THE EXPERIMENTS OF THE DIALECTICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON
A well-known association of scholars and scientists, the Dialectical
Society of London, founded in 1867 under the presidency of Sir John
Lubbock, resolved, in the year 1869, to include within the sphere of its
observations, the physical phenomena which it is the object of this volume
to study. After a series of experiments the society published a report, to
which it added the attestations, upon the same subject, of a certain
number of scientists, among whom I had the honor of being included.[60]
This report was translated into French by Dr. Dusart and published[61] in
the series of psychic works so happily planned and directed by Count de
Rochas. To give a true idea here of the results reached by this society I
cannot do better than cite the salient and essential portions of this
purely scientific memoir.
Two or three paragraphs from the beginning of the report will show how and
at what time the society first took up psycho-physical studies:
At a Meeting of the London Dialectical Society, held on Wednesday, the
6th of January, 1869, Mr. J. H. Levy in the chair, it was resolved:--
"That the Council be requested to appoint a Committee in conformity
with Bye-law VII., to investigate the Phenomena alleged to be
Spiritual Manifestations, and to report thereon."
This committee was formed on January 26 following. It was composed of
twenty-seven members. Among these we note Alfred Russel Wallace, the
learned naturalist and member of the Royal Society, of London. Professor
Huxley and George Henry Lewis were asked to collaborate with the
committee. They refused. Professor Huxley's letter is too characteristic
to be omitted:
Sir,--I regret that I am unable to accept the invitation of the
Council of the Dialectical Society to co-operate with a Committee for
the investigation of "Spiritualism;" and for two reasons. In the first
place, I have no time for such an inquiry, which would involve much
trouble and (unless it were unlike all inquiries of that kind I have
known) much annoyance. In the second place, I take no interest in the
subject. The only case of "Spiritualism" I have had the opportunity of
examining into for myself, was as gross an imposture as ever came
under my notice. But supposing the phenomena to be genuine--they do
not interest me. If any body would endow me with the faculty of
listening to the chatter of old women and curates in the nearest
cathedral town, I should decline the privilege, having better things
to do.
And if the folk in the spiritual world do not talk more wisely and
sensibly than their friends report them to do, I put them in the same
category.
The only good that I can see in a demonstration of the truth of
"Spiritualism" is to furnish an additional argument against suicide.
Better live a crossing-sweeper than die and be made to talk twaddle by
a "medium" hired at a guinea a seance.
I am, sir, etc.,
T. H. HUXLEY.
29th January, 1869.
As if opposing a direct negative and rebuke to this radical scepticism,
based on a single seance of observation (!) the learned electrician,
Cromwell Fleetwood Varley, in 1867, who did so much to forward and
encourage the laying of the third (and finally successful) Atlantic cable
between Europe and America, hastened to identify himself with the
investigations, and by his aid materially furthered the progress of this
scientific examination.
The report, with its various pieces of testimony, was presented to the
Dialectical Society on the 20th of July, 1870. But, in order not to
compromise the society, it was decided not to publish it officially, under
the aegis of the association. Consequently the committee unanimously
resolved to publish the report on its own responsibility. It reads as
follows:
Your Committee have held fifteen meetings, at which they received
evidence from thirty-three persons, who described phenomena which,
they stated, had occurred within their own personal experience.
Your Committee have received written statements relating to the
phenomena from thirty-one persons.
Your Committee invited the attendance and requested the co-operation
and advice of scientific men who had publicly expressed opinions,
favourable or adverse, to the genuineness of the phenomena.
Your Committee also specially invited the attendance of persons who
had publicly ascribed the phenomena to imposture or delusion.
As it appeared to your Committee to be of the greatest importance that
they should investigate the phenomena in question by personal
experiment and test, they resolved themselves into sub-committees as
the best means of doing so.
Six Sub-committees were accordingly formed.
These reports, hereto subjoined, substantially corroborate each other,
and would appear to establish the following propositions:--
1. That sounds of a varied character, apparently proceeding from
articles of furniture, the floor and walls of the room (the vibrations
accompanying which sounds are often distinctly perceptible to the
touch) occur, without being produced by muscular action or mechanical
contrivance.
