PART FIRST. SPIRITUALISM. (continued 2)

Among the crowned heads and famous people before whom Mr. Home appeared were Napoleon III and the Empress Eugénie, Queen Victoria, King Louis I and King Maximilian of Bavaria, the Emperor of Russia, the King and Queen of Wurtemberg, the Duchess of Hamilton, the Crown Prince of Prussia and old Gen. Von Moltke. Alexander Dumas the elder, was a constant companion of the medium for a long time, and wrote columns about him.

Napoleon III had two sittings with Home—and it is said Home materialized the spirit of the first Napoleon, who appeared in his familiar cocked hat, gray overcoat and dark green uniform with white facings. “My fate?” asked Louis, trembling with awe. “Like mine—discrowned, and death in exile,” replied the ghost; then it vanished. The Empress swooned and Napoleon III fell back in his chair as if about to faint. The medium in his first séance with the French Emperor succeeded only in materializing some flowers and a spirit hand, which the Emperor was permitted to grasp.

Celia Logan, the journalist, in writing of one of Home’s séances at a nobleman’s house in London, says:

“On this occasion the medium announced that he would produce balls of fire and illuminated hands. Failing in the former, he declared that the spirits were not strong enough for that to-night, and so he would have to confine himself to showing the luminous hands.

“The house was darkened and Home groped his way alone to the head of the broad staircase, where every few minutes a pair of luminous hands were thrown up. The audience was satisfied generally. One lady, however, was not, and whispered to me—she was a half-hearted Spiritualist—that it looked to her as if he had rubbed his own hands over with lucifer matches.

“The host stood near the mantel piece and had seen Home abstractedly place a small bottle upon it when he left the room for the staircase. That bottle the host quietly slipped into his pocket. Upon examination the next day it was found to contain phosphorated olive oil or some similar preparation.

“The host had declared himself to have seen Home float through the air from one side of the room to the other, lift a piano several feet in the air by simply placing a finger upon it, and had seen him materialize disembodied spirits; but after the discovery of the phosphorus trick he dropped Home at once.”

It is a significant fact that the medium while giving séances in Paris in 1857 refused to meet Houdin, the renowned prestidigitateur.

I shall now attempt an exposé of Home’s physical phenomena. Home’s extraordinary feat of alternately cooling and heating a lump of coal taken from a blazing fire, as related by Mr. H. D. Jencken and others, is easily explained. It is a juggling trick. The “coal” is a piece of spongy platinum which bears a close resemblance to a lump of half burnt coal, and is palmed in the hand, as a prestidigitateur conceals a coin, a pack of cards, an egg, or a small lemon. The medium or magician advances to the grate and pretends to take a genuine lump of coal from the fire but brings up instead, at the tips of his fingers, the piece of platinum. In a secret breast pocket of his coat he has a small reservoir of hydrogen, with a tube coming down the sleeve and terminating an inch or so above the cuff. By means of certain mechanical arrangements, to enable him to let on and off the gas at the proper moment, he is able to accomplish the trick; for when a current of hydrogen is allowed to impinge upon a piece of spongy platinum, the metal becomes incandescent, and as soon as the current is arrested the platinum is restored to its normal condition.

The hand may be protected from burning in various ways, one method being the repeated application of sulphuric acid to the skin, whereby it is rendered impervious to the action of fire for a short period of time; another, by wearing gloves of amianthus or asbestos cloth. With the latter, worn in a badly lighted room, the medium, without much risk of discovery, can handle red hot coals or iron with impunity. The gloves may at the proper moment be slipped off and concealed about the person. A small slip of amianthus cloth placed on a newspaper would protect it from a hot coal and the same means could be used when a coal is placed in another’s hand or upon his head.

As to the marvelous “levitation”, either the witnesses of the alleged feat were under some hypnotic spell, or else they allowed their imaginations to run riot when describing the event. In the case of Lord Lindsay and Lord Adare, D. Carpenter in his valuable paper “On Fallacies Respecting the Supernatural” (Contemporary Review, Jan., 1876) says: “A whole party of believers affirm that they saw Mr. Home float out of one window and in at another, while a single honest skeptic declares that Mr. Home was sitting in his chair all the time.” It seems that there were three gentlemen present besides the medium when the alleged phenomenon took place, the two noblemen and a “cousin”. It is this unnamed hard-headed cousin to whom Dr. Carpenter refers as the “honest skeptic.”

Many of Home’s admirers have declared that he possessed the power of mesmerizing certain of his friends. These gentlemen were no doubt hypnotized and related honestly what they believed they had seen. Again, the expectancy of attention and the nervous tension of the average sitter in spirit-circles tend to produce a morbidly impressible condition of mind. Many mediums since Home’s day have performed the act of levitation, but always in a dark room. Mr. Angelo Lewis, the writer on magic, reveals an ingenious method by which levitation is effected. When the lights are extinguished the medium—who, by the way, must be a clever ventriloquist—removes his boots and places them on his hands.

“I am rising, I am rising, but pay no attention”, he remarks, as he goes about the apartment, where the sitters are grouped in a circle about him, and he lightly touches the heads of various persons. A shadowy form is dimly seen and a smell of boot leather becomes apparent to the olfactory senses of many present. People jump quickly to conclusions in such matters and argue that where the feet of the medium are, his body must surely be—namely, floating in the air. The illusion is further enhanced by the performer’s ventriloquial powers. “I am rising! I am touching the ceiling!” he exclaims, imitating the sound of a voice high up. When the lights are turned up, the medium is seen (this time with his boots on his feet) standing on tip-toe, as if just descended from the ceiling.

Sometimes before performing the levitation act, he will say, “In order to convince any skeptic present, that I really float upwards, I will write the initials of my name, or the name of some one present, on the ceiling.” When the lights are raised, the letters are seen written on the ceiling in a bold scrawling hand. How is it done? The medium has concealed about him a telescopic steel rod, something like those Chinese fishing rods at one time in vogue among modern disciples of Izaak Walton. This convenient rod when not in use folds up in a very small compass, but when it is shoved out to its full length, some three or four feet, with a bit of black chalk attached, the writing on the ceiling is easily produced. The magicians of ancient Egypt displayed their mystic rods as a part of their paraphernalia, while the modern magi bear theirs in secret. A tambourine, a guitar, a bell, or a spirit hand, rubbed with phosphorus, may also be fixed to this ingenious appliance, and floated over the heads of the spectators, and even a horn may be blown, through the hollow rod.

The materialization of a spirit hand which crept from beneath a table-cover, and showed itself to the “believers,” was one of the most startling things in the repertoire of D. D. Home, as it was in that of Dr. Monck’s, an English medium. An explanation of Monck’s method of producing the hand may, perhaps, throw some light on Home’s “materialization.” A small dummy hand, artistically executed in wax, with the fingers slightly bent, is fastened to a broad elastic band about three feet in length. This band is attached to a belt about the performer’s waist and passes down his left trouser leg, allowing the hand to dangle within the trouser a few inches above the ankle. I must not forget to explain that to the wrist of the hand is appended an elastic sleeve about five inches long. The medium and two sitters take their seats at a square table, with an over-hanging table-cloth. No one is allowed to be seated at the same side of the table with the medium. This is an imperative condition.

“Diminish the light, please,” says the medium. Some one rises to lower the gas to the required dim religious light necessary to all spirit séances. “A little lower, please! Lower, lower still!” remarks the medium. Out the light goes. “Dear, me, but this is vexatious! Somebody light it again and be more careful!” he ejaculates. Under cover of the darkness the agile operator crosses his left foot over his right knee, pulls down the wax hand and fixes it to the toe of his boot by means of the elastic sleeve, the apparatus being masked from the sitters by the table cloth until the time comes for the spirit materialization. The three men place their hands on the table and wait patiently for developments. Presently a rap is heard under the table—disjointed knee of the medium,—and then mirabile dictu! the table-cloth shakes and a delicate female hand emerges and shows itself above the edge of the table. A guitar being placed close to the fingers, they soon strum the strings, or rather appear to do so, the medium being the deus ex machina. The cleverest part of the whole performance is the fact that the medium never takes his hands from the table. He quietly puts his left foot down on the floor and places his right foot heavily on the false hand—off it comes from the left foot and shoots up the trouser leg like lightning. The sitters may look under the table but they see nothing.

