,,hours ,,with ,,the ,,ghosts ,,lee',s ,,library ,,of ,,occult ,,science ,,hours ,,with ,,the ,,ghosts2 ,or ,,xix ,century ,witchcraft ,by ,henry ,r4 ,evans4 ,,practical ,,palmistry2 ,or ,hand ,reading ,made ,easy ,by ,comte ,c4 de ,saint-,germain4 ,,herrmann ,,the ,,magician2 ,his ,life2 ,his ,secrets ,by ,h4 ,j4 ,burlingame4 ,all profusely illustrated4 ,bound in ,holliston cloth1 burnished red top1 uncut edges4 ,,each1 #a4jj ,illustration3 ,,spirit ,,photograph4 ,taken by the ,author4 ,hours ,with the ,ghosts ,,or ,,nineteenth ,,century ,,witchcraft ,,illustrated ,,investigations ,,into ,,the ,phenomena of ,spiritualism and ,theosophy ,,by ,,henry ,,ridgely ,,evans ,the first duty we owe to the world is ,truth--all the ,truth--nothing but the ,truth4--,ancient ,wisdom4 ,,chicago ,,laird ,,lee1 ,,publishers ,entered according to act of ,congress1 in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-seven4 ,,by ,,william ,h4 ,,lee1 ,in the office of the ,librarian of ,congress1 at ,washington4 ,,to ,,my ,,wife ,it is no proof of wisdom to refuse to examine certain phenomena because we think it certain that they are impossible1 as if our knowledge of the universe were already completed4--,prof4 ,lodge4 ,the most ardent ,spiritist should welcome a searching inquiry into the potential faculties of spirits still in the flesh4 ,until we know more of these1 those other phenomena to which he appeals must remain unintelligible because isolated1 and are likely to be obstinately disbelieved because they are impossible to understand4--,f4 ,w4 ,h4 ,myers3 ,proceedings of the ,society for ,psychical ,research1 ,part ,,xviii1 ,april1 #ahia4 ,,table ,,of ,,contents4 ,author's ,preface #aa ,,introductory ,,argument #ac ,,part ,,first3 ,spiritualism #ah ,i4 ,divisions of the ,subject #ah ,,ii4 ,subjective ,phenomena #bc #a4 ,telepathy #bc #b4 ,table ,tilting4 ,muscle ,reading #dj ,,iii4 ,physical ,phenomena #df #a4 ,psychography or ,slate-writing #df #b4 ,the ,master of the ,mediums3 ,d4 ,d4 ,home #ic #c4 ,rope ,tying and ,holding ,mediums2 ,materializations #ace ,the ,davenport ,brothers #ace ,annie ,eva ,fay #adi ,charles ,slade #aed ,pierre ,l4 ,o4 ,a4 ,keeler #afj ,eusapia ,paladino #age ,f4 ,w4 ,tabor #ahb #d4 ,spirit ,photography #ahh #e4 ,thought ,photography #aig #f4 ,apparitions of the ,dead #bja ,,iv4 ,conclusions #bjg ,,part ,,second3 ,madame ,blavatsky and the ,theosophists #baj ,i4 ,the ,priestess #bac ,,ii4 ,what is ,theosophy8 #bcg ,,iii4 ,madame ,blavatsky's ,confession #bej ,,iv4 ,the ,writings of ,madame ,blavatsky #bfe ,v4 ,the ,life and ,death of a ,famous ,theosophist #bfh ,,vi4 ,the ,mantle of ,madame ,blavatsky #bgb ,,vii4 ,the ,theosophical ,temple #bhg ,,viii4 ,conclusion #bij ,list of ,authorities #bih ,,illustrations4 ,,page4 ,fig4 #a4 ,spirit ,photograph1 by the author ,frontispiece ,fig4 #b4 ,portrait of ,dr4 ,henry ,slade #dg ,fig4 #c4 ,the ,holding of the ,slate #ea ,fig4 #d4 ,slate ,no4 #a #fe ,fig4 #e4 ,slate ,no4 #b #ga ,fig4 #f4 ,slate ,no4 #c #gg ,fig4 #g4 ,home at the ,tuileries #ig ,fig4 #h4 ,crookes' ,apparatus ,no4 #a #aaf ,fig4 #i4 ,crookes' ,apparatus ,no4 #a #aai ,fig4 #aj4 ,crookes' ,apparatus ,no4 #a #abj ,fig4 #aa4 ,crookes' ,apparatus ,no4 #a #aba ,fig4 #ab1 #ac1 #ad1 #ae4 ,crookes' ,diagrams #abd-abe ,fig4 #af4 ,crookes' ,apparatus ,no4 #b #abf ,fig4 #ag4 ,crookes' ,apparatus ,no4 #b #abg ,fig4 #ah1 #ai1 #bj4 ,crookes' ,diagrams #abh-acj ,fig4 #ba4 ,hammond's ,apparatus #acc ,fig4 #bb4 ,the ,davenport's in their ,cabinet #aci ,fig4 #bc4 ,trick ,tie and in ,cabinet ,work #adc ,fig4 #bd4 ,charles ,slade's ,poster #aeh-aei ,fig4 #be4 ,pierre ,keeler's ,cabinet ,seance #afb ,fig4 #bf4 ,pierre ,keeler's ,cabinet ,curtain #afc ,fig4 #bg4 ,portrait of ,eusapia ,paladino #agf ,fig4 #bh4 ,eusapia before the ,scientists #agg ,fig4 #bi4 ,spirit ,photograph1 by the author #aia ,fig4 #cj4 ,spirit ,photograph1 by pretended medium #aie ,fig4 #ca4 ,sigel's ,original ,picture of ,fig4 #cj #aii ,fig4 #cb4 ,portrait of ,madame ,blavatsky #bae ,fig4 #cc4 ,mahatma ,letter #bba ,fig4 #cd4 ,mahatma ,envelope #bbe ,fig4 #ce4 ,portrait of ,col4 ,h4 ,s4 ,olcott #bcc ,fig4 #cf4 ,oath of ,secrecy of the ,charter ,members of the ,theosophical ,society #bce ,fig4 #cg4 ,portrait of ,w4 ,q4 ,judge #bda ,fig4 #ch4 ,portrait of ,mrs4 ,annie ,besant #bgc ,fig4 #ci4 ,portrait of ,mrs4 ,tingley #bhe ,fig4 #dj4 ,autograph of ,madame ,blavatsky #bic ,,preface4 ,there are two great schools of thought in the world--materialistic and spiritualistic4 ,with one1 ,,matter is all in all1 the ultimate substratum2 mind is merely the result of organized matter2 everything is translated into terms of force1 motion and the like4 ,with the other1 ,,spirit or mind is the ultimate substance--,god2 matter is the visible expression of this invisible and eternal ,consciousness4 ,materialism is a barren1 dreary1 comfortless belief1 and1 in the opinion of the author1 is without philosophical foundation4 ,this is an age of scientific materialism1 although of late years that materialism has been rather on the wane among thinking men4 ,in an age of such ultra materialism1 therefore1 it is not strange that there should come a great reaction on the part of spiritually minded people4 ,this reaction takes the form of an increased vitality of dogmatic religion1 or else culminates in the formation of ,spiritualistic or ,theosophic societies for the prosecution of occult phenomena4 ,spiritualists are now numbered by the million4 ,persons calling themselves mediums present certain phenomena1 physical and psychical1 and call public attention to them1 as an evidence of life beyond the grave1 and the possibility of spiritual communication between this world and the next4 ,the author has had sittings with many famous mediums of this country and ,europe1 but has seen little to convince him of the fact of spirit communication4 ,the slate tests and so-called materializations have invariably been frauds4 ,some experiments along the line of automatic writing and psychometry1 however1 have demonstrated to the writer the truth of telepathy or thought-transference4 ,the theory of telepathy explains many of the marvels ascribed to spirit intervention in things mundane4 ,in this work the author has endeavored to give an accurate account of the lives and adventures of celebrated mediums and occultists1 which will prove of interest to the reader4 ,the rise and growth of the ,theosophical cult in this country and ,europe is of historical interest4 ,theosophy pretends to a deeper metaphysics than ,spiritualism1 and numbers its adherents by the thousands2 it is1 therefore1 intensely interesting to study it in its origin1 its founder and its present leaders4 ,,the ,,author4 ,,hours ,,with ,,the ,,ghosts4 ,,introductory ,,argument4 ,if a man die1 shall he live again8--this is the question of the ages1 the ,sphinx riddle that ,humanity has been trying to solve since time began4 ,the great minds of antiquity1 ,socrates1 ,pythagoras1 ,plato and ,aristotle were firm in their belief in the immortality of the soul4 ,the writings of ,plato are luminous on the subject4 ,the ,mysteries of ,isis and ,osiris1 as practiced in ,egypt1 and those of ,eleusis1 in ,greece1 taught the doctrine of the immortality of the individual being4 ,the ,divine ,master of ,arcane knowledge1 ,christ1 proclaimed the same4 ,in latter times1 we have had such metaphysical and scientific thinkers as ,leibnitz1 ,fichte1 ,schelling1 ,hegel and ,schleiermacher advocating individual existence beyond the grave4 ,it is a strange fact that the more materialistic the age1 the deeper the interest in spiritual questions4 ,the vitality and persistence of the belief in the reality of the spiritual world is evidence of that hunger for the ideal1 for ,god1 of which the ,psalmist speaks--,as the heart panteth after water brooks so panteth my soul after ,thee1 ,o ,god6 ,through the passing centuries1 we have come into a larger1 nobler conception of the ,universal ,life1 and our relations to that ,life1 in which we live1 move1 and have our being4 ,granting the existence of an ,eternal and ,infinite ,spirit1 the ,intellectual ,organizer of the mathematical laws which the physical forces obey1 and conceiving ourselves as individualized points of life in the ,greater ,life1 we are constrained to believe that we bear within us the undying spark of divinity and immortality4 ,evolution points to eternal life as the final goal of self-conscious spirit1 else this mighty earth-travail1 the long ages of struggle to produce man are utterly without meaning4 ,speaking of a future life1 ,john ,fiske1 a leading ,american exponent of the doctrine of evolution1 says 7,the ,destiny of ,man73 ,the doctrine of evolution does not allow us to take the atheistic view of the position of man4 ,it is true that modern astronomy shows us giant balls of vapor condensing into fiery suns1 cooling down into planets fit for the support of life1 and at last growing cold and rigid in death1 like the moon4 ,and there are indications of a time when systems of dead planets shall fall in upon their central ember that was once a sun1 and the whole lifeless mass1 thus regaining heat1 shall expand into a nebulous cloud like that with which we started1 that the work of condensation and evolution may begin over again4 ,these ,titanic events must doubtless seem to our limited vision like an endless and aimless series of cosmical changes4 ,from the first dawning of life we see all things working together toward one mighty goal1 the evolution of the most exalted spiritual qualities which characterize ,humanity4 ,the body is cast aside and returns to the dust of which it was made4 ,the earth1 so marvelously wrought to man's uses1 will also be cast aside4 ,so small is the value which ,nature sets upon the perishable forms of matter6 ,the question1 then1 is reduced to this3 ,are man's highest spiritual qualities1 into the production of which all this creative energy has gone1 to disappear with the rest8 ,are we to regard the ,creator's work as like that of a child1 who builds houses out of blocks1 just for the pleasure of knocking them down8 ,for aught that science can tell us1 it may be so1 but ,i can see no good reason for believing any such thing4 ,a scientific demonstration of immortality is declared to be an impossibility4 ,but why go to science for such a demonstration8 ,the question belongs to the domain of philosophy and religion4 ,science deals with physical forces and their relations2 collects and inventories facts4 ,its mission is not to establish a universal metaphysic of things2 that is philosophy's prerogative4 ,all occult thinkers declare that life is from within1 out4 ,in other words life1 or a spiritual principle1 precedes organization4 ,science proceeds to investigate the phenomena of the universe in the opposite way from without1 in2 and pronounces life to be a fortuitous collocation of atoms4 ,still1 science has been the torch-bearer of the ages and has stripped the fungi of superstition from the tree of life4 ,it has revealed to us the great laws of nature1 though it has not explained them4 ,we know that light1 heat1 and electricity are modes of motion2 more than that we know not4 ,science is largely responsible for the materialistic philosophy in vogue to-day--a philosophy that sees no reason in the universe4 ,a powerful wave of spiritual thought has set in1 as if to counteract the ultra rationalism of the age4 ,in the vanguard of the new order of things are ,spiritualism and ,theosophy4 ,spiritualism enters the list1 and declares that the immortality of the soul is a demonstrable fact4 ,it throws down the gauntlet of defiance to skepticism1 saying3 ,come1 ,i will show you that there is an existence beyond the grave4 ,death is not a wall1 but a door through which we pass into eternal life4 ,theosophy1 too1 has its occult phenomena to prove the indestructibility of soul-force4 ,both ,spiritualism and ,theosophy contain germs of truth1 but both are tinctured with superstition4 ,i purpose1 if possible1 to sift the wheat from the chaff4 ,in investigating the phenomena of ,spiritualism and ,theosophy ,i will use the scientific as well as the philosophic method4 ,each will act1 ,i hope1 as corrective of the other4 ,,part ,,first4 ,,spiritualism4 ,i4 ,,divisions ,,of ,,the ,,subject4 ,belief in the evocation of the spirits of the dead is as old as ,humanity4 ,at one period of the world's history it was called ,thaumaturgy1 at another ,necromancy and ,witchcraft1 in these latter years1 ,spiritualism4 ,it is new wine in old bottles4 ,on ,march #ca1 #ahdg1 at ,hydeville1 ,wayne ,county1 ,new ,york1 occurred the celebrated knockings1 the beginning of modern ,spiritualism4 ,the mediums were two little girls1 ,kate and ,margaretta ,fox1 whose fame spread over three continents4 ,it is claimed by impartial investigators that the rappings produced in the presence of the ,fox sisters were occasioned by natural means4 ,voluntary disjointings of the muscles of the knee1 or to use a medical term the repeated displacement of the tendon of the peroneus longus muscle in the sheath in which it slides behind the outer malleolus will produce certain extraordinary sounds1 particularly when the knee is brought in contact with a table or chair4 ,snapping the toes in rapid succession will cause similar noises4 ,the above was the explanation given of the ,hydeville and ,rochester ,knockings1 by ,professors ,flint1 ,lee and ,coventry1 of ,buffalo1 who subjected the ,fox sisters to numerous examinations1 and this explanation was confirmed many years after 7in #ahhh7 by the published confession of ,mrs4 ,kane1 nee ,margaretta ,fox4 ,spiritualism became the rage and professional mediums went about giving sances to large and interested audiences4 ,this particular creed is still professed by a recognized semi-religious body in ,america and in ,europe4 ,the ,american mediums reaped a rich harvest in the ,old ,world4 ,the pioneer was ,mrs4 ,hayden1 a ,boston medium1 who went to ,england in #aheb1 and the table-turning mania spread like wild fire within a few months4 ,broadly speaking1 the phenomena of modern ,spiritualism may be divided into two classes3 7#a7 ,physical1 7#b7 ,subjective4 ,of the first1 the ,encyclopaedia ,britannica1 in its brief but able review of the subject1 says3 ,those which1 if correctly observed and due neither to conscious or unconscious trickery nor to hallucination on the part of the observers1 exhibit a force hitherto unknown to science1 acting in the physical world otherwise than through the brain or muscles of the medium4 ,the earliest of these phenomena were the mysterious rappings and movements of furniture without apparent physical cause4 ,following these came the ringing of bells1 playing on musical instruments1 strange lights seen hovering about the sance-room1 materializations of hands1 faces and forms1 direct writing and drawing declared to be done without human intervention1 spirit photography1 levitation1 unfastening of ropes and bandages1 elongation of the medium's body1 handling fire with impunity1 etc4 ,of the second class1 or ,subjective ,phenomena1 we have table-tilting and turning with contact2 writing1 drawing1 etc41 by means of the medium's hand2 entrancement1 trance-speaking1 and impersonation by the medium of deceased persons1 seeing spirits and visions and hearing phantom voices4 ,from a general scientific point of view there are three ways of accounting for the physical phenomena of spiritualism3 7#a7 ,hallucination on the part of the observers2 7#b7 ,conjuring2 7#c7 ,a force latent in the human personality capable of moving heavy objects without muscular contact1 and of causing ,percussive ,sounds on table-tops1 and raps upon walls and floors4 ,hallucination has unquestionably played a part in the sance-room1 but here again the statement of the ,encyclopaedia ,britannica is worthy of consideration3 ,sensory hallucination of several persons together who are not in a hypnotic state is a rare phenomenon1 and therefore not a probable explanation4 ,in my opinion1 conjuring will account for seven-eighths of the so-called phenomena of professional mediums4 ,for the balance of one-eighth1 neither hallucination nor legerdemain are satisfactory explanation4 ,hundreds of credible witnesses have borne testimony to the fact of table-turning and tilting and the movements of heavy objects without muscular contact4 ,that such a force exists is now beyond cavil1 call it what you will1 magnetic1 nervous1 or psychic4 ,count ,agenor de ,gasparin1 in #ahed1 conducted a series of elaborate experiments in table-turning and tilting1 in the presence of his family and a number of skeptical witnesses1 and was highly successful4 ,the experiments were made in the full light of day4 ,the members of the circle joined hands and concentrated their minds upon the object to be moved4 ,the ,count published a work on the subject ,des ,tables ,tournantes1 in which he stated that the movements of the table were due to a mental or nervous force emanating from the human personality4 ,this psychic energy has been investigated by ,professor ,crookes and ,professor ,lodge1 of ,london1 and by ,doctor ,elliott ,coues1 of ,washington1 ,d4 ,c41 who calls it ,telekinesis4 ,the existence of this force sufficiently explains such phenomena of the sance-room as are not attributable to hallucination and conjuring1 thus removing the necessity for the hypothesis of spirit intervention4 ,in explanation of table-turning by contact1 ,i quote what ,j4 ,n4 ,maskelyne says in ,the ,supernatural3 ,faraday proved to a demonstration that table-turning was simply the result of an unconscious muscular action on the part of the sitters4 ,he constructed a little apparatus to be placed beneath the hands of those pressing upon the table1 which had a pointer to indicate any pressure to one side or the other4 ,after a time1 of course1 the arms of the sitters become tired and they unconsciously press more or less to the right or left4 ,in ,faraday's experiments1 it always proved that this pressure was exerted in the direction in which the table was expected to move1 and the tell-tale pointer showed it at once4 ,there1 then1 we have the explanation3 expectancy and unconscious muscular action4 ,,ii4 ,,subjective ,,phenomena4 #a4 ,telepathy4 ,the subjective phenomena of ,spiritualism--trance speaking1 automatic writing1 etc41--have engaged the attention of some of the best scientific minds of ,europe and ,america1 as studies of abnormal or supernormal psychological conditions4 ,if there are any facts to sustain the spiritual hypothesis1 these facts exist in subjective manifestations4 ,the following statement will be conceded by any impartial investigator3 ,a medium1 or psychic1 in a state of partial or complete hypnosis frequently gives information transcending his conscious knowledge of a subject4 ,there can be but two hypotheses for the phenomena--7#a7 ,the intelligence exhibited by the medium is ultra-mundane1 in other words1 is the effect of spirit control1 or1 7#b7 it is the result of the conscious or unconscious exercise of psychic powers on the part of the medium4 ,it is well known that persons under hypnotic influence exhibit remarkable intelligence1 notwithstanding the fact that the ordinary consciousness is held in abeyance4 ,the extraordinary results obtained by hypnotizers point to another phase of consciousness1 which is none other than the subjective or subliminal self4 ,mediums sometimes induce hypnosis by self-suggestion1 and while in that state1 the subconscious mind is in a highly receptive and exalted condition4 ,mental suggestions or concepts pass from the mind of the sitter consciously or unconsciously to the mind of the medium1 and are given back in the form of communications from the invisible world1 ostensibly through spirit control4 ,it is not absolutely necessary that the medium be in the hypnotic condition to obtain information1 but the hypnotic state seems to be productive of the best results4 ,the medium is usually honest in his belief in the reality of such ultra-mundane control1 but he is ignorant of the true psychology of the case--thought transference4 ,the ,english ,society for ,psychical ,research and its ,american branch have of late years popularized telepathy1 or thought transference4 ,a series of elaborate investigations were made by ,messrs4 ,edmund ,gurney1 ,f4 ,w4 ,h4 ,myers1 and ,frank ,podmore1 accounts of which are contained in the proceedings of the ,society4 ,among the ,european investigators may be mentioned ,messrs4 ,janet and ,gibert1 ,richet1 ,gibotteau1 and ,schrenck-,notzing4 ,podmore has lately summarized the results of these studies in an interesting volume1 ,apparitions and ,thought-transference1 an ,examination of the ,evidence for ,telepathy4 ,thought ,transference or ,telepathy 7from tele--at a distance1 and pathos--feeling7 he describes as a communication between mind and mind other than through the known channels of the senses4 ,a mass of evidence is adduced to prove the possibility of this communication4 ,in summing up his book he says3 ,the experimental evidence has shown that a simple sensation or idea may be transferred from one mind to another1 and that this transference may take place alike in the normal state and in the hypnotic trance4 99 99 ,the personal influence of the operator in hypnotism may perhaps be regarded as a proof presumptive of telepathy4 ,the experiments show that mental concepts or ideas may be transferred to a distance4 ,podmore advances the following theory in explanation of the phenomena of telepathy3 ,if we leave fluids and radiant nerve-energy on one side1 we find practically only one mode suggested for the telepathic transference--viz41 that the physical changes which are the accompaniments of thought or sensation in the agent are transmitted from the brain as undulations in the intervening medium1 and thus excite corresponding changes in some other brain1 without any other portion of the organism being necessarily implicated in the transmission4 ,this hypothesis has found its most philosophical champion in ,dr4 ,ochorowicz1 who has devoted several chapters of his book ,de la ,suggestion mentale1 to the discussion of the various theories on the subject4 ,he begins by recalling the reciprocal convertibility of all physical forces with which we are acquainted1 and especially draws attention to what he calls the law of reversibility1 a law which he illustrates by a description of the photophone4 ,the photophone is an instrument in which a mirror is made to vibrate to the human voice4 ,the mirror reflects a ray of light1 which1 vibrating in its turn1 falls upon a plate of selenium1 modifying its electric conductivity4 ,the intermittent current so produced is transmitted through a telephone1 and the original articulate sound is reproduced4 ,now in hypnotized subjects--and ,m4 ,ochorowicz does not in this connection treat of thought-transference between persons in the normal state--the equilibrium of the nervous system1 he sees reason to believe1 is profoundly affected4 ,the nerve-energy liberated in this state1 he points out1 'cannot pass beyond' the subject's brain 'without being transformed4 ,nevertheless1 like any other force1 it cannot remain isolated2 like any other force it escapes1 but in disguise4 ,orthodox science allows it only one way out1 the motor nerves4 ,these are the holes in the dark lantern through which the rays of light escape4 99 99 99 ,thought remains in the brain1 just as the chemical energy of the galvanic battery remains in the cells1 but each is represented outside by its correlative energy1 which in the case of the battery is called the electric current1 but for which in the other we have as yet no name4 ,in any case there is some correlative energy--for the currents of the motor nerves do not and cannot constitute the only dynamic equivalent of cerebral energy--to represent all the complex movements of the cerebral mechanism4' ,the above hypothesis may1 or may not1 afford a clue to the mysterious phenomena of telepathy1 but it will doubtless satisfy to some extent those thinkers who demand physical explanations of the known and unknown laws of the universe4 ,the president of the ,society for ,psychical ,research 7#ahid17 ,a4 ,j4 ,balfour1 in an address on the relation of the work of the ,society to the general course of modern scientific investigation1 is more cautious than the writers already quoted4 ,he says3 ,is this telepathic action an ordinary case of action from a center of disturbance8 ,is it equally diffused in all directions8 ,is it like the light of a candle or the light of the sun which radiates equally into space in every direction at the same time8 ,if it is1 it must obey the law--at least1 we should expect it to obey the law--of all other forces which so act through a non-absorbing medium1 and its effects must diminish inversely as the square of the distance4 ,it must1 so to speak1 get beaten out thinner and thinner the further it gets removed from its original source4 ,but is this so8 ,is it even credible that the mere thoughts1 or1 if you please1 the neural changes corresponding to these thoughts1 of any individual could have in them the energy to produce sensible effects equally in all directions1 for distances which do not1 as far as our investigations go1 appear to have any necessary limit8 ,it is1 ,i think1 incredible2 and in any case there is no evidence whatever that this equal diffusion actually takes place4 ,the will power1 whenever will is used1 or the thoughts1 in cases where will is not used1 have an effect1 as a rule1 only upon one or two individuals at most4 ,there is no appearance of general diffusion4 ,there is no indication of any disturbance equal at equal distances from its origin and radiating from it alike in every direction4 ,but if we are to reject this idea1 which is the first which ordinary analogies would suggest1 what are we to put in its place8 ,are we to suppose that there is some means by which telepathic energy can be directed through space from the agent to the patient1 from the man who influences to the man who is influenced8 ,if we are to believe this1 as apparently we must1 we are face to face not only with a fact extraordinary in itself1 but with a kind of fact which does not fit in with anything we know at present in the region either of physics or of physiology4 ,it is true1 no doubt1 that we do know plenty of cases where energy is directed along a given line1 like water in a pipe1 or like electrical energy along the course of a wire4 ,but then in such cases there is always some material guide existing between the two termini1 between the place from which the energy comes and the place to which the energy goes4 ,is there any such material guide in the case of telepathy8 ,it seems absolutely impossible4 ,there is no sign of it4 ,we can not even form to ourselves any notion of its character1 and yet1 if we are to take what appears to be the obvious lesson of the observed facts1 we are forced to the conclusion that in some shape or other it exists4 ,telepathy once conceded1 we have a satisfactory explanation of that class of cases in modern ,spiritualism on the subjective side of the question4 ,there is no need of the hypothesis of disembodied spirits4 ,some years ago1 ,i instituted a series of experiments with a number of celebrated spirit mediums in the line of thought transference1 and was eminently successful in obtaining satisfactory results1 especially with ,miss ,maggie ,gaule1 of ,baltimore1 one of the most famous of the latter day psychics4 ,case ,a4 ,about three years prior to my sitting with ,miss ,gaule1 a relative by marriage died of cancer of the throat at the ,garfield ,hospital1 ,washington1 ,d4 ,c4 ,he was a retired army officer1 with the brevet of ,general1 and lived part of the time at ,chambersburg1 ,penn41 and the rest of the time at the ,national ,capital4 ,he led a very quiet and unassuming life1 and outside of army circles knew but few people4 ,he was a magnificent specimen of physical manhood1 six feet tall1 with splendid chest and arms4 ,his hair and beard were of a reddish color4 ,his usual street dress was a sort of compromise with an army undress uniform1 military cut frock-coat1 frogged and braided top-coat1 and a ,sherman hat4 ,without these accessories1 anyone would have recognized the military man in his walk and bearing4 ,he and his wife thought a great deal of my mother1 and frequently stopped me on the street to inquire1 ,how is ,mary8 ,i went to ,miss ,gaule's house with the thought of ,general ,m-- fixed in my mind and the circumstances surrounding his decease4 ,the medium greeted me in a cordial manner4 ,i sat at one end of the room in the shadow1 and she near the window in a large armchair4 ,you wish for messages from the dead1 she remarked abruptly4 ,one moment1 let me think4 ,she sank back in the chair1 closed her eyes1 and remained in deep thought for a minute or so1 occasionally passing her hand across her forehead4 ,i see1 she said1 standing behind you1 a tall1 large man with reddish hair and beard4 ,he is garbed in the uniform of an officer--,i do not know whether of the army or navy4 ,he points to his throat4 ,says he died of a throat trouble4 ,he looks at you and calls ,mary1--how is ,mary8 ,what is his name8 ,i inquired1 fixing my mind on the words ,david ,m--4 ,i will ask1 replied the medium4 ,there was a long pause4 ,he speaks so faintly ,i can scarcely hear him4 ,the first letter begins with ,d1 and then comes a--,i can't get it4 ,i can't hear it4 ,with that she opened her eyes4 ,the surprising feature about the above case was the alleged spirit communication1 ,mary--how is ,mary8 ,i did not have this in my mind at the time2 in fact ,i had completely forgotten this form of salutation on the part of ,gen4 ,m--1 when we had met in the old days4 ,it is just this sort of thing that makes spirit-converts4 ,however1 the cases of unconscious telepathy cited in the ,reports of the ,society for ,psychical ,research1 are sufficient1 ,i think1 to prove the existence of this phase of the phenomena4 ,t4 ,j4 ,hudson1 in his work entitled ,a scientific demonstration of the future life1 says3 99 99 ,when a psychic transmits a message to his client containing information which is in his 7the psychic's7 possession1 it can not reasonably be attributed to the agency of disembodied spirits4 99 99 ,when the message contains facts known to some one in his immediate presence and with whom he is en rapport1 the agency of spirits of the dead cannot be presumed4 ,every investigator will doubtless admit that sub-conscious memory may enter as a factor in the case1 and that the sub-conscious intelligence--or1 to use the favorite terminology employed by ,mr4 ,myers to designate the subjective mind1 the 'sublimal consciousness'--of the psychic or that of his client may retain and use facts which the conscious1 or objective mind may have entirely forgotten4 ,but suppose the medium relates facts that were never in the possession of the sitter1 what are we to say then8 ,considerable controversy has been waged over this question1 and the hypothesis of telepathy is scouted4 ,minot ,j4 ,savage has come to the conclusion that such cases stretch the telepathic theory too far2 there can be but one plausible explanation--a communication from a disembodied spirit1 operating through the mind of the medium4 ,for the sake of lucidity1 let us take an example3 ,a has a relative ,b who dies in a foreign land under peculiar circumstances1 unknown to ,a4 ,a attends a sance of a psychic1 ,c1 and the latter relates the circumstances of ,b's death4 ,a afterwards investigates the statements of the medium1 and finds them correct4 ,can telepathy account for ,c's knowledge8 ,i think it can4 ,the telepathic communication was recorded in ,a's sub-conscious mind1 he being en rapport with ,b4 ,a unconsciously yields the points recorded in his sub-conscious mind to the psychic1 ,c1 who by reason of his peculiar powers raises them to the level of conscious thought1 and gives them back in the form of a message from the dead4 ,case ,b4 ,on another occasion1 ,i went with my friend ,mr4 ,s4 ,c41 of ,virginia1 to visit ,miss ,gaule4 ,mr4 ,s4 ,c4 had a young son who had recently passed the examination for admission to the ,u4 ,s4 ,naval ,academy1 and the boy had accompanied his father to ,baltimore to interview the military tailors on the subject of uniforms1 etc4 ,miss ,gaule in her semi-trance state made the following statement3 ,i see a young man busy with books and papers4 ,he has successfully passed an examination1 and says something about a uniform4 ,perhaps he is going to a military college4 ,here again we have excellent evidence of the proof of telepathy4 ,the spelling of names is one of the surprising things in these experiments4 ,on one occasion my wife had a sitting with ,miss ,gaule1 and the psychic correctly spelled out the names of ,mrs4 ,evans' brothers--,john1 ,robert1 and ,dudley1 the latter a family name and rather unusual1 and described the family as living in the ,west4 ,the following example of ,telepathy occurred between the writer and a younger brother4 ,case ,c4 ,in the fall of #ahij1 ,i was travelling from ,washington to ,baltimore1 by the ,b4 ,p4 ,r4 ,r4 ,as the train approached ,jackson ,grove1 a campmeeting ground1 deserted at that time of the year1 the engine whistle blew vigorously and the bell was rung continuously1 which was something unusual1 as the cars ordinarily did not stop at this isolated station1 but whirled past4 ,then the engine slowed down and the train came to a standstill4 ,what is the matter8 exclaimed the passengers4 ,my ,god1 look there6 shouted an excited passenger1 leaning out of the coach window1 and pointing to the dilapidated platform of the station4 ,i looked out and beheld a decapitated human head1 standing almost upright in a pool of blood4 ,with the other male passengers ,i rushed out of the car4 ,the head was that of an old man with very white hair and beard4 ,we found the body down an embankment at some little distance from the place of the accident4 ,the deceased was recognized as the owner of the ,grove1 a farmer living in the vicinity4 ,according to the statement of the engineer1 the old man was walking on the track2 the warning signals were given1 but proved of no avail4 ,being somewhat deaf1 he did not realize his danger4 ,he attempted to step off the track1 but the brass railing that runs along the side of the locomotive decapitated him like the knife of a guillotine4 ,when ,i reached ,baltimore about #g o'clock1 ,p4 ,m41 ,i hurried down to the office of the ,baltimore ,news and wrote out an account of the tragic affair4 ,my work at the office kept me until a late hour of the night1 and ,i went home to bed at about #a o'clock1 ,a4 ,m4 ,my brother1 who slept in an adjoining room1 had retired to bed and the door between our apartments was closed4 ,the next morning1 ,sunday1 ,i rose at #i o'clock1 and went down to breakfast4 ,the family had assembled1 and ,i was just in time to hear my brother relate the following3 ,i had a most peculiar dream last night4 ,i thought ,i was on my way to ,mt4 ,washington 7he was in the habit of making frequent visits to this suburb of ,baltimore on the ,northern ,central ,r4 ,r47 ,we ran down an old man and decapitated him4 ,i was looking out of the window and saw the head standing in a pool of blood4 ,the hair and beard were snow white4 ,we found the body not far off1 and it proved to be a farmer residing in the neighborhood of ,mt4 ,washington4 ,you will find the counterpart of that dream in the morning paper1 ,i remarked seriously4 ,i reported the accident4 ,my father called for the paper1 and proceeded to hunt its columns for the item1 saying1 ,you undoubtedly transferred the impression to your brother4 ,case ,d4 ,this is another striking evidence of telepathic communication1 in which ,i was one of the agents4 ,l-- was a reporter on a ,baltimore paper1 and his apartments were the rendezvous of a coterie of ,bohemian actors1 journalists1 and litterati1 among whom was ,x--1 a student at the ,johns-,hopkins ,university1 and a poet of rare excellence4 ,poets have a proverbial reputation for being eccentric in personal appearance2 in ,x this eccentricity took the form of an unclipped beard that stood out in all directions1 giving him a savage1 anarchistic look4 ,he vowed never under any circumstances to shave or cut this hirsute appendage4 ,l-- came to me one day1 and laughingly remarked3 ,i am being tortured by a mental obsession4 ,x's beard annoys me2 haunts my waking and sleeping hours4 ,i must do something about it4 ,listen6 ,he is coming down to my rooms1 ,saturday evening1 to do some literary work1 and spend the night with me4 ,we shall have supper together1 and ,i want you to be present4 ,now ,i propose that we drug his coffee with some harmless soporific1 and when he is sound asleep1 tie him1 and shave off his beard4 ,will you help me8 ,i can provide you with a lounge to sleep on1 but you must promise not to go to sleep until after the tragedy4 ,i agreed to assist him in his practical joke1 and we parted1 solemnly vowing that our project should be kept secret4 ,this was on ,tuesday1 and no communication was had with ,x1 until ,saturday morning1 when ,l-- and ,i met him on ,charles street4 ,don't forget to-night1 exclaimed ,l-- ,i have invited ,e to join us in our ,epicurean feast4 ,i will be there1 said ,x4 ,by the way1 let me relate a curious dream ,i had last night4 ,i dreamt ,i came down to your rooms1 and had supper4 ,e--was present4 ,you fellows gave me something to drink which contained a drug1 and ,i fell asleep on the bed4 ,after that you tied my hands1 and shaved off my beard4 ,when ,i awoke ,i was terribly mad4 ,i burst the cords that fastened my wrists together1 and springing to my feet1 cut ,l--severely with the razor4 ,that settles the matter1 said ,l--1 his beard is safe from me4 ,when we told ,x of our conspiracy to relieve him of his poetic hirsute appendage1 he evinced the greatest astonishment4 ,as will be seen1 every particular of the practical joke had been transferred to his mind1 the drugging of the coffee1 the tying1 and the shaving4 ,telepathy is a logical explanation of many of the ghostly visitations of which the ,society for ,psychical ,research has collected such a mass of data4 ,for example3 ,a dies1 let us say in ,india and ,b1 a near relative or friend1 residing in ,england1 sees a vision of ,a in a dream or in the waking state4 ,a clasps his hands1 and seems to utter the words1 ,i am dying4 ,when the news comes of ,a's death1 the time of the occurrence coincides with the seeing of the vision4 ,the spiritualist's theory is that the ghost of ,a was an actual entity4 ,one of the difficulties in the way of such an hypothesis is the clothing of the deceased--can that1 too1 be disembodied8 ,thought transference 7conscious or unconscious71 ,i think1 is the only rational explanation of such phantasms4 ,the vision seen by the percipient is not an objective but a subjective thing--a hallucination produced by the unknown force called telepathy4 ,the vision need not coincide exactly with the date of the death of the transmitter but may make its appearance years afterwards1 remaining latent in the subjective mind of the percipient4 ,it may1 as is frequently the case1 be revealed by a medium in a sance4 ,many thoughtful writers combat the telepathic explanation of phantasms of the dead1 claiming that when such are seen long after the death of persons1 they afford indubitable evidence of the reality of spirit visitation4 ,the reader is referred to the proceedings of the ,society for ,psychical ,research for a detailed discussion of the pros and cons of this most interesting subject4 ,many of the so-called materializations of the sance-room may be accounted for by hallucinations