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(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 thatanything 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.'"
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(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 asbefore, 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."
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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 establishingde novothe 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 derivedfrom the facts themselves to satisfy him that no code was used. As examples, two from a series of twelve drawings are given.
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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 theProceedingsof 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.
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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.
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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 UniversityCollege, Bristol. The drawings were made with two old students of Professor Chattock's, Mr. Wedmore and Mr. Clinker.
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."
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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.
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The Report of the various series of experiments is printed in theJournalof 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.
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 havethese Thought-Transference Drawings to do with the Physical Phenomena of Spiritualism? A reply is easily given. The reader is referred to a passage in theconcluding 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.
[64]Proceedings S.P.R., vol. i. p. 13.
[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.
[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.
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 presentprimâ facieevidence 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 inThe Two Worldsof 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 morestringent 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."
"After the recent suspicions and exposures of materialising mediums, I determined to take the first opportunity of applying further and morestringent 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 andlively 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 intelligenceand 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.
Forover 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 obtainedin 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 theBritish 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 theBritish Journal of Photographyfor 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 thefraud 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 hewillingly 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; onsome 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 stereoscopicper se, the psychic figure was absolutely flat. I also found that the psychic figure was at least a millimetrehigher 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 inLight(18th May 1895), and it isprinted in full inBorderland(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 angelswith 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.
Inthe 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 ascholar, 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 noclaim 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 certaintythat 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 theProceedingsof 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 theJournalof 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 theProceedingsof 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 notconfined 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 theProceedingsof 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. Theman therefore who announces his intention of waiting until a single absolutely conclusive bit of evidence turns up, is really a mannotopen 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 genuinenessof 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 theProceedingsof the Society for Psychical Research. The "reception only" of the Report was also two or three years subsequent to a demonstration of hypnotic anæsthesia 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 inChapter 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 theContemporary Reviewfor January 1876, thus commented on the incident:—
"'The most diverse accounts of thefactsof 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 theMediumto 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, andlaws 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 webestow 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 menaffirm, 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 theProceedingsof 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 beselected, 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 bothmorally 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 scientificcuriosity (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....
"Love ... is no matter of carnal impulse or of emotional caprice.... Love is a kind of exalted but unspecialised Telepathy;—the simplest and most universal expression of that mutual gravitation or kinship of spirits which is the foundation of the telepathic law. This is the answer to the ancient fear; the fear lest man's fellowships be the outward, and his solitude the inward thing.... Such fears vanish when we learn that it is the soul in man which links him with other souls; the body which dissevers even while it seems to unite.... Like atoms, like suns, like galaxies, our spirits are systems of forces which vibrate continually to each other's attractive power."
For the further working out of these thoughts the reader must be referred to Mr. Myers' book itself. After a few pages Mr. Myers proceeds:—
"Our duty [the duty of Psychical Researchers] is not the founding of a new sect, nor even the establishment of a new science, but is rather the expansion of Science herself until she can satisfy those questions, which the human heart will rightly ask, but to which Religion alone has thus far attempted an answer.... I see our original programme completely justified.... I see all things coming to pass as we foresaw. What I donotsee, alas! is an energy and capacity of our own, sufficient for our widening duty.... We inviteworkers from each department of science, from every school of thought. With equal confidence we appeal for co-operation tosavantand to saint.
"To thesavantwe point out that we are not trying to pick holes in the order of Nature, but rather by the scrutiny of residual phenomena, to get nearer to the origin and operation of Nature's central mystery of Life. Men who realise that the ethereal environment was discovered yesterday, need not deem it impossible that a metethereal environment—yet another omnipresent system of cosmic law—should be discovered to-morrow. The only valida prioripresumption in the matter, is the presumption that the Universe is infinite in an infinite number of ways.
"To the Christian we can speak with a still more direct appeal. You believe—I would say—that a spiritual world exists, and that it acted on the material world two thousand years ago. Surely it is so acting still. Nay, you believe that it is so acting still, for you believe that prayer is heard and answered. To believe that prayer is heard is to believe in Telepathy—in the direct influence of mind on mind. To believe that prayer is answered is to believe that unembodied spirit does actually modify (even if not storm-cloud or plague-germ) at least the minds, and therefore the brains, of living men. From that belief the most advanced 'psychical' theories are easy corollaries."
A few more lines in conclusion:—
"It may be that for some generations to come the truest faith will lie in the patient attempt to unravel from confused phenomena some trace of the supernal world;—to find thus at last 'the substanceof things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.' I confess, indeed, that I have often felt as though this present age were even unduly favoured;—as though no future revelation and calm could equal the joy of this great struggle from doubt into certainty;—from the materialism or agnosticism which accompany the first advance of Science into the deeper scientific conviction that there is a deathless soul in man. I can imagine no other crisis of such deep delight."