Lucentemque globum Lunae Titaniaque astra
Spiritus intus alit, totamque infusa per artus
MENS AGITAT MOLEM, _et magno se corpore miscet_.
Martianus Capella, like all the authors of the first centuries of
Christianity, mentions this directive force, also calling it the fifth
element, and furthermore describes it under the name "ether."
A Roman emperor, well known to the Parisians, since it was in their city
(in the palace built by his grandfather near the present _Thermes_, or old
Roman baths) that he was proclaimed emperor in the year 360 (I mean
Julian, called the Apostate), celebrates this fifth principle in his
discourse in honor of the "The Sun, the Monarch,"[96] styling it sometimes
the solar principle, sometimes the soul of the world, or intellectual
principle, sometimes ether, or the soul of the physical world.
This psychical element is not confounded by the philosophers with God and
Providence. In their eyes, it is something which forms part of nature.
* * * * *
One more word before closing. Human nature is endowed with faculties as
yet little explored, that the observations made with mediums, or
dynamogens, bring to light--such as human magnetism, hypnotism, telepathy,
clairvoyance, and premonition. These unknown psychic forces are worthy of
being embraced within the scope of scientific analysis. At present they
have been almost as little studied as in the time of Ptolemy, and have not
yet found their Kepler, and their Newton, yet fairly obtrude themselves
upon our notice, and cry out to be examined.
Many another unknown force will be revealed. The earth and the planets
were circling about the sun in their harmonious orbits while astronomical
theories saw in them only a complicated whirl of seventy-nine crystalline
shells. Magnetism was encircling the earth with its currents long before
the invention of the mariner's compass which reveals them to us. The waves
of wireless telegraphy existed long before they were arrested in their
flight. The sea was moaning along its shores ages before the ear of any
being had come to hear it. The stars were darting their rays through the
ether before any human eye had been raised to them.
The observations set forth in this work prove that the conscious will, or
desire, on the one hand, and the subliminal consciousness on the other
hand, exert an influence, or perform work, beyond the limits of our body.
The nature of the human soul is still a deep mystery to science and to
philosophy.
It seems rather remarkable that the conclusions drawn from my labors here
are the same as those of my work _The Unknown_, which were founded upon
the examination of the phenomena of telepathy, apparitions of the dying,
communications at a distance, premonitory dreams, etc. Indeed, the
following deductions were drawn at the close of that volume:
1. _The soul exists as a real entity independent of the body._
2. _It is endowed with faculties still unknown to science._
3. _It is able to act at a distance, without the intervention of the
senses._
The conclusions of the present work concord with those of the former, and
yet the subjects studied in this are entirely different from the
subject-matter of that.
I may sum up the whole matter with the single statement that there exists
in nature, in myriad activity, a _psychic element_ the essential nature
of which is still hidden from us. I shall be happy for my part, if I have
helped to establish by these two works the above important principle,
exclusively based upon the scientific verification of certain phenomena
studied by the experimental method.
INDEX
Academy of Sciences, its scepticism xvi, 19, investigates Angelica
Cottin, 224 _et seq._
Acoustic Mediumistic Phenomena,--Cases of, 71, 73, 89, 96, 112, 121,
144, 163, 167, 183, 274, 292, 299, 369, 373, 374, 378, 380.
Aksakof, Alexander, 63, 151, 178;
cited, 55, 66, 188, 435;
his account of alleged spirit communication regarding satellites of
Uranus, 50-52.
Albert the Great, xxi.
Alcofribaz Nazier, anagram signature of Rabelais, _q.v._
Alterations in weight of bodies in mediumistic phenomena (including
variations in scales without contact), 88, 153, 173, 199, 354, 413,
414.
Animism vs. Spiritism, 187 _et seq._
Antoniadi, M., report on E. Paladino, 109-111.
Apparitions, 419.
_See also_, Materializations.
Apports (objects brought in from outside the seance room), 99, 112, 186,
187, 292, 373, 378, 380.
Arago, 178;
investigates Angelica Cottin, 223;
alleged spirit communication from, 389.
Aristotle, quoted, 450.
Armelin G., report on E. Paladino, 103-109.
Ascensi M., 143.
Astral body, 166.
Astronomical discoveries, xvi.
Automatic writing and drawing, theories of, 26-30, 58 _et seq._;--methods
of, 28;
by Victorien Sardou, 25, 46;--by Camille Flammarion, 26, 47-49;
reflect the thoughts of the experimenter, 49 _et seq._;
by children, 274;
other cases, 384-387.
Azam, Dr., 141;
---- Felida's case, 59.
Babinet, M., 266;
report on Angelica Cottin, 224-227;
de Gasparin's criticisms of, 260-265.
Bacle, Louis ("Louis Elbe"), 368.
Baschet, Rene, 34, 98, 101, 103, 128;
arms partial materialization, 131.
Basilewska, M. and Mme., 98, 101.
Bianchi, M., 147.
Binet, Alfred, 188.
Bisschofsheim, Mme., 101.
Blech family, hold sittings with E. Paladino, 63-84, 173.
Bloch, Andre, 84, 93, 101.
Bois, Jules, 84, 103, 128, 203.
Boisseaux, Mme., 173.
Boissier, Edmond, 27.
Bourrer, M., 141.
Boutigny, M., 114.
Bredif, C., medium, 196.
Brisson, Adolphe, 95, 98, 101, 103, 114, 128, 200, 203;
report on E. Paladino.
Brisson, Mme. A., 93, 95, 101, 103, 114.
Buffern, Prof., 151.
Buguet, medium, 196.
Burot, 141.
Cactoni, M. and Mme., 368.
Calonne, xvi.
Castex-Degrange, M., 437;
reports of mediumistic phenomena, 381-393.
Charcot, Dr., 4.
Chardon, Dr. Beaumont, notes on Angelica Cottin, 223.
Chevigny, Countess de, 101.
Chevreul, M., 266.
Chiaia, Prof. E., first obtains impressions in clay through Paladino, 78;
challenges Lombroso to investigate Paladino, 136.
Cicero, quoted, 450.
Claretie, Jules, 45, 98;
report on E. Paladino, 98-101.
Coleman, Benjamin, 334.
Cook, Florence, medium (afterwards Mrs. Elgie Corner), remarkable case
of materialization, 334;
investigated by Crookes, 335-347.
Cottin, Angelica, the Electric Girl, 219;
Dr. Tanchou's report of, 220-222;
notes of M. Hebert, 222;
Dr. Beaumont Chardon, 223;
Academy of Sciences investigates, 224-227.
Coues, Dr. and Mrs. Elliott; report on mediumistic phenomena, 401-405.
Crookes, Sir William, 65, 121, 196, 297, 305, 358;
his experiments in psychical research, 306-347;
his mechanical contrivances for testing such phenomena, 308, 318, 319,
322, 323;
his views in 1898, 347-351;
his theory regarding such phenomena, 408.