superinduced by telepathic suggestions from the mind of the medium or sitters4 ,but1 in my opinion1 the greater number of these manifestations of spirit power are the result of trickery pure and simple--theatrical beards and wigs1 muslin and gossamer robes1 etc41 being the paraphernalia used to impersonate the shades of the departed1 the imaginations of the sitters doing the rest4 #b4 ,table-,tilting--,muscle ,reading4 ,in regard to ,table-,tilting with contact1 ,i have given ,faraday's conclusions on the subject1--unconscious muscular action on the part of the sitter or sitters4 ,in the case of ,automatic ,writing 7particularly with the planchette71 unconscious muscular action is the proper explanation for the movements of the apparatus4 ,professor ,augusto ,tamburini1 of ,italy1 author of ',spiritismo e ,telepatia'1 a cautious investigator of psychical problems1 says a reviewer in the ,proceedings of the ,society for ,psychical ,research 7,volume ,,ix1 p4 #bbf71 accepts the verdict of all competent observers that imposture is inadmissible as a general explanation1 and endorses the view that the muscular action which causes the movements of the table or the pencil is produced by the subliminal consciousness4 ,he explains the definite and varying characters of the supposed authors of the messages as the result of self-suggestion4 ,as by hypnotic or post-hypnotic suggestion a subject may be made to think he is ,napoleon or a chimney sweep1 so1 by self-suggestion1 the subliminal consciousness may be made to think that he is ,x and ,y1 and to tilt or wrap messages in the character of ,x and ,y4 ,professor ,tamburini's explanation fails to account for the innumerable well authenticated cases where facts are obtained not within the conscious knowledge of the planchette writer or table-tilter4 ,if telepathy does not enter into these cases1 what does8 ,there are many exhibitions1 of thought transference by public psychics1 that are thought transference in name only4 ,one must be on one's guard against these pretenders to occult powers4 ,i refer to men like our late compatriot1 ,washington ,irving ,bishop--muscle-reader par excellence whose fame extended throughout the civilized world4 ,muscle-,reading is performed in the following manner3 ,let us take1 for example1 the reading of the figures on a bank-note4 ,the subject gazes intently at the figures on a note1 and fixes them in his mind4 ,the muscle-reader1 blindfolded or not1 takes a crayon in his right hand1 and lightly clasps the hand or wrist of the subject with his left4 ,he then writes on a blackboard the correct figures on the note4 ,this is one of the most difficult feats in the repertoire of the muscle-reader1 and was excelled in by ,bishop and ,stuart ,cumberland4 ,charles ,gatchell1 an authority on the subject1 says that the above named men were the only muscle-readers who have ever accomplished the feat4 ,geometrical designs can also be reproduced on a blackboard4 ,the finding of objects hidden in an adjoining room1 or upon the person of a spectator in a public hall1 or at a distance1 are also accomplished by skillful muscle readers1 either by clasping the hand of the subject1 or one end of a short wire held by him4 ,says ,gatchell1 in the ,forum for ,april1 #ahia3 ,success in muscle-reading depends upon the powers of the principal and upon the susceptibility of the subject4 ,the latter must be capable of mental concentration2 he must exert no muscular self-control2 he must obey his every impulse4 ,under these conditions1 the phenomena are in accordance with known laws of physiology4 ,on the part of the principal1 muscle-reading consists of an acute perception of the slight action of another's muscles4 ,on the part of the subject1 it involves a nervous impulse1 accompanied by muscular action4 ,the mind of the subject is in a state of tension or expectancy4 ,a sudden release from this state excites1 momentarily1 an increased activity in the cells of the cerebral cortex4 ,since the ideational centres1 as is usually held1 correspond to the motor centres1 the nervous action causes a motor impulse to be transmitted to the muscles4 99 99 ,in making his way to the location of a hidden object1 the subject usually does not lead the muscle-reader1 but the muscle-reader leads the subject4 ,that is to say1 so long as the muscle-reader moves in the right direction1 the subject gives no indication1 but passively moves with him4 ,the muscle-reader perceives nothing unusual4 ,but1 the subject's mind being intently fixed on a certain course1 the instant that the muscle-reader deviates from that course there is a slight1 involuntary tremor1 or muscular thrill1 on the part of the subject1 due to the sudden interruption of his previous state of mental tension4 ,the muscle-reader1 almost unconsciously1 takes note of the delicate signal1 and alters his course to the proper one1 again leading his willing subject4 ,in a word1 he follows the line of the least resistance4 ,in other cases the conditions are reversed2 the subject unwittingly leads the principal4 ,the discovery of a bank-note number requires a slightly different explanation4 ,the conditions are these3 ,the subject is intently thinking of a certain figure4 ,his mind is in a state of expectant attention4 ,he is waiting for but one thing in the world to happen--for another to give audible expression to the name of that which he has in mind4 ,the instant that the conditions are fulfilled1 the mind of the subject is released from its state of tension1 and the accompanying nervous action causes a slight muscular tremor1 which is perceived by the acute senses of the muscle-reader4 ,this explanation applies1 also1 to the pointing out of one pin among many1 or of a letter or a figure on a chart4 ,the conditions involved in the tracing of a figure on a blackboard or other surface are of a like order1 although this is a severer test of a muscle-reader's powers4 ,so long as the muscle-reader moves the crayon in the right direction1 he is permitted to do so2 but when he deviates from the proper course1 the subject1 whose hand or wrist he clasps1 involuntarily indicates the fact by the usual slight muscular tremor4 ,this1 of course1 is done involuntarily2 but if he is fulfilling the conditions demanded of all subjects1 absolute concentration of attention and absence of muscular control--he unconsciously obeys his impulse4 ,a billiard player does the same when he follows the driven ball with his cue1 as if by sheer force of will he could induce it to alter its course4 ,the ivory is uninfluenced2 the human ball obeys4 ,,iii4 ,,physical ,,phenomena4 #a4 ,psychography1 or ,slate-,writing4 ,one of the most interesting phases of modern mediumship1 on the physical side1 is psychography1 or slate-writing4 ,after an investigation extending over ten years1 ,i am of the opinion that the majority of slate-writing feats are the results of conjuring4 ,the process generally used is the following4 ,the medium takes two slates1 binds them together1 after first having deposited a small bit of chalk or slate pencil between their surfaces1 and either holds them in his hands1 or lays them on the table4 ,soon the scratching of the pencil is heard1 and when the cords are removed a spirit message is found upon the surface of one of the slates4 ,i will endeavor to explain the modus operandi of these startling experiments4 ,some years ago1 the most famous of the slate-writing mediums was ,dr4 ,henry ,slade1 of ,new ,york1 with whom ,i had several sittings4 ,i was unable to penetrate the mystery of his performance1 until the summer of #ahhi1 when light was thrown upon the subject by the conjurer ,c-- whom ,i met in ,baltimore4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #b4 ,,dr4 ,,henry ,,slade4 ,do you know the medium ,slade8 ,i asked him4 ,yes1 said he1 and he is a conjurer like myself4 ,i've had sittings with him4 ,come to my rooms to-night1 and ,i will explain the secret workings of the medium's slate-writing4 ,but first ,i will treat you to a regular sance4 ,on my way to ,c's home ,i tried to put myself in the frame of mind of a genuine seeker after transcendental knowledge4 ,i recalled all the stories of mysterious rappings and ghostly visitations ,i had read or heard of4 ,it was just the night for such eerie musings4 ,black clouds were scurrying across the face of the moon like so many mediaeval witches mounted on the proverbial broomsticks en route for a mad sabbat in some lonely churchyard4 ,the prestidigitateur's pension was a great1 lumbering1 gloomy old house1 in an old quarter of ,baltimore4 ,the windows were tightly closed and only the feeble glimmer of gaslight was emitted through the cracks of the shutters4 ,i rang the bell and ,mr4 ,c's stage-assistant1 a pale-faced young man1 came to the door1 relieved me of my light overcoat and hat1 and ushered me upstairs into the conjurer's sitting-room4 ,a large1 baize-covered table stood in the centre of the apartment1 and a cabinet with a black curtain drawn across it occupied a position in a deep alcove4 ,suspended from the roof of the cabinet was a large guitar4 ,i took a chair and waited patiently for the appearance of the anti-,spiritualist1 after having first examined everything in the room--table1 cabinet1 and musical instruments--but ,i discovered no evidence of trickery anywhere4 ,i waited and waited1 but no ,c--4 ,can he have forgotten me8 ,i said to myself4 ,suddenly a loud rap resounded on the table top1 followed by a succession of raps from the cabinet2 and the guitar began to play4 ,i was quite startled4 ,when the music ceased the door opened1 and ,c-- entered4 ,the spirits are in force to-night1 he remarked with a meaning smile1 as he slightly diminished the light in the apartment4 ,yes1 ,i replied4 ,how did you do it8 ,all in good time1 my dear ghost-seer1 was the answer4 ,let us try first a few of ,dr4 ,slade's best slate tests4 ,so saying he handed me a slate and directed me to wash it carefully on both sides with a damp cloth4 ,i did so and passed it back to him4 ,scattering some tiny fragments of pencil upon it1 he held the slate pressed against the under surface of the table leaf1 the fingers of his right hand holding the slate1 his thumb grasping the leaf4 ,c-- then requested me to hold the other end of the slate in a similar fashion1 and took my right hand in his left4 ,heavy raps were heard on the table-top1 and ,i felt the fingers of a spirit hand plucking at my garments from beneath the table4 ,c--'s body seemed possessed with some strange convulsion1 his hands quivered1 and his eyes had a glassy look4 ,listening attentively1 ,i heard the sound of a pencil writing on the slate4 ,take care6 gasped the conjurer1 breathlessly4 ,the slate was jerked violently out of our hands by some powerful agency1 but the medium regained it1 and again pressed it against the table as before4 ,in a little while he brought the slate up and there upon its upper surface was a spirit message1 addressed to me--,are you convinced now8--,d4 ,d4 ,home4 ,at this juncture there came a knock at the door1 and ,c--1 with the slate in his hand1 went to see who it was4 ,it proved to be the pale-faced assistant4 ,a few words in a low-tone of voice were exchanged between them1 and the conjurer returned to the table1 excusing the interruption by remarking1 ,some one to see me1 that is all1 but don't hurry1 for ,i have another test to show you4 ,after thoroughly washing both sides of the slate he placed it1 with a slate pencil1 under a chafing-dish cover in the center of the table4 ,we joined hands and awaited developments4 ,being tolerably well acquainted with conjuring devices1 ,i manifested but little surprise in the first test when the spirit message was written1 because the magician had his fingers on the slate4 ,but in this test the slate was not in his possession2 how then could the writing be accomplished8 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #c4 ,,the ,,holding ,,of ,,the ,,slate4 ,hush6 said ,c--1 is there a spirit present8 ,a responsive rap resounded on the table1 and after a few minutes' silence1 the mysterious scratching of the slate-pencil began4 ,i was nonplussed4 ,turn over the slate1 said the juggler4 ,i complied with his request and found a long message to me1 covering the entire side of the slate4 ,it was signed ,cagliostro4 ,what do you think of ,dr4 ,slade's slate tests8 inquired ,c--4 ,splendid6 ,i replied1 but how are they done8 ,his explanations made the seeming marvel perfectly plain4 ,while the slate is being examined in the first test1 the medium slips on a thimble with a piece of slate pencil attached or else has a tiny bit of pencil under his finger nail4 ,in the act of holding the slate under the table1 he writes the short message backwards on its under side4 ,it becomes necessary1 however1 to turn the slate over before exhibiting it to the sitter1 so that the writing may appear to have been written on its upper surface--the side that has been pressed to the table4 ,to accomplish this the medium pretends to go into a sort of neurotic convulsion1 during which state the slate is jerked away from the sitter1 presumably by spirit power1 and is turned over in the required position4 ,it is not immediately brought up for examination but is held for a few seconds underneath the table top1 and then produced with a certain amount of deliberation4 ,the special difficulty of this trick consists in the medium's ability to write in reverse upon the under surface of the slate4 ,if he wrote from left to right1 in the ordinary method1 it would1 of course1 reverse the message when the slate is examined1 and give a decided clue to the mystery4 ,this inscribing in reverse1 or mirror writing1 as it is often called1 is exceedingly difficult to do1 but nothing is impossible to a ,slade4 ,but how is the writing done on the slate in the second test8 asks the curious reader4 ,nothing easier6 ,the servant who raps at the door brings with him1 concealed under his coat1 a second slate1 upon which the long message is written4 ,over the writing is a pad cut from a book-slate1 exactly fitting the frame of the prepared slate4 ,it is impossible to detect the fraud when the light in the room is a trifle obscure4 ,the medium makes an exchange of slates1 returns to the table1 washes both sides of the trick slate1 and carelessly exhibits it to the sitter1 the writing being protected of course by the pad4 ,before placing the slate under the chafing-dish cover1 he lets the pad drop into his lap4 ,now comes a crucial point in the imposture3 the writing heard beneath the slate1 supposed to be the work of a disembodied spirit4 ,the medium under cover of his handkerchief removes from his pocket an instrument known as a pencil-clamp4 ,this clamp consists of a small block of wood with two sharp steel points protruding from the upper edge and a piece of slate pencil fixed in the lower4 ,the medium presses the steel points into the under surface of the table with sufficient force to attach the block securely to the table1 and then rubs a pencil1 previously attached to his right knee by silk sutures1 against the side of the pencil fastened to the apparatus4 ,the noise produced thereby exactly simulates that of writing upon a slate4 ,in my case the illusion was perfect4 ,during the examination of the message1 the medium has ample opportunity to secrete the false pad and the clamp in his pocket4 ,instead of having a servant bring the slate to him and making the exchange described above1 he may have the trick slate concealed about him before the sance begins1 with the message written on it1 and adroitly make the substitution while the sitter is engaged in lowering the light4 ,dr4 ,slade almost invariably adopted the first-mentioned exchange1 because it enabled his confederate to write a lucid message to the sitter4 ,an examination of the sitter's overcoat in the hall frequently yielded valuable information in the way of names and initials extracted from letters1 sealed or unsealed4 ,sealed letters8 ,yes2 it is an easy matter to steam a gummed envelope1 open it1 and seal it again4 ,another method is to wet the sealed envelope with a sponge dipped in alcohol4 ,the writing will show up tolerably well if written upon a card4 ,in a very short time the envelope will dry and exhibit no evidence of having been tampered with4 ,and now as to the rest of the phenomena witnessed that evening in ,c--'s room4 ,the raps on the table top were the result of an ingenious1 hidden mechanism1 worked by electricity2 the mysterious hand that operated under the table was the juggler's right foot4 ,he wore slippers and had the toe part of one stocking cut away4 ,by dropping the slipper from his foot he was enabled to pull the edge of my coat1 lift and shove a chair away1 and perform sundry other ghostly evolutions1 thanks to a well trained big toe4 ,dr4 ,slade who was long and lithe of limb1 worked this dodge to perfection1 prior to the paralytic attack which partly disabled his lower limbs4 ,the stringed instrument which played in the cabinet was arranged as follows3 ,inside of the guitar was a small musical box1 so arranged that the steel vibrating tongues of the box came in contact with a small piece of writing paper4 ,when the box was set to going by means of an electric current1 it closely imitated the twanging of a guitar1 just as a sheet of music when laid on the strings of a piano simulates a banjo4 ,this spirit guitar is a very useful instrument in the hands of a medium4 ,it may be made to play when it is attached to a telescopic rod1 and waved in phosphorescent curves over the heads of a circle of believers in the dark sance4 ,i shall now sum up the subject of ,dr4 ,slade's spirit-slate writing1 7,fig4 #c7 and endeavor to show how grossly exaggerated the reports of the medium's performances have been1 and the reasons for such misstatements4 ,no one who is not a professional or amateur prestidigitateur can correctly report what he sees at a spiritualistic sance4 ,it is not so much the swiftness of the hand that counts in conjuring but the ability to force the attention of the spectators in different directions away from the crucial point of the trick4 ,the really important part of the test1 then1 is hidden from the audience1 who imagine they have seen all when they have not4 ,says ,dr4 ,max ,dessoir3 ,it must therefore be regarded as a piece of rare naivet if a reporter asserts that in the description of his subjective conclusions he is giving the exact objective processes4 ,this will be seen in ,mr4 ,davey's experiments4 ,mr4 ,davey1 a member of the ,london ,society for ,psychical ,research1 and an amateur magician who possessed great dexterity in the slate-writing business1 gave a series of exhibitions before a number of persons1 but did not inform them that the results were due to prestidigitation4 ,no entrance fee was charged for the sances1 but the sitters1 who were fully impressed with the genuineness of the affair1 were requested to submit written reports of what they had seen4 ,these letters1 published in vol4 iv of the ,proceedings of the ,society1 are admirable examples of mal-observation1 for no one detected ,mr4 ,davey exchanging slates and doing the writing4 ,the sources of error1 says ,dr4 ,max ,dessoir1 in an article reproduced in the ,open ,court1 through which such strange reports arise1 may be arranged in four groups4 ,first1 the observer interpolates a fact which did not happen1 but which he is led to believe has happened2 thus1 he imagines he has examined the slate when as a fact he never has4 ,second1 he confuses two similar ideas2 he thinks he has carefully examined the slate1 when in reality he has only done so hastily1 or in ignorance of the point at issue4 ,third1 the witness changes the order of events a little in consequence of a very natural deception of memory2 he believes he tested the slate later than he actually did4 ,fourth and last1 he passes over certain details which were purposely described to him as insignificant2 he does not notice that the 'medium' asks him to close a window1 and that the trick is thus rendered possible4 ,similar experiments in slate-writing were conducted by the ,seybert ,commission with ,mr4 ,harry ,kellar1 the conjurer1 after sittings were had with ,dr4 ,slade1 and the magician outdid the medium4 ,the ,seybert ,commission found none of ,slade's tests genuine1 and officially denied the extraordinary stories of his performances with locked slates which constitute a large part of his fame4 ,dr4 ,slade began his ,spiritualistic operations in ,london in the year #ahgf1 and charged a fee of a guinea a head for sances lasting a few minutes4 ,crowds went to see him and he reaped a golden harvest from the credulous1 until the grand fiasco came4 ,slade was caught in one of his juggling sances and exposed by ,prof4 ,lancaster and ,dr4 ,donkin4 ,the result was a criminal prosecution and a sensational trial lasting three days at the ,bow ,street ,police ,court4 ,mr4 ,maskelyne1 the conjurer1 was summoned as an expert witness and performed a number of the medium's tricks in the witness box4 ,the court sentenced ,slade to three months' hard labor1 but he took an appeal from the magistrate's decision4 ,the appeal was sustained on the ground of a technical flaw in the indictment1 and the medium fled to the ,continent before new summons could be served4 ,he visited ,paris1 ,leipsic1 ,berlin1 ,st4 ,petersburg and other cities1 giving sances before ,royalty and before distinguished members of scientific societies2 and afterwards went to ,australia4 ,he made money fast and spent it fast1 but it took all of his ingenuity to elude the clutches of the police4 ,in #ahib1 we find him the inmate of a workhouse in one of our ,western towns1 penniless1 friendless and a lunatic4 ,slade's sances with ,prof4 ,zoellner1 of ,berlin1 in #ahgh1 attracted wide attention1 and did more to advertise his fame as a medium than anything else in his career4 ,zoellner's belief in the genuineness of ,slade's mediumistic marvels led him to write a curious work1 entitled1 ,transcendental ,physics1 being an inquiry into the fourth dimension of space4 ,poor old ,zoellner1 he was half insane when these sances were held6 ,we have the undisputed authority of the ,seybert ,commission for the correctness of this statement4 ,in ,hamburg1 ,dr4 ,borchert wrote to ,slade offering him one thousand marks if he would produce writing between locked slates1 similar to the writing alleged to have been executed at the ,zoellner sances1 but the medium took no notice of the professor's letter4 ,the conjurer1 ,carl ,wilmann1 with two friends1 had a sitting with ,slade1 but without satisfactory results for the medium4 ,slade1 says ,wilmann1 was unable to distract my attention from the crucial point of the trick1 and threw down the slates on the table in disgust1 remarking3 ',i can not obtain any results to-day1 the power that controls me is exhausted4 ,come tomorrow6' ,that tomorrow never arrived for ,wilmann and his friends2 ,slade did not keep his appointment1 nor could ,wilmann succeed in obtaining another sitting with him4 ,the medium had been warned by friends that ,wilmann was an expert professor of legerdemain4 ,it was in #ahhf that ,slade created such a furore in ,hamburg in ,spiritualistic circles4 ,a talented conjurer of that city1 named ,schradieck1 after a few weeks' practice succeeded in eclipsing ,slade4 ,he learned to write in reverse on slates1 and produced writing in various colored chalks4 ,another one of his experiments was making the slate disappear from one side of the table where it was held a la ,slade and appear at the opposite end of the table suddenly1 as if held up to view by a spirit hand4 ,wilmann describes the effect as startling in the extreme and says ,schradieck produced it by means of his left foot4 ,after ,slade's departure from ,hamburg1 spirit mediums sprang up like toadstools in a single night4 ,wilmann in his crusade against these worthies had many interesting experiences4 ,he gives in his work ,moderne ,wunder several exposes of mediumistic tricks1 two of which1 in the sealed slate line1 are very ingenious4 ,the medium takes a slate 7one furnished by the sitter if preferred71 wipes it on both sides with a wet sponge1 and then wraps it up carefully in a piece of ordinary white wrapping paper1 allowing the package to be sealed and corded ad libitum4 ,notwithstanding all the precautions used1 a message appears on the slate4 ,it is accomplished in this way4 ,a message in reverse is written on the wrapping paper with a camel's hair brush or pointed stick1 dipped in some sticky substance1 and finely powdered slate pencil dust is scattered over the writing4 ,at a little distance1 especially in a dim light1 it is impossible to discover the writing as it blends very well with the white paper4 ,in wrapping up the slate the medium presses the writing on the paper against the surface of the slate and the chirography adheres thereto1 very much as the greasy drawing on a lithographer's stone prints on paper4 ,in the other experiment the medium uses a papier mache slate1 set in the usual wooden frame4 ,a papier mache pad is prepared with a spirit message on one surface2 on the other is pasted a piece of newspaper4 ,this pad is laid1 written side down1 on a sheet of newspaper4 ,after the genuine slate has been washed1 the medium proceeds to wrap it up in the newspaper1 and presses the trick pad1 writing up1 into the frame of the slate where it exactly fits into a groove prepared for the purpose4 ,since ,dr4 ,slade's retirement from the mediumistic field1 ,pierre ,l4 ,o4 ,a4 ,keeler's fame as a slate-writing medium has been spread broadcast4 ,he oscillates between ,boston1 ,new ,york1 ,cleveland1 ,philadelphia1 ,baltimore and ,washington1 and has a very large and fashionable clientele4 ,he gives evening materializing sances of the cabinet type three times a week at his rooms4 ,during the day he gives private slate tests which are very popular4 ,i had a sitting with him on the afternoon of ,april #bdth1 #ahie4 ,in order to gain his confidence1 ,i went as one witnessing a slate sance for the first time1 that is1 ,i accepted his slates1 and had no prepared questions4 ,i was ushered into a small1 back parlor by the medium who closed the folding doors4 ,we were alone4 ,i made a mental photograph of the surroundings4 ,there was no furniture except a table and two chairs placed near the window4 ,over the table was a faded cloth1 hanging some eight or ten inches below the table4 ,upon it were several pads of paper and a heterogeneous assortment of lead pencils4 ,leaning against the mantelpiece1 within a foot or so of the medium's chair1 were some thirty or forty slates4 ,take a seat1 said ,mr4 ,keeler pointing to a chair4 ,i sat down1 whereupon he seated himself opposite me1 remarking as he did so1 ,have you brought slates with you8 ,i have not1 was my reply4 ,then1 if you have no objection1 he said1 we will use two of mine4 ,please examine these two slates1 wash them clean with this damp cloth1 and dry them4 ,with that he passed me two ordinary school-slates1 which ,i inspected closely1 and carefully cleaned4 ,be kind enough to place the slates to one side1 said ,keeler4 ,i complied4 ,have you prepared any slips with the names of friends1 relatives1 or others1 who have passed into spirit life1 with questions for them to answer8 ,i have not1 ,i replied4 ,kindly do so then1 he answered1 and take your time about it4 ,there is a pad on the table4 ,please write but a single question on each slip4 ,then fold the slips and place them on the table4 ,i did so4 ,i will also make one1 he continued1 it is to my spirit control1 ,george ,christy4 ,he wrote a name on a slip of paper1 folded it1 and tossed it among those ,i had prepared1 passing his hand over them and fingering them1 saying1 ,it is necessary to get a psychic impression from them4 ,we sat in silence several minutes4 ,after a little while ,mr4 ,keeler said3 ,i do not know whether or not we shall get any responses this afternoon1 but have patience4 ,again we waited4 ,suppose you write a few more slips1 he remarked1 perhaps we'll have better luck4 ,be sure and address them to people who were old enough to write before they passed into spirit life4 ,this surprised me1 but ,i complied with his wishes4 ,while writing ,i glanced furtively at him from time to time2 his hands were in his lap1 concealed by the table cloth4 ,he looked at me occasionally1 then at his lap1 fixedly4 ,i am satisfied that he opened some of my slips1 having adroitly abstracted them from the table in the act of fingering them4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #d--,,slate ,,writing4 ,he directed me to take my handkerchief and tie the two slates on the table tightly together1 holding the slates in his hands as ,i did so4 ,i laid the slates on the table before me1 and we waited4 ,i think we will succeed this time in getting responses to some of the questions4 ,let us hold the slates4 ,he grasped them with fingers and thumbs at one end1 and ,i at the other in like manner1 holding the slates about two inches above the table4 ,we listened attentively1 and soon was heard the scratching noise of a slate pencil moving upon a slate4 ,the sound seemed directly under the slate1 and was sufficiently impressive to startle any person making a slate test for the first time1 and unacquainted with the multifarious devices of the sleight-of-hand artist4 ,hold the slates tightly1 please6 said ,mr4 ,keeler1 as a convulsive tremor shook his hands4 ,i grasped firmly my end of the slates1 and waited further developments4 ,the faint tap of a slate pencil upon a slate was heard1 and the medium announced that the communications were finished4 ,i untied the handkerchief1 and turned up the inner surfaces of the slates4 ,upon one of them several messages were written1 and signed4 ,other communications were received during the sitting4 ,after the first messages were received1 and while ,i was engaged in reading them1 ,keeler quickly picked up a slate from the floor1 clapped it upon the clean slate remaining on the table1 and requested me to tie the two rapidly together with my handkerchief before the influence was lost4 ,at a signal from him ,i unfastened the slates and found another set of answers4 ,the same proceeding was gone through for the third set4 ,the imitation of a pencil writing upon a slate was either made by the apparatus1 described in the sance with ,c-- in the first part of this chapter1 or by some other contrivance2 more than likely by simply scratching with his finger on the under surface of the slate4 ,while my attention was absorbed in the act of writing my second set of questions1 he prepared answers to two of my first set and substituted a prepared slate for the cleaned slate on the table4 ,i was sure he was writing under the table2 ,i heard the faint rubbing of a soft bit of pencil upon the surface of a slate4 ,his hands were in his lap and his eyes were fixed downwards4 ,several times ,i saw him put his fingers into his vest pockets1 and he appeared to bring up small particles of something1 which ,i believe were bits of the white and colored crayons used in writing the messages4 ,his quiet audacity was surprising4 ,i give below the questions and answers with my comments thereon3 ,first ,slate4 ,fig4 #d4 ,,question4 ,to ,mamie3-- ,tell me the name of your dead brother8 7,signed7 ,harry ,r4 ,evans4 ,,answer4 ,you must not think of me as one gone forever from you4 ,you have made conditions by and through which ,i can return to you1 and so long as ,i can do this ,i can not feel unhappy4 ,so dear one1 rest in the assurance that you are helping me1 and that ,i am doing all ,i can to help you4 ,let us make the best of it all and help each other as best we can1 then all will be well4 ,my home in spirit life is beautiful and awaiting you4 ,i will be the first to greet you4 ,i have no dead brother4 ,all of us are living4 ,i am ,mamie --4 7,the medium here cleverly evades giving a name by an equivoque47 ,,question4 ,to ,len-- ,tell me the cause of your death1 and the circumstances surrounding it8 7,signed7 ,harry ,r4 ,evans4 ,,answer4 ,harry6 ,i am very glad to see you4 ,i am happy4 ,you must be reconciled1 and not mourn me as dead6 ,i will try to come again soon1 when ,i am stronger and tell of my decease4--,len4 7,he again evades an answer47 ,second ,slate4 ,fig4 #e4 ,,question4 ,to ,a4 ,d4 ,b4-- ,when and where did you die8 7,signed7 ,harry ,r4 ,evans4 ,,answer4 ,this all seems so strange coming back and writing just as one would if they were in the earth life and communicating with a friend4 ,what a blessed privilege it is4 ,i am so happy4 ,oh1 ,i would not come back4 ,it is so restful here4 ,no pain or sorrow4 ,dear1 do not think ,i have forgotten you1 ,i constantly think of you and wish that you1 too1 might view these lovely scenes of glorious beauty4 ,you must rest with the thought that when your life is ended upon the earth1 ,i will be the first to meet you4 ,now be patient and hopeful until we meet where there is no more parting4 ,i am sincerely1 ,a4 ,d4 ,b4 7,no answer at all47 ,observe error in first sentence3 as one would if they were--4 ,a4 ,d4 ,b4 was an educated gentleman1 and not given to such ungrammatical expressions4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #e--,,slate ,,writing4 ,third ,slate4 ,fig4 #f4 ,,question4 ,to ,b4 ,g4-- ,can you recall any of the conversations we had together on the ,b4 and ,p4 ,r4 ,r4 cars8 7,signed7 ,h4 ,r4 ,evans4 ,,answer4 ,o my dear one1 ,i can only write a few lines that you may know that ,i see and hear you as you call upon me4 ,i do not forget you4 ,when ,i am stronger will come again4 ,i do not know what conversation you refer to in the cars4 ,b4 ,g4 7,again evades answering4 ,b4 ,g4 was very much interested in the drama1 and talked continuously about the stage47 ,,question4 ,to ,c4 ,j4-- ,where did you die1 and from what disease8 7,signed7 ,h4 ,r4 ,evans4 ,,answer4 ,i know the days and weeks seem long and lonely to you without me4 ,i do not forget you2 am doing the best ,i can to help you4 ,c4 ,j4--4 7,still another evasion of a straightforward question4 ,the lady in spirit life to whom the question was addressed died of consumption in a ,roman ,catholic ,convent4 ,she was only a society acquaintance of the writer1 and not on such terms of intimacy as to warrant ,mr4 ,keeler's reply47 ,in one corner of ,slate ,no4 #b was the following1 written with a yellow crayon3 ,this is remarkable4 ,how did you know we could come8--,h4 ,k4 ,evans4 ,scrawled across the face of ,slate ,no4 #c1 in red pencil1 was a communication from ,george ,christy1 ,mr4 ,keeler's spirit control1 reading as follows3 ,many are here who----,g4 ,c4 7,george ,christy7 7,the remainder is so badly written1 as to be indecipherable47 ,on carefully analyzing the various communications it will be observed that the handwriting of the messages from ,mamie--and ,b ,g4--are similar1 possessing the same characteristics as regards letter formation1 etc4 ,it does not require a professional expert in chirography to detect this fact4 ,one and the same person wrote the messages purporting to come from ,mamie ,r--1 ,len--1 ,b4 ,g4--1 ,c4 ,j4--1 and ,a4 ,d4 ,b4 ,in fact1 the writing on all the slates is1 in my opinion1 the work of ,mr4 ,pierre ,keeler4 ,the longer communications were doubtless prepared beforehand1 being general in nature and conveying about the same information that any departed spirit might give to any inquiring mortal1 but1 as will be observed1 giving no adequate answers to the queries1 with the exception of the last two sentences1 which were written by the medium1 after he became acquainted with the tenor of the questions upon the folded slips4 ,the very short communications are written in a careless hand1 such as a man would dash off hastily4 ,there is an attempt at disguise1 but a clumsy one1 the letters still retaining the characteristics of the more deliberate chirography of the long communications4 ,a close inspection of the slates reveals the exact similarity of the y's1 u's1 ,i's1 g's1 h's1 m's and n's4 ,the handwriting of messages on slates should be1 and is claimed to be1 adequate evidence of the genuineness of the communication1 for are we not supposed to know the handwriting of our friends8 ,possibly ,mr4 ,keeler would claim that the handwriting was the work of his control ,geo4 ,christy1 who acted as a sort of amanuensis for the spirits4 ,if this be so1 why the attempts at disguise1 and bungling attempts at that8 ,in the sance with ,mr4 ,keeler1 ,i subjected him to no tests4 ,he had everything his own way4 ,i should have brought my own marked slates with me and never let them out of my sight for an instant4 ,i should have subjected the table to a close examination1 and requested the medium to move or rather myself removed the collection of slates against the mantel1 placed so conveniently within his reach4 ,i did not do this1 because of his well known irascibility4 ,he would probably have shown me the door and refused a sitting on any terms1 as he has done to many skeptics4 ,i was anxious to meet ,keeler1 and preferred playing the novice rather than not get a slate test from one of the best-known and most famous of modern slate-writing mediums4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #f--,,slate ,,writing4 ,after what has been stated1 ,i think there can be no shadow of doubt that the medium abstracted by sleight-of-hand some of the paper slips containing my written questions1 read them under cover of the table1 and did the slate-writing himself4 ,all of these slate-tests1 where pellets or slips of paper are used1 are performed in a similar manner1 as will be seen from the expos published by the ,society for ,psychical ,research4 ,in vol4 viii of the proceedings of that association will be found a number of revelations1 one of which throws considerable light on the ,keeler tests4 ,the sitter was ,dr4 ,richard ,hodgson1 and the medium was a ,mrs4 ,gillett4 ,says ,dr4 ,hodgson3 ,under pretence of 'magnetising' the pellets prepared by the sitter1 or folding them more tightly1 she substitutes a pellet of her own for one of the sitter's4 ,reading the sitter's pellet below the table1 she writes the answer on one of her own slates1 a pile of which1 out of the sitter's view1 she keeps on a chair by her side4 ,she then takes a second slate1 places it on the table1 and sponges and dries both sides1 after which she takes the first slate1 and turning the side upon which she has written towards herself1 rubs it in several places with a dry cloth or the ends of her fingers as though cleaning it4 ,she then places it1 writing downward1 on the other slate on the table1 and sponges and dries the upper surface of it4 ,she then pretends to take one of the pellets on the table and put it between the two slates4 ,what she does1 however1 is to bring the pellet up from below the table1 take another of the sitter's pellets on the table into her hand1 and place the pellet which she has brought up from below the table between the slates1 keeping in her hand the pellet just taken from the top of the table4 ,the final step is to place a rubber band round both slates1 in doing which she turns both slates over together4 ,she professes to get the writing without the use of any chalk or pencil4 ,some of her slates are prepared beforehand with messages or drawings4 ,more interesting1 perhaps1 because of its boldness1 is her method of producing writing on the sitter's own slates4 ,under the pretence of 'magnetising' these she cleans them several times1 rubs them with her hands1 stands them up on end together1 and while they are in this position between herself and the sitter she writes with one hand on the slate-side nearest to herself1 holding the slates erect with the other hand4 ,later on1 she lays both slates together