 |
When the guitar was held up, and when the tambourine was made to whirl, both of these were to the right of the Medium, chiefly behind Mrs. Gillespie; they were just where they might have been produced by the right arm of the Medium, had it been free.
Two clothes-pins were then passed over the curtain, and they were used in drumming to piano-music. They could easily be used in drumming by one hand alone, the fingers being thrust into them.
The pins were afterwards thrown out over the curtain. Mr. Sellers picked one up as soon as it fell, and found it warm in the split, as though it had been worn. The drumming was probably upon the tambourine.
A hand was seen moving rapidly with a trembling motion—which prevented it from being clearly observed—above the back curtain between Mr. Yost and Mrs. Gillespie. Paper was passed over the curtain into the Cabinet and notes were soon thrown out. The notes could have been written upon the small table within the enclosure by the right hand of the Medium, had it been free. Mrs. Keeler then passed a coat over the curtain, and an arm was passed through the sleeve, fingers, with the cuff around them, being shown over the curtain. They were kept moving, and a close scrutiny was not possible.
Mr. Furness was then invited to hold a writing-tablet in front of the curtain, when the hand, almost concealed by the coat-sleeve and the flaps mentioned as attached to the curtain, wrote with a pencil on the tablet. The writing was rapid, and the hand, when not writing, was kept in constant tremulous motion. The hand was put forth in this case not over the top curtain, but came from under the flap, and could easily have been the Medium's right hand were it disengaged, for it was about on a level with his shoulder and to his right, between him and Mrs. Gillespie. Mr. Furness was allowed to pass his hand close to the curtain and grasp the hand for a moment. It was a right hand.
Soon after the Medium complained of fatigue, and the sitting was discontinued. It was declared by the Spiritualists present to be a fairly successful seance. When the curtains were removed, the small table in the enclosure was found to be overturned, and the bells, hammer, etc., on the floor.
It is interesting to note the space within which all the manifestations occurred. They were, without exception, where they would have been had they been produced by the Medium's right arm. Nothing happened to the left of the Medium, nor very far over to the right. The sphere of activity was between the Medium and Mr. Yost, and most of the phenomena occurred, as, for example, the whirling of the tambourine, behind Mrs. Gillespie.
The front curtain—i.e., the main curtain which hung across the corner—was 85 inches in length, and the cord which supported it, 53 inches from the floor. The three chairs which were placed in front of it were side by side, and it would not have been difficult for the Medium to reach across and touch Mr. Yost. When Mrs. Keeler passed objects over the curtain, she invariably passed them to the right of the Medium, although her position was on his left; and the clothes-pins, paper, pencil, etc., were all passed over at a point where the Medium's right hand could easily have reached them.
To have produced the phenomena by using his right hand, the Medium would have to have passed it under the curtain at his back. This curtain was not quite hidden by the front one at the end near the Medium, and this end both Mr. Sellers and Dr. Pepper saw rise at the beginning of the seance.
The only thing worthy of consideration, as opposed to a natural explanation of the phenomena, was the grasp of the Medium's hands on Mrs. Gillespie's arm.
The grasp was evidently a tight one above the wrist, for the arm was bruised for about four inches. There was no evidence of a similar pressure above that, as the marks on the arm extended in all about five or six inches only. The pressure was sufficient to destroy the sensibility of the forearm, and it is doubtful whether Mrs. Gillespie with her arm in such a condition could distinguish between the grasp of one hand, with a divided pressure (applied by the two last fingers and the thumb and index) and a double grip by two hands. Three of our number, Mr. Sellers, Mr. Furness and Dr. White, can, with one hand, perfectly simulate the double grip.
It is specially worthy of note that Mrs. Gillespie declared that, when the Medium first laid hold of her arm with his right hand before the curtain was put over them, it was with an under grip, and she felt his right arm under her left. But when the Medium asked her if she felt both his hands upon her arm, and she said yes, she could feel the grasp, but no arm under hers, though she moved her elbow around to find it—she felt a hand, but not an arm, and at no time during the seance did she find that arm.
(Taken from notes made during the seance and immediately after it.)
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
Secretary.
N.B.—It should be noted that both the Medium and Mr. Yost took off their coats before being covered with the curtain. It was suggested by Dr. Pepper that this might have been required by the Medium as a precaution against movements on the part of Mr. Yost. The white shirt-sleeves would have shown against the black background.
G.S.F.
* * * * *
December 29th, 1885.
There was a meeting of The Seybert Commission this evening, at the house of Mr. Furness, on Washington Square, to investigate some Materializations promised by the Mediums, Dr. Rothermel and Mr. Powell.
There were present Mr. Furness, Dr. Leidy, Professor Thompson, Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, Dr. White, Dr. Knerr, Mr. Fullerton, Colonel Kase, Mr. Frank Furness, Mrs. J. Dundas Lippincott, Mrs. Dr. Pepper, Mrs. A.L. Wister, and a number of others.
The Mediums arrived with quite a bundle of apparatus, and stretched their curtain where Mr. Keeler had his, across the corner of the parlor, from the door leading into the hall to the edge of the window. The curtain was similar to that of Mr. Keeler in its general character, and, as in that case, the whole corner was draped in black. The shape of the Cabinet was triangular.
The Mediums said it was impossible to produce materialized forms as they had expected, and proceeded to give much the same sort of a seance as Mr. Keeler's—in this case, however, the hands of the Medium covered by the curtain being fastened with tape, instead of being held.
The arrangement of the curtain, positions of the Mediums, and the positions of the spectators were as indicated.
The lights were all extinguished but one, and that one was prevented from throwing light on the Medium by a shade placed upon one side of it—it was turned low. The light was not so good as during Mr. Keeler's seance.
Before the lights were put out, Dr. White was asked to tie the Medium, and Mrs. Lippincott to sew the ends of the ribbon and tape with which he was tied.
A ribbon was tied around each leg above the knee, and the ends sewed to his trowsers. A bit of black tape was then passed under the ribbon and tied around the wrist, the ends being knotted and sewed together by Mrs. Lippincott. His right hand was thus fastened to his right leg, and his left hand to his left leg; though he still had some freedom of motion, and could easily reach one hand with the other.
Dr. Rothermel was then placed as indicated, behind the outer curtain, and the lights extinguished as described.
He asked for a drink of water, which was given him by Mr. Powell, who stood directly in front of him while he drank it, and hid him from the audience.
Then the zither played, a cap was thrown out over the curtain, a hand (to the right of the Medium) was shown over the curtain.
Bells were rung, papers thrown out, a drum accompaniment to the piano played, as by Mr. Keeler, and the drumsticks thrown out.
Mr. Powell wet in a glass some handkerchiefs with water, and passed them over the curtain, they were passed out with a message written on them in indelible ink. This could easily have been done with an indelible pencil. (The small table within the curtain was within easy reach of the right hand of the Medium, had it been free, and could have been used for such work.)
The music-box on table (2) was set off—was rattled several times. (It could have been done by the Medium's left hand if it were free.)
The person, to whom each of the above-mentioned handkerchiefs was to be returned, was indicated by raps from the Spirit. (The Spirit was in error in returning handkerchiefs to Dr. Mitchell and Mr. Fullerton.)
The zither was put out at the right and left hand lower corners of the curtain. (It could have been done by the Medium, were his hands free.)
The Medium professed to be then controlled by the Spirit of a young girl—Emma Hirsch. He spoke in an unnatural and squeaky voice, but occasionally lapsed into his natural voice. The Spirit declared the Medium unconscious, but refused to allow any medical examination of his condition.
The Mediums were then asked to allow Dr. Rothermel's hands to be examined. After a little delay, the curtain was folded back and the hands exposed.
Mr. Fullerton was permitted to examine them by the light of a match only, and very hastily. They did not allow a candle, which had been lighted, to be brought near. As Mr. Fullerton approached to examine the knots, Mr. Powell came close and seemed very much afraid they would be touched. He kept reiterating, "Don't touch them!" "Don't touch them!" "It would be very dangerous!" The examination was hasty and unsatisfactory, as Mr. Powell and Dr. Rothermel both said that he (the latter) could endure it only a moment. Hasty as it was, it showed that the knots, which had been on top of the wrists, were now underneath; the tapes, as is mentioned later, were, at the end of the seance, found cut close to the knots.
Whether the tapes were really in their former state, and not already cut, could only be known by examining them all around, and such an examination was not allowed.
It should be stated that before this, and after some of the manifestations, the Medium, with some convulsive movement, as if pulled and pushed by Spirits, came out from under the curtain, and stood with his hands on his legs, as if tied there, but it was too dark to see whether he was really tied, or merely held his hands there, and no examination was made.
Soon after, the Medium declared that the Spirits were cutting him loose, and when the curtain was removed and lights brought, the tapes which had bound his wrists were found to be cut through close to the knots. Whether this was done at the beginning of the seance, leaving the Medium's hands free from the beginning, or at the time indicated by the Medium, there was no means of proving. The cutting of the tapes made the tying and sewing tests quite valueless.
(Taken from notes made during the seance and immediately after.)
