CHAPTER IX

THE EXPERIMENTS OF SIR WILLIAM CROOKES

The learned chemist, Sir William Crookes, member of the Royal Society of

London, the author of several discoveries of the first rank (among which

should be placed the discovery, in 1861, of the metal, thallium), and of

ingenious experiments on "radiant matter," published his first researches

on the subject we are here considering in a review of which he was the

editor--the _Quarterly Journal of Science_.

I had the honor of contributing certain astronomical papers to this

journal.[62] I will first lay before my readers an extract from Mr.

Crookes's article of the 1st of July, 1871, entitled "Experimental

Investigation of a New Force," in which he describes his studies with

Home. I also had occasion myself more than once to hold conversation with

this medium.[63]

Twelve months ago in this journal, July 1, 1870, I wrote an article,

in which, after expressing in the most emphatic manner my belief in

the occurrence, under certain circumstances, of phenomena inexplicable

by any known natural laws, I indicated several tests which men of

science had a right to demand before giving credence to the

genuineness of these phenomena. Among the tests pointed out were, that

a "delicately poised balance should be moved under test conditions;"

and that some exhibition of power equivalent to so many "foot-pounds"

should be "manifested in his laboratory, where the experimentalists

could weigh, measure, and submit it to proper tests." I said, too,

that I could not promise to enter fully into this subject, owing to

the difficulties of obtaining opportunities, and the numerous failures

attending the enquiry; moreover, that "the persons in whose presence

these phenomena take place are few in number, and opportunities for

experimenting with previously arranged apparatus are rarer still."

Opportunities having since offered for pursuing the investigation, I

have gladly availed myself of them for applying to these phenomena

careful scientific testing experiments, and I have thus arrived at

certain definite results which I think it right should be published.

These experiments appear conclusively to establish the existence of a

new force, in some unknown manner connected with the human

organization, which for convenience may be called the Psychic Force.

Of all the persons endowed with a powerful development of this psychic

force, and who have been termed "mediums" upon quite another theory of

its origin, Mr. Daniel Dunglas Home is the most remarkable, and it is

mainly owing to the many opportunities I have had of carrying on my

investigation in his presence that I am enabled to affirm so

conclusively the existence of this force. The experiments I have tried

have been very numerous, but owing to our imperfect knowledge of the

conditions which favor or oppose the manifestations of this force, to

the apparently capricious manner in which it is exerted, and to the

fact that Mr. Home himself is subject to unaccountable ebbs and flows

of the force, it has but seldom happened that a result obtained on one

occasion could be subsequently confirmed and tested with apparatus

specially contrived for the purpose.

Among the remarkable phenomena which occur under Mr. Home's influence,

the most striking, as well as the most easily tested with scientific

accuracy, are--(1) the alteration in the weight of bodies, and (2) the

playing of tunes upon musical instruments (generally an accordion, for

convenience of portability) without direct human intervention, under

conditions rendering contact or connection with the keys impossible.

Not until I had witnessed these facts some half-dozen times, and

scrutinized them with all the critical acumen I possess, did I become

convinced of their objective reality. Still, desiring to place the

matter beyond the shadow of doubt, I invited Mr. Home on several

occasions to come to my own house, where, in the presence of a few

scientific enquirers, these phenomena could be submitted to crucial

experiments.

The meetings took place in the evening, in a large room lighted by

gas. The apparatus prepared for the purpose of testing the movements

of the accordion, consisted of a cage, formed of two wooden hoops,

respectively 1 foot 10 inches and 2 feet diameter, connected together

by 12 narrow laths, each 1 foot 10 inches long, so as to form a

drum-shaped frame, open at the top and bottom; round this 50 yards of

insulated copper wire were wound in 24 rounds, each being rather less

than an inch from its neighbor. The horizontal strands of wire were

then netted together firmly with string, so as to form meshes rather

less than 2 inches long by 1 inch high. The height of this cage was

such that it would just slip under my dining-table, but be too close

to the top to allow of the hand being introduced into the interior, or

to admit of a foot being pushed underneath it. In another room were

two Grove's cells, wires being led from them into the dining-room for

connection, if desirable, with the wire surrounding the cage.

The accordion was a new one, having been purchased by myself for the

purpose of these experiments at Wheatstone's, in Conduit Street. Mr.

Home had neither handled nor seen the instrument before the

commencement of the test experiments.

In another part of the room an apparatus was fitted up for

experimenting on the alteration in the weight of a body. It consisted

of a mahogany board, 36 inches long by 9-1/2 inches wide and 1 inch

thick. At each end a strip of mahogany 1-1/2 inches wide was screwed

on, forming feet. One end of the board rested on a firm table, whilst

the other end was supported by a spring balance hanging from a

substantial tripod stand. The balance was fitted with a

self-registering index, in such a manner that it would record the

maximum weight indicated by the pointer. The apparatus was adjusted

so that the mahogany board was horizontal, its foot resting flat on

the support. In this position its weight was 3 lbs., as marked by the

pointer of the balance.

[Illustration: PLATE XII. CAGE OF COPPER WIRE, ELECTRICALLY CHARGED, USED

BY PROFESSOR CROOKES IN THE HOME ACCORDION EXPERIMENT.]

Before Mr. Home entered the room the apparatus had been arranged in

position, and he had not even the object of some parts of it explained

before sitting down. It may, perhaps, be worth while to add, for the

purpose of anticipating some critical remarks which are likely to be

made, that in the afternoon I called for Mr. Home at his apartments,

and when there he suggested that, as he had to change his dress,

perhaps I should not object to continue our conversation in his

bedroom. I am, therefore, enabled to state positively, that no

machinery, apparatus, or contrivance of any sort was secreted about

his person.

The investigators present on the test occasion were an eminent

physicist, high in the ranks of the Royal Society,[64] a well-known

Serjeant-at-Law;[65] my brother; and my chemical assistant.

Mr. Home sat in a low easy-chair at the side of the table. In front of

him under the table was the aforesaid cage, one of his legs being on

each side of it. I sat close to him on his left, and another observer

sat close to him on his right, the rest of the party being seated at

convenient distances round the table.

For the greater part of the evening, particularly when anything of

importance was proceeding, the observers on each side of Mr. Home kept

their feet respectively on his feet, so as to be able to detect his

slightest movement.

The temperature of the room varied from 68 degrees to 70 degrees F.

Mr. Home took the accordion between the thumb and middle finger of one

hand at the opposite end to the keys (see Pl. XII A) (to save

repetition this will be subsequently called "in the usual manner").

Having previously opened the bass key myself, and the cage being drawn

from under the table so as just to allow the accordion to be pushed in

with its keys downwards, it was pushed back as close as Mr. Home's

arm would permit, but without hiding his hand from those next to him

(Pl. XII, Cut B). Very soon the accordion was seen by those on each

side to be waving about in a somewhat curious manner; then sounds came

from it, and finally several notes were played in succession. Whilst

this was going on, my assistant went under the table, and reported

that the accordion was expanding and contracting; at the same time it

was seen that the hand of Mr. Home by which it was held was quite

still, his other hand resting on the table.

Presently the accordion was seen by those on either side of Mr. Home

to move about, oscillating and going round and round the cage, and

playing at the same time. Dr. A. B. now looked under the table, and

said that Mr. Home's hand appeared quite still whilst the accordion

was moving about emitting distinct sounds.

Mr. Home still holding the accordion in the usual manner in the cage,

his feet being held by those next him, and his other hand resting on

the table, we heard distinct and separate notes sounded in succession,

and then a simple air was played. As such a result could only have

been produced by the various keys of the instrument being acted upon

in harmonious succession, this was considered by those present to be a

crucial experiment.

But the sequel was still more striking, for Mr. Home then removed his

hand altogether from the accordion, taking it quite out of the cage,

and placed it in the hand of the person next to him. The instrument

then continued to play, no person touching it and no hand being near

it.

I was now desirous of trying what would be the effect of passing the

battery current round the insulated wire of the cage, and my assistant

accordingly made the connection with the wires from the two Grove's

cells. Mr. Home again held the instrument inside the cage in the same

manner as before, when it immediately sounded and moved about

vigorously. But whether the electric current passing round the cage

assisted the manifestation of force inside, it is impossible to say.

After this experiment, the accordion, which he kept holding in one

hand, then commenced to play, at first chords and runs, and

afterwards a well-known sweet and plaintive melody, which was executed

perfectly in a very beautiful manner. Whilst this tune was being

played I grasped Mr. Home's arm, below the elbow, and gently slid my

hand down it until I touched the top of the accordion. He was not

moving a muscle. His other hand was on the table, visible to all, and

his feet were under the feet of those next to him.

Having met with such striking results in the experiments with the

accordion in the cage, we turned to the balance apparatus already

described. Mr. Home placed the tips of his fingers lightly on the

extreme end of the mahogany board, which was resting on the support,

whilst Dr. A. B. and myself sat, one on each side of it, watching for

any effect which might be produced. Almost immediately the pointer of

the balance was seen to descend. After a few seconds it rose again.