flat on the table again1 the writing being on the undermost surface4 ,she then sponges the upper surface of the top slate1 turns it over1 and sponges its other surface4 ,she next withdraws the bottom slate1 places it on top and sponges its top surface1 keeping its under surface carefully concealed4 ,the final step1 the reversal1 is made1 as in the other case1 with the help of the rubber band4 ,mrs4 ,gillett has probably other methods1 also4 ,those which ,i have described were all that ,i witnessed at my single sitting with her4 ,my friend1 ,dr4 ,l4 ,m4 ,taylor1 of ,washington1 ,d4 ,c41 an investigator of ,spiritualistic phenomena1 and skeptical like myself of the objective phases of the subject1 has had many sittings with ,keeler for independent slate-writing4 ,one sance in particular he is fond of relating3 ,on one occasion1 after ,i had written my slips1 folded them up1 and tossed them on the table1 ,i said to ,keeler who was obtaining his 'psychic' impression of them1 ',i wish1 if possible1 to have a spirit tell me the numbers and the maker's name engraved in my watch4 ,i have never taken the trouble to look at the numbers1 consequently ,i do not know them4' ',your request is an unusual one1' replied the medium1 'but ,i will endeavor to gratify it4' ,we had some conversations on the subject that lasted several minutes4 ,suddenly he picked up a slate pencil1 and scrawled the name1 ,j4 ,s4 ,granger on the upper surface of one of my slates2 the two slates had been previously tied together with my handkerchief and laid on the table in front of me4 ',you recognize that name1 do you not8' asked ,keeler4 ',yes1' ,i replied1 'that is one of the names ,i wrote on the slips4 ,j4 ,s4 ,granger was an old friend of mine who died some years ago4 ,he was a brother-in-law of ,stephen ,a4 ,douglass4' ',if you wish to facilitate matters1' said ,keeler1 'place your watch on top of the slates1 concealed beneath the handkerchief1 otherwise we may have to wait an hour or more without obtaining results1 and there are a number of persons waiting for me in the ante-room4 ,my time you see is limited4' ,i detached my watch from its chain1 and placed it in the required position4 ,keeler then took a piece of black cloth1 used to clean slates1 and laid it over my slates4 ,finally he requested me to take the covered slates and hold them in my lap4 ,i took care to feel through the cloth that the watch was still beneath the handkerchief4 ,in a short time ,i was directed to uncover the slates1 and untie them1 which ,i did4 ,upon the inner surface of one of the slates the following message was written3 ',dear ,friend1 ,stephen is with me4 ,i have been through that beautiful watch of yours1 and1 if ,i see correctly1 the number is #afcaca4 ,on the inside ,i see this--,e4 ,howard ,co41 ,boston1 #baacbg4 ,and then your name as follows3 ,dr4 ,l4 ,m4 ,taylor1 #abba ,mass4 ,ave41 ,n4 ,w41 ,washington1 ,d4 ,c4 ,signed ,j4 ,m4 ,granger4' ,i then compared the name and numbers in my watch with those on the slate1 and found the latter correct1 with the exception of one number4 ,a relative of mine was present in the room during this sance1 and ,i showed her the communication on the slate4 ,afterwards we passed the slate to ,keeler who examined it closely4 ,when he handed it back to me1 ,i was surprised to see that the incorrect number was mysteriously changed to the proper one4 ,this is a very interesting test1 indeed1 because of its apparently impromptu character4 ,i have seen similar feats performed by professional conjurers as well as mediums4 ,a dummy watch is substituted for the sitter's watch1 and after the medium has ascertained the name and numbers on the sitter's timepiece1 he succeeds in adroitly exchanging it again for the dummy1 thanks to the black cloth4 ,the writing on the slate in the above sance was evidently produced in the same way as that described in my sitting with ,keeler1 after he had ascertained the name on the slip4 ,the name of ,stephen1 of course1 was directly obtained from ,dr4 ,taylor4 ,not having been an eye witness of ,keeler's movements in the watch test1 ,i am unable to say how closely ,dr4 ,taylor's description coincides with the medium's actual operations4 ,in ,may1 #ahig1 ,mr4 ,pierre ,keeler was in ,washington1 ,d4 ,c41 as usual4 ,my friend1 ,dr4 ,taylor1 who was desirous of putting the medium to another crucial test1 wrote down a list of names on a sheet of paper--cognomens of ancient ,egyptian1 ,chaldean1 and ,grecian priests and philosophers--folded the paper1 and carefully sealed it in an envelope4 ,he took ten slates with him1 all of them marked with a private mark of his own4 ,mr4 ,keeler eyed the envelope dubiously1 but passed no criticisms on the doctor's precautions to prevent trickery4 ,the two men sat down at a table and waited for the spirits to manifest4 ,dr4 ,taylor1 on this occasion1 was absolutely certain that his slates had not been tampered with1 and that the medium had not succeeded in opening the envelope4 ,in a little while the comedy of the pencil-scratching between the tied slates began4 ,ah1 exclaimed the physician1 a message at last6 ,then he thought to himself1 can the medium possibly have deluded my senses by some hypnotic power1 and adroitly opened that envelope without my being aware of the fact8 ,but no1 that is impossible6 ,mr4 ,keeler took the slates away from ,dr4 ,taylor1 and quickly opened them1 accidentally dropping one of them behind the table4 ,in a second1 however1 he brought up the slate1 and remarked3 ,how awkward of me4 ,i beg your pardon1 etc4 ,on the surface of this slate was written the following sentence3 ,see some other medium2 d--n it6--,george ,christy4 ,dr4 ,taylor is positive1 as he has repeatedly told me1 that this message was not inscribed on his own marked slate1 but was written by the medium on one of his own4 ,the exchange1 of course1 must have been effected in the pretended accidental dropping of the doctor's slate by the medium4 ,this is a very old expedient among pretenders to spirit power4 ,all conjurers are familiar with the device4 ,imro ,fox1 the ,american magician1 uses it constantly in his entertainments1 with capital effect4 ,dr4 ,taylor1 unfortunately1 did not succeed in getting possession of the medium's prepared slate4 ,another exchange was undoubtedly made by ,mr4 ,keeler1 and the physician had returned to him his own marked slate4 ,when he got home that afternoon1 and had time to carefully scrutinize his slates1 he found that they bore no evidence of having been written upon at all4 ,having also examined these slates1 ,i am prepared to add my testimony to that of ,dr4 ,taylor4 ,the reader will see from the above-described sance that unless the medium 7or a confederate7 is enabled to read the names and questions1 prepared by the sitter1 his hands are practically tied in all experiments in psychology4 ,when investigators bring their own marked slates with them1 screwed tightly together1 and sealed1 the medium has to adopt different tactics from those employed in the tests before mentioned4 ,he has to call in the aid of a confederate4 ,the audacity of the sealed-slate test is without parallel in the annals of pretended mediumship4 ,for an insight into the secrets of this phase of psychography1 the reading public is indebted to a medium1 the anonymous author of a remarkably interesting work1 ,revelations of a ,spirit ,medium4 ,many skeptical investigators have been converted to ,spiritualism by these tests4 ,they invariably say to you when approached on the subject3 ,i took my own marked slates1 carefully screwed together1 to the medium1 and had lengthy messages written upon them by spirit power4 ,these slates never left my hands for a second4 ,i will quote what the writer of ,revelations of a ,spirit ,medium says on the subject3 ,no man ever received independent slate-writing between slates fastened together that he did not allow out of his hands a few seconds4 ,scores of persons will tell you that they have received writing under those conditions through the mediumship of the writer2 but the writer will tell you how he fooled them and how you can do so if you see fit4 ,in the first place you will rent a house with a cellar in connection4 ,cut a trap-door one foot square through the floor between the sills on which the floor is laid4 ,procure a fur floor mat with long hair4 ,cut a square out of the mat and tack it to the top of the trap door4 ,tack the mat fast to the floor1 for some one may visit you who will want to raise it up4 ,explain the presence of the fur by saying it is an absorbent of magnetic forces1 through which you produce the writing4 ,over the rug place a heavy pine table about four feet square2 and over the table a heavy cover that reaches the floor on all sides4 ,put your assistant in the cellar with a coal-oil stove1 a tea-kettle of hot water1 different colored letter wax and lead pencils1 a screw driver1 a pair of nippers1 a pair of pliers1 a pair of scissors and an assortment of wire brads4 ,you are ready for business4 ,when your sitter comes in you will notice his slates1 if he brings a pair1 and see if they are secured in any way that your man in the cellar can not duplicate4 ,if they are1 you can touch his slates with your finger and say to him that you can not use his slates on account of the 'magnetism' with which they are saturated4 ,he will know nothing of 'magnetic conditions' and will ask you what he is to do about it4 ,you will furnish him a pair of new slates with water and cloths to clean them4 ,you also furnish him paper to write his questions on and the screws1 wax1 paper and mucilage to secure them with4 ,he will write his questions and fasten the slates securely together4 ,you now conduct him to your sance-room and invite inspection of your table and surroundings4 ,after the examination has been made you will seat the sitter at one side of the table with his side and arm next it4 ,if he desires to keep hold of the slates a signal agreed upon between yourself and your assistant will cause the spirit in the cellar to open the trap door1 which opens downwards1 and to push through the floor and into position where the sitter can grasp one end of it1 a pair of dummy slates4 ,this dummy your assistant will continue to hold until the sitter has taken hold of it after the following performance3 ,your assistant lets you know everything is ready by touching your foot4 ,you now reach and take the sitter's slates and put them below the table1 and under it1 telling the sitter to put his hand under from his side and hold them with you4 ,he puts his hand under and gets hold of the dummy slates held by your assistant4 ,your assistant holds on until you have stood the slates on end1 leaning against the table leg1 and have got hold of the dummy4 ,he then takes the sitter's slates below and closes the trap4 ,he proceeds to open them1 read the questions1 answer them and refasten the slates4 ,you will be entertaining your sitter by twitching and jerking and making clairvoyant and clairaudient guesses for him4 ,when your assistant touches your foot you will know that he is ready to make the exchange again1 by which the sitter will get hold of the slates he fastened4 ,when you get the signal you give a snort and jump that jerks the end of the slates from the sitter's hand4 ,he is now given the end of the slates held by your assistant1 and you will allow the assistant to take the dummy4 ,after sitting a moment or two longer1 you will tell the sitter to take out his slates and examine them if he chooses4 ,many times they do not open the slates until they reach their homes4 ,this1 reader1 is the man who will declare that he furnished the slates and did not allow them out of his hands a minute4 ,the usual method of obtaining the writing is for the medium to hold the slates alone4 ,when this is the case the medium passes the slates below1 and receives in return a dummy which he is continually thumping on the under side of the table for the purpose of showing the sitter that the slates are there all the time4 ,it is not necessary that you should use a cellar to get this phase of 'independent slate-writing4' ,you could place your table against a partition door and by fitting one of the small panels with hinges and bolts1 would have a very convenient way of obtaining the assistance of the spirit in the next room4 ,it is also possible to make a trap in a room that has a wooden wainscoting4 ,before closing this brief survey of slate-writing experiments1 ,i must describe an exceedingly ingenious trick1 indeed1 bordering on the marvelous4 ,it is the recent invention of a ,western conjurer1 and solves the problem of actually writing between locked slates by physical means4 ,the effect is as follows3 ,you request the sitter to take two slates1 wash them carefully1 and tie them together1 after first having placed a bit of chalk between their surfaces4 ,hold them under the table for a minute1 and then hand them to the sitter for examination4 ,a name1 or a short sentence1 in answer to some question1 will be found scrawled across the upper surface of the bottom slate4 ,it is accomplished in this way4 ,you take a small pellet of iron or steel1 coat it with mucilage1 and dip it into chalk or slate-pencil dust4 ,this dust will adhere and harden into a consistent mass1 after a little while1 completely concealing the metal1 and causing the whole to resemble a bit of chalk4 ,take this supposed pellet of chalk from your vest pocket and place it between the slates2 hold the latter level beneath a table1 and by moving the poles of a strong magnet against the surface of the under slate1 you can cause the iron or steel to write a name or sentence1 thanks to its coating of chalk dust4 ,it is better to use slates with rather deep frames1 in order that the chalked metal may write with facility4 ,it requires considerable practice to write with ease in the manner described above4 ,the first thing of course is to locate the position of the chalk between the locked slates4 ,to enable you to do this1 place the supposed chalk in one corner of slate ,no4 #a before covering with slate ,no4 #b1 or else exactly in the center of slate ,no4 #b4 ,in this way you will have no difficulty in affecting the metal with the magnet1 when the slates are held under the table4 ,there are various ways of holding the slates2 one1 is to ask the sitter to hold one end1 while you hold the other1 five or six inches above the table4 ,the light is put out1 and you take the magnet from your pocket and execute the writing4 ,the noise of the magnet passing over the surface of the under slate serves to represent a disembodied spirit as doing the writing4 #b4 ,the ,master of the ,mediums4 ,one of the most remarkable personalities serving as an exponent of ,spiritualism was ,daniel ,dunglas ,home1 the ,napoleon of necromancy1 and the ,past ,grand ,master of ,mediums4 ,his career reads like a romance4 ,he lived in a sort of twilight land1 and hob-nobbed with kings1 queens and other people of noble blood4 ,something unsubstantial1 ghostly1 ,seems this ,theurgist1 ,in deep meditation mostly ,wrapped1 as in a mist4 ,vague1 phantasmal and unreal1 ,to our thoughts he seems1 ,walking in a world ideal1 ,in a land of dreams4 ,he wound his serpentine way into the best society of ,london1 ,paris1 ,berlin1 ,rome1 and ,st4 ,petersburg--always despising filthy lucre1 as ,maskelyn remarks1 but never refusing a diamond worth ten times the amount he would have received in cash1 or some present1 which the host of the house at which he happened to be manifesting always felt constrained to offer4 ,this thaumaturgist of the ,nineteenth ,century was born near ,edinburg1 ,scotland1 on ,march #bj1 #ahcc1 and came of a family reported to be gifted with second sight4 ,his father1 ,william ,home1 was a natural son of ,alexander1 tenth ,earl of ,home4 ,strange phenomena occurred during the medium's childhood4 ,at the age of nine he was adopted by his aunt1 ,mrs4 ,mc,neill ,cook1 who brought him to ,america4 ,he began giving sances about the year #aheb4 ,among the notable men who attended these early sittings were ,william ,cullen ,bryant1 ,professors ,wells and ,hare1 and ,judge ,edmonds4 ,home had a tall1 slight figure1 a fair and freckled face--before disease made it the color of yellow wax--keen1 slaty-blue eyes1 thin bloodless lips1 a rather snub nose1 and curly auburn hair4 ,his manners1 though forward1 were agreeable1 and he recited such poetry as ,poe's ,raven and ,ulalume with powerful effect4 ,he was altogether a weird sort of personage4 ,his principal mediumistic manifestations were rappings1 table-tipping1 ghostly materializations1 playing on sealed musical instruments1 levitation1 and handling fire with impunity4 ,in #ahee he launched his necromantic bark on ,european waters4 ,no man since ,cagliostro ever created so profound a sensation in the ,old ,world4 ,he wrote his reminiscences in two large volumes1 but little credence can be given them1 as they are full of extravagant statements and wild fantasies4 ,the ,london ,punch 7,may #ith1 #ahfh71 printed the following effusion on the medium1 a sort of parody on ,home1 ,sweet ,home3 ,through realms ,thaumaturgic the student may roam1 ,and not light on a worker of wonders like ,home4 ,cagliostro himself might descend from his chair1 ,and set up our ,daniel as ,grand-,cophta there-- ,home1 ,home1 ,dan4 ,home1 ,no medium like ,home4 ,spirit legs1 spirit hands1 he gives table and chair2 ,gravitation defying1 he flies in the air2 ,but the fact to which henceforth his fame should be pinned1 ,is his power to raise1 not himself but the wind6-- ,home1 ,home1 ,dan4 ,home1 ,no medium like ,home4 ,robert ,browning made him the subject of his celebrated satirical poem1 ,mr4 ,sludge1 the ,medium4 ,some of the most celebrated scientific and literary personages of ,england became interested in his mysterious abilities1 and among his intimate friends were the ,earl of ,dunraven1 ,mary ,howitt1 ,mrs4 ,s4 ,c4 ,hall1 ,prof4 ,wallace1 and ,sir ,edward ,bulwer-,lytton4 ,there is good authority for believing that ,home was the mysterious ,margrave of ,bulwer's weird novel1 ,a ,strange ,story4 ,bulwer was an ardent believer in the supernatural and ,home spent many days at ,knebworth amid a select coterie of ghost-seers4 ,the famous novelist relates that as ,home sat with him in the library of ,knebworth1 conversing upon politics1 social matters1 books or other chance topics1 the chairs rocked and the tables were suspended in mid-air4 ,when the medium was requested to exert his power and found himself in condition1 it is alleged1 he would rise and float about the room4 ,this in ,spiritualistic parlance is termed levitation4 ,at ,knebworth and other places1 some of the most prominent people of the day claim to have seen ,home lift himself up and sail tranquilly out of a window1 around the house1 and come in by another window4 ,the ,earl of ,dunraven told many stories equally strange of performances that were given in his presence4 ,the ,earl declared that he had many times seen ,home elongate and shorten his body1 and cause the closed piano to play by putting his fingers on the lid4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #g--;,,home ,,at ,,the ,,tuileries4 ,in the autumn of #ahee the famous medium went to ,florence2 there1 also1 the spirit manifestations secured him the entree into the best society of the old ,italian city4 ,in his memoirs he speaks of an incident occurring through his mediumship1 at a sance given in ,florence3 ,upon one occasion1 while the ,countess ,c-- was seated at one of ,erard's grand-action pianos1 it rose and balanced itself in the air1 during the whole time she was playing4 ,an ,english lady1 resident at ,florence1 in a supposed haunted house1 procured the services of ,home to exorcise the ghost4 ,they sat at a table in the sitting-room1 and raps were heard proceeding from that piece of furniture1 and rustling sounds in the room as of a person moving about in a heavy garment4 ,the spirit being adjured in the name of the ,holy ,trinity to leave the premises1 the demonstrations ceased4 ,in ,february1 #ahef1 the medium joined the retinue of ,count ,b--1 a ,polish nobleman1 and went to ,naples with his patron4 ,from ,naples to ,rome was the next step1 and1 in the ,eternal ,city1 the medium joined the ,romish ,church1 and was adjured by the ,pope to abandon spirit sances forever4 ,in #aheh we find ,home in ,st4 ,petersburg1 where he married the youngest daughter of ,general ,count de ,kroll1 of ,russia1 and a goddaughter of the ,emperor ,nicholas1 the marriage taking place on ,sunday1 ,august #a1 #aheh1 in the private chapel attached to the house of the lady's brother-in-law1 the ,count ,gregoire ,koucheleff-,besborodko4 ,it was a very notable affair1 and ,alexander ,dumas came from ,paris to attend the ceremony4 ,home's spirit power which had left him since his conversion to the ,roman ,catholic faith now returned in full force1 it is said1 and he saw standing near him at the wedding the spirit form of his mother4 ,in #ahfb his wife died at the ,chateau ,laroche1 near ,perigneux1 ,france1 and the medium repaired to ,rome for the purpose of studying sculpture4 ,the reports of the spirit phenomena constantly attending ,home's presence reached the ears of the ,papal authorities and he was compelled to leave the city1 notwithstanding the fact that he gave positive assurance that he would give no sance4 ,he was actually charged with being a sorcerer1 like ,cagliostro1 an accusation that reads very strange in the ,nineteenth ,century4 ,this affair embittered ,home against the ,church1 and he abandoned ,roman ,catholicism for the ,greek ,church4 ,after the ,roman fiasco1 the famous medium returned to ,england to give ,spiritualistic lectures and sances4 ,a writer in ,all the ,year ,round1 gives the following pen picture of the medium1 as he appeared in #ahff3 ,he is a tall1 thin man1 with broad square shoulders1 suggestive of a suit of clothes hung upon an iron cross4 ,his hair is long and yellow2 his teeth are large1 glittering and sharp2 his eyes are a pale grey1 with a redness about the eye-lids1 which comes and goes in a ghastly manner1 as he talks4 ,when he shows his glittering sharp teeth1 and that red line comes round his slowly rolling eyes1 he is not a pleasant sight to look upon4 ,his hands are long1 white and bony1 and on taking them you discover that they are icy cold4 ,a suit of clothes hung upon an iron cross is a weird touch in this pen picture4 ,home about this time intended going upon the stage1 but abandoned the idea to become the secretary of the ,spiritual ,atheneum1 a society formed for the investigation of psychic phenomena4 ,one of the most notable passages in the life of the great medium was the famous law suit in which he was concerned in ,england4 ,in #ahff he became acquainted with a wealthy lady1 ,mrs4 ,jane ,lyons4 ,in his role of medium she consulted him constantly about the welfare of her husband in the spirit world1 and her business affairs4 ,she gave him #cc1jjj for his services4 ,relatives and friends of ,mrs4 ,lyons1 however1 saw in ,home a cunning adventurer who was preying upon a weak-minded woman4 ,a suit was instituted against the medium to recover the money1 and the case became a cause celebre in the annals of the ,english courts4 ,in the autumn of #ahga1 ,home1 who before that time1 had been quite a lion at the court of ,napoleon ,,iii and ,eugene1 followed the ,german army from ,sedan to ,versailles1 and was hand-in-glove with the ,king of ,prussia4 ,his second marriage took place in ,october1 #ahga1 at ,paris1 and after a brief honeymoon in ,england he visited ,st4 ,petersburg with his wife1 who was a member of the noble ,russian family of ,alsakoff4 ,on the #bast of ,june1 #ahhf1 the great ,american ghost-seer died of consumption1 at ,auteuil1 near ,paris1 ,france4 ,for years he was out of health1 and he ascribed his weakness to the expenditure of vital force in working wonders during the earlier part of his career4 ,he was buried at ,st4 ,germain-en-,laye1 with the rites of the ,russian ,church4 ,the funeral was a very simple one1 not more than twenty persons being present1 all of whom were in full evening dress4 ,the idea was to emphasize the ,spiritualists' belief that death is not a subject for mourning1 but is liberation1 an occasion for rejoicing4 ,the curious reader will find many accounts of ,home's invulnerability to fire while in the trance state1 notably those of ,prof4 ,crookes1 contained in the proceedings of the ,society for ,psychical ,research4 ,in the ,march1 #ahfh1 number of ,human ,nature1 ,mr4 ,h4 ,d4 ,jencken writes as follows concerning a sance given by the medium3 ,mr4 ,home1 7after various manifestations7 said1 'we have gladly shown you our power over fluids1 we will now show you our power over solids4' ,he then knelt down before the hearth1 and deliberately breaking up a glowing piece of coal in the fire place1 took up a largish lump of incandescent coal and placing the same in his left hand1 proceeded to explain that caloric had been extracted by a process known to them 7the spirits71 and that the heat could in part be returned4 ,this he proved by alternately cooling and heating the coal2 and to convince us of the fact1 allowed us to handle the coal which had become cool1 then suddenly resumed its heat sufficient to burn one1 as ,i again touched it4 ,i examined ,mr4 ,home's hand1 and quite satisfied myself that no artificial means had been employed to protect the skin1 which did not even retain the smell of smoke4 ,mr4 ,home then re-seated himself1 and shortly awoke from his trance quite pale and exhausted4 ,other witnesses of the above experiment were ,lord ,lindsay1 ,lord ,adare1 ,miss ,douglas1 ,mr4 ,s4 ,c4 ,hall1 ,mr4 ,w4 ,h4 ,harrison and ,prof4 ,wallace4 ,mr4 ,h4 ,nisbet1 of ,glasgow1 relates 7,human ,nature1 ,feb4 #ahgj7 that in his own home in ,january1 #ahgj1 ,mr4 ,home took a red hot coal from the grate and put it in the hands of a lady and gentleman to whom it felt only warm4 ,subsequently he placed the same on a folded newspaper1 the result being a hole burnt through eight layers of paper4 ,taking another blazing coal he laid it on the same journal1 and carried it around the apartment for upwards of three minutes1 without scorching the paper4 ,among the crowned heads and famous people before whom ,mr4 ,home appeared were ,napoleon ,,iii and the ,empress ,eugnie1 ,queen ,victoria1 ,king ,louis ,i and ,king ,maximilian of ,bavaria1 the ,emperor of ,russia1 the ,king and ,queen of ,wurtemberg1 the ,duchess of ,hamilton1 the ,crown ,prince of ,prussia and old ,gen4 ,von ,moltke4 ,alexander ,dumas the elder1 was a constant companion of the medium for a long time1 and wrote columns about him4 ,napoleon ,,iii had two sittings with ,home--and it is said ,home materialized the spirit of the first ,napoleon1 who appeared in his familiar cocked hat1 gray overcoat and dark green uniform with white facings4 ,my fate8 asked ,louis1 trembling with awe4 ,like mine--discrowned1 and death in exile1 replied the ghost2 then it vanished4 ,the ,empress swooned and ,napoleon ,,iii fell back in his chair as if about to faint4 ,the medium in his first sance with the ,french ,emperor succeeded only in materializing some flowers and a spirit hand1 which the ,emperor was permitted to grasp4 ,celia ,logan1 the journalist1 in writing of one of ,home's sances at a nobleman's house in ,london1 says3 ,on this occasion the medium announced that he would produce balls of fire and illuminated hands4 ,failing in the former1 he declared that the spirits were not strong enough for that to-night1 and so he would have to confine himself to showing the luminous hands4 ,the house was darkened and ,home groped his way alone to the head of the broad staircase1 where every few minutes a pair of luminous hands were thrown up4 ,the audience was satisfied generally4 ,one lady1 however1 was not1 and whispered to me--she was a half-hearted ,spiritualist--that it looked to her as if he had rubbed his own hands over with lucifer matches4 ,the host stood near the mantel piece and had seen ,home abstractedly place a small bottle upon it when he left the room for the staircase4 ,that bottle the host quietly slipped into his pocket4 ,upon examination the next day it was found to contain phosphorated olive oil or some similar preparation4 ,the host had declared himself to have seen ,home float through the air from one side of the room to the other1 lift a piano several feet in the air by simply placing a finger upon it1 and had seen him materialize disembodied spirits2 but after the discovery of the phosphorus trick he dropped ,home at once4 ,it is a significant fact that the medium while giving sances in ,paris in #aheg refused to meet ,houdin1 the renowned prestidigitateur4 ,i shall now attempt an expos of ,home's physical phenomena4 ,home's extraordinary feat of alternately cooling and heating a lump of coal taken from a blazing fire1 as related by ,mr4 ,h4 ,d4 ,jencken and others1 is easily explained4 ,it is a juggling trick4 ,the coal is a piece of spongy platinum which bears a close resemblance to a lump of half burnt coal1 and is palmed in the hand1 as a prestidigitateur conceals a coin1 a pack of cards1 an egg1 or a small lemon4 ,the medium or magician advances to the grate and pretends to take a genuine lump of coal from the fire but brings up instead1 at the tips of his fingers1 the piece of platinum4 ,in a secret breast pocket of his coat he has a small reservoir of hydrogen1 with a tube coming down the sleeve and terminating an inch or so above the cuff4 ,by means of certain mechanical arrangements1 to enable him to let on and off the gas at the proper moment1 he is able to accomplish the trick2 for when a current of hydrogen is allowed to impinge upon a piece of spongy platinum1 the metal becomes incandescent1 and as soon as the current is arrested the platinum is restored to its normal condition4 ,the hand may be protected from burning in various ways1 one method being the repeated application of sulphuric acid to the skin1 whereby it is rendered impervious to the action of fire for a short period of time2 another1 by wearing gloves of amianthus or asbestos cloth4 ,with the latter1 worn in a badly lighted room1 the medium1 without much risk of discovery1 can handle red hot coals or iron with impunity4 ,the gloves may at the proper moment be slipped off and concealed about the person4 ,a small slip of amianthus cloth placed on a newspaper would protect it from a hot coal and the same means could be used when a coal is placed in another's hand or upon his head4 ,as to the marvelous levitation1 either the witnesses of the alleged feat were under some hypnotic spell1 or else they allowed their imaginations to run riot when describing the event4 ,in the case of ,lord ,lindsay and ,lord ,adare1 ,d4 ,carpenter in his valuable paper ,on ,fallacies ,respecting the ,supernatural 7,contemporary ,review1 ,jan41 #ahgf7 says3 ,a whole party of believers affirm that they saw ,mr4 ,home float out of one window and in at another1 while a single honest skeptic declares that ,mr4 ,home was sitting in his chair all the time4 ,it seems that there were three gentlemen present besides the medium when the alleged phenomenon took place1 the two noblemen and a cousin4 ,it is this unnamed hard-headed cousin to whom ,dr4 ,carpenter refers as the honest skeptic4 ,many of ,home's admirers have declared that he possessed the power of mesmerizing certain of his friends4 ,these gentlemen were no doubt hypnotized and related honestly what they believed they had seen4 ,again1 the expectancy of attention and the nervous tension of the average sitter in spirit-circles tend to produce a morbidly impressible condition of mind4 ,many mediums since ,home's day have performed the act of levitation1 but always in a dark room4 ,mr4 ,angelo ,lewis1 the writer on magic1 reveals an ingenious method by which levitation is effected4 ,when the lights are extinguished the medium--who1 by the way1 must be a clever ventriloquist--removes his boots and places them on his hands4 ,i am rising1 ,i am rising1 but pay no attention1 he remarks1 as he goes about the apartment1 where the sitters are grouped in a circle about him1 and he lightly touches the heads of various persons4 ,a shadowy form is dimly seen and a smell of boot leather becomes apparent to the olfactory senses of many present4 ,people jump quickly to conclusions in such matters and argue that where the feet of the medium are1 his body must surely be--namely1 floating in the air4 ,the illusion is further enhanced by the performer's ventriloquial powers4 ,i am rising6 ,i am touching the ceiling6 he exclaims1 imitating the sound of a voice high up4 ,when the lights are turned up1 the medium is seen 7this time with his boots on his feet7 standing on tip-toe1 as if just descended from the ceiling4 ,sometimes before performing the levitation act1 he will say1 ,in order to convince any skeptic present1 that ,i really float upwards1 ,i will write the initials of my name1 or the name of some one present1 on the ceiling4 ,when the lights are raised1 the letters are seen written on the ceiling in a bold scrawling hand4 ,how is it done8 ,the medium has concealed about him a telescopic steel rod1 something like those ,chinese fishing rods at one time in vogue among modern disciples of ,izaak ,walton4 ,this convenient rod when not in use folds up in a very small compass1 but when it is shoved out to its full length1 some three or four feet1 with a bit of black chalk attached1 the writing on the ceiling is easily produced4 ,the magicians of ancient ,egypt displayed their mystic rods as a part of their paraphernalia1 while the modern magi bear theirs in secret4 ,a tambourine1 a guitar1 a bell1 or a spirit hand1 rubbed with phosphorus1 may also be fixed to this ingenious appliance1 and floated over the heads of the spectators1 and even a horn may be blown1 through the hollow rod4 ,the materialization of a spirit hand which crept from beneath a table-cover1 and showed itself to the believers1 was one of the most startling things in the repertoire of ,d4 ,d4 ,home1 as it was in that of ,dr4 ,monck's1 an ,english medium4 ,an explanation of ,monck's method of producing the hand may1 perhaps1 throw some light on ,home's materialization4 ,a small dummy hand1 artistically executed in wax1 with the fingers slightly bent1 is fastened to a broad elastic band about three feet in length4 ,this band is attached to a belt about the performer's waist and passes down his left trouser leg1 allowing the hand to dangle within the trouser a few inches above the ankle4 ,i must not forget to explain that to the wrist of the hand is appended an elastic sleeve about five inches long4 ,the medium and two sitters take their seats at a square table1 with an over-hanging table-cloth4 ,no one is allowed to be seated at the same side of the table with the medium4 ,this is an imperative condition4 ,diminish the light1 please1 says the medium4 ,some one rises to lower the gas to the required dim religious light necessary to all spirit sances4 ,a little lower1 please6 ,lower1 lower still6 remarks the medium4 ,out the light goes4 ,dear1 me1 but this is vexatious6 ,somebody light it again and be more careful6 he ejaculates4 ,under cover of the darkness the agile operator crosses his left foot over his right knee1 pulls down the wax hand and fixes it to the toe of his boot by means of the elastic sleeve1 the apparatus being masked from the sitters by the table cloth until the time comes for the spirit materialization4 ,the three men place their hands on the table and wait patiently for developments4 ,presently a rap is heard under the table--disjointed knee of the medium1--and then mirabile dictu6 the table-cloth shakes and a delicate female hand emerges and shows itself above the edge of the table4 ,a guitar being placed close to the fingers1 they soon strum the strings1 or rather appear to do so1 the medium being the deus ex machina4 ,the cleverest part of the whole performance is the fact that the medium never takes his hands from the table4 ,he quietly puts his left foot down on the floor and places his right foot heavily on the false hand--off it comes from the left foot and shoots up the trouser leg like lightning4 ,the sitters may look under the table but they see nothing4 ,an ingenious improvement has been made to this hand-test by an ,american conjurer1 one that enables the medium to produce the hand although his feet are secured by the sitter4 ,be kind enough1 sir1 says the performer to the investigator1 to place your feet on mine4 ,if ,i should move my feet ever so little1 you would know it1 would you not8 ,the sitter replies in the affirmative4 ,the medium1 as soon as he feels the pressure of the sitter's feet1 withdraws his right foot from a steel shape made in imitation of the toe of his boot1 and operates the spirit hand at his leisure4 ,after the sitting1 he of course1 inserts his right foot into the shape and carries it off with him4 ,the production of spirit music was one of ,home's favorite experiments4 ,there are all sorts of ways of producing this music1 the most ingenious of which ,i give3 ,the apparatus consists of a small circular musical box1 wound up by clock work1 and made to play whenever pressure is put upon a stud projecting a quarter of an inch from its surface4 ,this box is strapped around the right leg of the medium just above his knee1 and hidden beneath the trouser leg4 ,when not in use it is on the under side of the leg4 ,on the table a musical box is placed and covered with a soup tureen1 or the top of a chafing dish4 ,when the spectators are seated1 the medium works the concealed musical box around to the upper part of his leg near the knee cap1 and by pressing the stud against the under surface of the table1 starts the music playing4 ,in this way the second musical box seems to play and the acoustic effect is perfect4 ,perhaps ,home used a similar contrivance2 ,dr4 ,monck did1 and was caught in the act by the chief of the ,detective ,police4 ,home during his sances on the ,continent of ,europe was accused of all sorts of trickery4 ,some asserted that he had concealed about him a small but powerful electric battery for producing certain illusions1 mechanical contrivances attached to his legs for making spirit raps1 and last but not least1 as the medium states in his ,memoirs3 they even accused me of carrying a small monkey about with me1 concealed1 trained to perform all sorts of ghostly tricks4 ,people also accused him of obtaining a great deal of his information about the spirits of the departed from tombstones like an ,old ,mortality1 and bribing family servants4 ,a more probable explanation may be found perhaps in telepathy4 ,there is one more phase of ,home's mediumship1 the moving of heavy pieces of furniture without physical contact1 that must be spoken of4 ,in mentioning it1 ,dr4 ,max ,dessoir1 author of the ,psychology of ,conjuring1#a says3 ,we must admit that a few feats1 such as those of ,prof4 ,crookes with ,home1 concerning the possibility of setting inanimate objects in motion without touching them1 appear to lie entirely outside the sphere of jugglery4 ,in the year #ahga1 ,prof4 ,william ,crookes1 7now ,sir ,william ,crookes7 ,fellow of the ,royal ,society1 a very eminent scientist1 subjected ,home to some elaborate tests in order to prove or disprove by means of scientific apparatus the reality of phenomena connected with variations in the weight of bodies1 with or without contact4 ,he declared the tests to be entirely satisfactory1 but ascribed the phenomena not to spiritual agency1 but to a new force1 in some unknown manner connected with the human organization1 which for convenience he called the ,psychic ,force4 ,he said in his ,researches in the ,phenomena