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
Secretary.
* * * * *
The following advertisement was, in March, 1885, inserted in The Religio-Philosophical Journal, of Chicago, The Banner of Light, in Boston, and The Public Ledger, in Philadelphia:
"THE SEYBERT COMMISSION FOR INVESTIGATING MODERN SPIRITUALISM," of the University of Pennsylvania, hereby requests all Mediums for Independent Slate Writing, and no other at present, who are willing to submit their manifestations to the examination of this Commission, to communicate with the undersigned, stating terms, etc.
HORACE HOWARD FURNESS,
Acting Chairman,
Philadelphia, Pa.
* * * * *
SPIRITUAL PHOTOGRAPHY.
When Mr. Keeler, a well-known "Spiritual Photographer," was in the city, the Acting Chairman called on him, and requested from him in writing a statement of his terms and the conditions under which an investigation by this Commission could be held. The following reply was received from him:
1614 Green Street,
Philadelphia, November 6th, 1885.
MR. FURNESS.
Dear Sir:—In regard to giving the Photographic Seances I feel that I am obliged to ask an observance of the following conditions: That there be three Seances, for which I shall expect the sum of $300. I desire only the regularly appointed members of the Commission on your side to be present, I to have the privilege to invite an equal number of persons, if necessary, to harmonize the antagonistic element which might be produced by those persons not in perfect sympathy with the cause.
I must have the right to demand, if conditions make it necessary, the exclusive use of the dark room and my own instrument.
The Seances to be given at your own residence.
As I cannot guard against the influences which others may bring, I shall expect to be paid the afore-named sum whether my efforts prove satisfactory or not, although I hope for the most favorable results, and to this end I would urge the members of the Commission to surround me with the most congenial and harmonious conditions possible.
These Seances to begin on the 12th inst.
If this meets with your approval an early answer is solicited.
Very respectfully,
W.M. KEELER.
MEMORANDUM FOR THE SEYBERT COMMISSION.
I called this morning (Saturday, 14th November, 1885), on Mr. W. M. Keeler, and told him, in effect, in the very words as well as I can remember, as follows: that I had received his letter of the 6th inst., containing his terms, and had consulted the Commission in regard to them; and that our conclusion had been quickly reached. He must know how very simple a process this 'composite photography' is, and that among photographers there is no mystery whatever in it. For his own process he claimed a Spiritual Agency—this agency we were willing to accept (in my own case I was anxious to accept it) if, after a thorough investigation, his process could not be explained by well-known physical laws. The conditions he demanded were such as to render any investigation simply silly. His exclusive use of the dark room, which could have nothing to do with Spiritual forces, for the Spirits had already done their work in the Camera, utterly precluded us from discovering whether his processes were in anywise different from ordinary photography. He wished to know in what way this prevented us from detecting fraud if the operations took place in a private house where he was a stranger. I replied that without for a moment impugning his honesty, he must know that unless we were present with him in the dark room, we could not affirm that our marks had not been duplicated on substituted plates.
Furthermore, that we had regarded his terms as intentionally prohibitory. The demand for three hundred dollars was so extraordinary that we could regard it in no other light than as a desire to avoid an investigation altogether. I asked him what his ordinary charge was, and he replied two dollars for each sitting, and that he made from twenty to forty dollars a day, when he settled down to work.
That there might be no misunderstanding, I repeated my reply to his wife: that we were ready to investigate, if we could be allowed to watch the very points where material agency ceases and spiritual begins, but these very points Mr. Keeler forbade us to examine, and that the failure rested with him.
At one time his vexation (which was manifest) a little ran away with his discretion. He asked, with somewhat of a sneer, 'How did you expect to investigate it?' I replied that 'I could not answer for others, but for myself I should have liked to have him say, when we of the Commission met him, The Spirits are present, through my Mediumship, here is my Camera in which the Spirits will manifest themselves on the sensitized plates, take it, and so long as I am present with my influence, do what you please.' He laughed outright and said 'That would be a good thing.'
I endeavored throughout the interview to impress him with our utter incredulity in the spiritual nature of his photographs, and yet to give him no loop to hang a charge of discourteous or illiberal treatment on. I asked him to give me, in my private capacity, a sitting at his earliest convenience, and that I should not be satisfied with less than a cherub on my head, one on each shoulder, and a full-blown angel on my breast. He laughingly assented.
HORACE HOWARD FURNESS,
Acting Chairman Seybert Commission.
I ought, perhaps, to add that I showed to Mr. Keeler a composite photograph taken by one of my sons, wherein a Spirit quite as ethereal as any of Mr. Keeler's, appears in the background. He looked at it, and returned it to me without remark.
H.H.F.
* * * * *
March 30th, 1886.
The Seybert Commission met this evening at the house of Dr. Pepper, to investigate Spiritistic phenomena produced through the Mediumship of Mr. Briggs (for an account of Mr. Briggs see a previous report).
There were present, Dr. Pepper, Dr. Leidy, Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, Professor Koenig, Dr. White, Dr. Knerr, Mr. Fullerton and two friends of Dr. Pepper, Mr. Charles G. Smith and Mr. Robert S. Davis; also the Medium, Mr. Fred. Briggs.
The seance was in Dr. Pepper's office; a square table (about 3-1/2 feet square) was placed in the room near the centre, and was supplemented by an oblong table (about 4 feet by 3) placed with one end touching the side of the former, upon the Medium's declaring the former too small. Seats were taken around the tables.
A banjo, a musical box, a zither, a couple of slates and a fan were on the tables.
The Medium insisted that there should be total darkness, and a shawl was hung over the window to exclude all light.
At first hands were joined around the table. Then the Medium suggested breaking the circle. His hands were then quite free. Draughts of air were felt (possibly the fan); the Medium kept making noises, blowing and breathing hard, talking, etc.; the slates on the table were moved, the guitar was twanged, the music-box played. During all this the Medium asked that the hands of all present be kept on the table.
The Medium stated that Mr. Seybert was present. He declared that Mr. Seybert expressed himself as satisfied with the efforts of the Commission to make a fair investigation.
When the Medium stated that some message had been written on one of the slates by Mr. Seybert, the gas was lit, and we found on one slate "I am here." No one present was able to declare it Mr. Seybert's handwriting, as none were familiar with his writing.
The light was then turned low. Mr. Smith was asked to sit in the place of Dr. Mitchell. He held, as directed, one slate up under the table, and the Medium held the other under the table over his own knee. After some conversation the Medium drew out his slate, and the light being turned up we found on it:
"I am with you.
John Pepper."
It was too dark to watch the Medium during this last occurrence. The conversation, which was general, would have prevented writing from being heard.
Light turned up—both slates held by the Medium under the table—no result.
The light was then turned low. Dr. Leidy was asked to sit next the Medium. Some noise and confusion resulted from making the change. Then the Medium asked Dr. Leidy to put his hand also upon a slate which the Medium was holding up under the table. Attention was then called to a scratching sound, which might have been writing. The slate was taken out by Dr. Leidy, and the light turned up. The following was written on it:
"John Smith is with you like a young son.
John Lydy."
It was, of course, possible that the writing was done before Dr. Leidy put his hand on it, as the slate was not then examined.
The Medium suggested that we ask mental questions; several did so, without result.
The light was then turned up. Hands were joined. Some feeble raps were heard; they apparently issued from under the table.
Slates were held under the table, but without result.
The light was then turned low. A slate was held under the table by the Medium. He breathed hard, and made no little noise for some time. Then Dr. Koenig was asked to put his hand on the slate. A scratching was heard. When the light was turned up the slate contained the message:
"I will help you all.
Dr. Benj. Rush."
With this the seance ended.
(Copied from notes taken during the seance. Written out the day after.)
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
Secretary.
* * * * *
April 11th, 1886.
I attended a seance at the house of Colonel Kase, 1601 North 15th Street, Philadelphia, on April 11th, at 8.10 P.M. The Medium was Mrs. Best.
There were about a dozen persons present; at least two of them, besides Mrs. Best, claimed to be Mediums.
The seance was in Colonel Kase's sitting-room. The "Cabinet" was made by stretching a curtain, suspended to a curved rod, across one corner. It could hold a chair, and was perhaps four feet across, or more. The Medium, Mrs. Best, took her seat in the chair and drew the curtain. The room was made totally dark—a cloth being used to cover the crack of the door. The spectators, who were arranged in a deep curve facing the cabinet, were asked to sing a hymn.
As we sang, a voice from the Cabinet, a deep contralto, joined in, loudly. Soon something resembling in outline a human form covered with drapery appeared at the Cabinet. It was indistinctly luminous. No face was visible; nor could the face of any other Spirit, which appeared during the evening, be discerned even in faintest outline. The light seemed to belong entirely to the drapery. The Spirit was declared to be Apollonius, and made a speech in a loud, harsh voice. Other similar forms appeared one after the other, and spoke in different tones—all the voices, however, with the exception of Apollonius's and that of another speaker, were more or less like hoarse whispers. When the Spirit of Mr. T.R. Hazard appeared, his voice was by no means natural, and sounded like a bad imitation.
