The Project Gutenberg eBook ofPsychic phenomena

The Project Gutenberg eBook ofPsychic phenomenaThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: Psychic phenomenaa brief account of the physical manifestations observed in psychical researchAuthor: Edward T. BennettAuthor of introduction, etc.: Sir Oliver LodgeRelease date: February 27, 2010 [eBook #31417]Most recently updated: January 6, 2021Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Robert Baruch and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PSYCHIC PHENOMENA ***

This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Psychic phenomenaa brief account of the physical manifestations observed in psychical researchAuthor: Edward T. BennettAuthor of introduction, etc.: Sir Oliver LodgeRelease date: February 27, 2010 [eBook #31417]Most recently updated: January 6, 2021Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Robert Baruch and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net

Title: Psychic phenomena

a brief account of the physical manifestations observed in psychical research

Author: Edward T. BennettAuthor of introduction, etc.: Sir Oliver Lodge

Author: Edward T. Bennett

Author of introduction, etc.: Sir Oliver Lodge

Release date: February 27, 2010 [eBook #31417]Most recently updated: January 6, 2021

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Robert Baruch and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PSYCHIC PHENOMENA ***

PSYCHICPHENOMENAA BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE PHYSICALMANIFESTATIONS OBSERVED INPSYCHICAL RESEARCHWITH FACSIMILE ILLUSTRATIONS OFTHOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE DRAWINGSAND AUTOMATIC WRITINGBYEDWARD T. BENNETTASSISTANT-SECRETARY TO THE SOCIETY OFPSYCHICAL RESEARCH, 1882-1902WITH A FOREWORD BYSIR OLIVER LODGENEW YORKBRENTANO'SMCMIX

Thewriter desires to express his sincere thanks to the Council of the Society for Psychical Research for the permission given to make extracts from theProceedingsof the Society, from the privately printedJournal, and from "Phantasms of the Living"; and for allowing the reproduction of a series ofThought-Transference Drawings. Also best thanks are due to Mrs. Myers, and to Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co., for permission to make quotations from Mr. F. W. H. Myers' great work, "Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death." Also to Mr. J. Burns and his brother, for freely granting permission for any use to be made of the James Burns 1873 Edition of the "Report of the Committee of the Dialectical Society."

E. T. B.

Consultedby the publishers as to the production of a small popular text-book, which should constitute a summary indication of the nature of the evidence for ultra-normal physical or meta-psychical phenomena, I suggested Mr. E. T. Bennett as the right man for the task. I have now seen the proof sheets, and—without making myself in any way responsible for details—perceive that he has done the work well, and has presented a satisfactory outline of the testimony for whatever it may be worth. Concerning its value I will only say that to my mind there comes a stage at which belief in gratuitous invention and false statement becomes forced and irrational. With most of the evidence here adduced I have of course been familiar for years, in its original sources, and am well aware of the extreme difficulty or impossibility of understanding some of the alleged facts in any physical or physiological sense; nevertheless ifI am asked whether such impressions can be actually received and honestly recorded by sane people, and whether I recommend experiment by careful and competent and unsuperstitious observers as if aprimâ faciecase had been made out—that is to say, as if some of these unusual and hitherto quite unexplained occurrences might possibly turn out to be true—having laws of their own and constituting an unopened chapter of science, or rather a new science, uniting characteristics from physical, chemical, physiological, and psychological sciences, and throwing new light on the connection between mind and matter—then, though doubtless the answer will be received with scorn, I answer unhesitatingly yes.

A shorttitle to a book has its advantages. It has also its disadvantages. It is almost inevitable that it should, on the one hand, seem to include much more than is intended, and, on the other hand, fail to convey the purpose of the author. "Geology" would be a tolerably large subject. "Astronomy" would be vastly larger. But "Spiritualism" is an infinite subject compared with either, and to suggest that its claims to scientific study be considered within the compass of a small volume of not much over a hundred pages seems the height of presumption!

