of 
a packet just previously ripped up under
 the surveillance of my two detectives4 
,i placed the slide in my pocket1 and   
exposed it by magnesium ribbon which ,i 
held in my own hand1 keeping one eye1 as
 it were1 on the sitter1 and the other  
on the camera4 ,there was no background4
 ,i myself took the plate from the dark 
slide1 and1 under the eyes of the two   
detectives1 placed it in the developing 
dish4 ,between the camera and the sitter
 a female figure was developed1 rather  
in a more pronounced form than that of  
the sitter4444 ,i submit this           

picture4444 ,i do not recognise her or  
any of the other figures ,i obtained1 as
 like any one ,i know4444  ,many        
experiments of like nature followed2 on 
some plates were abnormal appearances1  
on others none4 ,all this time1 ,mr4 ,d4
 the medium1 during the exposure of the 
plates1 was quite inactive4444  ,the    
psychic figures behaved badly4 ,some    
were in focus4 ,others not so4 ,some    
were lighted from the right1 while the  
sitter was so from the left2 some were  
comely1 444 others not so4 ,some        
monopolised the major portion of the    
plate1 quite obliterating the material  
sitters4 ,others were as if an          
atrociously-badly vignetted portrait 444
 were held up behind the sitter4 ,but   
here is the point3--,not one of these   
figures which came out so strongly in   
the negative1 was visible in any form or
 shape to me during the time of exposure
 in the camera1 and ,i vouch in the     
strongest manner for the fact that no   
one whatever had an opportunity of      

tampering with any plate anterior to its
 being placed in the dark slide or      
immediately preceding development4      
,pictorially they are vile1 but how came
 they there8  ,now all this time1 ,i    
imagine you are wondering how the       
stereoscopic camera was behaving itself 
as such4 ,it is due to the psychic      
entities to say that whatever was       
produced on one half of the stereoscopic
 plates was produced on the other1 alike
 good or bad in definition4 ,but on a   
careful examination of one which was    
rather better than the other1 444 ,i    
deduce this fact1 that the impressing of
 the spirit form was not consentaneous  
with that of the sitter4 ,this ,i       
consider an important discovery4 ,i     
carefully examined one in the           
stereoscope1 and found that1 while the  
two sitters were stereoscopic per se1   
the psychic figure was absolutely flat4 
,i also found that the psychic figure   
was at least a millimetre higher up in  
one than the other4 ,now1 as both had   

been simultaneously exposed1 it follows 
to demonstration that1 although both    
were correctly placed vertically in     
relation to the particular sitter behind
 whom the figure appeared1 and not so   
horizontally1 this figure had not only  
not been impressed on the plate         
simultaneously with the two gentlemen   
forming the group1 but had not been     
formed by the lens at all1 and that     
therefore the psychic image might be    
produced without a camera4 ,i think this
 is a fair deduction4 ,but still the    
question obtrudes3 ,how came these      
figures there8 ,i again assert that the 
plates were not tampered with by either 
myself or any one present4 ,are they    
crystallisations of thought8 ,have lens 
and light really nothing to do with     
their formation8 ,the whole subject was 
mysterious enough on the hypothesis of  
an invisible spirit1 whether a thought  
projection or an actual spirit1 being   
really there in the vicinity of the     
sitter1 but it is now a thousand times  

more so4444  ,in the foregoing ,i have  
confined myself as closely as possible  
to narrating how ,i conducted a         
photographic experiment open to every   
one to make1 avoiding stating any       
hypothesis or belief of my own on the   
subject4  ,two years later1 in ,may     
#ahie1 the spiritualists held a ,general
 ,conference in ,london1 the proceedings
 of which extended over several days4   
,at one of the meetings ,mr4 ,traill    
,taylor read a paper under the          
title--,are ,spirit ,photographs        
necessarily the ,photographs of         
,spirits8 ,an abstract of this paper    
appears in ,light 7#ahth ,may #ahie71   
and it is printed in full in ,borderland
 7,july #ahie74 ,at the commencement of 
the paper1 ,mr4 ,taylor explained that  
light is the agent in the production of 
an ordinary photograph2 but he says3 ,i 
have ascertained1 to my own satisfaction
 at any rate1 that light so called1 so  
far as concerns the experiments ,i have 
made1 has nothing to do with the        

production of a psychic picture1 and    
that the lens and camera of the         
photographer are consequently useless   
incumbrances4 ,following this up1 ,mr4  
,taylor says3 ,it was the realisation of
 this that enabled me at a certain      
seance recently held1 at which many     
cameras were in requisition1 to obtain  
certain abnormal figures on my plates   
when all others failed to do so4 ,after 
withdrawing the slide from the camera1  
,i wrapped it up in the velvet focussing
 cloth and requested the medium to hold 
it in his hand1 giving him no clue as to
 my reason for doing so4 ,a general     
conversation favoured the delay in      
proceeding to the developing room for   
about five or more minutes1 during which
 the medium still held the wrapped-up   
slide4 ,i then relieved him of it1 and  
in the presence of others applied the   
developer1 which brought to view figures
 in addition to that of the sitter4  ,in
 making a categorical reply to the      
question which forms the title of his   