Crystal vision, 292.
Cumberlandism, 171.
Curie, Pierre, 360.
Daguerre, an anecdote of, 11.
Dariex, Dr., 63, 173, 218, 368;
cited, 3, 210;
his opinion of fraud in mediums, 203-205.
D'Arsouval, Prof., 360.
Darkness as a factor in psychical phenomena, 10-13, 68, 89.
Davenport Brothers, the, xi, xiii, xiv, xxi.
Delanee, G., 84, 98, 101, 375.
Delfour, Abbe, cited, 398.
Delgaiz, Raphael, Husband of Eusapia Paladino, 67.
Desbeaux, Emilie, 173.
Dialectical Society of London, its organization, 289;
its experiments in psychical research, 291-302;
Huxley declines to join, 290;
Flammarion's letter to, 302-304.
Divination of Numbers, 240, 249 _et seq._
Double Personality, an hypothesis for spiritistic communication, 58 _et
seq._;
Dr. Pierre Janet's studies in, 60.
Drayson, Gen. A. W., on solution of scientific problems by Spirits, 50
_et seq._;
errors of, 53, 55.
Duclaux, E., 438.
Du Prel, Dr. Charles, 151.
Dusart, Dr., 289.
Dynamic theory of matter, 427.
Eglington, medium, 196.
Ephrussi, M., 101.
Ermacora, Dr., 151.
Faith not a necessity in psychic phenomena, 279.
Faraday, 188, 259, 262, 266.
Felida, case of double personality, 59.
Finzi, M., 151.
Flammarion, Camille, some scientific researches of, vi;
early writings on _Unknown Natural Forces_, xi;
experiments with Eusapia Paladino, 5-23, 63-134;
acquaintance with Allan Kardec, 24 _et seq._;
automatic writing by, 26;
delivers funeral oration of Kardec, 30;
experiments with Mme. Huet, 36 _et seq._;
letter to London Dialectical Society, 302-304;
his "General Inquiry" concerning unexplained phenomena, 376;
some specimen cases, 377-405.
Fluidic action, theories of, 166, 179, 253, 258, 282, 422, 427.
Fluidic projection of limbs, etc. _See_ Materializations.
Fontenay, Guillaume de, 3, 21, 84, 95, 368;
participates in Paladino sittings, 69-83, 123;
his dynamic theory of matter, 427-431.
Foucault, M., 264.
Fourth dimension, 420.
Fourton, Mme., 93, 95, 98, 101, 103, 114, 128, 202.
Fox sisters, case of the, 34.
Fox, Miss, automatic communication by, 437.
Fraud in mediums, 194, _et seq._
Frauenhofer, cited, 19.
Fremy, M., cited, xix.
Fresnel, 190.
Fulton's invention of steamboat, xvi.
Gagneur, Mme., 98, 101.
Galileo, alleged spiritistic communication from, 26, 47-49;
his erroneous theory for frictional attraction, 188, 189.
Galvani's experiments in electricity, xvi.
Gasparin, Count Agenor de, 305;
experiments with moving tables, 229-253;
his hypotheses, 253-258, 408;
his rejoinder to Babinet's negations, 258-265;
Prof. Thury's comments on, 268, 273, 276, 279, 282 _et seq._
Geley, Dr., his hypothesis of subliminal consciousness, 434.
Gerosa, Prof., 151.
Gigli, M., 143.
Girardin, Mme. de, 61.
Gramont, Count de, 173.
Grasset, Dr., his opinion on pyschical phenomena, 409.
Grove, quoted, xix.
Guerronnan, A., 173.
Gully, Dr., 334.
Hallucination, collective, does not satisfactorily account for
phenomena, 130, 179.
Harrison, William, 334.
Hartman, Dr. von, 435.
Hebert, M., note on Angelica Cottin, 322.
Herschel, William, 50.
Herschel, Sir John, cites, 50.
Hodgson, Dr. Richard, 305.
Home, Daniel Dunglas, 195, 437;
experiments with an accordion, 121;
Crooke's investigation of, 307-322;
324-334;
declares Miss Cook an impostor, 343.
Huet, Mme., mediumistic experiments with, 36 _et seq._
Hugo, Leopoldine, alleged spirit communication of, 212, _et seq._
Hugo, Victor, 61, 212, 443.
Husson, M., 263.
Huxley, T. H., his letter declining to join in psychical research, 290.
Hyslop, Prof. James H., 305;
his opinion on phenomena, 409.
Impressions in plastic substances, 420;
photographs of, 76, 138;
cases of, 22, 74-78, 158, 163, 184.
Institute, its disregard of papers on table-movements, 263.
Invisible hands, action of, 418.
_See also_, Acoustic phenomena, _and_ Materializations (tactile).
Intelligence manifested in mediumistic phenomena, 421.
James, Prof. William, 305.
Janet, Dr. Pierre, 60, 188.
Joncieres, Victorin, 437;
reports mediumistic phenomena, 378-381.
Joubert, M., 37, 42.
Jouffroy's invention of the steamboat, xvi.
Julian the Apostate, cited, 451.
Jupiter, Sardou's drawings of landscapes in, 25, 45.
Kardec, Allan, his society for spiritualistic study, 24;
death of, 30;
his funeral oration by Flammarion, 30-32.
Kepler, 55.
King, John, alleged spirit control of E. Paladino, 71, 78, 141, 169;
a psychic double of Paladino, 166.
King, Katie, a materialized spirit, 141;
appears to Florence Cook and others, 334;
investigated by Crookes and other scientist, 335-346;
Home's opinion of her, 343.
Labadye, Countess de, 103.
Lacroix, medium, 196.
Laplace, 51.
Lateau, Louise, stigmata of, 20.
Laurent, M., 101.
Lebel, M., 218.
Le Bocain, M., 114;
report on E. Paladino, 116-118.
Le Bou, Dr. Gustave, report on E. Paladino, 101-103.
Lemerle, M., 368.
LeVerrier, 213.
Leymarie, Paul, 218.
Levitations, 5-8, 33, 79, 80, 118, 414-416;
photographs of, 6, 83, 156, 368;
denied by one sitter, 132;
the flour test of 1. without contact, 247, 248;
cases of, 6, 17, 70, 73, 74, 83, 88, 91, 93, 94, 96, 99, 104, 105,
111, 113, 114, 144-147, 154-156, 160, 164, 167, 174, 180, 183-87,
204, 229, 232, 236, 238, 239, 240-248, 292, 354, 357, 364, 368-370,
373, 379, 380, 403.
Levy, Arthur, 200;
report on E. Paladino, 86-92.
Levy, Mme. A., 200.
Levy, J. H., 289.
Lewes, George Henry, 290.
Lifting of weights, etc., 413.
_See also_, Levitation.
Lamoncelli, M., 147.
Lodge, Sir Oliver, 63, 65, 305;
his opinion of Paladino's phenomena, 167.