2. That movements of heavy bodies take place without mechanical
contrivance of any kind or adequate exertion of muscular force by the
persons present, and frequently without contact or connection with any
person.
3. That these sounds and movements often occur at the times and in the
manner asked for by persons present, and, by means of a simple code of
signals, answer questions and spell out coherent communications.
4. That the answers and communications thus obtained are, for the most
part, of a commonplace character; but facts are sometimes correctly
given which are only known to one of the persons present.
5. That the circumstances under which the phenomena occur are
variable, the most prominent fact being that the presence of certain
persons seem necessary to their occurrence, and that of others
generally adverse. But this difference does not appear to depend upon
any belief or disbelief concerning the phenomena.
6. That, nevertheless, the occurrence of the phenomena is not insured
by the presence or absence of such persons respectively.
The oral and written evidence received by your Committee not only
testifies to phenomena of the same nature as those witnessed by the
sub-committees, but to others of a more varied and extraordinary
character.
This evidence may be briefly summarized as follows:--
1. Thirteen witnesses state that they have seen heavy bodies--in some
instances men--rise slowly in the air and remain there for some time
without visible or tangible support.
2. Fourteen witnesses testify to having seen hands or figures, not
appertaining to any human being, but life-like in appearance and
mobility, which they have sometimes touched or even grasped, and which
they are therefore convinced were not the result of imposture or
illusion.
3. Five witnesses state that they have been touched, by some invisible
agency, on various parts of the body, and often where requested, when
the hands of all present were visible.
4. Thirteen witnesses declare that they have heard musical pieces well
played upon instruments not manipulated by any ascertainable agency.
5. Five witnesses state that they have seen red-hot coals applied to
the hands or heads of several persons without producing pain or
scorching; and three witnesses state that they have had the same
experiment made upon themselves with the like immunity.
6. Eight witnesses state that they have received precise information
through rappings, writings, and in other ways, the accuracy of which
was unknown at the time to themselves or to any persons present, and
which, on subsequent inquiry, was found to be correct.
7. One witness declares that he has received a precise and detailed
statement which, nevertheless, proved to be entirely erroneous.
8. Three witnesses state that they have been present when drawings,
both in pencil and colors, were produced in so short a time, and under
such conditions, as to render human agency impossible.
9. Six witnesses declare that they have received information of future
events, and that in some cases the hour and minute of their occurrence
have been accurately foretold, days and even weeks before.
In addition to the above, evidence has been given of trance-speaking,
of healing, of automatic writing, of the introduction of flowers and
fruits into closed rooms, of voices in the air, of visions in crystals
and glasses, and of the elongation of the human body.
Some extracts from the reports will give my readers a better idea of these
experiments and show their wholly scientific character:
All of these meetings were held at the private residences of members
of the Committee, purposely to preclude the possibility of prearranged
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 5ft. 9in. long by 4ft.
wide, and the largest, 9ft. 3in. long and 4-1/2ft. wide, and of
proportionate weight.
The room, 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
contrivances 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.
Of the members of your Sub-committee about _four-fifths_ entered upon
the investigation wholly sceptical as to the reality of the alleged
phenomena, firmly believing them to be the result either of
_imposture_ or of _delusion_, or of _involuntary muscular action_. It
was only by irresistible evidence, under conditions that precluded the
possibility of either of these solutions, and after trial and test
many times repeated, that the most sceptical of your Sub-committee
were slowly and reluctantly convinced that the phenomena exhibited in
the course of their protracted inquiry were veritable facts.
A description of one experiment, and the manner of conducting it, will
best show the care and caution with which your Committee have pursued
their investigations.
So long as there was contact, or even the possibility of contact, by
the hands or feet, or even by the clothes of any person in the room,
with the substance moved or sounded, there could be no perfect
assurance that the motions and sounds were not produced by the person
so in contact. The following experiment was therefore tried:
On an occasion when eleven members of your Sub-committee had been
sitting round one of the dining-tables above described for forty
minutes, and various motions and sounds had occurred, they, by way of
test, turned the backs of their chairs to the table, at about nine
inches from it. They all then knelt upon their chairs, placing their
arms upon the backs thereof. In this position, their feet were of
course turned away from the table, and by no possibility could be
placed under it or touch the floor. The hands of each person were
extended over the table at about four inches from the surface.