A form calling itself "Lottie" appeared, kissed a Medium present, and at my request passed its hands over my head and face. Its hands were covered with luminous drapery which hung down perhaps a foot. I was allowed to touch it. It felt like soft tulle. A very strong odor of sandal-wood prevailed, and the smell of phosphorus, even if it had been used, could not easily, at a little distance, have been discerned. The luminous appearance of the drapery did not seem to be due to phosphorus—it did not fume. It seemed rather such as might have been produced by luminous paint—a mixture luminous in the dark after exposure to the light. I noticed on the hand, or what, from position, I inferred to be the hand, of the form, a distinctly phosphorescent appearance; it was on this account I asked it to touch me. As it passed its hand over my face I distinctly smelt phosphorus.
At one time two forms appeared near each other and near the Cabinet. They might easily have been produced by holding up luminous drapery. Tall and then short forms then appeared one at a time. If the drapery were raised or lowered the appearance could readily have been produced, and the person holding it would have been quite invisible.
The different voices that spoke never spoke simultaneously. A large rug on the floor in front of the Cabinet would have prevented steps from being heard, had the form been the Medium. On two occasions, when I suggested that I recognized the form by asking, "Is it ——?" the Spirit assented, and assumed the character. Both the persons I mentioned are still alive.
The seance began at 8.10 P.M., and lasted two hours and a-half. There was much singing.
The seance was regarded by several Spiritualists who were present as a very satisfactory one. I expressly asked for their opinion.
(Written out on April 13th, from notes made in the car, on my way home from the seance.)
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
Secretary.
* * * * *
January 30th, 1887.
Yesterday I visited Mrs. M.B. Thayer, an Independent Slate Writing Medium, at 1601 North 15th Street, Philadelphia, in hopes of arranging for a seance at that time. I had a conversation of about half an hour with Mrs. Thayer, who asked what I had seen before, and with what Mediums I had sat; but I was not able to get a sitting at once, Mrs. Thayer declaring "the conditions" unsatisfactory. She made an appointment, however, for to-day at 4 P.M. In the hall I met, on my departure, Mrs. Kase, the hostess of the Medium, to whom I am personally known, and who told me in an 'aside' that she would not reveal my identity to the Medium. This might readily have been overheard by the Medium, who was standing close by. [I visited Mrs. Thayer alone, because she had expressed an unwillingness to appear before the Commission, and we found it necessary to visit her as private persons.]
Upon calling to-day, I was ushered into Mrs. Thayer's room, in which stood a small wooden table covered with a red cloth (which hung down, perhaps a foot, on all sides from the edges of the table), ready for the seance. Ten or twelve plain single slates lay in a pile on a piece of furniture near the table.
Mrs. Thayer handed me two of these slates, which I cleaned and examined. I then marked them on the inside, or what became, when I laid them together, the inside, and held them while she tied them together with a piece of white tape. After they were tied they could be separated an eighth of an inch without difficulty. Holding the slates in my hand, I examined the table and the furniture near it, and then took my seat at the table, Mrs. Thayer sitting opposite me. The table was about 2-1/2 x 1-1/2 feet. At the suggestion of Mrs. Thayer, I placed the tied slates upon the table under the cloth, and we both placed our hands upon the cloth above them. After waiting for some time for indications of writing, I withdrew the slates from under the cloth, and, as directed, held them, with my right hand up against the under surface of the table, Mrs. Thayer placing her left hand upon my right as I held the slates. After holding them thus for some time I was told to withdraw them, and hold them against my forehead. Then I was told to open them and to scrape some pencil-dust over the inner surfaces. This I did, again closing the slates, which Mrs. Thayer tied as before. I was again directed to hold them up against the under surface of the table, and the Medium again placed her hand upon the hand with which I held them. Her hand was not wholly upon mine, but projected beyond it upon my wrist and towards my edge of the slates. After my holding the slates in this position, seemingly without result, until I was very wearied, the Medium suggested my laying them upon my lap and covering them with the table cover, which hung down more on my side than on hers. She said it was necessary that the slates should be concealed. When they were in this position we joined hands upon the table, and she placed her feet upon mine under the table, thus making, as she said, a strong "battery." This seeming to be inefficacious, I was directed to wrap the slates in a cloth given me for the purpose (apparently a small table cover) and to lay them on the floor under the table, placing my left foot upon them. This I did, and the Medium placed one of her feet upon my left foot, taking my hands upon the table, and again forming the "battery." After some waiting, much calling upon the Spirit of Foster to write (this she did at intervals during the seance) and several requests for raps (which did not come), the Medium decided that we should get nothing during the sitting, and it was discontinued. I took up the slates from the floor, took off the cloth and untied the tape; no mark had been made upon them. There had been much conversation during the sitting, the Medium telling me not to keep my mind on the slates, but to put myself into a condition of "passivity." She declared me mediumistic, and said that she doubted whether she would ever be able to get results with me. She stated two or three times that she saw three forms behind me, but dimly, and could not describe them. One was a "mild and gentle lady, with a beautiful hand." To the only person whom I can remember with a markedly beautiful hand, no one would have applied these adjectives. The sitting was about an hour long.
(Copied and arranged the same evening from notes made in the car on the way home from the seance.)
GEO. S. FULLERTON.
[I arranged for another seance with Mrs. Thayer, to be held some days later, but at the time appointed she refused to see me, giving as excuse indisposition.
G.S.F.—April, 1887.]
* * * * *
On the evening of January 29th, 1887, in company with Dr. J.W. White, I called on Mrs. Thayer, at No. 1601 North 15th Street.
The lady seemed not to be pleased with our visit, and declared that we were no Spiritualists. She reluctantly agreed to give us a seance on the following Sunday, and on parting the gentleman of the house politely invited us to attend a flower seance to be held by the same lady on the following Thursday.
Calling on Sunday, Mrs. Thayer excused herself on account of indisposition.
The next Thursday we attended the flower seance, in which I felt much curiosity from the wonderful story that had been told to me by a Spiritualist friend, who had seen one by the same Medium several years before.
The seance was held in the second story of the back building, in a room which the proprietor of the house informed me he had devoted to the purpose of Spiritualist seances. About thirty persons were assembled, and, without any examination of the premises, they were seated around a long dining-table. In the company Dr. Koenig was the only other member of the Seybert Commission present. The seance was opened with an 'invocation' by a lady, and during the 'manifestations' the company sang popular airs, such as 'Sweet by-and-bye,' etc. The doors and windows were all securely closed and the lights extinguished. Sounds were heard of objects dropping on the table, and from time to time matches were lit and exposed, strewed before the company, cut plants and flowers. There were all of the kind sold at this season by the florists, consisting of a pine bough, fronds of ferns, roses, pinks, tulips, lilies, callas (Richardia) and smilax (Myrsiphyllum). At one time there fell on the table a heavy body, which proved to be a living terrapin; at another time there appeared a pigeon which flew about the room. The flower manifestation ceased, and the gas was re-lit. A lady then made some remarks on the wonderful phenomena exhibited in evidence of the truth of Spiritualism, and another followed with some sentimentalities on the subject. The proprietor of the house declared that the flowers and other objects brought to view in the seance were not previously in the room, and their appearance could not be explained unless through Spiritual agency. He said that in former years, at similar seances, flowers had appeared in much greater quantities. The Medium, Mrs. Thayer, said she had not before served in a flower seance for several years.
At the next act of the seance, as I understood it, a 'test' was called for. A young man, whose name I did not distinctly hear, now took the chair of the former Medium. He promptly announced the appearance of the Spirit of an Indian girl, and then personified her by assuming a silly address in broken English. In this manner he expressed himself as seeing various Spirits of friends and relatives of the company hovering among them. They were announced by the first name in a rather uncertain and expectant manner, and in a few instances they were supposed to be recognized by some of the company, but mostly did not accord with their knowledge. As an example, the Medium informed Dr. Koenig that a tall man named Charley was holding something over his head and encouraging him in some great enterprise. Dr. Koenig did not recognize the man, nor could he be made to comprehend anything of the subjects of which he was informed by the materialized Indian girl. During this second act of the seance, I could detect nothing that could be attributed to other than ordinary human agency. The Indian girl retired, and the seance closed.
JOSEPH LEIDY.
* * * * *
February 10th, 1887.
I enter Col. Kase's house, 1601 North 15th Street, in company of Drs. Leidy, White and Mr. Sommerville, a friend of the first. We are received by the Colonel and pass scrutiny. The seance takes place in the second story sitting-room. This is furnished with a large oak table, a square piano, and one corner is made into an alcove, the curtains of which are thrown back and reveal several drawings in black and white—one of the young Raphael. Over the mantlepiece a painting representing the apparition of a Spirit-form, to a young lady sitting in front of a fire-place. On entering this room find the Medium, Mrs. Thayer, engaged in seating the audience. She is a middle-aged lady of good proportions, hair black, color flushed, the light eyes look weary, the lower face rather square, deep lines around the mouth. She is evidently not in very good humor. After a while the company, between twenty and thirty persons, mostly women, get seated.