An ingenious improvement has been made to this hand-test by an American conjurer, one that enables the medium to produce the hand although his feet are secured by the sitter. “Be kind enough, sir,” says the performer to the investigator, “to place your feet on mine. If I should move my feet ever so little, you would know it, would you not?” The sitter replies in the affirmative. The medium, as soon as he feels the pressure of the sitter’s feet, withdraws his right foot from a steel shape made in imitation of the toe of his boot, and operates the spirit hand at his leisure. After the sitting, he of course, inserts his right foot into the shape and carries it off with him.

The production of spirit music was one of Home’s favorite experiments. There are all sorts of ways of producing this music, the most ingenious of which I give:

The apparatus consists of a small circular musical box, wound up by clock work, and made to play whenever pressure is put upon a stud projecting a quarter of an inch from its surface. This box is strapped around the right leg of the medium just above his knee, and hidden beneath the trouser leg. When not in use it is on the under side of the leg. On the table a musical box is placed and covered with a soup tureen, or the top of a chafing dish. When the spectators are seated, the medium works the concealed musical box around to the upper part of his leg near the knee cap, and by pressing the stud against the under surface of the table, starts the music playing. In this way the second musical box seems to play and the acoustic effect is perfect. Perhaps Home used a similar contrivance; Dr. Monck did, and was caught in the act by the chief of the Detective Police.

Home during his séances on the Continent of Europe was accused of all sorts of trickery. Some asserted that he had concealed about him a small but powerful electric battery for producing certain illusions, mechanical contrivances attached to his legs for making spirit raps, and last but not least, as the medium states in his “Memoirs:” “they even accused me of carrying a small monkey about with me, concealed, trained to perform all sorts of ghostly tricks.”

People also accused him of obtaining a great deal of his information about the spirits of the departed from tombstones like an Old Mortality, and bribing family servants. A more probable explanation may be found perhaps in telepathy.

There is one more phase of Home’s mediumship, the moving of heavy pieces of furniture without physical contact, that must be spoken of. In mentioning it, Dr. Max Dessoir, author of the “Psychology of Conjuring,”[1] says: “We must admit that a few feats, such as those of Prof. Crookes with Home, concerning the possibility of setting inanimate objects in motion without touching them, appear to lie entirely outside the sphere of jugglery.” In the year 1871, Prof. William Crookes, (now Sir William Crookes) Fellow of the Royal Society, a very eminent scientist, subjected Home to some elaborate tests in order to prove or disprove by means of scientific apparatus the reality of phenomena connected with variations in the weight of bodies, with or without contact. He declared the tests to be entirely satisfactory, but ascribed the phenomena not to spiritual agency, but to a new force, “in some unknown manner connected with the human organization,” which for convenience he called the “Psychic Force.” He said in his “Researches in the Phenomena of Spiritualism:” “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 investigations in his presence that I am enabled to affirm so conclusively the existence of this force.” Prof. Crookes’ experiments were conducted, as he says, in the full light, and in the presence of witnesses, among them being the famous English barrister, Sergeant Cox, and the astronomer, Dr. Huggins. Heavy articles became light and light articles heavy when the medium came near them. In some cases he lightly touched them, in others refrained from contact.

FIG. 8. CROOKES’ APPARATUS.

The first piece of the apparatus constructed by Crookes to test this psychic force consisted of a mahogany board 36 inches long by 9½ inches wide and 1 inch thick. A strip of mahogany was screwed on at one end, to form a foot, the length being equal to the width of the board. This end of the board was placed on a table, while the other end was upheld by a spring balance, fastened to a strong tripod stand, as will be seen in Fig. 8.

“Mr. Home,” writes Prof. Crookes, “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. [Dr. Huggins] 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. 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 6½ lbs. The normal weight of the board as so suspended being 3 lbs., the additional downward pull was therefore 3½ 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 1½ lbs., or 2 lbs. when I jerked up and down. 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.”

The next series of experiments is thus described:

“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. 9, 10 and 11) explain the arrangement. Fig. 9 is a general view, and Figs. 10 and 11 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 9½ 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.

FIG. 9. CROOKES’ APPARATUS.

FIG. 10. CROOKES’ APPARATUS.

“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 here refer only to results in which an increase of gravitation was experienced.

FIG. 11. CROOKES’ APPARATUS.

“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. 11). 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 a ring, M N, in which rests a hemispherical copper vessel perforated with several holes at the bottom.

“The iron stand is 2 inches from the board, A B, and the arm and copper vessel, M N, are so adjusted that the latter dips into the water 1½ inches, being 5½ 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 is by this means entirely cut off between the copper vessel and the board, A B, the power of muscular control is thereby completely eliminated.

“For convenience I will divide the experiments into groups, 1, 2, 3, etc., and I have selected one special instance in each to describe in detail. Nothing, however, is mentioned which has not been repeated more than once, and in some cases verified, in Mr. Home’s absence, with another person, possessing similar powers.

“There was always ample light in the room where the experiments were conducted (my own dining-room) to see all that took place.

“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 further, 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 12 is a copy of the curve traced on the glass.

SCALE OF SECONDS.

FIG. 12. DIAGRAM SHOWING TENSION IN CROOKES’ APPARATUS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF HOME.

“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. 9). 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. 13 is a copy.

SCALE THE SAME AS IN FIG. 12.

FIG. 13. DIAGRAM SHOWING TENSION IN CROOKES’ APPARATUS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF HOME.

“Experiment III.—Mr. Home was now placed one foot from the board, A B, on one side of it. His hands and feet were firmly grasped by a by-stander, and another tracing, of which Fig. 14 is a copy, was taken on the moving glass plate.

SCALE THE SAME AS IN FIG. 12.

FIG. 14. DIAGRAM SHOWING TENSION IN CROOKES’ APPARATUS UNDER HOME’S INFLUENCE.

“Experiment IV.—(Tried on an occasion when the power was stronger than on the previous occasions), Mr. Home was now placed 3 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. 15.

SCALE THE SAME AS IN FIG. 12.

FIG. 15. DIAGRAM SHOWING TENSION IN CROOKES’ APPARATUS UNDER HOME’S INFLUENCE.

“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.

FIG. 16. SECOND CROOKES’ APPARATUS.

“A piece of thin parchment, A, (Figs. 16 and 17), 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.

FIG. 17. SECTION OF APPARATUS IN FIG. 16.

“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. 16. 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 17.

SCALE OF SECONDS.

FIG. 18. DIAGRAM SHOWING TENSION IN CROOKES’ APPARATUS (FIG. 15 AND 16) OUTSIDE HOME’S INFLUENCE.

“The accompanying Fig. 18 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.

“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. 17. 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. 19 and 20 show the curves produced on the glass on two of these occasions.

“Figs. 18, 19 and 20 are magnified.

“These experiments confirm beyond doubt the conclusions 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. In the case of Mr. Home, the development of this force varies enormously, not only from week to week, but from hour to hour; on some occasions the force is inappreciable by my tests for an hour or more, and then suddenly reappears in great strength.

SCALE THE SAME AS IN FIG. 18.

FIG. 19. DIAGRAM SHOWING TENSION IN CROOKES’ APPARATUS (FIG. 16 AND 17) UNDER HOME’S INFLUENCE.

“It is capable of acting at a distance from Mr. Home (not unfrequently as far as two or three feet), but is always strongest close to him.

SCALE THE SAME AS ON FIG. 18.

FIG. 20. DIAGRAM SHOWING TENSION IN CROOKES’ APPARATUS (FIG. 16 AND 17) UNDER HOME’S INFLUENCE.

“Being firmly convinced that there could be no manifestation of one form of force without the corresponding expenditure of some other form of force, I for a long time searched in vain for evidence of any force or power being used up in the production of these results.

“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.”

Sergeant Cox in speaking of the tests says, “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.”

One of the medium’s defenders has written:

“Home’s mysterious power, whatever it may have been, was very uncertain. Sometimes he could exercise it, and at others not, and these fluctuations were not seldom the source of embarrassment to him. He would often arrive at a place in obedience to an engagement, and, as he imagined, ready to perform, when he would discover himself absolutely helpless. After a séance his exhaustion appeared to be complete.

“There is no more striking proof of the fact that Home really possessed occult gifts of some sort—psychic force or whatever else the power may be termed—than he gave such amazing exhibitions in the early part of his history and was able to do so little toward the end. If it had been juggling he would, like other conjurors, have improved on his tricks by experience, or at all events, while his memory held out he would not have deteriorated.”

Dr. Hammond’s Experiments.