Contact, therefore, with any part of the table could not take place
without detection.
In less than a minute the table, untouched, moved _four_ times; at
first about _five_ inches to one side, then about _twelve_ inches to
the opposite side, and then, in like manner, four inches and six
inches respectively.
The hands of all present were next placed on the backs of their
chairs, and about a foot from the table, which again moved, as before,
_five_ times, over spaces varying from four to six inches. Then all
the chairs were removed twelve inches from the table, and each person
knelt on his chair as before, this time however folding his hands
behind his back, his body being thus about eighteen inches from the
table, and having the back of the chair between himself and the table.
The table again moved four times, in various directions. In the course
of this conclusive experiment, and in less than half-an-hour, the
table thus moved, without contact or possibility of contact with any
person present, thirteen times, the movements being in different
directions, and some of them according to the request of various
members of your Sub-committee.
The table was then carefully examined, turned upside down and taken to
pieces, but nothing was discovered to account for the phenomena. The
experiment was conducted throughout in the full light of gas above the
table.
Altogether, your Sub-committee have witnessed upwards of _fifty_
similar motions without contact on _eight_ different evenings, in the
houses of members of your Sub-committee, the most careful tests being
applied on each occasion.
In all similar experiments the possibility of mechanical or other
contrivance was further negatived by the fact that the movements were
in various directions, now to one side, then to the other; now up the
room, now down the room--motions that would have required the
co-operation of many hands or feet; and these, from the great size and
weight of the tables, could not have been so used without the visible
exercise of muscular force. Every hand and foot was plainly to be seen
and could not have been moved without instant detection.
The motions were witnessed simultaneously by all present. They were
matters of measurement, and not of opinion or fancy. And they occurred
so often, under so many and such various conditions, with such
safeguards against error or deception, and with such invariable
results, as to satisfy the members of your Sub-committee by whom the
experiments were tried, wholly sceptical as most of them were when
they entered upon the investigation, that _there is a force capable of
moving heavy bodies without material contact, and which force is in
some unknown manner dependent upon the presence of human beings_.
Such was the first verdict of science upon Spiritualistic doings in
England, a verdict rendered by physicists, chemists, astronomers and
naturalists, several of them members of the London Royal Society. The
investigations were under the especial care of Professor Morgan, president
of the Mathematical Society, of London; of Varley, chief electrical
engineer of the department of telegraphs, and Alfred Wallace, naturalist,
etc. Several members of the Dialectical Society refused to join in the
conclusions of the committee, and declared they ought to be verified by
another scientist; for example, by the chemist, Crookes. This gentleman
accepted the proposition, and in this way it was that he began his
experiments, of which more anon.
But, before presenting an account of the experiments of the eminent
chemist, I should like to place before my readers the chief points settled
by the Experimental Committee, of which I have just spoken.
SPECIAL OBSERVATIONS.
_March 9th._ Nine members present. Reunion at eight o'clock. The
following phenomena were produced: 1. The members of the circle
standing, rested the tips of their fingers only on the table. It made
a considerable movement. 2. Holding their hands a few inches above the
table, and no one in any way touching it, it moved a distance of more
than a foot. 3. To render the experiment absolutely conclusive, all
present stood clear away from the table, and stretching out their
hands over it without touching it, it again moved as before, and about
the same distance. During this time, one of the Committee was placed
upon the floor to look carefully beneath the table, while others were
placed outside to see that no person went near to the table. In this
position it was frequently moved, without possibility of contact by
any person present. 4. Whilst thus standing clear of the table, but
with the tips of their fingers resting upon it, all at the same moment
raised their hands at a given signal; and on several occasions the
table jumped from the floor to an elevation varying from half an inch
to an inch. 5. All held their hands close above the table, but not
touching it, and then on a word of command raised them suddenly, and
the table jumped as before. The member lying on the floor, and those
placed outside the circle, were keenly watching as before, and all
observed the phenomena as described.
