PERFUMES AND WAVES OF SCENT-LADEN AIR.

This phase of the phenomena must be passed rapidly over, though manifested to a much greater extent and in greater variety in Mr. Stainton Moses' case than in any other with which I am acquainted. In his circle music and singing were never introduced as a means of harmonising the conditions. Mr. Stainton Moses says: "In our circle this harmonising is effected by means of perfumes and waves of cool-scented air." "If a new sitter is present, he or she is censed (if I may adopt the expression), and so initiated." "If a new intelligence is to communicate, or special honour to be paid to a chief, the room is pervaded by perfumes which grow stronger as the spirit enters." Sometimes the scent was in a liquid form, and apparently sprinkled down from the ceiling. Sometimes dry musk was thrown about in considerable quantities. A striking instance is given in the form of a statement from Mr. F. W. Percival, mentioned at the commencement of this article—a very occasional sitter. He says: "In compliance with your request, I will describe as briefly as possible what occurred at the dark seance held on the evening of 18th March 1874, when scent was produced so abundantly in the presence of Mrs. Speer and myself, while you [Mr. S. M.] were in a state of trance. The controlling spirit began by speaking through you at some length, and we were told to expect unusual manifestations. They commenced with a strongly scented breeze, which passed softly round the circle, its course being marked by a pale light. In a few minutes it suddenly changed, and blew upon us with considerable force, as if a pair of bellows had been employed, and the temperature of the room was perceptibly lowered. After this liquid scent was sprinkled upon us several times; it appeared to come from the top of the room, and fell upon us in small drops. Finally we were told that a new manifestation would be attempted, and that we were to prepare for it by joining hands and holding the palms upwards. In this position we waited for two or three minutes, and then I felt a stream of liquid scent poured out, as it were from the spout of a teapot, which fell on one side of my left hand, and ran down upon the table. The same was done for Mrs. Speer; and to judge from our impressions at the time, and from the stains on the table, a very considerable quantity must have been produced. I may remark in conclusion that there was no scent in the room before the seance, and that we could distinguish several different perfumes which made the atmosphere so oppressive that we were glad to seek a purer air so soon as the seance came to an end."[52]

LIGHTS WITHOUT APPARENT PHYSICAL CAUSE.

The phenomenon of Light without any apparent physical cause was a frequent one with Mr. Stainton Moses, and the manifestations were of a very varied character. Several of these were described in Chapter IV.

An account is now given of some remarkable phenomena which occurred at four consecutive seances on the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th of August 1873. Mr. Stainton Moses was on a holiday excursion with Dr. and Mrs. Speer in the North of Ireland. The days were spent in orthodox holiday fashion. The following is condensed from notes written in detail at the time by Dr. Speer:—

On the 10th of August, after some other phenomena had occurred, a large globe of light rose opposite to me, sailed up to the level of our faces, and then vanished. Several more followed. By request one was placed in the centre of the table. It was surrounded with drapery. A light came and stood on the table close to me. "Now I will show you my hand" was rapped out. A large very bright light then came up, and inside of it appeared the materialised hand of the spirit. The fingers moved about close to my face; the appearance was as distinct as can be conceived. I was told to write an exact account of what had been done. The next evening I placed the account I had written and a pencil on the table, and asked that the light might be brought down upon it. This was done. I then asked that if possible the spirit would append his signature. The spirit said he would try. After other lights had been produced, the hand appeared outside the drapery, I heard the pencil moving, and repeating his instruction of the previous evening, he departed, leaving on the paper a specimen of direct spirit caligraphy. On these two evenings no other sitter was present but myself.[53]

DIRECT WRITING.

As has already been remarked, the wealth of material is so great that selection is a matter of difficulty. There is much more I should like to have included in this chapter, but it must be drawn to a close with a brief detailed account of a case of "Direct Writing." There is perhaps no phenomenon more incredible to the "beginner" in these studies, than that legible and intelligent writing should be produced without human agency, and yet there seems no other way of explaining the facts. The following is an account, by Mr. Stainton Moses himself, of a seance held on 19th September 1872, the last held before a break in the series during the autumn of that year. "Imperator" had recently announced himself as the leading guide or director of the phenomena.



"We darkened the seance room, leaving the gas burning brightly in the adjoining dining-room. Dr. and Mrs. Speer and I sat at the table. On the floor under the table we put a piece of ruled paper and a pencil. A corner of the paper I tore off, and handed it to Dr. Speer to identify the sheet of paper if necessary. Various raps, some objects brought in, and a noise rather like sawing wood. When light was called for, Mrs. Speer stooped down and picked up the paper. The upper surface was blank. Her endorsement on the back of the paper, afterwards written, reads: 'I took the paper from under the table with the writing downwards,' i.e. on the surface touching the carpet. Dr. Speer and I wrote and signed this endorsement: 'The above corner was torn by me (S. M.) before the light was put out, and was given to Dr. S.' I (S. M.) afterwards put the two pieces together. They fit exactly, and are secured by a couple of halfpenny stamps, with the initials of Dr. S. and myself upon them. The message follows the rules exactly. A facsimile is appended, omitting only the initials of a deceased friend. It will be noticed that the writing is clearly and laboriously executed on the ruled lines. In no case are the lines deserted. I fancy the message is written backwards. Imperator's signature is of his usual decided type, very like what is automatically written by my hand. I suspect that the message was written by two hands."[54]

FOOTNOTES:

[39] Proceedings S.P.R., vol. ix. pp. 245-352, and vol. xi. pp. 24-113. Reference should also be made to an obituary notice of Mr. Stainton Moses by Mr. Myers, in Proceedings, vol. viii. pp. 597-601.

[40] Proceedings S.P.R., vol. ix. pp. 247-248.

[41] Ibid., p. 248.

[42] Ibid., p. 247.

[43] Ibid., p. 247.

[44] Proceedings S.P.R., vol. ix. p. 247.

[45] Proceedings S.P.R., vol. ix. p. 252.

[46] Proceedings S.P.R., vol. ix. p. 259.

[47] Ibid.

[48] Proceedings S.P.R., vol. ix. pp. 259-260.

[49] Proceedings S.P.R., vol. ix. p. 261.

[50] See Proceedings S.P.R., vol. ix. pp. 263-266.

[51] See Proceedings S.P.R., vol. ix. pp. 266-267.

[52] Proceedings S.P.R., vol. ix. pp. 267-273.

[53] Proceedings S.P.R., vol. ix. pp. 274-276.

[54] Proceedings S.P.R., vol. ix. pp. 284-286.



CHAPTER VII

"THE DIVINING ROD"

The reality or otherwise of the pretensions of the "Divining Rod" come legitimately within the scope of the present inquiry. The physical results which, it is alleged, follow the use of the "Divining" or "Dowsing" Rod in certain hands are unexplained by recognised physical science. The main fact of the success of the Rod, as a means of finding water where all ordinary methods have failed, is, however, so widely acknowledged among intelligent persons, including many business men, that it will be unnecessary to devote much space to this chapter. I shall not do more than briefly refer to the scientific inquiry into the whole subject which has been made in recent years, and quote a few cases where success has attended the use of the Rod after other means had failed.

Here again we are mainly indebted to a member of the Society for Psychical Research for what has been done. In the early days of the Society, two or three members, especially the late Mr. E. Vaughan Jenkins, of Oxford, had assiduously collected the best testimony they could obtain as to the successful use of the Rod. This was placed at the disposal of the Society in 1884, and was amply sufficient to show that a strong prima facie case for fuller investigation existed.[55] In 1891, at the request of the Council of the Society, Professor W. F. Barrett, F.R.S., of Dublin, undertook to submit the whole subject to a thorough scientific and experimental research. The results of Professor Barrett's indefatigable industry over a number of years are embodied in two lengthy Reports, published in the Proceedings of the Society.[56] The following cases are quoted from Professor Barrett's records as examples of the work of different professional "dowsers."

I. Mr. B. Tompkins, of Pipsmore Farm, Chippenham, Wilts, was the "diviner" in this case. Prior to 1890, Mr. Tompkins was a tenant farmer. Having been at some expense in endeavouring to obtain a good supply of water for his cattle, without success, he sent for Mr. Mullins, who came and found a spot where he said a plentiful supply of water existed at a depth of less than 30 feet. A well was sunk, and at 15 feet deep a strong spring was tapped which has yielded an unfailing supply ever since. Mr. Tompkins finding that the forked twig moved in his own hands, tried some experiments on his own account which proved successful. He was then asked by Messrs. Smith and Marshall, of Chippenham, agents to the late Lord Methuen, to try and find a spring on Lord Methuen's estate, as a well already sunk had proved useless. After a long search the rod moved at a certain spot on a hillside where Mr. Tompkins predicted a good supply of water would be found. Nine feet of solid rock had to be blasted, but at 18 feet a spring was struck which rose 9 or 10 feet in the well. Messrs. Smith and Marshall subsequently wrote thus to Mr. Tompkins:—

"CHIPPENHAM, WILTS, and 7 WHITEHALL PLACE, LONDON, November 24, 1891.