This movement was repeated several times, as if by successive waves of

the psychic force. The end of the board was observed to oscillate

slowly up and down during the experiment.

Mr. Home now of his own accord took a small hand-bell and a little

card match-box, which happened to be near, and placed one under each

hand, to satisfy us, as he said, that he was not producing the

downward pressure (see Fig. 3). The very slow oscillation of the

spring balance became more marked, and Dr. A. B., watching the index,

said that he saw it descend to 6-1/2 lbs. The normal weight of the

board as so suspended being 3 lbs., the additional downward pull was

therefore 3-1/2 lbs. On looking immediately afterwards at the

automatic register, we saw that the index had at one time descended as

low as 9 lbs., showing a maximum pull of 6 lbs. upon a board whose

normal weight was 3 lbs.

In order to see whether it was possible to produce much effect on the

spring balance by pressure at the place where Mr. Home's fingers had

been, I stepped upon the table and stood on one foot at the end of the

board. Dr. A. B., who was observing the index of the balance, said

that the whole weight of my body (140 lbs.) so applied only sunk the

index 1-1/2 lbs., or 2 lbs. when I shook it. Mr. Home had been sitting

in a low easy-chair, and could not, therefore, had he tried his

utmost, have exerted any material influence on these results. I need

scarcely add that his feet as well as his hands were closely guarded

by all in the room.

This experiment appears to me more striking, if possible, than the one

with the accordion. As will be seen on referring to the cut (Fig. 3),

the board was arranged perfectly horizontally, and it was particularly

noticed that Mr. Home's fingers were not at any time advanced more

than 1-1/2 inches from the extreme end, as shown by a pencil-mark,

which, with Dr. A. B.'s acquiescence, I made at the time. Now, the

wooden foot being also 1-1/2 inches wide, and resting flat on the

table, it is evident that no amount of pressure exerted within this

space of 1-1/2 inches could produce any action on the balance. Again,

it is also evident that when the end farthest from Mr. Home sank, the

board would turn on the farther edge of this foot as on a fulcrum.

[Illustration: FIG. 3.]

The arrangement was consequently that of a see-saw, 36 inches in

length, the fulcrum being 1-1/2 inches from one end; were he,

therefore, to have exerted a downward pressure, it would have been in

opposition to the force which was causing the other end of the board

to move down.

The slight downward pressure shown by the balance when I stood on the

board was owing probably to my foot extending beyond this fulcrum.

I have now given a plain, unvarnished statement of the facts from

copious notes written at the time the occurrences were taking place,

and copied out in full immediately after.

Respecting the cause of these phenomena, the nature of the force to

which, to avoid periphrasis, I have ventured to give the name of

_Psychic_, and the correlation existing between that and the other

forces of nature, it would be wrong to hazard the most vague

hypothesis. Indeed, in inquiries connected so intimately with rare

physiological and psychological conditions, it is the duty of the

inquirer to abstain altogether from framing theories until he has

accumulated a sufficient number of facts to form a substantial basis

upon which to reason. In the presence of strange phenomena as yet

unexplored and unexplained following each other in such rapid

succession, I confess it is difficult to avoid clothing their record

in language of a sensational character. But, to be successful, an

inquiry of this kind must be undertaken by the philosopher without

prejudice and without sentiment. Romantic and superstitious ideas

should be entirely banished, and the steps of his investigation should

be guided by intellect as cold and passionless as the instruments he

uses.

Apropos of this Mr. Cox wrote to Mr. Crooks:

The results appear to me conclusively to establish the important fact,

that there is a force proceeding from the nerve-system capable of

imparting motion and weight to solid bodies within the sphere of its

influence.

I noticed that the force was exhibited in tremulous pulsations, and

not in the form of steady continuous pressure, the indicator rising

and falling incessantly throughout the experiment. The fact seems to

me of great significance, as tending to confirm the opinion that

assigns its source to the nerve organization, and it goes far to

establish Dr. Richardson's important discovery of a nerve atmosphere

of various intensity enveloping the human structure.

Your experiments completely confirm the conclusion at which the

Investigation Committee of the Dialectical Society arrived, after more

than forty meetings for trial and test.

Allow me to add that I can find no evidence even tending to prove that

this force is other than a force proceeding from, or directly

dependent upon, the human organization, and therefore, like all other

forces of nature, wholly within the province of that strictly

scientific investigation to which you have been the first to subject

it.

Now that it is proved by mechanical tests to be a fact in nature (and

if a fact, it is impossible to exaggerate its importance to physiology

and the light it must throw upon the obscure laws of life, of mind and

the science of medicine) it cannot fail to command the immediate and

most earnest examination and discussion by physiologists and by all

who take an interest in that knowledge of "man," which has been truly

termed "the noblest study of mankind."

To avoid the appearance of any foregone conclusion, I would recommend

the adoption for it of some appropriate name, and I venture to suggest

that the force be termed the Psychic Force; the persons in whom it is

manifested in extraordinary power Psychics; and the science relating

to it Psychism as, being a branch of psychology.

The preceding article was published separately by William Crookes in a

special brochure which lies before me,[66] and which contains, in

addition, the following study, not less curious from the human and

anecdotical point of view than from the point of view of the experimenter

in physics:

When I first stated in this journal that I was about to investigate

the phenomena of so-called Spiritualism, the announcement called forth

universal expressions of approval. One said that my "statements

deserved respectful consideration"; another expressed "profound

satisfaction that the subject was about to be investigated by a man so

thoroughly qualified as," etc.; a third was "gratified to learn that

the matter is now receiving the attention of cool and clear-headed

men of recognized position in science"; a fourth asserted that "no one

could doubt Mr. Crookes's ability to conduct the investigation with

rigid philosophical impartiality"; and a fifth was good enough to tell

its readers that "if men like Mr. Crookes grapple with the subject,

taking nothing for granted until it is proved, we shall soon know how

much to believe."

Those remarks, however, were written too hastily. It was taken for

granted by the writers that the results of my experiments would be in

accordance with their preconceptions. What they really desired was not

_the truth_, but an additional witness in favor of their own foregone

conclusion. When they found that the facts which that investigation

established could not be made to fit those opinions, why--"so much the

worse for the facts." They try to creep out of their own confident

recommendations of the enquiry by declaring that "Mr. Home is a clever

conjurer, who has duped us all." "Mr. Crookes might, with equal

propriety, examine the performances of an Indian juggler." "Mr.

Crookes must get better witnesses before he can be believed." "The

thing is too absurd to be treated seriously." "It is impossible, and

therefore can't be."[67] "The observers have all been biologized (!)

and fancy they saw things occur which really never took place," etc.

These remarks imply a curious oblivion of the very functions which the

scientific enquirer has to fulfill. I am scarcely surprised when the

objectors say that I have been deceived merely because they are

unconvinced without personal investigation, since the same

unscientific course of _a priori_ argument has been opposed to all

great discoveries. When I am told that what I describe cannot be

explained in accordance with preconceived ideas of the laws of nature,

the objector really begs the very question at issue, and resorts to a

mode of reasoning which brings science to a standstill. The argument

runs in a vicious circle: we must not assert a fact till we know that

it is in accordance with the laws of nature, while our only knowledge

of the laws of nature must be based on an extensive observation of

facts. If a new fact seems to oppose what is called a law of nature,

it does not prove the asserted fact to be false, but only that we have

not yet ascertained all the laws of nature, or not learned them

correctly.

In his opening address before the British Association at Edinburgh

this year (1871), Sir William Thomson said, "Science is bound by the

everlasting law of honor to face fearlessly every problem which can

fairly be presented to it." My object in thus placing on record the

results of a very remarkable series of experiments is to present such

a problem, which, according to Sir William Thomson, "Science is bound

by the everlasting law of honor to face fearlessly." It will not do

merely to deny its existence, or try to sneer it down. Remember, I

hazard no hypothesis or theory whatever; I merely vouch for certain

facts, my only object being--the _truth_. Doubt, but do not deny;

point out, by the severest criticism, what are considered fallacies in

my experimental tests, and suggest more conclusive trials; but do not

let us hastily call our senses lying witnesses merely because they

testify against preconceptions. I say to my critics, Try the

experiments; investigate with care and patience as I have done. If,

having examined, you discover imposture or delusion, proclaim it and

say how it was done. But, if you find it be a fact, avow it

fearlessly, as "by the everlasting law of honor" you are bound to do.

In this part of his work Professor Crookes recalls the experiments of

Count de Gasparin and of Thury (detailed above) on the phenomenon of the

movement of bodies without contact, a thing proved and demonstrated. We

need not recur to that. He adds that the ecteneic force of Professor Thury

and psychical force are equivalent terms, and that the nervous atmosphere

or fluid of Dr. Benjamin Richardson also belongs here.