It will therefore be well at the outset to indicate exactly what it is proposed to include in the present investigation into "Spiritualism." The alleged phenomena of Spiritualism may be roughly divided into two classes—physical and mental. Those which belong entirely to the latter class are outside the scope of this book. It is proposed to examine those phenomena of the former class, the reality of which may fairly be assumed to beproved by scientific evidence. The scope of the work is thus reduced to reasonable proportions. There are several groups of phenomena which appear to violate, or at least to extend in a striking manner, laws recognised by Physical Science. The evidence to be relied on will be that of scientific men of high standing, and of other persons of unquestioned literary and social position.

There is, however, an important respect, in regard to which this inquiry is placed in an entirely different position to any ordinary scientific investigation, and one which adds greatly to the difficulties of the student. Ordinary experiments conducted in a physical laboratory can be repeated again and again under similar conditions, and similar results will follow. If attempts are made to reproduce the phenomena of Spiritualism, under what appear to be precisely similar conditions, by means which have previously been successful, failure to obtain the wished-for results may very probably follow. It is no use to rebel and to feel inclined to abandon the pursuit as useless! That would be most unscientific! The inquirer finds himself in the presence of a subtle elusive influence, which he seems unable to control, and which refuses to submit to the laws which govern physical experiments. On the other hand, perseverance may be richly rewarded. An unexplored field of scientific research of unlimited extent may open itself to view. Something of that joy may be experienced which the search into the unknown alone can give.

Mr. Arthur James Balfour, in an address on theoccasion of the annual dinner of the Royal Literary Fund, in 1893, said:—

"My friend, Lord Kelvin, has often talked to me of the future of science, and he has said words to me about the future of science which are parallel with the words I have quoted to you about the future of art, and with the hope which I have expressed to you with respect to literature. He has told me that to the men of science of to-day it appears as if we were trembling on the brink of some great scientific discovery which should give to us a new view of the great forces of Nature, among which and in the midst of which we move. If this prophecy be right, and if the other forecasts to which I have alluded be right, then indeed it is true that we live in an interesting age; then indeed it is true that we may look forward to a time full of fruit for the human race—to an age which cannot be sterilised or rendered barren even by politics."

There are some advantages which the study of this subject possesses over most branches of scientific inquiry. In its present early and incomplete stage the most important thing is the accumulation of carefully observed and recorded facts. Even as regards Thought-Transference, in which the number of careful experiments that have been made is far greater than in any other class of phenomena, it is still most important to multiply the quantity of the evidence. In most of the branches of the subject no expensive apparatus is required, and no special scientific or intellectual training. Accurate observation and careful recording, at the time, of all thatoccurs, without prejudice, and without discouragement at apparent failure, are the chief requisites. Any person, or small group of persons of ordinary intelligence, can train themselves to be equal to this. A very simple instance occurred in the earliest experiences of the writer. After three or four sittings round a small table with two friends, at which there was meaningless tipping, and nothing better than commonplace sentences, the following was tipped out: "Try no more to move"—then this succession of letters—"a t a t a." It seemed useless to go on with nonsense, but one of the party suggested perseverance; when the following conclusion converted seeming nonsense into sense: "b l e take a pencil and write." The result was that one of the party rapidly developed into an interesting automatic writer.

It is quite impossible to foretell the extent of the aid that may not be given, in the explanation of some of these phenomena, by the persevering experiments of intelligent inquirers.

In the following chapters facts relating to several different kinds of phenomena are put before the reader, as to which the guarantee of authenticity and the quality of the evidence are both unimpeachable.

It is not proposed to travel all over the world in search of evidence; the illustrations will be drawn almost entirely from home sources. With all due respect to friends in distant parts, it will doubtless be a satisfaction to some readers to know that in these pages they will not meet with Mrs. Piper on the one hand, nor with Eusapia Paladino on the other.

With these few introductory remarks a calm and dispassionate consideration of the evidence presented is invited. First of all, three classes of phenomena will be taken up in the following order:—

(1) The Movement of Objects without any apparent Physical Cause.

(2) The Production of Sound without any apparent Physical Cause.

(3) The Production of Light without any apparent Physical Cause.