Dr. William A. Hammond, the eminent neurologist, of Washington, D. C., took up the cudgels against Prof. Crookes’ “Psychic Force” theory, and assigned the experiments to the domain of animal electricity. He wrote as follows:[2] “Place an egg in an egg-cup and balance a long lath upon the egg. Though the lath be almost a plank it will obediently follow a rod of glass, gutta percha or sealing-wax, which has been previously well dried and rubbed, the former with a piece of silk, and the two latter with woolen cloth. Now, in dry weather, many persons within my knowledge, have only to walk with a shuffling gait over the carpet, and then approaching the lath hold out the finger instead of the glass, sealing wax or gutta percha, and instantly the end of the lath at L rises to meet it, and the end at L is depressed. Applying these principles, I arranged an apparatus exactly like that of Prof. Crookes, except that the spring balance was such as is used for weighing letters and was therefore very delicate, indicating quarter ounces with exactness, and that the board was thin and narrow.

FIG. 21. DR. HAMMOND’S APPARATUS.

“Applying the glass rod or stick of sealing-wax to the end resting by its foot on the table, the index of the balance at once descended, showing an increased weight of a little over three quarters of an ounce, and this without the board being raised from the table.

“I then walked over a thick Turkey rug for a few moments, and holding my finger under the board near the end attached to the balance, caused a fall of the index of almost half an ounce. I then rested my finger lightly on the end of the board immediately over the foot, and again the index descended and oscillated several times, just as in Mr. Home’s experiments. The lowest point reached was six and a quarter ounces, and as the board weighed, as attached to the balance, five ounces, there was an increased weight of one and a quarter ounces. At no time was the end of the board raised from the table.

“I then arranged the apparatus so as to place a thin glass tumbler nearly full of water immediately over the fulcrum, as in Mr. Crookes’ experiment, and again the index fell and oscillated on my fingers being put into the water.

“Now if one person can thus, with a delicate apparatus like mine, cause the index, through electricity, to descend and ascend, it is not improbable that others, like Mr. Home, could show greater, or even different electrical power, as in Prof. Crookes’ experiments. It is well known that all persons are not alike in their ability to be electrically excited. Many persons, myself among them, can light the gas with the end of the finger. Others cannot do it with any amount of shuffling over the carpet.

“At any rate is it not much more sensible to believe that Mr. Home’s experiments are to be thus explained than to attribute the results of his semi-mysterious attempts to spiritualism or psychic force?”

3. Rope-Tying and Holding Mediums.

THE DAVENPORT BROTHERS.

Ira Erastus and William Henry Davenport were born at Buffalo, N. Y., the former on Sept. 17, 1839, and the latter on February 1, 1841. Their father, Ira Davenport, was in the police detective department, and, it is alleged, invented the celebrated rope-tying feats after having seen the Indian jugglers of the West perform similar illusions. The usual stories about ghostly phenomena attending the childhood of mediums were told about the Davenport Brothers, but it was not until 1855 that they started on their tour of the United States, with their father as showman or spiritual lecturer. When the Civil War broke out, the Brothers, accompanied by Dr. J. B. Ferguson, formerly an Independent minister of Nashville, Tenn., in the capacity of lecturer, and a Mr. Palmer as general agent and manager, went to England to exhibit their mediumistic powers, following the example of D. D. Home. With the company also was a Buffalo boy named Fay, of German-American parentage, who had formerly acted as ticket-taker for the mediums. He discovered the secret of the rope-tying feat, and was an adept at the coat feat, so he was employed as an “under-study” in case of the illness of William Davenport, who was in rather delicate health. The Brothers Davenport at this period, aged respectively 25 and 23 years, had “long black curly hair, broad but not high foreheads, dark eyes, heavy eye-brows and moustaches, firm set lips, and a bright, keen look.” Their first performance in England was given at the Concert Rooms, Hanover Square, London, and created intense excitement.

Punch called the furore over the spirit rope-tyers the “tie-fuss fever,” and said the mediums were “Ministers of the Interior, with a seat in the Cabinet.” J. N. Maskelyne, the London conjurer of Egyptian Hall, wrote of them: “About the Davenport Brothers’ performances, I have to say that they were and still remain the most inexplicable ever presented to the public as of spiritual origin; and had they been put forth as feats of jugglery would have awakened a considerable amount of curiosity though certainly not to the extent they did.”

In September, 1865, the Brothers arrived in Paris, and placarded the city with enormous posters announcing that the Brothers Davenport, spirit-mediums, would give a series of public séances at the Salle Herz. Their reputation had preceded them to France and the boulevardiers talked of nothing but the wonderful American mediums and their mysterious cabinet. Before exhibiting in Paris the Davenports visited the Chateau de Gennevilliers, whose owner was an enthusiastic believer in Spiritism, and gave a séance before a select party of journalists and scientific men. The exhibition was pronounced marvellous in the extreme and perfectly inexplicable.

The Parisian press was divided on the subject of the Davenports and their advertised séances. Some of the papers protested against such performances on the ground that they were dangerous to the mental health of the public, and, one writer said, “Particularly to those weaker intellects which are always ready enough to accept as gospel the tricks and artifices of the adepts of sham witchcraft.” M. Edmond About, the famous journalist and novelist, in the Opinion Nationale, wrote a scathing denunciation of Spiritism, but all to no purpose, except to inflame public curiosity.

The performances of the Davenports were divided into two parts: (1) The light séance, (2) the dark séance. In the light séance a cabinet, elevated from the stage by three trestles, was used. It was a simple wooden structure with three doors. In the centre door was a lozenge-shaped window covered with a curtain. Upon the sides of the cabinet hung various musical instruments, a guitar, a violin, horns, tambourines, and a big dinner bell.

FIG. 22. THE DAVENPORT BROTHERS IN THEIR CABINET.

A committee chosen by the audience tied the mediums’ hands securely behind their backs, fastened their legs together, and pinioned them to their seats in the cabinet, and to the cross rails with strong ropes. The side doors were closed first, then the center door, but no sooner was the last fastened, than the hands of one of the mediums were thrust through the window in the centre door. In a very short time, at a signal from the mediums, the doors were opened, and the Davenports stepped forth, with the ropes in their hands, every knot untied, confessedly by spirit power. The astonishment of the spectators amounted to awe. On an average it took ten minutes to pinion the Brothers; but a single minute was required for their release. Once more the mediums went into the cabinet, this time with the ropes lying in a coil at their feet. Two minutes elapsed. Hey, presto! the doors were opened, and the Davenports were pronounced by the committee to be securely lashed to their seats. Seals were affixed to the knots in the ropes, and the doors closed as before. Pandemonium reigned. Bells were rung, horns blown, tambourines thumped, violins played, and guitars vigorously twanged. Heavy rappings also were heard on the ceiling, sides and floor of the cabinet, then after a brief but absolute silence, a bare hand and arm emerged from the lozenge window, and rung the big dinner bell. On opening the doors the Brothers were found securely tied as before, and seals intact. An amusing feature of the exhibition occurred when a venturesome spectator volunteered to sit inside of the cabinet between the two mediums. He came out with his coat turned inside out and his hat jammed over his eyes. In the dark séance the cabinet was dispensed with and the spectators, holding hands, formed a ring around the mediums. The lights were put out and similar phenomena took place, with the addition of luminous hands, and musical instruments floating in the air.

Robert-Houdin wrote an interesting brochure on the Davenports, (“Secrets of Stage Conjuring,” translated by Prof. Hoffmann) from which I take the following: “The ropes used by the Davenport Brothers are of a cotton fibre; and they present therefore smooth surfaces, adapted to slip easily one upon another. Gentlemen are summoned from the audience to tie the mediums. Now, tell me, is it an easy task for an amateur to tie a man up off-hand with a rope three yards long, in a very secure way? The amateur is flurried, self-conscious, anxious to acquit himself well of the business, but he is a gentleman, not a brute, and if one of the Brothers sees the ropes getting into a dangerous tangle, he gives a slight groan, as if he were being injured, and the instantaneous impulse of the other man is to loosen the cord a trifle. A fraction of an inch is an invaluable gain in the after-business of loosening the ropes. Sometimes the stiffening of a muscle, the raising of a shoulder, the crooking of a knee, gives all the play required by the Brothers in ridding themselves of their bonds. Their muscles and joints are wonderfully supple, too; the thumbs can be laid flat in the palm of the hand, the hand itself rounded until it is no broader than the wrist, and then it is easy to pull through. Violent wrenches send the ropes up toward the shoulder, vigorous shakings get the legs free; the first hand untied is thrust through the hole in the door of the cabinet, and then returns to give aid to more serious knots on his own or his brother’s person. In tying themselves up the Davenports used the slip-knot, a sort of bow, the ends of which have only to be pulled to be tightened or loosened.”