Professor Crookes sent his observations to the Royal Society, of which he

is a member. The society refused his communications. The evidence goes to

show that it had only approved of the gifted chemist's mixing in

heretical and occult researches on consideration of his demonstrating the

fallacy of all those prodigies.

[Illustration: FIG. 4.]

[Illustration: FIG. 5.]

Professor Stokes, the secretary, refused to consider the subject at all,

or to inscribe even the title of the papers in the society's

publications. It was an exact repetition of what took place at the Academy

of Science in Paris in 1853. Professor Crookes scorned these arbitrary and

anti-scientific judgments and denials and answered them by publishing the

detailed description of his experiments. The following are the essential

points of this description:

[Illustration: FIG. 6.]

On trying these experiments for the first time, I thought that actual

contact between Mr. Home's hands and the suspended body whose weight

was to be altered was essential to the exhibition of the force; but I

found afterwards that this was not a necessary condition, and I

therefore arranged my apparatus in the following manner:

The accompanying cuts (Figs. 4, 5, 6) explain the arrangement. Fig. 4

is a general view, and Figs. 5 and 6 show the essential parts more in

detail. The reference letters are the same in each illustration. A B

is a mahogany board, 36 inches long by 9-1/2 inches wide and 1 inch

thick. It is suspended at the end, B, by a spring balance, C,

furnished with an automatic register, D. The balance is suspended

from a very firm tripod support, E.

The following piece of apparatus is not shown in the figures. To the

moving index, O, of the spring balance, a fine steel point is

soldered, projecting horizontally outwards. In front of the balance,

and firmly fastened to it, is a grooved frame carrying a flat box

similar to the dark box of a photographic camera. This box is made to

travel by clock-work horizontally in front of the moving index, and it

contains a sheet of plate-glass which has been smoked over a flame.

The projecting steel point impresses a mark on this smoked surface.

If the balance is at rest, and the clock set going, the result is a

perfectly straight horizontal line. If the clock is stopped and

weights are placed on the end, B, of the board, the result is a

vertical line, whose length depends on the weight applied. If, whilst

the clock draws the plate along, the weight of the board (or the

tension on the balance) varies, the result is a curved line, from

which the tension in grains at any moment during the continuance of

the experiments can be calculated.

The instrument was capable of registering a diminution of the force of

gravitation as well as an increase; registrations of such a diminution

were frequently obtained. To avoid complication, however, I will only

here refer to results in which an increase of gravitation was

experienced.

The end, B, of the board being supported by the spring balance, the

end, A, is supported on a wooden strip, F, screwed across its lower

side and cut to a knife edge (see Fig. 6). This fulcrum rests on a

firm and heavy wooden stand, G H. On the board, exactly over the

fulcrum, is placed a large glass vessel filled with water, I. L is a

massive iron stand, furnished with an arm and ring, M N, in which

rests a hemispherical copper vessel perforated with several holes at

the bottom.

The iron stand is two inches from the board, A B, and the arm and

copper vessel, M N, are so adjusted that the latter dips into the

water 1-1/2 inches, being 5-1/2 inches from the bottom of I, and 2

inches from its circumference. Shaking or striking the arm, M, or the

vessel, N, produces no appreciable mechanical effect on the board, A

B, capable of affecting the balance. Dipping the hand to the fullest

extent into the water in N, does not produce the least appreciable

action on the balance.

As the mechanical transmission of power by Mr. Home is by this means

entirely cut off between the copper vessel and the board, A B, it

follows that the power of muscular control is thereby completely

eliminated.

There was always ample light in the room where the experiments were

conducted (my own dining-room) to see all that took place.

Furthermore, I repeated the experiments, not only with Mr. Home, but

also with another person possessing similar powers.

[Illustration: FIG. 7.]

_Experiment I._--The apparatus having been properly adjusted before

Mr. Home entered the room, he was brought in, and asked to place his

fingers in the water in the copper vessel, N. He stood up and dipped

the tips of the fingers of his right hand in the water, his other hand

and his feet being held. When he said he felt a power, force, or

influence, proceeding from his hand, I set the clock going, and almost

immediately the end, B, of the board was seen to descend slowly and

remain down for about 10 seconds; it then descended a little farther,

and afterwards rose to its normal height. It then descended again,

rose suddenly, gradually sunk for 17 seconds, and finally rose to its

normal height, where it remained till the experiment was concluded.

The lowest point marked on the glass was equivalent to a direct pull

of about 5,000 grains. The accompanying figure 7 is a copy of the

curve traced on the glass.

_Experiment II._--Contact through water having proved to be as

effectual as actual mechanical contact, I wished to see if the power

or force could affect the weight, either through other portions of the

apparatus or through the air. The glass vessel and iron stand, etc.,

were therefore removed, as an unnecessary complication, and Mr. Home's

hands were placed on the stand of the apparatus at P (Fig. 4). A

gentleman present put his hand on Mr. Home's hands, and his foot on

both Mr. Home's feet, and I also watched him closely all the time. At

the proper moment the clock was again set going; the board descended

and rose in an irregular manner, the result being a curved tracing on

the glass, of which Fig. 8 is a copy.

[Illustration: FIG. 8.]

[Illustration: FIG. 9.]

[Illustration: FIG. 10.]

_Experiment III._--Mr. Home was now placed 1 foot from the board, A B,

on one side of it. His hands and feet were firmly grasped by a

bystander, and another tracing, of which Fig. 9 is a copy, was taken

on a moving glass plate.

_Experiment IV._--(Tried on an occasion when the power was stronger

than on the previous occasions.) Mr. Home was now placed three feet

from the apparatus, his hands and feet being tightly held. The clock

was set going when he gave the word, and the end, B, of the board

soon descended, and again rose in an irregular manner, as shown in

Fig. 10.

The following series of experiments were tried with more delicate

apparatus, and with another person, a lady, Mr. Home being absent. As

the lady is non-professional, I do not mention her name. She has,

however, consented to meet any scientific men whom I may introduce for

purposes of investigation.

[Illustration: FIG. 11.]

[Illustration: FIG. 12.]

A piece of thin parchment, A, Figs. 11 and 12, is stretched tightly

across a circular hoop of wood. B C is a light lever turning on D. At

the end, B, is a vertical needle-point touching the membrane, A, and

at C is another needle-point, projecting horizontally and touching a

smoked glass plate, E F. This glass plate is drawn along in the

direction, H G, by clockwork, K. The end, B, of the lever is weighted

so that it shall quickly follow the movements of the centre of the

disc, A. These movements are transmitted and recorded on the glass

plate, E F, by means of the lever and needle-point, C. Holes are cut

in the side of the hoop to allow a free passage of air to the under

side of the membrane. The apparatus was well tested beforehand by

myself and others, to see that no shaking or jar on the table or

support would interfere with the results. The line traced by the

point, C, on the smoked glass was perfectly straight in spite of all

our attempts to influence the lever by shaking the stand or stamping

on the floor.

[Illustration: FIG. 13.]

_Experiment V._--Without having the object of the instrument explained

to her, the lady was brought into the room and asked to place her

fingers on the wooden stand at the points, L M, Fig. 11. I then placed

my hands over hers to enable me to detect any conscious or unconscious

movement on her part. Presently percussive noises were heard on the

parchment, resembling the dropping of grains of sand on its surface.

At each percussion a fragment of graphite which I had placed on the

membrane was seen to be projected upwards about 1-50th of an inch, and

the end, C, of the lever moved slightly up and down. Sometimes the

sounds were as rapid as those from an induction-coil, whilst at others

they were more than a second apart. Five or six tracings were taken,

and in all cases a movement of the end, C, of the lever was seen to

have occurred with each vibration of the membrane.

In some cases the lady's hands were not so near the membrane as L M,

but were at N O, Fig. 12.

The accompanying figure 13 gives tracings taken from the plates used

on these occasions.

_Experiment VI._--Having met with these results in Mr. Home's absence,

I was anxious to see what action would be produced on the instrument

in his presence.

Accordingly I asked him to try, but without explaining the instrument

to him.

[Illustration: FIG. 14.]

[Illustration: FIG. 15.]

I grasped Mr. Home's right arm above the wrist and held his hand over

the membrane, about 10 inches from its surface, in the position shown

at P, Fig. 12. His other hand was held by a friend. After remaining in

this position for about half a minute, Mr. Home said he felt some

influence passing. I then set the clock going, and we all saw the

index, C, moving up and down. The movements were much slower than in

the former case, and were almost entirely unaccompanied by the

percussive vibrations then noticed.

Figs. 14 and 15 show the curves produced on the glass on two of these

occasions.

Figs. 13, 14, 15 are magnified.

These experiments _confirm beyond doubt_ the conclusion at which I

arrived in my former paper; namely, the existence of a force

associated, in some manner not yet explained, with the human

organization, by which force increased weight is capable of being

imparted to solid bodies without physical contact.