paper1 ,mr4 ,taylor replies--,no--and   
gives various surmises to account for   
recognisable likenesses having been     
obtained4 ,at the end of his paper ,mr4 
,taylor says3--  ,the influence of the  
mind of the medium in the obtaining of  
psychographs might be deduced from the  
fact of pictures having been obtained of
 angels with wings1 a still popular     
belief of some1 as ridiculous in its    
conception as it is false in its        
anatomy1 but still no less true in its  
photo-pictorial outcome4 ,this does not 
in the slightest degree impair the      
genuineness and honesty of the medium1  
but it inspires me1 a disbeliever in the
 wing notion1 with the belief that      
spirit-photographs are not necessarily  
photographs of spirits4  ,a concluding  
word3 ,a medium may1 on passing through 
a picture gallery1 become impressed by  
some picture which1 although forgotten  
soon after1 may yet make a persistent   
appearance on his negative on subsequent
 occasions4 ,my caution is that if such 

be published as a spirit photograph1    
care must be taken that no copyright of 
such picture is infringed4 ,i have cases
 of this nature in my mind's eye1 but   
time does not permit of this being      
enlarged upon1 else ,i could have       
recited several instances4  ,it would be
 extremely interesting if we could have 
had these several instances recited4 ,at
 all events1 what ,mr4 ,traill ,taylor  
says is suggestive1 and is well worth   
being borne in mind by any one          
investigating the subject4 ,some careful
 experiments have been made of late     
years1 mostly1 so far as ,i have heard1 
with inconclusive1 or discouraging      
results4 ,but ,i am not aware of any    
serious sustained study of the question 
by any ,english photographer since ,mr4 
,traill ,taylor's death4     ,,chapter  
,,xi  ,,the ,,summing ,,up ,,of ,,the   
,,whole ,,matter   ,in the preceding    
chapters the chief endeavour has been to
 present the scientific evidence in     
favour of the reality of a mass of      

alleged phenomena1 so far unrecognised  
by science as facts4 ,the chief object  
is to arouse interest1 and to excite    
inquiry and investigation4 ,it is       
difficult to imagine a more attractive  
undiscovered country than that which    
lies just outside the realm of          
recognised science1 in the direction of 
such phenomena as have been under       
consideration4 ,it is a country teeming 
with wonders1 and with miraculous       
occurrences of endless variety4         
,miraculous to us1 inasmuch as they are 
not subject to any ,laws of ,nature     
which we have discovered4 ,the marvel is
 that there is not a rush of explorers  
into fields incomparably more           
fascinating than ,north or ,south ,pole 
can present1 and containing more        
treasure than gold-fields or diamond    
mines can ever yield4  ,the two chapters
 devoted to phenomena occurring in the  
presence of ,d4 ,d4 ,home and ,w4       
,stainton ,moses demand special         
reference4 ,it is difficult to imagine  

two men differing more widely in almost 
every respect4 ,mr4 ,myers describes the
 even tenour of ,mr4 ,stainton ,moses'  
straightforward and reputable life as   
inwoven with a chain of mysteries1 which
 444 make that life one of the most     
extraordinary which our century has     
seen4#ff ,he was a scholar1 a literary  
man1 and a clergyman of the ,church of  
,england4 ,he had no worldly ambition or
 fondness for what is called ,society4  
,mr4 ,d4 ,d4 ,home1 on the contrary1    
does not appear to have been a man who  
could have been termed a religious      
character1 or spiritually-minded1 nor   
did he give evidence of intellectual    
talent4 ,but he had gained access to    
some of the highest society in ,europe4 
,and yet both men were mediums for these
 curious phenomena1 to a wonderful      
extent1 both as regards the amount and  
the variety of the manifestations4      
,although the two men were so different1
 there is a parallelism in the phenomena
 in so many respects1 that a similar    

origin or source seems inevitably       
suggested4 ,there were peculiarities    
special to each1 but untouched movements
 of heavy articles1 levitations1 lights1
 and sounds1 were phenomena common to   
both4 ,from whence does this chain of   
mysteries come8 ,is the source to be    
sought for in undiscovered powers and   
faculties of the men themselves1 or in  
the action of other intelligences8 ,that
 is a problem which must be left4 ,it is
 outside the scope of this inquiry1     
which deals solely with the             
establishment of physical facts4 ,but   
where can any other field be found of   
equal interest8 ,difficulties and       
perplexities meet the explorer in       
abundance4 ,but they exist in order to  
be overcome by the same steady          
persistence which has attained its      
reward in many another direction4  ,with
 regard to two other chapters ,i desire 
also to make a special remark--those on 
,materialisations and ,spirit           
,photography4 ,both are physical        