of ,spiritualism3 ,of all the persons endowed with a powerful development of this ,psychic ,force1 and who have been termed 'mediums' upon quite another theory of its origin1 ,mr4 ,daniel ,dunglas ,home is the most remarkable1 and it is mainly owing to the many opportunities ,i have had of carrying on my investigations in his presence that ,i am enabled to affirm so conclusively the existence of this force4 ,prof4 ,crookes' experiments were conducted1 as he says1 in the full light1 and in the presence of witnesses1 among them being the famous ,english barrister1 ,sergeant ,cox1 and the astronomer1 ,dr4 ,huggins4 ,heavy articles became light and light articles heavy when the medium came near them4 ,in some cases he lightly touched them1 in others refrained from contact4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #h4 ,,crookes' ,,apparatus4 ,the first piece of the apparatus constructed by ,crookes to test this psychic force consisted of a mahogany board #cf inches long by #i-a_/b inches wide and #a inch thick4 ,a strip of mahogany was screwed on at one end1 to form a foot1 the length being equal to the width of the board4 ,this end of the board was placed on a table1 while the other end was upheld by a spring balance1 fastened to a strong tripod stand1 as will be seen in ,fig4 #h4 ,mr4 ,home1 writes ,prof4 ,crookes1 placed the tips of his fingers lightly on the extreme end of the mahogany board which was resting on the support1 whilst ,dr4 ,a4 ,b4 ,dr4 ,huggins and myself sat1 one on each side of it1 watching for any effect which might be produced4 ,almost immediately the pointer of the balance was seen to descend4 ,after a few seconds it rose again4 ,this movement was repeated several times1 as if by successive waves of the psychic force4 ,the end of the board was observed to oscillate slowly up and down during the experiment4 ,mr4 ,home now1 of his own accord1 took a small hand-bell and a little card match-box1 which happened to be near1 and placed one under each hand1 to satisfy us1 as he said1 that he was not producing the downward pressure4 ,the very slow oscillation of the spring balance became more marked1 and ,dr4 ,a4 ,b41 watching the index1 said that he saw it descend to #f-a_/b lbs4 ,the normal weight of the board as so suspended being #c lbs41 the additional downward pull was therefore #c-a_/b lbs4 ,on looking immediately afterwards at the automatic register1 we saw that the index had at one time descended as low as #i lbs41 showing a maximum pull of #f lbs4 upon a board whose normal weight was #c lbs4 ,in order to see whether it was possible to produce much effect on the spring balance by pressure at the place where ,mr4 ,home's fingers had been1 ,i stepped upon the table and stood on one foot at the end of the board4 ,dr4 ,a4 ,b41 who was observing the index of the balance1 said that the whole weight of my body 7#adj lbs47 so applied only sunk the index #a-a_/b lbs41 or #b lbs4 when ,i jerked up and down4 ,mr4 ,home had been sitting in a low easy-chair1 and could not1 therefore1 had he tried his utmost1 have exerted any material influence on these results4 ,i need scarcely add that his feet as well as his hands were closely guarded by all in the room4 ,the next series of experiments is thus described3 ,on trying these experiments for the first time1 ,i thought that actual contact between ,mr4 ,home's hands and the suspended body whose weight was to be altered was essential to the exhibition of the force2 but ,i found afterwards that this was not a necessary condition1 and ,i therefore arranged my apparatus in the following manner3-- ,the accompanying cuts 7,figs4 #i1 #aj and #aa7 explain the arrangement4 ,fig4 #i is a general view1 and ,figs4 #aj and #aa show the essential parts more in detail4 ,the reference letters are the same in each illustration4 ,a ,b is a mahogany board1 #cf inches long by #i-a_/b inches wide1 and #a inch thick4 ,it is suspended at the end1 ,b1 by a spring balance1 ,c1 furnished with an automatic register1 ,d4 ,the balance is suspended from a very firm tripod support1 ,e4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #i4 ,,crookes' ,,apparatus4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #aj4 ,,crookes' ,,apparatus4 ,the following piece of apparatus is not shown in the figures4 ,to the moving index1 ,o1 of the spring balance1 a fine steel point is soldered1 projecting horizontally outwards4 ,in front of the balance1 and firmly fastened to it1 is a grooved frame1 carrying a flat box similar to the dark box of a photographic camera4 ,this box is made to travel by clock-work horizontally in front of the moving index1 and it contains a sheet of plate-glass which has been smoked over a flame4 ,the projecting steel point impresses a mark on this smoked surface4 ,if the balance is at rest1 and the clock set going1 the result is a perfectly straight horizontal line4 ,if the clock is stopped and weights are placed on the end1 ,b1 of the board1 the result is a vertical line1 whose length depends on the weight applied4 ,if1 whilst the clock draws the plate along1 the weight of the board 7or the tension on the balance7 varies1 the result is a curved line1 from which the tension in grains at any moment during the continuance of the experiments can be calculated4 ,the instrument was capable of registering a diminution of the force of gravitation as well as an increase2 registrations of such a diminution were frequently obtained4 ,to avoid complication1 however1 ,i will here refer only to results in which an increase of gravitation was experienced4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #aa4 ,,crookes' ,,apparatus4 ,the end1 ,b1 of the board being supported by the spring balance1 the end1 ,a1 is supported on a wooden strip1 ,f1 screwed across its lower side and cut to a knife edge 7see ,fig4 #aa74 ,this fulcrum rests on a firm and heavy wooden stand1 ,g ,h4 ,on the board1 exactly over the fulcrum1 is placed a large glass vessel filled with water4 ,i ,l is a massive iron stand1 furnished with an arm and a ring1 ,m ,n1 in which rests a hemispherical copper vessel perforated with several holes at the bottom4 ,the iron stand is #b inches from the board1 ,a ,b1 and the arm and copper vessel1 ,m ,n1 are so adjusted that the latter dips into the water #a-a_/b inches1 being #e-a_/b inches from the bottom of ,i1 and #b inches from its circumference4 ,shaking or striking the arm1 ,m1 or the vessel1 ,n1 produces no appreciable mechanical effect on the board1 ,a ,b1 capable of affecting the balance4 ,dipping the hand to the fullest extent into the water in ,n does not produce the least appreciable action on the balance4 ,as the mechanical transmission of power is by this means entirely cut off between the copper vessel and the board1 ,a ,b1 the power of muscular control is thereby completely eliminated4 ,for convenience ,i will divide the experiments into groups1 #a1 #b1 #c1 etc41 and ,i have selected one special instance in each to describe in detail4 ,nothing1 however1 is mentioned which has not been repeated more than once1 and in some cases verified1 in ,mr4 ,home's absence1 with another person1 possessing similar powers4 ,there was always ample light in the room where the experiments were conducted 7my own dining-room7 to see all that took place4 ,experiment ,i4--,the apparatus having been properly adjusted before ,mr4 ,home entered the room1 he was brought in1 and asked to place his fingers in the water in the copper vessel1 ,n4 ,he stood up and dipped the tips of the fingers of his right hand in the water1 his other hand and his feet being held4 ,when he said he felt a power1 force1 or influence1 proceeding from his hand1 ,i set the clock going1 and almost immediately the end1 ,b1 of the board was seen to descend slowly and remain down for about #aj seconds2 it then descended a little further1 and afterwards rose to its normal height4 ,it then descended again1 rose suddenly1 gradually sunk for #ag seconds1 and finally rose to its normal height1 where it remained till the experiment was concluded4 ,the lowest point marked on the glass was equivalent to a direct pull of about #e1jjj grains4 ,the accompanying ,figure #ab is a copy of the curve traced on the glass4 ,illustration3 ,,scale ,,of ,,seconds4 ,,fig4 #ab4 ,,diagram ,,showing ,,tension ,,in ,,crookes' ,,apparatus ,,under ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,home4 ,experiment ,,ii4--,contact through water having proved to be as effectual as actual mechanical contact1 ,i wished to see if the power or force could affect the weight1 either through other portions of the apparatus or through the air4 ,the glass vessel and iron stand1 etc41 were therefore removed1 as an unnecessary complication1 and ,mr4 ,home's hands were placed on the stand of the apparatus at ,p 7,fig4 #i74 ,a gentleman present put his hand on ,mr4 ,home's hands1 and his foot on both ,mr4 ,home's feet1 and ,i also watched him closely all the time4 ,at the proper moment the clock was again set going2 the board descended and rose in an irregular manner1 the result being a curved tracing on the glass1 of which ,fig4 #ac is a copy4 ,illustration3 ,,scale ,,the ,,same ,,as ,,in ,,fig4 #ab4 ,,fig4 #ac4 ,,diagram ,,showing ,,tension ,,in ,,crookes' ,,apparatus ,,under ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,home4 ,experiment ,,iii4--,mr4 ,home was now placed one foot from the board1 ,a ,b1 on one side of it4 ,his hands and feet were firmly grasped by a by-stander1 and another tracing1 of which ,fig4 #ad is a copy1 was taken on the moving glass plate4 ,illustration3 ,,scale ,,the ,,same ,,as ,,in ,,fig4 #ab4 ,,fig4 #ad4 ,,diagram ,,showing ,,tension ,,in ,,crookes' ,,apparatus ,,under ,,home',s ,,influence4 ,experiment ,,iv4--7,tried on an occasion when the power was stronger than on the previous occasions71 ,mr4 ,home was now placed #c feet from the apparatus1 his hands and feet being tightly held4 ,the clock was set going when he gave the word1 and the end1 ,b1 of the board soon descended1 and again rose in an irregular manner1 as shown in ,fig4 #ae4 ,illustration3 ,,scale ,,the ,,same ,,as ,,in ,,fig4 #ab4 ,,fig4 #ae4 ,,diagram ,,showing ,,tension ,,in ,,crookes' ,,apparatus ,,under ,,home',s ,,influence4 ,the following series of experiments were tried with more delicate apparatus1 and with another person1 a lady1 ,mr4 ,home being absent4 ,as the lady is non-professional1 ,i do not mention her name4 ,she has1 however1 consented to meet any scientific men whom ,i may introduce for purposes of investigation4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #af4 ,,second ,,crookes' ,,apparatus4 ,a piece of thin parchment1 ,a1 7,figs4 #af and #ag71 is stretched tightly across a circular hoop of wood4 ,b ,c is a light lever turning on ,d4 ,at the end ,b is a vertical needle point touching the membrane ,a1 and at ,c is another needle point1 projecting horizontally and touching a smoked glass plate1 ,e ,f4 ,this glass plate is drawn along in the direction ,h ,g by clockwork1 ,k4 ,the end1 ,b1 of the lever is weighted so that it shall quickly follow the movements of the centre of the disc1 ,a4 ,these movements are transmitted and recorded on the glass plate1 ,e ,f1 by means of the lever and needle point1 ,c4 ,holes are cut in the side of the hoop to allow a free passage of air to the under side of the membrane4 ,the apparatus was well tested beforehand by myself and others1 to see that no shaking or jar on the table or support would interfere with the results3 the line traced by the point1 ,c1 on the smoked glass was perfectly straight in spite of all our attempts to influence the lever by shaking the stand or stamping on the floor4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ag4 ,,section ,,of ,,apparatus ,,in ,,fig4 #af4 ,experiment ,v4--,without having the object of the instrument explained to her1 the lady was brought into the room and asked to place her fingers on the wooden stand at the points1 ,l ,m1 ,fig4 #af4 ,i then placed my hands over hers to enable me to detect any conscious or unconscious movement on her part4 ,presently percussive noises were heard on the parchment1 resembling the dropping of grains of sand on its surface4 ,at each percussion a fragment of graphite which ,i had placed on the membrane was seen to be projected upwards about #a-ejth of an inch1 and the end1 ,c1 of the lever moved slightly up and down4 ,sometimes the sounds were as rapid as those from an induction-coil1 whilst at others they were more than a second apart4 ,five or six tracings were taken1 and in all cases a movement of the end1 ,c1 of the lever was seen to have occurred with each vibration of the membrane4 ,in some cases the lady's hands were not so near the membrane as ,l ,m1 but were at ,n ,o1 ,fig #ag4 ,illustration3 ,,scale ,,of ,,seconds4 ,,fig4 #ah4 ,,diagram ,,showing ,,tension ,,in ,,crookes' ,,apparatus 7,,fig4 #ae ,,and #af7 ,,outside ,,home',s ,,influence4 ,the accompanying ,fig4 #ah gives tracings taken from the plates used on these occasions4 ,experiment ,,vi4--,having met with these results in ,mr4 ,home's absence1 ,i was anxious to see what action would be produced on the instrument in his presence4 ,accordingly ,i asked him to try1 but without explaining the instrument to him4 ,i grasped ,mr4 ,home's right arm above the wrist and held his hand over the membrane1 about #aj inches from its surface1 in the position shown at ,p1 ,fig4 #ag4 ,his other hand was held by a friend4 ,after remaining in this position for about half a minute1 ,mr4 ,home said he felt some influence passing4 ,i then set the clock going1 and we all saw the index1 ,c1 moving up and down4 ,the movements were much slower than in the former case1 and were almost entirely unaccompanied by the percussive vibrations then noticed4 ,figs4 #ai and #bj show the curves produced on the glass on two of these occasions4 ,figs4 #ah1 #ai and #bj are magnified4 ,these experiments confirm beyond doubt the conclusions at which ,i arrived in my former paper1 namely1 the existence of a force associated1 in some manner not yet explained1 with the human organization1 by which force increased weight is capable of being imparted to solid bodies without physical contact4 ,in the case of ,mr4 ,home1 the development of this force varies enormously1 not only from week to week1 but from hour to hour2 on some occasions the force is inappreciable by my tests for an hour or more1 and then suddenly reappears in great strength4 ,illustration3 ,,scale ,,the ,,same ,,as ,,in ,,fig4 #ah4 ,,fig4 #ai4 ,,diagram ,,showing ,,tension ,,in ,,crookes' ,,apparatus 7,,fig4 #af ,,and #ag7 ,,under ,,home',s ,,influence4 ,it is capable of acting at a distance from ,mr4 ,home 7not unfrequently as far as two or three feet71 but is always strongest close to him4 ,illustration3 ,,scale ,,the ,,same ,,as ,,on ,,fig4 #ah4 ,,fig4 #bj4 ,,diagram ,,showing ,,tension ,,in ,,crookes' ,,apparatus 7,,fig4 #af ,,and #ag7 ,,under ,,home',s ,,influence4 ,being firmly convinced that there could be no manifestation of one form of force without the corresponding expenditure of some other form of force1 ,i for a long time searched in vain for evidence of any force or power being used up in the production of these results4 ,now1 however1 having seen more of ,mr4 ,home1 ,i think ,i perceive what it is that this psychic force uses up for its development4 ,in employing the terms vital force or nervous energy1 ,i am aware that ,i am employing words which convey very different significations to many investigators2 but after witnessing the painful state of nervous and bodily prostration in which some of these experiments have left ,mr4 ,home--after seeing him lying in an almost fainting condition on the floor1 pale and speechless--,i could scarcely doubt that the evolution of psychic force is accompanied by a corresponding drain on vital force4 ,sergeant ,cox in speaking of the tests says1 ,the results appear to me conclusively to establish the important fact1 that there is a force proceeding from the nerve-system capable of imparting motion and weight to solid bodies within the sphere of its influence4 ,one of the medium's defenders has written3 ,home's mysterious power1 whatever it may have been1 was very uncertain4 ,sometimes he could exercise it1 and at others not1 and these fluctuations were not seldom the source of embarrassment to him4 ,he would often arrive at a place in obedience to an engagement1 and1 as he imagined1 ready to perform1 when he would discover himself absolutely helpless4 ,after a sance his exhaustion appeared to be complete4 ,there is no more striking proof of the fact that ,home really possessed occult gifts of some sort--psychic force or whatever else the power may be termed--than he gave such amazing exhibitions in the early part of his history and was able to do so little toward the end4 ,if it had been juggling he would1 like other conjurors1 have improved on his tricks by experience1 or at all events1 while his memory held out he would not have deteriorated4 ,dr4 ,hammond's ,experiments4 ,dr4 ,william ,a4 ,hammond1 the eminent neurologist1 of ,washington1 ,d4 ,c41 took up the cudgels against ,prof4 ,crookes' ,psychic ,force theory1 and assigned the experiments to the domain of animal electricity4 ,he wrote as follows3#b ,place an egg in an egg-cup and balance a long lath upon the egg4 ,though the lath be almost a plank it will obediently follow a rod of glass1 gutta percha or sealing-wax1 which has been previously well dried and rubbed1 the former with a piece of silk1 and the two latter with woolen cloth4 ,now1 in dry weather1 many persons within my knowledge1 have only to walk with a shuffling gait over the carpet1 and then approaching the lath hold out the finger instead of the glass1 sealing wax or gutta percha1 and instantly the end of the lath at ,l rises to meet it1 and the end at ,l is depressed4 ,applying these principles1 ,i arranged an apparatus exactly like that of ,prof4 ,crookes1 except that the spring balance was such as is used for weighing letters and was therefore very delicate1 indicating quarter ounces with exactness1 and that the board was thin and narrow4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ba4 ,,dr4 ,,hammond',s ,,apparatus4 ,applying the glass rod or stick of sealing-wax to the end resting by its foot on the table1 the index of the balance at once descended1 showing an increased weight of a little over three quarters of an ounce1 and this without the board being raised from the table4 ,i then walked over a thick ,turkey rug for a few moments1 and holding my finger under the board near the end attached to the balance1 caused a fall of the index of almost half an ounce4 ,i then rested my finger lightly on the end of the board immediately over the foot1 and again the index descended and oscillated several times1 just as in ,mr4 ,home's experiments4 ,the lowest point reached was six and a quarter ounces1 and as the board weighed1 as attached to the balance1 five ounces1 there was an increased weight of one and a quarter ounces4 ,at no time was the end of the board raised from the table4 ,i then arranged the apparatus so as to place a thin glass tumbler nearly full of water immediately over the fulcrum1 as in ,mr4 ,crookes' experiment1 and again the index fell and oscillated on my fingers being put into the water4 ,now if one person can thus1 with a delicate apparatus like mine1 cause the index1 through electricity1 to descend and ascend1 it is not improbable that others1 like ,mr4 ,home1 could show greater1 or even different electrical power1 as in ,prof4 ,crookes' experiments4 ,it is well known that all persons are not alike in their ability to be electrically excited4 ,many persons1 myself among them1 can light the gas with the end of the finger4 ,others cannot do it with any amount of shuffling over the carpet4 ,at any rate is it not much more sensible to believe that ,mr4 ,home's experiments are to be thus explained than to attribute the results of his semi-mysterious attempts to spiritualism or psychic force8 #c4 ,rope-,tying and ,holding ,mediums4 ,,the ,,davenport ,,brothers4 ,ira ,erastus and ,william ,henry ,davenport were born at ,buffalo1 ,n4 ,y41 the former on ,sept4 #ag1 #ahci1 and the latter on ,february #a1 #ahda4 ,their father1 ,ira ,davenport1 was in the police detective department1 and1 it is alleged1 invented the celebrated rope-tying feats after having seen the ,indian jugglers of the ,west perform similar illusions4 ,the usual stories about ghostly phenomena attending the childhood of mediums were told about the ,davenport ,brothers1 but it was not until #ahee that they started on their tour of the ,united ,states1 with their father as showman or spiritual lecturer4 ,when the ,civil ,war broke out1 the ,brothers1 accompanied by ,dr4 ,j4 ,b4 ,ferguson1 formerly an ,independent minister of ,nashville1 ,tenn41 in the capacity of lecturer1 and a ,mr4 ,palmer as general agent and manager1 went to ,england to exhibit their mediumistic powers1 following the example of ,d4 ,d4 ,home4 ,with the company also was a ,buffalo boy named ,fay1 of ,german-,american parentage1 who had formerly acted as ticket-taker for the mediums4 ,he discovered the secret of the rope-tying feat1 and was an adept at the coat feat1 so he was employed as an under-study in case of the illness of ,william ,davenport1 who was in rather delicate health4 ,the ,brothers ,davenport at this period1 aged respectively #be and #bc years1 had long black curly hair1 broad but not high foreheads1 dark eyes1 heavy eye-brows and moustaches1 firm set lips1 and a bright1 keen look4 ,their first performance in ,england was given at the ,concert ,rooms1 ,hanover ,square1 ,london1 and created intense excitement4 ,punch called the furore over the spirit rope-tyers the tie-fuss fever1 and said the mediums were ,ministers of the ,interior1 with a seat in the ,cabinet4 ,j4 ,n4 ,maskelyne1 the ,london conjurer of ,egyptian ,hall1 wrote of them3 ,about the ,davenport ,brothers' performances1 ,i have to say that they were and still remain the most inexplicable ever presented to the public as of spiritual origin2 and had they been put forth as feats of jugglery would have awakened a considerable amount of curiosity though certainly not to the extent they did4 ,in ,september1 #ahfe1 the ,brothers arrived in ,paris1 and placarded the city with enormous posters announcing that the ,brothers ,davenport1 spirit-mediums1 would give a series of public sances at the ,salle ,herz4 ,their reputation had preceded them to ,france and the boulevardiers talked of nothing but the wonderful ,american mediums and their mysterious cabinet4 ,before exhibiting in ,paris the ,davenports visited the ,chateau de ,gennevilliers1 whose owner was an enthusiastic believer in ,spiritism1 and gave a sance before a select party of journalists and scientific men4 ,the exhibition was pronounced marvellous in the extreme and perfectly inexplicable4 ,the ,parisian press was divided on the subject of the ,davenports and their advertised sances4 ,some of the papers protested against such performances on the ground that they were dangerous to the mental health of the public1 and1 one writer said1 ,particularly to those weaker intellects which are always ready enough to accept as gospel the tricks and artifices of the adepts of sham witchcraft4 ,m4 ,edmond ,about1 the famous journalist and novelist1 in the ,opinion ,nationale1 wrote a scathing denunciation of ,spiritism1 but all to no purpose1 except to inflame public curiosity4 ,the performances of the ,davenports were divided into two parts3 7#a7 ,the light sance1 7#b7 the dark sance4 ,in the light sance a cabinet1 elevated from the stage by three trestles1 was used4 ,it was a simple wooden structure with three doors4 ,in the centre door was a lozenge-shaped window covered with a curtain4 ,upon the sides of the cabinet hung various musical instruments1 a guitar1 a violin1 horns1 tambourines1 and a big dinner bell4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #bb4 ,,the ,,davenport ,,brothers ,,in ,,their ,,cabinet4 ,a committee chosen by the audience tied the mediums' hands securely behind their backs1 fastened their legs together1 and pinioned them to their seats in the cabinet1 and to the cross rails with strong ropes4 ,the side doors were closed first1 then the center door1 but no sooner was the last fastened1 than the hands of one of the mediums were thrust through the window in the centre door4 ,in a very short time1 at a signal from the mediums1 the doors were opened1 and the ,davenports stepped forth1 with the ropes in their hands1 every knot untied1 confessedly by spirit power4 ,the astonishment of the spectators amounted to awe4 ,on an average it took ten minutes to pinion the ,brothers2 but a single minute was required for their release4 ,once more the mediums went into the cabinet1 this time with the ropes lying in a coil at their feet4 ,two minutes elapsed4 ,hey1 presto6 the doors were opened1 and the ,davenports were pronounced by the committee to be securely lashed to their seats4 ,seals were affixed to the knots in the ropes1 and the doors closed as before4 ,pandemonium reigned4 ,bells were rung1 horns blown1 tambourines thumped1 violins played1 and guitars vigorously twanged4 ,heavy rappings also were heard on the ceiling1 sides and floor of the cabinet1 then after a brief but absolute silence1 a bare hand and arm emerged from the lozenge window1 and rung the big dinner bell4 ,on opening the doors the ,brothers were found securely tied as before1 and seals intact4 ,an amusing feature of the exhibition occurred when a venturesome spectator volunteered to sit inside of the cabinet between the two mediums4 ,he came out with his coat turned inside out and his hat jammed over his eyes4 ,in the dark sance the cabinet was dispensed with and the spectators1 holding hands1 formed a ring around the mediums4 ,the lights were put out and similar phenomena took place1 with the addition of luminous hands1 and musical instruments floating in the air4 ,robert-,houdin wrote an interesting brochure on the ,davenports1 7,secrets of ,stage ,conjuring1 translated by ,prof4 ,hoffmann7 from which ,i take the following3 ,the ropes used by the ,davenport ,brothers are of a cotton fibre2 and they present therefore smooth surfaces1 adapted to slip easily one upon another4 ,gentlemen are summoned from the audience to tie the mediums4 ,now1 tell me1 is it an easy task for an amateur to tie a man up off-hand with a rope three yards long1 in a very secure way8 ,the amateur is flurried1 self-conscious1 anxious to acquit himself well of the business1 but he is a gentleman1 not a brute1 and if one of the ,brothers sees the ropes getting into a dangerous tangle1 he gives a slight groan1 as if he were being injured1 and the instantaneous impulse of the other man is to loosen the cord a trifle4 ,a fraction of an inch is an invaluable gain in the after-business of loosening the ropes4 ,sometimes the stiffening of a muscle1 the raising of a shoulder1 the crooking of a knee1 gives all the play required by the ,brothers in ridding themselves of their bonds4 ,their muscles and joints are wonderfully supple1 too2 the thumbs can be laid flat in the palm of the hand1 the hand itself rounded until it is no broader than the wrist1 and then it is easy to pull through4 ,violent wrenches send the ropes up toward the shoulder1 vigorous shakings get the legs free2 the first hand untied is thrust through the hole in the door of the cabinet1 and then returns to give aid to more serious knots on his own or his brother's person4 ,in tying themselves up the ,davenports used the slip-knot1 a sort of bow1 the ends of which have only to be pulled to be tightened or loosened4 ,this slip-knot is a very ingenious affair4 7,see ,fig4 #bc47 ,in performing the spirit-tying1 the mediums went into the cabinet with the ropes examined by the audience lying coiled at their feet4 ,the doors were closed4 ,they had concealed about their persons ropes in which these trick knots were already adjusted1 and with which they very speedily secured themselves1 having first secreted the genuine ropes4 ,then the doors were opened4 ,seals were affixed to the knots1 but this sealing1 owing to the position of the hands1 and the careful exposition of the knots did not affect the slipping of the ropes sufficiently to prevent the mediums from removing and replacing their hands4 ,illustration3 ,,no4 #bc4 ,,trick-,,tie ,,in ,,cabinet ,,work4 ,in the dark sance1 flour was sometimes placed in the pinioned hands of the ,davenports4 ,on being released from their bonds1 the flour was found undisturbed4 ,this was considered a convincing test2 for how could the ,brothers possibly manipulate the musical instruments with their hands full of flour4 ,one day a wag substituted a handful of snuff for flour1 and when the mediums were examined1 the snuff had disappeared and flour taken its place4 ,as will be understood1 in the above test the ,davenports emptied the flour from their hands into secret pockets and at the proper moment took out cornucopias of flour and filled their hands again before securing themselves in the famous slip-knots4 ,among the exposs of the ,brothers ,davenport1 ,herrmann1 the conjurer1 gives the following in the ,cosmopolitan ,magazine3 ,the ,davenports1 for thirteen years1 in ,europe and ,america1 augmented the faith in ,spiritualism4 ,unfortunately for the ,davenports they appeared at ,ithaca1 ,new ,york1 where is situated ,cornell ,university4 ,the students having a scientific trend of mind1 provided themselves before attending the performance with pyrotechnic balls containing phosphorus1 so made as to ignite suddenly with a bright light4 ,during the dark sance when the ,davenports were supposed to be bound hand and foot within the closet and when the guitars were apparently floating in the air1 the students struck their lights1 whereupon the spirits were found to be no other than the ,davenports themselves1 dodging about the stage brandishing guitars and playing tunes and waving at the same time tall poles surmounted by phosphorescent spook pictures4 ,the ,davenports had some stormy experiences in ,paris1 but managed to come through all successfully1 with plenty of ,french gold in their pockets4 ,william died in ,october1 #ahgg1 at the ,oxford ,hotel1 ,sydney1 ,australia1 having publicly denounced ,spiritualism4 ,mr4 ,fay took to raising sheep in ,australia1 while ,ira ,davenport drifted back to his old home in ,buffalo1 ,new ,york4 ,many mediums1 taking the cue from the ,davenports1 have performed the cabinet act with its accompanying rope-tying1 but the conjurers 7anti-spiritists7 have1 with the aid of mechanism1 brought the business to a high degree of perfection1 notably ,mr4 ,j4 ,nevil ,maskelyne1 of ,egyptian ,hall1 ,london1 and ,mr4 ,harry ,kellar1 of the ,united ,states4 ,writing of the ,davenport ,brothers1 ,maskelyne says3 ,the instantaneous tying and untying was simply marvellous1 and it utterly baffled everyone to discover1 until1 on one occasion1 the accidental falling of a piece of drapery from a window 7the lozenge-shaped aperture in the door of the cabinet71 at a critical moment let me into the secret4 ,i was able in a few months to reproduce every item of the ,davenports' cabinet and dark sance4 ,so close was the resemblance to the original1 that the ,spiritualist had no alternative but to claim us 7,maskelyne and ,cooke7 as most powerful spirit mediums who found it more profitable to deny the assistance of spirits4 ,robert-,houdin's explanation of the slip-knot1 used by the ,davenports in their dark sance1 is the correct one1 but he failed to fathom the mystery of the mode of release of the ,brothers after they were tied in the cabinet by a committee selected from the audience4 ,anyone trying to extricate himself from bondage a la ,houdin1 no matter how slippery and serpentine he be1 would find it exceedingly difficult4 ,it seems almost incredible1 but trickery was used in the light sance1 as well as the dark4 ,maskelyne1 as quoted above1 claimed to have penetrated the mystery1 but he kept it a profound secret--though he declared that his cabinet work was trickery4 ,the writer is indebted for an initiation into the mysteries of the ,davenport ,brothers' rope-tying to ,mr4 ,h4 ,morgan ,robinson 7,professor ,helmann71 of ,washington1 ,d4 ,c41 a very clever prestidigitateur4 ,in the year #ahie1 after an unbroken silence of nineteen years1 ,fay1 ex-assistant of the ,davenports1 determined to resume the profession of public medium4 ,he abandoned his sheep ranch and hunted up ,ira ,davenport4 ,they gave several performances in ,northern towns1 and finally landed at the ,capital of the ,nation1 in the spring of #ahie1 and advertised several sances at ,willard's ,hall4 ,a very small audience greeted them on their first appearance4 ,among the committee volunteering to go on the stage and tie the mediums were the writer and ,mr4 ,robinson4 ,after the sance the prestidigitateur fully explained the modus operandi of the mystic tie1 which is herein for the first time correctly given to the public4 ,the medium holds out his left wrist first and has it tied securely1 about the middle of the rope4 ,two members of the committee are directed to pull the ends of the cord vigorously4 ,are you confident that the knots are securely tied8 he asks2 when the committee respond yes1 he puts his hand quickly behind him1 and places against the wrist1 the wrist of his right hand1 in order that they may be pinioned together4 ,during this rapid movement he twists the rope about the knot on his left wrist1 thereby allowing enough slack cord to disengage his right hand when necessary4 ,to slip the right hand back into place is an easy matter4 ,after both hands are presumably tied1 the medium steps into the cabinet2 the ends of the rope are pushed through two holes in the chair or wooden seat1 by the committee and made fast to the medium's legs4 ,bells ring1 horns blow1 and the performer's hand is thrust through the window of the cabinet4 ,finally a gentleman is requested to enter the cabinet with the medium4 ,the doors are locked and a perfect pandemonium begins2 when they are opened the volunteer assistant tumbles out in great trepidation4 ,his hat is smashed over his eyes1 his cravat is tied around his leg1 and he is found to have on the medium's coat1 while the medium wears the gentleman's coat turned inside out4 ,it all appears very remarkable1 but the mystery is cleared up when ,i state that the innocent looking gentleman is invariably a confederate1 what conjurers call a plant1 because he is planted in the audience to volunteer for the special act4 ,ira and ,william ,davenport were tied in the manner above described4 ,often one of the ,brothers allowed himself to be genuinely pinioned1 after having received a preconcerted signal from his partner that all was right1 i4 e41 the partner had been fastened by the trick tie1 calling attention to the knots in the cord1 etc4 ,the trick tie1 however1 is so delusive1 that it is impossible to penetrate the secret in the short time allowed the committee for investigation1 and there is no special reason for permitting a genuine tie-up4 ,once in a great while1 the ,davenports were over-reached by clever committee-men and tied up so tightly that there was no getting loose4 ,where one brother failed to execute the trick and was genuinely fastened1 the other medium performed the spirit evolutions1 and cut his confrere loose before they came out of the cabinet4 ,the ,fay-,davenport revival proved a failure1 and the mediums dissolved partnership in ,washington4 ,kellar1 the magician and former assistant of the original ,davenport combination1 by a curious coincidence was giving his fine conjuring exhibition in the city at the same time4 ,his tricks far eclipsed the feeble revival of the rope-tying phenomena4 ,the fickle public crowded to see the magician and neglected the mediums4 ,,annie ,,eva ,,fay4 ,one of the most famous of the materializing mediums now exhibiting in the ,united ,states is ,annie ,eva ,fay4 ,she is quite an adept at the spirit-tying business1 and like the ,davenports1 uses a cabinet on the stage1 but her method of tying1 though clever1 is inferior to that used by the ,brothers in their balmy days4 ,in the center of the ,fay cabinet 7a plain1 curtained affair7 is a post firmly screwed to the stage4 ,the medium permits a committee of two from the audience to tie her to this post1 and seal the bandages about her wrists with court plaster4 ,she then takes her seat upon a small stool in front of the stanchion2 the musical instruments are placed on her lap1 and the curtains of the cabinet closed4 ,immediately the evidences of spirit power begin3 the bell is jingled1 the tambourine thumped1 and the sound of a horn heard1 simultaneously4 ,the ,fay method of tying is designed especially to facilitate the medium's actions4 ,cotton bandages are used1 and the committee are invited to sew the knots through and through4 ,each wrist is tied with a bandage1 about an inch and a half wide by a half yard in length2 and the medium then clasps her hands behind her1 so that her wrists are about six inches apart4 ,the committee now proceed to tie the ends of the bandages firmly together1 and1 after this is accomplished1 the dangling pieces of the bandages are clipped off4 ,it is true1 the medium is firmly bound by this process1 and it would be physically impossible for her to release herself1 without disturbing the sewing and the seals1 but it is not intended for her to release herself at all2 the method pursued being altogether different from the old species of rope-tying4 ,all being secure1 the committee are requested to pass another bandage about the short ligature between the lady's wrists1 and tie it in double square knots1 and firmly secure this to a ring in the post of the cabinet1 the medium being seated on a stool in front of the stanchion1 facing the audience4 ,her neck is likewise secured to the post by cotton bandages and her feet fastened together with a cord1 the end of which passes out of the cabinet and is held by one of the committee4 ,the peculiar manner of holding the hands1 described above1 enables the medium to secure for her use1 a ligature of knotted cloth between her hands1 some six inches long2 and the central bandage1 usually tied in four or five double knots1 gives her about two inches play between the middle of the cotton handcuffs and the ring in the post1 to which it is secured4 ,the ring is two and a half inches in diameter1 and the staple which holds it to the stanchion is a half inch4 ,the left hand of the medium gives six additional inches1 and the bandage on her wrist slips readily along her slender arm nearly half way to the elbow--all of which1 says ,john ,w4 ,truesdell1#c who was the first to expose ,miss ,fay's spirit pretensions1 gives the spirits a clear leeway of not less than #bj inches from the stanchion4 ,the moment the curtain is closed1 the medium1 under spirit influence spreads her hands as far apart as possible1 an act which stretches the knotted ligature so that the bandage about it will easily slip from the centre to either wrist2 then1 throwing her lithe form by a quick movement1 to the left1 so that her hips will pass the stanchion without moving her feet from the floor1 the spirits are able1 through the medium1 to reach whatever may have been placed upon her lap4 ,one of ,annie ,eva's most convincing tests is the accordion which plays1 after it has been bound fast with tapes and the tapes carefully sealed at every note1 so as to prevent its being performed on in the regular manner4 ,her method of operating1 though simple1 is decidedly ingenious4 ,she places a small tube in the valve-hole of the instrument1 breathes and blows alternately into it1 and then by fingering the keys1 executes