Two chapters will then be devoted to a study of the phenomena exhibited in the lives of two of the most noted "mediums" of modern times—Daniel Dunglas Home and William Stainton Moses. Both present manifestations of phenomena belonging to the three classes above-named, as well as striking examples of other kinds. A chapter on the "Divining Rod" will follow. Then a chapter on one of the forms of Thought-Transference, one which allows of its being included among physical phenomena. Two brief chapters will come next on "Spirit Photography" and on "Materialisations." It is explained that these are included, not because of any scientific evidence in their favour which can be quoted, but because of the extreme interest and importance of the subjects themselves, and also because the strong testimony and moral evidence in support of their reality seem to promise a tempting field for the scientific explorer, and to warrant a confident belief that the evidence he desires will be forthcoming. In a final chapter an endeavour is made to sum up results and conclusions.

Sofar as I am aware, the first systematic or scientific attempt to investigate the alleged phenomenon of the movement of objects without any apparent physical cause was made by the London Dialectical Society in the year 1869. On the motion of Dr. James Edmunds, a Committee was appointed "to investigate the Phenomena alleged to be Spiritual Manifestations, and to report thereon." The names of twenty-eight members were proposed. Three of these declined to act. Eight more names were added, so that the Committee, as finally constituted, consisted of thirty-three, three of whom were ladies. Among the best-known names were H. G. Atkinson, F.G.S.; Charles Bradlaugh; E. W. Cox, serjeant-at-law; Rev. C. Maurice Davies, D.D.; Charles R. Drysdale, M.D.; James Edmunds, M.D.; Robert Hannah; H. D. Jencken, barrister-at-law; William Volckman; and Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace, F.R.S. It is believed that Robert Hannah and Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace are the only survivors.

In order to investigate the phenomena in question by personal experiment and test, the Committee resolved itself into six Sub-Committees. In May 1870 the Committee appointed an EditingCommittee to prepare a joint report, based solely on the evidence that had been before it. A month later the Editing Committee presented a draft report, which with some trifling verbal alterations was adoptednem dis. A resolution was then carried that a copy be forwarded to the Council of the Dialectical Society, with a recommendation that it be printed and published. This the Council declined to do. Upon this the Committee met and passed the following resolution:—

"That the Report be referred to the Editing Committee, and that they be requested to prepare it for publication, together with any supplementary or counter reports that may be received from members of the Committee, and appending thereto the reports of the Sub-Committees, and the evidence, oral and verbal, that has been collected; the entire work, when ready for publication, to be submitted for approval to the Committee."[1]

Such is the origin of the volume from which the following extracts are made.[2]Considerations of space necessitate dealing with the work of one Sub-Committee only. The essential part of theReport of Sub-Committee No. 1is as follows:—

"Since their appointment on the 16th of February 1869, your Sub-Committee have held forty meetings for the purpose of experiment and test.

"All of these meetings were held at the private residences of members of the Committee, purposely to preclude the possibility of pre-arranged mechanism or contrivance.

"The furniture of the room in which the experiments were conducted was on every occasion its accustomed furniture.

"The tables were in all cases heavy dining-tables, requiring a strong effort to move them. The smallest of them was 5 feet 9 inches long by 4 feet wide ... and of proportionate weight.

"The rooms, tables, and furniture generally were repeatedly subjected to careful examination before, during, and after the experiments, to ascertain that no concealed machinery, instrument, or other contrivance existed by means of which the sounds or movements hereinafter mentioned could be caused.

"The experiments were conducted in the light of gas, except on the few occasions specially noted in the minutes.

"Your Committee have avoided the employment of professional or paid mediums, the mediumship being that of members of your Sub-Committee, persons of good social position and of unimpeachable integrity, having no pecuniary object to serve, and nothing to gain by deception.

"Your Committee have confined their Report tofactswitnessed by them in their collective capacity, which facts werepalpable to the senses, and their reality capable of demonstrative proof.