phenomena4 ,but ,i desire to make it    
plain that no claim is made of being    
able to present evidence with regard to 
either of these subjects which should   
satisfy the reasonable demands of       
science4 ,it may be asked--,why then    
introduce them at all8 ,for two reasons3
 7#a7 ,because the evidence in favour of
 both is only just outside the boundary 
of scientific demonstration4 7#b7       
,because of the extreme interest of the 
phenomena themselves4  ,as to           
,materialisations4 ,out of an immense   
mass of testimony1 most of it of no     
evidential value1 one case has been     
selected where more than ordinary care  
seems to have been taken4 ,but the      
phenomenon is so marvellous1 especially 
in its more perfect alleged phases1 when
 the materialised form is scarcely      
distinguishable from a living breathing 
human being1 that the inquirer is bound 
to hold his judgment in suspense until  
the last possible moment4  ,again as to 
,spirit ,photography4 ,the term ,psychic

 ,photography would be far preferable1  
as implying no theory4 ,the experiences 
of ,mr4 ,j4 ,traill ,taylor1 which ,i   
have selected as the sole illustration1 
appear to leave no moral doubt but that 
under certain circumstances photographs 
are produced which known laws are unable
 to explain4 ,definite and recognisable 
human figures and faces are thus        
obtained4 ,but this is a very long way  
from proving that spirits sit or stand  
before the camera for their photographs 
to be taken6  ,if some trained          
experimenter in scientific research1 who
 possesses an unbiassed mind1 would     
devote himself for two or three years to
 the study of either of these classes of
 phenomena1 it is almost a certainty    
that he would be richly rewarded4 ,is   
there no one who will enter upon the    
task8  ,there is one large group of     
evidence1 embracing most of the         
phenomena which have been under         
consideration1 from which ,i had hoped  
to make copious selections1 with        

pleasure to myself1 and with interest to
 the reader4 ,no living scientist has   
bestowed so large an amount of study on 
certain phenomena usually termed        
spiritualistic as ,sir ,william         
,crookes4 ,as long ago as the year      
#ahgd1 ,sir ,william ,crookes gave      
permission for the reprint of a limited 
number of copies of various articles    
which he had contributed to the         
periodical literature of the day4       
,these1 with some other original matter1
 were published under the title of      
,researches in the ,phenomena of        
,spiritualism4 ,that volume has long    
been out of print4 ,in #ahij1 an article
 by ,sir ,william ,crookes1 under the   
title of ,notes of ,seances with ,d4 ,d4
 ,home1 was published in volume vi4 of  
the ,proceedings of the ,society for    
,psychical ,research4 ,he also referred 
to his experiences with ,d4 ,d4 ,home1  
in two addresses delivered at meetings  
of the ,society in #ahid and in #ahii4  
,these are reported in the ,journal of  

the ,society4 ,sir ,william ,crookes    
also devoted a portion of his address1  
as ,president of the ,british           
,association in #ahih1 to a reference to
 the part he took many years before in  
psychical research4 ,this portion of the
 address was reprinted in volume xiv4 of
 the ,proceedings of the ,society4      
,considerations1 which cannot be entered
 into here1 compel me1 however1 to be   
content with referring the reader to the
 publications mentioned1 a study of     
which will1 ,i think1 bring conviction  
that the scientific evidence they       
contain would1 even if it stood alone1  
be amply sufficient to prove the reality
 of the alleged phenomena4#fg         99
       99       99       99       99    
,we are now warranted in the assertion  
that we have arrived at this position3  
,that the careful reader is compelled to
 admit that the evidence in favour of a 
variety of alleged physical phenomena   
being undoubted facts1 is too strong to 
be resisted4 ,we are accustomed to say  

in ordinary life1 the proof of this or  
that is complete4 ,the man of science is
 accustomed to say in his own sphere of 
inquiry1 the proof of this or that is   
complete4 ,applying the same rules of   
evidence to physical phenomena generally
 called spiritualistic1 we are bound to 
admit that in regard to many of them the
 proof of their reality is complete4    
,yet these facts are not recognised by  
the world of science1 and are scarcely  
deemed worthy of any serious attention  
by the majority of intelligent people4  
,it may be worth while to consider for a
 few moments the mode in which new      
knowledge enters the mind4 ,by new      
knowledge is meant not extension of     
existing knowledge1 but facts of a new  
order1 such1 for instance1 as the rising
 of a heavy dining table into the air   
without any recognised physical cause   
being apparent4 ,the difficulty of      
admitting new facts of this kind to the 
mind is not confined to any one class of
 people4 ,indeed the difficulty appears 