an air with excellent effect4 ,sometimes she places a musical box on an oblong plate of glass suspended from the ceiling by four cords4 ,the box plays and stops at word of command1 much to the astonishment of listeners4 ,electricity1 exclaims the reader6 ,hardly so1 for the box is completely insulated on the sheet of glass4 ,then how is it done8 ,mr4 ,asprey ,vere1 an investigator of spirit phenomena1 tells the secret in the following words3 7,modern ,magic74 ,in the box there is placed a balance lever which when the glass is in the slightest degree tilted1 arrests the fly-fan1 and thus prevents the machinery from moving4 ,at the word of command the glass is made level1 and the fly-fan being released1 the machinery moves1 and a tune is played4 ,when commanded to stop1 either side of the cord is pulled by a confederate behind the scenes1 the balance lever drops1 the fly-fan is arrested1 and the music stops4 ,one of the tests presented to the ,american public by this medium is the spirit-hand1 constructed of painted wood or papier mache1 which raps out answers to questions1 after it has been isolated from all contact by being placed on a sheet of glass supported on the backs of two chairs4 ,it is a trick performed by every conjurer1 and the secret is a piece of black silk thread1 worked by confederates stationed in the wings of the theatre1 one at the right1 the other at the left4 ,the thread lies along the stage when not in use1 but at the proper cue from the medium1 it is lifted up and brought in contact with the wooden hand4 ,the hand is so constructed that the palm lies on the glass sheet and the wrist1 with a fancy lace cuff about it1 is elevated an inch above the glass1 the whole apparatus being so pivoted that a pressure of the thread from above will depress the wrist and elevate the palm4 ,when the thread is relaxed the hand comes down on the glass with a thump and makes the spirit rap which is so effective4 ,a rapping skull made on similar principles is also in vogue among mediums4 ,,charles ,,slade4 ,annie ,eva ,fay has a rival in ,charles ,slade1 who is a clever performer and a most convincing talker4 ,his cabinet test is the same as ,miss ,fay's1 but he has other specialties that are worth explaining--one is the table-raising1 and another is the spirit neck-tie4 ,the effect of the first experiment is as follows3 ,slade1 with his arms bared and coat removed1 requests several gentlemen to sit around a long table1 reserving the head for himself4 ,hands are placed on the table1 and developments awaited4 ,do you feel the table raising8 asks the medium1 after a short pause4 ,we do6 comes the response of the sitters4 ,slade then rises2 all stand up1 and the table is seen suspended in the air1 about a foot from the floor of the stage4 ,in a little while an uncontrollable desire seems to take possession of the table to rush about the stage4 ,frequently the medium requests several persons to get on the table1 but that has no effect whatever4 ,the same levitation takes place4 ,the secret of this surprising mediumistic test is very simple4 ,in the first place1 the man who sits at the foot of the table is a confederate4 ,both medium and confederate wear about their waists wide leather belts1 ribbed and strengthened with steel bands1 and supported from the shoulders by bands of leather and steel4 ,in the front of each belt is a steel hinge concealed by the vest of the wearer4 ,in the act of sitting down at the table the medium and his confederate quickly pull the hinges which catch under the top of the table when the sitters rise4 ,the rest of the trick is easily comprehended4 ,when the levitation act is finished the hinges are folded up and hidden under the vests of the performers4 ,the spirit neck-tie is one of the best things in the whole range of mediumistic marvels1 and has never to my knowledge been exposed4 ,a rope is tied about the medium's neck with the knots at the back and the ends are thrust through two holes in one side of the cabinet1 and tied in a bow knot on the outside4 ,the holes in the cabinet must be on a level with the medium's neck1 after he is seated4 ,the curtains of the cabinet are then closed1 and the committee requested to keep close watch on the bow-knot on the outside of the cabinet4 ,the assistant in a short time pulls back the curtain from the cabinet on the side farthest from the medium1 and reveals a sheeted figure which writes messages and speaks to the spectators4 ,other materializations take place4 ,the curtain is drawn4 ,at this juncture the medium is heard calling3 ,quick1 quick1 release me6 ,the assistant unfastens the bow-knot1 the ends of the rope are quickly drawn into the cabinet1 and the medium comes forward1 looking somewhat exhausted1 with the rope still tied about his neck4 ,the question resolves itself into two factors--either the medium gets loose the neck-tie and impersonates the spirits or the materializations are genuine4 ,gets loose6 ,but that is impossible1 exclaim the committee1 we watched the cord in the closest way4 ,the secret of this surprising feat lies in a clever substitution4 ,the tie is genuine1 but the medium1 after the curtains of the cabinet are closed1 cuts the cord with a sharp knife1 just about the region of the throat1 and impersonates the ghosts1 with the aid of various wigs and disguises concealed about him4 ,then he takes a second cord from his pocket1 ties it about his neck with the same number of knots as are in the original rope and twists the neck-tie around so that these knots will appear at the back of his neck4 ,now1 he exclaims1 ,quick1 quick1 unfasten the cord4 ,as soon as his assistant has untied the simple bow knot on the outside of the cabinet1 the medium quickly pulls the genuine rope into the cabinet and conceals it in his pocket4 ,when he presents himself to the spectators the rope about his neck 7presumed to be the original7 is found to be correctly tied and untampered with4 ,much of the effect depends on the rapidity with which the medium conceals the original cord and comes out of the cabinet4 ,the author has seen this trick performed in parlors1 the holes being bored in a door4 ,charles ,slade makes a great parade in his advertisements about exposing the vulgar tricks of bogus mediums1 but he says nothing about the secrets of his own pet illusions4 ,his exposs are made for the purpose of enhancing his own mediumistic marvels4 ,i insert a verbatim copy of the handbills with which he deluges the highways and byways of ,american cities and towns4 ,,slade ,will fully demonstrate the various methods employed by such renowned spiritualistic mediums as ,alex4 ,hume1 ,mrs4 ,hoffmann1 ,prof4 ,taylor1 ,chas4 ,cooke1 ,richard ,bishop1 ,dr4 ,arnold1 and various others1 ,,in ,,plain1 ,,open ,,light4 ,every possible means will be used to enlighten the auditor as to whether these so-called wonders are enacted through the aid of spirits or are the result of natural agencies4 ,,such ,,phenomena ,,as ,spirit ,materializations1 ,marvelous ,superhuman ,visions1 ,spiritualistic ,rappings1 ,slate ,writing1 ,spirit ,pictures1 ,floating ,tables and ,chairs1 ,remarkable ,test of the ,human ,mind1 ,second ,sight ,mysteries1 ,a ,human ,being ,isolated from ,surrounding ,objects ,floating in ,mid-,air4 ,committees will be selected by the audience to assist ,,slade1 and to report their views as to the why and wherefore of the many strange things that will be shown during the evening4 ,this is done so that every person attending may learn the truth regarding the tests1 whether they are genuine1 or caused by expert trickery4 ,do not class or confound ,,slade with the numerous so-called spirit mediums and spiritual exposers that travel through the country1 like a set of roaming vampires1 seeking whom they may devour4 ,it is ,,slade',s object in coming to your city to enlighten the people one way or the other as to the real ,,truth ,,concerning ,,these ,,mysteries4 ,scientific men1 and many great men1 have believed there was a grain of essential truth in the claims of ,spiritualism4 ,it was believed more on the account of the want of power to deny it than anything else4 ,the idea that under some strained and indefinable possibilities the spirit of the mortal man may communicate with the spirit of the departed man is something that the great heart of humanity is prone to believe1 as it has faith in future existence4 ,no skeptic will deny any man's right to such a belief1 but this little grain of hope has been the foundation for such extensive and heartless mediumistic frauds that it is constantly losing ground4 ,a ,,night ,,of ,wonderful ,manifestations ,,the ,,veil ,,drawn ,so that all may have an insight into the ,,spirit ,,world ,and behold many things that are ,strange and ,startling4 ,the ,clergy1 the ,press1 ,learned ,synods and ,councils1 ,sage ,philosophers and ,scientists1 in fact1 the whole world have proclaimed these ,philosophical ,idealisms to be an astounding ,,fact4 ,,you ,,are ,,brought ,face to ,face with the ,spirits4 ,a ,,small ,,admission ,,will ,,be ,,charged ,,to ,,defray ,,expenses4 ,,pierre ,l4 ,o4 ,a4 ,,keeler4 ,pierre ,keeler's fame as a producer of spirit phenomena rests largely upon his materializing sances4 ,it was his materializations that received the particular attention of the ,seybert ,commission4 ,the late ,mr4 ,henry ,seybert1 who was an ardent believer in modern ,spiritualism1 presented to the ,university of ,pennsylvania a sum of money to found a chair of philosophy1 with the proviso that the ,university should appoint a commission to investigate all systems of morals1 religion or philosophy which assume to represent the truth1 and particularly of modern ,spiritualism4 ,the following gentlemen were accordingly appointed1 and began their investigations3 ,dr4 ,william ,pepper1 ,dr4 ,joseph ,leidy1 ,dr4 ,george ,a4 ,koenig1 ,prof4 ,r4 ,e4 ,thompson1 ,prof4 ,george ,s4 ,fullerton1 and ,dr4 ,horace ,h4 ,furness4 ,subsequently others were added to the commission--,dr4 ,coleman ,sellers1 ,dr4 ,james ,w4 ,white1 ,dr4 ,calvin ,b4 ,kneer1 and ,dr4 ,s4 ,weir ,mitchell4 ,dr4 ,pepper1 ,provost of the ,university1 was ex-officio chairman2 ,dr4 ,furness1 acting chairman1 and ,prof4 ,fullerton1 secretary4 ,keeler's materializations are thus described in the report of the commission3 ,on ,may #bg the ,seybert commission held a meeting at the house of ,mr4 ,furness at #h p4 m41 to examine the phenomena occurring in the presence of ,mr4 ,pierre ,l4 ,o4 ,a4 ,keeler1 a professional medium4 ,the medium1 ,mr4 ,keeler1 is a young man1 with well cut features1 curly brown hair1 a small sandy mustache1 and rather worn and anxious expression2 he is strongly built1 about #e feet #h inches high1 and with rather short1 quite broad1 and very muscular hands and strong wrists4 ,the hands were examined by ,dr4 ,pepper and ,mr4 ,fullerton after the sance4 ,the sance was held in ,mr4 ,furness' drawing-room1 and a space was curtained off by the medium in the northeast corner1 thus1 7,fig4 #be73 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #be4 ,,pierre ,,keeler',s ,,cabinet ,,seance4 ,the curtain is represented by ,a1 ,b2 ,c1 ,d and ,e are three chairs1 placed in front of the curtain by the medium1 in one of which 7,e7 he afterwards sat2 ,g denotes the position of ,mrs4 ,keeler2 ,f is a small table1 placed within the curtain1 and upon which was a tambourine1 a guitar1 two bells1 a hammer1 a metallic ring2 the stars show the positions of the spectators1 who sat in a double row--the two stars at the top facing the letter ,a indicate the positions taken by ,mrs4 ,kase and ,col4 ,kase1 friends of ,mr4 ,keeler1 according to the directions of the medium4 ,the curtain1 or rather curtains1 were of black muslin1 and arranged as follows3 ,there was a plain black curtain1 which was stretched across the corner1 falling to the floor4 ,its height1 when in position1 was #ec inches2 it was made thus3 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #bf4 ,,pierre ,,keeler',s ,,cabinet ,,curtain4 ,the cord which held the curtain was #a1 #b1 and the flaps which are represented as standing above it 7,a1 ,b1 ,c1 etc471 fell down over ,a#a1 ,b#a1 ,c#a1 etc41 and could be made to cover the shoulders of one sitting with his back against the curtain4 ,a black curtain was also pinned against the wall1 in the space curtained off1 partly covering it4 ,another curtain was added to the one pictured1 as will be described presently4 ,the medium asked ,col4 ,kase to say a few words as to the necessity of observing the conditions1 need of harmony1 etc4 ,and then the medium himself spoke a few words of similar import4 ,he then drew the curtain along the cord 7#a1 #b17 and fastened it2 placed three wooden chairs in front of the curtain1 as indicated in the diagram1 and1 saying he needed to form a battery1 asked ,miss ,agnes ,irwin to sit in chair ,d1 and ,mr4 ,yost in chair ,c1 the medium himself sitting in chair ,e4 ,a black curtain was then fastened by ,mrs4 ,keeler over ,mr4 ,keeler1 ,miss ,irwin and ,mr4 ,yost1 being fastened at ,g1 between ,e and ,d1 between ,d and ,c1 and beyond ,a2 thus entirely covering the three sitting in front of the stretched curtain up to their necks2 and when the flaps before mentioned were pulled down over their shoulders1 nothing could be seen but the head of each4 ,before the last curtain was fastened over them1 the medium placed both his hands upon the forearm and wrist of ,miss ,irwin1 the sleeve being pulled up for the purpose1 and ,miss ,irwin grasped with her right hand the left wrist of ,mr4 ,yost1 his right hand being in sight to the right of the curtain4 ,after some piano music the medium said he felt no power from this 'battery1' and asked ,mrs4 ,e4 ,d4 ,gillespie to take ,miss ,irwin's place4 ,hands and curtains were arranged as before4 ,the lights were turned down until the room was quite dim4 ,during the singing the medium turned to speak to ,mr4 ,yost1 and his body1 which had before faced rather away from the two other persons of the 'battery' 7which position would have brought his right arm out in front of the stretched curtain71 was now turned the other way1 so that had he released his grasp upon ,mrs4 ,gillespie's arm1 his own right arm could have had free play in the curtained space behind him4 ,his left knee also no longer stood out under the curtain in front1 but showed a change of position4 ,at this time ,mrs4 ,gillespie declared she felt a touch1 and soon after so did ,mr4 ,yost4 ,the medium's body was distinctly inclined toward ,mr4 ,yost at this time4 ,mrs4 ,gillespie said she felt taps1 but declared that1 to the best of her knowledge1 she still felt the medium's two hands upon her arm4 ,raps indicated that the spirit1 ,george ,christy1 was present4 ,as one of those present played on the piano1 the tambourine was played in the curtained space and thrown over the curtain2 bells were rung2 the guitar was thrummed a little4 ,at this time the medium's face was toward ,mrs4 ,gillespie1 and his right side toward the curtain4 ,his body was further in against the curtain than either of the others4 ,upon being asked1 ,mrs4 ,gillespie then said she thought she still felt two hands upon her arm4 ,the guitar was then thrust out1 at least the end of it was1 at the bottom of the curtain1 between ,mrs4 ,gillespie and the medium4 ,mrs4 ,keeler drawing the curtain from over the toes of the medium's boots1 to show where his feet were2 the guitar was thrummed a little4 ,had the medium's right arm been free the thrumming could have been done quite easily with one hand4 ,afterward the guitar was elevated above the curtain2 the tambourine1 which was by ,mrs4 ,keeler placed upon a stick held up within the inclosure1 was made to whirl by the motion of the stick4 ,the phenomena occurred successively1 not simultaneously4 ,when the guitar was held up1 and when the tambourine was made to whirl1 both of these were to the right of the medium1 chiefly behind ,mrs4 ,gillespie2 they were just where they might have been produced by the right arm of the medium1 had it been free4 ,two clothes-pins were then passed over the curtain1 and they were used in drumming to piano music4 ,they could easily be used in drumming by one hand alone1 the fingers being thrust into them4 ,the pins were afterward thrown out over the curtain4 ,mr4 ,sellers picked one up as soon as it fell1 and found it warm in the split1 as though it had been worn4 ,the drumming was probably upon the tambourine4 ,a hand was seen moving rapidly with a trembling motion--which prevented it from being clearly observed--above the back curtain1 between ,mr4 ,yost and ,mrs4 ,gillespie4 ,paper was passed over the curtain into the cabinet and notes were soon thrown out4 ,the notes could have been written upon the small table within the enclosure by the right hand of the medium1 had it been free4 ,mrs4 ,keeler then passed a coat over the curtain1 and an arm was passed through the sleeve1 the fingers1 with the cuff around them being shown over the curtain4 ,they were kept moving1 and a close scrutiny was not possible4 ,mr4 ,furness was then invited to hold a writing tablet in front of the curtain1 when the hand1 almost concealed by the coat-sleeve and the flaps mentioned as attached to the curtain1 wrote with a pencil on the tablet4 ,the writing was rapid1 and the hand1 when not writing1 was kept in constant1 tremulous motion4 ,the hand was put forth1 in this case not over the top curtain1 but came from under the flap1 and could easily have been the medium's right hand were it disengaged1 for it was about on a level with his shoulder and to his right1 between him and ,mrs4 ,gillespie4 ,mr4 ,furness was allowed to pass his hand close to the curtain and grasp the hand for a moment4 ,it was a right hand4 ,soon after the medium complained of fatigue1 and the sitting was discontinued4 ,it was declared by the ,spiritualists present to be a fairly successful sance4 ,when the curtains were removed the small table in the enclosure was found to be overturned1 and the bells1 hammer1 etc41 on the floor4 ,it is interesting to note the space within which all the manifestations occurred4 ,they were1 without exception1 where they would have been had they been produced by the medium's right arm4 ,nothing happened to the left of the medium1 nor very far over to the right4 ,the sphere of activity was between the medium and ,mr4 ,yost1 and most of the phenomena occurred1 as1 for example1 the whirling of the tambourine1 behind ,mrs4 ,gillespie4 ,the front curtain--that is1 the main curtain which hung across the corner--was #he inches in length1 and the cord which supported it #ec inches from the floor4 ,the three chairs which were placed in front of it were side by side1 and it would not have been difficult for the medium to reach across and touch ,mr4 ,yost4 ,when ,mrs4 ,keeler passed objects over the curtain1 she invariably passed them to the right of the medium1 although her position was on his left2 and the clothes-pins1 paper1 pencil1 etc41 were all passed over at a point where the medium's right hand could easily have reached them4 ,to have produced the phenomena by using his right hand the medium would have had to pass it under the curtain at his back4 ,this curtain was not quite hidden by the front one at the end1 near the medium1 and this end both ,mr4 ,sellers and ,dr4 ,pepper saw rise at the beginning of the sance4 ,the only thing worthy of consideration1 as opposed to a natural explanation of the phenomena1 was the grasp of the medium's hand on ,mrs4 ,gillespie's arm4 ,the grasp was evidently a tight one above the wrist1 for the arm was bruised for about four inches4 ,there was no evidence of a similar pressure above that1 as the marks on the arm extended in all about five or six inches only4 ,the pressure was sufficient to destroy the sensibility of the forearm1 and it is doubtful whether ,mrs4 ,gillespie1 with her arm in such a condition could distinguish between the grasp of one hand1 with a divided pressure 7applied by the two last fingers and the thumb and index7 and a double grip by two hands4 ,three of our number1 ,mr4 ,sellers1 ,mr4 ,furness1 and ,dr4 ,white1 can1 with one hand1 perfectly simulate the double grip4 ,it is specially worthy of note that ,mrs4 ,gillespie declared that1 when the medium first laid hold of her arms with his right hand before the curtain was put over them1 it was with an undergrip1 and she felt his right arm under her left4 ,but when the medium asked her if she felt both his hands upon her arm1 and she said1 yes1 she could feel the grasp1 but no arm under hers1 though she moved her elbow around to find it--she felt a hand1 but not an arm1 and at no time during the sance did she find that arm4 ,it should be noted that both the medium and ,mr4 ,yost took off their coats before being covered with the curtain4 ,it was suggested by ,dr4 ,pepper that this might have been required by the medium as a precaution against movements on the part of ,mr4 ,yost4 ,the white shirt-sleeves would have shown against the black background4 ,i attended a number of ,keeler's materializing exhibitions in ,washington1 ,d4 ,c41 in the spring of #ahie1 and it is my opinion that the writing of his so-called spirit messages is a simple affair1 the very long and elaborate ones being written before the sance begins and the short ones by the medium during the sitting4 ,the latter are done in a scrawling1 uncertain hand1 just such penmanship one would execute when blindfolded4 ,the evidence of ,dr4 ,g4 ,h4 ,la ,fetra1 of ,washington1 ,d4 ,c41 is sufficiently convincing on this point4 ,said ,dr4 ,la ,fetra to me3 ,some years ago ,i went with a friend1 ,col4 ,edward ,hayes1 to one of ,mr4 ,keeler's light sances4 ,it was rather early in the evening1 and but few persons had assembled4 ,upon the mantel piece of the sance-room were several tablets of paper4 ,unobserved1 ,i took up these tablets1 one at a time1 and drew the blade of my pen-knife across one end of each of them1 so that ,i might identify the slips of paper torn therefrom by the nicks in them4 ,in a little while1 the room was filled with people1 and the sance began2 the gas being lowered to a dim religious light4 ,when the time came for the writing1 ,mr4 ,keeler requested that some of the tablets of paper on the mantel be passed into the cabinet4 ,this was done4 ,various persons present received 'spirit' communications1 the slips of paper being thrown over the curtain of the cabinet by a 'materialized' hand4 ,some gentleman picked up the papers and read them1 for the benefit of the spectators2 afterwards he laid aside those not claimed by anybody4 ,some of these 'spirit' communications covered almost an entire slip4 ,these were carefully written1 some of them in a fine hand4 ,the short messages were roughly scrawled4 ,after the sance1 ,col4 ,hayes and myself quietly pocketed a dozen or more of the slips4 ,the next morning at my office we carefully examined them4 ,in every instance1 we found that the well-written1 lengthy messages were inscribed on unnicked slips1 the short ones being written on nicked slips4 ,to me1 this evidence of ,dr4 ,la ,fetra seems most conclusive1 proving beyond the shadow of a doubt that ,keeler prepared his long communications before the sance and had them concealed upon his person1 throwing them out of the cabinet at the proper moment4 ,he used the nicked tablets for his short messages1 written on the spot1 thereby completely revealing his method of operating to the ingenious investigator4 ,the late ,dr4 ,leonard ,caughey1 of ,baltimore1 ,maryland1 an intimate friend of the writer1 made a specialty of anti-,spiritualistic tricks1 and among others performed this cabinet test of ,keeler's4 ,he bought the secret from a broken-down medium for a few dollars1 and added to it certain effects of his own1 that far surpassed any of ,keeler's4 ,the writer has seen ,dr4 ,caughey give the tests1 and create the utmost astonishment4 ,his improvement on the trick consisted in the use of a spring clasp like those used by gentlemen bicycle riders to keep their trousers in at the ankles4 ,one end terminated in a soft rubber or chamois skin tip1 shaped like a thumb1 the other end had four representations of fingers4 ,two wire rings were soldered on the back of the clasp4 ,this apparatus he had concealed under his vest4 ,before the curtain of the cabinet was drawn1 ,dr4 ,caughey grasped the arm of the lady on his right in the following manner3 ,the thumb of his left hand under her wrist1 the fingers extended above it2 the thumb of his right hand resting on the thumb of the left1 the fingers lightly resting on the fingers of the left hand4 ,as soon as the curtain was fastened he extended the fourth and index fingers of the left hand to the fullest extent and pressed hard upon the lady's arm1 relaxing at the same time the pressure of his second and third fingers4 ,this movement exactly simulates the grasp of two hands1 and enables the medium to take away his right hand altogether4 ,dr4 ,caughey then took his spring clasp1 opened it by inserting his thumb and first finger in the soldered rings above mentioned1 and lightly fastened it on the lady's arm near the wrist1 relaxing the pressure of the first and fourth fingers of the left hand at the same moment4 ,i will slide my right hand along your arm1 and grasp you near the elbow4 ,it will relieve the pressure about your wrist2 besides be more convincing to you that there is no trickery4 ,so saying1 he quickly slid the apparatus along her arm1 and left it in the position spoken of4 ,this produces a perfect illusion1 the clasp with its trick thumb and fingers working to perfection4 ,this apparatus may also be used in the following manner3 ,roll up your sleeves and exhibit your hands to the sitter4 ,tell him you are going to stand behind him and grasp his arms firmly near the shoulders4 ,take your position immediately under the gas jet4 ,ask him to please lower the light4 ,produce the trick clasps1 distend them by means of your thumbs and fingers1 and after the gas is lowered1 grasp the sitter in the manner described4 ,remove your fingers and thumbs lightly from the clasps and perform various mediumistic evolutions1 such as writing a message on a pad or slate placed on the sitter's head2 strike him gently on his cheek with a damp glove1 etc4 ,when the sance is over1 insert your fingers and thumbs in the soldered rings1 remove the clasps and conceal them quickly4 ,,eusapia ,,paladino4 ,the materializing medium who has caused the greatest sensation since ,home's death is ,eusapia ,paladino1 an ,italian peasant woman4 ,signor ,damiani1 of ,florence1 ,italy1 discovered her alleged psychical powers in #ahge1 and brought her into notice4 ,an ,italian ,count was so impressed with the manifestations witnessed in the presence of the illiterate peasant woman1 that he insisted upon a commission of scientific men being called to investigate them4 ,in the year #ahhd1 this commission held sances with ,eusapia1 and afterwards declared that the phenomena witnessed were inexplicable1 and unquestionably the result of forces transcending ordinary experience4 ,in the year #ahib another commission was formed in ,milan to test ,eusapia's powers as a medium1 and from this period her fame dates1 as the most remarkable psychic of modern times4 ,the report drawn up by this commission was signed by ,giovanni ,schiaparelli1 director of the ,astronomical ,observatory1 ,milan2 ,carl du ,prel1 doctor of philosophy1 ,munich2 ,angelo ,brofferio1 professor of physics in the ,royal ,school of ,agriculture1 ,portici2 ,g4 ,b4 ,ermacora1 doctor of physics2 ,giorgio ,finzi1 doctor of physics4 ,at some of the sittings were present ,charles ,richet and the famous ,cesare ,lombroso4 ,the conclusion arrived at by these gentlemen was that ,eusapia's mediumistic phenomena were most worthy of scientific attention1 and were unfathomable4 ,the medium reaped the benefit of this notoriety1 and gave sittings to hundreds of investigators among the ,italian nobility1 charging as high as #ejj for a single sance4 ,at last she was exposed by a clever ,american1 ,dr4 ,richard ,hodgson1 of ,boston1 secretary of the ,american branch of the ,society for ,psychical ,research4 ,his account of the affair1 communicated to the ,new ,york ,herald1 ,jan4 #aj1 #ahig1 is very interesting4 ,speaking of the report of the ,milan commission1 he says3 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #bg4 ,,eusapia ,,paladino4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #bh4 ,,eusapia ,,before ,,the ,,scientists4 ,their report confessed to seeing and hearing many strange things1 although they believed they had the hands and feet of the psychic so closely held that she could have had nothing to do with the manifestations4 ,chairs were moved1 bells were rung1 imprints of fingers were made on smoked paper and soft clay1 apparitions of hands appeared on slightly luminous backgrounds1 the chair of the medium and the medium herself were lifted to the table1 the sound of trumpets1 the contact of a seemingly human face1 the touch of human hands1 warm and moist1 all were felt4 ,most of these phenomena were repeated1 and the members of the commission were1 with two exceptions1 satisfied that no known power could have produced them4 ,professor ,richet did not sign the report1 but induced ,signora ,eusapia to go to an island he owned in the ,mediterranean1 where other exacting tests were made under other scientific eyes4 ,the investigators all agreed that the demonstrations could not be accounted for by ordinary forces4 ,i have found in my experience that learned scientific men are the most easily duped of any in the world4 ,instead of having a cold1 inert piece of matter to investigate by exact processes and microscopic inspections1 they had a clever1 bright woman doing her best to mystify them4 ,they could not cope with her4 ,professor ,richet replied to an article ,i wrote1 upholding his position1 and brought ,signora ,eusapia ,paladino to ,cambridge1 ,england1 where ,i joined the investigating committee4 ,in the party were ,professor ,lodge1 of ,liverpool2 ,professor ,f4 ,m4 ,c4 ,meyer1 secretary of the ,british ,society for ,psychical ,research2 ,professor ,richet and ,mr4 ,henry ,sedgwick1 president of the society4 ,i found that the psychic1 though giving a great variety of events1 confined them to a very limited scope4 ,she was seated during the tests at the end of a rectangular table and when the table was lifted it rose up directly at the other end4 ,it was always so arranged that she was in the dark1 even if the rest of the table was in the light2 in the so-called light sances it was not light1 the lamp being placed in an adjoining room4 ,there were touches1 punches and blows given1 minor objects moved1 some near and some further away2 the outline of faces and hands appeared1 etc4 ,when ,i came to hold her hands ,i found a key to the mystery4 ,it was chiefly that she made one hand and one foot do the work of both1 by adroit substitution4 ,given a free hand and a free foot1 and nearly all the phenomena can be explained4 ,she has very strong1 supple hands1 with deft fingers and great coolness and intelligence4 ,this is the way she substituted one hand for both4 ,she placed one of her hands over ,a's hand and the other under ,b's hand4 ,then1 in the movements of the arms during the manifestation1 she worked her hands toward each other until they rested one upon the other1 with ,a's hand at the bottom of the pile1 ,b's at the top and both her own1 one upon the other1 between4 ,to draw out one hand and leave one and yet have the investigators feel that they still had a hand was easy4 ,with this hand free and in darkness there were great possibilities4 ,there were strings1 also1 as ,i believe1 which were attached to different objects and moved them4 ,the dim outlines of faces and hands seen were clever representations of the medium's own free hand in various shapes4 ,it is thought that if a medium was kept clapping her hands she could do nothing with them1 but one of the investigators found the ,signora slapping her face with one hand1 producing just the same sound as if her hands met1 while the other hand was free to produce mysterious phenomena4 ,i have tried the experiment of shifting hands when those who held them knew they were going to be tricked1 and yet they did not discover when ,i made the exchange4 ,i am thoroughly satisfied that ,signora ,eusapia ,paladino is a clever trickster4 ,eusapia ,paladino was by no means disconcerted by ,dr4 ,hodgson's expos1 but continued giving her sances4 ,at the present writing she is continuing them in ,france with a number of new illusions4 ,many who have had sittings with her declare that she is able to move heavy objects without contact4 ,possibly this is due to jugglery1 or it may be due to some psychic force as yet not understood4 ,f4 ,w4 ,,tabor4 ,mr4 ,f4 ,w4 ,tabor is a materializing medium whose specialty is the trumpet test for the production of spirit voices4 ,i had a sitting with him at the house of ,mr4 ,x1 of ,washington1 ,d4 ,c41 on the night of ,jan4 #aj1 #ahig4 ,seven persons1 including the medium1 sat around an ordinary-sized table in ,mr4 ,x--'s drawing room1 and formed a chain of hands1 in the following manner3 ,each person placed his or her hands on the table with the thumbs crossed1 and the little fingers of each hand touching the little fingers of the sitters on the right and left4 ,a musical box was set going and the light was turned out by ,mr4 ,x--1 who broke the circle for that purpose1 but immediately resumed his old position at the table4 ,a large speaking trumpet of tin about three feet long had been placed upright in the center of the table1 and near it was a pad of paper1 and pencils4 ,we waited patiently for some little time1 the monotony being relieved by operatic airs from the music box1 and the singing of hymns by the sitters4 ,there were convulsive twitchings of the hands and feet of the medium1 who complained of tingling sensations in those members4 ,the first phenomena produced were balls of light dancing like will-o'-the-wisps over the table1 and the materialization of a luminous spirit hand4 ,taps upon the table signalled the arrival of ,mr4 ,tabor's spirit control1 ,jim1 a little newsboy1 of ,san ,francisco1 who was run over some years ago by a street car4 ,the medium was the first person who picked up the wounded waif and endeavored to administer to him1 but without avail4 ,jim died soon after1 and his disembodied spirit became the medium's control4 ,soon the trumpet arose from the table and floated over the heads of the sitters1 and the voice of ,jim was heard1 sepulchral and awe-inspiring1 through the instrument4 ,subsequently1 messages of an impersonal character were communicated to ,mr4 ,x-- and his wife4 ,at one time the trumpet was heard knocking against the chandelier4 ,during the sance several of the ladies experienced the clasp of a ghostly hand about their wrists1 and considerable excitement was occasioned thereby4 ,it is not a difficult matter to explain this trumpet test4 ,it hinges on one fact1 freedom of the medium's right hand6 ,in all of these holding tests1 the medium employs a subterfuge to release his hands without the knowledge of the sitter on his right4 ,during his convulsive twitchings1 he quickly jerks his right hand away1 but immediately extends the fingers of his left hand1 and connects the index fingers with the little finger of the sitter's left hand1 thereby completing the chain1 or battery1 as it is technically called4 ,were the medium to use his thumb in making the connection the secret would be revealed1 but the index finger of his left hand sufficiently simulates a little finger1 and in the darkness the sitter is deceived4 ,the right hand once released1 the medium manipulates the trumpet and the phosphorescent spirit hands to his heart's content4 ,sometimes he utilizes the telescopic rod1 or a pair of steel crazy tongs1 to elevate the trumpet to the ceiling4 ,this holding test is absurdly simple and perhaps for that reason is so convincing4 ,mr4 ,tabor has another method of holding which is far more deceptive than the above4 ,i am indebted to the ,revelations of a ,spirit ,medium for an explanation of this test4 ,the investigators are seated in a circle around the table1 male and female alternating4 ,the person sitting on the medium's right--for he sits in the circle--grasps the medium's right wrist in his left hand1 while his own right wrist is held by the sitter on his right and this is repeated clear around the circle4 ,this makes each sitter hold the right wrist of his left hand neighbor in his left hand1 while his own right hand wrist is held in the left hand of his neighbor on the left4 ,each one's hands are thus secured and engaged1 including the medium's4 ,it will be seen that no one of the sitters can have the use of his or her hands without one or the other of their neighbors knowing it4 ,as each hand was held by a separate person1 you cannot understand how he the medium could get the use of either of them except the one on his right was a confederate4 ,such was not the case1 and still he did have the use of one hand1 the right one4 ,but how8 ,he took his place before the light was turned down1 and those holding him say he did not let go for an instant during the sance4 ,he did though1 after the light was turned out for the purpose of getting his handkerchief to blow his nose4 ,after blowing his nose he requested the sitter to again take his wrist1 which is done1 but this time it is the wrist of the left hand instead of the right4 ,he has crossed his legs and there is but one knee to be felt1 hence the sitter on the right does not feel that she is reaching across the right knee and thinks it is the left knee which she does feel to be the right4 ,he has let his hand slip down until instead of holding the sitter on his left by the wrist he has him by the fingers1 thus allowing him a little more distance1 and preventing the left hand sitter using the hand to feel about and discover the right hand sitter's hand on the wrist of the hand holding his4 ,you will see1 now1 that although both sitters are holding the same hand each one thinks he is holding the one on his or her side of the medium4 ,the balance of the sance is easy4 ,an amusing incident happened during my sitting with ,mr4 ,tabor4 ,growing somewhat weary waiting for him to manifest1 ,i determined to undertake some materializations on my own account4 ,i adopted the subterfuge of getting my right hand loose from the lady on my right1 and produced the spirit hand that clasped the wrist of several of the sitters in the circle4 ,mr4 ,x-- asked ,jim if everything was all right in the circle1 every hand promptly joined1 and the magnetic conditions perfect4 ,jim responded with three affirmative taps on the table top4 ,i congratulate myself on having deceived ,jim1 a spirit operating in the fourth dimension of space1 and supposedly cognizant of all that was transpiring at the sance4 ,once1 when the medium was floating the trumpet over my head1 ,i grasped the instrument and dashed it on the table4 ,he made no further attempt to manipulate the trumpet in my direction1 and very shortly brought the sance to a close4 ,no written communications were received during the evening4 #d4 ,spirit ,photography4 ,you may deceive the human eye1 say the advocates of spirit materializations1 but you cannot deceive the eye of science1 the photographic camera4 ,then they triumphantly produce the spirit photograph as indubitable evidence of the reality of ghostly materializations4 ,spirit photography1 says the late ,alexandre ,herrmann1 in an article on magic1 published in the ,cosmopolitan ,magazine1 was the invention of a man in ,london1 and for ten years ,spiritualists accepted the pictures as genuine representations of originals in the spirit land4 ,the snap