"The result of their long-continued and carefully-conducted experiments, after trial by every detectivetest they could devise, has been to establish conclusively:—

"First: That under certain bodily or mental conditions of one or more of the persons present, a force is exhibited sufficient to set in motion heavy substances, without the employment of any muscular force, without contact or material connection of any kind between such substances and the body of any person present.

"Second: That this force can cause sounds to proceed, distinctly audible to all present, from solid substances not in contact with, nor having any visible or material connection with, the body of any person present, and which sounds are proved to proceed from such substances by the vibrations which are distinctly felt when they are touched.

"Third: That this force is frequently directed by intelligence.

"At thirty-four out of the forty meetings of your Committee some of these phenomena occurred.

"In conclusion, your Committee express their unanimous opinion that the one important physical fact thus proved to exist, thatmotion may be produced in solid bodies without material contact, by some hitherto unrecognised force operating within an undefined distance from the human organism, and beyond the range of muscular action, should be subjected to further scientific examination, with a view to ascertaining its true source, nature, and power.[3]

One selection is now given from the Minutes of this Sub-Committee, illustrating the nature of the Evidence that came before them:—

"Experiment XXXVIII., Dec. 28th [1869].—Eight members present.Phenomena: Rapping sounds from the table and floor, and movements of the table, with and without contact. The alphabet was repeated, and the following letters were rapped: 'A bad circle—want of harmony.' At the letter f, the table tilted three times, and at the letters a, r, gave several forcible horizontal movements, tilting at either end.

"Raps, with slight tiltings of the table, beating time to the measure of a song. Two or three poems were recited, to the measure of which there were loud raps from the table and floor, and the table also marked the metre by various horizontal movements and tiltings.

"Hood's Anatomy Song being repeated by one of the members, the knocking, rapping, and tilting sounds, with various horizontal, trembling, and vibratory movements of the table, accompanied it, in exact harmony with the measure, added to which were strange movements, in accordance with the character of the verses. In one instance the table shifted its position several feet, the tips of the fingers only being in contact with it.

"Movements without Contact.—Question: 'Would the table now be moved without contact?' Answer: 'Yes;' by three raps on the table. All chairs were then turned with their backs to the table, and nine inches away from it; and all present knelt on the chairs, with theirwrists resting on the backs, and their hands a few inches above the table.

"Under these conditions, the table (the heavy dining-room table previously described) moved four times, each time from four to six inches, and the second time nearly twelve inches.

"Then all hands were placed on the backs of the chairs, and nearly a foot from the table, when four movements occurred, one slow and continuous for nearly a minute.

"Then all present placed their hands behind their backs, kneeling erect on their chairs, which were removed a foot clear away from the table. The gas also was turned up higher, so as to give abundance of light; and under these test conditions, distinct movements occurred, to the extent of several inches each time, and visible to every one present.

"The motions were in various directions, towards all parts of the room—some were abrupt, others steady. At the same time, and under the same conditions, distinct raps occurred, apparently both on the floor and on the table, in answer to requests for them.

"The above-described movements were so unmistakable, that all present unhesitatingly declared their conviction, that no physical force, exerted by any one present, could possibly have produced them; and they declared further, in writing, that a rigid examination of the table showed it to be an ordinary dining-table, with no machinery or apparatus of any kind connected with it. The table was laid on the floor with its legs up, and taken to pieces so far as practicable."[4]

No endeavour appears to have been made by any of the members of the Committee of the Dialectical Society to follow up the results which they had obtained. The individual members who had previously been active in such matters continued to take an interest in them, but there is no evidence that a single new inquirer was gained. The next event of any importance, in the direction of scientific inquiry into the subject, was the reading by Professor W. F. Barrett of a paper before the meeting of the British Association at Glasgow in 1876. This paper was entitled "On Some Phenomena Associated with Abnormal Conditions of Mind," and dealt mainly with what was subsequently designated "Thought-Transference." Professor Barrett also referred to some "physical phenomena" which had come under his notice. He says: "I am bound to mention a case that came under my own repeated observation, wherein certain inexplicable physical phenomena occurred in broad daylight, and for which I could find no satisfactory solution either on the ground of hallucination or fraud."[5]