to be greater in the case of highly     
educated people than among the          
comparatively uninformed4 ,sir ,oliver  
,lodge has recently said3 ,what does a  
'proof' mean8 ,a proof means destroying 
the isolation of an observed fact or    
experience by linking it on with all    
pre-existent knowledge2 it means the    
bringing it into its place in the system
 of knowledge2 and it affords the same  
sort of gratification as finding the    
right place for a queer-shaped piece in 
a puzzle-map4 ,do not let these         
puzzle-maps go out of fashion2 they     
afford a most useful psychological      
illustration2 the foundation of every   
organised system of truth is bound up   
with them4444 ,it is because a number of
 phenomena1 such as clairvoyance1       
physical movement without contact1 and  
other apparent abnormalities and        
unusualnesses1 cannot at present be     
linked on with the rest of knowledge in 
a coherent stream--it is for that reason
 that they are not1 as yet1 generally   

recognised as true2 they stand at       
present outside the realms of science2  
they will be presently incorporated into
 that kingdom1 and annexed by the       
progress of discovery4#fh  ,mr4 ,f4 ,c4 
,s4 ,schiller1 in an article in the     
,proceedings of the ,society for        
,psychical ,research1 expresses a       
similar thought in a different manner4  
,he says3--  ,a mind unwilling to       
believe1 or even undesirous to be       
instructed1 our weightiest evidence must
 ever fail to impress4 ,it will insist  
on taking that evidence in bits1 and    
rejecting it item by item4 ,the man     
therefore who announces his intention of
 waiting until a single absolutely      
conclusive bit of evidence turns up1 is 
really a man not open to conviction1 and
 if he is a logician1 he knows it4 ,for 
modern logic has made it plain that     
single facts can never be 'proved1'     
except by their coherence in a system4  
,but as all the facts come singly1 any  
one who dismisses them one by one1 is   

destroying the conditions under which   
the conviction of new truth could arise 
in his mind4#fi  ,mr4 ,myers1 in summing
 up the evidence in the case of ,mr4    
,stainton ,moses1 dwells on the         
importance of simple repetition4 ,this1 
though practically effective1 is        
scarcely a scientific consideration4 ,a 
fact is none the less a fact on account 
of the rarity of its occurrence1 any    
more than the existence of a rare animal
 or plant is rendered questionable by   
the fewness of the number of specimens  
which have been found4  ,an interesting 
chapter might be written under the title
 of ,the ,history of the ,growth in the 
,belief in ,hypnotism during the last   
,twenty-five ,years4 ,one episode that  
would be included in such a history may 
be worth quoting here as illustrating   
the present subject4 ,as recently as    
#ahia1 the ,british ,medical            
,association appointed a ,committee1    
consisting of eleven of its number1 to  
investigate the nature of the phenomena 

of hypnotism1 its value as a therapeutic
 agent1 and the propriety of using it4  
,this ,committee presented a ,report at 
the ,annual ,meeting in the following   
year4 ,in the first paragraph they      
solemnly stated that they have satisfied
 themselves of the genuineness of the   
hypnotic state 7674 ,they also expressed
 the opinion that as a therapeutic agent
 hypnotism is frequently effective in   
relieving pain1 procuring sleep1 and    
alleviating many functional ailments    
7674 ,they are also of opinion that its 
employment for therapeutic purposes     
should be confined to qualified medical 
men4  ,the ,association referred this   
unanimous ,report of its ,committee back
 for further consideration4 ,in #ahic   
the ,committee presented it again1 with 
the addition of an important ,appendix1 
consisting of some documentary evidence 
upon which the ,report was based4 ,on   
this occasion it was moved and seconded1
 that the ,report should lie on the     
table4 ,it was suggested that the       

amendment to this effect be so altered  
as to read that the ,report be received 
only1 and the ,committee thanked for    
their services4 ,finally1 a resolution  
to this effect was carried4 ,the most   
strongly worded recommendation of the   
,report was that some legal restriction 
should be placed on public exhibitions  
of hypnotic phenomena4 ,this was only   
twelve years ago1 and was five or six   
years subsequent to the publication of  
some of ,mr4 ,edmund ,gurney's most     
important series of experiments in      
hypnotism in the ,proceedings of the    
,society for ,psychical ,research4 ,the 
reception only of the ,report was also  
two or three years subsequent to a      
demonstration of hypnotic ansthesia     
which ,dr4 ,j4 ,milne ,bramwell gave at 
,leeds to a large gathering of medical  
men4 ,one result of that gathering was  
that ,dr4 ,bramwell decided to abandon  
general practice and devote himself to  
hypnotic work4 ,dr4 ,bramwell says3--   
,as ,i was well aware of the fate that  