"The decision you arrived at was perfectly correct, and it is our opinion that if we had made the well 6 feet either way to the right or left of the spot you marked, we should have missed the water, which is now abundant. SMITH AND MARSHALL."

This is by way of introduction to case 99 in Professor Barrett's Report.

"No. 99. Mr. Charles Maggs, who is a Wiltshire county magistrate, and proprietor of the Melksham Dairy Company, required a large supply of pure water for his butter factory, and, after ineffectual attempts to obtain it, wrote to Mr. Tompkins to come over and try the divining rod. This was done, and subsequently Mr. Maggs writes to Mr. Tompkins as follows:—

"'MELKSHAM DAIRY COMPANY, November 10, 1890.

"'We found water at 30 feet, as stated by you at time of finding the spring—a very strong spring. Our hopes had almost gone, and faith was all but spent.... CHARLES MAGGS.'"

Professor Barrett wrote to Mr. Maggs, and received the following interesting letter in reply:—

"BOWERHILL LODGE, MELKSHAM, March 8, 1897.

"Briefly the facts are:—I sunk a well to find water for my dairy and found none. Then I wrote to Mr. Tompkins, who came the following day. He cut a forked stick out of the hedge, and having placed it over the well, said, 'There is no water here,' but found a slight spring within 10 feet, too small to be of any service, he reported. He walked all over the field, and said he had not come across any spring at all. However, in the extreme corner of the field, a bunch of nettles was growing, and he entered this, and instantly exclaimed—'Here it is; and a good head of water, too! Not running away, but just ready for tapping, and as soon as you strike it, it will come surging up.' 'How deep?' 'Not over 25 feet.' He cut out a turf to indicate the spot, and we commenced sinking next day. The person employed was an old well-sinker, and he came to me two or three times whilst engaged in sinking, showing specimens of the soil or marl, assuring me there never was water where such existed, and it was worse than useless to go further. I told him to go on if he had to get to New Zealand—it was my money, and he need not regard me nor my pocket. When he had gone about 22 feet, his pickaxe tapped the spring and the water came up like a fountain, and at such a rate he feared he should be drowned before he could get pulled up—his mates being away! The water rose rapidly to within 12 or 15 inches of the surface. We put in pumps and kept the water down whilst he went a little deeper, but the rush of water was such that we had to desist going lower. Since then we have had a splendid supply.... CHAS. MAGGS."[57]

II. Mr. John Mullins and Mr. H. W. Mullins, father and son, Colerne, Chippenham, Wilts.

Mr. Mullins, sen., who died rather more than ten years ago, was for thirty years engaged all over Great Britain and Ireland in finding water by means of the divining rod. He was a professional well-sinker. His sons carry on their father's business. One of them, Mr. H. W. Mullins, inherits his fathers faculty.

Cases Nos. 62 and 63 in Professor Barrett's Report illustrate the powers of both father and son.

Mr. E.G. Allen writes:—

"HIGHFIELD, METHERINGHAM LINCOLN, March 25, 1893.

"Having frequently availed myself of Mr. John Mullins' services during the last twenty years, I can say I have never known him to fail. I have sunk six wells, two on a heath farm about 30 feet deep (surrounding wells measuring about 70 feet) in limestone rock, thus saving a great expense in sinking. I took him one morning to a farm which was at that time farmed by the owner, the Right Hon. H. Chaplin, M.P. The well in the yard (nearly always dry) was about 30 feet deep. In a few minutes, Mullins, carrying in his hand his twig, found a good spring a very short distance from the old well. A new well was sunk, and at 10 feet a splendid supply of water was found. It has never failed, and has supplied the yards, &c., with water ever since.

"Being in want of water for a large grass field, called 'Catley Abbey Field,' I went with Mullins, who placed down a peg to denote a spring. We sunk a well, and bored 70 feet obtaining a good supply of water. Being struck with a peculiarity in its taste, it was submitted to Professor Attfield, Ph.D., who pronounced it to be the only natural seltzer spring in the kingdom. E. G. ALLEN."[58]

The next case in Professor Barrett's collection, No. 63, forms an interesting sequel to the above. The following is abridged from a long report, in the Lincolnshire Chronicle of 8th June 1895, of a visit of Mr. H.W. Mullins, son of Mr. John Mullins, to Catley Abbey:—

"The object of the Catley Abbey Company in sending for Mr. Mullins was to secure a well of pure water for bottle-washing. A well on the adjoining farm of Mr. Allen had run dry, and recently the seltzer water had been used for the purpose of bottle-washing. Eight years ago, Mr. J. Mullins, the father of the family, located the spot at Catley, where now stands the only natural seltzer spring in Britain.... Proceeding to the site of the dried-up well, Mullins took out a V-shaped twig, the forks of which were each about a foot long, and walked slowly along the ground a short distance from the well. Suddenly the twig revolved ... and Mullins confidently asserted that he was standing over a subterranean watercourse. Proceeding to the other side of the well, he traced, or professed to trace, the course of the hidden stream, and marked a spot contiguous to the buildings where he asserted a good spring would be tapped at a depth of from 120 to 130 feet, and he advised that a well should be sunk there.

"It was told to Mullins that his father asserted the seltzer spring flowed under a hedge on the other side of the field in which we were then standing, and he was asked to indicate the place. Starting at one end of the field, he walked close by the hedge side. He had gone about 100 yards when the twig began to play, and digging his heel in the ground, he thus marked the spot. Mr. Allen, who was present when Mullins, sen., also located the spring, sent a man for a spade, and a stake was dug up which eight years ago was driven in by Mr. Allen to mark the place. Mullins, jun., had touched the spot exactly."

The same newspaper of 23rd August 1895 announces the result of digging in the spot indicated as follows:—

"Our readers will remember that a few weeks ago our columns contained an article relative to the finding of water at Catley Abbey by means of hazel twigs in the hands of Mr. Mullins, the eminent 'dowser.' We are now able to state that a well having been sunk in the position indicated by Mr. Mullins, a valuable supply of water has been obtained, and that at a depth of about 5 feet less than that mentioned by him."

Professor Barrett says: "I sent Mr. Allen the foregoing account, and asked if it were correct. He replies that it is perfectly accurate, the facts being most interesting, and occurred as stated in the letter and newspaper report."[59]

III. Mr. Leicester Gataker, Crescent Gardens, Bath, who is a gentleman by birth and education, soon after leaving Bath College, discovered to his surprise that a forked twig revolved in his hands in the same way as it did with a local "diviner." The following is Case 123 in Professor Barrett's Report:—

"Mr. Gataker states that, being engaged by Messrs Ruscombe Poole & Son, the well-known solicitors of Bridgwater, he found a spring less than 14 feet deep, and within 3 or 4 yards of a useless well, 20 feet deep, sunk prior to his visit. In corroboration he encloses the following letter:—

"'BRIDGWATER, SOMERSET, July 1896.

"'We have sunk a well in the garden, and a copious spring has been found at 13 feet 6 inches, which amply verifies your prediction. "'J. RUSCOMBE POOLE & SON.'"

Professor Barrett says: "I wrote to Mr. Ruscombe Poole, and asked him if Mr. Gataker's statements were correct, and he replies:—

"'BRIDGWATER, January 15, 1897.

"'We return the paper you sent us. As regards the statement that there was a well about 20 feet deep which was useless, this is perfectly true, because the water in it was foul and smelt badly. The supply found is a very much more copious one than the old well, which contained very little water.'"[60]

The Index to Professor Barrett's Reports enumerates between three and four hundred persons with whom experiments with the Divining Rod are described. A list of the names of "dowsers" is also given. This list includes the names of about seventy professional "dowsers," and of nearly as many amateur "dowsers." These figures show the extent to which the use of the rod prevails, and also the work which the preparation of the Reports involved. As a specimen of the kind of evidence presented by Professor Barrett from miscellaneous sources, the following may be quoted:—

"In the present Report numerous independent witnesses of unimpeachable integrity, and some with high scientific attainments, testify to the same class of facts, viz.:—(1) The automatic and apparently irresistible motion of the twig in the hands often of a complete novice; and (2) that, when the forked twig does not move in a person's hands, if the dowser takes one link of the twig, or even places his hand on the wrist of the insensitive person, the previously inert twig now turns vigorously and often breaks in two in the effort to resist its motion. As regards (1), see the letter from the President of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall on p. 219,[61] who states that the Clerk of his Parish Council, on finding the rod suddenly twist in his hands, called out—'It is alive, sir, it is alive!' Mr. Enys adds: 'This exactly describes the sensation when the rod moves.' ... Mr. Bennett, of Oxford, on p. 176, refers to the frantic motion and the ultimate breaking of the twig 'held firmly' in the dowser's hands.... As regards (2), see Mr. Morton's letter to The Engineer, given on p. 172; Mr. Morton found the rod would not move in his hands, but when the late John Mullins, the dowser, 'laid his hands on my wrists and grasped them firmly, then the twig instantly began to turn, and continued turning till he removed his hands. He never touched the twig while it was in my hands.' Mr. Montague Price in his letter on p. 181 states: 'I held one side of the forked rod myself and the diviner the other, and when we came to water [alleged underground water] the strain was so great on my fingers I was obliged to ask him to stop. From the position of the rod it was almost impossible for him to produce the pressure, which increased with the strength of the stream.' ...

