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PSYCHIC
PHENOMENA
A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE PHYSICAL
MANIFESTATIONS OBSERVED IN
PSYCHICAL RESEARCH
WITH FACSIMILE ILLUSTRATIONS OF
THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE DRAWINGS
AND AUTOMATIC WRITING
BY
EDWARD T. BENNETT
ASSISTANT-SECRETARY TO THE SOCIETY OF
PSYCHICAL RESEARCH, 1882-1902
WITH A FOREWORD BY
SIR OLIVER LODGE
NEW YORK
BRENTANO'S
MCMIX
NOTE
The writer desires to express his sincere thanks to the Council of the
Society for Psychical Research for the permission given to make extracts
from the _Proceedings_ of the Society, from the privately printed
_Journal_, and from "Phantasms of the Living"; and for allowing the
reproduction of a series of THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE DRAWINGS. Also best
thanks are due to Mrs. Myers, and to Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co., for
permission to make quotations from Mr. F. W. H. Myers' great work,
"Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death." Also to Mr. J.
Burns and his brother, for freely granting permission for any use to be
made of the James Burns 1873 Edition of the "Report of the Committee of
the Dialectical Society."
E. T. B.
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. INTRODUCTORY 11
II. THE MOVEMENT OF OBJECTS WITHOUT ANY APPARENT
PHYSICAL CAUSE 16
III. THE PRODUCTION OF SOUND WITHOUT ANY APPARENT
PHYSICAL CAUSE 31
IV. THE APPEARANCE OF LIGHT WITHOUT ANY APPARENT
PHYSICAL CAUSE 35
V. PHYSICAL PHENOMENA IN THE PRESENCE OF
DANIEL DUNGLAS HOME 41
VI. PHYSICAL PHENOMENA IN THE PRESENCE OF W.
STAINTON MOSES 58
VII. THE DIVINING ROD 76
VIII. THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE DRAWINGS 89
IX. MATERIALISATIONS 109
X. "SPIRIT PHOTOGRAPHY" 113
XI. THE SUMMING UP OF THE WHOLE MATTER 121
INTRODUCTION
BY SIR OLIVER LODGE
Consulted by the publishers as to the production of a small popular
text-book, which should constitute a summary indication of the
nature of the evidence for ultra-normal physical or meta-psychical
phenomena, I suggested Mr. E. T. Bennett as the right man for the
task. I have now seen the proof sheets, and--without making myself
in any way responsible for details--perceive that he has done the
work well, and has presented a satisfactory outline of the testimony
for whatever it may be worth. Concerning its value I will only say
that to my mind there comes a stage at which belief in gratuitous
invention and false statement becomes forced and irrational. With
most of the evidence here adduced I have of course been familiar for
years, in its original sources, and am well aware of the extreme
difficulty or impossibility of understanding some of the alleged
facts in any physical or physiological sense; nevertheless if I am
asked whether such impressions can be actually received and honestly
recorded by sane people, and whether I recommend experiment by
careful and competent and unsuperstitious observers as if a _prima
facie_ case had been made out--that is to say, as if some of these
unusual and hitherto quite unexplained occurrences might possibly
turn out to be true--having laws of their own and constituting an
unopened chapter of science, or rather a new science, uniting
characteristics from physical, chemical, physiological, and
psychological sciences, and throwing new light on the connection
between mind and matter--then, though doubtless the answer will be
received with scorn, I answer unhesitatingly yes.
SPIRITUALISM
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
A short title to a book has its advantages. It has also its
disadvantages. It is almost inevitable that it should, on the one hand,
seem to include much more than is intended, and, on the other hand, fail
to convey the purpose of the author. "Geology" would be a tolerably
large subject. "Astronomy" would be vastly larger. But "Spiritualism" is
an infinite subject compared with either, and to suggest that its claims
to scientific study be considered within the compass of a small volume
of not much over a hundred pages seems the height of presumption!
It will therefore be well at the outset to indicate exactly what it is
proposed to include in the present investigation into "Spiritualism."
The alleged phenomena of Spiritualism may be roughly divided into two
classes--physical and mental. Those which belong entirely to the latter
class are outside the scope of this book. It is proposed to examine
those phenomena of the former class, the reality of which may fairly be
assumed to be proved by scientific evidence. The scope of the work is
thus reduced to reasonable proportions. There are several groups of
phenomena which appear to violate, or at least to extend in a striking
manner, laws recognised by Physical Science. The evidence to be relied
on will be that of scientific men of high standing, and of other persons
of unquestioned literary and social position.