_April 15th._ Eight members present. Sitting at 8 p. m. Within five
minutes tapping sounds were heard on the leaf of the table. Various
questions, as to order of sitting, etc., were put, and answered by
rappings. The alphabet was called for, and the word "laugh" was
spelled out. It was asked if it was intended that we should laugh. An
affirmative answer being given, the members laughed; upon which the
table made a most vigorous sound and motion imitative of and
responsive to the laughter, and so ludicrous as to cause a general
peal of real laughter, to which the table shook, and the rapping kept
time as an accompaniment. The following questions were then put and
answered by the number of raps given:--"How many children has Mrs.
M----?" "Four;" "Mrs. W----?" "Three;" "Mrs. D----?" No rap; "Mrs.
E----?" "Five;" "Mrs. S----?" "Two." It was ascertained, upon inquiry
that these replies were perfectly correct, except in the case of Mrs.
E----, who has only four children living, but has lost one. Neither
the medium nor any person present, was aware of all the above numbers,
but each number was known to some of them. The inquiry for a written
communication being responded to by three raps, some sheets of paper
with a pencil were laid under the table, and at the end of the sitting
examined, but no letter or mark was found on the paper. In order to
test whether these sounds would continue under different conditions,
all sat some distance from the table, holding hands in a circle round
it. But instead of upon the table as before, loud rappings were heard
to proceed from various parts of the floor, and from the chair on
which the medium sat; while some came from the other side of the room,
a distance of about fifteen feet from the nearest person. A desire
having been expressed for a shower of raps, loud rapping came from
every part of the table at once, producing an effect similar to that
of a shower of hail falling upon it. The sounds throughout the evening
were very sharp and distinct. It was observed that, although during
the conversation the rappings are sometimes of a singularly lively
character, yet when a question is put they cease instantly, and not
one is heard until the response is given.
_April 29th._ Nine members present. Medium and conditions as before.
In about a quarter of an hour the table made sundry movements along
the floor, with rappings. The sounds at first were very softly given,
but subsequently became much stronger. They beat time to the airs
played by a musical box, and came from any part of the table requested
by the members. Some questions were put and followed by raps, but more
frequently by tilting of the table at its sides, ends, or corners, the
elevation being from one to four inches. An endeavour was made by
those sitting near, to prevent the table from rising, but it resisted
all their efforts. The chair on which the medium was seated was drawn
several times over the floor. First it moved backward several feet;
then it gave several twists and turns, and finally returned with the
medium to nearly its original position. The chair had no casters, and
moved quite noiselessly, the medium appearing perfectly still and
holding her feet above the carpet; so that during the entire
phenomenon no part of her person or of her dress touched the floor.
There was bright gaslight, and the members had a clear opportunity to
observe all that occurred; and all agreed that imposture was
impossible. While this was going on, a rapping sound came continually
from the floor beneath and around the chair. It was then suggested
that trials should be made if the table would move without contact.
All present, including the medium stood quite clear of the table,
holding their hands from three to six inches above it, and without any
way of touching it. Observers were placed under it to see that it was
not touched there. The following were the observations:
1. The table repeatedly moved along the floor in different directions,
often taking that requested. Thus, in accordance with a desire
expressed that it should move from the front to the back room, it took
that direction, and, on approaching the folding doors and meeting with
an obstruction, turned as if to avoid it.
2. On a given signal all raised their hands suddenly, and the table
immediately sprang or jerked up from the floor about one inch.
Various members of the Committee volunteered by turns to keep watch
below the table, whilst others standing round them carefully noted
everything that took place; but no one could discover any visible
agency in their production.
_May 18th._ Music was played on the piano-forte, and one piece was
accompanied by tapping sounds from all parts of the table, and another
piece both by tapping sounds, vibrations, and slight vertical
movements of the table at its sides, ends, and corners. The sounds and
movements all kept time with the music. The same phenomena also
occurred when a song was sang. During the _seance_ the sounds were
very equally distributed, being seldom confined to one part of the
table.