Owing to the many people present I could not see what preparations had been made. Medium requests that the piano be moved against the door (to keep off illicit Spirits?). Chair placed against the door. Light turned out completely. Singing of "Sweet by-and-bye." Medium requests a lady to invoke Divine blessing. Disgusting cant. More singing. Darkness impenetrable. Sudden bumping noise on the table. Match struck by the Colonel just as something crawls over my hand and falls to the floor. It is a red-bellied terrapin. Some ferns appear neatly arranged on the table in front and to the left of the Medium. Expressions of gratification. Dark. Singing. A pine-bough is thrown against me. Screaming on account of terrapin. Match. Several parties have large lilies in front of them. My neighbor a lily of the valley (he states that his wife said before he left: "I wish you would get a lily of the valley"). Dark. Singing. Match. Dr. Leidy has some red lilies; some smilax and a wreath are on the table. Great astonishment. Colonel Kase says it is wonderful, but during the Centennial year they got tables loaded with flowers (the Medium has not given a flower seance for some years, she says, hence the rather meagre supply.) A lady points out the fact that the flowers are quite cold and have a sort of dew on them. But I found those before me quite dry, as if they had been in the room for some time. The Medium is tired and retires. Mrs. X. is requested to come under the influence of her Spirit-guides, and she does. She puts herself in an oratorical posture, eyes closed, and reels off the common-places of the Banner of Light: the Spirits are eager for investigation, but benighted men in the flesh cannot make the conditions, and thus continue to wallow in darkness. The Spirits are kind. They do not damn those poor benighted ones, but still hold out, in beautiful optimism, the hope that all those who do want to know the truth will find it!
Another lady, Mrs. Y., is now called upon to put herself under Spirit-guidance, and she thereupon proceeds to enlighten the sheep-fold how it is possible that these flowers and branches and turtles can come through solid walls and closed windows. "It is all awfully simple; it is nothing but PROJECTION! The Spirits understand the laws of electric projection; even the electric forces themselves understand the laws of nature and the currents. The electric force snatches the flower, or plant, and propels it along invisible wires. There is no such thing as solid substance, matter is permeable to these forces, and, therefore, it is easy to see how a terrapin can come quick as lightning through a wall." (Verbatim.)
Mr. Copeland is now called upon to give the audience some tests, a rather inoffensive looking young man with hair standing up. The light is turned down; he jerks his head and body, passes his hand over his eyes and begins to talk in broken, childish sentences. A little Indian maid now controls him. The maid describes a tall, bony, black-haired gentleman standing near me, with a fatherly look; he is Charley, and holds something, as if I were undertaking some grand enterprise. But as I do not know Charley, Charley disappears, and the spirit of a Quaker gentleman comes to a lady not far from me—all right. Soon, however, the maid is at me again. This time it is William. He has something chemical, like a discovery. Have I not been across the water where people had the cholera and turned black and died? Did I not very much disappoint a young lady over there? Did I give her a ring? Margaret, or some name like that, now comes around. Have I never seen the Medium before? No. Then I should pay him a visit. Wants to talk with me about my past and future. Has much to say; and so on. Do I not go often into a building where many persons work at chemistry? Am I not sceptical?—rather. Wants to cure my scepticism, and so on, ad nauseam. Me is tired, me wants go. Again the jerks, the rubbing of the eyes, and the Indian maid is once more Mr. Copeland.
Seance terminates with the payment of one dollar, cash, at 9.30 P.M.
Stifling atmosphere breathed for 1-1/2 hours, for what? Quelle betise!
GEO. A. KOENIG.
* * * * *
Saturday, March 26th, 1887.
I attended a seance at the house of Col. Kase, 1601 North 15th Street, on Thursday evening, March 24th, Mrs. Wells acting as Medium. There were about thirty persons present, of whom several seemed to be Mediums. The seance was held in the sitting-room in the second story—a room separated by double doors from a smaller room behind. The back room, used as a Cabinet, was shut off by portieres, and the persons were arranged in front of the curtains, in the form of a deep curve, Dr. Leidy, Dr. Knerr and myself being put in the second row. Mrs. Thayer directed us where to sit. The room in which we sat was lighted by a single gas-jet, situated some distance behind the spectators; a piece of music was placed before this to prevent any direct light from falling on the curtains, and the gas was turned very low. Mrs. Wells entered the room used as a Cabinet, and took her seat in a chair opposite the curtains. Mrs. Thayer closed the curtains.
After some time Spirits began to show themselves one by one between the curtains, and to whisper. Mrs. Thayer stepped forward and interpreted for them, calling up persons in the circle to receive communications. The forms were very indistinct from the circle, and apparently not very distinct to those called up, as they expressed some dissatisfaction. One man called up to speak with his daughter (one of the better forms) remarked that he "saw her putty good, but not very." One or two of the forms stepped out in front of the curtains (one was dressed as a man, one purported to be Mary, Queen of Scots), but they did not advance to the circle, and the light was so dim that they could not be seen at all clearly. Only on one or two occasions two forms appeared at once, and then not in front of the curtains, but one on each side of one of the curtains—this curtain being pulled together, as though some one were reaching around behind it. The appearance could very readily have been made by the Medium's appearing between the two curtains, and holding up a bit of drapery at the side of one of them. The audience was evidently an uncritical one. When a Spirit called for her husband, Mrs. Thayer, the interpreter, asked, "Has anyone here a wife on the other side?" An old man present stated that his had died two years before. He asked if the Spirit's name were May. When he came back to his seat, I heard him remark to his neighbor that that "must have been her, but she had more flesh on than when I knew her." No examination was made before or after the seance of either room or Medium, and no tests of any sort were applied. The seance lasted about an hour and a-half.
GEO. S. FULLERTON,
Secretary.
(Copied and arranged from notes made in the car on the way home from this seance—Saturday evening, March 26th, 1887.)
N.B.—I have neglected to state (though it is mentioned in my notes) that the seance was commenced by an "invocation" from Mrs. Coleman, who sat near the curtains. It was in no wise remarkable.
G.S.F.
* * * * *
DR. LEIDY.
The undersigned, a member of The Seybert Commission, appointed by the University, in company with one or more of the other members, at different times, from March, 1884, to April, 1887, attended twelve seances with reputed Spiritualist Mediums. Led to view Spiritualism with the respect due to its importance, based on the reflection that many of the most intelligent and honorable of the community had become convinced of its truth, I undertook the investigation of the subject free from conscious prejudice, and with a desire to observe with unbiased judgment the phenomena which might be presented to me in the seances of Spiritualist Mediums. Of the dozen seances attended in company with other members of the Commission, five were held with three Slate-writing Mediums, two with as many Rapping Mediums, and five with four Materializing Mediums. All the Mediums possessed more or less celebrity as such among the advocates of Spiritualism. I further attended, unaccompanied by members of the Commission, three seances, of which one was held with one of the former Materializing Mediums, and two with other Rapping Mediums.
The reputed phenomena or manifestations were carefully observed, as far as circumstances would permit, i.e., under the conditions ordinarily exacted by Mediums.
I have kept a record of my observations of the Spiritualist seances, but it is unnecessary to relate them here. As the result of my experience thus far, I must confess that I have witnessed no extraordinary manifestation, such as we ordinarily hear described as evidence of communication between this and the Spirit world. On the contrary, all the exhibitions I have seen have been complete failures in what was attempted or expected, or they have proved to be deceptions and tricks of jugglery. Sometimes accompanied by buffoonery, I never saw in them anything solemn or impressive, and never did they give the slightest positive information of interest. Having thus far failed to discover anything in evidence of the truth of Spiritualism, I yet remain ready to receive such evidence from an honest Medium.
One of the Slate-writing Mediums, with whom we held several seances, relieved the tedium of waiting for a slate-communication by writing in pencil on slips of paper, under Spirit control, as we were assured, communications from a succession of Spirits. The hand of these communications was good, and in each one different as it would appear from different individuals. There was, however, in all a similarity of expression and grammatical construction, which indicated a want of entire Spirit control. One of these communications, in my possession, reads literally thus:
"People have thought my manner and habit very strange indeed regarding the Truth of Spirit control There has been many things practiced which I see now was wrong and foolish yet the Truth stills exist that we can come back and make ourselves felt you ask if I am pleased with what Thomas [probably Thomas R. Hazard, who was with us at the time] is doing I am in many respects though there are things best left undone and unsaid You are perfectly aware of my past feelings also of my desire to have the truth properly investigated which I feel it will be and the Truth and Truth only sought after by the Committee I am more concious now than a time back Henry Seybert"
Another communication in my possession, obtained by a friend from the same Medium, at another seance, is in an equally good and strikingly different hand from the former, and reads thus: "Yes both of those Spirits were there and were plainly seen There was others there that were imperceptable Alice Cary"
As examples of communications, in irregular scrawls on slips of paper, in my possession, thrown from behind a screen by a Materialized Spirit, at a seance of Mr. Keeler, are the following: "Hello folks" "Oh I am a big slugger" "How is your nose Doc" "I am seeing the sad result of my work. H. Seibert" [sic]. The punctuation and spelling are carefully copied.