Lomatsch, J., 372.
Lombroso, Cesare, 63, 151, 178, 188;
Prof. Chiaia invites examination of Paladino, 136;
investigates Paladino, 143-150;
his theories regarding the phenomena, 150, 409.
Louis XIV, a fable of, 43.
Lubbock, Sir John, 289.
Luminous mediumistic phenomena, cases of, 74, 97, 105, 108, 125, 148,
186, 198, 371.
Luxmore, Mr., 334, 335.
Luys, Dr., 4.
Mairet, M., 98.
Mangin, Marcel, 162, 173, 218;
his opinion on psychical phenomena, 410.
Marcianus Capella, cited, 451.
Marks produced at a distance, 167.
Mars, discovery of satellites of, 55.
Martelet, Adele, relates an incident of Alfred de Musset, 398.
Materializations, theory of fluidic projection of limbs, etc., 121 _et
seq._, 166, 198, 208.
Cases of:
(a) TACTILE:--of hands or arms, 71, 72, 89, 97, 98, 101, 106-108,
111, 113, 116-118, 124, 146, 148, 160, 167, 174, 181, 186,
292, 371, 374;
of heads, 73, 89, 115, 161, 177, 187, 371.
(b) VISIBLE:--of hands and arms, 10, 73, 116, 159, 175, 185, 292;
of heads and busts, 21, 72, 115, 128, 177, 185, 366;
of complete figure, "Katie King," 334-346.
Mathieu, Georges, 93, 101, 200;
report on E. Paladino, 111-114.
" P. F., 37.
Matter passing through matter, _see_ Solid.
Maxwell, Dr. Joseph, 63, 172, 173.
Extracts from his investigations, 360-368;
his opinions, 410.
Mediums, cheating of professional, 3, 207;
their conscious and unconscious deception, 4;
use of the word, 5;
their will and health as factors, 14;
pecuniary temptations of, 157.
_See also_, Bredif, Florence Cook, Angelica Cottin, Davenport
brothers, Eglington, Fox sisters, Daniel D. Home, Mme. Huet, Allan
Kardee, A. Politi, E. Paladino, Anna Rothe, Sambor, Slade, Mrs.
Williams, Mme. X.
Mediumistic Phenomena, a chapter in physics, 2;
effects of antipathy of by slanders, 15;
genuineness of, 21, 184;
reflections upon those of Paladino, 118 _et seq._;
experiments with an accordion, 121 _et seq._;
confirmatory of magnetism rather than hypnotism, 166;
always of psycho-physical nature, 166;
hypothesis of fluidic double (astral body), 166, 179;
fraud in, 194 _et seq._;
agency is in the person, not in the object, 254;
mechanical tests of, by Prof. Thury, 269 _et seq._;
by Sir William Crookes, 306 _et seq._;
unconscious muscular action considered, 280;
no indications of electricity in, 281;
experiments of London Dialectical Society, 291-303;
Sir William Crookes' experiments, 306-347;
his opinions of, 347-351;
investigations of Alfred Russel Wallace, 353-359;
of Dr. J. Maxwell, 359-368;
of other scientists, 368-375;
popular ignorance of, 406 _et seq._;
recapitulation of scientist's theories regarding, 408;
recapitulation of phenomena with Flammarion's comments, 411-423 _et
seq._;
subliminal consciousness as a factor in, 433 _et seq._;
Dr. von Hartmann's hypothesis, 435;
Aksakof's reply, 435;
of mixed character, 438.
_See also_, Acoustic phenomena, Alteration in weight, Apparitions,
Apports, Automatic writing, Fluidic Action, Impressions, Invisible
hands, Levitations, Luminous phenomena, Materializations, Movement
of objects, Ordeals, Predictions, Raps, Solid passing through solid,
Spirit communications, Spiritualism, Thermal radiations, Typtology,
Touchings, Writing produced at a distance.
Mery, Gaston, 84, 95, 375.
Miller, American medium, 375.
Milesi, Prof., 368.
Mind, action of, upon matter, 283 _et seq._, 365.
Moliere, xiv., quoted, 264, 265.
Montaigne, 1.
Morgan, Prof., 297-359;
accepts Spiritistic theory, 409.
Morselli, Prof. Enrico, 188;
investigates E. Paladino, 177-192.
Mouchez, Admiral, 197, 213.
Mouzay, Countess de, 211.
Movements of natural objects, in mediumistic phenomena, 411-416;
cases of, 9, 17, 70-74, 88, 90, 91, 93, 95-99, 105, 106, 108, 109,
111-114, 125, 126, 144, 147, 148, 156, 157, 163, 165, 167, 175, 176,
181-183, 185, 187, 234, 237, 271, 274, 275, 293, 295, 297, 299-301,
353, 354, 358, 359, 369, 370, 371, 373, 378, 382, 383, 398, 399, 403.
Musset, Alfred de, 398.
Myers, F. W. H., 63, 162, 305, 350;
on Subliminal Consciousness, 433, 434.
Newton, cited, 19.
Nus, Eugene, 61, 443.
Ochorowicz, Dr. Julien, 63, 162, 188;
his studies of Eusapia Paladino, 76-78;
his conclusions, 166, 409;
condemns the rejection of Paladino by English scientists, 168;
his explanation of her substitution of hands, 170.
Ordeals, 292.
Ostwald, Dr., arranges seance with E. Paladino, 15.
Paladino, Eusapia (Mme. Raphael Delgaiz), 2, 3;
her exhaustion after phenomena, 7;
her fraud (conscious and unconscious), 10;
influence of her health on experiments, 15;
darkness demanded for best results, 10, 68, 89;
her personality and history, 67, 86, 87, 140;
Flammarion's estimate of the comparative authenticity of her
phenomena, 70;
unknown natural forces evidenced, 80, 152;
investigated by Flammarion, 5-23, 63-134;
by Lombroso, 143-150;
by Enrico Morselli, and Francois Porro, 177-192;
by other scientists, at Milan, 151 _et seq._;
at other places, 162 _et seq._;
M. Antoniadi considers her phenomena fraudulent, 109-111;
unsuccessful attempt to photograph fluidic hand, 123;
M. L---- denies levitations, 132;
Professor Chiaia challenges Lombroso to investigate, 136;
photographs of facial imprints, 76, 136;
her spiritualistic education, 141;
her symptoms during the production of phenomena, 142;
her sensations, 143;
Ochorowicz's apparatus to control feet, 164;
results of sympathetic trance of a sitter, 165;
detected in fraud at Cambridge, 168;
an incident at Ochorowicz's home, 168 _et seq._;
her deceptions, their reasons and their relevance to phenomena,
194-211;
Dr. Dariex's opinion of them, 206;
her sensitiveness to suggestion, 207.