This slip-knot is a very ingenious affair. (See Fig. 23.) In performing the spirit-tying, the mediums went into the cabinet with the ropes examined by the audience lying coiled at their feet. The doors were closed. They had concealed about their persons ropes in which these trick knots were already adjusted, and with which they very speedily secured themselves, having first secreted the genuine ropes. Then the doors were opened. Seals were affixed to the knots, but this sealing, owing to the position of the hands, and the careful exposition of the knots did not affect the slipping of the ropes sufficiently to prevent the mediums from removing and replacing their hands.

NO. 23. TRICK-TIE IN CABINET WORK.

In the dark séance, flour was sometimes placed in the pinioned hands of the Davenports. On being released from their bonds, the flour was found undisturbed.

This was considered a convincing test; for how could the Brothers possibly manipulate the musical instruments with their hands full of flour. One day a wag substituted a handful of snuff for flour, and when the mediums were examined, the snuff had disappeared and flour taken its place. As will be understood, in the above test the Davenports emptied the flour from their hands into secret pockets and at the proper moment took out cornucopias of flour and filled their hands again before securing themselves in the famous slip-knots.

Among the exposés of the Brothers Davenport, Herrmann, the conjurer, gives the following in the Cosmopolitan Magazine: “The Davenports, for thirteen years, in Europe and America, augmented the faith in Spiritualism. Unfortunately for the Davenports they appeared at Ithaca, New York, where is situated Cornell University. The students having a scientific trend of mind, provided themselves before attending the performance with pyrotechnic balls containing phosphorus, so made as to ignite suddenly with a bright light. During the dark séance when the Davenports were supposed to be bound hand and foot within the closet and when the guitars were apparently floating in the air, the students struck their lights, whereupon the spirits were found to be no other than the Davenports themselves, dodging about the stage brandishing guitars and playing tunes and waving at the same time tall poles surmounted by phosphorescent spook pictures.”

The Davenports had some stormy experiences in Paris, but managed to come through all successfully, with plenty of French gold in their pockets. William died in October, 1877, at the Oxford Hotel, Sydney, Australia, having publicly denounced Spiritualism. Mr. Fay took to raising sheep in Australia, while Ira Davenport drifted back to his old home in Buffalo, New York.

Many mediums, taking the cue from the Davenports, have performed the cabinet act with its accompanying rope-tying, but the conjurers (anti-spiritists) have, with the aid of mechanism, brought the business to a high degree of perfection, notably Mr. J. Nevil Maskelyne, of Egyptian Hall, London, and Mr. Harry Kellar, of the United States. Writing of the Davenport Brothers, Maskelyne says:

“The instantaneous tying and untying was simply marvellous, and it utterly baffled everyone to discover, until, on one occasion, the accidental falling of a piece of drapery from a window (the lozenge-shaped aperture in the door of the cabinet), at a critical moment let me into the secret. I was able in a few months to reproduce every item of the Davenports’ cabinet and dark séance. So close was the resemblance to the original, that the Spiritualist had no alternative but to claim us (Maskelyne and Cooke) as most powerful spirit mediums who found it more profitable to deny the assistance of spirits.”

Robert-Houdin’s explanation of the slip-knot, used by the Davenports in their dark séance, is the correct one, but he failed to fathom the mystery of the mode of release of the Brothers after they were tied in the cabinet by a committee selected from the audience. Anyone trying to extricate himself from bondage a la Houdin, no matter how slippery and serpentine he be, would find it exceedingly difficult. It seems almost incredible, but trickery was used in the light séance, as well as the dark. Maskelyne, as quoted above, claimed to have penetrated the mystery, but he kept it a profound secret—though he declared that his cabinet work was trickery. The writer is indebted for an initiation into the mysteries of the Davenport Brothers’ rope-tying to Mr. H. Morgan Robinson (Professor Helmann), of Washington, D. C., a very clever prestidigitateur.

In the year 1895, after an unbroken silence of nineteen years, Fay, ex-assistant of the Davenports, determined to resume the profession of public medium. He abandoned his sheep ranch and hunted up Ira Davenport. They gave several performances in Northern towns, and finally landed at the Capital of the Nation, in the spring of 1895, and advertised several séances at Willard’s Hall. A very small audience greeted them on their first appearance. Among the committee volunteering to go on the stage and tie the mediums were the writer and Mr. Robinson. After the séance the prestidigitateur fully explained the modus operandi of the mystic tie, which is herein for the first time correctly given to the public.

The medium holds out his left wrist first and has it tied securely, about the middle of the rope. Two members of the committee are directed to pull the ends of the cord vigorously. “Are you confident that the knots are securely tied?” he asks; when the committee respond “yes,” he puts his hand quickly behind him, and places against the wrist, the wrist of his right hand, in order that they may be pinioned together. During this rapid movement he twists the rope about the knot on his left wrist, thereby allowing enough slack cord to disengage his right hand when necessary. To slip the right hand back into place is an easy matter. After both hands are presumably tied, the medium steps into the cabinet; the ends of the rope are pushed through two holes in the chair or wooden seat, by the committee and made fast to the medium’s legs. Bells ring, horns blow, and the performer’s hand is thrust through the window of the cabinet. Finally a gentleman is requested to enter the cabinet with the medium. The doors are locked and a perfect pandemonium begins; when they are opened the volunteer assistant tumbles out in great trepidation. His hat is smashed over his eyes, his cravat is tied around his leg, and he is found to have on the medium’s coat, while the medium wears the gentleman’s coat turned inside out. It all appears very remarkable, but the mystery is cleared up when I state that the innocent looking gentleman is invariably a confederate, what conjurers call a plant, because he is planted in the audience to volunteer for the special act.

Ira and William Davenport were tied in the manner above described. Often one of the Brothers allowed himself to be genuinely pinioned, after having received a preconcerted signal from his partner that all was right, i. e., the partner had been fastened by the trick tie, calling attention to the knots in the cord, etc. The trick tie, however, is so delusive, that it is impossible to penetrate the secret in the short time allowed the committee for investigation, and there is no special reason for permitting a genuine tie-up. Once in a great while, the Davenports were over-reached by clever committee-men and tied up so tightly that there was no getting loose. Where one brother failed to execute the trick and was genuinely fastened, the other medium performed the spirit evolutions, and cut his “confrere” loose before they came out of the cabinet.

The Fay-Davenport revival proved a failure, and the mediums dissolved partnership in Washington. Kellar, the magician and former assistant of the original Davenport combination, by a curious coincidence was giving his fine conjuring exhibition in the city at the same time. His tricks far eclipsed the feeble revival of the rope-tying phenomena. The fickle public crowded to see the magician and neglected the mediums.

ANNIE EVA FAY.

One of the most famous of the materializing mediums now exhibiting in the United States is Annie Eva Fay. She is quite an adept at the spirit-tying business, and like the Davenports, uses a cabinet on the stage, but her method of tying, though clever, is inferior to that used by the Brothers in their balmy days. In the center of the Fay cabinet (a plain, curtained affair) is a post firmly screwed to the stage. The medium permits a committee of two from the audience to tie her to this post, and seal the bandages about her wrists with court plaster. She then takes her seat upon a small stool in front of the stanchion; the musical instruments are placed on her lap, and the curtains of the cabinet closed. Immediately the evidences of spirit power begin: the bell is jingled, the tambourine thumped, and the sound of a horn heard, simultaneously.

The Fay method of tying is designed especially to facilitate the medium’s actions. Cotton bandages are used, and the committee are invited to sew the knots through and through. Each wrist is tied with a bandage, about an inch and a half wide by a half yard in length; and the medium then clasps her hands behind her, so that her wrists are about six inches apart. The committee now proceed to tie the ends of the bandages firmly together, and, after this is accomplished, the dangling pieces of the bandages are clipped off. It is true, the medium is firmly bound by this process, and it would be physically impossible for her to release herself, without disturbing the sewing and the seals, but it is not intended for her to release herself at all; the method pursued being altogether different from the old species of rope-tying. All being secure, the committee are requested to pass another bandage about the short ligature between the lady’s wrists, and tie it in double square knots, and firmly secure this to a ring in the post of the cabinet, the medium being seated on a stool in front of the stanchion, facing the audience. Her neck is likewise secured to the post by cotton bandages and her feet fastened together with a cord, the end of which passes out of the cabinet and is held by one of the committee.