JOSEPH LEIDY.
* * * * *
THE SLADE-ZOELLNER INVESTIGATION.
Perhaps no other investigation of Spiritistic phenomena has exercised so strong an influence upon the public mind in America, at least, as that conducted by Professor J.C.F. Zoellner and his colleagues in Leipsic in 1877 and 1878. In November and December of the year 1877 and in May of 1878, Professor Zoellner had a number of seances with Dr. Henry Slade, the American Medium, in Leipsic, the results of which he has narrated in his "Scientific Treatises," and which he finds of special interest in connection with certain physical speculations with which he was before this time occupied. He declares himself specially authorized to mention by name as present at some of his investigations his colleagues, Professors Fechner and Scheibner, of the University of Leipsic, and Professor Weber of Goettingen. These three, he states, were perfectly convinced of the reality of the observed facts, and that they were not to be attributed to imposture or prestidigitation. He also mentions the presence of Professor Wundt at at least one of the sittings.
The phenomena narrated by Zoellner—the bursting of the wooden screen, the passages of coins out of closed boxes, the abnormal actions of the solid wooden rings, the tying of knots in the endless cord, the prints made upon smoked paper by the feet of four-dimentional beings—all these have become classic in Spiritistic literature, and the accounts may be obtained in convenient form collected, arranged and translated into English by Mr. C.C. Massey, of Lincoln's Inn, London.
Of these phenomena themselves, verification is, at this late date, manifestly out of the question. The only published accounts are those made by Zoellner, and in the absence of notes made at the time, all descriptions of phenomena given now by the other persons present would be valueless, except as indicating the impression made upon them at the time by the occurrences.
But, though the phenomena themselves cannot be satisfactorily sifted, the men who were engaged in the investigation are, with the exception of Zoellner himself, still living, and it occurred to me when in Germany during the past summer, that a conference with each of these men, and an inquiry into their qualifications for making such an investigation into the phenomena of Spiritism, might be of no small value. These men are: William Wundt, Professor of Philosophy in the University of Leipsic; Gustav Theodore Fechner, now Professor Emeritus of Physics in the University of Leipsic; W. Scheibner, Professor of Mathematics in the University of Leipsic; and Wilhelm Weber, Professor Emeritus of Physics in the University of Goettingen—all of them men of eminence in their respective lines of scholarship.
On Saturday, June 19th, I called upon Professor Wundt at his home in Leipsic; with respect to the investigation of 1877-78 he gave me the following information, which I noted down during my conversation with him, asking him to repeat the points mentioned as I noted them, so as to avoid any error or misunderstanding, and which I copied out, with merely verbal changes, two days later.
Professor Wundt said:
1. That at the seances at which he himself was present (and he was present at two or three of them) the conditions of observation were very unsatisfactory. All hands had to be kept on the table, and no one was allowed to look under it.
2. That all that he saw done looked as if it might have been done by jugglery.
3. That the writing on slates was very suspicious—the German was bad, just such German as Slade spoke.
4. That Professor Weber, who was present at the sittings, was a very old man at the time, and presumably not an acute observer.
5. That Professor Fechner, another of those present, was afflicted with an incipient cataract, and could see very little.
6. That Professor Zoellner himself was at the time decidedly not in his right mind; his abnormal mental condition being clearly indicated in his letters and in his intercourse with his family.
7. That he (Professor Wundt) had not a high respect for the scientific judgment of Professor Ulrici, of Halle, who had been so much impressed by the report made by Professor Zoellner; Professor Ulrici he thought literary and poetical, but not scientific.
It will be seen that some of the points mentioned by Professor Wundt are suggestive; but I will postpone an examination of his statements, as of those of each of the others, until they have all been given and can be compared.
On the same day (June 19th) I called upon Professor Fechner, also at his home in Leipsic. Professor Fechner, who no longer lectures, being old and feeble, and suffering from cataract of the eyes, made the following statements, each of which I translated to him for his approval, after I had set it down:
1. That he himself was present at but two sittings, and that these were not very decisive.
2. That he did not look upon Slade as a juggler, but accepted the objective reality of the facts; that he did this, however, not on the strength of his own observations, for these were unsatisfactory, but because he had faith in Professor Zoellner's powers of observation.
3. That what he saw might have been produced by juggling.
4. That the sittings at which he was present were held at night, and that he could not remember what sort of a light they had.
5. That Zoellner's mental derangement came on very gradually, so that it would be difficult to say when it began; but that from the time of his experiments with Slade it was more pronounced. He (Fechner) did not think, however, that it incapacitated Zoellner as an observer, the derangement being emotional; but, such as it was, it was clearly shown in his family and in his intercourse with friends.
6. Professor Fechner referred me to Professors Scheibner and Weber for information, saying that these two were present at most of the sittings.
I failed at this time to meet Professor Scheibner, who, though resident in Leipsic, happened to be away from home on a visit; but, having made an appointment with him by letter, I returned to Leipsic on July 3d, and called upon him at his home; upon this occasion he gave me more full and satisfactory details concerning Professor Zoellner's investigation than I succeeded in obtaining from any of the others. The notes which I made during my conversation with him I translated to him, and corrected in accordance with his suggestions before leaving his house. After my return to Halle I copied my notes out in full, and sent them by mail to Professor Scheibner, with the request that he correct them and return them to me at Berlin, signing his name to them if they correctly represented his opinions. In answer he enclosed me the copy which I had sent him, corrected where he thought the notes inexact, and an accompanying letter, stating that he did not forbid me to use the material which he had given me, but that he did not wish to set his name to any publication, if only for the reason that he was not sufficiently familiar with the English to judge accurately as to the shades of meaning, and thus could not say whether he accurately agreed with the notes as they stand, or not.
The copy which he corrected and returned to me I place at length in this Report, merely translating his corrections (very literally), and inserting them at the points indicated by himself. They are enclosed in quotation marks. In some instances, my desire for exactitude in the translations has resulted in very bad English; the shape of my own paragraphs is due to the time and manner of their framing, and to a reluctance to making any changes in their form afterwards.
The copy reads as follows:
On July 3d, 1886, I visited Professor W. Scheibner, at his rooms, in Leipsic, and obtained from him the following information concerning Professor Zoellner's Spiritistic experiments with Dr. Henry Slade, the American Medium:
1. Professor Scheibner thinks that he was present at three or four of the regular seances with Slade. Slade came to Professor Zoellner's rooms; they sat around a table for perhaps half an hour, and then, after the seance was over, they spent an hour or two sitting informally in the same room, or in the next room, and talking. During these informal conversations surprising things would occur. Raps would now and then be heard, and objects would unexpectedly be thrown about the room. In these conversations Professor Scheibner was present perhaps five or six times. Some of these took place during the day, and some in the evening.
2. Professor Scheibner said that each single thing that he saw might possibly have been jugglery, "although he perceived nothing that raised a direct suspicion."
The whole number of incidents taken together, however, surprised him, and seemed scarcely explicable as jugglery, for there did not seem to be the necessary time or means for preparing so many tricks, "which often connected themselves surprisingly with desires casually expressed in momentary conversations."
Professor Scheibner said, however, that he did not regard himself as competent to form an opinion which should have scientific weight, because:
(a) He knows nothing about jugglery;
(b) He was merely a passive spectator, and could not, properly speaking, make observations—could not suggest conditions, "or gain the control which seemed necessary;" and
(c) He is short-sighted, "and might easily have left unnoticed something essential."
He says merely, that to him, subjectively, jugglery did not seem a good "or sufficient" explanation of the phenomena.
3. Professor Scheibner said that he had never seen anything of the kind before. He had never even, since his childhood, seen any exhibitions of jugglery; he does not go to see such things, because he is so short-sighted that if he went he would see nothing. In this connection he repeated his statement that from this, among other causes, he did not regard himself as competent to give an opinion. He said that many persons in Germany had demanded his opinion, but that he had refused it because he regarded his subjective impression, without objective proofs, as scientifically valueless.
4. Professor Scheibner said that he did not believe in these things before. He came to the seances because Professor Zoellner was a personal friend. He has seen very little of the sort since.
That little has been in the presence of a lady in Leipsic through whom raps occurred, and psychography. This last phenomenon consisted in communication through a little contrivance, furnished with an index or pointer, which answered questions by pointing to letters laid out before it. This it did when the lady placed her hand on the machine. The questions were "usually" not asked mentally, but spoken out. There were no tests applied to these phenomena, no conditions of exact investigation. Professor Scheibner "holds suspicion of conscious deception to be out of the question."
5. Professor Zoellner was, said Professor Scheibner, a man of keen mind, but in his investigations apt to see "by preference" what lay in the path of his theory. He could "less easily" see what was against his theory. He was childlike and trustful in character, and might easily have been deceived by an impostor. He expected everyone to be honest and frank as he was. He started with the assumption that Slade meant to be honest with him. He would have thought it wrong to doubt Slade's honesty. Professor Zoellner, said Professor Scheibner, set out to find proof for four-dimentional space, in which he was already inclined to believe. His whole thought was directed to that point.