Now, however, having seen more of Mr. Home, I think I perceive what it

is that this psychic force uses up for its development. In employing

the terms _vital force_, or _nervous energy_, I am aware that I am

employing words which convey very different significations to many

investigators; but after witnessing the painful state of nervous and

bodily prostration in which some of these experiments have left Mr.

Home--after seeing him lying in an almost fainting condition on the

floor, pale and speechless--I could scarcely doubt that the evolution

of psychic force is accompanied by a corresponding drain on vital

force.

To witness exhibitions of this force it is not necessary to have

access to known psychics. The force itself is probably possessed by

all human beings, although the individuals endowed with an

extraordinary amount of it are doubtless few. Within the last twelve

months I have met in private families five or six persons possessing a

sufficiently vigorous development to make me feel confident that

similar results might be produced through their means to those here

recorded, though less intense.

These experiments continued to be the object of bitter and relentless

criticism on the part of the recognized authorities in science and

education in England. These persons absolutely refused to recognize their

value. Professor Crookes amused himself, at times, by replying to these

fantastic attacks, but, naturally, without convincing his uncompromising

opponents. It is unnecessary to reproduce these letters here; they can be

found in the French edition of Crookes's _Researches_. The learned chemist

did better still: he continued his researches into the domain of the

Unknown, and got still more remarkable results--still more extraordinary,

more inexplicable, more incomprehensible.

His notes continue as follows:

Like a traveler exploring some distant country, the wonders of which

have hitherto been known only through reports and rumors of a vague or

distorted character, so for four years have I been occupied in pushing

an inquiry into a territory of natural knowledge which offers almost

virgin soil to a scientific man.

As the traveller sees in the natural phenomena he may witness the

action of forces governed by natural laws, where others see only the

capricious intervention of offended gods, so have I endeavored to

trace the operation of natural laws and forces, where others have seen

only the agency of supernatural beings, owning no laws, and obeying no

force but their own free will.

The phenomena I am prepared to attest are so extraordinary and so

directly oppose the most firmly rooted articles of scientific

belief--amongst others, the ubiquity and invariable action of the

force of gravitation--that, even now, on recalling the details of what

I witnessed, there is an antagonism in my mind between _reason_, which

pronounces it to be scientifically impossible, and the consciousness

that my senses, both of touch and sight--and these corroborated, as

they were, by the senses of all who were present,--are not lying

witnesses when they testify against my preconceptions.

But the supposition that there is a sort of mania or delusion which

suddenly attacks a whole roomful of intelligent persons who are quite

sane elsewhere, and that they all concur to the minutest particulars,

in the details of the occurrences of which they suppose themselves to

be witnesses, seems to my mind more incredible than even the facts

they attest.

The subject is far more difficult and extensive than it appears. Four

years ago I intended only to devote a leisure month or two to

ascertain whether certain marvellous occurrences I had heard about

would stand the test of close scrutiny. Having, however, soon arrived

at the same conclusion as, I may say, every impartial inquirer, that

there was "something in it," I could not, as a student of nature's

laws, refuse to follow the inquiry wheresoever the facts might lead.

Thus a few months have grown into a few years, and, were my time at

my own disposal it would probably extend still longer.

My principal object will be to place on record a series of actual

occurrences which have taken place in my own house, in the presence of

trustworthy witnesses, and under as strict test conditions as I could

devise. Every fact which I have observed is, moreover, corroborated by

the records of independent observers at other times and places. It

will be seen that the facts are of the most astounding character, and

seem utterly irreconcilable with all known theories of modern science.

Having satisfied myself of their _truth_, it would be moral cowardice

to withhold my testimony because my previous publications were

ridiculed by critics and others who knew nothing whatever of the

subject, and who were too prejudiced to see and judge for themselves

whether or not there was truth in the phenomena. I shall state simply

what I have seen and proved by repeated experiment and test.

Except where darkness has been a necessary condition, as with some of

the phenomena of luminous appearances, and a few other instances,

everything recorded has taken place _in the light_. In the few cases

where the phenomena noted have occurred in darkness I have been very

particular to mention the fact. Moreover, some special reason can be

shown for the exclusion of light, or the results have been produced

under such perfect test conditions that the suppression of one of the

senses has not really weakened the evidence.

I have said that darkness is not essential. It is, however, a

well-ascertained fact that when the force is weak a bright light

exerts an interfering action on some of the phenomena. The power

possessed by Mr. Home is sufficiently strong to withstand this

antagonistic influence; consequently, he always objects to darkness at

his _seances_. Indeed, except on two occasions, when, for some

particular experiments of my own, light was excluded, everything which

I have witnessed with him has taken place in the light. I have had

many opportunities of testing the action of light on different sources

and colors,--such as sunlight, diffused daylight, moonlight, gas,

lamp, and candle-light, electric light from a vacuum tube,

homogeneous yellow light, etc. The interfering rays appear to be those

at the extreme end of the spectrum.

Professor Crookes next proceeds to classify the phenomena observed by him,

going from the more simple to the more complex and giving in rapid review

under each head, a sketch of some of the facts. In the abridgment of his

report which follows I eliminate what has already been fully demonstrated

elsewhere in this book.

FIRST CLASS: _The movement of Heavy Bodies with Contact, but without

Mechanical Exertion._

(This movement has been fully proved in this volume.)

SECOND CLASS: _The Phenomena of Percussive and other Allied Sounds._

An important question here forces itself upon the attention. _Are the

movements and sounds governed by intelligence?_ At a very early stage

of the inquiry, it was seen that the power producing the phenomena was

not merely a blind force, but was associated with or governed by

intelligence. Thus the sounds to which I have just alluded will be

repeated a definite number of times. They will come loud or faint, and

in different places at request; and by a pre-arranged code of signals,

questions are answered, and messages given with more or less accuracy.

The intelligence governing the phenomena is sometimes manifestly below

that of the medium. It is frequently in direct opposition to the

wishes of the medium. When a determination has been expressed to do

something which might not be considered quite right, I have known

urgent messages given to induce a reconsideration. The intelligence is

sometimes of such a character as to lead to the belief that it does

not emanate from any person present.

THIRD CLASS: _The Alteration of Weights of Bodies._--(Experiments

which have been already described.)

FOURTH CLASS: _Movements of Heavy Substances when at a distance from

the Medium._--The instances in which heavy bodies, such as tables,

chairs, sofas, etc., have been moved, when the medium has not been

touching them, are very numerous. I will briefly mention a few of the

most striking. My own chair has been twisted partly round, whilst my

feet were off the floor. A chair was seen by all present to move

slowly up to the table from a far corner, when all were watching it.

On another occasion an arm-chair moved to where we were sitting, and

then moved slowly back again (a distance of about three feet) at my

request. On three successive evenings a small table moved slowly

across the room, under conditions which I had specially pre-arranged,

so as to answer any objection which might be raised to the evidence. I

have had several repetitions of the experiment considered by the

Committee of the Dialectical Society to be conclusive, viz., the

movement of a heavy table, in full light, the chairs turned with their

backs to the table, about a foot off, and each person kneeling on his

chair, with hands resting over the back of the chair, but not touching

the table. On one occasion this took place when I was moving about so

as to see how everyone was placed.

FIFTH CLASS: _The Rising of Tables and Chairs off the Ground, without

Contact with any Person._

(We need not recur to these matters.)

SIXTH CLASS: _The Levitation of Human Beings._--The most striking

cases of levitation which I have witnessed have been with Mr. Home. On

three separate occasions have I seen him raised completely from the

floor of the room. Once sitting in an easy-chair, once kneeling on his

chair, and once standing up. On each occasion I had full opportunity

of watching the occurrence as it was taking place.

There are at least a hundred recorded instances of Mr. Home's rising

from the ground, in the presence of as many separate persons, and I

have heard from the lips of the three witnesses to the most striking

occurrence of this kind--the Earl of Dunraven, Lord Lindsay, and

Captain C. Wynne--their own most minute accounts of what took place.

To reject the recorded evidence on this subject is to reject all human

testimony whatever; for no fact in sacred or profane history is

supported by a stronger array of proofs.

SEVENTH CLASS: _Movement of Various Small Articles without Contact

with any Person._--(As in the case of the sixth class, this is well

known to my readers.)

EIGHTH CLASS: _Luminous Appearances._--These, being rather faint,

generally require the room to be darkened. I need scarcely remind my

readers again that, under these circumstances, I have taken proper

precautions to avoid being imposed upon by phosphorized oil or other

means. Moreover, many of these lights are such as I have tried to

imitate artificially, but cannot.

Under the strictest test conditions, I have seen a solid self-luminous

body, the size and nearly the shape of a turkey's egg, float

noiselessly about the room, at one time higher than any one present

could reach standing on tiptoe, and then gently descend to the floor.

It was visible for more than ten minutes, and before it faded away it

struck the table three times with a sound like that of a hard solid

body.