In a paper read before the Society for Psychical Research in 1886, entitled "On Some Physical Phenomena commonly termed Spiritualistic, witnessed by the Author," Professor Barrett describes in detail the phenomena he referred to in the paperread ten years previously at the British Association, and the circumstances under which they occurred. The following paragraphs give the important features:[6]—

Mr. C., a solicitor, with his wife and family, had come to reside for the season in the suburban house of a friend and neighbour of Professor Barrett's. He was an Irish country gentleman who had an utter disbelief in spiritualism. Professor Barrett was therefore not a little amused on making Mr. C.'s acquaintance, to find that he had in his own family what appeared to be spiritualistic phenomena then and there going on. Mr. C. gave Professor Barrett every opportunity of close and frequent investigation. The sittings extended through the months of August and September 1875. There were present besides Professor Barrett, Mr. and Mrs. C., and their young daughter Florrie, a bright, frank, intelligent child, then about ten years old. They sat at a large dining-room table, facing French windows, which let in a flood of sunlight. Shortly, scraping sounds, raps, and noises resembling the hammering of small nails, were heard. Florrie's hands and feet were closely watched, and were observed to be absolutely motionless when the sounds were heard. Besides knocks, there were occasional movements of the furniture. Seated one day at a large dining-room table in full sunlight, Florrie, and Mr. and Mrs. C., and Professor Barrett being the persons present, all their fingers visibly resting on the surface of the table, three legs of the table rose off the ground to a sufficient heightto allow Professor Barrett to put his foot easily beneath the castor nearest him. The importance of the comparatively small amount of "movement" phenomena in this case is increased by their association with "sound" phenomena of great variety and frequency. These will be fully described in thenext chapter.

Another case which Professor Barrett cites in the same paper may be thus summarised as far as phenomena of movement are concerned:[7]—

The sitters were Mr. L., a well-known photographer in Dublin, his niece, Miss I., and Professor Barrett. While noticing the raps and knocks, Professor Barrett observed a frequent uneasy movement of the entire table, which was a moderately large and heavy one, four feet square. It sidled about in a most surprising manner. Lifting their hands completely off the table, the sitters placed themselves back in their chairs, with their hands folded across their chests. Their feet were in full view. Under these conditions, and in obedience to Professor Barrett's request, the table raised the two legs nearest to him off the ground eight or ten inches, and then suspended itself for a few moments. A similar act was performed on the other side. Then a very unexpected occurrence happened. To quote Professor Barrett's own words:—

"Whilst absolutely free from the contact of any person, the table wriggled itself backward and forward, advancing towards the armchair in which I sat, and ultimately completely imprisoning me in myseat. During its progress it was followed by Mr. L. and Miss I., but they were at no time touching it, and occasionally were so distant that I could perceive a free space all round the table whilst it was still in motion. When thus under my very nose, the table rose repeatedly, and enabled me to be perfectly sure, by the evidence of touch, that it was off the ground, and further, that no human being, consciously or unconsciously, had any part in this movement."

Professor Barrett, with his accustomed caution, comments thus:—

"The results, it is true, were very remarkable and unaccountable; but though I had not the slightest doubt of the good faith of Mr. L. and Miss I., yet I do not adduce this evidence as unexceptionable. I should have preferred to have taken precautions which were not so easy to impose on a lady, and I should also have preferred to have had the seance at my own house."

This latter objection was met by Mr. L. and Miss I. going to Professor Barrett's house shortly afterwards, no one else besides Professor Barrett being present. Some remarkable sounds were again heard. Then, this happened—again quoting Professor Barrett's own words:—

"Suddenly, only the tips of our fingers being on the table, the heavy loo-table at which we were sitting made a series of very violent prancing movements (which I could not imitate afterwards except by using both hands and all my strength); the blows were so heavy that I hurriedly stopped the performance, fearing for the safety of the gas chandelier in the room below. Here, too, I cannotavoid the conclusion that the phenomena described are inexplicable on any known hypothesis."