"The usual practice, after watching a dowser at work, is for some of the onlookers to try if the forked twig will move in their hands. Generally speaking, one or more, out of perhaps ten or twelve persons, discover, to their astonishment, that the twig curls up in their hands—at the same places at which it did with the dowser. Here is such an experience. Mrs. Hollands writes to me as follows:—

"'DENE PARK, TONBRIDGE, October 9, 1899.

"'In answer to your note of inquiry about the divining rod, the whole thing is rather a long story, but the practical result of the water dowser's visit was to find water which now supplies the house. One of my daughters found she had the strange power which moves the divining rod, and it works for her now quickly over any spring. It is most interesting, as you can feel the rod move if you take one side of it, and take one of her hands, she holding the other end of the rod—it struggles up, and would break off altogether if you did not allow it to move. My daughter has since found several springs on the estate, where we have sunk wells. They have stood us in very good stead these last dry seasons. MINNIE HOLLANDS.'

"A similar experience is given by Miss M. Craigie Halkett, who published some excellent photographs of a dowser at work in Sketch for 23rd August 1899. Miss Halkett writes to me as follows:—

"LAURISTON, NEW ELTHAM, KENT, September 8, 1899.

"The man depicted in the photographs is not a water-finder by profession. He is a tenant farmer residing at Catcolt, a village near Bridgwater, and merely exercises the art to oblige his neighbours. Several of the country people in this neighbourhood (Somerset) have the gift. It has never been known to fail. Personally I was rather sceptical on the subject, but was converted by the stick turning in my hands when standing over a spring. There were about six persons present at the time; all tried it, but it would turn for no one excepting the man in the picture and myself. I experienced a sort of tingling sensation in my arms and wrists, but otherwise was quite unaware when the forked stick began to turn, it seemed to go over so quickly. "'MAUDE CRAIGIE HALKETT.'

"Miss Halkett does not say how she knew she was 'standing over a spring' when the twig turned in her hands; this statement is very characteristic of many others that have reached me."[62]

Professor Barrett's views as to the source of the power which moves the rod are entitled to more attention than those of any one else. In a chapter on "Theoretical Conclusions" in the first of his two Reports, he says: "Few will dispute the proposition that the motion of the forked twig is due to unconscious muscular action." He then gives a summary of the causes which, he believes, determine that action. Among these he enumerates, impressions from without unconsciously made upon the dowser's mind from his own trained observation and practice, and from bystanders. He also believed that in some cases an impression appears to be gained through Thought-Transference. He did not, however, think this covered the whole ground. A peculiar pathological effect is produced on the dowser; but to what this is due can only be ascertained by persevering and unbiassed investigation.

Professor Barrett's second Report contains a long and interesting discussion of this problem. His views had undergone some modification. He adheres to his previous view that the "curious phenomena attending the motion of the so-called divining rod are capable of explanation by causes known to science" (e.g. involuntary muscular action). But he has become more impressed with the view that the suggestion may arise "from some kind of transcendental discernment possessed by the dowser's subconscious self." And he further says: "For my own part, I am disposed to think that this cause, though less acceptable to science, will be found to be a truer explanation of the more striking successes of a good dowser." In conclusion Professor Barrett says still more definitely: "This subconscious perceptive power, commonly called 'clairvoyance,' may provisionally be taken as the explanation of those successes of the dowser which are inexplicable on any grounds at present known to science."[63]

FOOTNOTES:

[55] Proceedings S.P.R., vol. ii. pp. 79-107.

[56] Ibid., vol. xiii. (Part XXXII.), pp. 2-282, and vol. xv. (Part XXXVI.), pp. 130-383.

[57] Proceedings S.P.R., vol. xiii. pp. 145-148.

[58] Proceedings S.P.R., vol. xiii. pp. 88-89.

[59] Proceedings S.P.R., vol. xiii. pp. 89-90.

[60] Proceedings S.P.R., vol. xiii. p. 182.

[61] The pages in this paragraph refer to the present Report (i.e. Proceedings S.P.R., vol. xv. pp. 130-383).

[62] Proceedings S.P.R., vol. xv. pp. 279-281.

[63] Proceedings S.P.R., vol. xv. p. 314. See also the whole discussion of which this page is the conclusion.



CHAPTER VIII

THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE DRAWINGS

There is one, and perhaps only one phase of the great subject of Thought-Transference or Telepathy the manifestations of which can legitimately be included among physical phenomena. Involuntary drawing or scribbling is a phenomenon of very common occurrence. But when such an involuntary drawing turns out to be a more or less exact copy of a drawing which the involuntary draughtsman has never seen; and still further when it turns out that the original drawing has been drawn by another person with the deliberate purpose of impressing it on the mind of the involuntary draughtsman, the subject assumes an entirely new interest. This, however, is the history of those series of "Thought-Transference Drawings" which have been published by the Society for Psychical Research. They are scattered through several volumes of its publications. Through the kindness of the Council of that Society I am able to put before the reader the largest selection of these drawings which has appeared. The drawings are the results of several different groups of experimenters in different parts of the country; and the selection has been made from as many groups as possible. In all cases facsimiles of the original drawing and of the reproduction are given. The earlier series done under the auspices of a Committee of the Society do not represent successes picked out of a large number of failures, but include all the attempts made at the time. The number that can be considered total failures in any of the trials is exceedingly small. Any conceivable chance or coincidence is entirely inadequate to account for the similarity in the great majority of cases.

The "First Report on Thought-Reading" was written by Professor W. F. Barrett, Mr. Gurney, and Mr. Myers, and was read at the first General Meeting of the Society on 17th July 1882. In order to illustrate the then state of scientific opinion, the writers say: "The present state of scientific opinion throughout the world is not only hostile to any belief in the possibility of transmitting a single mental concept except through the ordinary channels of sensations, but, generally speaking, it is hostile even to any inquiry upon the matter. Every leading physiologist and psychologist down to the present time has relegated what, for want of a better term, has been called "Thought-Reading" to the limbo of explored fallacies."[64] A second Report by the same writers was read at a meeting of the Society in the same year. In this Report the first series of "Thought-Transference Drawings" was described.

The method of proceeding was as follows:—A. makes an outline sketch of a geometrical figure, or of something a little more elaborate. B. sees this sketch, and carrying it in his mind goes and stands behind C., who sits with a pencil and paper before him and draws the impression which arises in his mind. Precautions are taken against the conveyance of information by any ordinary means. Except in a few of the earliest trials no contact between any of the parties was permitted. B. and C. are called respectively "transmitter" and "receiver."

In December 1882, Mr. Myers and Mr. Gurney paid a visit to Brighton to personally investigate some joint experiments of Mr. Douglas Blackburn and Mr. G. Albert Smith. Both Mr. Blackburn and Mr. Smith were then, or soon after became, members of the Society for Psychical Research. The experiments were made in Mr. Myers' and Mr. Gurney's own lodgings. The following plan, arranged in regard to some experiments made on 4th December, is thus described by Mr. Myers: "One of us completely out of sight of S. [Mr. Smith] drew some figure at random, the figure being of such a character that its shape could not be easily conveyed in words.... The figure, drawn by us, was then shown to B. [Mr. Blackburn] for a few moments, S. being seated all the time with his back to us, and blindfolded, in a distant part of the same room, and subsequently in an adjoining room. B. looked at the figure drawn; then held S.'s hand for a while; then released it. After being released, S. (who remained blindfolded) drew the impression of a figure which he had received.... In no case was there the smallest possibility that S. could have seen the original figure; and in no case did B. touch S., even in the slightest manner, while the figure was being drawn."

The whole series of drawings done in this way, on that occasion, is given in the Report in the S.P.R. Proceedings. They were nine in number. We have selected two, Nos. 5 and 9.

No. 5 calls for no special remark.



When the reproduction of No. 9 was drawn, Mr. S. touched the spot to which the arrow points, and said: "There is something more there, but I cannot tell what it is."

In the experiments made subsequently to these, the conditions were still more stringent, and no contact whatever was allowed between Mr. Blackburn and Mr. Smith; and it will be seen that striking and successful results were obtained.

A few weeks later, in January 1883, at the invitation of the Committee of the Society for Psychical Research, Mr. Blackburn and Mr. Smith came from Brighton, and a series of experiments was conducted at the Rooms the Society then occupied in Dean's Yard, Westminster. For the Report embodying the results of these experiments, Mr. Myers, Mr. Gurney, and Professor Barrett are specially responsible. Two drawings, Nos. 10 and 11, are selected from a series of twenty-two made on this occasion.

As to No. 10, Mr. S. had no idea that the original was not a geometrical diagram. Nor had he any clue given him as to the character of No. 11. He added the line marked b some time after he had drawn the line marked a, saying that he saw "a line parallel to another somewhere."

The authors of this Report say: "It is almost needless to point out that in these observations so foreign to our common experience, it is indispensable to be minutely careful and conscientious in recording the exact conditions of each experiment." The reader is referred to the Report itself to show how this was carried out; and also to show how exhaustively every possibility was considered by means of which information could be conceived to be conveyed through any recognised channel.