Reports on her phenomena by Dr. Julien Ochorowicz, 76-78, 166;
by Prof. Chiaia, 78, 136-140;
by Arthur Levy, 86-92;
Adolph Brisson, 93, 94;
Victorien Sardou, 95-98;
Jules Claretie, 98-101;
Gustave Le Bon, 101-103;
G. Armelin, 103-109;
M. Antoniadi, 109-111;
M. Mathieu, 111-114;
M. Palotti, 114-116;
M. Le Bocain, 116-118;
A. de Rochas, 140-143, 174-176;
M. Ciolfi's account of Lombroso's seances, 143-150;
the Milan scientists, 151-161;
M. de Siemradski, 163, 164;
Sir Oliver Lodge, 167;
Sully-Prudhomme, 176;
Francois Porro's reports of seances with Morselli, 177-192.
Recorded cases of her phenomena.
(a) Raps (including typtological communications), 8, 13, 17, 70, 75,
80, 105, 114, 144, 145, 147, 175, 203.
(b) Movements of natural objects (_see also_ (d) apports), 9, 17,
70-74, 88, 90, 91, 93, 95-99, 105, 106, 108, 109, 111-114, 125,
126, 144, 147, 148, 156, 157, 163, 167, 175, 176, 181-183, 185,
187-203, 209, 210.
(c) Levitations, 6, 16, 70, 73, 74, 83, 88, 91, 93, 94, 96, 99, 104,
105, 111, 113, 114, 144-147, 154-156, 160, 164, 167, 174, 180,
183-187, 204, 364.
(d) Apports (objects brought in from outside the room), 99, 112, 186,
187.
(e) Alteration in weight of bodies and variation in weighing apparatus
without contact, 88, 153, 173, 191.
(f) Thermal radiations, 115, 117, 125, 186.
(g) acoustic phenomena (sounds other than raps q.v.), 71, 73, 89, 96,
112, 144, 163, 167, 183, 209, 210.
(h) writing and marks produced at a distance, 167.
(i) impressions in plastic substances, 22, 74-78, 158, 163, 184;
photographs of, 76.
(j) luminous phenomena, 74, 97, 105, 108, 125, 148, 186, 199.
(k) trance speaking, 71, 160.
(l) Materializations.
(I) Tactile,--of hands and arms, 71, 72, 89, 97, 98, 101, 106-108,
111, 113, 116-118, 124, 146, 148, 160, 167, 174, 181, 186;
of heads, 73, 89, 115, 161, 177, 187.
(II) visible,--of hands of arms, 10, 73, 116, 159, 175, 185;
of heads and busts, 21, 72, 115, 128, 177, 185, 366.
(m) a solid passing through a solid substance, 107, 128.
(n) cases apparently produced by fraud, 200.
Palotti, M., report on E. Paladino, 114-116.
Palotti, Mme., 114.
Pelletier, M., 220.
Penta, Dr., 147.
Phaedrus, quoted, xx.
Phalansterians, the, 61, 443.
Phantoms, 419, _see also_ Materializations.
Plautus, xiv.
Politi, Auguste, mediums, his phenomena, 368-371.
Poggenpohl, M. de, 373, 374.
Porro, Francois, report on E. Paladino, 177-192;
his theories, 409.
Predictions, 293, 384, 385.
Psychical research, utility of, v, viii, 2, 30-32;
the sceptic's attitude toward, vii;
ignorance of critics of, xii, xv;
scientists unwilling to recognize phenomena, 18-20;
value of cumulative testimony in, 191;
necessity of eliminating fraud in, 194;
society for, 305.
Psychological Institute invites E. Paladino to Paris, 3.
Rabelais, 1;
alleged spirit communications from, 38-40.
Radioculture, vi.
Raps (_see also_, Typtology), their connection with sitters, 22;
hypotheses for, 35;
Dr. J. Maxwell's Studies of, 360-364;
recapitulation of, 416-418;
cases of, 8, 13, 17, 75, 105, 144, 145, 147, 175, 232, 244, 292,
297-301, 353, 357.
Ravachol, alleged spirit communication from, 213.
Regnard, quoted, 101.
Ribero, M., 218.
Richet, Dr. Charles, 3, 63, 65, 84, 93, 95, 151, 162, 178, 202, 305;
his experiments in Algiers, 375;
his theory, 409.
Rochas, Count Albert de, 63, 84, 95, 162, 203, 289, 368;
cited, 3, 135, 179, 188, 198;
his theories, 409.
Rodiere, Mme., medium, 196.
Rothe, Anna, medium, 217.
Rothschild, Ed. de, 101.
Roure, Lucien, cited, 398.
Sabatier, A., 63, 173.
Sambor, Russian medium, his phenomena, 371-374.
Sardou, Victorien, 178, 203, 208;
early mediumistic experiences of, 25;
letter to Jules Claretie, 45;
report on E. Paladino, 95-98;
participates in Paladino sittings, 123, 124.
Sayn-Wittgenstein, Prince, 334.
Schiaparelli, 4, 63, 82, 151, 178, 194;
letter regarding E. Paladino, 64.
Secondary personality, _see_ Double Personality.
Sergines, M. de, 101.
Sexton, Dr., 334.
Sidgwick, Prof. Henry, 305.
Siemiradski, M. de, 162;
quoted, 163.
Simmons, Mr. and Mrs. Franklin, 368.
Sivel the aeronaut, alleged spirit communication from, 213.
Slade, Henry, medium, 66, 420;
his fraud, 196.
Socrates, vii.
Solid passing through a solid, cases of, 107, 128, 372;--a natural
parallel, 130.
Solovovo, Petrovo, describes Sambor's phenomena, 371-374.
Soul, the, xx, 82, 178, 188, 439, 452.
Spirit communications, 384-389;
erroneous, 51, 52, 57;
_see also_, Automatic writing, Raps, Trance-speaking.
Spiritualism (spiritism), 194;
its immateriality in psychical research, xx, 80;
has never taught anything new, 26, 436;
not proven by Paladino phenomena, 166;
dilemma between animism and, 188, 435;
Porro's opinion of its relation to Paladino, 190 _et seq._;
de Gasparin's arguments against, 285;
Thury's comments on, 285 _et seq._;
spiritistic hypothesis accepted by Cromwell Varley, 305, 409, by
Wallace, 409, by Prof. Morgan, 409;
spirits not necessarily souls of dead, 431;
still a working hypothesis, 439, 447;
arguments against its probability, 439 _et seq._
Squanquarillo, Joseph, 368.
Stewart, Prof. Balfour, 305.
Stock, Georges, 50.
Subliminal consciousness, Myers on, 433, 434;
Dr. Geeley's hypothesis, 434;
does not depend upon organism, 435.
Sully-Prudhomme, 173.
Syamour, Mme., 101.
Table movements, 411-413.
_See also_, Levitation _and_ Movements of Natural Objects.
Taine, quoted, 58.
Tamburini, M., 144.