After discounting the "pious platitudes" spelt out by the tilts of the table, and the possibility, and even probability, that "unintentional muscular movements" were the cause of these, and after recognising the impossibility of keeping up a continuous vigilant watch on the hands and feet of any person, and after supposing that Miss I. had some ingenious mechanism concealed about her person, whereby she could produce the sounds that were heard, Professor Barrett says: "This would fail to account for the undoubted motion of a heavy table, free from the contact of all present. After giving due weight to every known explanation, the phenomena remain inexplicable to me."

Next in order of time come two papers by Mr. F. W. H. Myers, under the title of "Alleged Movements of Objects without Contact, occurring not in the Presence of a Paid Medium." They are published in vol. vii. of theProceedingsof the Society for Psychical Research.[8]The first article goes over most of the ground traversed in the earlier part of this chapter, but devotes twenty lines only to the Report of the Committee of the Dialectical Society, and refers only to Professor Barrett's cases as having been already published. A number of other cases are, however, described in detail. The evidence in these scarcely comes up to the level of scientific,and unless it had been sifted by so careful a critic as Mr. Myers, who convinced himself of the reality of the facts, could hardly be considered of much value. The two following cases in the first article present the strongest evidence.

(1)The Armstrong Case.—Mr. George Allman Armstrong, of 8 Leeson Place, Dublin, and Ardnacarrig, Bandon, writes an account dated 13th June 1887. After vouching for the perfect good faith of the small group of experimenters, he describes in detail the movements of a table. The "rising" was generally preceded by a continuous fusillade of "knocks" in the substance of the table. When the knocks had, as it were, reached a climax, the table slowly swayed from side to side like a pendulum. It would stop completely, and then, as if imbued with life, and quite suddenly, would rise completely off the floor to a height of twelve or fourteen inches at least. It nearly always came down with immense force, and on several occasions proved destructive to itself, as the broken limbs of the table used at Kinsale could testify. The table was a round, rather heavy walnut one, with a central column standing on three claw legs. Mr. Armstrong says that on several occasions he succeeded in raising the table without contact. It rose to the fingers held over it at a height of several inches, like the keeper of a strong electro-magnet.[9]

(2)A Bell-ringing Case.—Mr. Myers, in introducing this case, says: "The usual hypotheses of fraud, rats, hitched wires, &c., seem hard to apply. The care and fulness with which it has been recordedwill enable the reader to judge for himself more easily than in most narratives of this type. Our informant is a gentleman [Mr. D.], occupying a responsible position; his name may be given to inquirers."[10]The detailed report of the occurrences occupies no less than twelve pages, the greater part of which consists of a long letter addressed by Mr. D. to the Society for Psychical Research. He explains that he is writing in the main from notes taken at the time and not from memory. The following is an abstract:—

On Friday, 23rd September 1887, he took his four pupils to a circus, his lady housekeeper also going, leaving two servants at home. They left at about 2p.m.All but himself returned about 5.30p.m.The two servants were on the doorstep, telling the boys not to go in by the area door—the kitchens being below ground—and explaining that all the bells were ringing violently, no one touching them, and that they had been doing so almost ever since half-past two. When the master of the house came home, he found the same state of things, the servants almost in hysterics and the bells ringing. Nine bells hung in a row just inside the area door, opposite the kitchen door, and there was one bell—a call bell—on the landing at the top of the house.

Mr. D. frequently saw several of these bells ringing at once, the ringing being sudden and very violent, louder, he believed, than they could be rung by pulling the handles. One bell was more than once pulled over, so that it could not return to itsnormal position. Several of the upstairs bells had no bell-pulls. The bellhanger was several times summoned to the premises. He showed that the wires could not have been entangled, and entirely agreed that it would be an utter impossibility for any animals, such as cats or rats, to ring the bells as they were rung. The house was quite a new one, standing alone, surrounded by unoccupied plots of building land.