An entirely different group of experimenters set to work in Liverpool. Mr. Malcolm Guthrie, J.P., was a partner in one of the large drapery establishments, and Mr. James Birchall was the Hon. Secretary of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool. Their interest was aroused in the subject of Thought-Transference, and they carried out a very large number of experiments with some of the young ladies employed in Mr. Guthrie's establishment, who, "amusing themselves after business hours, found that certain of their number, when blindfolded, were able to name very correctly figures selected from an almanack suspended on the wall of the room, when their companions having hold of their hands, fixed their attention on some particular day of the month." This led to serious experiments, including about one hundred and fifty Thought-Transference Drawings. The conditions were carefully guarded, and in the majority of cases no contact was permitted. There were many failures, but a large number of successes. Assistance as "transmitter" was also given by Mr. F. S. Hughes, a member of the Society for Psychical Research. In a report by Mr. Guthrie, published in the Proceedings of the Society, sixteen of these drawings are given. NOS. 2 and 15 are selected. In neither of these was any contact between "transmitter" and "receiver" permitted. In NO. 2, Mr. Guthrie was "transmitter" and Miss Edwards "receiver." In NO. 15, Mr. F. S. Hughes was "transmitter" and Miss Edwards "receiver." With regard to the second, Miss Edwards said, "It is like a mask at a pantomime," and immediately drew the reproduction.



Mr. Malcolm remarks in his Report: "The drawings must speak for themselves. The principal facts to be borne in mind are that they have been executed through the instrumentality as agents [transmitters] of persons of unquestioned probity, and that the responsibility for them is spread over a considerable group of such persons, while the conditions to be observed were so simple—for they amounted really to nothing more than taking care that the original should not be seen by the subject [receiver]—that it is extremely difficult to suppose them to have been eluded."

Mr. Guthrie, having satisfied himself as to the reality of the phenomena of Thought-Transference, as manifested by the drawings, and in other ways, endeavoured to interest the scientific men of Liverpool. He naturally appealed among others to Sir Oliver Lodge, who was then Professor of Physics in University College, Liverpool. He accepted the invitation, and subsequently gave "An Account of Some Experiments in Thought-Transference" to the Society for Psychical Research, of which he was already an unofficial member, and which account is published in the Society's Proceedings.

The Report commences with a tribute, "since it bears on the questions of responsibility and genuineness," to the important position Mr. Guthrie held in Liverpool, as an active member of the governing bodies of several public institutions, including the University College. Sir Oliver Lodge then says:—

"After Mr. Guthrie had laboriously carried out a long series of experiments ... he set about endeavouring to convince such students of science as he could lay his hands upon in Liverpool; and with this object he appealed to me, among others, to come and witness, and within limits modify, the experiments in such a way as would satisfy me of their genuineness and perfect good faith. Yielding to his entreaty, I consented, and have been, I suppose, at some dozen sittings, at first simply looking on so as to grasp the phenomena, but afterwards taking charge of the experiments.... In this way I had every opportunity of examining and varying the minute conditions of the phenomena, so as to satisfy myself of their genuine and objective character, in the same way as one is accustomed to satisfy oneself as to the truth and genuineness of any ordinary physical fact.

"I did not feel at liberty to modify the experiments very largely, in other words to try essentially new ones.... I only regarded it as my business to satisfy myself as to the genuineness and authenticity of the phenomena already described by Mr. Guthrie. If I had merely witnessed facts as a passive spectator I should most certainly not publicly report upon them. So long as one is bound to accept imposed conditions and merely witness what goes on, I have no confidence in my own penetration, and am perfectly sure that a conjurer could impose upon me, possibly even to the extent of making me think that he was not imposing on me; but when one has the control of the circumstances, can change them at will, and arrange one's own experiments, one gradually acquires a belief in the phenomena observed quite comparable to that induced by the repetition of ordinary physical experiments."

Sir Oliver Lodge then describes in detail the method of procedure, in the course of which he says:—

"We have many times succeeded with agents ['transmitters'] quite disconnected with the percipient ['receiver'] in ordinary life and sometimes complete strangers to them. Mr. Birchall, the headmaster of the Birkdale Industrial School, frequently acted; and the house physician at the Eye and Ear Hospital, Dr. Shears, had a successful experiment, acting alone, on his first and only visit. All suspicion of a pre-arranged code is thus rendered impossible even to outsiders who are unable to witness the obvious fairness of all the experiments."

Sir Oliver Lodge then gives the details of twenty-seven experiments. From these four are selected. Descriptions, in Sir O. Lodge's own words, are condensed.

(1) "Mr. Birchall, agent—Miss R, percipient, holding hands. No one else present except myself. A drawing of a Union Jack pattern. As usual in drawing experiments, Miss R. remained silent for perhaps a minute; then she said, 'Now I am ready.' I hid the object; she took off the handkerchief and proceeded to draw on paper placed ready in front of her. She this time drew all the lines of the figure except the horizontal middle one. She was obviously much tempted to draw this, and indeed began it two or three times faintly, but ultimately said, 'No, I'm not sure,' and stopped."



(2) "Double object. I arranged the double object between Miss R——d and Miss E., who happened to be sitting nearly facing one another. Miss R——d and Miss E. both acting as agents. The drawing was a square on one side of the paper, and a cross on the other. Miss R——d looked at the side with the square on it, Miss E. looked at the side with the cross. Neither knew what the other was looking at—nor did the percipient know that anything unusual was being tried. There was no contact. Very soon, Miss R. (percipient) said, 'I see things moving about.... I seem to see two things.... I see first one up there and then one down there.... I can't see either distinctly.' 'Well, anyhow, draw what you have seen.' She took off the bandage and drew first a square, and then said, 'Then there was the other thing as well, ... afterwards they seemed to go into one,' and she drew a cross inside the square from corner to corner, adding afterwards, 'I don't know what made me put it inside.'"



(3) "Object—a drawing of the outline of a flag. Miss R. as percipient, in contact with Miss E. as agent. Very quickly Miss R. said, 'It's a little flag.' And when asked to draw, she drew it fairly well but perverted. I showed her the flag (as usual after a success), and then took it away to the drawing place to fetch something else. I made another drawing, but instead of bringing it I brought the flag back again and set it up in the same place as before, but inverted. There was no contact this time. Miss R——d and Miss E. were acting as agents. After some time Miss R. said, 'No, I cant see anything this time. I still see that flag.... The flag keeps bothering me.... I shan't do it this time.' Presently I said, 'Well, draw what you saw anyway.' She said, 'I only saw the same flag, but perhaps it had a cross on it.' So she drew a flag in the same position as before, but added a cross to it."

(4) "Object—a teapot cut out of silver paper. Present—Dr. Herdman, Miss R——d, and Miss R. Miss E. percipient. Miss R. holding percipient's hands, but all thinking of the object. Told nothing. She said, 'Something light.... No colour.... Looks like a duck.... Like a silver duck.... Something oval.... Head at one end and tail at the other.' ... The object being rather large, was then moved further back, so that it might be more easily grasped by the agents as a whole, but percipient persisted that it was like a duck. On being told to unbandage and draw, she drew a rude and perverted copy of the teapot, but didn't know what it was unless it was a duck. Dr. Herdman then explained that he had been thinking all the time how like a duck the original teapot was, and in fact had been thinking more of ducks than teapots."



In the autumn of 1891 Sir Oliver Lodge was staying for a fortnight in the house of Herr von Lyro at Portschach am See, Carinthia. While there he found that the two adult daughters of his host were adepts in the so-called "willing game." The speed and accuracy with which the willed action was performed left little doubt in his mind that there was some genuine thought-transference power. He obtained permission to make a series of test experiments, the two sisters acting as agent and percipient alternately. He hoped gradually to secure the phenomena without contact of any kind. But unfortunately contact seemed essential, though of the slightest description, for instance through the backs of the knuckles. Sir Oliver Lodge says: "It was interesting and new to me to see how clearly the effect seemed to depend on contact, and how abruptly it ceased when contact was broken. While guessing through a pack of cards, for instance, rapidly and continuously, I sometimes allowed contact, and sometimes stopped it; and the guesses changed, from frequently correct to quite wild, directly the knuckles or finger tips, or any part of the skin of the two hands ceased to touch. It was almost like breaking an electric circuit."

As Sir Oliver Lodge remarks, it is obvious how strongly this suggests the idea of a code, and that therefore this flaw prevents these experiments from having any value as tests, or as establishing de novo the existence of the genuine power. But apart from the moral conviction that unfair practices were extremely unlikely, Sir Oliver Lodge says that there was a sufficient amount of internal evidence derived from the facts themselves to satisfy him that no code was used. As examples, two from a series of twelve drawings are given.



In 1894, Mr. Henry G. Rawson, barrister-at-law, made a long and interesting series of experiments in Thought-Transference, a Report of which was published in vol. xi. of the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research. The Report includes fifteen originals and reproductions of drawings. Two sisters, Mrs. L. and Mrs. B., were the operators; and on the two evenings when the two series of drawings were executed, from which the accompanying selections are made, Mr. Rawson was the only other person present. On both occasions, Mrs. L. sat on a chair near the fire, Mrs. R. sat at a table many feet off, with her back to Mrs. L., and Mr. Rawson stood or sat where he could see both ladies.