6. Professor Scheibner thinks that the mental disturbance under which Zoellner suffered later, might be regarded as, at this time, incipient. He became more and more given to fixing his attention on a few ideas, and incapable of seeing what was against them. Towards the last he was passionate when criticized. Professor Scheibner would not say that Professor Zoellner's mental disturbance was pronounced and full-formed, so to speak, but that it was incipient, and, if Zoellner had lived longer, would have fully developed. Zoellner himself, "whose brothers and sisters frequently[A] suffered from mental disease, often feared lest a similar fate should come upon him."
[Footnote A: "Dessen Geschwister mehrfach" etc.—the words may be taken in two senses.]
7. Professor Scheibner gives no opinion on Spiritism. He can only say that he cannot explain the phenomena that he saw.
8. Professor Weber, said Professor Scheibner, "attended the Zoellner-Slade experiments under the same circumstances as he (Scheibner) himself."
9. Professor Zoellner's book, said Professor Scheibner, would create the impression that Weber and Fechner and he agreed with Zoellner throughout in his opinion of the phenomena "and their interpretation;" but this, he said, is not the case.
HALLE a.S., July 5th, 1886.
So much for the information given by Professor Scheibner. It now remained to see Professor Wilhelm Weber, and on the evening of July 12th I called upon him at his house in Goettingen. Of his statements I took notes during my conversation with him, as in the former instances, and copied and arranged them the same evening at my hotel. Professor Weber is now eighty-three years old, and does not lecture. He is extremely excitable and somewhat incoherent when excited. I found it difficult to induce him to talk slowly enough, and systematically enough, for me to make my notes. Professor Weber said:
1. That he thought the things he saw in the seances with Slade were different from jugglery.
2. That he did not think there was time or opportunity for Slade to prepare deceptions.
3. That he himself knew nothing of jugglery, nor did Professor Zoellner.
4. That he can testify to the facts as described by Zoellner, and that he could not himself have described the occurrences better than they are described in Zoellner's book:—to the facts he is willing to testify, the means he declares unknown to him, but does not regard jugglery as a sufficient explanation. If another can understand, he said, how jugglery can explain the facts, well and good—he can not.
5. That he had never seen anything of the kind before, and has not since; it being his only experience of Spiritualism.
6. That he had the greatest freedom to experiment and set conditions, and that the conditions were favorable to observation.
7. That he regarded Professor Fechner as one of the best observers in the world, and Professor Scheibner as an excellent observer.
8. That Professor Zoellner was not at that time, in any sense, in an abnormal mental condition.
Professor Weber seemed unwilling to speak decidedly on the subject, but showed that he leaned to the Spiritistic interpretation of the facts. He said that the things done indicated intelligence on the part of the doer.
Having now before us the testimony given by these survivors of the famous investigation, I will collect briefly the facts relating to each of those concerned—adding in one or two cases from other sources—and point out the nature and value of their testimony to the occurrences recorded by Professor Zoellner.
1. As to Professor Wundt, who is by profession an experimental psychologist, and an observer. Professor Wundt did not regard the investigation, so far as he participated, as in any respect thorough or satisfactory. The conditions of observation were not present. When called upon by Professor Ulrici to describe the occurrences as he saw them, he said he would not willingly describe what he had not had opportunity to observe.
2. As to Professor Zoellner, the chief witness and author of the book published, a number of points are worthy of note.
(1.) The question of his mental condition at the time of the investigation. It is asserted by Baron Hellenbach (see Geburt und Tod etc., Wien, 1885, S. 96) that Zoellner was of sound mind up to his death. The statement should have due weight, but the author's general attitude towards Spiritism should not be overlooked. I do not consider his testimony for Zoellner's sanity as good as that of Fechner or Scheibner against. Of the four men mentioned as connected with him, Wundt, Weber, Fechner and Scheibner, three (all except Weber) are decidedly of the opinion that his mental condition was not normal. The opinion of Wundt, as of a man whose profession would not permit him to speak hastily upon this topic, I would regard as of special value; but if we rule that out upon the ground that Wundt was not impressed by the investigation, and might naturally be inclined to underrate Zoellner, who was, we have left the opinions of Fechner and Scheibner, both Zoellner's colleagues at Leipsic, both particular friends of Zoellner, and both inclined to agree with him as to the reality of the facts he describes. Both of them regarded Zoellner at the time as of more or less unsound mind. His disease, as described by them, seems to have been chiefly emotional, showing itself in a passionate dislike of contradiction, and a tendency to overlook any evidence contrary to a cherished theory.
To the general change in his nature due to his disease Professor Scheibner testifies; and Professor Fechner's belief as to his mental condition is specially worthy of note from the fact that, although recognizing it to be abnormal, he still holds his powers of observation to be sound, and upon this ground is inclined to assent to the facts described. If anyone could be tempted to make Zoellner as sane as possible, it would be one in the position of Professor Fechner. Professor Weber's testimony I will examine later. Upon the question whether the peculiar form of Zoellner's disease would be likely to affect his powers of observation, the following points may throw some light.
(2.) It is evident, both from what Zoellner has himself printed and from what Professor Scheibner has said, that Zoellner's interest in the investigation centered in his attempt to prove experimentally what he already held to be speculatively true as to a fourth dimension of space. In a paper published in the Quarterly Journal of Science, for April, 1878, he says:
"At the end of my first treatise, already finished in manuscript in the course of August, 1877, I called attention to the circumstance that a certain number of physical phenomena, which, by 'synthetical conclusions a priori' might be explained through the generalized conception of space and the platonic hypothesis of projection, coincided with so-called Spiritualistic phenomena. Cautiously, however, I said:—'To those of my readers who are inclined to see in Spiritualistic phenomena an empirical confirmation of those phenomena above deduced in regard to their theoretical possibility, I beg to observe that from the point of view of idealism there must first be given a precise definition and criticism of objective reality'" etc. Now this reference to Spiritualistic phenomena was made before Zoellner had seen anything of the kind, and his attitude was evidently a receptive one. Moreover, we have Professor Scheibner's testimony to the fact that during the whole investigation his attention was entirely directed towards the subject of the fourth dimension, and an experimental demonstration of its existence. Bearing in mind, therefore, the mental attitude in which, and the object with which, Zoellner approached this investigation, we cannot look upon any subjective, or emotional, mental disturbance, which results, as described, in making him narrow his attention more and more upon a few ideas, and disregard or find it difficult to observe what seems contrary to them, as without objective significance, particularly where we know the man to be a total stranger to investigations of such a nature as this one, and not only quite ignorant as to possible methods of deception, but unwilling to doubt the integrity of the Medium.
(3.) There are things in Zoellner's own accounts which indicate a certain lack of caution and accuracy on his part, and tend to lessen one's confidence in his statements. As an instance of inaccuracy, I may mention the statement he makes in his article in the Quarterly Journal of Science as to the opinions of his colleagues. Professor Zoellner says:
"I reserve to later publication, in my own treatises, the description of further experiments obtained by me in twelve seances with Mr. Slade, and, as I am expressly authorized to mention, in the presence of my friends and colleagues, Professor Fechner, Professor Wilhelm Weber, the celebrated electrician from Goettingen, and Herr Scheibner, Professor of Mathematics in the University of Leipsic, who are perfectly convinced of the reality of the observed facts, altogether excluding imposture or prestidigitation."
Here the attitude of the four men is not correctly described, and Professor Zoellner's statement does them injustice, as Professor Scheibner remarked. At least two of the men were merely inclined to accept the facts, and to these two the words "perfectly convinced" will not apply.
As one out of numerous instances of lack of caution, I may refer to Zoellner's statements, that at certain times writing was heard upon the slates, giving no proof whatever to show that the writing was really done at the time of hearing the sounds, and apparently quite ignorant of the fact that deception may readily be practiced on this point.
3. As to Professor Fechner. The fact is admitted that he was, at the time of the investigation, suffering from cataract, which made all observation extremely defective. Moreover, he was present at but two of the sittings, and has stated that he did not regard these as very decisive. His attitude towards the phenomena described is based on his faith in Professor Zoellner's powers of observation, and not on what he saw himself. He does not, therefore, as an independent witness would, add anything to the force of Professor Zoellner's testimony.
4. As to Professor Scheibner. His position is simply that he cannot see how the whole series of phenomena can reasonably be attributed to jugglery, though he admits that each single thing he saw, alone considered, might possibly be. He does not regard himself, however, as able to give an opinion which should have objective value; because he was merely a passive spectator, and could not, properly speaking, make observations—could not suggest conditions,—because he knows absolutely nothing about jugglery, and the possibilities of deception, and because he is so short-sighted that he may easily have overlooked something of importance—so short-sighted that he never goes to see a juggler, because he sees nothing.