_June 9th._ Eight members present. The most interesting fact this
evening was, that though the tapping sounds proceeded from different
parts of the table, but principally from that in front of the medium;
yet, when she went into the hall to receive a message, they still
continued to come from that part of the table.
The alphabet being repeated in accordance with the signal, "Queer
Pals" was spelt out. These words seemed to amuse and puzzle the
meeting. However, it was suggested they might apply to the Christy
Minstrels, whose nigger melodies, at St. George's Hall, were very
clearly heard through the open window of the back room. At this
suggestion the table gave three considerable tilts.
_June 17th._ The medium held a sheet of note paper at arm's length
over the table by one of its corners, and, at request, faint but
distinct taps were heard upon it. The other corners of the paper were
then held by members of the Committee, and the sounds were again heard
by all at the table; while those who held the paper felt the impact of
the invisible blows. One or more questions were answered in this way
by three clear and distinctly audible taps, which had a sound similar
in character to that produced by dropping water. This new and curious
phenomenon occurred close under the eyes of all present, without any
physical cause for it being detected.
_June 21st. Movement of harmonican without contact._ On the medium and
two other members holding their hands above the harmonican without in
any way touching it, it moved almost entirely round, by successive
jerks, on the table on which it was placed. The dining-table was
strongly moved a distance of six feet, the hands of the members
present resting lightly on it.
_Oct. 18th._ A cylinder of canvas, three feet in height, and about two
feet in diameter, was placed under a small table, the legs of which
were contained within it. Inside the cylinder was a bell, resting on
the floor. No sounds proceeded from the bell, but there were repeated
rappings upon and jerkings of the table. This cylinder precluded the
possibility of contact with the table by a foot of any of the persons
present, during the entire continuance of the knockings and jerkings
of the table.
_Dec. 14th. Sounds from table without contact._--All sat away from the
table, without in any manner touching it, and the sounds, although
somewhat fainter, continued to proceed from it.
_Dec. 28th. 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 their
wrists 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 as far as practicable.
_Special Observations._
These experiments are only a repetition and absolute confirmation of those
that have been described all through this volume, from its very first
pages. Yet they are enough in themselves alone to justify one's
convictions.
This first sub-committee, the principal experiments of which we have been
giving, was studying only physical phenomena. Sub-committee No. 2 was more
especially occupied with intelligent communications and mediumistic
dictations. They need not detain us here, but will find their place in a
special work on Spiritualism.
The same committee published in its general report the following letter,
which it did me the honor of requesting:
I must confess to you, in the first place, gentlemen, that, of those
who call themselves "mediums" and "spiritists," a considerable number
are persons of limited intelligence, incapable of bringing the
experimental method to bear on the investigation of this order of
phenomena, and consequently are often the dupes of their credulity or
ignorance; while others, of whom the number is also considerable, are
impostors whose moral sense has become so blunted by the habit of
fraud that they seem to be incapable of appreciating the heinousness
of their criminal abuse of the confidence of those who apply to them
for instruction or for consolation.
And even where the subject is being investigated seriously and in good
faith, the force to which the production of these phenomena is due is
so capricious in its action that much delay and disappointment is
inevitable in the prosecution of any experimental inquiry in regard
to them. It is, therefore, no easy matter to put aside the obstacles
thus placed in the way of the serious inquirer, to eliminate these
sources of error, and to get at genuine manifestations of the
phenomena in question; carefully guarding one's own mind against all
error, all self-deception in the methodical and scrupulous examination
of the order of facts now under discussion. Nevertheless, I do not
hesitate to affirm my conviction, based on personal examination of the
subject, that any scientific man who declares the phenomena
denominated "magnetic" "somnambulistic," "mediumistic," and others not
yet explained by science, to be "impossible," is one _who speaks
without knowing what he is talking about_; and also any man
accustomed, by his professional avocations, to scientific
observation--provided that his mind be not biased by preconceived
opinions, nor his mental vision blinded by that opposite kind of
illusion, unhappily too common in the learned world, which consists in
imagining that the laws of Nature are already known to us, and that
everything which appears to overstep the limit of our present formulas
is impossible--may acquire a radical and absolute certainty of the
reality of the facts alluded to.