During this time the medium was lying back, apparently insensible, in

an easy-chair.

I have seen luminous points of light darting about and settling on the

heads of different persons; I have had questions answered by the

flashing of a bright light a desired number of times in front of my

face. I have seen sparks of light rising from the table to the

ceiling, and again falling upon the table, striking it with an audible

sound. I have had an alphabetic communication given by luminous

flashes occurring before me in the air, whilst my hand was moving

about amongst them. I have seen a luminous cloud floating upwards to a

picture. Under the strictest test conditions, I have more than once

had a solid, self-luminous, crystalline body placed in my hand by a

hand which did not belong to any person in the room. _In the light_, I

have seen a luminous cloud hover over a heliotrope on a side table,

break a sprig off, and carry it to a lady; and on some occasions I

have seen a similar luminous cloud visibly condense to the form of a

hand and carry small objects about.

NINTH CLASS: _The Appearance of Hands, either Self-Luminous or Visible

by Ordinary Light._--During a seance in full light a

beautifully-formed small hand rose up from an opening in a

dining-table and gave me a flower; it appeared and then disappeared

three times at intervals, affording me ample opportunity of satisfying

myself that it was as real in appearance as my own. This occurred in

the light in my own room, whilst I was holding the medium's hands and

feet.

On another occasion, a small hand and arm, like a baby's, appeared

playing about a lady who was sitting next to me. It then patted my arm

and pulled my coat several times.

At another time, a finger and thumb were seen to pick the petals from

a flower in Mr. Home's button-hole, and lay them in front of several

persons who were sitting near him.

A hand has been repeatedly seen by myself and others playing the keys

of an accordion, both of the medium's hands being visible at the same

time, and sometimes being held by those near him.

The hands and fingers do not always appear to me to be solid and

life-like. Sometimes, indeed, they present more the appearance of a

nebulous cloud partly condensed into the form of a hand. This is not

equally visible to all present. For instance, a flower or other small

object is seen to move; one person present will see a luminous cloud

hovering over it, another will detect a nebulous-looking hand, whilst

others will see nothing at all but the moving flower. I have more than

once seen, first an object move, then a luminous cloud appear to form

about it, and, lastly, the cloud condense into shape and become a

perfectly-formed hand. At this stage the hand is visible to all

present. It is not always a mere form, but sometimes appears perfectly

life-like and graceful, the fingers moving, and the flesh apparently

as human as that of any in the room. At the wrist, or arm, it becomes

hazy, and fades off into a luminous cloud.

To the touch, the hand sometimes appears icy-cold and dead, at other

times, warm and life-like, grasping my own with the firm pressure of

an old friend.

I have retained one of these hands in my own, firmly resolved not to

let it escape. There was no struggle or effort made to get loose, but

it gradually seemed to resolve itself into vapor, and faded in that

manner from my grasp.

TENTH CLASS: _Direct Writing._--(The learned chemist cites some

remarkable examples obtained by him. We need not speak of them in this

book.)

ELEVENTH CLASS: _Phantom Forms and Faces._--These are the rarest of

the phenomena I have witnessed. The conditions requisite for their

appearance appear to be so delicate, and such trifles interfere with

their production, that only on very few occasions have I witnessed

them under satisfactory test conditions. I will mention two of these

cases.

In the dusk of the evening, during a _seance_ with Mr. Home at my

house, the curtains of a window about eight feet from Mr. Home were

seen to move. A dark, shadowy, semi-transparent form, like that of a

man, was then seen by all present standing near the window, waving the

curtain with his hand. As we looked, the form faded away, and the

curtains ceased to move.

The following is a still more striking instance. As in the former

case, Mr. Home was the medium. A phantom form came from a corner of

the room, took an accordion in its hand, and then glided about the

room playing the instrument. The form was visible to all present for

many minutes, Mr. Home also being seen at the same time. Coming rather

close to a lady who was sitting apart from the rest of the company,

she gave a slight cry, upon which it vanished.

TWELFTH CLASS: _Special Instances which seem to point to the Agency of

an Exterior Intelligence._--It has already been shown that the

phenomena are governed by an intelligence. It becomes a question of

importance as to the source of that intelligence. Is it the

intelligence of the medium, of any of the other persons in the room,

or is it an exterior intelligence? Without wishing at present to speak

positively on this point, I may say that whilst I have observed many

circumstances which appear to show that the will and intelligence of

the medium have much to do with the phenomena, I have observed some

circumstances which seem conclusively to point to the agency of an

outside intelligence, not belonging to any human being in the room.

Space does not allow me to give here all the arguments which can be

adduced to prove these points, but I will briefly mention one or two

circumstances out of many.

I have been present when several phenomena were going on at the same

time, some being unknown to the medium. I have been with Miss Fox when

she has been writing a message automatically to one person present,

whilst a message to another person on another subject was being given

alphabetically by means of "raps," and the whole time she was

conversing freely with a third person on a subject totally different

from either.

Perhaps a more striking instance is the following:

During a _seance_ with Mr. Home, a small lath, which I have before

mentioned, moved across the table to me, in the light, and delivered a

message to me by tapping my hand, I repeating the alphabet, and the

lath tapping me at the right letters. The other end of the lath was

resting on the table, some distance from Mr. Home's hands.

The taps were so sharp and clear, and the lath was evidently so well

under control of the invisible power which was governing its

movements, that I said, "Can the intelligence governing the motion of

this lath change the character of the movements, and give me a

telegraphic message through the Morse alphabet by taps on my hand?" (I

have every reason to believe that the Morse code was quite unknown to

any other person present, and it was only imperfectly known to me.)

Immediately I said this, the character of the taps changed, and the

message was continued in the way I had requested. The letters were

given too rapidly for me to do more than catch a word here and there,

and consequently I lost the message; but I heard sufficient to

convince me that there was a good Morse operator at the other end of

the line, wherever that might be.

Another instance. A lady was writing automatically by means of the

planchette. I was trying to devise a means of proving that what she

wrote was not due to "unconscious cerebration." The planchette, as it

always does, insisted that, although it was moved by the hand and the

arm of the lady, the _intelligence_ was that of an invisible being who

was playing on her brain as on a musical instrument, and thus moving

her muscles. I therefore said to this intelligence, "Can you see the

contents of this room?" "Yes," wrote the planchette. "Can you see to

read this newspaper?" said I, putting my finger on a copy of the

_Times_, which was on a table behind me, but without looking at it.

"Yes," was the reply of the planchette. "Well," I said, "if you can

see that, write the word which is now covered by my finger, and I

will believe you." The planchette commenced to move. Slowly and with

great difficulty the word "however" was written. I turned round and

saw that the word "however" was covered by the tip of my finger.

I had purposely avoided looking at the newspaper when I tried this

experiment, and it was impossible for the lady, had she tried, to have

seen any of the printed words, for she was sitting at one table, and

the paper was on another table behind, my body intervening.

THIRTEENTH CLASS: _Miscellaneous Occurrences of a Complex Character._

(Professor Crookes here cites two examples of the _transference of

matter through matter_,--a bell passing from neighboring room into

that in which the seance was being held, and a flower separating from

a bouquet and _passing through the table_.)

The spare at my disposal will not permit me to give more details here; but

all my readers must appreciate, as I do, the importance of these

experiments of the eminent chemist. I will especially call attention to

the proofs they afford of the presence of a mind or intelligence, other

than that of the experimenters; to the formation of hands and

spirit-forms; and to the passage of matter through matter.

These experiments date from the years 1871 to 1873. During the last

mentioned year, a new medium, endowed with particularly remarkable powers,

appeared in London, namely, Miss Florence Cook, who was born in 1856, and

was, therefore, seventeen in 1873. Since the preceding year (1872), she

had often seen the apparition by her side of a young girl. This spectral

form had taken a liking to her, and told her she was called _Katie King_

in the other world, and had been a lady called Annie Morgan during one of

her lives on earth. Some observers told marvellous stories of these

apparitions, which they also saw,--among them being William Harrison,

Benjamin Coleman, Mr. Luxmore, Dr. Sexton, Dr. Gully, the Prince of Sayn

Wittgenstein, who have all published accounts of them which breathe an

air of sincere belief. Professor Crookes got in touch with this new medium

in December, 1873. In _The Spiritualist_--a journal edited by Mr.

Harrison, at whose home several sittings had taken place--there appeared

in the numbers for February and March, 1874, two letters from Professor

Crookes. A few extracts from these letters here follow:

I have reason to know that the power at work in these phenomena, like

Love, "laughs at locksmiths."

The seance of which you speak and at which I was present, was held at

the house of Mr. Luxmore, and the "cabinet" was a back drawing-room

separated from the front room in which the company sat by a curtain.

The usual formality of searching the room and examining the fastenings

having been gone through, Miss Cook entered the cabinet.

After a little time the form of Katie appeared at the side of the

curtain, but soon retreated, saying her medium was not well, and could

not be put into a sufficiently deep sleep to make it safe for her to

be left.