5. As to the last witness, Professor Weber, his testimony agrees more decidedly with that of Professor Zoellner. He was present at eight seances, declares the occurrences to have been as represented by Professor Zoellner, and denies that Zoellner was in any sense insane. But Professor Weber is from Goettingen, and was at the time of the investigation in Leipsic on a visit; it is not improbable that those of Professor Zoellner's colleagues, who lived and worked at the same University with him, may have had better opportunities for judging as to his mental condition than one who only saw him occasionally. Moreover, Professor Weber's opinion as to the qualifications of the men with whom he was associated does not seem to have been always sound. One who could look upon Professor Fechner as one of the best observers in the world, and Professor Scheibner, as for the purpose in hand, an excellent observer, neglecting entirely to note that one was partly blind and that the other could not see well, might readily overlook the fact of a not very pronounced mental aberration on the part of a third person. And as to Professor Weber's opinion of the phenomena, it is well to note that Professor Weber was seventy-four years old at the time, had had no previous experience in investigations of this kind and was quite ignorant of the arts of the juggler. Whatever may be a man's powers of reflection at seventy-four, it is natural to suppose that his powers of perception, especially when exercised in a quite new field, are not at that age what they were some years previously.
SUMMARY.
Thus it would appear that of the four eminent men whose names have made famous the investigation, there is reason to believe one, Zoellner, was of unsound mind at the time, and anxious for experimental verification of an already accepted hypothesis; another, Fechner, was partly blind, and believed because of Zoellner's observations; a third, Scheibner, was also afflicted with defective vision, and not entirely satisfied in his own mind as to the phenomena; and a fourth, Weber, was advanced in age, and did not even recognize the disabilities of his associates. No one of these men had ever had experiences of this sort before, nor was any one of them acquainted with the ordinary possibilities of deception. The experience of our Commission with Dr. Slade would suggest, that the lack of such knowledge on their part was unfortunate.
A consideration of all these circumstances places, it seems to me, this famous investigation in a somewhat new light, and any estimate of Zoellner's testimony, based merely upon the eminence in science of his name and those of his collaborateurs, neglecting to give attention to their disqualifications for this kind of work, cannot be a fair or a true estimate.
In concluding this Report, I give sincere thanks to all of these gentlemen for their courtesy and frankness—a frankness which has alone made it possible for me to collect this evidence; and which, considering the nature of the evidence, must be regarded as most generous. To Professor Scheibner, especially, my thanks are due for the trouble he has taken in helping me to make my notes exact and truthful.
GEO. S. FULLERTON.
* * * * *
DR. KNERR.
In 1884 rumors reached me of remarkable Spiritual communications from a revered friend and relative, Dr. Hering. These communications had come through a slate-writing Medium by the name of Patterson, and were received by two gentlemen whose names I am not at liberty to mention, but whom I will call A. and B. Both were prominent men, and both had become thorough believers in Spiritualism after several sittings with Mrs. Patterson. A. claimed to have received personal benefit from medicines thus prescribed, and learned the circumstances of his son's death which had occurred in some mysterious manner far away from home. B. has since died, and communications under his signature have come through this same Medium.
The manifestations in this province of Spiritualism, Independent Slate-Writing, would seem to be of a nature more tangible and direct than those of so-called Materializing or Trance Mediums, and, therefore, in this instance I determined to test to the utmost what had been reported to me concerning communications from one who stood so near in life.
Although I received a number of messages at my first visit, written in pencil, in many different handwritings, which the Medium alleged were written by Spirit-control of her hand, I received but one or two in the slate. The slate was a small double slate, joined together with hinges, about 10 inches by 12 inches in dimension. Inside of the slates, written on a slip of paper, carefully folded, I placed the question "Can I obtain a communication from Dr. Hering which will be characteristic of himself?" A small piece of slate pencil chipped from an ordinary pencil, perhaps an eighth of an inch long, was placed within the slates, together with the written question. The slates were then tightly screwed together at the open end, by myself, with the blade of an old knife which was at hand to serve the purpose of a screwdriver. It was then placed by the Medium in her lap, under the table, one hand, the left, resting upon the slate, the other hand remaining on top of the table, writing, with a lead pencil, messages in different handwritings, on paper.
These messages came in characters bold as John Hancock's, and in chirography as small and neat as the writing of Charlotte Bronte, whose manuscript the compositor is said to have deciphered with the aid of a magnifying glass; and between these extremes were a dozen or more styles as varied and marked as one could wish. The purport of these messages, which were written rather quickly, and without perceptible thought or hesitation, changing from one handwriting to another without the least apparent difficulty, was in some instances the veriest twaddle, while others contained tolerably good sense, even in language rather above the Medium, unless appearances were misleading, for she looked the embodiment of ignorant simplicity, and spoke far from grammatically.
The table at which we sat was a very ordinary little sewing-table, without any drawer or compartment, and before sitting down I examined it top and bottom, a privilege freely accorded. We had sat about ten minutes when the Medium brought up the slate with the little piece of pencil, which I had scratched with a knife for identification, lying on top of the slate. The screw was in its place, seemingly as I had put it. I was requested to remove the screw, which I did, and found written across the inside surface of one of the slates the words "I will try to accede to your wish," signed with the initials of my departed friend, to whose handwriting it was not dissimilar. I was much puzzled by this answer, I confess, and immediately placed within the slates another question, this time addressed to the name of another deceased friend. Again I screwed up the slates with my own hand, and kept my eyes riveted on the hands of the Medium as well as my position would permit, without getting up and bending over the table. I did not have long to wait before an answer came as before, again signed with the initials of the person addressed. How the writing came in the slate I could not surmise.
The following are specimens of the communications which were written by the Medium's controlled, possibly self-controlled, free, right hand, at my first visit:—
(In a fine, light, legible hand.)
Cannot say wether we can control the slate or no. will do our utmost to do so there are times when we cannot get the proper influences nor find the right conditions. C HERING
(In a close, heavy hand.)
we have quite as much power over you as over any other medium, mediumistic forces are not confined to a few, but exist to some extent in all. be patient we will do what we can. H
(In a sprawling back hand, the same as a subsequent one, signed Thomas Lister.)
The friend you have asked for is here and will do what he can to comply with your wish it is not necessary that you should sit with any medium to convince yourself of this truth you have enough of this power to get almost any sort of manifestations you should ask for they will develope without any effort on your part but you can materially assist them
TL
(In a neat and precise feminine hand.)
There stands by thy chair a venerable man who had passed through many years of work in his profession on the earth plane he is one that doth influence and impress thee to do many things when in the body was a phisician of the homeopathic school he sayeth that he doth feel the same interest in the progruss of the medical fraternity as when in the body. appeareth to be one of strict integrity and ranked high as a thinker thou hast many years to stay in the form and through thee a work will be completed that none other can do
L MOTT
(In a small, rather indistinct feminine hand.)
I dont think the doctors knew what my trouble was. I know if doctor Hering or Raue had treated my case I would still be in my body but its no difference as far as I am concerned I have found this life far the best leaving my mother was hard, but now I know how to get back to her I am content
CS
Clara Swencke
(In a plain masculine hand.)
if you prepare a slate the doctor will give you a message on it in his own handwrite and one characteristic of him
ESW
(In a small, rather illegible hand.)
My friend Tiedemann made a mistake in the medicine he prepared for me he never for a moment thought it would prove anything but a help but it had the effect of sending me to the higher life
W MORWITZER
(In a large, generous, open hand.)
Yea if thee dost fix a slate so as to satisfy thyself thy friend will write on it and give thee a description of his birth into everlasting life
ELIAS HICKS
(In a very indistinct feminine hand.)
cannot say wether we can procure the presence of any one just now that can write music were it possible to have any one conversant with it they could not only write one but many notes for you
(Signature indistinct.)
(In a small, cramped hand of almost microscopic fineness supposed to be Charlotte Bronte, and occupying but very little more space than on this printed page.)
The future holds much for you of success, the later portion of this and the whole of the next will be filled with prosperity you have a band of the more advanced spirits about you and were you to follow your first impressions you would never fail in your judgment
CB
(In a clear scholarly hand.)
a man of few words when in the body I still have the same peculiarities will with your permission become one of your guiding band
ABERNETHY
(In a bold masculine hand).
Sit for ten or fifteen minuets two evenings in the week and thus help perfect the powerful gifts you have, through them you can do much good both for others and yourself
TN
(In the same hand as a preceding communication signed TL)
Be patient; the party that wrote on the slate before is trying to do it over we sometimes have a difficulty in doing this
T LISTER
(In a slow, labored, uncouth hand.)
I know one thing and that is that they didn't make any headway in killing me when they hung me nor even when they scooped my brains out afterward—damn the doctors—damn the preachers—I hate them all they lied to me preachers priests and all they told me it was all right but I have found out its all wrong. I havent seen Mrs Reed nor do I want to I never was sorry that I killed her, it don't make a saint out of a man to send him out the way I had to go—its only killing—they were as bad as I was—I cant see—its dark
MC GINNIS.[A]
[Footnote A: McGinnis was a murderer recently hung for the brutal killing of his mother-in-law. Particulars of the murder, execution and autopsy were in all the local papers.]
(In an ordinary feminine hand.)