had awaited earlier pioneers in the same
 movement1 ,i naturally expected to meet
 with opposition and misrepresentation4 
,these have been encountered1 it is     
true2 but the friendly help and         
encouragement received have been        
immeasurably greater4 ,i have also had  
many opportunities of placing my views  
before my professional brethren1 both by
 writing and speaking2 to which ,dr4    
,bramwell somewhat naively              
adds--opportunities all the more valued1
 because almost always unsolicited4#gj  
,an incident which occurred in          
connection with the most sensational    
case of levitation recorded of ,d4 ,d4  
,home1 is very instructive as           
illustrating the great care that is     
needful in estimating the value of      
testimony regarding spiritualistic      
phenomena1 even of statements made by   
persons of established reputation and   
position4  ,the ,joint ,report of       
,professor ,barrett and ,mr4 ,myers1    
from which extracts were made in        

,chapter ,v41 says3--  ,lords ,lindsay  
and ,adare had printed a statement that 
,home floated out of the window1 and in 
at another1 in ,ashley ,place1 ,s4,w41  
#afth ,december #ahfh4 ,a third person1 
,captain ,wynne1 was present at the     
time1 but had written no separate       
account4 ,dr4 ,carpenter1 in an article 
in the ,contemporary ,review for        
,january #ahgf1 thus commented on the   
incident3--  ',the most diverse accounts
 of the facts of a seance will be given 
by a believer and a sceptic4 ,a whole   
party of believers will affirm that they
 saw ,mr4 ,home float out of one window1
 and in at another1 while a single      
honest sceptic declares that ,mr4 ,home 
was sitting in his chair all the time4  
,and in this last case we have an       
example of a fact1 of which there is    
ample illustration1 that during the     
prevalence of an epidemic delusion1 the 
honest testimony of any number of       
individuals on one side1 if given under 
a prepossession1 is of no more weight   

than that of a single adverse           
witness--if so much4'  ,this passage was
 of course quoted as implying that      
,captain ,wynne had somewhere made a    
statement contradicting ,lords ,lindsay 
and ,adare4 ,home wrote to him to       
inquire2 and he replied 444 in the      
following terms3--  ',i remember that   
,dr4 ,carpenter wrote some nonsense     
about that trip of yours along the side 
of the house in ,ashley ,place4 ,i wrote
 to the ,medium to say that ,i was      
present as a witness4 ,now ,i don't     
think that any one who knows me would   
for one moment say that ,i was a victim 
to hallucination or any other humbug of 
the kind4 ,the fact of your having gone 
out of the window and in at the other ,i
 can swear to4'  ,it seems1 therefore1  
that the instance selected by ,dr4      
,carpenter to prove the existence of a  
hallucination--by the exemption of one  
person present from the illusion--was of
 a very unfortunate kind2 suggesting1   
indeed1 that a controversialist thus    

driven to draw on his imagination for   
his facts must have been conscious of a 
weak case4#ga  ,it may be interesting1  
in concluding this brief examination    
into one branch of the great subject of 
,spiritualism1 to bring together a few  
of the impressions produced on the minds
 of some of the leading investigators4  
,it should not be forgotten that the    
branch of the subject which we have been
 studying may be looked upon as         
representing the lowest steps only of a 
great staircase which ascends1 until1 to
 our gaze1 it is lost in unknown        
infinite heights4 ,it is only the foot  
of a ladder1 to use another simile1     
resting on the material earth1 which we 
have been considering2 at most the two  
or three lowest rungs4 ,but to the eyes 
of some1 even now and here1 glimpses of 
angels ascending and descending are     
visible4  ,five names stand out         
prominently before all others among the 
earlier investigators of the last thirty
 years--,sir ,william ,crookes and      

,professor ,w4 ,f4 ,barrett1 who are    
still with us2 and ,professor ,henry    
,sidgwick1 ,edmund ,gurney1 and ,f4 ,w4 
,h4 ,myers1 who have gone4 ,sir ,william
 ,crookes' work in other directions has 
been all-absorbing1 so that all he has  
been able to tell us during the last few
 years1 in relation to our present      
subject1 is that he had nothing to add  
to1 and nothing to retract from what he 
has said in the past4 ,in his address as
 ,president of the ,british ,association
 in #ahih1 ,sir ,william ,crookes said1 
after referring to his work of thirty   
years ago3--  ,i think ,i see a little  
further now4 ,i have glimpses of        
something like coherence among the      
strange elusive phenomena1 of something 
like continuity between those           
unexplained forces1 and laws already    
known4444 ,were ,i now introducing for  
the first time these inquiries to the   
world of science1 ,i should choose a    
starting-point different from that of   
old4 ,it would be well to begin with    