Nos. 5 and 6 of the first series are here reproduced.

The following selection is from the second series. Mr. Rawson says respecting it: "Mrs. L. began drawing within ten to fifteen seconds, and presently said, 'I am drawing something I can see.' The clock was in front of her on the mantelpiece." It would seem as though the idea of a clock was thought-transferred at once; but that the working out of the idea in the mind was modified by what the percipient happened to see before her.



A final selection of Thought-Transference Drawings will be taken from the records of several series of experiments of different kinds made in 1897 and 1898 by Professor A. P. Chattock, of University College, Bristol. The drawings were made with two old students of Professor Chattock's, Mr. Wedmore and Mr. Clinker.



REPRODUCTION (2).]

No. 6 of a series done at Harrow, September 1897. Agents, Professor Chattock and R. C. Clinker. Percipient, E. B. Wedmore. E. B. W. about three yards from agents, with lamp and table between. To reproduction (1) these words are added: "I thought of these, and then suggested we should try three musical notes." And to reproduction (2) these words are added: "Got this result."



REPRODUCTION Percipient, R. Wedmore.]

No. 1 of a series done in London, a little later. The reproduction was drawn in about one and a half minutes after the sitting commenced.

The Report of the various series of experiments is printed in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research for November 1898.

Instead of giving detailed references to all the quotations in the descriptions of these various Thought-Transference Drawings, a list of the several Reports is appended. They can be referred to for further information.[65]

Second Report of the S.P.R. Committee. Proceedings, vol. i., part ii., 1882. See p. 92.

Third Report of the S.P.R. Committee. Proceedings, vol. i., part iii., 1883. See pp. 94, 95.

Experiments in Thought-Transference, by Malcolm Guthrie. Proceedings, vol. ii., part v., 1884. See pp. 96, 97.

Experiments in Thought-Transference, by Oliver J. Lodge, D.Sc. Proceedings, vol. ii., part vi., 1884. See pp. 100-102.

Some Recent Thought-Transference Experiments, by Oliver J. Lodge. Proceedings, vol. vii., part xx., 1891. See p. 104.

Experiments in Thought-Transference, by Henry G. Rawson. Proceedings, vol. xi., part xxvii., 1894. See pp. 105, 106.

Experiments in Thought-Transference, by Professor A. P. Chattock. Journal S.P.R., vol. xiii., No. 153, Nov. 1898. See p. 107.

During the last few years no important addition appears to have been made to the series of Thought-Transference Drawings. A revival of similar experiments would be of great interest and value.

The question may fairly be asked, What have these Thought-Transference Drawings to do with the Physical Phenomena of Spiritualism? A reply is easily given. The reader is referred to a passage in the concluding chapter, quoted from Mr. Myers, in which he claims an exalted position for Telepathy, as almost the fundamental doctrine of Spiritualistic Philosophy. He speaks of the beginning of Telepathy as a "quasi-mechanical transference of ideas and images from one to another brain." The Thought-Transference Drawings constitute the primary evidence of this. They may be looked upon as constituting the physical basis of a belief in Thought-Transference, and therefore as the physical basis of a belief in Telepathy, the action of which, as Mr. Myers says, "was traced across a gulf greater than any space of earth or ocean—it bridged the interval between spirits incarnate and discarnate." Thus we may look upon these Thought-Transference Drawings as supplying the chief—perhaps the only—physical basis for a belief in one of the main doctrines of spiritualism. Hence they legitimately find a place in the present examination.

FOOTNOTES:

[64] Proceedings S.P.R., vol. i. p. 13.

[65] A list of all the publications of the Society for Psychical Research, with prices of the different volumes and parts, can be obtained from the Secretary, at the Society's Rooms, 20 Hanover Square, London, W.



CHAPTER IX

MATERIALISATIONS

By "materialisation," in this chapter, is not meant the production of more or less complete portions of the human body—generally hands—a phenomenon alleged to be frequent in spiritualistic circles. A "materialisation" of the whole figure is meant, the production of a figure which to the spectator appears as a new human being, so to speak, occasionally exhibiting signs of independent organic life. Such a phenomenon would be the most astounding that can well be imagined. I am not in a position to offer any scientific evidence in its support. By far the majority of the accounts which have been published of full form "materialisations" are destitute of any evidential value, and in many cases the circumstantial evidence for fraud is strong. Were it not for a small number of cases which present prima facie evidence of a different character, the question of the reality of this phase of "mediumship" would be scarcely worth raising. But the existence of even a small amount of evidence of such a kind raises the question into a different position, to one which reasonably demands the searching investigation of scientific men. I propose to give one illustration only of this better class of evidence, but it is one in which common-sense precautions against deception seem to have been carefully taken.

The following extracts are from a report made by Mr. J. Slater, and published in The Two Worlds of 15th February 1895:—

"IS MATERIALISATION A FACT? YES. SCIENTIFIC PROOF.

"After the recent suspicions and exposures of materialising mediums, I determined to take the first opportunity of applying further and more stringent tests, which should absolutely preclude the possibility of deception. For this purpose I wrote to the Middlesbro' materialising medium, asking for a test sitting, and stating the conditions—which he readily accepted....

"The conditions were that he should strip to the skin 'naked as he was born,' and in the presence of witnesses dress in clothes to be supplied by me....

"I made him understand that after he had dressed in the clothes supplied by me, he must consider himself in my charge, and must not attempt to do or touch anything, or go anywhere except to the chair provided for him. He readily agreed to this, and imposed upon himself a still further test, viz. that as soon as the phenomena had ceased, he would instantly place himself in our charge, to be held fast until the light was turned up, and the company had retired to the next room, the same process of undressing being gone through."

This was all carried out preliminary to a seance, and a final examination of the room was made.

"The light was then lowered so that we could just see each other—the company sang a hymn, a prayer was offered, and then came the crisis—to be or not to be? In less than a minute a form of exceeding whiteness appeared at the opening of the curtain; I should judge the height to be three feet six inches or a little more. We could not distinguish the face. The form appeared twice. Then a child form appeared, its raiment white, luminous and very distinct. Then came the well-known and lively black child, opening the curtain with her small arms and bowing repeatedly to us. This child would be about two and a half feet in height. The folds of shining drapery hung from her head in gipsy fashion, which she opened for us to see her round black face. I was quite close to her, but did not pat her face and woolly head as I have done before. She climbed upon the medium's knee, and then came close to us again, and then disappeared....

"The meeting then concluded with prayer and doxology. We then seized hold of the medium's hands, and held him until the company retired, and then went through the undressing and dressing process as before, every article of clothing being rigidly examined as removed. We then searched the corner as before, and found all intact, and not a sign anywhere of the abundance of drapery we had seen."

Sixteen ladies and gentlemen present at the meeting allowed their names to be published as a testimony to what they saw. The evidential value of the seance depends entirely on the honesty and truthfulness of Mr. Slater and of the two friends who assisted him in the carrying out of the precautions taken.

Mr. Slater had been in the York Post Office for over thirty years, and for nearly seven years before his death in 1902 had occupied the position of superintendent. Mr. Slater was a frequent contributor to the newspaper press of his own district, and also occasionally to other periodicals. He appears to have been a man of considerable intelligence and force of character, and to have been widely respected. I am informed by Mr. J. P. Slater, a son of Mr. J. Slater, and who is in the Post Office at York, that the name of the "Middlesbro' medium" was Kenwin, and that he was an "ordinary working man" in some steel works. He died six or seven years ago.



CHAPTER X

"SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY"

For over thirty years photographs have been taken in London, on which, when they were developed, figures appeared for the presence of which there seemed to be no physical cause. They appeared both with professional photographers and in private studios. Two or three professional photographers laid themselves out to encourage such appearances. Others were annoyed by them. One in particular, whom I knew personally, was greatly annoyed in this way, fearing it might injure his business. Naturally, but unfortunately, the term "spirit photographs" was invented. Unfortunately, because, granting the reality and genuineness of some of the results, it by no means follows that a "spirit" stood or sat for its portrait, as a human sitter does. Naturally also, various explanations were soon alleged, two being, either that the plates had been used before, and had been imperfectly cleaned, or that the results were produced by deliberate artifice and fraud on the part of the photographer. There is no doubt that artificial results can be obtained in a variety of ways, which are extremely difficult, if not impossible to distinguish from the professed genuine article. It may therefore be said that no examination of a professed "spirit photograph," or as we should prefer to call it, a "psychic photograph," is sufficient to determine its nature and origin. The true test must be sought for in the conditions under which the photograph was taken. Very few of those who have had to do with "spirit photography" have possessed the necessary technical knowledge, and also been sufficiently careful, in the various stages of the process. The result is that scarcely any of the photographs shown as "spirit photographs" possess any evidential value. In common with several other alleged phenomena, but little attention has been given to the subject by scientific men, or by trained experimenters.

The most notable exception to this which I am able to quote is that of the late Mr. J. Traill Taylor, who was for a considerable time the editor of the British Journal of Photography. The following quotations are from a paper on "Spirit Photography" by Mr. Taylor. It was originally read before the London and Provincial Photographic Association in March 1893, and was reprinted in the British Journal of Photography for 26th May 1904, shortly after Mr. Taylor's death.

