From much and varied observation and experiment in reference to the
performances of Planchette, and of kindred phenomena, now extending over
a period of about twenty years, I here record my denial, in the most
emphatic manner, that electricity or magnetism, properly so called, has
anything to do with the mystery at all, and call for the proof that it
has. That a certain psycho-dynamic agency closely allied to, and in some
of its modifications perhaps identical with, Reichenbach's "Od," or
odylic force, may have some mediatorial part to play in the affair, I
do not dispute, nor yet, for the present, do I affirm. But though this
agency has sometimes been identified with what, for the want of a better
term, has been called "animal magnetism," it has yet to be proved, I
believe, that there are any of the properties of the magnet, or of
magnetism, about it, even so much as would suffice to attract the
most comminuted iron filings. It is remarkable that the assertion or
hypothesis that electricity or magnetism is concerned in the production
of the phenomena in question, has never yet had an origin in any high
scientific authority. This is accounted for by the fact that those
who are properly acquainted with this agency, and who have the proper
apparatus at their command, can demonstrate the truth or falsity of
such a hypothesis with the greatest ease. For an experiment, place
your Planchette upon a plate of glass, or some other non-conducting
substance. Attach to it a common pith-ball electrometer, and then let
your medium place his hands upon the board. If electricity equal to the
force even of a small fraction of a grain passes from the medium to
the board, the pith ball, to that extent, will be deflected from its
position. By means of the _Torsion Balance_ electrometer, invented by
Coulomb, the presence of almost the smallest conceivable fraction of
a grain of electrical force in your Planchette or your table might be
detected; and with these delicate tests within reach, tell us not that
the movements in question are caused by electricity till you have
_proved_ it positively and beyond all dispute.
In the discussion of this electrical theory we have occupied more space
than we originally intended, but we have thought it might be for the
interest of true science to exhibit, once for all, this ridiculous and
yet very popular fallacy, in its true light.