kodak has superseded the necessity of the explanation of spirit photography4 ,to be more explicit1 there are two ways of producing spirit photographs1 by double printing and by double exposure4 ,in the first1 the scene is printed from one negative1 and the spirit printed in from another4 ,in the second method1 the group with the friendly spook in proper position is arranged1 and the lens of the camera uncovered1 half of the required exposure being given2 then the lens is capped1 and the person doing duty as the sheeted ghost gets out of sight1 and the exposure is completed4 ,the result is very effective when the picture is printed1 the real persons being represented sharp and well defined1 while the ghost is but a hazy outline1 transparent1 through which the background shows4 ,every one interested in psychic phenomena who makes a pilgrimage to the ,capital of the ,nation visits the house of ,dr4 ,theodore ,hansmann4 ,for ten years ,dr4 ,hansmann has been an ardent student of ,spiritualism1 and has had sittings with many celebrated mediums4 ,the walls of his office are literally covered with spirit pictures of famous people of history1 executed by spirits under supposed test conditions4 ,there are drawings in color by ,raphael1 ,michel ,angelo1 and others4 ,in one corner of the room is a book-case filled with slates1 upon the surfaces of which are messages from the famous dead1 attested by their signatures4 ,in the fall of #ahie1 a correspondent of the ,new ,york ,herald interviewed ,doctor ,hansmann on the subject of spirit photographs1 and subsequently visited the ,united ,states ,bureau of ,ethnology1 where an interview was had with ,mr4 ,dinwiddie1 an expert photographer4 ,here is the substance of this second interview1 published in the ,herald1 ,nov4 #i1 #ahie4 ,dr4 ,hansmann's collection of 'spirit' photographs is most interesting4 ,there is one with the face of the ,empress ,josephine1 and on the same plate is the head of ,professor ,darius ,lyman1 for a long time ,chief of the ,bureau of ,navigation4 ,the head of the ,empress ,josephine has a diadem around it1 and the lights and shadows remind one of the well known portrait of her4 ,on another plate are ,grant and ,lincoln1 ,among his other photographs ,dr4 ,hansmann brought out one of a man who was described to me as an ,indian agent4 ,around his head were eleven smaller 'spirit' heads of ,indians4 ,in looking at the blue print closely it seemed to me as if ,i had seen those identical heads--the same as to light1 shade and posing--somewhere before4 ,i was aided at the ,bureau of ,ethnology of the ,smithsonian ,institution by ,mr4 ,f4 ,webb ,hodge1 the acting director1 who on looking at the blue print named the ,indians directly2 several of the pictures were of ,indians still alive4 ,this1 of course1 immediately disposed of the idea of the blue print ,indians being spirits4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #bi--,,spirit ,,photograph4 ,taken by the ,author4 ,moreover1 ,mr4 ,dinwiddie produced the negatives containing the identical portraits of these ,indians and made me several proofs1 which on a comparison1 feature by feature1 light for light1 and shade for shade1 show unquestionably that the faces on the blue print are copies of the portraits made by the photographer of the ,bureau of ,ethnology4 ,mr4 ,dinwiddie asked me to sit down for awhile1 and offered to make me some spirit photographs4 ,this he did1 and the results obtained may be considered as far better examples of the art of 'spirit' photography than those of the medium1 ,keeler4 ,the matter was very simply done4 ,mr4 ,dinwiddie asked one of the ladies from the office to come in1 and1 she consented to pose as a spirit4 ,she was placed before the camera at a distance of about six feet1 a red background was given her1 so that it might photograph dark1 and she was asked to put on a saintly expression4 ,this she did1 and ,mr4 ,dinwiddie gave the plate a half-second exposure4 ,another head was taken on the other side of the plate in much the same manner4 ,after this was done the other or central photograph was taken with an exposure of four seconds1 the plate being rather sensitive4 ,the plate was then taken to the dark room and developed4 ,the negative came out very well at first1 and the halo was put on afterward1 when the plate had been dried4 ,the halo was made by rubbing vignetting paste on the back1 thus shutting out the light and leaving the paper its original hue4 ,the white shadowy heads which are frequently shown in black coats1 and which the mediums claim cannot be explained1 are also done in this manner with vignetting paste1 the picture being afterward centred over these places1 which will be white1 the final result showing soft and indefinite1 and giving the required spiritual look4 ,mr4 ,dinwiddie did not attempt to produce the hazy effect1 but this is very easily accomplished in the photograph by taking the spirit heads a trifle out of focus4 ,he claims that all of these apparent spiritual manifestations are but tricks of photography1 and ones which might be accomplished by the veriest tyro1 if he were to study the matter1 and give his time to the experiment4 ,it is only a wonder that the mediums do not do more of it4 ,the photograph mediums have always claimed that they were set upon by photographers for business reasons1 but ,mr4 ,dinwiddie is employed by the government and has no interests whatever in such a dispute4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #cj--,,spirit ,,photograph ,,by ,,pretended ,,medium4 ,the eminent authority on photography1 ,mr4 ,walter ,e4 ,woodbury1 gives many interesting exposes of mediumistic photographs in his work1 ,photographic ,amusements1 which the student of the subject would do well to consult4 ,fig4 #cj1 taken from ,photographic ,amusements is a reproduction of a spirit photograph made by a photographer claiming to be a medium4 ,says ,mr4 ,woodbury3 ,fortunately1 however1 we were in this case able to expose the fraud4 ,mr4 ,w4 ,m4 ,murray1 a prominent member of the ,society of ,amateur ,photographers of ,new ,york1 called our attention to the similarity between one of the 'spirit' images and a portrait painting by ,sichel1 the artist4 ,a reproduction of the picture 7,fig #ca7 is given herewith1 and it will be seen at once that the 'spirit' image is copied from it4 #e4 ,thought ,photography4 ,during the year #ahif considerable stir was created by the investigation of ,dr4 ,hippolyte ,baraduc1 of ,paris1 in the line of ,thought ,photography1 which is of interest to psychic investigators generally4 ,dr4 ,baraduc claimed to have gotten photographic impressions of his thoughts1 made without sunlight or electricity or contact of any material kind4 ,these impressions he declared to be subjective1 being his own personal vibrations1 the result of a force emanating from the human personality1 supra-mechanical1 or spiritual4 ,the experiments were carried on in a dark room1 and according to his statement were highly successful4 ,in a communication to an ,american correspondent1 printed in the ,new ,york ,herald1 ,january #c1 #ahig1 he writes3 ,i have discovered a human1 invisible light1 differing altogether from the cathode rays discovered by ,prof4 ,roentgen4 ,dr4 ,baraduc advanced the theory that our souls must be considered as centers of luminous forces1 owing their existence partly to the attraction and partly to the repulsion of special and potent forces bred of the invisible cosmos4 ,a number of ,french scientific journals took up the matter1 and discussed ,thought ,photography at length1 publishing numerous reproductions of the physician's photographs2 but the more conservative journals of ,england1 ,germany and ,america remained silent on the subject1 as it seemed to be on the borderland between science and charlatanry4 ,on ,january #aa1 #ahig1 the ,american newspapers contained an item to the effect that ,drs4 ,s4 ,millington ,miller and ,carleton ,simon1 of ,new ,york ,city1 the former a specialist in brain physiology1 and the latter an expert hypnotist1 had succeeded in obtaining successful thought photographs on dry plates from two hypnotized subjects4 ,when the subjects were not hypnotized1 the physicians reported no results4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ca--,,sigel',s ,,original ,,picture ,,of ,,fig #cj4 ,as ,thought ,photography is without the pale of known physical laws1 stronger evidence is needed to support the claims made for it than that which has been adduced by the ,french and ,american investigators4 ,thought ,photography once established as a scientific fact1 we shall have1 perhaps1 an explanation of genuine spirit photographs1 if such there be4 #f4 ,apparitions of the ,dead4 ,in my chapter on subjective phenomena1 ,i have not recorded any cases of phantasms of the dead1 though several interesting examples of such have come under my notice4 ,i have thought it better to refer the reader to the voluminous reports of the ,society for ,psychical ,research 7,england74 ,in regard to these cases1 the ,society has reached the following conclusion3 ,between deaths and apparitions of dying persons a connection exists which is not due to chance alone4 ,this we hold as a proved fact4 ,the ,literary ,digest1 ,january #ab1 #ahie1 in reviewing this report1 says3 ,inquiries were instituted in #ag1jjj cases of alleged apparitions4 ,these inquiries elicited #a1bdi replies from persons in ,england and ,wales who affirmed that they themselves had seen the apparitions4 ,then the ,society by further inquiries and cross-examinations sifted out all but eighty of these as discredited in some way1 by error of memory or illusions of identity1 or for some other reason1 or which could be accounted for by common psychical laws4 ,of these eighty1 fifty more were thrown out1 to be on the safe side1 and the remaining thirty are used as a basis for scientific consideration4 ,all these consisted of apparitions of dead persons appearing to others within twelve hours after death1 and many of them appearing at the very hour and even the very minute of death4 ,the full account of the investigation is published in the tenth volume of the ,society's ,reports1 under the title1 ',a ,census of ,hallucinations1' and ,prof4 ,j4 ,h4 ,hyslop1 of ,columbia ,college1 wrote an article giving the gist of the report and his comments in the ',independent1' 7,december #bg1 #ahie71 from which ,i cull these few notable paragraphs3 ',the committee which conducted the research reasons as follows3 ,since the death rate of ,england is #ai4ae out of every thousand1 the chances of any person's dying on any particular day are one in #ai1jjj 7the ratio of #ai4ae to #cfe times #a1jjj74 ,out of #ai1jjj death apparitions1 therefore1 one can be explained as a simple coincidence4 ,but thirty apparitions out of #a1cjj cases is in the proportion of #ddj out of #ai1jjj1 so that to refer these thirty well-authenticated apparitions to coincidence is deemed impossible4' ,and further on3 ',this is remarkable language for the signatures of ,prof4 and ,mrs4 ,sidgwick1 than whom few harder-headed skeptics could be found4 ,it is more than borne out1 however1 by a consideration which the committee does not mention1 but which the facts entirely justify1 and it is that since many of the apparitions occurred not merely on the day1 but at the very hour or minute of death1 the improbability of their explanation by chance is really much greater than the figures here given4 ,that the apparition should occur within the hour of death the chance should be #a to #cef1jjj1 or at the minute of death #a to #ba1cfj1jjj4 ,to get #cj cases1 therefore1 brought down to these limits we should have to collect thirty times these numbers of apparitions4 ,either these statistics are of no value in a study of this kind1 or the ,society's claim is made out that there is either a telepathic communication between the dying and those who see their apparitions1 or some causal connection not yet defined or determined by science4 ,that this connection may be due to favorable conditions in the subject of the hallucination is admitted by the committee1 if the person having the apparition is suffering from grief or anxiety about the person concerned4 ,but it has two replies to such a criticism4 ,the first is the query how and why under the circumstances does this effect coincide generally with the death of the person concerned1 when anxiety is extended over a considerable period4 ,the second is a still more triumphant reply1 and it is that a large number of the cases show that the subject of the apparition has no knowledge of the dying person's sickness1 place1 or condition4 ,in that case there is no alternative to searching elsewhere for the cause4 ,if telepathy or thought transference will not explain the connection1 resort must be had to some most extraordinary hypothesis4 ,most persons will probably accept telepathy as the easiest way out of the difficulty1 though ,i am not sure that we are limited to this1 the easiest explanation4' ,professor ,hyslop then proceeds to consider the effect of the committee's conclusion upon existing theories and speculations regarding the relations between mind and matter1 and foresees with gratification as well as apprehension the revolt likely to be initiated against materialism and which may go so far as to discredit science and carry us far back to the credulous conditions of the ,middle ,ages4 ,he says3 ',the point which the investigations of the ,society for ,psychical ,research have already reached creates a question of transcendent interest1 no matter what the solution of it may be1 and will stimulate in the near future an amount of psychological and theological speculation of the most hasty and crude sort1 which it will require the profoundest knowledge of mental phenomena1 normal and abnormal1 and the best methods of science to counteract1 and to keep within the limits of sober reason4 ,the hardly won conquests of intellectual freedom and self-control can easily be overthrown by a reaction that will know no bounds and which it will be impossible to regulate4 ,though there may be some moral gain from the change of beliefs1 as will no doubt be the case in the long run1 we have too recently escaped the intellectual1 religious1 and political tyranny of the ,middle ,ages to contemplate the immediate consequences of the reaction with any complacency4 ,but no one can calculate the enormous effect upon intellectual1 social1 and political conditions which would ensure upon the reconciliation of science and religion by the proof of immortality4 ,,iv4 ,,conclusions4 ,in my investigations of the physical phenomena of modern spiritualism1 ,i have come to the following conclusion3 ,while the majority of mediumistic manifestations are due to conjuring1 there is a class of cases not ascribable to trickery1 namely1 those coming within the domain of psychic force--as exemplified by the experiments of ,gasparin1 ,crookes1 ,lodge1 ,asakoff and ,coues4 ,in regard to the subjective phenomena1 ,i am convinced that the recently annunciated law of telepathy will account for them4 ,i discredit the theory of spirit intervention4 ,if this be a correct conclusion1 is there anything in mediumistic phenomena that will contribute to the solution of the problem of the immortality of the soul8 ,i think there is4 ,the existence of a subjective or subliminal consciousness in man1 as illustrated in the phenomena mentioned1 seems to indicate that the human personality is really a spiritual entity1 possessed of unknown resources1 and capable of preserving its identity despite the shock of time and the grave4 ,hudson says3 ,it is clear that the power of telepathy has nothing in common with objective methods of communications between mind and mind2 and that it is not the product of muscle or nerve or any physiological combination whatever1 but rather sets these at naught1 with their implications of space and time4444 ,when disease seizes the physical frame and the body grows feeble1 the objective mind invariably grows correspondingly weak4444 ,in the meantime1 as the objective mind ceases to perform its functions1 the subjective mind is most active and powerful4 ,the individual may never before have exhibited any psychic power1 and may never have consciously produced any psychic phenomena2 yet at the supreme moment his soul is in active communication with loved ones at a distance1 and the death message is often1 when psychic conditions are favorable1 consciously received4 ,the records of telepathy demonstrate this proposition4 ,nay1 more2 they may be cited to show that in the hour of death the soul is capable of projecting a phantasm of such strength and objectivity that it may be an object of personal experience to those for whom it is intended4 ,moreover1 it has happened that telepathic messages have been sent by the dying1 at the moment of dissolution1 giving all the particulars of the tragedy1 when the death was caused by an unexpected blow which crushed the skull of the victim4 ,it is obvious that in such cases it is impossible that the objective mind could have participated in the transaction4 ,the evidence is indeed overwhelming1 that1 no matter what form death may assume1 whether caused by lingering disease1 old age1 or violence1 the subjective mind is never weakened by its approach or its presence4 ,on the other hand1 that the objective mind weakens with the body and perishes with the brain1 is a fact confirmed by every-day observation and universal experience4 ,this hypothesis of the objective and subjective minds has been criticised by many psychologists on the ground of its extreme dualism4 ,no such dualism exists1 they contend4 ,however1 ,hudson's theory is only a working hypothesis at best1 to explain certain extraordinary facts in human experience4 ,future investigators may be able to throw more light on the subject4 ,but this one thing may be enunciated3 ,telepathy is an incontrovertible fact1 account for it as you may1 a physical force or a spiritual energy4 ,if physical1 then it does not follow any of the known operations of physical laws as established by modern science1 especially in the case of transmission of thought at a distance4 ,it is true1 that all evidence in support of telepathic communications is more or less ex parte in character1 and does not possess that validity which orthodox science requires of investigators4 ,any student of the physical laws of matter can make investigations for himself1 and at any time1 provided he has the proper apparatus4 ,explain to a person that water is composed of two gases1 oxygen and hydrogen1 and he can easily verify the fact for himself by combining the gases1 in the combination of ,h#b,o1 and afterwards liberate them by a current of electricity4 ,but experiments in telepathy and clairvoyance cannot be made at will2 they are isolated in character1 and consequently are regarded with suspicion by orthodox science4 ,besides this1 they transcend the materialistic theories of science as regards the universe1 and one is almost compelled to use the old metaphysical terms of mind and matter1 body and soul1 in describing the phenomena4 ,it is an undoubted fact that science has broken away from the old theory regarding the distinction between mind and matter4 ,says ,prof4 ,wm4 ,romaine ,newbold1 ,in the scientific world it has fallen into such disfavor that in many circles it is almost as disgraceful to avow belief in it as in witchcraft or ghosts4 ,we have to-day a school of physiological-psychology1 calling itself psychology without a soul4 ,this school is devoted to the laboratory method of studying mind4 ,the laboratory method1 says ,roark1 in his ,psychology in ,education1 is concerned mostly with physiological psychology1 which is1 after all1 only physiology1 even though it be the physiology of the nervous system and the special organs of sense--the material tools of the mind4 ,and after physiological psychology has had its rather prolix say1 causal connection of the physical organs with psychic action is as obscure and impossible of explanation as ever4 ,but the laboratory method can be of excellent service in determining the material conditions of mental action1 in detecting special deficiencies and weaknesses1 and in accumulating valuable statistics along these lines4 ,it has been asserted that no science can claim to be exact until it can be reduced to formulas of weights and measures4 ,the assertion begs the question for the materialists4 ,we shall probably never be able to weigh an idea or measure the cubic contents of the memory2 but the rapidity with which ideas are formed or reproduced by memory has been measured in many particular instances1 and the circumstances that retard or accelerate their formation or reproduction have been positively ascertained and classified4 ,that it is possible to explain all mental phenomena in terms of physics is by no means the unanimous verdict of scientific men4 ,a small group of students of late years have detached themselves from the purely materialistic school and broken ground in the region of the supernormal4 ,says ,professor ,newbold 7,popular ,science ,monthly1 ,january1 #ahig73 ,in the supernormal field1 the facts already reported1 should they be substantiated by further inquiry1 would go far towards showing that consciousness is an entity governed by laws and possessed of powers incapable of expression in material conceptions4 ,i do not myself regard the theory of independence of mind and body as proved1 but ,i think we have enough evidence for it to destroy in any candid mind that considers it that absolute credulity as to its possibility which at present characterizes the average man of science4 ,,part ,,second4 ,,madame ,,blavatsky ,,and ,,the ,,theosophists4 #a4 ,the ,priestess4 ,the greatest fantaisiste of modern times was ,madame ,blavatsky1 spirit medium1 ,priestess of ,isis1 and founder of the ,theosophical ,society4 ,her life is one long catalogue of wonders4 ,in appearance she was enormously fat1 had a harsh1 disagreeable voice1 and a violent temper1 dressed in a slovenly manner1 usually in loose wrappers1 smoked cigarettes incessantly1 and cared little or nothing for the conventionalities of life4 ,but in spite of all--unprepossessing appearance and gross habits--she exercised a powerful personal magnetism over those who came in contact with her4 ,she was the ,sphinx of the second half of this ,century2 a ,pythoness in tinsel robes who strutted across the world's stage full of sound and fury1 and disappeared from view behind the dark veil of ,isis1 which she1 the fin-de-siecle prophetess1 tried to draw aside during her earthly career4 ,in searching for facts concerning the life of this really remarkable woman--remarkable for the influence she has exerted upon the thought of this latter end of the nineteenth century--,i have read all that has been written about her by prominent ,theosophists1 have talked with many who knew her intimately1 and now endeavor to present the truth concerning her and her career4 ,the leading work on the subject is ,incidents in the ,life of ,madame ,blavatsky1 compiled from information supplied by her relatives and friends1 and edited by ,a4 ,p4 ,sinnett1 author of ,the ,occult ,world4 ,the frontispiece to the book is a reproduction of a portrait of ,madame ,blavatsky1 painted by ,h4 ,schmiechen1 and represents the lady seated on the steps of an ancient ruin1 holding a parchment in her hand4 ,she is garbed somewhat after the fashion of a ,cumaean ,sibyl and gazes straight before her with the deep unfathomable eyes of a mystic1 as if she were reading the profound riddles of the ages1 and beholding the sands of ,time falling hot and swift into the glass of eternity-- ,and all things creeping to a day of doom4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #cb--,,madame ,,blavatsky4 ,sinnett's life of the ,high ,priestess is a strange concoction of monstrous absurdities2 it is full of the weirdest happenings that were ever vouchsafed to mortal4 ,we cannot put much faith in this biography1 and must delve in other mines for information2 but some of the remarkable passages of the book are worth perusing1 particularly if the reader be prone to midnight musings of a ghostly character4 ,helena ,petrovna ,blavatsky1 the daughter of ,col4 ,peter ,hahn of the ,russian ,army1 and granddaughter of ,general ,alexis ,hahn von ,rottenstern ,hahn 7a noble family of ,mecklenburg1 ,germany1 settled in ,russia71 was born in ,eskaterinoslaw1 in the south of ,russia1 in #ahca4 ,she had1 says ,sinnett1 a strange childhood1 replete with abnormal occurrences4 ,the year of her birth was fatal for ,russia1 as for all ,europe1 owing to the first visit of the cholera1 that terrible plague that decimated from #ahcj to #ahcb in turn nearly every town of the ,continent4444 ,her birth was quickened by several deaths in the house1 and she was ushered into the world amid coffins and desolation1 on the night between ,july #cjth and #cast1 weak and apparently no denizen of this world4 ,a hurried baptism was given lest the child die in original sin1 and the ceremony was that of the ,greek ,church4 ,during the orthodox baptismal rite no person is allowed to sit1 but a child aunt of the baby1 tired of standing for nearly an hour1 settled down upon the floor1 just behind the officiating priest4 ,no one perceived her1 as she sat nodding drowsily4 ,the ceremony was nearing its close4 ,the sponsors were just in the act of renouncing the ,evil ,one and his deeds1 a renunciation emphasized in the ,greek ,church by thrice spitting upon the invisible enemy1 when the little lady1 toying with her lighted taper at the feet of the crowd1 inadvertantly set fire to the long flowing robes of the priest1 no one remarking the accident till it was too late4 ,the result was an immediate conflagration1 during which several persons--chiefly the old priest--were severely burnt4 ,that was another bad omen1 according to the superstitious beliefs of orthodox ,russia2 and the innocent cause of it1 the future ,madame ,blavatsky1 was doomed from that day1 in the eyes of all the town1 to an eventful1 troubled life4 ,mlle4 ,hahn was born1 of course1 with all the characteristics of what is known in ,spiritualism as mediumship in the most extraordinary degree1 also with gifts as a clairvoyant of an almost equally unexampled order4 ,on various occasions while apparently in an ordinary sleep1 she would answer questions1 put by persons who took hold of her hand1 about lost property1 etc41 as though she were a sibyl entranced4 ,for years she would1 in childish impulse1 shock strangers with whom she came in contact1 and visitors to the house1 by looking them intently in the face and telling them they would die at such and such a time1 or she would prophesy to them some accident or misfortune that would befall them4 ,and since her prognostications usually came true1 she was the terror1 in this respect1 of the domestic circle4 ,madame ,v4 ,p4 ,jelihowsy1 a sister of the seeress1 has furnished to the world many extraordinary stories of ,mme4 ,blavatsky's childhood1 published in various ,russian periodicals4 ,at the age of eleven the ,sibyl lost her mother1 and went to live with her grandparents at ,saratow1 her grandfather being civil governor of the place4 ,the family mansion was a lumbering old country place full of subterraneous galleries1 long abandoned passages1 turrets1 and most weird nooks and corners4 ,it looked more like a mediaeval ruined castle than a building of the last century4 ,the ghosts of martyred serfs were supposed to haunt the uncanny building1 and strange legends were told by the old family servants of weir-wolves and goblins that prowled about the dark forests of the estate4 ,here1 in this ,house of ,usher1 the ,sibyl lived and dreamed1 and at this period exhibited many abnormal psychic peculiarities1 ascribed by her orthodox governess and nurses of the ,greek ,church to possession by the devil4 ,she had at times ungovernable fits of temper2 she would ride any ,cossack horse on the place astride a man's saddle2 go into trances and scare everyone from the master of the mansion down to the humblest vodka drinker on the estate4 ,in #ahdh1 at the age of #ag1 she married ,general ,count ,blavatsky1 a gouty old ,russian of #gj1 whom she called the plumed raven1 but left him after a brief period of marital infelicity4 ,from this time dates her career as a thaumaturgist4 ,she travelled through ,india and made an honest attempt to penetrate into the mysterious confines of ,thibet1 but succeeded in getting only a few miles from the frontier1 owing to the fanaticism of the natives4 ,in ,india1 as elsewhere1 she was accused of being a ,russian spy and was generally regarded with suspicion by the police authorities4 ,after some months of erratic wanderings she reappeared in ,russia1 this time in ,tiflis1 at the residence of a relative1 ,prince ----4 ,it was a gloomy1 grewsome chateau1 well suited for ,spiritualistic sances1 and ,madame ,blavatsky1 it is claimed1 frightened the guests during the long winter evenings with table-tippings1 spirit rappings1 etc4 ,it was then the tall candles in the drawing-room burnt low1 the gobelin tapestry rustled1 sighs were heard1 strange music resounded in the air1 and luminous forms were seen trailing their ghostly garments across the tufted floor4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #cc--,,mahatma ,,letter4 ,the gossipy ,madame de ,jelihowsy1 in her reminiscences1 classifies the phenomena1 witnessed in the presence of her ,sibylline sister1 as follows3 #a4 ,direct and perfectly clearly written and verbal answers to mental questions--or thought reading4 #b4 ,private secrets1 unknown to all but the interested party1 divulged1 especially in the case of those persons who mentioned insulting doubts4 #c4 ,change of weight in furniture and persons at will4 #d4 ,letters from unknown correspondents1 and immediate answers written to queries made1 and found in the most out-of-the-way mysterious places4 #e4 ,appearance of objects unclaimed by anyone present4 #f4 ,sounds of musical notes in the air wherever ,madame ,blavatsky desired they should resound4 ,in the year #aheh1 the ,high ,priestess was at the house of ,general ,yakontoff at ,pskoff1 ,russia4 ,one night when the drawing-room was full of visitors1 she began to describe the mediumistic feat of making light objects heavy and heavy objects light4 ,can you perform such a miracle8 ironically asked her brother1 ,leonide de ,hahn1 who always doubted his sister's occult powers4 ,i can1 was the firm reply4 ,de ,hahn went to a small chess table1 lifted it as though it were a feather1 and said3 ,suppose you try your powers on this4 ,with pleasure6 replied ,mme4 ,blavatsky4 ,place the table on the floor1 and step aside for a minute4 ,he complied with her request4 ,she fixed her large blue eyes intently upon the chess table and said without removing her gaze1 ,lift it now4 ,the young man exerted all his strength1 but the table would not budge an inch4 ,another guest tried with the same result1 but the wood only cracked1 yielding to no effort4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #cd--,,mahatma ,,letter ,,envelope4 ,now1 lift it1 said ,madame ,blavatsky calmly1 whereupon ,de ,hahn picked it up with the greatest ease4 ,loud applause greeted this extraordinary feat1 and the skeptical brother1 so say the occultists1 was utterly nonplussed4 ,madame ,blavatsky1 as recorded by ,sinnett1 stated afterwards that the above phenomenon could be produced in two different ways3 ,first1 through the exercise of her own will directing the magnetic currents so that the pressure on the table became such that no physical force could move it2 second1 through the action of those beings with whom she was in constant communication1 and who1 although unseen1 were able to hold the table against all opposition4 ,the writer has seen similar feats performed by hypnotizers with good subjects without the intervention of any ghostly intelligences4 ,in #ahgj the ,priestess of ,isis journeyed through ,egypt in company with a certain ,countess ,k--1 and endeavored to form a ,spiritualistic society at ,cairo1 for the investigation of psychic phenomena1 but things growing unpleasant for her she left the land of pyramids and papyri in hot haste4 ,it is related of her that during this ,egyptian sojourn she spent one night in the ,king's sepulchre in the bowels of the ,great ,pyramid of ,cheops1 sleeping in the very sarcophagus where once reposed the mummy of a ,pharoah4 ,weird sights were seen by the entranced occultist and strange sounds were heard on that eventful occasion within the shadowy mortuary chamber of the pyramid4 ,at times she would let fall mysterious hints of what she saw that night1 but they were as incomprehensible as the riddles of the fabled ,sphinx4 ,countess ,paschkoff chronicles a curious story about the ,priestess of ,isis1 which reminds one somewhat of the last chapter in ,bulwer's occult novel1 ,a ,strange ,story4 ,the ,countess relates that she was once travelling between ,baalbec and the river ,orontes1 and in the desert came across the caravan belonging to ,madame ,blavatsky4 ,they joined company and towards nightfall pitched camp near the village of ,el ,marsum amid some ancient ruins4 ,among the relics of a ,pagan civilization stood a great monument covered with outlandish hieroglyphics4 ,the ,countess was curious to decipher the inscriptions1 and begged ,madame ,blavatsky to unravel their meaning1 but the ,priestess of ,isis1 notwithstanding her great archaeological knowledge1 was unable to do so4 ,however1 she said3 ,wait until night1 and we shall see6 ,when the ruins were wrapped in sombre shadow1 ,mme4 ,blavatsky drew a great circle upon the ground about the monument1 and invited the ,countess to stand within the mystic confines4 ,a fire was built and upon it were thrown various aromatic herbs and incense4 ,cabalistic spells were recited by the sorceress1 as the smoke from the incense ascended1 and then she thrice commanded the spirit to whom the monument was erected to appear4 ,soon the cloud of smoke from the burning incense assumed the shape of an old man with a long white beard4 ,a voice from a distance pierced the misty image1 and spoke3 ,i am ,hiero1 one of the priests of a great temple erected to the gods1 that stood upon this spot4 ,this monument was the altar4 ,behold6 ,no sooner were the words pronounced than a phantasmagoric vision of a gigantic temple appeared1 supported by ponderous columns1 and a great city was seen covering the distant plain1 but all soon faded into thin air4 ,this story was related to a select coterie of occultists assembled in social conclave at the headquarters in ,new ,york4 ,the question is1 had the charming ,russian ,countess dreamed this1 or was she trying to exploit herself as a traveler who had come out of the mysterious ,east and had seen strange things8 ,we next hear of the famous occultist in the ,united ,states1 where she associated chiefly with spirit-mediums1 enchanters1 professional clairvoyants1 and the like4 ,at this period of her career she had not1#d says ,dr4 ,eliott ,coues1 a learned investigator of psychic phenomena1 been metamorphosed into a ,theosophist4 ,she was simply exploiting as a ,spiritualistic medium4 ,her most familiar spook was a ghostly fiction named ',john ,king4' ,this fellow is supposed to have been a pirate1 condemned for his atrocities to serve earth-bound for a term of years1 and to present himself at materializing sances on call4 ,any medium who personates this ghost puts on a heavy black horse-hair beard and a white bed sheet and talks in sepulchral chest tones4 ,john is as standard and sure-enough a ghost as ever appeared before the public4 ,most of the leading mediums1 both in ,europe and ,america1 keep him in stock4 ,i have often seen the old fellow in ,new ,york1 ,philadelphia1 and ,washington through more mediums that ,i can remember the names of4 ,our late ,minister to ,portugul1 ,mr4 ,j4 ,o',sullivan1 has a photograph of him at full length1 floating in space1 holding up a peculiar globe of light shaped like a glass decanter4 ,this trustworthy likeness was taken in ,europe1 and ,i think in ,russia1 but am not sure on that point4 ,i once had the pleasure of introducing the pirate king to my friend ,prof4 ,alfred ,russel ,wallace1 in the person of ,pierre ,l4 ,o4 ,a4 ,keeler1 a noted medium of ,washington4 ,but the connection between the pirate and my story is this3 ,madame ,blavatsky was exploiting ,king at the time of which ,i speak1 and several of her letters to friends1 which ,i have read1 are curiously scribbled in red and blue pencil with sentences and signatures of ',john ,king1' just as1 later on1 ',koot ,hoomi' used to miraculously precipitate himself upon her stationery in all sorts of colored crayons4 ,and1 by the way1 ,i may call the reader's attention to the fact that while the ingenious creature was operating in ,cairo1 her ,mahatmas were of the ,egyptian order of architecture1 and located in the ruins of ,thebes or ,karnak4 ,they were not put in turbans and shifted to ,thibet till late in #ahgi4 ,in #ahge1 while residing in ,new ,york1 ,madame ,blavatsky conceived the idea of establishing a ,theosophical ,society4 ,stupendous thought6 ,cagliostro in the eighteenth century founded his ,egyptian ,free-,masonry for the re-generation of mankind1 and ,blavatsky in the nineteenth century laid the corner stone of modern ,theosophy for a similar purpose4 ,cagliostro had his ,high ,priestess in the person of a beautiful wife1 ,lorenza ,feliciani1 and ,blavatsky her ,hierophant in the somewhat prosaic guise of a ,new ,york reporter1 ,col4 ,olcott1 since then a famous personage in occult circles4 ,during the ,civil ,war1 ,olcott served in the ,quartermaster's ,department of the ,army and afterwards held a position in the ,internal ,revenue ,service of the ,united ,states4 ,in #ah-- he was a newspaper man in ,new ,york1 and was sent by the ,graphic to investigate the alleged ,spiritualistic phenomena transpiring in the ,eddy family in ,chittenden1 ,vermont4 ,there he met ,madame ,blavatsky4 ,it was his fate4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ce4 ,,col4 ,h4 ,s4 ,,olcott4 ,col4 ,olcott's description of his first sight of ,mme4 ,blavatsky is interesting3 ,the dinner at ,eddy's was at noon1 and it was from the entrance door of the bare and comfortless dining-room that ,kappes and ,i first saw ,h4 ,p4 ,b4 ,she had arrived shortly before noon with a ,french ,canadian lady1 and they were at table as we entered4 ,my eye was first attracted by a scarlet ,garibaldian shirt the former wore1 as being in vivid contrast with the dull colors around4 ,her hair was then a thick blonde mop1 worn shorter than the shoulders1 and it stood out from her head1 silken1 soft1 and crinkled to the roots1 like the fleece of a ,cotswold ewe4 ,this and the red shirt were what struck my attention before ,i took in the picture of her features4 ,it was a massive ,kalmuck face1 contrasting in its suggestion of power1 culture1 and imperiousness1 as strangely with the commonplace visages about the room1 as her red garment did with the gray and white tones of the wall and woodwork1 and the dull costumes of the rest of the guests4 ,all sorts of cranky people were continually coming and going at ,eddy's1 to see the mediumistic phenomena1 and it only struck me on seeing this eccentric lady that this was but one more of the sort4 ,pausing on the door-sill1 ,i whispered to ,kappes1 ',good gracious6 look at that specimen1 will you6' ,i went straight across and took a seat opposite her to indulge my favorite habit of character-study4 ,commenting on this meeting1 ,j4 ,ransom ,bridges1 in the ,arena1 for ,april1 #ahie1 remarks3 ,after dinner ,colonel ,olcott scraped an acquaintance by opportunely