"Spirit photography, so called, has of late been asserting its existence in such a manner and to such an extent as to warrant competent men in making an investigation, conducted under stringent test conditions, into the circumstances under which such photographs are produced, and exposing the fraud should it prove to be such, instead of pooh-poohing it as insensate because we do not understand how it can be otherwise—a position that scarcely commends itself as intelligent or philosophical. If, in what follows, I call it 'spirit photography' instead of psychic photography, it is only in deference to a nomenclature that extensively prevails.... I approach the subject merely as a photographer."

Mr. Traill Taylor then gives a history of the earlier manifestations of "Spirit Photography," and goes on to explain how striking phenomena in photographing what is invisible to the eye may be produced by the agency of fluorescence. He quotes the demonstration by Dr. Gladstone, F.R.S., at the Bradford Meeting of the British Association in 1873, showing that invisible drawings on white cards have produced bold and clear photographs when no eye could see the drawings themselves. Hence, as Mr. Taylor says, the photographing of an invisible image is not scientifically impossible.

Mr. Taylor then proceeds to describe some personal experiments. He says: "For several years I have experienced a strong desire to ascertain by personal investigation the amount of truth in the ever-recurring allegation that figures other than those visually present in the room appeared on a sensitive plate.... Mr. D., of Glasgow, in whose presence psychic photographs have long been alleged to be obtained, was lately in London on a visit, and a mutual friend got him to consent to extend his stay in order that I might try to get a psychic photograph under test conditions. To this he willingly agreed. My conditions were exceedingly simple, were courteously expressed to the host, and entirely acquiesced in. They were, that I for the nonce would assume them all to be tricksters, and to guard against fraud, should use my own camera and unopened packages of dry plates purchased from dealers of repute, and that I should be excused from allowing a plate to go out of my own hand till after development unless I felt otherwise disposed; but that as I was to treat them as under suspicion, so must they treat me, and that every act I performed must be in the presence of two witnesses; nay, that I would set a watch upon my own camera in the guise of a duplicate one of the same focus—in other words, I would use a binocular stereoscopic camera and dictate all the conditions of operation....

"Dr. G. was the first sitter, and for a reason known to myself, I used a monocular camera. I myself took the plate out of a packet just previously ripped up under the surveillance of my two detectives. I placed the slide in my pocket, and exposed it by magnesium ribbon which I held in my own hand, keeping one eye, as it were, on the sitter, and the other on the camera. There was no background. I myself took the plate from the dark slide, and, under the eyes of the two detectives, placed it in the developing dish. Between the camera and the sitter a female figure was developed, rather in a more pronounced form than that of the sitter.... I submit this picture.... I do not recognise her or any of the other figures I obtained, as like any one I know....

"Many experiments of like nature followed; on some plates were abnormal appearances, on others none. All this time, Mr. D. the medium, during the exposure of the plates, was quite inactive....

"The psychic figures behaved badly. Some were in focus. Others not so. Some were lighted from the right, while the sitter was so from the left; some were comely, ... others not so. Some monopolised the major portion of the plate, quite obliterating the material sitters. Others were as if an atrociously-badly vignetted portrait ... were held up behind the sitter. But here is the point:—Not one of these figures which came out so strongly in the negative, was visible in any form or shape to me during the time of exposure in the camera, and I vouch in the strongest manner for the fact that no one whatever had an opportunity of tampering with any plate anterior to its being placed in the dark slide or immediately preceding development. Pictorially they are vile, but how came they there?

"Now all this time, I imagine you are wondering how the stereoscopic camera was behaving itself as such. It is due to the psychic entities to say that whatever was produced on one half of the stereoscopic plates was produced on the other, alike good or bad in definition. But on a careful examination of one which was rather better than the other, ... I deduce this fact, that the impressing of the spirit form was not consentaneous with that of the sitter. This I consider an important discovery. I carefully examined one in the stereoscope, and found that, while the two sitters were stereoscopic per se, the psychic figure was absolutely flat. I also found that the psychic figure was at least a millimetre higher up in one than the other. Now, as both had been simultaneously exposed, it follows to demonstration that, although both were correctly placed vertically in relation to the particular sitter behind whom the figure appeared, and not so horizontally, this figure had not only not been impressed on the plate simultaneously with the two gentlemen forming the group, but had not been formed by the lens at all, and that therefore the psychic image might be produced without a camera. I think this is a fair deduction. But still the question obtrudes: How came these figures there? I again assert that the plates were not tampered with by either myself or any one present. Are they crystallisations of thought? Have lens and light really nothing to do with their formation? The whole subject was mysterious enough on the hypothesis of an invisible spirit, whether a thought projection or an actual spirit, being really there in the vicinity of the sitter, but it is now a thousand times more so....

"In the foregoing I have confined myself as closely as possible to narrating how I conducted a photographic experiment open to every one to make, avoiding stating any hypothesis or belief of my own on the subject."

Two years later, in May 1895, the spiritualists held a General Conference in London, the proceedings of which extended over several days. At one of the meetings Mr. Traill Taylor read a paper under the title—"Are Spirit Photographs necessarily the Photographs of Spirits?" An abstract of this paper appears in Light (18th May 1895), and it is printed in full in Borderland (July 1895). At the commencement of the paper, Mr. Taylor explained that light is the agent in the production of an ordinary photograph; but he says: "I have ascertained, to my own satisfaction at any rate, that light so called, so far as concerns the experiments I have made, has nothing to do with the production of a psychic picture, and that the lens and camera of the photographer are consequently useless incumbrances." Following this up, Mr. Taylor says: "It was the realisation of this that enabled me at a certain seance recently held, at which many cameras were in requisition, to obtain certain abnormal figures on my plates when all others failed to do so. After withdrawing the slide from the camera, I wrapped it up in the velvet focussing cloth and requested the medium to hold it in his hand, giving him no clue as to my reason for doing so. A general conversation favoured the delay in proceeding to the developing room for about five or more minutes, during which the medium still held the wrapped-up slide. I then relieved him of it, and in the presence of others applied the developer, which brought to view figures in addition to that of the sitter."

In making a categorical reply to the question which forms the title of his paper, Mr. Taylor replies—"No"—and gives various "surmises" to account for recognisable likenesses having been obtained. At the end of his paper Mr. Taylor says:—

"The influence of the mind of the medium in the obtaining of psychographs might be deduced from the fact of pictures having been obtained of angels with wings, a still popular belief of some, as ridiculous in its conception as it is false in its anatomy, but still no less true in its photo-pictorial outcome. This does not in the slightest degree impair the genuineness and honesty of the medium, but it inspires me, a disbeliever in the wing notion, with the belief that spirit-photographs are not necessarily photographs of spirits.

"A concluding word: A medium may, on passing through a picture gallery, become impressed by some picture which, although forgotten soon after, may yet make a persistent appearance on his negative on subsequent occasions. My caution is that if such be published as a spirit photograph, care must be taken that no copyright of such picture is infringed. I have cases of this nature in my mind's eye, but time does not permit of this being enlarged upon, else I could have recited several instances."

It would be extremely interesting if we could have had these "several instances" recited. At all events, what Mr. Traill Taylor says is suggestive, and is well worth being borne in mind by any one investigating the subject. Some careful experiments have been made of late years, mostly, so far as I have heard, with inconclusive, or discouraging results. But I am not aware of any serious sustained study of the question by any English photographer since Mr. Traill Taylor's death.



CHAPTER XI

THE SUMMING UP OF THE WHOLE MATTER

In the preceding chapters the chief endeavour has been to present the scientific evidence in favour of the reality of a mass of alleged phenomena, so far unrecognised by science as facts. The chief object is to arouse interest, and to excite inquiry and investigation. It is difficult to imagine a more attractive undiscovered country than that which lies just outside the realm of recognised science, in the direction of such phenomena as have been under consideration. It is a country teeming with wonders, and with miraculous occurrences of endless variety. Miraculous to us, inasmuch as they are not subject to any "Laws of Nature" which we have discovered. The marvel is that there is not a rush of explorers into fields incomparably more fascinating than North or South Pole can present, and containing more treasure than gold-fields or diamond mines can ever yield.

The two chapters devoted to phenomena occurring in the presence of D. D. Home and W. Stainton Moses demand special reference. It is difficult to imagine two men differing more widely in almost every respect. Mr. Myers describes the even tenour of Mr. Stainton Moses' "straightforward and reputable life" as "inwoven with a chain of mysteries, which ... make that life one of the most extraordinary which our century has seen."[66] He was a scholar, a literary man, and a clergyman of the Church of England. He had no worldly ambition or fondness for what is called "Society." Mr. D. D. Home, on the contrary, does not appear to have been a man who could have been termed a religious character, or spiritually-minded, nor did he give evidence of intellectual talent. But he had gained access to some of the highest society in Europe. And yet both men were "mediums" for these curious phenomena, to a wonderful extent, both as regards the amount and the variety of the manifestations. Although the two men were so different, there is a parallelism in the phenomena in so many respects, that a similar origin or source seems inevitably suggested. There were peculiarities special to each, but untouched movements of heavy articles, "levitations," lights, and sounds, were phenomena common to both. From whence does this "chain of mysteries" come? Is the source to be sought for in undiscovered powers and faculties of the men themselves, or in the action of other intelligences? That is a problem which must be left. It is outside the scope of this inquiry, which deals solely with the establishment of physical facts. But where can any other field be found of equal interest? Difficulties and perplexities meet the explorer in abundance. But they exist in order to be overcome by the same steady persistence which has attained its reward in many another direction.