The peculiar manner of holding the hands, described above, enables the medium to secure for her use, a ligature of knotted cloth between her hands, some six inches long; and the central bandage, usually tied in four or five double knots, gives her about two inches play between the middle of the cotton handcuffs and the ring in the post, to which it is secured. The ring is two and a half inches in diameter, and the staple which holds it to the stanchion is a half inch. The left hand of the medium gives six additional inches, and the bandage on her wrist slips readily along her slender arm nearly half way to the elbow—“all of which,” says John W. Truesdell,[3] who was the first to expose Miss Fay’s spirit pretensions, “gives the spirits a clear leeway of not less than 20 inches from the stanchion. The moment the curtain is closed, the medium, under spirit influence spreads her hands as far apart as possible, an act which stretches the knotted ligature so that the bandage about it will easily slip from the centre to either wrist; then, throwing her lithe form by a quick movement, to the left, so that her hips will pass the stanchion without moving her feet from the floor, the spirits are able, through the medium, to reach whatever may have been placed upon her lap.”

One of Annie Eva’s most convincing tests is the accordion which plays, after it has been bound fast with tapes and the tapes carefully sealed at every note, so as to prevent its being performed on in the regular manner. Her method of operating, though simple, is decidedly ingenious. She places a small tube in the valve-hole of the instrument, breathes and blows alternately into it, and then by fingering the keys, executes an air with excellent effect.

Sometimes she places a musical box on an oblong plate of glass suspended from the ceiling by four cords. The box plays and stops at word of command, much to the astonishment of listeners. “Electricity,” exclaims the reader! Hardly so, for the box is completely insulated on the sheet of glass. Then how is it done? Mr. Asprey Vere, an investigator of spirit phenomena, tells the secret in the following words: (“Modern Magic”). “In the box there is placed a balance lever which when the glass is in the slightest degree tilted, arrests the fly-fan, and thus prevents the machinery from moving. At the word of command the glass is made level, and the fly-fan being released, the machinery moves, and a tune is played. When commanded to stop, either side of the cord is pulled by a confederate behind the scenes, the balance lever drops, the fly-fan is arrested, and the music stops.”

One of the tests presented to the American public by this medium is the “spirit-hand,” constructed of painted wood or papier mache, which raps out answers to questions, after it has been isolated from all contact by being placed on a sheet of glass supported on the backs of two chairs.

It is a trick performed by every conjurer, and the secret is a piece of black silk thread, worked by confederates stationed in the wings of the theatre, one at the right, the other at the left. The thread lies along the stage when not in use, but at the proper cue from the medium, it is lifted up and brought in contact with the wooden hand. The hand is so constructed that the palm lies on the glass sheet and the wrist, with a fancy lace cuff about it, is elevated an inch above the glass, the whole apparatus being so pivoted that a pressure of the thread from above will depress the wrist and elevate the palm. When the thread is relaxed the hand comes down on the glass with a thump and makes the spirit rap which is so effective. A rapping skull made on similar principles is also in vogue among mediums.

CHARLES SLADE.

Annie Eva Fay has a rival in Charles Slade, who is a clever performer and a most convincing talker. His cabinet test is the same as Miss Fay’s, but he has other specialties that are worth explaining—one is the “table-raising,” and another is the “spirit neck-tie.” The effect of the first experiment is as follows: Slade, with his arms bared and coat removed, requests several gentlemen to sit around a long table, reserving the head for himself. Hands are placed on the table, and developments awaited. “Do you feel the table raising?” asks the medium, after a short pause. “We do!” comes the response of the sitters. Slade then rises; all stand up, and the table is seen suspended in the air, about a foot from the floor of the stage. In a little while an uncontrollable desire seems to take possession of the table to rush about the stage. Frequently the medium requests several persons to get on the table, but that has no effect whatever. The same levitation takes place. The secret of this surprising mediumistic test is very simple. In the first place, the man who sits at the foot of the table is a confederate. Both medium and confederate wear about their waists wide leather belts, ribbed and strengthened with steel bands, and supported from the shoulders by bands of leather and steel. In the front of each belt is a steel hinge concealed by the vest of the wearer. In the act of sitting down at the table the medium and his confederate quickly pull the hinges which catch under the top of the table when the sitters rise. The rest of the trick is easily comprehended. When the levitation act is finished the hinges are folded up and hidden under the vests of the performers.

The “spirit neck-tie” is one of the best things in the whole range of mediumistic marvels, and has never to my knowledge been exposed. A rope is tied about the medium’s neck with the knots at the back and the ends are thrust through two holes in one side of the cabinet, and tied in a bow knot on the outside. The holes in the cabinet must be on a level with the medium’s neck, after he is seated. The curtains of the cabinet are then closed, and the committee requested to keep close watch on the bow-knot on the outside of the cabinet. The assistant in a short time pulls back the curtain from the cabinet on the side farthest from the medium, and reveals a sheeted figure which writes messages and speaks to the spectators. Other materializations take place. The curtain is drawn. At this juncture the medium is heard calling: “Quick, quick, release me!” The assistant unfastens the bow-knot, the ends of the rope are quickly drawn into the cabinet, and the medium comes forward, looking somewhat exhausted, with the rope still tied about his neck. The question resolves itself into two factors—either the medium gets loose the neck-tie and impersonates the spirits or the materializations are genuine. “Gets loose! But that is impossible,” exclaim the committee, “we watched the cord in the closest way.” The secret of this surprising feat lies in a clever substitution. The tie is genuine, but the medium, after the curtains of the cabinet are closed, cuts the cord with a sharp knife, just about the region of the throat, and impersonates the ghosts, with the aid of various wigs and disguises concealed about him. Then he takes a second cord from his pocket, ties it about his neck with the same number of knots as are in the original rope and twists the neck-tie around so that these knots will appear at the back of his neck. Now, he exclaims, “Quick, quick, unfasten the cord.” As soon as his assistant has untied the simple bow knot on the outside of the cabinet, the medium quickly pulls the genuine rope into the cabinet and conceals it in his pocket.

When he presents himself to the spectators the rope about his neck (presumed to be the original) is found to be correctly tied and untampered with. Much of the effect depends on the rapidity with which the medium conceals the original cord and comes out of the cabinet. The author has seen this trick performed in parlors, the holes being bored in a door.

Charles Slade makes a great parade in his advertisements about exposing the vulgar tricks of bogus mediums, but he says nothing about the secrets of his own pet illusions. His exposés are made for the purpose of enhancing his own mediumistic marvels.

I insert a verbatim copy of the handbills with which he deluges the highways and byways of American cities and towns.

SLADE

Will fully demonstrate the various methods employed by such renowned spiritualistic mediums as Alex. Hume, Mrs. Hoffmann, Prof. Taylor, Chas. Cooke, Richard Bishop, Dr. Arnold, and various others,

IN PLAIN, OPEN LIGHT.

Every possible means will be used to enlighten the auditor as to whether these so-called wonders are enacted through the aid of spirits or are the result of natural agencies.

SUCH PHENOMENA AS

Committees will be selected by the audience to assist SLADE, and to report their views as to the why and wherefore of the many strange things that will be shown during the evening. This is done so that every person attending may learn the truth regarding the tests, whether they are genuine, or caused by expert trickery.

Do not class or confound SLADE with the numerous so-called spirit mediums and spiritual exposers that travel through the country, like a set of roaming vampires, seeking whom they may devour. It is SLADE’S object in coming to your city to enlighten the people one way or the other as to the real

TRUTH CONCERNING THESE MYSTERIES.

Scientific men, and many great men, have believed there was a grain of essential truth in the claims of Spiritualism. It was believed more on the account of the want of power to deny it than anything else. The idea that under some strained and indefinable possibilities the spirit of the mortal man may communicate with the spirit of the departed man is something that the great heart of humanity is prone to believe, as it has faith in future existence. No skeptic will deny any man’s right to such a belief, but this little grain of hope has been the foundation for such extensive and heartless mediumistic frauds that it is constantly losing ground.

A NIGHT OF Wonderful Manifestations The Veil Drawn So that all may have an insight into the Spirit World And behold many things that are Strange and Startling.

The Clergy, the Press, Learned Synods and Councils, Sage Philosophers and Scientists, in fact, the whole world have proclaimed these Philosophical Idealisms to be an astounding

FACT.

YOU ARE BROUGHT Face to Face with the Spirits.

A SMALL ADMISSION WILL BE CHARGED TO DEFRAY EXPENSES.

PIERRE L. O. A. KEELER.