offering her a light for a cigarette which she proceeded to roll for herself4 ,this 'light' must have been charged with ,theosophical karma1 for the burning match or end of a lighted cigar--the ,colonel does not specify--lit a train of causes and their effects which now are making history and are world-wide in their importance4 ,so confirmed a pessimist on ,theosophical questions as ,henry ,sidgwick of the ,london ,society for ,psychical ,research1 says1 ',even if it the ,theosophical ,society were to expire next year1 its twenty years' existence would be a phenomenon of some interest for a historian of ,european society in the nineteenth century4' ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #cf4 ,,oath ,,of ,,secrecy ,,taken ,,by ,,charter ,,members ,,of ,,the ,,theosophical ,,society4 ,kindness of the ,new ,york ,herald4 ,the sances at the ,eddy house must have been character studies indeed4 ,the place where the ghosts were materialized was a large apartment over the dining room of the ancient homestead4 ,a dark closet1 at one end of the room1 with a rough blanket stretched across it1 served as a cabinet4 ,red ,indians and pirates were the favorite materializations1 but when ,madame ,blavatsky appeared on the scene1 ghosts of ,turks1 ,kurdish cavaliers1 and ,kalmucks visited this earthly scene1 much to the surprise of every one4 ,olcott cites this fact as evidence of the genuineness of the materializations1 remarking1 how could the ignorant ,eddy boys1 rough1 rude1 uncultured farmers1 get the costumes and accessories for characters of this kind in a remote ,vermont village4 #b4 ,what is ,theosophy4 ,let us turn aside at this juncture to ask1 ,what is ,theosophy4 ,the word ,theosophy 7,theosophia--divine knowledge7 appears to have been used about the ,third century1 ,a4 ,d41 by the ,neo-,platonists1 or ,gnostics of ,alexandria1 but the great principles of the doctrine1 however1 were taught hundreds of years prior to the mystical school established at ,alexandria4 ,it is not1 says an interesting writer on the subject1 an outgrowth of ,buddhism although many ,buddhists see in its doctrines the reflection of ,buddha4 ,it proposes to give its followers the esoteric1 or inner-spiritual meaning of the great religious teachers of the world4 ,it asserts repeated re-incarnations1 or rebirths of the soul on earth1 until it is fully purged of evil1 and becomes fit to be absorbed into the ,deity whence it came1 gaining thereby ,nirvana1 or unconsciousness4 ,some ,theosophists claim that ,nirvana is not a state of unconsciousness1 but just the converse1 a state of the most intensified consciousness1 during which the soul remembers all of its previous incarnations4 ,madame ,blavatsky claimed that there exists in ,thibet a brotherhood whose members have acquired a power over ,nature which enables them to perform wonders beyond the reach of ordinary men4 ,she declared herself to be a chela1 or disciple of these brothers 7spoken of also as ',adepts' and as ',mahatmas'71 and asserted that they took a special interest in the ,theosophical ,society and all initiates in occult lore1 being able to cause apparitions of themselves in places where their bodies were not2 and that they not only appeared but communicated intelligently with those whom they thus visited and themselves perceived what was going on where their phantoms appeared4 ,this phantasmal appearance she called the projection of the astral form4 ,many of the phenomena witnessed in the presence of the ,sibyl were supposed to be the work of the mystic brotherhood who took so peculiar an interest in the ,theosophical ,society and its members4 ,the ,madame did not claim to be the founder of a new religious faith1 but simply the reviver of a creed that has slumbered in the ,orient for centuries1 and declared herself to be the ,messenger of these ,mahatmas to the scoffing ,western world4 ,speaking of the ,mahatmas1 she says in ,isis ,unveiled3 99 99 99 ,travelers have met these adepts on the shores of the sacred ,ganges1 brushed against them on the silent ruins of ,thebes1 and in the mysterious deserted chambers of ,luxor4 ,within the halls upon whose blue and golden vaults the weird signs attract attention1 but whose secret meaning is never penetrated by the idle gazers1 they have been seen1 but seldom recognized4 ,historical memoirs have recorded their presence in the brilliantly illuminated salons of ,european aristocracy4 ,they have been encountered again on the arid and desolate plains of the ,great ,sahara1 or in the caves of ,elephanta4 ,they may be found everywhere1 but make themselves known only to those who have devoted their lives to unselfish study1 and are not likely to turn back4 ,the ,theosophical ,society was organized in ,new ,york1 ,nov4 #ag1 #ahge4 ,mr4 ,arthur ,lillie1 in his interesting work1 ,madame ,blavatsky and ,her ,theosophy1 speaking about the founding of the ,society1 says3 ,its moving spirit was a ,mr4 ,felt1 who had visited ,egypt and studied its antiquities4 ,he was a student also of the ,kabbala2 and he had a somewhat eccentric theory that the dog-headed and hawk-headed figures painted on the ,egyptian monuments were not mere symbols1 but accurate portraits of the ',elementals4' ,he professed to be able to evoke and control them4 ,he announced that he had discovered the secret 'formularies' of the old ,egyptian magicians4 ,plainly1 the ,theosophical ,society at starting was an ,egyptian school of occultism4 ,indeed ,colonel ,olcott1 who furnishes these details 7',diary ,leaves' in the ,theosophist1 ,november to ,december1 #ahib71 lets out that the first title suggested was the ',egyptological ,society4' ,there were strange reports set afloat at the time of the organization of the ,society of the mysterious appearance of a ,hindoo adept in his astral body at the lamasery on ,forty-seventh street4 ,it was said to be that of a certain ,mahatma ,koot ,hoomi4 ,olcott declared that the adept left behind him as a souvenir of his presence1 a turban1 which was exhibited on all occasions by the enterprising ,hierophant4 ,william ,q4 ,judge1 a noted writer on ,spiritualism1 who had met the ,madame at ,irving ,place in the winter of #ahgd1 joined the ,society about this time1 and became an earnest advocate of the secret doctrine4 ,one wintry evening in ,march1 #ahhi1 ,mr4 ,judge attended a meeting of the ,new ,york ,anthropological ,society1 and told the audience all about the spectral gentleman1 ,koot ,hoomi4 ,he said3 ,the parent society 7,theosophical7 was founded in ,america by ,madame ,blavatsky1 who gathered about her a few interested people and began the great work4 ,they held a meeting to frame a constitution 7#ahge71 etc41 but before anything had been accomplished a strangely foreign ,hindoo1 dressed in the peculiar garb of his country1 came before them1 and1 leaving a package1 vanished1 and no one knew whither he came or went4 ,on opening the package they found the necessary forms of organization1 rules1 etc41 which were adopted4 ,the inference to be drawn was1 that the strange visitor was a ,mahatma1 interested in the foundation of the ,society4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #cg4 ,,william ,q4 ,,judge4 ,reproduced by courtesy of the ,new ,york ,herald4 ,and so ,blavatskyism flourished1 and the ,society gathered in disciples from all quarters4 ,men without definite creeds are ever willing to embrace anything that savors of the mysterious1 however absurd the tenets of the new doctrine may be4 ,the objects of the ,theosophical ,society1 as set forth in a number of ,lucifer1 the organ of the cult1 published in ,july1 #ahij1 are stated to be3 #a4 ,to form a nucleus of a ,universal ,brotherhood of ,humanity without distinction of race1 creed1 sex1 or color4 #b4 ,to promote the study of ,aryan and other ,eastern literatures1 religions and sciences4 #c4 ,to investigate laws of ,nature and the psychical powers of man4 ,there is nothing of cant or humbug about the above articles4 ,a society founded for the prosecution of such researches seems laudable enough4 ,oriental scholars and scientists have been working in this field for many years4 ,but the investigations1 as conducted under the ,blavatsky rgime1 have savored so of charlatanism that many earnest1 truth-seeking ,theosophists have withdrawn from the ,society4 ,after seeing the ,society well established1 ,madame ,blavatsky went to ,india4 ,her career in that country was a checkered one4 ,from this period dates the expos of the ,mahatma miracles4 ,the story reads like a romance by ,marie ,corelli4 ,let us begin at the beginning4 ,the headquarters of the ,society was first established at ,bombay1 thence removed to ,madras and afterwards to ,adyar4 ,a certain ,m4 and ,mme4 ,coulomb1 trusted friends of ,madame ,blavatsky1 were made librarian and assistant corresponding secretary respectively of the ,society1 and took up their residence in the building known as the headquarters--a rambling ,east ,indian bungalow1 such as figure in ,rudyard ,kipling's stories of ,oriental life4 ,marvellous phenomena1 of an occult nature1 alleged to have taken place there1 were attested by many ,theosophists4 ,mysterious1 ghostly appearances of ,mahatmas were seen1 and messages were constantly received by supernatural means4 ,one of the apartments of the bungalow was denominated the ,occult ,room1 and in this room was a sort of cupboard against the wall1 known as the ,shrine4 ,in this shrine the ghostly missives were received and from it were sent4 ,skeptics were convinced1 and occult lodges spread rapidly over ,india among the dreamy1 marvel-loving natives4 ,but affairs were not destined to sail smoothly4 ,there came a rift within the lute--,madame ,blavatsky quarreled with her trusted lieutenants1 the ,coulombs6 ,in ,may1 #ahhd1 ,m4 and ,mme4 ,coulomb were expelled from the ,society by the ,general ,council1 during the absence of the ,high ,priestess and ,col4 ,olcott in ,europe4 ,the ,coulombs1 who had grown weary of a life of imposture1 or were actuated by the more ignoble motive of revenge1 made a complete expos of the secret working of the ,inner ,brotherhood4 ,they published portions of ,madame ,blavatsky's correspondence in the ,madras ,christian ,college ,magazine1 for ,september and ,october1 #ahhd2 letters written to the ,coulombs1 directing them to prepare certain impostures and letters written by the ,high ,priestess1 under the signature of ,koot ,hoomi1 the mythical adept4#e ,this correspondence unquestionably implicated the ,sibyl in a conspiracy to fraudulently produce occult phenomena4 ,she declared them to be1 in whole1 or in part1 forgeries4 ,at this juncture the ,london ,society for ,psychical ,research sent ,mr4 ,richard ,hodgson1 ,b4 ,a41 scholar of ,st4 ,john's ,college1 ,cambridge1 ,england1 to ,india to investigate the entire matter in the interest of science4 ,he left ,england ,november1 #ahhd1 and remained in the ,east till ,april1 #ahhe4 ,during this period ,blavatskyism was sifted to the bottom4 ,mr4 ,hodgson's report covers several hundred pages1 and proves conclusively that the occult phenomena of ,madame ,blavatsky and her co-adjutors are unworthy of credence4 ,in his volume he gives diagrams of the trap-doors and machinery of the shrine and the occult room1 and facsimiles of ,madame ,blavatsky's handwriting1 which proved to be identical with that of ,koot ,hoomi1 or ,cute ,hoomi1 as the critics dubbed him4 ,he shows that the ,coulombs had told the plain unvarnished truth so far as their disclosures went2 and he stigmatizes the ,priestess of ,isis in the following language3 #a4 ,she has been engaged in a long continued combination with other persons to produce by ordinary means a series of apparent marvels for the support of the ,theosophic movement4 #b4 ,that in particular the shrine at ,adyar through which letters purporting to come from ,mahatmas were received1 was elaborately arranged with a view to the secret insertion of letters and other objects through a sliding panel at the back1 and regularly used for the purpose by ,madame ,blavatsky or her agents4 #c4 ,that there is consequently a very strong general presumption that all the marvellous narratives put forward in evidence of the existence of ,mahatmas are to be explained as due either 7a7 to deliberate deception carried out by or at the instigation of ,madame ,blavatsky1 or 7b7 to spontaneous illusion or hallucination or unconscious misrepresentation or invention on the part of the witnesses4 ,the mysterious appearances of the ghostly ,mahatmas at the headquarters was shown1 by ,mr4 ,hodgson1 to be the work of confederates1 the cleverest among them being ,madame ,coulomb4 ,sliding panels1 secret doors1 and many disguises were the modus operandi of the occult phenomena4 ,in regard to the letters and alleged precipitated writing1 ,mr4 ,hodgson says3 ,it has been alleged1 indeed1 that when ,madame ,blavatsky was at ,madras1 instantaneous replies to mental queries had been found in the shrine 7at ,adyar71 that envelopes containing questions were returned absolutely intact to the senders1 and that when they were opened replies were found within in the handwriting of a ,mahatma4 ,after numerous inquiries1 ,i found that in all cases ,i could hear of1 the mental query was such as might easily have been anticipated by ,madame ,blavatsky2 indeed1 the query was whether the questioner would meet with success in his endeavor to become a pupil of the ,mahatma1 and the answer was frequently of the indefinite and oracular sort4 ,in some cases the envelope inserted in the ,shrine was one which had been previously sent to headquarters for that purpose1 so that the envelope might have been opened and the answer written therein before it was placed in the ,shrine at all4 ,where sufficient care was taken in the preparation of the inquiry1 either no specific answer was given or the answer was delayed4 ,a certain phenomenon1 frequently mentioned by ,theosophists as having occurred in ,madame ,blavatsky's sitting-room1 was the dropping of a letter from the ceiling1 supposed to be a communication from some ,mahatma4 ,in all such cases conjuring was proved to have been used--the deus ex machina being either a silk thread or else a cunningly secreted trap door hidden between the wooden beams of the bungalow ceiling1 operated of course by a concealed confederate4 ,madame ,blavatsky's favorite method of impressing people with her occult powers was the almost immediate reception of letters from distant countries1 in response to questions asked4 ,these feats were the result of carefully contrived plans1 preconcerted weeks in advance4 ,she would telegraph in cipher to one of her numerous correspondents1 ,east ,indian1 for example1 to write a letter in reply to a certain query1 and post it at a particular date4 ,then she would calculate the arrival of the letter1 often to a nicety4 ,her ability as a conversationalist enabled her to adroitly lead people into asking questions that would tally with the ,mahatma messages4 ,but sometimes she failed1 and a ludicrous fiasco was the result4 ,mr4 ,hodgson's report contains accounts of many such mystic letters that would arrive by post from ,india in the nick of time1 or too late for use4 ,among other remarkable things reported of the ,madame was her power of producing photographs of people far away by a sort of spiritual photography1 involving no other mechanical process than the slipping of a sheet of paper between the leaves of her blotting pad4 ,when stories of this spirit-photography were rife in ,london1 a scientist published the following explanation of a method of making such ,mahatma portraits3 ,has the ,english public never heard of ',magic photography8' ,just a few years ago small sheets of white paper were offered for sale which on being covered with damp blotting paper developed an image as if by magic4 ,the white sheets of paper seemed blanks4 ,really1 however1 they were photographs1 not containing gold1 which had been bleached by immersing them in a solution of mercuric chloride4 ,the latter gives up part of its chlorine1 and this chlorine bleaches the brown silver particles of which the photograph consists1 by changing them to chloride of silver4 ,the mercuric chloride becomes mercurous chloride4 ,this body is white1 and therefore invisible on white paper4 ,now1 several substances will color this white mercurous chloride black4 ,ammonia and hypo-sulphite of soda will do this4 ,in the magic photographs before mentioned the blotting paper contained hypo-sulphite of soda4 ,consequently when the alleged blank sheets of white note paper were placed between the sheets of blotting paper and slightly moistened1 the hypo-sulphite of soda in the blotting paper acted chemically on the mercurous chloride in the white note paper1 and the picture appeared4 ,as this was known in #ahdj to ,herschel1 ,blavatsky's miracle is nothing but a commonplace conjuring experiment4 #c4 ,madame ,blavatsky's ,confession4 ,the individual to whom the world is most indebted for a critical analysis of ,madame ,blavatsky's character and her claims as a producer of occult phenomena is ,vsevolod ,s4 ,solovyoff1 a ,russian journalist and litterateur of considerable note4 ,he has ruthlessly torn the veil from the ,priestess of ,isis in a remarkable book of revelations1 entitled1 ,a ,modern ,priestess of ,isis4 ,in ,may1 #ahhd1 he was in ,paris1 engaged in studying occult literature1 and was preparing to write a treatise on the rare1 but in my opinion1 real manifestations of the imperfectly investigated spiritual powers of man4 ,one day he read in the ,matin that ,madame ,blavatsky had arrived in ,paris1 and he determined to meet her4 ,thanks to a friend in ,st4 ,petersburg1 he obtained a letter of introduction to the famous ,theosophist1 and called on her a few days later1 at her residence in the ,rue ,notre ,dame des ,champs4 ,his pen picture of the interview is graphic3 ,i found myself in a long1 mean street on the left bank of the ,seine1 de l'autre cote de l'eau1 as the ,parisians say4 ,the coachman stopped at the number ,i had told him4 ,the house was unsightly enough to look at1 and at the door there was not a single carriage4 ',my dear sir1 you have let her slip2 she has left ,paris1' ,i said to myself with vexation4 ,in answer to my inquiry the concierge showed me the way4 ,i climbed a very1 very dark staircase1 rang1 and a slovenly figure in an ,oriental turban admitted me into a tiny dark lobby4 ,to my question1 whether ,madame ,blavatsky would receive me1 the slovenly figure replied with an ',entrez1 monsieur1' and vanished with my card1 while ,i was left to wait in a small low room1 poorly and insufficiently furnished4 ,i had not long to wait4 ,the door opened1 and she was before me2 a rather tall woman1 though she produced the impression of being short1 on account of her unusual stoutness4 ,her great head seemed all the greater from her thick and very bright hair1 touched with a scarcely perceptible gray1 and very slightly frizzed1 by nature and not by art1 as ,i subsequently convinced myself4 ,at the first moment her plain1 old earthy-colored face struck me as repulsive2 but she fixed on me the gaze of her great1 rolling1 pale blue eyes1 and in these wonderful eyes1 with their hidden power1 all the rest was forgotten4 ,i remarked1 however1 that she was very strangely dressed1 in a sort of black sacque1 and that all the fingers of her small1 soft1 and as it were boneless hands1 with their slender points and long nails1 were covered with great jewelled rings4 ,madame ,blavatsky received ,solovyoff kindly1 and they became excellent friends4 ,she urged him to join the ,theosophical ,society1 and he expressed himself as favorably impressed with the purposes of the organization4 ,during the interview she produced her astral bell phenomenon4 ,she excused herself to attend to some domestic duty1 and on her return to the sitting-room1 the phenomenon took place4 ,says ,solovyoff3 ,she made a sort of flourish with her hand1 raised it upwards and suddenly1 ,i heard distinctly1 quite distinctly1 somewhere above our heads1 near the ceiling1 a very melodious sound like a little silver bell or an ,aeolian harp4 ',what is the meaning of this8' ,i asked4 ',this means only that my master is here1 although you and ,i cannot see him4 ,he tells me that ,i may trust you1 and am to do for you whatever ,i can4 ,vous etes sous sa protection1 henceforth and forever4' ,she looked me straight in the eyes1 and caressed me with her glance and her kindly smile4 ,this ,mahatmic phenomenon ought to have absolutely convinced ,solovyoff1 but it did not4 ,he asked himself the question3 ',why was the sound of the silver bell not heard at once1 but only after she had left the room and come back again8' ,a few days after this event1 the ,russian journalist was regularly enrolled as a member of the ,theosophical ,society1 and began to study ,madame ,blavatsky instead of ,oriental literature and occultism4 ,he was introduced to ,colonel ,olcott1 who showed him the turban that had been left at the ,new ,york headquarters by the astral ,koot ,hoomi4 ,solovyoff witnessed other phenomena in the presence of ,madame ,blavatsky1 which did not impress him very favorably4 ,finally1 the ,high ,priestess produced her chef d' oeuvre1 the psychometric reading of a letter4 ,solovyoff was rather impressed with this feat and sent an account of it to the ,rebus1 but subsequently came to the conclusion that trickery had entered into it4 ,when the ,coulomb exposures came1 he did not see much of ,madame ,blavatsky4 ,she was overwhelmed with letters and spent a considerable time anxiously travelling to and fro on ,theosophical affairs4 ,in ,august1 #ahhe1 she was at ,wurzburg sick at heart and in body1 attended by a diminutive ,hindoo servant1 ,bavaji by name4 ,she begged ,solovyoff to visit her1 promising to give him lessons in occultism4 ,with a determination to investigate the phenomena1 he went to the ,bavarian watering place1 and one morning called on ,madame ,blavatsky4 ,he found her seated in a great arm chair3 ,at the opposite end of the table stood the dwarfish ,bavaji1 with a confused look in his dulled eyes4 ,he was evidently incapable of meeting my gaze1 and the fact certainly did not escape me4 ,in front of ,bavaji on the table were scattered several sheets of clean paper4 ,nothing of the sort had occurred before1 so my attention was the more aroused4 ,in his hand was a great thick pencil4 ,i began to have ideas4 ',just look at the unfortunate man1' said ,helena ,petrovna suddenly1 turning to me4 ',he does not look himself at all2 he drives me to distraction'4444 ,then she passed from ,bavaji to the ,london ,society for ,psychical ,research1 and again tried to persuade me about the 'master4' ,bavaji stood like a statue2 he could take no part in our conversation1 as he did not know a word of ,russian4 ',but such incredulity as to the evidence of your own eyes1 such obstinate infidelity as yours1 is simply unpardonable4 ,in fact1 it is wicked6' exclaimed ,helena ,petrovna4 ,i was walking about the room at the time1 and did not take my eyes off ,bavaji4 ,i saw that he was keeping his eyes wide open1 with a sort of contortion of his whole body1 while his hand1 armed with a great pencil1 was carefully tracing some letters on a sheet of paper4 ',look2 what is the matter with him8' exclaimed ,madame ,blavatsky4 ',nothing particular1' ,i answered2 'he is writing in ,russian4' ,i saw her whole face grow purple4 ,she began to stir in her chair1 with an obvious desire to get up and take the paper from him4 ,but with her swollen and almost inflexible limbs1 she could not do so with any speed4 ,i made haste to seize the paper and saw on it a beautifully drawn ,russian phrase4 ,bavaji was to have written1 in the ,russian language with which he was not acquainted3 ',blessed are they that believe1 as said the ,great ,adept4' ,he had learned his task well1 and remembered correctly the form of all the letters1 but he had omitted two in the word 'believe1' ,the effect was precisely the same as if in ,english he had omitted the first two and last two letters of the word4 ',blessed are they that lie1' ,i read aloud1 unable to control the laughter which shook me4 ',that is the best thing ,i ever saw4 ,oh1 ,bavaji6 you should have got your lesson up better for examination6' ,the tiny ,hindoo hid his face in his hands and rushed out of the room2 ,i heard his hysterical sobs in the distance4 ,madame ,blavatsky sat with distorted features4 ,as will be seen from the above1 the ,hindoo servant was one of the ,madame's ,mahatmas1 and was caught in the act of preparing a communication from a sage in the ,himalayas1 to ,solovyoff4 ,after this abortive phenomena1 remarks the ,russian journalist1 things marched faster1 and ,i saw that ,i should soon be in a position to send very interesting additions to the report of the ,psychical ,society4444 ,every day when ,i came to see the ,madame she used to try to do me a favor in the shape of some trifling 'phenomenon1' but she never succeeded4 ,thus one day her famous 'silver bell' was heard1 when suddenly something fell beside her on the ground4 ,i hurried to pick it up--and found in my hands a pretty little piece of silver1 delicately worked and strangely shaped4 ,helena ,petrovna changed countenance1 and snatched the object from me4 ,i coughed significantly1 smiled and turned the conversation to indifferent matters4 ,on another occasion he was conversing with her about the ,theosophist1 and she mentioned the name of ,subba ,rao1 a ,hindoo1 who had attained the highest degree of knowledge4 ,she directed ,mr4 ,solovyoff to open a drawer in her writing desk1 and take from it a photograph of the adept4 ,i opened the drawer1 says ,solovyoff1 found the photograph and handed it to her--together with a packet of ,chinese envelopes 7,see ,fig4 #cd71 such as ,i well knew2 they were the same in which the 'elect' used to receive the letters of the ,mahatmas ,morya and ,koot ,hoomi by 'astral post4' ',look at that1 ,helena ,petrovna6 ,i should advise you to hide this packet of the master's envelopes farther off4 ,you are so terribly absent-minded and careless4' ,it was easy to imagine what this was to her4 ,i looked at her and was positively frightened2 her face grew perfectly black4 ,she tried in vain to speak2 she could only writhe helplessly in her great arm-chair4 ,solovyoff with great adroitness gradually drew from her a confession4 ,what is one to do1 said ,madame ,blavatsky1 plaintively1 when in order to rule men it is necessary to deceive them2 almost invariably the more simple1 the more silly1 and the more gross the phenomenon1 the more likely it is to succeed4 ,the ,priestess of ,isis broke down completely and acknowledged that her phenomena were not genuine2 the ,koot ,hoomi letters were written by herself and others in collusion with her2 finally she exhibited to the journalist the apparatus for producing the astral bell1 and begged him to go into a co-partnership with her to astonish the world4 ,he refused6 ,the next day she declared that a black magician had spoken through her mouth1 and not herself2 she was not responsible for what she had said4 ,after this he had other interviews with her2 threats and promises2 and lastly a most extraordinary letter1 which was headed1 ,my ,confession1 and reads1 in part1 as follows3 ,believe me1 ,i have fallen because ,i have made up my mind to fall1 or else to bring about a reaction by telling all ,god's truth about myself1 but without mercy on my enemies4 ,on this ,i am firmly resolved1 and from this day ,i shall begin to prepare myself in order to be ready4 ,i will fly no more4 ,together with this letter1 or a few hours later1 ,i shall myself be in ,paris1 and then on to ,london4 ,a ,frenchman is ready1 and a well-known journalist too1 delighted to set about the work and to write at my dictation something short1 but strong1 and what is most important--a true history of my life4 ,i shall not even attempt to defend1 to justify myself4 ,in this book ,i shall simply say3 ,in #ahdh1 ,i1 hating my husband1 ,n4 ,v4 ,blavatsky 7it may have been wrong1 but still such was the nature ,god gave me71 left him1 abandoned him--a virgin4 7,i shall produce documents and letters proving this1 although he himself is not such a swine as to deny it47 ,i loved one man deeply1 but still more ,i loved occult science1 believing in magic1 wizards1 etc4 ,i wandered with him here and there1 in ,asia1 in ,america1 and in ,europe4 ,i met with ,so-and-so4 7,you may call him a wizard1 what does it matter to him87 ,in #aheh ,i was in ,london2 there came out some story about a child1 not mine 7there will follow medical evidence1 from the faculty of ,paris1 and it is for this that ,i am going to ,paris74 ,one thing and another was said of me2 that ,i was depraved1 possessed with a devil1 etc4 ,i shall tell everything as ,i think fit1 everything ,i did1 for the twenty years and more1 that ,i laughed at the qu'en dira-t-on1 and covered up all traces of what ,i was really occupied in1 i4 e41 the sciences occultes1 for the sake of my family and relations who would at that time have cursed me4 ,i will tell how from my eighteenth year ,i tried to get people to talk about me1 and say about me that this man and that was my lover1 and hundreds of them4 ,i will tell1 too1 a great deal of which no one ever dreamed1 and ,i will prove it4 ,then ,i will inform the world how suddenly my eyes were opened to all the horror of my moral suicide2 how ,i was sent to ,america to try my psychological capabilities2 how ,i collected a society there1 and began to expiate my faults1 and attempted to make men better and to sacrifice myself for their regeneration4 ,i will name all the ,theosophists who were brought into the right way1 drunkards and rakes1 who became almost saints1 especially in ,india1 and those who enlisted as ,theosophists1 and continued their former life1 as though they were doing the work 7and there are many of them7 and yet were the first to join the pack of hounds that were hunting me down1 and to bite me4444 ,no6 ,the devils will save me in this last great hour4 ,you did not calculate on the cool determination of despair1 which was and has passed over4444 ,and to this ,i have been brought by you4 ,you have been the last straw which has broken the camel's back under its intolerably heavy burden4 ,now you are at liberty to conceal nothing4 ,repeat to all ,paris what you have ever heard or know about me4 ,i have already written a letter to ,sinnett forbidding him to publish my memoirs at his own discretion4 ,i myself will publish them with all the truth4444 ,it will be a ,saturnalia of the moral depravity of mankind1 this confession of mine1 a worthy epilogue of my stormy life4444 ,let the psychist gentlemen1 and whosoever will1 set on foot a new inquiry4 ,mohini and all the rest1 even ,india1 are dead for me4 ,i thirst for one thing only1 that the world may know all the reality1 all the truth1 and learn the lesson4 ,and then death1 kindest of all4 ,h4 ,,blavatsky4 ,you may print this letter if you will1 even in ,russia4 ,it is all the same now4 ,this remarkable effusion may be the result of a fever-disordered brain1 it may be1 as she says1 the ,god's truth2 at any rate it bears the ear-marks of the ,blavatsky style about it4 ,the disciples of the ,high ,priestess of ,isis have bitterly denounced ,solovyoff and the revelations contained in his book4 ,they brand him as a coward for not having published his diatribe during the lifetime of the ,madame1 when she was able to defend herself4 ,however that may be1 ,solovyoff's exposures tally very well with the mass of corroborative evidence adduced by ,hodgson1 ,coues1 ,coleman1 and a host of writers1 who began their attacks during the earthly pilgrimage of the great ,sibyl4 ,on receipt of this letter1 ,feb #af1 #ahhf1 ,solovyoff resigned from the ,theosophical ,society4 ,he denounced the ,high ,priestess to the ,paris ,theosophists1 and the ,blavatsky lodges in that city were disrupted in consequence of the exposures4 ,this seems to be a convincing proof of the genuineness of his revelations4 ,after the ,solovyoff incident1 ,madame ,blavatsky went into retirement for a while4 ,eventually she appeared in ,london as full of enthusiasm as ever and added to her list of converts the ,countess of ,caithness and ,mrs4 ,annie ,besant1 the famous socialist and authoress4 ,finally came the last act of this strange life-drama4 ,that messenger of death1 whom the mystical ,persian singer1 ,omar ,khayyam1 calls ,the ,angel of the ,darker ,drink1 held to her lips the inevitable chalice of ,mortality2 then the golden cord was loosened and the silver bowl was broken1 and she passed into the land of shadows4 ,it was in ,london1 ,may #h1 #ahia1 that ,helena ,petrovna ,blavatsky ended one of the strangest careers on record4 ,she died calmly and peacefully in her bed1 surrounded by her friends1 and after her demise her body was cremated by her disciples1 with occult rites and ceremonies4 ,all that remained of her--a few handfuls of powdery white ashes--was gathered together1 and divided into three equal parts4 ,one portion was buried in ,london1 one sent to ,new ,york ,city1 and the third to ,adyar1 near ,madras1 ,india4 ,the ,new ,world1 the ,old ,world1 and the still ,older ,world of the ,east were honored with the ashes of ,h4 ,p4 ,b4 ,three civilizations1 three heaps of ashes1 three initials--mystic number from time immemorial1 celebrated symbol of ,divinity known to1 and revered by1 ,cabalists1 ,gnostics1 ,rosicrucians1 and ,theosophists4 ,mr4 ,j4 ,ransom ,bridges1 who had considerable correspondence with the ,high ,priestess from #ahhh until her death1 says 7,arena1 ,april1 #ahie73 ,whatever may be the ultimate verdict upon the life and work of this woman1 her place in history will be unique4 ,there was a ,titanic display of strength in everything she did4 ,the storms that raged in her were cyclones4 ,those exposed to them often felt with ,solovyoff that if there were holy and sage ,mahatmas1 they could not remain holy and sage1 and have anything to do with ,helena ,petrovna ,blavatsky4 ,the 'confession' she wrote rings with the mingled curses and mad laughter of a crazy mariner scuttling his own ship4 ,yet she could be as tender and sympathetic as any mother4 ,her mastery of some natures seemed complete2 and these people she worked like galley-slaves in the ,theosophical tread mill of her propaganda movement4 ,to these disciples she was the greatest thaumaturgist known to the world since the days of the ,christ4 ,the attacks upon her1 the ,coulomb and ,solovyoff exposures1 the continual newspaper calumnies they look upon as a gigantic conspiracy brewed by all the rules of the black art to counteract1 and1 if possible1 to destroy the effect of her work and mission4 ,requiescat in ,pace1 ,o ,priestess of ,isis1 until your next incarnation on ,earth6 ,the twentieth century will doubtless have need of your services6 ,for the delectation of the curious let me add3 the ,english resting place of ,madame ,blavatsky is designed after the model of an ,oriental dagoba1 or tomb2 the ,american shrine is a marble niche in the wall of the ,theosophical headquarters1 ,no4 #add ,madison avenue1 the ashes reposing in a vase standing in the niche behind a hermetically-sealed glass window4 ,the ,oriental shrine in ,adyar is a tomb modelled after the world-famous ,taj ,mahal1 and is built of pink sandstone1 surmounted by a small ,benares copper spire4 #d4 ,the ,writings of ,madame ,blavatsky4 ,madame ,blavatsky is known to the reading world as the writer of two voluminous works of a philosophical or mystical character1 explanatory of the ,esoteric ,doctrine1 viz41 ,isis ,unveiled1 published in #ahgg1 and the ,secret ,doctrine1 published in #ahhh4 ,in the composition of these works she claimed that she was assisted by the ,mahatmas who visited her apartments when she was asleep1 and wrote portions of the manuscripts with their astral hands while their natural bodies reposed entranced in ,thibetan ,lamaseries4 ,these fictions were fostered by prominent members of the ,theosophical ,society1 and believed by many credulous persons4 ,isis ,unveiled is a hodge-podge of absurdities1 pseudo-science1 mythology and folklore1 arranged in helter-skelter fashion1 with an utter disregard of logical sequence4 ,the fact was that ,madame ,blavatsky had a very imperfect knowledge of ,english1 and this may account for the strange mistakes in which the volume abounds1 despite the aid of the ghostly ,mahatmas4 ,william ,emmette ,coleman1 of ,san ,francisco1 has made an exhaustive analysis of the ,madame's writings1 and declares that ,isis1 and the ,secret ,doctrine are full of plagiarisms4 ,in ,isis he discovered some #b1jjj passages copied from other books without proper credit4 ,speaking of the ,secret ,doctrine1 the master key to the wisdom of the ages1 he says3 ,the ',secret ,doctrine' is ostensibly based upon certain stanzas1 claimed to have been translated by ,madame ,blavatsky from the ',book of ,dzyan'--the oldest book in the world1 written in a language unknown to philology4 ,the ',book of ,dzyan' was the work of ,madame ,blavatsky--a compilation1 in her own language1 from a variety of sources1 embracing the general principles of the doctrines and dogmas taught in the ',secret ,doctrine4' ,i find in this 'oldest book in the world' statements copied from nineteenth century books1 and in the usual blundering manner of ,madame ,blavatsky4 ,letters and other writings of the adepts are found in the ',secret ,doctrine4' ,in these ,mahatmic productions ,i have traced various plagiarized passages from ,wilson's ',vishnu ,purana1' and ,winchell's ',world ,life'--of like character to those in ,madame ,blavatsky's acknowledged writings4 99 99 99 ,a specimen of the wholesale plagiarisms in this book appears in vol4 ,,ii41 pp4 #eii-fjc4 ,nearly the whole of four pages was copied from ,oliver's ',pythagorean ,triangle1' while only a few lines were credited to that work4 ,those who are interested in ,coleman's expos are referred to ,appendix ,c1 of ,solovyoff's book1 ,a ,modern ,priestess of ,isis4 ,the title of this appendix is ,the ,sources of ,madame ,blavatsky's ,writings4 ,mr4 ,coleman is at present engaged in the preparation of an elaborate work on the subject1 which will in addition contain an expos of ,theosophy as a whole4 ,it will no doubt prove of interest to students of occultism4 #e4 ,life and ,death of a ,famous ,theosophist4 ,the funeral of ,baron de ,palm1 conducted according to ,theosophical rites1 is an interesting chapter in the history of the ,society1 and worth relating4 ,joseph ,henry ,louis ,charles1 ,baron de ,palm1 ,grand ,cross ,commander of the ,sovereign ,order of the ,holy ,sepulchre at ,jerusalem1 and knight of various orders1 was born at ,augsburg1 ,may #aj1 #ahji4 ,he came to the ,united ,states rather late in life1 drifted ,west without any settled occupation1 and lived from hand to mouth in various ,western cities4 ,finally he located in ,new ,york ,city1 broken in health and spirit4 ,he was a man of considerable culture and interested to a greater or less extent in the phenomena of modern ,spiritualism4 ,a letter of introduction from the editor of the ,religio-,philosophical ,journal1 of ,chicago1 made him acquainted with ,col4 ,olcott1 who introduced him to prominent members of the ,theosophical ,society4 ,he was elected a member of the ,society1 eventually becoming a member of the ,council4 ,in the year #ahge he died1 leaving behind an earnest request that ,col4 ,olcott should perform the last offices in a fashion that would illustrate the ,eastern notions of death and immortality4#f ,he also left directions that his body should be cremated4 ,a great deal of excitement was caused over this affair in orthodox religious circles1 and public curiosity was