As to the question of trickery. There seemed no possibility of that being the explanation. The phenomena occurred when the housekeeper and pupils were all away; also when the cook was away; also when only the two servants and the master were in the house, and both of them in his sight. For instance, he says he stood in the passage in front of the nine bells watching them ring, with both the servants close by. Once in particular he watched the housemaid on her knees in the middle of the wash-house scrubbing the tiles, while the front door, area door, and bath-room bells were pealing violently. The ringing was also heard by tradesmen, and by men working in the gardens near. The wires of the bells were distinctly moved, not only the bells and the clappers. The bell-handles were never observed to be moved. The ringing lasted between three and four weeks, and then ceased. Knockings in considerable variety were also heard, and a few cases of the movement of chairs and small articles, without any contact, also occurred.

Mr. D. was at one time disposed to think that the housemaid was in some way connected with thedisturbances, but he could trace no evidence. She was a young girl who had not been out to service before. She got into such a state of nervous excitement about the occurrences, that brain fever or something serious was feared. She had only been in the house a few weeks previous to the commencement of the manifestations, and nothing occurred after she left. Mr. D. was, however, perfectly convinced that she had nothing to do voluntarily with the bell-ringing.[11]

The second paper by Mr. Myers is devoted exclusively to some "strange experiences" which occurred several years previous to 1891, at the village of Swanland, a few miles from Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The evidence is that of John Bristow, who states he was an eye-witness. There were no intellectual phenomena, nothing but the apparently meaningless throwing about of pieces of wood—directed, however, by some intelligence, so as to attract attention without doing harm. Here again what value the case has rests almost solely on its having received the critical study of Mr. Myers.[12]

FOOTNOTES:[1]Report of the Committee of the London Dialectical Society, p. 228.[2]Report on Spiritualism of the Committee of the London Dialectical Society, together with the Evidence, Oral and Written, and a Selection from the Correspondence. Two editions have been published. Both are out of print.[3]Report, &c., pp. 7-13.[4]Report, &c., pp. 390-391.[5]Proceedings S.P.R., vol. i. p. 240[6]SeeProceedings S.P.R., vol. iv. pp. 29-33.[7]SeeProceedings S.P.R., vol. iv. pp. 33-35.[8]Vol. vii. pp. 146-198 and pp. 383-394.[9]For full account seeProceedings S.P.R., vol. vii. pp. 159-160.[10]Proceedings S.P.R., vol. vii. p. 160.[11]See the full account in Part XIX. of theProceedings of the S.P.R., which part is included in vol. vii., and may be obtained separately for 2s. 6d.[12]SeeProceedings S.P.R., vol. vii. pp. 383-394.

[1]Report of the Committee of the London Dialectical Society, p. 228.

[2]Report on Spiritualism of the Committee of the London Dialectical Society, together with the Evidence, Oral and Written, and a Selection from the Correspondence. Two editions have been published. Both are out of print.

[3]Report, &c., pp. 7-13.

[4]Report, &c., pp. 390-391.

[5]Proceedings S.P.R., vol. i. p. 240

[6]SeeProceedings S.P.R., vol. iv. pp. 29-33.

[7]SeeProceedings S.P.R., vol. iv. pp. 33-35.

[8]Vol. vii. pp. 146-198 and pp. 383-394.

[9]For full account seeProceedings S.P.R., vol. vii. pp. 159-160.

[10]Proceedings S.P.R., vol. vii. p. 160.

[11]See the full account in Part XIX. of theProceedings of the S.P.R., which part is included in vol. vii., and may be obtained separately for 2s. 6d.

[12]SeeProceedings S.P.R., vol. vii. pp. 383-394.

Ifthe tipping of small tables when the hands of the sitters are in contact is excepted—under which circumstances it is generally impossible to determine whether the result is psychical, or due merely to muscular action unconsciously exercised—the production of raps and other sounds is the most frequent of the phenomena under consideration. They are, however, generally so intermixed with other phenomena that it is difficult to treat them separately.

In the extracts from the Report of the Committee of the Dialectical Society given in thepreceding chapter, it will be remembered that raps and other noises are referred to as being frequently heard, and also as apparently produced by an intelligent agency.