Pierre Keeler’s fame as a producer of spirit phenomena rests largely upon his materializing séances. It was his materializations that received the particular attention of the Seybert Commission. The late Mr. Henry Seybert, who was an ardent believer in modern Spiritualism, presented to the University of Pennsylvania a sum of money to found a chair of philosophy, with the proviso that the University should appoint a commission to investigate “all systems of morals, religion or philosophy which assume to represent the truth, and particularly of modern Spiritualism.” The following gentlemen were accordingly appointed, and began their investigations: Dr. William Pepper, Dr. Joseph Leidy, Dr. George A. Koenig, Prof. R. E. Thompson, Prof. George S. Fullerton, and Dr. Horace H. Furness. Subsequently others were added to the commission—Dr. Coleman Sellers, Dr. James W. White, Dr. Calvin B. Kneer, and Dr. S. Weir Mitchell. Dr. Pepper, Provost of the University, was ex-officio chairman; Dr. Furness, acting chairman, and Prof. Fullerton, secretary.

Keeler’s materializations are thus described in the report of the commission:

“On May 27 the Seybert commission held a meeting at the house of Mr. Furness at 8 p. m., to examine the phenomena occurring in the presence of Mr. Pierre L. O. A. Keeler, a professional medium.

“The medium, Mr. Keeler, is a young man, with well cut features, curly brown hair, a small sandy mustache, and rather worn and anxious expression; he is strongly built, about 5 feet 8 inches high, and with rather short, quite broad, and very muscular hands and strong wrists. The hands were examined by Dr. Pepper and Mr. Fullerton after the séance.

“The séance was held in Mr. Furness’ drawing-room, and a space was curtained off by the medium in the northeast corner, thus, (Fig. 25):

FIG. 25. PIERRE KEELER’S CABINET SEANCE.

“The curtain is represented by A, B; C, D and E are three chairs, placed in front of the curtain by the medium, in one of which (E) he afterwards sat; G denotes the position of Mrs. Keeler; F is a small table, placed within the curtain, and upon which was a tambourine, a guitar, two bells, a hammer, a metallic ring; the stars show the positions of the spectators, who sat in a double row—the two stars at the top facing the letter A indicate the positions taken by Mrs. Kase and Col. Kase, friends of Mr. Keeler, according to the directions of the medium.

“The curtain, or rather curtains, were of black muslin, and arranged as follows: There was a plain black curtain, which was stretched across the corner, falling to the floor. Its height, when in position, was 53 inches; it was made thus:

FIG. 26. PIERRE KEELER’S CABINET CURTAIN.

“The cord which held the curtain was 1, 2, and the flaps which are represented as standing above it (A, B, C, etc.), fell down over A1, B1, C1, etc., and could be made to cover the shoulders of one sitting with his back against the curtain. A black curtain was also pinned against the wall, in the space curtained off, partly covering it. Another curtain was added to the one pictured, as will be described presently.

“The medium asked Col. Kase to say a few words as to the necessity of observing the conditions, need of harmony, etc. And then the medium himself spoke a few words of similar import. He then drew the curtain along the cord (1, 2,) and fastened it; placed three wooden chairs in front of the curtain, as indicated in the diagram, and, saying he needed to form a battery, asked Miss Agnes Irwin to sit in chair D, and Mr. Yost in chair C, the medium himself sitting in chair E. A black curtain was then fastened by Mrs. Keeler over Mr. Keeler, Miss Irwin and Mr. Yost, being fastened at G, between E and D, between D and C, and beyond A; thus entirely covering the three sitting in front of the stretched curtain up to their necks; and when the flaps before mentioned were pulled down over their shoulders, nothing could be seen but the head of each.

“Before the last curtain was fastened over them, the medium placed both his hands upon the forearm and wrist of Miss Irwin, the sleeve being pulled up for the purpose, and Miss Irwin grasped with her right hand the left wrist of Mr. Yost, his right hand being in sight to the right of the curtain.

“After some piano music the medium said he felt no power from this ‘battery,’ and asked Mrs. E. D. Gillespie to take Miss Irwin’s place. Hands and curtains were arranged as before. The lights were turned down until the room was quite dim. During the singing the medium turned to speak to Mr. Yost, and his body, which had before faced rather away from the two other persons of the ‘battery’ (which position would have brought his right arm out in front of the stretched curtain), was now turned the other way, so that had he released his grasp upon Mrs. Gillespie’s arm, his own right arm could have had free play in the curtained space behind him. His left knee also no longer stood out under the curtain in front, but showed a change of position.

“At this time Mrs. Gillespie declared she felt a touch, and soon after so did Mr. Yost. The medium’s body was distinctly inclined toward Mr. Yost at this time. Mrs. Gillespie said she felt taps, but declared that, to the best of her knowledge, she still felt the medium’s two hands upon her arm.

“Raps indicated that the spirit, George Christy, was present. As one of those present played on the piano, the tambourine was played in the curtained space and thrown over the curtain; bells were rung; the guitar was thrummed a little. At this time the medium’s face was toward Mrs. Gillespie, and his right side toward the curtain. His body was further in against the curtain than either of the others. Upon being asked, Mrs. Gillespie then said she thought she still felt two hands upon her arm.

“The guitar was then thrust out, at least the end of it was, at the bottom of the curtain, between Mrs. Gillespie and the medium. Mrs. Keeler drawing the curtain from over the toes of the medium’s boots, to show where his feet were; the guitar was thrummed a little. Had the medium’s right arm been free the thrumming could have been done quite easily with one hand. Afterward the guitar was elevated above the curtain; the tambourine, which was by Mrs. Keeler placed upon a stick held up within the inclosure, was made to whirl by the motion of the stick. The phenomena occurred successively, not simultaneously.

“When the guitar was held up, and when the tambourine was made to whirl, both of these were to the right of the medium, chiefly behind Mrs. Gillespie; they were just where they might have been produced by the right arm of the medium, had it been free. Two clothes-pins were then passed over the curtain, and they were used in drumming to piano music. They could easily be used in drumming by one hand alone, the fingers being thrust into them. The pins were afterward thrown out over the curtain. Mr. Sellers picked one up as soon as it fell, and found it warm in the split, as though it had been worn. The drumming was probably upon the tambourine.

“A hand was seen moving rapidly with a trembling motion—which prevented it from being clearly observed—above the back curtain, between Mr. Yost and Mrs. Gillespie. Paper was passed over the curtain into the cabinet and notes were soon thrown out. The notes could have been written upon the small table within the enclosure by the right hand of the medium, had it been free. Mrs. Keeler then passed a coat over the curtain, and an arm was passed through the sleeve, the fingers, with the cuff around them being shown over the curtain. They were kept moving, and a close scrutiny was not possible.

“Mr. Furness was then invited to hold a writing tablet in front of the curtain, when the hand, almost concealed by the coat-sleeve and the flaps mentioned as attached to the curtain, wrote with a pencil on the tablet. The writing was rapid, and the hand, when not writing, was kept in constant, tremulous motion. The hand was put forth, in this case not over the top curtain, but came from under the flap, and could easily have been the medium’s right hand were it disengaged, for it was about on a level with his shoulder and to his right, between him and Mrs. Gillespie. Mr. Furness was allowed to pass his hand close to the curtain and grasp the hand for a moment. It was a right hand.

“Soon after the medium complained of fatigue, and the sitting was discontinued. It was declared by the Spiritualists present to be a fairly successful séance. When the curtains were removed the small table in the enclosure was found to be overturned, and the bells, hammer, etc., on the floor.

“It is interesting to note the space within which all the manifestations occurred. They were, without exception, where they would have been had they been produced by the medium’s right arm. Nothing happened to the left of the medium, nor very far over to the right. The sphere of activity was between the medium and Mr. Yost, and most of the phenomena occurred, as, for example, the whirling of the tambourine, behind Mrs. Gillespie.

“The front curtain—that is, the main curtain which hung across the corner—was 85 inches in length, and the cord which supported it 53 inches from the floor. The three chairs which were placed in front of it were side by side, and it would not have been difficult for the medium to reach across and touch Mr. Yost. When Mrs. Keeler passed objects over the curtain, she invariably passed them to the right of the medium, although her position was on his left; and the clothes-pins, paper, pencil, etc., were all passed over at a point where the medium’s right hand could easily have reached them.