I was sitting within a few feet of the curtain close behind which Miss

Cook was sitting, and I could frequently hear her moan and sob, as if

in pain. This uneasiness continued at intervals nearly the whole

duration of the _seance_, _and once, when the form of Katie was

standing before me in the room, I distinctly heard a sobbing, moaning

sound, identical with that which Miss Cook had been making at

intervals the whole time of the seance, come from behind the curtain

where the young lady was supposed to be sitting_.

I admit that the figure was startlingly life-like and real, and, as

far as I could see in the somewhat dim light, the features resembled

those of Miss Cook; but still the positive evidence of one of my own

senses that the moan came from Miss Cook in the cabinet, whilst the

figure was outside, is too strong to be upset by a mere inference to

the contrary, however well supported.

Your readers, sir, know me, and will, I hope, believe that I will not

come hastily to an opinion, or ask them to agree with me on

insufficient evidence. It is perhaps expecting too much to think that

the little incident I have mentioned will have the same weight with

them that it had with me. But this I do beg of them--Let those who are

inclined to judge Miss Cook harshly suspend their judgment until I

bring forward positive evidence which I think will be sufficient to

settle the question.

Miss Cook is now devoting herself exclusively to a series of private

seances with me and one or two friends. The seances will probably

extend over some months, and I am promised that every desirable test

shall be given to me. These seances have not been going on many weeks,

but enough has taken place to thoroughly convince me of the perfect

truth and honesty of Miss Cook, and to give me every reason to expect

that the promises so freely made to me by Katie will be kept.

WILLIAM CROOKES.

Here is the second letter from the cautious investigator:

In a letter which I wrote to this journal early in February last,

speaking of the phenomena of spirit-forms which have appeared through

Miss Cook's mediumship, I said, "Let those who are inclined to judge

Miss Cook harshly suspend their judgment until I bring forward

positive evidence which I think will be sufficient to settle the

question."

In that letter I described an incident which, to my mind, went very

far towards convincing me that Katie and Miss Cook were two separate

material beings. When Katie was outside the cabinet, standing before

me, I heard a moaning noise from Miss Cook in the cabinet. I am happy

to say that I have at last obtained the "absolute proof" to which I

referred in the above-quoted letter.

On March 12th, during a seance here, after Katie had been walking

amongst us and talking for some time, she retreated behind the curtain

which separated my laboratory, where the company was sitting, from my

library which did temporary duty as a cabinet. In a minute she came to

the curtain and called me to her, saying, "Come into the room and lift

my medium's head up, she has slipped down." Katie was then standing

before me clothed in her usual white robes and turban head-dress. I

immediately walked into the library up to Miss Cook, Katie stepping

aside to allow me to pass. I found Miss Cook had slipped partially

off the sofa, and her head was hanging in a very awkward position. I

lifted her on to the sofa, and in so doing had satisfactory evidence,

in spite of the darkness, that Miss Cook was not attired in the

"Katie" costume, but had on her ordinary black velvet dress, and was

in a deep trance. Not more than three seconds elapsed between my

seeing the white-robed Katie standing before me and my raising Miss

Cook onto the sofa from the position into which she had fallen.

On returning to my post of observation by the curtain, Katie again

appeared, and said she thought she would be able to show herself and

her medium to me at the same time. The gas was then turned out and she

asked for my phosphorus lamp. After exhibiting herself by it for some

seconds, she handed it back to me, saying, "Now come in and see my

medium." I closely followed her into the library, and by the light of

my lamp saw Miss Cook lying on the sofa just as I had left her. I

looked round for Katie, but she had disappeared. I called her, but

there was no answer.

On resuming my place, Katie soon reappeared, and told me that she had

been standing close to Miss Cook all the time. She then asked if she

might try an experiment herself, and taking the phosphorus lamp from

me she passed behind the curtain, asking me not to look in for the

present. In a few minutes she handed the lamp back to me, saying she

could not succeed, as she had used up all the power, but would try

again another time. My eldest son, a lad of fourteen, who was sitting

opposite me, in such a position that he could see behind the curtain,

tells me he distinctly saw the phosphorus lamp apparently floating

about in space over Miss Cook, illuminating her as she lay motionless

on the sofa, but he could not see anyone holding the lamp.

I pass on to a seance held last night at Hackney. Katie never appeared

to greater perfection, and for nearly two hours she walked about the

room, conversing familiarly with those present. On several occasions

she took my arm when walking, and the impression conveyed to my mind

that it was a living woman by my side, instead of a visitor from the

other world, was so strong that the temptation to repeat a recent

celebrated experiment became almost irresistible.

Feeling, however, that if I had not a spirit, I had at all events a

_lady_ close to me, I asked her permission to clasp her in my arms, so

as to be able to verify the interesting observations which a bold

experimentalist has recently somewhat verbosely recorded. Permission

was graciously given, and I accordingly did--well, as any gentleman

would do under the circumstances. Mr. Volckman will be pleased to know

that I can corroborate his statement that the "ghost" (not

"struggling" however) was as material a being as Miss Cook herself.

Katie now said she thought she would be able this time to show herself

and Miss Cook together. I was to turn the gas out, and then come with

my phosphorus lamp into the room now used as a cabinet. This I did,

having previously asked a friend who was skillful at shorthand to take

down any statement I might make when in the cabinet, knowing the

importance attaching to first impressions, and not wishing to leave

more to memory than necessary. His notes are now before me.

I went cautiously into the room, it being dark, and felt about for

Miss Cook. I found her crouching on the floor.

Kneeling down, I let air enter the lamp, and by its light I saw the

young lady dressed in black velvet, as she had been in the early part

of the evening, and to all appearance perfectly senseless; she did not

move when I took her hand and held the light quite close to her face,

but continued quietly breathing.

Raising the lamp, I looked around and saw Katie standing close behind

Miss Cook. She was robed in flowing white drapery as we had seen her

previously during the seance. Holding one of Miss Cook's hands in

mine, and still kneeling, I passed the lamp up and down so as to

illuminate Katie's whole figure, and satisfy myself thoroughly that I

was really looking at the veritable Katie whom I had clasped in my

arms a few minutes before, and not at the phantasm of a disordered

brain. She did not speak, but moved her head and smiled in

recognition. Three separate times did I carefully examine Miss Cook

crouching before me, to be sure that the hand I held was that of a

living woman, and three separate times did I turn the lamp to Katie

and examine her with steadfast scrutiny, until I had no doubt whatever

of her objective reality. At last Miss Cook moved slightly, and Katie

instantly motioned me to go away. I went to another part of the

cabinet, and then ceased to see Katie, but did not leave the room till

Miss Cook woke up, and two of the visitors came in with a light.

Before concluding this article I wish to give some of the points of

difference which I have observed between Miss Cook and Katie. Katie's

height varies; in my house I have seen her six inches taller than Miss

Cook. Last night, with bare feet, and not "tiptoeing," she was

four-and-a-half inches taller than Miss Cook. Katie's neck was bare

last night; the skin was perfectly smooth both to touch and sight,

whilst on Miss Cook's neck is a large blister, which under similar

circumstances is distinctly visible and rough to the touch. Katie's

ears are unpierced, whilst Miss Cook habitually wears earrings.

Katie's complexion is very fair, while that of Miss Cook is very dark.

Katie's fingers are much longer than Miss Cook's, and her face is also

larger. In manners and ways of expression there are also many decided

differences.

After the observations summarized in these two letters Professor Crookes

continued his experiments at his own home, for a space of two months. The

result of all is embodied in the following statements made by Crookes

himself:

During the week before Katie took her departure she gave seances at my

house almost nightly, to enable me to photograph her by artificial

light. Five complete sets of photographic apparatus were accordingly

fitted up for the purpose, consisting of five cameras, one of the

whole-plate size, one half-plate, one quarter-plate, and two binocular

stereoscopic cameras, which were all brought to bear upon Katie at the

same time on each occasion on which she stood for her portrait. Five

sensitizing and five fixing baths were used, and plenty of plates were

cleaned ready for use in advance, so that there might be no hitch or

delay during the photographic operations, which were performed by

myself, aided by one assistant.

My library was used as a dark cabinet. It has folding doors opening

into the laboratory; one of these doors was taken off its hinges, and

a curtain suspended in its place to enable Katie to pass in and out

easily. Those of our friends who were present were seated in the

laboratory facing the curtain, and the cameras were placed a little

behind them, ready to photograph Katie when she came outside, and to

photograph anything also inside the cabinet, whenever the curtain was

withdrawn for the purpose. Each evening there were three or four

exposures of plates in the five cameras, giving at least fifteen

separate pictures at each seance; some of these were spoilt in the

developing, and some in regulating the amount of light. Altogether, I

have forty-four negatives, some inferior, some indifferent, and some

excellent.