Put a piece of paper on a stand place a pencil on it and I will try to make the scale for you at home there is a power that is growing on you that will enable me to do this in a few times of trying I could write my own hand this is my first time of coming here so that makes it harder for me to get control
B
(This doggerel came in answer to a question whether the Spirits could write poetry, and is in a hand not dissimilar to the preceding communication, although the signatures differ.)
When the clear bright sun was shining Then they took my cherished form And they bore it to the church yard To consign it to the worm
Well no matter that was only The clay dress your loved one wore God had robed her for an angel She had need of this no more
Though the tears fell fast and faster Yet you would not call me back Nay be glad her feet no longer Tread life's rough and thorny track
Yes be glad the father took her Took her whilst her heart was pure Oh be glad he did not leave her All life's trials to endure
AC
(In a sprawling hand.)
Your friend has lost the Control I cannot say wether it will be possible to regain it now or no I find it hard work to get any hold at all.
AM
(Each letter distinct, as a child would print the alphabet.)
Chief there cant come any answer the magnetic current is broken for want of power we go now but will come in your own wigwam
HOWONDO
* * * * *
At the following seances I received slate writings repeatedly. Sometimes the slate would scarcely be in the Medium's hands before a message appeared, each time with the little pencil on top. I was told that I was an excellent Medium, that, if I cultivated the faculty, would soon myself be able to obtain these slate writings. I was also asked to prepare a slate secured in any way I wished, and had the promise that a message would be written within it. I acceded to the request and took a slate of my own, tied it up in every direction with twine, and put my private seal upon it in several places where I had knotted the string. This slate the Spirits could not overcome. I never received the promised message. I never even had the slate returned to me. After remaining in the Medium's possession for several months, she having changed her residence in the meantime, she told me the slate had disappeared and somehow must have gotten lost in moving. At any rate the slate had been spirited away somehow. I will here mention that at about the third or fourth sitting I asked permission to watch the slate while it was under the table, which was freely granted, but on this occasion, and whenever I did so, there were no results.
On one occasion we took the trouble to bring Mrs. Patterson to a room in the house of our departed friend. She was here among a small circle of intimate friends and members of the family, some inclined to belief and others skeptics. She failed utterly to obtain as much as even a scratch inside of the slates, although communications on paper came thick and fast. I may mention that on this occasion several persons sat with the slate continually in full view.
I had almost decided to drop Mrs. Patterson and her slate writing, although reluctant to do so, because I had no certain and positive evidence of fraud with which to confront my friend, who was getting impatient at my slowness in accepting all I had seen, when I resolved to push my investigations to a point of certainty, one way or another, and hit upon the little scheme of going prepared, at my next visit to Mrs. Patterson, with a mirror in my pocket which I could hold under the table at an angle that would reflect whatever occurred on the other side of the table, in the Medium's lap, the accustomed position of the mysterious slate. The sitting was held in broad daylight, and the table was so placed that the Medium was seated with her back to a window, affording sufficient light for the experiment. I purposely avoided removing my overcoat on this day, because I wished to hide my movements as much as possible, and sat down at my side of the table with considerable misgiving as to the result of taking liberties with the Spirits. The Medium this time had on her table a new slate, a larger one, one which she said had belonged to the celebrated Slade who had himself received messages on it. She said her old slate was broken, which was probably true; when I had last seen it it was in a battered condition. She asked if it would make any difference to me if she used the new slate. The only apparent difference between the slates was that this one was larger and did not close with a screw, therefore, thought I, more easily manipulated; consequently I did not withhold my consent. I wrote upon a slip of paper my question, "Will Dr. H. advise me what to do for Juliet (an old colored patient)?" I folded over the slip of paper five times, put it in the slate with a small stub of pencil, and down the slates went into the lap of the Medium where I could see them, lying plainly reflected in my little mirror which I had slipped out of my pocket and laid across my knees at the proper angle of reflection.
Mrs. Patterson first wrote a letter-sheet full of alleged Spirit communications, and handed them to me across the table for perusal. I took the sheet with one hand and while ostensibly scanning the written page, with the other hand I carefully adjusted my little mirror, on which my downcast and watchful eyes were fixed, when lo! in the mirror I beheld a hand, closely resembling that of the Medium, stealthily insert its fingers between the leaves of the slate, take out the little slip, unfold and again fold it, grasp the little pencil, which had rolled to the front while the slate was tilted that way, and with rapid but noiseless motion (had there been the least noise from the pencil, it would have been drowned by the fit of coughing, which, at that instant, seized the Medium) write across the slate from left to right, a few lines; then the leaves of the slate were closed, the little pencil laid on the top, and, over all, two hands were folded as if in benediction. The woman opposite me, to whom the hands belonged (unless they were Spirit hands) sat with uplifted eyes, a calm expression of innocence upon her face. After holding the slates so for a moment or two, and after calling to the Spirit friends "to come and please write in the slate," she produced them, saying, "It has come!"
Of course, I did all I could to master my indignation, which, at that moment, was extreme, and quietly opening the slates, I read the message pretending to have come from high authority, "The channels are obstructed, give Arsenic, Bryonia and Pulsatilla in succeeding doses, an hour apart!" The last words were somewhat illegible, and Mrs. Patterson suggested another trial; she thought the Spirits would write it plainer. Again the slates went down; again I saw the hand at work as before. This second time the hurriedly written message was not much plainer than the first. Mrs. Patterson, who was better versed in deciphering Spirit dispatches than I, offered to read it for me, but remembering that "all good things are three," I requested a third trial. After this last experiment, in which again, for the third time, in my little mirror, I saw the stealthy fingers write on the slate, I told the Medium I was satisfied, smothered my indignant anger, and left the house as quickly as I could. For the larger part of a year I had investigated in good faith this department of Spiritualism, which, in this Medium's case, had turned out a downright fraud.
Not long after my last interview with Mrs. Patterson it was my good fortune to meet with an unprofessional Medium, a young gentleman of reputed honor and veracity, to whom I was introduced by a friend who had known him from childhood, and vouched for his honesty. This young man's Mediumistic abilities had begun to develop with the planchette, and had reached the stage in which a drum and sundry musical instruments were played behind a curtain where he sat entranced, with his hands tightly bound together by a handkerchief or cord. These seances were continued with regularity on certain nights in the week, and were confined strictly to the family circle and to a few privileged friends. There was, therefore, no temptation to deceive for gain. I came into the circle as an observer, not as believer, but was impressed by the phenomena witnessed at the first seance in which the Medium was under Indian control. There were strange sounds, guttural tones and whoops which really might have emanated from a wild son of the forest. A drum, an accordion, a zither, a mouth-organ were all played upon. The drumsticks kept time to music, rapped on the wall, appeared above the edge of the curtain several times, brightly illuminated, as if dipped in electric light or some phosphorescent substance. As I have said, I was impressed, and might have ended in complete conversion, by manifestations from so trustworthy a source, and vouched for in such perfect sincerity, had it not, in an unlucky moment, occurred to me to apply a little harmless test.
The test consisted simply in putting a dab of printer's ink on one of the drumsticks at the very last moment before the seance began. The result could not prove physically injurious to the Medium, who had challenged investigation, nor to any one in the circle. The result was startling. Being accorded the privilege of tying the Medium's hands, I proceeded to do so with a stout cord, using a certain knot which I believe has never been known to slip or come undone. This accomplished, and while some one else fastened the Medium securely to his chair, with his back to the instruments on the table, the ink, concealed in a pocket-handkerchief, was applied. In this position we left the Medium, the lights were lowered and the music began. Soon were heard the deep breathings preceding the trance, then the 'Indian' began to manifest, at first somewhat sullenly, as if not pleased with the conditions, some of the instruments sounded, and at last the drumsticks began their tattoo. At the close of the seance, when the curtains were drawn and the lights turned up, the Medium was found in his chair with his hands still tied, but great was the astonishment of everyone present at the marvelous condition of the Medium's hands. How in the world printer's ink could have gotten smeared over them while under control of 'Deerfoot, the Indian,' no one, not even the Medium, could fathom.
I believe there is an explanation for these or similar phenomena, but I must leave it to the ingenious and adroit expounders of Spiritualist philosophy.
CALVIN B. KNERR.
* * * * *
MEDIUMISTIC DEVELOPMENT.
At my very first seance, as a member of this Commission, I was told by the Spirit of Elias Hicks, through Mrs. Patterson, that I was gifted by nature with great Mediumistic power. Another Medium, with whom I had a session shortly afterwards (I cannot remember his name, but he advertised himself as a great 'Australian Medium'), professed himself quite unable to exert any power in the presence of a Medium so much more powerful than himself. 'Father Holland,' the control of Mrs. Williams, in New York, assured me that I merely needed development to have Spiritual manifestations at my own home; and Joseph Caffray was so emphatic in his assertions of my extraordinary Spiritual capabilities, that I began to think that it was my duty to quicken these dormant powers and not to let them 'fust in me unused,' and if successful, when I had become fully 'developed,' I could offer myself to my fellow Commissioners as a corpus vile on which every experiment could be made, and at a great saving of expense. |
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