Tanchou, Dr., report on Angelica Cottin, 219-222.
Tapp, Mr., 345.
Taton, M., 368.
Telekinesis, 61.
Thermal radiations (sensations of heat or cold in mediumistic
phenomena), 115, 117, 125, 186.
Thury, Marc, his researches into physical phenomena, 266-287;
his experiments, 269-276;
his theories, 276-287, 408.
Touchings in mediumistic phenomena, 418.
_See also_, Materializations (tactile).
Trance speaking, cases of, 71, 160, 293.
Typtology (intelligible communications by raps), code for, 8;
results generally tally, knowledge of the experimenters, 14, 37, 57;
apparently an extension of hand and brain, 33;
received through Mme. Huet, 37 _et seq._;
answers to unknown questions evidently guess-work, 240;
specimens of, 38-43, 70, 80, 114, 147, 203, 212, 237, 292, 293,
297-301, 355, 356, 380, 403, 437.
_See also_, Raps.
Unknown natural forces, v, xvii, 1-23, 2, 18;
extracts from Flammarion's monograph on, xi-xxi;
evinced in E. Paladino's phenomena, 80, 192;
hypotheses regarding, 81, 406 _et seq._;
danger of too great scepticism against recognition of, 188 _et seq._;
not the exclusive property of mediums, 442.
Uranus, the satellites of, spiritistic communications regarding, 50-57.
Vacquerie, Charles, 213.
Varennes, M. and Mlle. de, 95.
Varley, Cromwell F., 291, 297, 359;
accepts spiritistic hypothesis, 305, 409.
Vignon, Louis, 98, 101.
Virchow, cited, 20.
Virgil, quoted, 451.
Vizioli, M., 143.
Voltaire, 1.
Wagner, Prof., 162.
Wallace Alfred Russel, 65, 290, 297, 437;
accepts spiritistic theory, 409.
Watteville, Baron de, 63, 173, 218;--his investigations of mediumistic
phenomena, 353-359.
Weber, A., 372.
Wellemberg, M., 218.
Will, the, its influence upon phenomena, 273 _et seq._, 365.
Williams, Mrs., medium, 218, 219.
Wolf, M., 218.
Writing and marks produced at a distance, 167, 356, 371, 373, 379.
X., Mme., mediumistic seance with, 211-216.
Zeno, cited, 450.
Zoellner, Prof., 66, 178, 196, 420.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Sosie is a character in Plautus and Moliere. Hermes takes Sosie's
form, and, when the latter sees his double, he almost doubts his own
identity. So the word came to mean a counterpart, a double, one's _alter
ego_.--_Trans._
[2] This seems to be a reference to the wardrobe used by the early
Spiritualists as a cabinet in their demonstrations in public
halls.--_Trans._
[3] The cock scratching for grain finds a pearl.
[4] In order that I may at once place before the eyes of my readers
documentary evidence of these experiments, I reproduce here (Pl. I) a
photograph taken at my apartments on the 12th of November in 1898. Any one
can perceive by the horizontality of the arms, as well as by the distance
between the feet of the table and the floor, that the elevation is from
six to eight inches. The precise distance is marked on the figure
itself,--a measurement taken the next day by propping up the table, with
the aid of books, in the same position as it was. The medium has her two
feet wholly under my right foot, while at the same time her knees are
under my right hand. Her hands are upon the table grasped by my left hand
and by that of the other critical observer or "control" (_controleur_),
who has just placed a cushion before her to shield her very sensitive eyes
from the flash of the magnesium light, and thus save her from a
disagreeable nervous attack.
These photographs, taken rapidly by magnesium light, are not perfect, but
they are records.
[5] See _L'Inconnu_, pp. 20-29.
[6] Certain book-shops in Paris.--_Trans._
[7] Oration delivered at the grave of Allan Kardec, by Camille Flammarion,
Paris, Didier, 1869, pp. 4, 17, 22.
[8] The author means, of course, by this phrase (_milieu ambiant_), the
totality of psychic force present, the psychological atmosphere, the total
mind-energy radiated by the several more or less sensitive or mediumistic
members of the company.--_Trans._
[9] This communication is given in English by the author.--_Trans._
[10] Alcofribaz Nazier is well known as Rabelais' anagram, formed from his
own name. It was the signature under which he published his
_Pantagruel_.--_Trans._
[11] A piece of typtological dictation of the same kind has been recently
sent to me. Here it is:
IUTPTUOLOER
EIRFIEUEBN
SSOAGPRSTI
Read successively, from top to bottom, one letter of each line, beginning
on the left, and the sense will appear as follows: "Je suis trop fatigue
pour les obtenir." ("I am too tired to obtain them.")
[12] This and the next dictation are rhymed verse in the original
French.--_Trans._
[13] In rhymed verses in the original.--_Trans._
[14] A word of recent origin, meaning ambitious or pretentious people who
want "to arrive," the _would-be's_. The word forms the title of a recent
French novel, _L'Arriviste_, and (translated) of an English one called
_The Climber_.--_Trans._
[15] So in the original. Possibly M. Sardou was under the mistaken
impression that Gulliver was a nom-de-plume for Dean Swift.--_Trans._
[16] This inclination is really 82 deg., reckoning from the south, or 98 deg. (90
+ 8 deg.), counting from the north (see Fig. A).
[17] I have just found in my library a book which was sent to me in 1888
by the author, Major-General Drayson, the title of which is _Thirty
Thousand Years of the Earth's Past History, Read by Aid of the Discovery
of the Second Rotation of the Earth_. This second rotation would take
place about an axis the pole of which would be 29 deg. 25' 47" from the pole
of the daily rotation, about 270 right ascension, and would be
accomplished in 32,682 years. The author seeks to explain it by the
glacial periods and variations of climate. But his work is full of
confusions most strange and even unpardonable in a man versed in
astronomical studies. The truth is that this General Drayson (who died
several years ago) was not an astronomer.
[18] _Intelligence_, Vol. I., preface, p. 16, edition of 1897. The first
edition was published in 1868.
[19] All those who occupy themselves with these questions are acquainted,
among other cases, with that of Felida (studied by Dr. Azam). In the story
of this young girl she is shown as endowed with two distinct personalities
to such an extent that, in the second state, she becomes amorous ... and
enceinte, without knowing anything about it in her normal condition. These
states of double personalities have been methodically observed for thirty
years.
[20] _Psychological Automatism_, p. 401-402.
[21] See Pl. IV. and V. I preserve with care a plaster cast of this
imprint.
[22] A. de Rochas, _The Externalization of Motivity_, fourth edition,
1906, p. 406.
[23] The reports of the sittings at Montfort-l'Amaury form the subject of
a remarkable work by M. Guillaume de Fontenay, _Apropos of Eusapia
Paladino_, one vol., 8vo. illustrated, Paris, 1898.