,telepathy2 with the fundamental law1 as
 ,i believe it to be1 that thoughts and 
images may be transferred from one mind 
to another without the agency of the    
recognised organs of sense--that        
knowledge may enter the human mind      
without being communicated in any       
hitherto known or recognised ways4#gb   
,for ,professor ,barrett's present views
 the reader is referred to his address  
as ,president of the ,society for       
,psychical ,research delivered in       
,january #aijd4gc ,it is full of        
interest1 but is not easy to quote from4
 ,speaking of spiritualistic phenomena1 
he says3 ,we must all agree that        
indiscriminate condemnation on the one  
hand1 and ignorant credulity on the     
other1 are the two most mischievous     
elements with which we are confronted in
 connection with this subject4 ,it is   
because we1 as a ,society1 feel that in 
the fearless pursuit of truth1 it is the
 paramount duty of science to lead the  
way1 that the scornful attitude of the  

scientific world towards even the       
investigation of these phenomena is so  
much to be deprecated4444 ,i suppose we 
are all apt to fancy our own power of   
discernment and of sound judgment to be 
somewhat better than our neighbours4    
,but after all1 is it not the           
common-sense1 the care1 the patience1   
and the amount of uninterrupted         
attention we bestow upon any psychical  
phenomena we are investigating1 that    
gives value to the opinion at which we  
arrive1 and not the particular          
cleverness or scepticism of the         
observer8 ,the lesson we all need to    
learn is1 that what even the humblest of
 men affirm1 from their own experience1 
is always worth listening to1 but what  
even the cleverest of men1 in their     
ignorance1 deny1 is never worth a       
moment's attention4#gd  ,as regards     
,professor ,sidgwick1 the experimental  
work of the ,society for ,psychical     
,research soon convinced him that       
,thought-,transference1 or ,telepathy1  

was a fact4 ,in an address in #ahhi1    
after speaking of the probabilities of  
testimony given being false1 he says3-- 
,it is for this reason that ,i feel that
 a part of my grounds for believing in  
,telepathy1 depending as it does on     
personal knowledge1 cannot be           
communicated except in a weakened form  
to the ordinary reader of the printed   
statements which represent the evidence 
that has convinced me4 ,indeed ,i feel  
this so strongly that ,i have always    
made it my highest ambition as a        
psychical researcher to produce evidence
 which will drive my opponents to doubt 
my honesty or veracity2 ,i think there  
are a very small minority who will not  
doubt them1 and that if ,i can convince 
them ,i have done all that ,i can do3 as
 regards the majority of my own         
acquaintances ,i should claim no more   
than an admission that they were        
considerably surprised to find me in the
 trick4#ge  ,i am not aware that        
,professor ,sidgwick ever expressed any 

opinion as to the reality of the        
ordinary physical spiritualistic        
manifestations4 ,it is clear that he    
believed a large proportion to have been
 fraudulently produced4 ,as to some     
psychical phenomena1 his convictions    
were very strong4 ,for instance1 in the 
final paragraph of the ,report on       
,hallucinations1 which occupies the     
whole of the tenth volume of the        
,proceedings of the ,society1 and to    
which he appended his name1 these two   
sentences occur3 ,between deaths and    
apparitions of the dying person a       
connection exists which is not due to   
chance alone4 ,this we hold as a proved 
fact4#gf ,and ,professor ,sidgwick      
speaks of this as corroborating the     
conclusion already drawn by ,mr4 ,gurney
 nearly ten years earlier4  ,mr4 ,edmund
 ,gurney's name stands next4 ,his       
earthly work came to a sudden           
termination in #ahhh4 ,phantasms of the 
,living is his enduring memorial4       
,although two other names are associated

 with his on the title-page1 the greater
 part of the two volumes was written by 
him alone4 ,for most of the views       
expressed ,mr4 ,gurney is solely        
responsible4 ,in a chapter devoted to   
,the ,theory of ,chance-,coincidence as 
an explanation of the order of natural  
phenomena to which ,phantasms of the    
,living belong1 ,mr4 ,gurney says3--    
,figures1 one is sometimes told1 can be 
made to prove anything2 but ,i confess  
,i should be curious to see the figures 
by which the theory of                  
chance-coincidence could here be proved 
adequate to the facts4 ,whatever group  
of phenomena be selected1 and whatever  
method of reckoning be adopted1         
probabilities are hopelessly and even   
ludicrously overpassed4#gg  ,this is the
 conclusion referred to above by        
,professor ,sidgwick4 ,with exclusively 
physical phenomena ,mr4 ,gurney did not 
much concern himself4  ,the last of the 
five names mentioned is that of ,mr ,f4 
,w4 ,h4 ,myers4 ,the written testimony  