After an affirmation so categorical, it is hardly necessary for me to
assure the members of the Dialectical Society that I have acquired,
through my own observation, the absolute certainty of the reality of
these phenomena....
But although thus compelled, in the absence of conclusive data in
regard to _the cause_ of the so-called "Spiritual Phenomena," to
refrain from making any positive affirmation in regard to this part of
the subject, I may add that while the general assertion of its
spiritual nature, on the part of the occult force which, within the
last quarter of a century, has thus manifested itself all over the
globe, constitutes a feature of the case which, from its universality,
merits the attention of the impartial investigator--the history of the
human race, from the earliest ages, furnishes instances of
coincidences, previsions and presentiments of warnings experienced in
certain critical moments, of apparitions more or less distinctly seen,
which are stated, on evidence as trustworthy as that which we possess
with regard to any other branch of historical tradition, to have
occurred, spontaneously, in the experience of all nations, and which
may therefore be held to strengthen the presumption of the possibility
of communication between incarnate and discarnate spirits.
I may also add that my own investigations in the fields of philosophy
and of modern astronomy have led me, as is well known, to adopt a
personal and individual way of regarding the subject of space and
time, the plurality of inhabited worlds, the eternity and ubiquity of
the acting forces of the universe, and the indestructibility of souls,
as well as of atoms.
The everlastingness of intelligent life ought to be regarded as the
result of the harmonious succession of sidereal incarnations.
Our earth being one of the heavenly bodies, a province of planetary
existence, and our present life being a phase of our eternal duration,
it appears only natural (the _super_natural does not exist) that there
should exist a permanent link between the spheres, the bodies, and the
souls of the universe, and therefore altogether probable that the
existence of this link will be demonstrated, in course of time, by the
advance of scientific discovery.
It would be difficult to over-rate the importance of the questions
thus brought forward for consideration; and I have seen with lively
satisfaction the noble initiative which, through the formation of your
Committee of Inquiry, has been taken by a body of men so justly
eminent as the members of the Dialectical Society, in the experimental
investigation of these deeply interesting phenomena. I am most happy,
therefore, to comply with the tenor of your letter, by sending you the
humble tribute of my observations on the subject in question, and thus
to have the opportunity of offering to your society the expression of
my sincerest good wishes for the speedy elucidation of the mysteries
of nature that have not yet been brought within the domain of positive
science.
I am, sir, yours faithfully,
CAMILLE FLAMMARION,
10, Rue des Moineaux (Palais Royal).
Paris, May 8, 1870.
The foregoing resume of the labors of the Dialectical Society of London
shows once more that mediumistic phenomena long ago entered upon the road
of scientific experiment. It would seem as if only the wilfully blind
could henceforth deny their allegiance.
The results of the studies described also form an answer to the question
frequently asked, whether one can undertake similar experiments without
knowing a true medium. I reply that, in any meeting of a dozen persons,
there will always be one or more mediums. This was proved by the seances
of the Count de Gasparin.
The English report also contains (May 25, 1869) a communication from the
electrician, Cromwell Varley, declaring that mediumistic phenomena could
not be discredited by any observer of good faith, and that, to him, the
hypothesis of disembodied spirits is the one that best explains them--just
plain, common spirits (as a general thing), like the majority of the
citizens of our planet.
The scientific experiments of the Dialectical Society's committee were
continued by the "Society for Psychical Research," founded in 1882, the
successive presidents of which were Professor Sidgwick, Professor Balfour
Stewart, Professor Sidgwick for a second time, Professor William James,
Sir William Crookes, Frederick Myers, Sir Oliver Lodge, Professor
Richet--all eminent in the departments of science and education. Let me
mention here the splendid work of Dr. Hodgson and of Professor Hyslop in
the American branch of this society.
The experiments were continued, in a masterly way, by the celebrated
chemist, Sir William Crookes, and yielded him the most wondrous results.
My readers will presently realize this.