aroused to the highest pitch4 ,the funeral service was1 as ,madame ,blavatsky described it in a letter to a ,european correspondent1 pagan1 almost antique pagan4 ,the ceremony was held in the great hall of the ,masonic ,temple1 corner of ,twenty-third and ,sixth avenue4 ,tickets of admission were issued of decidedly occult shape--triangular2 some black1 printed in silver2 others drab1 printed in black4 ,a crowd of #b1jjj people assembled to witness the obsequies4 ,on the stage was a triangular altar1 with a symbolical fire burning upon it4 ,the coffin stood near by1 covered with the orders of knighthood of the deceased4 ,a splendid choir rendered several ,orphic hymns composed for the occasion1 with organ accompaniment1 and ,col4 ,olcott1 as ,hierophant1 made an invocation or mantram to the ,soul of the ,world whose breath gives and withdraws the form of everything4 ,death is always solemn1 and no subject for levity1 yet ,i must not leave out of this chronicle the unique burlesque programme of ,baron de ,palm's funeral1 published by the ,new ,york ,world1 the day before the event4 ,says the ,world3 ,the procession will move in the following order3 ,col4 ,olcott as high priest1 wearing a leopard skin and carrying a roll of papyrus 7brown card board74 ,mr4 ,cobb1 as sacred scribe1 with style and tablet4 ,egyptian mummy-case1 borne upon a sledge drawn by four oxen4 7,also a slave bearing a pot of lubricating oil47 ,madame ,blavatsky as chief mourner and also bearer of the sistrum4 7,she will wear a long linen garment extending to the feet1 and a girdle about the waist47 ,colored boy carrying three ,abyssinian geese 7,philadelphia chickens7 to place upon the bier4 ,vice-,president ,felt1 with the eye of ,osiris painted on his left breast1 and carrying an asp 7bought at a toy store on ,eighth avenue47 ,dr4 ,pancoast1 singing an ancient ,theban dirge3 ',isis and ,nepthys1 beginning and end3 ,one more victim to ,amenti we send4 ,pay we the fare1 and let us not tarry4 ,cross the ,styx by the ,roosevelt street ferry4' ,slaves in mourning gowns1 carrying the offerings and libations1 to consist of early potatoes1 asparagus1 roast beef1 ,french pan-cakes1 bock-beer1 and ,new ,jersey cider4 ,treasurer ,newton1 as chief of the musicians1 playing the double pipe4 ,other musicians performing on eight-stringed harps1 tom-toms1 etc4 ,boys carrying a large lotus 7sunflower74 ,librarian ,fassit1 who will alternate with music by repeating the lines beginning3 ',here ,horus comes1 ,i see the boat4 ,friends1 stay your flowing tears2 ,the soul of man goes through a goat ,in just #c1jjj years4' ,at the temple the ceremony will be short and simple4 ,the oxen will be left standing on the sidewalk1 with a boy near by to prevent them goring the passers-by4 ,besides the ,theurgic hymn1 printed above in full1 the ,coptic ,national anthem will be sung1 translated and adapted to the occasion as follows3 ,sitting ,cynocephalus up in a tree1 ,i see you1 and you see me4 ,river full of crocodile1 see his long snout6 ,hoist up the shadoof and pull him right out4 #f4 ,the ,mantle of ,madame ,blavatsky4 ,after ,madame ,blavatsky's death1 ,mrs4 ,annie ,besant assumed the leadership of the ,theosophical ,society1 and wore upon her finger a ring that belonged to the ,high ,priestess3 a ring with a green stone flecked with veins of blood red1 upon the surface of which was engraved the interlaced triangles within a circle1 with the ,indian motto1 ,sat 7,life71 the symbol of ,theosophy4 ,it was given to ,madame ,blavatsky by her ,indian teacher1 says ,mrs4 ,besant1 and is very magnetic4 ,the ,high ,priestess on her deathbed presented the mystic signet to her successor1 and left her in addition many valuable books and manuscripts4 ,the ,theosophical ,society now numbers its adherents by the thousands and has its lodges scattered over the ,united ,states1 ,france1 ,england and ,india4 ,at the ,world's ,columbian ,exposition it was well represented in the ,great ,parliament of ,religions1 by ,annie ,besant1 ,william ,q4 ,judge1 of the ,american branch1 and ,prof4 ,chakravatir1 a ,high ,caste ,brahmin of ,india4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ch4 ,,portrait ,,of ,,mrs4 ,,annie ,,besant4 ,mrs4 ,besant1 in an interview published in the ,new ,york ,world1 ,dec4 #aa1 #ahib1 made the following statement concerning ,madame ,blavatsky's peculiar powers3 ,one time she was trying to explain to me the control of the mind over certain currents in the ether about us1 and to illustrate she made some little taps come on my own head4 ,they were accompanied by the sensation one experiences on touching an electric battery4 ,i have frequently seen her draw things to her simply by her will1 without touching them4 ,indeed1 she would often check herself when strangers were about4 ,it was natural for her1 when she wanted a book that was on the table1 to simply draw it to her by her power of mind1 as it would be for you to reach out your hand to pick it up4 ,and so1 as ,i say1 she often had to check herself1 for she was decidedly adverse to making a show of her power4 ,in fact1 that is contrary to the law of the brotherhood to which she belonged4 ,this law forbids them to make use of their power except as an instruction to their pupils or as an aid to the spreading of the truth4 ,an adept may never use his knowledge for his personal advantage4 ,he may be starving1 and despite his ability to materialize banquets he may not supply himself with a crust of bread4 ,this is what is meant in the ,gospel when it says3 ',he saved others1 ,himself ,he cannot save4' ,one time she had written an article and as usual she gave me her manuscript to look over4 ,sometimes she wrote very good grammatic ,english and again she wrote very slovenly ,english4 ,so she always had me go over her manuscript4 ,in reading this particular one ,i found a long quotation of some twenty or thirty lines4 ,when ,i finished it ,i went to her and said3 ',where in the world did you get that quotation8' ',i got it from an ,indian newspaper of --1' naming the date4 ',but1' ,i said1 'that paper cannot be in this country yet6 ,how did you get hold of it8' ',oh1 ,i got it1 dear1' she said1 with a little laugh2 'that's enough4' ,of course ,i understood then4 ,when the time came for the paper to arrive1 ,i thought ,i would verify her quotation1 so ,i asked her for the name1 the date of the issue and the page on which the quotation would be found4 ,she told me1 giving me1 we will say1 #de as the number of the page4 ,i went to the agent1 looked up the paper and there was no such quotation on page #de4 ,then ,i remembered that things seen in the astral light are reversed1 so ,i turned the number around1 looked on page #ed and there was the quotation4 ,when ,i went home ,i told her that it was all right1 but that she had given me the wrong page4 ',very likely1' she said4 ',someone came in just as ,i was finishing it1 and ,i may have forgotten to reverse the number4' ,you see1 anything seen in the astral light is reversed1 as if you saw it in a mirror1 while anything seen clairvoyantly is straight4 ,the elevation of ,mrs4 ,besant to the ,high ,priestess-ship of the ,theosophical ,society was in accord with the spirit of the age--an acknowledgment of the ,eternal ,feminine2 but it did not bring repose to the organization4 ,william ,q4 ,judge1 of the ,american branch1 began dabbling1 it is claimed1 in ,mahatma messages on his own account1 and charges were made against him by ,mrs4 ,besant4 ,a bitter warfare was waged in ,theosophical journals1 and finally the ,american branch of the general society seceded1 and organized itself into the ,american ,theosophical ,society4 ,judge was made life-president and held the post until his death1 in ,new ,york ,city1 ,march #bast1 #ahif4 ,his body was cremated and the ashes sealed in an urn1 which was deposited in the ,society's rooms1 ,no4 #add ,madison avenue4 ,five weeks after the death of ,judge1 the ,theosophical ,society held its annual conclave in ,new ,york ,city1 and elected ,e4 ,t4 ,hargrove as the presiding genius of esoteric wisdom in the ,united ,states4 ,it was originally intended to hold this convention in ,chicago1 but the change was made for a peculiar reason4 ,as the press reported the circumstance1 it was the result of a request by a mysterious adept whose existence had been unsuspected1 and who made known his wish in a communication to the executive committee4 ,it seems that the ,theosophical ,society is composed of two bodies1 the exoteric and the esoteric4 ,the first holds open meetings for the discussion of ethical and ,theosophical subjects1 and the second meets privately1 being composed of a secret body of adepts1 learned in occultism and possessing remarkable spiritual powers4 ,the chief of the secret order is appointed by the ,mahatmas1 on account1 it is claimed1 of his or her occult development4 ,madame ,blavatsky was the ,high ,priestess in this inner temple during her lifetime1 and was succeeded by ,hierophant ,w4 ,q4 ,judge4 ,when ,judge died1 it seems there was no one thoroughly qualified to take his place as the head of the esoteric branch1 until an examination was made of his papers4 ,then came a surprise4 ,judge had named as his successor a certain obscure individual whom he claimed to be a great adept1 requesting that the name be kept a profound secret for a specified time4 ,in obedience to this injunction1 the ,great ,unknown was elected as chief of the ,inner ,brother-and-,sisterhood4 ,all of this made interesting copy for the ,new ,york journalists1 and columns were printed about the affair4 ,another surprise came when the convention of exoterics 7hysterics1 as some of the papers called them7 subscribed #be1jjj for the founding of an occult temple in this country4 ,but the greatest surprise of all was a ,theosophical wedding4 ,the ,de ,palm funeral fades away into utter insignificance beside this mystic marriage4 ,the contracting parties were ,claude ,falls ,wright1 formerly secretary to ,madame ,blavatsky1 and ,mary ,c4 ,l4 ,leonard1 daughter of ,anna ,byford ,leonard1 one of the best known ,theosophists in the ,west4 ,the ceremony was performed at ,aryan ,hall1 ,no4 #add ,madison avenue1 ,n4 ,y41 in the presence of the occult body4 ,outsiders were not admitted4 ,however1 public curiosity was partly gratified by sundry crumbs of information thrown out by the ,theosophical press bureau4 ,the young couple stood beneath a seven-pointed star1 made of electric light globes1 and plighted their troth amid clouds of odoriferous incense4 ,then followed weird chantings and music by an occult orchestra composed of violins and violoncellos4 ,the unknown adept presided over the affair1 as special envoy of the ,mahatmas4 ,he was enveloped from head to foot in a thick white veil1 said the papers4 ,mr4 ,wright and his bride-elect declared solemnly that they remembered many of their former incarnations2 their marriage had really taken place in ,egypt1 #e1jjj years ago in one of the mysterious temples of that strange country1 and the ceremony had been performed by the priests of ,isis4 ,yes1 they remembered it all6 ,it seemed but as yesterday6 ,they recalled with vividness the scene3 their march up the avenue of monoliths2 the lotus flowers strewn in their path by rosy children2 the intoxicating perfume of the incense1 burned in bronze braziers by shaven-headed priests2 the hieroglyphics1 emblematical of life1 death and resurrection1 painted upon the temple walls2 the ,hierophant in his gorgeous vestments4 ,oh1 what a dream of ,old ,world splendor and beauty6 ,before many months had passed1 the awful secret of the ,veiled ,adept's identity was revealed4 ,the ,great ,unknown turned out to be a she instead of a he adept--a certain ,mrs4 ,katherine ,alice ,tingley1 of ,new ,york ,city4 ,the reporters began ringing the front door bell of the adept's house in the vain hope of obtaining an interview1 but the newly-hatched ,sphinx turned a deaf ear to their entreaties4 ,the time was not yet ripe for revelations4 ,her friends1 however1 rushed into print1 and told the most marvellous stories of her mediumship4 ,w4 ,t4 ,stead1 the ,english journalist and student of psychical research1 reviewing the ,theosophical convention and its outcome1 says 7,borderland1 ,july1 #ahif1 p4 #cjf73 ,the ,judgeite seceders from the ,theosophical ,society held their annual convention in ,new ,york1 ,april #bfth to #bgth4 ,they have elected a young man1 ,mr4 ,ernest ,t4 ,hargrove1 as their president4 ,a former spiritual medium and clairvoyant1 by name ,katherine ,alice ,tingley1 who claims to have been bosom friends with ,h4 ,p4 ,b4 #abjj years ,b4 ,c41 when both were incarnated in ,egypt1 is1 however1 the grand ,panjandrum of the cause4 ,her first husband was a detective1 her second is a clerk in the ,white ,lead ,company's office in ,brooklyn4 ,according to ,mr4 ,hargrove she is--',the new adept2 she was appointed by ,mr4 ,judge1 and we are going to sustain her1 as we sustained him1 for we know her important connection in ,egypt1 ,mexico and ,europe4' ,in the spring of #ahif1 ,mrs4 ,tingley1 accompanied by a number of prominent occultists1 started on a crusade through the world to bring the truths of ,theosophy to the toiling millions4 ,the crusaders before their departure were presented with a purple silk banner1 bearing the legend3 ,truth1 ,light1 ,liberation for ,discouraged ,humanity4 ,the ,new ,york ,herald 7,aug4 #af1 #ahif7 says of this crusade3 ,when ,mrs4 ,tingley and the other crusaders left this country nothing had been heard of the claim of the reincarnated ,blavatsky4 ,now1 however1 this idea is boldly advanced in ,england by the ,american branch of the society there1 and in ,america by ,burcham ,harding1 the acting head of the society in this country4 ,when ,mr4 ,harding was seen at the ,theosophical headquarters1 he said3 ',yes1 ,mme4 ,blavatsky is reincarnated in ,mrs4 ,tingley4 ,she has not only been recognized by myself and other members of the ,american branch of the ,theosophical ,society1 who knew ,h4 ,p4 ,b4 in her former life1 but the striking physical and facial resemblance has also been noted by members of the ,english branch4' ,but this recognition by the ,english members of the society does not seem to be as strong as ,mr4 ,harding would seem to have it understood4 ,in fact1 there are a number of members of that branch who boldly declare that ,mrs4 ,tingley is an impostor4 ,one of them1 within the last week1 addressing the ,english members on the subject1 claimed that ,mme4 ,blavatsky had foreseen that such an impostor would arise4 ,he said3 ',when ,mme4 ,blavatsky lived in her body among us1 she declared to all her disciples that1 in her next reincarnation1 she would inhabit the body of an ,eastern man1 and she warned them to be on their guard against any assertion made by mediums or others that they were controlled by her4 ,whatever ,h4 ,p4 ,b4 lacked1 she never wanted emphasis1 and no one who knew anything of the founder of the ,theosophical ,society was left in any doubt as to her views upon this question4 ,she declared that if any persons1 after her death1 should claim that she was speaking through them1 her friends might be quite sure that it was a lie4 ,imagine1 then1 the feelings of ,h4 ,p4 ,b4's disciples on being presented with an ,american clairvoyant medium1 in the shape of ,mrs4 ,tingley1 who is reported to claim that ,h4 ,p4 ,b4 is reincarnated in her4' ,the ,american branch of the society is not at all disturbed by this charge of fraud by the ,english branch4 ,in connection with it ,mr4 ,harding says3 ',it is true that the ,american branch of the ,theosophical ,society has seceded from the ,english branch1 but as ,mme4 ,blavatsky1 the founder1 was in reality an ,american1 it can be understood why we consider ourselves the parent society4' ,of the one letter which ,mrs4 ,tingley has sent to ,america since the arrival of the crusaders1 the ,english ,theosophists are a unit in the expression of opinion that it illustrated1 as did her speech in ,queen's ,hall1 merely 'unmeaning platitudes and prophecies4' ,but the ,american members are quite as loud in their expressions that the ,english members are trying to win the sympathies of the public1 and that the words are really understood by the initiate4 ,the letter reads3 ',in thanking you for the many kind letters addressed to me as ,katherine ,tingley1 as well as by other names that would not be understood by the general public1 ,i should like to say a few words as to the future and its possibilities4 ,many of you are destined to take an active part in the work that the future will make manifest1 and it is well to press onward with a clear knowledge of the path to be trodden and with a clear vision of the goal to be reached4 ',the path to be trodden is both exterior and interior1 and in order to reach the goal it is necessary to tread these paths with strength1 courage1 faith and the essence of them all1 which is wisdom4 ',for these two paths1 which fundamentally are one1 like every duality in nature1 are winding paths1 and now lead through sunlight1 then through deepest shade4 ,during the last few years the large majority of students have been rounding a curve in the paths of both inner and outer work1 and this wearied many4 ,but those who persevered and faltered not will soon reap their reward4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #ci4 ,,portrait ,,of ,,mrs4 ,,tingley4 ,reproduced by courtesy of the ,new ,york ,herald4 ',the present is pregnant with the promise of the near future1 and that future is brighter than could be believed by those who have so recently been immersed in the shadows that are inevitable in cyclic progress4 ,can words describe it8 ,i think not4 ,but if you will think of the past twenty years of ploughing and sowing and will keep in your mind the tremendous force that has been scattered broadcast throughout the world1 you must surely see that the hour for reaping is near at hand1 if it has not already come4 ,the invasion of ,english territory by the ,american crusaders was resented by the ,british ,theosophists4 ,the advocates of universal brotherhood waged bitter warfare against each other in the newspapers and periodicals4 ,it gradually resolved itself into a struggle for supremacy between the two rival claimants for the mantle of ,madame ,blavatsky1 ,mrs4 ,annie ,besant and ,mrs4 ,tingley4 ,each ,pythoness ascended her sacred tripod and hysterically denounced the other as an usurper1 and false prophetess4 ,annie ,besant sought to disprove the idea of ,madame ,blavatsky having re-incarnated herself in the body of ,mrs4 ,tingley4 ,she claimed that the late ,high ,priestess had taken up her earthly pilgrimage again in the person of a little ,hindoo boy1 who lived somewhere on the banks of the ,ganges4 ,the puzzling problem was this3 ,if ,mrs4 ,tingley was ,mme4 ,blavatsky1 where was ,mrs4 ,tingley8 ,oedipus would have gone mad trying to solve this ,sphinx riddle4 ,the crusade finished1 ,mrs4 ,tingley1 with her purple banner returned to ,new ,york1 where she was royally welcomed by her followers4 ,in the wake of the ,american adept came the irrepressible ,annie ,besant1 accompanied by a sister ,theosophist1 the ,countess ,constance ,wachmeister4 ,mrs4 ,besant1 garbed in a white linen robe of ,hindoo pattern1 lectured on occult subjects to crowded houses in the principal cities of the ,east and ,west4 ,in the numerous interviews accorded her by the press1 she ridiculed the ,blavatsky-,tingley re-incarnation theory4 ,by kind permission of the ,new ,york ,herald1 ,i reproduce a portrait of ,mrs4 ,tingley4 ,the reader will find it interesting to compare this sketch with the photograph of ,madame ,blavatsky given in this book4 ,he will notice at once how much the two occultists do resemble each other2 both are grossly fat1 puffy of face1 with heavy-lidded eyes and rather thick lips4 #g4 ,the ,theosophical ,temple4 ,if all the dreams of the ,theosophical ,society are fulfilled we shall see1 at no distant date1 in the state of ,california1 a sombre and mysterious building1 fashioned after an ,egyptian temple1 its pillars covered with hieroglyphic symbols1 and its ponderous pylons flanking the gloomy entrance4 ,twin obelisks will stand guard at the gateway and huge bronze sphinxes stare the tourist out of countenance4 ,the ,theosophical temple will be constructed upon certain mysterious principles1 and the numbers #g and #ac will play a prominent part in connection with the dimensions of the rooms and the steps of the stairways4 ,the ,hierophants of occultism will assemble here1 weird initiations like those described in ,moore's ,epicurean will take place1 and the doctrines of ,hindoo pantheism will be expounded to the ,faithful4 ,the revival of the ,egyptian mysteries seems to be one of the objects aimed at in the establishment of this mystical college4 ,just what the ,egyptian ,mysteries were is a mooted question among ,egyptologists4 ,but this does not bother the modern adept4 ,mr4 ,bucham ,harding1 the leading exponent of ,theosophy mentioned above1 says that within the temple the neophyte will be brought face to face with his own soul4 ,by what means cannot be revealed2 but ,i may say that the object of initiation will be to raise the consciousness of the pupil to a plane where he will see and know his own divine soul and consciously communicate with it4 ,once gained1 this power is never lost4 ,from this it can be seen that occultism is not so unreal as many think1 and that the existence of soul is susceptible of actual demonstration4 ,no one will be received into the mysteries until1 by means of a long and severe probation1 he has proved nobility of character4 ,only persons having ,theosophical training will be eligible1 but as any believer in brotherhood may become a ,theosophist1 all earnest truthseekers will have an opportunity of admission4 ,the probation will be sufficiently severe to deter persons seeking to gratify curiosity from trying to enter4 ,no trifler could stand the test4 ,there will be a number of degrees4 ,extremely few will be able to enter the highest1 as eligibility to it requires eradication of every human fault and weakness4 ,those strong enough to pass through this become adepts4 ,the ,masonic ,fraternity1 with its #cc;d degree and its elaborate initiations1 will have to look to its laurels1 as soon as the ,theosophical ,college of ,mystery is in good running order4 ,everyone loves mysteries1 especially when they are of the ,egyptian kind4 ,cagliostro1 the ,high ,priest of ,humbug1 knew this when he evolved the ,egyptian ,rite of ,masonry1 in the eighteenth century4 ,speaking of ,freemasonry1 it is interesting to note the fact1 as stated by ,colonel ,olcott in ,old ,diary ,leaves1 that ,madame ,blavatsky and her coadjutors once seriously debated the question as to the advisability of engrafting the ,theosophical ,society on the ,masonic fraternity1 as a sort of higher degree1--,masonry representing the lesser mysteries1 modern ,theosophy the greater mysteries4 ,but little encouragement was given to the ,priestess of ,isis by eminent ,freemasons1 for ,masonry has always been the advocate of theistic doctrines1 and opposed to the pantheistic cult4 ,at another time1 the leaders of ,theosophy talked of imitating ,masonry by having degrees1 an elaborate ritual1 etc42 also pass words1 signs and grips1 in order that one occult brother might know another in the darkness as well as in the astral light4 ,this1 however1 was abandoned4 ,the founding of the ,temple of ,magic and ,mystery in this country1 with ceremonies of initiation1 etc41 seems to me to be a palingenesis of ,mme4 ,blavatsky's ideas on the subject of occult ,masonry4 #h4 ,conclusions4 ,the temple of modern ,theosophy1 the foundation of which was laid by ,madame ,blavatsky1 rests upon the truth of the ,mahatma stories4 ,disbelieve these1 and the entire structure falls to the ground like a house of cards4 ,after the numerous exposures1 recorded in the preceding chapters1 it is difficult to place any reliance in the accounts of ,mahatmic miracles4 ,there may1 or may not1 be sages in the ,east1 acquainted with spiritual laws of being1 but that these masters1 or adepts1 used ,madame ,blavatsky as a medium to announce certain esoteric doctrines to the ,western world1 is exceedingly dubious4 ,the first work of any literary pretensions to call attention to ,theosophy was ,sinnett's ,esoteric ,buddhism4 ,of that production1 ,william ,emmette ,coleman says3 ',esoteric ,buddhism1' by ,a4 ,p4 ,sinnett1 was based upon statements contained in letters received by ,mr4 ,sinnett and ,mr4 ,a4 ,o4 ,hume1 through ,madame ,blavatsky1 purporting to be written by the ,mahatmas ,koot ,hoomi and ,morya--principally the former4 ,mr4 ,richard ,hodgson has kindly lent me a considerable number of the original letters of the ,mahatmas that leading to the production of ',esoteric ,buddhism4' ,i find in them overwhelming evidence that all of them were written by ,madame ,blavatsky4 ,in these letters are a number of extracts from ,buddhist ,books1 alleged to be translations from the originals by the ,mahatmic writers themselves4 ,these letters claim for the adepts a knowledge of ,sanskrit1 ,thibetan1 ,pali and ,chinese4 ,i have traced to its source each quotation from the ,buddhist ,scriptures in the letters1 and they were all copied from current ,english translations1 including even the notes and explanations of the ,english translators4 ,they were principally copied from ,beal's ',catena of ,buddhist ,scriptures from the ,chinese4' ,in other places where the 'adept' is using his own language in explanation of ,buddhistic terms and ideas1 ,i find that his presumed original language was copied nearly word for word from ,rhys ,davids' ',buddhism1' and other books4 ,i have traced every ,buddhistic idea in these letters and in ',esoteric ,buddhism1' and every ,buddhistic term1 such as ,devachan1 ,avitchi1 etc41 to the books whence ,helena ,petrovna ,blavatsky derived them4 ,although said to be proficient in the knowledge of ,thibetan and ,sanskrit the words and terms in these languages in the letters of the adepts were nearly all used in a ludicrously erroneous and absurd manner4 ,the writer of those letters was an ignoramus in ,sanskrit and ,thibetan2 and the mistakes and blunders in them1 in these languages1 are in exact accordance with the known ignorance of ,madame ,blavatsky concerning these languages4 ',esoteric ,buddhism1' like all of ,madame ,blavatsky's works1 was based upon wholesale plagiarism and ignorance4 ,illustration3 ,,fig4 #dj4 ,,madame ,,blavatsky',s ,,autograph4 ,madame ,blavatsky never succeeded in penetrating into ,thibet1 in whose sacred lamaseries and temples dwell the wonderful ,mahatmas of modern ,theosophy1 but ,william ,woodville ,rockhill1 the ,american traveller and ,oriental scholar1 did1 and we have a record of his adventures in ,the ,land of the ,laas1 published in #ahia4 ,while at ,serkok1 he visited a famous monastery inhabited by #gjj lamas4 ,he says 7page #ajb73 ,they asked endless questions concerning the state of ,buddhism in foreign lands4 ,they were astonished that it no longer existed in ,india1 and that the church of ,ceylon was so like the ancient ,buddhist one4 ,when told of our esoteric ,buddhists1 the ,mahatmas1 and of the wonderful doctrines they claimed to have obtained from ,thibet1 they were immensely amused4 ,they declared that though in ancient times there were1 doubtless1 saints and sages who could perform some of the miracles now claimed by the ,esoterists1 none were living at the present day2 and they looked upon this new school as rankly heretical1 and as something approaching an imposition on our credulity4 ,isis ,unveiled1 and the ,secret ,doctrine1 by ,madame ,blavatsky1 are supposed to contain the completest exposition of ,theosophy1 or the inner spiritual meaning of the great religious cults of the world1 but1 as we have seen1 they are full of plagiarisms and garbled statements1 to say nothing of spurious quotations from ,buddhist sacred books1 manufactured by the writer to embody her own peculiar views1 under the fictitious guise of genuine ,buddhism4 ,this last quotation from ,coleman strikes the keynote of the whole subject4 ,esoteric ,buddhism is a product of ,occidental manufacture1 a figment of ,madame ,blavatsky's romantic imagination1 and by no means represents the truth of ,oriental philosophy4 ,as ,max ,mueller1 one of the greatest living ,oriental scholars1 has repeatedly stated1 any attempt to read into ,oriental thought our ,western science and philosophy or to reconcile them1 is futile to a degree2 the two schools are as opposite to each other1 as the negative and positive poles of a magnet1 ,orientalism representing the former1 ,occidentalism1 the latter4 ,oriental philosophy with its ,indeterminate ,being 7or pure nothing as the ,absolute7 ends in the utter negation of everything and affords no clue to the secret of the ,universe4 ,if to believe that all is maya1 7illusion71 and that to be one with ,brahma 7absorbed like the rain drop in the ocean7 constitutes the summum bonum of thinking1 then there is no explanation of1 or use for1 evolution or progress of any kind4 ,the effect of ,hindoo philosophy has been stagnation1 indifferentism1 and1 as a result1 the ,hindoo has no recorded history1 no science1 no art worthy the name4 ,compared to it see what ,greek philosophy has done3 it has transformed the ,western world3 ,starting with ,self-,determined ,being1 reason1 self-activity1 at the heart of the ,universe1 and the creation of individual souls by a process of evolution in time and space1 and the unfolding of a splendid civilization are logical consequences4 ,in the ,east1 it is the destruction of self-hood2 in the ,west the destruction of selfishness1 and the preservation of self-hood4 ,many noted ,theosophists claim that modern ,theosophy is not a religious cult1 but simply an exposition of the esoteric1 or inner spiritual meaning of the great religious teachers of the world4 ,let me quote what ,solovyoff says on this point3 ,the ,theosophical ,society shockingly deceived those who joined it as members1 in reliance on the regulations4 ,it gradually grew evident that it was no universal scientific brotherhood1 to which the followers of all religions might with a clear conscience belong1 but a group of persons who had begun to preach in their organ1 ,the ,theosophist1 and in their other publications1 a mixed religious doctrine4 ,finally1 in the last years of ,madame ,blavatsky's life1 even this doctrine gave place to a direct and open propaganda of the most orthodox exoteric ,buddhism1 under the motto of ',our ,lord ,buddha1' combined with incessant attacks on ,christianity4 99 99 99 ,now1 in #ahic1 as the direct effect of this cause1 we see an entire religious movement1 we see a prosperous and growing plantation of ,buddhism in ,western ,europe4 ,as a last word let me add that if1 in my opinion1 modern ,theosophy has no right to the high place it claims in the world of thought1 it has performed its share in the noble fight against the crass materialism of our day1 and1 freed from the frauds that have too long darkened its poetical aspects1 it may yet help to diffuse through the world the pure light of brotherly love and spiritual development4 ,list of ,works ,consulted in the ,preparation of this ,volume ,,aksakoff1 ,,alexander ,n4 ,animism and ,spiritism3 an attempt at a critical investigation of mediumistic phenomena1 with special reference to the hypotheses of hallucination and of the unconscious2 an answer to ,dr4 ,e4 von ,hartmann's work1 ,der ,spiritismus4 #b vols4 ,leipsic1 #ahij4 #hvo4 7,a profoundly interesting work by an impartial ,russian savant4 ,judicial1 critical and scientific47 ,,azam1 ,,dr4 ,hypnotisme et ,altrations de la ,personnalit4 ,paris1 #ahhg4 #hvo4 ,,bernheim1 ,,hippolyte4 ,suggestive ,therapeutics3 ,a study of the nature and use of hypnotism4 ,translated from the ,french4 ,new ,york1 #ahhi4 #dto4 ,,binet1 ,a4 ,,and ,f,r1 ,c4 ,animal ,magnetism4 ,translated from the ,french4 ,new ,york1 #ahhh4 ,,blavatsky1 ,,madame ,h,l,,ne ,,petrovna ,,hahn-,,hahn4 ,isis ,unveiled3 ,a ,master-key to the mysteries of ancient and modern science and theology4 #fth ed4 ,new ,york1 #ahia4 #b vols4 #hvo4 7,a heterogeneous mass of poorly digested quotations from writers living and dead1 with running remarks by ,mme4 ,blavatsky4 ,a hodge-podge of magic1 masonry1 and ,oriental witchcraft4 ,pseudo-scientific47 ------ ,the ,secret ,doctrine3 ,the ,synthesis of science1 religion1 and philosophy4 #b vols4 ,new ,york1 #ahhh4 #hvo4 7,philosophical in character4 ,a reading of ,western thought into ,oriental religions and symbolisms4 ,so-called quotations from the ,book of ,dzyan1 manufactured by the ingenious mind of the authoress47 ,,crocq ,,fils1 ,,dr4 ,l'hypnotisme4 ,paris1 #ahif4 #dto4 7,an exhaustive work on hypnotism in all its phases47 ,,crookes1 ,,william4 ,researches in the ,phenomena of ,spiritualism4 ,london1 #ahgf4 #hvo1 7pamphlet74 ------ ,psychic ,force and ,modern ,spiritualism4 ,london1 #ahge4 #hvo1 7pamphlet74 7,very interesting exposition of experiments made with ,d4 ,d4 ,home1 the spirit medium47 ,,davenport1 ,r4 ,b4 ,death ,blow to ,spiritualism3 ,true story of the ,fox sisters4 ,new ,york1 #ahhh4 #hvo4 ,,dessoir1 ,,max4 ,the ,psychology of ,legerdemain4 ,open ,court1 vol4 vii4 ,,garrett1 ,,edmund4 ,isis ,very ,much ,unveiled3 ,being the story of the great ,mahatma hoax4 ,london1 #ahie4 #hvo4 ,,gasparin1 ,,comte ,,ag,,nor ,,de4 ,des ,tables ,tournantes1 du ,surnaturel et des ,esprits4 ,paris1 #ahed4 #hvo4 ,,gatchell1 ,,charles4 ,the methods of mind-readers4 ,forum1 vol4 xi1 pp4 #aib-bjd4 ,,gibier1 ,,dr4 ,,paul4 ,le ,spiritisme 7fakirisme occidental74 tude historique1 critique et exprimentale4 ,paris1 #ahhi4 #hvo4 ,,gurney1 ,e41 ,,myers1 ,f4 ,w41 ,,and ,,podmore1 ,f4 ,phantasms of the ,living4 #b vols4 ,london1 #ahhg4 7,embodies the investigations of the ,society for ,psychical ,research into ,spiritualism1 ,telepathy1 ,thought-transference1 etc47 ,,hammond1 ,,dr4 ,w4 ,h4 ,spiritualism and ,nervous ,derangement4 ,new ,york1 #ahgf4 #hvo4 ,,hardinge-,,brittan1 ,,emma4 ,history of ,spiritualism4 ,new ,york4 #dto4 ,,hart1 ,,ernest4 ,hypnotism1 ,mesmerism and the ,new ,witchcraft4 ,london1 #ahic4 #hvo4 7,scientific and critical4 ,anti-spiritualistic in character47 ,,home1 ,d4 ,d4 ,lights and ,shadows of ,spiritualism4 ,new ,york1 #ahgh4 #hvo4 ,,hudson1 ,,thomas ,,jay4 ,the ,law of ,psychic ,phenomena4 ,new ,york1 #ahid4 #hvo4 ------ ,a ,scientific ,demonstration of the ,future ,life4 ,chicago1 #ahie4 #hvo4 ,,james1 ,,william4 ,psychology4 ,new ,york1 #ahib4 #hvo1 #b vols4 ,,jastrow1 ,,joseph4 ,involuntary ,movements4 ,popular ,science ,monthly1 vol4 xl1 pp4 #gdc-gej4 7,interesting account of experiments made in a ,psychological ,laboratory to demonstrate the readiness with which normal individuals may be made to yield evidence of unconscious and involuntary processes4 ,throws considerable light on muscle-reading1 planchette-writing1 etc47 ------ ,the ,psychology of ,deception4 ,popular ,science ,monthly1 vol4 xxxiv1 pp4 #ade-aeg4 ------ ,the ,psychology of ,spiritualism4 ,popular ,science ,monthly1 vol4 xxxiv1 pp4 #gba-gcb4 7,a series of articles of great value to students of psychical research47 ,,krafft-,,ebing1 ,r4 ,experimental ,study in the ,domain of ,hypnotism4 ,new ,york1 #ahhi4 ,,leaf1 ,,walter4 ,a ,modern ,priestess of ,isis2 abridged and translated on behalf of the ,society for ,psychical ,research1 from the ,russian of ,vsevolod ,s4 ,solovyoff4 ,london1 #ahie4 #hvo4 ,,lillie1 ,,arthur4 ,madame ,blavatsky and her ,theosophy4 ,london1 #ahif4 #hvo4 ,,lippitt1 ,f4 ,j4 ,physical ,proofs of ,another ,life3 ,letters to the ,seybert commission4 ,washington1 ,d4 ,c41 #ahhh4 #hvo4 ,,macaire1 ,,sid4 ,mind-,reading1 or ,muscle-,reading8 ,london1 #ahhi4 ,,moll1 ,,albert4 ,hypnotism4 ,new ,york1 #ahib4 #hvo4 ,,mattison1 ,,rev4 ,h4 ,spirit-rapping ,unveiled4 ,an ,expos of the origin1 history theology and philosophy of certain alleged communications from the spiritual world by means of spirit-rapping1 medium writing1 physical demonstrations1 etc4 ,new ,york1 #ahee4 #hvo4 ,,myers1 ,f4 ,w4 ,h4 ,science and a ,future ,life1 and other essays4 ,london1 #ahia4 #hvo4 ,,ochorowicz1 ,,dr4 ,j4 ,mental ,suggestion 7with a preface by ,prof4 ,charles ,richet74 ,from the ,french by ,j4 ,fitz-,gerald4 ,new ,york1 #ahia4 #hvo4 ,,olcott1 ,,henry ,s4 ,old ,diary ,leaves4 ,new ,york1 #ahie4 #hvo4 7,full of wildly improbable incidents in the career of ,madame ,blavatsky4 ,valuable on account of its numerous quotations from ,american journals concerning the early history of the theosophical movement in the ,united ,states47 ,,podmore1 ,,frank ,s4 ,apparitions and ,thought-,transference3 ,examination of the evidence of telepathy4 ,new ,york1 #ahid4 #hvo4 7,a thoughtful scientific work on a profoundly interesting subject47 ,,revelations ,,of ,a ,,spirit ,,medium2 or1 ,spiritualistic ,mysteries ,exposed4 ,st4 ,paul1 ,minn41 #ahia4 #hvo4 7,one of the best exposs of physical phenomena published47 ,,robert-,,houdin1 ,j4 ,e4 ,the ,secrets of ,stage ,conjuring4 ,from the ,french1 by ,prof4 ,hoffmann4 ,new ,york1 #ahha4 #hvo4 7,a full account of the performances of the ,davenport ,bros4 in ,paris1 by the most famous of contemporary conjurers47 ,,roark1 ,,rurick ,n4 ,psychology in ,education4 ,new ,york1 #ahie4 #hvo4 ,,rockhill1 ,,wm4 ,w4 ,the ,land of the ,lamas4 ,new ,york1 #ahia4 #hvo4 ,,seybert ,,commission ,,on ,,spiritualism4 ,preliminary ,report4 ,new ,york1 #ahhh4 #hvo4 7,absolutely anti-spiritualistic4 ,the psychical phases of the subject not considered47 ,,sidgwick1 ,,mrs4 ,h4 ,article ,spiritualism in ,encyclopdia ,britannica1 vol4 #bb4 7,an excellent resum of spiritualism1 its history and phenomena47 ,,sinnett1 ,a4 ,p4 7,ed47 ,incidents in the life of ,mme4 ,blavatsky4 ,london1 #ahhf4 #hvo4 7,interesting1 but replete with wildly improbable incidents1 etc4 ,of little value as a life of the famous occultist47 ------ ,the ,occult ,world4 ,london1 #ahhe4 #hvo4 ------ ,esoteric ,buddhism4 ,london1 #ahhh4 #hvo4 ,,society ,,for ,,psychical ,,research3 ,proceedings4 ,vols4 #a-aa4 #ahhb-ie4 ,london1 #ahhb-ie4 #hvo4 7,the most exhaustive researches yet set on foot by impartial investigators4 ,scientific in character1 and invaluable to the student4 ,psychical phases of spiritualism mostly dealt with47 ,,truesdell1 ,,john ,w4 ,the ,bottom ,facts ,concerning the ,science of ,spiritualism3 ,derived from careful investigations covering a period of twenty-five years4 ,new ,york1 #ahhc4 #hvo4 7,anti-spiritualistic4 ,exposs of physical phenomena3 psychography1 rope-tests1 etc4 ,of its kind1 a valuable contribution to the literature of the subject47 ,,weatherly1 ,,dr4 ,l4 ,a41 ,,and ,,maskelyne1 ,j4 ,n4 ,the ,supernatural4 ,bristol1 ,eng41 #ahia4 #hvo4 ,,willmann1 ,,carl4 ,moderne ,wunder4 ,leipsic1 #ahib4 #hvo4 7,contains interesting accounts of ,dr4 ,slade's ,berlin and ,leipsic experiences4 ,it is written by a professional conjurer4 ,anti-spiritualistic47 ,,woodbury1 ,,walter ,e4 ,photographic ,amusements4 ,new ,york1 #ahif4 #hvo4 7,contains some interesting accounts of so-called spirit photography47 ,,footnotes3 #a ,introduction to ,herrmann the ,magician1 his ,life1 his ,secrets1 7,laird ,lee1 ,publishers47 #b ,spiritualism and nervous derangement1 ,new ,york1 #ahgf4 p4 #aae4 #c ,the ,bottom ,facts ,concerning the ,science of ,spiritualism1 etc41 ,new ,york1 #ahhc4 #d ,communication to ,new ,york ,sun1 #ahib4 #e ,,note--,these letters were purchased from the ,christian ,college ,magazine by ,dr4 ,elliot ,coues1 of ,washington1 ,d4 ,c4 #f ,old ,diary ,leaves--,olcott4 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,passages in italics are indicated by italics4 ,passages in bold are indicated by bold4