“To have produced the phenomena by using his right hand the medium would have had to pass it under the curtain at his back. This curtain was not quite hidden by the front one at the end, near the medium, and this end both Mr. Sellers and Dr. Pepper saw rise at the beginning of the séance. The only thing worthy of consideration, as opposed to a natural explanation of the phenomena, was the grasp of the medium’s hand on Mrs. Gillespie’s arm.

“The grasp was evidently a tight one above the wrist, for the arm was bruised for about four inches. There was no evidence of a similar pressure above that, as the marks on the arm extended in all about five or six inches only. The pressure was sufficient to destroy the sensibility of the forearm, and it is doubtful whether Mrs. Gillespie, with her arm in such a condition could distinguish between the grasp of one hand, with a divided pressure (applied by the two last fingers and the thumb and index) and a double grip by two hands. Three of our number, Mr. Sellers, Mr. Furness, and Dr. White, can, with one hand, perfectly simulate the double grip.

“It is specially worthy of note that Mrs. Gillespie declared that, when the medium first laid hold of her arms with his right hand before the curtain was put over them, it was with an undergrip, and she felt his right arm under her left. But when the medium asked her if she felt both his hands upon her arm, and she said, yes, she could feel the grasp, but no arm under hers, though she moved her elbow around to find it—she felt a hand, but not an arm, and at no time during the séance did she find that arm.

“It should be noted that both the medium and Mr. Yost took off their coats before being covered with the curtain. It was suggested by Dr. Pepper that this might have been required by the medium as a precaution against movements on the part of Mr. Yost. The white shirt-sleeves would have shown against the black background.”

I attended a number of Keeler’s materializing exhibitions in Washington, D. C., in the spring of 1895, and it is my opinion that the writing of his so-called spirit messages is a simple affair, the very long and elaborate ones being written before the séance begins and the short ones by the medium during the sitting. The latter are done in a scrawling, uncertain hand, just such penmanship one would execute when blindfolded.

The evidence of Dr. G. H. La Fetra, of Washington, D. C., is sufficiently convincing on this point. Said Dr. La Fetra to me: “Some years ago I went with a friend, Col. Edward Hayes, to one of Mr. Keeler’s light séances. It was rather early in the evening, and but few persons had assembled. Upon the mantel piece of the séance-room were several tablets of paper. Unobserved, I took up these tablets, one at a time, and drew the blade of my pen-knife across one end of each of them, so that I might identify the slips of paper torn therefrom by the nicks in them. In a little while, the room was filled with people, and the séance began; the gas being lowered to a dim religious light. When the time came for the writing, Mr. Keeler requested that some of the tablets of paper on the mantel be passed into the cabinet. This was done. Various persons present received ‘spirit’ communications, the slips of paper being thrown over the curtain of the cabinet by a ‘materialized’ hand. Some gentleman picked up the papers and read them, for the benefit of the spectators; afterwards he laid aside those not claimed by anybody. Some of these ‘spirit’ communications covered almost an entire slip. These were carefully written, some of them in a fine hand. The short messages were roughly scrawled. After the séance, Col. Hayes and myself quietly pocketed a dozen or more of the slips. The next morning at my office we carefully examined them. In every instance, we found that the well-written, lengthy messages were inscribed on unnicked slips, the short ones being written on nicked slips.”

To me, this evidence of Dr. La Fetra seems most conclusive, proving beyond the shadow of a doubt that Keeler prepared his long communications before the séance and had them concealed upon his person, throwing them out of the cabinet at the proper moment. He used the nicked tablets for his short messages, written on the spot, thereby completely revealing his method of operating to the ingenious investigator.

The late Dr. Leonard Caughey, of Baltimore, Maryland, an intimate friend of the writer, made a specialty of anti-Spiritualistic tricks, and among others performed this cabinet test of Keeler’s. He bought the secret from a broken-down medium for a few dollars, and added to it certain effects of his own, that far surpassed any of Keeler’s. The writer has seen Dr. Caughey give the tests, and create the utmost astonishment. His improvement on the trick consisted in the use of a spring clasp like those used by gentlemen bicycle riders to keep their trousers in at the ankles. One end terminated in a soft rubber or chamois skin tip, shaped like a thumb, the other end had four representations of fingers. Two wire rings were soldered on the back of the clasp. This apparatus he had concealed under his vest. Before the curtain of the cabinet was drawn, Dr. Caughey grasped the arm of the lady on his right in the following manner: The thumb of his left hand under her wrist, the fingers extended above it; the thumb of his right hand resting on the thumb of the left, the fingers lightly resting on the fingers of the left hand. As soon as the curtain was fastened he extended the fourth and index fingers of the left hand to the fullest extent and pressed hard upon the lady’s arm, relaxing at the same time the pressure of his second and third fingers. This movement exactly simulates the grasp of two hands, and enables the medium to take away his right hand altogether. Dr. Caughey then took his spring clasp, opened it by inserting his thumb and first finger in the soldered rings above mentioned, and lightly fastened it on the lady’s arm near the wrist, relaxing the pressure of the first and fourth fingers of the left hand at the same moment. “I will slide my right hand along your arm, and grasp you near the elbow. It will relieve the pressure about your wrist; besides be more convincing to you that there is no trickery.” So saying, he quickly slid the apparatus along her arm, and left it in the position spoken of. This produces a perfect illusion, the clasp with its trick thumb and fingers working to perfection.

This apparatus may also be used in the following manner: Roll up your sleeves and exhibit your hands to the sitter. Tell him you are going to stand behind him and grasp his arms firmly near the shoulders. Take your position immediately under the gas jet. Ask him to please lower the light. Produce the trick clasps, distend them by means of your thumbs and fingers, and after the gas is lowered, grasp the sitter in the manner described. Remove your fingers and thumbs lightly from the clasps and perform various mediumistic evolutions, such as writing a message on a pad or slate placed on the sitter’s head; strike him gently on his cheek with a damp glove, etc. When the séance is over, insert your fingers and thumbs in the soldered rings, remove the clasps and conceal them quickly.

EUSAPIA PALADINO.

The materializing medium who has caused the greatest sensation since Home’s death is Eusapia Paladino, an Italian peasant woman. Signor Damiani, of Florence, Italy, discovered her alleged psychical powers in 1875, and brought her into notice. An Italian Count was so impressed with the manifestations witnessed in the presence of the illiterate peasant woman, that he insisted upon “a commission of scientific men being called to investigate them.” In the year 1884, this commission held séances with Eusapia, and afterwards declared that the phenomena witnessed were inexplicable, and unquestionably the result of forces transcending ordinary experience. In the year 1892 another commission was formed in Milan to test Eusapia’s powers as a medium, and from this period her fame dates, as the most remarkable psychic of modern times. The report drawn up by this commission was signed by Giovanni Schiaparelli, director of the Astronomical Observatory, Milan; Carl du Prel, doctor of philosophy, Munich; Angelo Brofferio, professor of physics in the Royal School of Agriculture, Portici; G. B. Ermacora, doctor of physics; Giorgio Finzi, doctor of physics. At some of the sittings were present Charles Richet and the famous Cesare Lombroso. The conclusion arrived at by these gentlemen was that Eusapia’s mediumistic phenomena were most worthy of scientific attention, and were unfathomable. The medium reaped the benefit of this notoriety, and gave sittings to hundreds of investigators among the Italian nobility, charging as high as $500 for a single séance. At last she was exposed by a clever American, Dr. Richard Hodgson, of Boston, secretary of the American branch of the Society for Psychical Research. His account of the affair, communicated to the New York Herald, Jan. 10, 1897, is very interesting. Speaking of the report of the Milan commission, he says:

FIG. 27. EUSAPIA PALADINO.

FIG. 28. EUSAPIA BEFORE THE SCIENTISTS.

“Their report confessed to seeing and hearing many strange things, although they believed they had the hands and feet of the psychic so closely held that she could have had nothing to do with the manifestations.

“Chairs were moved, bells were rung, imprints of fingers were made on smoked paper and soft clay, apparitions of hands appeared on slightly luminous backgrounds, the chair of the medium and the medium herself were lifted to the table, the sound of trumpets, the contact of a seemingly human face, the touch of human hands, warm and moist, all were felt.

“Most of these phenomena were repeated, and the members of the commission were, with two exceptions, satisfied that no known power could have produced them. Professor Richet did not sign the report, but induced Signora Eusapia to go to an island he owned in the Mediterranean, where other exacting tests were made under other scientific eyes. The investigators all agreed that the demonstrations could not be accounted for by ordinary forces.