With regard to two other chapters I desire also to make a special remark—those on "Materialisations" and "Spirit Photography." Both are physical phenomena. But I desire to make it plain that no claim is made of being able to present evidence with regard to either of these subjects which should satisfy the reasonable demands of science. It may be asked—Why then introduce them at all? For two reasons: (1) Because the evidence in favour of both is only just outside the boundary of scientific demonstration. (2) Because of the extreme interest of the phenomena themselves.

As to "Materialisations." Out of an immense mass of testimony, most of it of no evidential value, one case has been selected where more than ordinary care seems to have been taken. But the phenomenon is so marvellous, especially in its more perfect alleged phases, when the "materialised" form is scarcely distinguishable from a living breathing human being, that the inquirer is bound to hold his judgment in suspense until the last possible moment.

Again as to "Spirit Photography." The term "Psychic Photography" would be far preferable, as implying no theory. The experiences of Mr. J. Traill Taylor, which I have selected as the sole illustration, appear to leave no moral doubt but that under certain circumstances photographs are produced which known laws are unable to explain. Definite and recognisable human figures and faces are thus obtained. But this is a very long way from proving that "spirits" sit or stand before the camera for their photographs to be taken!

If some trained experimenter in scientific research, who possesses an unbiassed mind, would devote himself for two or three years to the study of either of these classes of phenomena, it is almost a certainty that he would be richly rewarded. Is there no one who will enter upon the task?

There is one large group of evidence, embracing most of the phenomena which have been under consideration, from which I had hoped to make copious selections, with pleasure to myself, and with interest to the reader. No living scientist has bestowed so large an amount of study on "certain phenomena usually termed spiritualistic" as Sir William Crookes. As long ago as the year 1874, Sir William Crookes gave permission for the reprint of a limited number of copies of various articles which he had contributed to the periodical literature of the day. These, with some other original matter, were published under the title of "Researches in the Phenomena of Spiritualism." That volume has long been out of print. In 1890, an article by Sir William Crookes, under the title of "Notes of Seances with D. D. Home," was published in volume vi. of the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research. He also referred to his experiences with D. D. Home, in two addresses delivered at meetings of the Society in 1894 and in 1899. These are reported in the Journal of the Society. Sir William Crookes also devoted a portion of his address, as President of the British Association in 1898, to a reference to the part he took many years before in psychical research. This portion of the address was reprinted in volume xiv. of the Proceedings of the Society.

Considerations, which cannot be entered into here, compel me, however, to be content with referring the reader to the publications mentioned, a study of which will, I think, bring conviction that the scientific evidence they contain would, even if it stood alone, be amply sufficient to prove the reality of the alleged phenomena.[67]

* * * * *

We are now warranted in the assertion that we have arrived at this position: That the careful reader is compelled to admit that the evidence in favour of a variety of alleged physical phenomena being undoubted facts, is too strong to be resisted. We are accustomed to say in ordinary life, the proof of this or that is complete. The man of science is accustomed to say in his own sphere of inquiry, the proof of this or that is complete. Applying the same rules of evidence to physical phenomena generally called spiritualistic, we are bound to admit that in regard to many of them the proof of their reality is complete. Yet these facts are not recognised by the world of science, and are scarcely deemed worthy of any serious attention by the majority of intelligent people.

It may be worth while to consider for a few moments the mode in which new knowledge enters the mind. By new knowledge is meant not extension of existing knowledge, but facts of a new order, such, for instance, as the rising of a heavy dining table into the air without any recognised physical cause being apparent. The difficulty of admitting new facts of this kind to the mind is not confined to any one class of people. Indeed the difficulty appears to be greater in the case of highly educated people than among the comparatively uninformed. Sir Oliver Lodge has recently said: "What does a 'proof' mean? A proof means destroying the isolation of an observed fact or experience by linking it on with all pre-existent knowledge; it means the bringing it into its place in the system of knowledge; and it affords the same sort of gratification as finding the right place for a queer-shaped piece in a puzzle-map. Do not let these puzzle-maps go out of fashion; they afford a most useful psychological illustration; the foundation of every organised system of truth is bound up with them.... It is because a number of phenomena, such as clairvoyance, physical movement without contact, and other apparent abnormalities and unusualnesses, cannot at present be linked on with the rest of knowledge in a coherent stream—it is for that reason that they are not, as yet, generally recognised as true; they stand at present outside the realms of science; they will be presently incorporated into that kingdom, and annexed by the progress of discovery."[68]

Mr. F. C. S. Schiller, in an article in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, expresses a similar thought in a different manner. He says:—

"A mind unwilling to believe, or even undesirous to be instructed, our weightiest evidence must ever fail to impress. It will insist on taking that evidence in bits, and rejecting it item by item. The man therefore who announces his intention of waiting until a single absolutely conclusive bit of evidence turns up, is really a man not open to conviction, and if he is a logician, he knows it. For modern logic has made it plain that single facts can never be 'proved,' except by their coherence in a system. But as all the facts come singly, any one who dismisses them one by one, is destroying the conditions under which the conviction of new truth could arise in his mind."[69]

Mr. Myers, in summing up the evidence in the case of Mr. Stainton Moses, dwells on the importance of simple repetition. This, though practically effective, is scarcely a scientific consideration. A fact is none the less a fact on account of the rarity of its occurrence, any more than the existence of a rare animal or plant is rendered questionable by the fewness of the number of specimens which have been found.

An interesting chapter might be written under the title of "The History of the Growth in the Belief in Hypnotism during the last Twenty-five Years." One episode that would be included in such a history may be worth quoting here as illustrating the present subject. As recently as 1891, the British Medical Association appointed a Committee, consisting of eleven of its number, "to investigate the nature of the phenomena of hypnotism, its value as a therapeutic agent, and the propriety of using it." This Committee presented a Report at the Annual Meeting in the following year. In the first paragraph they solemnly stated that they "have satisfied themselves of the genuineness of the hypnotic state" (!). They also expressed the "opinion that as a therapeutic agent hypnotism is frequently effective in relieving pain, procuring sleep, and alleviating many functional ailments" (!). They are also of opinion that its "employment for therapeutic purposes should be confined to qualified medical men."

The Association referred this unanimous Report of its Committee back for further consideration. In 1893 the Committee presented it again, with the addition of an important Appendix, consisting of "some documentary evidence upon which the Report was based." On this occasion it was moved and seconded, that the Report should lie on the table. It was suggested that the amendment to this effect be so altered as to read that the Report be received only, and the Committee thanked for their services. Finally, a resolution to this effect was carried. The most strongly worded recommendation of the Report was that some legal restriction should be placed on public exhibitions of hypnotic phenomena. This was only twelve years ago, and was five or six years subsequent to the publication of some of Mr. Edmund Gurney's most important series of experiments in hypnotism in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research. The "reception only" of the Report was also two or three years subsequent to a demonstration of hypnotic anaesthesia which Dr. J. Milne Bramwell gave at Leeds to a large gathering of medical men. One result of that gathering was that Dr. Bramwell decided to abandon general practice and devote himself to hypnotic work. Dr. Bramwell says:—

"As I was well aware of the fate that had awaited earlier pioneers in the same movement, I naturally expected to meet with opposition and misrepresentation. These have been encountered, it is true; but the friendly help and encouragement received have been immeasurably greater. I have also had many opportunities of placing my views before my professional brethren, both by writing and speaking;" to which Dr. Bramwell somewhat naively adds—"opportunities all the more valued, because almost always unsolicited."[70]

An incident which occurred in connection with the most sensational case of "levitation" recorded of D. D. Home, is very instructive as illustrating the great care that is needful in estimating the value of testimony regarding spiritualistic phenomena, even of statements made by persons of established reputation and position.

The Joint Report of Professor Barrett and Mr. Myers, from which extracts were made in Chapter V., says:—

"Lords Lindsay and Adare had printed a statement that Home floated out of the window, and in at another, in Ashley Place, S.W., 16th December 1868. A third person, Captain Wynne, was present at the time, but had written no separate account. Dr. Carpenter, in an article in the Contemporary Review for January 1876, thus commented on the incident:—

"'The most diverse accounts of the facts of a seance will be given by a believer and a sceptic. A whole party of believers will affirm that they saw Mr. Home float out of one window, and in at another, while a single honest sceptic declares that Mr. Home was sitting in his chair all the time. And in this last case we have an example of a fact, of which there is ample illustration, that during the prevalence of an epidemic delusion, the honest testimony of any number of individuals on one side, if given under a prepossession, is of no more weight than that of a single adverse witness—if so much.'