he has left behind enables us to obtain 
a much clearer view of his conclusions  
as a whole1 than is attainable in the   
case of ,professor ,sidgwick and ,mr4   
,gurney4 ,the convictions which he came 
to in regard to the two most notable    
mediums in the history of modern        
spiritualism--,d4 ,d4 ,home and ,w4     
,stainton ,moses--are evidence that he  
believed in most of the alleged         
phenomena being proved realities4 ,these
 convictions are so important from such 
a careful and competent student of the  
subject that it is best to quote them in
 his own words4 ,of ,d4 ,d4 ,home he    
said3 ,if our readers ask us--',do you  
desire us to go on experimenting in     
these matters1 as though ,home's        
phenomena were genuine8'--we answer     
',yes4'#gh ,of the phenomena which      
occurred in the presence of ,w4         
,stainton ,moses1 ,mr4 ,myers said3     
,that they were not produced            
fraudulently by ,dr4 ,speer or other    
sitters ,i regard as proved both by     

moral considerations and by the fact    
that they are constantly reported as    
occurring when ,mr4 ,moses was alone4   
,that ,mr4 ,moses should have himself   
fraudulently produced them1 ,i regard as
 both morally and physically incredible4
 ,that he should have prepared and      
produced them in a state of trance1 ,i  
regard both as physically incredible1   
and also as entirely inconsistent with  
the tenour both of his own reports and  
of those of his friends4 ,i therefore   
regard the reported phenomena as having 
actually occurred in a genuinely        
supernormal manner4#gi  ,at the same    
time ,mr4 ,myers believed in the        
existence of a large amount of conscious
 and wilful fraud1 especially in        
professional mediumship4         99     
99       99       99       99  ,there   
will be no fitter conclusion to this    
volume than a few passages from the last
 chapter1 entitled ,epilogue1 of ,human 
,personality1 by ,mr4 ,f4 ,w4 ,h4       
,myers4 ,to a large extent they are     

appropriate to the evidence presented in
 the preceding pages4  ,the task which  
,i proposed to myself at the beginning  
of this work1 is now1 after a fashion1  
accomplished4 ,following the successive 
steps of my programme1 ,i have          
presented--not indeed all the evidence  
,i possess1 and which ,i would willingly
 present--but enough at least to        
illustrate a continuous exposition4444  
,such wider generalisations as ,i may   
now add1 must needs be dangerously      
speculative2 they must run the risk of  
alienating still further from this      
research many of the scientific minds   
which ,i am most anxious to             
influence4444  ,the inquiry falls       
between the two stools of religion and  
science2 it cannot claim support either 
from the 'religious world' or from the  
,royal ,society4 ,yet even apart from   
the instinct of pure scientific         
curiosity 7which surely has seldom seen 
such a field opening before it71 the    
mighty issues depending on these        

phenomena ought1 ,i think1 to constitute
 in themselves a strong1 an exceptional 
appeal4 ,i desire in this book to       
emphasise that appeal2 not only to      
produce conviction1 but also to attract 
co-operation4 ,and actual converse with 
many persons has led me to believe that 
in order to attract such help1 even from
 scientific men1 some general view of   
the moral upshot of all the phenomena is
 needed4444 ,the time is ripe for a     
study of unseen things as strenuous and 
sincere as that which ,science has made 
familiar for the problems of earth4     
,coming now to more definite            
considerations1 ,mr4 ,myers writes thus 
of ,telepathy1 lifting it on to an      
altogether higher plane3 ,in the        
infinite ,universe man may now feel1 for
 the first time1 at home4 ,the worst    
fear is over2 the true security is won4 
,the worst fear was the fear of         
spiritual extinction or spiritual       
solitude4 ,the true security is in the  
telepathic law4 ,let me draw out my     

meaning at somewhat greater length4 ,as 
we have dwelt successively on various   
aspects of ,telepathy we have gradually 
felt the conception enlarge and deepen  
under our study4 ,it began as a         
quasi-mechanical transference of ideas  
and images from one to another brain4   
,this is illustrated by the series of   
,thought-,transference ,drawings2 almost
 the only telepathic manifestation which
 strictly comes within the scope of our 
inquiry into physical phenomena4        
,presently we find it assuming a more   
varied and potent form1 as though it    
were the veritable influence or invasion
 of a distant mind4 ,again1 its action  
was traced across a gulf greater than   
any space of earth or ocean1 and it     
bridged the interval between spirits    
incarnate and discarnate1 between the   
visible and the invisible world4 ,there 
seemed no limit to the distance of its  
operation1 or to the intimacy of its    
appeal4444  ,love 444 is no matter of   
carnal impulse or of emotional          