Katie instructed all the sitters but myself to keep their seats and to

keep conditions; but for some time past she has given me permission to

do what I liked--to touch her, and to enter and leave the cabinet

almost whenever I pleased. I have frequently followed her into the

cabinet, and have sometimes seen her and her medium together, but most

generally I have found nobody but the entranced medium lying on the

floor, Katie and her white robes having instantaneously disappeared.

During the last six months Miss Cook has been a frequent visitor at my

house, remaining sometimes a week at a time. She brings nothing with

her but a little hand-bag, not locked. During the day she is

constantly in the presence of Mrs. Crookes, myself, or some other

member of my family, and, not sleeping by herself, there is absolutely

no opportunity for any preparation even of a less elaborate character

than would be required for enacting Katie King. I prepare and arrange

my library myself as the dark cabinet, and usually, after Miss Cook

has been dining and conversing with us, and scarcely out of our sight

for a minute, she walks directly into the cabinet, and I, at her

request, lock its second door, and keep possession of the key all

through the seance. The gas is then turned out, and Miss Cook is left

in darkness.

On entering the cabinet, Miss Cook lies down upon the floor, with her

head on a pillow, and is soon entranced. During the photographic

seance, Katie muffled her medium's head up in a shawl to prevent the

light falling upon her face. I frequently drew the curtain on one side

when Katie was standing near, and it was a common thing for the seven

or eight of us in the laboratory to see Miss Cook and Katie at the

same time, under the full blaze of the electric light. We did not on

these occasions actually see the face of the medium because of the

shawl, but we saw her hands and feet; we saw her move uneasily under

the influence of the intense light, and we heard her moan

occasionally. I have one photograph of the two together, but Katie is

seated in front of Miss Cook's head.

During the time I took an active part in these seances Katie's

confidence in me gradually grew, until she refused to give a seance

unless I took charge of the arrangements. She said she always wanted

me to keep close to her, and near the cabinet, and I found that after

this confidence was established, and she was satisfied I would not

break any promise I might make to her, the phenomena increased greatly

in power, and tests were freely given that would have been

unobtainable had I approached the subject in another manner. She often

consulted me about persons present at the seances, and where they

should be placed, for of late she had become very nervous, in

consequence of certain ill-advised suggestions that force should be

employed as an adjunct to more scientific modes of research.

One of the most interesting of the pictures is one in which I am

standing by the side of Katie; she has her bare foot upon a particular

part of the floor. Afterwards I dressed Miss Cook like Katie, placed

her and myself in exactly the same position, and we were photographed

by the same cameras, placed exactly as in the other experiment, and

illuminated by the same light. When these two pictures are placed over

each other, the two photographs of myself coincide exactly as regards

stature, etc., but Katie is half a head taller than Miss Cook, and

looks a big woman in comparison with her. In the breadth of her face,

in many of the pictures, she differs essentially in size from her

medium, and the photographs show several other points of difference.

But photography is as inadequate to depict the perfect beauty of

Katie's face as words are powerless to describe her charms of manner.

Photography may, indeed, give a map of her countenance; but how can it

reproduce the brilliant purity of her complexion, or the ever-varying

expression of her most mobile features, now overshadowed with sadness

when relating some of the bitter experiences of her past life, now

smiling with all the innocence of happy girlhood when she had

collected my children round her and was amusing them by recounting

anecdotes of her adventures in India?

"Round her she made an atmosphere of life;

The very air seemed lighter from her eyes,

They were so soft and beautiful, and rife

With all we can imagine of the skies;

Her overpowering presence made you feel

It would not be idolatry to kneel."

Having seen so much of Katie lately, when she has been illuminated by

the electric light, I am enabled to add to the points of difference

between her and her medium which I mentioned in a former article. I

have the most absolute certainty that Miss Cook and Katie are two

separate individuals so far as their bodies are concerned. Several

little marks on Miss Cook's face are absent on Katie's. Miss Cook's

hair is so dark a brown as almost to appear black; a lock of Katie's,

which is now before me, and which she allowed me to cut from her

luxuriant tresses, having first traced it up to the scalp and

satisfied myself that it actually grew there, is a rich golden auburn.

One evening I timed Katie's pulse. It beat steadily at 75, whilst Miss

Cook's pulse a little time after was going at its usual rate of 90. On

applying my ear to Katie's chest I could hear a heart beating

rhythmically inside, and pulsating even more steadily than did Miss

Cook's heart when she allowed me to try a similar experiment after the

seance. Tested in the same way, Katie's lungs were found to be sounder

than her medium's, for at the time I tried my experiment Miss Cook was

under medical treatment for a severe cough.

This mysterious being, this strange Katie King, had announced, from the

time of her first appearances, that she would be able to show herself in

this way for only three years. The end of this period was now approaching.

When the time came for Katie to take her farewell I asked that she

would let me see the last of her. Accordingly when she had called each

of the company up to her and had spoken to them a few words in

private, she gave some general directions for the future guidance and

protection of Miss Cook. From these, which were taken down in

shorthand, I quote the following: "Mr. Crookes has done very well

throughout, and I leave Florrie with the greatest confidence in his

hands, feeling perfectly sure he will not abuse the trust I place in

him. He can act in any emergency better than I can myself, for he has

more strength." Having concluded her directions Katie invited me into

the cabinet with her, and allowed me to remain there to the end.

After closing the curtain she conversed with me for some time, and

then walked across the room to where Miss Cook was lying senseless on

the floor. Stooping over her, Katie touched her, and said: "Wake up,

Florrie, wake up! I must leave you now."

Miss Cook then woke and tearfully entreated Katie to stay a little

time longer. "My dear, I can't; my work is done. God bless you," Katie

replied, and then continued speaking to Miss Cook. For several minutes

the two were conversing with each other, till at last Miss Cook's

tears prevented her speaking. Following Katie's instructions I then

came forward to support Miss Cook, who was falling onto the floor,

sobbing hysterically. I looked round, but the white-robed Katie had

gone. As soon as Miss Cook was sufficiently calmed, a light was

procured and I led her out of the cabinet.

One word more about this astonishing phenomenon. The medium Home,

employed, as we have seen, in the first experiments of Professor Crookes,

gave it to me as his personal opinion that Miss Cook was only a skilful

trickster, and had shamefully deceived the eminent scientist, and as for

mediums, why _there was only one absolutely trustworthy and that was

himself, Daniel Dunglas Home_! He even added that the fiance of Miss Cook

had given striking proofs of her extreme cantankerousness!

He who has observed at close hand the rivalries of mediums--which are as

strongly marked as those of doctors, actors, musicians and women--will

not, it seems to me, find in this talk of Home any intrinsic value

whatever. But I must confess that this matter of Katie King is really so

extraordinary that I am forced to try every possible explanation before

admitting its truth. This is also the opinion of Mr. Crookes himself.

In order to convince myself (says he) I was constantly on my guard,

and Miss Cook readily assisted me in all my investigations. Every test

that I have proposed she has at once agreed to submit to with the

utmost willingness; she is open and straightforward in speech, and I

have never seen anything approaching the slightest symptom of a wish

to deceive. Indeed, I do not believe she could carry on a deception if

she were to try, and if she did she would certainly be found out very

quickly, for such a line of action is altogether foreign to her

nature. And to imagine that an innocent school-girl of fifteen would

be able to conceive and then successfully carry out for three years so

gigantic an imposture as this, and in that time would submit to any

test which might be imposed upon her, would bear the strictest

scrutiny, would be willing to be searched at any time, either before

or after a seance, and would meet with even better success in my own

house than at that of her parents, knowing that she visited me with

the express object of submitting to strict scientific tests--to

imagine, I say, the Katie King of the last three years to be the

result of imposture does more violence to one's reason and common

sense than to believe her to be what she herself affirms.

It will perhaps not be superfluous to round out these accounts of William

Crookes by giving an extract from the journal _The Spiritualist_ of the

29th of May, 1874.

From the beginning of the mediumship of Miss Cook, the spirit Katie

King or Annie Morgan, who had produced the greater portion of the

physical part of the manifestations, had announced that she would not

be able to be with her medium longer than three years, and that after

that time she would say good-bye to her forever.

The end of that period came last Thursday; but before leaving her

medium, she gave her friends three more seances.

The last took place on Thursday, the 21st of May, 1874. Among the

spectators was Prof. William Crookes.

At 7.23 in the evening Professor Crookes led Miss Cook into the dark

cabinet, where she lay down upon the floor, her head resting on a

cushion. At 7.28 Katie spoke for the first time, and at 7.30 she

showed herself outside of the curtain in her full form. She was

dressed in white, short sleeves and bare neck. She had long light

auburn hair of a rich tint, falling in curls on each side of her head

and down her back to her waist. She wore a long white veil which was

not drawn down over her face more than once or twice during the

sitting.