[24] The respective places of the persons were not always those of the
photographs. Thus, at the time of the production of the imprint, M. G. de
Fontenay was at the right of Eusapia, and M. Blech at the same end of the
table.
[25] In the following sitting, of November 12, M. Antoniadi writes (with
an excellent corroborative sketch): "Phenomenon observed with absolute
certainty; the violin was thrown upon the table, twenty inches above the
head of Eusapia."
[26] This is absolutely true, says my son, who is reading over these
lines.
[27] During the correction of the proofs of these sheets (Oct., 1906), I
received from Dr. Gustave Le Bon the following note:
"At the time of her last sojourn in Paris (1906), I was able to obtain
from Eusapia three seances at my house. I besought one of the keenest
observers that I know, M. Dastre,--a member of the Academy of Science and
professor of physiology at the Sorbonne,--to be kind enough to be present
at our experiments. There were present also my assistant, M. Michaux, and
the lady to whose kind offices I owe the presence of Eusapia.
"Besides the levitation of the table, we several times, and almost in full
light, saw a hand appear. At first it was about two inches and a half
above Eusapia's head, then at the side of the curtain which partly covered
her, about twenty inches from her shoulder.
"We then organized, for the second seance, our methods of control. They
were altogether decisive. Thanks to the possibility of producing behind
Eusapia an illumination which she did not suspect, we were able to see one
of her arms, very skilfully withdrawn from our control, move along
horizontally behind the curtain and touch the arm of M. Dastre, and
another time give me a slap on the hand.
"We concluded from our observations that the phenomena observed had
nothing supernatural about them.
"As to the levitation of the table,--an extremely light one, placed before
Eusapia, and which her hands scarcely left,--we have not been able to
formulate any decisive explanation. I will only observe that Eusapia
admitted that it was impossible for her to displace the slightest one of
the very light objects placed upon that table."
After writing this note, M. G. Le Bon said to me verbally that, in his
opinion, everything in these experiments is fraud.
[28] To these eight seances I might add a ninth, which took place on the
succeeding December 5, in the study of Prof. Richet. Nothing remarkable
occurred, unless it was the inflation, in full light, of a window curtain,
which was about twenty-four inches from Eusapia's foot, my foot and leg
being between it and her. The observation was absolutely accurate.
[29] To what cause may we attribute the levitation of the table? We have
undoubtedly not yet discovered the secret. The action of gravity may be
counterbalanced by movement.
You can amuse yourself, while at breakfast or dinner, by toying with a
knife. If you hold it vertically in your tightly closed hand, its weight
is counterbalanced by the pressure of the hand and it does not fall. Open
your hand, still holding the knife grasped by the thumb and index finger,
and it will slide as if it were in a too large tube. But move the hand by
a rapid see-saw movement, from left to right, from right to left: you will
thus create a centrifugal force which holds the object in vertical
suspension, and which may even toss it above your hand and project it into
the air, if the movement is rapid enough.
What, then, sustains the knife, annihilates its weight? Force. Might it
not be that the influence of the experimenters seated around the table
puts in special movement the molecules of the wood? They are already set
in vibration by variations of temperature. These molecules are particles
infinitely small which do not touch each other. Might not a molecular
movement counterbalance the effect of gravity? I do not present this as an
explanation, but as an illustrative suggestion (_comme une image_).
[30] M. Chiaia has sent me photographs of these prints. I reproduce some
of them here (Pl. VII).
[31] The word "trance" has been given to the peculiar state into which
mediums fall when they lose the consciousness of their environment. It is
a kind of somnambulistic sleep.
[32] _Annales des sciences psychiques_, 181, p. 326.
[33] However, some doubt may remain. In my photographs, also (Pl. I. and
VI.), the foot of the table at the left of the medium is concealed. As I
myself was at this very place, I am sure that the medium was unable to
lift the table with her foot, for _this foot was held under mine_, not by
a rod or by any support whatever; for I had a hand upon her legs, _which
did not move_. The objection is moreover refuted by the experiment which I
made on the 29th of March, 1906 (see p. 6), of a levitation, with Eusapia
standing,--an experiment which had been made before on the 27th of July,
1897, at Monfort-l'Amaury (see p. 82), the feet, very naturally, being
visible. Hence there can be no doubt whatever about the complete
levitation of the table floating in space. Aksakof obtained a levitation,
in the seances at Milan, after having tied Eusapia's feet with two
strings, the ends of which were short and had been sealed to the floor
very near each foot.
Farther on the reader will be given proof of other undeniable instances,
among others, at pp. 164, 165.
[34] I hear very often the following objection: "I shall only believe in
mediums who are not remunerated; all those who are paid are under
suspicion." Eusapia belongs to these last. Being without fortune, she
never visits a city unless her travelling and hotel expenses are paid. She
also loses her time, and is submitted to a not very agreeable inquisition.
For my part, I do not admit the above objection at all. The physical and
intellectual faculties have nothing in common with money-getting. It will
be said that the medium is interested in deceiving and tricking: it
increases her fees. But there are a good many other temptations in the
world. I have seen unpaid mediums, men and women of society, cheat without
any scruple, from pure vanity, or for a purpose still less fit to be
avowed,--for the mere pleasure of trapping some one. The seances of
Spiritualism have been made to serve useful and agreeable ends in
fashionable society--and more than one marriage has originated there.
We must be as sceptical about one class of mediums as about another.
[35] These reports were published in detail in the work of M. de Rochas on
_The Externalization of Motivity_, 4th edition, 1906, p. 170.
[36] I will add, for the benefit of those who wish to try some of these
psychic experiments, that the best conditions for success are to have a
homogeneous, impartial, and sincere group, free from every preconceived
idea, and not exceeding five or six persons in number. It is absurd to
object that, in order to obtain the phenomena, _one must have faith_. But,
while positive belief is not necessary, it is yet advisable not to
exercise any hostile influence during a seance.
[37] A very curious experiment made with a letter-weigher took place at
l'Agnelas. In response to an impromptu suggestion made by M. de Gramont,
Eusapia consented to try whether, by making vertical passes with her hands
on each side of the tray of the letter-weigher (going as high as fifty
grams), she could not lower it. She succeeded in doing so several times in
succession, in the presence of five observers placed about her, who
testified that she did not have in her fingers either thread or hair to
press upon the tray.
[38] Published by C. de Vesme in his _Revue des Etudes psychiques_, 1901.
[39] Eusapia, as has been said, is unable either to read or write.
[40] Arago, in 1846, with the "electric girl"; Flammarion, in 1861, with
Allan Kardec, then afterwards with different mediums; Zoellner, in 1882,
with Slade; Schiaparelli, in 1892 with Eusapia; Porro, in 1901, with the
same medium (_Revue des Etudes psychiques_).
[41] Notably in _Uranie_, in _Stella_, in _Lumen_, in _L'Inconnu_. See
also above, p. 30 in my _Oration at the Grave of Allen Kardec_.