"This passage was of course quoted as implying that Captain Wynne had somewhere made a statement contradicting Lords Lindsay and Adare. Home wrote to him to inquire; and he replied ... in the following terms:—

"'I remember that Dr. Carpenter wrote some nonsense about that trip of yours along the side of the house in Ashley Place. I wrote to the Medium to say that I was present as a witness. Now I don't think that any one who knows me would for one moment say that I was a victim to hallucination or any other humbug of the kind. The fact of your having gone out of the window and in at the other I can swear to.'"

"It seems, therefore, that the instance selected by Dr. Carpenter to prove the existence of a hallucination—by the exemption of one person present from the illusion—was of a very unfortunate kind; suggesting, indeed, that a controversialist thus driven to draw on his imagination for his facts must have been conscious of a weak case."[71]

It may be interesting, in concluding this brief examination into one branch of the great subject of "Spiritualism," to bring together a few of the impressions produced on the minds of some of the leading investigators. It should not be forgotten that the branch of the subject which we have been studying may be looked upon as representing the lowest steps only of a great staircase which ascends, until, to our gaze, it is lost in unknown infinite heights. It is only the foot of a ladder, to use another simile, resting on the material earth, which we have been considering; at most the two or three lowest rungs. But to the eyes of some, even now and here, glimpses of angels ascending and descending are visible.

Five names stand out prominently before all others among the earlier investigators of the last thirty years—Sir William Crookes and Professor W. F. Barrett, who are still with us; and Professor Henry Sidgwick, Edmund Gurney, and F. W. H. Myers, who have gone. Sir William Crookes' work in other directions has been all-absorbing, so that all he has been able to tell us during the last few years, in relation to our present subject, is that he had nothing to add to, and nothing to retract from what he has said in the past. In his address as President of the British Association in 1898, Sir William Crookes said, after referring to his work of thirty years ago:—

"I think I see a little further now. I have glimpses of something like coherence among the strange elusive phenomena, of something like continuity between those unexplained forces, and laws already known.... Were I now introducing for the first time these inquiries to the world of science, I should choose a starting-point different from that of old. It would be well to begin with Telepathy; with the fundamental law, as I believe it to be, that thoughts and images may be transferred from one mind to another without the agency of the recognised organs of sense—that knowledge may enter the human mind without being communicated in any hitherto known or recognised ways."[72]

For Professor Barrett's present views the reader is referred to his address as President of the Society for Psychical Research delivered in January 1904.[73] It is full of interest, but is not easy to quote from. Speaking of "spiritualistic phenomena," he says: "We must all agree that indiscriminate condemnation on the one hand, and ignorant credulity on the other, are the two most mischievous elements with which we are confronted in connection with this subject. It is because we, as a Society, feel that in the fearless pursuit of truth, it is the paramount duty of science to lead the way, that the scornful attitude of the scientific world towards even the investigation of these phenomena is so much to be deprecated.... I suppose we are all apt to fancy our own power of discernment and of sound judgment to be somewhat better than our neighbours. But after all, is it not the common-sense, the care, the patience, and the amount of uninterrupted attention we bestow upon any psychical phenomena we are investigating, that gives value to the opinion at which we arrive, and not the particular cleverness or scepticism of the observer? The lesson we all need to learn is, that what even the humblest of men affirm, from their own experience, is always worth listening to, but what even the cleverest of men, in their ignorance, deny, is never worth a moment's attention."[74]

As regards Professor Sidgwick, the experimental work of the Society for Psychical Research soon convinced him that Thought-Transference, or Telepathy, was a fact. In an address in 1889, after speaking of the probabilities of testimony given being false, he says:—

"It is for this reason that I feel that a part of my grounds for believing in Telepathy, depending as it does on personal knowledge, cannot be communicated except in a weakened form to the ordinary reader of the printed statements which represent the evidence that has convinced me. Indeed I feel this so strongly that I have always made it my highest ambition as a psychical researcher to produce evidence which will drive my opponents to doubt my honesty or veracity; I think there are a very small minority who will not doubt them, and that if I can convince them I have done all that I can do: as regards the majority of my own acquaintances I should claim no more than an admission that they were considerably surprised to find me in the trick."[75]

I am not aware that Professor Sidgwick ever expressed any opinion as to the reality of the ordinary physical spiritualistic manifestations. It is clear that he believed a large proportion to have been fraudulently produced. As to some psychical phenomena, his convictions were very strong. For instance, in the final paragraph of the "Report on Hallucinations," which occupies the whole of the tenth volume of the Proceedings of the Society, and to which he appended his name, these two sentences occur: "Between deaths and apparitions of the dying person a connection exists which is not due to chance alone. This we hold as a proved fact."[76] And Professor Sidgwick speaks of this as corroborating the conclusion already drawn by Mr. Gurney nearly ten years earlier.

Mr. Edmund Gurney's name stands next. His earthly work came to a sudden termination in 1888. "Phantasms of the Living" is his enduring memorial. Although two other names are associated with his on the title-page, the greater part of the two volumes was written by him alone. For most of the views expressed Mr. Gurney is solely responsible. In a chapter devoted to "The Theory of Chance-Coincidence" as an explanation of the order of natural phenomena to which "Phantasms of the Living" belong, Mr. Gurney says:—

"Figures, one is sometimes told, can be made to prove anything; but I confess I should be curious to see the figures by which the theory of chance-coincidence could here be proved adequate to the facts. Whatever group of phenomena be selected, and whatever method of reckoning be adopted, probabilities are hopelessly and even ludicrously overpassed."[77]

This is the conclusion referred to above by Professor Sidgwick. With exclusively physical phenomena Mr. Gurney did not much concern himself.

The last of the five names mentioned is that of Mr F. W. H. Myers. The written testimony he has left behind enables us to obtain a much clearer view of his conclusions as a whole, than is attainable in the case of Professor Sidgwick and Mr. Gurney. The convictions which he came to in regard to the two most notable "mediums" in the history of modern spiritualism—D. D. Home and W. Stainton Moses—are evidence that he believed in most of the alleged phenomena being proved realities. These convictions are so important from such a careful and competent student of the subject that it is best to quote them in his own words. Of D. D. Home he said: "If our readers ask us—'Do you desire us to go on experimenting in these matters, as though Home's phenomena were genuine?'—we answer 'Yes.'"[78] Of the phenomena which occurred in the presence of W. Stainton Moses, Mr. Myers said: "That they were not produced fraudulently by Dr. Speer or other sitters I regard as proved both by moral considerations and by the fact that they are constantly reported as occurring when Mr. Moses was alone. That Mr. Moses should have himself fraudulently produced them, I regard as both morally and physically incredible. That he should have prepared and produced them in a state of trance, I regard both as physically incredible, and also as entirely inconsistent with the tenour both of his own reports and of those of his friends. I therefore regard the reported phenomena as having actually occurred in a genuinely supernormal manner."[79]

At the same time Mr. Myers believed in the existence of a large amount of conscious and wilful fraud, especially in professional mediumship.

* * * * *

There will be no fitter conclusion to this volume than a few passages from the last chapter, entitled "Epilogue," of "Human Personality," by Mr. F. W. H. Myers. To a large extent they are appropriate to the evidence presented in the preceding pages.

"The task which I proposed to myself at the beginning of this work, is now, after a fashion, accomplished. Following the successive steps of my programme, I have presented—not indeed all the evidence I possess, and which I would willingly present—but enough at least to illustrate a continuous exposition.... Such wider generalisations as I may now add, must needs be dangerously speculative; they must run the risk of alienating still further from this research many of the scientific minds which I am most anxious to influence....

"The inquiry falls between the two stools of religion and science; it cannot claim support either from the 'religious world' or from the Royal Society. Yet even apart from the instinct of pure scientific curiosity (which surely has seldom seen such a field opening before it), the mighty issues depending on these phenomena ought, I think, to constitute in themselves a strong, an exceptional appeal. I desire in this book to emphasise that appeal; not only to produce conviction, but also to attract co-operation. And actual converse with many persons has led me to believe that in order to attract such help, even from scientific men, some general view of the moral upshot of all the phenomena is needed.... The time is ripe for a study of unseen things as strenuous and sincere as that which Science has made familiar for the problems of earth."

Coming now to more definite considerations, Mr. Myers writes thus of Telepathy, lifting it on to an altogether higher plane: "In the infinite Universe man may now feel, for the first time, at home. The worst fear is over; the true security is won. The worst fear was the fear of spiritual extinction or spiritual solitude. The true security is in the telepathic law. Let me draw out my meaning at somewhat greater length. As we have dwelt successively on various aspects of Telepathy we have gradually felt the conception enlarge and deepen under our study. It began as a quasi-mechanical transference of ideas and images from one to another brain." This is illustrated by the series of Thought-Transference Drawings; almost the only telepathic manifestation which strictly comes within the scope of our inquiry into physical phenomena. "Presently we find it assuming a more varied and potent form, as though it were the veritable influence or invasion of a distant mind. Again, its action was traced across a gulf greater than any space of earth or ocean, and it bridged the interval between spirits incarnate and discarnate, between the visible and the invisible world. There seemed no limit to the distance of its operation, or to the intimacy of its appeal....

THE END