The medium wore a light blue merino robe. During almost the whole of

the seance, Katie remained standing before us. The curtain of the

cabinet was drawn aside and all could distinctly see the medium lying

asleep, having her face covered with a red shawl, in order to shield

it from the light. Katie spoke of her approaching departure and

accepted a bouquet which Mr. Tapp had brought her, as well as a bunch

of lilies offered by Mr. Crookes. She asked Mr. Tapp to untie the

bouquet and to put the flowers before her on the floor. She then sat

down in the Turkish style and asked all to sit around her in the same

way. Then she divided the flowers and gave to each a little bouquet

tied up with a blue ribbon.

She then wrote letters to some of her friends, signing them "Annie

Owen Morgan," saying that was her true name during her life on earth.

She also wrote a letter to her medium, and chose for her a rosebud as

a good-bye gift. Katie then took the scissors, cut off a lock of her

hair and gave some of it to all of us. She then took Mr. Crookes' hand

and made the tour of the room, pressing the hand of each of us in

turn. She then sat down again and cut off several pieces of her robe

and of her veil for remembrances. Seeing such holes in her robe (she

being seated all this while between Mr. Crookes and Mr. Tapp), some

one asked her if she could repair the damage, as she had done on

previous occasions. She then held the cut part of the robe in the

light, gave one rap upon it, and instantly that part was whole and

unblemished as before. Those near her touched and examined the stuff,

with her permission. They affirmed that there was neither hole nor

scam, nor anything added at the very place where an instant before

they had seen holes several inches in diameter.

She next gave her last instructions to Mr. Crookes. Then, seeming

fatigued, she added that her force was disappearing, and repeated her

good-bye to everyone in the most affectionate manner. All present

thanked her for the wonderful manifestations which she had given them.

While she was directing toward her friends a last grave and pensive

look, she let fall the curtain, and it hid her from our view. We heard

her waking up the medium, who begged her with tears to remain a little

longer. But Katie said, "It is impossible, my dear; my mission is

accomplished; God bless you!" And we heard the sound of a kiss. The

medium then came out among us wholly exhausted and in a state of deep

dismay.

Such are the experiments of Sir William Crookes. I have restricted myself

to relating his own personal observations, as set forth by himself. The

story of Katie King is truly one of the most mysterious, the most

incredible, to be found in the whole history of Spiritualistic research,

and is at the same time, one of the cases that have been most scrupulously

studied by the experimental method, including photography.

The medium, Miss Florence Cook, married in 1874 Mr. Elgie Corner, and,

from that time on, her contributions to psychical research almost ceased.

I have several times been assured that she also had been caught in the

very act of cheating. (Always that feminine hysteria!) But the

investigations of Crookes were conducted with such care and competence,

that it is very difficult to refuse our credence. Besides, this scientist

was not the only one to study the mediumship of Florence Cook. Among other

works that may be consulted on this subject is one containing a large

number of proofs and testimonies, as well as several photographs (alluded

to above).[68]

These recorded cases, or testimonies, form a collection of records, the

study of which is most instructive. The study of the great chemist surpass

the rest, to be sure, but it does not diminish the intrinsic value of the

others. All the observations agree and mutually confirm each other.

As to the explanation of the phenomena, Crookes thinks that we cannot

discover it. Was this apparition what it claimed to be? There is nothing

to prove it.

Might it not be a _double_ of the medium, a product of her psychic force?

The learned chemist did not change his opinion (as has been claimed) about

the authenticity of the phenomena studied by him. In an address delivered

at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science,

held at Bristol in 1898, and of which he was President, he expressed

himself as follows:

No incident in my scientific career is more widely known than the part

I took many years ago in certain psychic researches. Thirty years have

passed since I published an account of experiments tending to show

that outside our scientific knowledge there exists a Force exercised

by intelligence differing from the ordinary intelligence common to

mortals. This fact in my life is, of course, well understood by those

who honored me with the invitation to become your President. Perhaps

among my audience some may feel curious as to whether I shall speak

out or be silent. I elect to speak, although briefly.

To enter at length on a still debatable subject would be to insist on

a topic which,--as Wallace, Lodge and Barrett have already

shown,--though not unfitted for discussion at these meetings, does not

yet enlist the interest of the majority of my scientific brethren. To

ignore the subject would be an act of cowardice, an act of cowardice I

feel no temptation to commit.

To stop short in any research that bids fair to widen the gates of

knowledge, to recoil from fear of difficulty or adverse criticism, is

to bring reproach on science. There is nothing for the investigator to

do but to go straight on, "to explore up and down, inch by inch, with

the taper, his reason;" to follow the light wherever it may lead, even

should it at times resemble a will-o'-the wisp.

I have nothing to retract. I adhere to my already published

statements. Indeed, I might add much thereto. I regret only a certain

crudity in those early expositions, which, no doubt justly, militated

against their acceptance by the scientific world. My own knowledge at

that time scarcely extended beyond the fact that certain phenomena new

to science had assuredly occurred, and were attested by my own sober

senses, and, better still, by automatic record.

I was like some two-dimensional being who might stand at the singular

point of a Riemann's surface, and thus find himself in infinitesimal

and inexplicable contact with a plane of existence not his own.

I think I see a little farther now. I have glimpses of something like

coherence among the strange elusive phenomena; of something like

continuity between those unexplained forces and laws already known.

This advance is largely due to the labors of another Association of

which I have also this year the honor to be President--the Society for

Psychical Research. And 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 recognized organs of sense, that knowledge

may enter the human mind without being communicated in any hitherto

known or recognized ways.

Although the inquiry has elicited important facts with reference to

the mind, it has not yet reached the scientific stage of certainty

which would entitle it to be usefully brought before one of our

sections. I will therefore confine myself to pointing out the

direction in which scientific investigation can legitimately advance.

If telepathy take place we have two physical facts--the physical

change in the brain of A, the suggester, and the analogous physical

change in the brain of B, the recipient of the suggestion. Between

these two physical events there must exist a train of physical causes.

Whenever the connecting sequence of intermediate causes begins to be

revealed the inquiry will then come within the range of one of the

sections of the British Association. Such a sequence can only occur

through an intervening medium. All the phenomena of the universe are

presumably in some way continous, and it is unscientific to call in

the aid of mysterious agencies when with every fresh advance in

knowledge it is shown that ether vibrations have powers and attributes

abundantly equal to any demand--even to the transmission of thought.

It is supposed by some physiologists that the essential cells of

nerves do not actually touch, but are separated by a narrow gap which

widens in sleep while it narrows almost to extinction during mental

activity. This condition is so singuarly like that of a Branly or

Lodge coherer as to suggest a further analogy.

The structure of brain and nerve being similar, it is conceivable

there may be present masses of such nerve coherers in the brain whose

special function it may be to receive impulses brought from without

through the connecting sequence of ether waves of appropriate order of

magnitude. Roentgen has familiarized us with an order of vibrations of

extreme minuteness compared with the smallest waves with which we

have hitherto been acquainted, and of dimensions comparable with the

distances between centers of the atoms of which the material universe

is built up; and there is no reason to suppose that we have here

reached the limit of frequency. It is known that the action of thought

is accompanied by certain molecular movements in the brain, and here

we have physical vibrations capable from their extreme minuteness of

acting directly on individual molecules, while their rapidity

approaches that of the internal and external movements of the atoms

themselves.

Confirmation of telepathic phenomena is afforded by many converging

experiments, and by many spontaneous occurrences only thus

intelligible. The most varied proof, perhaps, is drawn from analysis

of the sub-conscious workings of the mind, when these, whether by

accident or design, are brought into conscious survey. Evidence of a

region below the threshold of consciousness has been presented, since

its first inception, in the "Proceedings of the Society for Psychical

Research;" and its various aspects are being interpreted and welded

into a comprehensive whole by the pertinacious genius of F. W. H.

Myers.

A formidable range of phenomena must be scientifically sifted before

we effectually grasp a faculty so strange, so bewildering, and for

ages so inscrutable, as the direct action of mind on mind.

An eminent predecessor in this chair declared that "by an intellectual

necessity be crossed the boundary of experimental evidence, and

discerned in that matter, which we, in our ignorance of its latent

powers, and notwithstanding our professed reverence for its Creator,

have hitherto covered with opprobrium, the potency and promise of all

terrestrial life." I should prefer to reverse the apophthegm, and to

say that in life I see the promise and potency of all forms of matter.

In old Egyptian days a well-known inscription was carved over the

portal of the temple of Isis: "I am whatever hath been, is, or ever

will be; and my veil no man hath yet lifted." Not thus do modern

seekers after truth confront Nature,--the word that stands for the

baffling mysteries of the Universe. Steadily, unflinchingly, we

strive to pierce the inmost heart of Nature, from what she is to

re-construct what she has been, and to prophesy what she yet shall be.

Veil after veil we have lifted, and her face grows more beautiful,

august, and wonderful, with every barrier that is withdrawn.

It would be difficult to find truer thought better expressed. It is the

language of true science, and is also the expression of the highest

philosophy.