caprice4444 ,love is a kind of exalted  
but unspecialised ,telepathy2--the      
simplest and most universal expression  
of that mutual gravitation or kinship of
 spirits which is the foundation of the 
telepathic law4 ,this is the answer to  
the ancient fear2 the fear lest man's   
fellowships be the outward1 and his     
solitude the inward thing4444 ,such     
fears vanish when we learn that it is   
the soul in man which links him with    
other souls2 the body which dissevers   
even while it seems to unite4444 ,like  
atoms1 like suns1 like galaxies1 our    
spirits are systems of forces which     
vibrate continually to each other's     
attractive power4  ,for the further     
working out of these thoughts the reader
 must be referred to ,mr4 ,myers' book  
itself4 ,after a few pages ,mr4 ,myers  
proceeds3--  ,our duty the duty of      
,psychical ,researchers is not the      
founding of a new sect1 nor even the    
establishment of a new science1 but is  
rather the expansion of ,science herself

 until she can satisfy those questions1 
which the human heart will rightly ask1 
but to which ,religion alone has thus   
far attempted an answer4444 ,i see our  
original programme completely           
justified4444 ,i see all things coming  
to pass as we foresaw4 ,what ,i do not  
see1 alas6 is an energy and capacity of 
our own1 sufficient for our widening    
duty4444 ,we invite workers from each   
department of science1 from every school
 of thought4 ,with equal confidence we  
appeal for co-operation to savant and to
 saint4  ,to the savant we point out    
that we are not trying to pick holes in 
the order of ,nature1 but rather by the 
scrutiny of residual phenomena1 to get  
nearer to the origin and operation of   
,nature's central mystery of ,life4 ,men
 who realise that the ethereal          
environment was discovered yesterday1   
need not deem it impossible that a      
metethereal environment--yet another    
omnipresent system of cosmic law--should
 be discovered to-morrow4 ,the only     

valid a priori presumption in the       
matter1 is the presumption that the     
,universe is infinite in an infinite    
number of ways4  ,to the ,christian we  
can speak with a still more direct      
appeal4 ,you believe--,i would say--that
 a spiritual world exists1 and that it  
acted on the material world two thousand
 years ago4 ,surely it is so acting     
still4 ,nay1 you believe that it is so  
acting still1 for you believe that      
prayer is heard and answered4 ,to       
believe that prayer is heard is to      
believe in ,telepathy--in the direct    
influence of mind on mind4 ,to believe  
that prayer is answered is to believe   
that unembodied spirit does actually    
modify 7even if not storm-cloud or      
plague-germ7 at least the minds1 and    
therefore the brains1 of living men4    
,from that belief the most advanced     
'psychical' theories are easy           
corollaries4  ,a few more lines in      
conclusion3--  ,it may be that for some 
generations to come the truest faith    

will lie in the patient attempt to      
unravel from confused phenomena some    
trace of the supernal world2--to find   
thus at last 'the substance of things   
hoped for1 the evidence of things not   
seen4' ,i confess1 indeed1 that ,i have 
often felt as though this present age   
were even unduly favoured2--as though no
 future revelation and calm could equal 
the joy of this great struggle from     
doubt into certainty2--from the         
materialism or agnosticism which        
accompany the first advance of ,science 
into the deeper scientific conviction   
that there is a deathless soul in man4  
,i can imagine no other crisis of such  
deep delight4   ,,footnotes3  #ff       
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4 p4     
#beb4  #fg ,the references to these     
contributions are3 ,proceedings         
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vi4 pp4 #ih-abg2        
,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vi4 pp4        
#cda-cde1 and vol4 ix4 pp4 #adg-adh2    
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xiv4 pp4   
#b-e4 ,researches in the ,phenomena of  

,spiritualism will be found in the      
,libraries of the ,society for          
,psychical ,research1 and of the ,london
 ,spiritualist ,alliance4  #fh ,school  
,teaching and ,school ,reform1 by ,sir  
,oliver ,lodge1 pp4 #hi1 #ij4  #fi      
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xviii4 p4  
#dai4  #gj ,see ,hypnotism3 ,its        
,history1 ,practice1 and ,theory1 by ,j4
 ,milne ,bramwell1 ,m4,b41 ,c4,m41      
#aijc1 pp4 #cf-ci4  #ga ,journal        
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 pp4 #ajh-aji4  #gb  
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xiv4 p4 #c4
  #gc ,ibid41 ,part ,,xlviii41 #as4     
7included in vol4 xviii4 pp4 #cbc-cea74 
#gd ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xviii4 
pp4 #cdj-cda4  #ge ,ibid41 vol4 vi4 p4  
#e4  #gf ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 x4
 p4 #cid4  #gg ,phantasms of the        
,living1 vol4 ii4 p4 #ba4  #gh ,journal 
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 p4 #aae4  #gi       
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xi4 pp4    
#bd-be4     ,,the ,,end       ,printed  
by ,,ballantyne1 ,,hanson1  ,,co4       
,edinburgh  ,london