The reader is asked to refer to the general conditions of the case of Mr. C. testified to by Professor Barrett in theprevious chapter. He says:—

"They (the sounds) came more readily and more loudly when music was played, or a merry song struck up. Usually they kept time with the music,and altogether displayed a singular degree of intelligence. Sometimes a loud rhythmic scraping, as of a violoncello bow on a piece of wood, would accompany the music. Again and again I placed my ear on the very spot on the table whence this rough fiddling appeared to proceed, and felt distinctly the rhythmic vibration of the table, but no tangible cause was visible either above or below the table.... On one occasion, when no one else was in the room, ... I asked my young friend the medium to put her hands against the wall, and see how far she could stretch her feet back from the wall without tumbling down. This she did, and whilst in this constrained position—with the muscles of arms and legs all in tension—I asked for the knocks to come. Immediately a brisk pattering of raps followed my request. All the while the child remained quite motionless. My reason in making this experiment, was to test the late Dr. Carpenter's muscular theory of the cause of the sounds. Had Dr. Carpenter been present, I feel sure he would have admitted that here at any rate that theory fell through."[13]

Professor Barrett sums up his conclusions on this case thus:—

"A long and careful examination convinced me that trickery on the part of the child was a more improbable hypothesis than that the sounds proceeded from some unknown agency. Nor could the sounds be accounted for by trickery on the part of the servants in the house, for in addition to my careful inquiries on this point, Mr. C. informed methat he had obtained the raps on the handle of his umbrella out of doors, when the child was by his side; and that the music-master complained of raps proceeding from inside the piano whenever the child was listless or inattentive at her music lesson. Mrs. C. told me that almost every night she heard the raps by the bedside of the child when she went to bid her good-night; and that after she had left the room and partially closed the door, she would hear quite an animated conversation going on between her daughter and her invisible companion, the child rapidly spelling over the alphabet, and the raps occurring at the right letters, and the child thus obtaining with surprising rapidity a clue to the words spelt out.

"Still more violently improbable is the supposition that the parents of the child were at the bottom of the mystery, stimulated by a desire to impress their friends with the wonderful but imaginary gifts their child possessed. The presence of the parents was not necessary for the occurrence of the sounds, which, as I have said, often took place when I was the only person in the room besides the child.

"Hallucination was the explanation which suggested itself to my own mind when first I heard of the phenomena, but was dismissed as wholly inapplicable after the first day's inquiry; nor do I think that any one could maintain that different people, individually and collectively, for some weeks, thought they heard and saw a series of sounds and motions which had no objective existence.

"No! I was then, and am still, morally certainthat the phenomena had a real existence outside oneself, and that they were not produced by trickery or by known causes. Hence I could come to no other conclusion than that we had here a class of phenomena wholly new to science."[14]

After some three months the sounds ceased as unexpectedly as they had commenced.

There is one form of sound manifestation to which no allusion has been made—what is called the "Direct Voice." It is alleged to be of frequent occurrence in spiritualistic circles. Articulate words are, it is stated, spoken "direct," not through the voice organs of any person present. The phenomenon, so far as I have heard, occurs only in darkness—and is an objective voice audible alike to every one present. It corresponds to the phenomenon of "direct writing." But no attempt that I am aware of has been made to treat the matter scientifically. One of the earliest alleged occurrences of this phenomenon took place in London, at a private seance at which I was present at the house of Mr. Thos. Everitt, who departed this life in August of last year, and who was one of the most prominent London spiritualists, Mrs. Everitt being the medium. Some little time later, at a similar seance at the same house, the sitting was terminated by the singing of a hymn by three or four soft, gentle voices, purporting to be "direct" voices, which sounded as if they proceeded from the top of the room close to the ceiling. They were certainly not the voices of any of the company present. It was one of the most beautiful andtouching manifestations I ever experienced. I can only compare it to the singing of a choir of boys' voices, high up out of sight in Truro Cathedral, which I had heard many years before. The seances at Mr. Everitt's were conducted in an exclusively religious tone, and afforded no opportunity for obtaining scientific evidence. It is much to be desired that a careful inquiry should be made into the reality of so interesting a phenomenon.

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