[42] Slade was sentenced to three months of hard labor, in London, for
swindling. He died in a private hospital, in the State of Michigan, in
September, 1905.
[43] _Annales des sciences psychiques_, 1896, p. 66.
[44] We have already noticed (see p. 149) the practical joke of Professor
Bianchi in a meeting of the most serious investigators.
[45] See _Annales_, 1896. The report is very rich in records. The door of
the wardrobe opened and closed of itself, several times in succession, in
synchronism with the movements of the medium's hands, which were at about
a yard's distance. A toy piano weighing about two pounds was moved about,
and played several airs all alone, etc.
[46] A Parisian Anarchist executed for dynamiting the houses of the Judges
Benoit and Bulot. The popular chanson of the Anarchists called _La
Ravachole_ originated in this man's deeds and personality. See Alvan
Sanborn's _Paris and the Social Revolution_, Boston, 1905.--_Trans._
[47] See also _Enquete sur l'authenticite des phenomenes electriques
d'Angelique Cottin_. Paris, Germer Balliere, 1846. Also _L'Exteriorisation
de la motricite_, by Albert de Rochas.
[48] Lafontaine, who also studied Angelica's case, says that "when she
brought her left wrist near a lighted candle, the flame bent over
horizontally, as if continually blown upon." (_L'art de magnetiser_, p.
273).
M. Pelletier observed the same thing in the case of some of his subjects,
when they brought the palm of the hand near a candle.
Specialists call these points "hypnogenic points," from which fluidic
streams radiate.
[49] Arago.--_Trans._
[50] _Etudes et lectures sur les sciences d'observations_, vol. II., 1856.
[51] _Des Tables tournantes, du Surnaturel en general, et des Esprits, par
le comte Agenor de Gasparin, Paris, Dentu, 1854._
[52] The lady who soon after was styled "the medium."
[53] This was the only table with casters that the operators made use of.
[54] The allusion is to Faraday's explanation of Arago's discovery in the
magnetism of rotation. Faraday showed that a rotating disk of non-magnetic
metal would draw after it in similar rotation a magnetic needle suspended
over it, and even a heavy magnet. See Professor Tyndall's _Faraday as a
Discoverer_, pp. 25, 26.--_Trans._
[55] The long scene from which this is taken in Moliere is so full of
Italian, Old French, and dog Latin, that it has not been translated by Van
Laun. All but the last word (_juro_) of each stanza is spoken by the
big-wigs in this mock examination of a baccalaureate medical student; that
word is his:
"Do you swear that in all consultations you will be of the ancient
opinion, whether it be good or bad?"--"I swear it."--"To never make use of
any remedies except those of the learned faculty of medicine, even should
the patient burst and die of his disease?"--"I swear it."--_Trans._
[56] _"Les Tables tournantes," consideres au point de vue de la question
de physique generale qui s'y rattache. Geneve, 1855._
[57] _The dynamic force_ necessary to produce this uplift, if we admit
that it was developed and accumulated during the five or ten minutes of
playing that preceded the phenomenon, would not, on the other hand, be
beyond the strength of the child; it would remain even much beneath the
limit of his powers. In general, the force expended, in these phenomena of
the tables, if one may judge by the degree of fatigue experienced by the
operators, much surpasses what would be required to produce the same
effects mechanically. There is, therefore, in this respect, no reason for
admitting the intervention of a force foreign to the boy's own
nature.--(_Thury._)
[58] In the first experiments of Thury, eight persons remained an hour and
a half standing, and then seated, around a table, without obtaining the
least resulting movement. Two or three days after, on their second trial,
the same persons, at the end of ten minutes, made a centre-table revolve.
Finally, on the 4th of May, 1853, at the third or fourth trial, the
heaviest tables began to move almost immediately.
[59] In the case of difficult tests, when they took place on cold days, a
warm spread was stretched over the table, and removed at the moment of the
experiment. The operators themselves, before acting, held their hands open
for a moment before a stove.
[60] Report on Spiritualism of the Committee of the London Dialectical
Society, London: 1871.
[61] In one vol. 8vo. Paris: Leymarie, 1900.
[62] See, for example, the January number, 1876: _Sidereal Astronomy_.
[63] Especially at Nice, in 1881 and 1884. Home died in 1886. He was born
in 1833, near Edinburgh.
[64] Sir William Huggins, an astronomer well known for his discoveries in
spectrum analysis.
[65] Edward William Cox.
[66] Experimental Investigation on Psychic Force, by William Crookes, F.
R. L., etc., London, Henry Gilman, 1871. The brochure was translated into
French by M. Alidel, Paris. Psychical Science Publishing House, 1897.
[67] The quotation occurs to me--"I never said it was possible, I only
said it was true."
[68] Katie King, _The Story of her Appearances_. Paris, Leymarie, 1899. I
thought I would not reproduce these photographs here, because they did not
seem to me to have come from Mr. Crookes himself. Florence Cook died in
London on the 2d of April, 1904.
[69] On Miracles and Modern Spiritualism, London, 1875, French
translation, Paris, 1889 (the English word _spiritualism_ is always used
here in the sense of _spiritism_).
[70] _Les Phenomenes psychiques._ One vol. 8vo. Paris, 1903.
[71] As I said on a previous page, psychic forces have as much reality as
physical and mechanical ones.
[72] This is the same thing that I observed at Monfort-l'Amaury. See p.
73.
[73] The Italian journals reproduced a picturesque photograph of the table
lifted almost to the height of the ceiling, at the moment it had passed
over the heads of the sitters and was turning over (see A. de Rochas,
_Exteriorisation de la motricite_, 4th ed.). I do not reproduce it,
because it does not seem to me to be authentic. Besides, the observers
declared that they did not verify this phenomenon until _after_ its pro
[74] _Annales des Sciences psychique_, 1902.
[75] Several observations published in that work are however, connected in
subject with the present one. For instance: a piano playing alone (p.
108), a door opening of itself (p. 112), curtains shaken (p. 125),
extravagant gambols of pieces of furniture (p. 133), raps (p. 146), bells
ringing (p. 168), and numerous examples of unexplained disturbing noises
coinciding with deaths.
[76] The word used here by M. Castex-Degrange is _tete de Turc_, a thing
like the leather-covered bags in our gymnasiums, and used in fairs in
France, to be pummelled by those wishing to try their strength.--_Trans._
[77] I had considerable acquaintance with him at the Nice Observatory,
where, in 1884 and 1885, I made with him spectroscopic observations on the
rotation of the sun.--C. F.
[78] In the seances of which I spoke in the early part of this book
(second chapter), when the word "God" was dictated the table beat a
salute.--C. F.
[79] Goupil, _Pour et Contre_, p. 113.