There is, however, an important respect, in regard to which this inquiry
is placed in an entirely different position to any ordinary scientific
investigation, and one which adds greatly to the difficulties of the
student. Ordinary experiments conducted in a physical laboratory can be
repeated again and again under similar conditions, and similar results
will follow. If attempts are made to reproduce the phenomena of
Spiritualism, under what appear to be precisely similar conditions, by
means which have previously been successful, failure to obtain the
wished-for results may very probably follow. It is no use to rebel and
to feel inclined to abandon the pursuit as useless! That would be most
unscientific! The inquirer finds himself in the presence of a subtle
elusive influence, which he seems unable to control, and which refuses
to submit to the laws which govern physical experiments. On the other
hand, perseverance may be richly rewarded. An unexplored field of
scientific research of unlimited extent may open itself to view.
Something of that joy may be experienced which the search into the
unknown alone can give.
Mr. Arthur James Balfour, in an address on the occasion of the annual
dinner of the Royal Literary Fund, in 1893, said:--
"My friend, Lord Kelvin, has often talked to me of the future of
science, and he has said words to me about the future of science which
are parallel with the words I have quoted to you about the future of
art, and with the hope which I have expressed to you with respect to
literature. He has told me that to the men of science of to-day it
appears as if we were trembling on the brink of some great scientific
discovery which should give to us a new view of the great forces of
Nature, among which and in the midst of which we move. If this prophecy
be right, and if the other forecasts to which I have alluded be right,
then indeed it is true that we live in an interesting age; then indeed
it is true that we may look forward to a time full of fruit for the
human race--to an age which cannot be sterilised or rendered barren even
by politics."
There are some advantages which the study of this subject possesses over
most branches of scientific inquiry. In its present early and incomplete
stage the most important thing is the accumulation of carefully observed
and recorded facts. Even as regards Thought-Transference, in which the
number of careful experiments that have been made is far greater than in
any other class of phenomena, it is still most important to multiply the
quantity of the evidence. In most of the branches of the subject no
expensive apparatus is required, and no special scientific or
intellectual training. Accurate observation and careful recording, at
the time, of all that occurs, without prejudice, and without
discouragement at apparent failure, are the chief requisites. Any
person, or small group of persons of ordinary intelligence, can train
themselves to be equal to this. A very simple instance occurred in the
earliest experiences of the writer. After three or four sittings round a
small table with two friends, at which there was meaningless tipping,
and nothing better than commonplace sentences, the following was tipped
out: "Try no more to move"--then this succession of letters--"a t a t
a." It seemed useless to go on with nonsense, but one of the party
suggested perseverance; when the following conclusion converted seeming
nonsense into sense: "b l e take a pencil and write." The result was
that one of the party rapidly developed into an interesting automatic
writer.
It is quite impossible to foretell the extent of the aid that may not be
given, in the explanation of some of these phenomena, by the persevering
experiments of intelligent inquirers.
In the following chapters facts relating to several different kinds of
phenomena are put before the reader, as to which the guarantee of
authenticity and the quality of the evidence are both unimpeachable.
It is not proposed to travel all over the world in search of evidence;
the illustrations will be drawn almost entirely from home sources. With
all due respect to friends in distant parts, it will doubtless be a
satisfaction to some readers to know that in these pages they will not
meet with Mrs. Piper on the one hand, nor with Eusapia Paladino on the
other.
With these few introductory remarks a calm and dispassionate
consideration of the evidence presented is invited. First of all, three
classes of phenomena will be taken up in the following order:--
(1) The Movement of Objects without any apparent Physical Cause.
(2) The Production of Sound without any apparent Physical Cause.
(3) The Production of Light without any apparent Physical Cause.
Two chapters will then be devoted to a study of the phenomena exhibited
in the lives of two of the most noted "mediums" of modern times--Daniel
Dunglas Home and William Stainton Moses. Both present manifestations of
phenomena belonging to the three classes above-named, as well as
striking examples of other kinds. A chapter on the "Divining Rod" will
follow. Then a chapter on one of the forms of Thought-Transference, one
which allows of its being included among physical phenomena. Two brief
chapters will come next on "Spirit Photography" and on
"Materialisations." It is explained that these are included, not because
of any scientific evidence in their favour which can be quoted, but
because of the extreme interest and importance of the subjects
themselves, and also because the strong testimony and moral evidence in
support of their reality seem to promise a tempting field for the
scientific explorer, and to warrant a confident belief that the evidence
he desires will be forthcoming. In a final chapter an endeavour is made
to sum up results and conclusions.