“I have found in my experience that learned scientific men are the most easily duped of any in the world. Instead of having a cold, inert piece of matter to investigate by exact processes and microscopic inspections, they had a clever, bright woman doing her best to mystify them. They could not cope with her.

“Professor Richet replied to an article I wrote, upholding his position, and brought Signora Eusapia Paladino to Cambridge, England, where I joined the investigating committee. In the party were Professor Lodge, of Liverpool; Professor F. M. C. Meyer, secretary of the British Society for Psychical Research; Professor Richet and Mr. Henry Sedgwick, president of the society.

“I found that the psychic, though giving a great variety of events, confined them to a very limited scope. She was seated during the tests at the end of a rectangular table and when the table was lifted it rose up directly at the other end. It was always so arranged that she was in the dark, even if the rest of the table was in the light; in the so-called light séances it was not light, the lamp being placed in an adjoining room. There were touches, punches and blows given, minor objects moved, some near and some further away; the outline of faces and hands appeared, etc.

“When I came to hold her hands I found a key to the mystery.

“It was chiefly that she made one hand and one foot do the work of both, by adroit substitution. Given a free hand and a free foot, and nearly all the phenomena can be explained. She has very strong, supple hands, with deft fingers and great coolness and intelligence.

“This is the way she substituted one hand for both. She placed one of her hands over A’s hand and the other under B’s hand. Then, in the movements of the arms during the manifestation, she worked her hands toward each other until they rested one upon the other, with A’s hand at the bottom of the pile, B’s at the top and both her own, one upon the other, between. To draw out one hand and leave one and yet have the investigators feel that they still had a hand was easy.

“With this hand free and in darkness there were great possibilities. There were strings, also, as I believe, which were attached to different objects and moved them. The dim outlines of faces and hands seen were clever representations of the medium’s own free hand in various shapes.

“It is thought that if a medium was kept clapping her hands she could do nothing with them, but one of the investigators found the Signora slapping her face with one hand, producing just the same sound as if her hands met, while the other hand was free to produce mysterious phenomena.

“I have tried the experiment of shifting hands when those who held them knew they were going to be tricked, and yet they did not discover when I made the exchange. I am thoroughly satisfied that Signora Eusapia Paladino is a clever trickster.”

Eusapia Paladino was by no means disconcerted by Dr. Hodgson’s exposé, but continued giving her séances. At the present writing she is continuing them in France with a number of new illusions. Many who have had sittings with her declare that she is able to move heavy objects without contact. Possibly this is due to jugglery, or it may be due to some psychic force as yet not understood.

F. W. TABOR.

Mr. F. W. Tabor is a materializing medium whose specialty is the trumpet test for the production of spirit voices. I had a sitting with him at the house of Mr. X, of Washington, D. C., on the night of Jan. 10, 1897. Seven persons, including the medium, sat around an ordinary-sized table in Mr. X—’s drawing room, and formed a chain of hands, in the following manner: Each person placed his or her hands on the table with the thumbs crossed, and the little fingers of each hand touching the little fingers of the sitters on the right and left. A musical box was set going and the light was turned out by Mr. X—, who broke the circle for that purpose, but immediately resumed his old position at the table. A large speaking trumpet of tin about three feet long had been placed upright in the center of the table, and near it was a pad of paper, and pencils. We waited patiently for some little time, the monotony being relieved by operatic airs from the music box, and the singing of hymns by the sitters. There were convulsive twitchings of the hands and feet of the medium, who complained of tingling sensations in those members. The first “phenomena” produced were balls of light dancing like will-o’-the-wisps over the table, and the materialization of a luminous spirit hand. Taps upon the table signalled the arrival of Mr. Tabor’s spirit control, “Jim,” a little newsboy, of San Francisco, who was run over some years ago by a street car. The medium was the first person who picked up the wounded waif and endeavored to administer to him, but without avail. “Jim” died soon after, and his disembodied spirit became the medium’s control. Soon the trumpet arose from the table and floated over the heads of the sitters, and the voice of “Jim” was heard, sepulchral and awe-inspiring, through the instrument. Subsequently, messages of an impersonal character were communicated to Mr. X— and his wife. At one time the trumpet was heard knocking against the chandelier. During the séance several of the ladies experienced the clasp of a ghostly hand about their wrists, and considerable excitement was occasioned thereby.

It is not a difficult matter to explain this trumpet test. It hinges on one fact, freedom of the medium’s right hand! In all of these holding tests, the medium employs a subterfuge to release his hands without the knowledge of the sitter on his right. During his convulsive twitchings, he quickly jerks his right hand away, but immediately extends the fingers of his left hand, and connects the index fingers with the little finger of the sitter’s left hand, thereby completing the chain, or “battery,” as it is technically called. Were the medium to use his thumb in making the connection the secret would be revealed, but the index finger of his left hand sufficiently simulates a little finger, and in the darkness the sitter is deceived. The right hand once released, the medium manipulates the trumpet and the phosphorescent spirit hands to his heart’s content. Sometimes he utilizes the telescopic rod, or a pair of steel “crazy tongs,” to elevate the trumpet to the ceiling. This holding test is absurdly simple and perhaps for that reason is so convincing.

Mr. Tabor has another method of holding which is far more deceptive than the above. I am indebted to the “Revelations of a Spirit Medium” for an explanation of this test. “The investigators are seated in a circle around the table, male and female alternating. The person sitting on the medium’s right—for he sits in the circle—grasps the medium’s right wrist in his left hand, while his own right wrist is held by the sitter on his right and this is repeated clear around the circle. This makes each sitter hold the right wrist of his left hand neighbor in his left hand, while his own right hand wrist is held in the left hand of his neighbor on the left. Each one’s hands are thus secured and engaged, including the medium’s. It will be seen that no one of the sitters can have the use of his or her hands without one or the other of their neighbors knowing it. As each hand was held by a separate person, you cannot understand how he [the medium] could get the use of either of them except the one on his right was a confederate. Such was not the case, and still he did have the use of one hand, the right one. But how? He took his place before the light was turned down, and those holding him say he did not let go for an instant during the séance. He did though, after the light was turned out for the purpose of getting his handkerchief to blow his nose. After blowing his nose he requested the sitter to again take his wrist, which is done, but this time it is the wrist of the left hand instead of the right. He has crossed his legs and there is but one knee to be felt, hence the sitter on the right does not feel that she is reaching across the right knee and thinks it is the left knee which she does feel to be the right. He has let his hand slip down until instead of holding the sitter on his left by the wrist he has him by the fingers, thus allowing him a little more distance, and preventing the left hand sitter using the hand to feel about and discover the right hand sitter’s hand on the wrist of the hand holding his. You will see, now, that although both sitters are holding the same hand each one thinks he is holding the one on his or her side of the medium. The balance of the séance is easy.”

An amusing incident happened during my sitting with Mr. Tabor. Growing somewhat weary waiting for him to “manifest,” I determined to undertake some materializations on my own account. I adopted the subterfuge of getting my right hand loose from the lady on my right, and produced the spirit hand that clasped the wrist of several of the sitters in the circle. Mr. X— asked “Jim” if everything was all right in the circle, every hand promptly joined, and the magnetic conditions perfect. “Jim” responded with three affirmative taps on the table top. I congratulate myself on having deceived “Jim,” a spirit operating in the fourth dimension of space, and supposedly cognizant of all that was transpiring at the séance. Once, when the medium was floating the trumpet over my head, I grasped the instrument and dashed it on the table. He made no further attempt to manipulate the trumpet in my direction, and very shortly brought the séance to a close. No written communications were received during the evening.

4. Spirit Photography.

You may deceive the human eye, say the advocates of spirit materializations, but you cannot deceive the eye of science, the photographic camera. Then they triumphantly produce the spirit photograph as indubitable evidence of the reality of ghostly materializations. “Spirit photography,” says the late Alexandre Herrmann, in an article on magic, published in the Cosmopolitan Magazine, “was the invention of a man in London, and for ten years Spiritualists accepted the pictures as genuine representations of originals in the spirit land. The snap kodak has superseded the necessity of the explanation of spirit photography.”

To be more explicit, there are two ways of producing spirit photographs, by double printing and by double exposure. In the first, the scene is printed from one negative, and the spirit printed in from another. In the second method, the group with the friendly spook in proper position is arranged, and the lens of the camera uncovered, half of the required exposure being given; then the lens is capped, and the person doing duty as the sheeted ghost gets out of sight, and the exposure is completed. The result is very effective when the picture is printed, the real persons being represented sharp and well defined, while the ghost is but a hazy outline, transparent, through which the background shows.