[80] It has been my desire to give in this place the result of the
personal experience of a large number of men anxious to know the truth;
above all to reply to ignorant journalists who invite their readers to
indulge in supercilious scorn of these researches and experimenters. At
the very moment when I was correcting the proofs of these last pages I
received a journal, _Le Lyon republicain_, of the 25th of January, 1907,
which has for its leading article a quite preposterous diatribe against me
signed "Robert Estienne." The performance shows that the author does not
know what he is talking about nor the man of whom he is treating.
There is evidently no reason in the nature of things why the city of Lyons
should be more disposed to error than any other point on the globe. But
mark the coincidence: I received, at the same time, a number of
_L'Universite catholique_, of Lyons, in which a certain Abbe Delfour
speaks of "supernatural contemporary facts" without understanding a word
of the subject.
No, the trouble is not with the city of Lyons merely. There are blind
people everywhere. You can read a dissertation _ejusdem farinae_, signed by
the Jesuit Lucien Roure, in _Les Etudes religieuses_, published at Paris,
with critical judgments worthy of a traveling salesman.
In this connection, you can read in the _Nouveau Catechisme du diocese de
Nancy_: "Q. What must we think of the demonstrated facts of Spiritualism,
somnambulism, and magnetism?--A. We must attribute them to the devil, and
it would be a sin to take part in them in any way whatever."
[81] Newton, as is well known, declares, in his letter to Bentley, that he
can only explain gravitation by supposing the existence of a medium which
transmits it. Yet, to our senses, the ether would not be a material thing.
But, however that may be, celestial bodies do certainly act at a distance
one upon another.
[82] The initiated know that according to this doctrine the terrestrial
human being is composed of five entities: the physical body; the ethereal
double, a little less gross, surviving the first for some time; the astral
body, still more subtile; the mental body, or intelligence, surviving the
three preceding; and finally the Ego, or indestructible soul.
[83] These observations may be compared with a little social diversion
which is rather popular, and is particularly described in one of the first
works of Sir David Brewster (_Letters to Walter Scott upon Natural Magic_)
in the following terms:
"The heaviest person of the company lies down on two chairs, the shoulders
resting on one and the legs on the other. Four persons, one at each
shoulder and one at each foot, try to lift him, and at first find the
thing difficult to do. Then the subject of the experiments gives two
signals by clapping his hands twice. At the first signal, he and the four
others inhale deeply. When the five persons are full of air he gives the
second signal, which is for the lifting. This takes place without the
least difficulty, as if the person lifted were as light as a feather."
I have frequently performed the same experiment upon a man in a sitting
posture by placing two fingers under his legs and two under his arm-pits,
the operators inhaling all together uniformly.
This is undoubtedly a case of biological action. But what is the essential
nature of gravitation? Faraday regarded it as an "electro-magnetic" force.
Weber explains the movement of the planets around the sun by
"electro-dynamism." The tails of comets, always turned away from the sun,
indicate a solar repulsion coincident with the attraction. We know no more
to-day than in the time of Newton what gravitation really is.
[84] It is not indispensable, even in certain cases in which it seems to
be so. Let us take an example. At a seance in Genoa (1906), with Eusapia,
M. Yourievich, general secretary of the Psychological Institute of Paris,
besought the spirit of his father, who asserted that he was present before
him in ghostly form, to give him a proof of identity by producing in the
clay an impression of his hand, and above all of a finger the nail of
which was long and pointed. The request was made in Russian, which the
medium did not understand. Now this impression was sure enough obtained
several months after, with the mark of the nail referred to. Does this
fact prove that the soul of the father of the experimenter actually
performed the act with his hand? No. The medium received the mental
suggestion for producing the phenomenon, and did in fact produce it. The
Russian language did not make any difference. The suggestion was received.
Besides, the hand was much smaller than that of the man whose spirit was
evoked.
The experimenter next asks his deceased father to give him his blessing,
and he perceives a hand which makes the sign of the cross before him (in
the Russian style, the three fingers together) upon the forehead, the
breast, and the two sides. The same explanation is applicable here.
It was a mistake to say that this ghost and his son conversed together in
the Russian tongue, as the published account said. M. Yourievich only
heard some unintelligible sounds. People always exaggerate, and these
exaggerations work the greatest possible harm to the truth. Why amplify?
Is there not enough of the unknown in these mysterious phenomena?
[85] In certain countries (Canada, Colorado), a gas-jet can be lighted by
holding out the finger toward it.
[86] See what I formerly wrote on this subject in _Lumen_, in _Uranie_, in
_Stella_, and in my _Discours sur l'unite de force et l'unite de
substance_, published in _l'Annuaire du Cosmos_, for 1865.
[87] _The Human Personality_, p. 11.
[88] _Id._, p. 23.
[89] _Id._, p. 63.
[90] _The Human Personality_, p. 313.
[91] _The Subconscious Nature_, p. 82.
[92] See my remarks in _The Unknown_, pp. 290-294.
[93] See _Bulletin of the Psychological Institute_, Vol. I. pp. 25-40.
[94] Quite recently I saw an account of some phenomena which rather plead
in its favor than otherwise (_Bulletin of the Society for Psychical
Studies of Nancy_, Nov.-Dec., 1906). Out of the eleven instances
mentioned, the first and the second may have been taken from a cyclopedia,
the third and the fourth from public journals; but, in the case of the
seven others, the admission of the identity of apparitions with the
originals they purported to represent is surely the best explanatory
hypothesis.
[95] As a forestalling of judgment on what is yet to be demonstrated, the
word "medium" is a wholly improper term. It takes it for granted that the
person endowed with these supra-normal psychic faculties is an
intermediary between the spirits and the experimenters. Now while we may
admit that this is sometimes the case, it is certainly not always so. The
rotation of a table, its tipping, its levitation, the displacement of a
piece of furniture, the inflation of a curtain, noises heard--all are
caused by a force emanating from this protagonist of the company, or from
their collective powers. We cannot really suppose that there is always a
spirit present ready to respond to our fancies. And the hypothesis is so
much the less necessary since the pretended spirits do not impart any new
facts to us. For the greater part of the time, it is undoubtedly our own
psychic force that is acting. The chief personage and principal actor in
these experiments would be more accurately called a _dynamogen_, since he
(or she) creates force. It seems, to me that this would be the best term
to apply in this case. It expresses that which is proved by all the
observations.
I have known mediums very proud of their title, and sometimes found them a
bit jealous of their fellows. They were convinced that they had been
chosen by Saint Augustine, Saint Paul, and even Jesus Christ. They
believed in the grace of the Most High and claimed (not without reason
too) that, coming from other hands, these signatures were to be suspected.
There is no sense in these rivalries.
[96] See the _Complete Works of the Emperor Julian_, Paris, 1821. Vol. I.
p. 375.
Transcriber's Notes:
Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_.
Footnote 73 is incomplete in the original text.
The original text includes Greek characters. For this text version these
letters have been replaced with transliterations.
End of Project Gutenberg's Mysterious Psychic Forces, by Camille Flammarion